I worry about a shifting baseline with changing regimes in Washington, DC.

World Health Organization "Lead in Drinking Water" (click here)

ug/L is shorthand for micrograms per liter.

1 ug/L = 1 ppb (parts per billion)

I think Flint residents are no different than most Americans in that they don't want lead at all in the water. There is mistrust in government and it is not unique to Flint, Michigan.

Flint's pipes have yet to be completely replaced so the city remains compromised. They are not compromised because of old pipes, they are compromised because Governor Rick Snyder allowed the Flint River to flow through the old pipes without any corrosion control. NEGLIGENCE. Rick Snyder and his administration received letters from the US EPA and completely ignored it. Governor Rick Snyder decided to ignore the letters and decided to never spend a thin dime on safe water for Flint.

Most Americans are drinking processed water. At least Flint is joining the rest of the country with help in obtaining safe water. There are new jobs coming to Flint. Those jobs will help the people of Flint continue to afford safe water.

The pipes have to be replaced because they were made unsafe by a Governor who is far less interested in African Americans than others in communities nearby.

September 15, 2017
By Joe Guillen

New test results (click here) show Flint's water meets federal regulations for lead, but residents still are cautioned to use filters and bottled water to curtail lead exposure, according to a leading researcher who is credited with helping to expose the Flint water crisis two years ago.

Virginia Tech College of Engineering professor Marc Edwards lead a team that found in 138 Flint homes a 90th percentile lead level of 9.8 parts per billion -- below the federal Lead and Copper Rule's action level of 15 parts per billion.

Flint water samples taken in August 2015 were at 31 parts per billion....

Sad news today. Basi, the well cared for Panda, has died at the age of 37.

September 14, 2017

By Kelly McCarthy

The world's oldest captive giant panda Basi (click here) has died, her keepers in Fuzhou, southeast China announced Thursday.

"With a heavy heart, we solemnly announce today that giant panda star Basi died at 8:50am at the age of 37," an official from the Straits Giant Panda

Research and Exchange Centre in Fuzhou said.

Basi first became sick in July and developed irreversible liver damage, according to the research center.

She lived to the equivalent of more than 100 years old in human years, surpassing all other pandas she lived with in captivity.       

This is Oklahoma. While on the subject of American denial as an economic strategy.

The price to pay for hydraulic fracking for natural gas is chronic earthquakes. Below is Pennsylvania. It is just getting started. As the land becomes more unstable, the frequency of earthquakes picks up.

Pennsylvania has a far shorter history of fracking than Oklahoma.

Americans, otherwise known as environmentalists, won a court case in Pennsylvania in late 2016. Shortly thereafter the laws of the state were rewritten. I strongly suggest the Americans that litigated against Pennsylvania last year consider that venue to continue to limit and eliminate the practice of hydraulic fracturing.

The worst nightmare of most geologists in the USA occurred last year when a seismic occurrence in Oklahoma caused a crack and tremors all the way to Iowa. That was cracking the craton. That should be the worry of all Americans, not just those in Pennsylvania or Iowa.

There is at least one American that can recognize this political platform.

Any guesses as to whom that might be? The name of the party is magnificent. I don't know why it is not the political party name today.

1. Government ought to move in the direction of assuring that the wealth and resources of the world will be used to provide a materially secure life for all people on the planet— including opportunities for universal health care, quality child care, and education from birth to death—simultaneously preserving the planet and its resources for future generations.

2. Democracy should exist at all times in all the processes of society.

3. Everyone should have the right of choice and privacy, free from government interference, as long as these choices do not negatively infringe upon or cause personal harm to others.

4. Everyone should have socially productive and personally satisfying work available and a universal basic income (UBI) generating a real sense of security.

5. Everyone is entitled to a fair rate of return for their labor and that rate of return should be the same for everyone.

6. All genders should be treated with respect and dignity having equal rights and sharing equal responsibilities.

7. Senior citizens are valuable and important members of society and should have the right to meaningful participation in society, free from economic deprivation.

8. Nuclear power is intolerably and incurably unsafe. We oppose the existence and construction of nuclear power plants. It is imperative that all nuclear power plants be decommissioned immediately in the least hazardous manner, with environmentally responsible clean-up of all nuclear waste and all resulting costs borne by the investors. We further demand that research, production, testing, deployment and sale of ALL weapons including nuclear, depleted uranium, biological, chemical and reactor waste immediately cease. We demand a universal conversion to alternative renewable energy sources.

9. It is wrong for any country to take advantage of the labor and resources of any other country.

10. Utilities, communication services—internet and phone, and transportation services, are necessities which must be available and affordable to all....

Here is the answer:

11. The following (click here) “Declaration of Independence from Government Dictation of Conscience” is an historic document of the Liberty Union Party. It was written in the throes of the “American War in Vietnam,” during the era of the so-called Cold War with the (then) Soviet Union. The language reflects this context. 

US Senator Bernie Sanders if very familiar with the "Liberty Union Party." This is their platform. 

Ah, to be an American.

As a note to Russians, if the country fails because Putin could not get disentangled from his own politics; there is money to be made.

Don't let Americans beat you to it.

This is the largest and most recently (click here) acquired collection of Soviet documents at Harvard. It consists of materials microfilmed in Russian central archives since 1992. Most of the microfilm is of finding aids (opisi) for three of the most important Moscow archives -- the Center for Storage of Modern Documentation (TsKhSD), the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI), and the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF). These finding aids will be of tremendous use to anyone planning a research trip to Moscow.

This web site, however, will deal only with actual documents (as opposed to finding aids) microfilmed for the collection and present at Harvard as of the summer of 2002 (microfilming continues and new documents are still arriving). Modern Russian archives are generally organized as follows....              

It has been a couple of days in the making, but, there is another storm off Africa.

September 15, 2017
1430.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of the north and east hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

There is no oscillation relationship between the two storms. They are free standing. That is obvious in the satellite image.

Jose is moving north, a full degree in the past 12 hours. It moved west more than a degree in the same time period. The central pressure and wind speed have been consistent a full day.

Jose's record begins on September 5th at 12 noon. That is a full ten days this storm has existed. Jose is not going anywhere. The top end wind speed of a tropical storm category is 63 knots (about 72.5 mph). Of course, the next category is Hurricane 1. The bottom end of wind speed for a Cat. 1 is 64 knots (about 73.6 mph). Jose will bounce around those two categories going forward.

Jose is in the open ocean right now. There is nothing to degrade the velocity of the central pressure. The heat is sufficient in the troposphere and ocean that the physics of these storms are not resolved quickly. Jose is an excellent example of that. Hurricanes usually transmit heat from the troposphere to the ocean waters. That is compromised in the Gulf and that appears to be the case with this storm in the Atlantic. Of course, Irma entered waters near Florida effected by the Gulf and the Gulf Stream. 

Jose

25.30 -65.60 09/13/18Z 65 988 HURRICANE-1
25.20 -66.00 09/14/00Z 70 985 HURRICANE-1
25.10 -66.50 09/14/06Z 65 986 HURRICANE-1
24.90 -66.60 09/14/12Z 60 989 TROPICAL STORM
25.20 -67.30 09/14/18Z 60 989 TROPICAL STORM
25.50 -68.00 09/15/00Z 60 989 TROPICAL STORM
25.90 -68.70 09/15/06Z 60 989 TROPICAL STORM
26.50 -69.40 09/15/12Z 60 989 TROPICAL STORM

Fourteen will make it to Tropical Storm status. Once at that level it might have a life beyond a few days.

Tropical Depression Fourteen

10.70 -25.40 09/15/00Z 30 1010 TROPICAL DEPRESSION
10.60 -27.30 09/15/06Z 30 1008 TROPICAL DEPRESSION
11.40 -28.30 09/15/12Z 30 1008 TROPICAL DEPRESSION

The center of the USA is beginning to see a build up of air that is manifesting a new vortex. It is somewhat populated with water vapor and could become a real problem. The jet stream is not as effective as it was a few days ago. We are hitting some stagnation again.

Irma was the storm that cleared the air. The jet stream was back, the country's skies were clear, except for the Caribbean and Florida.

To reflect on the size and velocity of Irma and the effect on the planet, especially the North American continent is to realize the degree Earth has a problem with it's physics.

Irma let us know Earth still has a jet stream.

Talk about corporate welfare; they really are arrogant about spending government money.

These folks have no reverence for the government, do they? They don't respect the American people. They figure they are paying the freight anyway, more than most Americans, so why not use it? $20 trillion in debt is nothing for people that have 10 percent value of that debt in assets available to them.

Amazing. They should know they are not held in esteem by the American peole when they walk all over us.


14 September 2017

US Treasury Secretary (click here) Steven Mnuchin asked to use a government plane for his European honeymoon last month, his office has confirmed.

The request sparked an inquiry from the department's inspector general, and comes as he already faces scrutiny over the use of another military aircraft.

His spokesman said the plane was needed to ensure that he had a secure line of communication to the White House.

But the request was later withdrawn, the spokesman added in a statement.

"It is imperative that he have access to secure communications, and it is our practice to consider a wide range of options to ensure he has these capabilities during his travel, including the possible use of military aircraft," a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Government jets are typically only used by the secretary of state or secretary of defence,who both deal directly with national security matters....

I see this a little differently. Evacuation failed for these people.

The Governor of Florida came out early enough to facilitate the evacuation of vulnerable people. No one learned from Katrina the delicate nature of older Americans?

A similar situation existed in Houston. The landfall of Harvey was quick from the time it became filled with water vapor, but, older Americans were victims of immobility as well. Not just immobility, but, empowerment.

September 14, 2017
By Terry Spencer and Jay Reeves

Florida seniors (click here) were ushered out of stifling assisted-living centers Thursday while caregivers fought a lack of air conditioning with Popsicles and cool compresses after eight people died at a nursing home in the post-hurricane heat.

Dozens of the state's senior centers still lacked electricity in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, and several facilities were forced to evacuate. While detectives sought clues to the deaths, emergency workers went door to door to look for anyone else who was at risk....

Irma was a huge storm that engulfed Florida. Even, or perhaps especially, when Irma reached northeast Florida it's de-escalating winds dumped it's entire storm surge and the flooding was significant. Superstorm Sandy is another example of low wind velocity storms that carry huge storm surge. None of these storms are minor storms. They cannot in any way be considered a storm people can live through, including the aftermath. There is a significant level of denial in the USA regarding effective evacuation.

After Irma passed Florida there were power companies moved to Florida to return electricity. That is important. However, a full third of Florida's population moved north. The delicate Americans should have been included in that movement in the same fashion before the storm.

The health professions have to determine an assessment paradigm in PRE-DETERMINATION of evacuation for this population. Even ICU patients can be transported when necessary. So, there needs to be an addition to assessments of the elderly and people in delicate health as to the viability of evacuation and the method that needs to safely happen. Why wasn't there a fleet of ambulances before the storm relocating people? Many of these elder resident facilities are nationally based.  There should be a way of moving them out of danger from heat and water.

Will African Americans ever want to serve in government for the political harassment they receive?

President Obama did best for the country when he ordered preservation of any information following the 2016 elections. Susan Rice did her job and did it admirably. 

Will the wealth of the top 0.1 percent pay off the national debt?

With a combined worth of $2.34 trillion, (click here) the Forbes 400 own more wealth than the bottom 61 percent of the country combined, a staggering 194 million people.

Not quite. The worth of the Forbes 400 is about one tenth of the USA national debt. That is about right when considering how much corporate welfare issued by the federal government.

December 3, 2015
By Joshua Holland

Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries Inc., is listed by Forbes as the fourth-richest person in the United States today.

The 400 richest Americans (click here) now have more wealth than the bottom 61 percent of the population, a report released on Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reveals. According to “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us,” just the twenty individuals at the top of the pile—a group that could fit into a Gulfstream G650 luxury jet, according to the study’s authors—now control more wealth than the bottom half of the population. That’s 152 million people living in 57 million households....

Luckily, the tax cut to the 0.1 percent is only $215,000 is ONLY 0.1 percent.

The American voters that thought there would be a tax rate of ZERO percent for earners under $50,000 was rolled for Trump's friends at the top of the income scale. I guess 10 percent of a dollar might begin to pay for a stamp for the USA government mail. The processing of a dime of tax costs more than that.

What kind of fine does an American get for not paying a tax burden of ten cents? Is there a jail sentence for that? Is there an age bracket for children that save them from the government?

I am sincerely worried about babysitters. Not only do they get decent money for their services, but, do they then get 1099s? Do they know what to do with 1099s? What if they don't file? Dear god, what happens then? Do they provide tutorial services from the local elementary school to those students ambitious enough to earn money but not savvy enough to file with Uncle Sam? Does it go on their permanent school record? 

May 9, 2017
By Howard Gleckman

...For example, (click here) with Trump’s campaign brackets, the average household would get a tax cut of about $1,000 or about 1.3 percent of after-tax income. The lowest income households would get no tax cut at all on average, and middle-income households would get about $730, also about 1.3 percent of after-tax income. The highest-income one percent of households would get a tax cut averaging $39,000 or 2.6 percent of after-tax income and the top 0.1 percent would get a tax cut of $215,000, boosting their after-tax income by 3 percent....

Chelsea Manning served her time. The military decided her sentence. This is outrageous.

Harvard has no right to continue her sentence. NO RIGHT!

Since when do major universities carry out social retribution? This is extremely dangerous and a policy of Harvard's that needs to be visited. Who else? Is this the first time Harvard has over stepped it's boundaries? This is just an amazing power play. Hatred is now a policy at Harvard.

September 15, 2017
By Andrew deGrandpre

Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (click here) rescinded a visiting fellowship offered to Chelsea Manning, the former military intelligence analyst who spent seven years in prison for leaking classified government secrets, after the university faced forceful backlash from CIA Director Mike Pompeo among others.

“I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a Visiting Fellow was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility,” Douglas W. Elmendorf, the school’s dean, wrote in a 700-word statement released shortly after midnight Friday.

Manning was one of four visiting fellows announced two days earlier by the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. As part of the program, visiting fellows appear on Harvard’s campus for speaking engagements and events, interacting with undergraduate students on “topical issues of today,” the school’s initial announcement explained....

The politics of hate are now solidly anchored in America's institution. Quite frankly, I don't Pompeo has much to offer Harvard. Have they started clicking their heels at Harvard yet?

September 14, 2017
By Joseph A Wulfsohn

CIA Director Mike Pompeo (click here) has cancelled a speaking engagement at Harvard University in reaction to their decision of hiring convicted leaker Chelsea Manning as a “visiting fellow.”...

The Pompous Letter (click here)

I demand equal time for Chelsea Manning in the media!

I suppose this the major accomplishment of Mike Pompeo. I know the country is in trouble now. How many more transgender is under the CIA radar?

The Dean already wrote his resignation when he sent Chelsea Manning home. He has backbone. Harvard will tolerate a CIA Director that works for White Supremacists, but, turns away one of the most controversial military intelligence officer of our time. Idiot. There is no other word.

This act of hate and political preference casts a shadow over Harvard. Everyone say bye, bye to Douglas W. Elmendorf. Bye, bye.

Chelsea Manning is an American. Just that simple. She has a right to participate in events in the American experience and speaking at Harvard is completely appropriate. Her exposure is healthy for the country. CIA Directors like Pompeo only proves the government is floundering and politically charged rather than settling on national security. Pompeo is practicing inflammatory politics. THE FACT that in his letter he states he is personally uncomfortable is a problem. What else is he personally uncomfortable with? Since when are the policies of the CIA a personal preference of the Director? I don't think so.

CIA agents are focused on a Harvard forum to determine their behavior? That is a joke. That is a complete joke. It is also a lie. Pompeo is playing politics and lacks the ability to HONOR all Americans including those that have served a prison sentence and now has returned to civilian life. 

Maybe "Kremlin on the Charles" is an appropriate assessment of Harvard, but, not for the reasons Ted Cruz stated.