The melodrama of Silvio Berlusconi continues. He got nine lives. Amazing.

Monday 25 November 2013

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi (click here) has begged senators not to kick him out of parliament, claiming new evidence proves he did not commit tax fraud, in a last-ditch bid to stave off a vote that could keep him out of public office for years.

Berlusconi claimed that new statements from 12 witnesses and 15,000 pages of documentation from Hong Kong prove he is innocent - even though his tax fraud trial is over and his guilty verdict has been upheld by Italy's highest court.

Berlusconi wrote to senators from the centre-left Democratic Party and populist Five Star Movement 48 hours before the Senate is due to vote on whether to kick him out of parliament because of the conviction.

He said Italy's democracy is at stake with the vote....

That is not the best part. The best part is the President of Russia pays a visit to Pope Francis and then visits with a racketeer afterward. Berlusconi is a bad habit that never goes away. He keeps turning up like a bad penny. More excuses than anyone ever thought possible. It is time he simply goes away.

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 26 November, 2013, 9:44pm

UPDATED : Tuesday, 26 November, 2013, 9:44pm

Russian president Vladimir Putin (click here) had a hectic first day in Rome, going from the pope to a Pussy Riot protest to dinner at the palatial home of his old friend, Silvio Berlusconi.

Putin showed off his religious side during his visit to the Vatican on Monday, stopping to cross himself and kiss an icon of the Madonna that he gave Pope Francis. But Moscow's improving relations with the Vatican only went so far: Putin didn't invite Francis to visit.

After the 35-minute audience, Putin went across town to pay a courtesy call on Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. A few dozen people protesting against Russia's detention of two members of punk band Pussy Riot tried to block his motorcade.

He managed to get through, and then arrived at former prime minister Berlusconi's Palazzo Grazioli....

The Midas Touch. There are still heroes that love the USA. Go, Detroit, Go!

Warren Buffett will be in Detroit on Tuesday. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

5:30 PM, November 25, 2013

The Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein (click here) will be at Ford Field on Tuesday to announce a partnership that will add Detroit to a national funding program designed to spur small business growth.

Goldman Sachs started the $500 million program, called “10,000 Small Businesses,” and has been adding cities to its roster. Small business owners with at least four employees and $150,000 in revenue can apply to be a part of the program, which is designed to provide them with greater access to business education, financial capital and business support services.

More details will be released Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. The press conference will be carried live at freep.com....

The primary problem with Detroit is square miles and the implosion of the auto industry with a shrinking tax base. The city income didn't provide for the ungainly size of the city with residents living at all corners without the benefit of local economies within their neighborhoods. The downtown had to support the costs of the entire city.

The most sustainable recovery in Detroit will be best served to consolidate success from the downtown and expand from there rebuilding city services and schools. If it is done right, Detroit will be back unlike they ever imagined.

The lessons of Sri Lanka are interesting.

One of the plagues of the Third World are the growth of separatist groups based in ethnic identity. For a very long time the Tamil Tigers proved effective in controlling Sri Lanka.

The Tamal Tigers were extremely ruthless and disruptive to any society. 

The Tamil people is a long lived ethnicity with roots in the 3rd Century AD. They were merchants and traded through sea ports. They were successful, extremely so. They understand market based solutions. They are in Sri Lanks through immigration from those trade routes. There are four political states within the ethnic delineation: Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallavas. It was the Pandyas and Cholas most successful in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government decided three years ago 'strong arm' groups, The West calls terrorists, were not going to undermine the potential of the nation and moved to end the violent influence of the Tamil Tigers. It was a bloody war but the peace was achieved. The government and military were ridiculed for the offensive by other Tamils around the globe, but, in all honesty the Tamil Tigers were not helpful to the people. 

Sri Lanka is determined to move their nation forward and seek more of a First World dynamic much like Indonesia. They are capable of greatness. They have proven that. The actions against the Tamil Tigers proved they could make difficult decisions that would benefit future generations.

Indonesia has been more than successful in embracing it's ethnicities and creating a tropical paradise that attracts people from all over the world for vacation, scientific investigation and investment. Sir Lanka is capable of moving in a direction of a strong economy based in the love of it's people and culture.

Sri Lankan Tamils hold pictures of family members who disappeared during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at a protest in Jaffna, about 400 km north of Colombo November 15, 2013.
Image by: STRINGER/SRI LANKA / REUTERS

Sri Lanka bans remembrance of rebels Tamil Tigers (click  here)

Sapa-AFP | 25 November, 2013 14:16

The military said any event was banned because the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was still a proscribed organisation, four years after the army defeated the group to end a decades-long separatist war.

Small and low-key ceremonies are usually held at this time every year to commemorate rebels killed during the conflict, a so-called "heroes' week" that coincides with the anniversary of the death of the first rebel.

Local media have reported that more organised events were planned this year in the island's former northern war zone after the main Tamil party won local elections there in September.

"Promoting and propagating separatist ideology within Sri Lanka directly or indirectly, even by using media freedom, and attempting to commemorate or glorify terrorists that belonged to a proscribed organisation would be illegal," the military spokesman said in a statement....

Talking about opportunity...

It was not long ago when tiny Sri Lanka faced a devastating reality. The Christmas Tsunami of 2004. Many survivors resolved not to forget the people that perished that day. They have recovered with the help of the international community and now it's leaders seek a prosperous future for their people and greater promise for their children. I would think if I were Wall Street it would be worth a visit.

Published on Sunday, 24 November 2013 18:50

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance and Planning (click here) last week released the government's Public Investment Strategy for 2014-2016 titled 'Unstoppable Sri Lanka 2020'.

The strategy formulated by the government outlines that Sri Lanka intends to become a US $ 100 billion economy by 2016 and a US $ 185 billion economy by 2020. The government aims to increase the Per Capita Income from US $ 4,470 by 2016 and to US $ 8,500 by 2020.

The plan also outlines that an Inflation target of 4% is expected by 2016 while it will be further reduced to 3% by 2020.

The country aims to reach an export target of US $ 18 billion by 2016 and a US $ 20 billion target by 2020 while earnings from the tourism industry is expected to be US $ 2.65 billion by 2016 and US $ 5 billion by 2020. The Government also aims to increase country's trade turnover to be US $ 44.1 billion by 2016 and to US $ 50 billion by 2020.

Sri Lanka also targets over US $ 10 billion from remittances by 2016 and US $ 16 billion by 2020.

The country's Services sector will be further enhanced to reach a target of US $ 2.6 billion by 2016 and to earn nearly US $ 4.6 billion by 2020.

Another Penn State.

November 25, 2013 11:19 PM

By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- The rape investigation (click here) that brought the national spotlight to Steubenville, Ohio, has ended with the indictments of the city's school superintendent and three others connected to the school district.

A special grand jury on Friday indicted superintendent Michael McVey, 50, along with a principal, a wrestling coach and a former assistant football coach on charges related to failing to report or hiding evidence of the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl by two football players after a drinking party in 2012. The charges were announced Monday.

While players Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond were convicted in March, observers had wondered whether others tied to the district and its powerful Big Red football team would becalled to account.

Now, said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, they have been....

President Obama is in office until January 20, 2017. Three full years of his policy initiative.

On a real timeline 3 years of a man that sincerely believes in peace over war is a lifetime in international movement toward non-proliferation, better economic dynamics and removing impetus to war.

The reason Bush/Cheney were able to launch an illegal war into Iraq based on lies and deception was because the impetus existed. It wasn't difficult for them to reach into their bag of tricks and start a war. The odds Bush/Cheney could pull off a war at the drop of a hat existed nearly on every continent on Earth. They wanted a limited nuclear war with Russia and fashioned their 'rant to war' after that of WWII. Bush CREATED "The AXIS (powers) of Evil." It was all to easy to create a Hollywood theme to carryout illegitimate killing of people that had little to no interest in the USA, yet alone terrorists to them.

The Domestic Policies of the USA are in the doldrums. President Obama is attempting yet again to move Immigration Reform forward. He has done well so far. He has acted to keep The Dreamers in the USA and has a bill out of the USA Senate by a large majority. The only hurdle is having the US House actually DO SOMETHING.

The International Community needs to capitalize on the willingness and ability of President Obama to reach agreements to eliminate any opportunity to war of those that believe war is an asset to the USA economy. This is the time for policy to be smoothed out and proposed to result in peace. We have a chance today as a global community that won't return for decades. We have this chance given to us to create a world of peace and prosperity. There should be no mistake, this is a time of great hope and potential. We should not squander it.

President Obama will not diminish the military strength of the USA military as a means to provide a steadfast willingness to peace. Both China and Russia understand how a strong military can be an incentive to create peace and enforce it.

There are many hawks and few doves in the USA political landscape. President Obama is neither. He is a rational man that loves his country, the people of the nation he leads and the idea his daughters could live in a far different world than he inherited. I believe in him. He is capable of finding inroads to peace and non-proliferation. He is a man of compromise so long as the national security of the USA is not compromised. Much can be done. Much should be done. Barack Obama is unique and it would be a sorry day to realize the world was on the brink of a sustaining peace, but, ignored it's potential and was hesitant to reach for it.

ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER

Contributed to The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Nov. 26 2013, 6:00 AM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Nov. 26 2013, 6:00 AM EST

...Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (click here) needs to marshal support for the deal just as much as Mr. Obama does, above all by reducing inflation and getting his country’s economy moving again. If domestic tensions ease as a result, especially within Iran’s restive middle class, the government will receive the credit, while the Iranian Republican Guard and other hard-liners will be weakened.

The West had better hope that the Iranian narrative proves true, because the political space for any meaningful diplomatic agreement – both the desire for a deal and the room to achieve it – is created at home. This is particularly true when a new government comes to power with promises of improving the economy. Mr. Rouhani can undercut hard-liners who would seek to block any ultimate deal only if the Iranian population both experiences economic relief and attributes it to his administration....

GOP educational standards reek of incompetency. This is the accomplishment of Michigan's current governor. Run away, run away as fast as you can.

November 22, 2013

Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority (click here) has lost nearly a quarter of its students in the past year, a dramatic dip in its second year of operating 15 low-performing schools in Detroit.

The EAA, a statewide district formed by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011 to take over failing schools, enrolled 7,589 students in K-12 at its 15 schools — 2,369 fewer than last fall, when it had 9,958 students across 12 direct-run schools and three charter schools. That’s a drop of 23.6 percent.

The biggest decline came at the district’s 12 direct-run schools, where 2,103 students left. At its charter schools, 266 fewer students enrolled.

The enrollment decline, documented in figures released this week by the Michigan Department of Education, is expected to seriously impact the bottom line of the state’s first recovery district. The EAA, which is supposed to turn around Michigan’s lowest-performing schools, has been heavily criticized by Democratic lawmakers but is a signature project of the governor....

It looks like the GOP hasn't thrown Rove out of the bus yet.

Staff writer

Former George W. Bush strategist (click here) and presidential adviser Karl Rove visited Fayetteville on Wednesday to raise money for Thom Tillis, the state House speaker and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

The soiree was held at the home of Terry and Rosalind Hutchens and open to people donating $1,000 to $2,600. The event was closed to the press; neither Rove nor Tillis granted interviews before the fundraiser.

Attendance and fundraising figures were not available Wednesday. Terry Hutchens, founder of the Hutchens Law Firm of Fayetteville, Charlotte and Wilmington, is a longtime supporter of Republican candidates, said Republican political consultant Carter Wrenn. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is the incumbent.

It is hard to believe Rove hasn't become old news yet. But, that is the GOP, they never change course and never modernize their agenda.

November 20, 2013

The dark money giant Crossroads GPS, (click here) launched by Republican strategist Karl Rove, told the IRS it raised almost $180 million in 2012, including one donation of $22.5 million, another of $18 million and another of $10 million. Fifty donations were for $1 million or more.  Because the group is a social welfare nonprofit, none of the donors have to be made public.

The details come from the group’s 2012 tax return, which Crossroads made available today at their Washington office. We picked up a copy and you can see it here.  

Crossroads raised more than twice as much in 2012 as it collected in 2010 and 2011combined.

The group also reported spending almost $75 million on direct and indirect campaign activities.

Crossroads GPS, also known as Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, is the largest social nonprofit active in elections. The group was created after the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling opened the door to unlimited corporate and union spending on elections, to super PACs and to hundreds of millions of dollars in anonymous money....

It is silly for donors to not be listed with GPS, all one has to do is send in a paparazzi golf caddy and the donors are exposed.

The GOP continues to shine each other on and figure next time will be the charm. They haven't been able to accomplish anything once in office. The House is stuck in "I hate life" and "I hate people, but, love money" won't cooperate with anything the nation needs. They are worthless. The GOP is basically mute across the board. If an entire House majority can't conduct the business of the nation, they need to be seen for they are, incompetent.

June 24, 2012
Mitt Romney’s donors (click here) attended a golf outing today at the Red Ledges Golf Club in Heber, Utah, but the excitement was really what went on Friday and Saturday at the events and panels. Romney’s top donors were treated to panels on specialized policy topics, such as healthcare or the financial services industry, heard speeches from stars of the Republican Party, such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and were granted access to the presidential candidate’s senior advisors for information about the inner workings of the campaign. All events were closed to reporters, but ABC News has the rundown of some of what these donors were privileged to hear.

The Executive Order is good for two years. We need to move this into a permanent law.

July 16, 2012

Vice President Biden, President of the Senate was in the chambers that day to pass the Senate bill.

Posted: 06/27/2013 4:22 pm EDT
Updated: 06/27/2013 5:36 pm EDT

WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed (click here) a politically fraught immigration reform bill on Thursday that would give a path to citizenship to some of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., bringing them out of the shadows and preventing continued record deportations that have separated hundreds of thousands of families.

The bill passed 68 to 32, picking up all Democrats and 14 Republicans.

Undocumented immigrants and advocates in the crowd, many of them young so-called Dreamers, broke out into applause and chants of "yes we can!" after Vice President Joe Biden, who came to the Senate to preside over the proceedings, read the results. Senators in the bipartisan "gang of eight" that drafted the bill -- Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) -- patted each other on the back....

This is a half hour interview that aired on C-Span. Ryan talks about immigration during this interview. Whether I agree with him or not is nearly not important. What is important is the dialogue. 

The House Speaker has stated there would be no immigration bill from the House. The legislation is dead, end of discussion. That is lie. This dialogue is proof, evidence if you will.

I think to a certain extent Ryan makes a lot of excuses about the budget and debt ceiling about being difficult and more important than anything else. Why do I believe Ryan is making excuses about immigration? Because the bill is written in a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. Does Ryan's name appear within that subcommittee?

Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security (click here)

Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-04), ChairmanMr. Poe, Vice-Chairman

Mr. Smith (TX)	Ms. Lofgren
Mr. King	Ms. Jackson Lee
Mr. Jordan	Mr. Gutierrez
Mr. Amodei	Mr. Garcia
Mr. Labrador	Mr. Pierluisi
Mr. Holding

It would appear as though Ryan believes he was elected to the Executive Branch because his influence is omnipotent. He is wrong. There is absolutely no reason why the House Subcommittee can't finish drafting a bill for a vote. No excuses. The budget and debt ceiling is a separate issue with separate legislation. Ryan has nothing to do with this except vote on the bill.

Ryan is from Wisconsin. Remember, the USS Wisconsin and a lot of flag waving.

This is an article from 2009.

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A new study (click here) shows the number of illegal immigrants (Undocumented Workers) in Wisconsin has stabilized in the last several years.

The Pew Hispanic Center study estimates there are about 85,000 illegal immigrants in Wisconsin, about the same level as in 2005. The center's study shows rapid growth in the number of illegal immigrants in the 1990s. There were an estimated 10,000 illegal immigrants in Wisconsin in 1990.

The study estimates there are nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, or about 4 percent of the total population. It says about 75 percent are Latino.

The Latino population in Wisconsin is estimated at 283,000.

Like Wisconsin, the number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has stabilized in recent years.

Those that will be lobbying Congress to pass immigration reform needs to realize why Republicans are terrified of them.

See, what that says?  ...4 percent of the total population....

How do many Republicans secure the House seats? 

Gerrymandering, right? 

Now, whether that is the reality in Wisconsin and with Ryan in particular is somewhat not the topic. The point is there are House members settled into a great deal of rhetorical comfort through gerrymandering. What happens when there is an additional population within any district that will primarily vote Democratic or Independent? 

They could lose their seats. Do GOP members want Undocumented Workers to actually become part of this country? No. They are completely content with things as they are.

For the most part, Republicans understand Undocumented Workers are important people. They should not be deported and should be considered important to the USA economy. Most of the Republicans understand the issue and they absolutely understand they have to legislate in favor of these wonderful people. They simply don't want to and to that end they will victimize the undocumented and ridicule them as law breakers and state all sorts of things that could be considered racist, bigoted and inflammatory. None of what the GOP states is the problem at all.

If I were leading Hispanics to victory in passing immigration reform, I would first be soliciting my Senator or a Senator from another state to help me lobby. The Senators weren't afraid of Undocumented Workers. 14 Republican Senators stood strong with the Democrats in passing the bill. It was filibuster proof. A very proud moment in the Senate.

Those Senators believe in addressing the needs of the country, not preserving seats immorally through gerrymandering any district in their favor. That is honorable and what is transpiring in the House is dishonorable.

The lobbying effort President Obama referred to is vital to the best outcome to the Undocumented. They are already a part of the American family and even in 2009 when that article was written by a Wisconsin media service, the USA borders are doing just fine and any influx is slowed and even stopped. The border is not the problem and we all know it.

The only sincere problem at the USA southern border is the drug trade and the American guns that make it all possible. The drug trade has nothing to do with the undocumented. The people that carry drugs in the USA for the cartels are separate issue. There are US agencies prepared to deal with the mess. The US Border Patrol is caught right in the middle of the drug wars. For the most part any undocumented the US Border Patrol picks up don't cause them much grief.

If the US Senate is confident in their legislation and welcome to the undocumented, it is time the House welcome them as well. 

There is no reason to delay this vital legislation. It is time. A strong and vibrant lobbying effort needs to begin and continue until the legislation is finished. Why the Senators should help? Because they have basically the same financial backers as their House members. They can advocate for honesty and honor and serving the country while being confident a re-election lies in the ability to see past the cronyism and for the first time see the person waiting to be a full member of this country.

Do it. Don't take no for an answer and be sure the US House understands if they are going to obstruct a vote when in fact there is already a majority waiting to pass the law; they indeed will have to worry about their seats even if comfortably gerrymandered. I have witnessed the community. It is powerful and door to door canvasing is nothing to them. They have the numbers, the dedication and will. All they need is a theme, a flier, an Icon and a campaign. I know they can make it happen.

Time to get on with it.

The Przewalski’s Horse, which lives on the steppes of central Asia, likely deviated from the lineage leading to modern domesticated horses some 50,000 years ago. (Photo: Joe Ravi)

Blake de Pastino

Nov 19,2013

The frozen remains of a horse (click here) more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced.

The horse was discovered in 2003 in the ancient permafrost of Canada’s west-central Yukon Territory, not far from the Alaskan border.

And although the animal was dated to between 560,000 and 780,000 years old, an international team of researchers was able to use a new combination of techniques to decipher its genetic code.

Among the team’s findings is that the genus Equus — which includes all horses, donkeys, and zebras — dates back more than 4 million years, twice as long ago as scientists had previously believed.

“When we started the project, everyone — including us, to be honest — thought it was impossible,” said Dr. Ludovic Orlando of the University of Copenhagen, who coordinated the research, in a statement to Western Digs.

“And it was to some extent, with the methods available by then. So it’s clearly methodological advances that made this possible.”

Orlando and his colleagues published their findings this summer in the journal Nature; he discussed them today in a lecture at The Royal Society, London....

There is a direct relationship between domestic violence and guns.

"I welcome the chorus of voices (click here) calling for an end to the violence that affects an estimated one in three women in her lifetime. I applaud leaders who are helping to enact and enforce laws and change mindsets. And I pay tribute to all those heroes around the world who help victims to heal and to become agents of change ."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Nov. 25, 2013 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (click here)BY ADAM CARLSONacarlson@ledger-enquirer.comNovember 25, 2013
• Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime.

• 500,000-2 million people are trafficked annually into situations including prostitution, forced labour, slavery or servitude, according to estimates. Women and girls account for about 80 per cent of the detected victims

• The cost of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceeds $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion is for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion.

There is a direct relationship between guns and domestic violence.

- 46 women are shot each month in the USA by current or former partners, about 44% of all female murders.

- The chance of a woman being killed in domestic violence increases by 500% when a gun is present. The chance of women being killed by a gun in the USA is 1100% more likely than other higher income countries.

There is a relationship between poverty and violence and gun use in murder.

By Tara Culp-Ressler

October 29, 2013

...Gender-based violence (click here) and gun policies have become particularly entwined lately. Over the past several months, proponents for looser gun laws have argued that women need easy access to guns to protect themselves against abusers and rapists. According to some of the conservatives who oppose gun control, additional regulations on concealed weapons and assault rifles aren’t compatible with feminism. On Tuesday, that line of reasoning made yet another appearance at a Senate hearing about Stand Your Ground laws, as a conservative policy analyst from the Cato Institute suggested that feminists support the policy that allowed George Zimmerman to kill an unarmed teenager.

Christy Salters Martin, a domestic violence survivor who was stabbed and shot by her husband after she attempted to leave him, has a very different perspective on the issue.

“Having a gun isn’t enough,” Christy explained in an interview with ThinkProgress. “Women who fear for their life don’t need a gun — they need to go to their local police department, they need to go a family member, they need to go to the domestic violence shelter in their area where they have some type of protection.”

Christy and her estranged husband both owned guns and both had concealed carry permits. Christy also had a very successful career in professional boxing. That didn’t stop her husband from shooting her....

Oversight and fine tuning the law is built into the PPACA.

I want to dispell this rant by people like Cornyn stating the Iranian treaty and the filibuster are to distract from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That would be true if the treaty and the filibuster were not issues before October 1.

And in addition, Minority Leader Pelosi knows full well the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has a quality control principle built into the law. The law demands panels to continue the fine tuning of the law and to report those findings to the oversight of Congress. The real possibility that application of the law would result in speed bumps to it's progress was well anticipated. Minority Leader Pelosi needs to demand the panels and committees start their work. I hope developing those panels are not neglected by the HHS Secretary. too.

The law was to look at the cost of health care and bring it into a cost effective dynamic. Medicaid to the hospitals was a beginning to pay for what was once free care costing all Americans elevated costs to their health care. The escalating high deductibles are PROOF of the out of control costs of health care in the USA. The law is suppose to examine the costs, streamline the process and pay for care by those that cannot afford it. The purpose of expanding Medicaid is to bring costs down. The sooner the insured no longer have to carry the burden for the uninsured the sooner the costs will begin to scale back. There is an ongoing review process built into the law through panels and committees of professionals and citizens with oversight by Congress. That process should be in place by now unless the law states otherwise.

The uninsured is a cost problem. Not only that, but, the care the uninsured receives at emergency rooms does not resolve to a sustainable longevity. Higher costs to the insured isn't even proving life saving outcomes for the uninsured. It is simply a system gone completely wrong.

Iran's security is the answer to settling the peace accord in the Mideast. There has to be a Shi'ite homeland and unless that is completely validated by all parties the tensions will not abate. While Saudi Arabia is determined to maintain a Nuclear Free Mideast, it does recognize the right of Shi'ites to exist and the right of all Mideast nations to peaceful use of nuclear power. It is Iran's responsibility to provide reassurances to it's peaceful intent. It is Iran's responsibility to be completely transparent about it's nuclear program. It is Iran's responsibility to provide significant reassurances to the region regarding it's peaceful intent. Nothing short of sincere and profound reforms of the Iranian nuclear program will result in continued confident of Iran's ability to seek and sustain peace in the Mideast.

Iran needs to also roll back any support of jihadists in the region. If Iran is to be recognized as a nation intent on a peaceful Mideast, it needs to stop escalating tensions in the region, including Syria through jihadists such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the rest. The Shi'ites are not desperate for a land of their own, they need to stop acting like it.

A nation's strength in the Mideast is defined in identity and honor, not the ability to kill, maim and carry out hatred of others.

The Climate Crisis has a way of defining international relations.

By: Pots de Leon, InterAksyon.com
November 25, 2013 4:08 PM

Survivors of typhoon Yolanda are seen in Reuters file photoas they board a US C-130 out of Tacloban, the worst-hit by storm surges. The past two weeks, US forces on an aircraft carrier, later followed by amphibious assets, have helped in relief and rescue work.

MANILA – Days before super typhoon Yolanda (click here) unleashed deadly winds and storm surges that killed more than 4,000 people - and still counting - and flattened entire communities in five regions, Philippine and United States negotiators had reached an impasse in efforts to forge a framework agreement on increased US military rotational presence in the country. Now, officials from both sides say, the post-Yolanda work into which both sides have been thrust may yet allow the talks to resume smoothly.

Days after the deadly typhoon struck, thousands of US forces on rest and recreation in an aircraft carrier in Asia were quickly recalled to duty - thus it was that the US troops, with their C-130s and Ospreys, provided vital support in ferrying food and water to hungry, homeless storm survivors in remote villages; and transported the wounded to hospitals.

In the view of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, what happened further demonstrated the need for a new military framework agreement on an increased US rotational presence in the Philippines. The DFA chief made the remarks in a press conference with a visiting US congressional delegation headed by Representatives Chris Smith of New Jersey, Al Green of Texas and Trent Franks of Arizona....

I cannot image what it is to be a survivor of Super Typhoon Haiyan. Survivors are lucky to have any family and were left with nothing but compassionate nations seeking to bring their lives comfort. The refugees and citizens from Tacloban have to find common ground and trust others to become a new family.

This is a report from NPR about life returning to Tacloban. Congratulations for those that responded to the emergency. The Phillipines may very well have a model for economic recovery. Let's hope the economy continues to return and perhaps refugees can return to some kind of sanity soon.

November 25, 2013

Nearly two weeks after super typhoon Haiyan (click here) wiped out much of the Philippine city of Tacloban, commerce there is coming back to life. Lines form in front of recently opened ATMs and gas stations. And a bustling street market has sprung up across several blocks downtown.

Here we go again.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV 24:
  

Consensus forecasts suggest (click here) that cyclone Lehar will hit Andhra Pradesh coast as a full-blooded ‘very severe cyclone’ in the next four to five days.

Internationally, it will be classified as number three on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale for storm strength. It is only one spin away from being called class-topping super cyclone.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE

A storm of this strength can cause total destruction of thatched houses and extensive damage to kutcha houses. There can be potential threat from flying objects....

At first Lehar was believed to be fairly mild (Tropical Storm), but, that is changing the longer it remains over the ocean. 100 kilometers per hour (Equivalent to Category 1 hurricane) winds are now expected.

Date: 23-25 NOV 2013
Cyclone-1 LEHAR
ADV  LAT    LON      TIME     WIND  PR  STAT
  1   8.10   97.10 11/23/06Z   30     - TROPICAL DEPRESSION
  2   8.70   96.60 11/23/12Z   35     - TROPICAL STORM
  3   9.50   95.50 11/23/18Z   35     - TROPICAL STORM
  4   9.80   95.20 11/24/00Z   35     - TROPICAL STORM
  5  10.30   94.30 11/24/06Z   45     - TROPICAL STORM
  6  10.90   93.30 11/24/12Z   55     - TROPICAL STORM
  7  11.70   92.90 11/24/18Z   55     - TROPICAL STORM
  8  12.10   91.90 11/25/00Z   60     - TROPICAL STORM
  9  12.30   91.30 11/25/06Z   65     - CYCLONE-1

...FLEET-FOOTED

Earlier forecasts by some weather models had suggested that Lehar may take a bow before closing in and weaken a round before making landfall.

But that scenario is being ruled out with the fleet-footed (lateral speed of 20 km/hr over water on Sunday) cyclone forcing itself into the open Bay of Bengal waters by Monday.

Environment at the ground and upper level is decidedly benign for the ‘storm tower’ to build and gather strength rapidly.

Lehar is forecast to attain the level of a very severe cyclone as early as Monday and will spare no punches when it barrels into the coast....

Michael Hayden is a communist.

By Mark Joseph Stern

...Hayden, (click here) who spoke on Thursday at a cybersecurity forum hosted by the National Military Family Association, is famously expansive on national security concerns—and sanguine about the NSA’s effectiveness. In an exchange regarding the agency’s“systemic overcollection” of data, Hayden argued that those outraged by the practice probably misunderstand it and likely overestimate the extent of the agency’s transgressions. He also noted that he finds “curious” debates over the transparency of FISA courts, which hold secretive proceedings to evaluate government requests for surveillance. Critics have dismissed the courts as “rubber stamps” for the government, noting that they approve virtually all applications. But the courts dispute the label, defending the approval record by saying that they often require changes before giving the government the OK. Hayden says there’s another reason to like the present system....

No, Hayden misunderstands the people that are outraged. He is the epitome of patriarchal government in control over every aspect of a citizen's life.

"Morning Papers - It's Origins" (click here)

The Rooster 

"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

Waning Gibbous

56% Full

21.6 Day Old Moon

January 24, 2011

Waning gibbous moon at Port Lockroy, Antarctica during it's Austral Summer.




Uploaded by: ExitPupilCreative
Friday November 15, 2013 Charlestown, RI 

(Current Weather Conditions)

A stunning photo I captured of Comet ISON this morning from Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA. -Scott

It rounds the Sun on Thanksgiving.

By Meeri Kim, Sunday, November 24, 6:10 PM

As Comet ISON hurtles toward the sun, (click here) its million-year-long journey through our solar system may end with its violent death — or a spectacular sky show.

On Thanksgiving, when the comet rounds the sun, professional and amateur astronomers alike will await ISON’s fate with bated breath. Its tail may get ripped off by a cloud of solar particles, or the sun’s brutal radiation and pressure may demolish it completely....