Either these folks were evacuated to safer ground or there is no alive. I don't see one person in this picture.

Aerial view of damaged coastal houses in wake of Typhoon Haiyan, Iloilo Province, central Philippines, Nov. 9, 2013.

VOA News

November 09, 2013 

A powerful typhoon (click here) that caused massive destruction and hundreds of deaths in the Philippines is now churning towards Vietnam.

Weather forecasters say Typhoon Haiyan could make landfall in the country on Sunday.

Vietnamese authorities have evacuated several hundred thousand people from coastal areas, where the storm's outer bands are already causing high winds and rough seas.

In the Philippines, Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, made landfall Friday as one of the most powerful storms on record, with maximum sustained winds of about 300 kilometers an hour, sending waves up to five meters high crashing through island communities....

The storm surge was at least 20 feet or mroe. The typhoon has no resistance as it passed over the Philippines. I hope the people were evacuated, but, they will be needing shelter until the villages are rebuilt.

The system feeding this storm is huge. This is a NOAA water vapor satellite. (click here for loop - thank you)

The Philippines, North Vietnam with flooding in South Vietnam and China are in it's path. 

India just got finished with a Cat 5 storm in Mid-October. They faired better than expected because 800,000 people were evacuated inland. The storm was not this large. This typhoon has the entire Pacific to build and grow velocity with nothing to temper it.

November 9, 2013

...According to the note, (click here) 58 people were killed due to heavy rains that lashed the state Oct 21 to Oct 27. The rains affected crops over 13 lakh hectares. The value of the crop loss was estimated at Rs.3,819 crore....

Reuters is stating 10,000 dead. It's bad, really bad. The velocity of the typhoon never stopped.

3.4 million people, or 1.1% of the U.S. population are of Philippine descendents in the USA.

This is the approximate distribution of the Philippine population in the USA.

These people have strong family ties to the Philippines. They are going to be frantic about their relatives. My instincts says "Twitter" if there is a possibility satellites are still a potential to opening communication. 

There are also American citizens there.

This is the Official Gazette of the government (click here). The Philippine government is identifying the typhoon as Yolanda.

How close is the Navy to the Phillipines?

China and Russia are the closest and Russia is always reading with food. 

The US Army Corp and Russian Forces need to build an Airport, ASAP!

Catastrophic !

Water filtration - Carbon filters by the boat loads. 

Multiple forces in the area will require cooperation in communication so the ships don't run into each other. There should also be coordination of distribution of resources. 

As soon a the airlift is available, MREs.

The Phillipines are such narrow arrangement of islands it never slowed the typhoon. They took a full hit. The lousy typhoon passed over them and kept right on going. The only advantage Asia's east coast has is that there is an inland. There is no inland in the Philippines. 

This is what makes me crazy about removing US forces from these countries. We are too far away to simply respond in these instances and be effective to save people lives. This is the Climate Crisis. Closing US Bases with countries that are allies is often a bad idea. This is a prime example. 

Desalination ! Long term planning, the Philippine government is not going to be able to respond to the people's needs anytime soon.

Pacific Partnership Delivers Reverse Osmosis Water System  (click here)

EBEYE, Marshall Islands - Members of Pacific Partnership 2013 worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to deliver a reverse osmosis water system donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development to Ebeye, an island in the Kwajalein Atoll of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, July 7.

The reverse osmosis system, donated about two years ago, was loaded onto a landing craft utility (LCU) in Majuro, the capital city, about 140 miles from Ebeye... 

The response after the 2004 Christmas Tsunami is a model for the response here, except, the Philippines is more of a developed nation. Returning it's economy should be a focus, I just don't know how much infrastructure still stands. 

Quarantined areas might be necessary if the dead are in large number in any area. Sequestering disease will be important to prevent any spread of opportunistic infections, be it fungus, mold, bacteria or virus.

USS Essex Loads Humanitarian Assistance Supplies Bound for Relief Effort in Japan (click here)

By Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Casey H. Kyhl, USS Essex Public Affairs   

USS ESSEX, At Sea - The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on-loaded humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) supplies March 15 during a replenishment at sea in preparation for aiding Japan after it was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami March 11.

More than 45 pallets of surgical masks, water containers, water purifying tablets, health and comfort packs, blankets, and insect repellant were brought aboard during a vertical replenishment-at-sea with the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9). Essex can navigate the supplies ashore using its amphibious craft and air assets if tasked to assist with Operation Tomodachi in Japan.

"We are looking at how we can help the Japanese Self Defense Forces and how we can help move much-needed supplies to the people that need them the most," said Capt. Bradley Lee, Amphibious Squadron 11, commander. "As always, the safety of our Sailors and Marines is essential. We will take all the necessary precautions to make sure that we send people into a safe environment and that they are poised for success."

Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) ships are capable of carrying out a variety of HADR operations using helicopters assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and the Navy's Helicopter Sea Control Squadron 25 or amphibious craft assigned to Beach Master Unit 1 and Assault Craft Unit 1... 

The response to Japan included a flat top. It was a great idea because the helicopters can bring troops to create camps and distribute supplies. The Japan response was important, but, it was only a partial response to an economically developed nation. The Philippines could easily need far more and extensive support. The USA won't be able to do it all alone. The Japanese disaster had a functional government to still respond and bring survivors away from the radiation and flooding.

There are a million and one reasons for peace to be a priority between nations. This is a catastrophic event and will need the support of East Asia as well as the countries of the Southern Ocean. If nations weren't so dead set on insisting on being enemies, the infrastructure to cooperate and respond could already be established and functional. Peace has a benevolence quotient that should be a priority with a Climate Crisis destroying infrastructure, including crops and clean water. 

The tax commission has returned payments by same-sex couples claiming married status.

Posted: Saturday, November 9, 2013 12:00 am 
Updated: 4:45 am, Sat Nov 9, 2013
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -— The Oklahoma Tax Commission (click here) has returned payments to fewer than 10 same-sex couples, rejecting amended tax forms that had claimed married status.

 
The exact number is not being released because that would de facto identify the filers, said commission spokeswoman Paula Ross.

"It is a very, very low number," Ross said. "The reason could be it is not tax season. Had it been during filing season, the number would probably have been higher."

The tax forms were submitted after the federal Internal Revenue Service in August announced its married filing status would apply equally to married same-sex couples, regardless of where they lived.

It is accepting amended filings for the past few years.

Married gay couples living in Oklahoma wanting to take advantage of this filing status filed jointly on the federal and state forms.

This created a quandary in Oklahoma.

A state law requires Oklahoma residents use the same filing status on state tax forms as they do on federal tax forms, but a 2004 vote changed the state's constitution to ban the recognition of same-sex marriages....

How many are still alive in the Phillipines and where were they when they did survive?

November 09,2013

 The Red Cross (click here) says that more than 1,200 people are confirmed dead as Haiyan, one of the most powerful-ever tropical typhoons, blows through the Philippines. Local authorities earlier put the death toll at nearer 100. 

The Philippines Red Cross has announced that at least 1,000 could have been killed by Haiyan super typhoon in central Tacluban city and the region around it alone, while previously Captain John Andrews, deputy director general of the country's Civil Aviation Authority, reported that 100 bodies had been found on the streets of Tacloban in Leyte province. In the neighboring Samar province 200 are declared dead, Reuters reported the Red Cross as saying,

When asked by ABS-CBN television Saturday about the number of victims of the typhoon, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said "I think hundreds."  
The category 5 super-typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest ever registered, has caused havoc in 36 provinces of the Philippines, with gusts of wind reaching the incredible speed of 315 kilometers (195 miles) per hour. The worst affected areas are the eastern islands of Leyte and Samar, which sustained the heaviest damage Friday ....

Health care reform is NOT a luxury.

The government website it not politics. Obviously. The health care exchanges are extremely valuable when they are implemented correctly. The one place in the country that direly needs them are Red States. When the federal site is running at it's BEST, the people now in fear of their well being due to the lack of concern by their governors can put that away, have health care through exchanges with their peers and have peace of mind.

How does the Health Care Law protect me? (click here)

It is now LAW. Health Care can no longer abuse the American people as if chattel in the way they are treated in Texas.  

Wednesday, November 06, 2013 5:12 PM
By Jim Beam / American Press

Obamacare has been a godsend for the media. (click here) It has also helped Republicans recover from the party’s image problems caused by forced budget cuts, the government shutdown and the debt ceiling controversy. Each passing day sees reams and reams of stories, editorials and columns on the shortcomings of one of President Obama’s rare legislative accomplishments....

The criticism of the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is about politics, not the effectiveness of the new law. The Republicans and the Press are enjoying the dialogue that President Obama is a liar. The dialogue is not about what is best for the American people and the successes of the law, but, about destroying the elections of the USA into polarized stands. The Press and the GOP are more responsible for polarized politics in the USA than any other aspect of a collective understanding of the country. This is just ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY to seek and destroy the benefits of a democracy. This is almost more about 2016 than it is about 2014. They can't complain about war, so this is the next best thing. Forbid, the Red States aren't as dysfunctional as they are to have extremist points of view to keep Wall Street profits perking along.

...Political analyst Charlie Cook in his National Journal column said any advantages the Democrats may have enjoyed because of Republican image problems “has been effectively neutralized.”...

Has anyone done an analysis of how the media and the GOP walk a fine line of insuring Wall Street profits? Some call it liberty to not have health care coverage at all. I am quite certain that Senator Paul would defend the idea that lack of health care insurance is an American right. He would be "W"rong and that is more than obvious. Our hospitals have been struggling under the pressure of providing free care. It is NOT liberty to have to bear the burden of poor health and/or the threat of death.

Seven percent of American hospitals have closed since 1991. The number in this study is 369. Hospitals are not minor investments. While 369 may seem like an insignificant number to those expecting thousands, the fact of the matter is there was only 5342 at the beginning of the study. Hospitals are multi-million dollar investments and provide millions of dollars of financial contributions to the USA economy. There is no reason to burden Americans with sparse hospital distribution. 

As a matter of fact, the more the American health care system is burdened with unpaid services, the more the burden turns to government hospitals as private institutions close. So for those stating this is a government take over of health care, that is a lie. If the continued implosion of the American health care system continued at the pace it was proceeding, the government would be exclusively conducting all the practice of doctors. 

Hospital closures is often measured in 'number of hospital beds.' The number of hospital beds reflects the AVAILABILITY of 'treatment beds.' The fewer treatment beds the long it takes to receive health care. Under the Clinton Administration HHS authored a report regarding this phenomena, so this problem manifested two decades ago.

"Hospital Closure 2000" (click here) If one recalls the then First Lady Hillary Clinton lead an effort to bring about a change in health care insurance coverage to the American people, this was one of the reasons. Waiting for treatment of health concerns is not cost effective and worse than that it is deadly. As a result of the defeat of health care reform under the Clinton administration the USA developed an obesity epidemic in children creating a huge problem with sovereignty in the future.

"Getting Low Cost on Coverage" (click here)

When Gingrich's Contract with America delayed the reform of health care insurance in the USA, the concern for the country didn't go away, it continued but not by those seeing political victories at the cost of the lives of the American people. The hypocracy of Gingrich is remarkable. As health care became more and more of a concern over the past two decades, Gingrich decided to profit from the reform the Democrats would ultimately bring and started his own company to provide electronic health records. An amazing man. 

So, all this FUSS over The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is hideous and stupid. But, then so are the politics of the GOP. 

Population of USA in 1991 was 253 million.

Population of USA in 2012 was 313.9 million. 

That is a population growth of 2.9 million per year over the past 21 years. YET, the growth in hospitals is NEGATIVE.

That population growth may or may not include accurate numbers of undocumented workers in the USA. These are figures from the table entitled:

PERIOD OF NATURALIZATION

Universe: Foreign-born population 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates

The chart number is B05011.

So, increasingly there are more naturalized citizens to the USA as well as natural born citizens. What does that mean? All to often the folks that aren't born in the USA are less healthy, especially the undocumented. So while the population of the USA is growing, there are services needed to accommodate those coming to the USA to add to the diversity of the nation and fill in our brain trust.

The point is where people are getting healthier with health care insurance as preventive care is guaranteed cost free, there are still needs of those within the borders of the USA that will continue to add to the needs of the people. Additionally, there are more and more sophisticated treatment of illness and cancers. Those require room within the USA health care system to continue to make our nation healthier for a longer period of time.  

The one definitive reason to bring undocumented workers into the US Health Care System it to bring them into the lawful demands of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They will be required along with all Americans to have health care. It will diminish the drag on the US health care system and increase the competency of the state exchanges.

In addition for making the undocumented responsible for their own health care insurance is the fact many are not paying taxes into the states and federal treasuries, to the tune of over $1 billion per year. So, where they will need subsidies, they also bring a contribution to the federal treasury to pay for it. 

The rate of growth in health care spending in the U.S. (click here) has out paced the growth rate in the gross  domestic product (GDP), inflation, and 

population for many years. Between 1940 and 1990, the annual rate of 

growth in real health spending per capita ranged from 3.6% in the 1960s 

to 6.5% in the 1990s. Correspondingly, the share of GDP accounted for by health care spending rose from 4.5% in 1940 to 12.2% in 1990. In 2005 health care spending was nearly $2 trillion, or $6,697 per capita, which represents 16% of GDP (Catlin et al., 2007). The sustained increase in U.S. health spending over the previous four and half decades is likely to continue, and total spending on health is projected to reach $4 trillion, 20% of GDP, by 2015. 

The figures within this paper predicting 
20% GDP by 2015 is based in 'sick care' and not 'preventive care.' So, while the population of the USA grows the demand for 'preventive care and treatment' will grow, it will be less than 'sick care.'

So those that favor the growth of Wall Street literally wants 'sick care' rather than 'preventive care.' It is highly immoral and an outrage to the idea the USA protects all it's people and not just the wealthy.

The cost comparison of 'sick care' over 'preventive care and treatment' is noted best in the cost in the USA compared to other nations considered peers of the USA.

Additionally, the USA has a high percentage of 'chronic care' medical issues today, that will diminish into 'genetically predisposed' statistics as the nation becomes healthier through preventive care.

And no genetically predisposed will not result in eugenics in the USA as predicted by Senator Paul. Genetic counseling in the USA is already in practice in the USA long before The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed. Genetic counseling provides a high risk couples information about their predisposition of dangerous diseases in their children. It is ultimately 'the couple' that decides to have children in the face of odds of adversity for them and the child. There are no laws in the USA stating BREEDING of Americans is more important than love.

One HAS TO REALIZE the importance of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to the devoutly religious where birthing any child to the world is important. The children regardless of their congenital status will receive care and only adds to the narrative that the Right Wing demands prohibition of abortion and contraception, yet stands in ridicule of the fact they care nothing about the child once born. If the Right Wing sincerely was Pro-Life it would demand The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and not ridicule it in the face of it's importance. It is called, "Quality of Life."