Minsk II was to be enforced by the "Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Minsk II is the second agreement between all major powers in the region of Ukraine, Ukraine government and the eastern Ukraine rebels. It is an interesting arrangement in that the eastern regions are to hold elections for local authority while maintaining their national borders of Ukraine. This agreement was based in a ceasefire of all hostilities. Included in Minsk II was an outline of an economic strategy that would allow the states of Ukraine to keep a larger portion of any taxes collected. The idea is to increase the economic development of the states. In that is the understanding when the states do well, the central authority will receive sufficient revenue to carry out its responsibility as a sovereign authority. 

By allowing more taxes to be kept by the states the culture identity would remain strong preserving the ethnic diversity of Ukraine. There is no reason for the eastern states to demand autonomy since Ukraine is more than willing to acknowledge that diversity as a very healthy part of Ukraine and it's economy. If one recalls these are the rebels that were stating they are too different in every way from the rest of Ukraine to remain a part of the sovereign borders. In other words, they were more Russian than Ukraine. 

The autonomy of cultural diversity would also insure a more peaceful border with Russia as there can be trade between the eastern Ukraine states and Russia. 

For the most part, Minsk II has held up without issue and the ceasefire has worked. There are elections slated in October and November to establish those that will govern the states of eastern Ukraine. However, there are rumbling that are causing an increase in hostilities with a return to violence.

Leaders of Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine at the 11–12 February summit in Minsk

August 29, 2015
By Chad Thomas

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande (click here) warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that any elections held in eastern Ukraine must conform to that country’s laws.

“Hollande and Merkel underscored the fact that elections in separatist areas that are contrary to current agreements would endanger the Minsk process,” Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s chief spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement.

The European leaders’ first three-way conversation with Putin since June 22 follows signals by Merkel and Hollande that they are stepping up efforts to engage on Ukraine as the cease-fire negotiated in February in Minsk is faltering. The three emphasized that the accord is still the foundation for improving the situation in eastern Ukraine and reiterated their willingness to work with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to end the 16-month conflict, Seibert said. Merkel and Hollande met Poroshenko in Berlin on Aug. 24.

The three leaders also discussed the need for any vote in separatist areas to be held under the observation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and that any attacks or threats against the group’s special observers in the country is “unacceptable,” Seibert said in the statement.

Putin expressed his concern during the call over the Ukrainian army’s firing on settlements in Donbass and the buildup of armed forces along the cease-fire line, according to a Kremlin statement. Ukraine countered that pro-Russia insurgents are amassing heavy weapons in the Mariupol district and that two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and another three wounded in the last 24 hours, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a military spokesman, said in Kiev....

Once again violence is manifesting rather than peaceful anticipation of a new country with diversity and freedom of trade. President Putin should not be stirring the pot so much as enforcing Minsk II. Minsk II enforces the Ukraine borders and does not dissolve them. Arming eastern Ukraine to a stronger military than the central government is not part of the agreement and is not the aspect that was to be encouraged in Minsk II.

The OSCE needs to be tasked to enforce Minsk II by engaging the UN Security Council through dialogue as to the infractions and how they occurred. There has to be one universal and neutral voice to speak to Minsk II and it's forward movement to peace. This voice needs to be heard on a frequent basis to stem violence. The circumstances are too fluid with Russia allowing sales of massive munitions to Ukraine's eastern provenances to expect occasional reporting to the UN Security Council to be effective.

August 27, 2015
By Natasha Doff and Daryna Krasnolutska

Ukraine agreed to a restructuring deal (click here) with creditors after five months of talks, giving President Petro Poroshenko some breathing room as he seeks to avert default and revive an economy decimated by a war with Russia-backed separatists....

...Poroshenko is seeking to meet the conditions of emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund, which says debt restructuring should save Ukraine $15.3 billion through 2018, while trying to end a recession expected to bring a contraction of 8.7 percent this year, forecasts compiled by Bloomberg show....

...Franklin Templeton, which owns about $7 billion of Ukrainian bonds, was joined in the talks by fellow creditors BTG Pactual Europe LLP, TCW Investment Management Co. and T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.

Some bondholders, including Yerlan Syzdykov, who helps oversee $254 billion, including Ukrainian Eurobonds, at Pioneer Investments, have already said they will back a deal....

...“I’m offering Russia a restructuring opportunity that is the same as everyone else’s,” Jaresko said in the interview. “I’m hopeful that they will participate in this. It’s the best way to depoliticize this.”
Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, said in an interview with Rossiya 1 state television, “We won’t agree to a restructuring.” He added, “we will insist the funds are returned in full in December.”
Ukrainian officials say they expect to get $3.4 billion of International Monetary Fund financing over the next four months, on top of the roughly $6.7 billion received so far under the program.... 

More conflict will not help Ukraine, nor bring about peace and prosperity to eastern Ukraine states. When will eastern Ukraine realize it's peril is it's alone. A stable and peaceful election would be met with far better economic outcomes. I realize money is no object to rebels, but, this is getting to be a martyr status of eastern Ukraine. When will they put their people first and replace ideologies with good governance, peace and prosperity?

Let me just say one other thing about public spending to protect police officers. There is no unworthy expense.

If New York had bulletproof glass in their cars there is every reason to believe two officers would be alive today. 

Today, if something as simple as putting a gas pump at a municipal garage would have prevented this death no one know that.

Preventing danger to our police officers in such methods of protection is just a good investment. The public requires these people to protect them. It is the public's responsibility to make sure that happens in a way that honors the police in realizing there is significant danger in their lives.

It was a while ago when four officers were gunned down while meeting at a breakfast counter. Give these folks room to meet at their leisure. Give them ways of fulfilling those needs for comradely in safe ways. 

Police officers should be involved with the community, but, not to the extent the officers are compromised in their work. Being part of the community should be defined in job reviews, such as spending time at the YMCA or visiting schools for lectures on one subject or another. 

I think some structure in understanding the jobs of police officers might better help make decisions in their work, too. I am not a police woman. I have had police and state police in the family, including women. I know the fears. The family has never lost an officer performing their duty and these were officers on the street. They did the hard work. But, my family knew police were walking among people they saw at church and PTA meetings. Policing is not done in a vacuum. That is the responsibility of the community as well. The community needs to reach out to their officers as well and not simply through their elected officials. 

Please be careful with these folks.

Thank you to leadership to reign in the hatred in all measures it appears.

I suggest government have it's own repair facility that also houses it's fuel supply. That suggestion will bring about better economy to government as well. It controls the cost purchased on a large amount and it sets the cost of maintenance to any fleet of vehicles. 

In cities or towns with small numbers of vehicles, they should seek cooperation within their county to bring about a better economy on vehicles, fueling and maintenance. 

There is a not a person alive that supports officer deaths with the exception of crime networks. 

Officer Goforth was one of 1076 police officers dead from gunfire in Texas. These statistics have to improve.

Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth (click here) was shot and killed from ambush while pumping gas into his patrol car at a commercial gas station at the intersection of West Road and Telge Road, in Cypress.
Deputy Goforth was on patrol and had completed an assignment at the scene of a vehicle collision. He when to a local gas station to fuel his patrol car. As Deputy Goforth stood next to his patrol car filling it with fuel, a male subject walked up behind him, and fired multiple shots. After Deputy Goforth fell to the ground, the subject shot him several more times before fleeing the scene in a pickup truck.
The suspect was apprehended several hours later after a massive manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies from around the Harris County and Houston area.
Deputy Goforth had served with the Harris County Sheriff's Office for 10 years. He is survived by his wife and two children.

It was not long ago when New York found it vitally necessary to place bullet proof glass in their patrol cars. In this case, in Texas, the police officer was fueling his patrol car. It would appear the patrol car is a place where the public and police interact. I suggest every officer, sheriff, police union and every municipality review that reality and move to protect the officers. Sometimes it is a very doable measure that can protect their lives and there is absolutely no excuse of government to neglect that reality.

I like suggestion boxes.

It is a sad day in the USA that another police officer is dead.

I am getting more than a little annoyed with all the oppressive demands on Hillary Clinton's right to free speech. It would seem as though Republicans can use the First Amendment at will, but, Hillary Clinton has to be controlled. If Republicans are allowed to define the political language, they control the political outcomes. 

Hillary Clinton has every right to express her understanding of an issue using whatever words she wants to use. If Republicans are allowed to complain about her words and their context her message will be altered and oppressed. The First Amendment belongs to everyone in the USA, even minorities.

I did notice there is far less scrutiny of Senator Bernie Sanders than Hillary Clinton. His exemption could be due to the political right LABELING him as socialist. He isn't a socialist. He is a legislator that looks to the middle class as the moral statement of our democracy and he is correct. The middle class defines 'the opportunity' within the USA that provides upward movement and better quality of life.

The poor in the USA also defines the equity of our democracy. It is important the poor is upheld as the very minimum the USA allows to protect it's people. Removing voting rights from minorities and the poor is not the promise the USA has in it's image. The USA is suppose to be the land of opportunity and justice. It is time it returns to that status. 

This is not a single issue blog. It never was. Understanding what is good for Earth is to understand what is good for the people. People live in societies that define their lives. There has always been a clear understanding what impacts people impacts our Earth's troposphere. There is no separation at all. 

Where it comes to politics and the point of view of this blog, it is equity. It is recognizing everyone seeking to serve the people and love this country have the right to do so without oppression of any form. 

That is not my agenda, it is the agenda of the USA Constitution and the understanding our forefathers wanted the USA to be a place of equity, opportunity and lack of oppression. Our forefathers were great men, visionaries and men of peace.

Governor Scott Walker is demanding corruption instead of protecting the people of Wisconsin.

Water filtration systems can be installed at the site of acquiring the water from the aquifer. Regular testing is required to insure quality. Waukesha, Wisconsin needs to improve it's pollution record especially considering it's future plans.

August 25, 2015

By Monica Davey

WAUKESHA, Wis. — This city, (click here) once famous for its bubbling natural springs, sits about 17 miles from the shore of Lake Michigan. So when the state and federal authorities began demanding that the city address a growing contamination problem in its aquifer, the answer seemed simple: Get water from the big lake.

Surely, city leaders imagined, the needs of Waukesha, with a population just over 70,000, would be but a drop from the gigantic Great Lakes bucket, which amounts to one-fifth of the earth’s fresh surface water. That little drop, however, has stirred up a colossal struggle.

Waukesha has run smack into a landmark 2008 compact that prohibits large amounts of water from the five Great Lakes from being pumped, trucked, shipped or otherwise moved beyond the system’s natural basin without approval from the governors of each of the eight states that touch a lake — unless it is in a product like beer or soft drinks. Waukesha, despite being so close to Lake Michigan, is about a mile and a half outside the lake’s natural basin....

The plans of Waukesha water supply. I suppose tapping the Great Lakes will satisfy much more than modest growth.

It is predicted (click here) that the City will serve more customers in the future. In southeastern Wisconsin, population is expected to increase modestly in all counties over the next 20 years....

When it is cost effective, Scott Walker wants to eliminate EPA requirements. What else is new? This is called government corruption.

July 28, 2015
By Steven Verburg

Gov. Scott Walker wants to all but eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (click here) and place each state in charge of controlling air and water pollution within its borders if he is elected president, he told a conservative newspaper.
“I’m all for a sustainable environment, but you have to balance it with a sustainable economy, and I think in our state we’ve shown you can do that hand in hand,” Walker told the Washington Examiner in an article published Monday. “I think states can do it all across America much better than the federal government.”
Critics said without the EPA there would be a “race to the bottom” among politicians in states competing for business investment with fewer safeguards in one state against pollution flowing through the air or water to another state.
“You don’t need a college degree to know that air and water pollution do not respect state boundaries,” said Daniel J. Weiss, a League of Conservation Voters spokesman in Washington. “Wisconsin would be virtually helpless to protect its citizens from pollution from other states.”
Weiss said he hadn’t seen another 2016 presidential candidate make a similar proposal....

Indeed.

Water quality is water quality. Why should 50 states create their own standards when one federal agency can do the work?

When Scott Walker states it is best for states to set their own standards, he is saying I plan to let business exploit the health, quality of  life and well being of the people of Wisconsin.

One might ask why this is such an agenda item for Scott Walker.

February 23, 2013

Imagine a shipbuilder constructing a new boat (click here) that has within its design holes in the hull that will sink the vessel as it enters the water. Imagine an aircraft company building a plane that has wings that fall off once 20-mile-per-hour winds come into play as it attempts to leave the runway. Stupid, right?

So imagine a group of Republican legislators coin-operated by the many propaganda arms and billions of dollars from the Koch Brothers, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), DC Beltway rat Grover Norquist, the Carlyle Group and others trying to push through certainly unconstitutional, environmentally careless mining deregulation legislation doomed to be in costly litigation for years before the first digging the proposed largest open-pit iron-ore mine in the world. 

It’s bound to make lots of lawyers very happy and the pricey kickbacks for the Republicans who support the legislation will keep them primed for more extremist legislation down the political road. Getting rid of many historic environmental mining standards involving wetlands, groundwater, rock disposal that even moderate Republicans in the past supported is so easy when the current Republicans are bought and paid for....

No, there is no basic for the accusations of corruption within the Scott Walker governance of Wisconsin. 

Really?

I have to admit, Walker is quick on his feet, but, when it comes to moral governance and protecting the people from exploitation at the cost of their health he gets an "F-".

Any death is a tragedy.

Sincerest sympathy to the family.

August 28, 2015
By Faith Karimi, CNN

A man "believed to be the alleged gunman" (click here) in the killing of a uniformed Houston-area sheriff's deputy was in custody and being questioned Saturday morning, Sgt. William Kennard of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN.

No charges have been filed against the man, Kennard said. The man's name wasn't given.

It was the man's mother who called the Harris County Sheriff's Department about her son, Kennard said. "All the information she had heard led to him."

A red pickup truck was parked at the spot where deputies took the person in custody, according to video shot by CNN affiliate KTRK. Authorities had said the suspect drove away from the shooting in a red Ford Ranger.... 

I don't understand how this was an execution style murder. When I think of an execution I think of a person with hands and feet bound. It isn't bad enough the sheriff's deputy is dead? I don't think we need the adjectives.

It appears as though the gunman acted alone. Is that right? 

It would be remiss of me to ignore the comments on news articles. There are people asking "Where are the demonstrations?" That is racist. Murder is a crime. The African American community has been consistently witnessing the killing of unarmed men. We know the statistics within the African American population is far worse than in other demographics in the USA.

There are also profound problems in the victimizing of young African Americans both men and women. The prisons statistics is horrible. 

The sheriff's deputy should be alive today. But, so should be homeless and African American men. Confusing the issues over a horrible death of a sheriff's deputy is not honoring him.

Can the reporting stick to the facts and not attempt to create a far different set of racial tensions.

A zoo for Gaza.

August 8, 2015

Rafah - On a dirt road, (click here) behind tall white walls decorated with faded paintings of zebras, giraffes and lions, lies Rafah Zoo.
It is hidden away from Rafah's busy streets, but inside, hundreds of colourful birds in cages tweet loudly - almost drowning out the sound of children playing in a pool nearby.
Opened in the late 1990s by the Jumaa family, Rafah Zoo was the first amusement and leisure park for communities in the Gaza Strip.
Jihad Jumaa, a zookeeper and son of the zoo's owner, told Al Jazeera that his father's original mission had been to provide a place for Gaza's families - small children, especially - to relax and enjoy themselves....

Can we please provide expertise and funding for a place that protects life and doesn't destroy it?

Among ruined houses, a haven for Gaza's children lies in rubble (click here)
 

Chris McGreal in al-Brazil, Rafah

Friday 21 May 2004 21.01 EDT

 

Ask to be directed to the latest wave of Israeli destruction in Rafah's al-Brazil neighbourhood and many fingers point towards the zoo. Amid the rubble of dozens of homes that the Israeli army continued yesterday to deny demolishing, the wrecking of the tiny, but only, zoo in the Gaza Strip took on potent symbolism for many of the newly homeless.
The butchered ostrich, the petrified kangaroo cowering in a basement corner, the tortoises crushed under the tank treads - all were held up as evidence of the pitiless nature of the Israeli occupation....

The Gaza children need a real petting zoo.

Do legislators ever ask the question, "How is the middle class doing?"

As the middle class decreases so do taxes and results in a greater national debt.

January 23, 2015
In 2014, (click here) the union membership rate--the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions--was 11.1 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.6 million, was little different from 2013. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent, and there were 17.7 million union workers...

--Men had a higher union membership rate (11.7 percent) than women (10.5 percent) in 2014. (See table 1.)
--Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers. (See table 1.)
 --Median weekly earnings of nonunion workers ($763) were 79 percent of earnings for workers who were union members ($970). (The comparisons of earnings in this release are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be important in explaining earnings differences....) 

Unions are the backbone of the USA middle class. There has been a deliberate methodology to break unions, other than employee votes, by using staffing agencies. This decision puts the best interest of labor back in the hands of the people and not CEOs.

August 28, 2015 By Shan Li, Samantha Masunaga and Daina Beth Solomon

...The NLRB said Thursday (click here) that a Silicon Valley recycling center was a "joint employer" along with the staffing agency that provided the center's workers. The ruling determined that companies using workers hired by another business, such as temp agencies, contractors or even fast-food franchisees, are still responsible for labor violations and could be required to bargain with unions representing those employees....

This decision by the NLRB also strengthens the USA economy as well as quality of life of Americans. The decision calls to the forefront the quality of life of the American working poor.

As American labor increases their income there will be less demand on the US Treasury in supplying health care and food stamps. The impact of this decision will be important to the USA.  

Unions need to step up their recruitment efforts to return the middle class to the country.

Union memberships in the UK are different demographically. Unions are not solely a USA experience. The union member in the UK is more likely to an older employee.

Trade Union Membership 2014: Statistical Bulletin (click here)

1. Trade Union Membership: Long term and recent trends Around 6.4 million employees in the UK were trade union members in 2014. The level of overall union members was broadly unchanged from 2013, with a non - statistically significant reduction of only 40,000 over the year (a 0.6% decline). Current membership levels are well below the peak of over 13 million in 1979.

The numbers of UK employees increased between 2013 and 2014. As a result, the proportion of employees who were trade union members fell slightly to 25.0% in 2014, from 25.6% in 2013. This is the lowest rate of trade union membership recorded between 1995 and 2014.Over this period, the proportion of employees who were trade union members in the UK has decreased 7.4 percentage points, from 32.4% in 1995.

Female employees are more likely to be a trade union member. The proportion of female employees who were in a trade union was around 28% in 2014, compared with 22% for male employees.

A higher proportion of UK born employees were in a trade union compared with non-UK born employees. About 26% of UK born employees were in a trade union in 2014, compared with 18% for non-UK born employees....

Interestingly enough, the UK identifies seven economic classes and not three as in the USA. Now, why do governments collect these statistics? Either the government is concerned for the people of the country or it isn't.

3 April 2013 

• Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, (click here) distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals

• Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital

• Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy

• New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital

• Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66

• Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital

• Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital...

Officer Randall Kerrick has charges dropped after mistrial.

August 28, 2015
By Blake Hanson

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. —

Channel 9 reporter Blake Hanson talked to Jonathan Ferrell’s family Friday morning shortly after the decision was announced to not retry Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall “Wes” Kerrick in the 2013 shooting death of Ferrell.
Jonathan’s mother, Georgia, said she found out when she got a call Friday morning from prosecutor Teresa Postel with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
Georgia Ferrell said prosecutors told her Attorney General Roy Cooper had looked over everything after a mistrial was declared last week when the acquittal-leaning jury deadlocked and he determined they would not have a retrial.
Georgia Ferrell was told presecutors didn’t think they they could get any other result....

Jonathan was shot to death in 2013 when he sought help by knocking on a door following an auto accident. Why does this sound familiar?

...North Carolina (click here) police officer Randall Kerrick was indicted Monday on charges of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell. Kerrick, called to the scene after an unarmed Ferrell was seen knocking on a homeowner's door and seeking help after a traffic accident, fired 12 shots at Ferrell, striking him 10 times....

I saw the movie two nights ago. It is a must see film.

But, the video below is from their sound track of the song with the same name from it's first release in 1988. "Straight Outta Compton" (click here) is the first song in the album with the same name. It is hard to believe it took this long to make the movie. No matter. It is an excellent 'must see' film about success.

Donald Trump

He is touching a sentiment. I do not believe his enthusiasm and the content of the message will become old for Americans.

I consider that good news. Perhaps others don't remember the USA under Bill Clinton. We were attacked under Clinton, but, it resulted in trials and prison and not war.

There is another America that was abandoned in 2001 when there was a change in administration. We had a more peaceful America. We were the greatest country of all time. 2001 changed that and I am not talking simply about the attacks of September of that year. 

Fashion took on a really estranging focus. There was an introduction to 'Christiana' during those years. It was the beginning of the religious emphasis and a turn from the public domain. There was an intolerance that developed after 2001. An intolerance to anything in the USA that did not have the stamp of 'god' in some form or another. There was a rise in orthodoxy. 

The country got strange. About 47 or 48 percent of the USA population was estranged from being mainstream. The cronyism was incredible and the Republicans ran rough shod over ethnics and decency when it came to protecting the USA from elaborate deception. Our pets were under attack from pet food. The fracking took on a national agenda when Cheney's energy committee attempted to destroy the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.  

Everyone was wealthy or on their way to become wealthy. Owning two houses was nothing. Three was better. One for the city, one for the country and one for rental when not enjoyed at the shore by the family. The country lost it's middle class tone.

The USA does want to reclaim itself. Donald Trump is not far from the heart of this country as it was before we were demoralized and redefined. I do believe he loves the USA and remembers when the USA was engaged in happiness rather than ultimate productivity that left people a label called the working poor.

Donald Trump said the other day, "Let's have the election today." He means that. He is somewhat bored by the routine of politics. He is going to burn himself out if he doesn't take a few days off soon. He really wants this. To some extent he minds me of me. When Earth was headed into an impossible warming trend I decided I'd sit at a computer and carry the message myself. I was right, wasn't I? I remember the statement by one of the news agencies saying the issue of climate change has developed far more quickly than most issues do. I consider that a compliment. 

So, when it comes to 'getting things done' most Americans understand that. They are disappointed in their government for what is almost 16 years. The USA started 2001 with a treasury surplus and now look at us. The people want their country back and nothing short of that will be acceptable. 

He is a character. But, he is definitely looking for a return of the USA as it was, not as a vision to more disappointment. Life in the USA has become bizarre and unjust. Since when does the USA stagnate and lose it's credit rating? Since when is shutting down the government even conceivable? 

Donald Trump didn't find an opportunity when he decided to run for president, he found his own disappointment in the political party. Now. Tell me he is alone. There is absolutely no one else in the USA disappointed in the Republican Party. I would not lay real money on that bet.

The NRA should be a partner in reforming gun laws to end these killings.

The advocacy of Alison's father should begin with an investigation into the deaths of Alison and Adam Ward. At the conclusion of a thorough investigation, present it to the public.

This is the front page of WDBJ 7 (click here).

When the SBI of Virginia starts their investigation, they should consider including the FBI in gathering information. This is a hate crime.

All changes in public, private and government paradigms begins with the facts. The victims of the shootings in the USA need to form a coalition to lobby Washington for federal laws. They should hold regular conferences to move gun legislation forward. I would think computer programs can provide for the meetings of all the organizations attempting to achieve the same goal, namely, to end the gun violence and gun deaths in the USA. 

The gun organizations can form this coalition and provide a stronger base to launch their initiative. A coalition can have a mission statement that binds them together. They don't have to travel more than once a year or quarterly.

If there are enough states that pass gun legislation to prevent this tragedy, a constitutional amendment can happen. It takes 26 states to pass a constitutional amendment. There is a super majority in the US House and Senate to write the amendment and place it for vote on state ballots.

I don't know why the NRA should not be part of a solution. It is the NRA that is always out front to point out mental health as a reason for the shootings. Certainly the NRA has a method to end such heinous killings.

If the NRA is convinced mental health is the only problem, then the NRA should come forward in any investigation to provide vital information about their findings and effective methods to end the deaths. If the NRA is convinced a mental health data base would end all these killings, then they should be instrumental in funding such a computer center. 

The NRA and other gun organizations can be part of a coalition in a non-voting capacity. I would include everyone. I would include media representatives as well. The idea is to bring all the parties/stakeholders to a common meeting place to bring their facts and solutions. The coalition should be all inclusive delineated between voting and non-voting members. But, bringing everyone together should move a SOLUTION to common ground.

There should be no naysayers. No one knows the potential outcome from such an effort. 

There is no reason why any organization should give up their identity or fund raising status. As a matter of fact, the coalition should remain without funding to maintain the integrity and clout of each member organization. Each organization can carry their own expenses.

There should be an effort, a sincere effort, by everyone to bring about an end to these killings. There should be no objection.

The new coalition should have an organizing committee of victim families that come from the organizations of which they belong. This is not a public organization, it is more or less a private task force to bring the best of all organizations to bear in lobbying Washington, DC. The organizing committee can send invitation to all parties to belong to the coalition. The victim's families have to be the center of the organization so it's mission doesn't get derailed from it's organizing purpose.

It is a volunteer organization and the members may already be financially compensated by the people they represent. ie: The NRA have a staff. That staff is already paid for their capacity. This is simply adding capacity by their involvement. And if one gun organization doesn't show interest then another one will. A majority of Americans want to see change in gun laws, it is time to bring down the walls and grow common ground to facilitate that change. All organizations should be willing and motivated to bring such an organization into existence to end the violence. There are no excuses. Ending danger in the USA also adds to tourism and economic security.

"In Kind" donations from businesses such as meeting places and/or computer software that facilitates meetings can be the mainstay of the new coalition. All that needs to happen is for family members to call each other and begin the ball rolling.  

Four hurricanes along the ITCZ.

August 28, 2015
1330.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of north and west Hemsphere (click here for 12 hour loop - Thank you.)

There is a fifth developing southeast of the Gulf of California. There is a lot of heat driving these storms. 

7 12.10 -121.00 08/28/09Z - - TROPICAL DEPRESSION
14 13.90 -143.10 08/27/23Z 80 982 HURRICANE
131A 17.20 -170.10 08/28/02Z 60 990 TROPICAL STORM
14A 18.80 -69.80 08/28/12Z - - TROPICAL DEPRESSION 

Four storms are all oscillating within 8 degrees latitude of each other. Now imagine one storm carrying all that water vapor and energy. The potential of any one of these storms accelerating is possible while the others dissipate.

That is the reality of oscillation in 2015. As one storm dissipates because of lack of water vapor at Earth's surface, even over the ocean, the unresolved energy is returned to the troposphere. That additional energy will be transferred to another storm with enough water vapor content to accommodate it. If any of the remaining storms haven't tapped into enough water vapor content to accept the additional heat energy there will be another rotation center manifested along the ICTZ.

Of the four named storms, Ericka in the Caribbean Sea has the most available water vapor and has a path that will continue to provide water vapor consistently

Why not over the Pacific? Because water vapor is water vapor and has a higher tolerance to accept heat. There is more room for water vapor molecules to oscillate with the 'space' between molecules of 'vapor.' Simply because the Pacific is water doesn't mean it has water vapor readily available to accommodate the 'transfer' of heat energy/calories. It takes much more energy to change water to vapor than simply transfer heat to existing water vapor. 

The image (click here) to the right is a cube of ice. As the temperature is increased by the learner the wider the space between the molecules polar covalent bonding.

It is the properties of water that allows it to accept heat. As the molecules accept heat they move farther apart. It takes significant energy to move water from ice to liquid.

Below is the heat requirement to cause a 'PHASE CHANGE' in water. Changing ice to liquid water takes far less energy than moving water to vapor (steam). So, when it comes to global warming and the conditions of weather, transferring heat into existing water vapor is easier than changing a molecule of liquid water to water vapor. 

In order for ocean water to become water vapor requires moving the temperature of the water to 100 degrees Celsius. That would mean the oceans are boiling.

The water vapor over the oceans, regardless, of the temperature isn't going to cause the oceans to boil and become water vapor. When hurricanes inject heat into the oceans the temperature than is incorporated into a large number of molecules and ocean temperatures increase.

The graph to the right illustrates the increasing temperature of surface sea water of Earth. This is real and accurate information (click here).

The idea water vapor over ocean water causes increased vaporization of the oceans is silly. There can be some water vapor created of surface sea water, but, never enough to transfer heat energy of Earth.

The dynamics of the current weather (weather and not climate) patterns is based in heat transfer and enabled by the physics of water.

Producing gentically indentical horns in a lab.

August 27, 2015
By Sarah Buhr

There’s a startup called Pembient(click here) that is 3D printing rhinoceros horns in a lab on the far edge of San Francisco. These are not horns that look like rhino horns. These are genetically identical rhino horns, according to the startup. Pembient just didn’t need a rhino in order to make them.
That’s good news for the very few rhinoceroses around the world. There are only five northern white rhinos left, and the Western black rhinoceros, which was thought to be extinct in 2006, is now officially extinct.
Poachers have been killing off these big, beautiful free-roaming mammals – nearly wiping them off the face of the planet forever – just to rip out their horns. The horns are used as daggers in Yemen, and in traditional Chinese medicine it is believed that the rhino horn has healing powers....

This technology is an extension of species protections.

Until yesterday (click here) there were six journalists killed in the USA between the years 1992 to 2015. The motives behind the deaths were investigated and decided. The deaths were related to the journalists work. Yesterday set a new standard for journalists working in the USA. Revenge is a new definition.

Of the six journalists killed there is one with an unconfirmed motive.

James Edwin Richards, Neighborhood News 
October 18, 2000, in California, USA

August 28, 2015
By Evan Hoopfer

Bill Hughes walked toward a room in the Tennessee Aquarium that looked like a supply closet.
"Guess you want to see the little monsters," he said, swinging open the door.
Inside is a wall of tanks containing different types of turtles. Two of the tanks contain five baby Beal's-eyed turtles that were born in mid-July, each about the size of a half dollar. In all the accredited facilities of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the U.S., there are only 20 Beal's-eyed turtles.
And they're all at the Tennessee Aquarium....

The USA has the most endangered species on Earth. That is not a form of praise either.

August 27, 2015
by Alicia Graef 

Hawaii’s monk seals (click here) have become one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet, but this week they got a boost with an announcement from the government that their protected habitat will be exponentially expanded in an effort to help them recover.

Monk seals were first listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1976, but despite protection their numbers have continued to decline since the 1950s. Today, there are only an estimated 1,100 left in the wild whose numbers are believed to be dropping at a rate of 3 percent every year.
They face the many of the usual threats marine life including limited food, entanglement, pollution, disease and development, which could be made worse as climate change continues to alter their environment and beaches they rely on to give birth....

We need "Conservation Rangers" in Indonesia to protect rare species.

August 26, 2015
By Jack Martinez

In a news conference (click here) yesterday, the Cincinnati Zoo officially announced plans to relocate an endangered Sumatran rhinoceros to Indonesia, according to an NPR report.

Terri Roth, the director of the zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife, told Newsweek that the news conference would let zoo guests and members know about the plans to relocate the rhino, named Harapan, so that they can visit him one last time. Zoo officials have obtained import permits from the Indonesian government, but await approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Harapan is the only remaining member of his species currently living outside of Southeast Asia. The species is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 individuals estimated in the wild. As Newsweek reported last week, scientists now believe that the species is extinct in Malaysia, and only survives in Indonesia. Its habitat is threatened by development, and poachers hunt the animals for their horns....

It is foolish to send a critically endangered species to the wild unless there is reassurances of his safety. There should have been a breeding program even if it meant bringing a member of the opposite sex to the zoo.

...In recognition of the difficulty of protecting wild populations, (click here) in 1984 the IUCN/SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group recommended that a captive breeding programme be developed, thus establishing a dual approach to Sumatran rhino conservation: protecting wild populations through the RPUs and running a breeding programme at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) within a semi-natural environment in Way Kambas National Park....

Given the ruthlessness of poachers to entice protected species out of protected habitat there needs to be Conservation Rangers assigned to these habitats.  

...In June 2012, Sumatran rhino calf Andatu was born making history as the first Sumatran rhino birth at a breeding centre in Indonesia.