How did the country divide along partisan lines to end the assault on the climate?

The Republicans allowed the industry to place crony interests before the best interests of the country. It is called corruption.

It is the industry that is destroying so much without conscience. Their profits and subsides have taken control of an entire political party. 

This industry, (click here) which includes multinational and independent oil and gas producers and refiners, natural gas pipeline companies, gasoline service stations and fuel oil dealers, has long enjoyed a history of strong influence in Washington. Individuals and political action committees affiliated with oil and gas companies have donated $238.7 million to candidates and parties since the 1990 election cycle, 75 percent of which has gone to Republicans.

Though former oilmen George W. Bush and Dick Cheney occupied the White House for eight years, the oil and gas industry could not win support for repealing bans on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. However, Congress voted in 2008 to lift a ban on offshore drilling. These companies are also wary of cap-and-trade climate change legislation, such as the measure Democratic President Barack Obama supports. Yet Obama still received $884,000 from the oil and gas industry during the 2008 campaign, more than any other lawmaker except his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)....

The most interesting aspect (click here) of this corruption is it's ineffectiveness. No matter how much they threw at the campaigns in 2012 they could not elect a president to the Executive Branch. There was no economic collapse to cause the electorate to lean toward President Obama in 2012.

Delicate icicles form inside cave
Brian Peterson 
Associated Press
 February 2, 2014 
 

Icicles assume fantastic shapes inside a cave at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin. 

As ice formations have migrated to lower latitudes what new shapes of crystals and snow flakes can be found? The ice crystals from previous studies have never experienced this climate. I would expect them to be different in some instances.

The US Senate is holding an all night session on the Climate Crisis.

Several US Senators have presented an introduction to the session and explained very clearly their state's economy and food supply has been effected by warming oceans and the change in climate.

Senator Inhofe didn't hear what they stated. He simply decided to speak past them and rant on and on about nonsense. His statements are rhetorical, not based in fact, are old arguments, old statistics and completely obsessed with deny there exists a profound problem with Earth.. All the while blaming any change in climate on other nations. The USA is a first world nation that knows better than to point fingers and has been one of the largest greenhouse gas polluters since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The West is responsible for the problems we are facing today. Blaming is not denying. Denying is standing in the face of the scientists on Earth.

It is unfortunate a Senator can't accept the nation's responsibility for the condition of the world. 

March 10, 2014 
Senate Session (click here for live broadcast)
The Senate reconvened for a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each.

Secretarial Disaster Designations (click here) - CY 2014
Primary and Contiguous Counties Designation for 2014 Crop Disaster Losses

There is well over 20 western counties in Oklahoma within the disaster relief plans. Perhaps that didn't happen and the map is simply ink on a page.

Below is 2013 (click here) 

Oklahoma is solid red. The entire state was a disaster area in 2013 and yet their US Senators deny their own reality.

Below is 2012 (click here) 

Oklahoma has now under gone two years of crop disaster. How can US Senators deny these problems within their own states?

Does Senator Inhofe not read newspapers from his own state? How can a US Senator look the other way when so many in his state are suffering?

"I have worked here for 30 years and I've never seen [Lone Chimney] lake this low or conditions this serious," Lone Chimney operations manager Paul Kinder said.

Pawnee County Water Supply On Verge Of Drying Up (click here)
Posted: Dec 19, 2012 5:39 PM EDT  
Updated: Dec 19, 2012 5:39 PM EDT
Craig Day, News On 6
 
PAWNEE COUNTY, Oklahoma

Any kind of moisture, even if it is snow, would be welcome for many people across Oklahoma. It's dangerously dry right now.

Pittsburg County Commissioners have a burn ban in place, effective until further notice.
And a Pawnee County water association that serves more than a dozen towns and rural water districts said it is in a critical emergency situation and could run out of water soon.
"I have worked here for 30 years and I've never seen [Lone Chimney] lake this low or conditions this serious," Paul Kinder said.
As the operations manager for the Lone Chimney Water Association in Pawnee County, Paul Kinder has a lot on his mind....
 

Mr. Lanza decides to talk about his son.

Adam Lanza had an incredible amount of exposure to violence. His mother was involved with guns and assault weapons, he researched mass murderers and Lanza's exposure to a video game "Combat Arms" managed to give him 83,496 kills, and 22,725 head shots all with a 'clean' record - without shortcuts. He was in training, and his Combat Arms profile showed he played 4,901 matches over more than 500 hours to hone his skills.

His self-identity was completely absent.

There wasn't anyone seeking to be involved with Adam to increase their understanding of his isolation. He was alone in the world. He lived in his mother's home, but, he lived there alone. 

He had an unhealthy empowerment as a young man. He bonded with violence as his definition as a man. There was no other definition and it is very safe to say he was never sincerely parented. Adam was a shadow in the world. Mr. Lanza and all those involved with him might ask themselves how did his isolation become his life? It was too convenient to leave him alone. Parenting is not convenient, it is a lot of work and sacrifice along the way.

My sympathies for Mr. Lanza's loss. He didn't just lose a son, he lost a son and many others. It can't be easy.

Day 3 Paralympics

I think the USA Para-Olympians need their own funding organization. I think they may need more support and training from us.

Stephanie Jallen (click here) competes in the women's super-G standing during Day 3 of Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games at Rosa Khutor Alpine Center on March 10, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

On Day 3 of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, U.S. alpine skiers won two bronze medals in the women’s super-G. Stephanie Jallen, 18, medaled in the standing race, the first Paralympic event of her career. Laurie Stephens later won the sitting bronze, marking her second of the Games. Cross-country skiers made top-10 appearances while wheelchair curling dropped two matches.

President Wilson is deceiving the world when he appears as the prophet of democracy. President Wilson has opposed those who demand democracy for this country. He is responsible for the disfranchisement of millions of Americans. We in America know this; the world will find him out.

March is Women’s History Month (click here)

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society....

On top of everything else, the airline has financial problems and it is state owned.

Jungles can have a very dense canopy. It might now be detectible from the ground. Any chance it could be further inland?
 

Vietnamese military personnel prepare a helicopter for a search and rescue mission   

Photo: LE QUANG NHAT/AFP/Getty Images

By Harriet Alexander, Malcolm Moore

Beijing

2:26PM GMT 10 Mar 2014

 ^{Latest (click here)}
 

14.38 Amid all the confusion, a previously-unknown group calling itself the Chinese Martyr's Brigade reportedly claimed responsibility for the "terrorist attack".

But no one appears to think that is a genuine claim.... 

The Chinese-speaking Muslims (click here) have for centuries been an inseperable but anomalous part of Chinese society - Sinophone yet incomprehensible, local yet outsiders, normal but different. Long regarded by the Chinese government as prone to violence, they have challenged fundamental Chinese conceptiosn of Self and Other and denied the totally transforming power of Chinese civilization by tenaciously maintaining connectios with Central and West Asia as well as some cultural differences from their non-Muslim neighbors....

Google Books (click here)

The concept of radicalized groups is consistent with the area.

 






This particular province has seen the suffering of the people in ways the rest of China has not. Earthquakes and movement of villages to find new homes can begin to explain how they believe god is sending them on a crusade, especially young men. But, geologically this region is very unstable and it is understandable how some of the uneducated would seek solace and understanding through religious pretexts.

They are not wrong to seek solace with god when their faith is challenged, but, they are wrong to seek violence against others as a means of satisfying god.

By Martin Patience 
BBC News, Beijing
3 March 2014 
Last updated at 08:25 ET
 

The horrific attack at Kunming railway station (click here) - in which knife-wielding attackers hacked at least 29 people to death - has shocked China. One of the country's newspapers dubbed it China's "9/11."

Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua called it a terrorist attack carried out by "Xinjiang separatist forces".
Rich in minerals and resources, Xinjiang is home to approximately nine million Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic minority. Most are Muslims. In the last year, more than a hundred people have been killed in violence in the autonomous region.
Beijing blames the attacks on violent Uighur separatists. But human rights groups say that China's repressive policies in the region are fuelling the unrest.
But what must really worry China's leaders is that the violence from Xinjiang now appears to be spreading....

China has diffuse authority in their outlying provinces. If China thought terrorism was the reason for the missing flight there could be uncontrolled response to that reality and retribution for it. China needs to be very careful and sure there were international criminals involved.

Between the carriage horses and charter schools does the new mayor catch his breath.

When it comes to charter schools I think everyone needs to read between the lines. No city or town can continue to pump money into private/public charter schools and advance the public education of Pre-K. The public schools are just as important, if not more so, than the charter schools. It is wrong to focus on one particular charter school to emphasis importance that they may not deserve. Not all charter schools are doing well and there has to be a transition back to public education to regain their strength.

Exceptionalism as a pretext to maintaining publicly based charter schools is simply wrong. So the fifth grade is doing well, what about the rest of the children. Exceptionalism with a fifth grade outcomes in NY State doesn't translate into success across the system for all fifth graders and those receiving a public education. To state there are ONLY 50 thousand more children that have to be placed in publicly based charter schools is a bizarre statement. That was 50 thousand. Not fifty. What are people thinking?

There are children across this country that aren't necessarily receiving advocacy from their parents. So, those children are probably not appearing in the 50 thousand either. The entire concept is elitism gone wrong.

The public needs to appreciate they need to learn from the charter school experience in the country and possibly adjust public school's cirriculum, but, to make a point that sucess only lies in maintaining and growing charter schools is extremely poor judgement. These are children, not Wall Street. The value system is very different and the USA tax dollar doesn't have the purchasing power it used to. Privatizing the public school system doesn't provide more efficiency, it provides inequality.

If the American taxpayer is frustrated with their choices in public and charter schools,thren stop to realize what the tax bill will be when the public schools disappear off the landscape. Yhere will be no end to the demands of the charter school system. These administrators make multiples of what public administrators make. Do there teachers? The entire idea is silly. 

I can hear it now, "But, the public demanded we take on all the children because we have enhanced performance. Surely they don't expect the charter schools to survive and thrive on the current payment system and process, do they?"

Mayor Bill de Blasio appreciates a good laugh. (Credit: Getty Images / Andrew Burton) 

It's tremendously encouraging (click here) that officials across New York State are debating how to move forward with universal prekindergarten. Research shows that high-quality pre-K is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve learning and graduation rates, especially for high-needs kids. Yet today, fewer than half of New York's 4-year-olds have access to public pre-K.
With such a pressing need for more high-quality pre-K slots, it's perhaps not surprising that a substantial disagreement has cropped up about who should implement a universal program -- and how it would be funded....

There is a water security concern in Asia as well.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:08am EDT
By Stian Reklev

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - The world must increase its food production (click here) by 60 percent by mid-century or risk serious food shortages that could bring social unrest and civil wars, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.
Demand for food will rise rapidly over the next few decades as the world population surpasses 9 billion and increasingly wealthy people improve their diets, consuming more calories, said Hiroyuki Konuma, the assistant director-general of FAO Asia-Pacific, as the body launched a one-week regional food security conference in Ulan Bator.
But as the need for more food increases, the world is spending less and less money on agricultural research, causing many scientists to doubt whether food production can keep up with demand growth.
"If we fail to meet our goal and a food shortage occurs, there will be a high risk of social and political unrest, civil wars and terrorism, and world security as a whole might be affected," said Konuma.
The challenge is especially demanding in developing nations, which need to boost crops by a staggering 77 percent, he said....

 To effectively respond (click here) to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take account of the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity. Here, researchers stand on the Chhota Shigri Glacier in the Indian Himalaya. Image source: Mark W. Williams, University of Colorado, Boulder.

The pondering  is how much more land will be used for urban areas? The populations need to concentrate on where the productive farm land lies and where is best to continue to expand populations. This region has large populations of over 2 billion people, 1 billion each of India and China. The leaders need to plan for the food and water pressures which are interlinked.

The people need to realize the future for their children are in the balance and see population controls, but, not to the extreme. The populations have to control their numbers and the challenge is different for India and China. Sudden contractions by either country is not a good idea, but, slowing the growth is important. The food producing nations have to realize the importance of their crop lands and how those commodities can balance their trade imbalances.

Assaults on longevity cannot be sacrificed for fear of the lack of food. The answer has to come from sufficient supply and playing out without causing changes in cultural values and the belief in life.

Figure 2.6. As shown in their population pyramids, (click here) China and India have different population patterns. China's population is likely to level off and achieve ZPG in the near future, while India's is likely to grow for decades to come. Both have experienced economic development, but China's One Child Policy has moved that country into stage 3 of the demographic transition sooner. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.