Do you want a parent to have a child or an extremist to have a weapon?

Sandy Hook Promise (click here)

The nation know walks with them forever. When the choice is a gun or a child is there any doubt what the Second Amendment intended?

This didn't mention a madman with a gun. It states an extremist with a weapon. In Colorado, there is every estimation the gunman will be found to be sane. In Connecticut, the extremist owned the gun which killed her and others. There is no room for extremism in the USA when it is met with weapons. The Second Amendment does not guarantee every extremist can arm themselves for a personal agenda of violence.

Senator Manchin stated, there is no support for passage of an assault gun weapon ban only. He is correct. That is not a strange statement nor should be taken lightly, because, the American people don't want to ban only assault weapons and be done with it. The American people want comprehensive policy to address all the issues Americans are faced with in a culture of gun violence.   The ban of assault weapons is only one aspect of the change in the policy in the USA.

Generations. This cannot cause generations to hate each other.

The French are correct. Reflecting on the imposition of extremists on Libya; it is easy to discern the impact of these militants. The weapons and ammunition for the continued militia presence in Libya are from this region. Has to be.

It makes sense a northern city would fall to the rebels.

People looked at newspapers focusing on France's military intervention on Monday in the capital, Bamako.

By STEVEN ERLANGER, ALAN COWELL and ADAM NOSSITER

Published: January 14, 2013

French forces (click here), Mr. Fabius said in a radio interview late Sunday, were now “taking care” of rear bases used by Islamists who took control of much of the north of the country last year after a military coup in the capital, Bamako. The duration of the French operation was “a question of weeks,” Mr. Fabius said, unlike the American-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

Diabaly is the small hamlet where the Muslim massacre occurred. There was a doubt about the 17 men actually being holy men on the way to a conference. When the 17 were arrested they were killed by gun fire of their captors. It could have simply been ethnic problems, too. The 17 should not have been killed; they were unarmed. 

It is obvious when these events happen, it causes militias to take up arms against their government. The Mali soldiers were not acting on government orders, they were killing on their own determination. I don't recall any report on that attack either. I don't know if Mali's government is capable of carrying out such an investigation either. The United Nations needs to act not only to stop the infiltration of militants into the Mali government, but, they also need to report to the people of that nation what occurred in Diabaly. There needs to be trials of the soldiers to put all this to rest and into perspective for the people.

...The preachers included at least nine Mauritanians and seven Malians, ranging in age from 25 to 54. They belonged to the Dawa Tablighi, a fundementalist but non-violent current of Islam....

The 17 preachers were acting in good faith. They were mercilessly massacred. This type of anarchy causes huge problems and now there are French jets over Mali.

Two of them had tried to come to Mali in July but had been turned back. So to make sure they wouldn't have any problems, they hired Moctar Bechir, a Malian truck driver who frequently transports merchandise from Mauritania to Mali.

It was an ethnic attack.

These concerns about Mali's military (click here) come at a time when the world is considering sending arms, equipment and troops to help it take back the north, which has fallen to Islamic extremists. Just this week, the United Nations Security Council instructed Mali's neighbors to submit a detailed plan for military intervention, which the U.N. would support.

I don't believe there is a resolution on Mali. It looks as though France acted on current intelligence while the UN Security Council was escalating their concerns. 

“This serious deterioration (click here) of the situation threatens even more the stability and integrity of Mali and constitutes a direct threat to international peace and security,” the members of the Council added in a press statement issued on Thursday night, after a briefing on the situation from the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman.

They do have resolutions to fall back on. Mali is becoming a place where militants can find a home, arms and a capital to plan further aggression in the region. There were reports coming out of Libya when the killing was ended in Benghazi that there was a source of weapons coming from across the Sahara. It has to be Mali. Where else would there have been enough arms and money to carry that out?

The problem is not the revolution. The problem is the momentum of militias in the face of a successful revolution and the dire effects on the people.

The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d'état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians. Over 412,000 people have been forced to flee the country's north, and an estimated five million people have been affected by the conflict.

The Malian Government and rebel groups are expected to meet for peace talks in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, on 21 January.

In their press statement, the Council members recalled their resolutions 2056, 2071 and 2085 – which dealt with the situation in Mali and were adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter – as well as the “urgent” need to counter the increasing terrorist threat in Mali.

All this is very tragic. Large numbers of people living without an infrastructure built in benevolence by an established government can and do act on their own beliefs about their reality. One of the ways people organize is around their religious beliefs. No doubt the 17 men were seeking to come together to find a sense of community in a world without sophisticated understandings of peace and prosperity. That is the other thing, when people are suffering from the lack of simple comforts in life, they seek answers. So, the gathering of holy men is a very viable way to educate people to their plight and how to work to resolving it. A threat to allowing those resolves to occur is exclusively a sincere problem. There is a much larger dynamic at work than simply 17 men traveling on a road.

Africa is experiencing horrible drought. There are arguments over resources and then the monies from the resources are used to fight wars over the resources which are powering their wars and on and on and on.

Now, we have a dynamic resulting in the French flying jets into areas of Mali to stop the continued build up of extremists and their arms network, etc.

Then it escalates and the USA Neocons start to seek profits through their military agenda to invade the area and so the story goes.

You know, if soldiers are going to act in anarchy simply because they can, then who the hell needs them? The people need to be left alone to work out their problems the way they need to. Although that is not exactly the case either, when there is a complete void of authority and government people become victims as in Darfur.

So, goes the work of the United Nations. Does it become simple? Are there ever clear answers without corruption? As a community of nations, we just keep at it. But, the flow of weapons to empower militias in Libya and otherwise has to stop. It has stop to stop the rest of the violence. More innocent people die, the graves become places of worship and the anger never resolves.

NO ESCALATION.

The complex emergency in Mali (click here) has displaced 445,876 people from their homes since fighting erupted in the north early this year. Of these, 174,000 are internally displaced in Mali and 271,876 are refugees in neighbouring countries.

NO ESCALATION.

NO ESCALATION.

NO ESCALATION.

One of the best ideas for Africa is finding a way to handle their flood seasons to insure the well being of their people. I should not give directives as far as dams and the like because I have not studied the best ways to resolve the drought problem. But, dams do a couple of things. Conservationists will hate me, but, dams do control floods, contain water for future use and can return agriculture to drought weary lands. It is called irrigation. At this point Earth needs such a drastic return to water vapor in its troposphere, carbon sinks and  a far cooler troposphere, bodies of water are important to changing that path. We can't simply relocate entire nations of people. I always wanted a dam project for Ethiopia.

The USA military knows what the climate is doing to complicate the security of regions of the world. This is no joke. If a dam project will provide REAL hope for these people along with JOBS FOR THEIR CITIZENS, do it.

They don't need oil wells or hydraulic fracturing either. They need hope and real answers; not scared half out of their minds of The West.

The problem within Africa is that the people have so many problems it is difficult if not impossible to get them to coalesce around an agenda for their future. Their strife has been so profound they can't entertain the thought of the future. They don't know how to define the future. They have today and plans for tomorrow, but, plans for next week, next month, next year is exceptionally difficult for them.

A dam project can provide them 'the future.' Their future. Their children's future. Water. Crops. Lush forest. Protections for their wildlife. Biotic content propagates biotic content.

Dams require a people able to prepare for them and manage them, too. Huge problems. Really huge problems.

Murdoch's Major Barrett takes the Debt Ceiling Limit out of context. Murdoch's never ceases their assault on the USA.

President Barack Obama gestures as he answers a question during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The Debt Ceiling Murdoch's media moguls try to portray as the same as the debt ceiling today was some of the primary drives of our current trillion dollar debts surmounting $16 T.

Top Dems urging Obama to raise debt ceiling all voted against increase in ’06 (click here)

January 12, 2013 | 11:38 am 

...“We believe that you must make clear that you will never allow our nation’s economy and reputation to be held hostage,” the Democrats wrote.  “We believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without congressional approval, if necessary.”...

In the years of Bush/Cheney there were huge increases in spending for the sake of "We are at war." Al that was under an umbrella of the culture of fear which remains in remnants today. These are the same remnants the current GOP continues to cling to as a political advantage.

The Bush/Cheney years started the drive to move the debt ceiling into unreasonable levels. The attempt by then Senator Barak Obama to end the endless war was sincere.

Today, we are trying to recover our economy after this disastrous administration bringing the USA two wars, an outsourced economy with 'job seekers' left to work in construction provided by inflated home markets whereby citizens were purchasing second and third homes, a construction sector powered by Congressional spending whereby every bill was a jobs bill, a Bush administration which treated the military as a supplement to our national budget; all of which had a final result of destroying the USA economy including the auto industry.

Those years of raising the debt ceiling never served the American people. Nearly every Wall Street entity had their hand out for a bailout. That is not a successful administration. So, when the then Senator Obama voted against the Debt Ceiling, heck, I would too. Do you suppose he saw this mess coming?

When is Murdoch's tribe of media jerks going to stop seeking a STRATEGY against the best outcomes for the American people that only results in losing elections for Republicans? Never? FINE! Lose the elections then and cause a stalemated government in order to find some kind of media following. Murdoch has an inferior media participation and by damn it we are all tired of it!

I also believe President Obama has to think about the recommendations of a unilateral action to most all the nation's problems. The House is UNABLE to resolve to do what is best for their party; whatever makes the President think he can actually garner the support of the House for any answers to our nation? That doesn't exist. He needs to get over himself and THE HOPE for a unified political base while marginalizing extremists. Be a dictator for God's sake.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone is still absent from the Climate picture.

January 14, 2013
0330 gmt
The Weather Channel African-European Satellite

 January 14, 2013; 
1230 gmt
Weather Channel African-European Satellite

There is a bifurcation of the South America and Africa conduit which is starting to result in some return of water vapor to the Equator on the southern end of the bifurcation (click here). 

The overwhelming heat in that region though has resulted in absorption of the water vapor at the Equator without a sustainable development. The water vapor over South America is headed south to a far higher dynamic occurring in Australia. This is a dynamic completely foreign to Earth's recorded climate. There has never been such a departure of water vapor from the Intertropical Convergence Zone. It is not recovering quickly. 

People play with snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert near Tabuk, 932 miles from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia covered with snow in coldest winter for 20 years (click here)

13:25 11/01/2008

ABU DHABI, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Northern parts of Saudi Arabia are covered with snow with schools, mosques and administrative bodies paralyzed, local media reported Friday.

The oil-rich kingdom is being hit with subzero temperatures and snow storms with freezing winds of up to 50 km/h (30mp/h). Some regions have been experiencing problems with water supplies as pipes have frozen, and livestock has died from the cold.

The Saudi Gazette reported late in December that the winter was expected to last 89 days, with temperatures reaching below zero. National media said the winter is the coldest in the country for 20 years.

Morning and afternoon prayers are being combined in many mosques because of the morning cold and some schools will reopen later than scheduled.

The bad weather is fun for children and teenagers, however, who have been making snowballs and building snowmen with enthusiasm.

 January 14, 2013
0303:32 gmt
The Weather Channel Global Pacific Satellite

Here again, there is minor recovery of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, followed by an absorption of the water vapor into movement toward the pole. The ICZ is not recovering so much as acting as a shunt for water vapor. The biotic areas relying on a stable ICA (which is most of the Equatorial Region globally) are in trouble. Those are the carbon sinks. There might be continued movement toward recovery, but, at this point it doesn't appear to be able to be a stable entity of Earth.

January 14, 2013
1232 gmt
The Weather Channel Global Pacific Satellite

Beauty and fury as Pilbara braces for cyclone Narelle (click here)

January 11, 2013

Aleisha Orr, Perth

Residents of Western Australia's Pilbara region were bracing themselves as cyclone Narelle bore down spectacularly on WA's north-west coast.

The eye-catching pictures accompanying this report were captured by photographer Brett Martin just before sunset on Wednesday afternoon, 25 nautical miles north-west of Onslow.

Martin, whose images were first posted on perthweatherlive.com, reported conditions were glassy and flat before the storm hit, but when the wild weather arrived, the swell lifted to two metres, winds increased to 40 knots and visibility was reduced to 100 metres....

...Narelle is a category 3 severe tropical cyclone which is likely to develop further as it moves on its south-south-west track towards the Northwest Cape. Although there was no immediate risk, people in the area were asked to start preparing for dangerous weather.

January 14, 2013
0325 gmt
The Weather Channel Western Hemisphere Satellite

After crossing the Pacific, the Intertropical Convergence Zone again departs from recovery west of Central America. After crossing South America, where it is absent, the bifurcation develops. That bifurcation first appeared eight years ago. It has sustained during that period.

January 14, 2013
1222 gmt
The Weather Channel Western Hemisphere Satellite

The changes at the ICZ on this entry occurred in less than ten hours. It changes rapidly as are the storms noted globally. The point is the ICZ is always there in dynamics due to Earth's rotation around the sun, but, it may not maintain its water vapor component. If that condition sustains, that will dictate a far different biotic balance to Earth. 

Just as an after thought, survivalists can't cower against this one with their guns and isolation strategies.

Yes, cower. It is cowardice to seek a hideaway rather than face reality. I think of survivalists as people hiding under their covers. They only think they have security. They don't have profound reality. What kind of strategy seeks global nuclear annihilation as a method to national security while building bomb shelters and stocking it with guns, etc. There is no logic there and we are stuck with a GOP that embraces that baloney as political SURVIVAL.

Earth will result in the victor. It has so far. Earth has no conscience, it has physics.

The Republican leadership is seeking to reclaim their party's values.

Retired General and Secretary of State Colin Powell has long lead the GOP into becoming the party of reason. What is even more interesting is he is not alone. Yesterday, his statements were incredible and poignant. But, he was also joined in becoming the party of reason by Former Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour. It is time for the leadership to join Secretary Powell and return the GOP to the American landscape in a meaningful way. 

The current course Republicans believe will work for them is hurting the country and diminishing its importance internationally. Currently, the GOP only defines its importance in international relationships with a military footprint. It isn't the way the American people define themselves in the real world abroad at all.

I thank Secretary Powell. He is an ally to the people of this country. Realizing that should be a startling statement. Why would the people need an ally within their own borders? I am not sure it is startling statement to many. Republicans, up to now, have rejected this level of leadership in a real way. They refuse to recognize a man with a global view that has served both the military and the diplomatic missions of the USA. I would think Secretary Powell could easily make validation or lack there of to a new Secretary of Defense at the very least. I am quite sure he is qualified to speak to far more than that.

The issues concerning the 'talk about town' of the Republicans are all about power. It isn't about solving problems, it is about defeating the problems in a way that separates them from the nation. Personal arsenals, survivalists, cessation are all issues of personal power over problems. Coming together in a specialized group with power over others. They are extremist views. They are dysfunctional. If Republicans continue to embrace these separation goals as their party's goals they will only serve to separate themselves from a nation seeking real answers. They are failing the people of the USA without real answers to the nation's problems.

Published: January 13, 2013 9:38 PM

Combined news services

WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, (click here) a twice-wounded Vietnam War veteran, is "superbly qualified" to run the Pentagon, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.

Powell, like Hagel a Republican, rejected criticisms from other party members over a comment the former Nebraska lawmaker made about the "Jewish lobby" and a 2007 vote opposing designation of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization.

"He is a very strong supporter of the state of Israel," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It doesn't mean you have to agree with every single position the Israeli government takes."

Hagel, 66, has come under attack from Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will consider his nomination for secretary of defense....