Maybe the USA simply needs to allow hydraulic fracturing for jobs in the face of landslide potential and deaths to other Americans, right? Profits prevail.

Appalachian Ohio, shaded in grey, shown within Appalachia.

State geologists in Ohio (click here) have for the first time linked earthquakes in a geologic formation deep under the Appalachians to gas drilling, leading the state to issue new permit conditions in certain areas that are among the nation's strictest.

When conservationists, environmentalists and concerned citizens speak out it isn't for politics, it is about survival. Now, why is this form of survival different from that or the right wing survivalists?

The land rush in The West is over.

Aerial views of the cattle in question (click here).

To begin with where does anyone get the idea the cattle were doing well? Beef cattle are suppose to have protruding hip bones? To the left is a picture of grass fed Herefords. It looks like this is the breed involved.

In the video it is completely obvious these cattle are looking for water. Hence, enters the issue of who is allowed to use the water and whom is not.

Easily noted in the video is also the FACT the land has been overgrazed and the hoof prints alone dictate the trampling of any form of grassland. There is a lot of erosion of those lands carrying soil and sediment into the water.

There are reasons why Bureau of Land Management is called "land management." It inspects public lands regularly to determine whether or not it is vital enough to support grazing. In that reality is also the fact the integrity of the land also supports watersheds, creeks, lakes and rivers. The land in this instance is so degraded the runoff is laden with soil and making the waters brown. That means the waters flowing in this video would have to be assessed for sediment content and very likely in need of dredging. But, why spend the money on dredging if the vegetation of the land which holds the soil is absent and not likely to return because of the chronic trampling of cattle that has no right to be there.

This scenario is not about the rights of one man, his family and cows. It is about politics of The West and the activism of gun owners who have been convinced the government is evil and taking away their rights. 

The USA government cannot tell farmers and ranchers how to carry out their businesses, but, it can advise and try to improve their circumstances. That means there is rotation of cattle or sheep or Alpacas for that matter off the land into areas that have been sufficiently rested to return to it's vital nature.

The other aspect of this is the climate crisis. These lands are parched and the water levels very low. It might be as this summer approaches those cattle would not have survived anyway as drought would reduce any form of water, flowing or otherwise.

There are Brown and Black Herefords. 

One other thing, there is very little discussion by the activists about what and why there are leases. The USA government manages land the people own. When private enterprise uses lands owned by the people they have to obtain leases. There is twenty years of squatting that has damaged the land and impacted watersheds. Where was the honor in running cows on lands owned by the people without proper leases? Leases are a real way for government to make money and pay it's bills.

Right wing activists love to state the "Greenies" in the USA are lazy, law breakers and the list of adjectives is lengthy. But, when one of their own is breaking the law it is the heavens of god's good graces working within their activism. Double standards exist throughout this culture and it serves as a danger to federal employees and innocent people alike.

Nevada rancher takes on the Uncle Sam gang of cattle rustlers (click title to entry)

Now, the agents of the federal government are being called, "The Uncle Sam Gang" and akin to cattle rustlers as stated by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

The First Amendment protest area have been dismantled. The government extended itself in ways it never has before in supporting citizens with political agendas requiring recognition.

There was a very clear reason the federal agents enforcing a judge's order were armed.

The presence of the agents alone was a victory. Nothing short of an act of bravery and some might say suicide.

The right wing is calling this Ruby Ridge? Really? No, it is not. Not even close.

Ruby Ridge is used as an excuse by the gun nuts.

This is a matter of 'is there government and governance' or not?  This is what guns have done to the nation, The West and the lives of citizens. There are these faux scenarios of government taking over that runs through the culture which creates the arms trade for military style weapons in the USA. Are American citizens suppose to be able to arm themselves into a nation separate from it's sovereignty? Will the American government ever lead scenarios of citizen murder?

The answer to both is no. The people should not be propagandized to believe they are facing an out of control government that will take their lives, property and well being. If anything, the people have more power in this case than any government entity and have and that is the problem. This mess has existed for twenty years. Twenty years of anarchy due to the high level of gun presence in The West. Twenty years of squatting allowed because of the militarization of the citizenry of The West. 

Militias are illegal in the USA when it poses a danger to others. This culture has existed and chronically threatens the lives of federal employees seeking only to carry out 'The Rule of Law.' These are anarchists believing they are in control of their rights and only them and they have every right to pick up their weapons and threaten the lives of agents. I don't think so.

The likelihood of this escalating out of control is highly unlikely. Today is a different age than Ruby Ridge as well. I am not going to argue Ruby Ridge all over again, but, there are varying views in regard to the actions of agents sworn to carry out the law. These citizen militias are not justified in any way in this matter. 

The entire actions by federal agents carrying out the law was litigated to the full extent of Due Process and these folks are simply breaking the law by brute force. They are as much a danger to our democracy as any aspect of this case. The courts don't discriminate in favoritism of cultures with intent to break federal laws and threaten the lives of our agents. The courts see to the legal authority of the government and the people within these militias do not respect the law or our democracy.

This is the face of the NRA and other gun organizations. Take a good long look.

The issues surrounding land and water will become more difficult as time goes by with the climate crisis. This reaction to a challenge to anarchy is not only important, but, only states how entrenched people are already. The USA military has stated water will become a driving force for national security. Well. Here it is. 

The USA military is not coming. The aggressive nature of the USA government is not going to start a war in The West. 5000 people are not going to die as an example of a dictatorship. This will resolve.

Showdown On The Range: Nevada Rancher, Feds Face Off Over Cattle Grazing Rights (click here)

Posted: Apr 11, 2014 4:52 PM EST Updated: Apr 11, 2014 4:52 PM EST 

 

(CNN) -- A 20-year dispute between a Nevada rancher and federal rangers over illegal cattle grazing erupted into an Old West-style showdown on the open range this week, even prompting self-proclaimed members of militia groups from across the country to join the rancher in fighting what they say is U.S. "tyranny."
What began as a legal fight between longtime rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has escalated as Bundy kept his cattle on the federal land, and the government has responded by beginning roundups of the livestock....

Hypothetical mass murder preparedness.

Imagine there is a catastrophic event such as a Category Six hurricane. No current hurricane or typhoon on Earth has been measured at Cat Six status to date. The storms we are seeing in the Pacific, the Super Typhoons, are pushing up against that possibility of a new Cat Six storm. The possibility of that occurring pushes the tensile strength of water vapor, but, the measurements are definitely at the high end of Cat Five.

The chances of surviving such a storm alone is very remote, however, we know there were marginal survivors after Hurricane Andrew passed over southern Florida.

Andrew stuck Dade county on August 24th (click here) as a Category 5 hurricane, with the center first reaching the coast at the northern tip of Elliott Key. The storm devastated Dade County where it caused an estimated $25 billion in damage, especially over the Homestead area....

Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall on Aug. 24, 1992, in Elliot Keys and Homestead, Fla., caused 15 deaths directly, 25 deaths indirectly and $30 billion in property damage. Adjusting for inflation, it’s the second-costliest storm in U.S history. Katrina, which hit in 2005, was the costliest.

The real problem with these storms and survival is looting. It isn't necessarily looting caused by survivors, but, by those that find opportunity in the mayhem. The idea gun owners could literally kill at will at any perception of loss of survival, even with looters, is insane. Looting is not murder, nor should murder occur when there is looting.

The only reason any American should be allowed to legally take the life of other person(s) is when their lives are directly threatened. Every citizen has a right to their life. To believe another citizen's life has less status over looting is hideous. Who is to say looting isn't as legitimate a survival tactic as gun ownership?

Let's take this to the level of political ideology. Just for fun. I am making no accusations.

Let's say in the back rooms of white people meetings, once known as the KKK, but, now occurs far more diffusely organized; there are plans for annihilating anyone statistically identified as 'a taker.' 

Hurricane Andrew hit Dade County. What county came into focus in the 2000 elections?

So, somewhere in Dade County lives a 'gun nut case' accumulating weapons and ammunition at every word there will be regulations (AKA protections) to citizens. The excuse he/she or both uses to justify this obsessive/compulsive behavior is survival. And to that rational they have a basement room about thirty feet below the surface stocked with all kinds of stuff insuring they would eat well enough following the loss of governmental authority.

The storm passes over and to their luck their subterrestrial room didn't flood. They emerge with plenty of weapon stores and ammunition and then seek out their neighbors and pass out the weapons. They make their way into a populated area and under the guise of law they begin to 'kill off' the takers, looting or not. Their final frustrations with the impoverished and so called "big government" is finally coming to an end empowered by laws that remove the definition of human life following any natural disaster in Florida. 

The survival of people within natural disasters is not being alone. Survival is best insured by preparedness by government to move large amounts of people from the area to be effected. As a nation we have spent gozillions of US dollars on research and preparedness. Earthquake preparedness and building codes speak to the dedication of the USA to protect human life. 

Our status as a nation influential in any international theater is the fact the USA has upheld the integrity of human life above any political or religious dogma, rules or ideology. 

Imagine now laws within this country that allows mayhem and anarchy. Within that lies the idea citizens can kill at will during these times. Then it happens. Ultimately, when a law is enacted, the statistics dictate it will come to bear at some point in time. So, the world witnesses mass murder scenes to put Jonestown to shame. What then? The USA says, "Ooops?" 

The idea a civilized society invests in their brain trust, their government and common areas to insure it's citizens have a life worth living defines it's welcomeness among other nations both as allies and in economic trade. If the identity of the USA begins to shift it's benevolent influence on a global scale it will be rejected and history will dictate isolation and quite possibly a change in alliances and potential invasion to end such hideous laws and tenuous existence of the poor. 

It is a proven fact, ie: Iraq, the USA cannot begin a global war and have it's way. The USA was isolated and the war within Iraq rejected as a national defense necessity for the USA. Following the Iraq invasion paradigms of power began to shift. Today, the nuclear proliferation following the Iraq invasion is profound within nations identified as 'rouge' nations. There still exists skepticism about the ability of the USA to contain it's power and to that end we are seeing aggressions in areas of the world best left to peace.

When any state decides it has rights over and above that of the findings of it's federal authorities, including the Supreme Court there are ripples across this globe. This 'scenario' is not unrealistic. It can easily exist in a nation bent on self-defense that results in deaths of the innocent, ie: young African American men. The USA allies won't put up with it and while the power within the USA military is often necessary as a presence to stabilize a region, ie: Ukraine; that presence is as much a national defense of the USA as well as it's ally(ies) and will not leverage power economically and the USA will ultimately be isolated. 

So, the hubris existing in today's society in the USA that actually entertains such aggressive laws promoting death and not life will not stand. In this case, the allies won't have to pass laws to isolate the USA, the consumerism of tourism will do that all by itself. 

The Florida state legislature is lined with idiots using extremist politics to secure their power and personal wealth. This law is unconstitutional from it's inception and completely irresponsible.  This is not governance, it is however the next step in right wing anarchy hell bent on greed and power for the individual at the cost of the lives and well being of others. It is a completely perverse set of values and shameful to those proposing such ideas as law to this country.

Legalizing mass murder

This bill will alter population distribution. There is no reason for any of this. Where is it that the government does not respond to natural disasters? Where are people so isolated they have to form their own militia in the USA?

We are witnessing the overbearing presence of these weapons in places like Albuquerque, New Mexico and now Florida in all it's hubris is going to pass laws to legalize mayhem, murder and anarchy. What a better place for the NRA to propose such irresponsible ideas but the one states where hurricanes frequently make landfall.

Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY 5:49 p.m. 

EDT April 10, 2014

...The letter said actions (click here) by police violated the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which covers such areas as unreasonable searches and seizures.

Illegal search and seizures by any civilian is a crime not just unconstitutional. Now, free wheeling gun owners are going to be marshaled into the authority of law enforcement when the wind blows strong. Let's see, should the law be invoked at 50 mph winds or 10 mph winds?

The Justice Department letter said its investigation determined that "structural and systemic deficiencies" in the Albuquerque Police Department, such as insufficient oversight and inadequate training, "contribute to the use of unreasonable force."

Street protests and demands for reform in the New Mexico city of more than 555,000 people erupted last month after heavily armed police shot and killed James Boyd, a homeless man who had a history of violent outbursts and mental instability.

(James) Boyd was the 37th person shot by Albuquerque police, and the 23rd fatality, since January 2010....

At a time of emergency and isolation the idea that guns are the answer is completely bizarre. When human circumstances dictate the rules of nature have been broken and survival is a challenge, killing each other will only increase the chances survival won't occur. 

Getting food flown into areas of the USA is not even an issue. The USA parachuted food packs for an expression of good will into Afghanistan before the Marines landed and now the NRA believes food delivery to areas is actually going to require killing each other. Amazing. The NRA is perverse and desperate to find some kind of message that 'sound right.'

continued...

By Bill Cotterell

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  
Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:14pm EDT

(Reuters) - In a crisis situation or evacuation (click here) for natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires, people with no criminal record would be allowed to carry a firearm without a permit, under a bill approved Friday by the Florida House of Representatives.
"The bells of liberty are surely ringing throughout Florida today," said Representative Heather Dawes Fitzenhagen, a Fort Myers Republican who sponsored the bill lifting permit requirements for concealed weapons in an emergency declared by the governor or local authorities.
"By passing this bill, you will ensure that no Floridian, in lawful possession of a firearm, must leave it behind."
The House voted 80-36 to send the bill (HB 209) to the state Senate, where a companion bill is ready for a floor vote that would put the measure on Governor Rick Scott's desk later this month....

This bizarre idiocy is going to end tourism in Florida and the south for that matter. Survivalists are now dominating the idea they are actually correct to modern day society.

Authorities Without an Emergency Declaration (click here)
State officials have existing broad powers to address emergency situations by virtue of the statutory authorities granted to their positions without formally declaring a state of emergency.... 

The CDC is the only authority required in such emergencies (click here).

Our country addresses deaths as a measure to civil obedience. Now, Florida wants to stand that on it's head and allow deaths to measure the survivability of citizens.

National Violent Death Reporting System (click here)
The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) provides states and communities with a clearer understanding of violent deaths to guide local decisions about efforts to prevent violence and helps them track progress over time.
Tragically, more than 38,000 people died by suicide in the United States in 2010. Homicide claimed another 16,000 people. We know these numbers can be lowered since violence is preventable....

This law is unconstitutional to begin with, but, while it is enacted there will be considerable deaths in Florida.

The NRA and all the other gun wacko organizations believe death is necessary to survive. That changes the benevolence of government's definition of protecting citizens from harm.

Self-defense has always been the definition whereby citizens can actually and legally use guns to survive. This law in Florida creates AUTHORITY within the definition of gun ownership. Any gun owner will have the authority to decide live and death under undefinable circumstances called 'Acts of God.'

With all due respect, I have to disagree with Former President Carter.

Former President Carter is a great man. He is dedicated to peace. He does seek the high road whenever possible.

However, the relations between Iran and the USA has been very strained over all these many years. There are remarkable gestures by the new Iranian President to reassure all those concerned of a framework to lift sanctions. There are statements by the P5+1 regarding movement toward a permanent agreement with Iran.

The idea forgiveness should pre-emept good policy and governance is not a good one. The framework is not about being generous in spirit or actual provisions. The framework is very serious work that cannot be misinterpreted as generosity in any way. The relationship between Iran and those writing the framework to relieve sanctions cannot be tainted by imposition of any idea there are people from the past forgiven for any role they took with American hostages.

The USA and Iran still face off over those jailed in Iran. Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were some of the latest victims to the Iranian prisons. They were camping and then they found themselves in an Iranian prison being held for large amounts of money to secure their safety. That isn't hostage taking? I think it is. 

I am sure it can be stated Mr. Aboutalebi quite possibly played a role that protected Americans from a far worse outcome. He could have acted as an interpreter in ways that could have justified Iran's position stating the hostages were spies. He probably could tell many tales about his intervention in preserving the lives of the hostages. That was the right thing to do. The hostages of the Iranian crisis were innocent people. The moral and correct thing to do was to be sure they were understood and protected. So, to think he was an exceptional person of 'good will' toward the hostages simply because he conducted himself morally at the time doesn't mean he is a hero.

As an ambassador for Iran he would be entering a sphere of influence that was once appalled by his country's stark hatred of the USA. Would that actually make him influential and the best representative to the United Nations? No, it wouldn't. 

I think Mr. Aboutalebi's declaration to be ambassador was demanded by the extremists in Iran. The conservatives that can be affiliated with the former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I am quite confident the extremists are in misery over the success of President Hassan Rouhani. There should be no surprise, the current Iranian President has a long history of connecting with other nation leaders to bring an understanding about his nation. He has a demeanor that is inclusive and not alienating. That is simply being an effective President at a time when the Iranian people have reached out with his election to portray their longing for a peaceful resolve in lifting the sanctions.

To be completely honest, why would the Supreme Leader chose such a controversial representative to the United Nations when in fact he might derail the entire process that has brought all concerned to this point? It was playing with fire in very poor judgement to ignite the past again. 

As far as I am concerned the USA refusing a visa to Mr. Aboutalebi was in the best interest of the Iranian people. I can't believe the Iranian leadership has been this short sighted.

There are also changes going on with the negotiating team. It just isn't a good time to drastically change those of influence within the negotiations or the United Nations.

State Department's Architect of Iran Nuclear Negotiations to Retire (click here) 

By John Hudson
April 11, 2014

On Friday, the White House announced the retirement of Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, a giant in the diplomatic world and a key architect of the nuclear negotiations with Iran and six world powers.

Burns, who had already twice delayed his retirement, has agreed to stay on until October, which will afford the administration more time to eek out a potential deal with Tehran with one of its most trusted diplomats at the helm....

The Iranian sanctions and hopeful negotiations have a very long history (click here). I realize the word foolish is very harsh, but, to let 'chance' enter the arena with someone once involved with former American hostages is more than a bit foolish. Why lose ground? Why jeopardize what has been achieved? 

There is still issue about the integrity of the returned hostages. They may be very forgiving, but, to have someone they had to face and count on to insure their safety again on the level of a diplomat would be more than they should bear as well as their families. The choice of Mr. Aboutalebi is very short sighted and a bit extremist in it's suggestion.

The United Nations isn't really about forgiveness, that is a capacity left to god. The United Nations is a serious body of diplomats seeking to solve problems and not inflame circumstances that would jeopardize the best outcomes. Perhaps Iran's leadership hasn't been exposed enough to sincere diplomacy that achieves lasting results with ambitions to peace. Perhaps their next choice will be better and somewhat enlightened.

Karen Jeffers

April 4, 2014 at 1:30 pm

Former President Jimmy Carter (click here) yesterday said he is supportive of letting a known member of a terrorist group, Hamid Aboutalebi, into the United States as Iran’s newest ambassador to the United Nations.

Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim student group who held 52 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for more than a year beginning in 1979 during Carter’s presidency.

When asked in an interview if the United States should block Aboutalebi’s entrance to U.N. headquarters in New York, Carter told radio station WTOP:  “You know, those were college students at that time, and I think that they have matured. …I think it would be inappropriate for the United States to try to block someone that Iran wanted to choose.”

Steven Colbert started the support network for Rafalca. There is nothing about Mr. Colbert that hates Republicans. The Right Wing media is it's usual sour grapes.

With the news that a dressage horse (click here) co-owned by Ann Romney might be heading to the Olympics, Stephen Colbert has a new favorite sport. He's so committed to what is obviously America's new pastime that he's even whipped up an exciting new anthem which is sure to entice every Joe Sixpack out there.

The people at Gladstone never had so much fun. I know because I frequently attended these events.

Why doesn't the media leave Alex Baldwin alone or otherwise known as "I am really pissed he is not on Friday night anymore."

There is a truism about Mr. Baldwin in that he has come of age during a far more rigid time in the country. Republicans can get away with it, but, forbid an American critical of government should.

Swearing and using colloquialism has become a death spiral for Mr. Baldwin. Why? I haven't got a clue. All the right wing wackos on television and radio not only get away with it, but, foment hatred. Baldwin is not fomenting anything not even his own career. So, this chronic iconography of a man primarily interested in equal rights for everyone has been once again targeted as a homophobic. Really?


...Americans, (click here) in terms of their enthusiasm for defending their beloved democratic principles in the face of an ever more muscular assault on those principles by the state in the name of national security, are exhausted. If you are a “boomer”, like me, and have lived through the past five decades with any degree of political efficacy, you can draw a line from JFK’s assassination to the subsequent escalation of the Vietnam war, on to 1968 with the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the Chicago Democratic Convention and Nixon’s resurrection; from there, to Kent State, the Pentagon Papers, Nixon’s re-election, Watergate, Nixon’s resignation, Ford’s pardon, Carter’s one term and out, the curious Iran hostage situation, Reagan (who brings back a degree of the charm and affability that died in Dallas), Iran Contra, Oliver North, Bush the First (as in first CIA director to become president), Iraq the First, Clinton kills welfare, Gingrich shuts down the Congress, Clinton’s impeachment, the 2000 election, Bush v Gore, Bush the Second, 9/11, Iraq the Second, “Mission Accomplished”, the Swift Boaters, Afghanistan, Gitmo, Assange, Manning, Snowden.

I have left out a good deal. There is, of course, a lot that’s positive running through the American narrative during this time, but I think more bad than good. You look at all of this laid end to end and you’d think the US might have had a nervous breakdown. I believe it actually did....

Now, if you want to talk homophobe...but...oh, wait...that is just religion talkin'.

What, in your mind, is sinful? (click here)

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

And on the seventh day God rested, but, he or she never said with whom. This is Baldwin? This is not Baldwin. Get over it.

Governor Kasich on how to buy the vote, split unions, gain funding and win elections while destroying a democracy.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State representatives of both parties have criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for saddling them with a midterm budget bill loaded with proposals they called unsuited for a non-budget year.
One fellow Republican said Kasich’s practice of proposing voluminous off-year budgets was putting the governor in control of Ohio’s legislative branch of government.
Rep. Terry Boose’s remarks came Wednesday before the House voted 57-33 to pass the measure.
Democrats railed particularly against a last-minute amendment to one of nine bills derived from Kasich’s 1,600-page “midbiennium review” that were up for votes Wednesday. The revision changed campaign finance law to lift a disclosure requirement applied to independent political expenditures and loosen political-giving restrictions on state contractors.
Other bills up to for votes addressed education, job training, veterans and workers’ compensation.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2014/04/09/Ohio-House-approves-Kasich-s-midterm-budget-bill.html#VzvcSq2fXIlzVouF.99

In February 2011, (click here) Gov. Kasich replaced Ohio’s Department of Development with JobsOhio, a private non-profit exempt from public record laws. Gov. Kasich’s administration resisted efforts by the state auditor to procure JobsOhio’s financial records, leading to a subpoena. JobsOhio ultimately complied, but Gov. Kasich later fast-tracked a bill to strip the state auditor’s authority to examine the records.

Gov. Kasich also sought to institute new restrictions on voting, including the elimination of in-person voting three days before elections. After opponents of the bill gathered enough signatures to hold a referendum, Gov. Kasich signed a repeal of all the new measures, except the elimination of early voting. A federal appeals court reinstated early voting in October 2012.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State representatives of both parties (click here) have criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for saddling them with a midterm budget bill loaded with proposals they called unsuited for a non-budget year.
One fellow Republican said Kasich’s practice of proposing voluminous off-year budgets was putting the governor in control of Ohio’s legislative branch of government.
Rep. Terry Boose’s remarks came Wednesday before the House voted 57-33 to pass the measure.
Democrats railed particularly against a last-minute amendment to one of nine bills derived from Kasich’s 1,600-page “midbiennium review” that were up for votes Wednesday. The revision changed campaign finance law to lift a disclosure requirement applied to independent political expenditures and loosen political-giving restrictions on state contractors.
Other bills up to for votes addressed education, job training, veterans and workers’ compensation....

All corruption, all the time.

COLUMBUS – Companies, (click here) nonprofits and unions wouldn't have to disclose when they pay for an election advertisement, and corporations with state contracts would be allowed to spend money on elections, under a provision that passed the Ohio House Wednesday.
The provision would void a rule implemented by former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner that governs election spending by corporations, nonprofits and labor unions. The rule requires the groups to disclose when they spend money to advocate for or against the election of a candidate, both through a statement included in the ad and through a form filed with the secretary of state's office.
But Republicans' main issue with the rule, a spokesman said, is its prohibition of election-related spending by corporations with state or federal government contracts within one year of their receiving money from the government. They also wanted to void the part of the rule that prohibits spending in elections by corporations with more than 20 percent ownership by non-U.S. citizens or corporations based outside the U.S....

...Members of building trades unions (click here) —including carpenters, laborers, electricians and iron workers—tend to be more conservative politically than most other union members. They often side with business over environmental groups and find common ground with Republicans on infrastructure projects.

"We're pragmatic with our politics. Jobs are our currency," said Sean McGarvey, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department at the AFL-CIO in Washington....

The decision to increase public works spending (click here) while ignoring $1.5 billion in unemployment compensation debt is — like celebrating tax cuts paid for with tax hikes, and demanding more debt to fund election-year spending – another example of politics as usual from Gov. Kasich, who routinely insists his policies aren’t politically motivated.

Kasich’s capital budget includes numerous outlays whose benefits to taxpayers in other parts of Ohio are difficult to explain.

Fiscal year 2015-2016 capital budget appropriations include:

• $10,000,000 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton
• $6,000,000 for Lake Erie Island State Park/Middle Bass Island State Park
• $2,198,500 for the Dayton Art Institute
• $1,560,522 for Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron
• $1,000,000 for a boardwalk in Celina
• $1,000,000 for the Cincinnati Zoo
• $825,000 for Victoria Theatre in Dayton
• $750,000 for the Toledo Zoo
• $695,000 for Imagination Station, a Toledo children’s museum
• $600,000 for Wood County Historical Center & Museum Accessibility Project
• $530,261 for Akron Civic Theater
• $500,000 for Hale Farm in Bath
• $500,000 for Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown
• $500,000 for The Historic Sidney Theatre
• $500,000 for Colony Theatre in Marietta

I want justice for James Boyd. He should still be alive. His death was brutal and cruel. He suffered and knew he was dying. It was wrongful death.

A significant amount of force cases (click here) reviewed were found to involve persons with mental illness and in crisis. The department’s policies, training and supervision were found insufficient to ensure officers properly responded to people they encountered with mental illness or in distress.

I want no excuses. There were 23 deaths. 23 unnecessary and cruel deaths. The idea the police were unprepared to actually be among civilians should have been validated before this ever occurred. This is an outrage.

There also needs to be a review of the lack of support for the homeless in Albequerque. Mr. Boyd's death was one of the cruelest deaths anyone could imagine. Innocent of any wrong doing. He was surviving and hurting no one. There is no excuse that justifies this level of police brutality.

The APD turned police work into a sport. James Boyd requires justice.

I am sure the Secretary has many offers and plans. She brought perspective regarding rural health care to her position. I hope she is happy and will be well.

Postal workers are some of the best eyes and ears a neighborhood can have.

They just know the route so well. 

There ya go. He openly admitted "we" wanted to effect the VW vote.

Governor Bill Haslam, "It is no secret at all that we had an opinion about what should happen there."

The tape at this news stations website is all the UAW needs. Don't have to pry open a can in order to get to the truth. The Governor implicated himself. Get on with it.

"Roll the video tape." 

That should significantly bring down the costs of litigation for the UAW. It should be the shortest hearing on record.

Haslam, Corker Subpoenaed By UAW Lawyers (click here)

Posted: Apr 09, 2014 4:40 PM EST  
Updated: Apr 09, 2014 10:34 PM EST
by Phil Williams
Chief Investigative Reporter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- United Auto Workers lawyers issued subpoenas Wednesday for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Senator Bob Corker and key members of the Haslam administration to testify at an upcoming hearing over the union's efforts to organize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.

Economic and Community Development (ECD) Commissioner Bill Hagerty, ECD chief-of-staff Will Alexander, House Speaker Beth Harwell, Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson and Rep. Gerald McCormick were among the 20 individuals or organizations to receive subpoenas.

Corker's chief-of-staff Todd Womack and press secretary Micah Johnson were listed on the subpoena list, along with conservative activists Grover Norquist and Matt Patterson....

This is litigable. Husted has a history. It is a history that can be clearly illustrated in court.

Jeremy Pelzer 
February 25, 2014 at 12:09 PM 
updated February 26, 2014 at 7:10 AM

COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohioans (click here) will be able to vote in person on two Saturdays and no Sundays ahead of this year’s general election, under a statewide early-voting schedule released Tuesday by Secretary of State Jon Husted....

The Voting Rights Act, while important, was passed nearly 100 years after the 15th Amendment was ratified. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were about empowering African Americans as citizens.

The 15th Amendment guarantees the right of African American men the right to vote. That is guaranteed to them from words AMENDING the USA Constitution. It is not an act of Congress, it is the will of the American people.

The reason The Voting Rights Act was necessary is because the states were leveraging power against our minorities through challenges to their 'fitness' to vote. Literacy, Poll Taxes, etc. Implied in the 13th through 15th Amendments is the fact bigotry and racism exists. The 13th could be argued to be an economic issue as it freed slaves. But, from that moment forward the demand of amending the USA Constitution was revealing overt racism. 

The problem with Mr. Husted and the Ohio vote is leveraging power based in racism. So, while Mr. Husted believes he is exonerated from racism because of the power within his office, he is not. Mr. Husted is overtly racist for the same reasons the 14th and 15th Amendment were ratified. 

Mr. Husted believes the Robert's Court leveraged power as well in favor of racism. No one had to make a phone call to Mr. Husted from the Supreme Court to state same, it is IMPLIED. We know Clarence Thomas can't see racism if it were hanging before him, so his vote against the Voting Rights Act is mutt as a statement about our minority voters. 

The 14th and 15th Amendments state African American men are suppose to be considered citizens with full rights. What occurred with the Voting Rights Act was to remove any attempt to taint the rights through manipulation of words by those seeking to reduce the number of citizens voting through 'qualifying' events. The Amendments create NO qualifying events except perhaps a person's freedom and/or birth within the borders of the USA.

It is amazing to realize how our minorities have been chronically challenged with burdens to remove their voting rights. But, Husted is an easy assail for justice. 

This is a video from The Rachel Maddow Show highlighting aspects of the 2012 elections. The 2012 election was that last nationwide election previous to 2014, so events that occurred two years ago are still valid as to testament to what is occurring in Ohio today.

It is completely obvious through his 'behavior' that Mr. Husted is a bigot, racist and all around nasty man that wants to 'fix an election.' That is illegal. Mr. Husted once again has to be taken to the wood shed and reminded he is about the nastiest no good in the country. I also believe because this is CHRONIC 'behavior' by Mr. Husted should be considered a criminal. His actions speak for themselves and once again minorities in Ohio are unduly burdened in order to vote. Amazing, isn't it? There is not one decent ounce of morality in that man. Not for one minute is he the man that should be handing down voting REGULATIONS in Ohio and with a history besides. But, he is and that makes this newest assault on minorities all that more easy to illustrate to a judge and quite possibly a prosecutor. 

Mr. Husted cannot state he was simply under the impression he could do what he felt was needed given his history of oppression of the Ohio vote. This new effort to suppress the vote by Mr. Husted is more fraudulent than oppressive.

Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both.

Electoral fraud can happen in any election where a cheater perceives the potential gain as worth the risk.

Mr. Husted is a cheater. 

So. Besides his nasty racist agenda he also is overtly breaking the law by cheating people out of their vote. He now has a history and I do believe charges of fraud should be filed along with a civil suit to remove the burdens from Ohio voters. He has gone too far and it is time he pay the price. 

The Global Gender Gap Report 2013 (click here) benchmarks national gender gaps of 136 countries on economic, political, education- and health-based criteria. The Global Gender Gap Index was developed in 2006, partially to address the need for a consistent and comprehensive measure of gender equality that can track a country’s progress over time. The index points to potential role models by revealing those countries that – within their region or income group – are leaders in dividing resources more equitably between women and men than other countries, regardless of the overall level of resources available.

 “The findings of The Corporate Gender Gap Report (click here) are an alarm bell on International Women’s Day that the corporate world is not doing enough to achieve gender equality. While a certain set of companies in Scandinavia, the US and the UK are indeed leaders in integrating women, the idea that most corporations have become gender-balanced or women-friendly is still a myth. With this study, we are giving businesses a one-stop guide on what they need to do to close the corporate gender gap,” said Saadia Zahidi, Co-author of the report and head of the Forum’s Women Leaders and Gender Parity Programme.

USA is 57th in Women's Pay

These statistics come from an annual exhaustive study by "Save the Children" entitled "The Mother's Index and Country Ratings" (click here)

This particular graph regarding women's pay came from the 2010 study.

The indexes begin on page 32. The best place to be a mother is Norway. The worst place to be a mother is Afghanistan.

The graph on the right ranks the USA as 70th in women in government. It came from the information below.

The data (click here) in the table below has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by 1st February 2014.

Why is it important for women to be in government? To correct everything that is wrong when they aren't including pay rates.

Duck and Cover

The report’s authors claim Britain has stockpiled anti-viral influenza drugs that effectively do not work as billed and may cause serious side effects in a significant minority of people.

Steve Connor
10 April 2014 

Britain (click here) has spent £600m on a stockpile of influenza drugs that are no better than paracetamol in relieving flu symptoms and are next to useless in preventing a pandemic, a major study has found....

Cheney and Halliburton 

Now, Rumsfeld and Roche Laboratories

No wonder he is out with his own "Don is Great" movie.

Do you know who markets TAMIFLU?

ROCHE LABORATORIES.

Do you know who bought the patent for TAMIFLU from ROCHE LABORATORIES in 1996?

GILEAD SCIENCES INC.

Do you know who was the then president of GILEAD SCIENCES INC. and remains a major shareholder?

DONALD RUMSFELD, the present (now former) Secretary of Defense of the USA.

What isssue was this addressing? What solutions were proposed?

Image. He ran on image and he could not even live up to that. He is there for one reason, petroleum.

McAllister first worked in the oilfield technology business and then branched into oil and natural gas leasing, real estate, convenience stores, pipeline construction, equipment rental, and the promotion of wrestling matches and other sporting events. His most successful company is an oil exploration and production company, Texas Coastal Energy Company, based in Irving. Texas Coastal explores for oil and natural gas domestically, and is run by its CEO, Jeff Gordon.

Rush County Oil Project, Burdett Oil Project are in Kansas. (click here) The only thing this company has in Texas is an office in Dallas. 

This illustration (click here)  probably won't make much sense to most people, but, these are the oil layers in Oklahoma and Kansas Rep. McAllister is trying to get oil and gas from.

I have seen this over and over again in more countries than the USA, where someone with a little bit of money buys some leases and then goes begging for partners when the fields are so dried up they don't yield an ounce.

The MLP (click here) (Mississippian Lime Play) is a porous limestone formation that encompasses areas of northern Oklahoma, and southern and western Kansas. The region was considered tapped out by vertical drilling decades ago, but a technique known as hydraulic fracturing (also called fracing or fracking) in combination with horizontal drilling has the potential to significantly revive oil and gas activity in the region.

The fact of the matter is, Mr. McAllister has a problem. He has invested in dried up oil fields that won't yield the cost of his operation. He wants partners in hopes the cost will be spread among many people. 

Has any fracking opponent ever asked how much oil and gas these companies are actually getting out of the ground with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing chemicals and tons and tons of precious water? Texas Coastal is going to drill and drill and punch holes in Earth causing all kinds of destabilization of the land and it won't yield any amount worth the effort. Then Americans will be stuck with the bill from now into forever for earthquakes and pulverizing landscape. This, all because George Failing of Enid, Oklahoma was able to manipulate a drill bit at the end of a steel pipe in 1934. 

McAllister is the generation of oil men willing to go to any length to save their sorry investments no matter what it takes. He is now in Congress to find a way to make wealth happen for him and become the most powerful oilman in the world. He isn't there for any reason except wealth. His antics with Congressional personnel has a long history of abuses within the USA Congress and quite frankly what is so different than the scandal at Mines and Mineral Management under Bush? 

He serves on the Agricultural and Natural Resources Committees in the House. No surprise there.