If there was a morality that needed the President to address it; it is the death of Trayvon Martin.

He stood up at Sandy Hook. I would not expect him to step back from it now. He has seen more gun violence that has brought personal tragedy to this nation than any other President in history. 

July 19, 2013
By Teresa Welsh
President Barack Obama (click here) Friday made unexpected remarks about the state of race relations in the United States, nearly a week after a ruling was delivered in the case of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Obama released a statement immediately following the announcement last weekend that George Zimmerman was not guilty, but said he felt the need to expand upon his thoughts....

Governor Snyder was in a very big hurry. Imagine that.

The publisher of the Bond Buyer, Mike Stanton, said in a tweet, "This fact will stand up: Speed of filing took bond creditors by surprise."

These proceedings can take up to two years or longer and the bond holders can find they lost between 20 and 85 percent. 

A judge is stating it violates the Michigan State Constitution. Why does that not surprise me.

GM's CEO believes it was the decline of the auto industry that caused the decline in Detroit. No doubt that played into the current problems of Detroit, but, they need not blame the unions. There were many cities dependent on the tax base provided by union workers. GM abandoned the American worker. It ought to reflect on that rather than blaming unions. It was the loss of employment to the American workforce when GM outsourced that impacted these cities and towns.

The unions had nothing to do with outsourcing. Those were decisions by CEOs seeking to close the wealth gap between themselves and the 1 percent. 

It was Detroit that was irresponsible and corrupt to cause all this? I don't think so. I would think GM would have learned a lesson about their employees and that link to their success. Do I remember right? The American people closed the real gap to GM's success. I think I have that correct.

Greed instead of real insight to macroeconomics of a country devoted to the Middle Class is what impacted the auto industry. Greed, consumer products outdated, multi-national interests and lousy management finally returned GM to the bargaining table. Over two decades of impoverished corporate priorities brought Detroit to where it is today. Some of us have a long memory, it doesn't seem to be the case in the Board Room of GM.

I should clarify my point of view. Sometimes the meaning gets lost in the sarcasm.

The NSA methodology does nothing about the abuse of power of Wall Street equity firms.

Adding redundancy at the level of access only creates two whistleblowers instead of one. 

The best methodology is to require AUTHORIZATION of access by two staffers in the NSA followed by two witnesses to the access. The Authorization has to comply with 'Best Interests of USA National Security" and NOT the wealth of the few. 

That access should require a sufficient enough fee to pay for the needed man hours for evaluation of the access by the NSA. The duplicity at the time of access is the expense of those seeking it.

The NSA has to bring the redundancy up at least to the level of government authority and on a 'single use' basis. Then and only then can I expect the security of the USA to be intact.

That would reduce the abuse of the use of citizen data to sole use of USA National Security. 

Most government contract information can be well served in the form of paper documents and not wireless. 

FISA can be policed from within the government by a board of the anonymous comprised of civil rights attorneys.

Problem solved.

Mr. Snowden has brought change to the USA. Can the collapse of Wall Street be far away?

General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA) said Friday that the NSA was tightening security to prevent further leaks like those by Edward Snowden.

Sometimes it takes a whistleblower.

July 19, 2013

...The head of the NSA, (click here) Keith Alexander, said that the agency was implementing the "two-man rule" in which analysts could only access classified information in the presence of a colleague....

Now, about that spying nonsense that goes on....

July 19, 2013
...More than one generation (click here) has been brought up hearing that Carter was one of the worst presidents of all time, that his administration was egregiously corrupt and grossly incompetent, and that he made America a laughing-stock among nations. The fact that Carter was and is a man of extraordinary personal character and integrity, and that he has displayed these qualities in abundance since leaving the White House, has made no difference. Every time he makes the news, he is denounced by a chorus of yahoos who remind us that he is, after all, Jimmy Carter, the man who made us all look stupid, the man we couldn’t wait to be rid of.

What a curious consensus this is.

For President Carter started no wars, bombed no civilians, and committed no crimes against the Constitution. He did not sell weapons to terrorists or spy on his political opponents. The handful of “scandals” associated with his term in office seem hilariously trivial in our age. He was, certainly, far from perfect—but perfection is a fairly useless standard to apply to any elected official. If we can move past the automatic associations that spring to mind when we think of Carter—the “malaise” speech, the killer rabbit, the hostage crisis—his presidency may be relevant for us in an entirely different way....

...Carter’s criticism of the NSA carries particular weight because he was the last president to date—and perhaps the only president of the entire modern era—who even tried to do something about the national security state. As investigative journalist Mark Ames recently wrote, President Carter attempted to clean up the CIA, firing almost 20 percent of its employees, focusing on the “clandestine operatives” whose cloak-and-dagger exploits were then fresh news. He also dispersed the Agency’s paramilitary arm, put legal restrictions on the Agency’s power to spy within the United States, and passed an executive order banning assassinations. All of this was entirely in keeping with Carter’s mandate, after Watergate and Vietnam and revelations of various CIA misdeeds, to restore the moral integrity and authority of the federal government.

But none of Carter’s reforms would last. President Reagan signed an executive order in December 1981 authorizing the CIA to collect “foreign intelligence” inside the United States—the first of many steps his administration would take to restore the power and prestige of the Agency. As Ames notes, it did not take CIA and military apparatchiks long to realize that the ban on assassinations could be circumvented quite easily as long as they could be framed as something other than “assassinations.”...

And now, today, we are spying on each other. How great is that? Not very.

Russia has an advantage over the USA. It can learn from it's mistakes. Huge mistakes. Ideology of capitalism drives the country and accumulated wealth nearly destroyed it. Some say it has destroyed it. Blockades of legislative fervor is the prime example. There is oppression by drawing blood and then there are other types of oppression that control the submission of the masses through economic dependency and silence.

Russians seeking freedom and positive economic outcomes should openly make example in speeches to the failure of the USA. There is much failure within the ashes of the USA economy. The increased poverty rate alone tells a tale most Russians would not want for themselves. The truth about capitalism. The deaths in the health care system. The list long and impressive to the destruction by worshiping the Money God. 

Now, the USA faces oppression of our children. Education. Politicians with umbilical cords to massive funding want to privatize public education and remove the hope of every child's birthright in the USA. That is not evil? That is definitely evil. 

The oppression of Voting Rights by a court corrupted with it's own importance. Every decision, regardless of the topic, throws embodied power of the Poor and Middle Class into fear while pushing for Constitutional Amendments. The Gay Community believes they have won a victory, but, in fact The Robert's Court threw the power to mayhem as to whom can win rights or oppression. It is a very hostile court we are facing in the USA. 

The so called State's Rights the Gay Community now enjoys may be short lived if the politicians of self-righteousness and oppression have their way. The God Awful Marriage Amendment to define marriage between a man and a woman.

Look at the functioning of the National Labor Relations Board. The USA Senate is oppressing the Middle Class and seeking further failure to insure the wealth of the country only remains in the hands of the few. The assault of the political Right Wing is palpable among the working people of the USA. A young woman who finally found employment at "Sam's Club" a large marketing enterprise was told if she joined a labor union she would be immediately fired. That is the USA? That is freedom? That is upward mobility? I think not.

The list is long and the truth abundant to the oppressive force of wealth. The Russian people are somewhat beginning anew after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is nothing to be ashamed of, but, quiet the contrary a new reality to master can lead to greatness in ways not expected.

The truth is a powerful force. It is also a force of dignity. The Russian people should cling to it and seek it.

Sometimes a culture and/or economy runs on corruption and the only way out is to get dirty.

MOSCOW, July 19 (RIA Novosti)
A Russian court released opposition leader (click here) and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny from custody Friday, as the five-year prison sentence handed down to him the day before will only come in force in ten days, after his appeal is heard.

Navalny was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a court in the city of Kirov for masterminding a 2009 embezzlement scheme involving a state-owned timber supply company in the Kirov region. Navalny has denied the charges, claiming the trial was politically motivated and orchestrated by the Kremlin in response to his role in organizing a series of massive public protests against President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office requested Navalny be released from custody until his sentence comes into legal force. If Navalny does not appeal the verdict, he will have to go to prison in 10 days, it said....

Appeals have been known to work. So many of these oppositional cases are considered to be politically motivated. I would not discourage free and open speech in lieu of a revolt. These cases so seldom make the media until they appear to be seeking appeal it is nearly impossible to measure the sincere underground opposition of the current government.

October 10, 2012

One of the members (click here) of Pussy Riot jailed in Russia has been set free after an appeal. Her two band mates lost the appeal and must serve the remaining two years of their sentence for inciting religious hatred.

Yekaterina Samutsevich, pictured center above, was given a suspended sentence instead of jail time, but her band mates - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - had their sentences upheld.
The appeals court in Moscow heard the appeal of the three women on Wednesday....

I suppose Alexei Navalny could have used an anti-corruption blog to hide any embezzlement, but, the two are separate. Embezzlement is one reality and the point he was making in his anti-corruption blog is another reality. One does not equate the other. There is nothing saying others cannot pick up with the blog posts should his appeal fail.

I did find this blog in English (click here)

There is an extensive biography on Wikipedia (click here)

It is common knowledge there is corruption in Russia. Some results in deaths within Moscow. For as progressive as Moscow likes to be, there is a very dark side. It isn't as through evidence doesn't exist to point a finger at oppression though.

Paul Klebnikov an investigative journalist was murdered July 9, 2004. There were accusations of three Chechen men being responsible only to be acquitted with one still missing.

It is difficult to blame the Russian leadership because it can be argued people who decent are safer in prison. That is not the case either. There is a pervasive insult to those that speak out even in prison and they die in a cell.

Opposition that is important such as engaged by Alexei Navalny has a place in Moscow media and otherwise. Someone willing to be intelligently involved in rooting out corruption which leads from the street to the prisons can't be ignored. Perhaps rather than Russia citizens risking their lives President Putin should have a blog about the deep seated corruption in the country. Bringing it out into the light is the best venue for adequately dealing with it. It removes the power the government has no control over and will ultimately punish the real enemy, the embezzlement of freedom.

I wish Mr. Alexei Navalny much success in his appeal. 

And to President Putin. Control at every turn is not the answer. He should remember how openness developed a trust of him among the Russian people.

I think I make my point when embezzlement includes selling a failing logging company. Sometimes the failure of the company can be arranged and that is what is at the heart of Mr. Navalny's charges. For if the company didn't fail there would be no sale, now would there?

I have to disagree with Mr. Prokhorov. He sounds so Wall Street with no empathy for the former owner of the logging company. Wouldn't you say? The New York Times might be right and this is a sincere opposition to capitalism, but, is that all that bad?

The point is that if Russia opposes the corruption of wealth within it's society that result in costs to the poor, what will it do?

If the logging company is found to be the victim of economic corruption in capitalistic take overs, where are the facts? If Russia finds poor economic leadership within it's younger political figures will the leadership actually take away the complaint of evil to again expose the drive of oligarchy oppressing a strong Middle Class economy? Where are the facts to support that issue. It can be very real. Corporations can be very dangerous to economies as we have witnessed.

If corruption is so deep a logging company can be oppressed into a disadvantaged sale, what does that say about protections and bankruptcy rather than corporate takeover. The younger political figures of Russia are simply biding their time. It is known to be a strategy that works. It has a cost. The Old Guard should consider the alternatives to oppression and deal with the corruption known to exist.

Where is the Middle Class and the legislation in the Duma to support them to grow in number and strength? Where are the leaders of the Middle Class because to date the real news coming from Russia is the fall of the wealthy and their facilitators. Where are the political figures coming from the Middle Class to seek political office? 

Much has to change in Russia, but, I am not convinced oppression is the path to seek, so much as exposure to eliminate it. 

Oh, by the way, labor unions frequently drive the growth of a Middle Class quite successfully. It is a fact. Known to work. I would have loved for the employees and owner of the logging company come together in joint ownership to make it work. It would be an interesting model for Russia. 

Sequestering wealth to a few is known to destroy itself over time. Every country needs a Middle Class to drive the economy with promise to their children. I think President Putin knows something about children and their future. He should build on it. Freedom of speech works both ways. It works for the unheard, the oppressed and the powerful.

Basis of charge (click here)
 
Navalny was charged with theft over a deal he arranged in 2009, when he was an assistant to the governor in Kirov — he found a middleman to buy timber from a struggling logging company. Because the middleman made a profit on the timber, the prosecution charged that Navalny had effectively deprived the lumber company of nearly $500,000 by getting it to agree to sell below market value.

If any business deal can lead to prison, Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a former presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook, “I wonder how many talented young businessmen and lawyers right now, right here at this point, are mentally packing their bags?” 

Yevgenia Albats, editor of New Times magazine, tweeted that the court had overturned capitalism.

In contrast to what has happened to Navalny, the former head of a Moscow district who was convicted of embezzling $42 million was given five years of probation by a judge on July 7....

I am the King of "Damn It' and will not be questioned. If I want to taint a jury pool to favor the gun lobby, then 'damn it' I'll do it and no one can stop me!

Police officers should leave their personal preferences at home.

Larry Summers? The For Men Only Club?

Oh, the GOP can't wait for this one and the War on Women.

Larry Summers will only issue QE4 after he screws up QE3. The global currency is messed up enough.

No Larry Summers at the Fed. How about NO FED. 

July 18, 2013
President Obama (click here) has only a few months to pick a candidate to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, and while the betting website Paddy Power has Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen leading the pack at 1:4 odds, Larry Summers remains a strong contender at 11:2. 

Despite an impressive resume that includes stints as Treasury Secretary and chief economist of the World Bank, there is a very good reason Summers shouldn't be in charge of monetary policy: He seems to have trouble with interest rates....

Janet can do math. Without a calculator even.

July 18, 2013
The speculation (click here) in Washington over who will succeed Ben Bernanke as head of the Federal Reserve reminds me a little bit of the speculation last fall over Timothy Geithner's successor as Treasury Secretary. It was clearly going to be Jack Lew and yet people kept writing "who's it gonna be?" speculative pieces and capsule bios. By the same token, Janet Yellen—currently vice-chair at the Fed—is clearly going to be the choice.

The Empire Strikes Back!

What did he think he was proving? Maybe how brutal the capture was? I think everyone knows that. It was completely obvious with the barrage of bullets fired at the boat. I never thought the guy was coming out of it alive, so, the police were actually being careful enough. I was impressed.

By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

A State Police sergeant, (click here) incensed by the controversial Rolling Stone magazine cover of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has released dramatic photographs of the apprehension of the accused terrorist to a local magazine without permission from his agency.

The pictures, taken by Sergeant Sean P. Murphy, a State Police tactical photographer who was working during the massive manhunt on April 19 in Watertown, first appeared on the website of Boston Magazine Thursday evening. Boston.com and other media outlets posted them afterward.

Murphy told the magazine that the photos, showing Tsarnaev bloodied and with a police sniper’s laser-projected bead on his head, display “the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”...

But, I mean there is a trial last I heard. A magazine cover? You've got to be joking. A police sergeant has some since problems with control. We don't need it. Really. Most of us are on the side of the law enforcement over this. But, we also believe in freedom of speech. 

Everyone needs to calm down. A magazine cover is not treason, okay? I sincerely believe Rolling Stone took on the topic in a way that hasn't effectively been approached yet. PREVENTION. I think they did a great job. I get the feeling as though 'the establishment' has a real problem with Rolling Stone for absolutely no reason at all. They have a readership. 

What kind of feelings does "Penthouse" bring to mind by the way, because, Texas law makers believe women's health isn't important enough to have safe abortion clinics. I find it strange that "Maxim," "Playboy," "Penthouse," and XXX.com isn't regulated into oblivion considering the impulse to have sex might result. I am sure if an army of women confiscated every sexual magazine in the military there would be mass exotus. 

So, perspective is everything. It is realizing the USA allows Freedom of Speech that is the tough part, I suppose. And tolerating it knowing everyone's rights relies on the same foundation of freedom. A magazine cover? What is going on already?

I've got no grudge against Alyssa.  She is a very pretty girl. But, oddly enough there are women who might be offended by that very picture. Go figure.

Okay, it is time to say what I think since the juror came out to brag about herself.

#forTRAYVON (click here)

To begin it is time for an African American Foundation to join the voice of so many about gun violence. I thank the Trayvon Martin family for taking that difficult step.

I also am grateful for Rachel's friendship with Trayvon until his dying moments. Little did she know she was the best friend he ever had. Now, the African American community has a role model for people to react and speak out when people they care about are being followed, attacked and ultimately killed. I applaud that young women every time I hear or see her. She is full of demonstrated strength for young women and men just like her. She has to continue to speak the truth and fill friends and young people full of the values that carried her through to the trial and afterward. 

I am not certain whether Mr. Tracy Martin and Ms. Sybrina Fulton have formed a 501(c)3 and/or a 501(c)4, but, their goals are admirable to seek to assist with education costs for other young African American children. However, they should seriously consider joining the ranks in the USA of other American families in voicing their demands for a safer USA.

There are so many others:

"Brady Campaign for Gun Violence" (click here) 

"Americans For Responsible Solutions" (click here) 

"Sandy Hook Promise" (click here)

There are many good people that share the same values. 

I see the trial very differently than what I have heard so far. I believe the outcome was determined by a tainted jury pool facilitated by Right Wing propaganda and the defendant's attorneys themselves.

The juror that spoke to Anderson Cooper was very self-righteous. Sure, everyone wept, but, she knew how to make that "Not Guilty" verdict count. A leader, I would say. I believe her spouse was an attorney. It is all too convenient the names of the Jurors are not known. The Department of Justice can overcome that in their investigative process.

I want the Federal Department of Justice to investigate any possible corruption in the jury process including any relationships the Jurors and their spouses may have had with O'Mara and West other than all being licensed attorneys. I also want the DOJ to investigate the propaganda campaign that occurred through FOX News and other media outlets that tainted the jury pool. The propagandists had a political agenda.

One might recall Mr. Zimmerman was first offered attorneys provided by the NRA. That matters.

I believe Mr. Tracy Martin is correct. I believe the juror that was interviewed knew how she would decide the case before she was choice and I believe her own political views tainted the outcome. I also believe she was determined to have it turn out in the way it did.

When she stated, "Some of the jurors wanted to sentence him with something." She was stating the other jurors were cheating and not following the law. That can be an outcome if Mr. Zimmerman's PEERS understood something about Trayvon Martin's reality that was never stipulated in the law. There is a very real reason the USA Constitution states, "By a jury of his peers." There is a specific reason for that and that is the fact there is no way the legislated word can offer every real life scenario in words of written law. 

I believe the "Stand Your Ground Law" is written to protect the gun owner no matter the reason and in doing so provides a platform for gun sales through fear of not owning or carrying one. It is an egregious law and one that kills innocent people with the most minor of excuses. 

A review of every killing that was dismissed under "Stand Your Ground" will find a reality most Americans have not ever bargained for nor would consent to. The DOJ has it's work cut out for it and they have every right to do it.

Freedom of Speech has it's cost I suppose. We have some whistleblowers in the world who know that all too well.

Now folks won't be reading about "On the Bus With Willie Nelson" or "The Arctic Ice Melt." 

The issue explores the facts as people surrounding him knew them. "Rolling Stone" boldly went where no one else did; understanding how young men are radicalized and where we failed them.

I mentioned while the manhunt was on that Watertown proudly welcomed immigrants and had a program for young people entitled with words like, 'The Kings of Tomorrow.' That is not the exact title, but, that isn't the point. The Boston area prides itself on caring for everyone living in their communities. 

So.

Indeed. Where did it all go wrong? 

The USA Capitalists are all too willing to impose CENSORSHIP on the free market system when it insults the common sense of political correctness.

I heard comments today stating "Who can understand what is occurring with these crazy temperatures? North - Hot; South - Cooler.

It is not that difficult.

If I may?

July 17, 2013
0100 GMT (8:00 EST)
The Weather Channel Actual High Temperatures

In the water vapor satellite below it is very easy to discern the PATH tropical water vapor is taking and it ain't along the ICZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone - click here)

July 17, 2013
1730:18z (1230 PM EST)
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere

There is a water vapor system that descended from the arctic region cooling temperatures and causing storms over the orange colored region of the country. That arctic air movement was documented here on this blog. As a result the water vapor along the ICZ migrated north and carried equatorial and hot air north. Once it hit the Jet Stream at the Canadian and American border the movement of that tropical air mass took a sharp turn directly east. That is the reason there are hotter temperatures in the northern regions of the USA than southern temperatures. Got it now?

The engineers of the Petroleum Industry have no moral or ethical standards.

They use the crudest methods to obtain their goals. 

What if the world needed engineers to build nuclear power plants on stable land if it can be found?

What if the world needed engineers to build alternative energy structures?

Where are they?

What if Wall Street needed engineers for projects to move the world forward?

Where are they?

MONOPOLIZED but the most destructive form of energy on Earth.

Who can afford them other than the petroleum industry?

What if China and India wanted desperately engineers to build nuclear power plants on stable land? Where are they going to find them? Brazil? Why are some people in Africa still practicing slash and burn? Who is going to build all the new energy structures in the world? Who can afford them? 

Right now. This very minute a town in Texas can be declared a Superfund Site. Did anyone know that? Why? Because of hydraulic fracturing. SUPERFUND SITES. Now, the people of the USA have to carry the burden of hideous and unethical and immoral standards of an entire industry, YET AGAIN?

When is this going to stop? When are the people of the USA going to stop this hideous industry from destroying the future of their children? Never? Forever and ever the USA and other nations are going to be held hostage to the petroleum industry?

I don't think so!

Nuclear power for electricity is being destroyed by Fracking.

The objection to nuclear energy is not simply a propaganda issue and whether or not a person is green enough. It is a profound danger to human beings and the world as we know it.

If I may?

Nuclear energy and hydraulic fracturing are in direct competition with each other. Hydraulic fracturing can take place anywhere in the world. There are efforts globally to promote this dangerous option.

I haven't yet seen this film, but, will have viewed it by August 2nd or so. I can't YET dispute the graph in this movie trailer, but, I have a pretty good idea it is based in a limited point of view. We, environmentalists seeking energy grid adequacy, know for a fact there are alternatives when applied on a national scale in the USA which will fulfill the need the nation has. I have to challenge the validity of the graph in the trailer based on what I already know. I'll know exactly what this is about after I view the film.

The point is nuclear energy POWER PLANTS demand geological stability. There is no further research needed to prove that point. I mean dear god how many more people have to die to be added to statistics that dictate the removal of nuclear power plants from the landscape? That danger increases with every FRACKING WELL drilled. Absolutely. We are seeing seismic activity across the country in places where it never existed before. The North American Craton is seeing seismic activity never witnessed before. 

A craton of any geological plate has deep lithospheric roots that extend as much as several hundred kilometres into the Earth's mantle. The cratons of the continental plates WERE rock solid stable and if nuclear power plants were safe anywhere it would be on those craton areas of any plate. But, that is changing with Fracking. 

Where are nuclear power plants going to exist safe from seismic activity if Fracking continues? I have always been open to the suggestion of nuclear power IF it is completely safe WITH guarantees of containment to insure the health of any and all citizens. I just don't believe that is possible anymore with the addition of Fracking. Hydraulic fracturing is dissolving rock. The methodology is destroying cratons and rock formations. It is completely hideous science. Not surprising, by the way, of the petroleum industry. For the number of engineers they purchase out of the market place so no one else hires them, they aren't worth shit when it comes to drilling.

Fracking came completely out of the blue and never given a public hearing. The petroleum industry was given a green light after the Bush Administration took power in DC in 2000 without public comment or caution. I just don't see nuclear power being viable with such massive change in stability of land formations. It is no longer an option. The land is becoming unstable.

Josh Fox. In his latest documentary, Gasland 2, has witnessed people abandoning their TOWNS. Not even just their homes, entire towns. Fracking is very bad news. Land is precious. Land and private landownership is the backbone of the American Dream. The petroleum industry is not only dissolving rock they are dissolving the future of the American people.

Marine Protected Areas are vital to scientific investigation

These are the larger protected areas in the world. The Ross Sea would be among the largest protected area in the world and rightfully so. The Ross Sea would provide a valuable area to contain sealife of Antarctica void of fishing and tourism.

Currently, most shoreline biotic areas are interrupted by commercial ventures and skews the results by scientists to understand delicate balance of Arctic Species. 

Marine Conservation Institute (click here) 

The marine environment in Antarctica is unique. The waters of Antarctica are coastal where the waters of the Arctic Ocean is an ocean based environment. Coastal areas are very different than ocean environments. It is necessary to understand the arctic shoreline environments of Antarctica impacted by discharges of unique ice structures from sea ice to the massive glaciers themselves. This is not a frivolous pursuit. It is important to the marine scientists that call Antarctica home with their graduate students. 

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth. (click here) It is also the world's fifth largest continent with an area of approximately 13.8 million km². This is about 58 times the area of the UK....

The contrast in life (click here) between the continent and the Southern Ocean is amazing: the largest land animal supported by the terrestrial ecosystem is the midge; whereas Blue Whales, the largest animals on the planet, are found in the surrounding seas. Even though seals and penguins spend some of their time out of the water, they too rely entirely on the sea for their food supply and are therefore part of the marine ecosystem....

The terrestrial mircrofauna supports the macrofauna in the sea. A marine protected area would assist in linking the relationship and how best to understand it.

Land fauna is nearly completely invertebrate. Invertebrate life includes microscopic mites, lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, just 12 millimeters (0.5 in) in size, is the smallest land animal in Antarctica. The Snow Petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica. They have been seen at the South Pole.

Some of these investigations have implications in understand and applications to other areas of science and medicine.
 
Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2007 May-Jun;9(3):293-304. Epub 2006 Dec 29. (click here)
The Antarctic marine environment is characterized by challenging conditions for the survival of native microorganisms. Indeed, next to the temperature effect represented by the Arrhenius law, the viscosity of the medium, which is also significantly enhanced by low temperatures, contributes to slow down reaction rates.


continued...

Vladimir, get out of the way. Vostok has no shoreline.

What does Russia have against fish? There are some days I think the Russia President uses too much Androgel.

Fish? Now you are picking on fish? Every country in Antarctica wants to do this except Russia. I mean for real already. Vostok sits on top of the highest ice and no one bothers ya. We assume you all take out your own trash from up there. What's the matter, it is melting too much?

Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (click here)

July 17, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry (click here) vowed Wednesday to keep up the battle to set up a sanctuary to protect the unique marine ecosystem in parts of the Antarctic.

And he voiced "regret" that attempts to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary in the Ross Sea were blocked, with environmental groups accusing Russia of raising objections to the move.

"There's simply no comprehensive effort to protect Earth's most critical resource that doesn't include an equally comprehensive effort to create marine protected areas," Kerry, who is on a visit to Jordan, said in a statement.

"The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory. Its ecosystem is as diverse as it is productive, and we have a responsibility to protect it as environmental stewards-just as we do the rest of the ocean."

Three days of talks in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, had gathered 24 nations plus the European Union (EU) in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a 31-year-old treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

One proposal for a marine sanctuary, floated by the United States and New Zealand, covered 1.6 million square kilometers (640,000 square miles) of the Ross Sea, the deep bay on Antarctica's Pacific side.

The other backed by Australia, France and the EU, would protect 1.9 million square kilometers of coastal seas off East Antarctica, on the frozen continent's Indian Ocean side....

Senator Graham needs to apologize to America's Olympic Athletes.

The honor of so many that participate in any Olympics is too important to ignore the remarks today of Senator Lindsay Graham. I don't recall him being active during the 1996 Olympics. I don't recall Senator Graham commemorating the Atlanta Games. I still have my commemorative stuffed icon from the 1996 Atlanta Games.

I strongly believe Senator Graham is out of line in stating a boycott would actually be considered while dismissing the long days of training, the volunteer hours and fundraising to put our athletes in competition in Sochi. Every athlete in the USA hearing those words lost a little of their spirit just hearing those words. 

The Olympics are always suppose to be apolitical. It is a baseline for global recognition and platform for peace and understanding. It is time Senator Graham begins to think about the future, the peace that is possible and the willingness of wonderful Americans to help make it happen.

HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT (click here)

in the House of Representatives WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1996

• Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the individuals in my district who have been honored to carry the torch in the Olympic Torch Relay.

• These individuals have distinguished themselves in the community by helping others who have been less fortunate. This group combines people of all ages, men and women for one purpose, to help bring the Olympic flame to Atlanta.

• The Olympics are held only rarely in the United States. We should take advantage of this great opportunity to showcase true patriots of this country. Once again I congratulate these individuals on their achievement.

• The individuals from my district are: James Barefoot, Sauquoit; Darrell Bruder, Rome; John Cribbs, Sidney; Judith Greiner, Clinton; Leo Hofmeister, Utica; Carlton Jarvis, III, Barker; Jeffrey Jost, Wampsville; Derek Macero, Utica; Dick Mattia, Utica; Robert Merritt, Utica; Allen Pylman, New Hartford; Kristina Rico, Rome; Sandy Shivas, Ilion; James Suriano, Sidney; Russell Brooks, II, Utica; Tim Catella, Oneonta; Eugene A. DiFondi, Jr., Utica; Dustin Hite, Camden; Scott Huges, Herkimer; David Jones, Utica; Joe Kelly, Whitesboro; Ward Mack, Sidney; Steven Mac, Utica; Thomas Mirabito, Jr., Sidney; David Rich, Utica; Williams Rys, New Hartford; James Simpson, New Hartford; and Bob Wood, Sauquoit.

Ain't nothin' like a natural gas meter to make a day worth livin'.

Lightning ignites gas-line fires in Oologah (Oklahoma), forces evacuation of four-block area (click here) 

July 16, 2013
By Dylan Goforth 

OOLOGAH — A lightning strike is believed to have led to fires that resulted in the evacuation of a four-block area of Oologah on Tuesday evening.
Lightning hit a power pole that then fell onto a gas meter, igniting fires along a natural gas line in residential back yards about 5:30 p.m.
The fires were extinguished about 8 p.m., Northwest Rogers County Fire Chief David Puckett said....

Weather today in Oologah, Oklahoma is 90.3 degrees Fahrenheit with scatter clouds and no wind.
 

By Marc Lifsher

July 16, 2013, 5:03 p.m.

California regulators (click here) have proposed that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. pay a record $2.25-billion penalty for its role in causing a fatal 2010 natural gas explosion in San Bruno, a San Francisco suburb.
The total includes a $300-million fine to be paid to the California treasury and $1.95 billion for safety upgrades to the company's gas distribution system. About $1.5 billion would be paid by shareholders and the balance would be returned as a credit to PG&E for already completed distribution system repairs and safeguards.
The proposed financial penalty comes almost three years after the Sept. 9, 2010, explosion of a transmission line that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in a neighborhood near the San Francisco International Airport....

Of course, the industry is objecting to the figure and even believed $300 million penalty was too high. They think after killing a few folks, some pets, destroying homes and property they should be allowed to keep the money and improve on pipeline safety. Imagine that? No remorse than more demands to be allowed to do the same thing all over again in the name of "PIPELINE SAFETY."

...Consumer advocates praised the proposed penalty that is expected to go before the five-member California Public Utilities Commission in the fall....

I agree with the consumers. Considering the damage their should be a significant fine as well as alternative energy sources for that neighborhood all compliments of the petroleum industry.

Those pretty shingles on this home are photovoltaic cells. They are roof shingles that deliver solar power to the home.

My impressions?

Feds still investigating agent's fatal shooting of Ibragim Todashev during questioning in Florida.(click here) 

The family is understandably upset. They are from the Caucases and are sensitive to issues such as this. The Caucases have a long history of violence and any inkling of same will automatically become a huge issue and rightfully so.

I would not expect the FBI to release information of an ongoing investigation. SOP. The investigation into Mr. Todashev's death encompasses a larger investigation and probably includes at least one lawsuit, so the public won't be hearing much for awhile.

What is troubling is the inconsistencies dribbling out of the FBI. The inconsistencies relay a picture of near torture. Seven bullets, if I have that right, it was seven bullets. That is one shooter.  The shooter unloaded the chamber. There was one gunman that killed him. Understanding why that shooter acted is to understand his death.

Why would one shooter have reason? 'Suspicion of explosive device being worn.' Another word is suicide bomber. That is the way I see it right now.

I am sure the new director of the FBI has more than enough to keep him busy in one day, but, he should give this some attention with a statement about the young man's death. It would help the family and the region of the world most troubled by the secrecy.

Elizabeth Cheney said, "...we can no longer afford simply to go along to get along,"

She believes in obstructionist government. The Tea Party does believe in obstructionist government. 

That is the last thing the USA needs. We need members of the Senate to work together to solve the country's problems, not create new ones.

Wyoming doesn't need someone who is going to make it more difficult to solve problems in Washington, DC. Wyoming needs someone with experience to get the job done. Elizabeth Cheney is not that person.