There will be a treaty with Iran. There is no option. This is the world's chance to get it right.

Posted By Ali Gharib, John Hudson 
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 7:29 PM

GENEVA -- Western diplomats are hailing (click here) the latest nuclear talks with Iran as the most constructive in decades. But that isn't stopping hawks in Congress like Sen. Marco Rubio from calling for a new round of crippling sanctions against the country -- a development that some observers fear could spoil the fragile negotiations.

On Wednesday, Iran and six world powers wrapped up two days of nuclear talks in Geneva on a surprisingly positive note. In a rare joint statement, the nations called the discussions  "substantive and forward looking" and formalized the next round of negotiations in Geneva on Nov. 7-8. The United States and the European Union depicted the talks as "substantive," "very important," and "positive."

One senior Obama administration official beamed with excitement. "I've been doing this now for about two years, and I have never had such intense, detailed, straightforward, candid conversations with the Iranian delegation before," said the official. "I would say we really are beginning that type of negotiation where one could imagine that you could possible have an agreement."... 

When President Eisenhower announced his "Atoms for Peace" program, he never bothered to outline how peace would be maintained in the face of other nations replicating what the USA had already done. It was very short sighted of him. Typical of so many Republicans they can't see tomorrow past their next election. That would be December 8, 1953. Eisenhower was elected to office of President for his first term on November 4, 1952 in a runaway election. He would serve until January 1961 when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated.

By Timothy R. Homan 
Aug 1, 2013 10:51 AM ET
The U.S. House (click here) passed its most stringent package of sanctions against Iran just four days before Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani, a cleric described as a moderate, takes office.
The House yesterday voted 400-20 for a measure that would subject more goods and services to sanctions, in addition to authorizing the president to impose penalties on foreign entities that maintain commercial ties with Iran. The bill, H.R. 850, intends to clamp down on resources that could be used by the Islamic republic to further its nuclear weapons capabilities, such as access to foreign-currency markets.... 

The United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force in 1970. It was first proposed in 1961 by Ireland, the year President Kennedy took office. Leave it to a Democrat, an Irish Massachusetts Democrat no less, to begin the focus of non-proliferation.

It was accepted as a significant step toward peace by the then five major nuclear powers. With increasing number of nuclear nations since WWII the path ahead was obvious and viewed as extremely dangerous. Those five powers are the permanent members of the treaty. The WWII detonations were preceded by tests in the USA, the first July 16, 1945. The second nation to develop nuclear weapons was Russia with it's first test on August 29, 1949. That was followed by the UK on October 3, 1952, France on February 13, 1960 and the final permanent member was China with it's first test on October 16, 1964.

In 1965, there would be the first Geneva conventions toward disarmament. There were nations that did not participate in the non-proliferation treaty and managed to develop their own weapons, however, the five first nations are members of non-proliferation.

There are three pillars to the NPT.

The NPT consists of a preamble and eleven articles. Although the concept of "pillars" is not expressed anywhere in the NPT, the treaty is nevertheless sometimes interpreted as a three-pillar system, with an implicit balance among them.

l.  non-proliferation
2. disarmament, and
3. the right to peacefully use nuclear technology

Nuclear weapons are as dangerous today as they were in 1961. The idea there would be more nations with this ungodly capacity is still wrong. The path forward is obvious, disarm.

October 16, 2013

..."The beacon, (click here) the main arrangement that we follow is the proposal by [President] Vladimir Putin that the recognition of Iran's right to [uranium] enrichment as part of its inseparable rights under the Non-proliferation Treaty should be accompanied by the introduction of full comprehensive international control over Iranian nuclear program," Sergey Ryabkov told journalists in Geneva on Wednesday...

...Overall though, Russia is satisfied with the results of the latest round of talks that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, Ryabkov said. Compared to previous rounds of talks, the sides managed to come up with a joint communiqué and the pace of the negotiations has increased.

The White House said the proposal offered by Iranian negotiators aimed at addressing its nuclear program shows a level of seriousness and substance that the United States had never before seen. 

The P5+1 met this week for the first time after Iran elected President Hassan Rouhani, who pledged to work towards the normalization of diplomatic relations with the West.... 

President Rouhani was chosen by the people of Iran to promote goodwill and find a safe path for Iran in regard to peaceful use of nuclear power. He is the world's best chance to achieve the possibility of peace in the Mideast. I don't know of any other world leader that has tried in more overt ways to show the willingness of Iran for peace with it's global community. There is no reason for Iranians to be excluded from academic achievement. The young Iranians have been friends to The West by electing a reasonable President.

Tehran, Iran 
October 14, 2013
By Nasser Karimi (Associated Press)

 

Iran's president (click here) stepped up his challenge to the country's hard-line factions on Monday, calling for the lifting of restrictions on academic freedoms and for granting Iranian scholars more opportunity to take part in international conferences.

The message from Hassan Rouhani underscores the increasing friction between his moderate-leaning camp and entrenched forces such as hard-line student organizations that have questioned the scope of the new president's overtures to Washington.

Rouhani has pushed to break Iran's standoff with the international community over its contested nuclear program, the subject of renewed talks with world powers due to resume on Tuesday in Geneva....

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia has declined the opportunity to sit on the Security Council today. I am not surprised. Saudi Arabia is not interested in confronting the unrest in the Middle East. It has a military that serves it's interests, but, one that will not conquer the world or pose it as a dangerous nation. Much of the turmoil today in the Middle East in any movement toward peace also involves Shi'ites. If Saudi Arabia sat on the Security Council it would be faced with decisions regarding Israel, Iran and Syria at the very least. There are also issues throughout Africa providing an opportunity to view Saudi Arabia as a hostile nation, rather than a neutral one. 

By Jonathan Tirone  

October 13, 2013

...Iran asserts the right to enrich uranium under (click here) the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an interpretation rejected by the United Nations Security Council, which says its demands take precedence. While Iran says its nuclear work under international monitors is peaceful, its past deceptions and alleged military work have compelled the UN to order a suspension of enrichment. It has imposed four rounds of sanctions aimed at undermining the country’s economy and restricting its access to nuclear technology.... 

While there is much concern about uranium enrichment and of course the UN Security Council has the right to rule on any topic under their authority, there is a provision in the Non-proliferation Treaty that creates an understanding of permission to enrich.

Article IV of the NPT. Article IV states:

Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with articles I and II of this Treaty.

There is another organization that has worked within the IAEA parameters to create a policy structure. It recognizes Russia as a well established partner in non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy. That organization is the World Nuclear Association. It states:

 
From a non-proliferation standpoint, (click here) uranium enrichment is a sensitive technology needing to be subject to tight international control.

I believe Iran is acting to end any suspicion of it's program, however, it may be necessary for Iran to step back from enrichment in order to build the confidence of the UN Security Council and the P5+1. Iran's program to date has always been about peaceful use of nuclear energy. The history to Iran's program also lies in action of the USA to allow the nation to believe they were developing it properly. The program was viewed in Iran, during the Bush White House, as vital to the country's future, a matter of security and it was a divisive political issue electing Ahmadinejad.

I think most people interested in promoting stability and a peaceful Middle East would rather it be completely nuclear free. At this point there are still hurdles to that reality. Israel is believed to possess nuclear capacity and that enters the picture, too.

Iran presents an interesting problem and yet it offers a way to move closer to non-proliferation. When and not if those nations involved with Iran come to a final treaty it may be a precedent to move all nations using peaceful nuclear power toward non-proliferation. The consensus among most professionals and nuclear nations is there needs to be a way to carry out tight inspections of peaceful use of nuclear energy to guarantee non-proliferation. Just maybe this will result in the treaty with Iran and other nations to secure them away from being a danger enough to have warheads pointed in their direction.

Raise the minimum wage, NOW !

By Lyndsey Layton

A majority of students in public schools (click rate) throughout the American South and West are low-income for the first time in at least four decades, according to a new study that details a demographic shift with broad implications for the country. 

The analysis by the Southern Education Foundation, the nation’s oldest education philanthropy, is based on the number of students from preschool through 12th grade who were eligible for the federal free and reduced-price meals program in the 2010-11 school year....

... But by 2011, almost half of the nation’s 50 million public-school students — 48 percent — qualified for free or reduced-price meals. In some states, such as Mississippi, that proportion rose as high as 71 percent.... 

No doubt the study by Southern Education Foundation didn't consider charter schools as a public school, but, this provides an idea of the extent to which the USA is impoverished. It is increased throughout the country with few exceptions.

There are a few elements at play here, but, it doesn't really matter; this is the legacy to the USA by the Bush White House. Economic deprivation of our country.

50% of this nation's children are in poverty. For the most part. 50%. Why spit hairs? That is a national shame. 

...The 2008 recession, immigration and a high birthrate among low-income families have largely fueled the changes, said Steve Suitts, vice president of the Southern Education Foundation and an author of the study.... 

These are excuses. Bush pushed people into believing large families were the answers to their dreams, lack of access to birth control, teen pregnancies and all the trappings of Republican priorities. Destruction of unions, the fall in the average wage in the USA and outsourcing. It is all part of it. It needs to be fixed, TODAY.

I don't want to hear how this is ONLY the public schools, either. This IS the public schools is more the emphasis. These are the children of our nation and they are in poverty.

FIX IT !!!!!! 

Elementary and Secondary Education (click here)
Enrollment
In 2010–11, there were about 13,600 public school districts with over 98,800 public schools, including about 5,300 charter schools. In 2011–12, there were about 30,900 private schools offering kindergarten or higher grades.

In fall 2013, about 50.1 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 35.3 million will be in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 14.8 million will be in grades 9 through 12. An additional 5.2 million students are expected to attend private schools.

About 1.3 million children are expected to attend public prekindergarten this fall. Enrollment in public kindergarten is projected to reach approximately 3.8 million students.

This fall, about 4.1 million public school students are expected to enroll in 9th grade—the typical entry grade for many American high schools.

What is that favorite Republican expression, "Do more with less." I don't think so.

The only health care insurance the federal government should have to worry about are it's own employees. These are state health care exchanges.

What happened in the Red States, they don't believe in State's Rights anymore? 

The Red States rather play politics with their citizen's lives. If it weren't for President Obama opening up a federal site they wouldn't have an option at all!

Providing links to insurance companies will eliminate any accusations of government spying. The NSA isn't enough?

I don't care if one person signed up for health care insurance in October, all that means is there are far less subsidies needed in the USA budget.

Sebilius is an unending source of frustration with the rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

She has had four years to get it right and was there the entire time since the law was passed. There is something wrong if a Cabinet Secretary at HHS can't carry out responsibility that will lead to health care for the nation.

She needs to stop hiding behind her desk and address the press to answer questions.
October 12, 2013
By David Auerbach

...I was, it seems, a bit naive (click here) in thinking there were merely two cooks (or two bulb managers) in the kitchen behind healthcare.gov. The number of players is considerably larger than just front-end architects Development Seed and back-end developers CGI Federal, although the government is saying very little about who’s responsible. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which issued the contracts, is keeping mum, referring reporters to the labyrinthine USASpending.gov for information about contractors. (I was not able to obtain any useful information from that site, though it does make healthcare.gov look pretty good in comparison.)...

There is an easy way to eliminate the problems between interactions of the government site and the insurance companies. Use the government site as an education tool about choices. Then provide links directly to the companies to obtain quotes to policy cost and finally purchase it.

The reason the government site is having issues is because many of the states opted for the federal government to handle THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. What do you expect? Rocket science while keeping the cost down?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will continue to provide health care to Americans while everyone finds comfort with their options. The complaining is outrageous rather than helpful.

The politicizing of health care is outrageous. We are NOT going back to deaths of Americans ever again. This law will have the greatest impact when the social services connected with hospitals seek insurance for the uninsured. The Social Workers in a hospital setting already seeks help for those without insurance, eventually, it will be a tool for them when they become familiar and comfortable with it.

Social Services across the nation should be familiar with this and I guarantee you they aren't. In some states, the options for health care remain the same, either Medicaid or nothing for the uninsured. That is a human rights violation in the neighborhood I come from. 

Fracking is a failed technology. It assaults established environmental laws.

Fracking was developed and first used in 1860s by Standard Oil and Gas Company. It is antiquated and only brought back because the petroleum industry is desperate.

On October 19, 2013, the Global Frackdown (click here) will unite concerned citizens around the globe to tell elected officials that we want a future lit by clean, renewable energy; not dirty, polluting fossil fuels. The journey to a renewable energy future will not be fueled by shale gas. Take a stand against fracking — find an event near you and join the Frackdown!

If a modern technology can't meet expectations, including environmental regulations then it needs to be abandoned.

Natural gas (click here) and petroleum systems are the largest source of CH₄ emissions from industry in the United States.

The petroleum industry has promised fracking was a safe form of fuel. It is not. It is proven to be not. The petroleum industry has failed their stated purpose for supplying a alternative fuel in methane. It needs to end!

Fracking is a failure.

Maybe it's becuase they are Blue Bloods with three hearts.

The Pigeon Guillemot (click here) is a medium-sized alcid endemic to the Pacific. They closely resemble the other members of the genus Cepphus, particularly the Black Guillemot, which is slightly smaller.

And no, it is not necessary for a species to be endangered in order to be considered a valuable species to a region. I wish that was the case across the USA. Frequently, threatened and endangered species are so few in number it requires genetic intervention to save them. I sincerely believe, often the classification of species should be earlier.

But, I found this article interesting. The folks in the northwest USA are really interesting, too. They love the sea, the land and it's relationship.

But, I wanted to comment about this particular reality. It is in relation to the warming oceans and the Climate Crisis. Many of these soft bodied marine species have populations exploding globally. The numbers alone will reduce fisheries to nothing, but, them. In Thailand, squid have become a sincere source of food simply because the populations have become so large. 

Chameleon-like, giant Pacific octopuses can change their appearance to mimic rocks and highly patterned coral. (click here)

By MARNIE HANEL 
Published: October 16, 2013

...Their conclusion, (click here) however, turned out to be more complicated than anyone anticipated. An informal octopus census as well as studies like a five-year diver survey indicated that the giant Pacific octopus population in the Puget Sound was actually quite robust. The species grew quickly, lived briefly and reproduced effectively — factors important to determining its sustainability. In Alaska, in fact, it seemed as if there were more than plenty of them. When in 2011 the state tried to protect the species by capping incidental catch at 150, they discovered the giant Pacific octopus population was so plentiful that they reached their quota by October; that season’s pot cod fishing had to shut down early. The octopus didn’t need to be saved, Plunkett’s team determined; the people of Seattle simply wanted to save it....

This species of Octopus are excellent hunters, they even hunt the shore birds of the northwest, including Pigeon Guillemot, while they feed in and around the waters where they live.

I think there is a happy medium between protectionists, who are very important people, and the fisherman. But, I also believe the US Fisheries carry a great deal of insight to the status of our nation's waters. 

NOAA Fisheries (click here) updates stock status and the Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) score quarterly.  The Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to Congress will continue to be published annually.

US Fisheries have an excellent program to monitor populations of fish within our waters. A species like this octopus is frequently viewed as by-catch. I can't help but wonder if ship captains should not be noting an increase in these soft bodies species within their nets and asking the US Fisheries inspector to include same in their status reports.

I see no reason why these species can't be harvested in US waters. The harvesting of them, no different than King Crab in Alaska, can be recorded and the status of their numbers maintained. These soft body species reproduce much easier and in greater numbers than many fish. If a family fishing business would benefit from their taking of octopus there should be permits issued to realize how widely these marine species are populating the waters of the Pacific.

In recent years, the Pacific fisheries have collapsed. A great deal of that responsibility lies with the Bush White House. The Bush White House allowed anyone who cared to a commercial fishing venture. It deregulated much of the operations of the Pacific commercial fisheries, which surprised me considering there are corporate interests at stake. As a result, the fisheries collapsed in one of those Oops moments.These species will not help to return populations of fish and may be causing a drop in them. This is not the only species of octopus in American waters either. 

Octopus are kinda cool, in that they have all these legs and are squishy. They get into places no one could imagine, so they have a big attraction to the imagination and kids adore them. They are among the most fascinating attractions at any aquarium. But, they are also delicious to the palate of many seafood fans, especially when prepared in unique ways. I don't care to eat octopus, so my understanding of their food attraction is strictly from food critics.

US Fisheries can get a handle on the population of these species in US waters, which are different than Asian waters. There are different species for different parts of the ocean and they should never meet because they can wipe each other out depending on the stronger and hardier species. And, NO, that doesn't mean any species is better than another either. North Carolina tried to replace their loss of native oysters with a hardier Asian species and failed. Why? Because the foreign waters of the North Carolina waterways caused a fungal growth that killed the Asian oyster. So, there are reasons invasive species are BAD. They kill the natives and then die of the diseases the native species were resistant to.

It is why all ships have to dump their bilge outside of important waters. The ships carry invasives into the ports if they don't empty their water compartments of foreign water. I don't want to hear how someone has a better idea, there is no better idea. The spawn of the marines species are so microscopic they can't be detected in a meaningful way without growing first on some kind of marine structure. Those barnacles along the docks and on boats started off unable to detect.

But, where these soft bodied species are concerned there is reason to explore allowing fishing within reasonable limits and to ask ship captains to report their own understanding of an increase in any predators that could be effecting the return of abundance of fish to American waters. 

Captains are important people, they are not the enemy because they harvest seafood. They have insight. They know their business. The inspectors and captains should be having conversations to protect the product that supports their families. And the captains should be following regulations while acting in a cooperative with others to be sure they are fair. The idea is to preserve the ocean's ability to be abundant and that means all species survive. It is called a food chain after all. The people that act to protect species are more valuable than any captain wants to give them credit, too.

Good luck and enjoy.

James Brooks-File - In this Jan. 14, 2012 file photo, fishing boats line the docks during crab season at Cannery Row in Kodiak, Alaska. Alaska's multimillion-dollar red king crab season is scheduled to open Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013, but it looks like a no-go for most because federal managers who are supposed to set individual fishing quotas are among workers furloughed in the government's partial shutdown. Only boats representing a fraction of the total harvest will be heading out into the Bering Sea. (AP Photo/James Brooks, Kodiak Daily Mirror, File) (AP Photo/Kodiak Daily Mirror, James Brooks, File )

'Deadliest Catch' fishery a no-go in shutdown (click here)

By RACHEL D'ORO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANCHORAGE — Alaska’s multimillion-dollar red king crab season opened Tuesday, but most of the participating boats remained at dock because federal managers who are supposed to set individual fishing quotas are among workers still furloughed in the government’s partial shutdown.

Only boats representing a tiny fraction of the total harvest will be heading out into the Bering Sea. For that community development program, quotas are assigned by the state, with only seven vessels signed up to fish as of Tuesday....

The longer the delay to peace talks, the greater the escalation on the ground.

9:00pm October 18, 2013

US officials said Secretary of State John Kerry (click here) would head to Europe for discussions on a planned peace conference in Geneva, which a Syrian official said could come at the end of November.
But the prospects for the conference, dubbed Geneva 2, remain unclear, with the Syrian opposition divided and due to vote next week on whether to take part.
On the ground, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce clashes that began in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor overnight continued on Friday.
The group, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers, also reported regime air strikes wounded several people and damaged homes in Deir Ezzor city....

The Associated Press

Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 | 12:01 a.m.

The destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile (click here) is well underway, and the agency overseeing it _ the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons _ has won a Nobel Peace Prize. But despite global praise and a smooth start, the mission faces difficult challenges, from tight deadlines to safety risks for inspectors trying to get to sites near fighting. There's also political fallout. The decision to make Syrian President Bashar Assad a partner in destroying the stockpile appears to have restored some of his legitimacy and boosted his chances of staying in power longer, while angering his opponents who now balk at attending political transition talks the U.S. hopes will begin in November....

This report from The Washington Post clearly states there is no central authority to the rebels. The rebels are sorting out warlords. It seems exactly the same dynamic witnessed in Libya. Libya has a central authority, a weak one, but it is recognized in the international community. It is something for the people to build on, but, the leadership has become targets and deaths by the militias. 

I believe the militias in any part of the region are territorial. They are concerned with communities, tribes and hamlets of people. Literally, a colonial army without a general. They are more like police, but, without ethical standards and/or plans. This diffuse organization works as well as it does, but, very well may never achieve control. 

Turkey is worried about an al Qaeda group on it's border, too. It could very well be any al Qaeda influence in the region of the Turkish border is becoming affiliated with Kurdish extremists. Turkey was rather successful recently in rooting out those extremists from it's border and now there is a resurgence of what might be a reenforced element coming from Syria.

I just think the sooner there are peace talks the sooner the rebels will consolidate around a central authority with resources and clout. Eating and drinking and a place to live can have influence. The sooner humanitarian aid is abundant, the less likely there is a need for territorial authority. 

My best guess.

By Associated Press 

Published: October 16
 

BEIRUT — Several dozen rebel groups (click here) in southern Syria have broken with the main political opposition group in exile, a local commander said in a video posted Wednesday, dealing a potential new setback to Western efforts to unify moderates battling President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, the political arm of the Free Syrian Army rebel group, has long struggled to win respect and recognition from the fighters. It is widely seen as cut off from events on the ground and ineffective in funneling aid and weapons to the rebels....
 
...FSA spokesman Louay Mikdad told The Associated Press that the video is authentic and identified the man speaking as a captain in one of the rebel groups, Anwar al-Sunna, which posted the video.

The rebel in the video said political opposition leaders have failed to represent those trying to bring down Assad.

“We announce that we withdraw our recognition from any political group that claims to represents us, first among them the Coalition and its leadership which have relinquished the principles of the homeland and the revolution,” he said.

He named 66 groups that he said support his statement. The man suggested rebel groups would reorganize, saying that “we are unifying the forces of the revolution militarily and politically,” but did not explain further....

Jesus Fucking Christ...

...the agencies of the USA are trying to save the country from itself and understand the planet we live on and this is the political crap they have to put up with !

Political CRAP !

Here the USA military is advancing so they can kill better! I am so proud, still yet another reason to fear the USA.

Published time: October 16, 2013 20:47
Bomb here, please: US troops may start using Android app to order airstrikes (click here)

National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander and his deputy will leave their jobs at the top of the US intelligence agency within six months, according to a new report.
Alexander has spent eight years at the helm of the NSA, with the agency’s actions over much of that time shrouded in secrecy. Yet news of his departure comes just months after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents revealing the surveillance programs that secretly monitored US citizens and foreign targets for nearly a decade....

...What the lab came up with after close cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory and troops training on the ground was…an Android app.

Speaking in a YouTube video presentation of the ATAK, Vincent said that a tablet turned out to be exactly what soldiers working under extreme pressure and possibly engaged in enemy fire needed in the field... 

Why is it that if I were an American soldier, the computer dominated environment of war doesn't reassure me? Between Anonymous and Chinese Government Hackers the soldiers in the field doesn't have a chance.

Anonymous hacks Polish Economy Ministry website (click here)

17th October 2013

They claim Poland is conducting "economic espionage"

Poland's Ministry of Economy has become the most recent target of cyber attacks by the Anonymous hacker group within the so-called “Operation Golden Dawn.” Hackers published a set of documents created at the ministry and scans of passports of foreign citizens invited by one of its departments to Poland. The leaked materials also include correspondence of the ministry's officials as well as log-in and password data for some government websites.
The website that was hacked is Trade and Investment Promotion Sections of Polish Embassies – trade.gov.pl
The group claims that Polish ministry conducts economic espionage via its trade missions.
Anonymous earlier attacked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe.
Golden Dawn is the name of an extreme right-wing political party in Greece. Its members have recently been arrested in connection with a murder case.

This was the sad entry on Facebook from the Scientific American website.

We're back, Earth! #WelcomeBackNASA (click here)

Please be patient with us, Earthlings, it'll take a while to get everything dusted off and turned back on, and get updates from the hard-working scientists and engineers on all of their missions, projects and programs.

Why will it take a few days? Because IT IS ROCKET SCIENCE!

The ambitious goals of NASA have been delayed by the time it took for the Republicans to realize they had no reason to shutdown the government and then again to restart the entire mission of this agency.

The goals are quite ambitious. It begs the question, "Do Republicans on House Committees actually pay attention?"

The politics of the USA are getting in the way of achievement in the USA. Politics is becoming more a nuisance than a benefit to the country. It clouds everything. This obsession with politics in the USA is due to the extremist views brought by the "W" White House and continued by a maniacal group of pundits too desperate for survival.

GET OUT OF THE WAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The country has moved past the stupid agenda of the past.

NASA Space Exploration and Tech Goals for 2014 (click here)

NASA unveiled a $17.7 billion spending plan for 2014 today (April 10) that continues major ongoing space exploration projects, while including funds to kick-start an audacious new mission to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon so astronauts can explore it by 2025....

Out of Africa? - Human phylogeny or a better word is phylogenetics

It is a well developed and established science. The scientists are well established, long lived in their practice and considered with esteem among their peers.

08.04.2010
Sensationelle Hominiden-Funde

Researchers at the University of Zurich (click here) and colleagues from the University of the Witwatersrand have discovered a new hominid species in South Africa: Australopithecus sediba is 1.9 million years old and shows characteristics of both the genus Australopithecus and the genus Homo. The find is the discussion of the human family tree stimulate again.

by Christopher Joyce

October 17, 2013 5:54 PM

 

...Now, they've lifted the veil, (click here) revealing the fossilized remains of five creatures who lived 1.8 million years ago.

, a professor of anatomy at Stony Brook University who was not involved in the research, is impressed, particularly with the skull of one adult male. "That skull is incredible," he says. "It's got to be one of the most complete skulls ever discovered in the fossil record of human evolution."

Having bones from five different skeletons is amazing, too. Team member , a senior researcher at the Anthropological Institute in Switzerland, says that is unique this far back in time.

"For the first time, we can see a population. We only had individuals before," she says, referring to the isolated bones of individuals found in Africa from the early Pleistocene — about 2 million years ago.

Having a "population" to examine meant the scientists could look for similarities in the bones that would help characterize what this entire species was like. What puzzled them, though, were the big differences they found in the bones — a lot of variation from individual to individual, and an unusual mosaic of features in some. One adult male, for example, seemed to have almost a grab bag of features — a small brain case, big protruding jaw, and giant teeth. The Dmanisi Five looked like a mix of species.

But Ponce de Leon's colleague, , notes that all five apparently died within centuries of each other in the same place. They had to be the same species, he concluded. "We are pretty sure that the variation that we see is ... within a species," Zollikofer says, "a single evolving lineage."

Finding a human ancestral species with a lot of physical variety from one individual to the next poses another puzzle. The conventional wisdom about early human evolution has it that there were several species that arose in Africa: Homo rudolfensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus and maybe even more. Now this new discovery suggests that a single species, exemplified by the Dmanisi Five, can have more physical variety than previously thought. In fact, the team found as much variation among modern humans and among chimps and among the Dmanisi Five as there is among those ancient African fossils that have long been thought to be different species.

And that might mean, Zollikofer says, that there weren't numerous early human species. Maybe there was just one....

Will there be any PhD grads this year?

08 Oct 2013
Posted by Lauren Morello
 
...A skeleton crew (click here) will remain to properly maintain each of the three bases, as is normally the practice during the Antarctic off-season, from March to September. During a normal year, roughly 700 scientists head south each year to study Antarctica’s ice, ecosystems and atmosphere from October to February.

Scientists are frustrated that long-term studies will be interrupted. “If we lose a year of observations, they are gone forever,” says Hugh Ducklow, a biological oceanographer at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York....

The government shutdown may have hurt more than Congress can measure. The USA station in Antarctica was shuttered and flights cancelled to bring scientists and their grad students to the ice continent.

Antarctica isn't simply a rock where money is poured down the drain from the federal budget, it is a very sophisticated research station at the southern end of Earth. It is were physicists, among others, conduct research that take NASA to the moon and beyond. It is where the atmospheres of Earth have the least altitude and the void of space more easy to investigate without satellites, probes and other very expensive measures. 

The Antarctica Research Station saves the USA money. It maintains the competition of this country in a global environment on sled rails to the future. Causing a government shutdown may have been a desired outcome for political extremists, but, it may have caused huge gaps to be realized in learning and achievement into the future.

The government shutdown accomplished nothing and was irresponsible and stupid. 

Lauren Morello

04 October 2013

The National Science Foundation (NSF) (click here) is likely to cancel the US Antarctic programme’s upcoming field season if the US government shutdown persists through mid-October — jeopardizing hundreds of scientists’ work in glaciology, ecology and astrophysics.

The agency has kept its three Antarctic research stations open during the initial days of the shutdown, which began on 1 October, under rules designed to protect human lives and US government property. But Lockheed Martin, the contractor that runs the NSF’s Antarctic operations, has told researchers that it will run out of money by mid-October.

At that point, the company would be forced to evacuate all but a skeleton staff from McMurdo, Amundsen–Scott and Palmer stations. And that would spell the end to this year’s research season, which normally runs from October to February....