New USA ships don't float. When critics say the USA military is deteriorating, there is a reason. It is called lousy spending.

The F-35 is a disaster and now we have Navy ships that fall in behind that failure. If the USA wants to have Iran pulling our personnel out of the water on a regular basis, keep throwing good money after bad. Go ahead, Wall Street and not far into the future a military that has lost it's readiness.

There is a reason why the B52 is still in service. It works and it was built when such jets were affordable to the country. New B52s can be built, but, costs are ridiculous.

January 14, 2016
By Anthony Capaccio
The U.S. Navy (click here) is spending millions of dollars to repair new high-speed transport ships built by Austal Ltd. because their weak bows can’t stand buffeting from high seas, according to the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester.

“The entire ship class requires reinforcing structure” to bridge the twin hulls of the all-aluminum catamarans because of a design change that the Navy adopted at Austal’s recommendation for the $2.1 billion fleet of Expeditionary Fast Transports, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, said in a report to Congress....

December 14, 2015
The Navy's newest ship, (click here) the littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee, broke down on Friday and had to be towed to a base in Virginia, the Navy Times reports.
The $360-million ship was commissioned last month in Milwaukee and was on its way to its home port of San Diego. The long journey took it through the Great Lakes and to Halifax, Canada.
The ship was on its next leg, from Halifax to Florida, when it "suffered an engineering casualty," the Navy Times reports.
The ship had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to the naval base in Little Creek, Virginia.
The Navy Times reported that the initial indication is that metal debris collected in an oil filter, causing the system to shut down, though the source of the fine metal debris was not known....

There was a reason the bottle didn't break. The ship is a disaster,

22 percent of mass murderers have mental illness issues.

If all a society focuses on is mental illness in regard to murder, it will miss the real problem.

December 15, 2015
By The Editorial Board

...But mass shootings (click here) represent a small percentage of all gun violence, and mental illness is not a factor in most violent acts. According to one epidemiological estimate, entirely eliminating the effects of mental illness would reduce all violence by only 4 percent. Over all, less than 5 percent of gun homicides between 2001 and 2010 were committed by people with diagnoses of mental illness, according to a public health study published this year.

Blaming mental health problems for gun violence in America gives the public the false impression that most people with mental illness are dangerous, when in fact a vast majority will never commit violence. Still, some legal changes should be made to reduce access to firearms among the small percentage of people with mental illness who are dangerous to themselves or others.

Estimates of the percentage of mass shooters who are mentally ill vary widely, as both “mass shooting” and “mental illness” can be difficult to define. One recent analysis of murderers who killed or intended to kill four or more people found that 22 percent of male killers exhibited evidence of mental illness (the share was higher among women, but the sample was much smaller). Another analysis, by the group Everytown For Gun Safety, found that in about 11 percent of shootings between January 2009 and July 2015 in which four or more people were killed, concerns about the killer’s mental health had been reported to a doctor or other authority before the crime took place....

October 27, 2015
By Mark Follman

...What's most troubling (click here) about these results and the question that prompted them is that they perpetuate a dangerous stigmatization. The vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent. I wrote about this in my recent Mother Jones cover story on threat assessment, a growing strategy for stopping mass shooters that relies on collaboration between mental health and law enforcement experts:...

There are a lot of guns on the street of the USA. They are there because citizens purchased them. Start there. Who bought them and why?

Sandy Hook would not have been averted because of mental health checks. The murderer of small children received guns, including a Bush Master, from his mother's willingness to allow them in the house. 

The mother, now deceased, was a straw purchaser. Her mentally ill son was allowed to practice gun shooting by his parent. Nothing the USA has as laws or background checks would have stopped those murders. 

We also know that a police officer on a school campus does not prevent mass murderers. The murderers are smart enough to know they have to follow the police officer in the school to find an opportune time to carry out their crime. Having armed police officers does not guarantee the prevention of gun violence.

January 27, 2015
By The Chicago Defender

...There is a minimum (click here) of two Chicago police officers assigned to each high school.

And like Shields, who spent 23 years with CPD, Ron Huberman, chief executive officer for CPS, is also a former Chicago cop.

But CPS does not rely solely on police assistance when it comes to security for its 408,000 students, said Shields. It relies more on the 2,000 security guards on CPS payroll – with a starting salary of $26,000 – and the 6,200 cameras installed throughout the school district. There are an average of seven security guards at each high school.

And while the bulk of its security budget is spent on personnel costs, Shields, who earns $150,000 a year, said long term plans include using more cameras.

“Video surveillance is a lot more useful because security guards can only be in one place at a time. Cameras are helping us immensely. Plus, cameras can capture activity in the community, which is where most school incidents occur,” he said.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. awarded CPS a $2.5 million grant, which will be used to purchase more cameras.

“J.P. Morgan is the first major corporation to step for security at CPS and we thank them,” Shields said. “We are also reaching out to other corporations for help.”

Huberman said its security efforts are paying off....

We also know from Columbine video cameras don't stop the murderers. Cameras are intelligence, not a defense. Video cameras are valuable after the fact. Video cameras have not been known to be a deterrent.

The only VALID measure to end gun violence in the USA and our schools is the removal of military style weapons from the gun shop's shelves. That is the truth and no matter how the USA dances around the issue it won't stop the murderers until the lethality of the American society is addressed.

The American Physiological Association can't even get their peers to diagnose mental illness.

Up to one-in-four primary care patients (click here) suffer from depression; yet, primary care doctors identify less than one-third (31 percent) of these patients. (AHRQ) (PDF, 615KB)

Among the 8.9 million adults with any mental illness and a substance use disorder, 44 percent received substance use treatment or mental health treatment in the past year, 13.5 percent received both mental health treatment and substance use treatment and 37.6 percent did not receive any treatment. (SAMHSA)

Four percent of young adults reported forgoing mental health care in the past year, despite self-reported mental health needs. (AHRQ) (PDF, 615KB)

People with psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder are 45 percent and 26 percent less likely, respectively, to have a primary care doctor than those without mental disorders. (AHRQ) (PDF, 615KB)

How are the American people ever going to receive treatment if they aren't even diagnosed?

A mental health diagnosis is similar to an HIV diagnosis. There goes the job and benefits and benefits to the family. Mental Illness diagnosis is a real problem. It can effect a person's ability to find and keep work.

A physical illness is easier to admit than a mental illness. 25% of mental illness diagnosis is depression. What is the problem? The American people can't admit they need help with depression? That is ridiculous. Treatment of depression improves the quality of life of the individual and the family. Be a good parent. Be a great spouse. Get treatment.

No one enters into a marriage expecting it to fail. (click here) Still, more than 20 percent of first marriages end in divorce within five years, and 48 percent of marriages dissolve by the 20-year mark, according to 2006-2010 data from the government’s National Survey of Family Growth.1 Separation and divorce are emotionally difficult events, but it is possible to have a healthy breakup.

Why American Divorce?

1. Getting in for the wrong reasons. (click here)

2. Lack of individual identity. (Lack of self)

Most people look at their marriage (click here) or long term relationship as a context for love, support and affirmation. Research suggests, however, that a person’s self-esteem may significantly impact this relationship potential.

How Do We Define Self-Esteem?

In psychology, self-esteem is defined as a reflection of a person's overall self-appraisal, of their own worth.

What is the self-esteem of each individual within marriage?

3. Becoming lost in the roles. 

4. Not having a shared vision of success. 

5. The intimacy disappears. 

6. Unmet expectations. 

7. Finances. 

8. Being out of touch ... literally.

9. Different priorities and interests. 

10. Inability to resolve conflicts. 
June 10, 2011
By Jim Taylor
Yes, we have a self-esteem problem in our country, (click here) but we don't recognize it because, well, we have a self-esteem problem. We need look no further than the bewildering popularity of the reality-TV show Jersey Shore and the instant celebrity garnered from its inhabitants despite their complete absence of qualifications. Though, admittedly, the bar for "success" in America these days is set scarily low; in the case of Jersey Shore (and most of the famous-for-being-famous world), dark tans (haven't they heard of melanoma?), large breasts, muscles, and 'tude seem sufficient....

There are many types of mental illness. Some are easily treated and others not so much.

Primary care physicians are not the best people to diagnosis and treat mental illness. One of the primary reasons people are not compliant with their oral medications is because of the side effects of antipsychotic medications. The basic reach of mental illness in the USA is very dysfunctional. Diagnosis does not guarantee successful treatment.

Primary care physicians (click here) treating patients with psychotic disorders are increasingly encountering a new armamentarium of antipsychotic medications. This article was written to inform primary care physicians about recent advances in the pharmacologic management of psychotic disorders. The intent is to provide an overview of “atypical” antipsychotics, their use and indications, dosing, adverse effects, and possibilities of drug interactions about which primary care physicians ought to be aware.

Psychosis refers to a number of symptoms reflecting impairments in reality testing. The psychotic patient is one who develops odd beliefs, speech, and/or behaviors interfering with functioning. Perceptual disturbances can occur, and the individual's ability to interpret events in the world can become distorted and idiosyncratic. Consequently, the individual experiences significant difficulties caring for self, relating with others, and maintaining academic and occupational demands and expectations....

$5 billion from Goldman, Sachs for mortgage settlement.

January 20, 2016
By Ken Sweet

...Coming nearly eight years after the crisis, (click here) the settlement is by far the largest the investment bank has reached related to its role in the meltdown. But the payment is dwarfed by those made by some of its Wall Street counterparts.
Goldman will pay $2.39 billion in civil monetary penalties, $875 million in cash payments and provide $1.8 billion in consumer relief in the form of mortgage forgiveness and refinancing....

Kasich state tax cuts will grow jobs. The only tax cuts that work to increase jobs are those made to the middle class. President Obama's tax cuts worked to increase jobs because he maintained the middle class tax cuts.

But this idea is hardly new. (click here) It is a key element of various forms of consumption taxes such as the National Retail Sales Tax (including the wildly misnamed FAIR tax). It is also favored among those on the right who want to close “loopholes” to force  low- and moderate-income households to pay some income tax even as they cut rates across the board—a design almost certain to favor high-income taxpayers.

The facts are plain, the Fair Tax or a National Retail Sales Tax will raise taxes on the poor and middle class, not the wealthy.

Angry yelling and invoking the Clinton name and more nonsense.

Poor Ben Carson, he is not recognized anymore. According to Carson, dirty bombs, emps and chaos is coming by ISIS. Mr. Carson states if the next President gave the military carte blanc without tying their hands behind their back they could get the job done.

Trumps message hasn't changed.

Cruz is a victim by the 'hit piece' at the New York Times.

I think it is safe to say Republicans don't do well with the facts.

Poor Ted Cruz is still a victim because of his birth place. Ted is getting a little pathetic by states Trumps mother was born in Scotland and naturalized to the USA. That has nothing to do with Donald Trump's birth status.

Five Thirty Eight (click here)

Marco Rubio is going to act properly when President.

There is a difference at this website between polling results and chance of winning.

The current poll trending puts Trump in the lead by a fraction. The way to avoid answering a question is to defame Hillary Clinton.

Below, the Huffington Post (click here) has Hillary's overall chance of winning the nomination above 51 percent.

Ben Carson wants to know where modern day name calling came from.


Social media Dr, Carson. If anyone should be sensitive to that fact, it should be pediatric neurologist Ben Carson. You know, bullying and all that mess.

Hurricane Alex (click here) is seen in the Atlantic after being upgraded from a storm on Thursday. Photograph: Getty Images

First named storm in the Atlantic Season of 2016.

New York City is a major global financial center. New York State is an agricultural state as well. So, when people talk about New York values, they are talking about American values.

The cost of a global USA military is unrealistic. The military budget is out of hand and has been for a very long time. The USA has obligations to NATO and vulnerable countries such as South Korea, but, a global force is not at all realistic.

Don't criticize President Obama when the US Congress (Republican majority) can't pass an AUMF. The reason Republicans won't pass an AUMF is because they want to win in November and THEN the Republicans will pass an AUMF, Lord only knows from there what happens next.

There you go. Graham will see the USA back at war in the middle east. Where is the money? This is the second military question of Carson. What gives?

The USA can't simply tell the USA military to go kill and get out of the way.

2013

The war in Iraq claimed more than 116,000 civilian lives (click here) in the space of eight years and cost the US about £530 billion, according to new research.

I wish Republican debates were real and truthful. Whatever.

The problem with Republicans is because they see the entire picture. They refuse to acknowledge the climate crisis and how it is acting to cause rebellions by people in countries such as Syria.

British archaeologists (click here) are currently excavating a 3000-year-old settlement so perfectly preserved that it's inspiring comparisons to Pompeii. The site includes pristine structural components from the buildings themselves as well as common household items like textiles, farming tools, and cooking supplies. The discoveries are being considered the best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever uncovered in Britain....

Trying to carve out settlements in the middle east to relieve refugees would be a disaster. It would simply become another war front.

What US president was responsible for opening relationships with China? Trade deficit over $500 billion.

The growth of the Chinese - US deficit (click here) didn't happen overnight or during the Obama Administration.

Below is 1985. Trade deficit with China $6 million.

Below is 2015. The deficit with China was $337.81 billion.

Carson unveils 14.9 percent flat tax plan (click here)
The announcement came after Carson's campaign was shaken by resignations of top deputies.

by Ed Adamcyzk
Jan. 4, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, here at he Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum on December 3, issued a statement Monday calling for a 14.9 percent flat federal tax....
The tax would apply only to income above 150 percent of the federal poverty rate. It would eliminate all deductions and tax loopholes, and those below the poverty line would be taxed at a different, unspecified rate....

Census Bureau's definition of poverty for a family of four (two adults, two children) is $22,811.

According to Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz is a flip flopper for political purposes.

It isn't realistic 12 million undocumented will never be citizens.

Republicans haven't changed because they are afraid of losing their financial backers with the exception of Trump.

I'll be darn, the Obama State Department diplomacy is respected.

No one held guns to the back of their heads regardless of what Ted Cruz states.

January 14, 2016
By the Data Team

Sometime (click here) in the next few days Iran’s “Implementation Day” is almost certain to be declared. That is the moment when Iran is deemed to have complied with all its obligations in dismantling those parts of its nuclear programme that would soon have put it weeks away from being able to build a bomb. All nuclear-related sanctions, including the freezing of $100bn of Iranian assets, will be lifted. At the same time, Iran will apply the Additional Protocol of its safeguards agreement (subject to ratification by its parliament, the Majlis) with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a measure which gives the agency’s inspectors access to materials and sites beyond declared nuclear facilities....

January 13, 2016
By Taro Copp

...The crews (click here) of the two U.S. riverine command boats – small shallow-water patrol craft with minimal technology or defenses on board – were detained Tuesday after a mechanical failure caused the boats to drift into Iran’s territorial waters near Farsi Island, U.S. defense officials said. There were nine male sailors and one female sailor on board the vessels.

What could have become a tense international incident instead was quickly resolved through U.S. and Iranian diplomacy, a sign of what’s at stake in the Persian Gulf, said retired Navy Cmdr. Chris Harmer, a senior naval analyst with the Institute for the Study of War....

...“I think the real interesting question here is, ‘What is the internal state of play in terms of the hardliners in Iran versus the moderates? I thought there was a real possibility Iran would hold the sailors longer, but it seems the senior Iranian leadership told the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] who had the U.S. sailors, ‘You are going to release these guys right now.’”...

The attackers in Jakarta are dead, dead, dead.

It is all small arms.

January 14, 2016
By AP

A Canadian was among those killed (click here) in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Thursday when gunmen launched a series of co-ordinated attacks in a bustling downtown shopping area.

Jakarta police chief Maj.-Gen. Tito Karnavian told a news conference that the first attack — a suicide bombing — happened at a Starbucks, causing customers to run outside, where two gunmen opened fire, killing the Canadian and wounding an Indonesian bystander.

At about the same time, two other suicide bombers attacked a nearby traffic police booth, killing themselves and an Indonesian man. Moments later, Karnavian said, a group of policemen was attacked by two remaining gunmen, using homemade bombs. This led to a 15-minute gunfight, he said.

All five gunmen were killed and 20 people were wounded in the attacks....

Indonesia is a majority Muslim country.

Muslim 87.2%

Christian 7%

 Roman Catholic 2.9 %

Hindu 1.7%

other 0.9% (includes Buddhist and Confucian), unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.)  

This is the demographics of Jakarta. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia.

JAKARTA (capital) 9.769 million

  Surabaya 2.787 million (click here)

  Bandung 2.429 million (click here)

  Medan 2.118 million (click here)

  Semarang 1.573 million (click here)

  Palembang 1.455 million (2011) (click here)

The point is the attackers are rejected in their violence. I think that is important to realize. Daesh is a group of criminals. That is all they are. They are not people to be trusted with the worship of Allah.

Many of these people are impoverished. We know for a fact the impoverished often are the place that breeds hate and violence. These people are rejecting all that.

There has been problems in Indonesia. Historically, Indonesia has seen violence and clashes between Christian and Muslim. But, there is less of it in modern times.

Ethnic violence (click here) has more or less seized to be since 2002 after regional violence in Jakarta, Medan (Sumatra), Kalimantan, Poso (Sulawesi) and the Moluccas caused many casualties between the years 1996 and 2002. It is, however, not correct to mark the above cases as 'ethnic violence' only. Violence purely because of ethnic differences seems highly unlikely as in each case other aspects play an influential role. For example, violence against the Chinese Indonesians, which emerged around the time of Suharto's resignation, has a lot to do with the country's economic circumstances. The Chinese Indonesians had always been resented because they own a relative big portion of Indonesia's business cake, despite forming just a tiny minority in Indonesia's population (and in fact rich Chinese Indonesians are only a small proportion of the total number of Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia). In times of political and economic turmoil it is not hard to instigate anti-Chinese feelings that results in violence.....

Indonesia does not tolerate criminality or any form of civilian violence. Those that know it best are Australians involved with the drug trade. They are arrested and imprisoned regardless of gender. 

Indonesia enforces it's rule of law without question. Break the law and suffer the consequences. I think that puts power where it belongs in this long chain or islands, in the hands of the government. In past uprisings there were large numbers of dead. That simply doesn't happen in Indonesia in modern times.

Nearly absent from Indonesia is illiteracy. Indonesia has successfully educated 95 percent or more of it's people to read and write. Extremists that use violence to challenge domestic peace simply don't have an audience,

If the winners of the lotto are locals, their status will take a very big turn.

This is from Chino Hills, California website (click here).

I hope the winners are getting good advise. There is a trend with the Lotto winners proving to loss of their winnings in a short period of time.

I can't help but think the advise these folks are getting is very bad advise.

At a time when advancing from the middle class to the wealthy is rather difficult, these winnings can change the life of the winners and their children. I think the Lotto organizers have an obligation to help the winners find competent advise.

To the right is Munford, Tennessee. (click here)

I think this is very exciting for these folks and the winning sale.

Munford's demographic is a little odd. What happened to its teenage population?

The majority are middle class to upper middle class over $60 K and under $100 K. These folks work for a living and earn a salary. 

Other than that dip in teen population the demographics are fairly equal. I find that low population of teens a bit a concern. That dip in population among the teens which is a five year span, also carries through to early twenty somethings.

The good news is there are more babies and early adolescents. They are five year spans as well. 

The other city with a winner is Melbourne, Florida. There is a major private university in that town.

January 14, 2016
By Stephanie Allen

The hardest part about winning the lottery is keeping quiet about it. (click here)

But that's the best piece of advice Florida's first Powerball jackpot winner can give.

Dr. William A. Steele, an Orlando-area dermatologist, won a $189 million prize in October 2009 and has since kept fairly quiet about his winnings.

Until Thursday, when he offered some advice to the mystery Publix shopper who snagged a piece of Wednesday's record-shattering $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot....

Melbourne Beach is definitely middle class.

Melbourne Beach (click here) is a town in Brevard County Florida.  It is located at latitude 28.068N and longitude of 80.56W in the Eastern Standard Time (EST) zone.  The Town of Melbourne Beach is approximately 10ft. above sea level.  The US Census declares that the current population of Melbourne Beach as of April 1, 2015 is 3,078 with a median income of $57,035 annually.

The largest demographic (click here) are married couples without children.

This is really nice. The middle class is where most of the tickets are sold, at least in these three communities. I would think most of these folks would be overwhelmed with the idea of enormous wealth overnight. They need really good advise.

More water problems for Flint. The Emergency Manager is a failure in Flint, Michigan.

That is the actual color of the water in Flint, Michigan. It is more than a lead problem. The water has to be disinfected before it is filtered.

People need chlorine tablets in their home.

January 14, 2016
By Sarah Kaplin

More disturbing news (click here) has come for residents of Flint, Mich., who are already reeling from an escalating health crisis tied to their city’s lead-poisoned water supply.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services officials announced Wednesday that the city and the surrounding area have seen a spike in cases of Legionnaires’ disease — a bacterial infection that can be deadly for between 5 to 30 percent of victims.
So far 87 cases have been diagnosed since June 2014, two months after Flint changed its water source to the Flint River, the Detroit Free Press reported. Ten of those cases were fatal....

Flint, Michigan is experiencing gross negligence of government. All these problems are solved when government performs regular inspections through the health department.

The people know what is wrong and what has to be done. Give them back their local government.

Ten dead people from Legionella is NOT simply one hot tub. This is caused from a public source.

This is third world problems. This is a problem the United Nations would find in impoverished regions. Chlorine tablets are the only way to solve this problem. Realize the chlorine used in Flints' water system ended to chloramine. It was the chloramine that caused the increased lead content in Flint's water. This is a complete failure of government. They never bothered to evaluate what would occur in Flint when the change was made.

People are exposed to Legionella (click here) when they breathe in a mist or vapor (small droplets of water in the air) containing the bacteria. One example might be from breathing in droplets sprayed from a hot tub that has not been properly cleaned and disinfected.

Less commonly, Legionella can be transmitted via aspiration of drinking water, which is when water “goes down the wrong pipe,” into the trachea (windpipe) and lungs instead of down the digestive tract. People at increased risk of aspiration include those with swallowing difficulties.

Legionella cannot spread from one person to another person. A person diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac fever is not a threat to family members, co-workers, or others. However, if you believe that your workplace was the source of the person's illness, contact your local health department.

Most people exposed to the bacteria do not become ill. If you have reason to believe you were exposed to the bacteria, talk to your doctor or local health department. Be sure to mention if you have spent any nights away from home in the last two weeks.

The pipes in Flint are very old. When chloramine was used to cut costs of water treatment it simply broke down the lining of those pipes. Stpp using chloramine and return to chlorine until ALL the pipes in Flint are replaced.

July 29, 2015 

By Alana Semuels

In Flint, Michigan, lead, copper, and bacteria (click here) are contaminating the drinking supply and making residents ill. If other cities fail to fix their old pipes, the problem could soon become a lot more common.

Backbone to enforce cheaper solutions in Michigan is NOT the answer! There is a reason why these cities are having problems and it is NOT their government.

The National Guard leadership will understand chlorine and disinfection of water. They can explain it to Flint residents.

This is the front page of the Jakarta Post. Other pages (click here) are fine, but, the front e-page is down.

We know Indonesia is a probable candidate for violence. It was a matter of time before something was going to happen. The control of small arms into the country is very important.

This is odd. Tourists are alarmed. Jakarta is a massively large country and a challenge to secure. The Indonesian government may need some assistance.

Greater Jakarta: (click here) Tons of hyacinths wash up on Tidung Island

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/08/2016 3:39 PM

Tons of dead water hyacinths have washed up on Tidung Island in Thousand Islands, disturbing tourism on the island.

Sydney Morning Herald reports a precautionary clearing of the Opera House and Ferries were carried out for information on social media.

January 14, 2016
By Nick Ralston

The Sydney Opera House (click here) precinct was evacuated and the Manly ferry wharf searched on Thursday afternoon after information NSW Police received via social media. 

The forecourt of the Opera House was cleared about 2pm on Thursday with police erecting metal barriers.

Police said the operation was a precautionary measure.

They are still getting pummeled by severe storms. It could have something to do with the hyacinths. What are the upper winds doing to jet travel. Sustained winds will cause problems different than the occassional weather system.

January 14, 2016
Rachel Olding

One man was killed, (click here) multiple buildings destroyed and tens of thousands of homes were without power on Thursday evening after a violent thunderstorm tore through Sydney, leaving a path of destruction following a day of extreme heat.

The severe storm began just before 2pm, carrying destructive winds, with four major storm cells tracking across the city's west and southwest before passing through the eastern suburbs and out to sea....

Don't play around with this. If pilots are reporting difficult circumstances when aloft, the travel ambitions of the day may have to be reassessed. 

January 14, 2016

New Zealand ex-pat Cameron Bates (click here) said the blasts happened just 2km or 3km from his apartment block.

"I work from home, I'm on the 25th floor of an apartment tower 2km or 3km away from it, I didn't hear anything," he said.

"But I work in social media so it pretty quickly came to our attention that something was happening.

"A friend of mine has an office over-looking the scene of the attack and he was posting photos of what he was seeing, including the deceased. "

There was some indication the bodies may have been those of suicide bombers, he said....

There are strong winds across the southern island.

Congratulations!

...Lottery officials said it could be several hours before it is known whether there are other winners in the 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories where Powerball is played.

The six winning numbers were 08, 27, 34, 04, 19 and Powerball 10. They were picked during a late Wednesday draw for the $1.586 billion prize at lottery offices in Tallahassee, Florida. 

In Chino Hills, a suburb east of Los Angeles, crowds descended on a 7-Eleven store where the winning ticket had been bought, snapping pictures and congratulating staff. The store will receive a $1-million bonus for selling the ticket....

Pay off the mortgage,  the car loans, set up trusts for the kids and go on vacation. Pretty cool stuff all for a dollar investment.

Only in America.