We are killing their leadership on a regular basis. That is why attacks are up.

Previous to President Obama taking office there was little to no war in Afghanistan that amounted to anything. Afghanistan was abandoned for Iraq's oil.

During that time, Bush never acted in Afghanistan to kill Osama bin Laden or destroy the Taliban, they were reconstituting.

This report, while significant, can't stand alone as the only analysis of the dynamics of Afghanistan. 

The reason there are more civilian deaths is two fold, really. One, there are more attacks period. So, with fighting increasing there the result is more civilian deaths. Two, al Qaeda are using civilians as human shields to protect themselves why Karzai is screaming at NATO that they are killing civilians.

At this point, with Afghanistan, one has to assess the gains made and the national securities of NATO. Were there significant gains made to justify the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan? To some extent that can be subjective and political, too. Oddly though, even though Karzai is screaming citizens are being killed, he hasn't kicked NATO out regardless of having trained 325,000 sovereign troops. So, when is Afghanistan going to be able to stand on its own?

Then there are the drone attacks which is the primary vehicle of enemy deaths. But, while they are killing the enemy, they are also killing the human shields used for protection.

The real question and the ONLY justification for remaining in Afghanistan to continue the training mission is, "Will the USA be safe once NATO has finished its mission?" If the answer is no, then we don't belong there anymore. The only purpose for a war in Afghanistan is to increase national security of member nations. If that is not happening and our troops are dying there is no reason to be there.

Homeland Security has to take over the role of protections against these attacks.


By THOMAS JOSCELYNSeptember 25, 2012

NATO's (click here) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has released its monthly data trends report for August. ISAF's data show that while the number of enemy-initiated attacks (EIAs) thus far this year has decreased slightly, as compared to the first eight months of 2011, the number of civilian casualties increased dramatically. And the overall level of violence in Afghanistan, as measured by ISAF, remains worse than prior to the 2010 surge of American forces....

"Mother Jones" does it again. Thank you. (for article click on title of entry)

There are a lot of reasons to be grateful David Corn and Mother Jones have become a trusted company for those seeking to tell the truth about Bain and Romney's activities.

There are the videos made by former employees of companies exploited by Bain and Romney that are finally vindicated for their activism.

Does Mitt Romney Care About Jobs or Just Making Money? (click here)

I am happy for them as there is now sound proof of their observations and claims. Who are the real Americans, huh? The ones at the lathe or the ones with monies in the offshore accounts?

The structure and methodology Bain worked with was obvious, but, there was no solid proof. There were no forthcoming records to prove the companies sold off and merged were ever in financial trouble. Employees could make their claims, but, there were 'the missing books.' There was 'doubt' allowing the claims of 'job killer' to wash away as insinuations. But, this is proof.

It is easy now to look at the companies involved and find the 'break points' where it was sustained for a short time (I consider labor for five to seven years a short duration. Work longevity is security for Americans. Work longevity is a reason to make the plant hum and invest in making products the best they can be. Work longevity is the reason for the suggestion box.) and then sold off for cash flow purposes at Bain.

Private equity is not about long term investment. By the very nature of the business whereby investors are looking for high returns on their investment there is little doubt the private equity companies are harmful to any economy, not just the USA. It is astounding to me they actually developed IPOs. Money, money, money in whatever way they can get it.

It makes all too much sense now and realizing how office supply companies in business for decades from the early days of the 20th century were simply merged into the highest profitability model creating Office Depot where imports are sold in volume.

It occurred again when sports stores, once purchasing Made in the USA goods for their enterprise suddenly changed hands and merged to create Sports Authority. 

USA companies that provided lives with good incomes were merged to create a store where today, the only employees making a living wage are the managers. 

The timeline exactly matches the 5 to 7 year methodology of Bain Capital.

The steel plant closed within that time frame. It never mattered that Romney left Bain before the plant was closed and dismantled with parts going to the highest bidder; 'the plans were in place.' Romney maintained control to be sure he got his fair share when it occurred.

I believe he stated, "Look, you guys are going to make a lot of money."

Retro-retirement is a new rule in the world created by Romney. Retro-retirement is a 'Make Your Own Rules' paradigm no different than when Romney pays taxes to game the system for a benevolent image to the public. 

It all fits. All of it.

Vindication, Mr. Corn. This is vindication for all those that came forward for so many years and time and again. They were not lying. They did not hate Mitt. They did not favor a Democratic outcome. They knew what they knew about him and it scared them to have him obtain the power of the USA Presidency.

Heroes is the word that comes to mind. You with the power of Mother Jones, the integrity you brought to others with that power and the power of the individual to be truth-tellers.

I think that was a good idea. I liked it.

The United Nations should know what the sovereign country of Israel considers 'The Red Line." The Prime Minister is correct in that he and his nation is the one to determine the tolerance of hostility.

There is no one at the United Nations who believes Israel does not see a two state solution.

...8:09 PM Netanyahu: (click here) there are some who claim that even if Iran crosses the red line we will know when and where the Iranians are building a bomb. But intelligence are not full (fool) proof.

8:07 P.M. Netanyahu draws a red line on his diagram.... with red pen....


The Mandate for Palestine has been an understanding regarding the existence of Palestine since The League of Nations. This mandate has existed since 1922. So any global leader making accusations regarding Israel's policies with Palestine cannot ignore the long standing understanding nations there is a right to a Palestine. I remind Palestine was a diffuse understanding due to migratory activity by the people.

This document has been superseded by formal negotiations and treaties between Israel and Palestine. But, it is a recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to their nation. An understanding of their heritage. Israel is not unilaterally calling off the effort for a Palestine.

President Abbas has stated at the United Nations this week, Israel is planning another "Nakba." The Nakba is commemorated within Palestine as the "The Day of Catastrophe" on May 15 of every year. I am quite confident that is not the case. President Abbas wants to have Palestine upgraded to a 'non-member state.'

The Palestinian people fear the Occupied West Bank containing Israeli settlements is a clear indication there is an understanding Israel will again expel Palestine from their current status.

...He blamed the attacks on Israeli government policy, (click here) which he said supports settlements and occupation and creates a "racist climate" and a "culture of incitement." He also accused Israel of committing war crimes, including "murder, torture and abuse of peaceful civilians."...

President Abbas is stating there are attacks by citizens of the Palestinian people and demolished buildings by Israel's government. It is a fairly strong statement he makes.

...Over the past few months, Abbas said, "attacks by terrorist militias of Israeli settlers have become a daily reality, with at least 535 attacks perpetrated since the beginning of the year." He added that Israel had demolished 510 Palestinian structures over the past 12 months, displacing some 770 Palestinians from their homes....

There has to be settlement on the borders between Israel and Palestine. (click here)

I realize Israel states to move its borders is to create indefensible borders. Then Israel and the USA have to agree on what exactly is meant by defensible. The USA has to be willing to stand by that definition and move forward. Israel cannot stalemate this agreement forever. It cannot allow citizen militias to exist assaulting Palestinians. Citizen militias have been a defense by many cities and towns in Israel, but, to use them to move borders and build build settlements is a new paradigm. I am sorry, but, Israel cannot tolerate citizen militias that seek to fight border wars.

There is also NO REASON for this ban on students attending universities in the West Bank. Students entering the West Bank from Gaza can be cleared by security and should, but to impose a permanent ban only raises tensions.

This was a decision by the courts. The Israeli legislature has to correct this error. If the current laws of Israel oppress deserving students it is time to change the laws governing the oppression.

Five students does make an army. Five students from Gaza cannot bring rockets and bombs with them. I cannot believe five hostile students would be accepted to the university in the West Bank because the Gazans don't sincerely have a peace with the West Bank. But, accepting students to their university is more than a generous way to offer opportunity and improvement of the quality of life of Gaza. This could unite the two factions of Palestine and should not be obstructed by Israel.

Israel upholds ban on Gaza students in West Bank (click here)

AP  / September 27, 2012

JERUSALEM (AP) —  Israel’s supreme court has upheld a ban on Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip studying in the West Bank.

Israeli and Palestinian rights groups petitioned the court to allow five students from Gaza to travel to the West Bank for a master’s program in gender studies. They argue the two separate Palestinian territories should be treated as a single entity.

Israel has treated Gaza as a hostile territory since 2007, when the militant group Hamas took control of the seaside strip....

Israel should be encouraging angry young men to become students with hopes of improving their country and the way of life of their people. Israel should be facilitating prosperous futures for these young people and have them understand Israel can be generous, too. It is a small act of greatness for Israel. They should take advantage of the opportunity for better relations.

I wish women were more concerned for their safety.

It is true in the USA, too. The country mouse comes to the city to be overwhelmed by a world moving faster than a white water river.

The Buddy System. Women HAVE to assume they are not safe in late hours when few people are around and opportunity presents itself. Safety for women is to recognize 'opportunity' for placing themselves 'at risk.' Opportunity that places women at risk has to be mitigated with smart thinking. If there is no one around to walk home with then call a cab. A medallion cab. 

Please.

I don't care if she is going a block from the pub, call some kind of escort home. It is completely silly not to. I believe a women should trust her instincts when it comes to her safety and not 'be brave' when it is prudent to feel otherwise.

In both these cases, there was a closed door opened which caused their deaths.

On one side of the door they were safe, on the other side they found death and neither expect it.

Man arrested over Jill Meagher case (click here)

9:17 PM Thursday Sep 27, 2012

...Detectives had been wanting to talk to a man in a blue hooded jumper seen on CCTV footage with Ms Meagher moments before she vanished in the early hours of last Saturday.

Police have not said if the man who has been arrested is the person in the hoodie.

Detectives hold grave fears that Ms Meagher, a 29-year-old who moved from Ireland to the city three years ago, was abducted while walking home alone last Saturday from a Sydney Road bar in Brunswick....

When I was in college our Physical Education instructor gave us extra points on our grade if we took a self-defense course offered by the campus police. It was extremely helpful. The course was four six hour days of which only one was classroom to prepare for assault training, but, also to review how women are actually drugged in a bar resulting in date rape or worse. It was excellent. They taught me things I would never think of myself. The physical assault segment was excellent. It was two weekends and it probably saved lives. Young women being educated for careers to value. Smart girls.

In another case in New Zealand.

4:30 PM Thursday Sep 27, 2012

...Ms Portman, 33, has not been seen since she left a Mt Albert motel on June 20. (click here) She was four-months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Her car was found about two weeks after she was reported missing. Police are treating her disappearance as a homicide....


I loved my work at UMDNJ in Newark. But, our employer didn't like the idea of anyone walking through fenced in and monitored parking lots alone. If it was dark and / or few people around the University Police required us to call for escort. They were always at every door when the most people were arriving and leaving for the day. Without fail. 

It was an odd feeling to be escorted when alone because so much of what work required was complete honestly and trust, but, their understanding was, "The best employees in New Jersey cannot be replaced because in one instance in time the odds turned against them."

It was about 'having guts, being prepared or being strong and confident.' It about BEING smart.

Recognize the place? Some might.

This is a city in India, not far from Kashmir or the Pakistan border, in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains.

Jalandhar ranks second in India in the rate of urbanisation and has the highest density of population at 598 persons per square km, as per the 1991 census.

To the left is Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar.

The Ramada to the right in Punjab City of Jalandhar is considered the best accomodations.

Jalandhar is the media and mass communication hub of the region having the regional headquarters of the national television and radio channels. Most of India's sports goods are exported to the United Kingdom, The United States of America, Germany, France and Australia. Rough estimates suggest that today Jalandhar has more than one hundred major industries and about 20,000 small-scale industries.

Interior of Viva Collage Mall, Jalandhar

List of Malls in Jalandhar

MBD Neopollis

The Galleria

Viva Collage Mall

Sarb Multiplex

Splendor Shagun

Ansal Plaza

PPR Mall

Best Price (Bharti Walmart)

Nazz Shooping Center

Ritu Wear's Big Life

The Metropolitan 

City Square

Most of India's sports goods are exported to the United Kingdom, The United States of America, Germany, France and Australia.

September 25, 2012

Ben Doherty

Sherrin (click here) has pulled all football manufacturing from its Indian subcontractors, after admitting some of its balls were made using child labour.

On Saturday, The Age/Herald revealed Sherrin balls were being hand-stitched by children as young as 10, for as little as 12 cents a ball.

The children, almost all of them girls, were being pulled out of school to stitch balls full-time, for up to 10 hours a day, seven days a week....

...Rajkumar warned public attention on the issue of child labour would cause brands to simply pull out of the market, and that they would leave nothing behind.

"You will affect the families, which completely depend on football stitching. You are snatching their livelihood."

While Sherrin says the use of child labour making its footballs was the work of one rogue contractor, The Age's 12-month investigation found that the use of child labour in the sports-ball industry in India was widespread and systemic.

The Age found child stitchers, as young as seven, in both the cities of Jalandhar and Meerut, stitching not only Sherrins, but other international sports brands such as Canterbury, and balls for India's domestic market....

Primarily girls. Education for girls is not sincerely important, even in India. This is what occurs when manufacturing is outsourced.

Syd only makes a limited amount of footballs each year as the process is a very meticulous one, making each football by hand with his dedicated skill and precision to detail. (click here)

ONLY Syd. I suppose the picture above is Syd.

Wow. Hand made with dedicated skill and precision to detail. 

Really?

Now that Sherrin has closed its child labor operations, people in Australia and India are complaining the former laborers will have nothing left for sustenance.

Really?

The country of India uses younger child labor than China. It needs to be outlawed. I would not worry about the children of Punjab City because their government is going to have take care of them and their families and act to support them. See, the girls have to go back to school so they can graduate high school and attend that very modern technical university.

India and Punjab City do not need sympathy, they need laws to protect innocent children from slavery!

The nation of India needs to compensate these children for the loss of schooling they suffered under with insufficient laws and governance to protect them. India needs to supplement the lost wages to their families and return the children to their studies. India allowed this. It is India's problem.

Farewell to Andy Williams.

Andy WIlliams singing "Moon River". Thank you Andy, for sharing your beautiful voice with us. You will be sorely missed x (1927-2012)

It is a great song. Love it.

Songwriters: DOZIER, LAMONT HERBERT / HOLLAND, BRIAN / HOLLAND, EDDIE

Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

(moon river, wider than a mile)

(I'm crossin' you in style some day)
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after that same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

The Football Commissioner needs to be fired.

The fans, the players and the team of the Green Bay Packers suffered unnecessarily over this damaging decision by part time referees.

By JUDY BATTISTA

Published: September 25, 2012

...To that end, (click here) Goodell has risked lawsuits over his tough punishments for a bounty scandal; he has suspended or otherwise disciplined some of the N.F.L.’s most popular players; and he brokered the deal that ended the long, bitter lockout of the league’s players last year....

Seriously, this is ridiculous. There is so much hype about instant replays and all kinds of electronic enhancements, to allow this call to stand is a gross injustice to everyone. If the commissioners authority and judgement has to be called into question, then it has to be.

There does not have to be retribution against part time referees, either. The strike should have been settled. This is a failure of the administration of these teams and the league. The owners and the commission allowed referees on the field who were not ready to assume this responsibility. It is not their fault they rose to the occasion to carry on the game. They actually crossed picket lines to do it. So, it isn't their problem, it is the commissioner's problem. I think the entire circumstance needs to be investigated, conclusions reached and appropriate action taken. It isn't the refs that were the problem. It is the commissioner standing behind an obvious bad call that is the problem and the fact he and the owners allowed less qualified officiating in the first place rather than settling the strike.

The electorate issues are not about winning. The media has it "W"rong.

The attack on minorities in this election ACROSS the country by Republican Governors is the issue. This is about Americans, legitimate minority voters, being removed from the ability to vote in 2012.

This is not the first time the Republican Party has STACKED THE DECK in recent history against minority votes. In 2000, an entire election was decided in Florida because of CORRUPTION targeting minority voters.

Americans vote. End of discussion. They vote WITHOUT barriers to their balloting. The day there are profound issues in impersonation and voter fraud THEN the entire country can take action against it. And I might add, the country doesn't sincerely know what EFFECTIVE action to take because it hasn't happened yet and we don't know the source of such fraud. 

There is NO research or PROOF anywhere to pin point the problem. The Republicans are stacking the deck based on Identity Theft Rhetoric. The fact of the matter is there is no way of knowing if Voter ID will even stop ALL forms of fraud. What the Republicans ARE doing is DEFRAUDING elections, not debunking identity theft.

The number of Americans that simply vote is a minority of the adults eligible. 

The Republicans are stacking the deck, just that simple. In the year 2012 we are seeing some of the worst non-violent bigotry this nation has ever witnessed.

The Republican Governors across the country are corrupt in their directives. They are corrupt in most of their dealings when it comes to civil rights, the rights of collective bargaining and education.

The TILT in all these areas and more is palpable. The Republican Party is a corrupt party and now they are blatant bigots.

Americans are being deprived of their rights and in no way can it be tolerated. 

The Republicans USE the electorate to achieve wins in the USA, that is not what this is about. This is about hard fought for rights stated in laws that have stood as the remedy to racism. This is about nullifying laws that have stood for decades of time and trampling the sacrifices of past generations. 

This isn't about winning, it is about justice.

Sep 26, 2012

Poll: Obama grows lead in Ohio and Florida  (click here)

...Obama leads Republican Mitt Romney by ten points -- 53%-43% -- in Ohio, according to the Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News survey.

Obama's lead is nine points in Florida, 53%-44%.

The president also leads Romney by 12 points in Pennsylvania, a state the Democrats have carried in five straight presidential elections....

The Florida Secretary of State is non-compliant with The Electronic Signature Act of 1996.

AND, where voters pay to mail their ballots in it is a Poll Tax.

Florida voters will have long ballots to complete on Election day (click here)

Published: September 11, 2012 

By STEVE BOUSQUET — Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- Brace yourselves, Florida voters: The election ballot you'll see this fall is longer than ever.

It's so long that voters will have to fill out multiple sheets with races on both sides, then feed those multiple pages through ballot scanners, one page at a time.

It's a pocketbook issue, too: Some people who vote by mail will have to dig deeper and pay at least 65 cents postage and up to $1.50 to return their multi-page ballots in heavier envelopes....

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/09/11/4194723/florida-voters-will-have-long.html#storylink=cpy

The Electronic Signature Act of 1996 contains a section on Paperwork Reduction.

i. Paperwork Reduction Act (click here)
During the 1992 legislative session, chapter 282, Florida Statutes,
was amended by the passage of the Information Resources
Management and Paperwork Reduction Act.28 The Act placed special
emphasis on reducing the government’s paperwork burden.29 The
amendments called for the specific reduction of paperwork associated
with the collection and dissemination of government information
to and from individuals, small businesses, educational institutions,
state agencies, and local governments....

The ballots in question add length to the ballot for no valid reason. If citizens want to receive more information about the ballot and want to read all the provisions there needs to be an ONLINE site for them to go to and read the ballot in full length before balloting. The Florida long ballots are ILLEGAL !

It is more than common practice in the USA for local governments to MAIL ballots to voters for review before voting. Voters can be carrying these ballots with them to the polling place to expedite casting their ballot.

In the case of Florida, the Paperwork Reduction Act of the Electronic Signature Act stipulates clearly there needs to be far less paperwork in any government accounting and/or document while using online resources, INCLUDING THOSE IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, to comply with this law.

The lengthy ballot is a violation of this Florida Statue, hence they are illegal. They need to be discarded and reprinted with sufficient information as to where the specific referendum issues can be found. The elections boards have to prepare paper ballots and mail them to their voters for preparation of this very lengthy ballot this season. The ballot itself should only contain a very brief summary of the referendum issue and a clearly indicated place to register the vote!

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/09/11/4194723/florida-voters-will-have-long.html#storylink=cp

It is time to take to the streets. Demonstrations until election day and the Supreme Court afterwards.

Romney is consenting to rigging the elections.

A voter casts her ballot in a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2008 (AFP/Getty Images/File, David Mcnew)

I have never witnessed such wide spread bigotry before in the USA. There is no proof of voter fraud that would ever support such an action. This is pure unadulterated racism.

Americans are being removed from the voter roles on the basis of racism. The Republicans should do it for White Men as well. If the Hispanic Community is removed from their rightful place to vote, the idea of The Dream Act disappears and the young people now protected by President Obama's Executive Order will fall victim again in two years.

There is no doubt in my mind, this is blatant racism with an agenda of hatred.

Hispanic voters may be disenfranchised by voting laws (click here)

By Elections Editor

POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 10:00 AM MDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New voting laws in 23 of the 50 states could keep more than 10 million Hispanic U.S. citizens from registering and voting, a new study said on Sunday, a number so large it could affect the outcome of the November 6 election.

The Latino community accounts for more than 10 percent of eligible voters nationally. But the share in some states is high enough that keeping Hispanic voters away from the polls could shift some hard-fought states from support for Democratic President Barack Obama and help his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

The new laws include purges of people suspected of not being citizens in 16 states that unfairly target Latinos, the civil rights group Advancement Project said in the study to be formally released on Monday.

Laws in effect in one state and pending in two others require proof of citizenship for voter registration. That imposes onerous and sometimes expensive documentation requirements on voters, especially targeting naturalized American citizens, many of whom are Latino, the liberal group said....

Like I said, Unions want their members to be the best of the best, not the best of the worst.

Packers-Seahawks: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker backs 'realrefs' (click here for video)

By Michael Muskal

September 25, 2012, 3:49 p.m.

...After the state's Green Bay Packers had a victory snatched from their outstretched mitts by an outrage-inducing call on Monday, the current governor and one of his erstwhile opponents in the fight over collective bargaining found common ground, agreeing that it was time for the NFL to end its labor morass and bring back the real umpires.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who successfully pushed the anti-union bills through the Legislature, threw the red flag onto the political field, challenging the referees’ decision that gave the Seattle Seahawks the victory....

Human trafficking are human rights violations and it happens in the USA.

Brittany Phillips (left) was taken in and eventually adopted by Ruth Buckels of Story City after Phillips was rescued from human traffickers in Chicago. Phillips, now 20, was recruited into prostitution at age 15 in Eastern Iowa. She now speaks about her experiences in an effort to bring awareness to the problem.

Trafficking victim hails awareness (click here)

Recruited into prostitution in East Iowa at the age of 15

25 September 2012 

Her words, “I saw many things a 15-year-old girl shouldn’t see,” provide an unconventionally-wise commentary on the true story of her experience as a victim of human trafficking.

“I saw lots of drug addicts, people walking around with guns,” Brittany Phillips, now 20, wrote in an email to The Gazette in which she shared her story and agreed to have her name be used. “I was dropped off with (another girl) at a crack house where we slept on a floor in a house infested with roaches.”

Phillips, at age 14, was taken from her mom’s home in Des Moines, where she was sexually abused by her mom’s boyfriend, and placed in a treatment facility in Iowa City. She ran away with a friend and ended up in Cedar Rapids, where she encountered a series of men who repeatedly tried to sell or trade her for sex....

Go ahead, try to educate that !

Be sure and get the parents involved, too.

Romney has a very mixed message on education of our children.

The idea funding can be linked to the student is populous and won't work. A school system cannot be a student of one and expect to deliver a quality education. School systems operate as democracies do with collective interests in our Brain Trust, good to excellent outcomes and a joint effort through common treasuries to achieve what ONE cannot do alone.

His vision is wrong. It is wayward in that it seeks to incentive our collective classrooms with a traditional understanding, while decentralizing funding for our schools destroying delivery of higher qualities of education.

The USA has never turned out CLONES of an ideal in any educational paradigm. So to believe demolishing our system by dividing up funding to whatever idea parents and students have as ideal is nonsense.

There are plenty of private schools of varying themes across this country. My oldest son attended a private school. It was his choice. We did not receive a subsidy from the public educational system to send him there. It was the decision of the family to allow him his dream come true. My youngest son liked being at home, although he missed his older brother at times, and he attended the public school where he received attention to his needs and received a very good education.

The idea students are connected to funding individually is only hurting our brain trust and not improving it. The quality of our education has to come through reform that works, not destroying the classroom into individual paradigm of ideals that will never serve the best interest of the student or their country.

Romney loves talking down at the Poor. He states it is the parents that are the problem to the failure of schools. He believes, although not stated, that poor people are stupid people. Not in all cases. If anything I can look at him and his peers and the failure of their businesses, the chronic bailouts and the loss of American jobs to outsourcing to know who the real failures are. If he is going to open up a paradigm whereby the 'educational system' 'treats' the parent; that means counseling has to occur. That is what Social Services are for. The parents do not need classes to be parents.

In the USA, after over forty years of Republican policies, parents have to hold down two to three jobs to support their children. That is especially true in the Southern USA. The reason is low wages and long work hours. Those dynamics remove parents availability to their children. It is wrong. Building a strong Middle Class of good wages is the only way children will have parents AVAILABLE to help with the homework. If a child is overwhelmed by school because he / she assists with their younger sibling or spends most of their young years raising themselves with the 'image' of their parents wishes in their heart, that child will not succeed in a way that is meaningful to their future.

The answer to failing schools also lies in understanding the failing Middle Class, the loss of good paying jobs and QUALITY OF HOMELIFE as a means to an economy we all understand and value. Romney's ideas remove the quality of education, the quality of life in the Middle Class and assign government interventionism with adults as a means of improving children's performance. It is ideological, removed from reality and unattainable.

President Obama's words today are very bold at the United Nations.

The words he is using in regard to women and daughters can be very dangerous territory to diplomatic relations. They can easily be misinterpreted to give false meaning. Sometimes it is in the translation as well.

If I can be as so bold as he to allow slight insight to the canyons of difference Secretary Clinton faces everyday in her missions.

Women are a commodity in some nations. The meaning of their 'person' / 'their body' carries different meaning for different people, hence, different nations. 

One of the most extreme differences occurs with in the Islamic faiths. Sunnis and Shi'ites are not simply ethnic divides they are very, very profound religious divides. To akin it to something the average American can understand: To ask a Sunni to accept the Islamic value system of a Shi'ite is a violation of their foundation precepts. It would be like asking the Catholic Pope to accept nuns as priests.

There are hierarchies of 'paths' to godliness. Clerics and Imams and Ayatollahs have to have a genetic path to Mohammad. They cannot be ordained in the way a common person can be ordained as a Catholic priest. 

In the Sunni faith it is only the male children of the genetic path to Mohammad given validity to become clerics, etc. In the Shi'ite faith any child, male or female, are valid paths to Mohammad, yet, their holy men are men only and not women at all. It is the genetic path that is different between the two Islamic faiths.

When President Obama states women must have equality, it can easily be interpreted as an endorsement of the Shi'ite faith over the Sunni faith. 

Why?

Because these nations do not separate religion from governance. So, to state women need equality even as girls to education, is to say to a Sunni Muslim their daughters are the correct path to all that is great with Mohammad. To govern is to be right with god in many instances. So, it is very tricky. 

Today, at the United Nations, President Obama is seeking to break down barriers for the values we hold dear in the USA. To allow a new ability to value women and girls. Not to threaten faith in any way but to see the god given potential in their female children. To provide for greater dignity of women within their societies and end the deep misunderstanding of faithful purpose of women and their bodies in relation to their abilities to serve and govern. He is asking nations to expand the potential of their brain trusts to include all their citizens regardless of gender. 

His speech is huge. Let's hope all leaders at the United Nations today are up to the challenge.

Secretary Clinton has her hands full, but, I have never known her to ignore a chance to commune with women of any nation to bring home the message they are valuable and she cares about them.

Romney is too dangerous.

Nations exert their authority over their people in a variety of ways. The entire of the world is not about capitalism. What Romney is talking about in his speech are human rights abuses of people trying to support their families.

I resist to continue to use China as an example, but, its internal structure is very different than the USA. Their national policies do not necessarily filter down to the individual citizen across the entire of China. We know for a fact local authorities and provincial authorities impose power over Chinese citizens inconsistent with their national policies. Hence the real challenge of China to impose a single currency on their people. Literally, to change their currency to the international currency of China would send provinces into disarray with worsening poverty. The internal currency in China is not valued the same as their international currency. China is a very complicated picture, but, their leaders have come a long way in a relatively short period of time when the USA began relations under Nixon.

Capitalism is not the answer for every country. So many countries have very rudimentary economies existing in subsistence. There are African nations watching their people scratch out an existence after land has been divided due to inheritance into parcels far to small to support the family living on it.

When the USA takes a policy of imposing capitalism on a nation it is a hostile act to many economies which are not prepared for it. The USA currency is a strong currency regardless of its competition with the Euro, but, to ask other nations to impose capitalism as a way to improve their circumstances is not the way it needs to occur. In Afghanistan alone, we are witnessing wide spread corruption. When the USA people demand the USA military stop the drug economy in Afghanistan, the reply has been, "They have no other economy but their drug economy."

We have had a presence in Afghanistan for over a decade. The USA cannot impose the will of its economy on those of other nations. It is a hostile act. We did it in Iraq under Bush and he had to fly USA dollar bills into the country on cargo planes in order for there to be a currency the USA could recognize. It is hideous. We will not impose war on countries in order to achieve a Damned Economic Outcome ANYMORE!!

If Romney wants to talk about improving the lives of people in foreign nations he needs to talk about human rights abuses and not economic vitality.

California, Illinois, New York and Texas (alphabetical order)

Governing is not a beauty contest, but, with Trump involved the GOP believes it is!

These states are viewed as the ones that will determine the majority in the Congress. Personally, I don't believe any Congressional seat is a guarantee considering their very poor rating these day.

...About 30 congressional seats (click here)  in those four megastates are up for grabs, according to Sabato's Crystal Ball, the website of University of Virginia government professor Larry J. Sabato. These "orphan states" could well hold the balance of power in the House, where Democrats must pick up 25 seats to replace John Boehner as speaker with Nancy Pelosi....

The Congress has been a real problem since 2010. What does that say about the GOP? They simply aren't ready to govern in a time in this nation's history when there is so much to decide. Placing Republicans back in any majority is a mistake. It happened in 2010 and the USA's credit rating was downgraded. Congress can't get anything done with Republicans constantly fighting. They fight between themselves and their Democratic peers and they fight the President. They are horrible.

One of the statements the political Right Wing likes to dangle as their mandate in any election whether it was a mandate of not, "Elections have consequences." Really? Let me get this right. Elections only have consequences when they are the Republican consequences for the nation, like wars, imploding economies and corporate welfare.