Republicans again courting a mainstream candidate Governor Jeb Bush but same old same old with pedigree name

Republicans are justifiably worried about supporting an extremist candidate for 2016 US presidential election.  

Mainstream Republicans, in the past, have supported Senator John McCain in 2008 and Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, because they were reaching to attract politically mainstream voters who never showed up to vote for their candidates.

Now, these Republicans are courting former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to follow the McCain-Romney cycle of candidates, who didn't quite make the election cut. 

Will "third time be the charm"?  Is Jeb Bush like the fairy tale Goldilocks bear, the one who gets it just right?

Well, let's find out what kind of campaign strategy Jeb Bush might support. Immigration reform? Jeb Bush supports what the right wing of his Republican party abhors, ie, a path to citizenship.  Health Care Reform? Jeb Bush will certainly be asked if he will repeal Obamacare and, indeed, he'll have to provide an answer.  

DC Decoder blog reports how Jeb Bush is tanned and rested. But, is he ready to run for president? That’s what some Republican Party bigwigs are asking as they quietly court the former Florida governor for 2016, according to a lengthy report in the Washington Post.

These members of the GOP elite – a mix of Romney campaign veterans, big money donors, and party establishment officials – are in search of a candidate to back who they think can actually win the White House. ("Romney?" OMG. Where's the Groucho Marx "You Bet Your Life" duck? If "Romney" is the secret word it's going to be like a Groucho Marx drop down duck.)  

Imagine Governor Jeb Bush in a political debate with former Secretary of State and US Senator Hillary Clinton.

Secretary  Clinton - "What do you think about protecting women's health and the right to access contraception?"

Now, same question to Governor Bush.  "Governor Bush???? Did you hear the question....? Hello?"

Governor Bush might be an attractive Republican candidate because he carries a pedigree name, but he's more than likely a Romney in Bush clothing.  

Yet, there's an advantage with Governor Bush being a Roman Catholic convert and his wife's Latino heritage. Although these demographics might give Bush a different cut of cloth from the Romney tuxedo, it remains to be seen if he'd really carry these constituencies, when his position on policies will likely be skewed to the GOP's right wing, in order to win their support.  

Obviously, Governor Bush is a more attractive GOP presidential candidate than alternatives who have delusions of being nominated, like Rand Paul or others of his right wing kind. But, when it comes down to Republicans winning a presidential election, based on their positions on the national issues voters really care about, Bush is just the same old, same old, with a pedigree name.

Obamacare is a law created to help Americans pay for health care

Americans finally have access to affordable health insurance thanks to Obamacare. But, more than offering health insurance, Obamacare is also a law - the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  

Republicans have been obsessed with destroying the ACA, starting their wasteful campaigns to discredit and under fund provisions in the law, soon after President Obama put his signature on the legislation. Nevertheless, in spite of enormous opposition by Republicans, Obamacare has prevailed. Now, millions of Americans have health insurance, as a result. Meanwhile, Republican attempts to recall the law have failed. In fact, Republicans in Congress wasted tax payer money trying to repeal the law, over 40 times!

Democrats must remind American voters what's at risk if Republicans are able to curtail or recall Obamacare, given an opportunity to do so. Americans must realize how Obamacare is focused entirely on helping people to afford health care, without regard for pre-existing conditions and eliminating caps on insurance coverage, among many other helpful provisions.

Wake up American voters! 

Obamacare is a law designed to help people afford health care, rather than increase insurance company profits.

Some health care policy wonks, employed by conservative think tanks, whine about how Obamacare won't bring down the cost of health care and, moreover, some people will even pay more for coverage than they did before the law went into effect. These self proclaimed experts are wrong. Health care costs will be reduced when the the utilization of expensive and unnecessary interventions are managed, instead of routinely prescribed. As for the people who will pay more for coverage under Obamacare, the cost of their previous coverage was bound to increase,regardless of the ACA; but insurance companies are using the law as an excuse to smokescreen over the inevitable raises in their rates.

Of course, the future of Obamacare will depend on how promptly claims are paid and the management of premium costs over time.
Republicans will, undoubtedly, undermine both of these provisions, given the chance. We can't let this happen.

Thankfully, Obamacare's implementation has shown Americans, many of them who never thought they could obtain health care insurance, that they can afford coverage. Some of these people are receiving health care insurance for the first time in their lives.

Now, it's time to educate these beneficiaries about their right to vote in the 2014 election, and to reward Democrats who have supported Obamacare insurance coverage.  

Americans can't go backwards by believing the Republican lies about Obamacare. Our nation is the only world democracy where people do not have universal access to health care. Let's not carry that terrible stigma forward any longer.

Obamacare is a law created to help Americans pay for health care and for no other purpose. President Obama would've had a much easier time with Congress, if he had side stepped the urgency of helping people to access quality and affordable health care. It's time President Obama tells Americans that voting for Republicans means putting Obamacare at risk.

Let's prevent all Republicans from passing regressive legislation and support the Democrats for bravely passing the Affordable Care Act. Let's elect Democrats and put Republicans on unemployment.

Republican Hypocrisy List

Here's my list of the five most hypocritical positions Republicans promote in their campaigns to mislead American voters about public policy and Obamacare (aka Affordable Care Act):

1.  Immigration Reform -  Every person who lives in the United States, who is not an indigenous population, like Native American, Eskimos or Hawaiians, are otherwise the descendants of immigrants. Therefore, none of us has the right to deny US citizenship to any qualified immigrant, when our ancestors worked hard to gain this status on our behalf. It's hypocritical to deny today's immigrants the status we share with our ancestors.

2.  Income Inequality- There's no proof that paying people a higher minimum wage hurts the economy. Republicans use scare tactics when they promote this false premise. America's economy has grown with every minimum wage increase authorized for US workers. Republicans are hypocritical when they oppose increasing the minimum wage, because the only reason they support this stubborn position is because they're focused on greed, rather than on the welfare of hard working people.

3.  Contraception - fifty years ago, right wing radicals and Protestant Evangelicals didn't say "boo" about contraception. Now, for some reason, these religious zealots are bedroom police. I predict these right wing religious groups will loose women in their flocks if they continue preaching against the use of certain kinds of contraception. The hypocrisy of this anti-contraception campaign is knowing, with 99 percent accuracy, that every person who  supports the campaigns had a mother who somehow practiced birth control, in one way or another. Therefore, it's hypocrisy for Republicans to support anti-contraception campaigns when their public policy initiatives advocate for cutting the funds to programs that help women and children who need income assistance.

4.  Revenue Sharing- Republicans are toxic on taxes, yet when it comes to sharing the wealth with their corporate friends, loopholes and competitive contracts abound. It's hypocritical for Republicans to obstruct tax initiatives for the purpose of revenue sharing for the public good, while, at the same time, supporting programs whereby defense and private contractors obtain incentives with government tax money to create corporate profits.

5.  Obamacare health care reform -  Republicans use Obamacare as a red herring, holding up President Obama's health care reform initiative as though it's a smelly fish. This hypocritical betrayal of the health care reform law is seditious behavior. In fact, Republicans have absolutely no alternative plan to provide health insurance for millions of people, who need coverage and are willing to pay for the insurance. A small percentage of people say they will pay more for coverage because of the cost of implementing Obamacare, but the truth be told, their premiums would've gone up regardless of any health care reform initiatives. It's hypocritical for Republicans to oppose the implementation of Obamacare, when they have no public policy to present to the American people as an alternative.  

In fact, the most hypocritical Republican position is their support for Christian values, while turning a blind eye to their moral obligation to recognize and support social justice, including income equality and revenue sharing.    

Democrats must raise awareness among voters about what's at risk if Republicans are allowed to control government. 

Let's remove Republicans form political office who are overtly hypocritical.  That means all of them.

Democrats have a legacy in Obamacare but the message is trumped by myths

Republicans have no alternative to ObamaCare. If any Republican has an alternative to ObamaCare or the reform initiatives included in the Affordable Care Act, they'd better stand up and reveal their secret program soon, before Americans realize the independence of having their own private health insurance.  

For the first time, Americans who want to buy health care insurance will be free to do so, without regard for the budget considerations of their employers.  

Moreover, here are other important advantages of ObamaCare:

Here are the facts about the benefits of ObamaCare:

New Health Insurance Marketplaces (AKA Exchanges) allow shoppers to compare Health Plans that include all new benefits, rights and protections.

• Cost assistance is provided to individuals, families and small businesses through the marketplace.

• No annual or lifetime limits on healthcare.!!!

• Insurance companies can't drop you when you are sick or for making a mistake on your application.

• You can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Learn More About Healthcare and Pre-existing Conditions.

• You have the right to quickly appeal any health insurance company decision.

• You have the right to get an easy-to-understand summary about a health plan’s benefits and coverage.

• Young Adults can stay on their parent's plan until 26.

• A large improvement to women's health services.

• Reforms to the healthcare industry to cut wasteful spending.

• Better care and protections for seniors.

• New preventative Services at no-out-of pocket costs.

• Essential health benefits like emergency care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, and maternity and newborn care must be included on all non-grandfathered plans at no out-of-pocket limit.

• You can't be charged more based on health status or gender.

• Plus many more benefits, rights and protections.

Know the Law. The Affordable Care Act contains 10 titles, each title addresses a different aspect of health carereform. Title I Quality, affordable health care for all Americans addresses most of the new benefits, rights, and protections. Check out our Summary of Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for a plain English summary of each provision pertaining to the "benefits of ObamaCare".

Each new benefit, right and protection is part of one of ObamaCare's provisions. As you can see by the image below some of the most popular Provisions in the Affordable Care Act are the ones that the least amount of people are aware of.

Unfortunately, even with the good news reports about how ObamaCare is covering millions of people, regardless of pre-existing conditions, the Republicans are convincing voters that providing health insurance coverage to people, who are paying for the coverage, is somehow totally awful.

Democrats must wake up fast to educate the public about how Obamacare works.  People need to understand how Obamacare is paid for by beneficiaries and it's a good start to more progressive insurance reforms. Most importantly, an alternative to the plan doesn't exist. 

Meanwhile, the Republicans are "step by step" convincing American voters that ObamaCare isn't working, while millions of people are signing on for benefits.  

If Republicans get away with their charade about ObamaCare, the Democrats will will find themselves in a barrel being pushed over the political equivalent of Niagara Falls. 

In the 2014 elections, if Republican get away with misrepresenting ObamaCare and control legislative government as a result, Americans will be stuck with the alternative of having no reforms at all.  Let's hope American voters who continue to sign up for ObamaCare are quickly realizing the value of protecting their access to health care insurance by voting in 2014 to put all Republican out of office.

President Obama meets Pope Francis - two like minded progressives

As a Roman Catholic, I applaud President Barack Obama's overt outreach to our two living Pontiffs.

President Obama traveled to Rome with his family to meet Pope Benedict XVI, who has since resigned the office.

This week, President Obama reached out to meet with our current Pope Francis in the Vatican.

Meanwhile, our American bishops and cardinals continue to criticize President Obama about his position on issues that have no relevance to these unmarried men of the church.  They're putting an unnecessary negative spin on President Obama's Papal visit by criticizing the Affordable Care Act's inclusion of contraception coverage in the plans sold through health insurance exchanges.

Our American bishops should be applauding President Obama's outreach to the poor and his belief in trying to end income inequality. Instead, the church hierarchy has ignored those empty pews in their churches for the sake of continuing to harass women about contraception. Moreover, the bishops and cardinals are very intelligent men, surely they know how this war against the access and use of contraception has moved beyond them.  Catholic women use contraception and that's all there is to it. I'm frankly embarrassed when Timothy Cardinal Dolan talks to the Today Show Matt Lauer to say how important it is to protect religious liberty, which is now a euphemism for "prevent women from having access to contraception".

Dear Cardinal Dolan, your own mother likely used contraception in one way or another.

Apparently, Pope Francis and President Obama spoke for about an hour, much longer than anticipated. I simply can't believe the Pope wasted his precious time talking about contraception. Moreover, I don't believe President Obama would've spent an hour of his tightly budgeted time talking to the Pope about an issue like contraception, where he and the Pope were  bound to disagree. 

These two high profile world leaders, the Pope being a moral leader while President Obama being a world leader, are not about to waste one another's time. They talked for an hour because they agree on social issues impacting millions of the people of the world. 

I sincerely hope they spoke about the tragedy of the millions of refugees in Syria.

Thank you President Obama for meeting with Pope Francis.
Likewise, thank you Pope Francis for meeting with President Obama.

As for Timothy Cardinal Dolan, he should humble himself to meet with President Obama to discuss how to solve pressing social issues, rather than pretend he's a US pontiff who only cares about preventing women from having access to contraception. 

US Supreme Court has a chance to prove there's a right wing war on women - or not

It's surreal to be blogging about how the US Supreme Court is asked to rule on a woman's right to access reproductive health care. After eons of being at the whim of men's sexual freedom, women finally achieved reproductive choice, only to have right wing zealots challenge this hard won right.

This incredible assault on women's right to contraception came about because right wing conservative religious groups want to flex their political might. This is an expensive way to challenge government health care. It's disappointing to see the Supreme Court dragged into the decision, about whether or not corporations have religious liberty and thereby are exempt from paying for contraception. If the Supreme Court protects a corporation's right to religious freedom, this incredulous ruling will undoubtedly open a Pandora's box of other claims to undermine the rights of people who don't happen to agree with religious zealots.  As with the Citizens United ruling, whereby corporations now have free speech rights, the idea that these concrete organizations would also have religious freedom is even more ludicrous.  

Freedom's are gifted to human beings with souls - corporations have no souls and, therefore, should not be considered to have human properties. I suspect the US Supreme Court needs a very urgent course on the properties of the Homo sapiens human species. We members of this animal group, have souls. Corporations do not.

Religious liberty was never intended to trump individual rights. After all, even the Bible supports the gift of free will as a divine gift to all mankind. (Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of a man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps.)

Nevertheless, if the US Supreme Court wants to validate the right wing's war on women, all they need do is support the claim of corporations to prevent health coverage for contraception. My hope is, the Supreme Court will rule against corporations and in favor of the individuals, in support of coverage for contraception. But, if this ruling goes right wing, perhaps it will wake women up, those who are ambiguous about their rights to reproductive health care, feeling it might always be there for them. A right wing ruling in favor of corporations will have the unintended benefit of putting every right wing Republican on notice that women will vote them all out of office! But, let's hope the US Supreme Court will protect humans over corporations and not create another Citizens United fiasco.

With a 13 percent approval rating American can't possibly re-elect the John Boehner Congress in the 2014 mid term elections

With a miserable 13 percent approval rating the 2014 election is predicted to reward the John Boehner Congress?

Cruising through twitter messages, and listening to pundits predicting the 2014 mid term elections doesn't provide much hope for President Obama to have a majority of Democrataic Congressioonal support during his last two years in office.

It's a mystery to me, how the Congress led by John Boehner, who can't get anything done, would be rewarded with another majority of Republicans elected in 2016, and thereby continue obstructing all of President Obama's progressive initiatives.

It's terribly frustrating for Democrats, who voted in a decisive majority to support President Obama's re-election, to see his vision for our nation be completely obstructed by a Congress with a miserable 13 percent approval rating. Then, to see the potential for this lower than cockroach approval record Congress re-elected, seems like voters are smoking something.

Maybe, global climate change is having a psychedelic impact on some thought processes. Americans who suggest a Congress with a 13 percent approval record should be re-elected must be experiencing oxygen deprivation, or something similar, to distort political reasoning.

Now, it even seems like the US Supreme Court will hand Republicans an issue they can wave like a flag of approval, as though they're in a NASCAR race. Unbelievably, it's possible the US Supreme Court will listen to arguments about a woman's right to contraception. My cynical hope is to see the US Supreme Court rule to restrict a woman's right to access contraception, because in so doing, American women would finally wake up to realize how far right Republicans have gone in declaring a war on our right to reproductive health care. Nevertheless, a reality check also reminds me of how it's the poor who are harmed the most by these grandiose Court decisions. Consequently, there's no point in fantasizing about how women will respond to such a personal ruling when innocent people will be harmed, if the Court somehow restricts access to contraception. Although restrictions on access to contraception seems incredulous, in convoluted Republican thinking, all that's possible must be considered.

Nevertheless, obviously Americans have a low opinion of our obstructionist US Congress. It's time to vote all of them out of office. Yet, for some unexplained reason, the polls are indicating a Republican take over of both the House and Senate.

God Save Us from being entirely obstructed by a 13 percent approval rating governing group.

It doesn't need to happen. If all the people who voted for President Obama come out to vote in 2014, the Republican Congress would be out of work and Americans could finally embrace a progressive agenda. It makes no sense for a 13 percent approval rating group to somehow win re-election. So, Americans must wake up to this potential and prevent such a disaster by voting all Republicans out of office. Let these obstructionist Republican live on the unemployment benefits they are so reluctant to provide for others.

Malaysian Airline Flight 370 reveals sophisiticated spy technology but can't determine terror of unknown origin

Although dozens of theories continue to proliferate about what happened to the missing Malaysian Airline Flight 370, one still undisputed fact is that this mystery has raised airline terrorism to a new level of clandestine horror. Even more once promising leads to the location of the airplane are leading nowhere.  

It's imperative for the world to find Malaysian Flight 370 to determine what happened, why and how to prevent such a traumatic event from ever again happening.

Whoever pre-meditated the disappearance of the still phantom Boeing 777 airplane, this person or persons created an unanticipated outcome. In searching for the airplane, all the spy technology being used by nations to monitor one another are now taking center stage. China, France, Australia...and probably others as well as the US, are taking turns focusing their "high in the atmosphere" satellites to look beneath the ocean to find "debris". Only Russia hasn't participated in this search, which is suspect. Is it possible Russia isn't participating because the Napoleonic leader President Putin doesn't want to reveal anything about how his country's spy technology operates? Certainly, Putin doesn't care about an airplane full of missing Chinese and Malaysian people, with a few unlucky American victims on board. Why risk disclosing Russia's spy satellite capabilities when there's nothing for Russia to gain from such an endeavor. Since Putin has lost his soul with his land grabbing Napoleonic grandeur, he isn't about to lower himself to help find missing people on a phantom airplane, unless doing so allows him to also invade yet another country.

Searchers for Malaysian airlines flight 370 are understandably frustrated and the families of the missing passengers are beyond distraught. They're confused by nearly non-stop theories, speculation and the drip-drip-drip of facts without any conclusions. 

Now, new information from an unauthorized source describes how flight 370 flew at only 12,000 feet after making the intentional turn.
CNN reports, military radar tracking shows that the aircraft changed altitude after making a sharp turn over the South China Sea as it headed toward the Strait of Malacca, a source close to the investigation into the missing flight told CNN. The plane flew as low as 12,000 feet at some point before it disappeared from radar, according to the source.

The sharp turn seemed to be intentional, the source said.

My theory about what happened is just as valid as any other I've heard from experts or lay theorists. The disappearance of Malaysian airline flight 370 is an act of terrorism of unknown origin. It's imperative for the world, including the arrogant President Putin in Russia, to get to the bottom of what happened and why, to determine how to prevent any future horrendous airline tragedies.  

Although the dead end search leads are becoming expensive and frustrating, the world must find this airplane for the sake of the families of the passengers and to determine what act of terrorism took place on the phantom aircraft.

"Looking into Putin's soul"- Neocons alert:

President George Bush saw President Vladimir Putin's soul.  

So, where did it go?

Somebody please call President George Bush and ask him to look into Russian President Putin's soul, again.  Please?

Crooks and Liars blog reports:

Conservatives have been bashing President Obama for telling Vladimir Putin to stay out of the Ukraine or consequences would follow. Funny how quiet they were when George Bush had a man-crush on him.

Now that President Putin is ambitiously invading any country he chooses to own, it appears he has finally lost the soul seen by President Bush. He's clearly exhibiting delusions of the old Czarist Russia. 

Perhaps Putin sold his soul to get enough money to build up Sochi for his elaborate winter 2014 Olympic Games.  

A showcase for the face of a new Russia was touted at Sochi, but in fact, Putin's vision is regressive rather than progressive. 

Rather, Putin is resurrecting the old Russia. Unfortunately, many among his adoring population are buying this scheme. They're like pre-World War II Germany, when many fell hook line and sinker (Jews notwithstanding, of course) for Hitler's delusional world dominance plan. Putin is acting like Napoleon and Hitler rolled into one dictator. Indeed, they're a trifecta of ambitious leaders. It's unlikely even George Bush can find one soul in the trio.

Apparently, Putin lost his soul somewhere and maybe President George Bush is the person who can find it.  

This "soul rescue" must happen fast, because Putin has abandoned any moral compass he may have had, at one time. He's simply taking on the world, regardless of the consequences to his people.

Consequences will be catastrophic if Russia consumes the Ukraine. This urgent response won't necessarily be as a result of world outrage. Instead, the catastrophe will be a revolution from among the dissident groups now building within Russia.

Putin's behavior is building a Russian revolution that may dwarf the 1917 massacre. These groups are: nationalist Ukrainians, exiled Syrians, Volgograd terrorists, Georgians, political prisoners in Siberia and marginalized Muslims in places like Dagestan, to name some.  

In fact, terrorist activities in Russia have increased since 1992, but I submit the Russians have been in a terrorism mode since 1917.

Russia's terrorism threats from within were temporarily interrupted by World War II and the Cold War, but the country's ethnic and political turmoil has been like smoldering volcanoes ready to erupt without notice.

Putin clearly wants to re-create the Russian empire of the Czarist era. If his delusions continue, he'll find himself, along with some of the temporarily euphoric Russians, in the same situation as the tragic House of Romanovs, in 1917.  All dead.

Neocons should demand for President Bush to locate Putin's soul as fast as he can, before it's forever lost and takes the Russian people into another political abyss, reminiscent of 1917.

Food sustainability in America

In 2014, vote against the John Boehner Congress! 

"...hunger in America appears to be edging up rather than down."

My stark orientation to the cost of food came abruptly when I went to buy a modest sized ham. Just had a hankering for ham, but hello? I didn't buy a ham at $40. Instead, my husband and I purchased a less expensive pork roast, instead. A Christian Science Monitor article is finally reporting on this problem.  Although the cost of food has been on the increase, the US Congress has ignored this trend and cut food stamp assistance for people who most need help.

This is an example of why Americans should vote against the John Boehner led Congress.

Christian Science Monitor reports official statistics, show a US economy in recovery, but 1 in 5 people in a new poll still say that there have been times in the last 12 months when they didn't have enough money to buy food.

That news, delivered by a Gallup poll released Friday, is the latest reminder that America’s revival from a deep recession is a slow one – and that some measures of economic distress can remain high even as other gauges show improvement.

Gallup asked a large sampling of US adults if there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed.

Some 18.9 percent of poll respondents said they had struggled to afford food, a nationwide total that compares with 18.2 percent in 2012 and 17.8 percent in 2008 (the lowest rate recorded since Gallup began asking the question in that year).

By that measure, hunger in America appears to be edging up rather than down.

A caveat about the polling is potentially important, though. The distance between the 2013 Gallup figure and 2012 (or 2008) is basically encompassed in the poll’s margin of error of 1 percentage point.

Gallup’s ongoing survey is large one, with about 500 people being asked the question each day. Still, the “margin of error” estimate means the pollsters estimate that imperfect sampling could mean that actual numbers are about 1 percentage point higher or lower than what the poll found.

At the very least, though, the poll can be viewed as evidence that hunger in America is persisting, despite an improving job market.

Nevertheless, with food sustainability becoming more challenging and unemployment benefits cut, both of these draconian policies supported by the John Boehner Congress, food stamps assistance is also reduced.  Hunger in American should be illegal. 

It's time for America to respond by voting the John Boehner Congress out of office in the 2014 mid term elections.

National Rifle Association exerts undue influence (blackmail) over free speech and suppresses public health discussion about gun safety

The New England Journal of Medicine is finally taking on the National Rifle Association!

Lawmakers have given in to pressure from the NRA, and hearings on Dr. Murthy's nomination are now on hold after 10 Senate Democrats said they would likely vote against his nomination. Shame on all those who allow the NRA to put public health at risk by preventing an important appointment.

As a blogger,  I receive a lot of outrageous political posts from right wing extremists who think they know how to rule the world, Yet, none of these RWE-RWEs dare to acknowledge how the National Rifle Association is supressing free speech and putting the nation's public health at risk by ignoring gun violence. 

An example of this undue is influence is the way the NRA is controlling who is appointed as our nation's Surgeon General.  

Unfortunately, the NRA doesn't want anyone to criticize the public's right to own weapons, regardless of how many people are murdered in preventable gun violence as a result.

Right wing radicals ignore information that puts truth to power, but they  do this at the risk of allowing the epidemic of gun violence to proliferate without providing regulatory oversight to protect the public, especially children, from harm and death.

Newsmax published the following commentary in their Medical Journal edition:

The National Rifle Association is committing "political blackmail" to block the approval of Vivek Murthy as surgeon general over his views on gun control, say four of the top editors of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Murthy, who currently practices medicine at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, has said his focus as surgeon general would be on obesity, not guns, NBC News reported.
However, because Murthy has spoken out in favor of mandatory gun safety training and banning assault weapons, the NRA opposes his nomination, Journal Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Drazen, Executive Editor Gregory Curfman, Managing Editor Stephen Morrissey, and Perspective Editor Debra Malina wrote in an editorial.

Lawmakers have given in to pressure from the NRA, according to the editorial, and hearings on Murthy's nomination are now on hold after 10 Senate Democrats said they would likely vote against his nomination.

A White House spokesman told NBC that it is reconsidering its strategy on the nomination, but President Barack Obama hasn't given up on Murthy yet.

The NRA also isn't likely to back down. Executive Director Chris Cox, in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. in late February, said the NRA "strongly opposes" Murthy's nomination because his "record of political activism in support of radical gun control measures" raises concerns about his ability to be objective when it comes to the issues concerning the nation's gun owners.

Further, Cox said that Murthy is likely to use the office to further his stance on gun control.

He wrote that in 2008, Murthy founded "Doctors for Obama" to back Obama's presidential campaign. A year, later the organization's name was changed to "Doctors for America," and Murthy, as its president, used the position to push for gun control laws, including pushing lawmakers to approve changes, Cox wrote.

The Journal editors, in the editorial, said it's of "great concern" that the nomination is in jeopardy over the NRA's opposition, which is based on the grounds that he has "advocated reasonable and mainstream forms of gun regulation."

His views are "unsurprising," the editors said, because there are more than 30,000 deaths from firearms in the United States each year.

The opposition to Murthy marks the first time the NRA has "flexed its political muscle" over a surgeon general's appointment, according to the editorial. The NRA has taken the action even though the surgeon general's office has no authority over firearm regulations, and Murthy has confirmed he'll concentrate on obesity prevention, not firearms, if confirmed, the Journal editors wrote.

"Still, 10 Senate Democrats are apparently prepared to vote against Murthy's confirmation because of his personal views on firearms — a demonstration of just how much political power our legislators have ceded to the NRA," the editors wrote. 

"Should a special-interest organization like the NRA have veto power over the appointment of the nation's top doctor? The very idea is unacceptable...the NRA is taking its single-issue political blackmail to a new level."

Russia can't afford Crimea- Christian Science Monitor Report on what might be a pig in a poke

It's nearly as impossible to understand how Russia president Putin believes he can support a corrupt Syrian President Assad, plus pay for the Sochi Olympics and now afford to take over the Crimea. As soon as Crimea stops paying taxes to the Ukraine, the people will seek government oversight from Moscow.  Russia will tax the Crimean people, who are now, apparently, Russians. Americans once called this dilemma "taxation without representation" and it led to the War of Independence from England. Perhaps the ambitious annexation of the Crimea was a huge economic mistake. Putin appears to be the ultimate Napoleonic dictator, but he's obviously not an accountant.Russia could be on an unsustainable economic course. In other words, the nation has a declining population and growing pension costs.  Owning the Crimea will be costly in and of itself, without having to also pay current government bills. 

Of  course, Russia can increase the cost of oil being exported to Europe to recover some revenues.Nevertheless, with summer coming, I suspect the European governments won't be knee jerked into signing any long term energy  contracts, right now.

A Christian Science Monitor report provides more information about the Russian fiscal risk.  In fact, the Russian economy could implode because of the takeover of the Crimea.

With dizzying speed, the Black Sea territory of Crimea has been plucked from Ukrainian jurisdictionand dropped into Russia. It was all very easy, almost bloodless, and done with overwhelming support of both the Russian and Crimean populations.

Mission accomplished?

No. As the initial euphoria of "bringing Crimea home" subsides, calculating the long-term price is coming to the fore. And though some projections are more rosy than others, all observers agree that Moscow’s annexation of Crimea will carry an exorbitant cost.
Crimea and Russia have been separated for a generation, embedded in different legal, economic, and political systems. As some countries have discovered through history – most notably in the course of Germany's reunification – reintegration can be a project that keeps on costing.

"When we look past the political euphoria about bringing Crimea back into Russia, I have trouble seeing any benefits," says Alexei Devyatov, chief economist with UralSib, a Moscow-based financial firm. Local livelihoods will improve, he says, but “it will be a drain on Russia” – albeit one that Moscow can afford.
A new Sochi?

Crimea, with its mountain scenery, subtropical climate, and Black Sea beaches, was once a major USSR vacation spot. But now it needs a major overhaul of its sorrowful infrastructure and tourist facilities. Crimea's roads and railways will need to be rebuilt, and Moscow has reignited old plans to construct a $3 billion bridge to the Russian mainland across the Kerch Strait.

This all may bring to mind another Soviet-era backwater on the Black Sea coast where the Kremlinhas just spent at least $50 billion to bring to life a modern, vibrant recreation zone: Sochi. But some of Crimea’s development needs go even deeper, due to the complexity of the switch it must make.

Crimean authorities are optimistic that within a year, the territory will have completed most of the necessary Ukraine-Russia transitions: legal, political, financial, and economic. In that time, its 2.5 million residents will have to switch currencies, passports, bank accounts, and, in some cases, employers. Estimates of the overhaul’s costs start at $6 billion, although the Russian government has offered no figures of its own yet.

That's in addition to regular subsidies for Crimea’s perennial budget deficit, reportedly costing Kievabout $2 billion per year and likely to be further boosted by Moscow. Russian lawmakers are already calling for a "priority development zone" in Crimea, raising hopes for huge, Sochi-like investments. Among the projects being mulled: building a new federal university and reviving Crimea's languishing shipyards with big defense orders.

Some 200,000 Crimean public sector workers, from traffic cops to teachers, will need to be reeducated in line with the Russian system. But they will be among the transition’s biggest immediate winners, seeing their salaries more than double. (Ukraine’s salaries for public-sector workers average $340 a month; Russia’s are around $800.) The price tag for their raises will exceed $1 billion per year, according to Russian media.

Another lucky group will be pensioners, whose monthly payments will be boosted at the expense of Russia's national pension fund, which they have never paid into.

Then there is the question of Crimea’s resource needs. The peninsula currently depends upon Ukraine for gas, electricity, and water supplies — all of which are under threat if political relations between Moscow and Kiev continue deteriorating at their current rate.

Some are taking the long view

Some Russian experts say the expenses will be offset by other factors. "Of course at the first stage there will be problems, but Crimea will not be a burden in the long run," says Mikhail Yemelyanov, deputy head of the Russian parliament's economic policy committee.  

"Once the transition is complete, Crimea will be an attractive destination for private investment" and will achieve growth previously impossible under Ukrainian rule, he says.

Other pro-Kremlin analysts argue that you can't put a price on human satisfaction. (What? Since when has the Russian government cared about human satisfaction, unless graft, corruption and greed are involved?)

"Crimeans have won morally. How can you count the monetary cost of returning home after years in exile? These positive feelings will help Crimeans themselves boost their well-being and improve their surroundings," says Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy head of the Kremlin-funded Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow.

But the international repercussions of annexing Crimea could put a damper on all the private investment Moscow hopes to attract to fuel economic renewal.

“There will be some investment, of course, mostly from the Russian government," says Mr. Devyatov. "But the reaction of international investors [to Crimea's annexation] is likely to be serious," and deter big global companies and foreign tourists from going there until Russia's relations with the West have normalized, he adds.

Annexation supporters have pointed to another way to recoup the upcoming costs: Moscow will no longer have to pay Kiev about $100 million a year to lease Sevastopol, the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

As a point of comparison, on Monday, the day Crimea officially joined Russia, Moscow cut the peninsula its first subsidy check. According to unofficial reports (including a Twitter post by Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov) it was worth about $400 million.

Of course, the $100 million Moscow paid to Kiev to lease Sevastopol will be needed to pay off the contractors who I'm reasonably sure are still waiting to be paid to build Sochi, while Russia's population declines and the population requires pensions.

There was a time in 1956, when Russian President Krushev said the Russians would "bury us". It was a statement, he said, was an economic analogy. Well, maybe it was also prophetic because the world has an opportunity to "bury Russia" instead.

Let's hope Russia can't afford President Putin's ambitions. Crimea may have voted for the proverbial "pig in a poke".

President Putin is a 21st Century Napoleon or worse

Russia's president Putin has now claimed the election in the Crimea validates a take over of this territory of the Ukraine. Crimea is occupied by Russian military and defense personnel who obviously want to be connected to their homeland, rather than be non-citizens in the Ukraine.  

An election where the Russian military votes Putin's way is hardly convincing. Also, we have not seen data about how many people didn't vote.

It's hardly a surprise to see the Russians, who are living in the Crimea, voting to return their property and homes to the motherland.

What's dangerous is how Russia is also expanding its influence into Syria by supporting the murderer President Assad and now claims Crimea, as well. These two ambitious moves are reminiscent of how Adolf Hitler claimed Austria and Poland, before World War II was declared. 

Vladimir Putin is even having some Russian military disguise themselves as Ukrainians, so they can infiltrate the Ukranian defenses. This is how Hitler invaded Poland.

What's even more ominous are the visuals. 

Video shows rapturous Russians who appear ecstatic when Putin speaks about re-claiming Crimea. People are being shown with glowing smiles, waving flags and appearing euphoric.
Sound familiar? 

It seems to  me, President Putin is a 21st century Napoleon or worse. Obviously, the ambitious Napoleon conquered a lot of real estate before he was finally defeated.  By the way, Napoleon Bonaparte was only 5 feet 6 inches tall. I suspect Vladimir Putin isn't much taller.  

Likewise, Adolf Hitler also claimed a lot of real estate before 1945, when Germany was defeated. 

Putin is obviously not to be trusted. Napoleon crowned himself king of France. Putin is following the egotistical legacy of Napoleon. He's also creating a Hitler persona by creating a weird euphoria among his fanatical followers.

Russia's economy is floundering, the ruble is useless and Putin needs a war to create confidence in his leadership.  

Tragically, the role models Putin appears to be emulating, to validate his authority, are two of history's most ambitious tyrants.  

Both Napoleon and Hitler were defeated, but not before millions of people were killed and enormous amounts of property was destroyed. 

Our world must stop Putin before he takes on any more ambitious power moves. Our world and the people in it can't survive a 21st century Napoleon or worse.

Malaysia Air 370 - a brutally evil face on terrorism: urgent world response required

Time Magazine is now reporting on the worst case scenario about the disappearance of Malaysian flight 370 and its nefarious whereabouts. It's believed the airplane may have ended up in a terrorist location hidden in Kazakhstan.

Although this development was always the outlier logic, it was, nevertheless, included in the spectrum of possibilities, after it was definitely determined the flight was deliberately hijacked.

"Out of the box", my opinion about the disappearance was an accusation of Iran being at the root. I stand by my opinion, modified to consider a collaboration of terrorists from multiple countries because, the fact is, somebody acted as a pilot for the airplane. I don't buy the airplane's pilots being responsible. Although I'm not a psychic, my prediction is that pirates with expertise in aviation were already on the airplane when it took off and then subdued the entire aircraft. This possibility include Iranians who had airline navigation experience. 

Time reports: (KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) — Malaysia says searches have begun in both the northern and southern corridors of a vast swath of Asia where the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is believed to have ended up.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says that Kazakhstan joined the search Monday in the farthest northwest section of the search area. Earlier Monday, Australia said was taking the lead in searching over the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard went missing March 8 en route to Beijing. Investigators say it was deliberately diverted.

Malaysian authorities say satellite data shows the plane sent a signal about 7 ½ hours after takeoff — shortly before it would have run out of fuel — from somewhere on a huge arc stretching from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian Ocean.

This aviation mystery raises the bar on the world, where people have been unable to coordinate a response to terrorism. It's time to win the war on terrorism, before we're all, ultimately, innocent victims of evil, perpetrated by those who want to claim control of the world. An urgent response is vital!

Civilian airliner Malaysian flight 370 as new age terrorism

I've been calling it "terrorism of unknown etiology". Malaysian airline flight 370 is a civilian Boeing 777 aircraft and it has disappeared because somebody with extraordinary flight expertise hijacked the airplane for a specific purpose. What's the purpose of this terrorist act?

Of course, conspiracy theories already about about how and why the flight disappeared. Any reasonable or logically thinking person would surmise the obvious, being the airplane is now at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, having run out of fuel. But, that logic is too simple. Whoever hijacked the flight had a very nefarious purpose beyond sabotage, murder and suicide. At the outset, I maintained an Iranian connection to the hijacking. In the absence of evidence to counter my opinion, my theory is as reliable as any other. Somebody wanted the airplane to use for a strategic purpose. Suppose Iran could use the civilian airplane to slide past Israeli security and, like the proverbial Trojan Horse, land a missile right in the Ben Gurion Airport. 

At least one report is describing an Israeli response to the disappearance of the Malaysian aircraft.  

ISRAEL PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE ATTACK BY HIJACKED MALAYSIAN PLANE

As the possibility--however remote--grows that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 may have been hijacked and taken to a hidden location, Israeli authorities are preparing for the possibility that the hijackers might attempt to use the Boeing 777 to mount an attack. 

Times of Israel, Israel's Channel 2 has revealed reports that Israeli air defenses have been boosted, and approaching civilian aircraft will be asked to identify themselves far earlier.

Though the flight was presumed at first to have crashed, whole or in pieces, into the ocean, passive satellite transmissions from the aircraft suggest that it made a deliberate course change and may have headed north into central Asia.

Pakistan has said the flight never registered on its radar, but at least one expert suggested the flight could have landed in Bangladesh, whose air defenses presumably would be weaker.

Though the possibility that the Boeing 777 could be used in a terror attack is mere speculation, it is evidently being taken seriously by Israel. A plane filled with nuclear material would not need to be in Israeli airspace long to do catastrophic damage, even if shot down. There are no reports yet that the U.S. is taking similar measures, and U.S. officials have suggested recently that the likeliest fate of flight 370 was a crash into the Indian Ocean.

Nevertheless, the disappearance of flight 777 has opened a new error in terrorism surveillance. This terrorism with no known etiology will evolve until the world finally unites in opposition to the evil lurking among radical zealots, intent on killing people without regard for how civilization will be destroyed as a result of their heinous acts.

Judy Ayotte Paradis letter to the editor Maine Sunday Telegram voice of the people

My friend from Frenchville Maine and former state legislator, Judy Ayotte Paradis, published a compelling letter today in the March 16 2014 Maine Sunday Telegram. This letter is chilling. In it, Paradis speaks about how the elderly are being put on a guilt trip about consuming earned benefits. Where are those pro-life people when Republcians are speaking so brutally about the people who worked to build our great American nation?

Here is Judy's heartfelt and startling letter:

Politicians ought to respect the proud people they serve

“Fathers, do not nag your children lest they lose heart” is a biblical quote that I loved hearing as a child. It didn’t apply to Dad; he was the gentlest parent to his seven daughters and three sons, but I loved the notion that he was also answerable to a higher power.

I’ve since broadened my interpretation of that passage. Today, it should be lived by all people who have control over others. It certainly should apply to elected officials, who are sworn to be responsible.

My husband, Ross, and I had a combined 20 years in the Legislature and did constituent services for 50. We know that dysfunction is not normal. Instead of doing the job they were elected to do, officials moan and groan.

The dissonance came to the St. John Valley at a hearing held for the elderly about their issues. An hour and a half into the hearing, we had been talked to, lectured to and harangued by the governor and legislators on a myriad of issues. The major sin of the elderly is that they are major consumers of pensions, health care and possibly food; that is all welfare, don’t you know.

I observed the audience sinking in their chairs under the tongue-lashing. They were the survivors of our communities. Many had raised large, healthy, well-educated families with little money.

I respectfully stated that the talking points should be made in Augusta without forgetting our people. Some individuals then reminded the governor that all the food, heat, gas and utilities that he and his family get at the Blaine House come from our hard-earned tax dollars. Welfare! The contentious non-hearing adjourned abruptly.

Every day, the voices of the people are being drowned by the dissonant cacophony of some elected officials. The people of our beautiful state deserve better.

Judy Ayotte Paradis

Frenchville

Malaysia Airline 370 is an international terrorist game changer

All people identified as terrorist should be tried in absentia by an international court and sentenced to death. 

Malaysia's airline disappearance is a terrorist act of unknown etiology. 

Obviously, if the airliner had crashed into the ocean, there'd be evidence, by now, of floating debris. There are just too many who are looking for any piece of junk or substances to miss finding floating crash debris. Therefore, with an experienced but unknown pilot involved in the airplane's mysterious disappearance, it's clear the intention of the hijacking was motivated by terrorism of unknown etiology. Now that 9 days have passed without any substantial information about the flight, it seems like whoever or whatever happened has changed the nature of terrorist surveillance. 

This airliner plot is too sinister to understand, so whatever the world is doing to prevent or infiltrate terrorist cells must clearly be challenged. It's time to eliminate all the terrorists in the world, regardless of what it costs. A world council should be called the likes of the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals. All people identified as terrorist should be tried in absentia by an international court and sentenced to death. 

In the past, terrorism has been something that happens to "other people". Usually, Americans are at risk for being victims of terrorist acts. Yet, in the Malaysian flight 370, the airplane's passenger list were predominantly Chinese!

So, while the Chinese were reticent in their response to the war on terror, maybe the disappearance of this airplane with their citizens on board and the mysterious incident will change their minds.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian government must help to destroy terrorism. Obviously, people with criminal, evil and terrorist intentions found the Malaysian nation to be a launching pad to execute their evil airliner plot.  

With the entire world, using every spy satellite and type of surveillance now on the lookout for the missing Malaysian airliner, the world has been issued a clarion call to unite against terrorism. Will this call be heard?

It's time for world leaders to put regional and historic disputes aside. Instead, they must form an allied coalition to destroy terrorism wherever it lurks.  

Our war on international terrorism is urgent and it must be won.

Meanwhile, the location of Malaysian flight 370 must be discovered so the evidence uncovered can be used to retaliate against the evil perpetrators who organized this heinous crime.

Drinking the Chris Christie Kool-Aid

Anybody who believes the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie didn't have information about the intentional George Washington Bridge lane closing, an antagonistic act attributed to political retribution, must be drinking Republican Kool-Aid laced with Tinkerbell dust.

Of course, there's a distinct line between knowing about the lane closing and directing the obstruction. Nevertheless, if something walks like a duck, it's usually is related to the family, said Dick Cheney. Also, you can't put lipstick on a pig, says Sarah Palin, by claiming Christie didn't have knowledge when he clearly had to have known about the closures. All of which is to say, you're the company you keep. Governor Christie was among those people who admitted to closing down the George Washington Bridge lane leading to Ft. Lee, just because the city's mayor didn't endorse the governor's re-election campaign. Therefore, he's guilty by association.

New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait describes six reasons why Christie is guilty. If the daunting investigation proves anything in a way to taint the New Jersey governor, the scandal will be more damaging the the myths concocted against the Clinton administration during the Whitewater investigations. Nothing of substance was ever found in the witch hunt to incriminate the charges brought up against the Clintons, although a some of their friends were threatened with prison in hopes they would somehow turn states evidence, which never happened. In the case of Governor Christie, it seems to me, the outrageous behavior his arrogant staff took to close the Ft. Lee bridge lane was indicative of a deeper problem within Christie's management style. In other words, he's a Tony Soprano style bully.

Here are Chait's six reasons to believe Governor Christie is guilty:

The New York Times reports that David Wildstein, the Port Authority official who oversaw punitive lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, had evidence that Chris Christie knew about it. The Times quickly changed its wording to reflect that fact that Wildstein merely says “evidence exists” that Christie knew.

The wording change prompted a familiar Chinese fire drill of reporters, after having rushed to proclaim Christie’s political demise, to mock the Times and caution that Christie may survive this yet. And he might! Sometimes people who appear very guilty turn out to be innocent. (See: Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction.) But usually, people who appear very guilty turn out to be guilty (Julie's note, as Dick Cheney said, if it walks like a Duck...). And Christie appears very guilty.

1. Wildstein is claiming evidence exists that Christie knew. He would look bad if such evidence does not come to light.

2. Wildstein spent time with Christie while the lanes were closed. If you had been ordered to close traffic lines for punitive reasons, and you saw the governor, wouldn’t you either tell him about it, or else already know he approved? Undertaking an action like that without knowing the governor approved it, and without having any desire to take credit, seems like an implausible motivation.

3. Christie has changed his story about when he knew about the lane closings. Having first asserted he learned on October 1, Christie later claimed he learned earlier, though would not say when.

4. His campaign manager is pleading the fifth.

5. Carrying out petty retribution is fully in keeping with the pattern of Christie’s governing style of using petty retribution.

6. Allegations of abuse of power predate even Christie's governorship. Chait keeps mentioning the report in John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s campaign book about the Romney campaign vetting of Christie, because he  find it mystifying that others aren’t taking it as seriously as I am. It’s not that partisan enemies are ginning up accusations. Republican Mitt Romney wanted to nominate Christie, but took a look at the vetting file and ran the other way:

More than once, Myers reported back that Trenton’s response was, in effect, "Why do we need to give you that piece of information?" Myers told her team, "We have to assume if they’re not answering, it’s because the answer is bad".

The vetters were stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record. There was a 2010 Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of Christie’s spending patterns in his job prior to the governorship, which criticized him for being “the U.S. attorney who most often exceeded the government [travel expense] rate without adequate justification” and for offering “insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification” for stays at swank hotels like the Four Seasons. There was the fact that Christie worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Securities Industry Association at a time when Bernie Madoff was a senior SIA official—and sought an exemption from New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. There was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing. There was a defamation lawsuit brought against Christie arising out of his successful 1994 run to oust an incumbent in a local Garden State race. Then there was Todd Christie, the Governor’s brother, who in 2008 agreed to a settlement of civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission in which he acknowledged making “hundreds of trades in which customers had been systematically overcharged.” (Todd also oversaw a family foundation whose activities and purpose raised eyebrows among the vetters.)

Everything here is circumstantial. Christie definitely comes off as the kind of politician who would order a stunt like this. Possibly he didn’t do it. Possibly he did, but it will never be proven. His best-case scenario now appears to be an absence of a smoking gun, and convincing voters not to believe the subordinate pointing a finger at him. It doesn’t look good.

Chait leaves an open door to the potential for Christie to find a way out of the mess he's created for himself. But, if "what goes around comes around" holds true, then the mythical scandals of the Clinton years will come home to roost, if Christie is ever nominated as leader of the Republican Party.

Anybody who really believes Governor Christie is innocent in Bridgegate, the deliberate lane closing, must be drinking Republican Kook-Aid laced with Tinkerbell dust.

Malaysia Flight 370 - terrorism of unknown etiology and a test of spy technologies

My blog about the possibility of Iran somehow being involved in the super-mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Airline flight 370, a 777 jetliner, in South East Asia, received harsh criticism from readers. Nevertheless, it's been an entire week since this airplane's disappearance and no one is able to provide a credible closure about what happened and, worse, why?

As time progresses, without any sign of the airplane, or debris indicating that a crash occurred, the preponderance of evidence supports a sinister plot of unknown etiology. 

There's no way anyone would sabotage an airplane without having a terrorist motivation. Therefore, I stand by my first blog. There's a very-very serious reason why the Malaysian airliner was sabotaged and that means the world has a new brand of terrorism to worry about, ie, "terrorism of unknown etiology".

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysian authorities expanded their search for the missing jetliner westward toward India on Thursday, saying it may have flown for several hours after its last contact with the ground.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that there are technical indicators suggesting the plane continued to fly for an unspecified period of time after civilian air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the jet. Sources say the Boeing 777 continued to attempt to transmit routine data about the plane's engines and performance to satellites. Malaysian authorities and Boeing apparently did not downlink the data, so details from plane's transmissions are not known.

But, the fact that the jet was continuing to send signals is a strong indication that the jet did not crash immediately after radar contact was lost. The engines, instead, continued to run, Orr reports, meaning the plane continued in flight or perhaps was on the ground but still producing power.

Since I risked blogging about the possibility of Iran being involved in the disappearance of Malaysian Air 370, I'll take another flying leap and claim the international community knows what happened to this airplane. Although the world can't pinpoint where the airplane is right now, or precisely why it has vanished, the fact is, spy technologies via satellites certainly tracked the flight after the transformer was deliberately disconnected.  

Information about what was known about the flight after it lost radar contact is being drip-drip-dripped by those in the know, because no nation wants to reveal what they know or, more important, how the knowledge is obtained.  

Nevertheless, regardless of what's known or how the information is revealed, there's an escalating fear about why the Malaysian airliner

was sabotaged and the nefarious purpose underlying the abduction.

My blog stands: Is Iran behind this sabotage? The nation has a history of supporting terrorism. 

It's impossible to believe one person alone took over the Malaysian flight. Rather, it had to have been an organized effort to subdue the cock pit while initiating deliberate sabotage of the airplane.

In resolving this heinous mystery, it will be fascinating to learn what nation's spy technology will eventually reveal the answer about what happened to the aircraft?  Malaysian flight 360 is more than a search and rescue mission. Rather, the daunting saga has created another layer of fear about how clandestine terrorists are continuing to plot and scheme to perpetrate evil throughout the world.

A two percent GOP margin in Florida's thirteenth district special election is putting lipstick on a pig

Only 2 percent margin separated the Democrats from an upset victory to win a Florida congressional seat during a special election held on Tuesday, to fill the seat vacated by deceased long time incumbent, the late Bill Young, in Florida's 13th Congressional District.

Although Republicans are boasting about the slim victory, the fact is, the race was close enough to swing the results the other way in the next regular election. In fact, first term Congressional members are two year wonders.With only a 2 percent margin, the next regular election could well see the Republican David Jolly looking for a job. 


Unfortunately, House Speaker John Boehner is quoted saying it's a "big win". Hello? What Boehner really meant to say is, it was an expensive $$ win. Republicans couldn't afford to loose this seat, so they spent huge sums of money to buy Young's position for their party.  Shame on Boehner for name calling the Democrats by saying the post election analysis would be like "putting lipstick on a pig". 

Boehner is showing hypocritical colors. He knows, it's the GOP that puts lipstick on a pig. They've bought and paid for his thirteenth district special election with pork money showered on them by corporations led by the richer than rich Koch Brothers. 

In other words, Republicans won the Florida special election because they outspent their Democratic opponent.  This unmitigated flow of political money is legal since the US Supreme Court in the "Citizens United" ruling allowed corporations to contribute money in decadent amounts, by considering their "free speech" rights to be the same as those of real people.

Regardless of how close Democrats came to winning the GOP seat held by the conservative party for 58 years, they came up just 2 percent short. 

It's essential for Democrats to do much better in November.

Just pointing fingers and calling those who capitalize on Citizens United a bunch of names isn't going to budge a concrete thinking Republican electorate. Tragically, the base of the GOP political party rejects facts about the science of climate change and women's reproductive physiology. These same narrow thinking people have no ethical compulsion to refuse the mother's milk money of rich political corporations, led by the Koch Brothers.

Democrats must run smarter campaigns. 

Americans seem to thrive on negative Republican campaign ads. Yet, Americans also want to see a clean environment, rather than a nation polluted by greed; women don't want to be told how to control their reproductive systems, just because Republicans think they should; and Medicare beneficiaries should never have to worry about buying their benefits with vouchers so Republicans can insure only the rich have health care coverage. Moreover, Americans don't want to be anti-immigration when our ancestors were, themselves, immigrants.

American has more problems than those the Republicans concoct, just to scare people. Our war on illegal drugs, for example, has been a complete failure. Our national defense has been eroded by decades of wars we've never won, because our military leaders are more politicians than they are strategists. Meanwhile, the Russians are now recreating the Cold War because President Putin simply wants to be the world's next Napoleanic delusional leader.

Democrats must do better in upcoming elections. Although it probably won't show up in election results, when it comes to putting "lipstick on a pig", John Boehner should cry in his 
favorite drink of the day before plagiarizing the ambitious Sarah Palin's inappropriate quote. It's undignified but typical of Boehner to use somebody else's quote rather than create something memorable.

What Boehner should say is "2 percent margins aren't good enough". Indeed, Democrats should be thinking and saying the very same thing. 

Is Iran behind the tragic disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370?

We know Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is mysteriously gone, disappeared from the sky at 35,000 feet. The best evidence we have about what happened, right now, is to look at what has happened in the past. 

BEIJING — For three days, relatives awaiting word on the vanished Malaysia Airlines jet endured a cruel roller coaster of emotions.  First came the shock. Then, with each development that has emerged, they have careened between hope and despair. But by Monday, the predominant emotion was anger.

So let's look to the Lockerbie, Pan Am Flight 103 airline disaster. 

After exhaustive detail investigation, it's clear this tragedy was supported by Iran.

I believe the best predictor of the future is to examine the past. Although it's never a 100 percent predictor, the past is, nonetheless, an excellent predictor of the future.

Therefore, if Iran was proven responsible for the Lockerbie airline disaster, then it's a better than 50/50 probability the Middle East nation is also responsible for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370.  It's already been established that the person who purchased two tickets for passengers on the doomed Malaysian airplane was an Iranian.  

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Chinese aviation authorities arrived here Monday to assist in an investigation of a missing jetliner that it has complained is going slow as investigators zeroed in on two mystery passengers traveling aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight.

Authorities questioned travel agents Monday at a beach resort in Thailand about two men who boarded the doomed plane with stolen passports and one-way tickets bound for Europe.

Electronic booking records show the tickets were issued Thursday from a travel agency in the beach resort of Pattaya in eastern Thailand at the request of a second travel agency in Pattaya, Grand Horizon, Thai police Col. Supachai Phuykaeokam said.

The Financial Times, citing Thai police, said the ticket purchase was made over the phone by an Iranian man named Kazem Ali, who used the stolen passports he said were those of two friends who wanted to return home to Europe. The tickets were paid for in cash, the Times said.

Global Horizon's owner, Benjaporn Krutnait, said she believed Ali was not connected to terrorism because he had asked for the cheapest tickets to Europe and did not specify the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight.

Malaysia's police chief told news media in Kuala Lumpur that one of the two men had been identified. Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said video of the men believed to be traveling with the stolen passports showed that they were of "non-Asian" appearance.

So, let's assume the criminal perpetrators of the crash of the Lockerbie flight are also responsible for the disappearance of Malaysian Flight MH370.

As evidence of an Iranian connection to the Malaysian flight disappearance unfolds, the question is, what does the world do about an evident trail of terrorism?

If clear and convincing evidence connects Iran with the Malaysian flight disappearance, then it follows that there's a preponderance of rationale to take retaliatory action as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, regardless of Iran's complicity in past horrific airline terrorism, the underlying question is "why?". Why murder innocent people on a Malaysian airliner? Was this a test to determine future operations?  Of course, I'm now making a leap to claim it really was terrorists who were responsible for the Malaysian airline disaster. Therefore, yes, I'll say it....it was terrorism of unknown etiology.

It's the world's responsibility to find the cause of the disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370, because we must understand how and why international terrorists continue to murder totally innocent people.