Congratulations, Melania Trump. It was an exceptional speech.

There will be a young son in the White House should Donald Trump win the presidency.

Melania Trump stated she wrote the speech. I think it is possible for her to have a parallel life of achievement to another special woman when she was introducing her husband.

The press is sensitive to plagiarism. They'll debate the similarity of Melania's speech and Michelle Obama's speech forever.

Melania Trump is a lovely lady. She is more than capable of writing an important speech. She is also more then capable of carrying a First Lady's schedule of purpose. She may find she has to schedule in time to be her son's mother as well. She is a devoted mother and spends a good deal of time with him. The campaign leading to the results in November will bring about a different demand on her time.

I am willing to say it is nothing more than Happenstance. She loves her husband and believes in his leadership. There are limited ways of saying things. I think it is simply wrong to attack a candidate's wife.

I can't believe the venom. Well. Welcome to politics Melania Trump.

She won't find generously among many people. Perhaps I am the only one. When Hillary Clinton was at her husband's side in his first election, the attack was about baking cookies. It would be good if Melania knew which cookies she was best at baking. When John Kerry was in an election run, his wife Teresa was terribly harassed by those seeking to disqualify her from being a legitimate First Lady. Teresa Heinz-Kerry is a wealthy woman with a charmed life. She was berated because of it.

Melania Trump is now exposed to the politics of the USA and how depraved it actually is. She should not try walking on eggshells, it never works out in the long run. She'll be fine and a wonderful prospect as our next First Lady.

Okay.One last time.

Benghazi is a closed case.

It is believed a better military response could have been put forth. That came from the very first study conducted by Admiral Mullens who was the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. 

Admiral Mullens has an untarnished reputation. He also was the one military leader who went to Pakistan to speak to the President about the Haqqani network. It was the first time the Haqqani network was as much a problem as the Taliban. He went to Pakistan and spoke the unspeakable. He put his life on the line to bring a vital message to a dangerous place that the USA is not happy with any of the terrorist groups in the region. Up to that point Haqqani got a pass. They no longer are excused from sharing the instability in the region. Admiral Mullens did that.

I've always admired him. When he spoke to the public while war was raging he pulled no punches and told the truth. A rare quality. When he filed his findings on Benghazi I had complete confidence in his committee's work. Why? Because he loves this country.

How many inflammatory and political committees came after that? Eight? 19? Or was it 64 like the vote on the Affordable Care Act? CONGRESS HAS NO REPUTATION THAT UPHOLDS THEIR WORK. They are nothing but political hacks that waste the time of people working for the USA government at the cost of millions to the American taxpayer. I want the RNC and the individual campaigns to pay back those millions of WASTED dollars to the USA treasury. 

The final committee of the USA House came back with the exact same findings as the work by Admiral Mullens and his committee. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I am not going to apologize to Patricia Smith due to the death of her son. She is doing exactly what the Congress did in regard to Benghazi. She took her son's dedication and honor and bank rolled it for the Republican Party. I've heard of opportunistic stardom, but, this is shameful.

The Baton Rouge police investigation is correct to investigate every aspect of the attack on the officers.

There are some interesting parallels between Dallas, Orlando and Baton Rouge. The gunmen were well trained and came by car to kill police or in the case of Orlando, the LGBTQ community. They used military style weapons.

Their movements shows a gunman with knowledge enough to track down police and engage them. Orlando was simply a bloodbath.

I still think police should be given every advantage to save their own lives in methodologies that are current and not simply traditional. I am hearing how one officer left his safe place and put himself in danger to aid another officer. Fine. But, when the gunman continued to hunt them down it risked more deaths and there were definitely deaths achieved. Had the officer remained in place the killing might have ended.

Soldiers may simply have skills that make attacks similar. There probably is no conspiracy or central adviser. 

Police leaders have to rethink the methods of their officers, unfortunately.

It is my opinion the gunmen makes plans and uses his own intelligence gathering before embarking on these attacks. There has to be some clue as to such preparedness.

They didn't kill where they lived. They expected to get away. Let's face it, if all the police are dead or injured there won't be witnesses. These gunmen make up their minds what the outcome is going to be and I believe they intend to live through it to escape.

The USA military is trained in urban warfare and that is the techniques they are applying to their victims.

Fracking creates pollution in the air that cause asthma attacks.

The rash of fracking wells began with the Bush/Cheney Energy Policy. In order to carry out this boom all the environmental policies were suspended. The environmental laws that have protected Americans since the 1970s were disabled to allow profits.There is just no conscience only profit driven policies. No containment plans, no advanced technology, nothing to justify fracking over ride environmental policies, simply profit.

The fracking industry likes to brag the technology has been around for over 60 years. That is correct. Sixty year old technology, long before there were environmental laws. That is what a Republican administration called policy.

July 18, 2016
By Ryan W. Miller

A new study found that asthma patients in Pennsylvania (click here) living near unconventional natural gas developments, also known as fracking, were up to four times more likely to experience an asthma attack.
The study, released Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, classified asthma exacerbation into three categories: mild or needing medication, moderate or needing an emergency room visit, or severe, needing hospitalization.
Asthma patients living close to more or bigger natural gas wells had a higher risk of attacks in all three asthma stages, said lead author Sara Rasmussen, a Ph.D candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School at Public Health.
Researchers found that the greater risk showed up in all four phases of well development: pad preparation, drilling, stimulation — the actual fracturing — and production....

The American Lung Association states the very same thing I did above. The US EPA needs to end the emissions.

"Health Threats From Fracking - Related Air Pollution (click here)
























...On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers (click here) who struggle to breathe, we applaud the decision announced today to prohibit fracking in New York. We are heartened that the Administration agreed with our concern that the proposed fracking process in New York would have enabled a growth in oil and gas extraction that increased too many potential health risks, especially to the air we breathe. Yet, we recognize that oil and gas extraction, refining, transportation and use presents many risks to health, not just fracking. We look forward to seeing recommendations to strengthening protections from these processes.
Throughout this review period, the Lung Association has argued that expanded oil and gas extraction and processing, driven by fracking, would increase air pollution in the state, placing residents’ health at serious risk. We believed then and continue to believe now that there is a very real and unacceptable risk that the air emissions from increased oil and gas production would make people sick and shorten the lives of those living in communities in New York where the extraction will take place. Fracking would drive changes that would increase air pollution in areas of the state that now benefit from clean air....

This is air pollution. The flame does not solve any problem, it spews pollution, too. The noise pollution is considerable. 

The wrong decision by the judge was rendered.

The accused in the death of Freddy Grey are not guilty because they didn't know the paralysis is happening?

That is amazing.

You mean to tell me because police are not MDs they can't be held for their lack of care in habeas corpus. That is completely ridiculous. Freddy Gray lost the ability to stand and move his legs. He also stated there was something wrong at one point in his transfer.

I hope Baltimore appeals the Judge's decision. Ordinary care has to take place when a citizen is in the care of authority.

Judge Barry G. Wilson has reinforced rough treatment of citizens by the police. This is outrageous. There was plenty of evidence. A dead man is one of them.

July 14, 2016
By Kevin Rector

...Williams cleared Rice, 42, (click here) of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office in a downtown Baltimore courtroom on Monday morning. The judge had dismissed a second-degree assault charge at the trial's midpoint, and prosecutors dropped a second misconduct charge at the start.

Rice selected a bench trial rather than a jury trial, putting his legal fate in Williams' hands. He was the fourth of six officers charged in the case to go to trial.
Williams said prosecutors had failed to meet their burden of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, instead asking the court to rely on "presumptions or assumptions" — something it cannot do. He said the court "cannot be swayed by sympathy, prejudice or public opinion."...

New study on elephants.

Room to roam is nice, but, social interactions are more important. I think the zoos involved need to assess their current acres of land and determine who best can support more elephants to relieve what appears to be anxiety when alone.

July 14, 2016
By Pat Bailey

...The full research collection (click here) contains studies on elephant welfare factors including behavior, body condition, foot-and-joint health, female reproductive function and walking distance.
Some of the results confirmed the researchers’ expectations. For example one of the studies found that spending time on hard flooring was the No. 1 risk factor for both foot and musculoskeletal health problems, which were common in the elephant population.
Other findings revealed previously unknown links between elephant management and welfare. For example, a research team led by Joy Mench, professor in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science, and graduate student Brian Greco found that more than three-quarters of the elephants studied performed stereotypic behaviors such as swaying or rocking.
These types of behaviors are considered to be among the most important behavioral indicators that the welfare of a captive animal is compromised, but their causes are difficult to pinpoint....

New study on elephants.

Room to roam is nice, but, social interactions are more important. I think the zoos involved need to assess their current acres of land and determine who best can support more elephants to relieve what appears to be anxiety when alone.

July 14, 2016
By Pat Bailey

...The full research collection (click here) contains studies on elephant welfare factors including behavior, body condition, foot-and-joint health, female reproductive function and walking distance.
Some of the results confirmed the researchers’ expectations. For example one of the studies found that spending time on hard flooring was the No. 1 risk factor for both foot and musculoskeletal health problems, which were common in the elephant population.
Other findings revealed previously unknown links between elephant management and welfare. For example, a research team led by Joy Mench, professor in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science, and graduate student Brian Greco found that more than three-quarters of the elephants studied performed stereotypic behaviors such as swaying or rocking.
These types of behaviors are considered to be among the most important behavioral indicators that the welfare of a captive animal is compromised, but their causes are difficult to pinpoint....

Interesting, today is the last day of "The National Black Police Association" convention (click here).

The organization will hold a national education and training conference from July 31 thru August 7, 2016. 

It would be good if media and government would turn to such organizations for perspective when emergencies in the country occur. I think organizations representing minorities in the USA should be the first spokes persons during such emergencies.

If anyone is looking for the establishment Republican party it won't be found in Cleveland, Ohio. This is finally the Tea Party convention.

I take it the NRA won't be speaking at the Republican Convention. 

"W"rong.

July 16, 2016

"On behalf of the five million men (click here) and women of the National Rifle Association, it's an honor to be asked to speak at the Republican Convention.  Donald Trump strongly believes in our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms.  Hillary Clinton does not—she said the Supreme Court was wrong when it said law-abiding Americans have the right to keep a firearm in our homes for self-protection.  For voters who believe in their constitutional freedoms, the choice in this presidential election is clear—that choice is Donald Trump." — Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director....

It will be interesting to find out what part of the American landscape where guns are prohibited. Currently, the NRA is calling for guns in schools.

I think Donald Trump has the right idea when it comes to hair. I am looking forward to the hair oil company that endorses Mike Pence.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Black Lives Matter" is a cliché and nothing more. This petition is political and designed to create inflammatory mockery of the White House as to it's loyalty to black people in the USA.

Those that brought this petition and promoted it should be ashamed of themselves.

..."I think it's important (click here) for us to also understand that the phrase 'black lives matter' simply refers to the notion that there's a specific vulnerability for African Americans that needs to be addressed," the president said last week, talking to a Washington, D.C. gathering of enforcement officials, civil rights leaders, elected officials and other activists on the issue of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. "We shouldn't get too caught up in this notion that somehow people who are asking for fair treatment are somehow, automatically, anti-police, are trying to only look out for black lives as opposed to others. I think we have to be careful about playing that game."...

The cliché, "Black Lives Matter" developed out of the need for a commonality with the deaths of innocent black men. Those deaths still exist as legitimate over reaching by authority. The cliché sought to identify a reason why so many black men were dying without reason. The people affiliated with the words "Black Lives Matter" still have an unfulfilled mission in that methodologies need to be tried to eliminate the degree black men die over white men due to gun violence. There is a problem. A deadly problem. There needs to be a solution. That hasn't been found yet.

Baton Rouge, La., July 17 (Reuters) - A decorated ex-U.S. Marine sergeant (click here) opened fire on police in Baton Rouge on Sunday, killing three officers, nearly two weeks after the fatal police shooting of a black man there sparked nationwide protests, one of which was shattered by the massacre of five Dallas policemen.
The suspect, dressed in black and armed with a rifle, was himself shot to death minutes later in a gunfight with police who converged on the scene of a confrontation that Mayor Kip Holden said began as an "ambush-style" attack on officers....

One gunman is not a movement to end the unjustified killing of black men in the USA. There are going to be mimics. There is not a lot that can be done about that short of better domestic intelligence.

There are too many guns on the street in the USA and it has police poised for to kill at first glance. The police officers killed recently needs to be a wake up call to the lethal permission Americans can own guns.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

12.9 day old moon

96.3 percent lit

July 17, 2016
By Dennis Mammana

There are few things (click here) in nature I enjoy more than watching a massive full moon rising over the horizon. This is truly a treat everyone should experience at least once, and when you do you’ll surely raise the same question as every other moon gazer: “Why does the moon appear so large when it’s rising, and smaller when overhead?”

A simple question without a simple answer.

Many believe the Earth’s atmosphere somehow acts like a lens and magnifies the moon’s appearance, but this is just as wrong now as it was when Ptolemy suggested it 20 centuries ago.

More likely is that it’s related to how we humans have evolved to perceive rigid objects appearing near the horizon.

Whatever the cause, try estimating the moon’s size the last time you saw it rising in the east and compare it to a familiar object — say, your hand. For example, hold your little finger at arm’s length and it will subtend to your eye an approximate angle of one degree; your fist also at arm’s length will appear about 10 degrees across....