China does not support a first nuclear strike by North Korea.

I think that is a very moral position by China. China is stating a great deal in that position regarding North Korea. It is willing to risk problems all that will manifest should North Korea enter into a nuclear war with the USA.

China will be besieged by refugees and the potential of a nuclear strike near it's borders. There is also the danger of nuclear poison falling into the oceans and fisheries it has bought from North Korea. North Korea no longer values many things, including those fisheries.

China is correct in standing down from assisting North Korea in any way if it declares a first strike against Guam. But, in the same regard, the USA cannot be careless and should be sensitive to China in any retaliation. I thank China for it's consideration in supporting the moral decisions in such circumstances. Nuclear weapons are a plague on the world and China's decisions are thoughtful and correct.

January 11, 2017

By Simon Denyer

Beijing — China won’t come to North Korea’s help (click here) if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation, a state-owned newspaper warned on Friday, but it would intervene if Washington strikes first.

The Global Times newspaper is not an official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, but in this case its editorial probably does reflect government policy, experts said.

China has repeatedly warned both Washington and Pyongyang not to do anything that raises tensions or causes instability on the Korean Peninsula, and strongly reiterated that idea Friday.

“The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated and sensitive,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a statement....

Texas has the highest maternal death rate, which increased with it's attack on abortion clinics.

June 29, 2017
By W. Gardner Selby

A Democrat credited the Republican governor (click here) for highlighting maternal mortality and then made a claim about Texas leading nationally in a disturbing way.

Houston Rep. Shawn Thierry noted in a press release circulated the day after Gov. Greg Abbott set the agenda for the special legislative session starting July 18, 2017, that Abbott authorized maternal mortality as a potential topic after Thierry and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, had urged him to do so.

Thierry said: "It was clear that a special session was going to happen and we now know that our Texas mothers are dying during childbirth at the highest rates in the nation. This time around, we cannot afford for party politics to stand in the way of resolving this crisis."

Abbott included "extending maternal mortality task force" in his session "call," he said, to allow lawmakers to maintain the state’s advisory Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force into 2023. The group, created by the 2013 Legislature, is otherwise abolished as of September 2019....

Michelle died of a blood in her leg that traveled to her lung. Fragments probably traveled to other areas of her body that caused her death.

What are they doing in regard to placenta removal?

DIC - Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (click here)

I'd check infection and placenta removal. Inadequate sepsis may be lacking and both conditions would cause blood coagulation problems. A doctor's attitude in seeing women as healthy with an uncomplicated pregnancy, is not a Heifer!

Pregnancy is a medical condition that requires REVERENCE to the woman. If a woman decides to end a pregnancy the primary worry is being sure the uterus is healthy after the abortion. Abortion options need to be returned to women in Texas. More than likely, a woman with an abortion has a healthier post procedure uterus than one that delivered a baby.

Texas has no respect for the intricacies of a woman's body, life or choices. What support is provided to the families with deceased mothers?

August 10, 2017

By Jason Whitely

Doctors, nurses, researchers and state lawmakers (click here) are investigating a mystery -- why Texas women die after giving birth at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country.

"It's hard to remember details because I was pretty upset," said Chris Zavala, 39, when recounting what happened to his wife Michelle last month.

She was 35, active and adventurous.

"You always hear about love at first sight, and it sounds corny, but the first time I saw her, I was done for,” he admitted.

Their first child, Clara, was born mid-July. She was healthy, six pounds and four ounces.

At 7 days old, they took her to pose for newborn pictures, never imagining their first family portraits would also be their last....

Gorka is nobody. He was born in the UK to people that basically were illegal immigrants from Hungry.

Trump placed him in a position where he could be the "Man-Servant" to Trump's bad press.

End of discussion.

Here is a really interesting story about business success from Australia.

A minor stockholder took the company back and it is now worth $530 million.

August 11, 2017

By Cara Waters

Ray Malone was in a bind. (click here)

He owned some panel shops but saw the consolidation within the crash repair industry and decided to get on the front foot.

"I approached a roll up group that was listed on the ASX and I rolled my company into it," he says. "These guys mismanaged my company very badly. I was in the middle of it, I had two choices, which were to pull out and go back to being a happy panel beater or to keep it together."...

..."I called an extraordinary general meeting, I sacked the chief executive and I removed the chairman," he says.

Malone replaced the board and removed $20 million in debt by converting some of it into equity. These steps gave him room to shake up the business....            

Inhumanity defines Trump Administration and Congress, from health care to the climate crisis to foreign relations.

When China signed on to sanctions at the UN Security Council it did not expect nuclear retaliation. When Kim's father was willing to place seals on North Korea's nuclear reactor, which seems like light years ago, it was with the understanding China had it's back. If China reasserts itself, North Korea may find reassurance again. 

11 August 2017

By Hannah Parry

China (click here) will intervene if America attacks North Korea first, according to a state-owned paper, and will only stay neutral if Kim Jong-un attacks the US first.

An editorial in the Global Times, warned that "China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral," the Daily Mail reported.

"If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so."

China also expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" with the US Navy over its operations in the South China Sea.

The warning comes amid escalating tensions between the US and North Korea.

Pyongyang has warned it plans to launch a nuclear strike on Guam after President Trump announced that any more threats against the US would be met with "fire and fury"....                                               

President "Mouth" needs to end international tantrums. He is correct it is best leveled at McConnell. I find his wife's employment in the Executive Branch unconstitutional.

North Korea doesn't have to threaten Guam in order to have the attention of the region. There are many people within reach of missiles from North Korea.

April 19, 2017

Burrowed into hard granite (click here) mountain faces and protected behind blast doors, 15,000 North Korean cannons and rocket launchers are aimed at the glass skyscrapers, traffic-choked highways and blocks of apartment buildings 35 miles away in Seoul ― and the U.S. military bases beyond.

In a matter of minutes, these heavy, low-tech weapons could begin the destruction of the South Korean capital with blizzards of glass shards, collapsed buildings and massive casualties that would decimate this vibrant U.S. ally and send shock waves through the global economy....

The idea that North Korea has miniaturized nuclear weapons is somewhat irrelevant. North Korea is probably building a nuclear defense, but, it is nearly not necessary considering the growing distaste between Russia and the USA.

April 12, 2017

By Brian Wang

Russia in considering upgrading future T-14 main battle tnks (click here) to use the 2A83 152 mm gun instead of its current 2A82 125 mm gun. The 2A83 gun has a high-speed APFSDS shell with a 1,980 m/s muzzle velocity, only dropping to 1,900 m/s at 2 km.

However, Russian engineers have so far kept the 125 mm-size gun, assessing that improvements in ammunition could be enough to increase effectiveness, while concluding that a larger bore weapon would offer few practical advantage....

Think Ukraine.

The problem with miniaturized nuclear weapons goes far beyond North Korea. It is the state of play between countries that is reaching a fever pitch. North Korea is only part of it. NATO and Russia need to end their tensions and begin to rebuild peace into Europe and Asia. Donald Trump is useless in resolving the tensions in the world. Somewhere Trump spoke to Putin and made a blood pact between the two with the idea they could end nuclear proliferation and bring about peace. It's crazy. Trump is about money and Putin is about power. Who is being the fool?

Oh, by the way, Ukraine doesn't need ICBMs to defend itself. Think about it.

Russia really should appreciate peace and non-proliferation more than ever. Peace is to Russia's advantage. Nationalist politics is really not the way to go. 

How's it going, Vlad? Was Trump worth all this trouble? Really?

I really do believe the USA mission in Moscow is a good beginning for rebuilding trust with the next presidential elections, right?

April 20, 2017
By Clifford Krauss

Houston — Exxon Mobil (click here) is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account.

The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal.

The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-American relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the United States presidential election.

The appeal did not come up during Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, who was Exxon Mobil’s chief executive before his nomination by President Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. At the time, Mr. Tillerson and other company officials said they had not lobbied against the sanctions, which were imposed on Russia in response to its military intervention in Ukraine....

The Black Sea? Really? You mean the place where Crimea sits? That Black Sea? The place where NATO member Turkey is? That Black Sea?

April 21, 2017
By Clifford Krauss

Houston — The Trump administration (click here) delivered a setback to Exxon Mobil on Friday, announcing that it would not grant the oil giant a waiver from sanctions against Russia that would allow drilling in the Black Sea.

The decision, reinforcing barriers erected by the United States over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, was another sign that President Trump has been unwilling or unable to improve relations with the Kremlin early in his term, after pledging as a candidate that he would seek a thaw.

“In consultation with President Donald J. Trump,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a terse, prepared statement, “the Treasury Department will not be issuing waivers to U.S. companies, including Exxon, authorizing drilling prohibited by current Russian sanctions.”

The prospect of a waiver had drawn denunciations from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. When news of Exxon Mobil’s proposal emerged this week, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, wrote in a Twitter post, “Are they crazy?”...

I would change lawyers if I was Paul Manafort, too. He is not the end of the investigation, there was an internet connection between banks in Russia and the Trump Organization during the time of sanctions by the Obama Administration.

With a grand jury in place, the indictments will be forthcoming.

A lawyer (click here) connected to murdered Putin foe Sergei Magnitsky has been thrown from a window in Moscow. He was a witness for the U.S.

The investigation of Russian meddling needs to realize their subjects might be in the sights of another group of interested parties.

Manafort was involved with Yanukovych. He is a very sensitive subject for Russia. I am impressed the FBI did as well as they did in entering his home. Well done. The information could not be in better hands. I would think Paul Manafort would breathe a sigh of relief to know records were no longer an issue for Russia.

I don't find Donald Trump's answer to a Russian order amusing.

To begin with, the American embassy anywhere in the world is sovereign territory. This is land consented to by Russia to conduct diplomatic relations and as a place where visiting Americans can find a friendly face. The Russian president ordered the USA to remove three-quarters of its staff. What is left, the security personnel and the Ambassador?

When a country becomes this hostile toward a diplomatic mission and diplomatic relations with the USA there is a more dangerous current within that demand. I don't see any Americans leaving Moscow. If Russia sees it differently it needs to make its case. The sanctions stand and their presence in the Ukraine is illegal by every measure of any diplomatic document that exists.

The American mission is beautiful. It respects Russian architecture. The Russian government needs to make its intentions known as to why the demands are being made to end the mission in Moscow.

July 30, 2017
By Neil MacFarquhar

Moscow — President Vladimir V. Putin (click here) announced Sunday that the American diplomatic mission in Russia must reduce its staff by 755 employees, an aggressive response to new American sanctions that seemed ripped right from the Cold War playbook and sure to increase tensions between the two capitals.

In making the announcement, Mr. Putin said Russia had run out of patience waiting for relations with the United States to improve.

“We waited for quite a long time that, perhaps, something will change for the better, we held out hope that the situation would somehow change,” Mr. Putin said in an interview on state-run Rossiya 1 television, which published a Russian-language transcript on its website. “But, judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon.”

Mr. Putin said the staff reduction was meant to cause real discomfort for Washington and its representatives in Moscow....

Day traders love Trump's tandrums. Bubble is over though.

These graphs show increases for the past five days. 

PROVEN IN WAR AND PEACE (click here)

Since it was first fielded, Raytheon’s Patriot has been used by five nations in more than 200 combat engagements against manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles. Since January of 2015, Patriot has intercepted more than 100 ballistic missiles in combat operations around the world; more than 90 of those intercepts involved the low-cost Raytheon-made Guidance Enhanced Missile family of surface-to-air missiles.

Those engagements were possible because Patriot is built on a foundation of more than 3,000 ground tests and over 1,400 flight tests.

Each and every time Patriot is tested or live fired, engineers uncover new ways to further improve or enhance the system.  The improvements are necessary because the threat is constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated.

 TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE (click here)

When enemies attack, governments must be ready to defend their soldiers, citizens and infrastructure. That’s where THAAD comes in – one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world

Scientists have a real opportunity to engage the public with "Chasing Coral."

August 8, 2017

The ecological and economic value of coral reefs (click here) has long been understood, and the negative impacts of human activities on reef systems are well documented. This wealth of knowledge however, has not prevented the devastating and widespread decline in coral reefs.

The new documentary “Chasing Coral” about coral reefs will have its Tallahassee premiere from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Challenger Learning Center. After the film Dr. Sandra Brooke, coral researcher with FSU Coastal and Marine Lab, and Budd Titlow, professional wetland and wildlife biologist, author and photographer will participate in a 20 minute question and answer session. The movie is free; doors open at 6:30 (donations accepted).

Coastal development, fertilizers and pesticides have caused chronic water quality degradation that has increased turbidity, nutrient levels and pollutants in waters that were once crystal clear. To sensitive marine life, this is the equivalent of us breathing badly polluted air....

Add to that the new film by Al Gore and the conversation takes a real place in American lives.

Coral reefs support jobs, tourism, and fisheries. (click here)

Healthy coral reefs support commercial and subsistence fisheries as well as jobs and businesses through tourism and recreation. Approximately half of all federally managed fisheries depend on coral reefs and related habitats for a portion of their life cycles. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates the commercial value of U.S. fisheries from coral reefs is over $100 million.

Local economies also receive billions of dollars from visitors to reefs through diving tours, recreational fishing trips, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses based near reef ecosystems.

Despite their great economic and recreational value, coral reefs are severely threatened by pollution, disease, and habitat destruction. Once coral reefs are damaged, they are less able to support the many creatures that inhabit them. When a coral reef supports fewer fish, plants, and animals, it also loses value as a tourist destination.

The National Marine Fisheries is not the only economic hub. Wall Street has a real reason to worry. The oceans have been some of the new focus for the pharmaceutical industry.

Coastal Protection: (click here) ...Coastlines protected by reefs are more stable, in terms of erosion, and are also a source of sand in natural beach replenishment...

Fisheries: ...one estimate shows fisheries benefits account for $5.7 billion of the total $29.8 billion global net benefit provided by coral reefs. Sustainable coral reef fisheries in Southeast Asia alone are valued at $2.4 billion per year. These numbers do not take into account the value of deep-sea corals, which are themselves home for many commercially valuable species and thus additional fisheries value.

Medicine: Many species found in coral ecosystems produce chemical compounds for defense or attack, particularly the slow-moving or stationary species like nudibranchs and sponges. Searching for potential new pharmaceuticals, termed bioprospecting, has been common in terrestrial environments for decades. However, bioprospecting is relatively new in the marine environment and is nowhere close to realizing its full potential. Creatures found in coral ecosystems are important sources of new medicines being developed to induce and ease labor; treat cancer, arthritis, asthma, ulcers, human bacterial infections, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases; as well as sources of nutritional supplements, enzymes, and cosmetics. The medicines and other potentially useful compounds identified to date have led to coral ecosystems being referred to as the medicine cabinets of the 21st century by some, and the list of approved and potential new drugs is ever growing.

Tourism and Recreation:... One estimate places the total global value of coral-reef based recreation and tourism at $9.6 billion of the total global net benefit of coral reefs.

China got the best Trump deal.

October 8, 2017

Commenting (click here) on the recent reports that the Trump administration "appears to be granting Chinese banks dealing with North Korea a temporary reprieve from threatened US sanctions" after Beijing backed UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang, Russian political analyst Alexander Vorontsov told Sputnik that it is an obvious example of blackmail.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that "the Trump administration appears to be granting Chinese banks dealing with North Korea a temporary reprieve from threatened US sanctions to give Beijing time to show it is serious about enforcing new UN steps against Pyongyang."...

...Alexander Vorontsov, the head of the Department for Korean and Mongolian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russia Academy of Sciences, told Sputnik that the US employs a 'carrot and stick' policy against China and is doing so in a "very pushy manner."...

An article in the state-run (click here) Korean Central News Agency written by an unnamed spokesman from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that sanctions by the "hooligan" US have "only worked to redouble the indomitable spirit of our army and people, united as one following their leader… and increase the DPRK’s self-defensive capability." 

There is no reason for a Korean dictator to be nice and back away from war. This man has no chance for life for all the murders that have occurred under his regime. He isn't interested in progressing to a peace strategy. It is not as though his regime are liberators and radically committed murder to relieve the people of oppression.

It looks like India consumers are ready for a trade agreement with local USA governments. Governors need to take notice.

August 10, 2017

A recent survey of Indian consumers (click here) has suggested that 83 percent prefer Chinese goods over Indian ones, reports the big circulation Hindustan Times.

It showed that Indian consumers felt goods made in India were expensive, while Chinese goods are better value for money, and of better quality.

The online poll of 9,873 people by an Indian research company measured attitudes to similar products.

In all five surveys were carried out, asking whether Indian consumers preferred to buy Chinese goods, and if so whether that was true of all categories of goods.

Some 38 percent of those questioned said they favored Chinese durable consumer goods like mobile phones and other electronic devices, 15 percent would buy household and decorative products, and 10 percent would buy gifts items. Some 37 percent preferred Chinese goods in all the above-mentioned categories.

On the other hand, Indian consumers had higher expectations of Chinese goods. A total of 96 percent of consumers surveyed wanted the "Made in China" label clearly marked so that they could more easily decide whether to buy Chinese goods or not....

The VIX is what the markets are looking toward to thrive in the Trump years.

Trump adds another element to investment. He is not the typical USA president. If he ever decides to be a moral man he could actually improve the activity of the markets to reflect benevolent choices. 

I think South Korea needs to prepare for a conventional war. Seoul is on the DMZ. 

A pre-emptive strike will span a conventional war. 

If there is a sincere threat the people of Guam need to be provided real options. ALL the people, not just those with potential for a plane ticket.

This is a British website so the time of day is different.

August 10, 2017
By Alice Foster

NORTH Korea is preparing a missile strike near the US territory of Guam after dismissing Donald Trump ‘fire and fury’ warning as nonsense. Here are live updates and breaking news on North Korea v the USA.

11.30am: China keeps low profile as North Korea threats escalate (click here)

Beijing has kept a low profile in recent days after Donald Trump ignored China’s calls to calm tensions with North Korea by making his 'fire and fury' threat.  

Conflict on the Korean peninsula would affect China and in worst-case scenarios unleash a radioactive cloud or waves of refugees into its northeast. 

10.50am: Britain back UN process not Donald Trump's 'fire and fury' 

First Secretary of State Damian Green responded to Donald Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ warning by saying the “sensible way” to proceed is through the UN.   

"It is obviously in all our interests to make sure that nothing escalates," Mr Green told reporters during a visit to Edinburgh.

"We are very strongly in support of the UN process, which has and continues to put pressure on North Korea to stop acting in an irresponsible way, and we will continue strongly to support the UN process which will, I hope, help to de-escalate tensions."...                           

Homeowners need to provide greater incentives at every turn. Every home should have the opportunity to use solar energy.

Utility infrastructure still needs maintenance and requires employment. The sell back is an option that should be examined, but, the clean energy agenda is more important than ever. Utilities need to get used to that idea and address their business model. There will be little to no growth of methane use and/or any other fossil fuels. Clean energy cooperatives should be considered as a real option for energy production.

I thought the free market was the preferences of the USA. No? 

When are petroleum subsidies going to end? Petroleum products are ancient energy and should not be subsidized.

Maybe it is just the candidate that is responsible for disclosure, but, was Manafort responsible for disclosing his past relationships with foreign governments?

August 9, 2017

By Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman

FBI agents (click here) raided the home in Alexandria, Va., of President Trump’s former campaign chairman, arriving in the pre-dawn hours late last month and seizing documents and other materials related to the special counsel investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The raid, which occurred without warning on July 26, signaled an aggressive new approach by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team in dealing with a key figure in the Russia inquiry. Manafort has been under increasing pressure as the Mueller team looked into his personal finances and his professional career as a highly paid foreign political consultant.

Using a search warrant, agents appeared the day Manafort was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and a day after he met voluntarily with Senate Intelligence Committee staff members....

June 27, 2017
By Tom Hamburder and Rosalind S. Helderman

A consulting firm (click here) led by Paul Manafort, who chaired Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for several months last year, retroactively filed forms Tuesday showing that his firm received $17.1 million over two years from a political party that dominated Ukraine before its leader fled to Russia in 2014.

Manafort disclosed the total payments his firm received between 2012 and 2014 in a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing late Tuesday that was submitted to the U.S. Justice Department. The report makes Manafort the second former senior Trump adviser to acknowledge the need to disclose work for foreign interests....

We know for a fact, Viktor Yanukovych broke the law of the 2004 Constitution (click here) that lead to a very controversial rewrite of the Ukraine Constitution of 2014. There were deaths in the Ukraine Maidan. Yanukovych was elected as President of the Ukraine in 2010. Financial relationships with Yanukovych is questionable. Yanukovych disarmed the national military and armed the Oligarchs with their own militias.

April 14, 2017
By Lucian Kim

Paul Manafort quit (click here) as Donald Trump's campaign manager last summer amid questions about his consulting work for a disgraced Ukrainian leader who now is a wanted man in his own country.

While Manafort vanished from Ukraine's political scene even earlier, his name lives on in Kiev.

Ukrainian investigators are seeking to understand his ties, if any, to former President Viktor Yanukovych at the time of the shooting of anti-government protesters on the capital's central square, known as the Maidan, in February 2014....

Making money at the cost of the sovereign state of any country is against the law. It is subversive to the stability of the government. That is a hostile act. 

July 15, 2017
By Andrew E. Kramer

Kiev, Ukraine — Paul J. Manafort, (click here) President Trump’s former campaign chairman, recently filed financial reports with the Justice Department showing that his lobbying firm earned nearly $17 million for two years of work for a Ukrainian political party with links to the Kremlin.

Curiously, that was more than the party itself reported spending in the same period for its entire operation — the national political organization’s expenses, salaries, printing outlays and other incidentals.

The discrepancies show a lot about how Mr. Manafort’s clients — former President Viktor F. Yanukovych of Ukraine and his Party of Regions — operated.

And in a broader sense, they underscore the dangers that lurk for foreigners who, tempted by potentially rich payoffs, cast their lot with politicians in countries that at best have different laws about money in politics, and at worst are, like Ukraine in those years, irredeemably corrupt.

Mr. Yanukovych was driven from office in the Maidan Revolution of 2014, after having stolen, according to the current Ukrainian government, at least $1 billion. In the years before his fall, Mr. Manafort took lavish payments to burnish the image of Mr. Yanukovych and the Party of Regions in Washington, even as the party acknowledged only very modest spending....

It is more than interesting that Mr. Manafort used the same plutocratic strategy to advance Mr. Yanukovich as he did with Mr. Trump. There is something very wrong here. This is Ukriane politics and not that of the highly expensive politics of the USA. Neither is moral.

Mr. Manafort is an influential figure in both countries and in Ukraine where President Putin appeared in support of Viktor Yanukovych. The friendliness alone is a violation of the relationship with Russia by the USA. Of course, Mr. Manafort ended his influence when Yanukovych fled to Russia. That doesn't mean Mr. Manafort is not suspect in the activities prior to that ESCAPE through Crimea.

What followed was an invasion by the Russians to Ukraine while annexing Crimea.

It is easy to say Mr. Manafort was a Yanukovych crony. He benefited by the Presidency of Yanukovych.

How all this transcends into the link between the Trump Organization and Russia is more than interesting. That link existed during the time the USA set sanctions against Russia. I have stated more than once on this blog that companies seeking business in countries without strong democracies, such as Russia, are risking their investment. If relationships sour between countries the monies are gone. There are courts to seek return of those monies, but, actually receiving those investments back is not likely unless a better relationship results.

HOW MUCH DID THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION INVEST DURING THE TIME SANCTIONS WERE IMPOSED?

How many other individuals and/or companies trusted Trump in being lead into investments in Russia they can no longer retrieve?

This is the real issue, isn't it? Does the USA government conduct the business of the people or the business of the Plutocrats.

I don't hear any huffing and puffing about the climate, yet it is far more deadly than any nuclear weapon on Earth.

If Earth loses it's oxygen content, game over.

We have not been here before. The planet is supporting billions of people and the consumer demands insult the troposphere with greenhouse gases such as methane.

As far as I am concerned the USA is in a very dangerous place, but, it has absolutely nothing to do with nuclear weapons.

August 8, 2017
By Michael D. Shear and Brad Plumer

Washington — The impending (click here) release of a key government report on climate change will force President Trump to choose between accepting the conclusions of his administration’s scientists and the demands of his conservative supporters, who remain deeply unconvinced that humans are the cause of the planet’s warming.

A White House official said on Tuesday that it was still reviewing the draft document that was written by scientists, some of whom have said they fear Mr. Trump will seek to bury it or alter its contents before it is formally released. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said the administration would not comment on the report before its scheduled release this fall.

But the looming publication of the climate report — which concludes that “evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans” — once again raises a contentious policy issue that has deeply divided Mr. Trump’s closest advisers since he arrived in the Oval Office....

Governor Eddie Baza Calvo is the ELECTED Governor of Guam.

Pangasinan Governor (click here) Amado T. Espino, Jr. and Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo lead the signing of the Sister City Agreement between the Province of Pangasinan and the island of Guam as members of the Provincial Board of Pangasinan look on.  Other signatories to the agreement include, (L-R) Philippine Consul General to Guam, Hon. Bayani V. Mangibin, Guam Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio, Pangasinan Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr., and Major Vic Rivo, Sr. (Ret), President of the Federation of Pangasinanses of Guam.

The military that exists in Guam is not that of the people of the islands, it belongs to the USA. North Korea has no argument with the people of Guam.

Pangasinan (click here) was among the earliest political and administrative units in the Philippines. It was officially conquered and colonized by D. Martin de Goiti in 1571. On April 5, 1572, Pangasinan was made an encomienda by the Spanish royal crown to receive instruction on the Catholic Faith, which means that Pangasinan was organized under one leadership and has identity before the Spanish royal court. Eight years later, in 1580, Pangasinan was organized into a political unit under an alkalde mayor who at that time has authority as head of the province or provincial government with judicial function indicating that Pangasinan has become a province. To commemorate the day when Pangasinan became an encomienda and the year it became a province, Pangasinan celebrates April 5, 1580 as the official founding day of the Province of Pangasinan. At that time, its territorial jurisdiction included the Province of Zambales and parts of La Union and Tarlac. By the middle of the 19th century however, the northern towns of Agoo to Bacnotan were separated from the province and became parts of La Union. The provincial territory was further diminished in 1875 with the annexation of Paniqui and other towns south of it to Tarlac.

Pangasinan, derived its name from the word “panag asinan”, which means “where salt is made”, owing to the rich and fine salt beds which were the prior source of livelihood of the province’s coastal towns....