The FBI is investigating the Clinton emails from the State Department because of a Freedom of Information Act request. The FBI is the only third party other than the CIA that could handle the request. It has not been determined if the entire Freedom of Information Request has been completed to the extent requested without compromising USA national security. 

She is correct. The retroactive classification is problematic and probably not needed. She wants the emails released as much as the FBI would like them to be as well.

China has higher moral content than the USA.

I thought Secretary Clinton taking an entire evening to travel to Flint, Michigan when she was in the middle of her campaign in New Hampshire and behind in the polls was an absolute statement about her dedication to the people of this country.

I've caught her caring a few times over and above what one would expect. She is absolutely correct, the delay, the indifference because it is an inconvenient truth is not the character of the USA she and I share.

This tragedy should have ended far before it got started. This is so outrageous and illustrates clearly the deterioration of the moral content of our government under the leadership of Republicans. The danger allowed in the lives of innocent citizens and children of all our citizens; there is just no excuse.

When our pets (click here) were afflicted with kidney failure because of melamine in their food from a Chinese manufacturer; China sentenced the man responsible to death.

My error. It was the milk issue. Ten people have died of Legionnaire's disease due to the contaminated water and there are 9000 (NINE THOUSAND) with brain damage due to contaminated water that was KNOWN to be contaminated when it was substituted for fiscal budget issues.

22 January 2009
Tania Branigan

A Chinese court has condemned two men to death and sentenced a company boss to life for their roles in the production and sale of poisoned milk that killed at least six children and made almost 300,000 sick.

But angry parents (click here) said that jailing Tian Wenhua, the former head of Sanlu, was too lenient and she should have been executed too.

More than 50,000 infants were hospitalised with kidney problems after drinking Sanlu baby formula tainted with melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastics and fertiliser.

Investigators said middlemen who bought milk from farmers and sold it on to dairies had watered it down and mixed it with the chemical, which creates the appearance of higher protein levels in quality tests.

The intermediate people's court sentenced 40-year-old Zhang Yujun to death for making and selling over 600 tonnes of "protein powder" laced with melamine. Prosecutors said during the trial that he was "fully aware of the harm" it created....

Since when does China have a higher moral content in it's government then the USA and it was pets and not children.

Oh, I forgot, all Chinese look the same and aren't dark skinned.

Men don't have pussies unless they are transgender. I think it wise presidential candidates remove themselves from that controversy. 

Thank you.

People on message boards can help police the harassment.

Harassment (click here) —from garden-variety name calling to more threatening behavior— is a common part of online life that colors the experiences of many web users. Fully 73% of adult internet users have seen someone be harassed in some way online and 40% have personally experienced it, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center....

If internet users accept harassment as a means of communication it opens them up to harassment and the possibility of it becoming more than harassment. It is best to maintain GOOD MANNERS, especially online.

So, the complaints about harassment online are real and should not be taken lightly. I commend the candidates for stating it is not acceptable.

The call to end online harassment might have to be met with moderators if it doesn't stop. No candidate wants their supporters to feel diminished or threatened. Harassment is as much a part of the escalation into a threat and needs to stop.

With a little bit of training campaign volunteers can probably act as moderators to online chat rooms affiliated with a candidate.

I didn't like that cough with Hillary Clinton. I realize she has been speaking a lot, but, the weather is also suspect in causing a cough. Just a quick stop at an MD would be somewhat interesting even in helping with hoarseness.

I would like all the candidates to take care of themselves.

Thank you.

So.

Women (click here) have recaptured and recovered from the vulgarity of society. They reclaimed their vagina and ccccuuunnnntttssss a long time ago.

I can think of quite a few vulgarities to describe a man/men. Unfortunately, they still wear their emotions on their skin while defending their manhood in bar room brawls. Ah. Viagra.

I would suggest the men candidates maintain their manners. You really don't want to go there.

The question that arises regarding the requirement of women for Selective Service lies in understanding the practicality.

Men:Height (inches): 69.3
Weight (pounds): 195.5
Waist circumference (inches): 39.7

Women:
Height (inches): 63.8
Weight (pounds): 166.2
Waist circumference (inches): 37.5

Women are different than men. There are more women than men in the USA. If women were required to enroll in Selective Service, what percentage of them will actually qualify for the standards of being a soldier. Will those lactating be required to be drafted or the girls that are pregnant or single parents which are the majority of families in the year 2016.

Women would not need a college deferment, they would probably qualify for a deferment within the first week of their draft notice when the little pregnancy stick says "Yes" you are pregnant.

What are the Republicans going to do, require abortions?

The Selective Service is antiquated and unnecessary.

Egalitarian

The feminists involved with campaigns for President have forgotten an important word of feminism.

"egalitarian"

That is what young people are finding with the Sander's campaign. It is not where the boys are. They actually see each other as equals with a great deal in common. Give the mom's of these young people a little bit of credit for actually raising young men and women that see each other as equals.

My two sons don't pat their wives on the head in understanding them. Their wives are equal partners with their own expertise and career.

Don't return to the sixties, we have moved past that.

The Bernie Campaign has as a basis of their movement, egalitarian initiatives.

Jeb Bush lacks originality and genuine character. His words are from everyone else, including, the recent statement he rejects SuperPACs. The Citizens United decision was the furthest priority of Bush until he realized his SuperPAC was not bringing about victory, so why not jettison it. There is nothing genuine about the guy. I listened to him on C-Span. He used everyone else's words. He is fishing.

When Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump states "No SuperPACs" they mean it and have taken that stand from the beginning. Donald Trump is self-funding and Bernie Sanders has taken on the current and sad state of America today and people believe in him. The fund raising is easy.  

Not to sell Donald Trump short, he did turn down a SuperPAC when it was first initiated.

Let's get real for a moment because the media is floundering. Marco Rubio has done nothing for the State of Florida since taking office as a Senator. Here is reality about Florida. It refused the Medicaid expansion. People have died because the Republicans of Florida rejected the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid Expansion. People have died IN THE FACE of working more than one job to support their families. They could not afford insurance and the medicine is often out of reach.

Now, that is real. Deal with it.

People like Rubio and Bush will refuse any aspects of the ACA, including the Medicaid Expansion, will bail out banks, take monies away from Americans then in need of food and shelter and WON'T INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE so those same Americans can survive.

They don't care about Americans until it comes time to vote.

This is "The Weather Channel." Look at the winds in New England. Seas are not pavement, the winds cause waves in the surface ocean. There is NO EXCEPTION because someone made a mistake. 

Please be responsible!


There is a cute video about dog sledding. 

February 8, 2016 
Winter Storm Mars (click here) will continue impacting eastern New England through Monday night with a combination of heavy snow and strong winds, resulting in dangerous travel conditions. Some of the worst impacts will be in southeast Massachusetts, where blizzard conditions, tree damage, power outages and coastal flooding remain threats.
As of early Monday afternoon, blizzard conditions had been officially verified on Nantucket Island where wind gusts up to 64 mph have been clocked. Coastal flooding was reported in several locations along the Massachusetts coast. More than a half foot of snow has been measured in Cape Cod accompanied by blizzard conditions in some areas....

It is time for the federal authorities to remind the cargo and passenger companies of the fines that can be levied with such negligence.

These warnings (click here) were out since early this morning and long before this ship set out for Florida. I checked them first thing this morning.

Who is taking risks with the passengers, the captain or the company? 

We lost a ship and it's crew not long ago out of Florida for THIS VERY REASON. 

The Anthem of the Seas (click here) has turned around and headed back to its original port after a severe storm injured four people and forced passengers into their staterooms for safety reasons, Royal Caribbean International said Monday.

Royal Caribbean said Anthem of the Seas encountered rough seas off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, while sailing Sunday to Port Canaveral, Florida, in what was intended originally to be a seven-day voyage to the Bahamas. It said the ship suffered damage to some public areas and cabins but “remains seaworthy.” None of the injuries was serious, the cruise line said....

These companies must be working with a very small margin to risk it all by putting out to sea in known dangers.

It isn't as though the warnings are wrong. They are very correct. These warnings are being ignored. The waves are significant up to 25 feet and repeat frequently. There are very few troughs that are calm, so much as lead right into another large wave.

The federal authorities are going to have to do a reality checks with the maritime community. They have to threaten to hand out fines very regularly if these companies are not performing checks of these charts and putting ships, personnel and passengers in direct path of harm. This is outrageous. There are pictures of furniture thrown around the rooms they were in. The state rooms have their beds attached to the floor. This is ridiculous. No one could have checked these warnings and set out to sea in good conscience.
 
Hazardous marine condition(s): (click here)
 Storm Warning
 
 SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE  HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE  MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.        

ANZ899-090315-  
1011 AM EST MON FEB 8 2016      .
SYNOPSIS FOR MID ATLC WATERS... 
A STRONG LOW PRESSURE CENTER NEAR  37N 67W WILL MOVE NE AT 35 KT TODAY AND TONIGHT. 

ANOTHER  DEVELOPING LOW WILL MOVE OFF THE MID ATLC COAST TONIGHT..
.
THEN  PASS QUICKLY NE ACROSS THE NRN WATERS TUE 
WHILE INTENSIFYING AND  PULLING A COLD FRONT SE ACROSS THE AREA. 

ANOTHER LOW WILL MOVE OFF  THE NRN MID ATLC COAST LATE TUE...
THEN TRACK NE ACROSS THE FAR NRN  WATERS TUE NIGHT INTO WED. 

A SERIES OF LOW PRES TROUGHS WILL PASS  SE ACROSS THE WATERS WED NIGHT INTO THU NIGHT. A HIGH PRES RIDGE  WILL BUILD TO THE COAST THU NIGHT...

THEN MOVE OFFSHORE AND WEAKEN  FRI. ANOTHER DEVELOPING LOW WILL MOVE OFFSHORE LATE FRI...

THEN  RACE NE ACROSS THE WATERS FRI NIGHT WHILE PULLING A COLD FRONT SE  ACROSS THE AREA.

Donald Trump received a check from a veterans' group in New Hampshire. He is starting a movement.

Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States amounted to $621 billion in 2011–12, or $12,401 per public school student enrolled in the fall (in constant 2013–14 dollars, based on the Consumer Price Index).

Before the country embarks on some extravagant idea of education and criticizing educators, let's concentrate first on clean water, clean air and a healthy diet for our children. It isn't right to hold children responsible for their learning (standardized testing) if the country can't give them very basic HEALTH from birth.

China is taking on the challenge of providing healthier climates to its people. The United States needs to be the example of the best chance of growing up healthy and happy. It is not an example of that today.

The lies are incredible.

The ACLU is one of the groups carrying the legal docket for Flint.

January 27, 2016

Flint – A coalition of local citizens and national groups (click here) filed suit today to ask a federal court to step in and secure access to safe drinking water for the people of Flint, Michigan.

Alleging violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by the ACLU of Michigan, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Concerned Pastors for Social Action and Flint resident Melissa Mays.

“Flint is Exhibit A for what happens when a state suspends democracy and installs unaccountable bean counters to run a city,” said Michael J. Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan. “In a failed attempt to save a few bucks, state-appointed officials poisoned the drinking water of an important American city, causing permanent damage to an entire generation of its children. The people of Flint cannot trust the state of Michigan to fix this man-made disaster and that is why court oversight is critically needed.”...

I am so pleased Flint sees the need to register this episode of lead poisoning as a human rights problem.

The Flint Water Crisis is not simply an incompetent Governor, there is a real attitude regarding a punishment to the people of a Michigan city with fiscal issues.

Let's not forget this water crisis was recorded by a major auto manufacturing plant as having this water corrode their engines. People are drinking this water and bathing in it while a car engines are experiencing corrosion. That is something that should alarm the world. The United States of American allowed such water into the water supply to damage the citizens of Flint and permanently effect it's children. Nine thousand children under the age of six. 

With millions of dollars US in the Michigan rainy day fund Governor Snyder sees it clear to impose deadly outcomes on the people of Flint for not paying their budget deficit. What would the USA look like if that attitude existed in Washington, DC after the 2016 elections?

Governor Snyder is more than incompetent, he intentionally looked the other way for his war on deficits in African American communities across the state. It was intended for the people of Flint to experience the pain of fiscal deficits in a way they never had before.

A major car company notified the Governor of corroding engines due to water they were exposed to, the State of Michigan employees were told the water is not fit to drink, but, what does Flint get, lead poisoned children. That is not a Governor that cared about these minority communities, it is however a Governor that imposed deadly conditions on a town with a fiscal deficit he saw no reason to address in any other way, including, the states rainy day fund. That is intent, not a mistake.

February 7, 2016
By Niraj Warikoo

Many people (click here) have been asking city, state and federal officials to help in Flint.

Now, some activists want international intervention, asking the United Nations to investigate the water problems in Flint as possible violations of international treaties the U.S. has agreed to.

Last week, activists with the Detroit Water Brigade traveled to New York City to testify about Flint and Detroit before the United Nations' Commission for Social Development at its Civil Society Forum. Afterward, they sent a letter to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations asking it to allow the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to Flint.

"Our message to the United Nations is that we don't have confidence in our government to properly remedy the Flint and Detroit water crisis," said Justin Wedes, cofounder of the water activist group Detroit Water Brigade. "They've shown themselves unwilling and unable to take action urgently to ensure the human right of water for all."...

Japan is still dependent on the alliance of the USA for it's national security. The Japanese people don't want that to end.

Senator Rubio states the USA will be facing a debt crisis post the 2016 elections if the right person is not president.

He sees modification of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to counter balance the US Debt Crisis. He wants to impact the most vulnerable in our society to prevent his debt crisis, which includes new nuclear weapons programs.

Senator Rubio does not see one more tax in the USA on the wealthy, not even the top one percent, not even a transaction tax on Wall Street to pay off the USA debt. That is the problem today. Republicans answer to one man, Grover Norquist and not the American people.

He sees escalation of the war in the middle east, but, says nothing about the lack of the AUMF to provide that authority. He actually sees safe havens in the middle that is somehow magically will never see weapons fire or battles of any kind. Rubio is no different than the members of Congress, they live in a world that doesn't exist.

Japan is very divided about rearming themselves. It is the first time since WW II Japan is asking their people to rearm for national security. It is all ideology with Rubio.

Ah, he has to wrap things up. And we only got started.

June 14, 2015
By Paul Kallender

Tokyo — Efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (click here) to normalize Japan's security posture and bolster its US alliance against China hit an obstacle when the Lower House Commission on the Constitution declared Abe's moves unconstitutional. Still, Japan is expected to pass legislation around August to expand the nation's ability to better support the US in the defense of Japan.
In a minor bombshell, on June 4, Setsu Kobayashi, professor emeritus of Constitutional Law at Keio University and member of the Lower House Commission on the Constitution, said provisions allowing limited rights of collective self defense as promoted by the Abe administration are unconstitutional.
"Paragraph 2 of Article 9 does not grant any legal standing for military activities abroad," Kobayashi is reported to have said. "Going to war abroad to help a friendly nation is a violation of Article 9," he said.
Article 9 of the 1947 US-imposed Japanese Constitution outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. In its text, the state formally renounces the sovereign right of belligerency and aims for international peace based on justice and order....

Everyone running for President of the USA should understand these laws and how it impacts the actions of the USA. They should do more than simply mention such documents. Anyone can do that, but, understand what is implied is a different issue. I don't want another Republican figurehead in the Oval Office.

There is one thing I am curious about with the folks in Washington, DC stating they have laws to break up the banks if necessary.

The London Whale was not an indication of "necessary?" The glut of greed in the petroleum industry is not necessary? What is necessary, a smidgen of worse added to the Great Depression?

There is no inconsistency at the IMF. One might ask, how is it the USA keeps adding jobs while today Wall Street is opening down triple digits.

When economists are evaluating the global economy it is myopic. It depends on how they measure success. If Wall Street is the measure than the view of the world will be pessimistic. If one is looking to the actual performance of individual economies around the world, we are doing just fine WITHOUT adding to Wall Street greed.

I find it more than interesting the IMF is stating things are good and growth is good. The IMF is used to looking within the activity of an actual economy within an actual country. Wall Street's markets are made far more of air than actual performance. The IMF is correct and for the most part Wall Street can't get their hands on it. 

Wall Street is welcome to make trillions in profit forever, just count us out. 

February 8, 2015
By Danny Hakim

London — Did global output rise or fall last year? (click here)

It all depends on what currency you use to keep track. Measured in dollars, global growth recorded the first drop since the end of the financial crisis late in the last decade, declining by nearly 5 percent, from $77.3 trillion to $73.5 trillion. That’s largely because of the dollar’s rise, which makes the output of countries with weaker currencies seem smaller when measured in dollars.

But if you count in euros, growth soared by 13.6 percent.

The International Monetary Fund’s solution to this problem is to use a formula involving purchasing power parity (PPP), which adjusts for the relative value of currencies and their purchasing power. The I.M.F. has said world output grew 3.1 percent last year.

The I.M.F. has defended its methodology after its numbers were criticized as overly optimistic. Asked to explain its approach, a spokeswoman for the I.M.F. referred to a previous explanation offered by the fund, which said that “the greater stability of real exchange rates implied by using” the PPP formula means an estimate of global growth “is less affected by short-term changes in the relative importance of countries and regions.”...

It is a significant storm, but, it looks as though it will be moved off the USA northeast by tomorrow.

February 8, 2016
1230.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

There is some wicked wind in the center of the country.

Did I mention Haiti? Anarchy. Really?

This is offshore of the USA during the time of Daesh. Does ruling in Haiti mean the only leader is god?

February 7, 2016
By Frances Robles

Thirty years to the day after Haiti’s last dictator fled (click here) the impoverished nation as it took its first wobbly steps toward democracy, another leader stepped down Sunday, without a successor to take his place.

The president, Michel Martelly, left office amid an electoral crisis that underscored how Haiti has struggled to maintain democratic order since the 1986 ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Mr. Martelly departed at the end of his five-year term, thanks to a last-minute agreement that laid out steps to choose a provisional government to take his place. Although the agreement left major doubts about who will govern the nation in the months to come, experts hailed it as an important move toward at least temporarily resolving a political impasse that had put hundreds of protesters on the streets.

At least one person was beaten to death Friday, as former army soldiers supporting Mr. Martelly hit the streets to counter protests that demanded his ouster....

A coup? I think the USA military has their hands full in Haiti, no?

The USA has an all volunteer military. A draft can begin with a single executive order. This is not needed.

The selective service was designed for a draft. It was created 1917, just before the end of WW I. There is no need for it. 

The ground war is fought between Third World and the First World over terrorism, but, a ground war isn't going to occur between major powers. Iraq should never have happened, but, did and it wasn't because the selective service was at the ready.

“…To furnish manpower (click here) to the Defense Department during a national emergency, to manage alternative service for men classified as conscientious objectors, and to register, with only a few exceptions, all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants residing in the United States who are ages 18 through 25...”

There are about four hundred people working for the Selective Service. I am sure they can find work in other positions in the federal government.

February 6, 2016
By Binyamin Appelbaum

Washington — THE Defense Department’s decision to let women serve in every part of the military has left just one major distinction between the roles of men and women: Men are required to sign up for the draft when they turn 18. Women are not.

Selective service registration is largely symbolic. The government has not conscripted anyone since the early 1970s, and there are no plans to revive the draft. But it is hard to resist the logic that women and men should have the same responsibilities as well as the same rights.

Last week, two top military officers said they favored universal registration. “Every American who is physically qualified should register for the draft,” Gen. Robert B. Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, said at a Senate hearing.

But some economists have long preferred a different resolution: ending the registration system entirely....

The lack of earthquake resistant buildings was a surprise in Taiwan.

Next to the Haiti earthquake, this is the worst I've seen. There is reporting there were tin cans in the walls of fallen buildings? What is that all about?

Feb. 8, 2016
By J. R. Wu, and Damon Lin
Rescuers (click here) pulled out alive an eight-year-old girl and her aunt from the rubble of a Taiwan apartment block on Monday, more than 60 hours after it was toppled by a quake, as the mayor of the southern city of Tainan warned the death toll could exceed 100.
The official death toll from the quake rose to 38, with more than 100 people missing.
The girl, named as Lin Su-Chin, was conscious and had been taken to hospital, Taiwan television stations said. Her aunt, Chen Mei-jih, was rescued shortly after.
The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday) at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all the dead found in Tainan's toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building....

The government is looking at the age of the buildings, but, there were earthquake resistant buildings in 1994. It's a shame we learn lessons after the deaths of people and not aware of danger and remedies before it happens.

...Taiwan's government said in a statement 36 of the 38 dead were from the Wei-guan building, which was built in 1994....