Virginia Tech was directly involved in exposing the Flint, Michigan water emergency.

In other words, the evidence was collected and documented before it could be covered up.

Officials criticized them as bogus "magicians," but making data transparent caused residents to demand action 

March 1, 2016
By William Rhoads, Rebekah Martin and Siddhartha Roy

Our team (click here) of more than two dozen students and research scientists at Virginia Tech has spent much of the past year analyzing and publicizing unsafe drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

Our “open science” research collaboration with Flint residents revealed high levels of lead, Legionella and damage to potable water infrastructure due to a failure to implement corrosion control treatment.

Despite Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) messages that the water was safe, we fought to educate residents about severe public health risks. That work led to a declaration of a public health emergency, first by the city of Flint and later by the state of Michigan and President Barack Obama; garnered hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for Flint residents; and informed a national debate on “safe” drinking water in America.

Our work, by any measure, succeeded. But at the same time, this experience has forced us to confront broader questions....

Is there any wonder why scientists are a threat to power? The truth is tough to live with.

This is only one example of how the USA's domestic policies have been turned on it's head. Nothing makes sense anymore. It is more important than ever for the American people to stand by the facts to protect their own lives. We are on our own. It used to be Americans didn't have to waste their time in protecting water, air and food. The USA is Third World power when it comes to it's people. Third World has that same lopsided definition. Plenty of power for the military and an elite class of wealthy with the rest of the population in poverty and struggling. Welcome to the Third World USA.

Non-GMO food from organic source, safe bottled water and air purifiers in the house with a strong group of leadership knowledgeable of clean air and water. It has gotten to be very bad in the USA. There are issues that happen today never dreamed off in the past, including a leak of natural gas in California. It is unbelievable how much the infrastructure of the USA had been destroyed since 2000.

Flint, Michigan is the example of flagrant disregard for human life we never thought we would see in the USA; yet, here it is. 

I am grateful that scientific standards and morality hasn't changed. It couldn't even if they tried.

The Red Cross needs some help to recover Fiji.

The Cyclone Winston was the worst of the three cyclones that manifested in the southern hemisphere together.


A remote Fijian village is photographed from the air during a surveillance flight conducted by the New Zealand Defence Force on Feb. 21, 2016.

March 1, 2016
By Sharee Devose

Following the the worst cyclone (click here) ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, the Red Cross is appealing for $7 million to fund emergency efforts in Fiji.

More than 62,000 people are sheltered in evacuation centers 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Winston tore through the Pacific nation.

At least 42 people were killed in the category five storm on February 20, bringing winds up to 325 kph that destroyed homes, crops, and much of the nation’s infrastructure.

Nearly 347,000 people, or 40 percent of the nation’s population, have been affected across Fiji’s 300 islands.

“Entire villages have been devastated and people are in a state of shock,” said Director General of the Fiji Red Cross Society (click here for donation site) (FRCS) Filipe Nainoca in a statement.

The Fiji site asks donor to join, then donate.

NASA - Winston (click here)

The central circulation passed exactly over Fiji. There was no getting away from it. When storms this strong come to the USA, people are evacuated inland away from the force of the wind and ocean. The people of Fiji doesn't have that luxury. They have to shelter within safer places while the storm passes over them. Sometimes those safer places are compromised by the storm.

New York Times (click here)

Senator Sanders took his home state by a very large margin. I am happy for him. I was surprised at the percentage of 90 percent. I knew he would win the state, but, I thought former Secretary Clinton would take more of the delegates than she did.

LOL, get a clue McConnell, no one is listening.

Mitch McConnell joined Loser #2 Paul Ryan to take a stand against David Duke.

Hm?

There is absolutely no way the Republican Party can distance themselves from racist groups. The words of Ryan and McConnell are lies.

December 18, 2015

Senate Majority Leader (click here) Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday warned Republican voters to steer clear of nominating Tea Party candidates who can’t win in next year’s general election.

“The way you have a good election year is to nominate people who can win,” he told reporters during his final Capitol Hill press conference of 2015....

I think that was a mistake, right? Maybe the Republicans have bulls that are colorblind. I little bit genetic engineering, right?

...“We’d like to have a nominee who can carry purple states because unless the nominee for president can carry purple states, he’s not going to get elected,” he said.

It was a veiled shot at the GOP presidential front-runners: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson....


February 26, 2015
By Julie Bykowicz
...The story of how (click here) the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, mushroomed from a small, informal gathering of the right into a multimillion-dollar can't-miss pageant for the Republican Party is reflected in its corporate sponsors. It's underwritten by the National Rifle Association, the Heritage Foundation, the Trump Organization Inc. and the Motion Picture Association of America in addition to much more modestly moneyed religious and small-government interest groups....

...The CPAC presidential tryouts continued in 2013 and 2014, with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul drawing some of the largest crowds and warmest receptions. But as CPAC's influence on the party has grown, some of the activists have complained that it's also become stale, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union. This is his first year at the helm of CPAC....

The February 9, 2012 CPAC also sponsored a presentation after the speech by then Senate Minority Leader McConnell and Rep. Michele Bachman entitled, "The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of dieversity is weakening the American Identity" presented by Peter Brimelow, the founder and head of VDARE,com.

February 9, 2012
By Alex Pareene

...But! While the Birchers (click here) and the open homosexualists are no longer welcome, there is still room for multiple outspoken white nationalists!

The National Review’s John Derbyshire, a stock “pervert Tory” character from a Martin Amis novel sprung to life and given a sinecure at the National Review, is hosting a panel on “multiculturalism” (boo hiss) featuring two of America’s most detestable sacks of shit: Peter Brimelow, founder of white supremacist site VDARE, and Robert Vandervoort, the director of some sort of “don’t make me press one for English” nativist group and a white nationalist from way back.

CPAC organizers are like, we didn’t specifically organize this panel ourselves so whatever, but they are not canceling the panel, because the conservative movement has always quietly set a place at the table for their white supremacist allies when they get together for Thanksgiving. And after everyone says grace (and sings “God Bless America” and the national anthem and does the Pledge of Allegiance) comes the ceremonial declaration that liberals are the real racists, for inventing welfare....

The country would like a change of direction by the Republicans when it comes to hate groups. Maybe this year might actually be the year.

bin Laden was sheltered and faciliated in Pakistan.

I think the USA was a bit naive about the leaders in Pakistan. Musharraf was known to have a relationship with bin Laden. Musharraf was also in place when Kahn was known to have sold nuclear technology to North Korea and others. 

I always thought Musharraf knew where bin Laden was and speculated several times "Where is he Mushy, in the (Pakistan) palace basement?" But, to think others are involved and what about the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Who was involved in that besides two al Qaeda operatives?

February 29, 2016

Islamadad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (click here) received money from al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party in 1990, a new book has claimed.


The book titled 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, the wife of former ISI operative Khalid Khawaja, claims that Sharif's pledge of introducing an Islamic system attracted Khawaja as well as Osama.

"Chief of PML-N Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif received funding from Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaida, to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) after the end of Zia regime," the book states.
But even though Osama funded Sharif heavily, the latter backtracked from all his promises after coming into power, the Dawn reported on Monday....

When does this disaster of a country become clean of the corruption? The UN Security Council has some work to do to be sure Muslim countries are safe from such problems. I would think the USA should consider Pakistan an open threat yet today.

We should have gone through Pakistan on the way to Afghanistan. But, what did Rumsfeld do? Issue millions upon millions for jet flight space.

It can't be stated too much. Pakistan took the money from the USA and purchased weapons from China. China took that money and built 100 new nuclear warheads.

...The book also carries a note from former Inter-Services Intelligence director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Gul, which claims that Khawaja was very close to Sharif for some time.

According to the book, Palestinian Sunni Abdullah Azzam, who is also known as the 'father of global jihad' and Osama's mentor, introduced Khaweja to the al Qaeda head honcho...

If President Obama hadn't authorized that strike to remove bin Laden, the lousy no good would still be there. Russia and China should not be so blind to realize the danger in their own backdoor that American soldiers still die for to secure an unsecured country. The only way Afghanistan and Pakistan is ever going to be secured is to isolate them with strong border provisions of all the surrounding countries, including Iran. The countries surrounding Pakistan and Afghanistan have relationships with Russia and China.

Iran has borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan. That should be more than interesting. Did they ever get that super-drone fixed?

Isolate and investigate.

I think part of the trend with Caucasian males dying before their time has to do with working several jobs. They don't get good rest.

I wish the media would listen to their own words. "Super Tuesday in the Republican primaries will see a majority of white voters." I hope they do vote and find a path out of the dilemma they are caught up in. It isn't right and it isn't fair. The USA has been turned on it's head domestically and this is only one of the groups where it shows the most.

November 2, 2015
By Lenny Bernstein and Joel Achenbach

A large segment of white middle-aged Americans (click here) has suffered a startling rise in its death rate since 1999, according to a review of statistics published Monday that shows a sharp reversal in decades of progress toward longer lives.

The mortality rate for white men and women ages 45-54 with less than a college education increased markedly between 1999 and 2013, most likely because of problems with legal and illegal drugs, alcohol and suicide, the researchers concluded. Before then, death rates for that group dropped steadily, and at a faster pace.

An increase in the mortality rate for any large demographic group in an advanced nation has been virtually unheard of in recent decades, with the exception of Russian men after the collapse of the Soviet Union....

I hope someone is doing a follow up study to pinpoint the mystery. These working poor men sometimes find enjoyment in bad health habits as well. 

Is Duke a PhD? Of what? He was once a Congressman, but, what is this?

David Duke.com (click here)

He has a PhD in history. That makes sense. The White Supremacists count on history in many ways, including, the issue of demographics and land. I am not surprised he is involved with history. He doesn't accept the fact there are growing influence by minorities with the White folks losing in numbers. 

Basically, David Duke does not accept the fact the USA is a country of immigrants. David Duke's claim to his preferred "White America" ends with European migration through Ellis Island. There was no policy or law or regulation that ended migration into the USA. His premise is wrong. He sees it differently. 

He does have an influence, but, I wish he would reflect on the violence within his preference of White Supremacy. His folks are lining jails and prison. Some are vicious killers. It's unfortunate with his growth in education it has not translated into the acceptance of diversity. That word diversity protects Caucasian as well as others. He should think about the lives ruined and the broken families because of hate. 

"The Juice is just not worth the squeeze."

David Duke needs to realize even though he may have disavowed the KKK for the past forty years, the country doesn't see it that way. There are many who never disconnected his identity from hate. He is still an ideological personality. He really needs to speak to Americans that believe White Supremacy is real. He really does have a role in ending some of the worst violence that is still bred by hate in the USA.

He is correct about the criminality that has visited people and families in the USA by illegals. Not the Undocumented. The illegals that are involved with law enforcement are not undocumented, they are documented plenty. It is that aspect Donald Trump has identified. It is that aspect that invites fear of illegals by Americans that are not necessarily from south of the border. It is that aspect of the illegal immigration community that is completely ignored by Democrats to prevent tainting of the Undocumented. It is the fact the Democrats want to prevent overshadowing of the Undocumented to promote immigration reform and it is illegitimate. The Democrats have to discuss and make it obvious, immigration reform includes deporting those that are law breakers. 

There is no way the Undocumented are going to be removed to their country of origin. It is simply not possible. They are valuable to our economy and they bring a strong work ethic with them. There is no reason to turn them away as if they are worthless. We have already invested in the Dreamers and their families. It would be nonsense to think they are not a part of this country.

Immigration reform in the USA reaches beyond the Undocumented. The immigration courts are backlogs for years. The immigration standards and courts need to be strengthened. That strengthening includes providing a place for the Undocumented within the borders of the USA, otherwise, as soon as immigration reform passes the courts will become backlogged all over again. It is impossible to pass immigration reform without solving the place for the Undocumented. 

From Slate:

(An Exalted Cyclops) (click here)...presides over the Council of the Centaurs and writes quarterly reports to the Grand Giant. In the Klan hierarchy, each local chapter, or Klavern, is led by an Exalted Cyclops. This member is typically elected by his fellow Klansmen and serves a one-year term. According to the original 1867 Prescript of the Ku Klux Klan, the Exalted Cyclops reports to a Grand Giant, or provincial leader; a Grand Dragon, or state director; and the Grand Wizard, or national chair. Below the Cyclops on the org chart were the Grand Magi, the Grand Monk, the Grand Exchequer, the Grand Turk, and, finally, the rank-and-file members known as Ghouls or Knights.  (Many of these titles have changed over time, and most of the sub-Cyclops ranks have been eliminated.) The Exalted Cyclops' responsibilities include presiding over Klavern meetings, initiating new members, and appointing Councils of Centaurs—that's Klan-speak for a jury—to try and punish wayward Ghouls....

David Duke openly states he does not support any aspect of supremacists regardless the ethnicity. He needs to be more involved with the people that still identify with him. They are doing so without insight. I think he has a responsibility to himself and those that value him to clear up the record in a method that ends this hatred that exists.

Under Governor Kasich: He is as much a wacko as any other Republican in the field.

There is nothing any Republican can say that sets themselves apart as a good legislator or good, fair and decent leader. The Republican presidential race really is about popularity and what candidate will dedicate themselves to the goals needed to improve the quality of life in the USA. There is not one Republican candidate any more qualified or ready to be President to the people of the USA.

So, knock it off. Right now it is the eve of Super Tuesday and everyone is piling on the front runner. 

Ohio is the sixth state in infant mortality at 7.3 per 1000 live births. (click here)

Ohio is third in the country for black infant morality at 13.6 per 1000 live births (click here)

In a speech in New Hampshire he stated recipients of government health care were lazy and get used to the system.

Female Breast Cancer Rates (click here)

February 21, 2016
By Kailani Koenig

Republican presidential hopeful (click here) and Ohio Governor John Kasich on Sunday signed a bill that aims to strip funding from Planned Parenthood in the state.
It's a long-expected but controversial move that ignites a debate that seeped into his presidential campaign. Kasich faced a number of protesters this week while campaigning in South Carolina who challenged him on the issue during his events.
After Kasich came in a strong second place in the New Hampshire primary, the Republican assembly in Ohio passed legislation that targets about $1.3 million in funding for Planned Parenthood in the state....
Ohio ranks 11th in Sexually Active High School Students using contraception (click here), 88 percent.

Ohio falls to 18th with only 30.8 percent sexually active high school students.

Ohio spends $340 million per year on teen child bearing.

When looking at (all) women in Ohio overall, not just teens, 55% of all pregnancies are described by women themselves as unplanned. In 2010, public spending for unplanned pregnancies in Ohio totaled an estimated $825 million.

February 29, 2016

By Jacob Bogage

Lumber Liquidators, (click here) the largest U.S. hardwood-flooring specialty retailer, reported another rough quarter of financial results Monday as it seeks to recover from claims it sold Chinese-made laminates containing possibly dangerous levels of formaldehyde.

A week ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had revised its earlier analysis of the suspect flooring and found a heightened risk of cancer. The CDC said its models suggested the formaldehyde could cause respiratory issues for people with asthma and could cause anyone eye, nose and throat irritation.

A “60 Minutes” investigation a year ago took aim at the makeup of the flooring and spurred regulators to dig deeper. Lumber Liquidators suspended its sale of Chinese-made laminates after the investigation aired, and the chief executive at the time, Robert M. Lynch, stepped down in May....

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

By Paul Pestano, Research Analyst

After decades of debate, (click here) the Obama administration last week classified formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen, a label that is likely to advance regulatory steps to restrict this widely used hazardous chemical. The move came as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the long-awaited 12th Report on Carcinogens, a Congressionally mandated report assembled by the National Toxicology Program of the National Institutes of Health.

The new report highlights animal and human studies that have produced evidence associating formaldehyde with an increased risk of nasopharyngeal and sinonasal cancers and myeloid leukemia. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, classified formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen in 2006.

The Environmental Protection Agency has expressed concern about formaldehyde's cancer-causing potential for many years but is still embroiled in a lengthy review process to determine whether EPA should declare categorically that the chemical causes cancer in humans.

That may change now that the federal government's scientific community has taken a definitive position with the publication of the 12th Report on Carcinogens....         

Apple wants a thoughtful moment with Congress. Yeah, right.

February 29, 2016
By Neil Hughes

Apple's chief attorney, Bruce Sewell, (click here) will testify before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, where he will argue that any decisions on mobile encryption should be decided by representatives of the people, not a warrant request based on a 220-year-old statute....

The USA is the best joke going. The people are suppose to decide if the law can work or not. That's a new one.

Why not dissolve government and figure anarchy is the only reality.

Does the arrest have to be the CEO or will Bruce Sewell do?

Romeny today, "At least the world will know we are not bigoted."

July 26, 2012
By Adele M. Stan 
Since we published this list, (click here) Romney used a speaking opportunity in Israel to do a bit of Palestinian-bashing, which complements the anti-Muslim campaign of Romney endorser Michele Bachmann (see item #12), and generally feeds the Romney bigotry strategy. Appearing before a gathering of donors, Romney attributed the economic disparity between Israel and the Palestinian territories as being due to "culture" and "divine provenance".

Mitt Romney's named campaign advisers want you to know that they had nothing, nada -- oops, didn't mean to use a foreign word -- to do with the assertion of an unnamed campaign adviser last week that Barack Obama just doesn't get that special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States on account of his father being from Kenya....

It is the wild west in the USA today. What do right wing extremists expect when the Supreme Court is taking a case to return rights to people that pledge guilty to abusing their wives? 

It is the third day of the Syrian ceasefire with minimal conflicts.

February 29, 2016
By The AP

Beirut — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (click here) as a fragile cease-fire enters its third day (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

The secretary-general of NATO says the cease-fire in Syria is "largely holding," though he remains concerned about the Russian military buildup in the country.

Jens Stoltenberg made the comments on a visit to Kuwait on Monday.

Responding to a journalist's question, Stoltenberg said: "We are concerned about the significant Russian military buildup we have seen in Syria, with the ground troops, with the naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean and with air forces conducting airstrikes and so far they have mainly targeted not ISIL but other opposition groups." He made the comment using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State group.

He also stressed that "there are no plans about NATO providing ground troops for the military operations in Syria."...

That is absolutely correct. The US Congress has no interest in writing another AUMF. 

Iraq should have the ceasefire that Syria has now. 

But, the lack of an AUMF never stops Obama.

February 29, 2016

Washington (CNN) 

The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force operations to target, (click here) capture or kill top ISIS operatives have begun in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation, an administration official with direct knowledge of the force's activities told CNN.

The official said the group has spent the last several weeks preparing, including setting up safe houses, establishing informant networks and coordinating operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga units. It's the same strategy that Special Operations forces have used in previous deployments to combat zones....

Mr. Beyer is 36 years old.

February 26, 2016
By Corey Dickstein

Washington – It was react or die. (click here)

That’s how Navy SEAL Edward C. Byers Jr. described the night of Dec. 8, 2012, when his unit rescued Dr. Dilip Joseph from the Taliban deep in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

Byers was the second SEAL through the door of a tiny, one-room building where Joseph was held hostage. As bullets zipped across the room, Byers leaped on top the doctor, using his own body armor to shield the captive as his fellow SEALs exchanged gun fire with enemy fighters.

“Anyone who has been in combat knows that in those moments you either react or you get killed,” Byers said in a Navy video released Friday.

As Byers protected Joseph, he spotted an AK-47-wielding Taliban guard just inches away. He continued to shield Joseph with his body as he grabbed the gunman by the throat, pinning him to a wall long enough for another SEAL to shoot him dead....

The country has a major problem with guns. When does this end?

February 29, 2016
The AP

Madison Township, Ohio — The Latest on the school shooting (click here) in Madison Township, Ohio. (all times local):
2 p.m.
A sheriff says a 14-year-old student pulled out a gun in a southwestern Ohio school cafeteria and opened fire, hitting two students.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones says two other students were injured at Madison Local Schools either as they tried to get away or from shrapnel from the shooting.
Jones says the suspect ran from the school, threw the gun down and was apprehended nearby.
Jones says the 14-year-old was a student and there was a motive to the shooting which he did not identify....

What about this danger to the country? It doesn't matter so long as Wall Street has it's influence broker in the White House?
        

Women legislators need to find the words to protect women by law.

February 29, 2016
By Laura Wagner

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (click here) drew gasps on Monday when he asked several questions during oral arguments.
Thomas, who hadn't asked a question since Feb. 22, 2006, broke 10 years of near silence during a case, Voisine v. U.S., involving a federal law preventing people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning firearms.
The justices were hearing appeals from two Maine men who say their guilty pleas for hitting their partners should not disqualify them from gun ownership. The hour-long session was coming to a close when Thomas leaned forward and spoke into the microphone to ask Justice Department lawyer Ilana Eisenstein whether a misdemeanor conviction of any other law "suspends a constitutional right," The Associated Press reports....

I can't believe the accepted this case. It isn't as though the men leave and don't carry anger when they are either forced to leave or simply leave because the relationship was dissolved. These men come back to kill. I can understand how a single man with no connection to his ex-spouse or girlfriend might think he has a right to have guns again, but, the statistics prove there is sincere danger even when the couple no longer is together.

Either background searches mean something or not. 

January 1, 2012

Guns increase the probability of death (click here) in incidents of domestic violence.
Firearms were used to kill more than two-thirds of spouse and ex-spouse homicide victims between 1990 and 2005.
Domestic violence assaults involving a firearm are 12 times more likely to result in death than those involving other weapons or bodily force.
Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a firearm.
A recent survey of female domestic violence shelter residents in California found that more than one third (36.7%) reported having been threatened or harmed with a firearm. In nearly two thirds (64.5%) of the households that contained a firearm, the intimate partner had used the firearm against the victim, usually threatening to shoot or kill the victim.
Laws that prohibit the purchase of a firearm by a person subject to a domestic violence restraining order are associated with a reduction in the number of intimate partner homicides^.
Between 1990 and 2005, individuals killed by current dating partners made up almost half of all spouse and current dating partner homicides..

Ted Cruz is not going to get votes in a the general election, except, Texas perhaps.

Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday was absolutely astounded by Cruz yesterday. Cruz was lying and wasn't going to come away from those lies no matter how Mr. Wallace engaged him into a reasonable dialogue.

I was as astounded if not more at what I heard and saw.

Ted Cruz even accused Mr. Wallace of playing media Ops on him. Everyone listening to that knew it wasn't true. Mr. Wallace even made a polite goodbye and Cruz didn't respond. The camera just cut away to continue the program. 

I guess all the candidates are rattled at the success of Donald Trump. It was there the entire time. Now that this is becoming a reality the Republicans are completely disconnected from reality.

The media is not covering the people in the USA in a real way that portrays their condition and their quality of life. The Republican states have the Working Poor dying from lack of health insurance. No one even cares except for some of the left that react because they hope exposure will do something, but, nothing results in any reality check by the right. 

Americans are tired of being toys to a political machine that does not care about them. FOX should be exposing all the problems people calling themselves Conservatives are facing and I am not talking about Supreme Court decisions. That is not at all the issue. 

If anyone on the Right is sinking down into the mud, it is FOX News when they lost any form of morality.

The more FOX News slanders Donald Trump the less successful they will be. 

That is media corruption, but, that is FOX and Talk Radio, right? Infotainment. The people don't want that level of harassment by the media. But, I guess the frustration of Donald Trump's success is more than the FOX mediators can handle.

Have a better day.

In New Zealand there is an understanding the minimum wage is not a living wage. The living wage is New Zealand is nearly $20.00 per hour.

The importance of recognizing a living wage is a reality check to the minimum wage legislated by government. I thought is a very good idea. It proves the government is reasonable in it's decisions.

February 29, 2016

By Simon Collins

The minimum wage is going up faster than the average wage but unions are still unimpressed. (click here)

Workplace Relations Minister Michael Woodhouse has announced that the minimum wage will go up on April 1 from $14.75 to $15.25 an hour, a 3.4 per cent rise which compares with a 2.1 per cent rise in the average wage in the past year.

But Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the increase was just "treading water".

"Increasing the minimum wage by $0.50 to $15.25 an hour, or $610 a week (which is what a 40 hour week gross earnings would be), is simply not enough to sustain a family on," he said.

"The minimum wage should be enough to take your family to the doctor, buy nutritious groceries, replace your washing machine if it breaks down. The minimum wage should be a wage you can live on, not just exist on.

"In 2009 working people were campaigning for a minimum wage of $15. It's taken seven years to get to $15.25. $15 was a fair minimum wage in 2009, it's not a fair wage in 2016."...

I am sure the Airbnb guests didn't count on being part of a murder investigation.

February 29, 2016

A group of friends (click here) who rented a house on Airbnb for a party weekend in a French town discovered the decomposing body of a woman in the garden.
"Her body was found at the bottom of the property which opens out into a woods," a police source said, adding that foul play was suspected.
The house in the town of Palaiseau, 17 kilometres (10 miles) south of Paris, was rented on popular home-sharing website Airbnb by a group of friends who made the grisly find on Saturday.
The woman was found "hunched in a dug-out area, her head against the ground, covered in branches and surrounded by wood stumps", said the source.
She was dressed, but was not wearing shoes and had a "ring with a large stone" on her finger. No documents which could allow her to be identified were found.
The body's advanced state of decomposition meant it was not possible to determine cause of death, and an autopsy will be carried out, said the source.
The Airbnb renters were being questioned by police.

More earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. The government must develop a plan to relocate the people.

The New Zealand government needs to develop a relocation plan if these earthquacks continue.

USGS has the earthquake at 43.584 °S 172.803 °E depth=10.0 km (6.2 mi) (click here)


February 29, 2016
The traffic signal fault (click here) in Christchurch which caused significant delays this morning in the CBD has now been fixed.
Originally thought to have been caused by this morning's earthquake, the actual cause of the fault is still not known.
It began around 10 last night.
Christchurch Transport Operations Centre says congestion is now expected to ease.
It says the signals team is working with the Christchurch City Council's IT department to find an exact cause.
Earlier this morning the strong quake woke up most of Christchurch....

"Drug Testing" is the new jargon for illegal drug addiction.

February 29, 2016
By Lisa Visentin

Large-scale civil disobedience (click here) and mass arrests are being factored into a plan to rollout the first ever pill testing at NSW festivals before the end of the year, as the NSW Deputy Premier flagged organisers could be charged with drug supply and manslaughter.

The pilot program – the first of its kind to provide mobile laboratory-grade drug testing in Australia – will be carried out inside a van staffed with toxicologists, and shielded from police by barriers of supporters willing to risk arrest to protect others from prosecution, drug law reform advocates said.

Will Tregoning, the founder of drug law reform agency Unharm, said the civil disobedience model was necessary after the NSW government reaffirmed its staunch opposition to pill testing on Monday....

New South Wales of Australia is openly concerned about manslaughter.