Iraq will never be the same after the Bush invasion. No the USA will not send them more aid to increase the civil war.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Hundreds of foreign workers (click here) are being hurriedly evacuated from Basra in southern Iraq following violent protests by Iraqi oil workers and villagers over two incidents.

In one of them, a British security man tore down a poster or flag bearing the image of Imam Hussein, a figure highly revered by Shia Muslims. The violence may make international oil companies more nervous about operating in Iraq, which is at the centre of the largest oil development boom in the world....

Foreigners in Iraq don't allow for the fact there is no Western Diversity within the country's borders. The British guy was lucky he was still alive. This is a high holy day for the Shi'ites. Tearing down icons of the holiday obviously was a huge mistake. 

This isolationism in the Mideast is becoming a real trend. It is strongly based in the hatred of the former dictators placed in power by the USA. I am not interested in being a nightmare to these people ever again.

...The Iraqi Oil Report website said that BP, the main operator at Rumaila, was scaling back its workforce and that employees of Baker Hughes and Schlumberger “were massed at Basra airport”. There were conflicting reports about whether the oil services companies were shutting down their operations.

In an earlier incident affecting Baker Hughes, an Egyptian worker had removed the flags commemorating Imam Ali and Imam Hussein from company vehicles. Protests prompted Iraqi authorities to arrest the Egyptian on charges of insulting a religion, while Baker Hughes suspended its operations in the country and declared force majeure because of “a significant disruption of business”....

I remember very shortly after the invasion into Iraq the Shi'ites held ceremonial beatings of themselves with chains. It was a ritual Saddam prohibited. If he was doing it for humanitarian reasons because they do hurt themselves I could empathize. Saddam was doing that because he hated the Shi'ites.

The point is these folks are sincerely not interested in being converted to any other religion or culture or political understanding. If an entire segment of their citizens held their beliefs in oppression by a dictator, there is just no way their cultural basis is going to change, nor should it. 

"W" tried to destroy the Shi'ite culture in southern Iraq by destroying newspapers and attempted attacks on a temple. It just ain't going to happen no matter how much fish the Shi'ites pull out of the wetlands. If Saddam couldn't destroy them for decades, there is no way there is going to be any submission to Christianity.  It isn't going to happen. Christians live within the borders of these nations in minority status and they are tolerated, but, they will never rule these lands. 

Bush and buddies need to get over it and stop planning military cabals. The fact of the matter is Evangelicals don't respect other beliefs and their demands for conversion on a global scale is the policy and purpose of destroying cultures. A legal definition of genocide also includes when cultures are destroyed with intent by an outside force.

By Michael Luciano  11 hours ago

...Rob Eshman (click here) wrote in the Jewish Journal, "Bush … is helping to raise money for a group whose reason for being is to stop there being Jews. It sounds alarmist, but there it is. Success for the group Bush supports would mean no more Jews."...

To quote "W," "Fool me the first time shame on you, the second time shame on me." It won't happen again, so the intelligence agencies need to put their spy scopes away. These folks are going to have their land on their own terms. 

End of discussion. 

To irritate more fighting and violence endangers any peace settlement between Israel and Palestine and The West and Iran. There will be no Western intervention in Iraq again. There is no reason for it. Any reporting of al Qaeda is due to the fact the invasion happened in the first place and if they are in Iraq it is in support of rebels in Syria which is a completely different set of circumstances and why the Russia's point of view has brevity.

Any US funding to Iraq will be only humanitarian aid. John McCain and Lindsay Graham can take that to the bank. 

No guns. No munitions. No armored vehicles because it will find it's way into Syria and otherwise and only create more problems than it will ever solve as well as excuses to return to "The Forever War."

A "Means Test" for farm subsidies will return the Small Family Farm and a healthier food market in the USA.

The American people would love to have a return of the Family Farm. If Democrats ran in races where federal subsidies were "Mean Tested" while expanding those subsidies to the small farmer (They never receive subsidies. They were put out of business because of it.) they would win. There is not that large a voting base that supports corporate farms or their products.

March 1, 2011, 8:53 pm
By Mark Bittman

Agricultural subsidies (click here) have helped bring us high-fructose corn syrup, factory farming, fast food, a two-soda-a-day habit and its accompanying obesity, the near-demise of family farms, monoculture and a host of other ills.... 

...Farm subsidies were created in an attempt to ameliorate the effects of the Great Depression, which makes it ironic that in an era when more Americans are suffering financially than at any time since, these subsidies are mostly going to those who need them least....

This is what the American people want. And we want our Agriculture Yearbook back again !

We are a small family of first-generation farmers (click here) nourishing an old farm back to health again. Join us in our sixth season as a growing and sustainable CSA farm. Foster a relationship with your farmer and your community that nourishes everyone physically, spiritually and economically. Attend our on-farm events in the spring, summer and fall when we offer field and farm tours, potlucks and events such as pesto making and recipe sharing.

Unfortunately this is a first generation operation. The American Heritage at one time was one generation passing on the land, the plow and the livestock to the next generation and next generation. We want it back!

"We envision a future where Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is the backbone of a strong local food system; where all families have access to locally produced, organic food and have strong connections to their farms, food and community."

This is about the lost generation and finding their way back. This is the generation Wall Street forgot. They are happy being wholesome with hard work and dedication. It is important and can't be ignored by anyone. Many of these farms were developed by our Veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. It is important and they aren't getting any subsidies either. They are doing it the hard way and producing superior products.

Once you’ve decided what’s important to you, it’s time to start searching for YOUR farm. (click here)

Search for farms by share type. See the full list of FairShare’s farms.

The Pick-Up Locations Map is an awesome tool. Type in the address of your home, workplace,gym, school, etc., here, to see which farms deliver nearby. 
You can also search the map by farm location.
Contact the farms directly by phone, email, or website for their current CSA brochure, which typically includes share types and prices, and delivery sites. Also, look at the farm’s Facebook page to get an idea of how they interact with members and to see photos of their shares.

Tennessee Congressman kills the fatted calf.

This level of crony corruption is not unusual in DC. There are huge subsidies to oil companies as well. The Republicans state the crony oil subsidies is to keep small operators in business. If that is true, then the subsidies of any kind needs a "Means Test."

There is a very real way to rein in DC spending and it starts with the best Congress to do the job and it isn't about food stamps. 

By Aviva Shen
May 21, 2013 at 1:29 pm

...As the Environmental Working Group (click here) notes, crop insurance subsidies have no limits on their recipients’ income levels. Therefore, the bulk of the crop insurance is paid out in million-dollar installments to a small group of large farm businesses, while the bottom 80 percent of farmers receive roughly $5,000 a year. SNAP, on the other hand, limits aid to income below 130 percent of the federal poverty line, or $30,000 per year for a family of four....

There needs to be a "Means Test" for farm subsidies.

By Matthew Yglesias

...Here in Tennessee, (click here) Mr. Fincher embraces that view. “We have to remember there is not a big printing press in Washington that continually prints money over and over,” he said in May....

...Surrounded by corn and soybean farms—including one owned by the local Republican congressman, Representative Stephen Fincher—Dyersburg, about 75 miles north of Memphis, provides an eye-opening view into Washington’s food stamp debate. Mr. Fincher, who was elected in 2010 on a Tea Party wave and collected nearly $3.5 million in farm subsidies from the government from 1999 to 2012, recently voted for a farm bill that omitted food stamps.

“The role of citizens, of Christianity, of humanity, is to take care of each other, not for Washington to steal from those in the country and give to others in the country,” Mr. Fincher, whose office did not respond to interview requests, said after his vote in May. In response to a Democrat who invoked the Bible during the food stamp debate in Congress, Mr. Fincher cited his own biblical phrase. “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat,” he said....

While the President was talking to the American people today, Minority Leader Pelosi stated she has enough votes to pass ENDA and Immigration Reform.

What was the House Speaker doing at the same time? Asking to have "The Journal" accepted to the record. It was going well until a Tea Party Republicans noted there was not a quorum to do so.

Donna Leinwand Leger
USA TODAY  
10:35 a.m. EST November 14, 2013
 
WASHINGTON — When a decades-old law (click here) banning undetectable firearms expires less than a month from now, federal agents say a plastic weapon created on a 3-D printer could emerge as a national security threat.

The homemade plastic gun, known as the "Liberator .380" and made with a computer blueprint, a 3-D printer and plastic resin, could pass through security checkpoints without setting off metal detectors.

The gun uses only the smallest bits of metal for ammunition and a firing pin the size of a roofing nail.

The Undetectable Firearms Act, passed in 1988 and renewed in 1998 and 2003, expires at midnight Dec. 9. The law, which envisioned gun manufacturers using more plastic as technologies improved, requires guns to have enough steel to set off a metal detector....

Published time: November 14, 2013 21:22
RIA Novosti
 
The United Nations has nearly doubled the death toll from the devastating typhoon that struck the Philippines to over 4,400 people - a substantial rise from the 2,357 estimate released earlier in the day by the Filipino president.
Typhoon Haiyan has also displaced more than 900,000 people, with the city of Tacloban expected to run out of fuel within a few days. Almost 12 million people have been affected by the storm, which is thought to be one of the most powerful to ever strike land, Reuters reported citing UN. 
These numbers are in stark contrast to the death toll of 2,000 to 2,500 which was forecast by Filipino President Benigno Aquino earlier this week, but still less than the 10,000 deaths initially estimated by local authorities.

So far all the Senators complaining are Republicans. They are riding the elements of fear and not that of empowerment.

This map was developed by The Institute of Southern Studies. Their statement about the organization is here:

Since our founding in 1970 (click here) by veterans of the civil rights movement, the Institute for Southern Studies has established a national reputation as an essential resource for grassroots activists, community leaders, scholars, policy makers and others working to bring lasting social and economic change to the region....

Some of the most profound problems when it comes to poverty is within the high rates of the uninsured. They are poorer and more the victim of a poor economy. Within the USA is a reality few talk about. That is the fact our longevity is not equal throughout the country. There are higher death rates in some areas than others.

Below is a graph in Wiki about the poverty rate in the USA. This is not a joke.These are real issues of real Americans and just because they don't have six figure lobbyists in Washington, DC, does not mean this country is any less theirs.

Legend:

   <6%

   6%-7.5%

   7.5%-9%

   9%-10.5%

   10.5%-12%

   12%-13.5%

   13.5%-15%

   15%-16.5%

   >16.5%

There is a direct relationship between wellness and longevity, between income and longevity and between employment and longevity. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act took all of the problems of  the nation and set down a law to fix it. Young people are able to stay on their parent's policies longer, there are no lifetime maximums, no disqualifying conditions for insurances, INCLUDING BEING FEMALE AND FERTILE and there are subsidies for those that are employed but uninsured. 

States Rights does not apply to the incidence of disease or the cure or treatment. States Rights does not apply when there are large numbers of uninsured and it puts a drag on the USA economy and tax base.

These figures and statements come from the US Census. 

Section 1: Prevalence of Disability Among Working-age People (click here)

1.5. How do the states differ in the numbers of people with a work disability?

With the exception of Maine and Oregon, the states with the highest percentage of people with a work disability are in the southern United States. The eight states with the highest percentage of working age persons with disabilities are ranked as follows:

State	Percentage of working age persons with disabilties
West Virginia	12.6%
Kentucky	11.4%
Arkansas	11.2%
Mississippi	11.0%
Louisiana	10.3%
Maine	10.2%
Oklahoma	10.2%
Oregon	10.0%

I really don't want to hear how Congressional representatives in these states are complaining about The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Their states are among the worst performing states in the nation when it comes to taking care of their citizens. If they had done a good job before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed they might have a reason to complain, but, they sure as hell don't now!

The southern states are the worst performers in the country when it comes to safe work environments and quality of life. There is more dependence on federal tax monies there than anywhere else in the country. Now, they haven't been able to stop the decline of the health of their citizens, so the rest of the country set a limit on the early deaths of Americans in those states. These areas are some of the most extremist political dogmas still attached to post slavery American and it will STOP !

Morality?

In the South?

WHERE?

Rather than over reacting to changes of individual health care policies find out your facts.

Kaiser (click here) has a Health Care Subsidy Calculator. This is the type of input required to realize the subsidy received for the individuals market through the exchanges.

They ask about tobacco use.

People will complain anyway, but, the subsidy in this case is a family of four with no smokers with an income of $50,000 per year. 

The payments for the policy for this particular family is 40% of the actual cost. It is about $280 plus change per month. That is not a lot of money for four people in a family.  Americans receiving health insurance from their employers sometimes pay more than that for the same exact coverage. Few Americans receive free health care coverage from their employers and have to subscribe through their Personnel Office. It is not unusual at all for a twice month subscription fee to be taken out of paychecks at or exceeding $100 or more for employer policies. And $100 per month for a family of four is a exceptional deal, it is usually more like $150 or more. So stop the bellyaching and sign up for a quality policy.

Very little of the media actually does research to back up Right Wing rants; they simply seek the attention and ratings along with them.

...By law, (click here) the first year’s open enrollment period for Part D ran until May 15, 2006.  DHHS reported numbers that included everyone who signed up by that date.  As the graph shows, enrollment grew at a steady pace across the six months of the first open enrollment period....

I found ONE reference on the net discussing the way health care enrollment actually happens in the USA. 

This is the rate of enrollment to Medicare Part D in 2006. The complaints are ridiculous. The federal website has problems and may be mishandled by those hired to build it, but, the enrollment rate has very little to do with the website, if anything the Right Wing rants have brought more attention to the enrollment period. 

American don't really pay attention to deadlines until it is upon them. That is the case with tax returns as well. The beginning of the year sees those entitled to refunds, while those owing taxes are more present at the end of the reporting period. The entire lack of interest in enrollment has very little to do with the federal website, there are plenty of other options to enroll outside the federal website. 

This FACT only goes to prove "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."  

The US Constitution is not written into the US Constitution, it is the Tenth Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The perverted definition of States Rights was the excuse for the Civil War, so any Republican or Democrat that see States Rights as the dominate laws in the USA are pandering to extremists, not the US Constitution.

The political extremists refer to "The Federalists" as still the problem in the USA. They also count on the US Supreme Court to dissolve the authority of the USA in regard to issues that satisfy the rich guys funding the extremists. Those that would see the federal authority dissolve are anti-constitutionalists. They are treasonists, that includes their politiicans.

During the American Revolution, (click here) the founding fathers were forced to compromise with the states to ensure ratification of the Constitution and the establishment of a united country. In fact, the original Constitution banned slavery,...

The dynamics of extremism are exactly the dynamics at the time of the Civil War, there were equal North and South states that disagreed about slavery. And, of course, slavery is all about wealth!

The extremists that cause so many obstructions to good governance are well studied in exactly this same dynamic, stoking hatred, self-righteousness and dissolving the federal authority of the USA Constitution. Their financial backers are exactly the same greed merchants as existed in the south. They seek to pay for their right to play on their own terms by putting treasonists within the federal government. So, when the religious extremists, such as the Koch brothers, back extremists with faux facts about the US Constitution they are paying to play on their own terms. It is far worse a definition than the 'pay to play' often assigned to Democrats by the Republicans and their media hate mongers. 

The Right Wing's 'pay to play' is not to 'work with the US constitution for high salaried positions,' but, to destroy it. They like to point fingers at others to take the focus off themselves.