A Challenge for #Occupy - Voter Registration that is otherwise impossible.

Jim Crow has returned to some states in the USA in the way of a poll tax. The states are making a legitimate run as inhibiting people that usually vote Democratic to vote in 2012. There are a variety of venues for the alienation of voters from their BIRTH RIGHT, but, one of the most egregious states is Georgia. Literally, the Georgia legislature has made it nearly impossible to register unless the voter does so in person and even then they will obligated to bring photocopies of themselves.

In Georgia, the new laws state a photo identification has to accompany the voter registration. So, how does an organization attempting to register voters without taking them to a city or county building do that?
It seems to me if #Occupy wants to accelerate their cause and make their footprint count registering voters is a good idea. If I was faced with such a challenge, a non-profit status would be good, seeking funding, taking donations and then planning a way to carry out the voting registration requirements as the new laws dictate as expeditiously as possible.

Above is an iPhone or cell phone or digital camera that took a picture of a check. With a vehicle that is carrying a portable printer or photo processor a voter registration in Georgia could be taken along with a picture of the required photo ID of the voter and processed to attach it to the registration form. I hesitate to believe the digital photos could wait until they could be processed and then attached to the registration because there is a greater chance of error. But, if the printer of the photograph were at the place where the registration was being taken, all the requirements could be completed at once.

I believe voter registration, especially on college campuses, is consistent with the #Occupy vision, purpose and mission. It solves the problem of human rights violations in the USA as it defeats the return of Jim Crow. The states attempting to disenfranchise voters have passed hideous laws, but, they can be served if they aren't overturned before November 2012.

The #Occupy organizations that already have their 501(c)3 have a better start then the organizations that have achieved that standard yet, but, I am confident there is funding available. I wish everyone luck. It might be interesting to check in at local election headquarters to say hello and be sure everything is in place to facilitate voting including 'free rides' to the polling places. OR. Absentee ballots delivered to residents that are unable to travel and want to vote. There is a lot be done before November 2011.
...Despite the real progress (click titel to entry - thank you) that has been made in the United States towards eliminating the legacy of Jim Crow, as the ACLU and other civil rights/human rights organizations have documented, racial and ethnic minorities -- and especially peoples of African descent (i.e., black Americans) -- "continue to face intentional, structural, and de facto forms of discrimination which manifest in unequal access to quality education, housing, health services, and employment, as well as electoral disfranchisement and discrimination in the criminal justice system." For example, recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that 36 percent of black children are living in poverty, the highest rates of any racial group (by comparison, 33 percent of Hispanic children and 12 percent of white children are living in poverty)....

The methane is also the problem with fracking.

It is easy for the petroleum industry to point at its fracking fluid as a means of distraction from the ENTIRE problem.  I am quite confident the petroleum industry will pander to the EPA and attempt to change the content of the fracking fluid to satisfy the legitimate dangers these chemicals cause to human health, but, that fracking fluid alone is not the problem.  The fracking operation and its products and by-products are as much the problem.

The fracking fluid is only the beginning of the problem.  When the fracking fluid enters the ground and contaminates ground water and aquifers it also is melting rock and soil.  The COMPONENTS of the MELTED rock and soils also become fluid and enter the ground water, too. 

Then the fracking operation reaches the methane there is a rush of the gas to the surface.  Methane will travel as a gas along the path of least resistance.  The methane released from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is under pressure and it is a lot of pressure.  The land above the methane is over a mile and a half deep, that provides a lot of pressure to force the gas out of the deep earth chamber where it was contained.  So what occurs is what is noted in this video.  As a flow of methane is released through an open garden hose the volume of the methane increases as time goes by because the path of least resistance is under growing pressure from previously blocked routes. 

The man in this video states at the end he can't even put the flame out.  That is due to the ever increasing volume of methane finding its path out of containment.  If he let this burning go on long enough the flame would increase until it reached its capacity to discharge at the end of the garden hose.  Then the garden hose would explode either under pressure due to the increased volume of methane it contained or becaue the volume of gas would become so great it would then be inside the hose opening of the hose itself melting the metal and the hose and causing failure of the integrity of the garden hose.  As far as I am concerned this gentleman was lucky the ignited methane didn't travel back into the hose and into the well head to really cause some damage to both he, his land and his home and all those he loves in it.

This is ridiculous.  No one should have to live with this kind of danger in their water supply, cistern or no cistern.

When large volumes of ice melt off glaciers and icefield the land under it rebounds upward.

This is confirmation there is global warming that is causing huge shifts in Earth's climate.

In case the word 'confirmation' is alien, then the word PROOF should mean something!


SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A 2010 spike (click here) in the melting of ice cover in Greenland caused a large part of the island's bedrock to lift almost an inch, a U.S. researcher says.

A network of 50 GPS stations measured the uplift as the ice loss was accelerated in southern Greenland by 100 billion tons, Ohio State University researcher Michael Bevis said....

I would not take any of this lightly.  Ice sheets, glaciers and ice fields all contribute to a cooler troposphere.  As fresh water melts into the North Atlantic the ocean circulations change. 

Why Does the Greenland Ice Sheet Matter? (click title to entry - thank you)
The Greenland Ice Sheet blankets 81 percent of Greenland Island. This monstrous ice slab stretches 2,480 kilometers (1,540 miles) long and up to 750 kilometers (465 miles) wide. The ice sheet is so big it would stretch from Key West, Florida, to 100 miles beyond Portland, Maine, covering a swath as wide as from Washington, D.C., to Indianapolis, Indiana. It’s 80 percent as big as the entire United States east of the Mississippi River. It’s not only huge, it’s also thick—an average of 2.3 kilometers (1.6 miles) thick. It contains roughly 8 percent of all of Earth’s fresh water….

At any point in time does the Petroleum Industry have a conscience?

Endangered species, a country trying to fight a drug war and the lousy petroleum industry makes it easier for the cartels to travel through the jungle. 

 

The oil derricks don't belong there.  I wish the American petroleum industry would respect the sovereignty of countries like Belize.  Their jungles and species protections are vital to their tourism industry.  Belize is just beginning to recover from the 2008 economic crash.  This year saw better tourism than any year since 2008 and now this.  The country doesn't need it !

 

This article is appearing in "Mongobay.com" a travel sight that promotes tourism. 

 

...These are seismic lines, (click title to entry - thank you) cut on the orders of US Capital Energy, and the normally silent Temash and Sarstoon rivers are buzzing with river traffic as their workers are transported to cut new lines. The comfra palms are protected as their fruit provide food for the large, cow-like peccary, but they, in their herds of 50-60, have deserted the area since the oil company commenced its explorations.

We trek through the jungle for several hours, crossing the only known low-lying sphagnum moss bog in Central America, before arriving at our rendezvous on the Temash River. The seismic lines are cut clear to the river’s edge – this is another infringement of the regulations which mandated leaving a ‘buffer’ of rainforest, but makes our departure far easier – the mangroves abutting the river present a major barrier to those seeking to enter or leave the rainforest, particularly those in possession of illegal rosewood.

Making the dense, frequently impassable jungle into a network of straight paths with access to the rivers poses a danger that has already been borne out on the lines where cutting work has been completed and which now lie silent; the previous patrol discovered new trails branching off these seismic lines to newly felled hardwood stumps. Many lines lead directly to the Guatemalan border – the home of the many armed gangs who enter the park to poach resources, and equipped as they are with radios, can now escape more easily from the Belizean authorities....

I believe the young man stated he is from Iowa.

The environmental assessment of the Keystone Pipeline was corrupt. The GOP actually believes corruption is good and this is more proof.

Alberta Oil Sands 1984

...The department allowed TransCanada, the company seeking permission to build the 1,700-mile pipeline from the oil sands of northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas, to solicit and screen bids for the environmental study. At TransCanada’s recommendation, the department hired Cardno Entrix, an environmental contractor based in Houston, even though it had previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a “major client” in its marketing materials....

TransCanada also stated, in compliance with Canadian environmental standards, they were restoring the areas where the open pit mining was occurring after the sand was removed.  There was a 60 minutes program about it.  They lied.  NASA has a complete set of pictures of the site in Alberta and there is absolutely no restoration.  If that is what TransCanada called restoration, then they speak a different language then I do.

TransCanada is also having troubles already, but, hey they ain't nothing to worry about.  The Republicans are remiss, they don't have 'environment' in their vocabulary when it comes to safeguarding the nation's farmland, any conservation concerns or health.

Alberta Oil Sands 2011, where is there restoration that returns the region back to its origianal state?  There is none!

TransCanada Shuts Pipeline After Troubles With Power (click here)

By DAN FROSCH

Published: November 10, 2011

The company proposing a controversial oil pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the Gulf Coast had a related pipeline shut down twice this week after it experienced power problems. The company, TransCanada, said that its Keystone pipeline, which runs from Alberta to Cushing, Okla., went down for three hours on Tuesday after a Canadian utility that powers the pipeline dealt with shortages....

I can see it now, this thick sludge is moving through a huge pipeline and the entire system loses power.  The sludge turns to glue and is backed up into Canada.  Then what has to be done?  Dismantling of the pipeline, millions of dollars of expense, destruction of land surrounding the pipeline as the entire length has to be opened and the thick and probably hardened sludge has to be removed with heavy equipment.  Is that oil we need?  No, for a lot more reasons than that.  But, do Repubicans care?  No.  They simply see it as a crony issue and they demand it is moved along so they get more money for their political ambitions.

...Because it takes energy to mine and separate oil from the sands, (click here) oil sands extraction releases more greenhouse gases than other forms of oil production. The mines shown in the image emitted more than 20 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2008— a product of both oil production and electricity production for the mining operation. The effort produced the equivalent of 86 to 103 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every barrel of crude oil produced. By comparison, 27 to 58 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted in the conventional production of a barrel of crude oil....

Republicans are corrupt to the core and if this doesn't illustrate that than I don't know what will.  They don't care about people, they care about money!

EPA has found problems with ground water in Wyoming hydraulic fracking technique.

Besides groundwater pollution there is visual pollution.  That is ugly compared to the landscape in the background. 
"W"hy?

...A U.S. (click title to entry - thank you) Environmental Protection Agency draft finding that it may have detected groundwater pollution resulting from a controversial technique that plays a huge role in modern oil and gas development isn't settled science yet...

This has absolutely nothing to do with politics.  The petroleum industry was turned loose by the Bush/Cheney regime to carry out any type of invasive extraction of oil and gas without any envronmental controls.  I want the petroleum industry to tell American this is a surprise.  It isn't and the industry knows it isn't.  It is the crudest industry on the face of the Earth and they are destroying the balance of the troposphere besides.

The petroleum industry is about punching holes in the land and allowing noxious chemicals rise to the surface.  There is no high level technology, the industry has more problems than a bus load of pregnant nuns and it always has.

Give me a break, we heard words like, "Junk Shot" and "Top Hat."  What was so difficult in developing a bulk head for the Macondo well?  That technology should have been in place a long time ago before offshore drilling was ever permitted in USA waters.  Now, the American people are supposed to believe the science behind hydraulic fracturing is as sophisticated and careful as it comes.  I don't think so.  There is no sound science behind the technology and the industry has covered it up with Public Relation campaigns that lie and deceive because they can so long as everyone is kept naive.

This is sound evidence to the negligent and greed driven directives of the petroleum industry.  Measurements DON'T LIE even though the industry does.  Now an entire aquifer is contaminated, how wonderful it that?

Gas-Fracking Chemicals Detected in Wyoming Aquifer, EPA Says (click here)

Dec 8, 2011 3:50 PM ET By Jim Efstathiou Jr.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said for the first time it found chemicals used in extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing in a drinking-water aquifer in west-central Wyoming.

Samples taken from two deep water-monitoring wells near a gas field in Pavillion, Wyoming, showed synthetic chemicals such as glycols and alcohols “consistent with gas production and hydraulic-fracturing fluids,” the agency said today in an e- mailed statement....

So, now what exactly is in the aquifer now?

Ethylene glycol

Prevents scale deposits in the fracking pipe - Used in Automotive antifreeze, household cleansers, deicing, and caulk.

I put that in my coffee everyday.  Only trace amounts though so it keeps my pipes clean.

Isopropanol

Used to increase the viscosity\of the fracture fluid - Used in glass cleaner, antiperspirant, and hair color

Proppant

Allows the fissures to remain open so the gas can escape - Used in drinking water filtration and play sand

Sodium or potassium carbonate

Maintains the effectiveness of other components, such as cross linkers - Used in washing soda, detergents, soap, water softener, glass and ceramics

Ammonium bisulfite

Removes oxygen from the water to protect the pipe from corrosion - Used in cosmetics, food and beverage processing, water treatment. 

After all who needs oxygen in the water?  H2O.  Yeah.  Anyone ever test this mess as a mixture to find out what THE MIXTURE does to the human body?  This is highly organic compounds.  I guarantee if these chemicals were introduced on a regular basis in combination as they are found in ground water after fracking it would result in some very sick people.  I do believe there are incidents 'on the books' already in regard to deteriorated health conditions.  That is what this does.  The chemicals interact with body chemistry and eventually kills people.  It sure as heck doesn't improve longevity.

Potassium chloride

Creates a brine carrier fluid - Used in low sodium table salt substitute

Potassium chloride is not a benign agent in the body.  High levels of potassium is very dangerous.  So, while table salt substitute is used as a food product, high amounts of it is not good for human nervous system, especially the heart conduction pathways.  The part that generates the heart beat.

Citric Acid

Prevents precipitation of metal oxides - used as food additive; food and beverages; lemon juice

Guar gum

Thickens the water to suspend the sand - Used as thickener used in cosmetics, baked goods, ice cream, toothpaste, sauces, and salad dressing

Yuck.

Petroleum Distilates

“Slicks” the water to minimize friction - Used in make-up remover, laxatives, and candy

Oh, yum-yum, just what I wanted in my water, more petroelum distillates.

The toxicity of petroleum distillates (click here) and other hydrocarbons affects the respiratory system. Aspiration of small amounts of these chemicals directly into the lung, or into the lung during vomiting of an ingested chemical, can cause chemical pneumonia, pulmonary damage, and death. Petroleum distillates with low viscosity, such as gasoline, kerosene, and mineral seal oil, possess the greatest potential for aspiration.

All household products that contain 10 percent or more of petroleum distillates, or benzene, toluene, xylene, or turpentine, are required to have hazard warnings by regulations under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

Borate salts

Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases - Used in laundry detergents, hand soaps and cosmetics

Polyacrylamide

Minimizes friction between fluid and pipe - Used in water treatment, soil conditioner

I don't like it in my water treatment either. 

Sodium Chloride

Allows a delayed break down of the gel polymer chains - It is table salt.

Heart condition suffers beware of the water.
　
N, n-Dimethyl formamide

Prevents the corrosion of the pipe - Used in pharmaceuticals, acrylic fibers and plastics

Glutaraldehyde

Eliminates bacteria in the water - Used as disinfectant; sterilizer for medical and dental equipment

And last but not least, the chemicalS that make fracking possible.  It DISSOLVES the rock and releases the methane.

  

Acids 
Helps dissolve minerals and initiate presssure in rock (pre-fracture)  - Used in swimming pool cleaner

There is nothing benevolent about these chemicals.  It is a known fact when they are in the drinking water people suffer a great deal after the water has been ingested.  They are long term health issues and they can be fatal.  The petroleum industry likes to point to OTHER USES of these chemicals in products most Americans can relate to, but, the DOSAGE over time is the problem.  They are all dangerous in the repeated expose to THE INSIDE of the body. 

The Landing Gear is up. It was up when it crashed.

The drone is dead.

These Bush Era projects were never cheap, were they?

...McCaskill, (click title to entry - thank you) in a letter this week to health Inspector General Daniel J. Levinson, said that Siga's product "is reported to be more expensive and has a shorter shelf-life" than the nation's standard smallpox vaccine. McCaskill's letter referred to a report by the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 13, which revealed unusual steps taken in awarding the biodefense contract to Siga, whose controlling shareholder is Ronald O. Perelman, a longtime Democratic Party donor...

I take it this Bush Era Project is about a product that is similar to Tamiflu in its development.  I don't know that Tamiflu is all that effective.  I know it was a product viewed as important during the Swine Flu outbreak, but, I don't recall it being important enough for everyone to have some in their medicine cabinet.  It sure didn't help in saving lives, maybe prevention.

Girl infected with smallpox. Bangladesh, 1973.
In ordinary type smallpox the bumps are filled with a thick, opaque fluid and often have a depression or dimple in the center. This is a major distinguishing characteristic of smallpox

I know I am grateful to have been spared such a disease when I received a vaccination.  The new drug is being developed as a Bush Era concern for an outbreak in the USA, but, if it sincerely is effective the use can be global.  I don't know off hand if the UN has a worldwide vaccination program, my guess is no.

But, McCaskill is correct, the program needs to be addressed before it is ever implimented.  The initial project is $433 million, so before all that awarded to a company or companies to put into production the effectiveness needs to be looked into.  I hope the drug is what it is supposed to be.  It would be a minor miracle drug for many people.  There are hearings next week by an FDA Advisory Panel to take testimony about it.

The really unfortunate part is if this medication is all it is supposed to be now politics is entering the scene as to the composition of the Board of Directors or something.  It is better to know the facts before the money is spent, but, my guess is this is not an empty promise.  The FDA has its responsibility to determine the benevolence and effectiveness of the drug.  Senator McCaskill was correct in bring it before the public so it receives the scrutiny it should.

In all honesty when a company is encouraged to spend development dollars on a cutting edge technology and then abandoned by the USA government after it is perfected, that is hardly a prudent policy.  The USA is experiencing a sincere shortage of vital IV drugs and if the industry is insulted further by denied success of a viable treatment for smallpox, it will discourage the industry all the more to venture into development in the first place.  I hope the investigation and the FDA hearing places the R&D in a good light for the effort put forth, but, it needs to be known to work before manufacturing begins on a large scale.

It is not unusual for the USA Government to stockpile medications in case of a national emergency.  I think Potassium Iodide is one the government keeps handy.  The military has more stuff they inject into bodies than Carter has little liver pills.

Eighty percent of children that contract the disease die from it.  Smallpox also causes blindness.  There are several variants of the virus as well.  The medication may not work on all of them.  The virus is airborne and more or less a communicable disease.

...In 1967, (click here) when WHO launched an intensified plan to eradicate smallpox, the "ancient scourge" threatened 60% of the world's population, killed every fourth victim, scarred or blinded most survivors, and eluded any form of treatment....

See that, it has been so long since Smallpox was even discussed I had forgotten the darn stuff was once eradicated.

...Through the success of the global eradication campaign, smallpox was finally pushed back to the horn of Africa and then to a single last natural case, which occurred in Somalia in 1977. A fatal laboratory-acquired case occurred in the United Kingdom in 1978. The global eradication of smallpox was certified, based on intense verification activities in countries, by a commission of eminent scientists in December 1979 and subsequently endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 1980....

So, I guess there is good reason to reconsider the expenditure of the production of the medication, but, there is the disincentive of having companies respond to requests of the USA government when asked to do so.

Surveillance of smallpox infection is probably easier than for any other infectious disease. A distinctive rash is produced (see above) which is wholly characteristic in the great majority of cases. The rash is most dense over the face and hands – unclothed and readily visible portions of the body.

How many more of these projects exist?  They all seem to run somewhere in the neighborhood of a half a billion to carry out.  Interesting number, but, then Bush/Cheney sent something like $68 billion to Baghdad in case on a air transport for the first infusion.  So, the billion number became common place during that administration.  I just find it odd there is this chronic dollar value attached to these programs.

Duration of protection following vaccination

Vaccination usually prevents smallpox infection for at least ten years.
If symptoms appear, they are milder and mortality is less in vaccinated than in nonvaccinated persons.
Even when immunity has waned, vaccinated persons shed less virus and are less likely to transmit the disease.

So, the 'concept' behind this medication development is that if there is WMD of Smallpox released into the USA there would be a treatment for it because people are no longer vaccinated for it.  Hm.  I guess it was necessary to explore this possibility. 

I am wondering if all the surveillance equipment is off now or is the CIA still monitoring Iran?

Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinal drone

It looks like a UFO.  According to Iran they stole the spy plane out of the sky.  With the look of the wheels on this one it had some capacity, huh?  It is white to hide it in the sky.  Looking from underneath it would blend with the clouds, etc.   So, Iran wants the world to believe they have found a way to invade the radio waves of the USA drone program.  Well, then why isn't the darn thing flying?

It damage.  Its fairly obvious it crashed which speaks to its continued operation and component integrity.  The wheels are probably off it or sincerely damaged that it would look like it sincerely crashed. 

I hope the USA got the information it was looking for before it went down.  I like the skulls in the blue field.  Really professional.

...The overflights (click title to entry - thank you) by the bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel, built by Lockheed Martin and first glimpsed on an airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2009, are part of an increasingly aggressive intelligence collection programme aimed at Iran, current and former officials say. The urgency of the effort has been underscored by a recent public debate in Israel about whether time is running out for a military strike to slow Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon.

In a recent speech, President Obama's National Security Adviser, Tom Donilon, hinted at secret efforts by the United States to keep watch on Iran's nuclear programme.

“We will continue to be vigilant,” Mr. Donilon said last month at the Brookings Institution. “We will work aggressively to detect any new nuclear-related efforts by Iran. We will expose them and force Iran to place them under international inspections.”...

Aye, shit happens.  War is hell.

Theodore Roosevelt signed 82 Presidential Vetoes in his eight years.

Forty-two regular vetoes, forty pocket vetoes and only one was overridden.

Veto Number 881 on April 4, 1902. (click title to entry - thank you)

S. 4363 : Granting the Central Arizona Railway Company right-of-way for railroad purposes through San Francisco Mountains Forest Reserve. The veto message was laid before the Senate, referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and printed as S. Doc. No. 315. (35 Cong. Rec. 4578).

Women over 16 years old can purchase "Plan B" over the counter and I am fine with that.

The Secretary is correct, girls as young as eleven years old can become pregnant, but, there is a lack of worldliness to allow this decision and self administration to take place.  Besides there are issues with a pregnancy that young or even at 13 and 14 years old.  Girls at such young ages should not be getting pergnant nor should they be expected to continue a pregnancy.  It is ridiculous idea.  Where were the parents in the first place and was the pregnancy due to harassment by others that pimp these girls from the school yard.  There are too many questions regarding a pregnancy of women that young to allow them to simply think they can take a magic pill to make it all go away.

I don't consider the Secretary's decision a matter of politics.  Besides younger girls can have their older piers purchase it for them.  It will happen, so why expose pharmacists to the liability of the irresponsible acts of others?  Age 17 and older are worldly enough to making these decisions for medication they take over the counter.

I really believe the Secretary should assign a task force to better understand why young girls/women become pregnant and seek to find intervention to stem the behavior.  There was the incidence of the girls that became pregnant as a matter of being in the same social circle.  It is not prudent to place young hearts and minds at such risk so young as it sets them up for failure and hardship in life along with their children if they are forced to be raised in poverty without common comforts.

Sensenbrenner has a hissy fit at the House Judiciary Committee for PR purposes.

And FOX News is stating the hearing for Attorney General Holder will resume shortly so look up the link on their website.  That was stated at 11 AM and the hearing doesn't resume until 1:15PM

Quite frankly it is very obvious Murdoch is running the Republican circus in the House Judicial Committee.  Sensenbrenner stated if he didn't receive accountability from the Justice Department stating Congress was lied to an impeachment would follow and he abruptly closed his microphone and questioning.. 

Rep. Conyers stepped in along with another Congressman for clarification on Sensenbrenner's statement about impeachment on procedural grounds and Committee Chair Lamar Smith refused the procedural clarification.  It was manipulation by Smith.

The Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are having a difficult time facing facts, because the fact is Attorney General Holder is conducting an exemplary Justice Department and to quote Committee Member Bermin the most transparent Department ever witnessed.

The Republicans on the Justice Committee are character assassinating anyone within reasonable PUBLIC RELATIONS attention, including Justice Kagan.  The focus on Justice Kagan is due to the heat on Clarence Thomas and his political exploits.  I suppose Scalia is in there somewhere too for their coziness with the Health Insurance Industry.  Basically, the Republicans are wasting their salaries on campaign strategies of character assassination rather than doing the people's business.

Both Representative Conyers and Representative Berman asked Attorney General Holder what Congress could and should do to work with the Justice Department for securing the southern border of the USA.

Attorney General Holder stated, the Justice Department needed funding for Border Programs including 'Boots on the Ground' (my words, not his) that was suppose put 14 teams into service, but, due to budgetary problems only 7 or 8 have been deployed.  Attorney General Holder also stated, legislation honoring the Second Amendment needed to be crafted to provide better legal leverage and tools to the efforts at the USA southern border.  AG Holder stated there were four border states that would require tighter gun laws on "Long Guns" that would allow for the processing of their sales as if they were handguns.  AG Holder also asked for productive dialogue with the members of Congress to be sure the laws were strengthened in any legislative effort and the Justice Department could provide that expertise.

I thought the morning meeting of the House Judiciary Committee went fairly well and AG Holder is unflappable even when harassed by Republicans for their 'news bites' for FOX.

The committee convenes again at 1:15 PM.

The work Mr. Cordray will do as Consumer Protection Director will return liquidity to the economy.

Richard Cordray is sworn in at the beginning of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Captiol Hill September 6, 2011 in Washington, DC. Former Ohio Attorney General Cordray has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be the first director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Once he is confirmed as Director there will be significant regulation of "Loan Sharks."  Make no doubt about it, if the Republicans filibuster his confirmation vote they will be protecting Loan Sharks.

The Loan Sharks are also known as "Pay Day Lenders."  The entire dynamic surrounding this draconian lending causes hardship and not functioning to a family or home budget.  It facilitates 'self-abuse' by consumers. 

The concept of Pay Day Lenders/Loan Sharks is fairly straight forward.  The person with the cash loans the person without the cash.  And I emphasise CASH.  The person with the cash loans the person without the cash a percentage of their anticipated pay check based on personal identificication and pay stubs and three to four personal references.  Once a 'reputation' of who a borrow is they literally have carte blanc to not only receive one loand but to perpetuate that loan into the future.

The pay day loan goes like this.  I earn $500 per week.  Let's say there are deducations of $100.  My application to the Loan Shark allows me to borrow 50%, a full one half of my take home pay.  The loan is only good for at the very most 15 days and then it has to be paid back.  For that loan of 15 days (if a borrow is paid twice a month on the 15th and 30th) I pay $15.00.  Now, while that seems like a convenient thing to have especially around Black Friday; it gets out of control almost immediately.

The day I have to pay back the $200 I borrowed and the $15.00 interest I know have a take home pay of $185.00 until my next paycheck.  Let's say that after Black Friday I had to pay the rent.  Well, heck I don't have it.  So, I am faced with paying late fees and risking eviction notices and paying court costs to remain in my rental or I go get another loan from the local and LEGAL Loan Shark.  Once again I pay the $15.00 to have a full paycheck less the $15.00 I just paid, plus the $15.00 I will pay again in 7 days.  So far I am into the Loan Shark for their profit of $30.00.  Still not bad considering all the neat stuff I got on Black Friday.

So, I figure by the time my next paycheck rolls around I'll be able to sustain the net take home pay of $185.00 and I'll be good for Christmas.  Well, 7 days goes by and the rent has been paid, but, the utilities and the groceries have to be paid and the price of gas went up by ten cents a gallon and things ain't looking so good.  So, back to the Loan Shark and after one month I have now spent $60.00 I could have used for gas and groceries and here comes Christmas.

The practice is draconian, it sequesters people into a corner they never can manage to get out of and the $15.00 fee now becomes anywhere from 300% to 600% or more in interest charges on an annual basis.  It becomes a chronic loan they should have never received in the first place because the people that frequently take these loans have very poor credit ratings.  And why do they have very poor credit ratings, because they were foreclosed on or evicted due to the downturn in the economy.

So, a confirmation vote of Richard Cordray will facilitate the regulation and quite possibly the elimination of legalized Loan Sharking.  This is the man the Republicans won't confirm because they are breaking the law.  The new Consumr Protection Director is LAW now.  There is a position for Director in the department created when the new law to regulate banks was passed.  Effectively, the Republican Senate will again filibuster a vote to stop the confirmation of a highly respected Former Attorney General of Ohio and in doing so they will be breaking the law.  The Republicans are instead pandering to cronies that literally rob people into unmanageable debt.

Oh, one other thing.  When the borrower finally has a check that bounces because there comes a point where all the money they paid in interest has shortened their purchasing power by a full pay check, then there are charges filed with the local law enforcement to arrest the borrow to obtain the monies and the real fun begins.  So, the confirmation vote today of Richard Cordray will serve the people in the USA greatly and should not be delayed.  The really odd thing is that borrowers will continue to be arrested but the Republican Senate won't.

The most moral dignity afforded a citizen is serving in the military.

 

There are few exceptions in life that allow a person to leave a legacy of their life.  One is having children and breaking the truncation with the future.  The other is serving in the miliary to defend the USA and leaving a mark in time.  The USA military of WWII would change the course of history when other powers could not do it alone.

When a citizen gives their service to a country, they are defending the meaning of that service and not simply a piece of geography called "The Homeleand."  The values of the USA were always obvious and to realize those values are diminishing to so many Americans, including soldiers and veterans, only speaks to the lack of morality that exists today.

The United States of America demands participation.  One of the ways every American participates every year is in the form of tax payments to the USA Treasury.  Our Treasury supports the very surviving soldiers and their families we remember on this day.  WWII demanded participation by everyone, women worked, commodities were rationed and taxes were paid.  When a citizen wasn't serving in the military they were working for the cause.  There was a high moral content in the country.

The first payroll withholding occurred during WWII to increase the US Treasury and support the war effort and the returning soldiers after victory.  It is the obligation of those that can pay to do exactly that in the patriotic spirit it is intended.  When the wealthy are asked to support the country, it is in appreciation of the opportunity afforded them by the sacrifices of those that serve in other capacities.  Paying taxes that are asked by The President of the United States of America is not like paying a bill, it is defending the country and in the year 2011 it is to return the promise of their birth right and stability to its economy. 

Taxation

However, these agencies were often quite(click title to entry - thank you) successful in achieving their respective, narrower aims. The Department of the Treasury, for instance, was remarkably successful at generating money to pay for the war, including the first general income tax in American history and the famous "war bonds" sold to the public. Beginning in 1940, the government extended the income tax to virtually all Americans and began collecting the tax via the now-familiar method of continuous withholdings from paychecks (rather than lump-sum payments after the fact). The number of Americans required to pay federal taxes rose from 4 million in 1939 to 43 million in 1945. With such a large pool of taxpayers, the American government took in $45 billion in 1945, an enormous increase over the $8.7 billion collected in 1941 but still far short of the $83 billion spent on the war in 1945. Over that same period, federal tax revenue grew from about 8 percent of GDP to more than 20 percent. Americans who earned as little as $500 per year paid income tax at a 23 percent rate, while those who earned more than $1 million per year paid a 94 percent rate. The average income tax rate peaked in 1944 at 20.9 percent ("Fact Sheet: Taxes").

Gover Norquist is too good to be true. Why Middle Class Tax Cuts are not really tax cuts.

Finally, Norquist reveals his true colors. To say the Republicans are causing the continued loss of employment in the USA is an understatement. The obvious view point is that Grover is two faced when he states Middle Class tax increases are not really tax increases. In most people's opinion, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.  But, that is not where his contorted reasoning lies.

Norquist Tells GOP That Raising Taxes On The Middle Class Doesn’t Count As A Tax Increase (click title to entry - thank you)

by ThinkProgress

December 7, 2011

8:00 am

Written by Travis Waldron


Anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist, the president of Americans For Tax Reform and author of the radical anti-tax pledge that has played a significant role in hamstringing budget and deficit-reduction negotiations, has said that it is unacceptable for those who have signed his pledge to vote in favor of any tax increase. But now that President Obama and congressional Democrats are backing a tax cut aimed at stimulating economic growth, Norquist has changed his tune.


Norquist met with Republican members today to let them know that opposing the extension of the payroll tax cut — which would provide many families an extra $1,000 a year — would not amount to supporting a tax increase, National Journal’s Billy House reported today:...

But.

This is the beautiful part of Grover's mislead ideology. A person has to have drunk the Norquist Cool Aide in order to completely understand what Grover is saying. I appreciate Cantor taking caution about the Norquist advise, perhaps Cantor is enlightened enough to see through the folly. It may be that Cantor is simply afraid of constituents that are already unhappy about their infrastructure, but, his warning about not opposing the Payroll Tax Cuts is very prudent.

The ideology states, the wealthy create jobs. The obvious observation is that if the USA was dependent on the wealthy to create jobs then it would be completely obvious from past history that is the case. The idea that the ideology is flawed is one of critical thinkers. That isn't the point though. The point is that the Republicans believe their ideology. Their ideology states the wealthy creates jobs. It should be somewhat obvious where this is all going by now.

If the wealthy creates jobs, then the Middle Class and Working Poor does not. So, if the Republicans want to create jobs it is completely acceptable to raise taxes on the Middle Class and Poor to fund the government because they don't create jobs, as the government does not either.

The very huge folly of all that is the MARKET SHARE of any product success depends on a large base and why increasing taxes on the Middle Class and Working Poor is a very bad idea. The spending by the Middle Class and Working Poor on Black Friday proved how happy Wall Street can be when they are fed by consumer confidence and spending.
What President Obama is saying is the US economy needs to be supported by consumer confidence in purchasing products, therefore, the tax cuts will support consumers that will in turn support the manufacturers and distributors of products where citizens are employed.

Recently, Whirlpool reported it was closing its doors on manufacturing plants in two states and its 100 year old headquarters. Maytag, the parent company of Whirlpool believes they will eventually add 1500 jobs to two of their facilities in Ohio. After the closings and new hiring there will be at least a net job loss of at least 6000 employees as Maytag is consolidating its operations to increase their profit margin. If the market share was abundant rather than dwindling Whirlpool and Maytag would be expanding all their plants and beefing up their headquarters to supply global trade. The reason the market share is shrinking is because the monies the Middle Class and Working Poor is shrinking. They are asked to pay for more and more that do not contribute to the economy so much as a continual flow of wealth to the wealthy.  My pet peeve is when teachers pay for their own supplies out of their own paychecks in order to teach the children in their classrooms.  That is about as counter-productive as a classroom can get.


So, see, Grover Norquist is absolutely correct in stating the ideology he promotes does not view tax increases on the Middle Class as a tax increase. He views the Middle Class and Working Poor in much the same way Mr. Cain did when he stated, "If you are poor it is your own fault." So, why in the ideology of the Republicans allow people at fault for being poor have more money and ask the wealthy to pay more when they are the most successful and hold no fault for their success in building wealth at all costs?

Grover Norquist has been waging the tail of the Republicans for a long time and the country's economy, deficit and debt shows it. Grover Norquist uses a very twisted logic to achieve his membership and power. He does not want to separate from that power for one minute. He is as "W"rong as he can be only he'll never admit it and will continue to build rhetoric to flavor the Cool-Aide continuously to confuse the electorate and appear to know more about the free market system than he actually has any right to state.  He is and has harmed this country and is the most immoral man I have yet to witness exploit the USA economy.

The Bush Tax Cuts (at right) have done NOTHING to create jobs for over ten years now.  They have increased our deficit while conducting two wars and driven the National Debt to the levels it is now.  It is safe to say, Grover Norquist is a political hack and nothing more.  He has nothing productive to offer the USA.  The self defeating strategy of the Republicans has caused increased poverty and loss of quality of life.

President Zadari and his family need to come to the USA and live a life of appreciation.

Pakistan's (click title to entry - thank you) president Asif Ali Zardari has had a heart attack but will not resign, according to a senior government figure as aides tried to head off fears of deepening political insecurity and scotch rumours of a "soft coup".

The divide between the USA and Pakistan is not the making of President Zadari or his late wife.  They have been dedicated to bringing justice and democracy to Pakistan for generations.  The problem lies in the underlying fear that still exists between communist countries and the USA. 

There are still remnants of the Cold War and it has literally torn Pakistan into factions.  There is just too much power in Pakistan due to nuclear proliferation.  The nuclear footprint of Asia is huge.  While it is somewhat understandable Pakistan would seek nuclear weapons given its neighborhood, actually having that capacity it causing its instability.  Pakistan needs to remove its nuclear weapons from its military capacity and join a global process of non-proliferation.

When one considers the history of the region, it has been the epicenter of hostilities with all the major powers, Russia, the USA and now China.  Then there is India.  The attacks into Mumbai were deployed directly out of Pakistan by extremists.  I am fairly confident the tensions that spawned those attacks was due to the chronic suffering and struggles of those in Kashmir.  How are the lives of people in this region going to change and become productive if there is not a move to 'disincentive' the power struggle within that country?

President Zadari has a family lineage devoted to bringing peace to Pakistan.  Enough already.  When the impossible is impossible no matter how much is done to bring peace and security thorough democracy and prosperity it needs to stop.  Pakistan and the USA are becoming enemies and not allies. 

There are five nuclear nations in the world.  There should not be any more.  Nuclear military capacity brings huge challenges to a country's ability to support the weaponry and keep it secure.  Paksitan has too many problems with poverty to even consider maintaining its nuclear capacity.  The people have to come first, not the strong arm tactics of militarization to match every other legitimate nuclear power.  The Russians and the USA have continued to remove nuclear capacity from their arsenals for decades now.  The process is ongoing.  Why would we expect less from any other nation?

China has yet to make the leap of faith the USA will not engage in the war to end all wars.  The USA has had a one nation policy with China for as long as I can remember.  The continued arming of Taiwan is due to China continuing aggressions rather than peace.  That paradigm is a matter of power struggles set up a long time ago.  When it comes to reversing the mistrust between the USA and China there still exists too much fear to make the commitment to peace and prosperity. 

The USA is not innocent.  The past regime in the White House was the most hostile in a long time and unpredictably so.  The Bush/Cheney administration alarmed the American people, yet, when it comes to removing such power players within our democracy the people of this country treat it as a game.  It is not a game.  It is a political reality the USA has yet to contain through the understanding of its own footprint and how tensions escalate rapidly with simple words.  The Bush/Cheney regime were insecure in the understanding of peace, they rather destroy everything that was 'not of them' then learn to live within it and improve on relations.

I don't write this for political purposes, I do this because it is the reality of the world.  In the case of Pakistan, the problems are incredible in their dimensions.  The nuclear capacity is only one reason to be concerned about global peace.  The floods have destroyed lives and have reset the idea of community.  The confusion alone is enough to bring about opportunity for extremists to once again entrench themselves among the populous.  But, the poverty and suffering is unending.  When does a country's leadership finally have the ability to unify its people and move forward with an understanding of common interests?  It is time the USA remove itself as part of the instability in Pakistan.  The divisions of the country run too deep and the faux loyalities have to end.  We don't belong there anymore.

I wish President Zardari a speedy recovery and I hope his people realize the leader they have before it is too late for them.

As far as the floods, we all know what caused them and the USA's economy of fossil fuel dependence has to stop as well.  Here again we are running into impossible people with power to literally change the climate of the world.  The USA has problems, too.  It needs to come to terms with the political follies of its own democracy.

I don't care if there is two day delivery on First Class Mail, I'll use the postal service ANYWAY!

Get rid of the lousy FOREVER STAMPS !

When was delivery not two days, when the USPS had to appear to compete with private industry? 

The US Postal Service was never intended to be a private industry or compete on that level.  It is to service the mail delivery to Americans.

Does anyone actually believe private industry will employee the same number of people and service the entire nation at a profit?  It won't happen.  If the USA Postal Service disappeared it would change the face of information delivery forever.  Package delivery in some parts of the country would be non-existant and the rural routes would require trips to a Post Office Box in some private mail store.  That means more cars on the road and more time taken out of the lives of Americans in order for them to continue to have a functioning household.  And forget about the Seniors, they could not afford it nor have the ability to travel to a PO Box.

The circumstances of the USA Postal Service is hideous in the year 2011, but, we'll have to live with it until changes come to secure its future.  Since when is two day delivery of mail 'snail mail.'  Since when to career employees of the US Postal Service worried about job security?  The mess the past administration has left this country is changing the face or our democracy and it si outrageous!

...It could also mean the loss of Ed Malok’s job.  (click title to entry - thank you)

"There’s been a cloud hanging over us," he said from the Kilmer Processing and Distribution Center in Edison, where gray skies Monday mirrored the gloom of 600 workers. "The clouds are getting darker."

"Nobody’s telling us anything," added Malok, 55, of North Plainfield, who has worked at the center since 1984....

Does anyone see FedEx or UPS offering FOREVER RATES?  This is ridiculous.

The Cheney Papershredder is hard at work at Halliburton according to the most honorable BP.

The picutre was taken October 2006.

Isn't it interesting that with Democrats set to take over the House, and possibly the Senate -- and with the prospect of investigations against the White House to come about as a result -- that there should be a paper shredding company truck parked outside Dick Cheney's house.

BP accuses Halliburton of destroying Macondo evidence (click title to entry -thank you)

December 6, 2011

By Hilton Price

BP is asking a federal judge to punish Halliburton, claiming the company destroyed evidence that it did insufficient work on BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the site of the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

BP claims Halliburton intentionally destroyed the results of slurry testing, and lost computer data evidence of cement performance results. BP is asking U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to sanction Halliburton for the slurry results, and bring in forensic experts to find the missing computer data.

A representative for Halliburton says BP’s claims are without merit. Halliburton has already accused BP of fraud, defamation, and other claims....

Who will be the next Dark Invader?  It could be those that favor corruption over government.  Senator Scott Brown is well on his way of being more than Halliburton's best friend, he is there financier.  Where is the next war Scott?

At first glance this looks like al Qaeda. It has the 'Iraq Signature' all over it.

It makes sense that al Qaeda from Pakistan would be infiltrating Afghanistan since the USA is leaving Pakistan in its dust.  Al Qaeda believes their strategy has worked everywhere else and not it will work in Afghanistan.  I hope I am wrong and this is remedied by measures to bring people together, but, no one is going to tell me al Qaeda is not at the bottom of the corruption along with its partner the Haqqani Network.  There is every reason to believe The Haqqani Network could have adapted al Qaeda's tactics for their own purpose, too.

REPORTING FROM KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Bomb blasts targeting (click title to entry - thank you) Shiite Muslim gatherings in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif killed at least 58 people and injured more than 180 others on Tuesday, a rare outbreak of sectarian violence in a country wracked by 10 years of war with Taliban insurgents.

The attacks occurred on the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashura, which commemorates the anniversary of the 7th century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, grandson of the prophet Muhammad. The blast in the capital involved a suicide bomber who slipped into a throng of Shiite worshipers outside the Abul Fazal Abbas shrine, said Mohammed Zahir, a top Kabul police official.

That attack killed at least 54 people and injured 160 others, Zahir said....

President Karzai has returned from a conference with other global leaders and he needs to address the Afghan people.  If possible he needs to travel the country in confidence and tight security to benefit his interaction with 'the people.'  He needs to tell them about their promising future as he sees it and the fight against corruption.  The Afghan people need to understand the 'idea' of corruption and not simply  live it as if it is their only way of life.

Afghanistan has to solve its own problems and find autonomy to stability.  President Karzai has to make an effort and be among the people, not simply the palace staff.

Whatever happened to my Cashmir Goats for Afghanistan?  They aren't making headway into products needed by the global economy?  I am serious, the Afghan goat herders are good farmers.  They love their goats.

Afghan Allies Pledge Long-Term Support (click here)

Posted Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 3:20 pm

World leaders have pledged long-term support to war-torn Afghanistan as international combat troops prepare to leave the country by 2014.

Some 100 nations and international organizations attended Monday's international conference, in the Germany city of Bonn, which was aimed at charting the course for the country's future,

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is ready to support Afghanistan, but the South Asian nation must carry through on reforms, take responsibility for its own security, and build a democracy rooted in the rule of law.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the conference that after the withdrawal of NATO troops from his country in 2014, Afghanistan will still need international help for at least another decade....

I could be the auctions are causing an increase in hatred as well as control is sought over benefits for the government.  NATO and the USA should be offered a preference for reasonable bids that benefit the people of both regions of the world.

Afghanistan opens bids on gold, copper deposits (click here)
By DEB RIECHMANN
Afghanistan opened bids Tuesday on billions of dollars worth of copper and gold deposits in four areas of the country that together are roughly half the size of the Grand Canyon.
Despite ongoing violence, Afghanistan has high hopes that its budding mining industry will generate billions in revenue to help rebuild the nation after 30 years of war. For Afghanistan, a landlocked country with virtually no exports, the minerals are a potential windfall but it will require international investment, a better transportation network and improved security.
Geologists have known for decades about Afghanistan's vast deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and other prized minerals, including rare earth minerals used in cell phones, hybrid car batteries, defense industries and wind turbines….

The Haqqani are active in Kabul.  I see.

Named after its leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, (click here) the Haqqani Network is a group within the insurgency in Afghanistan that is based out of North Wazirstan in the Pakistani Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The group has been active mainly in the east of Afghanistan—in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni Wardak and even Kabul provinces....

In response to the incident that killed 24 Pakistan military, the border patrols are being recalled.  The reason they were put in place was to defend the Paksitan border as a sovereign issue, not to assist NATO in ending the problems in the tribal areas.  The border outposts were to inhibit any troop movements in the country, not to stop al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.  The Pakistan outposts never coordinated in a real way with NATO as that would be a reliquishment of sovereign authority according to the ISI.  The entire dynamic was doomed from the beginning.  Pakistan is not an ally or a country for that matter, it is a saprophite.  Pakistan is sad, but, it can have the alliance with China all it wants and NATO/USA can keep their monies in their treasuries.

US to vacate Shamsi Airbase within time: Munter (click here)
ISLAMABAD: American Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said that the Shamsi air base would be vacated within the stipulated time. Talking to the state telivision, he also said that the outcome of the investigations on the NATO attack would be shared with the country. He also promised that strict action would be taken against the elements responsible for the attacks. He also reiterated his great respect and consideration for the aspirations and feelings of the Pakistani masses and rejected statements by Mansoor Ejaz as a pack of lies. The Defence Committee had set a fifteen-day deadline for the US to vacate the Shamsi air base following the NATO attack. The move is not expected to significantly curtail US drone attacks in Pakistan since the base was only used to service drones that had mechanical difficulties. Pakistan had also decided to boycott the Bonn Conference and stop NATO supplies following the attack. agencies.

The sooner NATO is out of there, the better.  No one needs it and it is time Paksitan and Afghanistan have something to offer rather than being needy.  Ten years is a long time for the USA to be within a country to still have these problems. 

 It is like there was this awakening to our own reality when President Obama took office.  We need to leave.  No more economic support to countries that ally themselves with China causing the USA insults to their own military and its capacity.  No more.  The USA needs to return to autonomous manufacturing of its own military hardware and software.  Anything else is nonsense.

The USA needs to come to terms with a China obsession to own everything the USA owns, operate in ways the USA operates and mimic our national security.  China is not being benign or benevolent to the USA, it is scared out of its wits over our capacity for innovation and advancement of science.  Enough of the 'Happy Family" standard with China.  China has problems with strategies, but, due to past indulgences the USA does too.

COMMENT: Ugly American —Fahd Husain (click here)

Either the American generals took complete leave of their senses, or some nutjob local commander decided to have his John Wayne moment and gunned down his nation’s stated policy

They came, they saw, they bombed. The ugly American just got uglier....

Well, "The Ugly American" won't be in Pakistan anymore, enjoy, I know we will.  Go aks China for indulgences and get used to it!