This is just peaceful gatherings.

The people are going to find the need to assert themselves because of the legitimate fear they believe is still their reality. The speech and affirmation should never be interrupted with violence or escalation of fear again.

The sirens are of a hospital. I saw the ambulances there earlier during daylight. People get sick and have emergencies not necessarily connected with any political presence.

In reading some of the news and information in the media there is underlying fear this struggle will continue forever. That has to stop. Inflammatory rhetoric is not nearly appropriate. They have no peace of mind. What kind of government does that to it's people? That level of fear in a society reverberates through the idea their children will have no peace. That kind of fear promotes long lived resistance. The Ukrainian fears are deep seated and will only resolve in time. This won't go on forever, but, stating they are wrong in their assertions in public speech will not resolve anything.

Timoshenko freed. Yanukovych refuses to resign (click here)

The people stood with her and there are now elections set for May. Many died in belief she would bring about peace. She needs to lead in peace and the world should pay attention. 

The United Nations needs to bring in election observers. There should be no lies, no escalation of fear that would lead to greater instability and possible violence. The people are important above any manipulation of the outcome, no matter the outcome.

Elections and the opportunity to be elected needs to be fair and the former Prime Minister needs to be safe in her person from here forward. 

8:30 PM  Peace 

9:15 AM The rally continues. 

Parliament in Ukraine has named its speaker as interim president. (click here)

Oleksandr Turchynov takes charge following the dismissal of President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. Mr Turchynov told MPs they had until Tuesday to form a new unity government.
Parliament also voted to seize Mr Yanukovych's luxury estate near Kiev, which protesters entered on Saturday.
The whereabouts of Mr Yanukovych, who described parliament's decision to vote him out as a coup, remain unclear.
Thousands of opposition supporters remain in Independence Square, where the atmosphere is described as calm... 

There was some violence in Kharkiv, the second largest city in the Ukraine. Those causing the violence can't tolerate the light of day. They moved to where cameras can't see them.

EuroMaidan in Kharkiv gets attacked (click here)
Feb. 23, 2:35 a.m. In Kharkiv EuroMaidan rally was attacked by unknown men. The men drove two cars into the crowd of anti-government protesters and started shooting, reports local news website ATN. The people ran to the building of the governor's office to hide. At least two are wounded. -- Olga Rudenko

I would expect citizens of Ukraine to be angry with the former President Yanukovych, but, they should not act against him. They are more civilized than that and willing to honor the findings of the parliament and courts. If he has committed abuses of power and human rights abuses he needs to stand trial.

3 hours ago

Parliament has voted to seize President Yanukovych's luxury estate near Kiev, (click here) which protesters entered on Saturday.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse visited the retreat and described seeing tennis courts, a boxing ring and the presidential sauna.
Watch the full report on Newsnight, BBC Two, Monday, 22:30 GMT

The statues of Lenin are left over from the time the Ukraine was "Soviet Ukraine" and a vital part of the Soviet Union. Even Russia has at times wanted to remove Lenin from his display in the mausoleum. But, the building was renovated and reopened last year. Soviet Ukraine was second only to Russia within the USSR. It was a strong economic engine. When one examines the credentials of most of the professionals in the Ukraine, regardless of their trade they have economic educations in tandem. 

22 February 2014 Last updated at 15:06 GMT

Protesters have toppled statues (click here) of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin in various Ukrainian cities.
The latest footage shows protesters destroying statues in Bila Tserkva, Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr.
When anti-government protests erupted in Kiev in December, protesters toppled a Lenin statue in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
 

When Human Rights fighters are victims the commitment to their cause becomes enamored in history.

There has to be a commitment by Europe and the USA to be vigilant and prevent such problems in the Ukraine again. These are good people and they only want their lives in an order they understand and love.

There is simply no reason for tensions between Russia and The West that encompasses countries in need of stability and good economies. Every power of The West and Russia should be able to find success in their economies and welcome in their tourism. These tensions have to end. If The West and Russia were more partners than they have been, the negotiations for peace would be far more smooth and affable than they are today. Cause and effect. The more hostile the politics within the USA, the more other nations believe they will find that tone of their relationships and even to fear.

The West states they believe when extremists in Iran refer to the Holocaust as a lie that justifies the removal of Israel to return to Palestine; however, The West believes their words to be saintlike and above such scrutiny by other nations. The world has had enough and this is proof of the discord and the problems no nation can afford.

Yury Vebytsky is as much a victim of negligence of The West as hatred of others. We need peace in this world, not more of this.

24.01.14
 
Yury Verbytsky, murdered EuroMaiden protester (click here)

On Jan 24 thousands of people in Lviv attended the funeral of Yury Verbysky, a Lviv seismologist and EuroMaidan protester whose mutilated body was found in the Boryspil forest outside Kyiv on Wednesday.  He had been abducted from the Oleksandrov hospital by unidentified men, together with the well-known journalist and civic activist Ihor Lutsenko.  

Whoever is behind his death, it is clear from Lutsenko’s account that he was particularly badly beaten because he was from Lviv.  The current regime has been assiduously pushing dangerously primitive stereotypes of people from Western Ukraine, and particularly Lviv, as being “Bandera supporting”, which is generally accompanied by words like “facist”....

Closing ceremonies are tomorrow. Time has passed quickly, but, one again the medal count has changed.

Norway is holding on the most number of gold medals, but, Russia has now surpassed Canada, the USA and Germany.

The commentary began with Bob Costas being out front in stating the snowboarding competition was a jackass sport. Why deprive him the last of the commentary?

February 22, 2014 (AP)
By DAVID BAUDER 
AP Television Writer

TOUGH STUFF: (click here) Bob Costas' sharp, if jarring, commentary Friday changed the narrative for those who thought NBC ignored or displayed a naive attitude about the world outside of the Olympic Village. The NBC host noted how Ukrainian athletes at the games were showing their concern for their country's political unrest, and tied what was going on there to Vladimir Putin's Russia. Costas said the Sochi Olympics had gone off better than many people feared going in, "all of which is truly wonderful, but should not serve to obscure a harsher or more lasting truth. This is still a government which imprisons dissidents, is hostile to gay rights, sponsors and supports a vicious regime in Syria — and that's just a partial list." While the games' may burnish Putin's reputation in some eyes, "no amount of Olympic glory can mask these realities," he said....

Privatizing law enforcement. Who are these companies customers? Mass public surveillance? You've got to be joking.

This is a front for privatization of government. The police and any other law enforcement agency as they currently exist don't need this. They already have all the information they need at their fingertips in their police cruisers. This is among the first steps to privatize government and take civil rights away from citizens.

Vigilant Solutions (click here) creates intelligence by merging previously disparate data sets such as fixed and mobile license plate recognition, public records, facial recognition, and more. Vigilant’s LEARN Intelligence Network provides an easy to use and intuitive interface to all of this information for unmatched investigative capability in a secure, hosted environment to reduce demands on agency IT resources and to facilitate nationwide interoperability and data sharing. 

Currently, if private security officers run into suspicious circumstances they have to at the very least call the local police to officially apprehend criminals. This is among the first steps to remove the authority of government and place it in the hands of private agencies and private courts.

"The Free Capitalist Network" (click here)

"If all government is inefficient then it might as well be abolished correct? However, if we have private courts, wont the courts be influenced by the one who pays the most money? I know that this is probably the same with state courts, but how would a private system of courts be better than a government system of courts?"

What makes anyone believe this is a foolproof method of finding a Vehicle Indentification Number (VIN). What will happen here is that the criminals are already ahead of the game and will find an identical vehicle and swap license plates. The game of chance will go on forever and the victims will be the innocent. 

These systems are Sci-Fi, impractical, expensive and an ultimate burden to consumers. This is ridiculous. 

Utah: Repo Men Sue To Overturn Private License Plate Reader Ban (click here)
 Repossession industry claims free speech rights in bid to photograph and track license plates in Utah.Private companies that spy on motorists are suing the state of Utah over a law that limits commercial use of automated license plate readers (ALPR, also known as ANPR in Europe). The firms Digital Recognition Network Inc and Vigilant Solutions told the US District Court for the District of Utah that they have a First Amendment right to photograph motorists, identify the vehicle and record the time and GPS coordinates in a searchable database accessible to clients nationwide.

Digital Recognition Network (DRN) mounts license plate reader cameras on tow trucks so it can distribute the collected data to "clients and partners," usually repossession firms and collection agencies. In Utah, Swift Towing, American Automotive Recovery, Inner Global Recovery and Repros Recovery together spent $120,000 buying license plate reader cameras from the firm. Vigilant Solutions typically offers information from these cameras to law enforcement agencies....

Where does the data come from for these privacy invasion industries? The industry claims they don't use police or FBI or CIA records that might be available through MetaData or otherwise, but, through their own SURVEILLANCE.

Digital Recognition Network (DRN) (click here) is a data and analytics provider that drives measurable business value for the Financial Services, Insurance and Asset Recovery industries. Leveraging our data and services on a real-time basis, our clients more effectively optimize their portfolios, reduce losses, detect fraud, and manage risk. 

Innocent people are being surveyed on a regular basis as they go about their own business and put into computer storage systems to be tracked by private industry. Where is my life did I ever give government or private industry the right to invade my privacy to track any of my activities?

The government and/or private industry has NO RIGHT and is operating unconstitutionally within the USA in regard to private citizens' rights to privacy. Such mass surveillance is AGAINST the law without proper authority through the courts.

Amendment XIV

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

So, therefore, private information companies operating today are doing so illegally through mass collection of information.

North Carolina has a dire environmental air and water quality problem.

It has existed and the laws in North Carolina primarily favor the hazards to citizens then effect the profits of the company. The politicians have been so very successful in lying about that reality the rhetoric is legendary.

Bird’s Eye View of Coal Ash (click here)

Coal contains heavy metals by its very nature. Heavy metals are toxic and oftentimes, a little dab will do ya. For example, just one teaspoon’s worth of mercury can contaminate a 20 acre lake to the extent that the fish become contaminated enough that they can become unsafe to eat.

When coal is burned for electricity, heavy metals are concentrated in the resultant coal ash (known more technically as “coal combustion waste”). Heavy metals of concern include but are not limited to arsenic, lead, mercury, manganese, and selenium. Each of these heavy metals can have differing negative effects on the body.... 

The liars are real and the lies manufactured as if true. The federal EPA need to have a presence among the environmental groups in NC and dispel the lies, otherwise the danger to citizen lives will go on forever. 

This display of solidarity with Duke Energy's Mr. Everett is proof enough the government is corrupt to the core and willing to lie along with companies to insure their profits. North Carolina needs a truth teller and the only authority left that needs to stand exactly in the same place as Everett is here are Federal authorities. Federal regulators and EPA need to speak directly to the NC legislature AND have it televised to the people of the state.

The environmental groups need to be stated BY NAME, have them present as a citizen has the right to attend legislative sessions, highly praised while stating they are correct and have been vigilant the entire time. It has to be said they are to be known to be accurate reporters of the environmental circumstances the people face. The citizens of North Carolina have truth tellers in their environmental groups that are far too numerous to list here.

The truth will be valued by those that believe lying is a sin. 

George Everett, Director of Environmental and Legislative Affairs for Duke Energy, center front, explains what measures Duke Energy took following a coal ash spill into the Dan River from one of their facilities during the N.C. Legislature's Environmental Review Commission meeting Monday morning in the Legislative Office Bldg. in Raleigh, Feb 17, 2014. Above him is a photo of the site. The lawmakers heard from Duke Energy, state officials with DENR and the Division of Water Resources and the public on the accident.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/17/3630919/nc-lawmakers-get-update-on-duke.html#storylink=cpy

By John Murawski

jmurawski@newsobserver.com

February 17, 2014  

RALEIGH — State environmental regulators and a Duke Energy executive (click here) assured state lawmakers Monday that Duke’s accidental spewing of tons of coal ash into the Dan River poses no immediate threat to public health.
The hastily scheduled hearing was the first update lawmakers had received on the environmental accident, but it offered few specifics on how and when North Carolina will go about cleaning up the river and preventing other coal ash accidents.
The N.C. Environmental Review Commission, consisting of House and Senate legislators, heard nearly three hours of statements on the spill in Rockingham County that has resulted in a public warning not to eat fish from the Dan River and nationally televised images of a grayish, batter-like goop clogging the waterway that winds through the North Carolina-Virginia border....

DALLAS — A Texas Army post (click here) has razed the building where a former psychiatrist carried out one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, with plans to put up trees and a memorial in its place.

Fort Hood officials said Tuesday they have torn down Building 42003, the site of a 2009 massacre that left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded....

...The building was sealed off for nearly four years until post officials announced in November that they would demolish it.

Fort Hood officials, who declined to be interviewed, plan to place trees, a gazebo and a memorial plaque at the site....

The violence in Venezuela has been building over the past week.

19/02 18:16 CET

A 22-year-old student (click here) from the central city of Valencia in Venezuela died on Wednesday after being shot in the head during an anti-government demonstration, her family said.
Genesis Carmona, who was studying tourism and was also a local beauty queen, was shot during a demonstration on Tuesday.
She is one of six victims of the political unrest that has gripped the South American country since imprisoned protest leader Leopoldo Lopez urged supporters to keep fighting for the departure of the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Security forces and protesters fought throughout Venezuela on Thursday in streets blocked by burning barricades....

I guess jail was a safe place for him.

REUTERS
Published: Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 3:05 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 1:52 PM

Venezuelan security forces arrested (click here) opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas.
Crowds of white-clad protesters stood in the way of the vehicle carrying the 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist after he made a defiant speech, said an emotional farewell to his family, and gave himself up to soldiers.
The vehicle eventually reached a military base.
Opposition leaders hope Lopez's arrest will galvanize street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, though there is no immediate sign the protests will topple the socialist leader.
"I am handing myself over to an unfair justice system," the protest leader told supporters, standing on a platform next to a statue of Cuban poet and independence hero Jose Marti....

Here too, demonstrations turned violent by confrontation and the Venezuelan President stated the violence was necessary. Some of the decent was predictable simply because President Chavez had died. It opened up the possibility other interests had a chance to move into power. That just happens because of a release of tensions in a population. Chavez was not really hated by the people.

By William J. Dobson
February 20, 2014
...As startling as the violence itself (click here) was the fact that the government gave no warning or explanation in advance. In a rambling national address earlier that day, President Maduro spoke of the need for peace—then praised the work of paramilitary thugs and promised to target members of Popular Will, a leading opposition party. Its leader, Leopoldo Lopez, was spending his second night in a military prison, after surrendering himself to authorities on Tuesday to face trumped-up charges implicating him for the death of three Venezuelans at protests. Even if Lopez, one of the opposition’s best-known leaders, is imprisoned, Maduro isn’t acting like the man with the upper hand. In his remarks Wednesday, he seemed erratic and unsure of himself, which only fuels rumors that he may have diminishing control over the state and its security forces....

It is the brute force of the current president that is the problem. He is using it against unarmed citizens. President Maduro was next in line after Chavez. I am quite sure while President Chavez was ill, Maduro ruled in the nation. I think he didn't expect this considering he was well known. The protests and uprising is somewhat new to him. He needs to temper his response.

Defection is the wrong word.

By James Novogrod

KIEV, Ukraine - About 40 police officers defected (click here) to Ukraine's opposition and marched into the heart of the protest encampment in the Kiev on Friday, the day after violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces killed dozens....

The police have not turned against the country, they have joined their countrymen. They love their country and they hate the conflict. I am quite sure having police stand with any protesters calms the issue. I think the police are very wise to stand up for their oath to the Ukrainian people.

To say police defected makes the protesters sound criminal and illegitimate. They have clear ideas about their lives and their country and those ideas were violated and people sacrificed their lives to commit to that understanding. To say the police defected is to say they are wrong and they aren't. 

It was the police that stated there are other officers sniping innocent people. It is honest and honorable to bring the truth to unjustified deaths. 

The USA has a Russian prisoner without taking care of his health? Excuse me?

Perhaps he needs a transfer to a federal facility outside of Fort Dix. Fort Dix? The military instillation? He probably needs to be transferred and his family provided access to at least speak to him. He needs to be in a federal civilian prison where they actually respect human rights.

19.02.2014 
...Nothing has been said (click here) about the results of the examination. Meanwhile, said the lawyer, the attitude towards the Russian citizen has worsened. " As Konstantin Yaroshenko told me on the phone, they look at him like tigers," said Tarasov.

The pilot's health deteriorated over two weeks ago. The man gasps and suffers from strong pains in the heart. He has high temperature and high blood pressure....

He has something to do with Victor Bout?

...It all started in the late-1990s, (click here) when the U.S. government launched an investigation into the activities of the Russian businessman Victor Bout. George W. Bush in 2006 froze Bout's assets, arguing that the activities of the Russian businessman threatened the implementation of the American foreign policy in the Congo. In 2008 representatives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement under the guise of Colombian rebels offered Bout to meet in Bangkok. The meeting had to do with a possibility of making a transaction for the supply of modern weapons. During the call, records incriminating Bout were made that later become evidence in court. On March 6, 2008, Thai police arrested Bout at Sofitel Silom Road Hotel. He was accused of providing assistance to Colombian terrorists that the American agents were disguised as....

This was supposed to be a case of cocaine for payment of military arms. I don't appreciate the neglect and cruelty. That isn't suppose to happen in the United States. Why is he in a military prison? That makes no sense to me.

...“It’s good that we could meet with him (click here) after three written requests to the authorities. We talked for two hours and we had no time limitations,” the Russian Consul General Igor Golubovsky said, as quoted by Interfax news agency.
“Judging simply from Konstantin Yaroshenko’s appearance, it was visible that he has suffered from a serious infection, which has exacerbated the chronic illness he already had. Thanks to concerted efforts, the administration of Fort Dix prison finally turned its attention to the numerous written and verbal requests from Russian diplomats to provide him with medical assistance,” reported Russia’s Vice Consul in New York, Egor Ivanov, who was part of the delegation that visited Yaroshenko in prison.... 

Afghan weapons? That might explain Fort Dix. Odd, Russia was out of Afghanistan by 1988. So, like, ah, what is this all about?
 
Viktor Bout made his first major foray into the weapons business in 1995...

...The Afghan weapons contracts (click here) were dauntingly large. “They were faced with war, they needed us badly,” Mirchev said. I asked him about the scale of the shipments. “How many tons?” he said. “I never calculated tons. I calculated money. It was huge.” And, for Bout, it was just the beginning: within five years, he would be known as the world’s preëminent arms trafficker....

Afghan civil war, Battle of Kabul, right? 1992-1996. That might be an issue for some. Well, there it is. How stupid little wars are fueled with illegal arms and drugs. Yep.

War in Afghanistan spawned a global narco-terrorist force (click here)

by Jeffrey Steinberg

...The new terrorist international—built around the mujahideen veterans of the 1979-89 Afghan War—is responsible for such terrorist incidents as the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. And British intelligence-controlled operatives, such as Lord William Rees-Mogg's underling Dr. Jack Wheeler, who were actively involved in the recruitment and training of the Afghani mujahideen, were implicated before the fact in the April 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which claimed 168 lives. The Afghani mujahideen are the primary force carrying out the irregular warfare destabilization of France, since the election of Jacques Chirac as President, and France's ensuing break with the British "Entente Cordiale."...

They just don't know how to leave it alone. Now, someone want to tell me why there is such profound hatred between Russia, Europe and the USA? Tell me it actually makes sense. Any war is a good war, so long as it a war.

...A broad spectrum of nations—from Britain and Israel, to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, China, and even Iran—would collectively contribute an equal amount of money.
According to one well-placed U.S. intelligence source, the combined Medellín and Cali Cartel contribution to the Afghan mujahideen was $10-20 billion!...

Very odd bedfellows. "Just say no," while the USA looks the other way for their war buddies.

...The men from Medellin (click here) joined together with a young marijuana smuggler named Carlos Lehder, who convinced the leaders that they could fly cocaine in small airplanes directly into the United States, avoiding the need for countless suitcase trips. The large quantities and the growing appetite for cocaine in the United States led to huge profits, which the cartel began re-investing into more sophisticated labs, better airplanes and even an island in the Caribbean where the planes could refuel....

The American people forget how corrupt their government has been. Then, of course, there is no reason to fear NSA surveillance or drones. This isn't Anti-American anything, it is fact. The USA has not had a noble profile when it comes to confrontational policy. The problem with Konstantin Yaroshenko is that a nation uninvolved in the corruption caught the Russian red handed and the USA decided it was in it's best interest to handle it. 

...And their business thrived. When cocaine use in the United States began to drop, they began shipping more and more into Europe and Asia. The leaders are thought to own huge swaths of land in Colombia, along with dozens of very successful legitimate businesses. The Cali leaders were astute businessmen and they invested heavily in political protection. In the past ten years, both the former president of Colombia, Ernesto Samper and hundreds of Congressmen and Senators have been accused of accepting campaign financing from the Rodriguez Orejuala brothers....

Confrontational policy is met with confrontational policy. Just that simple. If the confrontational nonsense would end, the tensions would end as well and incidents as happened in the Ukraine would never occur. Non-proliferation is a good scapegoat for 'we really do want peace in the USA' while it parks missile ships and star wars technology at Russia borders. Will it ever end?

The USA creates it's own problems and then decent men like Obama inherit the mess handed to him by zealots.

Look, if these folks were caught up in drug wars and illegal gun trade they deserve to be in prison, but, they don't deserve to be mistreated. 

Ukraine wins Gold in the Women's 4 X 6 Relay

Silver went to Russia and Bronze to Norway.

Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) signs an EU-mediated peace deal between Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders, aiming to end a violent standoff that has left dozens dead and opening the way for a early presidential election this year, at the presidential headquarters in Kiev February 21, 2014. (Reuters)

16:37 GMT: (click here)
The Ukrainian parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) has voted in favor of a bill that will allow the release from jail of the former Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.
310 MPs have voted to decriminalize the article of the Ukrainian law defining the charges under which Timoshenko is serving her term. The former Ukrainian PM was sentenced to 7 years in prison for abuse of office during the signing of the January 2009 natural gas imports contract with Russia. 

17:14 GMT:

Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a resolution aimed at granting aide to protesters and families of the victims who died or were injured during the unrest, according to the parliament’s website. According to the Health Ministry’s figures, at least 77 people have died in Kiev since February 18, while 581 have sought medical aid and 371 have been hospitalized. 

There is an assassin loose in Kiev. People need to take shelter.

Latest
18.45...Like dozens of other Ukrainians on Thursday, (click here) she had fallen prey to one of the snipers prowling Independence Square in Kiev. With infinite care and precision, this unknown marksman had taken aim beneath Miss Zhukovska’s protective helmet and fired one round clean through her neck.

February 21, 2014 (click here)

Total delays today:  7,610

Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today:  3,786

Total cancellations today:  1,007

Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today:  811

As delays progress through the day the misery escalates. 

 Wind Map (click here)

Below Actual Temp. Map
 

Weather Channel
24 hour temperature change map 
February 21, 2014
1107 gmt

Get in touch with the impoverishment of the American worker.

In 2012, 75.3 million workers (click here) in the United States age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 59.0 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.6 million earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 2.0 million had wages below the federal minimum.

Together, these 3.6 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 4.7 percent of all hourly paid workers. Tables 1 through 10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2012 data.

Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over.... 

Limits on Teenage Workers

Ages 14 and 15: During the school year, hours are limited to 3 hours a day and 18 hours a week. On days when there's no school and in the summer, working hours increase to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. There are limits on no later than 7 p.m. during the school year and no later than 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.

Ages 16 and 17: There's no limit on hours, but, if under 18 you can't work in a job that the Labor Department considers hazardous. 

Common jobs teenagers work (click here): 

Camp Counselor, Golf Caddy, Retail Sales, Food Service, Internships, Life Guard, Nanny, Housekeeping, Landscaping, Tutoring

There is nearly no overlap between the Americans working for minimum wage and the jobs teenagers seek. The minimum wage increased to $10.10 will finally provide a living wage to a majority of those that work in that stalemated income. It has nothing to do with youth labor. McDonald's or any of those fast food joints and the big box stores don't hire teenagers during school hours and dearly few less than age 16 years old. The big box stores pride themselves on maintaining longevity of their employees, that means they seek people with families to hire. In realizing that the big box stores advocate poverty for Americans. This is a ridiculous argument to oppress American workers further.

A History of Advancement, An Opportunity to Succeed (click here) 

For tens of thousands of people every year, a job at Walmart opens the door to a better life. We offer competitive wages, good benefits and the chance to grow and build a career. 

We're proud to offer jobs at all levels, including some entry-level jobs ... because entry level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. At Walmart, you can climb the ladder from a stocker or a cashier to a department manager, a store manager, and beyond. Depending on the time of year, there are 15,000 - 50,000 job openings at Walmart. In the U.S., the average, full-time hourly wage is $12.81.

It is time to raise the majority of Americans out of poverty. 

Riding the coattails of weed.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Inside the Green Cross (click here) medical marijuana dispensary, ‘Girl Scout cookies’ are one of the most popular types of pot for sale. Now, the real ones are also being sold outside.
“It has gone viral at this point, I think,” said Green Cross spokesperson Holli Bert.
Bert says a 13-year-old scout named Danielle put up a table outside the pot club Monday. The cookies sold very quickly.
“After 45 minutes she had to call for reinforcement cookies…back-ups,” recalled Bert. “Her mother was quoted as saying that she sold about 117 boxes in 2...

The UN Secretary General seeks additional peacekeepers for the Central African Republic.

1:45 AM Saturday Feb 22, 2014

 

ATHENS, Greece (AP) European Union (click here) defense ministers say EU peacekeepers are expected to arrive in the Central African Republic in early March to help stop the sectarian violence that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and forced nearly 1 million people to flee.
Greek Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos says the EU peacekeeping force's command center will be in Larissa, Greece. The 28-nation bloc plans to send at least 500 troops.
Avramopoulos spoke Friday after a two-day meeting of EU defense ministers in Athens.
About 1,600 French troops and 6,000 African peacekeepers already are deployed to deter bloodshed between the Muslim minority and Christian majority in the Central African Republic, a country of 4.6 million people that's roughly the size of Texas. France says it plans to deploy 400 more soldiers soon.

The BBC's Kassim Kayira joins 2,000 escapees on the dangerous journey to safety

20 February 2014 Last updated at 13:13 ET
 

Families wanting to escape Christian militias (click here) bent on wiping out the Central African Republic's Muslim community have been braving lynch mobs at road blocks to journey 650km (400 miles) to Cameroon.

They join a monthly convoy that snakes to and from Cameroon's border from the capital, Bangui - guarded by African Union peacekeepers.

“Start Quote Should I stay to see my children and husband or myself get killed?”  

Mariama Muslim woman fleeing Bangui

It is a form of ethnic cleansing in motion.

"I feel so sad leaving. I have never left this country before, says Mariama, a Muslim woman, before she boarded one of the vehicles as it prepared to leave Bangui.
"But four of my relatives were killed last week."
The old and the young were all rushing about her towards the vehicles - a mix of private cars and big trucks - to find a space to take them to safety....

News Corp CEO obsessed with display of wealth.

February 21, 2014 - 2:07PM

News Corporation (click here) chairman Rupert Murdoch has agreed to buy the top four floors of a condominium tower near Manhattan's Madison Square Park for $US57.3 million ($63.7 million).
Murdoch, 82, went into contract to purchase two units at One Madison, a triplex penthouse spanning the 58th to 60th storeys and another full-floor apartment beneath it, his spokesman, Steven Rubenstein, said....

Adelina Sotnikova out performed the other competition in Women's Figure Skating. No comparison.

The defending champion put in a beautiful performance, but, took no risks.

Who gets the killing Wall Street or the US Pentagon?

Privatizing Bandwidth has to be for peaceful purposes ONLY!

By David Alexander and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:46pm GMT
 

(Reuters) - The Pentagon (click here) said on Thursday it was working to find ways to share more of its reserved airwaves with commercial wireless companies that need greater bandwidth for smartphone and tablet users, but it declined to elaborate on how much it might vacate.

The Pentagon's communications chief, Teri Takai, said the department was working "very closely" with key federal agencies to reach President Barack Obama's goal of making 500 megahertz of airwaves reserved for federal agencies available to telecommunications companies over the next decade.


Air Force Major General Robert Wheeler said the Pentagon believed the "best plan for the future" would be a combination of the military vacating parts of the spectrum, sharing other parts with industry and compressing communications in some cases to make more space available.

"That's how we're going forward with it," he told a Pentagon news conference. "It also depends on what industry needs. ... So there's basically a combination."

The remarks by Takai and Wheeler came as they unveiled a strategy to help the data-hungry U.S. military adapt to increasing commercial and national security demands for airwaves as the government seeks to reach Obama's goal....

Norway is holding on to first place in earning Gold Medals. However, there was a far greater shake up yesterday as Germany has been passed by Canada and the USA.

The Woman's Ice Hockey was an incredible come back by Canada. The last minute goal by Canada toward the end of the Gold Medal event returned moment to the team and they dominated overtime. 

The ice skating events have proven to the youth of most of the competitors. There are many skaters on the ice at the level of the Olympics for the first time. This years ice skaters will prove to be well matured by the time 2018 rolls around.

The Women's Bobsled event was a wonderful surprise for the USA taking both silver and bronze. 

France swept the medals in Men's Ski Cross. World champion Jean-Frederic Chapuis took gold, Arnaud Bovolenta won silver and Jonathan Midol captured bronze in one of the most exciting events on the Olympic calendar. A single country sweep of medals hasn't occurred since the Summer games of 1924 in men's gymnastics.

A photo finish was necessary with incredible competition in Nordic combined. Norway put in a heroic effort that closed a 25 second gap at the finish line.

Jack de Menezes
February 21, 2014

Ukrainian skier Bogdana Matsotska (click here) has announced that she has withdrawn from the Winter Olympics in Sochi in order to protest against the violence in her home country after the International Olympic Committee banned athletes from wearing a black armband ion tribute.

The 24-year-old, who has already finished 27th in the women’s super-G and 43rd in the giant slalom, was expected to compete in Friday’s slalom competition, but Matsotska has confirmed that she will not compete due to the IOC’s ruling following the violent and tragic clashes in Kiev.

 “We wanted to wear black armbands to mourn the people who have died in Kiev, but the IOC told us it was not allowed,” Bogdana Matsotska said. “In these conditions it is simply not possible to compete. We don't feel comfortable here and we can't compete.”...

The best of curling occurred yesterday with Sweden and Canada. The tough competitors battled to the end, but, Canada walked away with a 6-3 victory for the Olympic Gold.

The Half-Pipe still belongs to an American in the women's competition where Maddie Bowman won gold, France's Marie Martinod took silver and Ayana Onozuka of Japan won bronze. This new competition has been embraced internationally.