My sincerest sympathy to the profession that lost a prince.

October 21, 2014
By Marshall Cohen

Ben Bradlee interviews Martin Luther King, Jr. on Face the Nation. (click here)

May the family find peace at their time of loss. It was a wonderful life and admired by all.

Before Bennifer, before Brangelina, (click here) they took one look at each other and it was Kismet. He was barrel-chested and gravelyvoiced, always dashing in English shirts and a loosened tie. She was blonde and witty, a military brat in oversized sunglasses and mini skirts. Her admirers were legion: Warren Beatty, Warren Hoge. His female admirers included Jackie Kennedy and Lauren Bacall, who calls him “Benji.”

And so, Ben landed Sally, soon followed by his divorce from then-wife Toni. Although perhaps apocryphal, the story goes like this: she was looking for a job and walked into the Washington Post one day to apply for a party reporter position. He was smitten. She told him one salient detail; she had never written a story before.

“Nobody’s perfect,” he barked. Sally went on to fame as a seriously edgy Style writer who was nicknamed “Salty” Quinn. No one was more deft in getting well-known subjects to reveal their foibles. Who was it? Henry Kissinger, who said that being interviewed by gossip columnist Maxine Cheshire made you want to kill her. Being interviewed by Sally Quinn made you want to kill yourself....

I thought the NSA and FBI were suppose to be finding this before it happens.

October 23, 2014
By Sadie Gurman

DENVER (AP) — The FBI in Denver (click here) says it is investigating the possibility that three girls from the Denver area were trying to travel to Syria to join Islamic State extremists.

An FBI spokeswoman says agents helped bring the girls back to Denver after FBI agents stopped them in Germany. Spokeswoman Suzie Payne says they are safe and reunited with their families.

She didn’t give the identity of the girls or any other details.

The announcement comes one month after 19-year-old Shannon Conley of Denver pleaded guilty to charges that she conspired to help militants in Syria.

The US Attorney’s Office in Denver declined to comment on the latest cases....

This is unbelievable. The NSA is suppose to be spying on people receiving and sending transmissions from overseas and here teenagers are communicating with Syria and nothing is known about it.

How is it the FBI is only beginning the investigation about this after having a young woman prosecuted for aiding militants in Syria? How did this simply slip through their dragnet without picking up three girls with passports and $2000 cash on their way to Syria? 

The NSA wants unquestionable access to every American in the country to DETER any criminal activity that might be terrorism and low and behold juvenile delinquents can't be found before they leave the country. And to put the frosting on the cake, it was their parents that figured it out. 

This is ridiculous. The NSA is completely worthless. If they want to spy on Americans they'll have to have good cause. A conviction already existed and three more American girls were on their way to the worst thing that could happen to their lives and no one in any authority picked up on it. Wow.

Candidate recruitment.

It is what surprised me about the Ferguson, Missouri reality. The population was bi-racial, but, there was no discerning that by the degree of representation in their police or local government.

The people that need to be in their government the most, as with Ferguson, are the least involved or represented. In the case of Ferguson, the majority of the minority population were lower Middle Class. They owned homes, were building a future for their children, but, more than likely worked two to three or even four jobs per household. So, the idea a lower Middle Class voter has the time to participate yet alone campaign is not realistic. If it isn't realistic to the voters that struggle to make it to the polls (Ferguson has low voter turn out.) they aren't going to be able to make it to local party meetings to become involved and eventually run for office.

That entirely isn't the problem though. Let's say there is a retired Grandmother that has time to attend local meetings and campaign what might hold her back? Certainly not her age because most Seniors are respected and admired for their accomplishments in life. So, what then would prevent someone within a minority community from participating as a candidate in elections.

The Tone. I remind the tone of the country today is very hateful. As a result the people involved in politics are coarse, raw and crude in their approach to authority. Not only that, but, there is fear among the electorate that polarizes voters. 

Scott Brown is talking about border security and the first thing New Hampshire voters will think about is Canada. Now, when did anyone ever witness widespread border crossings by undocumented workers from Canada? Never. So, in fact the idea the Canadian border comes into play regarding border insecurity is hideous. Yet, Brown will continue to rant and rave about a border issue because, of course, every member of the Islamic State will find their way through 2000 miles of alien roads and terrain to attack the people of New Hampshire. It isn't going to happen, but, because the culture of fear paints these issues starkly, many in New Hampshire are worried about their own security.

The same is true with Ebola. A strange idea that a virus from West Africa could find it's way into the USA compliments of an American's fiancee is a hideous thought, yet, the panic spread quickly and it becomes an issue of who has the best idea to protect citizens, when in fact there was never a sincere threat in the first place.

Now, take citizens of Ferguson who have never voted. Why? They are disenfranchised because of their financial struggles and personal goals for their families and children and keeping their house, they are completely disconnected  from the reality their vote is vital to changing their circumstances. Then this hideous and outrageous ideas from the political right wing manifest and how is that brave and proud Grandmother looking now to win an election? Not so promising.

The political tone of the country it not only hideously out of sync with reality and the best interest of the people, it also disqualifies those that vote and those that would be qualified or even interested in running for local office.

While there are gatekeepers that oppress diversity of people in government there is also this incredibly horrid political tone that tells many they are scared and incompetent to handle their own lives effectively. If I don't believe I am confident in handling my own life will I want to run for office?

While gatekeepers oppress, there is a larger evil and it works.

I've heard it all now.

I was laughing so hard I forgot to write down the name of the book, but, it was something like "Drone Warfare National Security" or something that implies that.

Ready for this? 

Sure?

Social Media and Selfies dismiss privacy so why can't the government secure the country?

Amazing the idiocy out in the twilight zone lately.

A selfie on the internet gives permission for the government to spy on the entire country.

I don't think so. Where have critical thinkers gone? Seriously.

There can't be anything else the government can do to privacy, is there? Justify the NSA's invasion of privacy because some Americans like to have selfies of all varieties and for all variety of reasons on the internet on social media. That is an amazing violation of public trust. 

I've got a girlfriend about 600 miles from me who married and now has given birth. She absolutely loves that child and puts her pictures on social media all the time. She is joyful. It is wonderful to see her and the baby and how the child is growing. If I told her the government has a right to spy on the entire country because she is posting pictures of her baby to family and friends she would be devastated. That is sick. That is simply sick that anyone believes the government has a right to spy on an entire country because my friend loves sharing pictures of her daughter with me. The same could take place using USPS, but, this is quick, spontaneous and candid. 

GET OUT OF LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!

GET OUT OF MY LIFE YOU CONTROL FREAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, JUST DO IT, THAT IS AN ORDER. CAN YOU COPE WITH THAT BEING AN ORDER? SOMETHING TOLD TO YOU THAT YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER BUT ACCEPT AS YOUR REALITY. THEN I AM GIVING AN ORDER, GET OUT OF MY LIFE!

Nagl should go to FOX. They will give him his own show and $2 million to do it. Maybe he can even get "W" re-elected for a third term. Oh, excuse, that would be his brother.

Nagle the Nutcase is overwhelmed with control issues. His personal baggage doesn't bring my military into a forever war.

October 19, 2014
By Rachel Martin

A decade (click here) after the U.S. took control of Fallujah, America is at war again. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with former Lt. Col. John Nagl, whose counter-insurgency manual helped shape U.S. strategy in Iraq....

That was FORMER Lt. Col, right? I wish him the best of luck selling his book especially a good read for war mongers frustrated by the dynamics of peace.

Evidently the former colonel believes the USA needs a base of operations, similar to that of the Islamic State needing a base of operations. He doesn't get it. The USA is not going to have soldiers as convenient targets for militants and extremists in the Middle East. The USA Navy is stationed in Italy and there is a base in Qatar. Not every country in the Middle East is going to have a convenient base for their pleasure? Is that it? Every country in the Middle East is going to be a territory of the USA because I'll tell you something, it hasn't done a darn thing for Turkish autonomy.

Oh, by the way, perhaps the former Colonel doesn't remember there is a huge air base in Turkey which has no plans of being decommissioned. The only reason a military base should be in Iraq is for war and we aren't fighting one there anymore.

There are two bases in Turkey as a matter of fact, Incirlink (clear here) and Izmer Air Base (click here).
To the right is the location of the USA military base in Al Udeid Air Base, Abū Nakẖlah, Qatar.

The military authorities that come out to state the USA has to have a permanent base in Iraq does not understand nor cares to understand the people of that region. They defame them by stating the leaders of the governing bodies are not capable of governance, yet they play this game of putting all the ethnicities and religions into one room and states they will be functional now.

The people of Iraq are capable of voting and whether or not the USA likes it they are capable of governance. When the USA was in Iraq it was Maliki's private militia killing whoever the Prime Minister believed to be the problem. Now, today, the people of the USA finally see the folly in all that. American soldiers are not going back to the Middle East to some government's private militia terrifying populous of people nearly as much as the Islamic State.

The country of Iraq may or may not succeed in their ability to organize around the concept of a 'melting pot' as the USA did for so long. If they don't than the USA is going to have to accept their government for what it is. The USA is providing air support along with a coalition of countries. Does Mr. Nagl actually believe those countries are not capable of their own governance in joining a coalition to organize their own military prowess to destroy the evil that resides in Syria in the Islamic State? I happen to believe they can and should and succeed in protecting their countries and it's borders.

Nagl wants 15,000 troops in Iraq FOREVER.

I don't think so.

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

Why is the NFL so reclusive about domestic violence by their players?

The NFL has a lot to worry about when it comes to the iconic nature of it's business. It was 20 years ago on June 12th Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered along with her friend Ron Goldman. The NFL is deathly worried that if domestic violence is considered a serious infraction with the league "the shield" will become tarnished and be replaced with a new organization.

One of the more profound statements made by Ms. Dewan Smith-Williams was, "These men have money and they are not used to being told no." 

October 20, 2014

By Jordan Valinsky

With the string of domestic abuse controversies (click here) that have rocked the NFL in the past few months, the league has a bad track record in dealing with these type of allegations. Now, a stunning report from the Washington Post details how bad it actually is.

The newspaper spoke with two NFL wives who endured years of abusive relationships: Dewan Smith-Williams and another who didn't want her identity revealed because her ex-husband is still in the league. Instead of the league acting like a safe haven where the women could come for help, it allegedly brushed their reports under the rug. 

Both women recounted frightening details of what great lengths the cops, league officials and coaches would go to avoid tarnishing the players' or league's image. Perhaps most disturbingly, despite that the stories happened years ago, the women say the NFL isn't doing anything to stop the domestic abuse problem epidemic....

OJ Simpson still holds the record as the only player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a 14-game season. His name is still worth something even after finding himself living behind bars. Simpson holds the record for the single season yards-per-game average, which stands at 143.1 ypg and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The NFL's approach in confronting violence has been prudent, but, remains to resolve the violence with some players. I saw an advertisement today on television about an outreach to women and children experiencing domestic violence. That type of promotion was the money donated by the NFL and it is vitally necessary money.

If we understand Ms. Dewan Smith-Williams and her statement of, "These men have money and they are not used to being told no," the only logical solution is to have the one organization, the NFL, that can control the money these players receive along with fines, be the authority they respect more than any other. The NFL has a unique position in all these instances and can bring considerable leverage to mitigating a household experiencing disharmony.

I would not expect the NFL to seek to leverage any outcomes due to men that brake the law, that is water under the bridge. But, if the NFL would give credence to the spouses and family members that come to them stating there is a problem in their relationship there is a chance, a better than 50-50 chance, violence can be averted.

I believe Roger Goodell stated he has brought together several women advisers to intervene in the growing concern of domestic abuse with NFL players. He could easily have that panel of women develop a parallel program to any of the players to mitigate any concerns that have resulted because of abusive behavior no matter how minor.

A program for spouses and children that hold them in esteem and elevates each one and their visual appearance at games and a fan base to develop in that relationship. We only see the spouses and children after there is bad news. That is no place for them to be in the public domain. 

A successful program prevents violence and upholds the dignity of marriage and family. The NFL should never seek to be invisible in these issues because it is the one authority the players recognize as important in their lives. This can be done and the players can have happy, healthy relationships with wonderful people while cherishing their children and every moment they are young.

This is so ridiculous.

Why did it take 42 days to declare Nigeria free of Ebola?

Any guesses?

Hint: 42 = 21 X 2

It takes 21 days to declare any person in contact with an Ebola patient free of any potential to the disease.

Hint: Nigeria is a country with people moving in and out of it everyday. 

No clue? Really?

Declaring a country free of the Ebola virus is a two step waiting process. The first step is to be sure all the KNOWN potential patients are free of disease. That is 21 days. The second step is to wait another 21 days IN CASE a person came into the country after the 21st of quarantine of KNOWN contact. In other words on the 21st day of quarantine, like that of the folks in Dallas, all the knowns are released from quarantine. But, what if a contact was made only today? Then to be sure the other UNKNOWNS in the country have not come forward with symptoms there is another waiting period WITHOUT quarantine. THAT WAS WITHOUT QUARANTINE. It is a WAITING PERIOD of 21 days after the last quarantine was lifted.

Now I suppose this scenario can go on forever, but, the WHO stated after 42 days a country can be considered Ebola free. The status of the virus is such that there is NO KNOWN SOURCE now in Nigeria. 

West Africa needs the help of the other countries to end this crisis and find methods of preventing and treating future outbreaks.

There was a protocol for HIV health care workers with the discovery of AZT. If a health care worker experienced a needle stick, no matter how minor, they were started for a course of AZT. The research shows it ends the early population of virus so the infection can never take hold. There isn't that type of intervention with Ebola because there isn't any reliable supply of treatment.

The waiting for FIRST symptoms is the best that can be used currently in treatment of the disease. The release of so many today and the fact a technician on a ship wasn't infected shows there is a degree of protection in prudent technique. I have to say I was not surprised the technician on the cruise ship was negative for the virus. Technicians working with direct blood contract have some of the best of medical technology to prevent contact with that blood. So, when she was found healthy without exposure it all made sense.

She had a limited 'timeline' for exposure that required MINIMAL contact with patient body fluids. When she came in contact with blood into a vile for detection of the virus it was already contained in the technology she used. Her chances of contracting Ebola was very low considering her technique and equipment. But, professionals didn't know that about the disease so they are exceptionally protective of the public in requiring blood tests and quarantine.

What is unknown to medical research requires the highest levels of protection for the public. No one in the public was ever at risk. When nurses care for a patient it is over a much longer timeline with far less technology to assist them unless they are at NIH or one of the other hospitals with biocontainment units.

Nurses when facing these diseases have to don much more protective equipment than is usually found in any hospital in the USA. This may be a reason to revisit "Universal Precautions" and determine when higher levels of protection is needed. But, that is the only place I can think of that needs review. The nurses in Dallas simply didn't have the proper equipment to be safe. Let's hope they get well soon, and the King Charles Spaniel is well, too. 

Perhaps Universal Precautions need to include a course for every nurse in biocontainment and the differences in the equipment and the protection level. Simply the knowledge of the difference will alter bedside technique by nurses across the board. They will be more aware of their own safety. Nurses trained in such technology will also be ready to apply those biocontainment measures should they be necessary.

I would think department leadership should be reading the weekly publication of the CDC about the trend of illness. But, that weekly review should also have a section on threats outside the USA, technology used for those threats and know when it might become an emergency for the USA. Mutation is a primary driver of larger infection rates and if anyone asked a Nursing Vice President what exactly mutation is and how it effects her practice they couldn't tell you. I'd bet real money on it.

Most administrative types would not know what the "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" is, but, they could tell you the Hospital Rate for nosocomial infections and where exactly in the hospital it is the most problem.

The certifying agency, The Joint Commission, (click here) is famous for putting more responsibility on the backs of nurses, but, have never demanded a change in working conditions should they be unfavorable for the staff.

Someone needs to tell The Joint Commission they ALSO have to focus on the nurse-patient ratio and the stress levels in nursing with appropriate intervention to reduce them. They also need to require hospitals to pass inspection in Infection Disease Management.

Nursing and their leadership are patient focused and conduct very little research that benefit the nurse community. The nursing profession is really ignored in many ways by it's own leadership. What the profession requires of it's members would never be tolerated by physicians.

Every medical and nursing director in the USA should be required to have a CDC Certification in Infectious Disease, Mutation and Prevention. Such a certification should be renewed annually no different than ACLS for the staff.

No silly online course either. They need to tour NIH and understand the infrastructure that is there to serve every American. The initial course should require NIH hands on experience and that aspect of the certification every five years there after.

"We need travel bans because Ebola quarantines are released !!!!"

This scenario has been typical in the fight against Ebola. It isn't necessarily the families that contract the disease, but, the health care workers surprised by the presentation of the virus in their hospital.

In Spain a nursing assistant died from the virus. It is the intimate contact that comes from caring for someone infected that spreads the disease. Health care workers are at most risk and when they aren't equipped with protective gear a nightmare becomes a reality.

The biggest complaint in West Africa is that burial ceremonies involve preparing the body by washing. It is those that come in contact with the deceased that contract the virus. It isn't casual contact that causes the increase in deaths.

October 19, 2014

By Aliyah Furmin

...Republican lawmakers (click here) on Sunday continued to pile on President Obama’s refusal to ban flights from West Africa amid the Ebola crisis. They also blasted hisappointment of former White House official Ron Klain to coordinate the U.S. response to the deadly virus.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, where multiple people have been infected with Ebola, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Obama’s “biggest mistake” is continuing to allow open commercial flights. “We need to take a common-sense stand of suspending commercial air travel out of these countries … And for whatever reason, the Obama White House doesn’t want to,” he said.

GOP Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania repeated the call for a ban on “Fox News Sunday,” going so far as to say “this is like dealing with terrorism,” adding, “We have to be right 100% of the time, and Ebola only has to get in once.”...

So very typical of Republicans, they don't educate even themselves but simply reverberate populous rants. If they BOTHERED to be a LEADER rather than a dog chasing it's next 'culture of fear' bone, they might actually find reasons to be encouraged about the expertise found in the USA.

Now tell me this level of panic wasn't apparent with HIV. The exception this time is the virus is already known and it is known how to contain it. But, there was levels of fear such as "...It is in the tears of the infected..."

Why are those infected with Ebola not contagious until they have a fever?

The reason they aren't contagious until they have symptoms of a fever is because of 'viral load.' When a fever develops it isn't because the virus just showed up, but, because it was successful in replicating and growing in larger concentrations. A single virus in a single tear from a person's eye is not going to transmit the virus, but, body fluids with large numbers of virus has 'the opportunity' to infect others. It isn't one virus that causes symptoms, it is many that infect the body.

He's looking a little gaunt. Someone needs to feed that man. It looks as though he lost weigh because there is so much going on in the world he is probably getting little sleep, too.

See, he would tell everyone he is fine and there is nothing to worry about. When the President is appearing different and he denies it everyone yields to his assessment. 

So, he needs to stop being gracious and take a day or two off and EAT. Isn't there a game to watch or something? 

There is nothing more terrifying to Russia than NATO.

October 20, 2014

...Swedish authorities (click here) also protested to Moscow last month after the country's airspace was penetrated by two Russian fighter jets. Finland, which shares a more than 800-mile border with Russia, last week complained of a Russian naval vessel interfering with a Finnish research ship in international waters. And in September, Canada claimed that its ships taking part in Black Sea naval exercises with Ukraine were buzzed by Russian aircraft.

...“It could be a submarine, it could be a diver using a moped-like underwater vehicle and it could be divers that don’t have any business on our territory -- that’s the range of foreign underwater activity we are looking into,” the Euronews agency quoted Grenstad as saying.

The Svenska Dagensblat newspaper quoted unnamed sources with knowledge of the search, said to be the biggest in the post-Cold War period, as saying the hunt was triggered Friday after the Swedish military intercepted a Russian-language radio distress call from somewhere in the Stockholm archipelago to a receiver in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the main base of Moscow’s Baltic Sea fleet....

October 19, 2014 Time: 19:07. LAST UPDATED: October 19, 2014 Time: 19:57.

Armed Forces finds probable underwater operations (click here - needs translation)

HEADQUARTERS 
The intelligence operation that has lasted for more than two days in the archipelago based on several credible sightings. Over the past few days have made ​​observations at three locations. Armed Forces believes all that much credibility. 

- This means that the intelligence operation now seeks to confirm foreign submarine operations, said Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad, Armed Forces Deputy Director of Operations.

Armed Forces confirms that it is likely that there is a foreign submarine activity in the Stockholm archipelago. It is the second highest voucher on Armed Forces self-assessment scale, which means that the operation continues. Armed Forces' assessment is also based on several observations over the years in the same area at Kanholmsfjärden....

There were exercises and Russian can't stand the simple of idea that NATO is prepared for any possible threat. This is from RIA Novosti.

..."This month (click here) five naval ships from the Royal Netherlands Navy participated in the international exercise Northern Archer in the Baltic Sea. One of these ships is HNLMS Bruinvis. The weekend of October 11th the ships visited Stockholm and spend the weekend there. After the weekend they exercised together with the Swedish Navy. This ended on Thursday afternoon, after which our ships set sail to Tallinn, Estonia, where they arrived on Friday morning," Karen Loos-Gelijns, Head of Communications Royal Netherlands Navy, informed RIA Novosti by e-mail....

This is what Russia is hoping for. A NATO that sees nothing, hears nothing and pretends there is no burgeoning conflict. I suppose as far as Russia is concerned NATO forgot to put out it's "No Trespassing in NATO Waters" sign.

Now that Russia has acted foolishly NATO has to worry about a distress call from Russian naval submarines, of in this case mini-sub, so no one dies in another Russia sub accident.

K-141 Kursk (click here)

All 118 men aboard the K-141 Kursk perished when the Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000. Kursk was an Oscar-II class cruise missile submarine commissioned into the Russian Navy in December 1994.

Kursk was one of the 30 vessels that took part in the "Summer-X" exercise. The submarine suffered an explosion while preparing to fire dummy torpedoes during the exercise. The leakage of high-test peroxide (HTP) from one of the Type 65 torpedoes was believed to have caused the explosion.

The explosion completely destroyed the first three compartments. 23 of the 118 crew were left alive in the ninth compartment when the submarine hit the seafloor but they died subsequently due to lack of oxygen.

At least this time it is a mini-sub used for spying rather than a nuclear capacity submarine.

"Morning Papers" - It's Origins (click here)

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

Waning Crescent

13% of Full

26.1 day old Moon

NASA's ongoing assessment by Cassini is leading to the understanding of water that might be contained in our solar system.


October 16, 2014
By Jason Major

...And like (click here) the small zap you may get when reaching for a doorknob or other conductive object, Cassini’s Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument detected a brief magnetic connection and spike in electrons as it passed by Hyperion on Sept. 26, 2005.

“The large difference in potential between the surface and the spacecraft resulted in a flow of electrons being accelerated from Hyperion toward Cassini,” said Tom Nordheim, doctoral candidate at Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College London, and leader of the analysis. ”It was rather like Cassini receiving a 200-volt electric shock from Hyperion, even though they were over 2,000 kilometers [1,200 miles] apart at the time.”...

Cast a Real Vote, not one dreamed up by media sources.

The Republican Party is not trustworthy. They have a following by the electorate that is based in so called, 'common sense.' It saves the Republicans from being involved with the people. It saves them the WORK that goes along with being an elected authority. It is far easier to treat the electorate as a child and simply give excuses and catchy phrases to find a reason to vote. 

The Republicans do an injustice to the American people in being that condescending politician. I have to laugh when a Tea Party candidate stated no one should go along to get along. Yet. In the elections of these candidates facts were the enemy and FOX News slogans and complaints won the day. Now, who is going along to get along?

The Republican Party is laced with double standards. And as long as the minorities in the USA allow them to carry the majority of any house in any election there will never be a resolve in their favor. You have to vote in order to be heard and there is no louder truth that Republicans want to oppress than the voices of minorities. 

Senator Chuck Grassley in the video below in 2010 instilled fear in the electorate based in so called 'Common Sense.' He should have been ashamed of himself allowing citizens believe their lives were in danger. This was to be the legacy of the Affordable Care Act according to FOX. "Pulling the plug on Granny." You'll excuse me, but, that is illegal in the USA, except, where a Living Will states otherwise. The implication by FOX and right wing media was that the government would maintain costs of health care by killing off the elderly.

They call it politics. It isn't. It is controlling the electorate in an ignorance that reinforces itself. It was not surprising for President Obama to go to the people and ask for their help. The people responded because he told the truth and didn't hold back on facts. 

It is time to do some talking and vote. Vote for those that tell the truth, believe in revitalizing the Middle Class and the American promise of upward mobility.

Know from here forward tax cuts for business and the wealthy don't achieve anything except a greater burden for the Middle Class and increasing poverty. The Michigan Example. It has to end now.

How many knew that the State of Michigan was among the most business friendly environments in the USA since 1994 and before?

"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." 
 –Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis


“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 
–George Santayana (philosopher)

Michigan was an experiment and it failed. Michigan pass a law, PROPOSAL A – MICHIGAN Property and Sales Taxes  -- Adopted March 15, 1994, which has proven to cut taxes, caused calamitous hardship as well as a failing state economy.

Given this reality, I don't know where any Republican can claim cutting taxes stimulates job growth and a healthy economy. This report exams all fifty states and one point and there is an opposite effect to cutting taxes in any long term strategy.

In the figure below, it shows the increase in state funding per student from 1999 to the proposal of 2015. It should be noted, while the spending per student has increased, it has nothing to do with changing policy, it is due to less students in the educational system of Michigan.

Proposal A (click here)

Low taxes and low levels of public services (click here) are not the path to long term economic prosperity.  A special section of the study reviews the relative rankings of all states by per capita income over the period 1929 to 2010.  Its key findings:  the states that were low tax in the beginning of this period were
also low income then, and they remain low income today—none of the bottom 10 in 1929 ever made the Top 10 over the years measured. Pp 34‐36, Table 8).


We are well under the Headlee Limitation,...(click here)

Interesting enough during this same period the GDP of Michigan increased until of course 2008. The recovery in Michigan since 2008 was primarily due to Washington policies. So, while the GDP was increasing in Michigan during this time, the incomes to citizens were decreasing, there was growing unemployment and the state was having tax short falls.

...The tax cuts (click here) were sold as being the key to creating economic prosperity for the state; but, over that period, Michigan’s national rank in per capita income has tumbled from 18th to 35th and the state’s unemployment rate, aligned with the national average in 1994, last year was more than 25 percent above the national average, according to the report....

...Individually, (click here) some of these past tax changes were likely reasonable policies. Collectively however, they now threaten the ability of Michigan to support its public investments, the services that create opportunities for young people, that attract and retain talent, and that are increasingly important in today’s knowledge service driven economy.

In December, 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder issued a special Talent Address. In it, he said, “In the 20th century, the most valuable assets to job creators were financial and material capital. In a changing global economy, that is no longer the case. Today, talent has surpassed other resources as the driver of economic growth.” 

This study agrees that talent is the key to Michigan’s future. Sadly, his administration has not put dollars and priorities behind that sentiment. See the Michigan Future website (www.MichiganFuture.org) for data on educational attainment across the states.

Gov. Snyder and the current Legislature, while making these statements supportive of attracting and retaining talent, have continued to cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and issue tax abatements. (The business tax cuts have been offset somewhat by increases in taxes, mostly on low and middle income 

families through a reduction of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and senior citizens, through the pension tax...

While Michigan was accepting increases in their sales and use tax from 4% to 6%, none went to the education system. Michigan never reexamined the laws that were causing collapse of so many public school systems. The hardest hit are majority minority communities. Michigan simply let the educational system rot under oppressive laws (tax cuts) because they were convinced raising taxes would ruin their 'business environment.'

When people are poor there is a poor economy. Tax cuts to the bone won't bring the economy back because there is no money in it in the first place. The healthiest statement I read to this effect is that business and the people should be equal partners in any government treasury.

"The Buffet Rule" (click here)

Basically, the people are seen as one shareholder in the deposits made to the treasury, be it local, state or federal. So, for each business in the state they are a shareholder to the treasury and the people are one and only one. Businesses ante-up no different than citizens, but, citizens don't carry the cost for a business to exist.

This is an article I could not pass up. I thought it best if I bring attention to these wonderful women.

Dr. Anna Pauline ‘Pauli’ Murray (Nov. 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) (click here)

Pauli Murray was an American civil rights and women’s rights activist, lawyer and author. She wrote several important articles highlighting race relations during the Civil Rights era including  Negroes Are Fed Up in 1943. Murray was also a founding member of the National Organization for Women, a group that addressed issues of gender equality and women’s rights.

In 1977, Murray became the first African-American woman to become an Episcopal priest. Since her death in 1985, several books have been written highlighting her work, including Pauli Murray: The Autobiography of a Black Activist, Feminist, Lawyer, Priest and Poet....

Septima Poinsette Clark (May 3, 1898 – Dec. 15, 1987)

Ella Josephine Baker (Dec. 13, 1903 – Dec. 13, 1986)

Fannie Lou Hamer (Oct. 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977)

Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010)

Anna Arnold Hedgeman (July 5, 1899 – Jan. 17, 1990)

Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (Nov. 11, 1914 – Nov. 4, 1999)

Mary Seacole (1805 – May 14, 1881)

Every one of them could be called feminists. They believe in the empowerment of the individual. They believed all people had the right to determine their own path. They are great women.

Ebola as an election issue? Like the virus, it will run it's course.

Is there an American living in the USA that believe we can't beat this? That is not realistic. If Nigeria can do it, the USA can, too.

October 19, 2014

By Alexandra Stifflin

...“It’s possible to control Ebola. (click here) It’s possible to defeat Ebola. We’ve seen it here in Nigeria,” Nigerian Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told TIME. “If any cases emerge in the future, it will be considered—by international standards—a separate outbreak. If that happens, Nigeria will be ready and able to confront it exactly as we have done with this outbreak.”

For the WHO to declare Nigeria’s Ebola-free, the country had to make it 42 days with no new cases (double the incubation period), verify that it actively sought out all possible contacts, and show negative test results for any suspected cases.

Nigeria had 20 cases of Ebola after a Liberian-American man named Patrick Sawyer flew into Lagos collapsed at the airport. Health care workers treating Sawyer were infected, and as it spread it ultimately killed eight people, a low number next to the thousands of cases and deaths in other countries. Nigeria’s health system is considered more robust, but there was significant concern from experts that a case would pop up in one of the country’s dense-populated slums and catch fire....

Senator Ted Cruz is a prime Republican example of how they pander to the populous ideas in order to be the man for the job. Cruz stated, "A travel ban is a political no brainer."

Okay, is there an American alive that wants American policy to reflect the political desires of a US Senator or do they really want policy that works? Cruz also stated, "Obama should be rolling out the experts and he isn't." I suppose the director of the CDC is chump change, huh? Then of course, everything is politics for Mr. Cruz and the Medical Doctor with exactly the perfect experience for the job in the year 2014 is simply a political hack and Obama should not assign a political hack to such an important position.

Do I detect a double standard? A travel ban is a political no brainer, but, assigning a political hack to a place on the cabinet is counter to the country's best interests. It is amazing how slick some folks think they are.

No election endorsement in 2016.

October 29, 2014
By Matt Taibbi

...I was shocked (click here) to hear him say aloud in the second debate that the richest people would not have their tax burdens reduced, especially since he spent the entire primary season running as a supply-sider who would create growth by cutting taxes on capital gains, interest, dividends, and eliminating the estate tax, cuts that overwhelmingly favor the very rich....

...When Obama tried to nail him on his record on contraception, noting that Romney had suggested that employers should be able to decide whether or not to allow insurance coverage of contraceptives, Romney effortlessly replied: "I don't believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care or not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives."...

This is an article from 2012 in Rolling Stone. Romney is 'out there' because he can be, because he is bored with his life without politics and because he may be the only 'closely reasonable' candidate when the primary season comes to a close.


Think about all the other so called 2016 candidates and tell me there is one, just one, that isn't so extreme on one topic or another that Romney just might be the one left at the end of GOP primary season that really delivered on moving the party closer to the center.

McConnell won't keep the filibuster, otherwise, the Democrats could protect everyone from the evil within the Republican Party. That is why it is important to get out the vote. GET OUT THERE. No joke.

They'll repeal completely The Voting Rights Act. They return DOMA in different language and include personhood legislation. The American people will become very burdened with a Republican majority in both houses.

The repeal of any law will require a simply majority and it probably can be achieved with both houses a majority Republican. But, when that begins to happen the people won't put up with it when it comes to Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. 

Any repeal of such laws would be a travesty. Medicare Part D was passed to improve the lives of those needing medications. That was passed during the Bush White House and it has benefited Americans who needed help. If the Republicans cut benefits and pull a "Ryan's Approach" they will be thrown out of office in 2016.

Mitch McConnell even defrauded himself when addressing the Affordable Care Act in Kentucky. He stated he would fully repeal Obamacare at the federal level, but, would agree to a website for the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky. That is a Republican talking out of both sides of his mouth.