First Lady Michelle Obama's accomplishments have been incredible

Disney announced (click here) that it will require all food and beverage products advertised, sponsored, or promoted on various Disney-owned media channels and online destinations and theme parks to meet nutritional guidelines that align with federal standards to promote fruit and vegetables and limit calories, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat by 2015....

When considering where the country was with escalating diabetes among children and young adults and only five years later there are commitments across the country to improve the food quality Americans eat.

Disney should have accomplished this long ago. Their best customers are children and a child's well being on all fronts should have always been the highest priority for Disney. But, it took real leadership to bring Disney's value system to a higher goal.

There is no one who even tried to raise the moral content of our children's diets, except, the First Lady. She is more than great and full of love for this country's children; she is a sincere leader with successful goals.

      

First it was Obamacare, now Benghazi is looking less and less promising, so let's attack the VA instead.

The hubris of 'old age' Republicans can be intoxicating. 

May 21, 2014
Aaner Madhadi
USA Today

WASHINGTON -- With the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal, (click here) the GOP now has a crisis to dig into that has some substance.
Heading toward the November midterm elections, Republicans have made clear that they plan to take aim at Democrats by striking at President Obama over his administration's handling of 2012 attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, and by continuing their assault on the president's signature health care law.
Within the Republican ranks, there is wariness about making Benghazi a centerpiece issue. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who is set to retire, reportedly warned colleagues after the GOP-controlled House voted earlier this month to investigate the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that they could be headed down a "rabbit hole."
And after dozens of GOP attempts at repealing Obamacare, polls increasingly show that Americans -- while still not completely sold on the health care overhaul -- are more interested in hearing about fixes than repeal....

Before any formal charges can be leveled there needs to be Senate hearings whereby family members are allowed to give testimony. Along with the testimony the medical records of those suspected to have died on a waiting list have to be submitted. The medical records need to be complete, including any outside records.

Quite frankly, I think this warrants a Special Prosecutor. This isn't about misconduct alone, it is about the death of our veterans with complaints of gross negligence. 

71-year-old Navy vet Thomas Breen (click here) died of Stage 4 bladder cancer. He went to the VA hospital in September, but his family wasn’t contacted about an appointment to see a doctor until a week after his death. 

The families of those that died in Phoenix should already have submitted copies of medical records to the White House to impress the importance of this investigation.

71 years old is too young to die. Below are the survival rates of bladder cancer according to the American Cancer Society. 

The 5-year survival rate (click here) refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is found. Of course, many people live much longer than 5 years. Five-year relative survival rates assume that some people will die of other causes and compare the observed survival with that expected for people without the cancer. This is a better way to see the impact that cancer can have on survival.

Nigeria has a belligerant president that won't negotitate and troops are not the answer.

The USA is sending troops and the President of Nigeria is cheerleading from Paris. Now, President Obama can be blamed for the deaths of 270 girls while Johnathan won't negotiate with terrorists. The prisoners Boko Haram wants freed were people rounded up. They are not criminals. I don't think they have even had a trial.

West African presidents meet at the invitation of President Francois Hollande of France.
 
May 21, 2014

Eighty American (click here) service members are on the ground in North Africa to oversee drone operations in the search for the 276 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls, the Obama administration said Wednesday.

The White House formally notified Congress that the troops are in the neighboring African nation of Chad. The mission includes 40 people to operate and maintain the Predator drone and 40 more to protect the force.

“These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area,” President Barack Obama said in a letter. “The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."... 

It isn't going to look very presidential when the hostages are dead and the prisoners are found to be lacking a trial and innocent of any charges. How do elected officials become dictators? This is witness to that.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Patience arrive for a dinner with the French President and other dignitaries in Paris in December. The president's wife said this week she didn't believe the girls were abducted and that it was a plot to give her husband's government a bad name. (Reuters)

CBC News 

Posted: May 08, 2014 10:03 AM ET 

Last Updated: May 08, 2014 10:52 PM ET

 

...President Jonathan, (click here) who earlier this year thumbed his nose at the West by promulgating one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world, has now apparently broken down and asked the U.S., Britain, France and China for help, according to the latest reports....

Do something for the USA always means 'send troops quick.' It never means examine intelligence to find out the best way to do something. 

JOS, Nigeria occurred because the president backed out of his negotiations. Now, Boko Haram has declared war or jihad or whatever they do. Welcome to Iraq. The Americans are there and I'll guarantee the militants in Libya and Somalia and Mali and Yemen are already on their way. It will be another Mogadishu.

By AHMED SAKA and MICHELLE FAUL
The Associated Press

JOS, Nigeria -- Boko Haram (click here) assaulted three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 48 people, residents said Wednesday, hours after twin bombings claimed at least 118 lives in this central city in an attack the government blamed on the Islamic extremists.

One of the villages attacked between Tuesday night and early Wednesday is near the town of Chibok, where more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped last month by Boko Haram, according to residents and a state intelligence agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to reporters.

Apagu Maidaga of Alagarno said residents of that village hid in the bush and watched while the extremists set ablaze their homes of thatch-roofed mud huts....

This is wetting the whistle of John McCain and the Neocons that will demand more and more and more involvement, especially when USA troops are slaughtered. This ain't about girls no more it is about the burgeoning demand of the USA right wing for increased military spending. Girls were the excuse, now war is the answer.

Go ahead, Barak, be a bipartisan hero! 

Retreating to higher ground in the face of unknown odds is a good call by a Commander and Chief, by the way. Reassess, sir. The USA was handed another bad hand by an absent Nigerian President.

End NC Fracking! And end the North Carolina Republicans from sneaking around behind the voters' backs.

 May 20, 2014

...Fracking isn’t legal in North Carolina yet, (click here) but already legislation is moving through the Senate that would criminalize anyone who discloses trade secrets “received in connection with permitted oil and gas activities.”

This afternoon two Senate committees passed S786, the Energy Modernization Act, a giant bill which would make the state’s ride on the fast-track to fracking less safe. The bill is expected to go before the entire Senate later this week.

And during the hearing, the committee chairman, state Sen. Rick Gunn, (R-Burlington), stated twice that all recording equipment needed to be registered with the sergeant-at-arms, before it could be used, even though this was a public meeting. 
This restriction is unprecedented; in fact, committee meetings held in Rooms 540 and 643 of the Legislative Office Building have audio feeds that allow the public to stream the hearings on the Internet. The commerce meeting was held in Rooms 1027 and 1128 of the Legislative Building, which can accommodate large crowds, but is not streamed live.
(The Sergeant at Arms confiscated the audio recorder of Rose Hoban of NC Health News , after she did not register her recorder, reports The Progressive Pulse. However, reporters in the chamber with smart phones, which also can record audio and video, did not have to register their equipment.
With press freedoms curbed, the bill, which also packs in some substantial incentives for drilling companies, now goes to the Senate Finance Committee....

The Democratic members of Congress along with President Obama has built the strongest economic engine for our country, "The Return of Housing."

This letter to the editor from the US Treasury Department is no lie. There is a nationwide movement to place people back in homes and there is every indication it is working. It protects and grows neighborhoods and stabilizes local economies.

To the Editor: (click here)

In his May 9 Op-Ed article, “What Housing Recovery?,” Peter Dreier accurately identifies a continuing threat to our housing market: persistent and severe negative equity. For those households deeply underwater, their lack of equity in their homes makes them, and their neighbors, vulnerable to foreclosure for years to come.

What Mr. Dreier has not adequately captured are the efforts the Obama administration has taken to help these families. The Making Home Affordable program has modified more than a million mortgages, giving these homeowners an estimated $26.8 billion in savings over the last five years (a median savings of approximately $542 per month).

Our servicing standards have transformed the industry, indirectly assisting millions more by setting higher standards and changing industry practices that have led to more affordable and sustainable private modifications.

Forcing lenders to write down underwater loans may seem appealing but could have substantial long-term negative effects on the cost and availability of mortgage lending in the future.

Instead, we believe that incentive-based programs, such as Making Home Affordable’s principal reduction program and those administered by states participating in the Hardest Hit Fund, which provides substantial incentives to reduce negative equity, have proved to be an effective way for homeowners to restore a path to equity. They also help lenders reduce their long-term risk.

Making Home Affordable is available through Dec. 31, 2015.

MARK McARDLE

Chief of the Homeownership Preservation Office

Department of the Treasury
Washington, May 13, 2014  

NeighborWorks actually does work. (click here)

Neighborhoods are the very basis of local economies. Stabilizing neighborhoods and putting residents into homes returns function to the USA economy. The more neighborhood stability occurs in the USA, the better it's outcome to it's economy. Housing is the American Dream. It grows wealth and in that, it grows the economy. The Democrats have lead the way since 2008 and it works.

May 21, 2014
        
New Report Shows Alliance Benefits Wisconsin Communities by Significantly Impacting State Economy, Leveraging More Than $182 Million in Total Economic Impact

GREEN BAY, WI--(Marketwire -07/17/12)- Today NeighborWorks America (click here) launched the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin, an agreement between 6 regional housing and community development organizations dedicated to improving housing opportunities and building strong communities for all Wisconsin residents. This alliance is formed by member organizations of NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. A new report released this week shows the organizations of the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin to be effective and productive small businesses, significantly benefitting the Wisconsin economy by creating jobs and generating income and tax revenue....

Following 2008 the poverty rate in the USA climbed to historic rates. What was the country going to do to recover? Leave them in limbo forever and simply state, "This is the new America, the two Americas have now become the three Americas; the Rich, the Poor and the Poorer. The driving force to economic return of the USA was to 'go where the people are' and bring them out of the deepest recession in this country's history. President Obama and the Democrats did exactly that regardless of the obstacles in their way. The result is working. 

May 18, 2014
Jim King, Special to The Courier-Journal

...Over the past year the NeighborWorks Alliance of Kentucky (click here) has helped more than 562 families get into homes. Housing is a proven way to increase economic activity, but it needs some help.

First, support down payment assistance programs and affordable housing partnerships. Down payment assistance grants from the private sector, government and the foundation community are an essential tool to revive first-time homeownership, which is critical to a healthy housing market. A recent survey from the Federal Reserve showed that credit standards remain tighter than is necessary for a safe and properly underwritten housing market.

Nick Diedrichsen, a 35-year-old middle school band director and Morehead, Ky., resident at Rowan County Middle School in Morehead, knows firsthand the assistance NeighborWorks provides in Kentucky. Frontier Housing built a home for Nick and originated the loan through Just Choice Lending, FAHE’s lending department. A percussionist, Nick plays drums in the band Electric Edge, which will perform during the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Louisville today....

Housing was the ONE PLACE austerity could not stop economic growth. It was the one true investment that could not be undermined by the Republicans. The access to the housing was a greater challenge when public employees were forced on to unemployment, but, with people accepting work when it was available that didn't destroy their hopes for their future. So long as Americans could get a toe hold, the drive to fill housing was going to work.

The reason there hasn't been a vibrant return to housing price (value) growth is due to austerity. While the work in putting Americans back into homes has continued since 2008, there were huge set backs when Republican politics preyed on 'voter instincts' rather than 'economic facts and figures.' 

The Republicans pretended they knew what was best for the country when they played with budgets and tax structures, but, the fact of the matter is they were hurting the USA's return to economic strength. The Republicans played on the idea a Household Budget was the same as the National Budget. It is only within the past year or so have Americans finally come to terms with what defines economic growth as they support increases in the Minimum Wage and Health Care for all Americans. 

They also supported efforts such as The Buffet Rule. 

Americans need proof and in that is the truly patriotic American. When Americans are given facts and they can relate to it in their own understanding of life, it becomes a beautiful thing. Fear works politically, but, it will never hold up when the truth comes to roost. The housing market and it's creep to the return of being the American Dream again is proof of the tenacity of the American people and what they know instinctively is right and wrong. 

The voters were again disappointed.

The return to the GOP stalwart is a retreat by the electorate because their hopes were never achieved.

I remember when Sarah Palin first appeared as the great GOP hopeful and then proved herself too incompetent to lead, the initial reaction by many, including Democrats and Independents, was "Yes!." In that exclamation was a clear understanding everyone was looking for a paradigm shift from the standard "Wall Street Sponsored" politician.

Catalina Camia, USA Today
9:05 a.m. EDT May 21, 2014      
WASHINGTON — Maybe the GOP (click here) establishment has figured out the Tea Party.Voters sided with business-oriented, mainstream Republicans in key states Tuesday night, picking nominees who have a better chance of winning in November than some Tea Party insurgents of he past. By doing so, the GOP is fielding a team that could help the party reclaim the power that eluded them in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Some lessons learned from the most consequential primaries to date... 

The retreat by the voters in the GOP primaries was due to the realization that extremism was worse than what existed before and Mitch McConnell is the prime example. He has been in the US Senate since the dinosaurs and he is more "Inside DC" than Richard Nixon.

By JILL ABRAMSON

Published: October 16, 2010

...Fred Wertheimer, (click here) a longtime supporter of campaign finance regulation, was then a lawyer for Common Cause. He vividly recalls the weeks leading up to April 7, 1972, before a new campaign finance law went into effect requiring the disclosure of the names of individual donors. “Contributors,” he said, “were literally flying into Washington with satchels of cash.”...

By George Lardner Jr.
and Walter Pincus

Washington Post Staff Writers

Thursday, October 30, 1997

While presidents (click here) have long bestowed U.S. ambassadorships on big campaign contributors,
Richard M. Nixon put a specific price tag on the practice.

"My point is, my point is that anybody who wants to be an ambassador must at least give $250,000," the president told White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman on June 23, 1971, according to a newly transcribed tape.

"Yeah," Haldeman agreed, and then proposed a minimal donation threshold. "I think any contributor under $100,000 we shouldn't consider for any kind of thing."

Nixon pointed out that "we helped" Fred J. Russell, a millionaire California real estate baron and Republican donor who would soon be named ambassador to Denmark. "But from now on," the president continued, "the contributors have got to be, I mean, a big thing and I'm not gonna do it for political friends and all that crap."...

Yes, indeed. Money from individuals for ambassadorships so they can wheel and deal with the international crowd. Money from corporations to protect their foothold of control over the American populous and it's powerful economic clout. Today, the corruption is not only recognized but touted as a status symbol. The Koch Brothers are proud of their influence to rule the three branches of government to completely corrupt the country and not simply hiding it as 'money under the table.'

The players may be different than from the Nixon years, but, the game is worse than it's ever been and the people are left with STILL 'choosing the best of the the worst' to legislate their country.

The facts are sad but true, the right wing conservatives are disillusioned by their own priorities and the defeat of Tea Party candidates is proof. The GOP electorate is measuring it's success at the polls against the success of their agenda. The extremist turn under the Bush/Cheney administration which resulted in conservative activism, even to the extent of the Supreme Court, has the conservatives wondering, "What the heck are we doing by putting all this stupid stuff in our party's platform." In stepping back from the tragedy of Iraq going forward those that identified with right wing candidates are now looking at their own sad realities post 2008 and re-evaluating their paths.

The even sadder truth is the candidates chosen in the primaries aren't that much different from their Tea Party opponents. They are so close a match the Tea Party threw in with them immediately with endorsements for November. The right wing is walking back to the left, but, their steps are far slower than they actually would like them to be. Sincere extremism still lives in the GOP and their base still holds a majority of those extremists as those they can motivate.

The Democrats best focus is to bring the electorate up to speed on what a sincere economy is and what it is not. What a healthy nation looks like and what it does not. The truth that Democratic morality is still the driving force of this country and it works for aspects of our government.

The Great Recession is OVER! This is GOP viciousness.

This mess is going on all over the country where Republicans are in government in majority. Most teacher unions took pay cuts in 2008 to maintain the quality of education to American children. It is time to return pay increases and benefits so their quality of life and that of their students return!

Brownback hates children!

School funding had been cut during recession, (click here) but with additional tax cuts Kansas may not be able to reinstate funding

March 7, 2014 7:45PM ET

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday said the state's current public school funding levels are unconstitutional.

In the much-anticipated ruling, the court said Kansas' poor school districts were harmed when the state made the decision to cut certain payments after tax revenues declined during the world financial crisis in 2008.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to district court for more review to "promptly" determine what the adequate amount of funding should be, but didn't set a deadline for a hearing. It did, however, set a July 1 deadline for legislators to restore money for two funds aimed at helping poorer districts with capital improvements and general school operations.

A state Department of Education official estimates legislators now must increase funding by $129 million, in addition to the more than $3 billion the state has budgeted for the 2014-2015 school year.

The case also has broader implications beyond the classroom: Kansas enacted sweeping cuts to income taxes in 2012 and 2013 championed by Gov. Sam Brownback, which means the state might not have enough money to comply with the court order. Lawmakers could be forced to reconsider the tax cuts that Kansas and other Republican-run states have pushed as a means to stimulate their economies....

Do I hear the echos of the women's rights movement?

State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, seen here during a March hearing, is sponsoring a bill to provide job protections for pregnant women in Illinois. (Antonio Perez / March 13, 2014)

May 20, 2014
By Maura Zurick

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois employers (click here) could not fire, segregate against, or refuse to hire women for being pregnant under legislation the Senate approved today.
Sponsoring Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said the measure aims to eliminate the tough decision some women face by keeping them working but offering accommodations like time off after childbirth.
"This is actually very interesting that we need to do something like this in 2014," she said.
The bill passed 57-0 and now goes to the House. It also would require employers to make reasonable accommodations based on a woman’s needs, but a boss can ask for a doctor’s note. Employers could try to accommodate pregnant women by limiting physical duties such as heavy lifting or giving them time for doctor visits and care after birth. The bill also includes things like longer rest room and water breaks.
“In 2014, no woman should have to choose between a job or a career and the ability to provide for her family,” Hutchinson said....

The country is not going to be privatizing the VA.

May 20, 2014
By Michael D. Shear
WASHINGTON — Growing allegations of mismanagement (click here) at veterans hospitals across the country are threatening to engulf President Obama in another scandal that brings into question his ability to make government work.

As a candidate, Mr. Obama denounced delays and poor care for veterans at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs and vowed that his administration would fix the backlogs and dramatically improve care for those returning from the battlefield.

In a speech in 2008, Mr. Obama pledged to build “a 21st century VA” and promised to confront what he called “the broken bureaucracy of the VA - the impossibly long lines, or the repeated calls for help that get you nothing more than an answering machine.”

But five-and-a-half years into his presidency, Mr. Obama has once again found himself exposed to political danger by a bureaucracy that seems out of his immediate control....

To begin the process to rehab the VA's overburdened bureaucracy has been in the works for several years already. The country has already made the investment.

July 5, 2011
By Alice Lipowic
...“T4 is a major tool in the transformation of VA (click here) into a 21st Century organization,” VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement at the time. “These contracts will enable VA to acquire services for information technology programs that will help ensure timely delivery of health care and benefits to our Veterans.”
The contract awardees were:

• Booz Allen Hamilton, Red Bank, N.J.
• CACI-ISS, Inc., Chantilly, Va.
• Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Fla.
• Systems Research and Applications Corporation, Fairfax, Va.
• Creative Computing Solutions, Inc. (CCSi), Rockville, Md.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, LLC, Herndon, Va.
• ASM Research Inc., Fairfax, Va.
• Systems Made Simple, Syracuse, N.Y.
• Firstview Federal TS, Rockville, Md.
• Information Innovators, Springfield, Va.
• 7 Delta, Fulton, Md.
• By Light, Arlington, Va.
• Technatomy, Fairfax, VA.
• Adams Communications & Engineering Technology, Waldorf, Md.

All the selected companies will compete for task orders to integrate VA systems, network and software to modernize the VA’s information technology infrastructure. The services and products may span the life-cycle of a computer system, and include program planning and management, systems and software engineering, cybersecurity, operation and maintenance, and support to facilities....

Secretary Shinseki was the one seeking to change the way veterans received services. He has been their advocate. These reforms were needed BEFORE soldiers were sent to war, not after they returned and succumbed to the effects of PTSD in record numbers.

If anyone wants to assign blame it can begin with the Bush administration. I mean those power brokers sent troops into battle without body armor and SUVs and Humvees rather than tanks, for god sake. Then the troops were exposed to road side bombs and war conditions unheard of before. And the media wants to blame whom exactly? The one man trying his level best to move a medical system that couldn't even provide decent rehab at Walter Reed without the place falling apart is at blame here? No he isn't. 

It isn't Secretary Shinseki's fault the GOP needs a reason for re-election. He didn't go out and provide passes to those that violated his directives. He expected them to be followed.

May-June 2010
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki (click here) has announced that the department’s Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force has nearly completed a comprehensive report that will redefine how VA addresses the pain and suffering of ill veterans who deployed during the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991.
“At VA, we advocate for veterans – it is our overarching philosophy and, in time, it will become our culture,” Secretary Shinseki said. “Every day we must challenge our assumptions to serve our nation’s veterans.”...

The Gulf War? That is Bush 1. Get for real. Shinseki has been the strongest Secretary the VA has ever had and that is not about to change. 

Exec­u­tive direc­tor praises VA leader’s vision, endorses plans for new pro­cess­ing system  (click here)

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In the wake of calls from a few vocal crit­ics in the media and vet­er­ans’ com­mu­nity for Depart­ment of Vet­er­ans Affairs Sec­re­tary Eric K. Shin­seki to resign, AMVETS National Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Stew­art Hickey today announced his organization’s sup­port for the VA leader’s con­tin­u­a­tion in his post.

Hickey argued only Shin­seki, a man with a proven record as a trans­for­ma­tional leader, with a clear and well-articulated vision for improv­ing the VA claims back­log, is capa­ble of suc­cess­fully lead­ing VA through the nec­es­sary planned changes that will make ser­vices and ben­e­fits more read­ily avail­able to those vet­er­ans who have earned them.

“There is a rea­son major vet­er­ans ser­vice orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing AMVETS, are stand­ing with Sec­re­tary Shin­seki,” said Hickey. “It’s because we’re work­ing along­side VA to con­nect thou­sands of vet­er­ans with their ben­e­fits each year, and we under­stand the orga­ni­za­tional chal­lenges VA faces. We know the Sec­re­tary is on the right path, pri­or­i­tiz­ing older and more com­plex claims, and insti­tut­ing a new elec­tronic pro­cess­ing system.”...

Eric Shinseki is not going anywhere unless he feels moved to do so. He is encouraged to continue to stay and invoke the massive reforms he has instilled during his entire time in office. No one, from where I stand, regrets his leadership one day. Not one day.

"Moral Mondays" have another reason to worry; putting profits before human health.

The results are already in. There have been countless chemical evaluations of contaminated water due to fracking wells. It is obvious who the offenders are in this industry. Disclosing chemicals is simply a formality. It is no secret anymore. These North Carolina legislators are among the most immoral people ever to be voted into office. 

By Molly Redden
Mother Jones

...As hydraulic fracturing (click here) ramps up around the country, so do concerns about its health impacts. These concerns have led 20 states to require the disclosure of industrial chemicals used in the fracking process.

North Carolina isn’t on that list of states yet – and it may be hurtling in the opposite direction.

On Thursday, three Republican state senators introduced a bill that would slap a felony charge on individuals who disclosed confidential information about fracking chemicals. The bill, whose sponsors include a member of Republican party leadership, establishes procedures for fire chiefs and healthcare providers to obtain chemical information during emergencies. But as the trade publication Energywire noted Friday, individuals who leak information outside of emergency settings could be penalized with fines and several months in prison.
“The felony provision is far stricter than most states’ provisions in terms of the penalty for violating trade secrets,” says Hannah Wiseman, a Florida State University assistant law professor who studies fracking regulations....

One thing citizens have to ask is "Why is the petroleum industry in such a hurry to flood the market with their products?"

By Brianna Mordick
May 7, 2014
Natural gas extraction (click here) and related activities, including hydraulic fracturing and the underground injection of wastewater, can cause earthquakes. We know this to be true. The occurrence of so-called “induced seismicity” or man-made earthquakes is a documented phenomenon around the globe, including in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. 

If North Carolina proceeds in opening the state to the oil and gas industry, the issue of induced seismicity must be further scrutinized.

The North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission and state lawmakers in Raleigh have slapped together 120 rules in just 18 months to throw wide open the door to fracking in our state. In their rush to give the oil and gas industry everything it wants, our “public servants” have not adequately addressed the issue of induced seismicity. It would be prudent for North Carolina legislators to re-examine this issue immediately at their Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy meeting Thursday and begin a new public comment process....

We have witnessed North Dakota permitting a glut of oil onto the market monopolizing freight lines and maximizing oil pipeline capacity. We have witnessed the USA infrastructure stretched to breaking causing horrible fires and deaths. Why?

Because there is no time like the present to make hay. People are being educated and made aware of the very present dangers of hydraulic fracturing. Citizens will begin to move in the direction of alternative energies. There is no capacity for the USA to export natural gas. Many countries are aware of the dangers of the climate crisis. We just had a stunning review of the dangers to the USA if it continues on this path of carbon pollution. 

Hydraulic fracturing is not about energy independence. The USA has many, many alternatives possible for local governments to harness free sources of energy to make it work for their communities. Companies can build their own alternative power plants. Buildings can place wind turbines on their roofs and power an entire hotel. There is no need for natural gas and the global community has been preparing for their own energy independence.

Now, I ask. Why would the petroleum industry be pushing past the safety of citizens of the USA?

Only one reason. 

Profits, here, profits, now.

This is ridiculous. Hash oil is dangerous both in production and concentration, but, a life sentence for a teenager is extreme government overreach.

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — A Texas teenager (click here) accused of making and selling brownies laced with marijuana and hash oil is facing a punishment that could include anywhere from five years to life in prison.

Nineteen-year-old Jacob Lavoro was arrested in April when Round Rock police searched his apartment and found the 1.5 pounds of brownies. Police say they also found additional marijuana and hash oil, leading to a felony charge.

Authorities say hash oil is a controlled substance with much harsher state penalties than marijuana. The oil has higher concentrations of the psychoactive component of marijuana. It's in a penalty group with amphetamines and ecstasy....

Sometimes I think young people need to be given driver's education courses in substance abuse (including food abuse) and the road to a destroyed life, but, jail? The prison system will introduce him to the cartels. Why do that?

This is exactly why this needs to be legalized and taken off the street.  The potency of THC can be as much as 65% in concentration with some processes resulting in 99% pure THC. This type of product has to be monitored for quantity of ingredient content, yet the answer the government wants is 'make it illegal.' Obviously, that isn't the answer.

Mobile home explosion may have been caused by hash oil manufacturing
 
...But as its popularity grows, (click here) so do the number of hash oil enthusiasts eager to attempt their own homebrew BHO, a process that usually involves the highly flammable solvent butane. The result in a number of cases, as the FEMA bulletin notes, has been “fires and explosions [that] have blown out windows, walls, and caused numerous burn injuries.”

Local media reports often describe hash oil explosions as the result of “cooking hash” or “cooking hash oil,” but that isn’t strictly accurate. There are no Breaking Bad Bunsen burners or chemistry sets involved, and the process of producing hash oil is a relatively simple one, albeit one that ill-informed stoners can still manage to screw up.

Hash oil is typically produced by filling a cylindrical glass or stainless steel canister with pot (Bed Bath and Beyond’s metal turkey basters are a popular choice), and flooding the canister with a solvent — usually butane — that strips the plant matter of its cannabinoid-containing oils. The resulting mixture of psychotropic plant oil and chemicals is then purified to remove traces of the solvent. One common method of butane removal includes boiling it off in a hot water bath, while another involves the use of a vacuum pump and vacuum chamber to lower butane’s boiling point, pulling butane from the oil....

This is interesting. Egotistical commencement speakers are more interested in collecting their fees than step aside.

Birgeneau is more of a scandal than Rice in some ways. The former Chancellor still has a lot of self-reflection to carry out before he should ever speak to young minds and hearts again.

This is such a joke. This was Berkley. There is an entire generation without hope for employment and he stomped on the Occupy movement? I don't think so. There is every reason to run Birgeneau out of town and not just object to his actions during a time when he should have realized how wrongful the country's path was to never see this tragedy coming.

Mary Beth Marklein
USA Today 
May 17, 2014

...Robert Birgeneau, (click here) former chancellor at the University of California-Berkeley, says he won't apologize for his decision in 2011 to allow campus police to use force against participants in the Occupy movement. Nor will he speak at commencement exercises Sunday at Haverford College....

Chancellors, College Presidents and Boards of Trustees should have been up in arms ALONG WITH the Occupy movement. They should have been marching side by side. 

And the Rice thing. Well. "Bush lied and young men and women died." That administration actually expects to be forgiven? Really?

There is something confusing about the reality of the USA during the Bush years? Seriously? 

This country was terrified of being annihilated by WMD because the Bush Administration ran around screaming "The British are Coming and they look like Muslims in plain site."  It was the biggest joke ever played on this sovereign nation. This is not to say Ms. Rice stands alone. She does however stand with many who simply thought their power was more important than the sanity of the people of this nation. They 'ran game' on this country and they damn well know it!

"...I don't remember....," Ms. Rice? Oh! I see. There is a lot we don't want to remember, but, we do.

Object to commencement speakers when they are as obviously contemplative about their words and deceptions to an entire nation of people? I would think so. Now. You'll excuse us while we retake our dignity.

How can anyone be charged with breaking the law if the facility has an open door policy?

May I have guests in the Dining Room? Can they stay overnight? (click here)

Absolutely! Guests are welcome to share meals with you in the Skylight Dining Room for a modest fee. Guests may stay with you in your Apartment or Garden Home, or if you prefer, overnight guest rooms are available at a nominal charge.

This is an independent living facility. Who is to say what visitor may visit or not? There is no freedom of speech in Mississippi? Not that I am surprised, but, what was so terrible about the photo?

By Conor Finnegan, CNN

updated 1:33 PM EDT, Mon May 19, 2014

...Police say Kelly broke into the facility (click here) and took the picture by Rose Cochran's bedside. The photo surfaced in a political attack ad on YouTube that aimed to smear Cochran, according to The Clarion-Ledger. It is unclear how the photo was used because the ad was removed within hours of being posted, according to the newspaper.

Kelly, a 28-year-old Madison, Mississippi, resident, has a host of social platforms that cover politics and often attacks the senior senator.

The video, like the majority of Kelly's material, supported Cochran's opponent in the Republican primary -- and that's where things get politically complicated....

What was the issue? Abuse? Bedsores? Or simply a family secret that was considered "A Shameful Reality" when in fact it was simply someone aging? What was the problem within the nursing home and this patient? Does someone need to have federal officers investigate because Mississippi is so corrupt the truth can't be known about the preeminent facility in the state? Elder abuse is elder abuse, what's going on here?

I have to say, I am a bit surprised Mrs. Cochran is housed in a facility rather than near her loving husband with supportive home care.

Thank you. This should have been done decades ago.

It isn't as though the 'government of the people' are preventing these facilities from using the water. The prevention of such 'fish die off' is easy to do. There is no reason for any industry to believe they have the right to adversely effect another. These fish and shellfish are frequently the life blood of family fishing operations. It is about time the US EPA stood up and made sure these fishing enterprises were protected.

Thousands of industrial facilities (click here) use large volumes of cooling water from lakes, rivers, estuaries or oceans to cool their plants. Cooling water intake structures cause adverse environmental impact by pulling large numbers of fish and shellfish or their eggs into a power plant's or factory's cooling system. There, the organisms may be killed or injured by heat, physical stress, or by chemicals used to clean the cooling system. Larger organisms may be killed or injured when they are trapped against screens at the front of an intake structure.

Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act requires EPA to issue regulations on the design and operation of intake structures, in order to minimize adverse environmental impacts. EPA promulgated regulations in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2014. The requirements are included in the NPDES permit regulations, 40 CFR Parts 122 and 125 (Subparts I, J, and N)....

When one industry is oblivious to the rights and needs of another that is just pure laziness. Sometimes it takes so little in prevention to be a good neighbor. Then they wonder why they have bad reputations and others don't want them around.

Frank Reynolds, a commercial fisherman, sees thousands of dead fish near the intake of FirstEnergy Corp.'s Bay Shore power plant in Oregon. The fish are sucked into intake screens and succumb to injury, fatigue, and starvation. Smaller ones are pulled inside.

Published: Thursday, July 29, 2004
By Tom Henry
Blade Staff Writer

To the naked eye, (click here) it looks like an ecological disaster: Thousands of dead fish near the shoreline of Lake Erie's Maumee Bay east of Toledo.

Much to the chagrin of commercial fisherman Frank Reynolds, though, it's a sight that occurs far too often - almost daily, he says, near the intake of FirstEnergy Corp.'s coal-fired Bay Shore power plant in Oregon.

Sadly, Bay Shore is not alone.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nearly 550 large power plants across the country - those with cooling-water capacities of 50 million gallons a day or more - are needlessly killing off fish.

Fish die because they get caught up in the powerful intake currents. Larger fish bang against grated screens hard and succumb to injury, fatigue, or starvation. Smaller fish and minnows elude the screens and pass through the plant. A few survive the trauma, but most die, officials said.

The problem - long presumed to be one of the unfortunate trade-offs of generating electricity - may be older than the 32-year history of the nation's Clean Water Act itself.

But the U.S. EPA, in responding to a court order brought on by those hoping to minimize losses, announced Feb. 16, that it will use the Clean Water Act as its legal muscle for protecting fish....

It actually takes litigation to do the right thing? Really?