Senator McCain is not getting into the spirit of the new administration

President Calvin Coolidge dons an Indian headdress to be made an honorary chief.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a nice place to be. As a matter of fact Senator McCain's past stance on Global Warming will elevate his standing with most of the Indian Nations.

He also fought corruption over the Indian Nation's exploitation during the Abramoff Affair.

There is a real drought out there, Senator. There is nothing more important than getting in up to your elbows in dedication to purpose, Senator.

April 6, 2012, 3:39 PM

A Difficult Choice on Water (click here)

By LESLIE MACMILLAN

Arizona’s two senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, traveled to the Navajo reservation this week to meet with Navajo and Hopi tribal leaders about a proposed water rights accord that would settle the two tribes’ claims to the Little Colorado River system....

...The settlement would benefit the two tribes by providing clean drinking water piped directly into their homes, Mr. Kyl said. There is very little surface water on the two reservations, he said, adding that most of the water that does exist is in aquifers and the tribes can’t afford to build the infrastructure necessary to gain access to it.

What the tribes would lose by settling is a crucial bargaining chip. Other parties, including Peabody Coal and two other corporations, want the water for ranching, farming and coal mining operations. Coal mining in particular uses copious amounts of water for its slurries....

It is time the senior statesman of the Republican Party took a benevolent posture with the Interior Department and worked to return these areas from drought while protecting valuable water supplies.

Given you work in the area of clear water, it is understandable why your re-election was such a fight this time, huh?

It is not joke, Senator. The country and the tribes have real problems and fall offs in their agricultural production. Water is a premium and having is available when crops need it is getting to be impossible.

Drought Preparedness for Tribes in the Four Corner Regions. (click here)

Evaluation of Arizona Drought Watch: The State's Drought Impact Reporting System (click here)

Local drought impacts information is critical for monthly drought status reports, but the lack of local-level observations limits the state’s ability to assess and mitigate drought effects.

No, joke, Senator. It is vital work, don't short change it.

The Rhetorical Right - Populism. They don't care about people, they care about their cronies.

By WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer 
Published: 11/19/2012  12:23 PM 
Last Modified: 11/19/2012  1:39 PM

Gov. Mary Fallin (click here) on Monday rejected state participation in a health care exchange and expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.

The decision means Oklahoma will not do anything to accommodate the controversial federal health care law — known as “Obamacare” — but it also means the state will skip an opportunity to help some 693,000 uninsured Oklahomans, 18.7 percent of the state population, get coverage through the federal government.

“After careful consideration, I have today informed U.S. Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius that Oklahoma will not pursue the creation of its own health insurance exchange,” Fallin said. “Furthermore, I have also decided that Oklahoma will not be participating in the Obama Administration’s proposed expansion of Medicaid.”...

Below is a report from the Oklahoma Poverty Institute. Either Fallin does care or she is completely ignorate of the needs of her own people. There is no in between.

Oklahoma ranks 44th in the nation with a rate of 15.6% with the least impoverished in New Hampshire at 5.6%. These statistics was when the USA national poverty rate was only 12.6%.

The Oklahoma poverty rate is over 543,000 people.

Poverty rises in Oklahoma; children especially bearing the brunt (click here)

by Kate | September 22nd, 2011 | Posted in Blog, Poverty | Comments (4)

By GINNIE GRAHAM and CURTIS KILLMAN World Staff Writers 
Published: 9/20/2012  11:40 AM 
Last Modified: 9/20/2012  11:40 AM

Median household income (click here) and the poverty rate in Oklahoma and Tulsa County remained basically unchanged in 2011 compared to the prior year, according to new census data.

The data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey also shows state unemployment declined from 2010 to 2011, while income inequality increased during the same period in Oklahoma. The American Community Survey is an ongoing poll conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

“The fact that poverty basically stayed the same even though the overall economy is improving shows that we are looking at a very uneven recovery,” said Gene Perry, policy analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a Tulsa-based think tank. 

“What that shows is we are seeing a good economy for some, but there are a whole lot of other people who are being left out,” Perry said. 

While overall poverty numbers were stable in the state, improvements were noted in some areas from 2010 to 2011. 

The poverty rate for married couples with related children under 18 in Tulsa County declined from 6 percent in 2010 to 4.3 percent in 2011, according to the census data. 

The state poverty rate among households headed by females with children under 18 declined from 45.5 percent in 2010 to 43.9 percent in 2011. 

Julie Alvarez, 40, gives Goodwill of Tulsa credit for helping her dig out of poverty over the past two years....

By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer 
Published: 9/16/2010  3:16 AM 
Last Modified: 9/12/2012  1:54 PM

The number of teen girls giving birth in Oklahoma in 2008 (click here)was more than double the number of female freshmen entering the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University that fall semester, according to a recent data analysis. 

Oklahoma's teen birth rates rose between 2005 and 2007, moving up a notch to the fifth highest in the country, according to the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. 

The nonprofit organization has been analyzing data released by the National Vital Statistics earlier this year to break down and compare rates and numbers to other states, said Sharon Rodine, director of youth initiatives for the group. 

"This is 100 percent preventable," Rodine said. "Oklahoma is not doing much at all to address teen pregnancy in any area. Other states are getting there, especially in Southern states. This is not a race we want to win." 

The largest increase is among Oklahoma's 18- to 19-year-olds, which jumped from the sixth-highest pregnancy rate for that age group to second, behind Mississippi....

Highlights: (click here)
• Of the total teen childbearing costs in Oklahoma in 2008, 
48% were federal costs and 52% were state and local costs. 
• Most of the public sector costs of teen childbearing are 
associated with negative consequences for the children of 
teen mothers, during both their childhood and their young 
adult years.  In Oklahoma in 2008, taxpayer costs associated 
with children born to teen mothers included: $36 million for 
public health care (Medicaid and CHIP); $27 million for child 
welfare; and, for children who have reached adolescence or 
young adulthood, $29 million for increased rates of incarceration and $56 million in lost tax revenue due to decreased 
earnings and spending.

By Wayne Greene
World Senior Writer
Published: 7/9/2012  2:23 AM 
Last Modified: 7/9/2012  7:11 AM

More than half of Oklahoma's uninsured poor people (click here) would be covered by a Medicaid expansion that is part of the Affordable Care Act within five years, according to a 2010 Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured report. 

With some effort, the expansion could cover nearly three-quarters of uninsured poor Oklahomans, the report says. 

Oklahoma Health Care Authority figures show that some 624,480 Oklahomans - about 17 percent of the population - don't have health insurance. 

A high uninsured population doesn't just hurt the people who don't have insurance, said OU-Tulsa President Gerard Clancy, a physician and a leading voice in state health policy discussions. 

"The uninsured sooner or later are going to need to access care anyhow," Clancy said. 

If they don't have insurance, they will delay care until their illness drives them to an emergency room, where they have to be served, he said....

Who cares? Wall Street maybe.

More business for the local shops. Papa Johns is hooked on populous and free pizzas. It is meat grinder for its employees.

Posted: 11/08/2012

By: JESSICA LIPSCOMB, naplesnews.com

A day after Barack Obama (click here) earned a second term in the White House, Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter said the president's signature health-care reform law would increase his business costs and possibly result in employees' hours being cut.

Schnatter, a part-time Naples resident, made the comments Wednesday night inside a small auditorium at Edison State College's Collier County campus. In August, he made national headlines after telling shareholders the Affordable Care Act — commonly known as Obamacare — would result in a 10- to 14-cent increase for customers buying a pizza....

I hate to call them. There employees have a demand for a high turnover of their product. The CEO pinches everything and I don't want to know what kind of evaluation standards they have to live up to. I realize this is a job, but, the extreme demands they work under is ridiculous.

It is a poverty job. Don't need 'em. Let the Mom and Pop shops open up and put out a good product and higher their delivery people. 

I am taking the evening off.

This is the latest anti-union rant.

Really?

Hostess has problems for many reasons, including, mimicry and recipes dense in sugar. This started long before people went on strike.

Hostess might reflect on why Oreo survives and thrives but their Twinkie doesn't.

Everything has it's day.

Jails and prisons are inherently nontherapeutic environments

How can the USA even begin to reform their penal systems if the psychiatric community can't even agree on their own standards?

There should be NO QUESTION when seclusion of the incarcerated goes over the line. But, the fact wardens turn to mental health standards for their own practices is obviously a counter productive standard.

The chronic re-sentencing of a prisoner over and above the original sentence because of ill behavior while incarcerated is outrageous. It is a form of detention and not incarceration.

There is a lot wrong with the USA penal system, however, it is going to be up to governors to reduce prison populations while enforcing rehabilitation. Perhaps Walmart might hire the incarcerated as their sentences are commuted. Lord knows, the work environment isn't any different.

The review of Existing Guidelines (click here) showed that:

• Definitions vary widely; sometimes, the terms are not defined.
• There is little agreement on appropriate use, although there is general agreement that there should be no inappropriate use.
• The length of time permitted for use varies from guideline to guideline.
• Procedures also vary extensively. Some existing regulations and guidelines are extremely prescriptive; others leave wide latitude for professional judgment.
• Accountability and external monitoring are of interest to all constituency groups. Requirements vary.
• There is general agreement that staff should be trained in the techniques they will be required to implement. However, some guidelines only speak to a general need fortraining, whereas others identify specific educational requirements.

The review of Model Standards also looked at the six parameters noted above, but the individual focus of each model was also addressed. For example, one model includes recommendations for the administrators of juvenile correctional programs; another shows how a hospital’s nursing department developed a standard and a standard care plan related to seclusion and restraint.

Walmart reaches a new all time low, inhumane conditions.

Low income workers do not create jobs, they do not contribute to growth in the economy and suffer inhumane working conditions.

The idea a person's worth is measured in 'economic growth' is only contributing to the problem with an example of Walmart. Since when does a human being's treatment while working require the component of contributing to the nation's economic growth? 

Low income workers need increases in pay, not simply a Kumbaya moment for a 'feel good feeling.' These workers are valuable and they need to fight for more than working conditions, They need to fight for a better quality of life at home, too. Assuming, of course, they have a home life an not just a 24-7 working life.

Map of Walmart stores in the U.S., as of August 2010.

..NERMEEN SHAIKH: Historic labor protests (click here) against the nation’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart, are expanding to 28 stores in 12 states. Organizers are describing the actions as the first retail worker strike in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history. The strike began last week in Los Angeles and has spread to stores in Dallas; Seattle; the San Francisco Bay Area; Miami; the Washington, D.C., area; Sacramento; Chicago; and Orlando.

Wal-Mart workers are not unionized and have long complained of poor working conditions and inadequate wages. According to organizers, employees are protesting company attempts to, quote, "silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job." This is Wal-Mart associate Carlton Smith speaking in June at Wal-Mart’s annual shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas....

Walmart CEO and President Mike Duke (click here), is earning his bonuses by depriving warehouse workers of water while sweating. But, don't blame Duke for the inhumanity, the Walmart headquarters is in Alabama where no one cares about human beings in poverty, only the money that can be gotten through their exploitation. It is a cultural right of Duke to deprive his employees of humane conditions, it has existed so long in Alabama it is near and dear to their hearts.

Duke gets confused about the values of his global empire as to the rights of workers to live through a work day shift.

Will Duke lose his job? We can only hope.

4/25/2012 @ 6:02PM 

Could Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke (click here) lose his job over the company’s Mexican bribery scandal?  CNNMoney had an intriguing article yesterday suggesting that Duke could become a target of law enforcement officials who are probing whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the federal law that makes it a crime for U.S. companies or their subsidiaries to bribe foreign officials. No boss of a major U.S. company has ever been charged under the law. Duke could be the first....

There is only one effective way to handle these violations and that is unionization. There is no other means to achieve recognition for work place suffering and danger. Unions can impose a change to the corporate culture to return decency to the businesses model.

News Corp, Walmart and CEO Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing (click here)

by Ben W. Heineman, Jr

11:21 AM May 4, 2012

CEOs must respond quickly, decisively and comprehensively to investigate and address wrong doing as soon as they learn of it.

Though it may seem common sense, that last phrase — "as soon as they learn of it" — seems repeatedly to elude, and then to haunt many a CEO, including high-profile ones. The key point for business leaders — and one that I would often make to executives when I was at GE — is this: You own the problem the instant you hear about. You will be judged by every action you take, or don't take, from that moment on.

The trials and tribulations of News Corp, as underscored by the recent findings of a parliamentary committee, and of Walmart, as detailed in the recent New York Times allegations of Walmart bribery in Mexico, illustrate vividly the adverse consequences when this fundamental governance rule is not followed....

The current conflict between Israel and Gaza is not about settlements.

When people, like David Frum, justify Israeli settlements as 'simply buildings' that anyone can live regardless of nationality; they are dangerously close to committing cultural genocide.

There is a reason why Palestine exists. It is not about 'simply land. It is about a people and their practices. 

The destruction of the Palestine culture is a genocide of those people. I realize that is an inflammatory word, but, it is the truth. The Palestinian territories are to preserve a people, a culture and a belief in the right all peoples have to exist. Israelis should embrace that, they know the pain of attempted extinction.

In embracing life, there is the issue of cessation of violence which accompanies it. 

The unfortunate truth of Hamas within Palestine is the fact they have lived their lives with the purpose of erasing Israel from the map. That is a false sense of purpose. There is no erasing Israel form the map. Hamas has a goal that is genocidal. They endanger their own lands and their enjoyment by practicing genocidal ideology against Israel. Hamas should never be armed. There is no reason for it.

When Gaza seeks to increase their military strength there are all kinds of precautions instituted by Israel to prevent exactly what is occurring today and the reasons it is occurring. The conflict today could have been prevented. Easily prevented. 

The people of Gaza suffer. There is no doubt about it, but, the reasons they suffer is directly linked to the violence. If the governing authority in Gaza were seeking the best outcomes for their people in regard to education, health, food sources and basically quality of life, none of the problems Gaza faces today would exist. 

Sharon believed once Gaza 'belonged' to the Palestinians they would settle in and be productive. That is not what has occurred. Instead, it emboldened Hamas and made their demands to destroy Israel greater and more toxic. 

To say Hamas is hapless in their attempt at sovereignty and governance is an understatement. It isn't as though the global community isn't supportive of their directives in having their own sovereignty, but, they have no ability to conduct themselves as responsible sovereigns of their nation. And worse than that Hamas has no desire to be responsible except for killing Israelis.

Sharon was not wrong, but, he was at a loss to have a viable partner in his peace efforts. There was no peace in the ambitions of the Palestinians when Sharon opened Gaza to them by removing settlers. There was no way of enforcing the peace. There was no authority to secure it. The authority manifesting out of the elections in Gaza don't have a definition of peace. So, while Sharon was desperate to achieve a peace; his efforts had no chance. There is nothing today different from those dynamics. Israel still has no viable partner in peace. The negotiations with Palestinians have proven to be untrustworthy.

Israel has to build a DMZ between Gaza and Israel. The idea is hideous when realizing the land involved, but, there is no other strategy to carry out. The IDF has to be able to enforce something. The only reasonable solution is a demilitarized zone, until the day comes when Gaza has a valid sovereign authority for peace. Who knows when that is going to happen? 

A DMZ will actually save lives. Palestinian lives and Israeli lives.

Petraeus is no longer the headlines since he is actually an asset to the Obama Administration and not its demise.

David Petraeus is not going anywhere. If nothing else his resignation has set him free to do with his life as wishes. After a very long time serving the USA that has to be somewhat a solace by itself.

Mr. Petaeus will become a private consultant to the USA if he isn't already. He loves this country and would no more consider doing anything but working within its military industrial complex than stop breathing. I can't help but wonder which news network is going to be the first to hire him as a talking head.

by Diane Dimond
continued...
Nov 18, 2012 7:59 AM EST
...This country (click here) has invested heavily in developing Petraeus into the successful and well-decorated military leader he became. And a decades-long ascension to the elite branches of government doesn’t come cheap. Look at Petraeus’s schooling alone: four years at West Point, where he graduated in 1974 in the top 5 percent of his class; Ranger School; The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and Princeton University, where he earned both a Masters and a PhD in international relations....

Today the Miami Herald is examining the impact of the post-panamax era. The Houston Chronicle is all about football. The Chicago Tribune is all about the deaths in the neighborhoods, the New York Times is looking at Israel. The Los Angles is talking about the happiness returning to California and finding the identity of a three year old lost to them so many years ago. And last but hardly least is The Boston Globe and its new female MBTA leadership. I love the T. It is a great subway linked to Amtack and the world was mine.

The point is Mr. Petraeus is doing well. He was more than helpful to the administration he resigned from by TELLING THE TRUTH. I'll be darn. The country is fine and the investment into our generals continues to be an excellent investment to our brain trust. 

The lack of exploitation of the sexual exploits of the former CIA Director and his mistress has moved to a place in the news where we will probably never hear about it again. The efforts by the GOP to call President Obama incompetent has ended and they have been proven to be adverse to the best interest of the country. The GOP needs to clean up its act and stop living in the 'Karl Rove Cloud' of Elections Happen 24/7.

The nation has problems that need to be solved. Attacking the elderly, the young and the helpless is not the way to solve them. Perhaps, and it is a remoye possibility, the GOP might even 'come home' to the reality and best interest of the country. I did say remote, didn't I? I didn't want to make that mistake. 

I firmly believe the only way to move the Republicans in the best direction for the nation is for the Democrats to begin a dense election strategy for 2014. Those elections should reflect the best values for the nation to the electorate in every Senate and House seat. The Democrats need to resist addressing rhetoric and stick to a solid message of problem solving. If they start now the electorate will 'get it' when pulling the levers in 2014.

The conflict in Gaza will not begin a larger war.

Israel needs to begin to move its ground forces into Gaza to stabilize the situation so the bombs can stop falling. The bombing is indiscriminate and while Israel has incredible ability to target specific locations, the human shields to Hamas military targets are mounting.

Updated: 12:47, Sunday November 18, 2012

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi (click here) said his government was in touch with both Israelis and Palestinians and there were indications they could "soon" reach a truce, but there were no guarantees.
"There are some indications that there could be a ceasefire soon," Morsi said at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday adding that there were still "no guarantees."
He said his country's government was in "vigorous" communications with both the Palestinians and Israel.
A senior Hamas official had earlier said his movement was reluctant to agree a truce because it doubted the terms of the ceasefire could be guaranteed.
The Palestinian Information Centre, a website close to Hamas and acts as a mouthpiece, reported that Meshaal demanded "international guarantees" in his meeting with Egypt's intelligence chief....

The USA has major ports in the region and Russia has a port in Syria. Nothing is going to ignite the region. To some extent Russia's military in Syria stabilizes those that would see Israel's actions as aggression that would take over the region. Both the USA and Russia serve to stabilize the region without escalation.

The fact of the matter is Gaza is densely populated and Hamas has no right to occupy it with military intent on a daily basis. The people of Gaza have to be elevated in importance over the anger of extremism. Hamas needs to disarm and realize their hatred and missiles to do keep their people safe.

Hostess Twinkie, the end of an era.

Homemade Twinkies Recipe

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk, preferably whole
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
• Seven-Minute Filling, er, Frosting

Directions

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.
• 2. To make your shiny, single-use Twinkie molds, start with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably heavy-duty, that’s approximately 14 inches long. It should be just a little longer than it is wide. Fold the foil in half lengthwise, then fold it in half again to create a rectangle that’s about 6 inches long and 7 inches wide. Repeat to make a dozen rectangles.
• 3. Place 1 sheet of folded foil on your work surface, with the long side facing you. Place a standard-size plastic or glass spice jar on its side in the center of the foil, the jar’s long side also facing you. Bring the long sides of the foil up around the jar. The foil won’t reach all the way around, and that’s okay. Fold the foil in around both top and bottom ends of the spice jar, nice and tight. You’ll end up with a sort of trough situation. (Cookbook author Todd Wilbur has a video of the process here; if you’re impatient, fast forward to 1:10, where the action starts.) Repeat until you have 12 foil Twinkie molds. Spritz the molds with an obscenely generous amount of nonstick spray or use your fingertips to coat the molds with vegetable oil. Place the Twinkie molds on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.
• 4. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• 5. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat add the vanilla. Cover to keep warm.
• 6. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, a large mixing bowl) and reserving the yolks in another bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the whites reach soft, moist peaks.
• 7. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl—there’s no need to clean the bowl (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, simply place the egg yolks in a separate large bowl). Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.
• 8. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg whites and then mix everything on low speed for just 10 seconds (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, until blended but not thoroughly combined). Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter, and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
• 9. Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared molds, filling each with about 3/4 inch of batter. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool in the molds.
• 10. Just before filling, remove each cake from the foil. Using the end of a chopstick, poke three holes in the bottom of each cake, just like in the bottom of real Twinkies. Wiggle the tip of the chopstick around quite a lot to make room for the filling. (Again, you can see this in action here, beginning at minute 3.)
• 11. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fit with a small tip (about 1/4 inch across). Pipe the frosting into the holes you created in the bottom of the cakes. As you fill each cake, hold it in your hand and press your palm gently around it so you can feel the cake expand, taking care not to overfill and crack the cake.
• 12. Unlike real Twinkies, these won’t last indefinitely. They’re best served still slightly warm.

Seven-Minute Frosting Recipe

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1. In the metal bowl of a standing mixer set over (but not touching) a saucepan of simmering water, combine the sugar, corn syrup, 3 tablespoons water, egg whites, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely dissolved, 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the mixture on high speed until glossy, thick, and billowing peaks form, about, well, you know, 7 minutes. (Although truth be told, sometimes it doesn’t take quite that long. When in doubt, just look at the picture above; that’s what you want.) Beat in the vanilla. Use immediately.

McConnell has no intention to do the right thing for the country.

McConnell stated outside the White House today, "I realize the country is not safe,..." (referring to the urgency of the fiscal needs of the country). 

Safe? Safe? The country is not safe from McConnell, that is what the country is not safe from.

5:48 PM, Nov 16, 2012
 WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (click here) certainly doesn’t sound combative when the name of Ashley Judd comes up.
“She’s great. Love her movies,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview, smiling broadly.
That is all he’ll say about the actress and activist whom some Kentucky Democrats are hoping will run for Senate against him in 2014. Judd has not ruled out the idea.
But McConnell also has a warning for any Democrat wanting to take him on: He will try to tie “Barack Obama around their neck,” the senator said Thursday in an interview with The Courier-Journal at his U.S. Capitol office....

The needs of the country will be overshadowed by the Senate Minority Leader's agenda for his campaign. Currently, the only issue McConnell is running on are threats to oppress the Democrats if they try to challenge his Senate seat. That isn't really a pressing issue for the country, is it?

The only thing that will move McConnell from his obstructionist agenda is a candidate to oppose them sincerely willing to do the work of the country and not simply rest on his/her laurels watching the clock tick to the next Senate Filibuster. Mr. McConnell needs something to run on. I think the Democrats need to give it to him.

Between amusement rides and hero tributes our wounded veterans are simply not safe.

This combination of undated family photos provided by the Show of Support, Hunt for Heroes committee show, from left: Sgt. Maj. Gary Stouffer, 37; Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, 47; Army Sgt. Joshua Michael, 34, and Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, 43, four veterans killed when a parade float they were riding on was struck by a freight train at a crossing Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, in Midland, Texas. Photo: Courtesy Show Of Support / AP

They were run over by a train. No one checked to find out if there were trains expected along the parade route? It should never have been a surprise. What a nightmare.

Updated: November 16, 2012 6:19pm

JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — Cheered on by a flag-waving crowd, a parade float filled with wounded veterans and their spouses was inching across a railroad track when the crossing gates began to lower and a freight train that seemed to come out of nowhere was suddenly bearing down on them, its horn blaring.

Some of those seated on the float jumped off in wide-eyed terror just moments before the train — traveling at more than 60 mph — crashed into the flatbed truck with a low whoosh and a thunderous crack.

Four veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan — including an Army sergeant who apparently sacrificed his life to save his wife — were killed Thursday afternoon and 16 people were injured in a scene of both tragedy and heroism....

It is time the US Navy build the next bulk head for yet another explosion off Louisiana.

Where are the inspectors? How did this happen yet again?

There needs to be a requirement for a stand-by bulk head for every well along the seacoast of the USA. It just needs to be. This is ridiculous and there are two missing. 

That is what happened at the Deepwater Horizon. The missing were searched for until it was hopeless to continue to search. I don't care if this is not an exploratory platform, to state the obvious of the parallels is nonsense.

Coast Guard: 4 injured, 2 missing after explosion on oil platform off coast of Louisiana (click here)

Updated at 11:03 AM today
NEW ORLEANS, LA (KTRK) -- At least four people have been injured in a fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, and two workers are reported missing.

There was some sort of explosion at a Black Elk Energy Company oil and natural gas platform 20 nautical miles southeast of Grand Isle, LA. It is not clear if it is still burning.

Carlos Vega, a Coast Guard spokesperson, says four people on board were airlifted for medical treatment. A spokesperson for West Jefferson Medical Center said three patients are listed in critical condition and the fourth is being evaluated. More patients are expected as well.

Two others are missing, and may have gone overboard, but they have not been confirmed as dead at this time, Vega adds.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, says two helicopters, an airplane and small boats were sent to the area. He did not know if the fire caused by the explosion had been put out yet....

At some point the detractors of the President need to apologize.

Discussing the semantics of language with the public isn't an issue. The language used by the best of our government was correct and was to let the public know in the USA and throughout the international community they were taking care of business.

Terrorist Attack was inflammatory at a time when civilian populations were reacting to a video in the Middle East. It was completely obvious Secretary Clinton was knowledgeable of the circumstances in Benghazi. She was the first to say this was a planned attack. It is not about what the USA knew. Obviously, the USA knew what had occurred.

The dialogue of labeling it a terrorist attack would be unhelpful to what was occurring across the region and could cause increased danger to USA consulates.

9:29AM EST November 16. 2012

WASHINGTON — Former CIA director David Petraeus (click here) testified Friday to House lawmakers investigating the Sept.11 attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens.

Susan Phelan, spokeswoman for the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters waiting outside the secure underground briefing room that Petraeus is due to testify before the Senate Intelligence later this morning....

Clarity of public discourse during an emergency when it involves the safety of our consulates is irrelevant. The Senate is not the Executive Branch and the House is not the Senate or the Executive Branch. They cannot impose their will on the freedom of speech of the Executive Branch when it is carrying out the business of the nation. 

Clarity of language is a political agenda and has absolutely nothing to do with the functioning of the Executive Branch. 

Those stating in defense of their own political agenda regarding Benghazi, minimally, owes the President, Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice an apology for imposing faux values to their actions

The politicization of the Benghazi deaths is "W"rong. 

End of discussion.

There is no legitimacy to Romney's statements to wealthy patrons. All his statements demoralize the American people.

Does everyone understand what 'demoralize' means? It means it takes the definition of the political discourse and uses 'authority statements' to achieve a change in that dialogue. Demoralizing a nation's dialogue about its circumstances only 'kicks the can down the road.'

Mr. Romney was stuck on his rhetoric and his wrongful economic values and simply continued them with his wealthy supports. I sincerely think he is going to start up his own Bain Group with a political intent. He may or may not change his 'end product' to reflect a kinder economic outcome to the Middle Class, but, the methodology will never change. He can't change it. It is a proven method which results in high income to its initial investors. Romney's past performance is example of that. His past performance proves he is a vulture capitalist and NOT a venture capitalist. 

As much as the Texas Governor Rick Perry was ridiculed in his dialogue about Mr. Romney, he was correct. Rick Perry leads projects with investors all the time in Texas. Whether one consents to those projects or not is not what this is about. Perry knows when an investment is about building a future or destroying it for the purpose of monetary exploitation. He is inarticulate about his knowledge, but, he was correct. Romney never built anything that didn't hurt the long term economic outcome of Americans.

Examples: The steel plant was drained of its value and those monies went directly into the pockets of investors that facilitated the purchase of the steel plant in the first place. Staples, Sports Authority were created out of remnants of American manufacturing. All the suppliers that went out of business to the sports marketing storefronts, the office marketing storefronts were replaced with cheaper alternatives from import sources. Then the store fronts were staffed with cheap labor. Big Box stores are known destroyers of the American economic 'strength.'

The fact of the matter is this. I did say FACT. The Republican policies of the past forty years have created a vast array of poverty in the USA.

We know for a fact, subsistence economic status of any American does not lead to growth. The larger the numbers of 'subsistence Americans' the less economic growth will occur. Why? Because Subsistence Americans purchase specific items with their income. They do not expand their purchases of new technology unless it extends the limited dollars available to them. 

A country will always have some degree of poverty because there is a populous of people unable (that was unable) to improve their circumstances, but, if that poverty grows an economic tragedy will occur and the economy will contract. It is why Wall Street consents and rewards the idea of an American having two, three or four jobs. No benefits, part time income from some jobs, but at least it expands the 'disposable' income to purchase their products / trends / gimmicks / faux economic values, etc. Call it what you want but Romney's Wall Street values is not about quality of life, it is about putting 'some money' into the hands of those that can provide profits to companies. 

The United States of America is demoralized of its Middle Class values. The destruction of the American Dream was the last frontier. The Bubble and Bust economy of the Republicans is the problem.

The future is about rebuilding sustainable jobs through new technology and returning benevolent values to the outcomes of our economy. Part of a sustainable economy is about returning 'moral content' to the goals of the people and not simply 'an income.' Moral content means people are hired into or builds an enterprise that will sustain the values of the society. 

The younger generations are correct in their values for what they want for their country. They have the most invested in the longevity of the economic outcome of the USA. They were born into the imploding economic strategies, witnessed its disastrous outcomes and knows, almost through instinct, what is best and what is not. The impoverishment of the youngest employable generation in the USA knows what happened to them and why. In the majority, their values are trustworthy to their own outcomes.