The locals never wanted the golf course, but, Trump promised the moon and Scotland bought it.

By Glenn Campbell

Donald Trump came to Scotland (click here) to build the world’s greatest golf course on spectacular sand dunes on the Aberdeenshire coast.

He fought and won the planning rights to do so - bulldozing his way through environmental objections with the bold promise of a £1bn investment and thousands of jobs.

In pursuit of his vision, he clashed with politicians, nature lovers and even his own neighbours. In Scotland they’ve been hitting back at Mr Trump for more than a decade....

It was a unique and beautiful place on Earth.

June 28, 2019

The construction of the course has severely affected the dunes at Menie Estate

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) (click here) recommended the area be removed from the list, claiming construction of the course had severely affected the dunes at the Trump International Golf Course at Menie Estate, classed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Sally Thomas, SNH’s director of People and Nature, said: “The denotification of SSSIs is unusual. 

“However, in this case we have found there is no longer a reason to protect the dunes at Menie as they do not include enough of the special, natural features for which they were designated.

“Most of the time, development can take place without damaging important natural features, but this was not the case in this instance.”

The Trump Organisation called the move a “stitch-up” and said they had spent millions on the care, protection and maintenance of the SSSI area....

GM is a career, not just a job.

Mary Barra, the current CEO of GM and first woman CEO of a major auto manufacturer; started her career with GM as a fender inspector (click here) Her eduction is interesting, but, it includes a degree from Kettering (click here) located in Michigan.

The point is GM is a place where careers happen. Even a line worker can make a career of hourly labor and do well all the way to retirement. Flint workers need to consider applying for a job at GM. The jobs are under demand so don't take no for an answer. Continue to be interested and reapply when necessary, usually every six months. I don't know if files are kept past that. In the meantime, finish high school or get a GED and then consider study beyond high school.

Beginning of the Application Process (click here)

Our world-class hourly production and skilled trades employees (click here) are setting a new standard for modern manufacturing in a stimulating, fast-paced environment. They combine commitment and teamwork to consistently deliver more to our customers. With training resources and advanced technologies at their fingertips, their hard work and precision are forging the future of automotive excellence.


August 31, 2019

Last month, General Motors pushed out the old and welcomed the new by closing its Davison Road CCA facility and cutting the ribbon on a new ACDelco and GM Genuine Parts processing center in Burton. It shows GM’s commitment to the state it calls home and offers opportunities to area workers.

This latest GM venture in Michigan (click here) is three times the size of the warehouse it replaces, and MLive reports that it will employ more than 800 hourly and salaried members of staff. As of right now, about 700 of the employees came from Davison Road, represented by UAW Local 651, and an additional 150 moved north from a former facility in West Chester, Ohio.

Instead of building new cars or their components, team members here work with parts from subsidiaries and other facilities and then push them out to smaller distribution centers before they arrive at dealership service centers for repair work or modifications. Considering that Flint is the base for the General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales division, it’s an ideal location for a hub of this type. GM was also founded in Flint over 100 years ago and operated here before moving to Detroit.

According to MLive, this $65 million investment is GM’s largest in the United States for more than 40 years. The sprawling warehouse covers 1.1 million square feet, and the automaker estimates that employees will ship out up to 120 million parts a year to the rest of the country.

It’s encouraging to see General Motors invest more money in its American infrastructure. Who knows, the next time your car needs work the replacement parts might come to you via Flint, Michigan.

Flint, Michigan also has an assembly plant.

February 5, 2019
By Ron Fonger

Flint - General Motors (click here) says it’s bringing 1,000 new jobs to Flint Assembly to help build new heavy-duty pickup trucks.

GM spokeswoman Kathryn Teer confirmed the announcement Tuesday, Feb. 5, in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

Reuters reported that the company will give priority in hiring to GM workers who were laid off elsewhere.

It is an icon for North Carolina.

The outer banks have several lighthouses. The lighthouses are Bodie Island, Currituck Beach, Oak Island and the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse that was moved from an eroding base from the ocean about 15 years ago or so. There are others less famous.

Just by mentioning (click here) Ocracoke Island to coastal Carolinians, the southern section of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras National Seashore, you may get a history lesson of shipwrecks, buccaneer treachery and the Golden Age of Pirates. The tales of Edward Teach would fill a chapter of this coastal island's history book. Teach, the infamous Blackbeard, was feared by all who sailed the seas. Known to be "kin to the devil", Teach spent his final years on Ocracoke Island at what is now known as Teach's Hole.

Ocracoke Inlet was the only deep water entrance to Pamlico Sound and its shifting sands claimed one of its first vessels in 1585. The Diamond Shoals have destroyed so many ships, the area has been named Graveyard of the Atlantic. By the early 1800s, increased maritime traffic begged for a new navigational beacon as the original wooden lighthouse was burnt by a lightning fire.

Today, the Ocracoke Lighthouse, dating back to 1823, is North Carolina's oldest operating lighthouse. It's no wonder that the 75 foot tower is still intact once it's known the foundation base is 12 feet thick. Lighthouse walls are solid brick, measuring five feet thick at the bottom, tapering to two feet at the top. A concerted effort, made up of the National Parks Service, the U.S. Coast Guard and the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, protects, maintains and preserves this National Historic Landmark.                         

This is the river system of the Cape Fear River. When Hurricane Dorian makes landfall over Wilmington, North Carolina, there will be a storm surge that can push the river over it's banks across the state. Flash flooding to Greensboro is possible. 

The latest American export, the Olympic Israeli baseball team.

Sanctioning Israel's Olympic team may be a way to bring attention to the ongoing aggression by Israel in the region. NO, that is not anti-semitism. It is worrying about the escalation of violence and protecting the lives of ALL PEOPLE IN SOVEREIGN COUNTRIES.

If sincere war ever broke out in the Mideast, Hebrews would die. No one is ever worried about that.

September 5, 2019
By Hillel Kuttier

A crop of newly-minted citizens (click here) headed by three ex-major leaguers is looking to push Israel’s national baseball squad closer to reaching the Olympics for the first time.

Danny Valencia, an infielder with seven MLB clubs and the team’s newest citizen, picked up his passport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, just ahead of the team’s departure Thursday to compete in the European Baseball Championships beginning this weekend in Bonn, Germany. Former major league utilityman Ty Kelly; Nick Rickles, a former minor league catcher; and Yale graduate Ben Wanger, a pitcher and first baseman, also were in Israel for the past week to finalize their citizenship status....         

No cuts in military funding would be needed if Trump simply reversed some of his tax cuts. The cuts are a national security issue, therefore it is only obvious "the wall" has a nefarious purpose considering it is proven to be completely ineffective.

Nuclear exposure 101

To put it simply, the amount of radiation from one adult chest x-ray (0.1 mSv) is about the same as 10 days of natural background radiation that we are all exposed to as part of our daily living.

Chest X-ray (click here)

A microsievert (μSv) is a decimal fraction of the SI derived unit of equivalent radiation dose, effective dose, and committed dose. One sievert is the amount of radiation necessary to produce the same effect on living tissue as one gray of high-penetration x-rays.

It depends who you ask. (click here) Some people will say no amount is safe, but that doesn’t really help us understand the relative dangers. Here are some basic numbers to use as a guide (μSv means microSieverts):

10 μSv – The average radiation you received today

40 μSv – The radiation you receive by taking a flight from New York to L.A.

100 μSv – The radiation you receive during a dental x-ray

800 μSv – Total radiation dose at Three-Mile Island for the duration of the accident

3,000 μSv – Radiation dose from a mammogram

3,600 μSv – Average radiation a US citizen receives in a year from all sources

50,000 μSv – Maximum allowable yearly occupational dose (USA)

100,000 μSv – Lowest yearly dose likely linked to increased cancer risk

2,000,000 μSv – Severe radiation poisoning (sometimes fatal)             

"Deep State"

Trump is upset because he couldn't cause an indictment of Comey so now the National Weather Service doesn't care about Alabama.

OR

Trump believes the findings about Comey alone is damnable and therefore the Deep State continues and the National Weather Service didn't care about Alabama. 

The entire mess that Trump creates is his own idea of a re-election campaign. He uses the government 24-7 for his own purposes. This is just another idiotic assessment by Trump. He has no credentials to be doing this.

Feckless is a great word for this.

Trump is ripping off the elderly.

Within the past few months, the diabetic supplies that were cost-free under President Obama are no longer.

A Senior Citizen could purchase insulin with Medicare Part D or any of the other insurances used today and receive all the supplies without charge. There are some supply companies that would send everything a Senior diabetic needs, except, the insulin which is a prescription.

Now, the needles and alcohol swabs are to be ordered by the doctor when the insulin is ordered. The needles and alcohol swabs are now exposed to the deductible of health care insurance or Medicare Part D.

So, the cost has increased at least $8.00 or more per month for the diabetic Senior CITIZEN. That may not seem like much, but, by Christmas that comes to at least $96 per year. That is simply not right. Trump is hacking away at the benefits our Seniors paid for all their working life. When does this abuse stop?

Trump declassified "USA Intelligence Methods." Again?

If Clinton or Obama did this they would be out of office in a week.

September 5, 2019
By Stephanie Pappas

It was only a matter of time: (click here) Amateur sleuths think they've tracked down the satellite that took a high-resolution image of the aftermath of an Iranian missile disaster. 

President Donald Trump tweeted out the photograph on Aug. 30, writing.......Intelligence experts immediately noticed the high resolution of the photograph and pegged it as likely classified — classified, that is, until the president declassified it with his tweet. Many experts told news agencies that they were concerned that the declassified photo could reveal unknown information about U.S. drone or satellite surveillance.

Apparently, they were right. Amateur satellite trackers have reverse-engineered the image and figured out that it likely came from the highly classified USA 224 satellite. USA 224 is suspected to be a KH-11 surveillance satellite, a classified piece of equipment about which the public knows little....

More of the phenomena that has defined the "Jeffery Epstein" Era.

Men pass judgment on Ms. Miller even if they aren't the least bit involved in the SEXUAL ASSAULT, "Gee whiz, a simple sexual act could ruin his life." No different than Kobi Bryant. He was entitled. No one wanted to ruin his career. 

So, women are assaulted because they are MERCHANDISE and not living, breathing, AND THINKING people expecting to live with a career that will sustain them and their families. So women suffer with PTSD, anxiety and all the impact on their minds, but, heck, men were doing what comes naturally, right Kavanaugh?

Chanel Miller is the Stanford rape survivor (click here) formerly known publicly as Emily Doe who has come forward and revealed her identity in a new book in an effort to help others who have been sexually assaulted. Miller drew national headlines in 2016 when she confronted Brock Turner during sentencing with a powerful statement about the impact he had on her.

Miller’s powerful words and the lenient sentence given to Turner sparked a nationwide discussion about rape on college campuses and how survivors were not being heard. Turner was sentenced to six months in jail. The judge in the case, Aaron Persky, was recalled in 2018 because of the outrage over Turner’s sentence.

Miller, then a 22-year-old recent college graduate from Palo Alto, was sexually assaulted by Turner at a party at Stanford University while unconscious in 2015. Turner was convicted of three felony counts of sexual assault and faced up to 14 years in prison, but was given a much lighter sentence after his family, friends and those who knew him as a college swimmer came forward to claim that a severe sentence would ruin his life. Miller changed the narrative during sentencing on June 2, 2016, during sentencing when she read a 7,100-word statement about how Turner had devastated her life....             

Does Alabama now believe it is safe from Hurricane Dorian? The Governor has no influence with hysterical constituents? That is a shame.

My favorite statement by politicians is, "The National Weather Service has never opposed a president before." It is supposed to oppress and/or threaten the National Weather Service so the next time "The Chosen One" states Alabama is in the crosshairs, they won't question him. 

The National Weather Service prides itself on ACCURACY and not reporting every track a computer spits out. The National Weather Service has never been verbally assaulted before by any president or his minions.

While I believe the British people have a right to decide the future of their country,...

...as demonstrated by today's proceedings (link below), the new Prime Minister's government cannot answer questions as to the cost of the separation from the EU and/or the cost to the European Union with the separation. With those facts mostly unavailable, it is a prudent Parliament that is blocking the efforts for Brexit moving forward. 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjZ-Ugmvz8&feature=push-lbss&attr_tag=K0AxOsGVRS4b0diB%3A6

There is a significant homelessness crisis in the UK with over 80,000 households disrupted includng well over 100,000 children. That is a lot of chaos in that small set of islands. I can't help but wonder why this is occurring on a regular basis. If I were homeless with a job and children in school I would be definitely blaming the government for this GROWING dynamic. These families cannot afford their rent. It sounds as though the UK has their own working poor.

I strongly suggest the Parliament focus on solving their citizen's problems, including the children. According to the housing authority in the UK it will take 127 years to place the current homelessness into public housing.

There is something very wrong with a government obsessed with Brexit. The British government has successfully stemmed the forward movement of Brexit with a new election date, it is time to dissolve the demand for Brexit by their citizens by solving problems and soon. The housing crisis only reflects far deeper problems as is that of the USA. Good to excellent wage income and opportunity to increase that income through promotion and/or education is lacking.

As in the USA, private companies are not providing good enough wages. Currently, Walmart is among the largest employers in the USA, it is also a company that has cast the handicapped employees out to the street, maintained lower hourly income to the majority of it's employees. Walmart has made improvements in the past year or so, but, it is still leaving a good number of employees and former employees without good outcomes.

The UK is a far smaller country in land mass and has a far lower number of sincerely effected citizens. In the USA providing free breakfast and lunches for the poor and working poor schoolchildren is important and it is still a bandaid to the real problems. The adverse identity of the child on assistance in school has prompted some schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all their students to remove that sigma. It is NOT their fault or that of their parents.

Problems cover the spectrum of health opportunity, issues of drug abuse, the opioid crisis and the deaths of citizens that are also parents, low wages, oppotuntity to education without the burden of a lifetime of debt. Alcoholism is also a problem, the use of cigarettes and now in the US the vaping phenomena is proving to be a killer.

These are all profound problems that keep citizens from achieving a higher quality of life for themselves and their children. If democracies cannot answer their citizen's problems, inflitration of adverse inflences, such as the Alt Right and Russian espionage will have an influence in the existence of democracy and freedom.

So, I again suggesst the UK move away from the contained Brexit and actually solve problems to move people away from the political extemes.

GET OUT THERE AND HAVE TOWN HALLS AND LISTEN!

The more I read about vaping the more it sounds like dehydration of the lungs.

The FDA has nothing on this? Was there some kind of "Trump never mind it isn't important" going on? I never liked the appearance of the vaping. It has a huge water vapor exhaled as opposed to any inhalation. It clearly looked to me the PHYSICS of the vaping was robbing the lungs of water vapor. Nothing else can do that.

September 4, 2019
By Kate Thayer

A chest X-ray of Adam Hergenreder's lungs revealed inflammation, likely from vaping, according to doctors at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where the 18-year-old from Gurnee was hospitalized Aug. 31. Hergenreder is one of dozens hospitalized across Illinois, and hundreds across the country, for a respiratory illness likely linked to vaping.

Adam Hergenreder (click here) started vaping about two years ago at age 16. The mint and mango flavors were his favorites.

Now Hergenreder, of Gurnee, is hospitalized and unable to breathe without a steady flow of oxygen through tubes affixed to his nostrils. Doctors have told the 18-year-old that images of his lungs from a chest X-ray look like those of a man in his 70s. His lungs may never be the same again, and vaping is likely to blame.

Hergenreder is one of at least 27 patients with a history of vaping who have been hospitalized in recent weeks in Illinois for an unknown respiratory illness. Last month, one of those patients died, and more than 200 other cases have been reported in 24 other states as of late last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency is assisting the Illinois Department of Public Health in investigating the cases, along with the Food and Drug Administration...

The inhalation experience is very different from the testimony of a user. The exhaling has a much larger volume than anything seen with cigarette smokers. This demonstrator doesn't even believe lung inhalation is important. So, the vapor coming out of her "mouth" is far greater than cigarette smokers. There needs to be research conducted. I guarantee the physics with the "experience" with the "vap cloud" brings interaction with the moist mucous membranes.

The vap mechanism uses coils and a process that is carried out by a mechanical device. That is not the same as cigarettes. This is an interaction between a mechanical device and the mouth and lung mucous membranes. It is completely different and it is dealt to the consumer as a benign process without INFORMATION OF THE INDUSTRY.

No one wants cigarettes to be popular. But, I think vaping is dangerous in it's current form and culture. 

If Trump wants to speak as the chosen one, he should address the Fermi Bubble.

No one has been able to explain it. Everyone wants to know why the black hole in our solar system is acting up, too.

Trump is the chosen one.

I am still trying to figure out if he believes he is Harry Potter. I don't know if he 'believes' in Voldemort, the one that cannot be spoken. Maybe Voldemort is still alive and Trump believes he needs to act.

Hedwig was at his Irish property at Christmas. I mean this. He has a thing.

If this his first attempt as being the chosen one, he really blew it.

Absolutely not! It is a slippery slope and religious bigotry.

I think it is about time to recognize that clergy are admiral people be they men or women.  They help people through difficult times in their spirituality. They need their autonomy in order to do that. When the USA begins demanding private disclosure by clergy, then it will be lawyers and journalists. 

Pediatricians need to be heard from when they speak to their patients. They are required by law to report any form of exploitation of a child. Children have far more contact with pediatricians and their staff than any other person in their lives from the time of birth. Health care includes mental health in children. Teachers are also required to report suspicions of abuse and exploitation.

In the case of Jeffery Epstein, it was the ESTEEM of women at a societial level that allowed him to victimize so may girls that became his recruiters. It is time to end the negative esteem of women in this society INCLUDING the fact they can make good decisions regarding their own bodies.

NO MORE SHAMING WOMEN.

The latest news about Robert Kraft is that the prosecutors are waiting for an appeal about the tape that proves his guilt.

September 4, 2019
By Pamela Mason

Pope Francis attends a session of The Protection Of Minors In The Church meeting in Vatican City on February 22 The Pope has called a summit of 190 Catholic Church leaders to combat the clergy sexual abuse scandal involving minors. 

Salt Lake City - Legislators (click here) in two Western states are pushing measures that would require clergy members to report confessions of child sex abuse to authorities.

State Sen. Jerry Hill of California and state Rep. Angela Romero of Utah want their states to join about a dozen others in treating members of the clergy the same as numerous other professions - including teachers, doctors and social workers - who are required to inform law enforcement when they learn a child has been abused....

I could not believe my ears today. Someone stated Barak Hussein Obama is half white/Caucasian.

Do not go there. I promise you, don't go there. Thomas Jefferson passed down his lineage to a slave. You want to start defaming a magnificent president that is a man of color? Go ahead.

That is racism.

Former President Barak Hussein Obama is a person of color. He is African American and grew up as a citizen of color. Enough!

I think the European Partners to the Iran Agreement need to be involved with these decisions.

The decision processes regarding relations between Israel and Iran has become unilateral between Trump and Netanyahu, rather than as a partner to other democratic powers. Europe will be effected by aggressive actions by Israel and has every right to be involved.

September 4, 2019

Israel is currently contemplating (click here) the possibility of a unilateral strike against Iran, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, and believes that U.S. President Donald Trump, unlike his predecessors George Bush or Barack Obama, is less likely to derail its efforts.

The Times investigation – which includes interviews with dozens of current and former American, Israeli and European officials – tracks American and Israeli policy regarding Iran over three administrations. It details how Israel came very close to attacking Iran in 2012, how Obama's administration developed its own military contingency plans and how the U.S. monitored Israel as Israel spied on Iran....                   

Some folks know how to take an evacuation seriously.

Coastal North Carolina was hit only a couple years ago by Hurricane Florence. There reality is legitimate and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Hurricane Dorian is too unpredictable. 

Below is the current map of the "National Weather Service." (click here) That "X" has the potential to form another storm within 48 hours. I really think Dorian is still unpredictable.

WEATHER UPDATE: Reminder (click here)
re. Evacuation & Emergency Communications

Sept. 3, 2019 -- 3:35 p.m.

The following message was issued to all UNCW students and employees via campus email and shared via social media channels. 

Dear Campus Community:

This is a reminder that campus is under a mandatory evacuation order as of 5 p.m. You must vacate campus by 5 p.m., without exception. Employees and students will be notified via email when the university has determined a date for campus operations and classes to resume. This information will also be shared via the homepage, a UNCWAlert text message (for all students and registered employees) and social media channels. (See below for additional information regarding emergency communications.)

Please remember to bring all valuables with you when you evacuate; this includes anything of monetary or sentimental value, anything that cannot be replaced, or anything you may need before campus reopens, including medications and other personal items. If you are traveling by car today or at any point during inclement weather, be sure to have a full tank of gas, a paper map, and cash, and to consult with official transportation resources like the NC Department of Transportation before heading to your destination. Campus parking and transportation updates can be found here....