When I first spoke at West Point in 2009, we still had more than 100,000 troops in Iraq. We were preparing to surge in Afghanistan. Our counterterrorism efforts were focused on al-Qaida’s core leadership -- those who had carried out the 9/11 attacks. And our nation was just beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

So, true. 

Four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. We have removed our troops from Iraq. We are winding down our war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more. (Cheers, applause.) And through it all, we’ve refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of American strength: a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home.

Do, tell.

WASHINGTON May 29, 2014 (AP)

By KEN DILANIAN AP Intelligence Writer 

The CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan,(click here) once the mainstay of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism effort, is winding down.
 

Because of stricter rules, diplomatic sensitivities and the changing nature of the al-Qaida threat, there hasn't been a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas since Christmas. And American officials say opportunities for drone attacks will dwindle further as the CIA and the military draw down in neighboring Afghanistan, reducing their intelligence-gathering footprint.

"The program (in Pakistan) appears to have ended," said Peter Bergen, who has closely studied drone strikes for the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.

U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would then be closed....

29 May 2014
KARACHI: A Pakistani court (click here) on Thursday reserved judgment on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's application to have a travel ban on him lifted, his lawyer said.
The 70-year-old, who flew to Karachi last month to undergo medical tests, has been waiting for a decision on his application for over a month.
He says he wants the travel ban lifted so he can visit his sick mother in Dubai, but many in Pakistan see it as a ruse to flee the country and avoid the litany of criminal cases against him dating back to 1999-2008....


...In fact, by most measures America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise -- who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away -- are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.

See, that is what has everyone. Correction, Republicans. That is what has Republicans up in arms; President Obama stated there are partisan politics in the 'fear factor' of right wing partisan politics.

And, oh my god, what about Russia and China? Are they still a national security threat? I mean, President Obama didn't say the words, "HATE China and Russia as the ultimate enemies of the USA."
  
Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War. Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth, our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.

It think THINKING PEOPLE, like the cadets at West Point, might have picked up on the line about the Cold War. 

America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine, it is America that the world looks to for help. (Applause.) So the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century past, and it will be true for the century to come.

I especially like the part about immigrants. (dig, dig, dig) And I suppose the world leader thing still affirms America's place in the world, huh?

See, there are members of the US Armed Forces that achieve their citizenship while serving for a country they weren't born into. I am quite confident these members of our armed forces, some of the dead before achieving their citizenship, have relatives they would love to have legalized as well. 

Did Erin and Austen get the attention of the national press? Nah. Let's instead create panic over cuts to the military budget.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (click here) Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, General Caslen, for that introduction. General Trainor, General Clarke, faculty and staff at West Point, you have been outstanding stewards of this proud institution and outstanding mentors for the newest officers in the United States Army.

I’d like to acknowledge the Army’s leadership -- General McHugh -- Secretary McHugh, General Odierno, as well as Senator Jack Reed who is here and a proud graduate of West Point himself. To the class of 2014, I congratulate you on taking your place on the Long Gray Line.

Among you is the first all-female command team: Erin Mauldin and Austen Boroff. In Calla Glavin, you have a Rhodes Scholar, and Josh Herbeck proves that West Point accuracy extends beyond the three point line. (Laughter.)

So, tell us Erin and Austen what does it mean to be the best female command team in the country? Is the compensation good? Can you support a family, especially when you find yourselves out of the country?  When you break down all the hours the two of you put into your dedication to protecting the American homeland, is it at least minimum wage?

So, what are their plans for their command? What approach do they take to sexual harassment and maintaining a cohesive unit on the battlefield? Do they have any advise for the other male commanders? 

To the entire class, let me reassure you in these final hours at West Point, as commander in chief, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. (Laughter, applause.).

Let me just say that nobody ever did that for me when I was in school.

I know you join me in extending a word of thanks to your families. Joe DeMoss, whose son James is graduating, spoke for a whole lot of parents when he wrote me a letter about the sacrifices you’ve made. “Deep inside,” he wrote, “we want to explode with pride at what they are committing to do in the service of our country.” Like several graduates, James is a combat veteran, and I would ask all of us here today to stand and pay tribute not only to the veterans among us, but to the more than 2.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their families. (Applause.)

It is a particularly useful time for America to reflect on those who’ve sacrificed so much for our freedom, a few days after Memorial Day. You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. (Cheers, applause)

RT is reporting contact with OSCE is lost. So where are they? This is "Russian Television," right? So, where are they? Maybe Larry King can ask Putin where they are.

I mean Russia is doing everything they can to help secure international agency members, right? We can count on Russia to do the right thing here, correct?

Politics and only politics are at the heart of the right wing ranting about Secretary Shinseki.

Published 5:19 pm, Thursday, May 29, 2014
...The situation (click here) brings up a bigger question of what should follow. House Republicans are pushing to privatize veterans coverage with vouchers, saying it would be the quickest way to improve coverage. Senate Democrats want to pour more money into the system to improve service and fill job vacancies said to be a source of the delays. The two approaches have all the makings of a familiar standoff over government limits and responsibilities....

He needs to stay exactly where he is. 

The Republicans always want to punt to the private insurance industry with corruptly underfunded health care in the way of vouchers. Vouchers are suppose to work for Medicare and now they are the 'pill for the common cold' of VA health benefits. 

It would be interesting to find the implosion of our health care system when every VA facility shut down.

So, let me get this right. There are POTENTIALLY 6.5 million former service members ELIGIBLE for care through the VA system. There aren't 6.5 million patients in the VA system. Many veterans have private insurance.

But, let's say there are 6.5 million in the VA system. Where do they go? When the Republicans shut down the VA medical system, where do they go with their vouchers? Because if the monies from the VA system is cut to simply provide $7000 per veteran for private insurance carriers, where do they go for care? The VA system will be defunded and all those facilities won't be available. 

The Republicans are idiots. They have no clue what to do and the fact of the matter is Secretary Shinseki has provided incredible guidance to improve the VA system. The Republicans have no clue so, "light bulb goes on," let's provide vouchers. 

Idiots and the Dems going on with this level of immorality, "Selling our Vet to Wall Street," are just as stupid. Congratulations, the Dems are actually demoralized enough to go along to get along. Amazing. Tell me, are the Dems now receiving Koch money, too? I mean the positions are identical to the Republicans, did that change the funding?

I don't think so.

He needs to win the war.

29 May 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan (click here) on Thursday directed the security forces to launch a full-scale military operation to put an end to the impunity of terrorists in the country.

The president gave the directive in his democracy day broadcast.

Jonathan said that Nigeria's unity and stability as well as the protection of lives and property were non-negotiable.

He restated the determination of his administration to protect the nation's democracy, national unity and political stability, by waging a total war against terrorism....

The violence is on the rise on the continent.

28 May 2014

There have been deadly clashes (click here) at a Catholic Church in the Central African Republic. Thousands of people had been seeking refuge in the compound when Muslim fighters attacked with grenades and gunfire.

Wednesday's attack happened at the Church of Fatima in the capital Bangui, following clashes in a nearby neighborhood between Muslim and Christian fighters.

At least 10 people were killed. The bloodshed is largely blamed on Muslim rebels, who sprayed bullets and hurled grenades at those sheltering in the Church, which was home to thousands of Christians displaced by the country's violence. One of the dead was a 76-year-old priest....

They will fight for their profiteering. They believe they have to and use the strength of religious beliefs to empower them. I am worried this is just the beginning of escalation.

Poverty is the vicious cycle that empowers the militias. There isn't going to be any living with them now.

The radicals never consolidate around parties. If one party is as ineffective in relieving poverty than the other, they will seek their own power and define it with militia movements.

ANALYSIS

Kano is Nigeria's (click here) second largest city and the biggest in the northern half of the country. Traditionally a PDP stronghold, since its governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso decamped to the insurgent All People's Congress the ruling party has been struggling to make inroads in the state.

The result of council polls announced on the 18th of May saw the APC sweeping all the votes in the 44 local councils. And it is results like this that have made the PDP court former governor of Kano State and ex-presidential flag bearer Ibrahim Shekarau to try to combat the frenzied following enjoyed by Kwankwaso.

Down in the country's South West the political scene is abuzz with the upcoming elections in Ekiti and Ondo States - the party's first major test. The incumbent APC gubernatorial candidates in two states have been involved in a fierce campaign to outshine their PDP co-contenders....

The fact political parties in Africa have to mean something. They have to bring quality of life and opportunity, otherwise this will never end.

Thousands of villagers (click here) found refuge in camps near Nyala, while thousands more are still trapped in the desert.

The pie is only the beginning.

May 29, 2014

By Anne Cook

GRAND TRAVERSE CO. -- Locals (click here) have long known the power of a Grand Traverse Pie Company pie, but now the legend has grown.

Alison Spiegel of the Huffington Post Taste recently reviewed the company's Chocolate Stout Pie and claimed it is worth relocating to Traverse City.

The pie has four layers containing chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, a flaky crust and meringue drizzled with chocolate stout ganache.

Drooling, yet?

The stout in the pie is also a Traverse City delicacy - the CEO Stout from Right Brain Brewery....

Not unlike other Michigan towns, Traverse City has mastered the are of 'local economy.' For every major national brand there is a local merchant outclassing them.

Just for example, the "Pie of the Month" is the one reviewed by Ms. Cook, "Chocolate Stout Pie." (click here). The ingredients are all wholesome and natural. 

There are pie shops all over Michigan now. (click here) These shops do not mass produce their pies and receive refrigerator trucks full of pies for sale that day. The pies are baked on site and 'same day fresh.' The company is excited to be reviewed by Huff Post and so are their customers.

Poverty gripped Michigan for a long time and the minimum wage was a part of the reason.

But, in a year when a referendum for the November ballot is being met with success state wide, this move by the Michigan legislature is an attempt to keep their seats.

Snyder has a significant lead over his opponent, but, it isn't double digits nor close to 50% and Snyder is worried about his election day luster. He is coining the minimum wage law as a bipartisan compromise from the legislature. With the federal government on lock down by the Republicans the state's new law is welcome, however, the petition was to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour with future increases based on cost of living. This law pre-empts the November referendum and nearly accuses the petitioners of unilateral focus rather than appreciating a bipartisan solution. 

Governor Snyder is also portraying himself as the man who saved Detroit. Not. I can't count the number of lawsuits filed in order to have the legislature 'do something.'

Published On: May 27 2014 06:17:54 PM EDT

Updated On: May 28 2014 12:17:59 PM EDT

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed (click here) legislation Tuesday to raise the state's minimum wage by 25 percent gradually over the next four years to $9.25 an hour, as Republicans controlling the state government moved to head off a November ballot measure that could have raised pay even more.

The House and Senate passed the bill Tuesday, one day before a group of labor and community organizers planned to submit hundreds of thousands of petition signatures calling for a Michigan ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

The current hourly minimum wage is $7.40....

The facts of the matter is that the Governor should have acted to bring about a state rescue package before he began hacking away at Detroit's assets. The measure to provide Detroit with rehab funding is far to long overdue. The fact is Detroit was addressing it's problems long before Snyder arrived. There is no denying corruption played a role in some of Detroit's problems and to that end there were investigations and prosecutions. 

Gov. Snyder simply came in with his emergency manager and started to hack away at the city more than already had deteriorated. What is left now is for the city to receive the funding it was due years ago to protect it's pensions and the city's assets.

If anyone believes Michiganders like the Emergency Manager laws, there is this that disputes Snyder's draconian episodes.

Published On: May 28 2014 06:32:52 PM EDT
Updated On: May 29 2014 02:54:59 AM EDT

According to an exclusive Local 4/Detroit News poll, (click here) just 36.8% of Michigan voters would support a tax increase to fund improved road maintenance.

A plurality of voters, 45.5%, would not support a tax increase to pay for roads because they believe enough money is already budgeted for road maintenance but it needs to be more wisely spent. Another 15% of voters also oppose a tax increase, saying lawmakers need to find money somewhere else to fix roads, even if it means less money for other priorities like schools or health care....

Most citizens of Michigan want their public schools back and will pay higher taxes to achieve it. The Emergency Manager laws should be eradicated considering the citizens are this interested in supporting public schools.

By a 59.5%-26.2% margin, voters chose schools over roads as the greater priority.

Who ever runs for office in Michigan this year, if they promise to repeal the Emergency Manager laws and refund public schools they will win elections. 

10:40 AM, May 3, 2014

Lawmakers are balking at plans (click here) to give Common Core-based exams to kids in Michigan schools next school year, pushing for a pause of the tests expected to replace assessments the state has used for nearly 45 years.

The legislative pushback against Gov. Rick Snyder, the state Education Department, business community and some education groups leaves in doubt what standardized test will be given to some 800,000 students in grades 3-8 and 11th. And there’s little time to resolve the conflict before legislators finalize the next state budget in a month....

Parents and bipartisan government alike also reject funding of Common Core tests for all grades. If they are willing to invest in education infrastructure, pay and benefits for teachers, they aren't will to spend megabucks on annual exams for over 800,000 students. I don't blame them. I think they have a good focus. 

...After vigorous debate last year, the Republican-led Legislature let Michigan continue transitioning to the new standards despite multi-dimensional opposition from conservatives and some liberals. But lawmakers hesitated over funding the Smarter Balanced tests expected to replace Michigan Educational Assessment Program exams. Their concerns remain....

Maya Angelou is a legacy. Ambassador Andrew Young is most correct.

Thursday 29 May 2014 06:20

Sherwin Bryce-Pease, New York

Civil Rights leader (click here) and former United States Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young says late author and poet Maya Angelou has left a legacy that will never die.
He was speaking after her passing at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Wednesday. Tributes have poured in from the White House to Oprah Winfrey, who saw Angelou as a close friend and mentor....

Maya Angelou interview (click here)

The World Health Organization doesn't know what disease and it's causes are? Really?

This gets real easy from here. The disease in question is what exactly? Lung cancer? Habitual reliance on 'vapors?' What exactly is the disease? Preying on children to create a customer base for Wall Street? What is the disease? Then what causes it?

There are many reasons for lung cancer and as the poisons of cigarettes were revealed it went from primary tumor causation to secondary causes and the inhalation by children within a home environment. There are other causes of lung cancer, but, cigarettes and their PROOF of the cause out numbered any other cause in epidemiological studies. The validity of the concern of these diseases returning to tobacco dependent individuals that find cigarettes are cheaper than the vapor dispenser they BEGAN their nicotine addiction is sound. 

We know nicotine is an addictive agent in which lies the danger of cancer. It is not the nicotine that causes the cancer, but, it is the 'behavior' which causes cancer. E-cigarettes are just as much a threat to a person's health as any other vapor if it deposits the user at the doorstep of the tobacco industry.

I realize scientists are seeing a savoir within the vaporizer industry, however, that may very much not be the case and they need to be more thorough in their focus. 

When smokers enter cessation processes there is a recognition of nicotine as a vital aspect to remove the HABIT. But, the nicotine is addictive and is ALWAYS tapered off. There are few medical doctors that would recommend anyone to smoke vapors for the purpose of a nicotine addiction. There is also a side effect of e-cigs no one wants to talk about and that is the legitimate presence of cigarettes in social circles again. There are cigarette smokers today believing they're vindicated because of the presence of e-cigarettes.

So, scientists are stating e-cigs combat disease. Where? Within whom? Why? And what are the dangers of e-cigs? What is the point where vapors are inconsequential to social interaction? How do they limit social interaction? The list of questions is lengthy and none are simple to answer. What I am hearing is how scientists are stating there is a physical disease resolved by e-cigs. But, they speak nothing to dependency and/or the potential of ending such aspects in a society. What are the statistics saying and what direction do we need to move?

NO MARKETING TO CHILDREN.

(Reuters) - A group of 53 leading scientists (click here) has warned tedhe World Health Organization not to classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products, arguing that doing so would jeopardize a major opportunity to slash disease and deaths caused by smoking.

The UN agency, which is currently assessing its position on the matter, has previously indicated it would favor applying similar restrictions to all nicotine-containing products.

In an open letter to WHO Director General Margaret Chan, the scientists from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia argued that low-risk products like e-cigarettes were "part of the solution" in the fight against smoking, not part of the problem.

"These products could be among the most significant health innovations of the 21st century – perhaps saving hundreds of millions of lives. The urge to control and suppress them as tobacco products should be resisted," the experts wrote....

Sisi needs to admit defeat.

Three days of voting and the world is suppose to see this election as legitimate? The Egyptian people have spoken, "Open the prisons and release the captives!" Extended voting is not written into the contract with the Egyptian people. A low voter turnout speaks it's own priorities and Sisi lost the election. 

Sisi didn't know Russkies didn't have the answer? Really? Overflowing prisons that can't be maintained to human rights standards are not what a civilized people value. Oppressing the Egyptian people to RETURN to "THE OLD WORLD" comfort standard is not where the world exists in the 21st century. 

Once a dictatorship fails, the way forward is very turbulent, but the people prefer the path ahead than the path abandoned. It took a long time for Lebanon to move through the maize of hatred and retaliation, but, it managed just fine with fragments remaining. 

Sisi hasn't mastered, "The Liberator's Voice." My guess is he never will.

The court's findings are illegitimate and the prisoners are being held against international standards of human rights. Prisoners on the verge of death due to their captors are human rights violations.

By Erin Cunnigham and Sharaf al-Hourani

May 27

CAIRO — Egypt’s government (click here) announced late Tuesday that it was extending voting in the presidential election to a third day amid widespread reports of low turnout. The move could call into
question the legitimacy of front-runner Abdel Fatah al-Sissi.
Many polling stations in normally crowded neighborhoods of the capital were empty Tuesday, the second day of a two-way election seen as a referendum on
Sissi’s rule. A former defense minister and army chief, Sissi led a coup against President Mohamed Morsi — an Islamist who was Egypt’s first democratically elected leader — last July in the wake of protests that demanded his ouster, gaining broad popularity....

CNN loses credibility.

Specialists prepare to deploy the towed ping locator on the Australian vessel Ocean Shield. Photo Reuters

May 30, 2014
Anne Davies

The exposure of a false trail of pings (click here) has led to experts abandoning a search area identified as the final resting place of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, calling into question two months of search efforts.

The area in the Indian Ocean became the focus of international attention on April 11 after the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced he was confident signals had been detected from MH370's black box, narrowing the search to an 850-square kilometre zone.

But on Thursday Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss went before Parliament to say the ''pings'' were the best information the government had at the time but "the area can now be discounted."...

That is all countries have been doing is deploying assets wherever someone BELIEVES there is a possibility to the remains of the aircraft. I realize there was a timeline, but, evidence would have been good and the oceans don't give up proof all that quickly.

The missing plane is still a worry. It was a large plane with capacity and as far as I am concerned there needs to be an understanding this plane is still a potential threat. For the USA that means NORAD pays attention. It won't have transponders or otherwise to identify it's flight. A little bit tricky I would say. NORAD has to be sure the planes they are monitoring are safe while being able to identify a potential rouge plane.

Additionally, there are 239 passengers and it's crew still missing. 

The governments involved in this search are not to blame for it's failure. The logistics of the airliner itself was compromised without proper tracking equipment before it even left the ground. This area of the world still lacks sophistication in aviation technology and within that reality lies danger to their national security. If there is to be a focus coming out of this attempt to bring comfort to families is the fact there are huge gaps in a nation's security that needs to be closed.

My sympathies to the families. Eventually, the fate of the aircraft will be known, but, until there is confirming evidence it remains a mystery. Mysteries happen. Earth is a planet and it's oceans vast and unknown in many ways. It only goes to prove what we don't know about our world and how it cannot be taken for granted in knowing the outcome of any human activity.

The new President needs to concentrate on Ukraine economy as a politcal focus rather than a war with Pro-Soviet Russians.

May 29, 2014

Pro-Russian separatists (click here) today shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter in eastern Ukraine and 14 people on board, including a general, were killed, acting President Oleksander Turchinov told parliament. 

“I have just received information that terrorists using Russian anti-aircraft missiles shot down our helicopter near Slaviansk. It had been ferrying servicemen for a change of duty,” Mr Turchinov said. 

Slovyansk has become the epicentre of fighting between pro-Russia insurgents and government forces in recent weeks....

Ukrainians know their liberation from the Soviet Union and now from communists like Viktor Yanukovich will cause Russia to intervene in creating hostilities. The downing of a helicopter patrolling the Ukraine border is a victory for those that want to end freedom in Ukraine.

This won't be easy and while Ukraine moves itself forward one more step away from the Soviet Union it needs to concentrate on it's economy and economic strength in the region. It is completely obvious for most observers to realize Mr. Putin in attempting to cause Ukraine fiscal harm. It is up to the new President to end that attack by the Russian President.

The new President needs to move his economy forward to greater strength and fiscal stability while continuing to enforce the Ukraine borders. If Ukraine enters
insolvency the Russia President will weaken it's ability to stand against Russia.

This is a very difficult thing to do. Ukraine is taking on Russian communists that want to see the return of the Soviet Union. There is no other country on Earth seeking to stand the tide against Russian communists. This is complicated by the fact there are ethnic movements desiring to slice and dice Ukraine into pieces to create their own nation/states. Crimea is an example and as predicted Crimea is not doing well. The emigration rate has increased and there is brutality in that Ukrainian state. The Crimean has been taken over by rebels and now that the voting is over and Russia has created a document stating it annexed this Ukraine state there is brutality to keep order and eliminate those that see themselves as Ukrainian. It is more than tragic in Crimea. The new President cannot allow this to occur in any other areas of Ukraine.

Get them busy with their liberated nation. Put them to work in the new economy and allow the people to realize the comfort found in the Middle Class while they build a strong and independent future for their children.  

The new Ukraine President needs to assemble his cabinet and assign strengthening the Ukraine military to his Defense Department Minister. He also needs his economic minister to travel with him to Europe, the US and to all the country leaders congratulating him on his election victory. The people should concentrate on their economy and what it takes to be one of the strongest economies in the region. I hesitate to see nationalism as a focus, that is playing the communists game. Ukrainians have a joy within their definition of life and it is that joy which can be infectious to the rest of the world. I have never witnessed a people so dedicated to a constitution which shuns human rights violations. There is a great deal of strength within the Ukraine identity that dictates global leadership. It is a magnificent country and we are looking forward to it's success.

These attacks could have easily been predicted. They aren't as unusual as one might think. There are such 'bad losers' as this in my nations and people do die. It only goes to prove how deep the desire for freedom and independence exists within the country of Ukraine.

No one is looking the other way and there are many nations that stand with Ukraine awaiting it's strength and contribution to the global market place. 

If I was a candidate for Senate I would be among the first in line to see the exhibit.

Filed to: YOUNG-EARTH CREATIONISM
Yesterday 4:33pm

As you may have read (click here) on the mainpage, the Creation "Museum" in Kentucky was using this Memorial Day weekend to open a new exhibit: a semi-complete skeleton of Allosaurus fragilis named Ebenezer.

As you may have also read on the mainpage, the paleontological profession, in particular the vertebrate paleontological profession, is really interested in figuring out how to balance private and public ownership of fossils.

Obviously you want to know more about the interplay between those two, right? Cool. I'm going to talk a lot about Ebenezer....

For any candidate running for office, it isn't about whether or not the story of Noah's Arch fits into their belief system, but, the fact such beliefs are allowed to exist in private institutions in the USA.

If people want others to exhibit tolerance of their rights, they have to respect the rights of Ebenezer to exist, too. I take it no scientist was called into carbon date all this. The Bakers were allowed to exist, too. Right up to the point they were breaking the law in the name of god. And they have paid their dues to society, too.

There is still nothing implicating Secretary Shinseki.

Asking the Secretary to step down won't accomplish anything. The Secretary needs to decide to ask the President for a Special Prosecutor. The delays are suppose to have been resolved with extending services within the private health care network to existing wait list veterans.

May 28, 2014
By Richard A. Oppel, Jr. and Michael D. Shear

The inspector general (click here) for the Department of Veterans Affairs reported on Wednesday that at least 1,700 veterans at the agency’s medical center in Phoenix were not registered on the proper waiting list to see doctors, creating a serious condition that means veterans “continue to be at risk of being forgotten or lost” in the convoluted scheduling process.

All the while, the hospital falsely reported waiting times that suggested delays were minimal, the report said.

The report prompted several leading Republicans, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, to call for the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric Shinseki, to step down.

“While our work is not complete, we have substantiated that significant delays in access to care negatively impacted the quality of care at this medical facility,” Richard J. Griffin, the acting inspector general for the department, said in an interim report on his investigation into the Phoenix medical center....

The VA hospitals involved were blind siding oversight. How is that implicating the Secretary?

May 28, 2014
By Akesh Houdek

...Improvements in oversight (click here) and auditing are surely part of the solution here, but there's a much more fundamental change that needs to happen: Regular line-level employees who see wrongdoing on the part of their coworkers, or are asked to engage in wrongdoing by their supervisors, need to be able to do something about it without threat of retaliation. Any human endeavor examined closely enough is a disgraceful mess, and most of us know this most directly from our jobs. But we also instantly recognize true malfeasance when we directly encounter it. So, of all the people who were involved or knew about these terrible practices who worked at the VA, why did it take so long for the truth to come out? A recent CNN report quotes Dr. Sam Foote, a doctor who had worked for the VA for 24 years....

...It's telling that Foote went to the press only after retiring. Despite the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, the federal government during the Bush and Obama administrations has grown increasingly hostile to whistleblowers....

What improvements in oversight, they were erasing the records? It is difficult to make quality improvements when it is criminality one is dealing with.

...workers devised a solution that involved entering information into a computer screen, printing the screen, and then not saving the record....

They may have devised a solution, but, it wasn't legal. How is oversight suppose to pick up delays when all the records were erased except for a stake of papers no one authorized or knew existed. These formulated a solution and never sought approval for their solution. They simply went ahead and did what they wanted to do. This calls for resignations and purging the VA of incompetents, but, it doesn't start with the Secretary. It just doesn't.

Asking Secretary Shinseki to step down would be nothing short of scapegoating. What really bothers me, as this scandal unfolds, is the fact these problems were systemic to include something like 26 other facilities. That systemic problem proves there are deeper problems and it is in the leadership that seems to have gotten their way all to easily for too long. Who are in leadership, friends and family of those calling for the Secretary's resignation. 

The problems have to be solved and it isn't going to happen of Secretary Shinseki is scapegoated for the sake of politics.

Where are the insurance commissioners?

This is the Texas Insurance Commissioner. She isn't going her job.

Texas Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber (click here) listened to testimony at a public hearing on proposed rules for health insurance navigators in Austin on Dec. 20, 2013.

This is a story I heard on the radio the other day and my first reaction was "Where is the insurance commissioner?"

The couple was expecting their third child without insurance and now the wife had a pre-existing condition. They went to the health care exchanges and didn't quality for Medicaid because Texas refuses the two years of federal payments. So, the husband looked through the exchanges and found a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy for the cost of about $400.00. When the wife then sought pre-natal care they were told their insurance was not accepted.

by CARRIE FEIBEL
May 27, 2014 3:27 AM ET

...And so they dropped their new plan; (click here) they just stopped paying the premium.
They signed on to be in the midwife's care. Nick signed up for a nonprofit, Christian-orientedcost-sharing plan. The Robinsons will pay cash upfront and request reimbursement later....

The couple gave up with an impending birth and took the best road they could find even though it made them uneasy about their choice. They basically had no alternative that fit their comfort zone. There was a Christian organization standing at the ready and helped the couple deliver their child.

The lack of services provided this couple by Blue Cross Blue Shield is not the fault of the insurance company, otherwise, it would be fraud. This is a discontinuity between the insurances and the health care providers. The providers are disregarding the insurance policies they signed onto and leaving the consumer outside the health care system. The providers had no right to turn away a pregnant woman with an insurance policy they are listed as participating in network.

The Texas Insurance Commissioner is looking the other way and it is completely based in politics. There is no enforcement of health care contracts between insurance companies and their providers. The providers are not allowed to cherry pick their customers. The consumers of health care are paying their premiums, finding providers within the insurance network they chose, but, the providers are turning them away.

The Texas Insurance Commissioner is not only ignoring her responsibilities in enforcing contracts to benefit the consumer, she is endangering the lives of innocent citizens of Texas. The consumers are doing what they are suppose to be doing. They are being responsible. It is not their problem. The Insurance Commissioner should be investigated for negligence linked with services provided to consumers by these providers.

This entire circumstance is ridiculous. $400 per month premium, plenty of providers listed, and they refuse the patients while stating there is no hospital accepting the insurance. This is Blue Cross Blue Shield for god sake. Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn't know what it is doing? They fully well know in order to sell health care insurance they have to have providers linked with hospitals where their customers can receive complete services.

Someone needs to do something about this insurance commissioner before people die if they haven't already.

Just because this is Obamacare doesn't mean state insurance commissioners can look the other way because it is politically popular to do so. The insurance commissioners are suppose to be upholding the law, not the GOP doctrine.

"I was suffering from a god complex."

Those were the words spoken by a USA soldier recently returned from Afghanistan.

"I didn't care about being home or going home. I was in control and it was a nothing more than a bad habit."

Two and a half years ago he was on the battlefield in Afghanistan when he had a nervous breakdown. The military immediately removed him to Europe for evaluation. It was decided he could no longer function to carry out daily tasks, yet alone fire a weapon and save his own life or the lives of others.

He was shipped home and spent two years in rehab for PTSD. He only recently was released to return home to his family. And it was only two days ago he told his grandfather visiting for a fishing trip, "I was suffering from a god complex. I believed I had control over all life within my line of sight, including my own. Nothing could hurt me. Being in Afghanistan was where I belonged forever."

Hayden has his own god complex. He needs to put on the uniform and handle the Taliban forever. It might not pay as well, but, the satisfaction to being god far outweighs any tangible items money can buy. Sex is meaningless when he can slaughter an entire village within minutes. Better than sex even.

OMG.

A congressman solicited the parent of a dead student? 

Well. Why didn't he just send two Marines to the door?

I can't believe a congressman snapped to attention for the gun lobby.

I do believe that same Congressman has an obligation to endorse gun control as soon as possible. It would definitely dissolve his obvious guilt to corruption. 

No hand holding by legislators anymore. That was an obvious pandering to prevent political fallout. Legislators are dancing to their own political priorities for votes in the face of obvious tragedy and the facts they refuse to live with. But, they are alive aren't they. They are alive while their constituents are dead. My, my, my.

Stop the gun sales. Judge Scalia has clearly articulated gun presence in the country is limited.

Richard Martinez (center), whose son Christopher was killed in Friday's attack, is comforted by his brother Alan.

The state laws allowing this level of violence to exist are unconstitutional. There isn't anything else to understand. 

Roe v Wade is the law of the land, end of discussion. 

All that is unconstitutional is meaningless political hubris causing deaths and oppression among the American people.

Governors that have signed unconstitutional bills should be impeached and/or replaced. They are incompetent and nothing more than political puppets for cronies and the funding that accompanies gutless government.

The Governors have pledged to uphold the law and they aren't. They should be vetoing this bills. 

Governor Brown needs to set the example and end the sales of guns to citizens until there are complete reassurances this level of violence won't happen to California communities again. 

Gun violence is replacing other forms of violence. It is far more lethal than other forms of violence. The deaths by gun violence is out of control. It is the obligation of the government to protect innocent citizens. Gun presence in society has never been demonstrated to end senseless deaths and/or gun violence. This is an emergency in this country and it needs to be handled by the California Executive Branch. 

The gun market is saturated in the USA. If someone wants to purchase a gun there are plenty for sale.

There is no effective way to control gun violence except by controlling guns. Those demanding the free flow of guns also have a problem with the free flow of cattle. They are anarchists. Their hideous priorities are killing innocent people. 

Those hideous priorities have infected this nation through political propaganda by right wing media. Those hideous priorities have been dressed up as if the entire country will be taken over by a dictatorship. The only dictatorship existing in the USA is the gun lobby and the causalities are real.

The casualties include not just Americans, but, Mexicans as well. It can be stated the American Gun Lobby causes government instability and anarchy at the American border and into Mexican cities. 

Guns give soldiers a fighting chance while they expect the assault by the enemy, but, Americans are not soldiers and they don't want their streets turned into a war zone. The average American citizen even when provided a gun for their own protection will never be that good a shot nor have the ability to read minds to know when the unexpected will happen. There is just no way and the future requires all of us to realize the denser a population the more likely the deaths will escalate simply by the density alone. This is a ridiculous paradigm and has no place in the future of this country.