The Climate Crisis is the most profound problem any nation faces.

This is a view from the International Space Station of Earth's gaseous Troposphere and the noctilucent clouds of the Mesosphere of Earth.

Both houses of Congress need to begin to realize the studies completed are strongly leaning in a direction of real crisis.

These clouds weren't always there. They first occurred at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The problem has been what is causing them.

In a study a year or so ago, NASA concluded they occur because of warming the troposphere of Earth. 

This is not a political issue in all sincerity. This is an issue every legislator has to pay attention to because this is important. The warming of Earth is changing the gaseous layers of Earth. It is a concern as to realize there is water vapor being deposited outside the troposphere where human live. There has never been movement of these cloud back in the direction they came or any evidence of snow or rail.

What I am saying is that as Earth's surface continues to warm, including our oceans, water vapor is moving to a less hostile sphere. The question is not how the clouds got there, but, when will the migration of water vapor out of the troposphere stop? Will it stop? 

The most profound question that should be answered is; will this migration of water vapor out of the troposphere lead to a very dry planet and should we begin to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions at a far faster rate than we are doing now? If so how immediate does that mean?

Student Loan Debt can't be overlooked anymore.

September 24, 2014

By Kim Wheeler

Chances are college students (click here) you see on any campus are weighted down by a lot more than their backpacks; they are drowning in debt. The latest figure puts total student loan debt at $1.2 trillion dollars.

Student loan debt has gone up 84 percent since 2008 and the Great Recession. The average debut is around $29,000.

Most students today have as many as four student loans to pay off after they graduate.

The average monthly payment for students now is about $300 per month. Paying your student loan on time can help you build up your credit, but missing payments of course can cause real problems.

A couple of things about student loan debt. We know when graduates begin work their first payments are impacting their contribution to a great economy. They are unable to purchase homes in many instances and there is far less disposable income.

What also has to be realized is the universities adding to the burden their students carry. How often are student loan rates increased only to see universities raise their tuition, books, fees and housing. In other words, students are caught in the continual cruelty of increased debt. It is as though the student loan program is working to entrench them in debt rather than alleviate it.

There needs to be realistic expectations of students to carry debt as graduates, but, the universities need a limit on how much of a student loan can be absorbed. The universities also need a time element to when they can hike their rates and costs to students after an announcement of the availability of higher loan amounts. 

Graduation Day should not be the worst day of their lives.

Everyone is talking tax reform other than Democrats.

I don't really see corporate tax rates changing to enhance a business environment, however, I do see Congress and the President focusing on small businesses owned and operated in the USA receiving a 'preferred tax rate.

After the 2008 global economic collapse, one of the dynamos in the USA was the Small Business Administration. It was they that provided the initial investments to Small Business. That sector not only recovered by lead the US economy in growth. Why look a gift horse in the mouth when it has already worked so well.

Find out where small businesses that are US companies need real help. Not cronyism, but, where they face real issues and structure legislation to pass as soon as the Democratic elections are concluded. Give them something real.

September 23, 2014

By Jennifer Rubin

It’s basic components include (click here) enhanced child tax credit of $2500, expansion and reform of the earned income tax credit and corporate tax reform to promote investment and growth in the U.S.:

On the business side, we would cut the current 35% corporate tax rate to make it competitive in the global economy. The exact rate will be determined as we continue to shape the legislation, but it must be low enough to end the problem of corporate inversions and the loss of American jobs to other nations. We will also allow companies large and small to deduct their expenses and capital investments while integrating all forms of business taxation into a consolidated, single-layer tax. . . .

We will also propose that businesses only be taxed in the country where income is actually earned, rather than double-taxed when the money is brought back home. The way to reverse corporate inversions and bring capital in off the sidelines isn’t to punish companies for obeying outmoded laws, but to change those laws to make America once again the best place in the world to pursue happiness and earn success.

The senators also want to go after “cronyist giveaways” in the tax code....   

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is stalled. That is a good thing.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, second left, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, attend the Trans-Pacific Partnership meet in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013. Leaders of the dozen countries involved in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership met in Bali after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to work on plans for a free trade area they hope will eventually encompass the entire region. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 23, 2014
By Sunny Freeman

...“I’m not optimistic (click here) on those talks at least not over the next three years or so,” he said during a panel discussion for the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

“The reality of the situation is unless the U.S. gets fast-track authority (for a free trade negotiation) it’s going nowhere ... The multilateral nature of these talks means that if everybody isn’t cooperating then it’s not happening.”

U.S. president Barack Obama has faced difficulty in getting Congress on board with the trade talks and has not been able to convince politicians to give the White House “fast-track authority,” which would allow Obama to sign the deal without a debate in Congress....

Fast-track is corruption in regard to economics. Fast tracking medications is a different story when the disease is something like HIV or Ebola. But, fast-tracking an economic agreement would only heart Americans and quite frankly the global economy.

This has to receive a review from the public, including unions. I haven't seen where there are public hearings on this. There should be a public comment period whereby analysis by those most effected in losing their jobs OR a living wage can provide insight to the dangers of this treaties and others like it.

When I lived in Boston a large "Whole Foods Market" was a couple of blocks away and well within walking distance. It was "the place" to eat smart. There were always parents of either or both gender in the store with their children shopping for groceries.

Food is a very big deal and Americans want healthy foods without GMOs. 

Get this though, the once mocked grocery store chain, now sells high quality foods for the same if not cheaper prices than other food chains. 

Why would that be?

More organic farmers, some within close distance of any "Whole Foods Market" and growing awareness of small acreage farmers raising foods for the table and increased quality.  

The Organic Farm is taking off. IF pioneers hadn't begun the movement it would never have become part of the American landscape. 

September 12, 2014
By Sarah McColl

...In an effort to compete (click here) with chains such as Walmart and Kroger, which are elbowing their way into the kitchen for a piece of the very-much-in-demand organic pie, Whole Foods co-CEO John Mackey said the chain is lowering its prices, particularly on produce. “For a long time Whole Foods had the field to ourselves, pretty much. That was nice, but we don’t any longer,” he said on an earnings call with investors. “So we’re adapting to the reality of the marketplace.”

Translation: Get ready to go wild in the track-lit bounty that is the produce section, the tunnel of plastic tubes in the bulk food aisle, and the hypnotizing gleam of the dairy case.

Cheapism recently found 25 items at a Seattle Whole Foods that were cheaper than those at the local Safeway. Those findings were quickly echoed in a report from Kiplinger’s that identified a list of products cheaper (or the same price) at Whole Foods than at a number of competitors, including Walmart and Trader Joe’s. Many of those items are the same ones Bloomberg highlighted, including milk. Whole Foods’ prices vary by store, but the similar price findings suggest that the bargain items listed by both sites are likely to be budget-friendly additions to your shopping list (see below).

Here are a few other tips for shopping on the cheap at Whole Foods...

This is all the agenda of the Democrats. It is amazing to realize the banks are still in a Pre-2008 world.

Is marriage important to Democrats? There is a marriage deficit in the USA and it is a Democratic priority. 

This graph is from an article in The Atlantic on October 30, 2013 entitled, "If you want to talk about economic inequality in matrimony, don't just look at the weddings. Look at the divorces." (click here).

September 26, 2014

By Gene Demby

...The biggest takeaways (click here) from a new study on marriage by the Pew Research Center (click here) are these: Fewer Americans who are older than 25 are married than ever before, and by the time they're middle-aged, a record 25 percent will have never tied the knot.

That might not be too much of a surprise, since marriage rates have been sliding for decades....

The division of wealth in the USA effects every decision our people are making, including, "Can I afford to get married?" There is income insecurity. Jobs don't provide benefits the way they once did. 

There is a Democratic agenda within all this. Healthcare, Minimum Wage, rate of poverty, affordable education from Pre-K to Post Grad. There are all important agenda items for Democrats. Talk about them a lot. Let people know they have to vote to protect the measures they have now and to continue to protect them in the future.

Talk about children as if they were your own and provide insight to generations of young adults that are adjusting to the idea of being single and finding satisfactions in life that were once the paradigm of couples. 

There was a time in the USA when income to the Middle Class was important. There was a time when a graduate from High School could make a living wage if they didn't go to college. But, all that is gone now. Higher education is absolutely a demand if a person wants to move out of poverty. The USA has become the breeding ground of grudges between the wealthy and those that are not wealthy.

September 28, 2014

By Elisabeth Weiser

Secret tapes made by a banking investigator (click here) examining Goldman Sachs show a culture of deference and risk aversion in which regulators were afraid to anger the very financial institutions they were supposed to be overseeing.

The 46 hours of recordings of meetings and conversations come from Carmen Segarra, a Harvard-trained lawyer who was hired in 2011 by the New York Federal Reserve as part of a team overhauling how the banking system was regulated after the 2008 financial crisis.

Segarra found a culture in which regulators were cozy with the banks they worked with and where managers were loath to say or do anything that might upset them....

Let's rethink this thing.

September 28, 2014
By Danielle Politi

When a man (click here) carrying a knife was able to jump the fence and sprint into the front door of the White House, many said it was symptomatic of larger issues with the Secret Service. A fascinating Washington Post piece today makes it clear just how true that is, recounting how it took four days for the Secret Service to even realize that someone had fired shots at the White House and that seven bullets had struck the upstairs residence in 2011. President Obama and his wife were out of town at the time but their younger daughter Sasha was at home with Michelle Obama’s mother. And Malia was expected back home any minute....


There is no doubt the White House has to be the most secure building in the country. To that end the real problem may be the building itself. It has bulletproof glass and to realize the window might have worked to stop the bullet is some relief. 

In the picture above of the White House is the Truman Balcony. It is the place where a gunman was attempting assassination in 2011 before the elections. Why the Truman Balcony? Because it is the only part of the White House visible enough to take a shot. The trees are growing and are a natural cover for the building in regard to gunmen.

I think we need to assess how much the political culture causes problems with security for the First Family and the White House employees. 

And I mean a complete assessment of the safety of the structure, including the color of the House. The name probably needs to be updated as well to "The President's Residence" or "The First Family's Homestead' or Abode or Domicile.

It just seems to me there should be something less obvious. It has so many functions. It is where the First Family lives, but, White House dinners are there and foreign dignitaries are greeted there. There are many moving parts and add to that now snipers. 


If security experts from a few companies would provide insight and recommendations the best option could be decided. It just seems to me there are answers to be learned about the condition of this building for 2014 threats. 

I don't think this is a good topic for politics, but, it is one serious enough for investigation.

Just entertain the idea of an exercise video MC Hammer

Boeing is coming under fire for it's Dreamliner.

The jet is impressive. I have never seen a jumbo or super-jumbo maneuver like this. Why is it imporant? It has the capacity to go nearly vertical on take offs and maneuver while in flight to avoid any other aircraft in it's vicinity.

September 26, 2014
By Anna Koper and Sarah Young

(Reuters) - A Boeing Co Dreamliner traveling (click here) from Chicago to Poland resumed its flight on Friday after making an emergency landing at Glasgow, Scotland, to check an alert from the fire protection system in the baggage hold.

The plane, owned by Polish state airline LOT [LOT.UL, was on the ground for about 5-1/2 hours.

"After checking the aircraft, it turned out that it is functional," said LOT spokeswoman Barbara Pijanowska-Kuras, adding that firefighters at the scene did not see any fire or smoke.

Emergency services met LOT Flight 4, which was headed to Warsaw, at 9:35 a.m. local time (1035 GMT), Glasgow's airport said. Other traffic at the airport was not affected.

The plane was initially cleared as safe and the 248 passengers disembarked, an airport spokesman said. The passengers later reboarded and the plane took off around 1700 GMT and was due in Warsaw around 1900 GMT....

...The diversion of the LOT flight comes just days after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration called for parts upgrades on the Dreamliner to ensure better fire suppression in its cargo hold and an electrical equipment bay....

Boeing needs to pay attention to announcements by the FAA. It is the taxpayers that travel on Boeing flights. They want to be safe and the one sure way of putting the company out of business is to ignore FREE advice.

Stating federal regulations by the USA government is costly and unnecessary is simply wasting taxpayers money. That is not the case and with particular incident with Boeing's Dreamline, the FAA was ahead of the occurrence. It is a job well done, except, Boeing didn't act on it as soon as it was known.

Regulations save lives!

Don't lie. Don't deceive. Don't give double meanings to what is said.

Apologize if there was any misinterpretation by the electorate. 

The best example of that of Senator Mark Begich. His campaign was given bad information about his opponent and as soon as the campaign released the information it was proven to be a lie.

Go on offense. Vet everything stated about the opposition candidate and have a defense ready if attacked.

The best example of a man who can cause controversy is Mr. Michael Moore. Why is it controversy? Because he doesn't deceive people or present ambiguous information. All his facts are checked as closely as possible, he publishes his facts online when his documentary is released and he answers all the questions before they are even asked. I've never seen anything like his moral content. That is what vetting is. It is checking for moral content and not gotcha.

Refer to "The Washington Post's" Pinocchios Scale (click here) AND The Gepetto Checkmark. 

Elections should be aspiring to receive a Geppetto on all their talking points as well as POLICY which was voted on and/or voted against.

Be willing to call a flip-flop when it shows a change in direction after an election by incumbents. The elections of 2012 were extremely right wing for the Republicans and as soon as they took office they began to 'walk back' their campaign promises.

This according to the Huffington Post.

...In Alaska, the NRA gave Begich an A-minus rating and his Republican challenger Dan Sullivan an A-q. The "q'' means the grade is qualified because Sullivan has no voting record, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. Grades in those cases are based, in part, on answers provided in questionnaires. Sullivan, a former state attorney general and Natural Resources commissioner, is making his first run for public office....

Senator McConnell USED the current military actions against the Islamic State as a reason for voters to consider 'the more experienced candidate' to deal with such issues for the country.

Is that true? Are incumbents providing a safer USA?

Mitch McConnell has swung both ways on war. (click here) In private he asked "W" to decrease the number of troops in Iraq to help the elections of 2006. In public he was stating the Democrats were attacking national security if they downsized the military. The fact McConnell is known to use the Defense Department for his election purposes is more the reason for his statement than actually knowing what is best for the country.

This is proof that Republicans care little about effective policy so much as winning elections at the cost of the country and effective policy.


September 22, 2014

...Begich has introduced legislation (click here) that would raise tax revenue for the system by removing a provision that exempts income above $115,000 from Social Security taxes. Getting rid of the $115,000 cap would keep the program solvent through 2085.

Sullivan, meanwhile, hasn’t endorsed specific legislation but says he’d like to explore other options that include raising the age of eligibility for recipients or means testing, which could help keep Social Security afloat by cutting benefits for wealthier Americans....

Senator Begich should run on his policies. They are good policies. They are good for Alaska. He should drive home the way to fix SSI is relatively painless for the majority of Americans. He needs to also seek to include Native Americans in his election this year.

Alaskan Native Americans (click here)

Indian Country has the ability to sway national, state, and local elections.  American Indians and Alaska Natives make up 19.5% of the overall state population, and 16.9% of Alaskans who are 18 and over.

Voter Registration Deadline:October 5

Registration Requirements:

To register in the state of Alaska you must

• Be a citizen of the United States
• Be at least 18 years old within 90 days of this registration
• Not be a convicted felon (unless unconditionally discharged)
• Not be judicially determined to be of unsound mind, unless the disability has been removed
• Not be registered to vote in another State

Social Security will end as we know it and quite probably all together if the Republicans have majorities.

Political Group Ratings: by the ARA (Association of Retired Americans) on senior issues 
Source: ARA website (click here)

The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.

Mitch McConnell in the year 2003 received an anti-senior voting record by ARA at 0% on Senior Issues.

He voted YES on establishing reserve funds & pre-funding for Social Security. (Mar 2007)

Being fair to future generations (click here) requires that Social Security be reformed in a manner that prefunds a significant share of future Social Security benefit payments. All serious reform plans have this property. Prefunding is done exclusively in the Social Security trust fund in some plans, and it is done partly in personal retirement accounts (PRAs) in others. 

This is a pre-requisite to making SSI into a penson fund. This measure would have cost the taxpayers of the USA enormous amounts of money. This is exactly what the US Postal Service is struggling with. This measure would have bankrupted SSI today, not in the future, but, today. If Congress demanded prefunding and then didn't raise additional monies through taxes then SSI would not be able to supply the pre-funding deadlines and it would default.

SSI depends on US Treasury Bonds. The monies received from taxpayers are put in a trust and the US Treasury Bonds are used to close the gap on actual disbursements and receipts. Social Security has needed occassional tweeking from time to time, but, pre-funding is a radical measure to insure the default of the SSI Trust Fund.

Social Security paid benefits of $725 billion in calendar year 2011. There were about 55 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year.

The assets of the combined OASDI Trust Funds increased by $69 billion in 2011 to a total of $2.7 trillion.

During 2011, an estimated 158 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes

Do not be afraid to remind voters how important the dedication of Democrats have been to protect Social Security Benefits, including Medicare. Both SSI and Medicare are okay today, any changes would be foolish unless is was PROVEN to be an enhancement to the trust fund. Sometimes when discussing SSI Benefits the words don't match the outcome, so they have to be careful who they vote for. Democrats can lead on SSI and take it on the offensive.

I have never seen the Democrats on offense as they have been this election. It is time to go on offense and save the people from the tragic agenda of the Republicans. 

No joke. 

There is a lot at stake and I am not sure voters take it seriously.

They need to be reminded of all the important issues facing them and they have to be asked to vote. Please ask them to vote on Tuesday, November 4, 2014.

It's Sunday Night

You Can't Touch This by M. C. Hammer (click here)  Facebook site (click here)

You can't touch this 

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

My, my, my music hits me so hard

Makes me say "Oh my Lord"

Thank you for blessing me

With a mind to rhyme and two hype feet

It feels good, when you know you're down

A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown

And I'm known as such

And this is a beat, uh, you can't touch

I told you homeboy (You can't touch this)

Yeah, that's how we living and you know (You can't touch this)

Look at my eyes, man (You can't touch this)

Yo, let me bust the funky lyrics (You can't touch this)

Fresh new kicks, advance

You gotta like that, now you know you wanna dance

So move, outta your seat

And get a fly girl and catch this beat

While it's rolling, hold on

Pump a little bit and let 'em know it's going on

Like that, like that

Cold on a mission so fall them back

Let 'em know, that you're too much

And this is a beat, uh, you can't touch

Yo, I told you (You can't touch this)

Why you standing there, man? (You can't touch this)

Yo, sound the bell, school is in, sucka (You can't touch this)

Give me a song, or rhythm

Make 'em sweat, that's what I'm giving 'em

Now, they know

You talking about the Hammer you talking about a show

That's hype, and tight

Singers are sweating so pass them a wipe

Or a tape, to learn

What's it gonna take in the 90's to burn

The charts? Legit

Either work hard or you might as well quit

That's word because you know... 

You can't touch this 

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

Break it down! (Music breaks down) Stop, Hammer time!

Go with the funk, it is said

That if you can't groove to this then you probably are dead

So wave your hands in the air

Bust a few moves, fun your fingers through your hair

This is it, for a winner

Dance to this and you're gonna get thinner

Move, slide your rump

Just for a minute let's all do the bump, bump, bump

Yeah... (You can't touch this)

Look, man (You can't touch this)

You better get hype, boy, because you know (You can't touch this)

Ring the bell, school's back in (You can't touch this)

Break it down! (Crazy bridge) Stop, Hammer time!

You can't touch this 

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

Break it down! (Nice pants, Hammer) Stop, Hammer time!

Every time you see me

The Hammer's just so hype

I'm dope on the floor and I'm magic on the mic

Now why would I ever stop doing this?

With others making records that just don't hit

I've toured around the world, from London to the Bay

It's "Hammer, go Hammer, MC Hammer, yo Hammer"

And the rest can go and play

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this