Declaration of Emergency for Flint, Michigan (click here)

This is my message to all the people involved in changes the health concerns of Flint, Michigan:

When are you going to do something so there are emergency water supplies for Flint, Michigan. The water is still contaminated in the face of the declaration of a state of emergency.  Every day that goes by the children of Flint are drinking lead poisoned water. Allowing such issues to exist is pure unadulterated negligence of your responsibility to the people.

I don't mince words. I don't care who you are.

What good is an emergeny declaration if the emergency is not addressed?

There is an emergency in Flint, Michigan because of heavily contaminated water and there is NO emergency water supply. What do the people of Flint a hurricane in order to get clean water trucked into their city?

This is Snyder's Michigan. All talk and no action. 

Where is the federal EPA? West Virginia was addressed, why not Flint, Michigan?

January 6, 2016
By Paul Egan

...Snyder's office issued a news release late Tuesday saying the governor made the declaration "due to the ongoing health and safety issues caused by lead in the city of Flint’s drinking water" and activated the state Emergency Operations Center.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in 2014 after switching its supply source from Lake Huron to the more polluted and corrosive Flint River. The move — a cost-cutting measure while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager —  resulted in a spike in lead levels in children, which causes permanent brain damage. A recent preliminary report from a task force appointed by Snyder placed most of the blame on the state Department of Environmental Quality and prompted the Dec. 29 resignation of DEQ Director Dan Wyant....

This is an ongoing problem that took until 2016 to be recognized as an emergency. The children have been exposed for two years and now it is looking more like three to four years or maybe for the rest of their lives.

Everyone write to President Obama in DC and demand help for Flint!

Link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Write the US Senators: 

Gary Peters, Link:  https://www.peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary

Debbie Stabenow, Link:  https://www.stabenow.senate.gov/contact

US Congressman from Flint, Dan Kildee. His website requires a person writing to him to enter a Zip Code. So, the zip code map of Flint, Michigan is below.

Link:  http://dankildee.house.gov/contact/email-me/

 

China manages it's sovereignty, not markets.

Title: "Obama's Gun Control"

By: Li Feng

I think it is fairly obvious (and no one will say it) the problems with the Chinese currency is directly a result of a hostile trade agreement called the TPP.

China has legitimate sovereign reasons to provide a better advantage over the TPP that no one wants except USA Republicans.

May 26, 2015
By Laura He

Hong Kong (MarketWatch) — The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (click here) trade deal may be controversial in the U.S., but in China it appears to be the object of great worry and, in some respects, seems to be driving policy in Beijing.
The TPP agreement, strongly supported by President Barack Obama, would create the world’s largest free-trade zone, stretching across half the globe. The treaty itself, as well as the “fast-track” negotiating authority sought by the Obama Administration, has come under criticism by some U.S. lawmakers, as well as various labor and business groups concerned about everything from wages to national security.
But in Beijing, the TPP is frequently seen as an “anyone but China” trade club that threatens the Chinese economy as a whole and even the country’s very future...

Incredible art work of Chinese films compete for recognition.

2016-01-07

Silhouettes (click here for 10 winning film posters) of a wolf and a man are overlapping one another, portraying the theme of the film - a world of co-existence between man and nature.

2016-01-07
By Xinhua

Canada Post (click here) is set to release a collection of stamps featuring monkey to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 8 this year, the national carrier announced Wednesday.

The stamps, the eighth issue in the second 12-year Lunar New Year series which started in 1997, are part of a popular commemorative stamp program Canada Post has been running for the past two decades....

...Those born in the Year of the Monkey are said to possess brilliance, flexibility and inventiveness, along with an excellent memory and strong will to succeed. They can, however, be easily frustrated by delays, tend to look down on others and have a fast-flaring temper. Canadians born to this lunar year include singer Celine Dion, actress Kim Cattrall and legendary pianist Glenn Gould.

Canada Post's commemorative stamp program is more than 160 years old. It began with Sir Sanford Flemming who designed in 1851 the Three-Penny Beaver stamp....

Canada Post website (click here)

"Canada Post" was a brilliant idea that has generated review in addition to quality of life commemorations. Quality of life is not measured in currency alone.

Women's movements make a difference in real lives and in this case our country.

2016-01-06
By Agencies

US Brigadier General Diana Holland delivers remarks at a ceremony where she assumed the role as the first female Commandant of Cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, January 5, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

West Point, N.Y. - The first female commandant (click here) of cadets at the US Military Academy was sworn in on Tuesday, the latest milestone for American women who now are allowed to serve all military combat roles.
Brigadier General Diana Holland, 47, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, assumed the leadership post after being honored in packed ceremony at the academy 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City, whose graduates typically serve as Army officers.
"I'm very grateful for this opportunity," said Holland, a 1990 West Point graduate who thanked her husband and father for their support and said she looked forward to working with the cadets. "They ask for so little, only to be well led."
Holland assumes the historic leadership position a month after the US military struck down gender barriers in the armed forces, announcing it would accept women in all combat jobs previously open only to men, from leading infantry soldiers into battle to serving as Navy SEALS...

There are federal regualations regarding lead.

Congress has passed (click here) a number of laws related to lead. These laws address lead in paint, dust and soil; lead in the air; lead in water; and disposal of lead wastes. EPA is addressing lead contamination and resulting hazards under these laws in many ways, including by issuing and enforcing regulations. EPA also helps the regulated community understand the federal requirements with policy and guidance documents to assist in complying with the regulations....

The comprehensive agreement regarding Flint cannot continue to violate federal regulations.

The CWA (Clean Water Act) prohibits anyone from discharging pollutants, including lead, through a point source into a water of the United States unless they have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. NPDES permits contain limits on what you can discharge, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure that the discharge does not hurt water quality or people's health. As appropriate, NPDES permits must contain:

Any municipality who introduced changes in their water filtration and treatment regime would have to obtain a permit to allow substances such as lead to pass through pipelines of potable water. These permits are federally issued and requires the public to be notified of such procedures to protect them from ingestion of poisons. In the case of changing treatments from chlorine to a different chemical that would result in interaction with pipes containing lead the people would have had to be notified of when the new compound would be used including how long the water would not be safe to drink or cook with.

What is NPDES? (click here)

The NPDES permit program addresses water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States.
Created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act, the NPDES permit program is authorized to state governments by EPA to perform many permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the program....

This is not overbearing. Communities across the USA have successfully changed their water treatment regime without increasing lead levels in children.

There is a reason why federal regulations exist. Maintaining the safety of citizens is one of them.

I think the Mayor of Flint, Michigan should be the next Governor of Michigan.

Snyder needs to be prosecuted for intentional exposure of children to lead levels in the Flint Water Supply. He also should be personally sued for his very wrongful actions harming the children of Flint. The children will be forever effected by these lead level exposures. The children need to have a trust fund as well as personal losses provided for to insure their future.

This isn't even malpractice in government. These were intentional moves by the Governor and his emergency manager in favor of fiscal responsibility vs responsibility to the well being of the citizen.

I would seriously scrutinize the 'comprehensive agreement' today between Flint and the Governor; it may exonerate any future litigation and prosecution of the Governor. I don't trust Snyder at all. He is too slick. There is a good chance he figured a comprehensive agreement could be brought if he got caught.

I can't help believe the people of Flint need a panel of professionals to find their way forward. The 'comprehensive agreement' wasn't complied by third party volunteers, such as former State Attorney generals or former Governors.

The comprehensive agreement is being used to dissipate the responsibility by Governor Snyder and his emergency manager. The comprehensive agreement incorporates other lead issues in Flint to mask the blame for the lead poisoning of the children. This is poisoning by the way.

The comprehensive agreement was drawn up to water down any personal responsibility by Snyder. He knows what he is doing to save his own butt.

There is a good chance the comprehensive agreement isn't even legal considering the Flint Mayor has no power according to the emergency manager takeover. The emergency manager is still ruling in Flint. I don't think the Mayor has the power to sign any agreement.

The Emergency Manager law changed at the beginning of Snyder's governorship. He was sworn into office December 31, 2010. By February the legislation of "emergency financial manager' was changed to 'emergency manager.'

Michigan Public Act 4, Emergency Manager Law (2011) (click here)

The use of this law in Michigan is unprecedented. There was an occasional assignment of a Emergency Financial Manager in Michigan's past and only to avert bankruptcy. The Emergency Manager under Snyder does nothing to avert bankruptcy and Detroit is a prime example of that.

One of the ideas by courts regarding Emergency Managers is that it is effected by voters during elections. In other words if the electorate does not approve of the use of Emergency Managers the electorate would elect others that would not use Emergency Managers. OR, there could be state referendums dissolving the law passes by the legislature. That was tried. The people of Michigan passes a referendum to end the Emergency Managers. Snyder simply reworded the law and issued it under his direction. So, the judiciary thinking this was something the people wanted is grossly incorrect. The lawsuits that were tried before to end the overbearing Governor's dictatorship should be tried again pointing to the fact the Governor ignored the will of the people.

I am not laughing, by the way.

Governor Synder's dictatorial trend is noted in new measures since his reelection.

March 13, 2015
By Lori Higgans

...Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) today signed a controversial executive order transferring the state school reform office from the Michigan Department of Education to a state office that is directly under his control -- the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
His motivation? "The governor feels like there needs to be a more proactive approach to addressing these most struggling schools, to benefit the kids that are in them," said Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for the governor....

This is a pattern with Snyder. This can't be ignored. There are many years that an extremist agenda can be carried out in Michigan.

New dietary guidelines for Americans.

January 7, 2016

By Anahad O'Connor

New federal dietary guidelines (click here) announced on Thursday urge Americans to drastically cut back on sugar, and for the first time have singled out teenage boys and men for eating too much meat.

Despite those warnings, the guidelines were also notable for what they did not say. While draft recommendations had suggested all Americans adopt more environmentally-sustainable eating habits by cutting back on meat, that advice was dropped from the final guidelines. And longstanding limits on dietary cholesterol were also removed, a victory for the nation’s egg producers, which have long argued that cholesterol from eggs and seafood is not a major health concern.

The dietary guidelines, issued by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments, are updated every five years and were first issued in 1980. Typically, they have encouraged Americans to consume fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, and low-fat foods, while restricting intake of saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. Though many individual consumers may not give the guidelines much thought, the recommendations have the potential to influence the diets of millions of Americans. The guidelines affect the foods chosen for the school lunch program, which feeds more than 30 million children each school day, and help shape national food assistance programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which has eight million beneficiaries....

Aren't there regular inspections of the elevator?

I think the company and families were lucky in that the failure of the elevator occurred when it was empty of people. I hope it wasn't a failure of the elevator shaft itself. Was there any kind of shift of the elevator walls that would cause the lack of function of the elevator?

The worst of the circumstances is the feeling of isolation and vulnerability of the workers. Such failures bring about a reality not usually realized. It is a really terrible circumstance for them. 

January 7, 2016
By Shamar Walters, Ali Gostanian and Cassandra Vinograd

Emergency crews (click here) were working Thursday morning to free the remaining miners trapped in an elevator more than 70 stories below ground in upstate New York, officials said.
The Ithaca Fire Department said it was helping with the "major rescue" at the Cargill salt mine in Lansing, where 17 miners were stuck overnight.
As of 8 a.m. ET, 12 of the workers were freed, while another five were still below ground, a Cargill spokesman told NBC News.
The workers had been trapped in an elevator 900 feet down an access shaft, the company said...

At least the only death occurring was the attacker.

January 7, 2016

By the Associated Press

Paris — Officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man (click here) wearing a fake explosive vest at a police station in northern Paris on Thursday, French officials said, a year to the day after an attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo launched a bloody year in the French capital.

Luc Poignant, a police union official, said the man cried out "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great."

The man was wearing what looked like an explosive vest, but it was fake, according to two French police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. They said the man has not yet been identified.

Just a few minutes earlier, elsewhere in the city, French President Francois Hollande had finished paying homage to police officers killed in the line of duty, including three shot to death in attacks last January....

"The Atlantic" makes a very interesting statement of fact.

January 5, 2016
By David A. Graham

...Ibn Saud’s forces conquered al-Ahsa in 1913, (click here) before the founding of the modern Saudi state. At that time, Wahhabist militias affiliated with him began cracking down on Shiites, destroying burial sites, trying to force conversions, and destroying mosques, writes David Commins. In response, some Shiites left for Bahrain or Iraq, but many remained. The region remains one of Saudi Arabia’s poorest. Nimr was born in the village of al-Awamiyah, in al-Ahsa, in 1960....

Saudi Arabia obviously feels besieged by all the upspring conflicts in the region. Saudi Arabia has the right to protect it's citizens. Today in the "Arab News" there are editorials stating the need for the government to act to protect citizens. 

The statement in "The Atlantic" brings forward that familiar scenario breeding extremism. Poverty is known to be a primary driver in extremism. 

Saudi Arabia has also been experiencing relentless MERS (click here) outbreaks. The outbreaks are taking place among the poor before effecting other socioeconomic levels. MERS is similar to what the world once called SARS. They are both respiratory virus, break out in the poor of a country, crosses species lines to infect humans and are both corona virus.

There are many reasons for Saudi Arabia to address the poverty within it's borders, the least of which is the recruitment of men into the ranks of extremist groups such as al Qaeda. While killing prisoners sentenced due to their estrangement from loyalty to the country might send a message to further warn citizens of the resolve of the country, it could also act to increase reasons for communities to isolate themselves in fear. 

There is no doubt this is a difficult time for the Kingdom, but, to simply kill to make a statement regarding the Kingdom's resolve can cause reaction and perhaps in ways the Kingdom does not expect.

Jeddah: The fourth edition of Hayya Jeddah (click here) is ready to launch from Jan. 7 till Feb. 7. Jeddah will witness the largest festival for children, entertainment and games under the patronage of Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed, who is also chairman of the Tourism Promotion Council.The Jeddah Chamber...

I think the celebration engaged by Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed is very wise. He is reaching out to the very people that need to have the strongest loyalty to the Kingdom. I believe there are ways of moving people out of poverty within Saudi Arabia and all avenues should be considered.

The Republicans have more phobias than any other political party.

That is a great picture. Rubio needs to take his shoes/boots off before entering the bus to prevent the placement of towels that could present a fall potential.

January 7, 2016
By Vanessa Friedman

This week “boots on the ground” (click here) took on a whole new meaning in politics.

A surprising focus on Senator Marco Rubio’s shiny, stack-heeled ankle boots, first noted in a desultory Twitter post on Monday by a New York Times reporter, has grown over the last few days into one of the weirder firestorms of the presidential campaign, with rival candidates and the news media all adding tinder to the flames.

Senator Ted Cruz’s communications director, Rick Tyler, wrote on
Twitter: “A Vote for Marco Rubio Is a Vote for Men’s High-Heeled Booties.” “Rubio has those cute new boots and I don’t want to be outdone,” Senator Rand Paul said before an appearance on “The View.” Carly Fiorina posted a Twitter message with a picture of her own pair of high-heeled boots, with the message “Yeah, @marcorubio, but can you rock these?”

On “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough called the footwear “shagalicious.” Vanity Fair played a “guess the brand and cost” game. New York Magazine’s The Cut compared Mr. Rubio to Harry Styles, the One Direction heartthrob. The Daily Mail twinned him with former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, a noted clotheshorse....

I don't know why Joe Scarborough wasn't called what he obviously is, Homophobic.

Phobias are the very favorite of Republican candidates in it's current vernacular of candidates. Phobias, for Republicans, carries the message most important to their electorate, such as Islamophobia. The Republicans think nothing of causing social tensions in order to insure an aire of superiority to their electorate.

The Republicans' phobias are a show of arrogance. 

Fear mongers are such liars.

March 15, 2013
By Anne Gearan

The Pentagon (click here) announced Friday that it would strengthen the country’s defenses against a possible attack by nuclear-equipped North Korea, fielding additional missile systems to protect the West Coast at a time of growing concern about the Stalinist regime.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would add 14 missile interceptors in Alaska, a roughly 50 percent increase over the current number there and in California. The estimated $1 billion expansion represents a policy shift for the Obama administration, which had shelved earlier plans to expand the mainland defense system.
The Pentagon cast the expansion as a response to rising threats from Iran and North Korea, but the volatility and increasing hostility of the North Korean regime was clearly the main driver....

North Korea is in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, an international treaty that allows the global community to build sanctions against it. The fact of the matter is when "W" made his Axis of Evil speech the response among countries that are not allied with the USA escalated their arms programs. The Axis of Evil speech was a declaration of war with full implications of same. It has taken until now for Iran to find a path into safety and North Korea rejects any idea of safety of it's people.

The new young leader of North Korea has no interest in a peace platform with the global community.  He sincerely needs to appreciate the condition of his people and the benefits they can receive from taking the path Iran is now taking. 

He is a bit of a celebrity on a global basis. He should build on that.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un (click here) came to power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011. We take a look back at some of the most bizarre photo opportunities that he has taken part in during his time in charge of the highly secretive state. 
 
Above: North Korean leader Kim Jung-un guides the test firing of a rocket in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. North Korea is "likely" to have conducted a nuclear test on January 6, 2016 that caused an earthquake near a known testing site in the isolated country, the South Korean and Japanese governments said. 

It is amazing the level of denial probably within the US public of the threat "W" caused in his hate speech. Both North Korea or Iran never got the message the hate speech was simply to add to the culture of fear of the "W" administration.

North Korea's nuclear weapons program (click here) has moved back to the front pages with the unprecedented acknowledgement by North Korea during talks this week in Beijing that the North has developed nuclear weapons. News of this revelation came as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs James A. Kelly was preparing to leave Beijing for consultations in Seoul, and leaves the future of the talks uncertain and the threat of a potential escalation in tensions on the peninsula high. This is but the latest step in a simmering crisis that began with the admission by North Korea, after being confronted with hard evidence by Assistant Secretary Kelly in October 2002, that it has been pursuing in secret a nuclear weapons program in violation of the Agreed Framework of 1994 and its adherence to the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Pyongyang's subsequent actions in asserting the right to possess nuclear weapons, breaking the seals on its nuclear reactor put there by the International Atomic Energy Agency, withdrawing from the NPT and the expulsion of IAEA inspectors from the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, have kept the crisis simmering, and laid the basis for reported splits within the Bush administration over the best strategy for dealing with Pyongyang. Seemingly replaying debates marking the lead-up to the war with Iraq, newspaper analyses portray the State Department under Secretary of State Colin Powell pressing for diplomacy and efforts to reassure the North Koreans that the U.S. was not seeking regime change, while Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has reportedly called for joining with Beijing to push for removal of the North Korean regime....

Even among the international platform the "W" administration used plausible denial to appear to be a peaceful administration. 

When a US President makes statements about such issues as the world faces with North Korea, especially that of South Korea, there is significant brevity to those statements. The response to the "EVIL" speech was completely obvious. Both North Korea and Iran rightfully interpreted "W"s threat as real and took actions to defend itself. 

The so called problem with North Korea the USA and allies and partners have today can directly be found in "W" administration and it's war mongering. There is a direct relationship. That is all anyone needs to understand. The American people are too used to political speech that is highly inflammatory to the world outside the USA. The escalation of hate speech within the political sphere of the USA should be a concern to all citizens, unfortunately, that is not the path of the electorate. Any candidate for President that even hints at peace is considered unworthy.

During the "W" administration hate, war and death were incorporated with religion to appear to be denying the entire idea of war mongering. The USA sincerely needed the visit by Pope Francis to recall the pure state of peace the Roman Catholic faith demands.

Multiple citizenship, also called dual citizenship or multiple nationality, is a person's citizenship status, in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen of more than one state under the laws of those states.

Rubio does not have dual citizenship. He is first generation in the USA.

Dual citizenship cannot be legally renounced. It can be socially and politically denounced, however, the legal status is intact.

Cruz is lucky he has a dual citizenship with the USA and not Russia. Currently, if a person has dual citizenship they have to register and pay an annual fee. There are parallels to in history that serve as concern:

Because of differing citizenship laws (click here) in Japan and the United States, Nisei born before 1924 were citizens of both countries, a status referred to as "dual citizenship." Dual citizenship status became part of standard criticisms of Japanese Americans by nativist and anti-Japanese groups. Rising tensions between Japan and the U.S. in the 1930s highlighted the issue and led Japanese Americans to launch efforts to encourage Nisei to renounce their Japanese citizenship. Even after changes in Japanese law ended automatic dual citizenship for Nisei in 1924, anti-Japanese groups used the issue of dual citizenship to justify wartime measures aimed at stripping Nisei of their U.S. citizenship....

The idea of dual citizenship is an issue. It is an issue of loyalty. It causes doubt in the country about dual citizens. We see this today with Birth Tourism. But, once a person is born to dual citizenship there is no removing it. The facts are the facts.

Those scrutinizing US Senator Ted Cruz for his birth rights are irrational and I think it very unfortunate it was ever an issue for him. I would never vote for him, but, it is has nothing to do with his birth rights in two countries.

Article 2, Section 1 of the United States Constitution prevents all except natural born citizens from serving as President of the United States of America. This issue here is whether or not a person is naturalized. Naturalized is a person coming to the USA from another country and then becomes a citizen with full rights. They don't really have full rights. They cannot be President. They can run for President, but, would never be inaugurated. I think that provision in the US Constitution is very wise. It prevents a King or Queen from being a citizen and capturing the 13 colonies all over again.

US Senator Ted Cruz is an American with all the rights and responsibilities there of.