There is only one Obama.

September 17, 2018
By Brian Krassenstein

...one major billionaire GOP donor, Les Wexner, (click here) has decided to leave the party after meeting President Obama on Thursday.

Wexner, who is the CEO of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria Secret and Bath & Body Works, told lawmakers this week that he is no longer a Republican, opting instead to identify as an independent, following his meeting in Columbus, Ohio with Mr. Obama.

“I was struck by the genuineness of the man; his candor, humility and empathy for others,” Wexner said of Obama. “I just decided I’m no longer a Republican.”

Wexner gave a staggering $500,000 to Jeb Bush for his presidential run in 2015, and has donated over $2.8 million to the ‘With Honor’ super PAC, which endorses Democratic and Republican candidates.

While the monetary loss from Wexner’s GOP departure certainly can’t make any within the party happy, it may be the signal he’s sending to other donors, that could hurt the party for years to come.

Senate: 107th-115th (2001-Present)

This is one electronic page (click here) of Senator Bill Nelson's legislative record for the 107th Congress. He is one of the most prolific bill writers in Congress. This electronic record of ONE CONGRESSIONAL TWO YEAR TERM is another two electronic pages.

What has Senator Bill Nelson done? That is the "W"rong question. The correct question is what has Senator BilL Nelson NOT DONE?

S.3064 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)
Health Records Confidentiality Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/07/2002)
S.2988 and S2985 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Anthrax Cleanup Community Assistance Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 09/20/2002) 
S.2704 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Veterans Right-To-Know Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 06/28/2002)
S.2642 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to require background checks of alien flight school applicants without regard to the maximum certificated weight of the aircraft for which they seek training, and to require a report on the effectiveness of the requirement.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 06/18/2002)
S.2069 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery for veterans in the Jacksonville, Florida, metropolitan area.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 03/22/2002)
S.2060 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida, after Franklin D. Miller.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 03/21/2002)
S.2056 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Integrity in Auditing Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 03/21/2002)
S.2003 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Veterans Benefits and Pensions Protection Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 03/08/2002) 
S.1963 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Arsenic-Treated Residential-Use Lumber Prohibition ActSponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 02/15/2002)
S.1920 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)International Child Safety Improvement Act of 2002Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 02/07/2002)
S.1606 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Equal Access to Care Act of 2001Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/31/2001)
S.1592 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Equal Access to Care ActSponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/30/2001)
S.1583 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Travel and Tourism Promotion Act of 2001Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/25/2001)
S.1582 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to delay for 1 year the mandatory beginning date for distributions from individual retirement plans, and to accelerate the effective date for modifications of the AGI limit for conversions of Roth IRAs.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/25/2001)
S.1506 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the requirement for reduction of SBP survivor annuities by dependency and indemnity compensation.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 10/04/2001)
S.1312 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of Virginia Key Beach, Florida, for possible inclusion in the National Park System.Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 08/02/2001) 
 S.877 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Arsenic-Treated Wood Mandatory Labeling ActSponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 05/14/2001)
S.771 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)A bill to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purposes.Sponsor: Sen. Graham, Bob [D-FL] (Introduced 04/25/2001)
S.731 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Military Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2001Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 04/06/2001)
S.729 — 107th Congress (2001-2002)Internet Voting Expansion Act of 2001Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 04/06/2001)
In addition, there are eight additional Congressional terms when he did the same thing. Senator Nelson has been in the Senate through some of the most difficult times in this country and he never let the people of Florida down.
Legislation in the 115th Congress (click here)Legislation in the 114th CongressLegislation in the 113th CongressLegislation in the 112th CongressLegislation in the 111th CongressLegislation in the 110th CongressLegislation in the 109th CongressLegislation in the 108th Congress

In every year after, Senator Bill Nelson recalled the disaster and the damage and deaths it caused.

Former Governor Jeb Bush states US Senator Bill Nelson never did anything in the US Senate. Really?

 He did something no Republican would ever do. He stood up to the petroleum giant BP. He demanded video of the disaster to make it real to the American people and Floridians. He maintained a focus on resolving the disaster.

5/18/10: Under pressure from Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), BP releases video from 5/15 of the gusher at the head of the well riser, one of two major leak points from the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig disaster. Independent experts estimated the other leak rate from the wellhead to be between 1 and 3 million gallons a day.

The New York Times (click here) has some amazing graphics that show the danger as it mounted.

As I read reports of one kind or another I was surprised at the reporting of flooding shelters.

The graph is best viewed online, but, it is the loss of power as the storm roared into land. It happens quickly and there is not a darn thing the utility companies can do about it if there is flooding and winds above 35 mph. Why risk ones' life with such realities obvious to everyone?

One elderly man tried to plug two extension cords together, was electrocuted and lost his life. Please leave the area and find a safe haven outside the storm's footprint. Do that early on. 

Make plans with a enough savings to see you through. It is emergency money and it has to be a reality everyone faces regardless of their circumstances. Shelters used to be the place where people went when they were in need and now the shelters are in the path of the storms. The old methods just don't work anymore.

I am sure people understand the old idea of a "Christmas Club" or "Vacation Club" where people would squirrel away money every week until the time came and they received a check from the bank. Well, now, folks need to have a "Hurricane Club" where available monies are squirreled away specifically for the time when the storm warnings come and evacuation is the smart way to go.

Please, please get out of the way of these storms. They are merciless. 

That is true of these storms; as time goes by the water becomes a dominating factor to the danger to life.

Please change the way one thinks about these storms. The Climate Crisis storm carries enormous amounts of water, their wind nearly stop over land and the rain simply comes out of the sky. Flooding and FLASH FLOODING is a profound risk to life.

When the first alarm goes out REMOVE YOURSELF from the anticipated landfall and rains of that storm. That means pre-planning to know where to go with a length of stay that may be as long as a week or more. Employers are going to have to understand these are people that want to be out of the danger and safe. The employers should have knowledge of where their employees are so that after the storm passes they can be called to return IF SAFE FLOOD FREE ROUTES EXIST.

These storms are different. For a North Carolinian in Wilmington, NC a Category One storm seems like a rainstorm considering the history of the city; but; these storms are different. A deluge of water comes with them with stagnant movement and increased flooding and FLASH FLOODING for every raindrop that falls.

There are no more hurricanes that roll through and in a day or two it is over. Water is the danger and it comes in quantities unimagined because of the stagnant nature of the storm. So, when people think this is ONLY a Category One storm, that is the wrong way to think of them. THIS IS A CATEGORY ONE STORM WITH LITTLE WIND TO MOVE THE RAIN ALONG. That is the way to think of it.

While water damage with hurricanes have always been a concern, in the year 2018 the danger is magnified 100 fold. Every inch of water is becomes more dangerous than the inch before. So, leave the area to a place where one will be safe away from the unpleasantness that accompanies these storms. It might be a bit of a vacation, but, a person is alive to enjoy the sun and fun until they can return home. That is the way to see this. The water is too dangerous to stay even with a Category One or a Tropical Storm.

These storms are different. They cause different damage to lives and everyone needs to think differently to protect themselves and their loved ones. 

Aerial view of the Cape Fear River, especially where it drains to the ocean would provide insight.

The aerial views in the Star news are interesting showing at least one man needing to be rescued from his home, but, a photo is missing that could be helpful. An aerial view of the Cape Fear River taken when Hurricane Floyd passed showed enormous amounts of water pushing into the ocean. What concerns me is the continuing rain both into rivers and the coastal waters. If the ocean is swollen with rain and higher because of wind the major rivers in North and South Carolina could back up for longer than normally excepted. What the Governors need to know to plan their way forward is the drainage of the tributaries.

I think a survey of the mouth of the rivers where they meet the oceans would provide insight. If the rivers are robustly pushing back the ocean drainage will be good. If the mouth of the rivers are flat, that means even the local ocean waters are swollen and will delay drainage of the rivers and tributaries. If that is the case, it should change once the rains slow and stop. If that doesn’t occur it means the elevation offshore is the same onshore and there are stagnant conditions and could be permanent flooded lands.

Hydrologists with the Army Corp. will be helpful.

The reason it would be permanently flooded is due to erosion of prolonged exposures to turbulent waters.

Women are still waiting to be the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

That is a travesty. John Roberts never worked as an Associate Justice before being nominated as Chief Justice. The reason he was first nominated as an Associate Justice and then withdrawn to be nominated to Chief Justice is his age. It is ridiculous to realize that USA Presidents practice age discrimination in nominating any capacity to the Supreme Court.

SEC. 621. [Section 2] (click here)

(a) The Congress hereby finds and declares that-

(1) in the face of rising productivity and affluence, older workers find themselves disadvantaged in their efforts to retain employment, and especially to regain employment when displaced from jobs;

(2) the setting of arbitrary age limits regardless of potential for job performance has become a common practice, and certain otherwise desirable practices may work to the disadvantage of older persons;

(3) the incidence of unemployment, especially long-term unemployment with resultant deterioration of skill, morale, and employer acceptability is, relative to the younger ages, high among older workers; their numbers are great and growing; and their employment problems grave;

(4) the existence in industries affecting commerce, of arbitrary discrimination in employment because of age, burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce.

(b) It is therefore the purpose of this chapter to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment....

Every Justice that was passed over for Chief Justice because of their age should file a class action against the Presidents that placed them. As a matter of fact, Justice Ginsberg was openly discriminated against for her age by President Trump stating her mind is shot. It doesn't get anymore obvious than that.

September 13, 2018
By Rachel Leah

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows the many different collars (jabots) she wears with her robes, in her chambers at the Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S. June 17, 2016.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (click here) has expressed her disappointment with modern-day Supreme Court confirmation hearings, describing them as a "highly partisan show."

During a Wednesday event at George Washington University Law School, the 85-year-old justice was asked how her confirmation compared to Judge Brett Kavanaugh's, President Donald Trump's nominee. "The way it was was right, the way it is is wrong," Ginsburg replied.

In 1993, she won over almost all of the Republican senators despite her progressive work with the American Civil Liberties Union. Former President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in June, and two months later, she was confirmed by a vote of 96-3.

In contrast, the confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh have been contentious and embroiled in political debate, as Kavanaugh represents Trump's second nominee to the Supreme Court following Senate Republicans' move to block former President Barack Obama from nominating Merrick Garland in the final months of his tenure....

..."I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it go back the way it was," Ginsburg said of the confirmation process. She also pointed to the senate confirmation of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in 1986 as an example of the "truly bipartisan" nature when it came to Supreme Court hearings. "Think of Justice Scalia, who’s certainly a known character," Ginsburg said. "The vote was unanimous."

"That’s the way it should be," she added, "instead of what it’s become, which is a highly-partisan show. The Republicans move in lockstep, and so do the Democrats."...