The Pakistani do not want or need our military. Close the borders to Afghanistan and proceed in containing the Taliban and al Qaeda. Seek to destroy Bin Laden's haven while starving him and closing the borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Bring the troops home now!
Malik seeks Ulema helpStresses consensus against terror (click title to entry - thank you)
Staff Reporter
Karachi—Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said that there is need of consensus against terrorism, adding that no religion allows to kill innocent children.
He was talking to media after meeting with religious scholars Mufti Rafi Usmani and Mufti Taqi Usmani at Dar-ul-Uloom Korangi. The minister exchanged views with Ulema on terrorism and recent suicide attacks.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan was also present on the occasion.
Rehman Malik was of view that people need guidance of Ulema. After terrorist activities in Rawalpindi it has cleared that terrorists are not only enemy of Pakistan but also of the Muslims, he stated.On the occasion, Mufti Taqi Usmani said that they discussed openly with Interior Minister on every angle.
INP adds: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that people indulging in acts of terrorism are enemies of Pakistan and Islam and would be eliminated from the country. He was talking to media here after visiting Darul Uloom, Korangi on Sunday. The Minister was accompanied by Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat ul Ibad Khan, held detailed meeting with the management of the Darul Uloom, went around different section of the Jamia and met students. Rehman Malik, who is seeking backing of Ulema and Mushaikh to root out the menace of terrorism, said that the Government would benefit from the suggestions made by the Ulema to combat terrorism.
He said Religious, political and military leadership are in consensus to defeat terrorism....
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Bush is still in office, Gates needs to resign.
Erdoğan cold toward sending combat troops to Afghanistan (click here)
07 December 2009, Monday
EKREM DUMANLI ANKARA
WASHINGTON D.C
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed unwillingness to sending combat troops to Afghanistan in the wake of US President Barack Obama’s call on NATO allies to beef up troop numbers.
The prime minister was, however, warm to training the Afghan army. “We can open a center for training Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan. We can train one Afghan battalion in Turkey and another in Afghanistan. If Afghanistan calls for training its police officers, our police departments are ready,” Erdoğan stated. His remarks came during a question and answer session with Turkish journalists on Sunday during his flight to the US....
In less than a week, the Neocons in the nation and Bush's former Secretary have turned a surge and hand over to the Afghans into a forever war.
I don't think so.
Congress needs to deny funding and troops for an escalation in the war in Afghanistan ! The wars conducted under the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Gates White House are severely in question and we have no moral obligation or right to stay another day !
Unless. Of course. Obama wants to join them!
U.S. officials are stressing an eventual drawdown of American troops will be done gradually and in a manner that allows Afghan forces to assume security responsibilities
Iraq war inquiry sees fingers pointed at US (click here)
Friday, 4 December 2009
By Peter Biles
BBC world affairs correspondent
The Iraq inquiry has produced another week of compelling evidence.
We are beginning to understand how and why Iraq ended up in such a parlous state after the 2003 invasion.
A number of witnesses have pointed a finger of blame at the United States for the chaos that ensued.
Sir David Manning, Tony Blair's former foreign policy adviser, set the tone with a withering attack on the Americans for their post-war planning.
"The assumption that the Americans would have a coherent plan which would be implemented after the war, obviously proved to be unfounded," he said.
On the setting-up of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in 2003, Sir David said: "The perception I had is that ambassador Paul Bremer arrived with pretty much the Americanised plenipotentiary power."
What followed was the controversial decision to disband the Iraqi army and carry out a purge of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party....
Gates is a liar. Bin Laden is still alive !
Bin Laden 'seen in Afghanistan in early 2009' (click here)
20:45 GMT, Friday, 4 December 2009
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, Islamabad
A Taliban detainee in Pakistan claims to have information about Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts in January or February of this year.
His claims cannot be verified, but a leading American expert says his account should be investigated.
The detainee claims to have met Osama Bin Laden numerous times before 9/11.
He claims that in January or February he met a trusted contact who had seen Bin Laden about 15 to 20 days earlier in Afghanistan.
"In 2009, in January or February I met this friend of mine. He said he had come from meeting Sheikh Osama, and he could arrange for me to meet him," he said.
"He helps al-Qaeda people coming from other countries to get to the sheikh, so he can advise them on whatever they are planning for Europe or other places.
"The sheikh doesn't stay in any one place. That guy came from Ghazni, so I think that's where the sheikh was."...
'Dead wrong' (click here)
Eighteen months before the Senate report, the Silberman-Robb commission - set up by President Bush in early 2004 - had reported in no uncertain terms that US intelligence had been "dead wrong" in judging that Iraq had been developing WMD before the invasion.
Led by retired judge Laurence Silberman, the report was highly critical of intelligence failings, but it had attracted criticism from Mr Bush's opponents who had wanted it to report back before the November 2004 presidential election.
While it was not conceived as a backward-looking inquiry into the Iraq war, one of the most high-profile investigations of the conflict was the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group.
Set up by Congress in March 2006, the 10-member panel was tasked with assessing the situation on the ground in Iraq and coming up with recommendations.
It met or spoke to more than 170 individuals, including Iraq's leaders, President Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, ambassadors and other senior officials, analysts and media representatives from among Iraq's neighbours and the US.
In December 2006 it concluded the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating" - strongly urging a pull back of US forces once the situation allowed.
Meanwhile, within the US Congress itself, hundreds of witnesses have testified at scores of hearings on Iraq in recent years....
07 December 2009, Monday
EKREM DUMANLI ANKARA
WASHINGTON D.C
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed unwillingness to sending combat troops to Afghanistan in the wake of US President Barack Obama’s call on NATO allies to beef up troop numbers.
The prime minister was, however, warm to training the Afghan army. “We can open a center for training Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan. We can train one Afghan battalion in Turkey and another in Afghanistan. If Afghanistan calls for training its police officers, our police departments are ready,” Erdoğan stated. His remarks came during a question and answer session with Turkish journalists on Sunday during his flight to the US....
In less than a week, the Neocons in the nation and Bush's former Secretary have turned a surge and hand over to the Afghans into a forever war.
I don't think so.
Congress needs to deny funding and troops for an escalation in the war in Afghanistan ! The wars conducted under the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Gates White House are severely in question and we have no moral obligation or right to stay another day !
Unless. Of course. Obama wants to join them!
U.S. officials are stressing an eventual drawdown of American troops will be done gradually and in a manner that allows Afghan forces to assume security responsibilities
Iraq war inquiry sees fingers pointed at US (click here)
Friday, 4 December 2009
By Peter Biles
BBC world affairs correspondent
The Iraq inquiry has produced another week of compelling evidence.
We are beginning to understand how and why Iraq ended up in such a parlous state after the 2003 invasion.
A number of witnesses have pointed a finger of blame at the United States for the chaos that ensued.
Sir David Manning, Tony Blair's former foreign policy adviser, set the tone with a withering attack on the Americans for their post-war planning.
"The assumption that the Americans would have a coherent plan which would be implemented after the war, obviously proved to be unfounded," he said.
On the setting-up of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in 2003, Sir David said: "The perception I had is that ambassador Paul Bremer arrived with pretty much the Americanised plenipotentiary power."
What followed was the controversial decision to disband the Iraqi army and carry out a purge of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party....
Gates is a liar. Bin Laden is still alive !
Bin Laden 'seen in Afghanistan in early 2009' (click here)
20:45 GMT, Friday, 4 December 2009
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, Islamabad
A Taliban detainee in Pakistan claims to have information about Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts in January or February of this year.
His claims cannot be verified, but a leading American expert says his account should be investigated.
The detainee claims to have met Osama Bin Laden numerous times before 9/11.
He claims that in January or February he met a trusted contact who had seen Bin Laden about 15 to 20 days earlier in Afghanistan.
"In 2009, in January or February I met this friend of mine. He said he had come from meeting Sheikh Osama, and he could arrange for me to meet him," he said.
"He helps al-Qaeda people coming from other countries to get to the sheikh, so he can advise them on whatever they are planning for Europe or other places.
"The sheikh doesn't stay in any one place. That guy came from Ghazni, so I think that's where the sheikh was."...
'Dead wrong' (click here)
Eighteen months before the Senate report, the Silberman-Robb commission - set up by President Bush in early 2004 - had reported in no uncertain terms that US intelligence had been "dead wrong" in judging that Iraq had been developing WMD before the invasion.
Led by retired judge Laurence Silberman, the report was highly critical of intelligence failings, but it had attracted criticism from Mr Bush's opponents who had wanted it to report back before the November 2004 presidential election.
While it was not conceived as a backward-looking inquiry into the Iraq war, one of the most high-profile investigations of the conflict was the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group.
Set up by Congress in March 2006, the 10-member panel was tasked with assessing the situation on the ground in Iraq and coming up with recommendations.
It met or spoke to more than 170 individuals, including Iraq's leaders, President Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, ambassadors and other senior officials, analysts and media representatives from among Iraq's neighbours and the US.
In December 2006 it concluded the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating" - strongly urging a pull back of US forces once the situation allowed.
Meanwhile, within the US Congress itself, hundreds of witnesses have testified at scores of hearings on Iraq in recent years....
An ABC/Washington Post Poll showed that 50% of voters that are voting next year are 'looking around.'
In looking at several demographic polls this is the general concesus for Democrats:
"Solidly Democratic Races"
Wisconsin, Hawaii and Massachusetts
"Likely Democratic"
New York, California and North Dakota
"Leans Democratic"
Nevada, Arkansas and Colorado
"Toss Up States" - Color indicates 'favored'
Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Pennsylvania
Ohio, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kentucky, Florida
"Leans Republican"
Louisiana and North Carolina
"Likely Republican"
Iowa, Texas and Georgia
"Considered Solidly Republican"
Arizona, Kansas, South Dakota and South Carolina
The solidly Republican states aren't completely solid, in 2008 Arizona didn't vote as strongly for Kyl as they usually do and South Carolina has a wayward Governor. The point is a Democrat from any state has a good chance at winning their seats next year. The party and their grassroots need to get out the vote in the same effort as 2008. We can win and we can win with a good majority if we remain dedicated to bringing America back from the brink.
"Oh, yes we can."
Class Act - I would like to address the amendment to the health care bill that was defeated.
This is going to sound very insulting and I don't hate the elderly as someday I would be one, but, to put unnecessary burden on my children is not the plan I see for my life. Providing 'Home Care' for every aging American is unattainable and will bankrupt Medicare very quickly.
The Amendment to the Senate Health Care Bill has an abbreviation called "Class Act." I don't believe it is a 'class act,' I think it is elitist. The idea behind our new health care reform measure is to make American healthier at every age. I don't like the idea of warehousing human beings and that is why many years ago there was legislation that strongly regulated extended care facilities and focused on quality of life. It is those regulations we need to review for bolstering and it our society's priorities in wellness at all ages we need to address.
This is the United States of American, NOT the Waldorf Towers. We are primarily Middle Class folks OR at least should be and there is every indication the direction of the country under the leadership of President Obama and the majority Democrats are putting us back on a sustainable Middle Class path. I really wish we all weren't trying to be millionaires or billionaires, I find it quite disgusting actually. It sets us up for immoral values that ultimately deprives others of their quality of life in some socio-economic levels.
I am not saying those that have accumulated wealth should rid themselves of it, this is the country of opportunity and if their good fortune has brought them opportunity then it should be so. But, a strong Middle Class is the pride of the USA and it needs to maintain that value to insure the productivity of our country. There is a lot of pride to working a job and doing it right. There is a lot of pride to being part of a union that produces good products. It is true 'Amerikana' I am referring to.
A strong Middle Class IS the place where opportunity happens. It is the 'step' that is attainable for the poor. It is the place where possibility occurs and it is the place where small businesses find growth and opportunity. It is where the illiterate find education and opportunity. It is where every child is an equal. A strong Middle Class builds the wealth of this nation in a collective way that supplies our Federal and State governments and sustains our military. It is important and should be a place of pride to this country.
It is the health of the Middle Class that our National Health Care Reform Legislation is putting priority. It is ironing out the rough spots, bringing equity to the people that corporate CEOs have no interest in treating equal and it is addressing 'what is possible' and 'what is not.'The best idea that can come from this reform measure for 'aging' citizens is to stay healthy. Stay active. Stay involved. We know it is where the best quality of life occurs and it is where all Americans should strive to be. Being wheelchair bound should be avoided at any measure and for those that are, they might say how wonderful it would be to walk again.
We are coming into the age of 'The Baby Boomers.' There is no way this country can put a home health care professional at the bedside of every American as they become disabled or home bound. It is not possible. It is far better, as well, for people to be communal in settings where they have privacy and yet have interaction.
A recent experience with an aunt proved how much she needed to be cared for in a facility that provided her dignity for being able to manage and not be a burden to her family.
If I may?
She was married and a career woman for most of her life. She took a trip abroad about ten years ago and over a short period of time found herself ill with diagnosis after diagnosis. She deteriorated, became wheelchair and oxygen dependant. She lived at home with her husband, a retired State Policeman. He passed away at the age of 81. We loved him and her dearly and she still is a joy to all of us.
She lived in the house where she married and brought home her children. The backyard has a gate that lead to the home of her oldest daughter, married with children. One would think it the prefect 'set up' for aging parents. Right?
Two days after her husband was buried she called her children to her kitchen where they all enjoyed a meal together. A son, the oldest of the three and two daughters all brought 'pot luck' while the in-laws were home with the grandchildren that still might be living at home. Mind you, the oldest daughter frequented the house during the day and was sure her mother was doing well.
My aunt broke the news. She wanted to live in a facility where she could be alone and cared for by people that would see to her illness as well as her happiness. Her children, of course, fussed a bit, but reliquished control to her request. Within three days, her children toured several facilities nearby, brought all the information to her and when they decided on two, the staff social worker scame to see her at her home. She made the final decision.
Everyday she wakes to caregivers that assist her with her daily routine. She is seen when she needs to be seen by physicians or their assitants and she has medications brought to her regularly. The house is still there and furnished. I suspect it will be that way for a good long while. But, my aunt is happy. She telephones her siblings and those she call friends and she is visited frequently.
The point is that she feels pride in being able to have privacy while being cared for. She states her health is better and she never has any issues with her care that isn't addressed within short periods of time. She doesn't miss her family in the way most might think. She has 'her world' of her making and she allows them in to be family with no burdens and rare complaints.
It is basically a happy ending, except, we would love for her not to be ill at all. But, given her priorities in life and seeking privacy it provides a point of underastanding to be able to have a place in this country, with her family and feel she is important to many people that touch her life everyday.
The future of this country depends on 'fiscal stability' and strong, health people. It depends on caregiving that works for everyone and not just those that can afford it. Wheelchairs need to become obsolete and not because we as a country can't provide them, but, because they simply aren't necessary.
We have worked hard to stop people from smoking, drinking too much and now we need to fight the legacy of indulgence in food and 'being a couch potato' for an economy within reach of a telephone or 'net connection.' We need to return to activity and wellness and seek to live a high quality of life for as long as we can.
If the greatest country in the world can't achieve the highest standard of living for its people then we are making the worst statement about democracy we can make.
Democracy is not about indulgence. It is about living long and happy and healthy with dignity and self determination.
We need to be that country. Seeking indulgences of elitist priorities isn't what the USA is about and I feel we have been on the right and best path for a long time, we need to continue.
US House passes bill to ban the importation of Nuclear Waste from outside the USA
This is a picture from the Taipei Times of the waste awaiting transfer in Italy. Countries should first exploit every opportunity for 'Alternative/Renewable Energy.' The idea is to replace as much as possible of these forms of dangerous fuels including fossil fuels.
Bill HR 515 - click here for the roll call vote (click here). Republicans are the majority of those that opposed the vote and they are recorded in red and those in green didn't vote. Having an economy that puts 'peril' in our society is not an economy at all.
Considering this only became an issue in April of 2009 for the NRC, I think the House, in committee and otherwise, acted very quickly.
Gordon foreign waste ban passes committee vote (click title to entry - thank you)
Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:36 pm
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday approved Congressman Bart Gordon’s bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign radioactive waste. Gordon’s bill, the Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act, H.R. 515, would prevent foreign-generated radioactive waste from being processed in Tennessee and disposed in the U.S.
“We’re the only nation in the world that accepts the nuclear waste of other countries for disposal and incurs the responsibility of monitoring it for generations to come,” said Gordon. “I am pleased my colleagues on the Committee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and approved this bipartisan legislation. Today’s vote brings the RID Act one step closer to becoming law.”
Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. This would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. Permits to import and dispose radioactive waste from Mexico and Brazil are also pending. If these permits are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be sent to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah....
The material is put in plastic buckets and then wrapped in plastic bags in case there is a spill from the bucket while humans work with the darn stuff. It is then placed in metal barrels. That's safe? Not in my lifetime.
In April of 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a request from Italy to accept 20,000 tons of nuclear waste into Utah after it was first processed in Tennessee. The NRC had no mechanism to say no. They didn't have the authority to regulate imported waste when received by a processing facility in the USA.
If it was allowed, the waste would be coming my ship to ports in the USA and transported by truck to Tennesee and then to Utah.
The Democratic held majority in the House passed legislation on December 2, 2009 to stop any nuclear waste from entering the USA. 112 House Representatives voted against the bill and favored the importation of such waste and another 13 abstained from the vote. So, basically, 125 House Representatives didn't care about the dangers of such materials coming into our ports and across our roads. That is a significant issue to look at when they seek office again.
Yucca Mountain
Bill HR 515 - click here for the roll call vote (click here). Republicans are the majority of those that opposed the vote and they are recorded in red and those in green didn't vote. Having an economy that puts 'peril' in our society is not an economy at all.
Considering this only became an issue in April of 2009 for the NRC, I think the House, in committee and otherwise, acted very quickly.
Gordon foreign waste ban passes committee vote (click title to entry - thank you)
Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:36 pm
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday approved Congressman Bart Gordon’s bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign radioactive waste. Gordon’s bill, the Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act, H.R. 515, would prevent foreign-generated radioactive waste from being processed in Tennessee and disposed in the U.S.
“We’re the only nation in the world that accepts the nuclear waste of other countries for disposal and incurs the responsibility of monitoring it for generations to come,” said Gordon. “I am pleased my colleagues on the Committee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and approved this bipartisan legislation. Today’s vote brings the RID Act one step closer to becoming law.”
Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. This would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. Permits to import and dispose radioactive waste from Mexico and Brazil are also pending. If these permits are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be sent to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah....
The material is put in plastic buckets and then wrapped in plastic bags in case there is a spill from the bucket while humans work with the darn stuff. It is then placed in metal barrels. That's safe? Not in my lifetime.
In April of 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a request from Italy to accept 20,000 tons of nuclear waste into Utah after it was first processed in Tennessee. The NRC had no mechanism to say no. They didn't have the authority to regulate imported waste when received by a processing facility in the USA.
If it was allowed, the waste would be coming my ship to ports in the USA and transported by truck to Tennesee and then to Utah.
The Democratic held majority in the House passed legislation on December 2, 2009 to stop any nuclear waste from entering the USA. 112 House Representatives voted against the bill and favored the importation of such waste and another 13 abstained from the vote. So, basically, 125 House Representatives didn't care about the dangers of such materials coming into our ports and across our roads. That is a significant issue to look at when they seek office again.
Yucca Mountain
Bin Laden is death or in Somalia. Not likely to be in Somalia otherwise word would have been noted.
Probably cremated. Wasn't his son killed, not long ago? I sometimes entertain the thought of his being in Syria, but, that is probably more a 'taliban-like' element. Al Qaeda style bombing though. But, once one looks to Syria and Lebanon, then its Hamas and primarily Hezbollah, so the idea that Bin Laden is there and tolerated doesn't really make sense. They all have their own 'kings of violence.'
Pakistan has swept the tribal regions and he is not there. The President of Pakistan made that clear the other day.
We are used to 'remains' being evidence and that would give 'The West' peace of mind, but, in this case al Qaeda and Ayman al Zawahiri would do everything possible to hide his death.
Pakistan has swept the tribal regions and he is not there. The President of Pakistan made that clear the other day.
We are used to 'remains' being evidence and that would give 'The West' peace of mind, but, in this case al Qaeda and Ayman al Zawahiri would do everything possible to hide his death.
There is one thing that is true of the human body, it ages and when forced to live in primative conditions shortens its longevity. He's dead. One way of another we forced his death.
Explosion shakes Syrian security (click here)
A bus blast that killed three may allow Damascus to crack down, but it calls into question the effectiveness of its rule by force
The explosion that ripped through a bus of Iranian pilgrims in Damascus, killing at least three people, will send shock waves through Syria. Until recently Syrians were used to seeing such blasts on their television screens rather than on the streets of their own cities, which they considered a rare stable point in the Middle East.
The explosion will remind Syrians of a bomb attack last September and the assassination of Imad Mughniyah in 2008. All of this adds to a growing sense that Damascus is no longer immune from the carnage regularly seen in neighbouring Iraq and Lebanon....
I disagree with the premise that a member of al Qaeda is NOT a major player. I don't know they can be called anything else even when they carry no rank.
Bin Laden Son Reported Killed In Pakistan (click here)
by Mary Louise Kelly
July 22, 2009
U.S. officials believe Saad bin Laden — a son of Osama bin Laden — has been killed by an American missile in Pakistan.
Saad bin Laden reportedly spent years under house arrest in Iran before traveling last year to Pakistan, according to former National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.
It's believed he was killed by Hellfire missiles fired from a U.S. Predator drone sometime this year.
A senior U.S. counterterrorism official tells NPR that without a body to conduct DNA tests on, it's hard to be completely sure. But he characterized U.S. spy agencies as being "80 to 85 percent" certain that Saad bin Laden is dead.
The U.S. counterterrorism official says Saad bin Laden wasn't important enough to target personally — that he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
He was active in al-Qaida, but was not a major player, the official said. He was believed to be in his late 20s....
Saturday, December 05, 2009
"Morning Papers" - Its Orgins
The Rooster
"Okeydoke"
Published December 04 2009
Commission shoots down 5-pheasant limit (click here)
PIERRE — South Dakota’s bag limits for hunting pheasants will stay at three roosters daily and 15 in possession for the remainder of the 2009 season.The state Game, Fish and Parks Commission deadlocked Thursday on whether to increase the daily limit to five and the possession limit to 25. The vote was 4-3 in favor of the proposal. But a majority of at least five of the eight commissioners was needed for approval....
Published: Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009
Updated: Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009 12:38 AM
Federal, state officers to reveal details of cockfighting probe (click here)
By John Monk - The (Columbia) State
COLUMBIA (South Carolina)-- A federal grand jury has been looking into cockfighting in South Carolina, and federal and state law officers are set to reveal new details of their probe soon.
In early November, the grand jury indicted 21 people for felony animal fighting and illegal gambling at sites in Williamsburg and Lexington counties. Thirty-six others face state misdemeanor charges of attending cockfights.
Three local men were among the 36 charged in connection with the undercover cockfighting sting: James Bryant Rayfield, 67, of Clover; Bobby Joe Green, 50, of Chester; and Eddie Randal Morgan, 60, of Edgemoor. All were charged in Lexington County for cockfights near Swansea....
The Phillipines - They call it a democracy and of course it could never happen here.
The USA is far too civilized for anything like this to go on. This is exactly what Bush's NRA wants for the USA. They want every citizen armed to prevent violence.
Really? That's what I always said, let's arm the public and say, 'The hell with the government.' Didn't you?
Teabaggers Bring Guns To Cohen Health Care Event (click here)
By: Jane Hamsher Saturday August 8, 2009 4:00 pm
According to accounts from the Steve Cohen health care event in Memphis Tennessee, the teabaggers are showing up armed:
Steve Steffens at Left Wing Cracker: "Randy Wade is to be complimented as well; he arranged for security. There were actually idiots who brought guns (legally, it seems they had carry permits, but why did they feel they needed them?). Yes, you read that right, and Randy made them all check in with the Sheriff’s Deputies on hand....
I am sure this exhibition of munition prowess has to do with child raising somewhere, but, darn if I can figure it out. Must have to do with pitbulls and lipstick.
Philippines: No more 'special' gun permits for civilians (click here)
Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa has asked the military and other law enforcement agencies to stop issuing permits for civilians to carry firearms outside their homes. The action is being pursued under the National Firearms Control Program to regulate the proliferation of guns, he added.
A soldier keeps watch over a military checkpoint in Ampatuan, in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, last week. Philippine authorities, under intense public pressure to deal with the country's worst election massacre ever, have arrested a member of a powerful political family and two of his militiamen. (Aaron Favila/Associated Press)
Philippine officials have relieved from duty more than a thousand police officers in a southern province where 57 people were massacred last week in the worst example of election-related violence in the country's history.
The entire police force of the province of Maguindanao, consisting of 1,092 officers, has been removed and will be replaced by personnel from other regions to ensure an impartial investigation of the killings, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Wednesday.
"We are replacing those that have been there for a long time and may be perceived to be partial to one side or the other," Puno told reporters.
A handful of police officers, as well as a member of a powerful family in the region, have been linked to the Nov. 23 massacre, whose victims included the wife, family and supporters of Ismael Mangudadatu, vice-mayor of the province's Buluan township.
Really? That's what I always said, let's arm the public and say, 'The hell with the government.' Didn't you?
Teabaggers Bring Guns To Cohen Health Care Event (click here)
By: Jane Hamsher Saturday August 8, 2009 4:00 pm
According to accounts from the Steve Cohen health care event in Memphis Tennessee, the teabaggers are showing up armed:
Steve Steffens at Left Wing Cracker: "Randy Wade is to be complimented as well; he arranged for security. There were actually idiots who brought guns (legally, it seems they had carry permits, but why did they feel they needed them?). Yes, you read that right, and Randy made them all check in with the Sheriff’s Deputies on hand....
I am sure this exhibition of munition prowess has to do with child raising somewhere, but, darn if I can figure it out. Must have to do with pitbulls and lipstick.
Philippines: No more 'special' gun permits for civilians (click here)
Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa has asked the military and other law enforcement agencies to stop issuing permits for civilians to carry firearms outside their homes. The action is being pursued under the National Firearms Control Program to regulate the proliferation of guns, he added.
A soldier keeps watch over a military checkpoint in Ampatuan, in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, last week. Philippine authorities, under intense public pressure to deal with the country's worst election massacre ever, have arrested a member of a powerful political family and two of his militiamen. (Aaron Favila/Associated Press)
Philippine officials have relieved from duty more than a thousand police officers in a southern province where 57 people were massacred last week in the worst example of election-related violence in the country's history.
The entire police force of the province of Maguindanao, consisting of 1,092 officers, has been removed and will be replaced by personnel from other regions to ensure an impartial investigation of the killings, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Wednesday.
"We are replacing those that have been there for a long time and may be perceived to be partial to one side or the other," Puno told reporters.
A handful of police officers, as well as a member of a powerful family in the region, have been linked to the Nov. 23 massacre, whose victims included the wife, family and supporters of Ismael Mangudadatu, vice-mayor of the province's Buluan township.
President Obama hears the call of Greenpeace - "Obama, Lula, Sarkozy - Make history, Save the Climate"
Human Induced Global Warming is not EXCLUSIVELY about temperature. The Geophysics of Climate Change due to Human Induced Global Warming dictates fluctuations in temperatures in abnormal patterns. That is being noted at every corner of this planet. Without question. The ice caps are melting down and the oceans are heating. There isn't anything else to say. This blog contains years of indisbutable facts. Complaining about temperature measurements is meaningless and it always has been. The fact El Nino has existed every year for well over a decade speaks to 'its own truth.'
Oscillations that belong to Human Induced Global Warming are 'extremes' that seek a 'center of inertia.' In other words, areas that are 'out of balance' are compensating in the physics available to the planet. That is why there is extreme cold before extreme heat. The lack of 'consistent' climate triggers all kinds of reactions of the Earth's physics. Once the lowest extreme 'sets in' that will trigger the 'opposite' in 'oscillation.' The entire time, the physics of Earth is trying to 'rebalance' and find 'inertia.' The problem with Climate Change from Human Induced Global Warming is that Earth's physics cannot find the point of inertia and continues to use its 'ice reserves' as it is 'blind sided' by CO2 levels and heat accumulation.
The reason global climate scientists 'breached' their own standards, IF THEY DID, is because the 'reasoning' behind the need to bring governments to 'act' became barbarically balanced on the 'stupidity of politics' rather than logic of science.
It would be better to properly record all the data and explain the findings. I promise even after all the facts were examined there would still be concrete reasons for the conclusion of Climate Change due to Human Induced Global Warming.
Earth is a water planet. It demonstrates 'qualities' of water. The water molecule is 'ionic' and oscillates in any capacity, even that of ice. It is all there. Absolutely. I don't doubt it for a moment. A planet can't do anything except demonstrate the qualities of the 'elements' it is composed. Earth's climate oscillates due to its water composition. It is why biotic life exists here.
I am not afraid of 'the truth.' All the findings will reflect the qualities of a planet in dire distress. We are measuring in large number the 'sixth extinction.' All the facts are there. There isn't anything anyone can do to dispute it. Earth is repeating with burgeoning evidence the dynamics of The Permian Extinction. Humans are suppose to be able to reason and react to emergencies and not just ignore them. This is a climate emergency and if we do this in time, there won't be huge dramatic deaths as there was during the Premian and we will have succeeded. Isn't that which we want?
Hacked climate e-mail rebutted by scientists (click here)
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A group of the nation's top scientists defended research on global climate change Friday against what they called a politically motivated smear campaign designed to foster public doubt about irrefutable scientific facts.
The allegations came after skeptics seized upon a series of hacked e-mails at England's University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit as evidence of a climate change hoax.
The scientists from two major research centers, a national think tank and NASA, claimed during a telephone news conference that the e-mail exchanges were taken out of context in an attempt to influence pending greenhouse gas emissions policies.
It is, they said, a cynical, blatantly dishonest effort to cloud the fact that the world is now confronting a huge, potentially disastrous climactic shift.
"There is so much information that tells us the planet has been warming," said Gavin Schmidt, a climate modeler at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "No independent study is going to come up with anything other than what we've already concluded."...
Greenpeace has a place at the Environmental Table. They have serious messages and use extremist measures to attract attention from a world that rather wish they would go away along with the species and plant they seek to protect.
Japan: giant jellyfish sink ship (01:42) (click here for video)
Swarms of giant jellyfish are seriously threatening Japan's fishing industry, with global warming a possible cause. 01/12/09 (December 1, 2009)
Why do I give more credit to leaders of nations to know what they are dealing with, than a bunch of criminal hackers with the sole purpose of discrediting the Copenhagan Summit? Why do you suppose?
Call to action on eve of Copenhagen talks (click here)
STEPHANIE PEATLING, MATTHEW BENNS
December 6, 2009
Prome PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has called for action at the Copenhagen climate talks, saying Australia needs to do more than ''cross its fingers and hope for the best'' in talks that are seen as vital for the future of the planet.
His call came as world leaders led a chorus of condemnation against ''flat-earth'' climate change sceptics who were using a series of hacked emails in Britain to try to derail the United Nations-sponsored talks, which begin tomorrow.
''The Australian Government can either advocate Australia's national interest at this global conference or we can sit back and watch it unfold on CNN and hope for the best,'' a spokesman for Mr Rudd said yesterday....
This is the picture of the air quality in Mumbai. Go ahead and tell me the emissions from China and India aren't a point of concern. Go ahead.
India pledges to cut 'carbon intensity' (click here)
DEAN NELSON, NEW DELHI
December 5, 2009
INDIA has pledged to cut its ''carbon intensity'' by a quarter by 2020 after international pressure in the run-up to next week's climate change summit in Copenhagen.
The plans to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to fuel its economic growth were welcomed by environmental groups as the first commitment Delhi has made to lessen its dependence on ''dirty'' sources of energy.
The Indian initiative, presented in parliament by the country's top environmental official, means India has now joined the United States, China, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa in making a domestic emissions pledge before the Copenhagen talks.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stressed the cuts would be made in the country's own self-interest but would not be internationally binding....
It is best the United Nations investigate the 'break in' to a university that resulted in stolen emails and exploitive rhetoric.
Obama delays trip to climate summit (click title to entry - thank you)
December 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - -- Increasingly optimistic that decisions by China and India will yield a breakthrough in climate negotiations, President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will take a more active and dramatically timed role at this month's climate summit in Copenhagen.Obama will push back his visit to Dec. 18, the conference's final scheduled day, putting him in better position to help broker an agreement, the White House announced.Separately, the U.N. will conduct its own investigation into e-mails leaked from a leading British climate science center, a senior U.N. climate official said.
Greenpeace tente l'ascension de l'Assemblée nationale
by liberation
Oscillations that belong to Human Induced Global Warming are 'extremes' that seek a 'center of inertia.' In other words, areas that are 'out of balance' are compensating in the physics available to the planet. That is why there is extreme cold before extreme heat. The lack of 'consistent' climate triggers all kinds of reactions of the Earth's physics. Once the lowest extreme 'sets in' that will trigger the 'opposite' in 'oscillation.' The entire time, the physics of Earth is trying to 'rebalance' and find 'inertia.' The problem with Climate Change from Human Induced Global Warming is that Earth's physics cannot find the point of inertia and continues to use its 'ice reserves' as it is 'blind sided' by CO2 levels and heat accumulation.
The reason global climate scientists 'breached' their own standards, IF THEY DID, is because the 'reasoning' behind the need to bring governments to 'act' became barbarically balanced on the 'stupidity of politics' rather than logic of science.
It would be better to properly record all the data and explain the findings. I promise even after all the facts were examined there would still be concrete reasons for the conclusion of Climate Change due to Human Induced Global Warming.
Earth is a water planet. It demonstrates 'qualities' of water. The water molecule is 'ionic' and oscillates in any capacity, even that of ice. It is all there. Absolutely. I don't doubt it for a moment. A planet can't do anything except demonstrate the qualities of the 'elements' it is composed. Earth's climate oscillates due to its water composition. It is why biotic life exists here.
I am not afraid of 'the truth.' All the findings will reflect the qualities of a planet in dire distress. We are measuring in large number the 'sixth extinction.' All the facts are there. There isn't anything anyone can do to dispute it. Earth is repeating with burgeoning evidence the dynamics of The Permian Extinction. Humans are suppose to be able to reason and react to emergencies and not just ignore them. This is a climate emergency and if we do this in time, there won't be huge dramatic deaths as there was during the Premian and we will have succeeded. Isn't that which we want?
Hacked climate e-mail rebutted by scientists (click here)
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A group of the nation's top scientists defended research on global climate change Friday against what they called a politically motivated smear campaign designed to foster public doubt about irrefutable scientific facts.
The allegations came after skeptics seized upon a series of hacked e-mails at England's University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit as evidence of a climate change hoax.
The scientists from two major research centers, a national think tank and NASA, claimed during a telephone news conference that the e-mail exchanges were taken out of context in an attempt to influence pending greenhouse gas emissions policies.
It is, they said, a cynical, blatantly dishonest effort to cloud the fact that the world is now confronting a huge, potentially disastrous climactic shift.
"There is so much information that tells us the planet has been warming," said Gavin Schmidt, a climate modeler at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "No independent study is going to come up with anything other than what we've already concluded."...
Greenpeace has a place at the Environmental Table. They have serious messages and use extremist measures to attract attention from a world that rather wish they would go away along with the species and plant they seek to protect.
Japan: giant jellyfish sink ship (01:42) (click here for video)
Swarms of giant jellyfish are seriously threatening Japan's fishing industry, with global warming a possible cause. 01/12/09 (December 1, 2009)
Why do I give more credit to leaders of nations to know what they are dealing with, than a bunch of criminal hackers with the sole purpose of discrediting the Copenhagan Summit? Why do you suppose?
Call to action on eve of Copenhagen talks (click here)
STEPHANIE PEATLING, MATTHEW BENNS
December 6, 2009
Prome PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has called for action at the Copenhagen climate talks, saying Australia needs to do more than ''cross its fingers and hope for the best'' in talks that are seen as vital for the future of the planet.
His call came as world leaders led a chorus of condemnation against ''flat-earth'' climate change sceptics who were using a series of hacked emails in Britain to try to derail the United Nations-sponsored talks, which begin tomorrow.
''The Australian Government can either advocate Australia's national interest at this global conference or we can sit back and watch it unfold on CNN and hope for the best,'' a spokesman for Mr Rudd said yesterday....
This is the picture of the air quality in Mumbai. Go ahead and tell me the emissions from China and India aren't a point of concern. Go ahead.
India pledges to cut 'carbon intensity' (click here)
DEAN NELSON, NEW DELHI
December 5, 2009
INDIA has pledged to cut its ''carbon intensity'' by a quarter by 2020 after international pressure in the run-up to next week's climate change summit in Copenhagen.
The plans to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to fuel its economic growth were welcomed by environmental groups as the first commitment Delhi has made to lessen its dependence on ''dirty'' sources of energy.
The Indian initiative, presented in parliament by the country's top environmental official, means India has now joined the United States, China, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa in making a domestic emissions pledge before the Copenhagen talks.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stressed the cuts would be made in the country's own self-interest but would not be internationally binding....
It is best the United Nations investigate the 'break in' to a university that resulted in stolen emails and exploitive rhetoric.
Obama delays trip to climate summit (click title to entry - thank you)
December 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - -- Increasingly optimistic that decisions by China and India will yield a breakthrough in climate negotiations, President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will take a more active and dramatically timed role at this month's climate summit in Copenhagen.Obama will push back his visit to Dec. 18, the conference's final scheduled day, putting him in better position to help broker an agreement, the White House announced.Separately, the U.N. will conduct its own investigation into e-mails leaked from a leading British climate science center, a senior U.N. climate official said.
Greenpeace tente l'ascension de l'Assemblée nationale
by liberation
The leadership in these countries are not sophisticated enough to handle large construction of anything.
Those responsible need to restore the forests.
The same principles in Equator that are causing cancer and destroying the land because of irresponsible behaviors by international companies cause these issues.
They take advantage of the unsophisticated nature of the people and their leaders, exploit what they can, take their money and run, leaving behind devastation and huge problems the treasuries of these countries can't solve.
The last thing the Belizean people need is more filthy water and no means to handle it.
A tragedy is unfolding in Belize’s breathtaking Macal River valley, until recently one of the most unspoiled places remaining in this hemisphere. The tragedy that is overtaking this tropical Central American rainforest is utterly needless and, with your help, we can stop further damage.
As you are reading this letter, pollution is spewing down the river from a Canadian-owned Chalillo dam. The owner of the dam, Fortis, a multinational corporation based in Newfoundland and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, refuses to accept responsibility for the massive sediment discharges, blaming the orange-brown contaminants on activities upstream of the dam. This claim is preposterous, as you can see in these photographs from our colleagues at the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy. It shows clear water wending its way down the Macal River to the dam. Immediately downstream of the dam, the water becomes orange and polluted....
They take advantage of the unsophisticated nature of the people and their leaders, exploit what they can, take their money and run, leaving behind devastation and huge problems the treasuries of these countries can't solve.
The last thing the Belizean people need is more filthy water and no means to handle it.
A tragedy is unfolding in Belize’s breathtaking Macal River valley, until recently one of the most unspoiled places remaining in this hemisphere. The tragedy that is overtaking this tropical Central American rainforest is utterly needless and, with your help, we can stop further damage.
As you are reading this letter, pollution is spewing down the river from a Canadian-owned Chalillo dam. The owner of the dam, Fortis, a multinational corporation based in Newfoundland and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, refuses to accept responsibility for the massive sediment discharges, blaming the orange-brown contaminants on activities upstream of the dam. This claim is preposterous, as you can see in these photographs from our colleagues at the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy. It shows clear water wending its way down the Macal River to the dam. Immediately downstream of the dam, the water becomes orange and polluted....
Nuclear Weapons for Belize
China is proliferating nuclear material in the world. I don't think so.
How is it that one of the world's poorest nations that thrives on tourism, can't manage to find clean potable water or sanitation for their people, but, can afford a nuclear power plant?
These are hugely wrong priorities and this kind of irresponsible use of nuclear material has to STOP !
Belize tourism has not been good in the last year either, due to the banking crisis and the belt tightening of tourists. And Belize has some of the most beautiful and spectacular forests with endangered species everywhere, but, yet overlooked for its precious contribution to keeping Earth green. The country is running deficits it didn't think it would ever see. Now, they are talking with Taiwan followed by China and this is a high priority?
I don't think so.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation STARTS with providing RESPONSIBLE energy solutions for small impoverished nations, so we don't end up with another Iran in the Western Hemisphere.
Belize needs 'clean energy' provided by solar, to bring energy to small villages in the south, and off shore wind turbines where applicable for the bigger cities in the north. Nuclear power plants are NOT the answer for Belize.
They also have a 'border war' with Guatemala that has yet to be resolved, but, they are trying. As a result, that unstable border allows drug traffic, corruption and violence. It has only been lately that Belize City has started to rid itself of corruption. It would be helpful if Guatemala stopped the violence on their side of the border as well. Both these countries need assistance in protecting their forests and carbon sinks while providing valuable services to their people, improving their economy, bringing healthy judicial practices while supporting an improved quality of life that we can all live with.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
BELIZE STUDIES NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OF 500 MEGAWATTS
Typical 500 megawatt nuclear power plant that Belize is contemplating installing to ensure a reliable electrical supply for the growing population.
SPAIN - Garona 500 megawatt nuclear power plant was off line in April this year 2009, for refueling. During start up, it was disconnected from the grid, while a safety valve had to be replaced. It is now working again. SPAIN has nine nuclear power plants of different sizes....
http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2009/11/belize-studies-nucleur-power-plant-of.html
Monday, November 9, 2009B
ELIZE NEEDS THE NEW SMALL CHINESE 100 TO 300 MEGAWATT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - HOW TO GET IT?
BELIZE NEEDS THE NEW CHINESE 100 TO 300 MEGAWATT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - HOW TO GET IT?
SHANGHAI -- China will start building its first large nuclear-power reactor with home-developed "fourth generation" technology in 2012-13, a senior engineer involved in developing the system said.The Experimental Fast Reactor will have a designed annual power-generating capacity of 800 megawatts, and is due to come online around 2020, according to Xu Mi, chief engineer with the China Institute of Atomic Energy's Fast Reactor Experiment Department.
http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2009/11/belize-needs-new-small-chinese-100-to.html
How is it that one of the world's poorest nations that thrives on tourism, can't manage to find clean potable water or sanitation for their people, but, can afford a nuclear power plant?
These are hugely wrong priorities and this kind of irresponsible use of nuclear material has to STOP !
Belize tourism has not been good in the last year either, due to the banking crisis and the belt tightening of tourists. And Belize has some of the most beautiful and spectacular forests with endangered species everywhere, but, yet overlooked for its precious contribution to keeping Earth green. The country is running deficits it didn't think it would ever see. Now, they are talking with Taiwan followed by China and this is a high priority?
I don't think so.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation STARTS with providing RESPONSIBLE energy solutions for small impoverished nations, so we don't end up with another Iran in the Western Hemisphere.
Belize needs 'clean energy' provided by solar, to bring energy to small villages in the south, and off shore wind turbines where applicable for the bigger cities in the north. Nuclear power plants are NOT the answer for Belize.
They also have a 'border war' with Guatemala that has yet to be resolved, but, they are trying. As a result, that unstable border allows drug traffic, corruption and violence. It has only been lately that Belize City has started to rid itself of corruption. It would be helpful if Guatemala stopped the violence on their side of the border as well. Both these countries need assistance in protecting their forests and carbon sinks while providing valuable services to their people, improving their economy, bringing healthy judicial practices while supporting an improved quality of life that we can all live with.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
BELIZE STUDIES NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OF 500 MEGAWATTS
Typical 500 megawatt nuclear power plant that Belize is contemplating installing to ensure a reliable electrical supply for the growing population.
SPAIN - Garona 500 megawatt nuclear power plant was off line in April this year 2009, for refueling. During start up, it was disconnected from the grid, while a safety valve had to be replaced. It is now working again. SPAIN has nine nuclear power plants of different sizes....
http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2009/11/belize-studies-nucleur-power-plant-of.html
Monday, November 9, 2009B
ELIZE NEEDS THE NEW SMALL CHINESE 100 TO 300 MEGAWATT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - HOW TO GET IT?
BELIZE NEEDS THE NEW CHINESE 100 TO 300 MEGAWATT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - HOW TO GET IT?
SHANGHAI -- China will start building its first large nuclear-power reactor with home-developed "fourth generation" technology in 2012-13, a senior engineer involved in developing the system said.The Experimental Fast Reactor will have a designed annual power-generating capacity of 800 megawatts, and is due to come online around 2020, according to Xu Mi, chief engineer with the China Institute of Atomic Energy's Fast Reactor Experiment Department.
http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2009/11/belize-needs-new-small-chinese-100-to.html
New Precedent - People can apply for COBRA benefite retroactively.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act told people they could recapture their COBRA benefits and for nine months the Federal Government would help them pay 65% of their premium. That is a new precedent for COBRA. In other words, even though Aetna has kicked people of the rolls of the insured, those people should be able to reapply for the same insurance once the legislation goes through for reform of this industry.
The insurance companies like Aetna are purging their rolls now because once the reform bill goes through they won't be able to do it later. It has a lot to do with profits, but, mostly as a punishment to America for even conceiving of reform. Aetna's CEO likes the bonuses that come with the job and believes he is doing the best he can to insure those bonuses by purging their membership of individuals that won't enhance their bottom line AFTER the legislation is passed.
President Obama made new precedent when he modified the COBRA laws when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed and people could 'go back' their health care of choice.
COBRA is strong law, but, President Obama made it stronger.
What has to occur with the passing of the Reform Legislation is to apply this new statue in that people having been expunged from Health Care Insurance Companies membership, should have the right to 'go back' and re-enroll if their loss occurred during the legislative period starting with the campaign of President Obama.
It was at that point when President Obama was a candidate that the nation started to talk seriously about reform and more than likely the insurance companies started to purge their memberships that diminish their profits.
See, it would be easy to do this if they were in small numbers. Aetna is purging their membership in large numbers so it was a stark reality to the people of the USA. But, each company across the country needs to be evaluated from the beginning of the Obama campaign ( AND Hillary Clinton's announcement as well. She as First Lady was organizing reform and it was part of her agenda for change in the USA as well.) as to their rate hikes and their epunging of members. Some health care insurers may have been far more covert than this and it needs to be realized the damage that was artificially created to insure their 'green bottom line' in the future.
I still believe to add enforcement to the laws of the reform legislation there has to be a 'trigger to Single Payer' to prevent the health care insurance folks from causing havoc and hardship in ruthless methodologies, in whatever form they take.
It is too late to turn back. If Aetna and those like Aetna thinks they can brutalize Americans to stop reform they have another thing coming. This is a democracy and we won't put up with abusive practices of private industry.
EVER !
We aren't going to allow 'the tail to wag the dog' anymore. Absolutely not !
The mixed message from American Health Insurance Companies: "We want your money, NOT your problems."
AETNA AWARDS GRANTS TOTALING APPROXIMATELY $340,000 TO 17 CHICAGO AREA ORGANIZATIONS (click here)
CHICAGO, October 19, 2007 – Aetna (NYSE: AET) and the Aetna Foundation announced that they have just completed their 2007 local grant-making process and awarded grants totaling nearly $340,000 to 17 non-profit organizations in the Chicago area. The amounts and recipients of the grants are:...
This is exactly the problem with American Health Care. They don't care about subscribers, they care about profit and FAVORABLE image. Aetna is only the first to act punitively against Americans, who will be next?
All Americans that can, should apply to Aetna, to see if they are accepted and why or why not. (click here) Then report it to the Executive Branch, the Senate and House and the Labor, Commerce and Treasury Department as to the underhanded tactics of Aetna.
Aetna don't really want you to choose and use your plan, it is all faux sentiment.
The legislature and ultimately the President of the USA needs to insure a good public option AND 'a trigger' to a Single Payer System with expectations of instituting it.
This is going to happen. The health insurance companies will spin their wheels doing all sorts of nasty stuff to their subscribers and the American public in general to make everyone regret tackling health care reform. That being the case the USA government needs to have 'in place' a Single Payer System when the insurance companies become to big for their britches. AT THE VERY LEAST, all tax incentives to donate for reductions in tax burdens needs to be repealsed by this industry alone. Why? Because it is all image making when they should be paying the bills of Americans. It is a mismanaged industry and we all know it.
No different than Wall Street. If they borrowed monies from the USA Treasury then they need to stop taking tax refunds for their donations AND their pay bonuses. If they want to exist in this country in this methodolgy, that's fine, they simply can't take tax cuts and advantages unless they are first doing 'good work' for the USA economy. I mean it.
Insurance Companies should not have to advertise, they will receive mandates to change and are expected to institute them. They will have more subscribers than they know what to do with once the legislation goes through. Advertising will become a frivilous need as they won't have to shop for subscribers without medical problems, they will run to the doorsteps of companies with good plans. They waste the American peoples' money by allowing such companies to build a faux image rather than carry out their responsibilites. No more tax advantages or tax cuts so long as the industry members act in ruthless ways that kill Americans and make them sicker.
December 4th, 2009 1:49 PM
Aetna Forcing 600,000-Plus To Lose Coverage In Effort To Raise Profits (click title to entry - thank you)
By Sam Stein / Huffington Post
Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations.
In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts.
"The pricing we put in place for 2009 turned out to not really be what we needed to achieve the results and margins that we had historically been delivering," said chairman and CEO Ron Williams. "We view 2010 as a repositioning year, a year that does not fully reflect the earnings potential of our business. Our pricing actions should have a noticeable effect beginning in the first quarter of 2010, with additional financial impact realized during the remaining three quarters of the year."...
This looks all to familiar.
The lawsuits are meaningless except for those receiving the wrath of those still alive but injured and traumatized and the families and friends of those that died. We all should be learning from each other. These tragedies are not exclusive to the USA.
In this Feb. 20, 2003 photo released by the Rhode Island Attorney Generals office, nightclub worker Scott Vieira, right front, and Daniel Biechele, right, tour manager for the band Great White, appear near the stage in the Station nightclub, in West Warwick, R.I., as foam behind the stage bursts into flames.
Great White offers $1M to settle club fire suits (click title to entry - thank you)
100 people died in Rhode Island blaze sparked by band’s pyrotechnics
updated 4:44 p.m. ET, Tues., Sept . 2, 2008
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Members of the 1980s rock band whose pyrotechnics sparked a nightclub fire that killed 100 people have agreed to pay $1 million to survivors and victims’ relatives, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
The settlement offer from Great White is the latest stemming from the February 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick. Roughly $175 million has now been offered by dozens of defendants to settle lawsuits over the blaze, which also injured more than 200 people and was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history....
In this Feb. 20, 2003 photo released by the Rhode Island Attorney Generals office, nightclub worker Scott Vieira, right front, and Daniel Biechele, right, tour manager for the band Great White, appear near the stage in the Station nightclub, in West Warwick, R.I., as foam behind the stage bursts into flames.
Great White offers $1M to settle club fire suits (click title to entry - thank you)
100 people died in Rhode Island blaze sparked by band’s pyrotechnics
updated 4:44 p.m. ET, Tues., Sept . 2, 2008
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Members of the 1980s rock band whose pyrotechnics sparked a nightclub fire that killed 100 people have agreed to pay $1 million to survivors and victims’ relatives, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
The settlement offer from Great White is the latest stemming from the February 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick. Roughly $175 million has now been offered by dozens of defendants to settle lawsuits over the blaze, which also injured more than 200 people and was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history....
Friday, December 04, 2009
Afghanistan Opium - It is good to know Iran is not interested in propagating the trade of drugs.
...Still, the Iranian government has in the past been able to put aside its anti-Americanism to cooperate with the U.S. on Afghanistan. (click title to entry - thank you) After the 9/11 attacks, Washington and Tehran worked quietly together: Iran had helped train, arm and finance many of the fighters and commanders of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, which worked with the U.S. to overthrow the Taliban and drive out al-Qaeda. James Dobbins, the Bush Administration's first envoy to Afghanistan after 9/11, worked with Iranian officials to set up the post-Taliban government. But relations soured when President George W. Bush balked at a broader relationship with Iran and included Tehran in his rhetorical "Axis of Evil."...
If President Karzai wants his people to be prosperous and productive he has to recuit enough soldiers to fight this war and secure the country. Otherwise. The global community will be forced to close of the borders of Afghanistan and begin sanctions the country will be unable to bear.
I really love 'No Fly Zones' / 'No Go Zones' with drones. Don't you? No? I think it is a great idea. It keeps the Taliban from emigrating to Pakistan and moving their opium further than the Afghan border. It is about time NATO set up its own "No Go Zones." No White Phosphorus.
On the Front Lines in the Battle Against the Taliban (click here)
Ambush (click above link)
A soldier with the Afghan National Army, Second Weapons Company, Third Battalion, repels Taliban fire.
The USA's economy is turning around. Don't stop now.
Siemens AG - Global Enterprise (click here)
Due to higher, more consistent wind speeds at sea, offshore wind turbines can generate substantially more energy than onshore wind turbines. Offshore wind farms may reach capacity factors in the range of 50%. Even considering the planning constraints relating to shipping lanes, fishing, bird migration, and the like, the world has abundant space for offshore projects....
Siemens' Service Departments (click here)
Siemens Wind Power offers wind turbine service all over the world through our wind power service offices or through Siemens' global network of service offices. Our service departments are always up to date with the most recent developments, and they are able to provide service at very short notice, always subject to the highest priority to quality and safety.
BRANDE, Denmark (main office)
BREMEN, Germany
NEWTOWN, Wales, UK
WICKSHAW, Scotland, UK
HOUSTON, Texas, USA
The service departments carry out service on 4,000 turbines all over the world. Furthermore, in collaboration with customers and business partners, the service of an additional 1,300 turbines is supported.
Wind turbine instillation.
...A total of 43% of Americans say the national economy is getting worse, which is the highest in American Research Group monthly polling since June and is up from 25% in September. And 9% say their household financial situations are getting better, which is down from 16% in August, 14% in September, and 12% in October. (click here)...
Wind turbine installation.
Wind turbines being transported.
Wind turbine assembly plant.
...Main Street received a pleasant surprise on Dec. 4 (click title to entry - thank you): The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in November, with the jobless rate edging lower to 10.0%. Some market players were worried that job losses would actually exceed the median estimate of economists of 114,000—and that the unemployment rate would actually move as high as 10.5%, according to market "whisper" numbers reported by Action Economics....
Due to higher, more consistent wind speeds at sea, offshore wind turbines can generate substantially more energy than onshore wind turbines. Offshore wind farms may reach capacity factors in the range of 50%. Even considering the planning constraints relating to shipping lanes, fishing, bird migration, and the like, the world has abundant space for offshore projects....
Siemens' Service Departments (click here)
Siemens Wind Power offers wind turbine service all over the world through our wind power service offices or through Siemens' global network of service offices. Our service departments are always up to date with the most recent developments, and they are able to provide service at very short notice, always subject to the highest priority to quality and safety.
BRANDE, Denmark (main office)
BREMEN, Germany
NEWTOWN, Wales, UK
WICKSHAW, Scotland, UK
HOUSTON, Texas, USA
The service departments carry out service on 4,000 turbines all over the world. Furthermore, in collaboration with customers and business partners, the service of an additional 1,300 turbines is supported.
Wind turbine instillation.
...A total of 43% of Americans say the national economy is getting worse, which is the highest in American Research Group monthly polling since June and is up from 25% in September. And 9% say their household financial situations are getting better, which is down from 16% in August, 14% in September, and 12% in October. (click here)...
Wind turbine installation.
Wind turbines being transported.
Wind turbine assembly plant.
...Main Street received a pleasant surprise on Dec. 4 (click title to entry - thank you): The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in November, with the jobless rate edging lower to 10.0%. Some market players were worried that job losses would actually exceed the median estimate of economists of 114,000—and that the unemployment rate would actually move as high as 10.5%, according to market "whisper" numbers reported by Action Economics....
Morgan Freeman to Screen 'Invictus' for Nelson Mandela (click here)
Imagine getting a phone call from Nelson Mandela asking to screen a movie that honors him? Wow.
Wednesday, 15 August, 2001, 15:38 GMT 16:38 UK
Mandela 'responding well to treatment' (click here)
...According to the statement, seven doctors met on 3 August to review Mr Mandela's treatment.
They decided that due to the good response, the same radiotherapy would be continued until the end of its seven-week course.
The tumour is said to be "microscopic" and should not reduce Mr Mandela's life expectancy....
December 3, 2009
A TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT (click here)
Robben Island inmates used soccer to survive, overcome old SA practices
By Michael LewisBig
www.BigAppleSoccer.com
Editor
ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa -- The ball, as they say, is round. And because of that, anything can happen.And on Robben Island, something did. The impossible happened.The inmates of that insidious prison managed to convince the powers that be to allow them to play soccer one day a week, giving themselves a self-made life-preserver to keep their sanity and their spirits up....
The USA does not need new sources of oil and gas, it needs to develop alternatives. I don't see Canada abandoning us anytime soon.
A moratorium should be placed on further exploration of fossil fuels in the USA. The companies are using extreme measure to exploit these sources and it is simply time to stop. The Alternatives are being investigated and begun and the USA needs to know how it stands with Altervatives before further exploitation of any 'distant' reserves is taken.
Leave everything where it is, there is every indication those reserves, to whatever capacity they exist belong to future generations and not us. We have over extended our use of fossil fuels in the last century and basically didn't explore alternatives feeling entitlement to finite resources that belong to future generations of Americans. Earth and a global community is paying the price for exploitive USA Energy policies.
Future generations of Americans have a right to this country's resources no different than the current generations do. Greed has replaced justice.
An energy answer in the shale below? (click title to entry - thank you)
New technology opens vast stores of natural gas, and the land rush is on
...This corner of the state is at the forefront of an old-fashioned land rush that has implications far beyond Conklin, N.Y. Oil and gas companies are vying to stake out territory where they can tap natural gas trapped in shale rock. Just a few years ago, the industry didn't have the technology to unlock these reserves. But thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and methods of fracturing rock with high-pressure blasts of water, sand and chemicals, vast gas reserves in the United States are suddenly within reach....
Leave everything where it is, there is every indication those reserves, to whatever capacity they exist belong to future generations and not us. We have over extended our use of fossil fuels in the last century and basically didn't explore alternatives feeling entitlement to finite resources that belong to future generations of Americans. Earth and a global community is paying the price for exploitive USA Energy policies.
Future generations of Americans have a right to this country's resources no different than the current generations do. Greed has replaced justice.
An energy answer in the shale below? (click title to entry - thank you)
New technology opens vast stores of natural gas, and the land rush is on
...This corner of the state is at the forefront of an old-fashioned land rush that has implications far beyond Conklin, N.Y. Oil and gas companies are vying to stake out territory where they can tap natural gas trapped in shale rock. Just a few years ago, the industry didn't have the technology to unlock these reserves. But thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and methods of fracturing rock with high-pressure blasts of water, sand and chemicals, vast gas reserves in the United States are suddenly within reach....
Thursday, December 03, 2009
This is no small matter. All those involved in seating guests and allowing people into the State Dinner should testify. It's only right.
...Rogers' late father, Roy Glapion, (click here) was president of the prestigious Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, New Orleans' oldest black Mardi Gras krewe. She was Queen of Zulu, an honor usually extended to a debutante or young woman deemed to be socially important, in 1988 and 2000. After college at Wellesley and business school at Harvard, Rogers and her then-husband, John Rogers (president of Ariel Capital Management) cut a high-profile swath through Chicago's glittery gratin. And she's regularly cited as one of the country's best (and okay, most adventurously) dressed women.
All great preparation for her current job at the White House.
But Rogers' style and glamour are a double-edged sword, one that might have drawn a little political blood over the past few days after the gate-crasher snafu....
I am please President Obama feels very sage in his home at 1600 Pennsylvania Blvd., but there is a limit to being generous when it comes to securing himself and the First Lady and their daughters.
The White House, the Senate and House need to come to understand how this all occurred. It can be an upsetting set of circumstances that should be taken very seriously. All the facts need to be known and I don't see that one set of 'particulars' are any more or less important than another.
Basically, what went right and what didn't.
This isn't that difficult.
There is absolutely no reason for blood sport. This isn't about anything except understanding the issues as they presented themselves.
I would hope everyone at the State Dinner would be eager to solve this mystery. I would hope.
The Beluga Whale has critical habitat protected after a severe drop in population.
The current population of Beluga Whales is very low, only 300 individuals. That number runs the risk of genetic loss and diversity. The Beluga whales of Cook Inlet must be protected. There is little time to waste.
Habitat protection proposed for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale (click title to entry - thank you)
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 10:31
THE United States federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today took an important step toward protecting critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the Cook Inlet beluga whale in Alaska by proposing to designate more than 3,000 square miles of the endangered whale’s habitat for protection.
The overdue proposal comes after a 2007 petition by various local and national groups to NMFS to list the beluga under the ESA, and on the heels of a formal notice of intent to sue by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Once habitat is designated, federal agencies are prohibited from taking any actions that may “adversely modify” it. Species for which critical habitat has been designated have been found to be more than twice as likely to be recovering, and less than half as likely to be declining, as those without it.
“NMFS has clearly relied on the best available science to identify and designate the habitat needed to give the Cook Inlet beluga whale a fighting chance at survival,” said marine mammal biologist Craig Matkin, Executive Director of the North Gulf Oceanic Society.
In October 2008, NMFS listed the whale as endangered over the objections of then-governor Sarah Palin. The listing occurred following petitions and litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and local and national organizations. However, rather than designate critical habitat for the beluga at the time of listing as required by the Endangered Species Act, NMFS deferred habitat protection for a year. That year came and went with no action by NMFS, and on October 29, 2009, CBD formally notified the agency that it would file a lawsuit to force the overdue designation.
“If we quickly act to designate and protect the critical habitat of the Cook Inlet beluga, this highly imperiled whale has a real chance of recovery,” said Rebecca Noblin, attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Anchorage office. “A species as critically imperiled as the Cook Inlet beluga whale should not have to endure further delay before its habitat is truly protected.”
Today’s proposal triggers a public comment period and likely public hearings before the rule is finalized and takes legal effect.
“Cook Inlet beluga whales are one of the most endangered populations of marine mammals in the world,” said Taryn Kiekow, staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project. “The decision to designate critical habitat is long overdue and absolutely necessary to preserving and protecting this unique population from further harm.”
The Cook Inlet beluga whale is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population whose numbers have plummeted in recent decades. Recent surveys show the Cook Inlet beluga whale’s population now hovers between 300 and 400 animals, down from an estimated population of approximately 1,300 whales in the 1980s. The Cook Inlet beluga whale is one of five populations of beluga, or white whales, in Alaska.
“Historic data shows that ESA listings and healthy economies go hand in hand, said Toby Smith, Executive Director of the Alaska Center for the Environment. “This habitat designation will bring about the balance we need to promote truly responsible development while protecting one of Alaska’s most popular wildlife icons.”
The original decline of the Cook Inlet beluga was likely caused by unregulated harvests, but the population has failed to rebound since hunting was curtailed in 1999, indicating that other factors likely are interfering with its recovery....
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Local Time: 11:51 AM AKST (GMT -09)
Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W
Temperature :: 39 °F
Conditions :: Scattered Clouds
Windchill :: 33 °F
Humidity :: 70%
Dew Point :: 30 °F
Wind :: 9 mph from the SSE
Pressure :: 30.18 in (Rising)
Visibility :: 10.0 miles
UV :: 0 out of 16
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 5000 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation :: 33 ft
12/1/09
The Native American whale hunt should be banned. The children, especially, should not be exposed to these high levels of toxins. It is a matter of health care policy and public concern and not native American rights.
...Alaska Native beluga whale subsistence hunt at Point Lay, Alaska (Chukchi Sea). With the assistance of the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, specimens from this population of beluga whales have been archived by AMMTAP. Samples of blubber from these animals have been analyzed by NIST and DFO Canada (D. Muir) for PCB's and chlorinated pesticides; liver samples have been analyzed by NIST for 35 elements, including: mercury, methyl mercury, selenium, cadmium, silver, arsenic, copper, and zinc. (This photo is from the collection of G. Carroll, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Barrow, AK)
Habitat protection proposed for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale (click title to entry - thank you)
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 10:31
THE United States federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today took an important step toward protecting critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the Cook Inlet beluga whale in Alaska by proposing to designate more than 3,000 square miles of the endangered whale’s habitat for protection.
The overdue proposal comes after a 2007 petition by various local and national groups to NMFS to list the beluga under the ESA, and on the heels of a formal notice of intent to sue by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Once habitat is designated, federal agencies are prohibited from taking any actions that may “adversely modify” it. Species for which critical habitat has been designated have been found to be more than twice as likely to be recovering, and less than half as likely to be declining, as those without it.
“NMFS has clearly relied on the best available science to identify and designate the habitat needed to give the Cook Inlet beluga whale a fighting chance at survival,” said marine mammal biologist Craig Matkin, Executive Director of the North Gulf Oceanic Society.
In October 2008, NMFS listed the whale as endangered over the objections of then-governor Sarah Palin. The listing occurred following petitions and litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and local and national organizations. However, rather than designate critical habitat for the beluga at the time of listing as required by the Endangered Species Act, NMFS deferred habitat protection for a year. That year came and went with no action by NMFS, and on October 29, 2009, CBD formally notified the agency that it would file a lawsuit to force the overdue designation.
“If we quickly act to designate and protect the critical habitat of the Cook Inlet beluga, this highly imperiled whale has a real chance of recovery,” said Rebecca Noblin, attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Anchorage office. “A species as critically imperiled as the Cook Inlet beluga whale should not have to endure further delay before its habitat is truly protected.”
Today’s proposal triggers a public comment period and likely public hearings before the rule is finalized and takes legal effect.
“Cook Inlet beluga whales are one of the most endangered populations of marine mammals in the world,” said Taryn Kiekow, staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project. “The decision to designate critical habitat is long overdue and absolutely necessary to preserving and protecting this unique population from further harm.”
The Cook Inlet beluga whale is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population whose numbers have plummeted in recent decades. Recent surveys show the Cook Inlet beluga whale’s population now hovers between 300 and 400 animals, down from an estimated population of approximately 1,300 whales in the 1980s. The Cook Inlet beluga whale is one of five populations of beluga, or white whales, in Alaska.
“Historic data shows that ESA listings and healthy economies go hand in hand, said Toby Smith, Executive Director of the Alaska Center for the Environment. “This habitat designation will bring about the balance we need to promote truly responsible development while protecting one of Alaska’s most popular wildlife icons.”
The original decline of the Cook Inlet beluga was likely caused by unregulated harvests, but the population has failed to rebound since hunting was curtailed in 1999, indicating that other factors likely are interfering with its recovery....
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Local Time: 11:51 AM AKST (GMT -09)
Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W
Temperature :: 39 °F
Conditions :: Scattered Clouds
Windchill :: 33 °F
Humidity :: 70%
Dew Point :: 30 °F
Wind :: 9 mph from the SSE
Pressure :: 30.18 in (Rising)
Visibility :: 10.0 miles
UV :: 0 out of 16
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 5000 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation :: 33 ft
12/1/09
The Native American whale hunt should be banned. The children, especially, should not be exposed to these high levels of toxins. It is a matter of health care policy and public concern and not native American rights.
...Alaska Native beluga whale subsistence hunt at Point Lay, Alaska (Chukchi Sea). With the assistance of the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, specimens from this population of beluga whales have been archived by AMMTAP. Samples of blubber from these animals have been analyzed by NIST and DFO Canada (D. Muir) for PCB's and chlorinated pesticides; liver samples have been analyzed by NIST for 35 elements, including: mercury, methyl mercury, selenium, cadmium, silver, arsenic, copper, and zinc. (This photo is from the collection of G. Carroll, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Barrow, AK)
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