Removing a Keiki - Saving an orchid.

(click here for You Tube video)

This is spaghnum moss which you can use as a medium to repot your Phalaenopsis orchid. I buy this stuff in dried out brick form, so it needed a few minutes to soak (and expand) in water before I used it. I had just enough to repot my keiki and give my other Phalaenopsis a new home. Once the moss is damp (not dripping) and pliable enough to use, take some in your hands and carefully wrap it around the base of your keiki enclosing the roots. Be careful! Don’t press too hard as those roots are very delicate. When that’s done you will carefully push it into a terracotta pot, centering the leaves and keeping them above the sphagnum moss line. Add more moss to the pot as needed to secure the orchid without being too tightly squeezed. That’s it!

A general rule of thumb for a Phalaenopsis orchid pot size is that it should be about 1/3 to 1/2 the diameter of the leaf spread. Terracotta allows the roots to “breathe” and of course there are special orchid pots that have additional slits in the side to allow air flow. I didn’t have any of those in the size I needed on hand so I went with the standard version of a terracotta pot. Your pot should be clean and sterile, so if you had something growing in it before, make sure to give it a good scrubbing first and rinse any residue off completely. Phalaenopsis orchids prefer daytime temps of 70-80 degrees F and to be allowed to slightly dry out in between waterings.

I don't appreciate the 'blaming tone' of the news regarding the missile interceptors. Alaska always had coverage.

The difference now is the new interceptors are land based.

A Standard Missile-3 Block 1A interceptor is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie during a Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy test in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 13, 2013.

Mike Richman

February 14, 2013

...Effectiveness of U.S. Interceptors (click here)

Interceptors are not fool proof either.

...He was referring to about 30 ground-based missile interceptors, almost all of which are deployed in Alaska. The interceptors were developed during the administration of former President George W. Bush in response to North Korea's ballistic missile program....

That is not correct. The missile interceptors were in operation during the George H. W. Bush administration. They are the Patriot Missile System. They were deployed in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia specifically, during Gulf War I.

Two Washington-based analysts told VOA they are not sure how effective the interceptors will be.

“These interceptors in Alaska and California are believed to have some capability against a rudimentary intercontinental ballistic missile warhead of the kind that you would expect North Korea to have initially," said Steven Pifer, head of the Arms Control Initiative at the Brookings Institution. "But how good they would actually be, we don’t know. But there is some capability to protect America already deployed.”

James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said it is impossible to evaluate the interceptors without access to classified information....

The God Particle. Interesting name. Everyone is expecting the name to be either wayward or correct.

It is neither. There is no black or white here.

Most importantly the science community does not want the investigator to be lost in the enthusiasm. The name could erase the investigator, so let's get that out of the way.

This is Peter Higgs. Nice man that likes to investigate physics. 

Welcome to the Higgs site at the University of Edinburgh (click here)

4th July 2012: CERN announces discovery of a new particle, consistent with the Higgs boson.

14th March 2013: Updated results from ATLAS and CMS confirm even more strongly the new particle is the Higgs boson....

His early investigations are just as interesting as his current BIG PROJECT. He investigated the idea of "symmetry breaking."

Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking (click here)

First published Thu Jul 24, 2003; substantive revision Tue Jan 22, 2013

...This entry begins with a brief description of the historical roots and emergence of the concept of symmetry that is at work in modern science....

Symmetry breaking is like CHAOS. In physics there is the idea that systems are well ordered. Everything makes sense, but, there is always a margin of error. So, the existence of a margin of error dictates a greater understanding of physics. Margin of error does not necessarily have an exclusive understanding of human error, but, also the ERROR OF WHAT IS NOT DETECTED.

It is the focus of physics Peter Higgs is masterful. He decided some time ago he would leave traditional understandings of physics and believed those traditional findings limited his understanding. He embarked on investigation of his real understanding there was something more to find.

This is from the website above.

In my final undergraduate year in Edinburgh (click here) I took two classes with Professor Higgs: General Relativity and Groups & Symmetries. Although these subjects are both key to understanding the Higgs boson, I graduated without ever really understanding what Higgs’ particle was...

It is completely understandable that a student taking basic courses from Higgs would not get down to the sincere genius he brings to this investigation of MATTER. And for as genius as it is Occam's Razor applies. For, the investigation into The God Particle (which is a political name by choice and potential) is an outcome to a simple reality.

Where does matter come from? Scientists don't believe they create it, but, they do investigate it. Are we to believe in the atom, the neutron, the proton, the electron as the tiniest of matter? Do we end there? Do we not seek to understand what composes and electron? Do we not seek to understand how electrons have 'electric fields?' What composes the electric field of an electron?

All those questions are not answered. It launched an understanding to what astronomers call Dark Energy, Dark Matter (click here). Understanding the expansion of the universe is important and very recently some astronomers believe the universe has stopped expanding. The universe if a very different beast than a solar system. What is happening that would result in disruption of a universe that might bring about a greater understanding of Earth and it's future? 

The information is there to gather, so why not gather it? Does scientific investigation mean that it assaults the Bible? We don't know. The idea it might assault the Bible is a reason to disregard investigation? Absolutely not. Human beings aren't to understand their world and it's context? Really? The human condition is not only dictative to democracy, liberty and freedom, but, it thirsts. The human condition thirsts for knowledge. To deny access to knowledge is to truncate the human condition. So, hence, investigations exist where politicians would like not to venture.

But, back to the God Particle. Now as far as I am concerned this entire investigation has moral content and purpose by the definition of the human condition, liberty, democracy, freedom and the thirst for knowledge. But, this project is compelling and I am not convinced the Higgs boson will not result in a greater understanding of CREATION. Will it disappoint? No. The knowledge already acquired from this investigation is enormous. So, there already is no disappointment. There is no 'castle in the air' having huge amounts of money dumped into it for the reason of someone acquiring wealth. Peter Higgs already has contributed to science.

But, the God Particle. Have we found it? 

Within the Higgs investigation of physics lay an equation given to us by another genius. A simple equation. E=mc^2. A very simple equation with a huge implication. 

Until the Hadron Collider there was no question about the EQUAL SIGN in that equation. It was, however, a blind spot to science. It was accepted law and never was there a question about whether of not the 'equal sign' would lead to greater understanding of that law. There was even fear that if the Hadron Collider would never result in a greater understanding it would bring about an assault on science. Forget hacked emails which was child's play about communication between peers, this would really put a giant pause in science. Much of what science is built on is physics. So, there was a huge risk to some folks within the scientific community.

The Hadron Collider also was and possibly still is a safety concern. Could Higgs' investigation actually be controlled without a physics backlash that would prove dangerous to the world. To the very life we value? The project had a lot opposition, but, Peter Higgs never blinked. He knew. The more he investigate the potential in thought, the more he knew he was correct and proof was imperative. So, the project itself is a victory for science and in that was the understanding it could never undermine the definition of science itself, for investigation is what science is about. The project, it's writing, it's planning and it's funding came directly from the scientific method. So, at no time would the Hadron Collider betray it's master.

Be there an understanding the Hadron Collider has a master and the Hadron Collider is not the master. In that is a clear understanding any physics backlash could be known and controlled. But, it does come down to a few folks and not a government. Oh, well.

But, the equation.

The equation has to be qualified with the understanding there are more than the Higgs boson known to science. There are other bosons in science and the idea that one or more bosons are at work within the collider is always a reality.

But, the equation is proving to have a viable 'equal sign.' There is at least one tiny, tiny particle that when provided with enough acceleration (c^2), the speed of light (light is a particle wave - photons) and enough energy to provide the acceleration a particle of MASS emerges.

So, while it takes a huge human endeavor to CREATE mass it would appear to be possible. Now, if that understanding is applied to the universe it gets more and more believable that there is a God Particle. A tiny, tiny particle that emerges when acceleration is provided enough energy to bring about mass. That is an enormous discovery. Up to this collider there was no way human beings could understand the origins of mass.

The Einstein equation stands and it's law would seem to be an equilateral equation that can be proven. The physics are sound. 

Now, as to this being the origins of the universe? The origins of life? It is understandable now why the political universe wants to rename the entire project to reflect nothing but investigation and not a law that defines god.

A joke on New York that is ultimately Corporate Welfare.

I don't know who the groups are nor do I care. The SPECIAL INTERESTS that are now CO-OP'ed by the Soda Industries are attempting to say that New York is imposing a standard that will cause them hardship. 

Right? The terrible Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council are imposing a standard on RECREATIONAL beverages that will cause the corporations so much hardship it will be passed on to the workers, cultural, ethical standards that it is unconstitutional. It is all nonsense and I am being nice.

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Published: March 12, 2013

Dozens of Hispanic and African-American civil rights groups, (click here) health advocacy organizations and business associations have joined the beverage industry in opposing soda regulation around the country in recent years, arguing that such measures — perhaps the greatest regulatory threat the soft-drink industry has ever faced — are discriminatory, paternalistic or ineffective....

This is turning social standards that a nation shares into a travesty. It is corporate ruthlessness hidden among bellyaching about the 'idea' there is a LEGITIMATE reason for this law to be considered unconstitutional.

To begin, if these cultural and ethical standards in the USA that have been hidden until this law was passed have manifested now, we may have discovered where the most egregious corporate entities that have been planted to facilitate corruption of our national health standards. And YES we do have national health standards. They were established a long time ago in pyramids and FDA. Okay? Got that. This law is new, but, it was simply long in coming.

The idea this is a corporate backed ideology is more than reasonable. All of a sudden we have all kinds of minority individuals backing corporations that provide grants and jobs and all sorts of perks. So, to say this is pure unadulterated corruption of our society and it's standards is more than reasonable.

Additionally, the USA has long determined what the health of Americans should look like and the goals of LIMITING calories and QUALITY of food that achieves those goals. Today, with Medicare and Medicaid taking a more prominent role in our society, our governments; in this case a local government namely New York City; is more aware of the problems affiliated with EMPTY CALORIES because of the cost to the government. 

Due to a huge economic implosion in the country brought on by private financial corporations the USA is facing increased poverty. In facing that reality the government subsidized health insurances are appearing in greater amounts to provide for the well being of the American people. It is expensive for the government, but, it is also not an option and it is necessary. Our citizens through no fault of their own have been plunged, quite ruthlessly, into a set of circumstances that are adverse to them.

Now, private industry is taking corporate monies to cast the American people into a further 'health impoverishment.' They are being told that they have to chose between a corrupted social environment which involves jobs and culture and ethical standards or a responsible government seeking to contain the costs to the very people that are stating it is okay to be unhealthy. That is not a valid argument. 

NOT VALID.

The USA does not 'trade off' a citizen's health for the benefit of GOVERNMENT TREASURIES. A JOB is taxed. It simply is. And those taxes go into the government's treasuries. So, will the USA government, the State of New York or New York City impose an unhealthy standard to facilitate jobs and hence increase the tax income and as a side effect the profits of corporations.

Absolutely not.

There are huge precedents of demanding health standards AT THE COST of jobs and corporate profits. China or India hasn't appreciated that yet. But, that is not our problem. We have standards, health standards that say when a citizens health is effected by their working conditions the corporations have to change their ways, ie: Black Lung Disease and OSHA and POSHA. Yes? Child Labor Laws. The intricacy of health standards is synonymous with Red, White and Blue. There are standards set on the environment in which we live, ie: The Clean Water Act, the Clearn Air Act, the Tobacco Industry decision, labels on foods. So these health standards are evident everywhere in the USA.

Now, for the reason of corporate profits the soda industry is demanding they have higher moral standards than government standards by serving up dangerously high sugar levels to the American people in one serving. That is more than nonsense and minimally PROPAGANDA. The soda industry is seeking to undermine the standards of the USA's demand on health standards. That in a reasonable assessment is treason. Do they want to go there? I am sure there are advocacy groups more than willing to entertain the idea and put some CEOs before a court for the death penalty which their corporations are seeking for their customers, albeit, more slowly.

The entire idea that there is a HIGHER CALLING of corporate CEOs in their volunteering funding of parasitic minority groups is hideous. The soda industry is taking the very same path of the NRA and the Tobacco Industry. It is becoming a Right Wing Extremist entity in the political spectrum (Protecting culture, minority rights and ethical standards are political directives.) to seek to hold onto UNETHICAL profits at the health of American citizens. No one is going back down from demanding better health standards for the American people because it will cost jobs or insult some odd ethical or cultural standards.

We won't stand for it and I would expect boycotts of the soda industry products if this nonsense continues which will bring about the same result of the legislation. I strongly encourage the advocacy groups seeking a HIGHER CALLING to enforce GOOD HEALTH and LET'S MOVE aggressively educate the consumer and continue into the future to create jobs and bring about stability of good health standards with the USA consumer.

The funding raising to facilitate the education of the public will alone bring about it's own industry and job creation.

This is deliberately oppressive law.

This is a statement by the North Dakota legislature that if you have sex and become pregnant you have to go to a term pregnancy. I am quite certain if a historical survey was done, there are dearly few abortions performed at six weeks duration.

To begin a woman has to know she is pregnant to terminate it. At six weeks women aren't focusing on their outcomes. They may or may not have gotten a pregnancy test. And in the case of many women the over the counter pregnancy tests don't indicate pregnancy. There are women in the USA that don't know they are pregnant until a blood test is performed. 

This law is oppressive of women with only one intent and that is to trap them into giving birth regardless of her health or lifestyle best interest. The lifestyle element of a woman's life is not up for bids. If a woman has a uterus then you will be pregnant and give birth even if you never wanted children.

This is a dangerous law and will not stand. The people that passed this law have no conscience. They are ruthless in their religious focus for the people they serve.

And, yes, it is a CRIME to seek to homogenize the USA into one religious domination. It is a crime against the citizen and their freedom and liberties.

By By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota on Friday (click here) moved closer to adopting what would be the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, with lawmakers sending the Republican governor measures that could set the state up for a costly legal battle over the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure.

The North Dakota Senate overwhelmingly approved two anti-abortion bills Friday, one banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and another prohibiting women from having the procedure because a fetus has a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome. North Dakota would be the first state in the U.S. to adopt such laws.

Supporters said their goal is to challenge the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks, though anti-abortion activists elsewhere have expressed concern about the strategy.

"It's a good day for babies," said Rep. Bette Grande, a Republican from Fargo who introduced both bills. The state's only abortion clinic is in Fargo, and abortion-rights advocates say the measures are meant to shut it down.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple hasn't said anything to indicate he would veto the measures, and the bills have enough support in each chamber for the Legislature to override him....

There seems to be some confusion about Donald Trump's speech at CPAC.

Let me start by stating I didn't see anyone wearing green ribbons at CPAC. There were Republicans wearing the ribbon at the State of the Union, but, that stops afterward evidently.

There were also no Blue Dog Democrats, either.

Blue Dogs (click here) are not beholden to any political party leadership, but rather the constituents they represent.

But, the Donald Trump thing is assuming he was actually speaking to that huge Political Action Conference. I don't think he was addressing the people in the room so much as seeking to use influence to speak to Europe. 

The argument can be made Trump was speaking to the racist side of those at the PAC as Europeans are not Hispanic so much as nice white folks. But, I think it goes beyond that.

...For instance, (click here) instead of allowing the 11-million illegal immigrants to remain in our country – all of whom he says will vote for Obama – we need to allow more American-educated Europeans who attend prestigious universities, like Harvard, to stay in this country after graduation and use what they learned rather than taking that knowledge back to Europe.

“I have many friends from Europe, people I know, tremendous people, hard-working people. They can’t come in,” Trump said. “Nobody wants to talk about this. Nobody wants to say this.”

Not allowing Europeans to work in this country is one issue, but the former presidential nominee could not help but harshly criticize President Obama and the White House administration, which garnered applause; although, he did not touch on politics too much....

Trump is having trouble in Europe. I don't doubt he has friends in some places of Europe and I don't doubt he would like to be an influence peddler to the potential to immigration to the USA, but, he isn't exactly welcome in Europe. Scotland in particular.

11 March 2013 Last updated at 06:32 ET
An 11,000-signature petition (click here) calling for a public inquiry into the handling of Donald Trump's golf project in Aberdeenshire has been lodged with the Scottish Parliament....

I think the Trump speech when it came to immigration carried a racist message, but, it also carried a message of influence and corruption to people in Europe.

Ted Cruz doesn't understand there are dead people and children in the USA due to the high number of guns on the street?

He is an obstructionist based in ideology. He doesn't understand there is a problem because he only sees the USA Constitution and some kind of 'idea' that stands in the way of saving the lives of Americans. According to Ted Cruz gun rights have more rights under the US Constitution than speech rights. You see a dead child can't speak. Ted Cruz might realize that when he witnesses parents speaking for them at Senate Judiciary Hearings where he walks out rather than witness the tragedy of a nation.

Ted Cruz is unable and/or unwilling to govern. My guess is both. Unwilling is easier to portray in political theater through ideology than being UNABLE.

Sandy Hook have angels with voices silenced. That doesn't matter to Ted Cruz?

Michael Moore, a man of conscience, (click here) seems to think it is best to allow the pictures of the massacred be seen no different than Emmett Till's mother did.

Michael is a documentarian. He knows of what he speaks. Some have to ask when the coroner's reports will be released?

This is fourteen year old Emmett Till when he was alive and when he was buried. He doesn't even look like himself.

It is a very difficult idea, yet alone a decision, but one has to ask will the memory of their child be a horrific picture and was it worth. Quite frankly, I don't recognize Emmett Till as his death, I recognize his picture when he is alive and it is that picture I remember in my heart. I have to wonder if Emmett's mother was relieved to have others share her pain the way she was experiencing it.

Drought hits New Zealand

Satellite images from March 2012 (L) and March 2013 (R) show significant browning across the North Island. Photo / NASA

West Coast first South Island region to be hit by drought (click here)

By Laura Mills of The Greymouth Star

4:16 PM Friday Mar 15, 2013

The normally wet West Coast was today the first region in the South Island to apply for an official drought declaration.

About 30 people from across the farming spectrum gathered at the West Coast Regional Council offices to see if the hard data amassed over the long, dry summer supported a bid for drought assistance.

"The (meeting) decided we should apply to have a medium scale adverse event declared urgently," Federated Farmers West Coast president Katie Milne said.

The meeting heard that official soil moisture data showed the West Coast was as dry as Waikato.

Ms Milne, who is also Federated Farmers' national spokeswoman on adverse effects, said time was running out to grow grass, with the equinox on March 20, and every spare container heading north was being filled with feed for the North Island.

"Feed is going to the North Island by the boat load," she said....

Call me crazy, but, one would expect when glaciers retreat it speaks to the fact there is less and less water vapor in the climate. No?

Just one of those inconvenient truths. One might ask how glaciers can disappear like this when it is so close to Earth's southern ice cap. Hum? Are the glaciers in Antarctica retreating? Yeah. That might explain it.

In November 2007, (click here) New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) announced that ice volume in the country’s Southern Alps had shrunk nearly 11 percent over the previous 30 years. NIWA scientists attributed the glacial retreat primarily to global warming and stated that, in the absence of substantial climate cooling, 12 of the largest glaciers would not recover to their previous sizes.

Three of these twelve large glaciers appear in this pair of images. Tasman Glacier, on New Zealand’s South Island, is the nation’s longest glacier.

One might notice there is NO deep blue except for a shore region at the shoreline of the Ross Sea and the coastline mountains of Victorialand and Oatesland. So, the land mass is melting ice and the RUN OFF from the mountains makes it's way to the sea adding to coldness in the water circulation.

The map (click here) is based on thermal infrared (heat) observations made by a series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite sensors. Because the satellite is observing energy radiated from the Earth’s surface, the image shows trends in skin temperatures—temperatures from roughly the top millimeter of the land, sea ice, or sea surface—not air temperatures.

This is financial emergency management.

CDBG Funding - The Christie Administration today unveiled its proposed Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plan, which outlines how the State plans to utilize $1,829,520,000 in federal funding. This is the first phase of Community Development Block Grant funds provided to New Jersey by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additional CDBG recovery funds are expected in the coming months. Comment period is open until March 19, 2013.

http://www.nj.gov/dca/announcements/sandy.html.

Snyder gives in denial of his own Emergency Manager failure.

There are NO services in Pontiac. There are no workers to provide services. The answer by Snyder is to consolidate government services between cities and MERGE the cities into one entity with different names.

Snyder is pure 'mind speak.' There is no substance to his 'talk.' He could not tell you want is occurring in cities designated to have EMERGENCIES. Should a governor know what is occurring in an emergency?

Pontiac's Workforce Is Cut 86% as Michigan Makes City Obsolete (click here)

By Chris Christoff - Nov 28, 2012 12:01 AM ET

In five years Pontiac, Michigan, has seen its workforce slashed to 76 from about 570, its police and fire departments handed to surrounding communities and contractors hired for services such as building inspections and cemetery maintenance.
State-appointed emergency managers are making traditional government obsolete in a city of 59,000 where Pontiac cars once were made, professional football and basketball were played and where tax revenue fell 40 percent in the past four years....

Michigan needs a new referendum to suspend PA 436.

Emergency Manager Information (click here)

Public Act 4 of 2011, the Local Government and School District Financial Accountability Act, was signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder on March 16th, 2011. PA 4 is currently suspended, pending the outcome of a referendum placed on the November 2012 ballot. The Attorney General issued an official opinion on August 6, 2012, stating that during the suspension of PA 4, PA 72 of 1990 is reinstated. There are currently five local governmental units and three school district that are in receivership and have an appointed Emergency Manager (EM). Public Act 4 of 2011 replaced the original bill PA (Public Act) 72 of 1990. PA72 was then replaced with PA 436 of 2012. Got that? Three separate bills. The one of most interest to me is PA72.  There is an interesting aspect to the other two bills, PA4 and PA436 which defies democracy as well as application to the current economic conditions. To begin, would an Emergency Manager be the prudent thing to do in the middle of the greatest recession since the Great Depression?  No. There would be widespread application for Emergency Managers (EMS)with a huge economic downturn such as that. So, to apply EMS to a city when the economics are already altered by outside forces is opportunistic.  Opportunistic has been the case across the board with Republicans in relation to the Great Recession. They pounced on the opportunity to destroy public programs they oppose ideologically. The best example is the current attack on SSI and Medicare. Had the Clinton Surplus been applied to the gap in SSI and Medicare funding; the USA would not even be having the dialogue about these Earned Benefits today. But, rebate checks, tax cuts and two wars later the Earned Benefits of the American people are being toyed with and justified by 'economic conditions.' Not improving economic conditions, simply economic conditions and the national debt and deficit. Opportunistic. Plain and simple. Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 (click here) LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder has signed several bills that strengthen communities and protect taxpayers. "These new laws recognize the vital importance of financially stable, economically vibrant communities to Michigan's future," Snyder said. "They also respect the needs of citizens and taxpayers by delivering greater oversight and efficiency. Our reinvention of government is delivering meaningful reforms that will keep Michigan on the path to prosperity." Senate Bill 865, sponsored by state Sen. Phil Pavlov, creates the tools needed to effectively address financial emergencies in local governments and school districts. If an independent review team finds a situation of financial emergency and the governor concurs, local units have four choices: a consent agreement, an emergency manager, a neutral evaluation process or Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceedings. This strengthens the current financial manager law to handle severe financial stress in some municipalities, but also takes into account voters' concerns regarding the previous emergency manager law expressed during the November election. The bill is now Public Act 436 of 2012. What really intrigues me about this mess Snyder has created. Michigan has a lot of corruption. I could into it, but, there is not enough time. Snyder is corrupt. He robbed the brain trust of Michigan for his personal vulture capitalist requirements. That aside.  What really intrigues me about this assault on democracy by Snyder is not either of his bills, but, the original one from 1990. Sec. 2. The legislature hereby determines that the public health and welfare of the citizens of this state would be adversely affected by the insolvency of units of local government, including certain school districts, and that the survival of units of local government is vitally necessary to the interests of the people of this state to provide necessary governmental services. All that is true. If there are 'units' of government in any city that are insolvent or causing insolvency that has to corrected. But, the original law is shunned by Snyder. He wants control of the entire city. It is most troubling there are so many minorities in these cities. We know in the USA, the African American communities are the hardest hit by economic downturns. They have their unemployment rates increase and their wealth plummet. In all honesty, how can a city dependent on property taxes ever stabilize and rebuild when they are the most PREDICTABLY effected cities in the country due to their high minority residency? So, the appropriate nature of all this reeks of corruption. Not compassion. Not any kind of emergency, but, lacking sincere leadership and intervention. 141.1212 Preliminary review by state treasurer; conditions; notice; meeting with local government; informing governor of serious financial problem. (click here) This page of the PA 72 lists all the reasons an emergency manager could be applied to UNITS of a government. It is a fairly straight forward and understandably this was not a draconian law intended to destroy democracy or remove a city from the map. It really wasn't designed that way. The intent throughout every reason to apply an EMS is EARLY intervention. All the dynamics of each and every provision when realized how early it can be applied is to prevent tragedy. All these provisions can be applied to a UNIT of government in the early stages of financial instability. When applied at an early stage the entire government is not effected, but, only whatever UNIT of that government was causing the threat to the entire city's financial balance. We all know the economics of Michigan have been very bad for a long time. And it is only reasonable to believe cities with larger minority populations were hit the worst in Michigan. It is a standard throughout the country. Michigan is no different. So, therefore, if the entire state is experiencing financial turmoil and ruin does PA 72 apply? No. It would not apply and it is why previous to Snyder it was not in application.  PA 72 is a UNIT law. It is not intended for a city with overwhelming financial problems. So, to assault a democratically elected City Council and Mayor and the authority they would have to correct the course of their city over time as the entire state recovered, or in the case of 2008 the entire nation, is unconstitutional. The law doesn't apply. PA 72, if still in force and used out of context, would be racism. The root of the problem does not belong to the city or UNITS of the city alone, it is a greater problem the entire of the USA faces. Even today. That is why previous to Snyder's EMS Dreamscape this law was not being used. In application of an entire city it removes sovereign authority of local government to respond to their own recovery. It places FAUX priorities on the city's assets. I propose that is what PA 436 does. It removes the sovereign authority of the local government to respond to changing economic conditions AND INSTEAD places the city assets (which are necessary to build on in a recovery) on the auction block. Instead of stopping the financial failure of the city, it guarantees it. PA 72 was intended to be benevolent as a necessary measure to prevent the financial failure of the entire of a city. It was early intervention and it could be said it was an early intervention law because cities with larger minority populations lose their financial footing easier and quicker than other cities. They lose their footing on a nation wide basis. That is a fact, so the Michigan PA 72 law was a way of identifying a slippery slope and stopped it. PA 436 removes sovereign authority of cities struggling to recover but unable to at the same rate as other cities in the State of Michigan and since 2008 the nation of the USA. Sovereign local authorities are the best places to decide what will enhance a city's economic recovery. LOCAL ECONOMIES, PEOPLE. So, to completely disarm a city from authority and sell off its' assets to simply pay bills when it has suffered the same dynamic as the entire country is unconstitutional. A law that destroys the ability of a city to recover is unconstitutional. A State cannot pass laws that destroys cities. it can't do that and get away with it. PA 436 needs to be challenged in a court of law ASAP and another referendum to end the law immediately drawn up to suspend this one as well. All this needs to be done and the EMS from Atlanta can go home without a paycheck. PA 72 will be reinstated as soon as the new referendum is drawn up and on the ballot. PA 72 cannot be applied to an entire city because it is a unit law. Therefore, Detroit and all the other cities can have their sovereign local governments back to do what every other city in the nation is doing. Every other city in the nation is sending lobbyists to DC to find money and make it work.

Shame on you, Bill O'Reilly

You embarked on an egotistic trip with the change in schedule by Ed Schultz. He is not fired, sir. He is moving his time slot to the weekend. Did you know Ed's wife recently was declared cancer free after a rigorous fight for her life? That sort of reality provides a reassessment of one's time and now much time a couple might have together. I think Ed Schultz was very insulted tonight by Bill O'Reilly.

There is NO comparison between the two 8 o'clock shows. The audiences are completely different so there is not reason to believe the Bill O'Reilly ego has a reason for elevating his status. The people that watch Ed, don't watch Bill O'Reilly. 

This is a lie, Mr. O'Reilly. A lie. Ed Shultz is not fired. That speaks to the difference in the audience between the two shows. Those that watch the No Spin Zone are either delusional by age or by choice. If by choice, it is that 'feel good feeling' that reigns supreme in their lives. Facts in their lives have absolutely nothing to do with it.

The No Spin Zone is a lie. This proves it.

Is there something wrong with this picture? I don't think so.

The recovery is happening. There is still unemployed and underemployed.

No more cuts and the US Post Office needs to be re-established to deliver mail. 

Republicans are as wrong as they can be if they don't listen to the recommendations of President Obama. They are as wrong as they can be if they shut down the government to accumulate some kind of savings in a demonstration of power. There is nothing like a government that causes pay losses to the very citizens the government relies on to do it's business. Every hour an employee does not earn income they lose retirement funds in their 401 Retirement Accounts. 

That is about as underhanded and a dirty trick as it comes from a Republican Party that wants to promote private investment accounts for retirement. 

If the Republicans don't like the results of the cuts so far, they need to deal it and stop bellyaching.

President Obama and the Democrats are getting it done. Today is the third bill regarding gun control that was voted out of committee in the Senate. The Democrats are conducting the country's business. The Republicans can't get past their own lack of moral content to satisfy their money donors. The Republican Party serves very few citizens in the USA.

Posted: 03/14/2013 4:22 pm EDT 
Updated: 03/14/2013 4:25 pm EDT

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama (click here) made a plea to Republican senators in their private meeting Thursday to ease up on their filibusters of his nominees, but he appears to have gotten a cool reception.

"The president made the pitch that it would be useful to his administration if nominees were more quickly confirmed," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) after the president spent more than an hour chatting with the GOP caucus as part of his "charm offensive."

But it seems that Republicans will not relent on bogging down nominees, and also do not agree they are obstructing Obama's picks....

This is the answer to governing by the Senate Republicans. In three months there has been 28 legislative days in the USA Congress.

113th Congress 1st Session (click here)

People are dropping like flies in gun violence in the USA and there are only 28 legislative days in the last two and a half months. That is both houses.

This is the House Schedule.

There is a fundamental difference between the models used by Democrats and Republicans in regard to National Defense of the USA.

Democrats believe the USA should have a Department of Defense along with collaboration with allies while Republicans believe in the Department of War, self contained and overwhelming power. The Republican model robs the USA populous of it's dignity and economy, the Democratic model does not and relies on strong and sovereign allies.

The Republican model of The Department of War is unattainable and destroys the promise of America to it's own citizens. It is PROVEN it cannot deliver freedom to other nations. PROVEN. Vietnam. Iraq. Afghanistan and the list is long. Japan was a success because of FDR and economic revitalization in war retribution.

The Bush/Cheney Administration tried to harness the image of the alliances of WWII and it's demonstration of that greatness, but, at the same time disregarded the fact it was developed and lead by FDR. That was FDR. So, if the Republicans are going to seek to epitomize the glory of WWII, they have to also embrace FDR and his leadership of this nation. They can't simply isolate the glory of war in WWII as propaganda without realizing what made the victory so sweet and the man that lead it.

That picture is of FDR, Churchill and Stalin. That is Joseph Stalin. The Allies could not have been victorious without Joseph Stalin and the greatness of the Russian military. 

Got that?

We didn't park missiles at the borders of Russia even when Joseph Stalin lead the nation. 

Hello?

Joseph Stalin was a revolutionary in Russia. If the USA could accept him as an ally realizing he was a Bolshevik revolutionary and took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917 then I think the USA STILL has a long way to go to reverse the idiocy of the Military Industrial Complex and the Atoms for Peace propaganda instilled in the USA Mind Speak by General - President Eisenhower.

It is non-proliferation and 'leading from behind.' The major problem with the military industrial complex is that it defines it's purpose by killing and destruction. It has it's own life.

What has incurred in Libya, Mali and Algeria is CORRECT. The leadership of France to maintain sovereign nations in North Africa to prevent the development and domination of networks of criminals that seek to destroy Europe IS THE PLACE for the USA.

The USA is an ally and NOT an invader. Nor should the USA seek to occupy and nation build. That is not where our military does the greatest good to bring about peace.

The war into Afghanistan was grossly mismanaged and allowed the criminals of al Qaeda to escape. Afghanistan was never stabilized after al Qaeda was driven from the country, after the Taliban disappeared and the nation was returned to it's old leadership. Afghanistan was abandoned for Cheney's oil dreams and the Cabal of Rumsfeld.

The USA military industrial complex has become a huge economic burden with returns that provide out of balance power to the USA to simply march into a country and kill without conscience.

And that was conscience and not conscious. Conscious is the state of mind of alertness that allows the awareness of conscience.

The people of the USA have a hideous and disastrous military that breeds nuclear proliferation, suspicion of it's intent and overwhelming force FOR WHAT EXACTLY?

We can no longer be the world's Superpower in a way that destabilizes world peace and endangers the very lives of our children as a HUMAN RESOURCE for wars to secure natural resources of other nations. Heck, even the countries of NATO have to be worried if another "W" were ever to sit in the Oval Office again.

The favorite complaint about Russia and China is their prisons. I am sure no one wants to go there, but, the USA is no beacon of compassion within it's prison populations and the revolving door of recidivism either. Can foreign prisons be better in their human rights directives? Sure. But, don't preach when the USA uses rendition and foreign prisons for it's own methods. The use of foreign prisons sanctions the very practices that exist there. So, don't. Don't even go there.

I am happy for everyone.

Pope Francis speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.  Luca Bruno, AP

Pope Francis comes from a more than interesting heritage in South America. He has a sincere understanding of the poverty so many Catholics live in. He embraces democracy.

I look forward to his work within the faith.

5:30a.m. EDT March 14, 2013
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis (click here) opened his first morning as pontiff by praying Thursday at Rome's main basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a day after cardinals elected him the first pope from the Americas in a bid to revive a Catholic Church in crisis and give it a preacher with a humble touch.
The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, entered the St. Mary Major basilica through a side entrance just after 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) and left about 30 minutes later. He had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St. Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray Friday to the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
He told cardinals he would also call on retired Pope Benedict XVI on Friday and celebrate an inaugural Mass in the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals on Wednesday elected him leader of the 1.2 million-strong church in an unusually quick conclave....

St. Francis
Feastday: October 4
Patron and Animals, Merchants & Ecology (click here)
1181 - 1226
Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181.

In 1182, Pietro Bernardone returned from a trip to France to find out his wife had given birth to a son. Far from being excited or apologetic because he'd been gone, Pietro was furious because she'd had his new son baptized Giovanni after John the Baptist. The last thing Pietro wanted in his son was aman of God -- he wanted a man of business, a cloth merchant like he was, and he especially wanted a son who would reflect his infatuation with France. So he renamed his son Francesco -- which is the equivalent of calling him Frenchman.