Zoo camp for children with challenges.

Mack Livesay, 16, second from right, tries to decide where to put a paper mache balloon full of food in the wolverine enclosure at The Minnesota Zoo during Zoo Crew Camp, for children with autism, on Friday August 8, 2014. Zookeeper Janis Liukonen, left/foreground, told them to put it somewhere that is a challenge for the wolverines, yet to avoid the stream and high branches because it could fall. Livesay is standing by Micah Grubb, center, and Tyler Skrove, right. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

August 10, 2014

By Christopher Magan

...He wasn't disappointed. (click here)

Mack was attending a summer camp last week for teens with autism that is new to the Apple Valley zoo.

For a week, campers get a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo while learning about the environment and the different jobs at the state-funded facility.

"You never know who will be the next Jane Goodall," said Tyler Ahnemann, community programs supervisor. "We want to give everyone an opportunity."

Each summer, the zoo opens its doors to as many as 4,000 camp participants who spend anywhere from an hour to a week learning about plants, animals and the environment. The zoo offers 87 different camps throughout the summer.

Students at the new autism camp also got some valuable time to practice social skills in a public setting, said Dawn Brasch, education and training specialist for the Autism Society of Minnesota....

One hundred year old carousel. The maintenance department at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium should be celebrating it's anniversary. 

August 11, 2014
By Thomas Gallick

At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, (click here) a $1 ticket buys a trip spanning 100 years of central Ohio history.

The zoo currently is celebrating the centennial of its Mangels-Illions Grand Carousel -- an attraction that has thrilled generations of children at multiple locations since 1914.

The ride, which features 52 carved horses, two chariots and a Wurlitzer organ, originally was installed at Olentangy Park, an amusement park located just off North High Street between West Dodridge Street and West Tulane Road in Clintonville.

Mary Rodgers, president of the Clintonville Historical Society, said Olentangy Park sometimes was referred to as the biggest amusement park in the United States -- and even the world -- during its years of operation from the turn of the century to 1938.

Rodgers said Olentangy Park, along with other other attractions in the Clintonville area at the time, was largely built as a catalyst to increase streetcar traffic in the Columbus area during the weekends. Although the park was one of the world's largest, Rodgers said its clientele was mostly local....

Chairwoman Janet Yellen assumed office February 4, 2014.

Everyone knows Carlyle. They are the home of Edward Snowden.

This is a one year graph of the stock prices for the company. It is noted it's stock met an all time high on February 25, 2014 at a price of $37.85. This was a remarkable improvement in the stock price of Carlyle. The highest the stock had been before was February 15, 2013 at a price of $35.51. Shortly after that maximum in 2013 the stock tumbled to low of $25.13 in September. The downward spiral was consistent during that time. Why is any of this notable? This is the first time in a while that the stock price has not only recovered but SUSTAINED.

On 30 JULY The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) (click here) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 77.2% on a year-over-year basis. The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) shares increased 2.38% in last trading session and ended the day on $32.20. CG Gross Margin is 71.80% and its return on assets is 0.30%. The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) quarterly performance is 3.77%.

Chairwoman Yellen has a very long track record of consistency in decision making. Her academic knowledge and application of those standards are consistent. When the stock market looks at Yellen it sees stability and NOT "Bubble and Bust." President Obama in his 2008 campaign stated there would be no more Bubble and Bust USA economy. He lived up to his word and the USA economy is better off for it. Can we now concentrate on the economic future and not the immediate emergency to create STABLE labor conditions without giveaway cross border trade agreements?

Just to note, Carlyle was one of the heroes to the Chinese people when they entered the baby formula market. It didn't take a cross border trade agreement to have that occur either. And that is the way it should be. A country needs to correct the insults against it's Middle Class and return function to it's consumers. The Chinese government needed to stabilize the baby formula market to the burgeoning Chinese Middle Class. There were death sentences to the men that ran the baby formula companies using melamine. But, the idea cross border trade is going to solve problems within countries like China is wayward thinking. These trade agreements are being used to skirt USA policy. That should never exist.

The Chinese Middle Class is growing and China has every reason to be proud of it's long term goals. But, it is the growth in the Middle Class in any country that will bring about global economic stability. THAT is what the goals of the USA should be, not harnessing cheap labor to impoverish the world. The working conditions of laborers in products the USA imports should be paramount to any trade relation.

...To address the melamine issue directly, (click here) the company made a major strategic decision to procure 100 percent of its raw milk powder from high-quality overseas dairy producers. It also established product testing collaborations with top-tier international laboratories to strengthen product quality and safety control.

The Carlyle-Yashili partnership also set an example for the industry to transform itself and elevate its product quality to international standards. With Carlyle’s assistance, Yashili established the Food Quality and Safety Advisory Committee (FQSAC), the first of its kind in the Chinese dairy industry. This served as a catalyst to further enhance its product quality control protocols, via checks by certified auditors from an American auditing company and product testing in certified labs in the U.S., New Zealand and Hong Kong....

This was a good decision for the companies as well as the consumers. I might point to the fact this was baby formula, not bombs. Now, the Chinese government needs to instill high quality standards to continue to grown it's domestic milk products and continue to improve it's GDP.

There are many problems in the world and they can be solved if Wall Street tries. It doesn't take a genius to realize a company's reputation is best when all consumers and stockholders have good quality of life and the esteem of it's Middle Class with upward mobility. Chairwoman Yellen knows what she is doing, it is up to Wall Street to pay attention.

Another great liberal closes the curtain.

Benjamin Crump is highly qualified to speak for the community.

I saw this essay about his verbal characteristics. I find that offensive. I thought it was notable to realize this man not only represents those that are victims of American violence, but, attacked himself. Racism.

April 12, 2012

Over the course (click here) of the past few weeks, significant shade has been thrown at Ben Crump, the attorney for Trayvon Martin's family. Attorney Crump is not a natural orator and his Southern seeps into every single (and sometimes extra) syllable. Many have assumed that because his speech is so very "Urban Floridian" that this somehow reflects his legal prowess and/or brain power. It's both an insult and a mistake to assume this. 

I don't know how many of you heard Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Magic Johnson or Deion Sanders (countless others) back in the day before the professional speech coaches got hold of them. Not. Pretty. I mention this to say that Mr. Crump requires a speech coach or a smoother spokesperson and nothing more. I'll admit when I first heard Mr. Crump, I longed for the silver-tongued effervescence of Johnnie Cochran. And then I went and looked up brother Crump's bio.

He has quite the track record of impressive wins and tackling improbable causes and coming out on top. He has worked hand in hand with Rev Al, Rev Jesse and other activists to shine light on racial injustice. He is considered a bright and talented legal mind with a shimmering future ahead. And he wears a navy suit rather well. (Sorry, just a sidebar. Moving on...)...

Here is the latest about safety from Thailand.

August 12, 2014

At least three workers died and 17 others were injured when a six-storey building under construction collapsed just outside Bangkok, police say.

Rescuers are now searching for an unknown number of missing people.

The planned student accommodation block crashed down at around 4.30pm local time on Monday (9.30pm Monday NZT) in Pathum Thani province, north of the capital, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity....

The picture is the rubble. What company did this?

...Labour groups have warned about lax safety standards and low wages at Thai construction sites, especially for migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, who are often paid below the country's minimum daily wage....

From Wiki:

The industrial parks are listed as in Nonthaburi. 

Software Park Thailand (in Nonthaburi, southwest of Pathum Thani), Nava Nakorn Industrial Promotion Zone (1376 acres / 5.6 km²), Bangkadi Industrial Park (470 acres / 1.9 km²), Techno Thani (a "Technology City" administrated by Ministry of Science and Technology), and a number of industrial parks in neighboring Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces

Here the latest about Mayor Rob Ford?

Police are investigating the alleged email threat, the mayor says. Doug Ford held up a copy of the message for the media.

Aug. 11, 2014

Toronto police (click here) are investigating an alleged bomb threat against the Ford brothers at City Hall.

Police spokesperson Mark Pugash confirmed police were at City Hall Monday afternoon looking into the alleged threat, but there has been no evacuation order.

City councillor Doug Ford and Mayor Rob Ford disclosed the alleged emailed threat to media at City Hall and showed a copy of the message.

“Since you guys have been back, it’s been chaos,” the message reads, then switches to all capital letters to warn the Fords to “vacatge (sic) city hall” within 24 hours....

A threat? Really? I don't know. It sounds more like a Pink Slip to me.

Excuse me? Israel is calling for aid. Oh. That makes it all better now.

A Palestinian boy rides a donkey past a destroyed residential neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. Photo / AP










August 12, 2014

Israel calls for conditional aid for Gaza (click here)

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid has called on the international community to pull together a massive aid package for Gaza conditioned on the Palestinian Authority returning to power in place of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Lapid said that the Western-leaning Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the legitimate authority in Gaza, which was been blockaded since Hamas seized control there in 2007.

This so called aid by Israel is self serving. How is that? You know this. What do the people of Gaza and their President want? Access to trade. Now, why is Israel providing aid? Compassion or plans for more control and further violence against the Palestinians?

If Israel brags about the aid they are providing to the Palestinians, then they don't need to remove the blockade. Yes? 

Israel OWES Palestine war reparations, not aid.

Ever notice how the GOP is more concerned with war than guns and violence in the USA? 

There is absolutely no mention of the killer police on FOX.

I'd like the USA to solve it's own problems before taking on war in every corner of the world. Don't get that from the GOP. Ya know?

It is a DISGRACE how much attention war receives without the same time spent on American violence and the dead innocent people of our own society.

The USA can't go on holding every hand in the Middle East. We have our own problems. The nations of the people in the world have to stand on their own. The USA can talk about genocide and identify it, but, the fact of the matter is by the time the USA finds it and provides relief for it, it is too late for many people. The people of this world have to protect their land and sovereign country. It isn't humanly possible to be a care taker of the entire world. Won't happen.

The Kurds and their efforts should be admired by Turkey and the two peoples need to form an alliance that works to protect all of them.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for Khaled Sharrouf. Photo: Supplied

August 11, 2014
By Rachel Olding

Politicians and Muslim (click here) community leaders have labelled it sickening, deplorable and shockingly evil.

But Khaled Sharrouf's brother believes Australia should simply "forget" about a photo of his young nephew holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.

As the shocking image of Sharrouf's son travelled around the world on Monday, Mostafa Sharrouf, a stonemason from Sydney's western suburbs, said: "He's gone, forget about it. He's forgotten about youse. I'm sure you've seen much worse than that."...

If a country wants to stop the recruitment of it's own citizens into wars by extremists than stop allowing it into the boundaries via internet or otherwise. When a country can't protect it's citizens from extremism it is relinquishing it's sovereign authority to those that kill and destroy lives.

There is no such thing as absolute freedom. Why allow this recruitment in the first place? The NSA can spy all they want, but, somehow the freedom extremists in Western governments have even more rights to endanger lives. It's ridiculous.

Australia complains about this horrible reality, but, guess who is putting this front page? 

This is from the Gulf News. They got it from "The Australian." Do you know who The Australian is? Murdoch. Who is the real terrorist? Those that commit the act or those that provide the ground for the recruitment in the first place? This man and his son are now in danger from all corners of the world. Well done, Murdoch. I've always said The West simply doesn't have enough liberties, wouldn't you agree? 

August 11, 2014
AFP

Sydney: A shocking image (click here) of what is believed to be the young son of an Australian man holding a decapitated head in Syria shows how barbaric the Isil “terrorist army” is, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday.

The picture, taken in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, was posted on the Twitter account of Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian man who fled to Syria last year and is now an Isil fighter, The Australian newspaper said....

Noontime Propaganda Update

Did you know that the military of the former country of Iraq failed because so many of it's members retired? Well, dah, where was the USA military when they never realized so many were near retirement when they road their tanks out of Iraq into Kuwait.

That enlightening report was from talking head retired general Spider Marks who had just flown back from Iraq in consultation with the community behind the blast walls in Baghdad.

And FOX talking heads seem to think President Obama handed over the USA Air Force to Maliki because the President responded to the call by ? Iraq ? to bomb the northern region where the McCain inspired ISIS/ISIL was advancing. Confused to say the least.

Now, to make up for the confusion about the retirement of so many soldiers in the former Iraqi military the nation of Western Iran has instilled a new Prime Minister. Anything to save face.

Now to the USA where police are still killing innocent civilians. 

..."Several other stores (click here) along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store. People also took items from a sporting goods store and a cellphone retailer, and carted rims away from a tire store.

"TV footage showed streams of people walking out of a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters were standing atop police cars or taunting officers who stood stoic, often in riot gear."...

There are demonstrations today in the USA protesting the killing of so many dead citizens at the hand of police departments inspired by the 23 or more dead homeless citizens in Albuquerque.

James Boyd was murdered on March 24, 2014. That was four and a half months ago and there are still no charges filed against the assassin police swat team. Since then the city and their police department are peddling as fast as they can to make example of the teens that followed the police example by killing more homeless people. Teens.

While the teens need to be dealt with, the police are still without charges and James Boyd is still very, very dead.

Since the death of James Boyd there have been killing of many innocent people including many African Americans. There are few states in the nation that can claim their are free of killer cops. 

What is being done to end this problem? It would seem nothing and the police are more and more convinced it is Americans with the problem. Yet, armed camps of right wing extremists still walk this country and kill others. What is wrong with this country?

It is back to school time in a few weeks in most southern states. The northern states usually go back to school after Labor Day. A nice gesture that is more than practical considering once school is begun there is actually uninterrupted until Columbus Day and then followed by Veteran's Day. There may be an occasional holy day here and there for some folks though. But, the really exciting news is there are many new students in some schools this year. They are the children sent to the USA by heart broken and/or dead family to save their lives. They are going to get their first taste of school American style and for many this may be their first understanding of education at all. It is an exciting time for these magnificent and brave children. I hope it all goes well.

Today in Palestine, the cold hard fact that there are 10 to 1 wounded over dead in the Gaza community. Can you imagine being a surviving Palestinian and thinking, "Let's see 10 to 1 everyone else is in the hospitals, let's start there." 

In Israel they are taking polls. Seriously.

...In three different polls, (click here) sizable majorities – ranging from 59 percent to 78 percent – termed the war at best a draw, and perhaps even an Israeli defeat; only 21% to 41% deemed it an Israeli victory. Thus, one would expect Israelis to be angry at the prime minister who presided over this fiasco. Instead, Binyamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war was approved by 59% of respondents in one poll and a whopping 77% in another.

Analysts as diverse as the centrist Shmuel Rosner and the left-wing Haaretz’s Yossi Verter explained this anomaly as reflecting a recognition that defeating Hamas isn't possible, so a tie was the best that could be achieved. Yet that explanation doesn't jibe with another poll finding: A majority of Israelis wanted to continue the operation rather than ending it. That makes no sense if they actually thought the operation had achieved the maximum possible; who in Israel would want IDF soldiers to continue dying in Gaza for nothing? Indeed, respondents even told pollsters which additional goals they wanted achieved: eliminating Hamas’s rocket capabilities, topping Gaza’s Hamas government, targeting Hamas leaders....

So feeling very secure in Israel, there is a populous that want Hamas dead. See, the Israeli government has played politics with Palestinian lives and never bothered to explain the assault of Gaza was like shooting fish in a barrel. Minor point that might even give Israel's citizens a moment of pause to realize they approved of mass killing of innocent people including children. 

It would seem Israel lacks the ability to move past it's 'business as usual' mind set that allows the belief they can actually invade an independent nation of people that have suffered to the point where death means nothing. 

More later.

Today's Editorial

How many Democrats noticed the change in posture of our President pre and post inauguration?

Okay, okay, put your hands down. 

Next question, how many Democrats said under their breath, "The military got to him?" 

Right? Like, too obvious, right? 

Poor BaraK Hussein Obama was barraged with military fear of an impending and complete withdrawal like that crazy Michigander Gerry Ford. Right? So, Obama is then convinced the only 'globally' safe way to end the two wars is to follow Bush's plans. The DNC said, you know some of us voted for the lousy war and we could be hung out to dry and following Bush's plans makes a lot of sense. NOT ONE DEMOCRAT, except maybe for Bernie Sanders, said GET THE HELL OUT BECAUSE NATION BUILDING DOESN'T WORK!

See, Barak Obama was a pure unadulterated Democrat with his belief systems mired completely in tried and true values dating back decades. But, they taken from him. By politics. See, the military was convinced the best outcome to any "W"rongful invasion was to create a nation that was like the USA. We, as Democrats know, that Nation Building is nonsense. We know it, it's in our blood, it is in our religion and it is in our politics. Nation Building fails. 

But, see Bush decided early on Saddam was going to hang for the slurs to his father and the Brits decided the Ba'ath Party was the problem. So, Iraq, when it was still Iraq, was eliminated of it's Parliament and it's military as well as it's dictator. So, "W" said, "I am the genius of all genius and I can make this happen the right way." He instituted nation building and ordered the USA military to MAKE IT SO.

Heady stuff, ya know? A military that could conquer a disarmed dictator and create a democracy. The people of the USA were too traumatized by 911 and Cheney took advantage of all of it and made fear the cultural norm in the USA. 

If Iraq is this much of a mess, what do you think you think Afghanistan is going to look like? 

What did we always know?

National Building doesn't work.

Troops Out Now.

The last thing the world needs right now are journalists that spout philosophy and ideology.

The last voice that falls into that category is Kooky Roberts. She said today the American public has to be given lessons in military in action.

I think Americans know exactly what military inaction is and does not like the fact the USA is always the country to provide 'the action.' So, if other nations want to be involved in their own military inaction that is their peril.

She is war monger. Kooky Roberts is a war monger. She thinks she is slick, but, not so much. Let's just review a few realities this morning. 

The 'idea' of a Mars O2 Fart Machine is actually a $2 billion ad for commercial aerospace. Not government aerospace, but, commercial aerospace. It is not expected to produce anything except speculation.

Mars atmosphere is primarily CO2. It produces no gases and is not alive like Earth. Earth is dynamic and produces CO2 as well as oxygen. So, the chemical composition of Mars is finite, unless of course, human endeavor proves otherwise and that is what commercial aerospace wants everyone to buy into. 

The molecular weight of CO2 is 44.01 grams per mol (don't understand mol/mole than read it - click here).

The molecular weight of Oxygen is 15.9994 grams per mole making O2 31.9988 grams per mol. 

The O2 the Mars Fart Machine will emit will be lighter than any of the atmosphere surrounding it. Where is it going to go? Is it going to hang around the machine and call it home so that human beings can make a new atmosphere? Of course not. The O2 in a relationship with CO2 as something like Helium and Hydrogen. They are both gases, but, one is lighter and floats higher than the other. O2 from the Mars Fart Machine will rise to the top of the CO2 air column. O2 at that place in any atmosphere will burn off when hit by solar radiation as it will excite the molecules. Why do you think Mars is dense with CO2? Because at even it's highest altitude it is stable and difficult to excite into changing conformation as a molecule.

Now on to the former Iraq. The West's political propaganda machine is scapegoating Maliki. The folks in the Green Zone, you know the Baghdad Gated Community behind the concrete barriers are not fighting the wars; the soldiers are. There are no more Iraqi soldiers. They quit. So, fighting about the administration in Baghdad isn't going to result in soldiers willing to fight. 

THERE IS NO MORE IRAQ. Please tell me people aren't this stupid.

I will say this about the new Islamic militants fighting notable wars in Kenya and the former Iraq. They have developed a genocidal methodology as their primary focus in executing their wars. Now, in Kenya, the genetic mix is probably not genocidal, except, for tribes with distinct language and culture. So, in the greater African composition, the Boko Hiram military model is genocidal considering it will homogenize peoples. In the former Iraq and Syria the same holds true. There are tribes of people, even living in cities, that carry certain cultural and ethnic differences. 

How does it work? You know this.

USA Humvees roll into town with a bunch of goons with USA munitions. Then they assassinate any soldier in the area and all the men they can find, except perhaps older men not into procreation.

What's next? If all the sperm are gone, what happens next?

The women are captured or kidnapped and sold into human slavery as baby machines. What occurs? Complete dilution of the genetic content of any ethnicity and the installation by force of a new culture. 

Genocide.

So, there is the propaganda update. Later.

Esteemed James Hansen needs to consult with Goddard NASA as to the best place for a $2 billion CO2 separator.

If I could make a wish, the first model of a CO2 separator would have to be built at the USA northwest within sovereign borders. It is there ocean acidification is measurable. If CO2 could be captured and converted in large enough measure it would change the physics along the west coast and possibly break the high pressure system off shore California. If that occurs there might be a measurable return to west to east wind of less dense CO2 across the nation providing relief to Midwest farming.

The Earth CO2 separator has to be substantial enough to begin the shift in reverse to the density. The facility could pay for itself. First it would be a plug and play facility using earth resources for energy and it could be monitored easily in use to enhance development and the ultimate model. But separating CO2, IF, O2 is the final product could produce carbon that could be pressured into the form of diamonds. They would not blood diamonds either.

Until tomorrow...

So, NASA is going to play god.

The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times thinner than Earth's, and it is 95 percent carbon dioxide.

Reality check. If NASA has perfected a CO2 separator the details need to released to the public and it's first deployment should be right here on Earth. I can't imagine what a CO2 separator is going to look like because CO2 doesn't react with much, so there is some kind of catalyst reaction with something like a platinum plate.

That said, Earth did not develop it's atmosphere's by a CO2 separator. Earth's atmospheres were FOUNDED by physics in a process called accretion. Don't understand accretion, then read about it. (click here) 

Earth spins round and round, right? It not only spins round and round, it spins around the sun. All those dynamics have a remarkable resemblance to the same spinning motion of a single atom. 

As the Earth was spun out of a nebula and then found an orbit around Sol, it developed it's own orbit and gravity and captured a moon. As Earth continued to spin and rotate around Sol it cooled. As it cooled the denser materials created the Inner Core which is believed to be mostly Iron and Nickel (click here). As the rest of the ELEMENTS (the 103 variety of the period table) were sucked in by Earth's gravitational (what are magnets made of? Iron) and magnetic pull the lighter elements formed the atmospheres of Earth. This is a one time shot at making a planet WITHIN the Habitable Zone around Sol. Humans CANNOT repeat this process. Earth is precious and cannot be duplicated.

Admittedly, Mars is a somewhat greater distance from Earth, but, the solar rays reaching Mars are still significant. So, for human beings to play god and have atmospheres that actually are livable as if on Earth there needs to be an ozone layer. Now, is the CO2 separator is initially going to fly around Mars sprinkling fairy dust in the form of O3 first. Or. Is NASA's estimation one that if they start sprinkling fairy dust in the way of 02 on Mars surface by the time Mars survives Sol's supernova, it should be ready as an 'exit planet' for human beings. Because a supernova is the only thing that will bring Mars close enough to Sol and even then it is most likely going to be like Mercury. No one will have to worry about melting Mar's water sources, it will boil off.

So, considering this is completely unrealistic and Mars formed by accretion as well and it is far colder in temperature than when it first existed, it is safe to say, there probably once was life on Mars in the way of bacteria, but, today everything is dead due to the chilling reality of Mars today. 

So, let's get down to it, shall we? The CO2 separator isn't at all about creating an atmosphere(s) for friendly settlement by humans; at the very best it will be tested to see if the Pup Tent the Astronauts will bring with them can hook up to it and breath 02. Right? 

NASA should know by now the American Public is where they recruit scientists and we ain't as stupid as we seem simply because Veronica Mars is a superstar.

Don't believe in a global plutocracy controlling all life? Then why is NASA sending it's CO2 separator to Mars?

August 10, 2014
By Steve Rising
NASA announced last month (click here) that it plans to make oxygen from carbon dioxide as part of a larger $2 billion project.

Of course, NASA isn’t making oxygen. It just wants to drive chemical reactions that combine the single, separate oxygen atoms in molecules of carbon dioxide into molecules of free oxygen.
Every green plant and alga on Earth has done the same thing with water molecules since the dawn of life. Indeed, they have done this long enough — more than 3 billion years — that our atmosphere has accumulated enough free oxygen to support life as we know it today.

If green plants and algae have done this for so long, then why is NASA spending so much money to generate more free oxygen? The answer, of course, is location, location, location.  

NASA needs free oxygen on Mars....

Why was Murkel's phone tapped?

Well. Europe is NATO. NATO is the USA. Doesn't the USA own everything it touches?

Here is a brain teaser. How long will Europe be free when all the counter power balances fall? I think it is time for the EU to have it's own intelligence and develop the threat of a Plutocratic USA without elections and a trashed USA constitution. It is only a few months away.

Turkey's military structure is a bit peculiar.

There is a leadership STRUCTURE called the TSK (Turk Silahli Kuvvetleri) (click here), the  Armed Forces, Turkish General Staff.

The USA has had a presence in Turkey for a long time. As a result the Turkish military has an autonomous structure that is not attached to the civilian political structure. So, while the USA is suppose to be a civilian controlled entity, it has it's own command structure. That is what exists in Turkey. The difference is the USA is SUPPOSED to be civilian controlled by political changes in the Executive Branch of government.

In recent years, the civilian population in Turkey has been inching up on a stronger civilian control of it's military. One has to realize, Turkey has been taken care of by the USA for decades, so the military organization sort of 'averts it's eyes' to less intense regional emphasis and more internal control. Primary, in recent decades Turkey has focused on the PKK. PKK is a Kurdish organization, unsanctioned by any official Kurdish international representation, that has fought for an autonomous homeland. PKK is considered a terrorist organization, but, has kept other forces at bay no different than Hamas.

I don't know if there is an argument that PKK has insured the survival of the Kurds in what was Northern Iraq, but, it sure didn't hurt them. 

Turkey faces three threats, the PKK (domestic insurgency - which is what Hamas should be considered). PKK is considered a fundamentalist movement. ?????? I don't know about that ?????????

The Kurds in general are considered a separatist movement, but, with the collapse of the Iraq borders they are less so, as much as a regional force with well developed military skills. It was this region of the former Iraq that USA troops first landed in 2003. There was a reason for that. Kurds view The West as allies, even if officially that is not the case.

Turkey's pride and joy is the Turkish Land Force Command (TLFC) (click here) which is having increased roles as Peacekeepers, currently in Afghanistan. Really? They are going to remain there after 2014? Well, the USA better take back all it's military hardware if peacekeepers of any kind are going to be successful. The Taliban will simply take over the USA hardware and facilities. I mean, this is not news. Or is it? 

I just love the way the USA military CLASSIFIES all the unrest in Afghanistan as "Oops, a Green on Blue Attack." Right. Place it in File GBA.

At any rate, the other two threats Turkey sees as problems is, of course, the Syrian civil war and Russia's demand for a civil war in the Ukraine.  

This is an interesting map of Turkey. It primarily illustrates it's densely strategic natural structures. Water and mountains.

Why is this important; because; they are. They still are. Mountains do a lot of things as far as barriers and hiding places. Water is ACCESS and to that end the Turkish Navy is an important ally to NATO. Now, understand why Syria's ports are important to Russia. 

OHHhhh, yeah, I see that now. 

But, I mean let's face it, Turkey is a hugely important strategic ally. HUGE. As in, where does any other country in what is basically a land locked region without the water have so much access by water? Turkey is the most important strategic region in this part of the world. That is a very long history of being of strategic importance. It is so important that the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) started it's foot hold here, right along with 'control' of trade routes. Constantinople. Pope Constantine. The conversion of Rome from polytheism to monotheism. My, my all those dead martyrs, too.

See, generals no matter when in history they may live still have the same Earth to work with. It's a bitch, I know.

So, here is a hint. Napoleon rocks. BUT. Every empire when it ends is far too big to control it's massive expanse. Rome was an interesting study when it expanded west and north into what is now Europe. Rome maintained it's control. It even maintained control when it took Cleopatra as a faux Queen. BUT. It lost control when Constantinople (that narrow little isthmus) was established. Rome conceded control by renaming it as the 'eastern' branch of the empire, but, Rome was being invaded on a regular basis by the Germanic folks and eventually by it's own people. 

But, as to Turkey. 

The Turkish Air Force until recent years has been primarily command and control. There is a lot of recon, air tankers, airborne command and transport. There are some helicopter, with a few fighter jets. Most of the combat structure is USA fighter jets. The USA combat structure comprises about 75 percent of the air force capacity 'within' Turkey. If the USA were to leave today, basically Turkey has no sovereign air defense force. Now, add that to the fact there is an autonomous military command structure in Turkey and the country is more an arm of the USA military than a sovereign country. Technically.

But, in recent years the Turkey Air Force is taking on an aerospace and MISSILE defense concept. Go, figure, huh? Why when everyone is looking for peace would a missile defense structure be important? It must be a NATO thing. Does Russia feel CHOCKED? Ahhh. Yeah. 

One more thing about the 'chocked' issue. This FOCUS for Turkey started in 2002. RUMSFELD. I think understanding how the USA, under Bush/Cheney has compromised these countries to be a focus of Russia's sovereign threat is more important than words can say.

That is why 2016 is ANYTHING GOES. It is why Russia is worried and willing to stand in the face of sanctions. Russia is on a collision course and it knows it. Russia still has a very viable navy and nuclear capacity regardless of it's capacity with conventional land forces. 

I do believe the USA muscle flexing, the fear of Europe to it's safety and the USA military budget is out of control.

But, I get carried away. But, I mean September 11th carried Bush/Cheney and the priorities of the USA military a long way, didn't it? Yeah.

Turkey.

There is one other name to remember. Izmir. What is Izmir? It is a coastal area of Turkey. People like to visit it as a tourist area. But, it is so much more.

Looky, thar. Izmir and to the southeast sits Cyprus. Interesting.

But, what is more interesting is the fact Izmir contains so much USA military hardware. 

Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance (AN/TPY-2) 

The idea is to completely defend Europe and allies from any threat. Israel knows how well protective radar works, now doesn't it. What have we learned from Israel? The USA military is asking this question, why shouldn't we? We learned genocide for the sake of so called self-defense is possible, when a defense was never needed in the first place.

Is Russia undone? I would not count it. China and Russia can enter cyberspace without a glitch over thousands upon thousands of miles.

Now, about disarming from nukes and the continues peace talks to reduce sanctions and institute a lasting peace on a global basis without completely putting the world under control the USA and Wall Street. 

Hello? How ya doin' Vlad? McCain has tainted images himself, doesn't he? I mean, backing ISIS/ISIL to defeat Assad? Shame, shame.

What will 2016 look like? A hawk and life is breathed back into the Bush Die-nasty.

Iraq Airstrikes May Continue for Months, Obama Says (click here) 

The humanitarian mission is over, it is a good ruse though.
The world should prepare itself for post 2016. Anything goes.

Now, about that medium and short range missile treaty, including those fired from sea. 

* (small print) The propaganda has already started, what are you joking. Things politically in the USA happen in TWO YEAR STRETCHES. What is begun in 2014 will take "fruition" two years later. You didn't know that? Why do you think the USA military is so rammy about bombing again?

The NY Times is Wall Street, babe. The Times is like a mother whale pushing it's baby to the surface for it's first breath of air. There is all kinds of fear within NY. I mean a woman as chair of the Fed? The end of Wall Street welfare? Will exorbitant earnings while enforcing poverty everywhere ever happen again? Why do you think it has been a focus on local economies all these years since 2008?  We ain't finished by a long shot. Look at all the war impetus inherited by Obama. Get real, old haters and American imperialism dies hard.

First rule to prevent genocide, RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There ain't nothing like putting ethnic minorities in the line of fire while trying to save their lives.

Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community arrive at the camp of Bajid Kandala at Feeshkhabour near the Syria-Iraq border on Saturday. Photo: AP

August 10, 2014
By Liz Sly and Loveday Morris


...Makhmour (click here) was seized by fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant on Thursday.

Earlier thousands of desperate Iraqi Yazidis who have been trapped by Islamist extremists on a parched mountaintop for almost a week, trekked into Syrian territory controlled by Kurds, seeking refuge in another war-ravaged country.
Shawkat Barbahari, an official from the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, put the number of people who escaped the siege and crossed back into Iraqi Kurdistan at 30,000....

Makhmour is refugee camp. It ain't Iraq no more. The ONLY ones that continue to all it that are the Europeans.

Turkey has a big stake in the protections of these people. The problem is, and I would caution Turkey a great deal, are the Kurds. See, this is the foothold for the new Kurdistan. I don't know what the new country will be named, yet, but, this is the beginning of a homeland. If the Kurds have their way their homeland will extend into Turkey. I caution them as well. I'd rather see the Kurds and Turks settle on peace and stability in the region before a border dispute that would achieve nothing.

The Kurds are also a minority ethnic group that have spent generations protecting their people and traditions. The Kurds are magnificent people who have caused no one problems in the region. If it weren't for the Kurds northern Iraq would be very unstable. Turkey needs to be grateful while offering help to protect this region.

August 10, 2014
8:18.39AM
The current chaos in Iraq (click here) may herald the safe return of thousands of Turkish citizens to their homeland, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay announced Aug. 8, saying that Ankara will implement an open door policy for those who have been living in the Makhmour camp for decades.

Atalay's comments as a Kurdish journalist was killed at the camp while reporting about the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) attack on the area.

“There are new developments in Iraq. We have received information that as of yesterday [Aug. 7], the Makhmour camp has been evacuated. There are people who want to go to Turkey from there. Most of them are our citizens anyway. They had gone from neighborhood of Hakkari; they had gone from villages and towns like Çukurca and Uludere due to the deteriorating conditions,” Atalay told reporters during a visit to the southeastern Anatolian border province of Hakkari. “Our door will be open if they come back. They will enter from our borders,” Atalay added....

...Yet, the Kurdish population in the Makhmour camp who are Turkish citizens have a complicated situation, since some of them are subject to lawsuits regarding the PKK, while there is a generation born in the camp who do not hold Turkish passport. As a matter of fact, up until the last few years, Turkey had long pressed for the closure of the Makhmour camp, claiming that it was under the PKK’s control and served as a supply base of fresh militants who would join the organization.

However, in recent years, the government has initiated a peace process, aimed at ending the three-decade-long conflict between Turkey’s security forces and the PKK....

Yes, indeed, the USA is a greater power than Allah. A Bush as war again, how apropos. Tell, me, is the humanitarian mission over yet?

Sailors guide (click here) an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Valions of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 15 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in the Gulf, in this handout image taken and released on August 8, 2014. Two F/A-18 aircraft from the squadron conducted an airstrike on Friday against Islamic State artillery used against Kurdish forces defending the city of Arbil in northern Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Lorelei Vander Griend/U.S. Navy)