This has to be a first.

Could it be Texas is developing a conscience. Really? There is hope for the world.

By Greg Botelho, CNN

updated 6:17 PM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013

(CNN) -- Texas on Friday (click here) became the latest state to sue BP, Halliburton and others tied to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, alleging the parties "engaged in willful and wanton misconduct" and seeking penalties and damages "to the fullest extent allowed by law."

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Beaumont, more than three years after one of the worst oil spills in American history. Listed defendants include Transocean, Halliburton and Anadarko, in addition to BP America....

The is additional air turbulence at the border of Iowa and  Minnesota. Same kinds stuff. Temperature variation.

Same as yesterday, everything is moving very fast. What a mess.

Ya know, that entire 'air ridge' is starting to look like a roll cloud phenomena. See that? There is an underlying current with upper level movement to reinforce the lower air circulation. It is starting to take on the appearance of a tropospheric roll cloud without the dense water vapor mass. There have been occasional phenomena like this before and they are on this blog. It is just that with winds entering from both the southwest and southeast the velocity will really pick up.

The less the water vapor the more concentrated the accumulation and the more likely tornadoes.

Jet Stream. It is really sailing along. Odd.

It is a single phenomena with the Jet Stream removing some of the water vapor. The Jet Stream can't compete with it. There is a tropospheric disturbance.

There is the system. The southern border extends west out of the image along the Equator. It is receiving hot wet air from the Equator and delivering it right into the Arctic regions.

It is continuous. The Jet Stream can be noted moving across Mexico and New Mexico. The Jet is carrying water vapor off the primary system resulting in a darker color. The Jet Stream for as fast as it is moving can't even dent the main tropospheric system.

Hurricane season is about two weeks away. I think it will be a strong Pacific season that crosses into the Gulf. Whatever.

The sooner the hurricanes start the sooner the threat of tornadoes will abate. Hopefully. I noted a strong circulation center in the Atlantic a few days ago though. I thought that might be the first storm of the season, but, the Hurricane Center didn't bother with it because it was in the Atlantic and didn't effect land. I don't think that is the right call. It was definitely a tropical depression.

The Associated Press is guilty as hell. The Press is seeing it completely wrong. This is NOT a PR lie. This event actually occurred and this was seriously important classified information. These were agents at work. Grow up!

I just love it when the Press whines and cries when Ambassador Wilson writes an Op-Ed in the NYTimes, but, believes outing agents and their activity when it suits them is okay.

NOT !

Both incidents are wrong or not at all. Valerie Plame should still be working to stem nuclear dynamics in this world. The AP was hugely wrong, not just a little bit wrong!

Joe Wilson told the world the Bush White House was planning an illegal war. In retaliation Cheney outed his wife. Get over yourself. If the Press is conveniently going to release classified information at will then they are no better than Cheney.

Damn, I wish there was a Harry Potter marathon this weekend.

Oh, cool, "Capitalism a Love Story" is on at Current TV.

There is at least six hot spots this evening.

May 17, 2013
2330.19z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of north and west hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop)

Three in the midwest, one in the southeast, Texas and the west coast has a burgeoning vortex that came out of nowhere.

The temperature variations across the country validate the current status.

Along the entire ridge of air between high temperatures and low temperatures are causing increased storm opportunity.


May 17, 2013
0815 PM EDT
Weather Channel Current Temperature Map

The turbulence started mildly about there hours ago, but, within the past hour there is a persistence about the eruptions.

The good news could be if the heat disturbance is scattered over a larger geographical area it could result in lower turbulence throughout. But, that is somewhat wishful thinking. Physics is physics and the turbulence is less connected to vortex oscillation dynamics and more simple 'front disturbance.'

The Texas disturbance is right at the juncture of where the temperature changes move from 85 - 96 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Something's got to give.

Same is true with Nebraska - 90 and 78 degree difference. Nebraska has winds coming into that area from the southeast and southwest. Hot air migrating at about 30 - 35 mph into that single area.

Nebraska's isobars are significantly odd. Exactly where the turbulence is occurring it drops from 1007 to 1004. The 1004 isobar is narrow and the west side of that ridge has a reading of 1001.

The Texas turbulence is exactly the same dynamic. It is occurring exactly at the isobar change. 1008 - 1007 into a low central pressure of 1004.

The southeast turbulence is more attached to a vortex oscillation dynamic and occurs solidly behind isobar 1016.

The vortex formation is over central Idaho with a center of 1008. There is a secondary circulation center slightly northeast of that location, but, it's isobar is 1012 which leads me to believe the vortex center is actually at the  1008 location. The air just outside of that center in Idaho is 1007 which supports this formation into a low pressure center.

100 days today.

Guantánamo Hunger Strike Enters 100th Day; 30 Prisoners Being Force-Fed

The hunger strike by prisoners at Guantánamo Bay has entered its 100th day. The U.S. military now says 102 out of 166 prisoners are on strike, while lawyers for the prisoners maintain the number is higher. Thirty hunger strikers are being force-fed through nasal tubes pushed into their stomachs. Three have been hospitalized. The prisoners launched their protest against indefinite detention in early February. Most have been held for more than a decade without charge or trial.

May 16th, 2013 6:59 AM

...One exception (click here) to the congressional cowardice is Rep. Jim Moran, D-Virginia, who sponsored a highly instructive panel discussion on the prison at Guantanamo last Friday. Why simply a “briefing,” rather than a formal House hearing? Simple. Not one of the majority Republicans who currently chair committees in the House and have the power to call hearings wants Americans to hear the details of this blight on the nation’s conscience....

...Concerned Citizens

Friday’s unusual “briefing” sprang from an initiative by a group of concerned citizens mostly from Moran’s district in northern Virginia. On April 30, Kristine Huskey led a small group of us to meet with Moran, one of the very few members of Congress to speak out against the obscenity called Guantanamo. We put our shoulders to the wheel (and enlisted the willing shoulders of many other pro-justice people) and brought about the briefing in nine days....

Why are the Koch Brothers moving into media and education. CONTROL.

I thought Murdoch moved off the control of Sky News. 

NEW YORK, NY, May 8, 2013 – News Corporation (click here) (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported $9.54 billion of total revenue for the three months ending March 31, 2013, a $1.14 billion or 14% increase over the $8.40 billion of revenue reported in the prior year quarter. Approximately 55% of the revenue increase reflects growth at the Cable Network Programming, Filmed Entertainment and Television segments, partially offset by lower revenues at the Publishing segment. The balance of the growth primarily relates to the inclusion of Sky Deutschland AG (“Sky Deutschland”) and Fox Sports Australia revenues....

The questioning of Miller is taking two paths. Each path serves a different purpose.

The Republicans are interested in finding criminality in those at the IRS that would contribute to impeachment or implicating conversations with Geithner that would then implicate President Obama in a conspiracy. Their line of questioning is about placing blame higher up the chain of command. The Republicans are interested in the problem or solving the problem.

The Democrats are mostly interested in finding the problem and what to do about it leaving the criminal element to those that actually prosecute.

Each party is so divided to their oath of office it brings a lot of confusion by the witnesses answering the questions as to the focus of their answers.

Whatever.

I've got some errands to do.

Later.

The Koch Brothers strategy to win elections is not noble, it is based in buying votes using the 501(c)4 status.

The Koch Brothers ultimate dreamscape is to have every person in the nation 'on the dole' to create their own incentive to casting votes for their agenda.

In other words, every person in the country should have their own 501(c)4 to find money to promote 'their cause' no matter the cause. That would create an incentive to vote on a particular path. An example is that of Grover Norquist. He took a particular point of view and was able to build a PLEDGE that meant a great deal to conservative voters. He became a miliion - billionaire. I am quite sure he never votes for anyone but hard core conservatives that believe in starving the beast into the vanishing point.

That is basically what the Koch Brothers promote as a reason to secure their political clout to effect their business wealth. If the Koch Brothers can secure enough of the electorate throughout the areas of the country where they derive their profits they can be more profitable by destroying protections of consumers, etc.

The Kochs are seeking to pad their wealth quotient through political victories that will serve their profit margins. Using 501(c)4s in that manner is buying votes. The Kochs don't directly pay the voters, but, they donate to an organization to deliver votes. If there are enough of these charitable organizations that literally is buying votes. Basically.

The Koch Brothers are good at one thing and one thing only; political mischief. They are not good at governing, qualifying candidates good at governing, they are not good at policy or putting forth a ballot that will help the USA; hence, the Tea Party and it's diffuse nature and obstruction by extremists in Washington, DC.

The Koch winning candidates use ALEC to govern which we already know at the very least removes States Right by homogenizing legislation. ALEC also has a corporate focus and is adverse to the average citizen.

Miller states the Supreme Court Decision "Citizens' United" drove their focus. There isn't anything else to understand. This was an attempt by the IRS to stop fraud.

The only reason the conservative groups became a focus was because there was an overwhelming number of applications with SPECIFIC verbiage. As the IRS struggled with the new paradigm they were trying to find a way to centralize any fraud.

Basically, 'the process' was the problem. The IRS office turned to 'keywords' to find any trace of fraud. Unfortunately, conservatives use keywords in their political verbiage and it was coincidence that brought conservative groups into focus.

The truth is, this is laughable. It was the dovetailing of two truths. The IRS was seeking to stop fraud due to the decision by the Supreme Court which would induce the use of 501(c)4s by using keywords. Conservative groups use keywords to promote their agenda. Hence, the conservative groups ranked the highest with keywords and the list was made. It was a circus after the Supreme Court ruled.

So, true to form, rather than seeing the truth for what it is, conservatives are now claiming there were victimized by President Obama. Why not? Why not simply project every government action to President Obama after all "President" and "Obama" are keywords. I don't need to hear anything else.

I think Tax Reform is definitely in order.

The only real question that remains is why were the little guys questioned while Rove, Norquist and Koch got away with it. The reason being given is that the IRS corruptly picked on the little guys because they could not afford legal representation. Now, I know for a fact that is not correct; on conservative talk shows leaders of these smaller organizations have lawyers. And Rove was being probed. As a matter for fact his organization had to publish their donor lists. I don't know about any probe of the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, but, that should be examined by the IRS in the face of all this mess. 

The APPEARANCE of the lack of equity in the IRS dealing with larger conservative 501(c)4s is a complaint in the conservative political vapors. There needs to be equity throughout the 501(c)4s across the political spectrum. I think the best way to CHANGE the PROCESS is to start at the financial statements and start with the top donor draw and work down.

A process based in financial income is very valid. Statistically the larger the money draw from a donor pool of any political base will result in a greater chance of fraud. Statistically it is a better and more defensible process for the IRS. 

A centralized process to incorporate the Supreme Court decision is the problem here. Obviously, the IRS is struggling to centralize the process. This process is important, it effects the country's elections. The findings of the IRS in regard to this change in paradigm due to the Supreme Court directly impacts the individual. The process needs to be perfected. Chasing down fraud in regard to effecting elections is important. There is a limit on the FTEs at the IRS.

The only other factor dictating the IRS process is they are looking for a repeat of donors that exceed the legal limit by any donor. Basically, the Koch Brothers are notorious for seeking to increase the number of conservative organizations to justify higher spending for their voter penetration. That is a fact. The entire of the Tea Party Movement is contextualized within monies from the Koch Brothers. But, starting at the top will expose DOLLARS and not just NUMBERS.

I think the political 501(c)4s are going to need a reporting process of donors and expected donors in the application process and then followed up by semi annual or annual reporting to find out where the fraud exists.

Special demands in applications is NOT new. The IRS has an entire process for churches that is not required for simple charitable organizations. It is justified and correct. There is no reason why political 501(c)4s can't have a special demand to stem fraud and abuse. Seriously.

Have a better day.

Granbury is a minority Asian community, primarily. Their median household incomes are good, but, individual incomes are not.

These folks are primarily low income people. The reason the median household incomes seem at least better than average is because of the join incomes of the households by many members. I hope they had insurance that would cover their losses.

It has been stated the tornado was a mile wide, that is a bit incorrect. The 'system' supporting the tornadoes was a mile wide, but, the tornadoes were not that wide, they were however powerful vortexes.

Congress needs to pass immigration reform. Our Dreamers need a permanent status.

Arizona is still being stubborn about the status of people protected by the Executive Order by President Obama. So, basically, Arizona sees the Dreamers as being deported at the end of the two year protective order. Enough already.

May 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge (click here) refused on Thursday to block Arizona's Republican governor, who has long clashed with Washington over immigration reform, from denying driver's licenses to young immigrants granted temporary legal status by the federal government.

Civil rights groups had filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Phoenix in November against Governor Jan Brewer and two state transportation department officials on behalf of five Mexican immigrants who qualify for deferred deportation status under a program pushed by President Barack Obama....

Judge David Campbell is incorrect. It is not the burden of The Dreamers to prove the future is where the law lies, it is the burden of the states and the federal government to provide all the rights of Dreamers and deal with the failure of Immigration Reform later. If for some reason the Executive Order expires and the Dreamers are again in an illegal status, that means THEN AND ONLY THEN  will their licenses have to be rescinded. It is not the place for Judge Campbell to rule against the rights provided under the President's Executive Order based on 'the future' which hasn't happened yet. The Dreamers need to continue to appeal the decision, it is incorrect.

This decision assaults the power within an Executive Order and USA Justice needs to consider joining the lawsuit.

"...that is just fund raising...it is just ridiculous..." Even Kristol knows the GOP dialogue has no substance.

Lew and Bernanke need to talk and soon. I am not so sure the Fed unemployment program should continue.

The US dollar is killing global currency. First the Yen and now the Aussie dollar. What is the African Rand doing?

The Rand is a ten to one exchange. That is a bit unheard of.

In just 10 days, the Australian dollar has fallen from US103¢ to US97.4¢. The sudden fall has been so sharp one currency strategist described it as a ''falling knife''....


...In short, the first trigger was the sudden rallying of the US dollar against the yen and other currencies last Thursday night in New York.

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The US dollar broke through the significant psychological barrier of 100 yen and sent its Australian counterpart into free fall.

That pushed the dollar past its own psychological barrier of US101.50¢ and it didn't take long for the currency to drop through parity on Friday night. The Australian currency continued to fall over the past week, while the greenback kept strengthening....

As optimism grows about the US economy amid growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve could wind back its ''quantitative easing'' money-printing strategy by the end of this year, investors were once again turning to other fundamentals that drive the Australian dollar, such as the Chinese economy, commodity prices and the mining investment outlook, Mr Gibbs said....


You guys are playing too much. The dollar is causing a global currency crisis in a strong market. I knew the Dow was too strong. It didn't make sense. 

The mine strike has little to nothing to do with the fall in the Rand. The US Dollar is stronger than other currencies and are causing instability. 

The instability is being noted in commodities more so than anything else. All countries need resources such as energy and it will make the cost of living skyrocket in nations with high imports. In countries with deficit trade balances there will be far less buying power to their monies and the cost of living will backlash in the global economy. 

We are on the verge if not already beginning a global recession. This is going to make austerity look like a nightmare of incredible proportion.

Posted about 2 hours ago
South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rate - Rand tumbles to a four-year low against the US Dollar (click here)

The South African Rand has tumbled to a four-year low against the US Dollar due to mounting concerns that further labour unrest in the platinum mining sector could inflict further and wide reaching damage to the South African economy.

Calls for workers to stay away from working at Anglo Platinum mines was largely ignored on Friday as workers defied calls for protests over the company’s plans to cut 6,000 jobs in a bid to bring the world’s largest platinum producer back into profit. Violent protests cost mines 15 billion rand ($1.6 billion) in lost revenue last year and contributed to the rand’s 5.6 percent slide in the past six months.

Despite no incidents being reported on Friday the possibility for further strike action remains high as unions and worker committees remain opposed to the planned jobs cuts. Rand traders in particular are proving jittery over the situation....

Bernanake has to stop purchasing assets NOW ! The US Dollar is too strong.

Fri May 17, 2013 4:16am EDT

* San Francisco Fed's Williams say Fed could end QE this year

* Dollar index near its July peak

* Dollar/yen near 4 1/2-year high, euro near 6-week low

By Anirban Nag

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - The dollar rose (click here) against a basket of currencies on Friday, hovering near a 10-month high as debate over whether the Federal Reserve would wind down its asset buying programme later this year gathered pace.

The dollar's strength, along with expectations that the European Central Bank could introduce negative deposit rates, the rate at which banks park surplus funds with it, kept the euro pinned down to recent six-week lows.

The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of six majorcurrencies, rose 0.4 percent to 83.886, nearing a 10-month high of 84.094 set on Wednesday. A break of its July peak of 84.10 would see it rise to its highest in nearly three years....

Christchurch, New Zealand is still rocking. It is the second largest city.

It is an unstable area and has been from the beginning when the first quake in September 2010 which was a 7.0. The first quake reduced buildings to rubble, but, quiet to everyone's surprise there was no deaths. 

The second major quake occurred in February 2011 with a rating of 6.3, but, this time it killed 185 people. New Zealand has embarked on a major restoration effort and fuels some of the GDP of the nation's economy, but, the land just isn't cooperating by instilling confidence in the future of the areas. 

This quake today is the first in several months. The area is between the sea and mountains. It is just unstable. The longer the shaking goes on the longer it will go on simply because of the repeated reduction in particle size of the land called a phenomena called liquefaction.

7:52 PM Friday May 17, 2013

Cantabrians have been advised to check on friends and neighbours, (click here) after the first strong earthquake to rock Christchurch in months.

No reports of injuries or emergency calls were received after the magnitude 4.1 quake this afternoon.

The quake was located 25km south-west of Christchurch, near Darfield, at a depth of 7km.

GeoNet gave the tremor a 5 rating for Mercalli Intensity - the power with which it was felt on the earth's surface.

St John South Island Communications Advisor Ian Henderson said the first sizeable quake felt in Canterbury for some time may have come as a surprise or shock to some.

"We encourage people to keep in touch with each other and check on their friends, family and neighbours, especially people who are on their own.''

Quake-hardened Cantabrians went on social media to record their experiences of the rare jolt, which hit at 3.59pm....

The export markets are reacting to New Zealand's restructuring of their government agencies.

7:13 PM Friday May 17, 2013

A name change for a government ministry (click here) has resulted on New Zealand meat being blocked at Chinese ports, Labour has claimed.

Labour primary industries spokesman Damien O'Connor said hundreds of tonnes of meat was sitting on a wharf in China waiting for the right name to be put on documents to satisfy Chinese customs officials.

"The Government's enthusiasm and determination to restructure major government agencies has led to this confusion, and the simple requirement for correct customs certification has obviously been overlooked by officials in the new Ministry of Primary Industries,'' Mr O'Connor said....

A firefighter that loves vegetables?

My Beef with Meat: (click here for Barnes and Noble) The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet--Plus 140 New Engine 2 Recipes

Bestelling author of The Engine 2 Diet and nutrition lecturer Rip Esselstyn, is back and ready to arm readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet—and convince curious carnivores to change their diets once and for all. Esselstyn reveals information on the foods that most people believe are healthy, yet that scientific research shows are not. Some foods, in fact, he deems so destructive they deserve a warning label. Want to prevent heart attacks, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer's? Then learn the facts and gain the knowledge to convince those skeptics that they are misinformed about plant-base diets, for instance:

You don't need meat and dairy to have strong bones or get enough protein

Beckham is retiring at the top of his game.

Legendary Beckham calls it a day

[May 16 2013]

...Confirming the blockbuster (click here)  announcement, Beckham said: "I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level.' 'If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I'm fortunate to have realized those dreams.'

On the international stage, Beckham holds the England record for making 115 appearances as an outfield player for the national team. 'To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country,' Beckham added.