This is Taiwan right now after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake.

I am sure China and the region is beginning a response. Let's hope the casualties continue to be few, but, this level of devastation means the issues of food, water and shelter are an emergency priority. There will be many displaced people.

The Pacific rim has been extremely active. With any of these earthquakes, there is always worries for tsunamis. I can't see where one has been issued for Taiwan, so perhaps it was a minor disturbance at sea.

Several high-rise buildings sustained severe damage, with this one tilting heavily

Aftershocks (click here) continue to rattle Taiwan after a strong earthquake that killed at least two people and injured more than 200 others.

The powerful 6.4-magnitude tremor struck at 23:50 (15:50 GMT) about 20km (12 miles) off the island's east coast.

Residents in the city of Hualien have been told to stay away from their damaged homes, and about 800 have taken shelter in community buildings.

Hualien, a popular tourist hub, is home to about 100,000 people.

Images from the city showed tilted structures, scattered debris and extensive damage to roads in the area. Among the several badly damaged buildings was a hospital, local media said....

This is less than a day of activity. Alaska just had a 7.4 at the end of January. The tsunami was 4 to 5 feet high.

The only (click here) military parade ever conducted in Washington, DC is that of a flag-draped caisson. I fully expect that never to change!

Rep. Chris Stewart drank the Cool-Aide. There is nothing anyone can do about that. There is nothing anyone should want to do about that. "The Memo" is an interesting document because the Republicans are lost without a Hillary effigy. 

Do you know Chelsea Clinton is a millionaire many times over. I can't understand who the Republicans are more afraid of Hillary or her daughter if Chelsea turns to politics.

Look, if a FISA court is handing down decisions for surveillance because of political affiliations or not then we are really in trouble.

Once again. US Senator John McCain and Mr. Steele are people that carry brevity in the FISA Court. There is no issue of politics if the court is making a decision. Senator McCain's name alone is going to get a FISA judge's attention. So, if the FISA court was given the facts that Steele had information that Senator McCain valued, then, OF COURSE, the warrant had to be issued.

There is a missing piece here. US Senator John McCain would not go to the FBI with a Steele document because he wanted to play politics. Either one believes in the integrity of John McCain or not. Obviously, Rep. Stewert is one of the Trump minions that doesn't think John McCain should have been a POW, okay?

I still want to know from Comey who leaned on him to go to the media about the Weiner laptop? Anyone know? I find it odd that Comey would simply bypass standard agency policy and override the directions of the then Attorney General Lynch. I found the entire episode strange and my initial gut reaction was, "Who leaned on Comey?"

Either Comey was possessed by Nunes demons or he is a real idiot. I cannot believe Comey simply acted without authority because he could. Something had to motivate him or the USA simply believes tall white men make batter FBI Directors.

If Comey acted on his own for personal political preferences, then the USA has a far bigger problem than Wall Street.

Ambition to space travel is useless, if there aren't real answers to protect human life and the biosystems that support it.

Watching those Space X boosters land is pretty darn exciting. Congrats, Space X. Another will land at sea. Amazing.

Space X has a really incredible and unique mission. Wow.

I hate to burst the bubble for Elon about his Mars delivery of his car. The intensity of sunlight is less than Earth. A new form of solar panel to intensify available sunlight will be needed to charge it and drive it. Think about it.

My understanding is Elon's car will slingshot around the sun to gain acceleration to speed up the trip to Mars. Very exciting stuff. 

The late Gene Roddenberry helped launch Elon's dream. Fantastic. I hope all goes well. If I remember correctly, it was Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home (click here) where slingshotting around the sun engaged time travel.

While I think this is a very interesting venture, it still needs specifics about human space travel. One of the biggest concerns of scientists out of the Goddard Space Center was the radiation met in space by human beings unable to live through it's intensity and speed. Slingshotting around the sun has to raise that intensity as well. 

Elon needs to mimic the Ozone Layer when travelling outside the safe life giving Earth. It probably can be done. A manmade Ozone Layer to encircle space travelers. Even travel to Earth's moon is somewhat safer than the solar wind of Sol. 

An Ozone Layer surrounding a planet that has none is a very different animal. The physics are completely different.

Morally, if humans are serious about space travel to far away places, the first step is to create a ship that is safe and supports human life all by itself. A ship that can conduct it's own research into events that could destroy their lives. If space travel is to venture to living on other Earth-like planets there needs to be a moral retreat in the way of a space ship that sustains their lives when nothing else does. The ambition has to be tamed by a morality that values life over adventure.

Regardless, the low interest rates for the past ten years, the average American is still suffering from 2008.

Housing Starts (click here)

U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Housing Starts: Total: New Privately Owned Housing Units Started [HOUST], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; February 6, 2018.

If one recalls, the financial sector declared they recovered less than a year after the Great Recession of 2008, but, the actual economic return to the average American never arrived. The unemployment rate does not prove there is an end to the recession of the American people. The ONLY thing the unemployment rate reflects is a far less paid labor market that finds it necessary to work more than one job to sustain their families.

Other than Seattle, Washington where the minimum wage reaches to $15 per hour, the purchasing of homes is anemic. One place the Democrats can investigate with guaranteed worries, "Who is actually purchasing USA land that drive prices in areas where the middle class if failing?"

Unions have never been more important. They need to dig in and cause Wall Street a great deal of stress. The ONLY way the USA is going to fully recover from the 2008 Great Recession is for Unions to demand greater wages and increase Middle Class wealth to purchase homes and afford mortgages.

The idea housing is expensive because there is a housing shortage is an odd reality, whereby the DEMAND is not there because Americans can't afford to purchase a home. First Time Homeowners are not coming to the surface. Americans continue to lack financial equity and they are ageing every day.

January 30, 2018

Washington — U.S. home prices rose sharply in November, (click here) with Seattle once again leading the way with the nation's steepest price increase.

A shortage of homes on the market is fueling the rapid rise in housing costs, experts say.

Standard & Poor's said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national average home price index increased 6.2 percent in November from a year earlier after climbing 6.1 percent in October.

Seattle saw a 12.7 percent price increase, followed by Las Vegas at 10.6 percent and San Francisco at 9.1 percent. Washington, D.C., prices rose just 3.3 percent, lowest among the 20 metropolitan areas measured.

The national housing index has registered annual gains of 5 percent or more for 16 months, and Seattle has seen the steepest increases for most of that period....

USA home sales are tumbling, but, Ryan receives record half a billion for 2018 elections for the policies the Republicans are passing. There is something very wrong with this picture. The people's government is no longer benefitting them.

January 24, 2018
By Josh Boak

Washington — U.S. home sales slid 3.6 percent in December, (click here) as rising prices and a declining number of available properties stifled purchases.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units. Despite the monthly setback, sales totaled 5.51 million in 2017. That was the highest level since 2006, yet it marked a slight 1.1 percent gain from 2016 as the months’ supply of properties on the market fell to the lowest level ever recorded by the Realtors.

The housing slump is more than fear of 2008, it is about the working poor and abandoned generation of "Occupy Wall Street." At the very least Democratic lawmakers should be trying AirBNB to find the story behind the people renting their homes. It is an eye-opener. They are good people; that is not the issue; but, if they are the Millenials there are multiple incomes into the household to achieve the American Dream.

The strengthening U.S. economy helped to lift home sales last year, but homeowners are choosing not to list their properties despite the rising prices and relatively low mortgage rates. The lack of homes for sale speaks to the lingering aftershocks from the 2007 housing crisis.... 

The American Dream is dying or already DOA. In addition to the stagnation of housing sales are our senior citizens using reverse mortgages to make ends meet. These homes are not available for sales. There are a lot of interesting financial tools within the housing market and it is hurting the American people.

...Just 1.48 million homes were listed for sale at the end of December, a 10.3 percent drop over the past year. There were just 3.2 months’ supply of homes on the market, the lowest level since the Realtors began tracking the figure in 1999....

Forbes has noted the financial sector benefits from government shut downs.

The government shutdowns are more than an inconvenience. The shutdowns effect the USA economy which extends into international economies and in turn to the reliability of the USA at all as a financial partner. The current shutdowns place the USA in the column of "banana republics," except with the financial sector that enjoys the lapse of time the government can audit their wrongdoing. What good are laws if they are a joke in the final analysis? The markets don't shutdown because the USA government can't conduct the people's business.

When the financial sector wins against the governance of a country, it impacts the reliability of doing business. The Plutocrats believe they can provide the only governance needed in any country; in the USA Trump's Plutocratic regime is proving Wall Street can't govern.

The Democrats have a very difficult role in these shutdowns in the USA because they are charged with the priority of protecting the people of the USA. I think pointing to the fact the Republicans have a majority in both the Senate and House and the Executive Branch is their best defense. The Democrats will not participate in passing laws that will harm the people of the USA. "The Dreamers" are important to the USA and it's best future. There is no reason for the Democrats to surrender to Republican politics when it harms real people living their lives as best they can. The Democrats have to place the people of the USA first in their own priorities.

The Republicans are not living in the real world, that was validated by "The Memo." The Republican hubris is taking over the party as it's governance and it is very dangerous. It is the obligation of the Democrats to end the hubris of the Repubicans and govern. The USA is not about happy Plutocrats skimming their financial cushion from the USA Treasury, it is and always has been about responsible governance of the majority of people. That governance includes the innocent that find themselves confused about the intentions of the only country they know as their own.

January 22, 2018
By Jacob Frenkel

...Yet other extremely important (click here) but not defined in the “performing emergency work” category functions either slow or get shelved during a federal shutdown.

In the financial services industries, that includes banks and brokerage firms, there are ongoing audit functions entirely unrelated to enforcement programs. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau within Treasury, as well as the Federal Reserve, for example, will have auditors or examiners conducting regularly scheduled audits and examinations of the banking institutions they supervise. Similarly, the SEC’s Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations conducts inspections and examinations at broker-dealers, mutual funds, hedge funds and investment advisors.  One collateral yet immediate downstream effect is active audits, inspections and examinations last week – whether at the beginning, middle or end – may have come to a screeching halt, absent an emergency scenario associated with the work. Active conference rooms this past Thursday and Friday may be or soon be dark, with auditors, inspectors and examiners absent, possibly for weeks....

Child deaths have increased during this Flu Season. This is not the time to shut down the CDC or FDA. The shutdowns are costing lives.

... And a Washington Post story explained that the effect of a federal shutdown on the Department of Health and Human Services includes the Centers for Disease Control suspending its flu-tracking program and the National Institutes of Health not admitting new patients to clinical trials relating to life-threatening illnesses.  Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration will stop routine inspections and laboratory research.

In 2017, as the USA dollar was losing value, the Chinese yuan was gaining value.

When national Reserve Banks are bringing on the Chinese yuan, there is plenty of room for worry about the lost reputation of the USA's international profile.

January 16, 2018

...For the past 70 years, (click here) the US dollar has been the world’s dominant currency. Two-thirds of the world’s $6.9 trillion allocated foreign exchange reserves are held in US dollars. The yuan took a major step towards broader international adoption in 2016 when the IMF decided to include it in the basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right, an alternative reserve asset to the dollar.

Still, as of the third quarter of 2017, just over 1% of foreign exchange reserves were held in yuan, according to the latest data from the IMF. Now, there are signs that this is about to increase....

...The Chinese yuan hit a two-year high against the US dollar this week, after the German Bundesbank said that it would include the yuan in its reserves for the first time. “The notable development from the European point of view over the past few years has been the growing international role of the renminbi in global financial markets,” Andreas Dombret, a member of the central bank’s executive board, reportedly said at a conference in Hong Kong (paywall). The decision was made last year and no investments have been made yet, as preparations are still in process. The French central bank then revealed that it already held some reserves in yuan....

Quid Pro Quo

Ryan admitted the half a trillion is a payment for the tax legislation. Minority Leader Pelosi needs to file ethics violations for every member of the US House that accepts the "dirty money."

Ryan needs to donate the 'pay off' to charity as soon as possible. That has to be a record donation to any political party. It is highly unethical. The Kochs donated the monies with the intention of corrupting the US House Republicans to continue to deregulate and fund Koch Wealth so the Republicans can receive more of the same.

It is blatant corruption. The only such power players are put back in their place among "the people." The Kochs do not own the USA unless the Republicans hand it to them. There is no need for an investigation. It is already done and it is already admitted.

January 28, 2018
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee

Indian Wells, Calif. — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) (click here) credited the network of billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch for being “such a critical part of our historic success in 2017,” highlighting its support for the tax code overhaul.

“Your network has been instrumental for allowing us to reach so many milestones that have long been talked about, but until this year, have not been achieved,” Ryan said in a three-minute video message aired to hundreds of Republican mega-donors attending a three-day meeting here.

“And because of your help, we have been able to take the ball and run with it,” he said.

Ryan rattled off policy priorities for 2018 that align with the influential Koch network’s goals, including deregulation and an overhaul of the criminal-justice system....

Part of the criminal-justice agenda of the Republicans is legalising racial profiling. There are reasons the FBI is in the cross hairs of the Republican Party. They are zealots. The acceptance of monies for legislative favors to donors proves that statement. The power to reform any aspects of the USA federal government is completely in the wrong hands.

December 30, 2017
By Mary Papenfuss

Former Sheriff David Clarke (click here) abused his authority when he ordered the mistreatment and intimidation of a fellow passenger on a flight to Milwaukee in January, according to a newly revealed FBI search warrant affidavit, because Clarke assumed the man was showing disrespect toward the right-wing Donald Trump booster.

The affidavit, which had requested a search of Clarke’s private email account, was revealed as part of a filing in U.S. District Court in Wisconsin on Thursday. It’s unclear if it indicates continued interest by the FBI or just details information from months earlier.

In May, federal prosecutors informed Clarke’s attorney that they weren’t going to pursue charges against him over his encounter with passenger Dan Black. But according to the affidavit, filed in March, investigators for the Audit Services Division of the Milwaukee County controller’s office determined as part of its own investigation that Clarke had “used his official position as sheriff of Milwaukee County in excess of his lawful authority to direct his deputies to stop and question Black without legal justification.”...

Why is the Republican legislative agenda wrong? Because there is no research to back it up. It is all populism for no reason except to have the Republican Party exist. The Republican Party are beneficiaries and not fiduciaries of the public trust.

It is time for the Iranian government to end the revolution and allow modern day a place in Iran.

February 5, 2018
By Eliza Mackintosh

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (click here) has waded into a highly charged debate over the country's mandatory hijab law, abruptly releasing a three-year-old report suggesting that nearly half of Iranians were opposed to the government dictating what women should wear.

The release of the report on Sunday by the Iranian Center for Strategic Studies -- a research arm of the President's office -- came just days after 29 people were arrested by police in the capital Tehran for their involvement in protests against the headscarf law.

Women across Iran have been removing their hijabs in public to protest Iran's strict Islamic dress code in recent weeks. The movement gained momentum amid a wave of anti-government demonstrations late last year, sparked by concerns over rising living costs and a stagnant economy....

Arguing with an Iranian study about Iranian people should not be tolerated. The people want a quality of life and women want fashion. This opens an entirely new economic area for development. Women's fashion is a large part of many economies. Iran is holding on to a past that saw the change from imperialism. The people want more than a theocracy can provide, they want to be part of the larger world. Iran should drop using "fashion police" to ruin the enthusiasm of Iranian women for self-expression.

Congress needs to address a growing problem. The Flu.

The truth is the Flu Shot this year is marginally helpful. The vaccine is effective in approximately 10 percent of the cases, because, the virus has mutated and is resistant to the vaccine.

The only path that is effective is to break the communicable transmission of the virus. That means when a child isn't feeling well, they stay home to prevent his or her classmates from contracting the virus.

There is also the social time children have these days. It is a very nice growing up environment our children have these days when they set up "play dates." However, parents have to be 'the heavy' and cancel these days together when children aren't feeling well.

There are all sorts of communication measures between parents and teacher to be sure class assignments are not missed.

Public awareness is important, in English, Spanish and other languages to be sure all American are safe.

February 2, 2018
By Kim Printer

Sixteen more children (click here) have died in a flu season that's recorded 53 child deaths and has seen hospitalization rates at their highest in nearly a decade, federal health officials said Friday.

“This is a very difficult season,” said Anne Schuchat, acting director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Weeks after officials hoped the epidemic might have peaked, it is instead going strong, with illnesses widespread in 48 states and flu activity high in 42 states and the District of Columbia, as of the last full week of January. 

"There’s lots of flu occurring simultaneously across most of the U.S.,” said Dan Jernigan, director of the CDC’s influenza division. That coast-to-coast onslaught “is an unusual pattern for flu in the U.S.”...

"The Hush Up Club" finally released the Democrats memo. No more silence about anything.

Congratulations to the US House. Nice. This should have been a joint effort from the beginning if there were sincere problems with any investigation. The meaning of a unilateral effort to curtail investigations will never be well received. And, one member of the other party is not bipartisan.

If the White House doesn't release the Democratic Memo in as short a period of time as the Republican Memo that is called abuse of power. 

February 5, 2018
By Patricia Zengerie

Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives (click here) committee voted unanimously on Monday to approve the release of a classified document that Democrats say will rebut a contentious Republican memo alleging FBI bias against President Donald Trump.

The vote will send the 10-page Democratic memo to the White House as soon as Monday night, giving Trump until Friday to decide whether to allow its release.

If he declines, after approving the release of the Republican memo despite strong objections by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it could set up an angry dispute pitting the White House and many of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress against Democrats, law enforcement and intelligence agencies....

If no one else says it, then I will. There is a very distinct pattern to the indexes when there is a significant down turn.

The slide of the Great Depression did not happen in one day. The markets will probably continue to react in this manner.

I do suppose everyone has seen the slide of the value of the US dollar over the past year, right? I don't see anyone fixing that. Am I missing something?

The graph belongs to the Wall Street collapse known as The Great Depression. Bloomberg stated the losses today to the wealthiest was about half a trillion. It isn't just under 5 percent. Those are dollars and cents. Those wealthy people include the Koch Brothers that want to own the world.

See. my heart is not breaking, nor am I worried. The country has been magnificently moving to local control over local economies. They have gotten so good at it, the Trump Congress has attacked small businesses within the so called Tax Reform Law. Mnuchin or whatever his name is, can shove it where the sun don't shine. There is such a thing as cash and carry economy, too. Go ahead, collect your taxes.

I think Warren Buffet is great. He is the smartest guy in the world when it comes to the financial sector. Where have the largest numbers of job losses taking place in the USA since Trump took office? Don't know? The financial sector. Thousands. No one pays attention to where the economy really takes place, huh?

February 2, 2018

The fortunes of the world’s 500-richest (click here) people dropped by $68.5 billion Friday as equity markets swooned with investor worries about the pace of interest rate hikes in the U.S. Warren Buffett led the declines, shedding $3.3 billion to end the day at No. 3 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with $90.1 billion. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person with $119.6 billion, led the 67 billionaires whose fortunes increased Friday, adding $3.2 billion....

February 5, 2018
By Matthew DiLallo

Shares of ExxonMobil Corporation (click here) (NYSE: XOM) are getting pounded again on Monday and were down 6% at 3:15 p.m. EST. Today's drop follows a similar fall last Friday, which was the stock's worst day since 2011 ...

It must be Christmas. You Bubbas don't know what seething hatred is yet!

Everyone is losing money today. There is no safe investment to park the money. Local economies are always strong, especially the way they are highly diversified in the years since 2008.

The chart shows a steadily increasing inflation rate. The rate significantly increased in January 2017. If that was a single line graph it would be consistently rising over the past 24 months. In the days of QE, it was stated "...sooner or later..." Wall Street will have to pay for free money.

When Jeep provided $2000 bonuses to their employees, it could have been to combat inflation at the consumer level.

With inflation creeping higher and higher the USA dollar has fallen dramatically over the past year. With the US Dollar falling in value, that means "asset capital" is not worth the same as when it was assessed. The inflation is not stopping. 

The cryptocurrencies are falling precipitously, too. There is basically a selloff of these digital currencies.

Carter Page is no babe in the woods.

With so many federal employees retiring and leaving the government under this administration, has anyone asked for a FOIA request for "exit interviews?" That might be interesting reading. If nothing else there should be interest by Congressional committees, including the intelligence community.

Page admitted he was involved with the Russians while advising a potential president of the USA. All this with the knowledge the Russians were acting to influence the outcomes of the 2016 elections in favor of Donald Trump. What else needs to be known? That activity with Russia regarding the Trump election campaign are pervasive. This is not an occasional, "Oops, we hired the wrong guy;" this "Russian thing" pervaded Trump's campaign.

November 7, 2017
By Artin Afkhami

Last Thursday, (click here) Carter Page testified before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee for more than five hours, admitting that he met with Russian officials while traveling to Moscow in July 2016. Page’s admission represents a reversal of his consistent denials over the past year. This timeline delineates key events in Carter Page’s connections to Russia before, during, and after the Trump campaign.

2004 to 2007. According to Page’s biography on the website of Global Energy Capital, his venture capital firm, he served as a vice president at the Merrill Lynch office in Moscow and remained there for three years. The bio adds that Page served as an adviser “on key transactions for Gazprom, RAO UES and others.” Page told Bloomberg News in March 2016 that he advised Russian energy giant Gazprom as it was buying a stake in a lucrative Russian Far East oil and gas project called Sakhalin II....

Sincerest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims of the latest train crash.

February 5, 2018

By Darren Simon

Sunday's train collision in South Carolina (click here) was the fourth fatal incident involving an Amtrak train since the start of December.

The circumstances surrounding each crash vary; in two cases, vehicles appear to have driven around the lowered arm at a train crossing. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating three of the collisions, including Sunday's.

Here is what we know about the fatal incidents:

South Carolina

...Amtrak Train 91 was heading southbound and should have continued straight along the tracks, but the rail switch had been manually set to send the train onto the rail siding, where the CSX train was parked, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Sunday.

"Key to that investigation is learning why that switch was lined that way," Sumwalt said.

Sumwalt said the crash could have been avoided if positive train control or PTC technology, which can automatically slow down a speeding train, had been in place.

Virginia

An Amtrak train carrying Congressional members, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck near Charlottesville, Virginia on Wednesday, killing at least one person.

Investigators looking into the crash are focusing on the actions of the driver of the truck, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN....

...North Carolina

Eugene Lyons, a pastor, and his wife, Dorothy, were killed in Nash County, North Carolina, when an Amtrak train hit their SUV on January 14, CNN affiliate WNCN reported. Both were in their 60s. It appears the SUV had driven around the lowered crossing arm, WNCN reported.

Whitakers police told the station a witness confirmed Dorothy Lyons was driving. Police didn't know then why she drove around the crossing arm.

The couple couldn't get out of the way in time to avoid the train, which was traveling about 55 miles per hour, the station reported. Both died at the scene....

Washington state

The Amtrak Cascades Train 501 derailed near DuPont in Washington on December 18 and hurtled over an overpass onto Interstate 5, killing three people on its inaugural journey from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon.

The locomotive engineer told the NTSB the train was traveling at about 80 miles per hour as it passed milepost 15.5 on the route, the NTSB said. He told the investigators he had planned to start braking about a mile before an upcoming curve with a 30-mph speed restriction at milepost 19.8, the agency said.

The engineer said he saw mileposts 16 and 17, but did not recall seeing milepost 18 or the 30-mph advance speed sign two miles before the curve, the NTSB said....

Two of these accidents could have been prevented with positive train control, the other two should be a stronger awareness of the public to the laws reinforcing rail crossings.

Trains aren't going away anytime soon. In Ohio, near Toledo, there are many trains travelling through populated areas. As a matter of fact, the little town of Oregon, Ohio have three different train crossings. Yet, the incidents of these accidents are occurring where the occasional train comes through an area. The public needs to be reminded of the benevolence of trains and also the danger of disobeying laws that govern the crossings where trains, cars and trucks share the same space.

How is it that women are not interviewed regarding their safety in international competition as part of their qualifying for competition?

International athletic committees are fairly good at finding cheating. They need to add to their investigation into athletic fitness any potential exploitation of their sexuality along the way. That means men and women.

A form of interview needs to be developed that allows athletes to express sexual exploitation by anyone in their careers. I don't care if it is financial exploitation, sexual demands or exploitation or simply a false face to an international name and reputation; athletes need to be important enough to care about without damaging any of their ability to win in sports. This is ridiculous. There was a sexual predator within reach in international venues.

Sexual exploitation is one of the most dangerous crimes in the world. Every physician knows that. It is why in the USA in routine physical exams annually, ask about a person's safety within the home, yet, these women were being exploited and convinced they had to remain silent in order to succeed.

The international rules committees, regardless of the sport, has to develop a method and milieu that is conducive to truth-telling. It should be viewed as a venue where athletic performance is enhanced by the lack of assault upon athletes regardless the form it takes. It is the least we can do to ensure men and women are safe and having the life they desire. It can be done and the development of foolproof reporting without retribution on the athlete is important.

It simply astounds me the extent sexual exploitation of women in the USA pervades any sense of who we are as people. Women have been so very silent to this exploitation it boggles the mind how very pervasive 'the silent culture' existed. It has to continue to end and women have to be reassured no matter their circumstances that truth-telling is not a career ending event.

February 5, 2018

Charlotte, Mich. - Days of emotional testimony (click here) in two Michigan courtrooms are wrapping up with a final sentence for former sports doctor Larry Nassar, whose serial sexual abuse of girls and young women has shaken Michigan State University and elite sports associations.

Nassar, 54, is returning to court Monday in Eaton County, Michigan. He listened to dozens of victims for two days last week and was almost attacked by a man whose three daughters said they were molested.

No more victims are expected to speak Monday. Court begins at 9 a.m. Watch it live here on ClickOnDetroit.

Here's how it's expected go: 

1. Prosecutor will speak
2. Defense attorney will speak
3. Nassar could speak
4. Judge will speak 
5. Judge will sentence Nassar

Nassar pleaded guilty to penetrating girls with ungloved hands when they sought treatment for injuries at Twistars, a gymnastics club that was run by a 2012 U.S. Olympic coach. Nassar already has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison in another county and is starting his time behind bars with a 60-year federal term for child pornography crimes. He worked for Michigan State and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians.... 

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning gibbous

19.7 day old moon

74.5 percent lit

A fast-moving asteroid (click here) will make a close flyby of Earth this Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4), but it poses no risk of hitting our planet, according to NASA.

The asteroid, called 2002 AJ129, will make its closest approach to Earth at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), and will be about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) from our planet at its closest point, NASA officials said. It's traveling at a breathtaking speed of about 76,000 mph (122,310 km/h), faster than most near-Earth asteroids, theyadded....

And the Eagles won the Superbowl. I betcha Philadelphia is happy tonight, especially since this is their first title. (click here) Nice.

This is USA Bank Stadium about 2 hours before the kick off. What was the actual attendance like this year? There is mention about the increased capacity of 73,000 at the stadium, but, little mention to the actual attendance. I am not interested in ticket sales with "get in price" up to $3100 per ticket before everyone knew the game was rigged.

I am assuming Mr. Goodell will be resigning soon.

This is the second week in a row there was a European country that has very active standards to address the climate crisis. They entrench their LAND USE in protecting forests and still conduct viable industry to bring high standards of living to people. The governments definitely set standards to control emissions of GHGs. They does not inhibit their economies.

These are relatively small countries in number of square miles compared to countries such as the USA and Canada, yet they are champions in mitigating the climate crisis. One would almost expect their abuses to the environment would be worse than larger countries, but, that is not at all the case. These countries are about the size of any given state of the USA; there simply is no reason to lie about the climate crisis or it's needed social reforms.

To date, the countries brought to focus are Western allies to the USA. They are seeing the climate crisis destroying it's beauty in Australia, but, not so in Austria and Belgium. If any country ever busted a myth about forests, their resilience and benevolent purpose, it is Belgium. Simply amazing. It would seem as though forest management in Europe far exceeds anything the USA is doing.

February 16, 2016
by Eliana Dockterman

The FDA is warning pasta and pizza lovers (click here) that cheese labeled “100 percent Parmesan” are often filled with cheese substitutes—like wood pulp.

Yes, you’ve been eating wood, thanks to companies like Castle Cheese, which produced Parmesan cheese containing no actual Parmesan for almost 30 years. The president of the company, which supplied megastores like Target, is scheduled to plead guilty this month to charges that carry a sentence of up to a year in prison and a $100,o00 fine, according to Bloomberg.

Neil Schuman—who runs Arthur Shcuman Inc. the largest seller of hard Italian cheese in the U.S.—estimates a whopping 20 percent of such cheese are mislabeled....

I'm just sayin'.

I want to mention a growing concern to some Belgian Catholics. I am sure the government is as concerned about the issue of death and dying from terminal illnesses, but, have lost touch with the thinking of the community as to some abuses. In such important decisions, the Belgian government should be more in touch with the community and their real life experiences.

January 17, 2018
By Alexander Slavsky

Brussels (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bishops and doctors (click here) are mounting pressure on Belgian officials to hold them accountable for abusing the euthanasia law used to kill terminally ill patients. 

On January 11, Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels told Catholic News Service that the Church knew the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission on Euthanasia (FCEC) was "not working as it should." He said the bishops would support an investigation into the activities of the commission "to ensure it functions as it's supposed to." 

Speaking with Church Militant, Erwin Wolff, a member of Pro Familia, a pro-life lay apostolate in Belgium, commented on the Belgian church's relationship with the state. 

"Like all other social developments, there was no strong response or comment from the Church," Wolff said. "The Church would not dare criticize anything, because if they do, the liberals and the far left would start lobbying to have the funding stopped and by so doing have the Church destroyed." 

He continued, "And they would have their way because ideologically speaking there is no real difference between the Christian Democrats, liberals and the socialists, hence the consensus-driven political policy."...

Trees in the way of forests are very valuable, but, are great mitigators of the climate crisis. How difficult is it being involved with the Paris Accords really?

Timber production in Europe (click here)

Climate change will probably increase timber production and reduce prices for wood products in Europe. For 2000–2050 a change of timber production in Europe is expected of -4 to +5%. For 2050–2100 an increase is expected of +2 to +13% (21).

Maple syrup production (click here) in the United States was up 203,000 gallons (6.3 percent) in 2015, making it the second largest crop on record. Production of this sweetener has trended higher over the past few decades, and the 3.4 million gallons harvested this year is more than three times the amount produced in 1995. The number of tree taps this year reached almost 12 million, the highest on record, and 61 percent of those taps were in New England. Vermont is the Nation’s largest producer of maple syrup and, with New York and Maine, accounts for 75 percent of the U.S. total. Despite the steady growth in domestic production, imports from Canada still account for nearly 70 percent of U.S. consumption. The average price received by farmers in 2014 was $36.40 per gallon (ranging from $31.50 in Maine to $70.90 in Connecticut), down $1 from the previous year. The wide divergence in average prices is due to sales format—largely retail sales in Connecticut and bulk sales in Maine. This chart is from the July 2015 Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook report.