Monthly Archives: April 2014

Post Race Results

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza (P120612PS-0463 (direct link)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

When Barack Obama was elected as President of the United States in 2008, the international community rallied together, thinking that America, the country that extolled the values of human rights the world over, had reached a new level in their society and moved beyond their racist past. Many Americans also believed this.

What has actually happened is a much different picture. Few will admit it, and some will utterly deny it, but what has happened is a much more polarized attitude in the population regarding policies and race.

Out of what seemed like nowhere, I noticed an outright rejection of anything that resembled a change in attitudes in certain segments of the culture. We heard the escalation of code words in our language, just so people could avoid using obvious words like race, black, and color. We heard welfare president, food stamp president, lawless thug, Muslim, witch doctor, sub-human mongrel, all in reference to the country’s president.

Michele Bachmann said that slaves came to America for a “better way of life.” Haley Barbour says the “Civil Rights era was not that bad for either side.” Paul Ryan talks about the “inner city culture” that does not have any work ethic at all.

School lunch programs in the south featured fried chicken, collard greens and watermelon during black history month. I suppose we weren’t supposed to think anything of that. We weren’t supposed to notice public funds being taken from public schools to be used in charter school systems instead, leaving most impoverished children with no real education opportunities. In this example, “impoverished” does mean African-American.

“Stand You Ground” laws are an interesting example. 36% of whites using this defense in court win their argument. Only 3% of African-Americans have succeeded in making the same claim. This does not include racial profiling, and the practice of which is so widespread and ingrained that police departments are in denial or not aware of the habit.

I’m not pointing fingers correctly unless I examine my own backyard. In Minnesota, black children are 6 times more likely to be arrested for delinquency, Native-American children 4 times more likely, and minority children overall are 6 times more likely to be arrested. Minority teens are more than four times more likely than whites to be prosecuted as adults, and black teens are more than six times more likely to be prosecuted in adult court than whites. The youth population in Minnesota is about 78 percent white, 8 percent black, and 7 percent Latino. Asian and American Indian youth combined made up 7 percent. Not very non-racist for a state that claims to be color blind.

Blacks are less likely to be hired for a job. They are less likely to be raised in a home that has not been affected by poverty and incarceration of a family member or relative. They are less likely to be able to graduate, less likely to go to college and less likely to be able to run for public office. And yes, they actually are less likely to be elected as president.

All this while we “celebrate” enacting the Civil Rights Act 50 years ago – as if our ACTS are any where CIVIL when it comes to policy, law enforcement and educational opportunities – and what gives anyone the RIGHTS to act in such a way?. Get used to the routine, because we now see another race being clearly discriminated against. Have you heard of Latino-Americans?

“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” ― Toni Morrison

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1st edition, 1852. The Women’s Museum, Dallas, Texas (Courtesy Stowe Center Library) By Photo: User:FA2010 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Non-Native Speakers

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This Ukrainian boy will never forget these “unidentified” soldiers who invade his country, his freedom & his future. Photo via Twitter.

Since we developed language, the way we speak indicates where we are from. Even different regions within a country speaking the same language will develop dialects specific to that area. In the US, if one can not go to work due to illness, in the north they “call in” sick. In the south, they “call out. ” In the north, you might have a can of “pop” on a hot summer day. In the south, you reach for a “soda.”

This is true all over the world. So it came as no surprise to me this morning to watch an interview with Andrij Dobriansky, of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), to state that those in three eastern cities calling for succession from Ukraine are clearly not native-born Ukrainian Russians, but have come from outside the country and region, speaking the mother tongue Russian. He indicated it is clear both in their misunderstanding of the local population and dialect, as well as their mannerisms and habits.

“They stormed the wrong building,” he said, as he explained the protestors in Donetsk attempting to take a government building. “Once inside, they forced the occupants to walk out on their knees with their heads bowed, calling them dogs.” He went on to explain that these people say they reject the government in Kiev, calling then “gays and Jews.” He says Ukrainians pride themselves on being a diverse culture and by nature do not use these terms when referring to others.

The UCCA’s mission is to support cultural, educational, and humanitarian activities that emphasize the Ukrainian American heritage and provide support for Ukraine’s newly developing democracy. Their offices are located in New York.

It remains to be seen what Russian’s President Vladimir Putin will do in the next month and a half before the Ukraine election is held. Sanctions that have been imposed seem to have little effect on his arrogance and violations of agreements he has entered into. In order to actually do something to get his attention, I believe the strategy must include disallowing the agreement between Exxon-Mobil and Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, to drill in the arctic shelf and tap into the large oil reserves in that region. Exxon-Mobil is a US-based company, and despite their size and billions of annual profit, are still subject to laws and regulations of that country.

Major U.S. energy company Exxon Mobil Corp. and Russia’s OAO Rosneft agreed in February of 2013 “to broaden their joint venture by adding seven more licenses to develop oil and gas resources on Russia’s Arctic shelf and to mull a proposal to export liquefied natural gas from the Russian Far East. The companies also signed a separate deal to give state-controlled Rosneft the option of buying a 25% interest in Exxon’s Point Thomson Project, which Exxon says is estimated to hold a quarter of the known natural-gas resources buried beneath Alaska’s North Slope. Exxon owns 62.5% of Point Thomson,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

In so much as Russia seeks to keep a stranglehold on the economy of not only the Ukraine but also Europe in general, they found a new BFF in Exxon to help achieve those goals. “We have a unique partnership,” Glenn Waller, Exxon’s Russian chief, said in an interview in Moscow. “They have the world’s biggest reserves and we have the largest market capitalization,” reports in Bloomberg say. The deal-making process “includes targeting a deposit that may hold more oil than Norway’s North Sea. It will kick off a series of landmark projects… They also plan to frack shale fields in Siberia, sink a deep-water well in the Black Sea and build a natural-gas export terminal in Russia’s Far East.”

Exxon, like most major oil companies of the world, feel their ability to make money and hold power as a result mean they have no respect for political implications of the nations they expect cooperation and future sales from. “Most big U.S. companies, especially those making long-term strategic decisions, dismiss Russia-U.S. politics as something of a soap opera with frequent script changes,” said Chris Weafer, managing director of the Macro Advisory consultants, the same Bloomberg report includes.

Putin continues to invest heavily into keeping Syria’s War going. His interest here lies in blocking the completion of gas and oil pipelines from the middle east to Europe. The war in Syria is what is blocking that pipeline from being finished. The humanitarian side of the crisis has no influence on his thinking or reason. What pipeline in Syria, you ask? We will cover that in the next few days.

The controversy in Ukraine is no more about protecting “Russian speaking Ukrainians” than was the United States claim of “weapons of mass destruction” as an excuse to invade Iraq. Putin can say what he wants, we will believe what is self-evident through the actions of his puppets.

There are no borders when you follow the money.

Journalism Is Not A Crime

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Photo By Brendon Connelly from Newberg, Oregon (Quesadilla and light reading) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo By Brendon Connelly from Newberg, Oregon (Quesadilla and light reading) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

All over the world, people begin their day with a cup of coffee or tea and the morning paper. As we have progressed into the digital age, this might be an online news source or the click of a remote for cable or mainstream television news.

The world over, journalists spend far more in passion for the truth than they receive in salary. Their risks are seldom appreciated by the news consumers. Their job is to get all sides of a story – including interviews and perspectives that may be contrary to what governments or other subjects of their reports may wish. As such, they risk arrest from one and kidnapping, physical attacks or death from others.

Since 2007, 540 journalists have been killed world wide. Many of them you have never heard of. Many of them died with no one reporting their ordeal.

Three Aljazeera journalists, Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed, have been detained and held in Egypt’s prisons for 100 days. Their trial resumes April 10. A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, Abdullah al-Shami, has been held in Egypt for more than six months and has been on hunger strike since January 23. His detention was extended for an additional 45 days on March 13. Another Al Jazeera journalist, Mohamed Badr, was arrested on July 15 and released on February 5, when he was acquitted of a series of charges including being involved in the protests in Cairo’s Ramses Square.

Egyptian authorities are accusing the Aljazeera staff of falsely reporting the news and of collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood, and included a raid on their hotel room in which their equipment and recorded interviews were seized. There is absolutely no evidence of any sympathy toward the Muslim Brotherhood by any of the journalists involved. It is the understanding of international communities that journalists can interview both sides of a story during a conflict without being seen as taking a side in the issue.

Al Anstey, the managing director of Al Jazeera English said: “Mohamed, Baher, and Peter have now been behind bars in Egypt for 100 days for simply doing their job, and for carrying out the highest quality journalism. The charges against them are false and baseless, so there is no justification whatsoever in the detention of innocent journalists for such an outrageous amount of time. We continue to call for their immediate release and for the release of our colleague from Al Jazeera Arabic, Abdullah Al Shamy, who has been behind bars for 236 days.”

“We are very grateful for the immense support of our staff, from right around the world. The response to their detention has been outstanding. The campaign is focused on the release of our four staff, but is fundamentally a stand in the defence of journalism itself, and a call for people everywhere to have a right to be heard and the right to know what is really going on in their world.”

Nothing in life comes without a price. Next time you consume the news, or complain about subscription prices, try to remember that people are putting their lives on the line so you can know what happens around the world from the comfort and safety of your home. Remember that the real price of the news is sometimes paid for in blood and most times the sacrifice goes unnoticed.

Occupy World Writes adds our voice to those calling for the release of all journalists held in Egypt and the world over. Journalism is not a crime. As we witness growing secrecy in governments and courts blocking coverage of news, we are reminded that a free press is not only essential to democracy, it is an emblem of honor in civilized society.

The UnAmerican Agreement

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On the way back from his middle-east trip, President Obama recently made the statement in a speech that the fears surrounding TPP are exaggerated, and that once it is passed and people can see what is in it, they will like what it has. If that is true, why isn’t the text available now, and why is Obama wanting to fast track the agreement through Congress? Why is it so secretive if it is so wonderful? Is there fear of an euphoric reaction?

Image courtesy IBEW, used by permission.

The agreement, known in shorthand as the TPP, would be history’s largest single multinational free trade agreement that could significantly transform the U.S. economy. The 19th round of talks among a dozen negotiating countries took place in Brunei last August in which participants said significant progress had been made in negotiating tariffs. In November South Korea announced interest in joining the negotiations, become the 14th country to do so. Talks have since stalled over concerns in Japan over opening its highly protected market. With mid-term elections in the U.S. in November, talks are likely to be on hold at least until the end of the year,” reports International Business Times.

Two years ago, President Obama signed the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Since then, what have we gained?

U.S. goods exports to Korea have fallen below the pre-FTA average monthly level for 21 out of 22 months since the deal took effect.
U.S. average monthly exports to Korea have fallen in 11 of the 15 sectors that export the most to Korea, relative to the year before the FTA.
While losing sectors have faced relatively steep export declines (e.g. a 12 percent drop in computer and electronics exports, an 11 percent drop in exports of machinery), none of the four “winning” sectors have experienced an average monthly export increase of greater than 2 percent.
Average monthly exports of U.S. agricultural products to Korea have fallen 41 percent.
The average monthly U.S. automotive trade deficit with Korea has grown 19 percent.
The United States has lost an estimated cumulative $9.2 billion in exports to Korea under the FTA’s first two years, compared with the exports that would have been achieved at the pre-FTA level. (Source: Huffington Post Business)

Huffington Post Business, Lori Walloch, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, writes “…even if you count only exports on the Korea FTA’s unhappy second birthday, it’s bad news. And American farmers, ranchers and auto and other manufacturing workers — the sectors Obama said would be the major winners — are the hardest hit.”

“Oh, and imports did increase too. Our bilateral monthly trade deficit with Korea has ballooned 47 percent. Using the administration’s export-to-job ratio, the estimated $8.6 billion drop in net U.S. exports to Korea in the FTA’s first two years represents the loss of more than 50,000 jobs lost. Recall that Obama said the pact would generate 70,000 new American jobs overall.”

“All of this would be sufficiently alarming on its own merits. But, the Korea FTA text was literally used as the U.S. opening text for most of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Despite these shocking results, Obama hopes to close the controversial 14-nation TPP during his April Asia trip instead of taking the actual outcomes of the Korea FTA seriously and launching a major rethink of the TPP.”

“But the Korea FTA pact’s dismal outcomes are making it even more difficult for the Obama administration to get Congress to delegate away its constitutional trade authority via Fast Track for the TPP. While two-thirds of House Democrats opposed the Korea pact in 2011, many of those who supported it are now announcing opposition to Fast Track, having been moved by the evidence of its damage and the emptiness of the administration’s promises. And GOP members who supported the FTA are also facing heat as the damage sinks in.”

Image courtesy IBEW, used by permission.

After signing NAFTA 20 years ago, Americans have leaned that trade agreements mean corporate profits at the expense of American jobs and economic stability. They know it means our markets will be flooded with products made overseas for sale at cheaper prices than can be produced in the US without child labor and sweat shop conditions. And these concerns do not even begin to address some of the things TPP purports to include.

Indeed – the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) states in their publication, “The Electrical Worker,” “Critics of the deal question what good can come from a trade agreement where negotiations have so far been held in secret. Legislators, unions, environmental and other citizens groups have been excluded from the talks, while more than 600 corporate lobbyists have been inside the discussions from the beginning.” Halliburon, Chevron, PHRMA, Comcast, the Motion Picture Association, and a host of other corporations have all been seated at the negotiating table. But not a single citizen representative has been invited.

Americans are tired of suffering from buyers remorse because of poor decisions made by our government. If a law, regulation or agreement will profoundly alter how we live, how we work and what rights we have, we should have a say about it. That is called democracy. An agreement written behind closed doors in secret for the benefit of corporate sponsors and forced on a population is called a plutocracy, and that is NOT American.

Spring Poppy Sales

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U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Mark Hickok patrols through a field during a clearing mission in Marja in Afghanistan’s Helmand province on April 9, 2011. Photo By English: Cpl. John M. McCall, U.S. Marine Corps (www.defense.gov) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Lines for the polling places starting forming long before the polls opened on Saturday, election day in Afghanistan. Over 7 million of the 12 million eligible voters participated in what is the nation’s first transfer of power vote in the war-torn region. Women comprised about 35% of the traditionally predominantly male voters.

So what did it look like on Election Day? All 400,000 of Afghanistan’s police and soldiers were said to be on duty for the election. In Kabul, the nation’s capitol, traffic was prevented from entering the Afghan capital from midday on Friday, with police checkpoints erected at every junction. There was a good-natured, almost carnival atmosphere, with many people on the city streets.

Across the country, 10% of the voting stations were declared unsafe to open by the election commission.

The Taliban exerted great effort to disrupt the historic election. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance gate to the Interior Ministry in Kabul, killing six Afghan police officers. A day earlier, the Taliban killed a provincial council candidate and nine of his supporters. Last month, Sardar Ahmad, one of Afghanistan’s most prominent journalists, was among nine people killed in an attack in central Kabul. Less than two weeks earlier, Swedish Radio correspondent Nils Horner was shot dead in broad daylight on a Kabul street.

In the latest in a string of deadly attacks that marred the lead-up to the election, award-winning German photographer Anja Niedringhaus was killed and veteran Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon was injured when a police commander opened fire on their car in the eastern town of Khost on Friday.

The three front running candidates from a field of eight were all hopeful for the outcome, which will not be announced for several more days. Former foreign ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmai Rassoul, (favoured by Hamid Karzai) and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai were the favorites. Karzai can not seek re-election, according to the Afghanistan constitution.

As the United States and NATO forces prepare to leave Afghanistan, the people look forward to a future of their own choosing. Whoever emerges victorious must find a way to peace or lead the fight against the Taliban without the help of US-led combat troops, and also strengthen an economy that currently relies on declining aid money.

I had to wonder why the US was so intent on staying in a country that clearly wanted us to leave. And, based on our recent history in Iraq, I wasn’t confident that the war on terror was the only reason. Remember that the US wanted a permanent base in Afghanistan to help us keep an eye on the border of western China.

Then I ran across this article in Global Research, by Professor Michel Chossudovsky. In it, he writes, “In addition to its vast mineral and gas reserves, Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the World’s supply of opium which is used to produce grade 4 heroin. US military bases in Afghanistan are also intent upon protecting the multibillion narcotics trade. Narcotics, at present, constitutes the centerpiece of Afghanistan’s export economy. The heroin trade, instated at the outset of the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979 and protected by the CIA, generates cash earnings in Western markets in excess of $200 billion dollars a year.”

Afghanistan also happens to sit on natural resources worth an estimated one trillion dollars, according to a second report by Chossudovsky.”The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.”

Is it any wonder the Afghanis wanted us to leave?

Working Together

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Photo By The U.S. Army (Warrior Transition Brigade) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

America employs the largest volunteer military force in the world. In order to accomplish this without conscription, the government promises to take care of troops when they leave the service, including any injuries suffered while serving the nation.

Most men and women serving in the military do so out of a sense of duty and nationalism; family tradition, patriotic spirit or belief in the future of the country might all factor heavily in the individual decision. Regardless, they are recruited with not only the promise of education and specialized training, but also the benefit of health care.

The current backlog for veterans applying for disability benefits after returning from war is staggering. Some have waited as long as 1 or 2 years, and in 2013 it took an average of 378 days to process a claim, according to the annual report released by the VA.

Washington and the Pentagon seem to throw their hands up in despair, claiming they are doing the best they can. Yet we have heard no discussion about solutions that could actually get results and serve our veterans with less shameful failure. These men and women fought for our country. They shouldn’t have to fight for their own benefits. They shouldn’t die while waiting for paperwork.

To begin with, many veterans are looking for work. Why not use some of their understanding of veteran issues to expand the VA services personnel to accommodate the backlog? These men and women already have a working knowledge of “governmentesse,” the language used by the military. The vast usage of acronyms alone is enough to offer a multi-volume set of books. Veterans are better qualified than those who have never served to be able to complete this process of application efficiently and accurately.

Chuck Hagel answers questions at a town hall style meeting for disable veterans. January, 2014. Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Carwile [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Secondly, we could reassign people already working within the government that are experienced with disability claims. The Department of Education has their own disability division, which refuses to accept the disability claims approved through the Social Security Administration’s more than thorough disability process and determination. Their purpose is to make it virtually impossible for disabled students to qualify under their guidelines and prevent the discharge of remaining student loans if someone becomes disabled before those loans are paid off. With a bit of retraining to understand that the veterans DESERVE the benefits and it is the purpose of the VA to provide them, these people could assist the VA with the backlog.

The Department of Education needs to accept SSA disability determinations that entitle discharge of student loan debt to disabled students. This “way of doing business” is discriminatory and a waste of taxpayer money. It is belittling and humiliating to the disabled student. I would know – I am one they are doing it to.

I don’t know about you, but I happen to think caring for our troops is far more important than punishing disabled students.

Senior Class Failures

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The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved. Photo By Burim (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved. Photo By Burim (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Seniors Alvin and Eva Johnson spend most their time these days figuring out tough choices instead of the traveling they dreamed of when they retired a few years ago. They decide between going to doctor’s appointments, filling prescriptions or purchasing food. Their mortgage has been paid off, as well as their 27 year old car, leaving them only their daily living expenses to contend with.

But Alvin and Eva, like many seniors these days, have seen their fixed incomes not go far enough. They are able to live independently in their modest 938 square foot home, but the monthly checks leave little for the unexpected. “Our furnace broke two years ago,” Eva says. They were able to get the needed repairs before winter, but still have not finished paying for them. “It’s a good thing George (the repairman) knows us,” Alvin explains. “He sees us at church so knows we are doing the best we can.”

There is little chance that things for the Johnsons and other seniors will change for the better any time soon. Washington seems to have little interest in including these people in the discussion about poverty, entitlements and income inequality – and especially in the conversation about increasing the federal minimum wage.

In the discussion of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, we often hear all the advantages this will bring.Here are what the experts are saying, after conducting their research and studies on the issue:

27.8 million workers would see their wages go up as a direct or indirect result of the boost
The growth in the U.S. economy would result in about 85,000 new jobs
4.6 million people would rise above the poverty line
The increase would reduce the ranks of the nation’s poor by 6.8 million

These forecasters and economists, together with their commentators and pundits, have left completely out of the discussion a very important segment of America’s population if this plan is adopted in its present form. In all the discussion there has been no inclusion mentioning how this segment will be brought up income levels that do not threaten their survival even more.

By Woodennature (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Woodennature (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Have you stopped to think about the effects this will have on those who live on social security or disability benefits? The monthly benefits for these groups are figured using a COLA formula on an annual basis. As COLA remains relatively consistent compared to fluctuations in wages, this formula will not automatically adjust benefit amounts to recipients of the programs, resulting in an even wider gap between the bottom wage earners and those living on social security or disability fixed incomes.

This move will widen even more the gap these two vulnerable groups face in their struggle to manage day-to-day life on limited incomes. Here are a few more facts for you to consider:

One in seven seniors live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau
4.8 million Americans over 60 are food insecure, doubling since 2001
Approximately 3.5 million seniors live in poverty, according to Census figures, but that number rises to about 6.2 million when health care costs are factored in
Homeless rates among the elderly will climb by 33 percent within a decade’s time

Until the national discussion takes into account our seniors and vulnerable, any talk of raising the minimum wage will result in even more impoverished conditions for these people. The great tragedy of the failed “trickle down economics” theory is still making grandma live without basic needs, while we talk about “family values” and our “Christian” nation. The war on the poor needs no ammunition or uniform – just a public with blinders will suffice.

Macro economics, anyone?

No Scientific Excuses Accepted!

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A Minke whale and her 1-year-old calf are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel that is the world’s only factory ship. The wound that is visible on the calf’s side was reportedly caused by an explosive-packed harpoon. This image was taken by Australian customs agents in 2008, under a surveillance effort to collect evidence of indiscriminate harvesting, which is contrary to Japan’s claim that they are collecting the whales for the purpose of scientific research. In 2010, Australia filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice hoping to halt Japanese whaling; this photograph undoubtedly played a key role in winning that case. Australian Customs and Border Protection Service [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Every year, in the Southern Ocean off the coasts of Australia, a battle is waged. There will be loss of life, as there has been every year since 1986. Japan’s whale program harvesting ships arrives for their annual harvest of nearly one thousand minke whales, all under the guise of “scientific research.”

In 1986, the world’s whale populations had decreased to the point that many species were endangered. In response, the International Whaling Commission issued a ban on commercial whale harvesting. The IWC has nearly 90 member countries, including the UK. But three member nations – Norway, Iceland and Japan – have lodged objections to the ban and continue to whale commercially.

On March 31, Australia won an international lawsuit against Japan’s Southern Ocean whaling program and the International Court of Justice has ordered Tokyo to cease the killing immediately, according to a report in News.com.au.

“Presiding Judge Peter Tomka of Slovakia said Japan had not justified the large number of minke whales it takes under its program, while failing to meet much smaller targets for fin and humpback whales. Japan has said it will abide by the decision, but it does not necessarily mean a permanent end to whaling.”

The United Nation’s court ordered a halt to the issuing of whaling permits until the program has been revamped.

Australia and environmental groups say the hunt serves no scientific purpose and is just a way for Japan to get around the moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

As the largest species of the planet, these animals have been spared from some hunting. There are still whales taken in the name of research, and commercial fishing also has its perils. But after surviving these unnatural forces, whales still face ever increasing odds at survival.

We learned during the hunt for MH370 that the world’s oceans are full of junk and debris. They also have areas that are becoming toxic to aquatic life, such as the waters surrounding Fukushima and the Gulf of Mexico’s oil spillages.

Minke Whale. Photo By NOAA (http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2743.htm) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

But the biggest threat is also the most ominous for all life on earth – global warming. As the world’s oceans rise in temperature, many of the species whales feed on are threatened. More sensitive to temperatures than larger species, organisms like plankton and krill are already showing depletion and stress.

In fact, research shows that more and more species are being threatened and are nearing extinction levels. Polar bears are one of the largest land animals to be directly affected; as polar ice disappears, they are no longer to feed on seals in the arctic waters while being able to rest on the large chunks of sea ice.

Whales are perhaps the most intelligent species in the animal world, with brains large enough to have the capacity to map the world’s oceans. I often wonder what they would want to say to us if communication between the species could ever be realized.

Easy For Him To Say…

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Photo By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (John Boehner) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (John Boehner) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

On April 1, Speaker of the House John Boehner made the statement that the ACA would cause people to lose full-time employment. This is a talking point that has kept resonating within the House of Representatives as we have watched them vote over 50 times to attempt repeal of the signature law of the Obama administration.

But he actually is not lying – and he might just get his way. John Boehner hopes you don’t learn that a bill in the House would redefine “full-time employment” as a minimum of 40 hours per week, meaning employees that are now classified as full-time at 30 hours or more would lose insurance coverage from employers when scheduled for any less than 40 hours average.

HR 2575, ironically named the “Save American Workers Act of 2014,” seeks to strip benefits from employees that work more than 30 hours but less than 40 per week. This is a blatant attempt to punch a hole in the mandate for employer coverage, furthering the efforts to dissect, dismember, eviscerate, and further impale the health care law.

If the same people were to put the equivalent amount of energy into creating a jobs bill, perhaps we would not need to be worried about extending unemployment benefits – we would have more jobs than workers. Maybe you don’t see a need for a jobs bill as much as a need for immigration reform. Maybe you’d like to see your representatives working on laws that bring accountability to Wall Street funding.

Personally, I’d like to see laws that would impose term limits upon Congress, to force them to live by the laws they enact for all the rest of the country. I’d like to see laws that would stop the “revolving door” between serving in Congress or a Federal agency and the various corporate lobbies that exists today.

The failure of our Congress to be able to pass any meaningful legislation is appalling. Today, the House passed “The Weather Forecasting Improvement Act of 2014,” HR 2413, that forces the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA to “prioritize weather-related activities” by putting funding and equipment toward forecasting tornadoes, hurricanes and storms – only. The provision asking NOAA to be able to predict tornadoes in order to warn communities at least an hour in advance seems all but science-fiction in aspiration. They state in public that climate change is a “left-wing term” while denying the science of 16,000 researchers in favor of the two they found that disagreed with the science. All this while passing legislation preventing government agencies from even studying the issue is the equivalent to those who still argue the earth is flat. We hope the Senate understands this issue to be a real threat to our nation and refuse to even vote on the bill.

Two views of Briksdalsbreen (The Briksdal glacier) photographed from nearly the same place. Photo By Ximonic, Simo Räsänen (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Two views of Briksdalsbreen (The Briksdal glacier) photographed from nearly the same place. Photo By Ximonic, Simo Räsänen (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

“In 2011, a House-passed bill cut funding for NOAA satellite programs, which play a key role in weather forecasting, and in 2012, Republican lawmakers proposed further cuts to the satellite program. NOAA was also hit by last summer’s across-the-board sequester cuts, which forced NOAA to furlough employees so it could keep its weather forecasting and satellite operations intact,” a report in Think Progress reads. “Already, NOAA spends more on weather forecasting than it does on climate research. In 2013, NOAA spent about $742 million on local weather warnings and forecasts, compared to the $108 million it spent on ocean, coastal and Great Lakes research and $176 million it spent on climate research. And though the link between climate change and severe weather has grown clearer, NOAA has called for more research into the potential link between climate change and tornadoes, which is not as well understood.”

Our international friends and allies are well beyond figuring out national health care systems. They are discussing climate change and the effects of drought, flooding, famine, disease and property loss it will bring and the tensions that will result as food supplies become scarce and more threatened.

It would be nice if our Congress could keep up.

Living in FEARS

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Photo By Marvin Nauman (This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In a coordination agency move, the Department of Homeland Security, together with the Department of Health and Human Services announced this morning a new open enrollment program for the first national FEMA Education And Recreational Supercamp (FEARS).

The camps are free to any that qualify. Anyone that receives public assistance, the homeless, families that have experienced foreclosure, anyone who has filed bankruptcy, those with credit scores below 750, anyone not earning a higher education degree, artists, teachers, union members, disabled, LGBT community members, political activists and members of any community organization are encouraged to take advantage of the early enrollment period.

Those that enroll early will be able to take advantage of several perks. There are only a limited number of permanent support structures resembling buildings, and only those who enroll early will be allowed to participate in a lottery for space in these structures. “As the camp grows in the coming future, these spaces will be the focal point and areas of envy for new arrivals,” explains Eva Braun, DHHS. Another advantage is preferred treatment once the program becomes mandatory. Those who liquidate any assets will receive lifetime membership once those assets are surrendered to FEARS in exchange for no more fear.

After the pilot programs were rated as overwhelming successes, the government was compelled to add fencing around the camp boundaries. Studies indicated that once the popularity of the camps are realized, people will try to sneak in, or surge the entrances in ways that would disrupt the order of those inside.

“We’ve thought of everything, and no expense has been spared. Our campers can relax, knowing they are secure with the drones patrolling the air above them. They can bask in the sense of well being as we take care of food, medicine and clothing for them. They are lifted from the burden of stress and struggle, knowing they will spend tomorrow in the sameness of today, thus all fear has been eliminated. They have no need for education, employment or self determination, as our decisions on their behalf are always what is best,” reads the FEARS posting.

Photo By Patsy Lynch (This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Supercamps will feature all the expected camp schedules, including standing roll calls 3 times a day, flag ceremonies, nature awareness, survival training, campfires and sporting activities. Ilse Koch, Director of Crafts and Hobbies for the camps, plans to introduce “Theme Weeks,” where new projects focusing on a central theme will help campers learn new skills while enriching their lives.

The camps are located primarily in the western states in vast lands currently owned by the federal government. With miles of no-man lands established around the perimeter of these camps, the hope is to make those who have previously crossed borders illegally feel more at home, while preventing prying eyes from discovering the joys of FEARS living prior to their own enrollment.

Encouraging early enrollment, President Obama used his power of Executive Order to circumvent the opposition being waged for the program in Congress. He plans to acquire the needed funding by diverting funds from the Pentagon’s discarded plans to build a military base on the north pole to better monitor world security. Those plans sank with the increased global warming that depleted the ice cap before the base could be built and after it was determined there were too many leaks within the project’s administrative staff.

April Fools! But what if…

Editor’s Note: Satire is fun, but here’s the reality check: It is my belief that the factual reason the federal government is increasing funding for FEMA camps is mostly due to the expected increase in natural disasters as climate change threatens our planet. Meanwhile, the House will attempt to pass a bill today pulling funding from research related to climate change, including NOAA. I really wish that was a joke.