There is suffering under Trump's administration and it is not just paychecks.

While Senator McCain is quite used to being a hero by any measure and takes blame where it belongs, I can understand Senator Shumer's view point as well.

To begin, the Republicans like to pull this stunt whenever the opportunity presents itself to measure the degree NO GOVERNMENT effects the operations of the USA. 

But, Senator Schumer, is correct. The Republicans have all the power they need to reopen the government and the attack on immigrants has to stop. It simply has to stop.

The USA has never been a country full of hate for other ethnicities than Caucasian. It has welcomed peoples from countries suffering under dictatorships, poverty and illness. We started to turn our backs on immigrants under "W" because of the politics of the Republicans, namely White Supremacists.

The hate exuded by right-wing extremists of the Republican Party is changing the reputation of the USA. This country is being led by the bottom of the barrel Republicans and it's extremist media and it shows.

Under President Obama there was nothing heard from the Republicans, but, the national deficit and cutting care to the poor and working poor to bring down the cost of government. Now, under Trump, there is a new kind of welfare causing increases in the national debt, Wall Street Welfare.

Wall Street has become completely "Too Big Too Fail" according to Republican standards, that it needs the USA Treasury in order to continue to operate from day to day. The huge tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations create a cushion to fall back on for at least the next year or so. Poor Wall Street "The Fed" is raising rates to target inflation and there is no sympathy anywhere for them. Mnuchin should lose his citizenship because he has turned against the people and harnessed the USA tax system for the wealth of a few.

US Senator Shumer is valued for his long lived presence in the US Senate, his knowledge, expertise and morality to hold the country in high esteem. Senator Schumer looks at the entire picture of the USA and sees a great deal of suffering. The USA has never before been harnessed to feed the wealthy, it has always been harnessed to feed the people and have an agenda of peace through USAID and trade. Schumer is correct. The Republicans are harming the USA and it has to stop. So, when Trump and his crony Congress wants to attempt to play politics they would turn to Democratic hardliners that are profoundly worried about the country, namely the US Senate and US House leadership.

Currently, the suffering continuing to be the responsiblity of the Trump White House is the mudslide in California, the suffering of the people in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Texas and the peninsula of Florida. All that is going to be effected by contiued government closing. 

No one in the Trump White House is balancing their lust for politics and money with the needs of the people of the USA. Senator Schumer and Minority Leader Pelosi have a heavy burden on their shoulders and evidently, they are feeling every bit of it.

January 22, 2018

With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve.

THE BIG IDEA: (click here) The failed efforts this weekend by moderates to end the government shutdown underscored how poisoned the well has become.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponed a largely symbolic vote that was scheduled for 1 a.m. so that his members wouldn’t need to sit around all night. The roll call vote will now take place around noon.

There is some optimism about a deal that could reopen the government until Feb. 8, but it’s also possible that this three-day-old shutdown could drag on for a while.

Either way, the impasse foreshadows how little will get done legislatively in the 10 months before the midterm elections.

“Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots,” Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters on Friday night.

Republican leaders have already punted many items on their wish list,...                

That is more than a dusting. This is a growing trend in his region of the world. Snow is becoming a regular visitor to Saudi Arabia as well.

For the second time (click here) in three years, snow has accumulated in the desert near the northern Algerian town of Aïn Séfra. Sometimes called the “gateway to the desert,” the town of 35,000 people sits between the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains.

According to news and social media accounts, anywhere from 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches) of snow accumulated on January 8, 2018, on some higher desert elevations (1000 meters or more above sea level). Social media photos showed citizens sliding down snow-covered sand dunes. Warming temperatures melted much of it within a day.

On January 8, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured the data for these natural-color images of the snow in the Sahara Desert. At the top of the page, the Landsat 8 image was draped over a global digital elevation model, built from data acquired by NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The second and third images provide nadir (straight-down) closeups of the region, where snow covered dry mountaintops and the crests of tall sand dunes.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke, no one ever listens"

Am J Epidemiol. 1979 Jan;109(1):71-80. (click here)

Vibrio parahaemolyticus gastroenteritis outbreaks aboard two cruise ships.
Lawrence DN, Blake PA, Yashuk JC, Wells JG, Creech WB, Hughes JH.

Abstract
Outbreaks of Vibrio parahaemolyticus gastrointestinal illness occurred on two Caribbean cruise ships in late 1974 and early 1975. In all, 697 passengers and 27 crew were affected. Epidemiologic evidence incriminated seafoods served on the ships as the vehicles of transmission. The seafoods were probably contaminated by V. parahaemolyticus after cooking in seawater from the ships' internal seawater distribution systems. Use of seawater in foodhandling areas was discontinued, and no further outbreaks occurred.

This particular study has found an increase in Vibrio bacteria. That is a huge problem, not just for cruise ships, but, fisheries, too.

...Species of Vibrio bacteria (click here) are ubiquitous throughout the oceans. They thrive everywhere from surface waters to the deep sea, and from the coast to the open ocean. You may have heard about the bacteria from cases where it has sickened people with vibrosis, the effects of which can range from cramps and nausea to death in the most severe cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of the 80,000 Americans who contract the illness each year fall ill after eating contaminated seafood, particularly raw oysters. It’s also possible to contract the illness through exposure of an open wound to seawater.

Although Vibrio are widespread, found mainly in association with marine plankton organisms, they tend to flourish in higher concentrations when water is warm. That’s why most infections occur between May and October. And on the longer term, research led by Luigi Vezzulli of the University of Genoa in Italy, shows that warming sea surface temperatures are also playing a role in the spread of this bacteria and their associated diseases....

...During which months are people more likely to get vibriosis? (click here)
About 80% of infections occur between May and October when water temperatures are warmer.

How common is vibriosis?
CDC estimates that vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses each year in the United States. About 52,000 of these illnesses are estimated to be the result of eating contaminated food.
The most commonly reported species, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, is estimated to cause 45,000 illnesses each year in the United States.

Is vibriosis a serious disease?
Most people with a mild case of vibriosis recover after about 3 days with no lasting effects. However, people with a Vibrio vulnificus infection can get seriously ill and need intensive care or limb amputation. About 1 in 4 people with this type of infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill....

The trend is better addressed by Europe. There needs to be a cross-ocean strategy to control the growth in a warm and warming Atlantic Ocean.

"Good Night, Moon"

Waxing crescent 

4.7 days old

22.6 percent lit

First blue moon total eclipse in 150 years coming on January 31

January 21, 2018

The world (click here) was treated to a stellar show to start 2018 as the year’s first supermoon appeared on New Year’s Day. Now sky watchers are preparing for an even more rare event this month: a blue moon total lunar eclipse.

The month’s second full moon on Jan. 31 is known as a blue moon. The event will coincide with a total lunar eclipse, which is called a “blood moon” because of the reddish color people see during the eclipse. The rare combo of lunar events hasn’t been seen in over 150 years. Astronomers have to go all the way back to March 31, 1866 to find the last “Blue Blood Moon.”

To make the event even more spectacular, the full moon will also be a supermoon like the one on Jan. 1. Shortly before the blue moon starts, Earth’s lone natural satellite will reach a point known as perigee, where it is at its closest point to the planet and appears much larger to the naked eye.

So when and where can the “Super Blue Blood Moon” be seen?

The event will start in the early hours on Jan. 31 and last into the morning of Feb. 1. On America’s East Coast the eclipse will start coming into view at 5:51 a.m. and will give viewers in cities like New York only a small window to see the reddish moon. America’s West Coast will get the best look at the blood moon as the eclipse begins at 2:51 a.m. and will last through 6 a.m.

For people who miss the early morning moon show they can catch the blue moon portion of the event at night on Jan. 31, which will start at around 9:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Blue moons come around every 2.7 years, but this year’s may be a once in a lifetime sight.