The Czech Republic is still yet another example of "the least of us" taking on a challenge that is vital to every country's national security. 

While visiting a dynamic country with high ideals and goals to match when it come to climate, there are other troubles with significant histories still lingering. I will expand on those issues at another time, except. for one. The United Nations has asked the Czech Republic to include more handicapped children in their education plans. That would be a wonderful goal for the country as well. Perhaps some of the wealthy people that frequent the country in the Azeri Enclave could help with donations to make changes to accommodate more chidlren, especially those with special needs. 

Then again, perhaps the Czechia government can impose taxes on these wealthy areas to help in such transitions. 

But, when it comes to climate committments, Czechia doesn't reverse it's policies as the USA has done under the Trump administration. Trump retreated when Czechia seeks a rational and realistic path forward. I think if Czechia assesses the weatlh within it's borders and then asks for higher taxes from these communities, the picture for all the people of the republic will be brighter and the quality of life that much better.

I wish them well. The idea they have found a sincere answer to the problem of a deteriorating ozone layer place Czechia high on the list of important and decidated countries to the well being of all people.

The Czech Republic was not always set on prohibiting climate change.

26.02.2013

The continued expansion of wind power, (click here) coupled with a decrease in costs for the emissions-free electricity-generating technology, was one of the few positive notes in a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report on efforts to create a low-carbon world.

The IEA report, which was presented in India last week to the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), said that wind power capacity grew by 19% from 2011 to 2012 despite ongoing economic problems.

In its report, Tracking Clean Energy Progress, the IEA described onshore wind power as “one of the most cost-competitive renewable energy sources” and noted generation from 2000 to 2011 increased by 400 TWh (+27% per year), reaching an estimated 435 TWh in 2011.

By 2017, the report said, onshore wind generation is expected to reach almost 1,000 TWh....

27th February 2014 , Prague - Wind power (click here) plants in Europe are the fastest growing source of energy not only from renewable energy sources . In contrast with this fact, in the Czech Republic, there is a high tendency to stop a development of the cheapest sources of energy and in year 2013 was installed only 5 wind turbines with a total installed capacity - 8 MW. It does not mean that we do not have a possibility to install more capacity , the current total installed capacity is 268 MW in wind which is in real mere the one tenth of the realistic potential of the Czech Republic.

"Total energy production from wind power plants in the Czech Republic grew by 62.4 gigawatt hours last year to 478 GWh. This corresponds to the coverage of the energy consumption around 136,000 households. It is 0.7 percent of the total gross consumption in the Czech Republic - in the EU it is 7.8%. The cheapest domestic renewable resource is in strong decline. " Said Chairman of the Czech Wind Energy Association ( ČSVE-CzWEA ) - Michal Janecek . The CzWEA brings together producers of electricity from the wind power and other companies from this sector. Last year was installed only 8 MW in wind in the Czech Republic . In total were realized only four new projects. In total to the end of last year we have installed 268 MW of wind power....

The current thinking in the Czech Republic is different. They see unsustainable energy in fossil fuels and realize their future is with alternative energies.

This is the stand taken with the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Czech Republic (click here) has published its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades. Fuel consumption, personal transport, and electricity generation are all major targets.

...But with its long term climate strategy released by the Ministry of the Environment under the Paris Agreement, the Czech government suggests it can meet new ambitious climate targets. Breaking free from coal and other harmful fossil fuels is a big deal in eastern and northern Europe. As much as they like to promote flashy innovations, European countries still depend on fossil fuels more than they care to admit.

For the Czech Republic, the new plan is an attempt to kickstart a systemic change which should lead to a significant and sustained reduction of its emissions.

The Czech Republic’s goals are informed by thBy 2020, the country aims to reduce its national emissions by at least 32 Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-eq) in comparison to those recorded in 2005. By 2030, it hopes to have recorded a drop of at least at least 44 Mt CO2-eq.'''

...Greenhouse gas emissions in the Czech Republic have dropped significantly over the past thirty years. In 2014 they were 36.7 percent lower than those recorded in 1990 – and over the same time period, emissions across the 28 member countries of the European Union only fell by around 19 percent....

...The Paris Agreement, and reflect a global effort to address our unsustainable environmental activity. The country stands alongside many others who are enforcing new policies to enact tangible change.

From bans on gas- and diesel-powered cars, to new laws about acceptable limits for greenhouse gas emissions, many of the world’s governments are coming together to take action. The question is, are we doing enough – or is it already too late to turn things around?

Here again, a European country is increasing forests in land use.

Forest area (click here) (% of land area) in Czech Republic was reported at 34.54 % in 2015, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.
Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.                 

Where would the world be without the Draslovka family in the Czech Republic?

The graphs...provided (click here) by the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, illustrate the global observations of the impact the Montreal Protocol on the levels of ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere, and suggest the impact into the future to 2050:...

28 February 2018

A significant milestone (click here) has been reached in replacing methyl bromide as the standard fumigant for export logs and timber.

The Environmental Protection Authority has just released application details for approval of ethanedinitrile (EDN) as a fumigant for log and timber exports.

The forest industry anticipates EDN could replace methyl bromide fumigation which is used on log exports to China and India. Methyl bromide is an ozone depleting chemical. Regulations due to come into effect in 2020 will make it considerably more difficult and expensive to use.

The Chair of Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction (STIMBR) Don Hammond, says approval by the EPA is the critical first step into its use in New Zealand to ensure log exports are free of pests the importing countries don’t want.

"Over the past seven years STIMBR and our co-funding partners, including the New Zealand government, have invested more than $22 million in research on alternatives to methyl bromide, as well as ways to reduce the amounts that need to be used, along with recapture and destruction technologies," Don Hammond says.

He says an extensive review of scientific literature commissioned by STIMBR in 2014 found only one promising fumigant alternative to methyl bromide.

"Plant and Food Research confirmed EDN is an effective phytosanitary treatment for insects which might be found on our logs."

"There are clear advantages of EDN over methyl bromide. EDN has no effect on the ozone layer. It is not a greenhouse gas. It does not bioaccumulate because it breaks down rapidly in the environment without leaving harmful residues in the soil or in water," Don Hammond says.

EDN is currently manufactured by Draslovka a family-owned company based in the Czech Republic. Over the past three years Don Hammond says Draslovka has made significant investment to develop EDN into a commercially viable and environmentally sustainable alternative to methyl bromide for use globally as a soil and commodity treatment.

This is an easy way to lower a country's greenhouse gas inventory. 

An ozone-friendly alternative to methyl bromide (click here)

Based on ethanedinitrile, EDN® FUMIGAS is an ozone-friendly alternative to methyl bromide. EDN FUMIGAS limits the impact of pests and disease on timber and in agriculture. It can be used to sterilise soil and control insects, diseases, nematodes, weeds and other parasites before planting fruit and vegetables. It can also be used to fumigate harvested timber and logs. High penetration characteristics make it ideal for eliminating wood boring beetles in timber for instance....

There is the method of Methyl bromide capture, but, why risk it?

Laem Chabang (click here)  is one of the Top 20 largest container ports in the world, and has made Methyl Bromide fumigant recapture a requirement for fumigation at 

the port. Cranes and Equipment Co,Ltd ( CEA) is coordinating the logistics for important components for Western Australia’s largest LNG project, coming from Thailand.

Nordiko is proud to have been the supplier CEA selected to meet this standard, and commissioned a new IBC fumigant recapture system in March 2013. After performing its biosecurity function, this pesticide is recaptured on activated carbon filters, preventing the emission of this Ozone Depleting Substance to atmosphere.

The LNG Project meets the most stringent quarantine standards, in order to protect the unique ecology of Barrow Island. In this case, Methyl Bromide fumigation was an Australian Government requirement for project cargo being shipped from Laem Chabang to Western Australia.

Once again the Project has set new environmental and safety standards in its operations, helping to protect the Ozone Layer by preventing emissions of this toxic Ozone Depleter.

The extreme climate events finds Europeans unaware of the danger nor how to survive it.

March 1, 2018

A man climbs up an artificial ice wall in Liberec, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 1, 2018. Central Europe has been hit by unusually freezing weather in recent days.

Geneva - An extreme cold snap (click here)  across Europe claimed more lives, forced the closure of airports in Scotland, Switzerland, France and Ireland and left hundreds of drivers stranded on snowy highways Thursday.

Heavy snow and high winds halted all flights in and out of Dublin Airport, with authorities saying they are unlikely to resume until Saturday. Irish Rail said no trains are likely to run until Saturday.

Forecasters said a new storm is bringing blizzards, 100 kph (60 mph) winds, freezing rain and thunderstorms to Ireland, southwestern England and Wales later Thursday. They predicted zero visibility and deep pockets of snow.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged people to get home by 4 p.m. Thursday and stay there until the storm has passed. The Irish stock exchange shut down at midday and will be closed all day Friday.

"The risk to life and limb presented by severe weather conditions should not be underestimated," said Varadkar.

The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the cold weather poses particular risks to vulnerable people such as the elderly, children and those with chronic diseases or disabilities....

The Czech Republic has a highly developed culture.

The Czech Republic (click here)  is as central Europe as you can get. It’s a crossroads of Germanic and Slavic culture mixed in a Cuisinart and blended to Czechia perfection. The country is filled with the world’s best breweries, quaint vineyards, and fairy-tale castles. It’s been very high on the “backpacker’s favorite” list since the early 1990s. So the locals are used to foreigners traipsing around their land. Prague hit peak expat life in the early aughts when just the American expat population reached 45,000. That number has gone down to a more manageable 10,000 American expats after stricter visa rules were enacted. So it’s not quite the bacchanal it was 10 to 15 years ago, but the country still has a lot to offer the casual tourist or adventurous vagabond....

...Czech beer deserves to be at the top of anyone’s beer bucket list. There simply isn’t a better place in the world to drink the hoppy lager they call Pilsner. Head over to Plzeň near the German border. The Pilsner Urquell factory tour is the ideal place to drink the freshest pilsner in the world. They also do something very special from that factory. In the Czech Republic, and even in Berlin now, you can find what is called a Tankovna. This is a beer bar where the beer is shipped in tanker trucks as quickly as possible to the bar. Once there, it is transferred into huge, airtight plastic bags inside steel or copper tanks at the bar. The beer doesn’t hit air until it is first poured into your glass. It’s the freshest, most beautiful pilsner you will ever drink. Try Lokal in Prague, or wander the streets of any Czech city to discover a yet-unknown favorite.

The Czech Republic also has a very distinct wine region in Moravia. For 1,800 years, this tiny region in the southern tip of the country has been producing seriously good wines. Villages hold harvest festivals and release young wines every season. Few people think of great wine when they think of the Czechs. That will soon change.

No different than most European countries, the population in the Czech Republic is fairly stable. I consider that an advantage to a country.

14 February 2018

Prague, Feb 13 (CTK) - Central Bohemia and the capital Prague are the Czech regions that are the most populous and have seen the steepest population growth in recent years, Czech Statistical Office (CSU) experts said at a press conference on Tuesday, presenting selected demographic data from 2016.

Central Bohemia, a region surrounding Prague, also saw a high number of inhabitants moving to Prague and vice versa.

The trend of people leaving cities to settle in their close vicinity continued, applying to both Prague and Brno, the capital of Moravia.

The Czech Republic had a total of 10,578,820 inhabitants at the end of 2016....

...The Czech Republic is comprised of 14 self-rule regions including Prague.

In the period between 2011 and 2016, a half of them saw their population grow, while the other half saw its decrease.

The decrease was the steepest in the Moravian regions of Moravia-Silesia and Zlin, followed by the Karlovy Vary and Usti regions, northwest Bohemia.

Ten years ago, the Moravia-Silesia Region was still the most populous of all, Krumpova said.

Foreigners made up 4.7 percent of the population of the country at the end of 2016. Most of them (14.4 percent) lived in Prague, and the lowest share (1.5 percent) in the Zlin Region, south Moravia.

The Czech population continues ageing, its average age rising by 5.5 percent to 42 in the past 25 years.

In terms of people's average age, the "youngest" region is Central Bohemia, mainly its districts adjacent to Prague, where children under 15 prevail over people above 65.

The region with the "oldest" population is Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia.

A total of 112,663 children were born and 107,750 people died in the Czech Republic in 2016.

The age of Czech mothers markedly changed in the past 25 years.

"In all regions, women tend to postpone motherhood. In 1991, women most often had their first child at the age of 20, while in 2016, the largest number of mothers were aged 30," Jan Honner from the CSU said.

In all regions, the number of children born out of wedlock increased in recent years, their share being the highest in the Karlovy Vary (64.4 percent) and Usti (64.2 percent) regions.

The Czech Republic changed it's name to "Czechia," but, no one noticed. (click here)

Scott Pruitt violates most if not all policies and procedures of the USA government. He stands in defiance of the EPA's purpose.

...When Republican President Richard Nixon (click here) established the EPA in 1970, he recognized this concern as one transcending party and ideology. “We can no longer afford to consider air and water common property, free to be abused by anyone without regard to the consequences,” he said. “Instead, we should begin now to treat them as scarce resources, which we are no more free to contaminate than we are free to throw garbage into our neighbor's yard.”

Let’s leave aside for the time being the matter of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the unwelcome effects they could have. Judged solely by what he has done with regard to old-fashioned pollution, putting Pruitt in charge of the EPA is the equivalent of letting Nick Saban call the plays for Auburn.

Under Pruitt, the agency’s funding would be cut by $2.5 billion, or 23 percent — a contrast from the roughly $300 billion in new spending in other areas that Congress and the president recently approved. Given that the president is content to allow the budget deficit to rise to $1 trillion, it’s hard to argue that the federal government can’t afford to adequately fund the EPA. Pruitt and Trump just don’t want to.

Their goal is to weaken and constrain the agency. Pruitt has reduced the number of personnel to the lowest level since 1988 — with stated plans to cut it by another 2,500 in the next two years. Just as fewer cops would lead to fewer arrests, the staffing reductions diminish the agency’s ability to prevent pollution and clean it up....

...Nothing else Pruitt is doing compares to the malignant effects of his permissiveness about pollution. Many Americans may not worry about climate change or preserving wild areas. But they should care about the consequences of dirtier air and water, as summarized by Christine Todd Whitman, head of the EPA under George W. Bush: “People will get sick and die.” You could be one of them....

October 3, 2017

The Czech Republicn(click here) is doing well: its growth at 2.4 percent is strong, unemployment at 3.3 percent is the lowest in the European Union, and its government debt is low. Yet the country must continue to improve the quality of its human capital and monitor mortgage loans if growth is to last. We sat down with Jiří Rusnok, Governor of the Czech National Bank to discuss recent developments. 

The average tax (click here) on indivduals of OCED countries is 9.44 percnet.

22 February 2018
By Tom DiChristopher

- Two groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency and Administrator Scott Pruitt (click here) on Thursday for allegedly violating federal records laws.

- The groups claim the EPA has systematically refused to document "essential activities" and discouraged employees from keeping records.

- Pruitt denied at least one of the allegations contained in the groups' complaint during a Senate hearing last month.

A watchdog group and a nonprofit that represents public sector employees are suing the Environmental Protection Agency and its polarizing administrator for allegedly violating federal records laws.

Administrator Scott Pruitt and senior officials at the EPA have sought to prevent internal conversations from being documented as required by law, the groups claim in a complaint filed on Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. They say the EPA has systematically refused to document "essential activities" under Pruitt, and higher-ups are creating a culture in which career employees are discouraged from creating written records.

These actions prevent Americans from obtaining records of EPA processes and decision-making through the Freedom of Information Act, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility....

What are recordkeeping requirements? (click here)

"Recordkeeping requirements" are defined as all statements in statutes, regulations, and agency directives or authoritative issuances, that provide general and specific requirements for Federal agency personnel on particular records to be created and maintained by the agency (36 CFR 1220.14)....

What is a record?

Records are defined in various statutes, including the Federal Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act. The definition that follows is from the Federal Records Act that governs agencies' records management responsibilities.

Records include all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine-readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the informational value of the data in them (44 U.S.C. 3301).

This is an inventory of the Czech Republic's emissions as of 2015.

Graph (click here)

The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, (click here) which accounts for 84% of the greenhouse gases emitted in the Czech Republic, excluding chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons. 

These are very ambitious climate goals and ones they take seriously.

 In 2016 the country adopted the name “Czechia” as a shortened, informal name for the Czech Republic.

The Climate Protection Policy of the Czech Republic (click here) along with the Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Czech Republic represent specific policies regarding climate change.

The Climate Protection Policy of the Czech Republic was adopted by the Czech government in March 2017 and replaced former National Programme to Abate the Climate Change Impacts in the Czech Republic. The Policy defines main objectives in the climate protection at the national level to ensure the fulfilment of the greenhouse gas emission reduction objectives in order to reach international commitments of the Czech Republic. Furthermore it contributes towards gradual long-term transition to sustainable low emission economy.

The Policy further sets primary and indicative emission reduction targets, which should be reached in a cost efficient manner. Measures are proposed in the following key areas: energy, final energy consumption, industry, transport, agriculture and forestry, waste, science, research development and voluntary tools.

Primary emission reduction targets

• Greenhouse gas reduction of 32 Mt CO2eq. compared to 2005 until 2020
• Greenhouse gas reduction of 44 Mt CO2eq. compared to 2005 until 2030

Indicative emission reduction targets

• Indicative level towards 70 Mt CO2eq.of emitted greenhouse gases in 2040
• Indicative level towards 39 Mt CO2eq.of emitted greenhouse gases in 2050

The Policy covers a period from 2017 to 2030 and provides outlook until 2050. The first evaluation is planned in 2021 and on the basis of such evaluation the Policy will be updated by 2023.

It's Monday Night

Veronika Vařeková (click here for Facebook) is a Czech model who has appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue for a total of eight times. She’s a successful model and one of the most beautiful Czech women that have worked with all famous fashion brands. Apart from that, she’s also a very active person in sports and one of the few models who have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Veronika is blessed with some of the finest features that a woman dreams off.

Kde domov můj, kde domov můj,
Where is my home, where is my home,

Voda hučí po lučinách,
Streams are rushing through the meadows,

bory šumí po skalinách,
Midst the rocks sigh fragrant pine groves,

v sadě skví se jara květ,
Orchards decked in spring's array,

zemský ráj to na pohled!
Scenes of Paradise portray.

A to je ta krásná země,
And this land of wondrous beauty,

země česká domov můj,
Is the Czech land, home of mine,

země česká domov můj!
Is the Czech land, home of mine!

"Fake News" is the business of the White House and not the press. Congressional hearing with cabinet press secretaries are in order. Swear them in.

Evidently, Hope Hicks is not the only one telling "white lies." 

February 26, 2018
By Donovan Slack

...Ullyot denies it happened. (click here) But the two sources said he made the request in a call initiated by VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour on Feb. 15, the day after the release of an inspector general’s report that concluded Shulkin had misused taxpayer dollars during a European trip last year.

Shulkin had appeared at a congressional hearing that morning and raised the possibility that an aide's email account had been hacked. The inspector general had concluded the aide had doctored an email to get improper approval for Shulkin's wife to join him on the trip at taxpayers' expense.

On the call, Cashour criticized Shulkin for raising concerns about hacking and told the senior aide that it would reflect poorly on the agency. He then put his supervisor, Ullyot, on the line, who asked the aide for help in an effort to oust Shulkin....

Regarding Ms. Hicks, I hope she is going to be safe. She is involved with a man that has a history of abuse with two previous wives. She needs counseling before she leaves the White House to improve her awareness of the forms of abuse carried out against women. I don't fault her for a lack of knowledge, at least until this point she has never been exposed to it.

I wish her well, but, she needs to know her "white lies" were damaging to the country. Trump has been misusing Executive Privilege.

June 13, 2017
By Noah Bierman

...It's not up to Sessions (click here) to invoke executive privilege. It's up to the president, making it tricky for Sessions to use that right to avoid answering questions.

“I understand" the right to executive privilege, King said. "But the president hasn’t asserted it," King told Sessions after he refused to discuss his conversations with Trump about the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey.

“I am protecting the right of the president to exert it if he chooses," Sessions replied.

That struck King as confusing. How could Sessions use an executive privilege that has not been invoked? “I don’t understand how you could have it both ways," he said.

Sessions said he was keeping Trump's options open for him. “It would be premature to deny the president a full and intelligent choice about executive privilege,” he said.

But King found an inconsistency. Sessions had just testified about a conversation with Trump, revealing that the president asked him for an opinion about Comey's job performance before he fired him....

Spring cleaning?

Scott Pappalardo has decided enough is enough. The weapon will never fall into the wrong hands either.

A SELF-confessed gun enthusiast (click here) posted a video of himself on Facebook sawing his beloved AR-15 assault rifle into pieces in anger at the Florida high school massacre.

Scott Pappalardo bought and registered the gun more than 30 years ago and is such a firm believer in the second amendment he even has it tattooed on his arm....

The braintrust at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn't changed at all from where I sit.

The movie industry had the worst year they have ever had in 2017. I expected some reason to believe there is change within the industry. I didn't really see anything that I could point to as a significant sea change.

I expected real visual differences, like a co-host with Kimmel such as Amy Schumer. That didn't happen. Kimmel was his usual entertaining self and the night was lighthearted and wonderful, but, no real indication the Academy is taking a hard look at its future.

Congratulations to all the winners, they received awards they earned and deserved.

I did notice there were many first time winners that had previous nominations, many with at least four previous nominations. I think that fact is interesting. I think there is some degree of reflection by the Academy in that there was some sort of tweaking needed to realize genius that has existed within the industry for what sounds like decades, but, were overlooked.

There was a high gloss on diversity last night and I can appreciate all of it. I think the ultimate best actress and picture reflects an importance of CHANGE and a removal of a myopic view of the world.

Gary Oldman was a surprise, but, he did do a first-rate job of a man that doesn't resemble him at all. But, as with any other recognition of fame, the stories of domestic abuse and possibly violence is beginning to surface. The Academy needs to reflect on its values of excellence and how vetting the winners may be appropriate.

People vote throughout their lives these days. That is a fact. They vote for their quality of life in the USA and that is okay. People should have a voice when they are disenchanted by what was perceived as "life's promises" that are never delivered.

In recent dialogue I have heard a very valid expression, "We need to stop the politics of the possible and practice the politics of the impossible." I think that is important because it is the perspective of America's young people. That enthusiasm to tackle difficult hurdles is a greater promise to the USA. It speaks to generations of change and with it an economy that does not disappoint and a lives well lived. The Academy can be and should be a part of that enthusiasm. It is important the Academy reflect on its values and the future. The recent past shows an industry in a failure to ensure it's future.

I think the Academy needs to look at the digital age and realize its impact on the integrity of its future. The motion picture industry is under attack by the richest man in the world and Walmart is entering the field. I realize there are many interesting online series and I watch two as I write this, but, I still attend the movies IN THE THEATERS.

If one looks across the spectrum of the American economy there is a mad rush to the Digital Age with very little reverence for American labor. It is seen in the movie industry, the entertainment industry in general as well as store purchases in major retail industry stores (click here).

I am not unhappy with the reduction of Wall Street on the American landscape. I believe the small businesses in the USA were ravaged rather than revered over the past two to three decades. It wasn't until the global economic collapse was it realized the value to the American economy of the small businesses. It was the last to experience losses and the first to recover to a revitalized economy. Small businesses are the lifeblood of the country and to that end I don't care if Wall Street disappears. As far as I am concerned, Wall Street brings to many foreign investors to American soil.

But, as to the Academy and the digital age, it is its own fault. There are several things at play with the digital age and its major steps in shuttering "the brickwork" across the country; personal safety and cheap ways to obtaining what the American consumer is consumed with on a day to day basis.

Example: Where are Americans buying "The Instant Pot?" Through Amazon and not storefronts. When that occurs employment suffers and wage labor suffers in their take-home pay. That only returns the USA to a Third World status among the people. If that occurs, the USA has lost its luster and promises to its children.

Speaking of children, the adoption industry (Yes, it is an industry.) needs to be assessed and redirected to supporting families rather than ripping them apart. The American family is still the strongest fabric the country has and it is under attack in a way it never has before. There are some private, non-religious agencies across the country servicing communities where government social services once did all the work. But, these private non-religious agencies have success rates with family reunification up to 70 percent. When one looks to the private religious-based organizations doing the same work, their reunification rate falls to 40 percent and the government agencies fail immensely with a reunification rate of 1 to 2 percent.

The Academy needs to consider the way the USA is fragmenting and the loss of the American Dream. Perhaps, what the younger generations of Americans are demanding is a return to the values that life up all of us. I think the American landscape is eroded in more ways than one and our younger people are experiencing the USA is far different ways than their parents and grandparents. The Academy needs to play it's part in providing a bold, new world with an emphasis on real people and not a robotic future.

Amazon is a great company that has enhanced the quality of life of Americans, including protecting and preserving a great newsprint. But, it's the largest stockholder, Jeff Bezos, who needs to reinvest his vast wealth into businesses other than warehouses. I would suggest green energy. Green energy is also under attack in the USA. It would be interesting if that was reversed.

I think I said my piece on domestic happiness; at least for now.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning gibbous

19.1 days old

80.3 percent lit

Let me get this right. There are plans to mine the moon and soil samples are still sealed? Really? So, all this mess about mining the moon is nonsense and based only in satellite interpretation. That's Wall Street political hubris for you; billions of US$ are planned to be spent on ventures such as this and the fact is there is not a clue to what awaits on the moon or otherwise. The space images are a good guess, but, not conclusive.

They don't know what they are doing!

March 5, 2018

By Leonard David

Between 1969 and 1972, (click here) Apollo astronauts brought back to Earth a total of nine containers of moon material that were sealed on the lunar surface.

Two of the larger sealed samples were collected by Apollo 17 moonwalkers in December 1972. Three sealed samples from Apollo 15, 16 and 17 remain unopened.

According to several key lunar researchers, now is the right time to consider opening at least one of the still-sealed sample containers....