This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
September 25, 2016 By Michael Moore ...Well, this past week, (click here) my big plans got dealt a death blow by the Republicans of Licking County, Ohio. We got a call from the theater management telling us, "We're sorry but the community board that oversees the theater has voted to not allow Michael Moore to perform his show here. We are declining the rental." When asked why, it was explained to us that, "Michael Moore's appearance here could reflect negatively upon the Midland Theatre. He is too controversial and the risk is too great. The board is afraid that renting the theater to him may cause the theater to lose long-standing patrons. Our board here is fairly conservative and it was felt that Mr. Moore would try to sway people's minds to vote his way."... I thought Ohio was a state that loved freedom and cared about free expression of political ideologies. I am surprised and ashamed there would be such oppression in the state of Ohio. Typical Republicans. Insulting the open minded and educated. Oppression is not what the USA is about and I am offended by the exercise of oppression in the time of elections. Really, Ohio? Really? Retreating into the 1950's? Censorship AGAIN!
...In 1951, (click here) a low-budget film noir remake of Fritz Lang's "M" crossed the border into Ohio. State censors were concerned that the tale of a child snatcher would incite crime. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the censors. Two years later, Howard Hughes released two sexy confections, "The French Line" and "Son of Sinbad." Both featured legs and cleavage in full-color, widescreen splendor. Both were banned for indecency. This time it was Ohio's Supreme Court that reversed.... I am never buying another Longaberger basket again and the ones I have are being given to the poor!!!!
Zika. I believe there is $1.1 billion in the funding bill before Congress. The US has decided to focus on a vaccine and HHS has repurposed funding to attempt to achieve that.
September 27, 2016 By Reuters' Staff
...As of September, (click here) the HHS has awarded at least
$433 million in repurposed funds to support Zika response and
preparedness activities.
This is extremely difficult research. It isn't a matter of growing an attenuated virus in an egg. This virus has characteristics that may not be stopped by an attenuated vaccine injection.
An attenuated vaccine is a vaccine created by reducing the virulence of a pathogen, but still keeping it viable (or "live"). Attenuation
takes an infectious agent and alters it so that it becomes harmless or
less virulent. These vaccines contrast to those produced by "killing"
the virus (inactivated vaccine).
This is very intense and dilligent work going on in those laboratories. The Democrats currently serving the USA are not playing politics with anyone's life. Before HHS distributed their funding, President Obama released funds very early on from his accounts.
REMEMBER THAT. When American lives are saved remember the people and their party affiliation that saved those lives!
...The thought that Democrats (click here) might be playing hard to get for political
purposes has occurred to Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans.
“It’s
almost as if a few Democratic leaders decided long ago that bringing
our country to the brink would make for good election-year politics,” he
said.
“Democrats
are marching us down a path that leads to a shutdown in order to gain
some sort of political advantage,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas,
the No. 2 Senate Republican.
The problem for them and the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan
of Wisconsin, is a familiar one. Republicans probably lack the votes to
pass a stopgap funding bill without Democratic help since a significant
number of Republicans in the Senate, and particularly in the House,
refuse to vote for any spending bill whatsoever to avoid conservative
backlash or provide fodder for a future primary challenge....
Have you ever wondered when Republicans finally grow up and stop blaming everyone else because they can't accomplish a thing honestly.
Let me think about that a minute.
The minute is up.
Mitch McConnell decided to bring a ten week funding bill to the US Senate floor without checking to be sure there were enough votes. Really? Not really. What Mitch McConnell did was to begin political grandstanding by bringing a bill to the Senate floor that the American people want.
The favoritism of Mitch McConnell in allowing the funding for Louisiana to stand while denying the funding to Flint, Michigan is PROOF he does nothing in his leadership but play politics with the lives of Americans.
NOTHING.
There is nothing else Mitch McConnell does with his power as majority leader in the Senate but parlay every aspect of governance into political grandstanding.
It is no different than the nomination of an eminently qualified candidate for the Supreme Court that has a record of voting in favor of conservative values as well as more liberals values. The reason Judge Garland does that is because he decides about what is constitutional and what is not. Not every ideology of conservatives are protected by the US Constitution and the same goes for liberal values as well.
But, does Mitch McConnell care about the country? No.
Does Mitch McConnell care about the people? No.
Does Mitch McConnell care about his own grandiose political standing? Yes. Can the same be said about Paul Ryan? Yes and no. He puts politics first, but, he also stumbles a lot in his leadership of the US House. I don't think there is one word, only one word for that phenomena. Nope, can't come up with one.
The Supreme Court Justice hanging in the balance is the excuse many Republicans use to vote for Donald Trump, but, it is more than that. It is simply the way Republicans game the country.
They don't govern. The Republicans pad the pockets of their Wall Street interests. That is all they have done leading up to the economic collapse of 2008 and it is all they have done since.
It is amazing that Americans simply don't see the forest for the trees. Does anyone believe Donald Trump would be in office long? Pence is hanging his hat on the Vice Presidency hoping it leads to more. If the Republicans have the Senate and House majority, President Trump will be removed as quickly as possible.
Congressional Republicans will not work with a President they disagree with. They had real experience with President Obama.
September 27, 2016 By Heather Digby Parton
If someone had told me 10 years ago (click here) that the first general election presidential debate of 2016
would feature a CNN chyron that said “Awaiting the Historic
Clinton-Trump Debate,” I would have thought you were crazy. If you had
told me the polls would be tied going into that debate I would have
thought the world had gone crazy. But that’s where we are and last
night’s debate showed how far we’ve gone down the rabbit hole. My preview of the debate yesterday
focused on the fact that Trump’s “serious” debates at the end of the
primaries, when there were fewer rivals, gave us some clues about how he
might perform in the main event. He was aggressively incoherent and
sometimes completely unintelligible, proving repeatedly that he had
absolutely no idea what he was talking about. This has been
obvious from the beginning of his campaign if you watched his rallies
and interviews. It’s just that his personality is so remarkably bizarre
that I think the lack of substance is easy to overlook. (I confess I
have been somewhat surprised that so many people find his rambling
“braggadociousness” appealing enough that they fail to notice that he is ignorant about everything important to the job of president.)...
Early balloting (click here) has already begun in states such as Iowa and Illinois where as soon as the ballots are ready, voting begins. The majority of votes are cast on Election Day, but, early balloting matters.
Real Clear Politics has the race to close to call. Nate Silver (click here) basically sees it the same way. He states as of today Hillary Clinton has a 45 percent chance of winning the presidency and Donald Trump a 46 percent chance of winning the presidency. Nate Silver has added new polls to his election model. The only polling that matters is the one that is completed on Election Day. I think there is a larger error than stated by the polls. The polls are primarily conducted online and that isolates many voters out of the polling model. If the error is larger than stated that means the electorate will be more heavily Democratic and favor Hillary Clinton. As with any major election there is no magic formula. "Get out the vote" is the answer.
The Climate Crisis is more dangerous. Nuclear weapons have been around a long time. Since WWII to be exact. They are always controversial, but, there is the Non-Proliferation Treaty which the world's countries needs to take more seriously. We have witnessed the rise of extremists. These extremists would like to use nuclear weapons, that we can be confident. But, it is up to the global community the ability for them to succeed. Realizing the global community has a policy already written and primarily ratified by the majority of countries, it needs to be realized, the Non-Proliferation Treaty denies extremists from carrying out nuclear holocaust. The tensions that exist between Pakistan and India should be at a peace table no different than Israel and Palestine. Pakistan has to disarm from nuclear weapons as its tribal regions have seen the most dangerous of international terrorists and Osama bin Laden resided within Pakistan near a military academy. It is time to honor the Non-Proliferation Treaty and make nuclear stockpiles into antiquated mistakes of power. The Climate Crisis on the other hand is racing to a very tragic end for most life on Earth. We are seeing the Sixth Extinction take it's toll on life that thrived only a short time ago. There is no doubt, the Climate Crisis is dire and is now. We cannot look away from this burgeoning danger that already has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of lives and perhaps even more. While starvation because bees are no longer available to pollinate our crops and lack of water due to droughts is already upon us, there is no reason to consider these minor problems of which technology will fix; that simply won't happen. It is technology that brought us high carbon dioxide levels. The biotic content of Earth's troposphere is more frail than most realize. The climate shift over the past two decades is more than obvious. The climate crisis needs to be addresses now. In that I believe Secretary Clinton needs to clarify her idea of providing solar panels throughout the USA. That high aspiration did not completely succeed with the production of American solar panels. Buy American (click here) and support companies providing manufacturing jobs in the USA. These high quality panels are ARRA* (2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) compliant meaning that they were substantially manufactured in the US, the components were sourced and assembled in the USA, or they qualify under some other ARRA qualification or exemption. ARRA compliant means that they should qualify for ARRA grants, rebates and other purchasing which requires a buy American certification.
SolarWorld manufactures most of its panels in Hillsboro, OR. Suniva produces its ARRA compliant panels in Atlanta.
Transitioning to green energy is vital to the efforts to stop and reverse the climate crisis. We need to be sure "American Made" matters.
Nuclear weapons need to respect the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Climate Crisis needs attention today. Now. The investment of countries does not belong producing weapons of mass destruction so much of green energy products that will save us all.
In my opinion, Iran will be back on the radar of the UNSC at sometime in the future. Iran does not respect PEACE. Iran has plans to be a military power while they will be scrutinized for their return to nuclear weapon production. By Peter Jenkins
Joyner makes plain why the legal restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program that the Security Council imposed in 2010 lapsed on January 16 this year (JCPOA Implementation Day). UNSC resolution 2231 of 20 July 2015 “calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons…” Those of us who have been on the receiving end of Security Council injunctions know that “calls upon” is an exhortation. It is not a verbal expression that the Council uses when it intends to create a legally binding obligation under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
All in Congress who claim that Iran’s missile program violates international law, and use this to justify a demand for further US sanctions, should note that. The plain fact is that since January Iran is not violating international law when it develops and tests ballistic missiles—nor is it in any way violating the JCPOA, which does not cover missile development. Those in Congress who are upset with Iran’s missile developments should be pressing to negotiate an agreement that covers missiles instead of putting at risk the existing nuclear agreement by introducing further sanctions on Iran....
The Iranian people need to demand their leadership, including their holy men, to recognize peace as a path to elevate Iran as an international power. It is very bad judgement to continue to appear to be a rouge headed for the control of nuclear weapons. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State was able to bring Americans home from Iranian prisons. The capture of foreign citizens to hold as hostages is also an illegitimate act of an international power. The Iranian sanctions have been lifted. Iran should be producing an economy that does not include hostages for money. The Iran agreement that releases sanctions to facilitate an economy should be valued more than weapons. Thanks to all those that made the debate possible and thank you C-Span for the coverage.
Officials believe the jihadi terrorists could use vehicles packed full of explosives as a new ploy to bring fresh devastation to the continent.
The EU's counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove warned Europe needed to prepare for an 'exodus' of thousands of fighters returning from Iraq and Syria.
He also cautioned there is an increasing risk Libya will be used as a 'springboard' to launch attacks on Europe.
Mr de Kerchove, who is the EU's senior anti-terror official, told MEPs: 'The terrorist threat has never been so high in the last 20 years....
I have stated over and over that the USA cannot over extend in the Middle East because Europe was at risk.
Enough already. The USA needs to prepare to assist NATO in preventing the plans of terrorists. 26 September 2016
A Canadian-Iranian (click here) academic has been released from prison by Iranian authorities, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed.
The release was given on "humanitarian grounds", Iranian state media report.
Homa Hoodfar, 65, was one of several dual nationals being held for alleged "acts against national security".
She was ill and is being returned to Canada via Oman, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the foreign ministry.
Mr Trudeau said the federal government had been "engaged at the highest levels" with her case.
"Canadians are relieved that Dr Hoodfar has been released from jail and will soon be reunited with her family, friends and colleagues," he said....
On January 1st, 2014, (click here) William Bratton became New York City’s Police Commissioner for a second time. The graph above shows how successful Bratton was at reducing NYC’s violent crime rate when he first held this position during the 1990s. I think the birther issue was a convenient subject for political prowess with the Tea Party. I think he owes President Obama an apology if he is sincere in stating President Obama was born in the USA.
Let's take a closer look (click here) at that birth certificate. @BarackObama was described in 2003 as being "born in Kenya." http://bit.ly/Klc9Uu
3:31 PM - 18 May 2012
An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud.
4:23 PM - 6 Aug 2012
Why do the Republicans keep apologizing on the so called "birther" issue? No more apologies--take the offensive!
11:58 AM - 27 Aug 2012
How amazing, the State Health Director who verified copies of Obama’s “birth certificate” died in plane crash today. All others lived
4:32 PM - 12 Dec 2013
Okay, then.
Cyber Security The endorsements Donald Trump speaks of are old world "W" hacks. Anyone looking for a job? September 26, 2016 By Steve Holland (This story corrects sixth paragraph to say Matt Schlapp was White House political director, not deputy.) Dozens of former appointees (click here) of the administration of former President George W. Bush announced their support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Sunday in a bid for party unity ahead of Trump's first debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Bush family and many connected to it remain cool to Trump. Former President George H.W. Bush reportedly plans to vote for Clinton in the Nov. 8 election while his Jeb, a former Trump rival, has said he will not vote for Clinton or Trump. George W. Bush has avoided the presidential race while helping raise money for Republican congressional candidates. But a number of former Bush appointees have decided to endorse Trump, the New York businessman who is in a tight race with Clinton and is to debate her one-one-one at Hofstra University on Monday night in Hempstead, New York. Fifty former Bush appointees were on a list of people described as founding members of a coalition of Bush alumni supportive of Trump. The list was provided by a Republican official close to the Trump campaign.... Those seeking jobs needs to realize Donald Trump did not take monies from cronies. ISIS The oil belonged to the country where the wells are. What Donald Trump is stating is using the USA military for the purpose of taking over the natural resources of a foreign country. That is Wall Street. War for profit are illegal by any standard globally. June 22, 2016 ...We searched newspaper articles (click here) and television transcripts from 2002 and 2003 amid the debate leading up to the Iraq War. We didn’t find any examples of Trump unequivocally denouncing the war until a year after the war began. Trump’s comments Most damning to Trump’s claim is a September 2002 interview in which Trump said he supported the Iraq invasion. Shock jock Howard Stern asked Trump if he supported the looming invasion. Trump responded, "Yeah, I guess so." This goes directly against Trump’s claims that he criticized the rush to war before the war began. On Jan. 28, 2003, just under three months before the invasion, Fox News’ Neil Cavuto asked Trump whether President George W. Bush should be more focused on Iraq or the economy. Speaking of Iraq, Trump said, "Well, he has either got to do something or not do something, perhaps, because perhaps shouldn't be doing it yet and perhaps we should be waiting for the United Nations, you know. He's under a lot of pressure. I think he's doing a very good job. But, of course, if you look at the polls, a lot of people are getting a little tired. I think the Iraqi situation is a problem. And I think the economy is a much bigger problem as far as the president is concerned."... Sean Hannity September 19, 2016 By Erik Wemple ...The platoons of journalists (click here) who’ve examined this question have never excavated a corroborating transcript from the “Hannity & Colmes” show (its name before the Alan Colmes left the show in early 2009). So did Trump stake out this anti-Iraq-War position in private discussions with Hannity? We’ve asked the Trump campaign about that and are awaiting an answer. We’ve also asked Fox News about any input from Hannity himself:...
Hillary Clinton: Repatriation is good for America. Trump Loophole. Trickle down, top down economics does not work in America. 9 August 2016 By Frank Robert
...Much of the attention on Trump's tax plan, (click here) announced Monday, has focused on his raising the rate for top earners to 33 percent. While that's higher than the 25 percent he originally announced, it marks a reduction from the current 39.6 percent.
Trump would also eliminate the estate tax, saying that "American workers have paid taxes their whole lives, and they should not be taxed at death." Of course, the estate tax only kicks in for estates valued at $5.45 million for individuals and $10.9 million for couples, or roughly the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans.
Yet the biggest tax break for the wealthy would come from so-called pass-through income, or income that "passes through" a business to the individual returns of the business' owners. The Republican nominee says the cut is aimed at helping small business — and it will. But most of the benefits go to the very wealthy....
The FBI scrubbed the Clinton server and retrieved many of the deleted emails. Other than that there is no record of so called missing deleted emails.
There are no angels when it comes to deleting emails. ...In 2007, (click here) when Congress asked the Bush administration for emails surrounding the firing of eights U.S. attorneys, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales revealed that many of the emails requested could not be produced because they were sent on a non-government email server. The officials had used the private domain gwb43.com, a server run by the Republican National Committee. Two years later, it was revealed that potentially 22 million emails were deleted, which was considered by some to be a violation of the Presidential Records Act....
Donald Trump believes he can make changes to the function of government to improve it's purpose. He believes there are too many special interests to bring about sincere change in the governance of the USA. Donald Trump is correct. Government monies were squandered, but, it wasn't the Democrats that squandered it. George W. Bush used the Clinton surplus. 9:42 pm Interruption - sorry 9:57 pm continued...
Income inequality: Hillary Clinton: An economy that works for everyone. New jobs with rising income. Most of the new jobs will come from small business. Raise the minimum wage and equal pay for women. Support for people trying to balance family and work. This is long overdue. Debt free college and quality childcare. The wealthy to pay their fair share. Good. "Who will be able to make your life better?" Donald Trump: Jobs are outsourced. The Chinese are using the USA as their piggy bank. The biggest plants in the world are being built in China and Mexico. Ford is leaving, 1000 of jobs are leaving. Child care agrees with Hillary. "We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States, ie: Carrier....Under my plan the taxes will be reduced and it will be a job creator." Donald that is called "Trickle Down Economics" and it does not work. Hillary Clinton: That is "Trumped Up Trickle Down."..."Invest in the middle class and the better we will grow." Donald Trump: "My father gave me a small loan and I built it into billions of dollars....What China is doing to the USA is wrong....When we sell into Mexico there is tax and when Mexico sells to us there is no cost....Secretary Clinton and others should have been doing this for years....We owe 20 trillion dollars and can't do that anymore." Lester Holt: How are you going to do that? Donald Trump: Tax imports. The politicians never do that because of special interests. We have to stop the companies from leaving. Hillary Clinton: 2008 was a perfect storm....13 trillion in family wealth was wiped out...Donald capitalized on the economic failure. His tax plan would blow up the debt by adding 12 trillion dollars....Her investments will bring about 20 million new jobs. Does Donald think the climate crisis is something dreamed up by the Chinese. Donald Trump: The USA lost money investing for solar panels. We cannot do what Hillary Clinton wants without increasing the national debt. "We have to do a better job at keeping our jobs." Michigan and Ohio and so many of their jobs are leaving.
The USA has the lowest unemployment rate in decades. ...Sixty thousand (click here) manufacturing jobs were added in the U.S. in 2014, versus 12,000 in 2003, either through so-called reshoring, in which American companies bring jobs back to the U.S., or foreign direct investment, in which foreign companies move production to the U.S., according to a study from the Reshoring Initiative. In contrast, as many as 50,000 jobs were “offshored” last year, a decline from about 150,000 in 2003.... The future growth of the USA lies in increased wages beginning with the minimum wage. Donald Trump restores to Republican rhetoric; ie: regulation, increased taxes. The USA cannot afford to deregulate. The water is polluted, the air is polluted, the climate is out of control.
September 26, 2016 By Daniella Diaz Washington (CNN) - Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein (click here) was escorted off the Hofstra University campus Monday after her prearranged media interviews because she didn't have credentials to be there. Stein's campaign told CNN that she was at the university doing press interviews and was escorted off after an interview with MSNBC. "We were on our way to an interview with @MSNBC when we were stopped by Hofstra security and Nassau County police just now. #debatenight" she tweeted. It is difficult for candidates of third and fourth party candidates to make up ground when they are excluded from debates. It simply isn't right. The history of debates shows the first debate does bring a reaction from the electorate. We only want a democracy that gives all its citizens a platform. Watching online with C-Span is free. (click here)
Candidate Governor Gary Johnson has a point. There is an unrepresented 10 percent in the recent polls.
Will the undecided even vote on election day because they can't find a candidate they respect.
I think what is left out of the polls by the CPD is the real fact Democratic and Republican candidates do not attract all of the country as an answer for leadership. I think the CPD has a responsibility to Americans sincerely objecting to establishment candidates. Quit e possibly the way to invite those Americans to a national debate is to award the "Undecided percentage" to the highest polling 3rd or 4th party candidate. In this instance there is (42.6+41.1+7.2 = 90.1) 9.1 undecided. If Governor Gary Johnson was awarded the undecided he would easily be on the debate stage.
The first Presidential debate has a double disqualifier. The Vice Presidential debate is determined by the candidates who qualified for the first Presidential debate.
Americans are looking for leadership they believe can lead the country differently than before. They want to believe in the decisions the Oval Office is making. It just seems to me the undecided are really looking for others otherwise they would not be undecided.
The CPD's nonpartisan criteria my not be very nonpartisan at all.
The CPD's first criterion requires satisfaction of the eligibility requirements of Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. The requirements are satisfied if the candidate:
a. Â Â is at least 35 years of age;
b. Â Â is a Natural Born Citizen of the United States and a resident of the United States for fourteen years; and
c.  is otherwise eligible under the Constitution.
2. Evidence of Ballot Access
The CPD's second criterion requires that the candidate qualify to have his/her name appear on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority in the 2004 general election. Under the Constitution, the candidate who receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College, at least 270 votes, is elected President regardless of the popular vote.
3. Indicators of Electoral Support
The CPD's third criterion requires that the candidate have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recent publicly reported results at the time of the determination.
C. Application of Criteria
CPD's determination with respect to participation in CPD's first-scheduled debate will be made after Labor Day 2004, but sufficiently in advance of the first-scheduled debate to allow for orderly planning. Invitations to participate in the vice-presidential debate will be extended to the running mates of each of the presidential candidates qualifying for participation in CPD's first presidential debate. Invitations to participate in the second and third of CPD's scheduled presidential debates will be based upon satisfaction of the same multiple criteria prior to each debate. I think he is a very honest and genuine candidate.
