This is why President Morales is sitting on a foreign tarmac.

Financially failing Wall Street companies are handling National Security for the USA. This is all about political favors. This has nothing to do with Bolivia. This has everything to do with corruption within the USA government itself.

Providence will lose nearly a half billion US when and IF it finally sells this White Elephant from Carlyle.

July 2, 2013

Altegrity Inc, owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, (click here) is looking to sell a division that provides background checks for private-sector employers and could fetch up to $1 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. 

A potential sale of the HireRight division comes at a tough time for Altegrity, as another of the latter's units, USIS, faces a U.S. government investigation over its 2011 background check into Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaker. 

Unlike USIS, which is the largest private provider of federal government background checks in the United States, HireRight focuses on private-sector employers and provides employee background checks, as well as drug and health screening for companies....

...Representatives for Providence Equity declined to comment. Altegrity did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bank of America did not have immediate comment.

Altegrity, which Providence bought from Carlyle Group LP (>> Carlyle Group LP) and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for $1.5 billion in 2007, also expanded its intelligence and security consulting business through its $1.13 billion acquisition of Kroll in 2010.

In April, Moody's Investor Service Inc downgraded Altegrity's debt deep into junk territory, warning that unless its revenue and earnings rebound significantly in the near term, its capital structure may be unsustainable.

Several private equity firms including Providence, KKR & Co LP (>> KKR & Co. L.P.) and General Atlantic LLC bought businesses in recent years on the assumption that areas such as cyber defense and intelligence remained relatively safe from government spending cuts....

The private equity firms are dumping the security companies for a reason. They would not do this without sound reason to do so.

Jules is the founder of Kroll, Inc., (click here) and the acknowledged creator of the modern investigations, intelligence and security industry. In 1972, he established Kroll Associates Inc. as a consultant to corporate purchasing departments, and in doing so, created the prototype for a new breed of professional services firm dedicated to mitigating risk. By employing former prosecutors, law enforcement officials, journalists and academics who used sophisticated fact finding techniques to address decision-makers’ needs for accurate information, Jules established investigations and risk consulting as valuable corporate services.
Kroll, Inc. reached annual sales of $1 billion in 2008 as part of Marsh & Mclennan which bought the company in 2004
He currently serves as Chairman of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Foundation. He is a former member of the Board of Regents of Georgetown University and Board of Trustees of Cornell University and also served as the Chairman of the Georgetown Law Center Board of Visitors.

Kroll had a global reach. (click here) This is some of the hideously organized idea of national security of any country. There is no exclusive system for any given country. It is all homogenous. One company had all these countries tied up in handling security needs? It might be okay for Wall Street when they can't afford internal security departments, but, nations? This is incredibly stupid.

This is a woman's clinic that belongs to women in North Carolina.

Various abortion methods (click here) are available depending on specific circumstances surrounding your pregnancy. Medical abortion by pill, and surgical abortion are amoung the choices which can be discussed during your visit.

This woman's clinic is in Charlotte, North Carolina. The current governor was the mayor of Charlotte before being elected governor. This is considered one of the best woman's clinics in the state. A very cheery place where women feel safe. A place for women to have their needs met. Is that too much to ask?

The clinics don't conduct abortions in later pregnancy. Those are referred to a hospital procedure for the safety of women.


CCFW is owned and operated by women for women of the Carolinas and the Southeast. The goal of our clinic is to have all women provided with the most up-to-date, safe and efficient health care including individualized contraceptive plans, problem pregnancy counseling, general wellness exams, and a safe, supportive haven for abortion services. We are located in Charlotte, NC Call for an appointment 704-367-2255.

Surgical Abortion (5-16 weeks)

The surgical abortion during the 5-16 week period consists of the Dilation Aspiration Method. Patients can expect to be in our facility for about 4 hours. This time includes the ultrasound, lab work, counseling, the procedure (approx. 5 minutes), and about a 1 hour nurse supervised recovery time. We offer a mild sedative, medication to help cramping and a local anesthetic. We require that someone pick up and drive the patient home after the procedure and we suggest that the patient rest for the remainder of the day. Usually, the patient can return to work and normal activities the following day.
A member of our medical staff is on call 24 hours a day for questions and concerns.

Follow-Up: The patient should return to our facility 3 weeks after the procedure for a follow-up exam. At this visit, we will check vitals and determine that your uterus has returned to its normal non-pregnant size. We will perform a pregnancy test to ensure you get a negative result. If the patient would like to continue the prescribed birth control, a recent pap smear is required. If due for your annual exam you may have a pap smear for an additional fee.

There is absolutely no reason for North Carolina to take action to close perfectly safe and affordable health care for women.

National Background and Context (click here)

Abortion is a common experience: At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45. Moreover, a broad cross section of U.S. women have abortions. 58% of women having abortions are in their 20s; 61% have one or more children; 85% are unmarried; 69% are economically disadvantaged; and 73% report a religious affiliation. No racial or ethnic group makes up a majority: 36% of women obtaining abortions are white non-Hispanic, 30% are black non-Hispanic, 25% are Hispanic and 9% are of other racial backgrounds.

The meeting in Moscow was not OPEC.

The meeting in Moscow was for gas exporting nations. I am fairly sure it was about methane (LNG).

This is really very simple. This is a problem for the USA and Bolivia has no interests in this. If the USA has loose national security policies with Wall Street private equity firms that is not Bolivia's problem. The only problem Bolivia has now is getting their sovereign leader home. 

I can't believe has happened. Like, who did this?

This is a head of state. Who is responsible for this mess now? They are going start a war.

This is just outrageous. If this was President Obama the USA would be scrambling jets. 

I can't believe this is going on. This is a direct assault against Bolivian sovereignty.

There is going to be problems after this. This is not going to be considered a minor issue internationally. I mean you have got to be joking. A computer hacker from Carlyle is going to stop a jet carrying the sovereign leader of Bolivia, for what?

These actions are imperialistic and out of the mainstream of international law. Denying air space to a nation's sovereign leader is a hostile act. It just is. I simply can't believe this has happened. Basically, Morales has been kidnapped. Denying him airspace took control of the place in which his body exists. He lost control of his travel back to his nation. Has everyone gone crazy?

This is unbelievable. A single hacker from a Wall Street company actually put a sovereign leader on a foreign tarmac. There is no way this is appropriate. There was no warnings to anyone and the plane was blocked from a trip to it's homeland. I hope this is a huge misunderstanding or fabrication. I sincerely hope so.

July 2, 2013
Bolivia (click here) reacted with fury after a plane carrying the country's president home from Russia was diverted to Vienna amid suspicions that it was carrying the surveillance whistleblower, Edward Snowden.

France and Portugal were accused of withdrawing permission for the plane, carrying the president, Evo Morales, from energy talks in Moscow, to pass through their airspace.

The Bolivian foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, denied that Snowden was on board. "We don't know who invented this lie. We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales," he said, in comments reported by Associated Press....

This is Egypt's entrance to their democracy. Democracy is not simple. Every country and culture is different.

This is not 1776. The opposition does not come by sea from a land across an ocean. This is not a humiliating experiment. They do not want Mubarak back again. They know what they want and Mursi has allowed his administration to be dominated by extremist policies in some instances. He scared them and they are worried.

Egyptians are fairly sophisticated folks. They know what their democracy looks like and they aren't there yet.

The flag bearing helicopters has been used before. I don't want to raise doubt the Egyptian military will carry out every word they promise. I am sure that is the case.  

This is a picture of January of 2012 in Iraq. (click here)

This is more or less a symbol in the Middle East with many new democracies. The Egyptian military is using a symbol that is becoming standard to express 'we are the peoples military,' not the dictator's military. 

The new democracies are more or less catching up with their experience. Up to recently their experience with democracy was through the understanding of those placed by The West to assist basically in oil economies. Egypt is the exception. Egypt does not have an oil economy as does Saudi Arabia or Iraq or Libya. And Saudi Arabia is different, along with Jordan, in that they still believe in their royal families and the benevolent nature of that royalty.

But, for the burgeoning democracies in these nations it is still a matter of 'getting it right' and it is not easy. There are many power struggles inside a democracy. It was somewhat predictable the best organized group before the fall of Mubarak would become the dominant leaders in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood was exceptionally well organized. They have a controversial name and practice controversial policies within their organization, but, Mursi was not intent on extremism when he was elected. He is fairly educated and savvy about global affairs. Unfortunately, he has not been able to sustain a productive economy. There in lies a huge problem. People will tolerate much of what does not please them for a period of time to the next election, however, not if they can't have an economy that will sustain them.

It is the economic strife in Egypt resulting in this movement, not really the policies or politics AT THIS POINT.

Libya is a different issue as is Iraq, Syria and somewhat Jordan now. They are all different. The other nations in Africa, primarily northern Africa are struggling with their internal problems as well. And then there is Somalia and Yemen. They are all different. Some with economic problems greater than ethnic hostilities and vice versa. 

But, this is Egypt's new democracy. It hit a huge bump in the road.

By Yasmine Saleh and Asma Alsharif

CAIRO | Tue Jul 2, 2013 5:50pm EDT

 
(Reuters) - Egypt's army (click here) has plans to push Mohamed Mursi aside and suspend the constitution after an all but impossible ultimatum it has given the Islamist president expires in less than 24 hours, military sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Condemning a coup against their first freely elected leader, tens of thousands of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters took to the streets, clashing with opponents in several towns. But they appeared to be dwarfed by anti-government protesters who turned out in their hundreds of thousands across the nation.

Troops were on alert after warnings of a potential civil war. Seven people died in fighting in Cairo suburbs and hundreds were wounded in the provinces.



Mursi defied a demand by the armed forces chief on Monday that he agree to share power with his opponents within 48 hours or have the generals take charge. Calling the army statement misleading and divisive, he said he would stick to his own plan....

President Putin might be very correct, however, about the Syrian rebels.

June 29, 2013

...US deliveries (click here) so far include light weapons and anti-tank missiles, but talks are under way with the French to send more supplies from Europe.

Saudi Arabia has promised to dispatch up to 20 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, capable of taking down regime fighter jets....

Saudi Arabia has a right to assist whomever they want, but, they do have an ethnic interest. Not that it should not deter genocide or near genocide, but, there needs to be some sincere Holy Men ending the brutality. Seriously. I know Saudi Arabia would never consent to such acts.

Sharia law is no doubt at the heart of some of these restrictions, but, IF any of these reports are accurate there are problems. Very similar problems that were noted with The Taliban in Afghanistan when the USA first invaded in October 2001.

We don't know what these men did to bring about these outcomes and it is difficult for impoverished rebels to much different, but, there are issues.

..."Muslim women (click here) are banned from leaving the house in immodest dress, in tight clothing that shows off their bodies or wearing makeup on their face. It is incumbent on all our sisters to obey God and commit to Islamic etiquette," the statement on the Fardous council's Facebook page says as cited by Reuters, which reports that Aleppo residents have confirmed the news...,

This is an independent video from any news service. I does not look edited and it is bloody and brutal. Caution in viewing this. The RT news service states there is a Christian Bishop shot in Syria as well.
 

Vladimir. What gives here? Look, the Russian Star Wars system is starting to be a cancer threat.

And we have to spy on these people? Really? They may need Snowden more than they know. How are the Olympic teams steaming along? It makes me worry about the tigers, Vladimir.

July 2, 2013

...Russian Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev, (click here) who has said that Russia has lost 10 satellites in seven failed launches in just over one year, ordered tighter controls put in place to avoid more embarrassing mishaps, his spokeswoman told Interfax.
The crash, which echoes the costly loss of three navigation satellites in 2010, will further damage the reputation of Russia’s once-pioneering space programme, cause delays in launches and threaten its hold on some 40 percent of the market for space launches....

Tiny batteries can kill in less than 2 hours.

Each year (click here) in the United States, more than 2,800 kids are treated in emergency rooms after swallowing button batteries. That's one child every three hours. The number of serious injuries or deaths as a result of button batteries has increased ninefold in the last decade.


July 3, 2013
By Emilia Wade

...Detecting (click here) that a child has swallowed or inserted a battery is difficult for doctors because it can look like a button or a coin in an x-ray, so Ms Weaver said it was vital that parents let medical professionals know it could be a battery....

The stomach's digestive juices are called Gastric Acid. It is a combination of ingredients, but, the most powerful is hydrochloric acid. Gastric Acid has a pH of 1.5 to 3.5 and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (around 0.5%, or 5000 parts per million) as high as 0.1 M.

In the video below the lithium is removed from the batteries protective casing. However, the casing is not enough to stop the interaction of the lithium and HCl inside the stomach of a child. There is still an interaction with the source of the batteries power that will begin and the rapid process of the casings disintegration once swallowed.

It is the interaction between the Gastric Acid and the Lithium that kills the child. Saliva is nearly a 100% water with traces of digestive enzymes. The water content of the body probably has something to do with it in causing erosion of the skin, but, I think it is more than that.

Heimlich maneuvers on children can force stomach contents into the throat.

Wildfires and extreme drought.

The deepest of sympathies to the families and friends of the brave men lost in Arizona yesterday battling an inferno. 

Sympathies to the people of Arizona who feel the loss profoundly. 

This image from Current Large Incidents July 02, 2013 (click here)

The Yarnell Hill fire was the inferno that killed those very talented men yesterday. It is the red dot on the map.

This is the drought map of Arizona as of June 25, 2013.

The fire is drought related. Anyone can see that.

This fire is not a matter of fuel ready to start such a blaze. The fuel source is not litter on the floor of a forest. The fuel source is high grass/grasslands. This is a Climate Crisis fire due to the high ignition rate and intense heat.

...Fourteen of the men were in their 20s (click here) ....

...At least 400 firefighters were battling the fire at midday Monday, said Mary Rasmussen of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team. She said crews would focus on the eastern flank of the fire, where structures in Yarnell and Peeple’s Valley were threatened. She said efforts to determine why the firefighters died would continue....

...The low humidity, type of fuel, topography and northwest direction of the wind was feeding the and pushing it up the hill toward the communities, Reichling said....

I am not at the site of the fire. But, placing priorities on saving structures is not necessarily the best result in extinguishing the fire in an expeditious manner. The best way to end the destruction of structures is to extinguish the fires and necessarily triage the event.

The physics of fires is fairly straight forward. Grasslands burn quick, as opposed to trees. Fast burning fuel will create an inferno far faster than a forest fire will. The higher the temperature of the fire the more it will create it's own winds that will fan the fire into hotter and hotter trends. The idea is to end the blaze, not simply stop structures from burning. Wildfires are different from structure fires. 

The best strategy of any wildfire is to smother the fire and end any more fuel from igniting as soon as possible.

...Juliann Ashcraft said she found out her firefighter husband, Andrew, was among the dead by watching the news with her four children....

This should not have happened. The families should have been notified first so there was support for them before the information was released to the public. All the public HAS TO KNOW is to evacuate with early warnings expecting the possibility.

I apologize for pointing to political dysfunction, but, this has to stop. We could go on repeatedly being grateful for bravery. I prefer people alive and not dead.

...Brewer said in a statement that “it will forever ring as one of our state’s darkest, most devastating days.

“It will forever remind us of the constant peril our firefighters selflessly face protecting us. We can never repay these nineteen men and their families for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made on our behalf. We can, however, offer them our deepest, eternal debt of gratitude.”

The governor ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff on Wednesday....

We could go on fighting fires caused by drought and lose more people and more structures if elected officials like Governor Jan Brewer doesn't stop playing politics with our people, land, natural resources and the state of the Climate.

The heat is remaining somewhat static/stable due to the increased velocity of the east Pacific tropical storm.

July 1, 2013
01:00 GMT (08:00 PM EST)
The Weather Channel Actual High Temperature Map

The tropical storm in the east Pacific has increased in velocity. It has been at 60 knots per hour. 

Nothing yet in the Atlantic. 

The central pressure of the Pacific storm has dropped to 994 and it may be reorganizing to increase it's velocity again. 

The turbulence I mentioned yesterday at Isla de la Juventud of Cuba is increasing. It is finding a water vapor trail that extends up the east coast of the USA with it's origins just south of Santa Cruz, Mexico. It is promising to be a somewhat reliable water vapor trail in which we might actually see more near shore storms develop that will dissipate some of this terrestrial heat.

That is good for people in the short term, but, in the long run that is still heating oceans relentlessly that increase the heating of the troposphere. 

 
July 2, 2013
15:00:18z
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

On the left of the image, south of the Baha Peninsula of Mexico is Tropical Storm Dalila.

It may be the near shore turbulence near Santa Cruz will increase it's velocity and central circulation system, too. In best outcomes there will be three near shore circulation systems to mitigate the terrestrial heat. 

The majority of cyber attacks in the USA do not have government targets.

Government facilities are about 8% of the cyber attacks. The primary target are energy facilities. 

More lies, to fuel more fear. We don't have problems with cyber capability into our government facilities. Attempts? Sure, but, actual effect on the functioning of our government? No.

Of these attacks, 53% targeted the energy sector, followed by the manufacturing sector, which reported 17% of the incidents....

The jargon used with the cyber industry gets the attention more so than that actual threat to infrastructure. Brute force, malicious, etc. Remember when I stated there is a dreamscape whereby a CEO of Big Oil can operate an entire underwater oil field drilling operation from a beach chair? Well here it is and we as Americans are suppose to worry about that on behalf of an industry we don't even want anymore. 
 
...“The recent report by the DHS ICS-CERT is further proof that malicious actors see the energy sector as a target that is ripe with opportunity and one that is still quite susceptible to being exploited,” Kee told Softpedia in a mailed statement.

“The report notes that the first half of 2013 yielded 200 brute-force cyberattacks, surpassing 2012’s total of 198 attacks. Although attacks on major gas and electric systems are nothing new to those in the industry, these facts serve as evidence that low-level criminals, all the way up to state-sponsored groups see the value in compromising our nation’s critical infrastructure,” she added.

“This is no longer just speculative noise that causes fear uncertainty and doubt (FUD),” Kee said....

How cute, FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt.

If the energy grid is not secure than take it offline. Really simple solution. Put EMPLOYEES back to work to keep the air conditioners running.

The NEW USA National Security arrangement is a HOAX.

"...It comes a substitute really for putting spies into locations which is lengthy and costly and has questionable results."..." This allows them to not only spy, but, also disrupt...It is political, economic and military..."

Cyberspace is the land of make believe and now our national security is suppose to depend on it. This is a very ripe area for fraud in government. If the American people believe "Curveball" was a plant to start wars, imagine the engineering of information that can occur here.

This bull-oney is primarily Wall Street. It is a waste of taxpayer monies and the time of Homeland Security. The USA military has their own capacity. We don't need this and we certainly don't need it in our intelligence community.
 

"Sorry" is not good enough anymore.

Clapper is old world. Basically, "All the President's Men" comes to mind. We don't need this level of deceit within the Obama Administration.

This is not the first time he has played footsie with lies. He significantly lied about Iraq stating all the WMD was transported to Syria to avoid detection. That was a convenient lie since Syria has it's own chemical weapon plant. I want my dignity back to assure Americans they have a reliable government that does not escalate tensions and bring about wars.

July 1, 2013
By Dan Roberts
 
...The US director of national intelligence, (click here) James Clapper, has attempted to head off criticism that he lied to Congress over the extent of government surveillance on American citizens, with a letter to senators in which he apologised for giving “erroneous” information.

Two weeks after telling NBC news that he gave the “least untruthful answer possible” at a hearing in March, Clapper wrote to the Senate intelligence committee to correct his response to a question about whether the National Security Agency “collected data on millions of Americans”.

During the orginal hearing on 12 March, Clapper answered “no, sir,” to a question by Senator Ron Wyden. It emerged later that Wyden had given him 24 hours notice of the question, and after the session ended, offered him an opportunity to correct it, which was declined....

Mr. Clapper can go work for Carlyle, they'll love him. But, he needs to leave the government. He seeks power and not policy. When the power is discovered he states there is a necessity for the policy. He is not needed in his position anymore. National Security is not about lying and cover ups; it is about FACTS, trust of allies and respect for the abilities of the government to overcome problems that detect threats to the people of the USA. 

Hiding in the cloak closet in order to carry out missions of security is not where the USA needs to be. It needs effective policies of cooperation and verification. Interpol is a perfectly credible security organization the USA has and can continue to work with to thwart threats to our democracy. No more lies and cover ups. I don't want to hear how Mr. Clapper has turned a new leaf. That leaf was supposed to have happened a long time ago and it has proven to be still yet another lie.

The USA once had a national pride that lead the world.

Even thinking about slaughtering horses as a food product was not realistic in the USA. Now, since so many believe China is the next best thing since sliced bread our values have plummeted to all time lows.

Anything that 'turns a buck' goes in the USA. That wasn't the case at one time. The great American promise about the practice of capitalism within our democracy was that "We would not do just anything for a buck." Supposedly, Americans had a dignity they afforded themselves in the face of capitalism principles. That has vanished. Nearly vanished. Prostitution is still frowned on, but, I have a feeling it will be making a come back.

It has vanished right along with the right to privacy and self-determination. The right to a good and decent life, the American Dream and a good education. 

Now all that matters are desperate means to supply a service or product for money no matter what it is.

Don't even try to equate this to some kind of morality that save babies, although it is safe to say this anti-woman movement in the Right Wing is about capturing women in a net of poverty that serves the economic growth engine of the Right Wing, "A Third World Nation Within a First." 

This movement to demoralize the USA is completely disgusting. The horse slaughter houses are not even allowed to sell their product in the USA, but, I guarantee it will get there some way or another. I am quite confident the US House is hard at work on it already.

If horse meat is not good enough for the USA diet, then why are these abominations in this country? We don't value it enough to eat it BUT for the sake of capitalism we'll sell it to the world.

We are demanding racehorses to be drug free. I suppose that is in anticipation of their final disposition.

There is a movement in the USA and it stems from the Right Wing Political machine to demoralize this nation into acceptance of a strain of poverty to insure there is more money at the top for whatever perverse idea comes next to control the wealth. This movement is an affront to dignity and the rights of the people of this nation. It seeks to victimize the victim and deprive people of education and purpose. I find it the most low level value system in this country and it needs to stop.

A real step forward for vegetarians.

It is so wonderful to see the USA moving forward in diet variety. 

Don't gallop past one, they might make a mistake. 

Yes, indeed, another great day in America. We can say we officially belong as part of the Third World. 

Horses are not wild game. Next thing you know there will be cleaning out dog pounds regularly. There are no limits in the USA anymore. This deterioration of dignity and higher values of the USA will give a new name to "Cat Food."

Today, the Department of Agriculture is giving the green light to two additional states, Missouri and Iowa, in addition to New Mexico last week, for horse slaughterhouses

June 28, 2013

In the wake (click here) of important victories for horses, we are dismayed to learn that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today approved an application for horse slaughter inspections at Valley Meat Company LLC in Roswell, New Mexico, and will issue horse slaughter permits in Missouri and Iowa on Monday. 

The inherent cruelty of horse slaughter is reason enough for our government to prevent this practice, but the dangers to consumers, the clear public opposition to slaughtering our horses for foreign diners, and the harm we know this will cause our communities make this a reckless and hazardous move by the USDA....