Just because the water system is flushed out and additional contaminate is not being released, then the entire water supply and RESERVOIRS have not been cleaned out.

This is a water heater with a sediment trap. The water heater has to be purged and the sediment trap opened and flushed. This has to be done throughout any water system that came in contact with the contaminate.

By Kris Maher
Feb. 11, 2014 7:40 p.m. ET

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (click here) on Tuesday announced a plan to test the water in homes in the state capital of Charleston and nine surrounding counties amid safety concerns following a chemical spill last month.
On Jan. 9, an estimated 10,000 gallons of a coal-processing chemical blend called Crude MCHM leaked into the Elk River and left 300,000 people without tap water for at least five days. 

Several state health officials at a congressional hearing Monday declined to say that the water was safe to drink, even though tests have shown quantities of MCHM to be well below a limit set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

"It is time for the political officials to step aside and let the scientists do what they do," Mr. Tomblin said Tuesday.

He announced $650,000 in initial funding and named two drinking-water experts to spearhead the program, Andrew Whelton, an environmental and civil engineer at the University of South Alabama, and Jeffrey Rosen, president of Corona Environmental Consulting LLC... 

The testing has to go forward, but, every household water and/or sediment trap and drain has to be tested. Don't simply send out a public service message for homeowners to be reimbursed for any expense occurred in correcting their household system. PLEASE be sure it is done correctly and completely until the water systems are clear.

The school water fountains probably has some gunk at the adjustment screws. 

PLUMBERS can provide insight as to where water is more stagnant in the water systems.

The water went everywhere and if the contaminant is gone, there is some accumulations/small pools sitting around somewhere. Water doesn't cooperate. It just is.

 






There are other appliances that could be storing contaminated water, including water softeners. There are also homes that have water filtration systems, some large and complex and others under the sinks. It is probably best to change out any filters. If there are any outside cooling systems that utilize water, especially with a business, that needs to be looked at, too. It is not impossible, just tedious.

February 11, 2014

“Oklahoma’s policyholders (click here) received nearly $2 billion from their insurers in 2013 after multiple, deadly tornadoes struck Oklahoma, changing forever communities such as Moore,” said Dr. Robert Hartwig, president of the I.I.I. and an economist, at the National Tornado Summit in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Besides Oklahoma ($1.99 billion), insured natural disaster-caused insurance claims payouts in 2013 were highest in Texas ($1.51 billion), Colorado ($907 million), Minnesota ($845 million) and Nebraska ($773 million). Total U.S. natural disaster-caused insurance claims payouts came to $12.79 billion in 2013, with $10.27 billion of that figure attributable to tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. The balance was due to events such as winter storms and wildfires.

Indeed, Oklahoma is second only to Texas as the site of insured claims payouts resulting from tornado/thunderstorm/hail catastrophes for the years 2000-2013, with Oklahoma cumulatively generating $9.8 billion, and Texas a total of $16.9 billion, within this same time period. Since 2000, insurers have paid $135 billion on millions of claims in all 50 states from severe convective events including tornadoes.

“Hurricanes like 2012’s Sandy generate headlines, even though it is the frequency and severity of tornadoes that has grown in recent years, reaching its peak in 2011, when some of the deadliest and costliest tornadoes in U.S. history swept through cities such as Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri,” Dr. Hartwig stated. Alabama and Missouri policyholders received more than $3 billion from their insurers in 2011.

Going back even further, an I.I.I. analysis of U.S. natural disasters dating to 1983 found that, in any given year, 36 percent of all natural disaster-caused claims payouts arose because of tornadoes, according to Dr. Hartwig’s presentation.

11:45 am 
Mon February 10, 2014

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Mayors from two communities hit by deadly EF5 tornadoes in recent years say more than three-quarters of residents who were displaced have rebuilt their homes or intend to do so.

Joplin Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean and Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis says about 85 percent of residents whose homes were destroyed have rebuilt homes or plan to rebuild their homes.

The two mayors were part of a panel discussion at the third annual National Tornado Summit in Oklahoma City on Monday.

On May 22, 2011, an EF 5 tornado with wind speeds topping 200 mph whipped through Joplin, killing 161 people and destroying nearly 7,000 homes. Twenty five people were killed and 1,100 homes destroyed in an EF5 tornado in Moore on May 20, 2013.

Colbert-Kean says the recovery process is continuing.

That is enough. The NJ Legislature needs to get back to work.

Evidently false accusations gets the NJ Democrats a long distance in their politics, but, it has nothing with the truth. 

At least it is good to know the Star Ledger still reports the truth regardless of their roll back of the Governor's endorsement for the 2013 elections. The hubris must be as thick as pea soup.

By Brent Johnson/The Star-Ledger
February 11, 2014 at 1:56 PM 
February 11, 2014 at 4:17 PM

TRENTON — The New Jersey State Police (click here) today said Gov. Chris Christie's helicopter did not fly over the George Washington Bridge or Fort Lee during the controversial lane closures last September. 

Christie's flight history came into question Monday when the state legislative committee investigating the bridge scandal issued 18 new subpoenas — including one to the State Police aviation unit, which oversees the governor's helicopter travel...

...The State Police released a statement this afternoon saying Christie's helicopter took three flights during the week of Sept. 8, when the closings took place.

"None of the three flights transporting the governor during that week flew over, or close, to either the George Washington Bridge or Fort Lee, including the flight on 9/11," the statement read.

Democrats have alleged that members of Christie's office organized the unannounced lane closures at the bridge last year in a case of political payback — a move that caused days of traffic jams in Fort Lee. But the Republican governor has denied any personal involvement....

This is getting to sound more and more like sour grapes. Governor Christie needs to start talking back about this manufactured scandal. I am glad his lawyers are at least addressing some of the issues so the Governor can understand what is being said about him behind closed doors.

New Jersey has immediate fiscal problems and if the Legislature doesn't get to work to solve them, the Governor will take action. I know he will. So, if the Democrats want to protect their unions and their pension benefits and the cash reserves around the state in the amount of $880,000, they better get busy. He'll do it, I already know he will. Without an alternative when the bills come due he will announce either a tax hike or other cost cutting measures and he'll state the Legislature has been out to lunch so now we are at an impasse and something has to be done.

If the Democratic strategy to solve New Jersey's fiscal problems in 2014 is to keep their fingers crossed in hopes the Governor will be impeached, that is not an answer.  

It is time to hold hearings around the state with cities and counties for fact finding regarding their cash reserves and why they are important to be left in place. There also needs to be fact finding in regard to any fiscal crisis each municipality might be facing. 

I don't appreciate the fact unions and pensions could be on the chopping block while the legislature is chasing it's tail for political posturing.  Where are the unions in all this? The leadership needs to meet with Governor Christie to find out exactly what his figures are and where he sees it all going. They need to do that now before it gets too late.

Why do we fight back?

The Day We Fight Back (click here)

The death of Abdulrahman is an example of a drone program out of control. Why is this about a drone program? Because the metadata gathered by the NSA is used in the drone program.

...Abdulrahman was a fan of my music. (click here)  It was when I researched this kid that the reality of the drone policy hit me.  This kid had a Facebook page.  He listened to hip-hop.  He was a perfectly normal American teenager — indistinguishable from Trayvon Martin, or any of my other fans.  To know that a staggering number of innocent children are being killed in US drone strikes, and put a face to them....

Abdulrahman should still be alive. His death was an mistake.

Here is why. 

Jeremy Scahill spoke last night on "All In with Chris Hayes" and stated, through a new contact that was a former member of the drone program, it uses SIM card signatures to target people. In other words, the NSA gathers the Meta Data and provides it to the USA drone program for targeting human beings believed to be a threat to the USA. The information is dehumanized. The 'data information' is the only aspect of the Meta Data provided to the drone program.

Getting the picture yet?

No?

Okay.

...Nearly two years later, (click here) I still have no answers. The United States government has refused to explain why Abdulrahman was killed. It was not until May of this year that the Obama administration, in a supposed effort to be more transparent, publicly acknowledged what the world already knew — that it was responsible for his death... 

Suppose you have a good friend that is like a brother or sister and you speak with them via their mobile device/cell phone everyday and sometimes more frequently.

For whatever reason the Meta Data picks up the SIM card information from your cell phone as a target for the drone program. No name. No face. Simply, the Meta Data has turned up a reason for the USA to target you as a threat to the USA or it's military operations.

Your SIM card information is sent to the drone program and the drone finds you, targets you and kills you. Well, that doesn't mean that ends the drone's hunt. 

See, because that person you considered a brother or sister shows up frequently as a contact then they are as much a threat as you are. They have to be because otherwise why would you be communicating with them so frequently. 

So, when Anwar al-Aulaki was killed the information from the Meta Data showed HIS SON'S cell phone was a frequent contact. The US Drone Program had no identity, no evidence about terrorist activities, the ONLY crime Abdulrahman committed was loving his father. He would be in contact with him frequently simply because they were father and son. 

The USA military was so full of revenge following the Fort Hood shootings they weren't going to stop with Anwar al-Aulaki, they wanted them all. When  Abdulrahman was killed it had nothing to do with being Anwar's son, it was because his SIM chip information told the US drone program HE WAS NEXT.

Abdulrahman, a US citizen by birth was brutally MURDERED in the young years of his life because the USA military didn't BOTHER with facts or a presence in the way of a military operation that takes place on the ground with soldiers that actually captures rather than kills enemies.

Abdulrahman was murdered because his SIM card information dictated it!

That is why we fight back.

Will the definition of marriage return the separation of church and state?

February 08, 2014
David Ingram 
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder (click here) on Saturday announced widespread changes within the U.S. Justice Department to benefit same-sex married couples, such as recognizing a legal right for them not to testify against each other in civil and criminal cases.
The changes, unveiled by Holder in a speech to a gay rights lobbying group in New York, are designed to continue the push for gay rights in the nation after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year said the federal government cannot refuse to recognize same-sex marriages carried out in states that allow them....

Or. Are we on a roller coaster ride?

By Brian Roewe
Feb. 11, 2014

...Virginia's two Catholic bishops (click here) have urged Attorney General Mark Herring to defend the state's marriage definition amendment, "to defend the state laws he agrees with, as well as those state laws with which he personally disagrees." Their policy arm, the Virginia Catholic Conference, has called on Catholics to write Herring to ask him to defend traditional marriage or appoint outside counsel. A federal judge began hearing arguments Feb. 4.

That the same-sex marriage issue has come to the commonwealth is no surprise, said Jeff Caruso, executive director of the conference, who regarded it as part of a national strategy by marriage equality advocates.

"We certainly expected to see [it] in Virginia and indeed, we are seeing it and we're going to fight this as hard as we possibly can," he told NCR.

While lawsuits proceed in federal court, Caruso noted that recent legislative efforts to repeal the state's constitutional ban have not garnered enough support, a possible signal that a majority of Virginians stand by the 2006 voter-approved amendment.

"It had the support of 57 percent of those who voted, and I believe that there is still a very strong support for it here in the commonwealth today," he said.
However the rulings in Virginia and other parts of the country play out, Caruso is among the many that see it as inevitable that the issue returns to the highest judicial chambers.

"It's virtually certain that the Supreme Court will have to rule on the legality of same-sex marriage again," Green said. "And a lot of these cases that we're talking about may be the vehicle by which they do that."

73 million Americans watched the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles made their appearance.

The population of the USA in 1964 was 191,888,791 including children. Nearly 40% of the country watched the broadcast.

In 1964, 92.3 percent of American households had television and there were 51,600,000 television households. 

That would mean at least one person per television household was watching the Beatles in their historic first appearance in 1964.

The victories are happening. I have to say, the Olympians are great people. They always have good things to say about their peers. There are no sour grapes among them. It is very nice.

Sochi has very fast ice and snow slopes. Yesterday, the women's ski jump was shortened by a half meter to slow down the speed. 

The ski downhill was a tough course. It put them to the test. It was obvious who had the best techniques and it showed up in the final medal run.

The American Curling Teams are having a very difficult time measuring the ice. The facilities are world class and put the champions to the test. Some of the curling teams are incredibly competitive. I really believe the American teams are more participants than as competitive as they should be. They are counting on technique to carry them through the competition, they aren't really strategists. The Americans, oddly enough, don't seem to be aggressive enough in their strategies either. The American teams are blaming their ability to measure the speed of the ice rather than examining their approach to competing. They are light weights.

God will get you for neglecting the people of North Carolina.

John. E. Skvarla, III, Secretary 
(919) 707-8625 

North Carolina's DENR (Loosely called NC of Department of Environmental and Natural Resources) is as toxic as the coal ash itself. 

By Rex Springston
Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
A coal ash spill (click here) in North Carolina that contaminated the Dan River — the drinking water source for more than 50,000 people in Southside Virginia — hasn’t posed a health threat so far, but it raises concerns about the safety of old ash-storage sites, observers say.

There are 12 coal ash-storage sites in Virginia, including two near the James River at Dutch Gap, officials said.

Up to 82,000 tons of mud-like coal ash, believed to contain toxic metals such as arsenic, spilled when a stormwater pipe broke Sunday under a pond that held the waste at Eden, N.C., just upriver from Danville....

This is pure cronyism and uncontested negligence. The DEQ never even assessed the potential for danger before setting a fine. They pandered to Duke Energy because the Budget Director of North Carolina.

Wet Ash Handling and Ash Pond Dam Inspections (click here)

Wet ash handling describes the practice of transporting and storing coal ash in on-site ponds. Duke Energy currently manages 23 active ash ponds in the Carolinas and 26 ash ponds in the Midwest.

Duke Energy’s ash ponds are regulated by the state where they are located. State agencies perform periodic inspections of our facilities in Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky. 

The regulatory requirements governing ash pond integrity vary from state to state. However, most states require periodic, independent third-party inspections by a licensed professional engineer to ensure the structural integrity of each pond. Even in states where a third-party inspection is not required, Duke Energy is proactively having such inspections performed.
In addition to the third-party inspections, Duke Energy has an internal comprehensive, robust monitoring, maintenance and inspection program in place for all of its ash ponds to ensure their continued structural integrity. This program requires that each of Duke Energy’s ash ponds be inspected by a licensed professional engineer annually.

"Please, Mr. Pope, I really need my job." It is called corruption. Either that or the NC DEQ is completely incompetent.

The mission statement of the NC DENR is corrupt.

...Fundamental Philosophy: (click here) In its essence, DENR is a service organization. Whether managing parks and zoos or issuing permits, agency personnel, operating within the confines of the regulations, must always be a resource of invaluable public assistance, rather than a bureaucratic obstacle of resistance.

Translated means: We will kiss the butt of anyone we are told to do so.

Fundamental Economics: Acknowledging that a traditional cost/benefit analysis is not always fully applicable to matters of the environment and public recreation, the agency will be continually cognizant that an economic cost/benefit analysis is an integral component of DENR's public service endeavor.

Translation: "Do we still have a budget for our department? The hell with water quality, my wife will kill me if I am unemployed."

Fundamental Science: That all decisions are made with a respect and understanding that environmental science is quite complex, comprised of many components, and most importantly, contains diversity of opinion. In this regard, all public programs and scientific conclusions must be reflective of input from a variety of legitimate, diverse and thoughtful perspectives.

There isn't that much diversity of opinion between scientists. I think most would concur that arsenic contamination allowed to build up near a river that supplies drinking water is extremely poor science. There is this odd phenomena called LEACHING. There is even this scientific oddity called overland flow. It occurs when it rains, albeit, with the Climate Crisis the rain is mostly sparse at times, but, the principles still apply.

These are profound violations of The Clean Water Act and the Clean Drinking Water Act which requires FEDERAL fines and possibly prosecution for negligence and SUBSTANDARD facilities. 

Raleigh, NC

February 11, 2014

North Carolina's environmental agency (click here) sought late Monday to delay its own settlement with Duke Energy a week after a busted pipe at one of the company's coal ash dumps spewed enough toxic sludge into the Dan River to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools.

Lawyers for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources asked a judge to disregard their proposed settlement with the nation's largest electricity provider. Under the deal, Duke would have paid fines of $99,111 over groundwater pollution leaking from two coal dumps like the one that ruptured Feb. 2.

THEY BROKE THE LAW. Just that simple. Federal officials need to get involved. This is corruption. There is no understanding anything, except, Pope and McCrory are corrupt to the core.

They willingly put their necks in the noose and then dared NC employees to kick the chair from under their feet.

Raleigh, NC
February 8, 2014
By Michael Biesecker and Mitch Weiss
Associated Press

Over the last year, (click here) environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps like the one that ruptured last week, spewing enough toxic sludge into a North Carolina river to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools.

Each time, they say, their efforts have been stymied — by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The state agency has blocked the citizen lawsuits by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority under the federal act to take enforcement action. After negotiating with Duke, the state proposed settlements where the nation's largest electricity provider pays modest fines but is under no requirement to actually clean up its coal ash ponds.

Clean water advocates have long complained that state regulators are too cozy with the polluters they regulate. But they say that coordination and cooperation has become even more overt since the January 2013 inauguration of Gov. Pat McCrory, a pro-business Republican who worked at Duke Energy for 28 years....

NC DENR acted by authority of the State to cause hardship to citizens while neglecting their responsibilities and catering to a Governor more interested in by passing federal law than adhering to it.

I demand an investigation to the 'rule setting' by the NC state government to favor weaker consumer standards over that of human health. These changes in the rules in NC under the McCrory/Pope administration violates human rights and federal standards.

Their actions are not innocent, but, willful and intentional. 

This case automatically brings federal authority to bear because it is INTERSTATE threat to human health. 

Duke Energy: The power of Green in North Carolina. (click here) The green they refer to isn't Green Energy; it is Greenbacks.

Never have the words, "Duke Power" meant so much.

January 04, 2014 20:07

There should be no worries (click here) of a snowless Winter Olympic in Russia’s Sochi, as the organizers of the event made sure to stockpile 16 million cubic feet of snow for the competitions.

Though it has been a record warm winter for Moscow, the organizers of the Sochi Olympics can guarantee that there will be enough snow for the athletes in any weather at the Black sea resort of Sochi in Russia.
There will be four different forms of technology used to ensure snowy Olympics in 2014. First of all, eight vaults have been storing snow for over a year under special blankets made from isothermal fabric to keep it from defrosting. The containers are located along the Olympic slopes of the Roza Khutor ski resort on Aibgy Mountain, which will host the event.

Second, there are hundreds of snow cannons scattered around the slopes. They use water from the mountain lakes to make artificial snow.

In addition, a special kind of snow salt is being used as a kind of glue for when and if the snow melts. 

And finally, mountain gutters gather snow falling at the highest peaks and transport it down to the slopes.

The businesses with 50 - 99 employees are slower in their recovery.

Kelly Kennedy
USA Today
February 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — Businesses with more than 50 employees but fewer than 100 (click here) will have an extra year to phase in health insurance coverage of employees who work more than 30 hours a week, Treasury Department officials announced Monday.
Businesses with more than 100 employers will be subject to employee-coverage rules under the Affordable Care Act beginning in January 2015. The mandate to provide insurance had already been delayed one year....

The 2010 Congress that was composed of the extremists from the rightwing cut growth of these businesses.

This is from Brookings.

 
...Another approach (click here) to expanded lending is through the Small Business Administration. In 2010, the SBA received supplemental appropriations to expand is support of small business lending. As I said earlier, there is a great need to move towards budget balance, but since the economy remains sluggish right now, there is a strong case for making more loans available this year and not fewer. Of course we should not waste taxpayers' money on bad loans, but SBA has done an excellent job under Karen Mills and should have the opportunity to make a bigger contribution to economic recovery....

Most of the small business in the USA that fall in the employee numbers of 50 to 500 actually have the 50 to less than 100 employees. With their recovery sluggish it is understandable demands for changes at this time is ill conceived.

What was that about trusting President Obama in regard to border security.

In realizing the number of undocumented workers in the USA is falling off, the Border Patrol is also realizing far less apprehensions since the first reduction in 2007.

2006 - 1,089,082
2007 - 876,704
2008 - 723,825
2009 - 556.-41
2010 - 463,382
2011 - 340,252
2012 - 364,768
2013 - 420,789 

Nationawide Illegal Alien Apprehensions Fiscal Years 1925 -2013 (click here)

February 21, 2011
By Julia Preston

...Charles Schumer of New York (click here) and two other Democrats said the House bill would shrink the Border Patrol by 870 agents and cut $272 million in funds for surveillance systems to monitor the border with Mexico. They said those cuts would cancel gains from a bill adopted last August, with virtually unanimous bipartisan support, that increased border funding by $600 million, adding 1,000 new agents to the Border Patrol.

“This magnitude of reduction is simply dangerous,” wrote Mr. Schumer, who is chairman of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Also signing were Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Jon Tester of Montana....

Hiring of Border Patrol officers has stagnated since budget cuts.

I thought the facts would speak for themselves.

Enacted Border Patrol Program Budget by Fiscal Year(click here)

(Dollars in Thousands) 

It is fairly obvious the US Border Patrol is doing exactly what they 
were hired for. Mistrust? Of whom exactly.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I think we need to do more than simply say integration is a good idea. In stating same reflects what oppositional forces call Left Ideology. I believe well documented studies reflect the potential of our country. The potential to understanding and acceptance in a way that brings opportunity and a greater economy for upward movement of all citizens.

I would think parents would realize by handicapping their children socially would only limit their options as adults, through bad habits if nothing else. 

Review of research on the effects of racial and ethnic diversity in schools on racial understanding and student achievement.

A considerable number of studies since Brown have shown how the social environmentof schools affects the attitudes of students from one racial group toward students of otherracial groups. (click here) Over the past 15 years, research in developmental psychology has documented the social and developmental benefits of intergroup contact that results from school integration and examined stereotyping, prejudice, and exclusion attitudes in childhood.

These comprehensive educational studies conclude that a racially integrated student body is necessary to obtain cross-racial understanding, which may lead to a reduction of harmful stereotypes and bias. Racially segregated schools deprive students of these learning opportunities and the available evidence indicates that indirect programs that merely emphasize the transmission of information about other groups but are not able to utilize intergroup contact have little impact on actually changing the behavior of students. Like learning new communication skills, the skills needed to relate to students of other racial and ethnic groups require practice. Knowledge about and empathy for other groups are not as easily learned or long-lasting if learned in homogeneous schools. In a nation in which the proportion of whites among the school-aged population has declined to less than 60% and is declining by the year, there is growing value to crossracial understanding and cooperation among individuals of all races. For white students, who, on average, grow up in the most racially separate neighborhoods and remain highly segregated in K-12 and higher education classrooms,9 racially integrated schools provide benefits that many students may not be able to obtain in other ways.10 Recent findings from a survey of high school juniors and seniors in seven major school districts across the nation, including Seattle and Jefferson County, show that white students value interracial experiences and report that their racially integrated schools better prepared them to work and participate in public life in in their multiracial communities. Additionally, students of all racial groups in integrated schools felt higher comfort levels with members of racial groups different than their own when compared with students in segregated schools. For example, white students in integrated settings have been found to exhibit more racial tolerance and less fear of their black peers over time than their segregated peers....

...Teachers believe that building respect for people of other races and cultures is one of the most important goals of education. Many teachers with everyday experience in racially diverse schools believe in the benefits of racial diversity for student learning and as an experience that fosters productive, economic, and civic participation in U.S. society. They also state that these benefits are difficult to attain in single-race classrooms. Virtually all teachers (and about 90% of students) in a recent survey stated that it was important for students of different races and ethnicities to interact, although far fewer believed that this was currently happening in their schools....

I love Olympic Curling. Simply because it looks like something I could actually do. I think it is a really cool sport. There is nothing like getting excited over a big stone.

...Paintings by a 16th Century Flemish Artist, (click here) Pieter Bruegel (1530-1569) portrayed an activity similar to curling being played on frozen ponds. The first written evidence appeared in Latin, when in 1540, John McQuhin, a notary in Paisley, Scotland, recorded in his protocol book a challenge between John Sclater, a monk in Paisley Abbey and Gavin Hamilton, a representative of the Abbot. The report indicated that Sclater threw a stone along the ice three times and asserted that he was ready for the agreed contest...

Complete justification to dissolve a police force. This man was angry about the justice system before the confronation than anyone wants to admit.

I find so many flaws in this video it is amazing the man is actually alive. I don't doubt any of this occurred. I doubt the sequence, though.

At 10 PM at night on a holiday when no one is expected to come to the door an elderly gentlemen hears unusual noises. We've all been there. Hear something unusual and check it out.

The gentleman states he is a former police officer. He came down the stairs in response to the noise. Upon descending the stairs he notes two figures at the front door. He doesn't know who it is or stops to realize this would be an unusual visit. But, in caution he is carrying a gun behind his back.

He swings the door wide open rather than looking through the side windows to decide if these were people he knew. I find that very odd. I would expect someone with extensive police experience to at least look through the side windows to identify those at his doorstep. He must be the luckiest man in the world, because, in not identifying those people and calling 911 to report who was there or retreating to a safe room upstairs with his wife to call 911, he could be dead right now. He swung the door open to find two people on the other side, one with an aluminum baseball bat.

See, I would expect a trained police officer to look through the side windows, identify that the people on the other side were hooded and basically unarmed. Certainly, not carrying any weapons. I would expect him to call for back up by dialing 911 to report he, an elderly retired police officer, and his wife were in danger. I would expect him or his wife to remain on the phone with police as the scenario played out. I would expect him to take action if necessary, but, I would not expect him to compromise his home or his wife.

See, what I think happened is that he did look through those side windows to assess the circumstances he faced and decided he could handle it. He didn't know who was in the dark and whether or not there were more people. But, I do believe he knew what he was facing when he opened the door. I also find it interesting he simply proceeded outside to follow the perpetrators and was willing to use the gun in a neighborhood where other homes existed. It wasn't enough one person was down and he could identify a license plate on the car, he was going to carry out justice right there on the street. He had no idea if that car belonged in the neighborhood or not, he simply believed the car was going to back up to pick up the man who was down.I would expect an elderly man that fend off a robbery while defending his wife would be satisfied with their lives being safe.

He begins his political rant all too easily. He states the limit on clip size would have caused him problems after firing two weapons (one from upstairs and one from downstairs) at people that had none. One person was down and one person was in the car to get away and the bullets in his guns weren't enough. Odd. What was the chance there could have been guns in the car?

What I find more interesting than anything is that one of the persons had been in the home before and estimated he could pull off a robbery without any trouble at all. The perpetrator knew the home. It wasn't a random robbery. It only goes to prove that when inviting service people into a home, be sure the company is bonded and performs background checks on it's employees.

This video is produced to bring drama to the events while creating innocence of the homeowner at every action he took.

He states the criminal justice system is about rehabilitation. You've got to be joking. A police officer with an attitude. This country only recently recognized those imprisoned beyond any reasonable time. This attitude is about creating fear of the system and it's inadequacy to protect people and why they have to take the law into their own hands. The female suspect was sentenced to four years and the judge wasn't given free will to put her away forever. She was unarmed and while the man was willing to beat someone to unconsciousness or worse, there were no deaths and I am grateful for that. But, our constitution states the punishment has to fit the crime, not a sentence the NRA decides is best.

The two elderly people could have taken many actions to avoid confrontation and protect themselves including calling a neighbor or many neighbors. They didn't have to go it alone. I think the message this NRA video carries is very dangerous and completely inappropriate when people are defending their life from attack. Working in a vacuum is not a reasonable scenario. Personally, I like watch dogs, too.

The Day We Fight Back (click here)

By Juliet Lapidos
July 14, 2009
Last month, (click here) the Central Intelligence Agency canceled a secret initiative, authorized by the president in 2001, to capture or kill senior al-Qaida operatives. Although the program was never operational, its existence raises the question: Can we assassinate anyone we want? 

No, but the exact regulations are murky. Gerald Ford's 1976 executive order on foreign intelligence activities (issued after the disclosure that the CIA had plans to do in Fidel Castro) explicitly prohibits government employees from engaging in "political assassination." This certainly rules out killing heads of state through covert means. It's unclear, however, who else is off limits. The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, a congressional resolution that grants the president the right to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against those who helped commit the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, arguably licenses the CIA to go after terrorists with impunity....

...Yet it would not be OK for nonsoldiers such as CIA agents to engage in killing of any kind, since the fact that they're not in uniforms....

A uniform stands between assassination and not. A uniformed personnel. 

CLOTH. 

Amazing.

...In that case, sending soldiers or other operatives to pick off terrorists would be an extrajudicial, paramilitary action against a private group—no different from sending the CIA to Italy to murder suspected members of the mafia—and a violation of the basic notions of state sovereignty....

Does international law recognize the sovereign right of an individual against it's own country of birth? 

The American drone program goes beyond combat. It specializes in targeted assassinations with a very high failure rate which involves civilians. In realizing the high failure rate of the drone program, it provides more impetus to war. It provides reasons for innocent civilians to take up arms to defeat the dreaded drone. It increases the chance a drone strike will result in retaliation and escalate war. The American drone program IS a reason to war. It's mere presence results in escalation. The United States as a nation will be in perpetual war unless this inhumane method of weaponry is outlawed. 

The Geneva Conventions must convene to increase the emphasis on 'the cost of war' in regard to human losses. If a country is permitted to carry out computerized killing there is no human risk affiliated with it. The Geneva Conventions to date deals with conventional war. How is any nation to protect itself by mounting an effort against machines without conscience? 

This is hideous. Completely inhumane. And has the potential to annihilate vast numbers of humans in the name of 'self-defense.'

Can you imagine a Richard Cheney or a George Bush being allowed to conduct raids with these machines? The very attack in Najaf, Iraq was reversed because a wise Ayatollah called innocent civilians to march and stop the slaughter on sacred ground. If it were drones instead of tanks manned with American soldiers, they would not have stood a chance. Today, the leader of those people is fully engaged in seeking democracy because he had no clue about how to conduct it at the time his Mosque was under attack. All he understood was the attack and nothing else. He understood how his life was to defend the land and god he was devoted to.

I remind, at the time of the September 11th invasion into Afghanistan, those people had no televisions, no modern communication and had no concept to the attacks that killed all those people on USA soil. Yet, they were to understand soldiers that arrived to defend their country. These people are going to understand drones? They are going to understand how cessation of hostilities will end the deaths by machine?

Can the world stand by and simply expect that the USA will do the right thing? It certainly hasn't in the recent past. And now, it doesn't even follow it's own rules in regard to the citizens born within it's borders.