When I looked at the weather report today, it has "L" all over it.

Weather Channel 
May 22, 2012
1910 GMT
Current Weather Map

Weather Channel 
May 22, 2012
1915 GMT
Current Temperature Map

The Weather Channel notes today:


The Heat is Centered over the Ohio Valley with temperatures 15 to 25 degrees above average affecting 40+ million people.


...As the headline suggests (click here), 90s will be a common reading on thermometers from Kansas and Texas to Ohio and Georgia by this weekend.  You can see this depicted on the forecast maps to the left below in the red and pink shadings....

Weather Channel Prediction Map of Sunday's Temperatures.


We are not far from triple digit heat and governments at all levels need to prepare for a very long and very hot summer. 


Last year with prolonged dry, hot air, Texas experienced infrastructure failure. Skyscrapers need to be safe from extreme cold air inside and ever increasing temperatures outside. Their 'plasticity' needs to be intact, including expansion plates. Texas saw railroad tracks with potential dangers for warping. The railroads are going to have to pay attention to their rails. I have notice in my travels as of late there are many inspection trucks on the tracks. Thank you. Also, Texas experienced exploding sidewalks. The expansion space between the concrete slabs wasn't wide enough and the pressure on the concrete caused rippling which results in cracking due to the pressure of the 'rock' called concrete.


There has been some snow melt to infuse water sources in the west although it has been a late arrival, at least it arrived. The late arrival was probably due to melt from a high altitude, but, scientists more familiar with these areas are probably more than sure what caused it. My best guess is the snow at lower altitudes sublimed from solid to gas, whereas, in higher altitudes the heat would NOT be as intense, but, arrived later due to increasing hot air masses at those altitudes. So, the cooler 'warm' air actually melted the snow. If inspected I am fairly confident the scientists will find snow melt at altitudes not normally effected.


The thing is this; If snow is melting at higher altitudes to actually run off to fill the reservoirs, what happens when that snow is gone? What happens when subliming of snow reaches higher and higher altitudes and LATITUDES? Kindly give it some thought. Thank you.

This was after the tornado. A year later, the high school was absent of some graduates.

By Richard Wolf, USA Today

After hosting (click title to entry - thank you) the world's major economic powers at his presidential retreat in Maryland and the world's pre-eminent military alliance in his hometown of Chicago over the weekend,President Obama came to Joplin, Mo., Monday night for some inspiration....
..."In only 32 minutes, it took thousands of homes, hundreds of businesses, and 161 of your neighbors, your friends and your family members," he said. "It took Will Norton, who had just left this auditorium with a diploma in his hand. It took Lantz Hare, who should've received his diploma next year."...

An expensive hobby farm is not a good political asset, evidently.

Ann Romney's "Acres."


I know something about the business. The land alone is so expensive that in NJ the State purchased it to build a horse park for the county.


In 1979, Janet Schaafsma (click here) built the main horse barn with the indoor arena and began operating a riding and boarding facility. 


It is a very expensive hobby. No one can dispute that. It has some therapeutic benefits when one rides as a casual pleasure horse, but, international competition at this level is very stressful.


The horses are expensive and if a veterinary certificate does not reveal any problems with its health, there are legal consequences, because, it is more than a matter of livestock, this is a quality of life issue, expectations of the future in a show ring that carries status. So, if she is dealing in these horses and there are problems then she hasn't been managing the barn well. 


A person has to be able to afford this life style. Horse-persons in this market are usually interested in the well being of their animal. The horse has a high priority in the quality of care it receives, including pasturing and otherwise. This is not a fools game and if there is a poor reputation of selling or breeding inferior horses the stable will not sustain the community's distain.


It has to be realized, much of the horse riding sport is comprised of young people. They are sportmen and women at a young age and their mounts have to be sound. They have to be well tempered and easy schooled for competition. It is a matter of achieve for these folks. They love the sport and every aspect of it, they love their horses, but, they love to win and show off their accomplished riding skills. So, this is different from the race track, there isn't big money in it except for breeding, training and teaching. Most are invested in the sport, not the profit.


This article by the LA Times surprised me. I didn't think Ann Romney was heavily into the business end of this. I thought she was interested in the breeds and promoting the sport. I didn't expect this. It even surprises me more to realize she has a connective tissue disease and is this involved in a stressful business. Horses take a lot of vigilance. She had a family. Wow. I really didn't expect this.

By Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times

May 22, 2012, 5:00 a.m.

It was the end of a long day (click here)  in a stuffy Simi Valley office building. Ann Romney had been under oath for more than four hours, testifying in a sometimes contentious deposition about a pricey horse she sold that may or may not have been afflicted with a condition that made him unrideable.

In the airless room, Romney was getting annoyed.

"That really is — that really is irritating," she said when the opposing attorney implied she didn't know who looked after her horse in Moorpark when she was at her home in Boston. "Of course I know who was looking after my horse. You're just trying to irritate me."

It was a rare moment of pique for Ann Romney, not meant for public consumption, and one that opened a window onto the private world of the would-be first lady....


This is really different than what the Late First Lady Jacquelin Onassis Kennedy did in Bedminster, New Jersey, too. Those folks were sportsmen and women, they had their mounts for recreational purposes.


You know, I once heard Ann Romney state, about the GOP primary, "This is our time now."  Meaning her and Mitt. It was their time to have the spot light. It didn't ring right with me, because, democracy is inclusive and that sounded alienating. Not only that, but, it sounded very business like. Mitt was used to saying those things to the companies he took over. It was his time and the integrity of the company as it existed before was irrelevant and a matter of nostalgia. I find it abrasive. I don't how how else to describe it. When I listen with an open mind, both of them violate my sensibilities in ways I never would expect. Well. Whatever. I've already made up my mind and to me I don't know why others haven't as well.

The government has used private concerns in national security, this is just another time.

Access to space is power. I can only hope the companies allowed to have this access are highly respectful of the people of this nation. We don't need 'loose cannons,' if you will, deciding to expand their capacity to other venues of national priority. 

The first time is always the most difficult when security is an issue as well as accomplishment, but, this is a big one. This is more than Blackwater or whatever they call themselves these days. This is also a corporation and if it wants to sell and/or merge there needs to be some military regulations that mediate that process and monitor the activities of this industry. Power is a strange thing, it has its own life and can be dangerous as a instrument in the wrong hands. I hope our military is aware of the activities of these companies. I think it is important they do know what transpires with our national assets and space is one of them.

But, I congratulate these young engineers and their future ventures. It makes the nation proud of them.

Workforce

Brian van der BrugLos Angeles TimesMay 14, 2012

SpaceX has a workforce of about 1,800, (click here) mostly in Hawthorne and Cape Canaveral. And much like the early days of NASA, the company has a cadre of young engineers -- the average age is in the early 30s -- who have turned down jobs at larger aerospace companies.

The Late President Reagan has surviving family and they should decide how best to handle this article.

It has remote historical significance. It was an attempted assassination, but, those closest to him should not have the nightmare of realizing their father's remains are in circulation as a collectors item. 


This is terrible. There is nothing dignified about this, primarily because of the exploitative nature of it all. It was stolen. I just don't believe that is appropriate. There should not be rewards for lack of respect for the family or theft. 


The only thing that remotely matches this is 'relicted' holy objects attached to rosary beads, but, this is beyond what should be acceptable. If this belonged to Lincoln or Kennedy, there is the idea of a genome being extracted for whatever reason that might exist. I sincerely this needs to be treated as human remains and given some respect.


My sympathies to the family. 

May 22, 2012, 6:25 AM

A British auction house claiming (click here) to have a vial containing President Ronald Reagan’s dried blood has angered the late Republican’s nonprofit foundation, which is threatening to block its sale.

“If indeed this story is true, it’s a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase,” John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library in Simi Valley, Calif., said in a statement, according to reports.

PFC Auctions listed a high bid of more than $9,900 late Monday, with final offers being accepted online through Thursday. The website says the “dried blood residue from President Reagan (1911-2004) can be seen clearly in the vial with a quarter-inch ring of blood residue at the end of the inserted rubber stopper.”

The president’s blood was supposedly gathered in 1981, following the assassination attempt on his life outside of a Washington, D.C., hotel. He was sent to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors tended to a gunshot wound and punctured lung.

The auction website notes that the paperwork included with the vial incorrectly states Reagan’s birthdate as “2/02/11,” when it was actually Feb. 6, 1911.

The vial is dated “3/30/81” — the day of the assassination attempt....

There is something wrong with military healthcare and the Justice Department needs to investigate.

TriWest has been the health care provider to the US military for awhile now and recently they lost their bid to United Healthcare even though the bid was less.


But, that isn't the entire problem.


There is a Class Action Lawsuit filed against United Health Care regarding the lack of mental health coverage.


We need more than adequate mental health coverage for our troops. We have witnessed the sad reality of PTSD for too long and the devastation of that on families and the soldiers themselves. 


Look, the troops and their families know what type of health care they are getting and it should be them that has input to this decision. I consider mental health care an important issue and if United Healthcare is unwilling to provide it when people are not in a war zone, what will they do with the people that defend our country?


Class Action: United Healthcare Denies Mental Health Coverage (click here)

Los Angeles, CA

Monday, May 21, 2012

A class-action lawsuit was filed against United Healthcare Insurance Company, US Behavioral Plan, and California United Behavioral Health, which contracts with employers such as the University of California to provide mental health services to policyholders. The class-action suit alleges that these companies, which are part of United Healthcare Insurance Company, have violated the California Mental Health Parity Act, which requires insurers to provide treatment for mental-health diagnoses according to "the same terms and conditions" applied to medical conditions.  Specifically, the defendants are accused of denying and improperly limiting coverage by conducting concurrent and prospective reviews of routine outpatient mental health treatments when no such reviews are conducted for routine outpatient treatments for other medical conditions.  Defendants are also accused of violating the Unruh Act, by discriminating against a class of persons with mental disabilities and psychiatric conditions; violating California's law prohibiting unfair competition, breaching the terms of its own insurance contract with policyholders, and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing....




TriWest Healthcare challenges loss of $20 billion Pentagon contract (click here)

05/12/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT
By Allison Sherry 
The Denver Post

WASHINGTON — TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the health insurer carrying more than 200,000 veterans and service members in Colorado, lost its contract with the Department of Defense for next year and is challenging the decision.

UnitedHealthcare recently beat out TriWest in a bid for another five-year, $20 billion contract to serve clients of Tricare, the U.S. military's health program, in 20 Western states. Phoenix-based TriWest has had the Tricare contract in the Western region, which has 2 million beneficiaries, for 16 years.

"No one has a right to this business, but when you hear you're lowest on price in the bid and yet you didn't win, you wonder what happened," said TriWest chief executive David McIntyre. "Frankly, I'm a bit disturbed. It doesn't make sense to us."

The contracts to serve veterans and active-duty service members are hotly contested because they are so lucrative....

So much for austerity.

Eurozone warned 'severe recession' looming (click here)

By GREG KELLER
AP Business Writer

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2012

PARIS —

The 17-country eurozone risks falling into a "severe recession," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Tuesday, as it called on governments and Europe's central bank to act quickly to keep the slowdown from dragging down the global economy.

OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan warned the eurozone economy could contract by as much as 2 percent this year, a figure that the Paris-based think tank had laid out as its worst-case scenario in November.

In its twice-yearly global economic outlook, the OECD - which comprises the world's most developed economies - said its average forecast was for the eurozone economy to shrink 0.1 percent this year and grow a mere 0.9 percent in 2013....

The USA is doing well when compared to the global economy. The Pro-Growth policies work where austerity simply prolongs any recovery and places danger of a greater recession in the percentages of reality.

The OECD (click here) has been around for a long time, they don't make policy, they concentrate on economies and quality of life. It obviously makes recommendations, but, they are based in qualitative studies. They have studied the economics of the world since 1961, the time of President Kennedy and his Peace Corps.


There can't be dispute President Obama is doing better than holding his own when it comes to touting economic recovery under his first term in office. His policies have been very aggressive and work. He has not pandered to those that caused this global depression , but, have not been draconian in policy making that would destroy Wall Street. There has to be a balance and I sincerely believe President Obama has found that balance with ease. His influence with the G8 was more than impressive and we may see growth in the Eurozone in the not too distant future. I congratulate all the European leaders for bravely moving in the direction of growth even though it seems counter-intuitive.

The USA is better off without the routes through Pakistan for many reasons.

The primary reason the routes through Pakistan are disadvantageous are the Federally Protected Tribal Regions. It is where some of the world's most notorious criminals have come from and it is inherently insecure.

The red area of northern Pakistan are tribal regions and the route into Kabul passes along them and ultimately through them. There is no advantage to that.


I suppose President Obama had to try to make it work, but, to believe the warlord culture of Pakistan is ever going to change is decades in the offing. That area of Pakistan is like Somalia, there is little to no sovereign governance and whenever the Taliban or al Qaeda or 'militant of the day' decides they need supplies they attack convoys of trucks. I never though Bush/Rumsfeld's appeasement of Pakistan to provide air and land access to Afghanistan was a good idea. I always believed supply, then Musharraf, with huge amounts of money was ridiculous. Those monies indicated to me this wasn't about peace or alliances so much as money.


Pakistan has too many internal problems to ever sincerely care about what occurs in Afghanistan. Heck, it doesn't care about the USA either, except, for whatever monies come their way.


Zadari is the most decent President Pakistan has ever had, but, his ability to tame the country is limited. There are sincere problems that need solving, but, they have to be solved by the country itself. We are better off out of it. Karzai is not going to have it easy in that part of the world once NATO exits, but, I believe the Afghan people are more capable of self-governance as a sovereign country than Pakistan is or will be in the near future.

...As the US President (click here) said that "bad moments" were likely to come in the course of the alliance's withdrawal, an unnamed UK official was quoted as saying that it was "unrealistic to assume that Afghanistan is going to be completely secure and there is no possibility of a terrorist threat re-emerging".

The comments came as the Nato summit in Chicago veered off script yesterday, as attempts to resolve Pakistan's blockade of Afghan supply routes fell apart and Mr Obama warned the country's leaders: work with us or run the risk of being "consumed by the extremism" that is in its midst....

Northern Texas is having hail storms.

May 22, 2012
0430:00 z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of USA


Nearly two inches of hail in some areas. There was a tornado in Kansas yesterday that damaged three homes.

0818 PM      HAIL             12 N ADRIAN             35.45N 102.66W

05/21/2012 

(click here) E1.00 INCH       OLDHAM             TX   PUBLIC

            HAIL COMPLETELY COVERING THE GROUND. 0.64 INCHES OF
            RAIN

0837 PM     TORNADO          5 NW ADRIAN             35.33N 102.73W
05/21/2012                   OLDHAM             TX   STORM CHASER

0850 PM     HAIL             ADRIAN                  35.28N 102.66W
05/21/2012  E1.75 INCH       OLDHAM             TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0851 PM     HAIL             1 S ADRIAN              35.28N 102.66W
05/21/2012  E1.75 INCH       OLDHAM             TX   BROADCAST MEDIA

            ALONG I40

0906 PM     HAIL             ADRIAN                  35.28N 102.66W
05/21/2012  E1.75 INCH       OLDHAM             TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0922 PM     HAIL             ADRIAN                  35.28N 102.66W
05/21/2012  E0.88 INCH       OLDHAM             TX   PUBLIC

            2 TO 3 INCHES OF NICKEL SIZE HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.

1031 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 W AMARILLO            35.20N 101.83W
05/21/2012  M61 MPH          POTTER             TX   BROADCAST MEDIA

Nevada is experiencing high winds, dry air and wildfires. Not a good combination.

...gusty wind and low relative humidity levels (click here) elevated fire weather conditions across much of Nevada and Utah.

Thermal, California had a high of 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

On this date, May 21 in 1792, Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis, the first to describe the Coriolis force, was born.


My birthday is the same as Mr. Coriolis, May 21st. Nice. That's pretty cool.

Odd. "Effectiveness of US Government Leaders" made the top of the list of concerns in a BOA small business poll.

Why Small Companies Are Helping Our Economy Grow (click here)

January 25, 2012

...Small businesses contribute much more to the U.S. economy and society as a whole than can be calculated just from the spending and profit that they generate. These businesses tend to be more economically innovative than larger companies; more able to respond to changing consumer demand; and more receptive to creating opportunities for women and minorities; and activities in distressed areas....

Small Business are my heroes. I don't believe that will ever change.

The answers are on page 4 of the PDF. I don't find it odd small business owners are looking at the effectiveness of government leadership, but, to realize it out ranks even recover of consumer spending by a few points seems strange. These small business owners surveyed are not minor at all and below is the methodology of the polling.

Methodolgy

Braun Research conducted the Bank of America Small Business Owner Report survey by

phone between March 17 and April 9, 2012 on behalf of Bank of America. Braun contacteda nationally representative sample of 1,000 small business owners in the United States withannual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing between 2 and 99 employees.

In addition, 300 small business owners were also surveyed in nine target markets

including Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco,Atlanta and Miami. The margin of error for the national sample is +/- 3.1 percent, and +/- 5.7percent for the oversampled markets, with both reported at a 95 percent confidence level.

But, considering these owners place their local economy in priority of their concerns when it comes to a stable market for their products; their preoccupation with government leadership links government to their success. According to Republicans, government is not necessary for small businesses to succeed. 

...Small business owners (click here) have more confidence in their local economy than the national economy. When asked about the next 12 months, 42 percent expect their own local economic conditions to improve compared to 35 percent who expect the national economy will improve. When asked what national issues concern them the most, the effectiveness of US government leaders topped the list, closely followed by commodities prices, the recovery of consumer spending and healthcare costs. Credit availability ranked at the bottom along with the trade deficit and the global stock market.

However, reservations about the state of the national economy did not dampen optimism among small business owners regarding their future business prospects. Nearly 7 of 10 (69%) small business owners view their local economy as critical to their business’s success.

Moreover, reflective of the independent character that typifies most small business owners, the majority of respondents (53%) stated that their own decisions, rather than the overall health of the economy, are more likely to influence business outcomes.

This sentiment was particularly strong among women as well as “Necessity” and “Serial” small business owners....

Local economies. I have said it and said it and said it and now there is proof. I didn't know BOA did these surveys on a regular basis. This is the first one I have read. Local economies don't require analysts to make decisions. Most local business owners understand their market on a personal level. I remember when the 2008 global economic collapse/depression hit, small owners gave up their recreational time and laid off employees to better handle their businesses in uncertain times. Sincere local economies are far less likely to have adverse trends while national and international companies don't have the luxury of the same safety margins.

Entitlements and Small Businesses are the baseline of the USA economy. The stronger and more stable they are the less chance the USA will ever face tragic outcomes. Noted in this report is the fact over a third of small business owners still work a part time or full time job, in addition to their management of their enterprise. That may be to receive benefits including pension over the long term. But, they are very ambitious. That is a good thing.

This is what goes on in North Carolina congregations. (click title to entry - thank you) This is not scripture, it is hate speech.

Rubio, one of the most divisive figure in modern American history in the Senate

Who is divisive?
Senator Rubio has stood shoulder to shoulder with his GOP peers in the Senate and filibustered record numbers of votes to put Americans back to work. 


President Obama's American Jobs Act was the most bi-partisan bill this country has ever seen. Who is divisive? Rubio and his Republican peers, that who is divisive.


Senator Snow is leaving her seat after years and years of dedication to the people of Maine. She stated she came to Washington to govern and for the past two years it has been nothing but politics day after day after day. Who is divisive? Who is pitting American against American? President Obama? He never attempted to destroy equity of all Americans or those protected by the law. He never attacked women's health and he never put up barriers to legal protection under the law for women including minorities, immigrants or from the GLBT community. I sincerely believe the Violence Against Women's Act is unconstitutional in its exclusion of 'certain classes' of women. That is discrimination and it should never be tolerated.


Those are very strange words coming from a Hispanic Senator when one realizes the truth.


This paragraph refers to the chart above. It is from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.


(The chart tracks the number of attempts (click here) to overturn filibusters in each Congress. The Senate does not keep data on the number of times the filibuster itself is invoked, which would be much larger. Numbers for 2011-12 are lower because the current session has yet to be concluded, and because as use of the filibuster has become standard, fewer votes are called to try to overturn it.)


It has gotten to the point where bringing a bill to the floor is fruitless as there won't be a majority vote on any bill. That is not a functional government and it is the direct responsibility of the Senate Republicans.

What is the largest pension fund yet to be liquidated?

And for young women it is all the more important to demand equity in the market place and in the benefits and pay they receive. Women do not receive equal pay for work and they are behind in all aspects of retirement, including, Social Security Benefits. If a woman makes less over her lifetime than a man she will received less benefits when it counts the most, at retirement.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Why young workers should care about Social Security (click here)

Posted: May 20, 2012 12:00 am
Updated: 9:10 am, May 21, 2012.

By Peggy Buchanan, Contributing writer, The Lufkin News

Summer will be here before we know it. That means millions of high school and college students will be searching for jobs. Whether a new worker is beginning the career of a lifetime or just earning some extra money for the school year to come, there is one question that is likely to be on each new worker’s mind when they see their first pay stub: Where’s the rest of my money?

Generally, employers are required to withhold Social Security and Medicare tax from a worker’s paycheck. The amounts you pay in Social Security and Medicare taxes are matched by your employer. Usually the money that is withheld is referred to as “Social Security taxes” on the employee’s payroll statement. Sometimes the deduction is labeled as “FICA taxes,” which stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act. So let us tell you how that money is being used, and what’s in it for you.

The taxes paid now translate to a lifetime of protection, when you eventually retire or if you become disabled. In the event that you die young, your dependent children and spouse may be able to receive survivors benefits based on your work. Today you probably have family members — grandparents, for example — who already enjoy Social Security benefits that your Social Security taxes help provide....

Notre Dame is not a sovereign entity and accepts US Federal Funding.

May 21, 2012 2:52pm

Forty-three Catholic groups, (click here) including the University of Notre Dame and Archdioceses of New York and Washington, have sued the Obama administration over a controversial mandate requiring employers to offer insurance plans that include contraception coverage.

In a coordinated filing of 12 lawsuits in federal courts across the country, the groups argue that the mandate would unconstitutionally force religiously-affiliated institutions, like Catholic schools and hospitals, to indirectly subsidize contraception for female employees in violation of religious beliefs.

President Obama in February attempted to accommodate the groups’ concerns with an administrative compromise he said would ensure no religious organization had to pay for or provide the services directly.  But today’s lawsuits signal that the Catholics groups found the effort insufficient.

“We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with the Congress – and we’ll keep at it – but there’s still no fix,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said in a statement. “Time is running out, and our valuable ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now.”...

The "Church Based" Funding of the USA is as generous to them as it is to other non-profit entities that hire Americans to work for them. Those monies offered to these institutions come from taxpayers of all religions, ethnicities and otherwise. If Americans are good enough for the funding to these institutions and they are good enough to work for these institutions, then they are good enough to have equity in benefits as well.

ND Expert: The legacy and challenge of a landmark decision

MICHAEL O. GARVEY

DATE: MAY 18, 2012

Reflecting on the recent anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s (click here) landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, John Schoenig, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Program for K-12 educational access, insisted that serious challenges to the equality of educational opportunity remain.

“On May 17, we commemorated the 58th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, arguably the most important civil rights decision in Supreme Court history,” Schoenig said.

“It was through Brown that the deplorable legacy of ‘separate but equal’ that had been enshrined in Plessy v. Ferguson was formally prohibited in America’s public schools. This year’s anniversary is a particularly special one, insofar as Brown is now as old as Plessy was when Brown was decided.”...

Notre Dame knows better than to expect every person in its employee to have the same religious affiliation. If they want that dynamic they need to stop accepting monies from the federal government and seek an exclusive category as a "Catholic's Only" university. Considering 97% of Catholic women use birth control in the USA, this lawsuit is grossly out of step with contemporary Catholics.

PUBLISHED: AUTUMN 2004 

The Notre Dame program (click here) that places recent grads in Catholic schools to teach for two years will have to get along without the support of the federal AmeriCorps program if a court ruling earlier this year stands.

In July a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Corporation for National and Community Service, parent of the AmeriCorps national service program, violated the principal of separation of church and state by financially supporting Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and similar programs organized by religious institutions. The decision stemmed from a suit brought two years ago by the American Jewish Congress, which argued that tax dollars were being used to teach Christianity....


There is nothing I can respect about the Catholic Church if they don't provide understanding for their members within their doctrines AND see themselves exempt from discrimination of Americans based on religious doctrines. This is over reaching. If funding from the USA government can be CONTAMINATED by citizens of all religions and those that don't practice a religion as those that contribute to the USA Treasury; and the MONEY is good enough for the Catholic Church to accept, then it is good enough to RESPECT the law of the land in the USA.


It is a very strange thing to have Right Wing members of Congress and religious institutions finding the money from the USA Treasury CLEAN ENOUGH to accept but not to the extent where EQUITY of all Americans apply. With the Right Wing there should be no tax dollars going toward abortion clinics, yet they can have faith based funding from the same USA Treasury. I would think if the USA Treasury was CONTAMINATED with the monies of UNCLEAN citizens according to religious doctrine of one kind or another, the funding would be shunned completely by all religious organizations.


This is Cherry Picking at it's worst. Religious organizations can decide what is clean 'enough' for them to accept when it comes to the citizens of the USA and then it can decide what is unclean. 


Like. What?


If I work for a religious entity because my talents are needed and I don't practice their religion I EXPECT to have my civil rights protected no matter where I work. I find it disgusting that the Catholic Church considers themselves better than their employees in their determination of whom is holy and whom is not. The USA is not heaven and the Catholic Church should not believe they can make it hell-like for all those not of their doctrines.


USA funding is not exclusive, it is INCLUSIVE and that applies to the citizens of this country seeking work and benefits.

Mayor Booker Expands on His Support for President Obama

...After graduating from Brigham Young University (click title to entry - thank you) in 1971, he earned dual degrees from Harvard Law and Harvard Business School. After working as a business consultant for several years, Mitt founded the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984. Under his leadership, Bain Capital helped to launch or rebuild hundreds of companies, including household names such as Staples, Bright Horizons, and The Sports Authority. As Bain Capital was growing in prominence, Mitt returned to his old consulting firm, Bain & Company, as CEO. In a time of financial turmoil at the company, he led a successful turnaround.


I understand Mayor Booker's frustration with the negative campaign existing this season. But, let me point to 'the truth' of Romney's record he is skating on. The Obama Campaign has to address his years as a CEO at Bain. The above paragraph is from Romney's bio page.


On that page he tries to build sympathy for himself as someone that has faced adversity. Life has that characteristic, but, his wealth has made personal adversity easier than most Americans face in their lives. To the average Middle Class citizen life is difficult and adversity is a mountain to climb, not simply a challenge. As example, I point to the very dysfunctional health care system President Obama took on and succeeded in passing a comprehensive initiative that will provide more Americans health benefits than ever before in history.


But, Mr. Romney has worded his government work as a one term Governor is a most interesting way. Below are Romney's words, not mine.


...When Mitt was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, the state was in severe disarray, its budget was out of balance, spending was soaring, and taxpayers were being required to pay more and more in taxes for diminishing services. The state economy was in a tailspin, with businesses cutting back on investment or even closing and unemployment ticking up. Mitt made hard decisions that brought state spending under control. He restructured and consolidated government programs, paring back where necessary and finding efficiencies throughout....


Rehabilitation of a 'government structure' in disarray inappropriately asking for more money to balance it's budget is very different; very, very different, than what Americans face today. Bureaucratic inefficiency is far easier to fix and reduce taxes with more efficiencies than REBUILDING an economy left in the wake of a global economic collapse. Mitt Romney is not qualified for the Presidency of the USA. He has been a man that has sought wealth over employment of citizens. Thinning the economic growth of the USA by supposed inefficiences would make the economic depression longer and would unquestionably remove potential for growth in a way that may permanently disable aspect of the current economy.


Pipelines are not going to solve the USA energy needs and that is a waste of time. The country's focus belongs on securing its food supply as a national security priority and that means preventing contamination by the petroleum industry of land and water. Contamination of food and water is viewed as  a minor inconvenience while profits are suppose to be untouched by careless industry practices. Romney gave no credence to closing down companies that would ultimately produce less profit than if they were destroyed and sold. 


There is an incorrect way of looking at venture capitalists and Romney is very guilty of it.


There was a time in the USA when MERGER meant expansion of already existing success. One of the best examples is the history in North Carolina of the famous railroads. It was a heyday for the industry.

The city of Wilmington, North Carolina was lined with mansions compliments of a busy port city and the railroad delivering service to passengers. There was a lot of movement by citizens and the economy was strong. The railroad of Wilmington was the envy of the country.


There were other rails working in the country and eventually the Wilmington-Weldon Line MERGED with Seaboard Air Line Railroad.


The map to the left is a historic map of the SALR. (click here)


The merger of the two rail lines was called Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The merger connected two of the greatest railroads of the time. Eventually, the passenger service will suffer great blows because of personal transportation by a fellow named, Henry Ford.


But, the point is mergers are not about a company failing necessarily, so much as it is about companies with sincere viability and finding the best advantage for the new company to succeed.


Mergers are suppose to be about potential, success and expansion, not about assessment of assets and how best to 'make a buck.' 


I have thought about the steel industry in the USA and how it literally disappeared as if it was outdated in a way the passenger train was replaced with cars and roads. It should have never have happened and Romney at Bain literally imploded a piece of that industry into the dust. It was wrong then and it is wrong today. 


Companies sometimes have to be restructured to be less top heavy in administration and for that reason much middle management is reduced when mergers occur, but, at the very heart of the company are the employees. They are experienced in producing a product and I don't ever recall in the USA when employees were willing to turn out junk for a paycheck knowing their community would find them laughable.


American steel was and is the best in the world. It should never have been turned to dust and abandoned. When that occurs it is not unlawful, but, it is highly immoral with dire consequences to the American economy. I don't want a CEO in the White House. I especially don't want a CEO in the White House that has destroyed valuable American jobs belonging to an industry made to disappear in the USA while it weakened our national security. 


While Mayor Booker wants a seriousness from the Obama Campaign, he may not realize he is actually getting it.

"Morning Papers"

It's Origins (click here - thank you)

The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Millions in Asia and the western United States (click here) watched as a rare "ring of fire" eclipse crossed their skies.

The annular eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, was visible to wide areas across Asia early Monday. It then moved across the Pacific and was also seen in parts of the western United States Sunday afternoon.

Viewing parties were held in Reno, Nev., Oakland, Calif., and elsewhere. In some parts of the U.S., special camera filters for taking photographs have been sold out for weeks in anticipation of the big event.

People from Colorado, Oklahoma and as far away as Canada traveled to Albuquerque to enjoy one of the best vantage points.