Congratulations. We have a great country.

March 31, 2016
By Rachel Feltman

Zika, the mosquito-borne virus (click here) linked to microcephaly in the fetuses of infected women, just lost a little bit of its edge to researchers. On Thursday, a Purdue University team published the virus's structure for the first time in the journal Science.

By outlining the physical structure of the virus in near-atomic detail, they have made it possible for scientists to determine the unique properties that make Zika so dangerous — and how those abilities might be knocked out with vaccines and treatments.

Zika is a flavivirus — a member of the same family as other mosquito-borne illnesses, such as dengue, West Nile and yellow fever — and its strong similarity with those better-understood viruses was confirmed in the study. But scientists are most interested in what makes Zika different....

It is a very unique addition to the Flavivirus. Every one of them are killers, though.

The research facility handling this virus research has to be very secure. Is there any chance Sandoz has IgG for similar virus. 

...It shares a basic structure with all flaviviruses: Genetic info in the form of RNA is surrounded by a fatty membrane, then encased in a protein shell with a 20-sided face. The protein shells are made of 180 copies of two different proteins, each composed of chains of different amino acids. Once inside a target cell, the virus breaks apart and forces the host to do its bidding, replacing the instructions coded into the cell's DNA with those programmed by viral RNA....

...Zika differs most from other flaviviruses at a spot thought to be crucial to the cellular break-in. At this site, a carbohydrate molecule — made of different sugars — sits on the virus's protein shell. The so-called glycosylation site where Zika differs actually protrudes from the shell of the virus....

The carbohydrate surprises me. It doesn't consume carbohydrates or lipids. If I remember correctly, brain tissue loves carbohydrates. The virus is highly specialized. The amino acids make sense. The carbohydrate molecule has to be where it assaults the DNA of the gamete. That carbohydrate stem probably has a consistent shape and structure. I would think if an antibody and/or a vaccine can attach to that carbohydrate stem it will remove the virus' capacity.

Is every of the 20 surfaces the same? Are there variations in one plate to another? Is every surface capable of attaching to the victim cell? The only reason I can think of such structure exists is if the surface is identical on every one of the twenty surface, it is an opportunistic virus that simply bumps into a host cell and attaches. It has no other motility except bumping around the body's fluids. The host cell gateway has to be duplicated to be available outside the cell. 

When the virus thinks it entered the host cell, the protein shell breaks down. If that dynamic can be captured outside the cell it can be defeated. It will spontaneously destroy it's own protein shell as soon as it understands it is in the cell, ie: carbohydrate stem.

How long does this virus live within the body? Let's say there are no host cells available, will the virus die in a short period of time or does it have longevity to allow an opportunity to occur.

If a vaccine can be achieved it will have to be produced in significant amounts. It has to protect every man and woman from contracting the virus. 

By Mayo Clinic Staff

No antiviral medications have proved helpful in treating yellow fever. As a result, treatment consists primarily of supportive care in a hospital. This includes providing fluids and oxygen, maintaining adequate blood pressure, replacing blood loss, providing dialysis for kidney failure, and treating any other infections that develop. Some people receive transfusions of plasma to replace blood proteins that improve clotting.

If you have yellow fever, your doctor will likely recommend that you stay inside, away from mosquitoes, to avoid transmitting the disease to others. Once you've have yellow fever, you'll be immune to the disease for the rest of your life....

There is a difference between medication and vaccine. There is a very good chance the people that contracted the virus were in lesser than optimal health and were not vaccinated for yellow fever. If they were vaccinated than it speaks to the specialized nature of the virus. 

...A single dose of the yellow fever vaccine provides protection for at least 10 years. Side effects are usually mild, lasting five to 10 days, and may include headaches, low-grade fevers, muscle pain, fatigue and soreness at the site of injection. More-significant reactions — such as developing a syndrome similar to actual yellow fever, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) or death — can occur, most often in infants and older adults. The vaccine is considered safest for those between the ages of 9 months and 60 years....

What is the chance other vaccines will act upon it?

My last thought is the parents. Do they have an antibody to the virus now that they survived it?

Good luck.

Blame CNN, they state "sore loser" laws can be overcome.

August 13, 2015
By Tal Kopan

Washington (CNN) Current Republican (click here) presidential hopeful Donald Trump won't rule out running as a third-party candidate for president should he fail to secure the Republican nomination -- but he'll have to beat obstacles in every state, including some "sore loser" laws.

Still, it's not impossible. In 1980, John Anderson pulled out of the Republican primary and ran unsuccessfully as an independent, appearing on all 50 states' ballots. In 1992, Ross Perot mounted a third-party bid that had him on all 50 states' ballots. In 2012, Gary Johnson began as a Republican candidate, but ended up running as a Libertarian -- making the ballot in 48 states and the District of Columbia....

I don't think Donald Trump is losing sleep over this. Did Ross Perot run for the Republican candidate? I thought he was only a third party candidate. Perot really tried to save the country from adverse outcomes, but, he lost.

Ballotpedia: Ballotpedia has email updates. In case it's important to the story.

"Sore loser" laws for presidential candidates (click here)

Inconsistency can be really irritating, huh? My sympathies.

An anonymous submission to "Wikileaks" would have worked as well.

March 28, 2016
By Steven Nelson

A lawyer who represented (click here) the so-called “D.C. madam” says he has phone records that could influence the outcome of the presidential election, and he’s threatening to release one or more names on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court if he’s denied a hearing on his right to distribute them.

Montgomery Blair Sibley, the late madam Deborah Palfrey’s colorful attorney, has been subject to a restraining order since 2007 barring him from releasing the information, which he says includes 815 names, addresses and Social Security numbers of Verizon Wireless customers.

“Time is of the essence because people are casting votes in primaries and caucuses,” he says. “I believe this information is relevant to that political discourse.”...

I hope it goes well at the Supreme Court.

Here it is, 42 percent. It appears to be from 2014.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr., Managing Editor, The James L. Paris Report

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (click here) from which we all receive the “official” number each month, unemployment in America is at 5.3 percent (as of May), which is a relatively decisive drop from the 6.1 percent mark at which the BLS declared the level to sit in May of 2014. However, the unemployment rate has become very much a function of the eye of the beholder…and it all depends, it seems, on just what prism through which the beholder is looking....

Who knew? The brilliant man behind these figures states there is mystery in the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A, ha. Politicians cannot be trusted with our hearts and facts about why we are suffering so much on a day to day basis.

For example, let’s talk briefly about the difference between U-3 and U-6 unemployment rates....

Defund the Secretary of Labor!

The government (click here) reports today that unemployment is officially at 5.3 percent in May, down from 6.1 percent in May of last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor. Former Reagan administration Budget Director, David Stockman, says the real unemployment rate in the United States is now about 42.9 percent. Could our real unemployment rate really be that high?...

'I doubt this study will be find itself to the national presidential debates.

The difference between the two candidates when it comes to funding is obvious. However, a candidate for the presidency has to take their funding seriously. Hillary Clinton believes in her leadership for the USA. Realizing that, she would have been foolish to toss out her methods of fund raising. Why would she sabotage herself in hopes she could meet Senator Sanders abilities.

She is correct to run on the funding she finds.

She has to make it clear her fundraising will not cause favoritism in her service to the country. Bernie Sanders does not have to do that. He has little to no conflict of interest.

This issue is important because the country has seen the status quo at work that left so many without homes, hope or even a job. The country doesn't want it anymore. Bernie Sanders is the new model for candidacy. 

What Senator Sanders has proven is, that if a candidate devotes their political career to serving the people it will carry him all the way to a bid for the presidency.

Senator Bernie Sanders is a phenomena few could duplicate. This is Senator Sanders life time federal funding. From 1989 to present. He runs on small cash donors. Amazing. This is home for him. He knew when he embarked on the presidency he was going to receive the monies for his campaign. He is unique and amazing. It must feel great to know voters clamor to his side with donations they can afford and as a result he serves them exclusively.

Hillary Clinton is a former Secretary of State (click here) and former Democratic senator for New York. The wife of former President Bill Clinton, she was a 2008 candidate for her party's presidential nomination. She lost that race to a relative newcomer on the scene, fellow Sen. Barack Obama, during a contentious primary season -- but went on to lead the State Department for the entirety of his first term.

Real Clear Politics

The three candidates (click here) pulled in voters with the narrowing field. Donald Trump and John Kasich appears to have met a plateau while Ted Cruz hasn't met one yet.

In 2012, the woman voter determined the elections. (click here)

What is the one country with nuclear weapons and plenty of them that pose a real threat to the world?

Pakistan.

Where did Osama bin Laden live?

If India decides to develop a nuclear weapon, what is the chance Pakistan will ever deweaponize from nucks?

The seismic activity in Pakistan alone is scary. I'm waiting for another Chernobyl.

The United Nations Security Council needs to have a sincere discussion with Secretary Kerry, India and Pakistan.

This was Secretary Kerry two days ago. INDIA IS NOT ONE OF THE PERMANENT MEMBERS, but, hey they are strategic to Russia and China.

March 31, 2016

Kerry said Mr. Obama has called (click here) the relationship with India a defining relationship of this century, and there are many reasons for that.

India has an important role to play in responsible stewardship of nuclear weapons and materials, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington where he will attend the two-day Nuclear Security Summit.

“India has a long record of being a leader, of being responsible, and it is particularly important right now at a time when we see some choices being made in the region that may accelerate possible arms construction, which we have serious questions about,” Mr. Kerry said as he met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.

“India has a very important role to play with respect to responsible stewardship of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials,” Mr. Kerry said on Wednesday, adding that the U.S. has raised these issues with various partners in the region.

Someone want to explain this because it is definitely outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The very treaty the Iran agreement is built on.

If the media doesn't want to talk about nukes in an honest way, then don't talk about them at all!

Republicans and I don't care who it is, drool over nuclear weapons. It is a part of their political ideology.

The "W" administration had exactly the same view, "There are so many countries with nuclear capacity, it will happen." Same thing. Same idea. 

"W" went on foreign trips to places like India and proliferated nuclear power.

February 13, 2015
By Amitai Etzioni

...The U.S. long (click here) considered India to be the leader of the non-aligned camp and held that it was tilting toward the USSR and, later, toward Russia. India purchased most of its weapons from Russia, and it had a pseudo-socialist economic regime. The U.S. tilted toward Pakistan throughout the Cold War and in the years that followed. However, following the rise of China, the George W. Bush administration decided to lure India into the West’s camp and draw on it to help contain China. Bush therefore offered India civil nuclear technology and access to uranium, the fuel it needed for nuclear power reactors. The Indian government agreed to sign a 123 Agreement (or the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement), but the deal ran into considerable opposition within India. Hence the resulting impasse, which Obama has now helped resolve....

Okay, talking heads can stop the lies now. The fact is that Donald Trump is well studied of the "W" administration. 

Where were the appauling statements during the time of "W" and Darth Vadar. You know the man who outed Valerie Plame.

Don't tell me Donald Trump is new, he very much is not!

There has been a long held belief by the Cheney's of the world, a ground war between Europe and Russia included ground level nucks.

Has so much generational change occurred that no one understands Republican stance on nuclear war? During the entire "W" administration there were media talks about the power of a nuclear bomb wasn't all that. CNN portrayed the nuclear explosion in Japan was not complete destruction and people lived through it. They showed all kinds of bodies and their injuries, but, the fact they survived was emphasized.

There is no ignorance here with Trump. This has been standard dialogue with Republicans.

Now. I want to hear how the media is going to discuss the idea of "limited nuclear war" with Republicans vs. a global peace with Democrats. Who in the Democratic party actually sees global peace as a potential?

The anti-Trump movement is about the candidate and NOT the antiquated ideologies of the Establishment Republican Party. As a matter of fact the knee jerk reaction to Donald Trump's success to date has been to use large amounts of money to defeat him. Why? He is emulating every Republican ideology for as long as the Republican Party existed post Lincoln. The fact is the establishment Republican is afraid of Donald Trump because he might actually improve the circumstances of the impoverished Red States and OMG it is going to hack into their profit structure and then what will the rest of their family do for an income.

May 9, 1990

By Melissa Healy

Calgary, Canada — Defense Secretary Dick Cheney (click here) warned Tuesday that in spite of political changes that have caused the "demise" of the Warsaw Pact as a military threat, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should not renounce the first use of nuclear weapons in a European ground war.

Speaking to reporters on the way to a meeting of NATO's Nuclear Planning Group here, Cheney said, "I would not give . . . up" the threat to initiate a nuclear war in Europe.

Cheney's comments come less than a week after President Bush called for negotiations to reduce or eliminate short-range, ground-launched nuclear weapons in Europe and announced that the United States will discontinue the modernization of such weapons. His remarks also are the first indication of the Bush Administration's position on one of the most politically charged issues that the NATO alliance faces.

Cheney and his NATO counterparts gathered here to begin discussions today on the alliance's future nuclear needs and policies. The 14 NATO defense ministers who take part in the alliance's Nuclear Planning Group are expected to order a sweeping review designed to guide arms negotiations and modernization plans....

What is the purpose besides depriving the front runner of his nomination. What will come of it? Confusion and decent?

 March 22, 2016
By Leigh Ann Caldwell

Efforts to derail (click here) the momentum of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump have been financed by a small number of Republican donors. Just two families have financed nearly two-thirds - 62 percent - of the total efforts by two of the main organizations attempting to stop the nomination of Trump.
The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs, and the Stephens family, Arkansas based investors, have given a total of $8.25 million in January and February to two super PACs this year, according to the latest filings to the Federal Election Committee.
Our Principles PAC has collected $7.78 million dollars since its inception in January. Of that, $5 million, or 64 percent, is from Joe and Marlene Ricketts, owners of the Chicago Cubs and founders of TD Ameritrade...

The Kochs are thinking about joining the anti-Trump movement. It is a corrupt set of values. Why should a few families have the power to direct a political party in the USA? 

I still say this supposed movement to stop Donald Trump from realizing his goals of winning the nomination is nothing but corruption and speaks to the wayward values of the establishment Republicans. 

It is all about control for the wealth.

In 1995 Joe Ricketts (click here) merged his Nebraska-based discount stock brokerage with a small online trading firm to form Ameritrade, and took it public two years later. In 2006, Ricketts led AmeritradeA to acquire TD Waterhouse for $1.7 billion, and renamed the company TD Ameritrade. Ricketts stepped down as chairman in 2008; he and his family own just under 12% of the company and his son Todd sits on the board....

It is all corruption by the wealthy. There is not 47 percent here and they want to keep it that way. The question is, who is hijacking the Republican Party and it's process to the convention?

About Stevens (click here)

It is private money, but, it isn't money in a private market and exclusive interests. The anti-Trump CAPITALISTS are scared of losing a dime or two. The are the equivalent of Romney and Bain Capital.

I never thought I'd be on the same side with Sarah Palin, but, these guys need to be stopped. They could not care less about the little guy who is holding on to a dream with Donald Trump. 

Donald Trump is not making money, he has dedicated himself to an honest fight. Ricketts and Stevens are nothing but corruption and power leveraging. The circumstances of the people standing with Trump won't change and it needs to change. Even the Democrats would agree these folks need a break.

Elon Musk is the genius behind the machines.

I have a suggestion for him. For the people that have believed in Tesla's vision there should be a special offer to make them happy. 

Lease the cars Tesla already has produced. Find as reasonable a lease price as can be found and lease the current Tesla on the road today to ONLY those that have invested in the future in waiting for the Model 3.

It is an exclusive offer. It is designed to maintain liquidity in the company going forward as well as a solid base interested in the Model 3. When the Model 3 is ready the consumers can purchase their Model 3 and Tesla receives their rentals back and can sell them as Pre-Owned. 

It is only a suggestion. I hope Space X solves it's problems with a landing platform at sea. It is a tricky model. Landing on fluid is a real accomplishment.

April 1, 2016
by Michael Hiltzik

With his vrauvura introduction (click here) of the Tesla Motors Model 3 on Thursday, company founder Elon Musk cemented his reputation as the business world's most outstanding showman since Steve Jobs.
 Musk had auto industry experts, investment analysts and would-be buyers of the $35,000 electric vehicle slavering over the car's design and specs — and the company's future —in part by announcing that as of Friday, at least 180,000 potential customers already had plunked down deposits of $1,000 each to reserve the car.
Tesla shares, which may rank as Musk's most creative product, opened Friday at $244.82, up 6.5% from Thursday's close (though it had given up about half of that gain by midday). Friday's action followed a mind-bending 60% run-up dating back to Feb. 10, when Tesla posted a disappointing loss but Musk somehow charmed investors into accepting his promise of profits to come soon and his optimism about the coming unveiling of the Model 3.
They should all take a deep breath....


continued...

Just to note...

...Donald Trump is winning with Republican Hispanics because of his tax plan.

Preparedness for the USA fire season should be organized today, not when it begins.

April 1, 2016
By Peter Hannam

...Sydney broke a slew of records last month, (click here) including the highest average minimum temperatures and seven nights when the mercury stayed above 22 degrees (71.6 F)....

The danger of heat is best understood in the cooling rates and coolest temperatures in the course of a day. The daytime temperatures can be high, but, if the nighttime temperatures are cool, the following day's infrared temperatures has a longer time to reach dangerous increases.

...A spell of wetter weather in the second half of the month meant the city's daytime temperatures came in only fourth-highest for March. The city, though, broke records for the most days in a row of 24, 25, 26 and 27 degrees "reflecting a prolonged period of warmth in coastal NSW", the bureau said.

The abnormal heat is hardly a one-month wonder. The October-March period in Sydney has been two degrees warmer than average for maximum temperatures, making it the hottest such period in more than 150 years of records, Acacia Pepler, a climatologist at the bureau, said....

These temperatures in Sydney are instructive. Sydney is a city. Cities are heat islands. The fact Sydney's coolest temperatures were still high provides a window to what can be expected as the direct solar rays reach into the USA's cities and towns.

Water vapor mitigates heat. With drier air comes higher temperatures.

Drier air is it's own concern because people feel less heat with less water vapor. Hydration in high heat is important, regardless of humidity.

The latest hypothetical vocabulary word at FOX is SCIF. It is about security in areas of a building such as the President's office. There are no conclusions at FOX that matters because the email issue is not occurring in isolation from interaction with federal security authorities.

Simply stated, (click here) a SCIF is a U.S. Government accredited facility where Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) can be stored, discussed or electronically processed. Primarily Government and government-related contractors that require high security have the need for SCIFs. The areas of concern and special attention typically include physical security and hardening, acoustics controls, visual controls, access control, electronic and TEMPEST security....

...All telephone, electrical power, security systems, data and emergency systems equipment must be dedicated to and contained within the SCIF. Any utility that enters the SCIF should terminate in the SCIF and not traverse through the space. Where the conduit for any of these systems penetrate the SCIF perimeter, they must be treated to minimize the chance of compromise....

A SCIF is not sterile of all forms of communication; nothing in the security is perfect. The definition of the purpose of a SCIF ends doubt about her innocence simply because every effort has to MINIMIZE any threat to security. She and her staff met with federal security specialists and sought to minimize any threat of leaks, etc.

Unless things have changed since March 22, 2016, experts state there is little chance for charges regarding State Department emails.

March 22, 2016

By the AP
Washington — Asked earlier this month (click here) whether she'd be indicted over her use of a private email server as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton responded, "It's not going to happen."
Though Republicans characterized her response as hubris, several legal experts interviewed by The Associated Press agreed with the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The relatively few laws that govern the handling of classified materials were generally written to cover spies, leakers and those who illegally retain such information, such as at home. Though the view is not unanimous, several lawyers who specialize in this area said it's a stretch to apply existing statutes to a former cabinet secretary whose communication of sensitive materials was with aides — not a national enemy....

There are several renditions of the charges waiting for Hillary Clinton while she is running for the presidential nominee for the Democrats. The latest email talks state the former Secretary used her Blackberry in classified areas such as her office at the State Department.

There were meetings with security specialists by the Secretary and her staff with the federal government by the Clinton State Department Office. She wanted to use her Blackberry no different than President Obama. It is understandable with President Obama using his Blackberry, his Cabinet would be using the same technology in communications for work purposes. 

The final experts are the FBI and judges that may be reviewing the investigation. It is stated there are many FBI employees working on this issue so it is likely it will be finalized soon. What underlies this election issue for Hillary Clinton is the fact there were no leaks of her material. The idea her communications were not secure is all imagineering at this point. 

Hypotheticals don't count in criminal investigations. And the fact she and her staff met with federal security personnel places any negligent charges on the extremes of possibility. She and the staff knew they were handling important material and took it seriously enough to consult with federal authorities. I just don't see any problems at this time.

For the sake of argument, let's say there is a change of negligence, does that end her candidacy. I think not. She and any member of her staff are still facing due process. I doubt any due process will end by the conventions or even November. The Democrats need to decide if a due process problem would factor into her run for the presidency into November. Who's Vice President?

The Pro-Life/Anti-Abortion Movement lies about prison of women.

There is an entry on this blog from yesterday proving the Pro-Life movement NOW CURRENTLY TODAY imprisons pregnant women under the guise of drug control that would effect the fetus or baby.

The idea Donald Trump doesn't know his constituents is a lie. He knows them completely and while the Pro-Life Movement came out to criticize him, it was only due to the fact they lie and hide their true agenda.

Pro-Life wants a fetus to have more rights than the pregnant woman. Locking women in prison while pregnant supposedly to benefit the fetus is such a lie. The pregnant woman gets no pre-natal care and no rehabilitation for drug abuse that can not only end the abuse for the duration of the pregnancy, but, will provide for healthy and hopeful motherhood.

THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT WANTS TO CHARGE WOMEN WHO GETS AN ABORTION WITH MURDER. That is a fact and that is what Donald Trump understood and spoke to in his interview.

The woman in Wisconsin imprisoned for a positive blood test or a urine test for controlled drugs is not a drug issue, it is a pregnancy issue. She was imprisoned because she was pregnant not because she was charged with drug use with a court date for a hearing. She was placed in prison because she talked to a doctor about her pregnancy and the fact she only recently stopped her drug abuse. If she wasn't pregnant she would not be in the doctor's office.

Pro-Life is lying to the electorate. They hide their agenda. Kindly get that right. They want women in prison for having an abortion. As far as Pro-Life is concerned if the doctors are imprisoned then it is all the better.

Look at what they have done in Texas. Sure they closed clinics, but, now a doctor willing to perform abortions has to have admitting privileges to a hospital. That isn't making it easier for women to obtain care when they have an unwanted pregnancy. It makes it more difficult and increases the cost for the actual abortion as well as the travel time and expense and probably a hotel room over night before returning home.

Don't ever believe the Pro-Life/Anti-abortion Movement is finished in rolling back legal abortions to 20 weeks. They are long from finished with it.

Donald Trump was spot on when he states he would consider punishment for the woman. He knows his constituency and the method of punishment would have to be determined when his bill was entered in Congress.

And this is no joke. There are real women with lives and the Pro-Life Movement has no problem with destroying their lives with prison time.

The complete arrogance of the Pro-Life bitches is unbelievable. But, I suppose if they are investing huge amounts of money to have Congressmen pass exactly that kind of legislation, they need to be a bitch.

They should try a quilting bee rather than instigating trouble in other women's lives

What happens to a woman when they want an abortion after 20 weeks? Is the country that ignorant to realize women are seeking abortions anyway? Today, even under legal abortions up to 20 weeks. They are seeking abortions anyway. I am quite sure there are statistics in health records in the USA that have women deaths due to complications of illegal abortions.