Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Wendy had a better filibuster under more harsh conditions and she won hers.

According to Liberty News (click here): Texas Senate Bill Number Five would have shut down most abortion clinics in the Lone Star State, died early this morning after a successful filibuster by Democratic Senator Wendy Davis....

Texas Senate Bill Number Five, which would have shut down most abortion clinics in the Lone Star State, died early this morning after a successful filibuster by Democrat Senator, Wendy Davis. - See more at: http://www.libertynews.com/2013/06/texas-senators-ten-hour-filibuster-kills-strongest-pro-life-legislation-in-america/#sthash.N89OnTBN.dpuf

The demand for Food Stamps/S.N.A.P. is going to seem disproportionate to past years.

The minimum wage is stagnant in comparison to the cost of living.

The minimum wage went from $5.15 in 1997 to $5.85 in 2007. The ten year hiatus was probably because the wages were better in the USA compared to the cost of living. The Congress was dogged to raise the cost of living because the poverty rate was low then.

The poverty rate (click here) decreased in 1997 to 13.3 (±0.3) percent, down from 13.7 (±0.3) percent in 1996. The number of poor people in 1997, 35.6 (±0.9) million, remained statistically unchanged from 1996. The declines in the poverty rates of Blacks and people of Hispanic origin accounted for most of the decrease in the overall poverty rate between 1996 and 1997....

That is a difference of 1.8%, but, the difference in the number within that percentage is vastly different.

The population in the USA in 1997 was 267,743,595 (click here).

How many people were poor in 2010? (click here)

In 2010, 15.1 percent of all persons lived in poverty. The poverty rate in 2010 was the highest poverty rate since 1993. Between 1993 and 2000, the poverty rate fell each year, reaching 11.3 percent in 2000.

There was a recession in the 1990s that President Clinton saw through a recovery, but, it did not at all have the characteristics of the Great Recession of 2008.

The recovery under President Clinton took unemployment from over seven percent to under four percent. At the beginning of 1997 unemployment was a hair over 5%.

So, the characteristics of the poverty from 1997 to 2007 was very different in regard to work.

So, let's do the math.

In 1997 the population was 267,743,595 with a poverty rate of 13.1 percent. That means 35,074,410 people were in poverty.

In 2010 the USA population was 308,745,538 with a poverty rate of 15.1 percent which leaves 46,620,575 living in poverty. That is a difference of 11,546,165 more people in living in poverty in the USA today. The moral content of the USA is suppose to improve every year on the poverty rate, but, we all know what happened in 2008.

The thing about the S.N.A.P. program and when the country needs it is also related to Cost of Living.

This is the increase in the cost of living between 1997 and 2013. These are official rates according to the Social Security Administration. Benefits to our seniors are determined by this as well as the retired military.

January 1997 -- 2.9% (click here)
January 1998 -- 2.1%
January 1999 -- 1.3%
January 2001 -- 3.5%
January 2000 -- 2.5%
January 2002 -- 2.6%
January 2003 -- 1.4%
January 2004 -- 2.1%
January 2005 -- 2.7%
January 2006 -- 4.1%
January 2007 -- 3.3%
January 2008 -- 2.3%
January 2009 -- 5.8%
January 2010 -- 0.0%
January 2011 -- 0.0%
January 2012 -- 3.6%
January 2013 -- 1.7%

I think this makes the point to justify the continued need for S.N.A.P. There are more poor, there are more unemployed and there are higher costs of living. There is a great injustice and lack of morality in cutting food stamps to our citizens. While there has been complaining about ONE person receiving food stamps that is viewed as a young man in need of a job, that has been the case for decades. Two decades ago the Republicans complained about university students receiving food stamps. No one cared they might have children to support or a degree program to finish that would ultimately benefit the country, they were the lazy ones then.

People that receive food stamps still have to pay for housing, which can be ridiculously expensive for the poor, pay utilities, etc. There is no reason for Republicans to complain about the level of food stamps NEEDED in the USA. They caused it, now, they need to live with it. Two unfunded wars and host to a global economic collapse. The Republicans need to grow up. Their childish tantrums are not appreciated among the adults in the country.

Oh, one other thing, I am tired of hearing the 'slogan' "The Working Poor." It is an oxymoron and should not exist. I don't mean change the words, I mean get rid of the need for them.

Cutting taxes to Wall Street does not create jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A different kind of geography. Complete conflict of interest.

Gov. Rick Snyder's secretive nonprofit foundation is paying for Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr's condominium in a previously undisclosed financial arrangement. Orr and Snyder are shown in July 2013 at the Free Press. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

The NERD fund, as it is called, carries Snyder's signature. The idea Detroit's EM is directed by the Governor while the Governor's friends are paying his rental is corruption. I don't care if Snyder and Orr state they are transparent about everything, the donors to the NERD Fund are unknown and could easily be getting kick backs in the way Orr administers the policies in regard to Detroit. Additionally, there is nothing to say those 'not to be disclosed' are not directing the Governor in what they want out of this venture.

...Snyder’s NERD Fund, (click here) which stands for New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, is footing the rental bill for Orr’s two-room condo at the Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit, Orr spokesman Bill Nowling confirmed.

The NERD Fund, which raises money from private donors who are not legally required to disclose their identities, has come under scrutiny because of its role in funding the governor’s operations. For example, the organization is funding the salary of Snyder adviser Rich Baird, who helped recruit Orr to serve as emergency manager.

And according to e-mails obtained by the Free Press today, Orr made at least one suggestion for funding the EM job back in January, months before he was hired....

...The state’s emergency manager law, known as Public Act 436, says Orr’s “compensation shall be paid by this state” and can be further supplemented by “private funds” provided to the state. It also says “compensation for security personnel will be the obligation of the city.”

Sara Wurfel, a spokeswoman for Snyder, confirmed Monday the NERD Fund has paid $4,200 a month for Orr’s condo since April....

It is corruption, plain and simple. Superfunds. They are a problem.

What Snyder has done with PA436 is basically legalize racketeering.

A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity.

Those involved with Detroit now have to be investigated for conflict of interest as to whether they are involved with the Snyder administration in an inappropriate way. Their financial records will have to be subpoenaed and investigated for donations to 'blind superfund' activity. There is 'probable cause' now.

Surprise was not my first reaction.

By Fakhar ur-Rehman and Mujeeb Ahmed, NBC News

QUETTA, Pakistan -- The death toll (click here) from a powerful earthquake that struck northwest Pakistan rose to at least 327 early Wednesday, authorities said.

The Pakistani military said it had rushed almost 1,000 troops to the area and was sending helicopters in the wake of Tuesday's temblor.

Most of the victims were killed when their houses collapsed. At least 350 people were injured....

This is not as much of a surprise as some might think. (click here) Pakistan is where land mammals were believed to evolve into whale species. There are fossil records to prove it. I am not very surprised to realize a land mass would rise to the surface, it wasn't all that deep to begin with. Pakistan needs to prevent people from entering the island until some archeologists can be found to explore the soils. There is also the possibility this is not a stable island so much as an opportunistic one. It is seismically dangerous.

That all changed with the discovery of a huge trove of fossils (click here) in central Asia (specifically, the country of Pakistan), some of which are still being analyzed and described. These fossils, which date from only 15 to 20 million years after the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, prove that the ultimate ancestors of whales were closely related to artiodactyls, the even-toed, hooved mammals represented today by pigs and sheep....

There are all kinds of geological structures in that area of the ocean, so the fact there was a huge displacement, probably subduction doesn't surprise me. I am sorry to hear so many people died.

The rock doesn't look like basalt, so much as volcanic soil. However, there are some basaltic volcanos in the region, but, they are further south near the Mascarene Plateau.

I think there is a strong indication this seismic activity may have originated deep under India's coastal region.

Northwest Deccan Volcanic Province. It would make complete sense. The energy wave would have moved from the deep reaches of that volcanic layer across the Arabian Sea and into the very spot there was surface effects from it. I'd bet real money on it. I doubt anyone would change my mind about it without conclusive evidence.

This area of Earth is highly seismic due to the fact India is not attached to the Eurasian Plate. As a matter of fact the arrows in the picture below illustrate the chronic movement of India into the Eurasian continent. It is the mass of the continent that stops India from moving more north than it is. India came across the Indian Ocean to slam into the Eurasian Plate a long time ago. That is where the Himalayas came from. There was so much land mass displaced when these two huge land masses collided it pushed the lithosphere upward. There was no place else for it to go.

It all looks right to me.

Imprints of volcanism in the upper mantle beneath the NW Deccan volcanic province (click here)

G. Mohan1,*,

M. Ravi Kumar2,

Dipankar Saikia2,

K.A. Praveen Kumar1,

Pankaj Kumar Tiwari1 and

G. Surve1

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the transition zone discontinuities beneath the northwestern Deccan volcanic province of India through analysis of ∼1000 high-quality receiver functions abstracted from three-component teleseismic waveforms from 428 earthquakes recorded by six broadband stations in the northwestern Deccan volcanic province. Our analysis reveals that the P₄₁₀s and P₆₆₀s time lags are delayed by ∼1 s relative to those predicted by the IASP91 model. A largely unperturbed mantle transition zone, revealed by the transition zone time lag (t_P660s – t_P410s) of 23.83 s, implies that the observed delays are primarily associated with reduced shear velocities in the upper mantle above the 410 km discontinuity. The velocity reduction is likely to be associated with lithospheric thinning coupled with compositional and reduced thermal variations in the shallow upper mantle. Our results contrast with the normal shield-like velocity structure imaged beneath the south-central Deccan volcanic province in an earlier receiver function study. For comparison, a revised composite receiver function plot for the south-central Deccan volcanic province was constructed by employing identical receiver function processing techniques on an updated high-quality data set of 1400 receiver functions from 11 stations, which reaffirms, with better precision, the earlier results. We propose that the relative differences in the lithospheric thicknesses beneath the northwestern and south-central parts of the Deccan volcanic province possibly governed the melting and flow patterns of the upwelling mantle material, resulting in the contrasting seismic signatures. The lithospheric architecture of the northwestern Deccan volcanic province, coupled with the reactivation of preexisting rift systems, appears to have facilitated the eruption of the Deccan basalts, for which source signatures are still retained in the upper mantle.

Banned Book Week

Captain Underpants leads the list. Amazing. It is fairly terrible book about 4th graders that intimidate others through misbehavior. But, ban it? That's silly.

September 22 - 28, 2013 (click here)

The American Library Association has a reporting service.

Online challenge reporting form (click here)

This is discrimination and invasion of privacy.

This practice takes the IRS W-4 and turns into a discriminatory tool. It will ultimately create a hostile employment practice.

Applicants cannot be discriminated against by their marriage status. This is already discriminatory, but, there needs to be a lawsuit filed against UPS to bring their unfair practice to their attention.

UPS won't attack the unionized employees, will they? You betcha.

If there is a way for Wall Street to play with pennies and dimes they'll do it. It doesn't mean it is legal. So, Wall Street is playing with pennies and this is an example.

By David Koenig

August 22, 2013

UPS said it was making (click here) the change because of rising health-care costs and President Obama’s signature health insurance initiative. The company said it considered letting employees pay extra to cover their working spouses but decided that would be difficult to do.
“Since the Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide affordable coverage, we believe your spouse should be covered by their own employer — just as UPS has a responsibility to offer coverage to you,” the company said in a memo to employees....

Brian X. McCrone, PHILLY.COM

Last updated: Tuesday, September 24, 2013, 6:22 PM

A monthlong donation drive for school supplies kicks off Wednesday to help augment teachers and students in Philadelphia schools affected by the city district's large deficit.
Interstate General Media, publisher of philly.com, The Inquirer and The Daily News, is teaming up with Global Citizen, the city-based civic engagement organization, to gather the supplies from public donations through Oct. 25.
Officials with IGM and Global Citizen said Tuesday that the effort is in response to the well-publicized failure by local and state elected officials to close a massive deficit that at one point was roughly $304 million and led to a bare bones opening of Philadelphia's public schools this month. A similar effort by the city is currently underway to raise $500,000 in private donations by Oct. 15.

Brian X. McCrone, PHILLY.COM

Last updated: Tuesday, September 24, 2013, 6:22 PM

Brian X. McCrone, PHILLY.COM

Last updated: Tuesday, September 24, 2013, 6:22 PM

The politics of desperation. Republicans have lost their integrity.

According to a caller at "The Washington Journal" there are many federal employees, not Congressional staff, but federal employees seeking to find new employment due to the politicking of the Republicans. The Republicans have created a roller coaster ride within the USA government and employees are looking to leave.

The furloughs are viewed as a pay cut and the hideous attacks on their benefits are scarey. When this reality is reported to the Congress they are ignored and continue to be at the center of politics rather than valued as federal employees the country depends on.

Here is an absolutely hideous proposal that treats federal employees as toys to constituents. Coburn gives conservative an entirely new definition.

The Huffington Post By Kate Sheppard
Posted 09/12/2013 12:24 pm EDT
Undated 09/12/2013 12:31 pm EDT

...Coburn's proposed amendment (click here) would amend the bill by changing a line that calls for "providing information to employees of the Federal agency on the importance of turning off the lights" at the end of the day to "requiring employees" to turn off the light before they go home...

Federal employees are sincerely effected by the Republican politics. They are at the center of ridicule within the government. The Right Wing is scapegoating the federal employees in order to hold onto their party line.

The Republican constituents are crying because October 1st is coming. Literally crying over established law and this so called landmark date. They believe the filibuster is the only answer to end this law. Seriously. The Republican constituents are brainwashed to think if they can stop the funding as the Waterloo of October 1st. People deeply believe if October 1st comes and the health care exchanges go forward they have lost their democracy. For real. The politics of the Republicans have become that deceptive and dysfunctional. Men are crying over the beginnings of the health care exchanges. It is the most hideous stupidity I have ever heard. There is stupidity and then there is the stupidity of the Republican constituent.

By Kellie Lunney
September 24, 2013

Roughly 800,000 federal civilian employees (click here) would be furloughed if the government shuts down on Oct. 1, according to news reports and data from 2011 -- the last time the government nearly shuttered.
Most federal employees, however, would continue to work if there’s a lapse in appropriations, because the government considers them “essential” workers. The size of the federal workforce, including civilians, Postal Service employees and active-duty service members, is approximately 4.1 million. Of that figure, there are about 1.4 million active-duty military personnel and 2.7 million civilian employees, including the Postal Service.
Active-duty military and about 1.3 million civilian workers are exempt from furloughs in the event of a government shutdown because they have jobs in defense, health care or other areas of national security and/or emergency-related fields. Postal employees also don’t have to worry about unpaid leave because the Postal Service does not depend on annual congressional appropriations.....

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

New Zealand is receiving severe weather.

Overnight windspeeds:

Whangaparoa - 104km/h
Auckland Harbour Bridge - 90km/h
Auckland Airport - 87km/h
Mercury Islands, Hauraki Gulf - 141km/h
White Island - 133km/h
Channel Island, Coromandel - 154km/h
Napier - 72km/h

By Teuila Fuatai
9:51 AM Wednesday Sep 25, 2013

...Auckland Civil Defence (ACD) (click here) said the extreme weather resulted in 65 flood incidents, 39 downed trees and nine damaged properties.
One person had to be evacuated in Wellsford, several roofs had lifted off homes and broken windows were reported, the agency said.
Further south, police confirmed residents had been evacuated from the Tolaga Bay area.
The storm also cut power to hundreds of homes. Lines company Vector said 1200 customers in Oratia and Hunua were without power, down from 6600 during the night....

September 24, 2013
9:00 NZST
Infrared Satellite of New Zealand (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

(click here for 12 hour loop for Australian infrared)

Congress's current approval rating is 18.5 percent with disapproval at 74.2 percent.

Senator Hatch is correct. The so called 'grassroots support' for repealing the Affordable Care Act is divided. They aren't necessarily in no health care law, many are in support of Single Payer. The freshman Senator from Texas has read the tea leaves wrong.

By Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, Sept. 24 2013 4:49 p.m. MDT

Updated: 13 minutes ago

...“Moments (after the luncheon), (click here) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told reporters that he disagreed with Lee's assertions that there is considerable grass-roots support to defund the health-care law,” the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe and Paul Kane wrote.

Specifically, Hatch said, “There’s a lot of people upset on both sides, and I just don’t believe anybody benefits from shutting the government down, and certainly Republicans don’t. … We’re in the minority, we have to find a way of standing up for our principles without immolating ourselves in front of everybody, in a way when we don’t have the votes to do it.”...

When the Republicans used to state, "Repeal and Replace," there were many Americans that the replacement would be Single Payer. They never supported no health care law. The Affordable Care Act is a compromise. It includes the private sector which Single Payer does not. The extremists on the Republican side of the aisle have got it all wrong. They changed their message to "Repeal Obamacare" because they had no intention of replacing it with Single Payer or anything else.

It is unfortunate the political extremists in the Congress are wasting the nation's time and money with chronic politicking. At some point in time a reasonable Senator has to look at the facts and what is best for the country and do the right thing. That sort of reasoning is dearly removed from the dialogue of the country and it would seem the Congress as well.

Senator Cornyn asked, "Why aren't Red State Democrats voting with Republicans on defunding Obamacare?

While Cornyn ponders the question of all questions, there is a reality in Texas he might want to ponder as well.

The number of Texans who lack health insurance is the biggest challenge hospitals face, health care system executives said at a recent panel discussion.
"It's a fundamental challenge for every hospital in Texas," Stephen Mansfield, president and CEO of Dallas-based Methodist Health System, said at a Dallas Business Journal roundtable.
Ultimately, employers are picking up most of the cost for the care of the uninsured, because hospitals shift those costs to those who do have insurance, said Joel Allison, president and CEO of Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System....

Stephen Mansfield, president and CEO of Dallas-based Methodist Health System, said Texas' number of uninsured is the state's biggest health system challenge.

...Texas continued to have the highest rate of people without health insurance in 2012 at 24.6 percent, according to the estimates released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau's Current Population Survey indicated that the national uninsured rate declined in 2012, to 15.4 percent from 15.7 percent in 2011.
Overall, 48 million Americans, including more than 6 million Texans, were uninsured in both 2011 and 2012....

Now, Senator Cornyn needs to ask himself how any COST CONTAINMENT is going to happen in health care if the nation is not insured. As long as the uninsured continue to add costs that most American should not have to pay cost containment cannot happen. Why?

Because the Republicans have measures that enforce profound poverty without a chance at upward movement and LOCKS the health care system in the USA into adding costs to the bill of others in order to survive.

I thought the Republicans wanted the best health care in the world. If they do, under these circumstances, then it is a direct assault on the "ethics of medicine' as less and less will be able to access health care as one hospital after another will close as they can't pay their bills.

One of the complaints about the Affordable Care Act is the surge of patients it will propagate in 2014 putting stress on the American Primary Physician capacity. The Affordable Care Act provides for these reality while building a bigger and better number of Primary Care Physicians in the future.

January 4, 2011
...Starting in 2011, (click here) as many as 10 million Medicaid patients who have at least one chronic condition could have a “health home” to help them manage their condition. An estimated 8 million newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries with at least one chronic condition could have a health home by 2014.

A 10 percent bonus will be paid to primary care practitioners who see Medicare patients (2011–2015).

Payment rates for primary care physicians who see Medicaid patients will be increased to Medicare levels for two years (2013–2014).

The Affordable Care Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the so-called stimulus package) will together support the training of more than 16,000 new primary care providers over the next five years.

The capacity of community health centers will double, serving 15 million to 20 million more people by 2015, to help meet the demand of the newly insured....

Senator Thune calls The Keystone XL Pipeline good USA energy policy.

...Human activities (click here) can also influence climate. The human influence that is most responsible for recent changes in global temperature is the burning of fossil fuels which increases the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane. Increases in greenhouse gases contribute to a general warming of the Earth because as their concentrations increase so does the temperature....

Thune is from South Dakota. He plays footsie with the petroleum industry while South Dakota roasts in the sun. The facts reflected in the newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center are facts and not rhetoric. Thune is completely inappropriate in calling for the Keystone Pipeline to be built in the face of the facts of his own constituency.

...Temperature

Climate records in the High Plains date back well over 100 years, into the 19th century. A look into these historical datasets reveals the variability and trends in climate over time. The trend in average annual temperature for the six-state region shows a warming trend of 1.9°F over the 118-year period analyzed....

The South Dakota Governor's Task Force also includes a mental health component. Ya can't make this stuff up.

SIGNS OF STRESS (click here)

Some common signs of distress are:

Irritability and anger

Feelings of anxiety & worry

Headaches or gastrointestinal complaints

Increased risk-taking behavior

Changes in eating & sleep habits

Increased alcohol or drug use

Forgetfulness

Fatigue

Sense of helplessness

Lack of concentration

Avoidance or denial

Sadness

Farmers and their families should remind themselves that these are common stress reactions and that It is important to recognize that these are normal responses to a difficult situation.Easing Disaster-Related Stress Talk to someone and seek professional help for disaster-related stress. The following are ways to ease disaster-related stress:...

There is a threat of well being to his constituents rattled to the point of high risk behaviors, yet Thune sees no reason to end the idea the Keystone Pipeline will add to the distress of his constituents. He simply doesn't care about the people of his state, he is more interested in crony politics with plenty of money to line his political war chest. He is irresponsible and dismissive. Rather than demanding the Keystone Pipeline and project of this dangerous magnitude be ended, he is advocating for it.

...We activated the South Dakota Drought Task Force (click here) on July 17 to create a formal group to closely monitor weather, precipitation and fire danger and to be responsive to the needs of our farmers, ranchers and other citizens. We cannot change the weather, but we can step up our communications and our information gathering and sharing. The Drought Task Force is the channel through which the communications and information will flow. It brings together all levels of government and all sources of information. Through the Task Force, we can communicate directly with each other, gather the most current and most accurate information available and share that information quickly with our citizens as they respond to drought conditions....

Extension hosts drought management workshops (click here)

13 hours ago

In Hot Springs Oct. 8

BROOKINGS - SDSU Extension will host four Drought Risk Management Workshops for cattle, sheep and other livestock producers. The first of the workshops will take place at the Nature Conservancy’s Whitney Preserve, south of Hot Springs on Cascade Road, on Oct. 8.
The other workshops will occur in Lemmon Oct. 9, in Gettysburg Oct. 10 and in Winner Oct. 11.
Each one-day workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"These workshops are designed for ranchers to help them develop and write drought management and mitigation plans for their own operations," said Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension Climate Field Specialist. "We are planning a hands-on workshop that will give ranchers the tools they need to create a drought plan that fits their own needs and goals."...

Senator Thune can't state there is no Climate Crisis. He entered into crop insurance programs in the Farm Bill.

...I am pleased that key (click here) conservation and crop insurance provisions, which I supported in previous Senate-passed Farm Bills remained strong....

So, the American people get to support South Dakota agriculture when it fails due to anthropogenic Greenhouse Gases, but, they don't have the right to regulate the Greenhouse Gases providing for crop failure. That is talking out both sides of his mouth.

If elected officials play with the USA national treasury by paying off things like crop losses while NOT addressing the problems that cause the crop failures. That is not denial, that is taking with both fists. Thune reaches into the pockets of his petroleum industry cronies while reaching into the USA Treasury to compensate his constituents for the problems the petroleum industry causes.

I have to add here, that while crop insurance ASSISTS farmers with their losses, it does not solve it completely NOR does it provide food for the nation.

Senator Thune is negligent of his constituents to benefit his political aspirations.

98 to 0. His nomination is confirmed.

By Chris Johnson on September 20, 2013
The U.S. Senate (click here) is poised to make history on Tuesday when it may confirm an openly gay man for the first-time ever to a seat on a federal appeals court.
The Senate is set to vote on the confirmation of Todd Hughes, whom President Obama nominated in February, to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
After proceeding to the nomination at 11:15 am, the Senate will engage in up to 30 minutes of equally divided debate prior to the vote. If all time is used, at around 11:45 am, the Senate will vote on the nomination....

This is a historic event. Unfortunately, the first gay nomination was disregarded twice by the Senate.

posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:23pm EST
...Hughes is the second out gay attorney Obama has nominated (click here) for the Federal Circuit. The first, Edward DuMont, was nominated in the 111th Congress and renominated in the 112th Congress, but DuMont withdrew his name when it became clear that his nomination was not going to proceed in the Senate Judiciary Committee....

The fact Mr. DuMont was disregarded twice and ultimately withdrew his nomination only goes to prove there are still decisions made by the US Senate in judicial nominations that are partisan and discriminatory rather than based in qualifications and what is best for the country.

...This hold-up is a shame. (click here) DuMont is eminently well qualified. He has spent years as a top litigator at Wilmer Hale, Sullivan & Cromwell, and the Solicitor General's Office within the Department of Justice. He graduated from Yale, Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude with the highest standing of any humanities student. At Stanford Law School, DuMont graduated with distinction and was honored with membership to the Order of the Coif. After law school, he clerked for conservative thought leader Richard Posner on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit....

This is getting to be a bad habit by the UK.

Is he making an independent film, because, that happens a lot within the USA at border crossings.

Rather than leaving the UK should arrive not just 2 hours ahead of schedule to make it through security, but, 12 hours to allow for detention under oppressive laws. Bring a good book to read, just make sure it's isn't political.

...He was detained under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act (click here) – recently used to controversial effect in the detention of David Miranda – last night (23 September), and questioned about his views on human rights abuses in Yemen.

When he informed the border agent that he did not think his views on the issue were relevant to security, Mr Shibaan was threatened with being detained for the full nine hours available under the law.

Mr Shibaan also works for legal charity Reprieve as project coordinator in Yemen, and visited the UK without being detained earlier this summer. In May this year, he gave testimony to a US Congressional hearing on the impact of the covert drone programme in Yemen....

As of today, when people, like Baraa Shiban, carry out their lives in cooperation with Western Institutions they have to be skeptical to the purpose of the invitation.

Baraa is a Business Administration graduate and was involved with a number of civil society organizations in Yemen from 2006-2011. In 2011, he played a significant role in peaceful demonstrations against the dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh, helping run a media centre in Sana’a’s Change Square.
As Reprieve’s Yemen Project Coordinator he has interviewed witnesses and civilian victims of US airstrikes around Yemen, including people from Rada’a, Khashamir, Wessab, and towns in Ayban and Marib. Baraa speaks Arabic and English.

February of 2011 was the Yemeni Revolution. It was a series of demonstrations following the Tunisani Revolution that would ultimately lead to a change in leadership in Yemen. For the West, Baraa was part of the Arab Spring. There is a movement now in Egypt to reject an extremist group within the country, namely the Muslim Brotherhood. The UK wants to know if Baraa is UNPOPULAR in leading Yemen to democracy. In other words, is he an extremist as if a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The UK wants to discern whether or not the organization(s) he is a member will be causing less democratic stability.

He has a right not to cooperate with the UK. He has to return to his home in Yemen and live to see tomorrow. There is more reason for him to protect his interests in Yemen than inform the UK about his personal views. He is being detained AGAINST HIS BEST INTERESTS.

Detaining Baraa is actually interfering with Yemen sovereignty when it is political in content.

In actuality, this is 'intelligence gathering.' It is an act of aggression against Yemen.