The "Politics" of Mars Exploration.

There have been more robotic missions to Mars in this last decade than there have been . I was thinking to write a  piece about Mars , the planet.  In a political sphere Mars exploration is costly to American nationalism , but lets  figure on this since 1976 we landed on Mars beginning with Viking 1 and Viking 2 We have analyzed the soil , the air . We have "discovered"  that Mars was "earth-like" in some distant past , with orbital photo's of dry river beds , channels and ocean-like coastlines . My ARGUMENT is why is the United States sending more probes and rovers , have we learned already about Mars is a bit intriguing .Mars has lots of water and so on . The newest Mars probe called MAVEN successfully sneaked through its weather window and launched from Cape Canaveral . Blasting away to join 20 other orbiting human made satellites . NASA's MAVEN is basically has nothing "new" as far as instrumental , it is an "atmosphere" probe . What get's me is , and it draws a line for "conspiracy kooks" is that NASA/ Government must have "discovered" something on Mars already to account for it's massive spending for Mars projects . NASA has planed for future Mars missions that will include a sample return mission . Is NASA covering up evidence of life on Mars? That’s what University of Cardiff astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe claims as quoted in an article on the Helium website (warning: site has autoloading video ads) Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, acclaimed astrobiologist from Cardiff University of Wales said the discovery of water on planet Mars combined with other discoveries point to the existence of life on the planet. In an interview he said, “The discovery of liquid water on Mars combined with earlier discoveries of organic substances in a meteorite that came from Mars, and also of methane in the Martian atmosphere all point to the existence of life – contemporary life – on the “Red Planet”. “I am not speaking of fossilized life but contemporary life,” he emphasized. Professor Wickramasinghe , is the world’s leading proponent of Panspermia, which suggests that all planets including earth in the universe have been seeded for life by microbes from outer space. He recently said such life could even exist on the upper layer of the clouds of Venus and could be blown out to earth by solar wind. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and Dr Janaki Wickramasinghe (his daughter) of the Cardiff Astrobiology Center claim that Venus’s clouds contain chemicals that exist with the presence of micro organisms. “Our research proposes that the two sisters, Earth and Venus may be biologically interconnected as well,” Wickramasinghe added. Speaking of earth’s other sister planet Mars, Chandra Wickramasinghe said, “ Even as early as 1976, when the two NASA space probes “Viking 1 and Viking 2” landed on Mars, experiments carried out in situ pointed strongly to the existence of active microbial life. In one experiment nutrient broth was poured onto a sample of Martian soil, and it frothed up so vigorously exuding carbon dioxide, that a positive detection of life might have been inferred. But when the NASA scientists looked for organic material, the detritus of living organisms, around the landing site, their experiments yielded negative or ambiguous results. So NASA cautiously concluded – no organics means no life detected. But 32 years on,  Gil Levin, who was Principal Investigator on this project maintains that life on Mars was indeed detected in 1976! The experiments of 1976 to detect the dead bodies and decomposition products of bacteria were simply not sensitive enough.” > So I have argue . No wonder the United States has invested so much on a Mars exploration missions , yes its not admitting that it "found" life on Mars as of yet . Yet in the scientific community there is a fringe group of NASA scientists who are willing to accept that the  Red Planet  is alive and well.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

The biggest "riddle" of possible Mars life has been the recent detection of Trace amounts of methane (CH₄), at the level of several parts per billion (ppb), were first reported in Mars's atmosphere by a team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 2003.^[3][25] In March 2004 the Mars Express Orbiter^[26] and ground based observations from Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope^[27] also suggested the presence of methane in the atmosphere with a mole fraction of about 10 nmol/mol.^[28] Because methane on Mars would quickly break down due to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and chemical reactions with other gases, its reported persistent presence in the atmosphere also necessitates the existence of a source to continually replenish the gas. Current photochemical models alone can explain neither the fast appearance nor the disappearance of the methane, or its reported variations in space and time.^[29] It had been proposed that the methane might be replenished by meteorites entering the atmosphere of Mars,^[30] but researchers from Imperial College London found that the volumes of methane released this way are too low to sustain the measured levels of the gas.^[31]The methane occurs in extended plumes, and their profiles imply that the gas was released from sources in three discrete regions. In northern midsummer, the principal plume contained 19,000 metric tons of methane, with an estimated source strength of 0.6 kilogram per second.^[32][33] The profiles suggest that there may be two local source regions, the first centered near 30°N 260°W and the second near 0°N 310°W .^[32] It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 tons/year of methane.^[32][34][35] The existence of life in the form of microorganisms such as methanogens is among possible, but as yet unproven sources. If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface, where it is still warm enough for liquid water to exist.^[22]Since the 2003 discovery of methane in the atmosphere, some scientists have been designing models and in vitroexperiments testing growth of methanogenic bacteria on simulated Martian soil, where all four methanogen strains tested produced substantial levels of methane, even in the presence of 1.0wt% perchlorate salt.^[102] The results reported indicate that the perchlorates discovered by the Phoenix Lander would not rule out the possible presence of methanogens on Mars.^[102][103]

Exactly! Why cover it up? If NASA had proof of life anywhere, they would suddenly find they had funding for new missions. Even if they did cover it up, why continue when their funding gets slashed, the JIMO mission canned? That would be the time to come out.

Interestingly enough INDIA is also launching a space craft to Mars .  India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is any indication (see above), then we can expect absolutely gorgeous scenes of the Red Planet once the groundbreaking probe arrives there in September 2014. But despite all that’s been accomplished so far, the space drama is still in its infant stages – because MOM still needs to ignite her thrusters this weekend in order to achieve escape velocity, wave good bye to Earth forever and eventually say hello to Mars!

THANKFUL FOR and WHAT I AM NOT THANKFUL FOR.

THIS THANKSGIVING IS ALL ABOUT A BIG MEAN BIRD

What I am *** THANKFUL FOR and WHAT I AM NOT THANKFUL FOR. I want to write this post in my blog stepping aside political social events .   There is much to be thankful for about life in America, especially when compared to those beyond our borders whose daily lives are marked by war, hunger and disease. Despite our kvetching, grumbling and complaining, most Americans have it pretty good compared to less fortunate s the world over. Perhaps if we look at the Stock Market lately ? It's close to 16,000 DOW. The "Rich" get "Richer" as the saying goes . The Poor are even more miserable these days . I am not thankful for...........This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for our nation and even our nation's leaders, but I am not thankful for how they have been behaving themselves. Like most Americans, I believe that Congress is behaving irresponsibly. The inviolable partisanship and lust for power that glues Washington together is a laughable affront to our reputation as the world's lone superpower, and it is – above all – representative of a moral crisis in leadership that it has brought. There is virtually nothing that the Left isn't willing to politicize, and that includes holidays. Obama's Organizing for America is trying to make ObamaCare a part of your Thanksgiving celebration. They are encouraging Americans to discuss ObamaCare talking points around the dinner table.First, we have the Department of Education which spent $20.3 million to fight “isms.” That's right, over the last three years we've spent over $20 million to help school boards fight “all of the –isms, like racism, ableism, orientation, etc.,” in our schools. Then we have the TSA which spent $900 million – almost a $1 billion! – over the last five years on behavior detection officers. Their job is to detect terrorists in airports. Five years and $900 million later, they've detected zero terrorists. Zero. In light of this fact, the Government Accountability Office recommends that Congress put an end to this program. The technique of behavioral profiling isn't bad, but the private sector could do it a lot more effectively and less costly The government isn't good at a lot of things, but it has perfected the art of spending a lot of money on projects that don't necessarily gain us any return on investment. The following NOT to be thanked , but are part of a GROWING trend in America.

Police shootings of unarmed citizens.

No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later. This trend originates from a police preoccupation with ensuring their own safety at all costs

SWAT team raids. On an average day in America, at least 100 Americans have their homes raided by SWAT teams (although I've seen estimates as high as 300 a day), which are increasingly used to deal with routine police matters: angry dogs, domestic disputes, search warrants, etc.

Arresting Americans for altogether legal activities such as picking their kids up from school, holding Bible studies at home, and selling goat cheese.

Jailing Americans for profit. At one time, the American penal system operated under the idea that dangerous criminals needed to be put under lock and key in order to protect society. Today, as states attempt to save money by outsourcing prisons to private corporations, imprisoning Americans in private prisons run by mega-corporations has turned into a cash cow for big business

Transforming the schools into quasi-prisons and teaching young people that they have no rights. Zero-tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior continue to destroy the lives of young people such as the 14-year-old arrested for texting in class or the 6-year-olds suspended for using their fingers as imaginary guns in a schoolyard game of cops and robbers.

Illegal, invasive spying on Americans. There is no form of digital communication that the government cannot and does not monitor -- phone calls, emails, text messages, tweets, Facebook posts, Internet video chats, etc.,

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

***For many the holiday will present us with yet another opportunity to dust off a "family tradition" that I'm sure has been handed down through the years. I love family traditions, if they are good. Some  family has one little tradition for Thanksgiving and probably a popular one; they  go around the table and each person talks about what they are really thankful for., but it keeps things interesting!It’s for giving thanks. And we do need to be thankful for all the things we have.

So my list.

WE should be "Thankful For." 

1.st Family .

2nd. Friends.

3rd. Your Spouse .

4th. Your New Born.

5th. Your Job.

The "Deal" with Iran . My Overview.....

The recent "deal" with Iran over it's nuclear development is already setting off a change reaction , but I think the easing of tensions is long over -due . Iran  and the United States could be a better allies . I personally believe that "cold war" fanaticism in America is the sole problem as to why Iran has been pushed around for the last decades . For me the most dangerous nation (s) with nuclear weapons is Pakistan  and North Korea , India . The sanctions against Iran have been rather unjustified by the United States . First while America has been hammering Iran ,  our nation has let the "genii" out of the bottle many times over , and the hypocritical seriousness of America has destabilized many parts of the world , the fine example of Pakistan which has over a hundred nuclear weapons , a nation that harbors terrorists , Bin Ladin . Not once did any President of the United States "condemn" the development of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal . America stood Idle when India exploded its first nuclear weapon underground . It's rather disgusts me that politically American policy has been "wasted" on Iran . America should thank "Israel" for decades of misunderstanding Iran , while ignoring other more dangerous world nations.  Thankfully Barack Obama has ignored Netanyahu and/or treated him with contempt.  Otherwise, the latest deal would not be possible. Netanyahu is the wrong leader for Israel at this critical time in its history.  He is a reckless and unbridled warmonger, who should be removed from political office. In the face of criticism from members of Congress and U.S. allies in the Middle East, administration officials have insisted that the Geneva agreement is just the first step toward a more far-reaching disarmament deal. But such a deal will require that the Obama administration promise not just to forestall the imposition of new sanctions, but also to reduce dramatically the sanctions already in place. And that depends on the cooperation of a Congress that has been singularly uninterested in assuming the role of good cop in the showdown with Iran. It's really embarrassing how the U.S. Congress kowtows to the Israelis. Any official from Israel speaks before them and they scream, cheer and swoon like girls at a teenage idol concert. So what will the U.S. Congress do? Whatever their masters in Israel tell them to do. Bipartisan skepticism in the Senate about the newly announced deal with Iran could mean a renewed push for tougher sanctions -- and a veto showdown with President Obama if the administration cannot ease senators' concerns. A number of senators, from both sides of aisle, appear to be pushing sanctions as a contingency plan in case the agreement on Iran's nuclear program falters. But some may not be willing to wait -- presenting a problem for the Obama administration, since the deal signed with Iran and five other nations guarantees no new sanctions for six months. If the Senate gets impatient and plows ahead with new legislation, Obama could be forced to veto -- and risk being overridden.

My President Kennedy Memorial.

I wish he'd lived  and done a second term , but its a
what if..... 

Fifty years after John F. Kennedy fell victim to an assassin's bullet while visiting Texas with his wife, people at home and abroad paused Friday to remember the 35th president of the United States. Collected here are memories of the slain president, details from the day of his death and live updates from the memorial service at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. President Kennedy was one of America's 'What if's...' Had he lived what would it have been?  Bill O'Reilly said it right from his book:

“Most people live their lives as if the end were always years away. They measure their days in love, laughter, accomplishment, and loss. There are moments of sunshine and storm. There are schedules, phone calls, careers, anxieties, joys, exotic trips, favorite foods, romance, shame, and hunger. A person can be defined by clothing, the smell of his breath, the way she combs her hair, the shape of his torso, or even the company she keeps.

All over the world, children love their parents and yearn for love in return. They revel in the touch of parental hands on their faces. And even on the worst of days, each person has dreams about the future-dreams that sometimes come true.

Such is life.

Yet life can end in less time than it takes to draw one breath.” 

― Bill O'Reilly, Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

President Kennedy is remembered for many things.  Perhaps his most famous line, delivered as a war hero himself, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” It is said, that President Kennedy’s most enduring legacy is the establishment of the Peace Corps. Through the Peace Corps, President Kennedy sought to encourage mutual understanding between Americans and people from different countries and cultures. He believed that the Peace Corps could serve an a unique instrument and weapon in the war against communism. By improving the quality of life in less developed countries, the people of these nations would become more resistant to communism and convinced of America’s sincerity and ability to help them. Today the Peace Corps is no longer considered a weapon against communism. It has proved to valuable organization for the United States. It has outlived the Cold War and continues to send participants to different nations.

What If ..... President Kennedy had lived?

No President Lyndon B. Johnson

Kennedy's assassination was great for Johnson's political career, as it saved him from a coming scandal. "A corruption investigation into the vice president, also very real, was shelved by the editors at Lifemagazine in the sensitive weeks after Kennedy was killed

No Civil Rights Legislation

Would Kennedy have passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, or the Fair Housing Act that Johnson undertook? 

JFK Is Not Well Regarded

Even assuming all of those things are true — he isn't killed, he gets his second successful term, and retires comfortably — it's still likely that he wouldn't be viewed nearly as warmly  Historian Jeff Greenfield imagines  that the president’s “reckless” personal life would have eventually caught up with him -- and that reports of his extramarital affairs may have become public. “It almost became public in the weeks before Dallas,” Greenfield said. “There were reporters looking around, because the recklessness of Kennedy's private life, including having a mistress who's also the mistress of a mafia boss, dallying with a woman who was a suspected East German intelligence agent.”

While the Kennedys would have ultimately squelched the reports from going public, Greenfield contends in his book, it would have almost certainly taken a major toll on his marriage. And Greenfield raises the question of whether the first lady might have sought a different life at the end of an imagined second Kennedy term. “I speculate that she may have confronted John Kennedy with the hard realities of what she's been living through for 8 years,” he said. “By ‘68, the women's movement was beginning to take shape and maybe Jackie Kennedy might have looked for a different kind of life at the end of the term.”

Remembering President Kennedy: The Quote we SHOULD all carry with us.

"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future." —John F. Kennedy

Oprah's big day , and her comments.

After a week of outrageous comments
Ms. Winfrey gains on
the race card . Here awarded the Medal of Honor by
President Obama.

Well it took a while , President Obama has had his list of defenders . So here I am going blog  them all here . They may not be related . From MSNBC's   Martin Bashir,  take a look at any program  these days on TV . It pretty much heated up with specialty between 'Conservative' against ' Liberal' . Each side had their week on spewing controversial words. Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Alec Baldwin or Lawence O’Donnell all are looking sad  these days . What set them off this week? Together with all the hype recently I wanted to comment on what Ms. Oprah Winfrey said in an interview with a British reporter ,  how else to explain her comments to a BBC host that she thinks President Obama is disrespected because of his race?  I wanted post my view that from an angle it looks like that Mr. Obama has had a rough ride , and it looks like that there might be a just hint of "rejection" on the part of GOP , but from so many angles what looks like any form of 'racism'  against Mr. Obama  as viewed by Ms. Winfrey may be on her part,  her failure to recognize that the President made some mistakes and is being attacked for his failures rather than his skin color . This is what what made me a bit jumpy about Oprah . On BBC, Oprah Winfrey made a bold statement about President Obama: “There’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs… because he’s African American.” “There’s no question about that. And it’s the kind of thing no one ever says, but everybody’s thinking it,” she continued. In an attempt to “prove” her point with an example of “racism,” Winfrey brought up the time Republican Congressman Joe Wilson shouted “You’re a liar!” at Obama during a 2009 speech.- Americans Hate Obama Because He’s Black. OK, next she said this  that “for racism to end, racists must die“. Winfrey also said “People are terrorized because of the color of their skin, because of the color of their black skin.”, and that “there are still generations of people, older people (White people), who were born and bred and marinated in it – in that prejudice and racism – and they just have to die.” Next comes Black leader Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is challenging Oprah Winfrey to put up or shut up. He this to Oprah “Oprah Winfrey is sending a destructive and racist message to black youth,” said Peterson in a statement Tuesday.“I’m calling on Oprah to back up her claims and give proof of blacks being terrorized by whites. She can’t – because it’s not happening.Winfrey made the remarks in an interview with the BBC last Friday on the subject of her movie “The Butler.”The only way for racism to disappear, she said, would be for “older [white] people who were born, bred and marinated in prejudice and racism to die.” Oprah states in this video that “People are still judged by their skin-color, and that’s the problem.” Yet in saying “all whites are racist” (and, does she KNOW what she is saying?! Must “DIE” because of it?!!). She, herself, is judging (the character; thoughts, words and deeds) . Interestingly, Oprah failed to mention that Obama enthusiastically campaigned (twice) to be subjected to the so-called "level of disrespect" that accompanies the office, and was twice successful.Oprah, came from humble beginnings and stand as testaments to America's exceptional nature. She has to "thank" the whites that helped her become what she is, and should best put her talents on helping poor African Americans here in America . 

Obama . " We Fumbled..........."

I am starting to feel sorry for Mr. Obama.
Can he do anything right?

President Obama has had his worst week in years , he finally admitted and took the blame and said "We fumbled.........." .Fumbled? That's like saying the Hindenburg suffered a little static electricity.  So finally he relented .What?! He didn't blame Bush? He didn't blame the GOP? He didn't blame anybody else?He actually took responsibility?! The Republican party and the ultra right must be "spinning donuts" , and having a ball with this. I have to say in this post is I saw it coming . The shaky start is all the result of poorly drafted non -partisan approach ,  Obama-care was not going to just have a smooth start . I wrote about what President Obama did wrong in a last posting , he failed to address the nation in his  first term , on how it was going work. Another factor which I am speculating is that Pres. Obama did not know a word from the ACA law when he signed it , was caught off guard when the snow ball started rolling. You have to say is wake up dude!, but this just equals inadequate leadership skills. He should have been on top of this from beginning to the very roll out . Also  what I find here so disturbing is that the President of the United States is telling the insurance companies what to do , our commander -  in - chief  has now been reduced to a big insurance broker who is over riding a law he to helped pass . The accusation that the Administration knew that millions of people were going to be dropped from their HMO's is vary nasty , it made Obama look as if he  spoke a lie ( or as the other media ) say "he miss spoke" and so on . Either case President Obama can't escape this one . Worries surrounding the politics and the policy are colliding. The president’s most immediate threat could come from a rebellion inside his own party, fueled by his own sinking approval ratings and a growing sense of dread among Democrats about being blamed for failures of the federal government.. “I feel deeply responsible for making it harder for them rather than easier for them to continue to promote the core values that I think led them to support this thing in the first place,” the president said in another of his apologetic statements. Meanwhile Some insurers called Obama’s fix unworkable. “Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums,” said Karen Ignagni, who heads the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. Well, Mr. President, the sole authority on standards in healthcare (Which he picked up where, exactly?) Why is it that this little patch only works for one year? Why not extend it indefinitely? I don't get it.. You just went from saying "If you like you can keep it" to "If you like it, you can keep for a year." 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

I have to cut President Obama some SLACK here , I know that he was 'trying to fix the American Health Care System " . I applaud his effort to allow people with "pre -existing conditions" to get covered . I believe that it would have been solved with better legislation from a federal level , but there are  issues with the law that I find hilarious , first  I don't find the ACA "affordable" to consumers  since it's the vary same insurance companies who are offering what looks like a good deal for coverage , if you think about it the Insurance companies have lobbied Washington D.C. and  their in  "league" in effect with the "devil" to quote a saying . Prices are not going down . I don't like that you will be forced to 'buy' health insurance with no guarantee with price affordability . Forcing people people to buy is a must for the Insurance companies , it equals more revenue for them . What a rip folks............. 

"Our" Strange weather lately.

Increasingly desperate survivors of Typhoon Haiyan should
blame the Philippine government , and not
the storm.

OK, Here is my two cents on Global Warming .There is an old saying, "If you don't like the weather just wait a few minutes and it'll change." The nature of weather is all about change. One day it's warm and sunny, and the next day it's cold and rainy. In the past few years America has had weather that has been so extreme that there is no way it could be defined as normal. The weather in California to some has been a bit outta place for November. It has not rained in 50 days , we look up and see wispy clouds roll by . In the early morning hours its almost 48 F , by mid noon its 73 , but it feels like it's 80. Take a trip back in time , do any of you "remember" that in 1992 was one of the coolest in the U.S. for the past 100 years. But the winter that preceded it was the warmest. Heavy rains in February flooded California. Before that, the state had been in a six-year-long drought. A lot of people are wondering if something is wrong with our weather. I am to say this , but it's going to blow your mind . WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD THIS KIND OF WEATHER., the Scientists have know this , they have records like ice core samples and tree rings and written documents going back many thousand and maybe  (millions ) of  years that give insight on our weather. Our problem is all psychological , the new younger generation of past X-ers and their yuppie 20 year old's see this weather and  they just act like as if 'astonished' as PROOF of Al Gore's prediction . Sure enough Governments and Scientists have been warning us about the Carbon emissions that give rise to temperatures world wide , yes its  going to get warmer in the next decade , but  lets  look at the last 65 million years since the dinosaurs the Earth was a balmy 80 F as far as the North Pole . We had our Ice Ages , our Volcanic eruptions and our massive floods that may have wiped out  human communities as far as 11,000 years ago .  the Philippines — as for example . Had plenty of Time to evacuate people . I am not not just trying to "chew" up another human tragedy like what happened in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina , again even how massive a storm , and we have had many more worse in the last 200 years . There was time to evacuate and warn people in both storm cases , another is how much the media exaggerates the weather phenomenon is something to be questioned . Anyhow lets hope for now that I can put my two cents for Rain for 5 days straight in California.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

There is a lot of debate as to if weather patterns are changing, or if this is just nature being it’s cyclical self. I’m not going to get into that debate here, because there are many opinions and theories regarding weather patterns; we are each entitled to our thoughts and opinions.

Chris Christie the ' Can he do it kid'.

Christie's win is a GOP 'Sign'
to Heed. 

 The  landslide re-election as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie surges some 'mixed' kinda hope among the far right and GOP. There is no question on my mind that the Republican party has to 'reconstituted' . It's hardly the party with any thing new these days. Between now 2013 and 2016 there is going have to be a  lot of  work to turn this  party around.  TIME magazine recently  has featured Christie on its cover twice , not much as the 'Come back kid', but as the ' Can he do it kid' . The magazine cover of Christie is a silhouette of his face that reminds you  of Alfred Hitchcock theme,  titled " The Elephant in the Room" . Chris Christie's weight has always been an issue , Christie's record as Governor has not always been on the bright side of economic growth either for his state . Christie has been attacked by most conservatives Yes, he is a conservative; a very conservative conservative. The problem people are having is that Obama and many of the other democrats in our government are also conservatives. Unlike most others in his party, Christie recognizes this, and understands that he could advance the agenda effectively by working with the "liberals," rather than oppose them when they advance conservative ideas, as the republicans tend to do. , as you know Christie has lashed out at his party favorites like Ted Cruz , none the less for the Democrats he is their 'favorite' so swimming in Democratic money as he ran  for reelection. His Democratic opponent, Barbara Buono, is ignored by the national press and the sort of people that would usually be writing checks for the Democratic challenger to a Republican governor in a large, liberal state. It had the opposite effect .  Christie's most unforgivable and possibly politically fatal move was his bro-hug of President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Obama visited Christie in New Jersey just six days before the 2012 presidential election, and not only did Christie greet him warmly but he also praised him for his leadership! It was a shocking move, particularly in such a hyper-partisan age, and he will have to summon his considerable oratorical skills to explain his way out of this during a 2016 Republican primary fight. Voters like candidates who are comfortable with who they are. In that sense, Christie’s weight could be a plus. He’s a big guy, with a big personality, and big ambitions. His size is distinctive, like Ronald Reagan’s hair, or President Obama’s ears. There’s nobody who looks like him in US politics.

In the end, his physical presence will just become one part of the total package voters weigh.  He’s indeed the elephant in the room. What remains to be seen is if he becomes the elephant in the Oval Office.

Andy Lopez , Toy gun's Lesson.

Can you tell the difference between a toy
gun and a real one?

In the wake of mass shootings , our nation has a problem with trigger happy police.  The word 'Trigger Happy" may not be the right words for Police officers who risk their lives daily in the performance of duty on a daily basis . There is a point however to pause for a moment , and look at the circumstance . Yes a 13 year old boy was shot and killed , but obviously I do feel sorry for the Lopez family . I have to look at things from a different angle . How would you know if Andy Lopez if you saw him that day know that he was carrying a toy. Can you tell? The Police reaction first of all is like the two sides of the coin The shooting is the latest in a long line of incidents of police shooting — and sometimes killing — people  whom they have mistakenly thought to be armed with a real firearm. Last year, police fatally shot a Texas eight-grader who was carrying a pellet gun that resembled a black Glock. The year before, Miami police shot and killed a 57-year old man who had a realistic replica gun after getting 911 calls about the ostensible weapon. “This is not the first time,” says Karen Caves, spokeswoman for a California state senator who has pushed stricter regulations on imitation firearms. “It happens every year.”. They commanded he ( Andy ) "drop the gun" twice, the boy turned towards their voices (the cops were behind him) and they fired as he turned to face them, because turning towards the cops also turned the toy gun, held under his arm, towards them. so they told him twice, and rather than drop it, he turned around towards them with it still in in his arms......towards them as you say. yup, his own fault he's dead ? Second, it is unclear whether or not the deputies used excessive force as it's not been revealed whether or not the boy pointed the weapon at them. Though it's fully reasonable for the deputies to have assumed the supposed weapon was real in the interest of public and personal safety as it did highly resemble the gun it was supposed to replicate, especially with its state mandated blaze orange tip removed. The fact that it was a young person carrying said "replica" does nothing to negate the aforementioned either as it's known that worldwide kids and adolescents are brought into gangs and combatant activities where they are supplied with firearms. Furthermore, the AK-47, which the replica was modeled after, is a high powered assault rifle whose rounds can pierce most low level body armor and is capable of fully automatic fire and is something that is naturally approached with warranted prejudice because of the substantial threat it can pose.  It seems now The FBI is investigating of the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff's deputy in Northern California after it emerged that police took no more than 10 seconds to open fire on Lopez after seeing him with a toy pellet gun. So here are the sad consequences , regrettably  . There were numerous California laws broken here and I blame the parents for not a)  Supervising Andy's (a minor) use of a weapon (yes, a BB gun is a weapon), and B)  Enrolling Andy in a firearms safety course.  Had these no-brainer precautions occurred, this tragedy would have never happened.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

California has extensive BB gun laws. California defines a "BB device" as: "any instrument that expels a projectile, such as a BB or a pellet, not exceeding 6 mm caliber, through the force of air pressure, CO2 pressure, or spring action, or any spot marker gun."

Broken law number 1:  It is a misdemeanor in California to sell, loan, or transfer a BB gun, or "BB device" to a minor.  Andy was a minor and unsupervised.

Broken law number 2:  (And this one's a big fat "duh" and says it right in the second part of the last statute line).  Federal law requires imitation guns (including most BB guns) to have special colors or markings. These markings allow law enforcement officers to identify them as fake firearms, and can prevent the shooting of a person armed with a fake gun that looks real.  The orange barrel marker on Andy's gun was removed.

Broken law number 3:  It is unlawful to carry a loaded rifle, shotgun, or handgun in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated area or an area where firing a firearm is prohibited. Furthermore the open carry of any handgun, loaded or unloaded in an incorporated area has now been banned.  What the hell was Andy doing transporting an uncased weapon, especially one that looked real?

Health- Care what Mr. Obama did wrong.

The President failed on certain
points before implementing
the new health care law. 

Today I was writing down some 'key' points on what and how it went wrong for Obama on this healthcare initiative .  As feeling a bit sorry for Mr. Obama for trying , and easing our over expensive American Health care system , he may have aided the problem rather than  fixing it. Trust me , President Obama is in his second term, it's 2013 . We essentially have 3 more years of him if you don't count this year . ANYHOW what got me spinning on this . Way back when Mr. Obama was elected and it was the first year in office . The President "failed" to communicated with the American people  President Obama assumed too much as to what the people wanted out of 'healthcare reform' . During that time the air was abuzz with  a healthcare system that would be called 'single payer' .  WELL the single payer system should resemble mostly Canada model . HEAR this most Americans were dreaming for free state provided healthcare , but ALAS . Not so , they were duped . SECONDLY , President Obama did not before Passing the Affordability Health Care Law  ever engage in any table talk conferences with the Republicans on a bi-partisan level to draft any legislation with them . He pushed it through Congress via Nancy Pelosi . There seems that there should have been TIME to study the new law as drafted , before any implementation. People had the chance to read this bill, all 2200 pages AND people thought and have accused they the TEA party for crying wolf and ignorant. Even though you may have employer insurance, you involved with ACA without your knowledge. This has become a pleading of the majority in the senate and the minority in house, wanting to get on the now that the flood is coming.Perhaps this has one redeeming value...people will now become more involved with want government is doing and finally make demands that our government becomes a do as I say and not what you want to do. ( some accuse President Obama of 'borrowing' Mitt Rommey's own idea on state mandate healthcare ) Either case. I fear the "federal' healthcare will back fire , and may have to go back to the table with some major revisions . I also Believe that the State Exchanges will  be MORE successful in covering people over the Federal version .  Besides the "sticker shock" that many will see with ***Obama-care, Americans who sign up for Obama-care will be getting a big surprise if they expect to access premium health care that may have been previously covered under their personal policies. Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obama-care. There’s a catch, though. The US Supreme Court ruled that states don’t have to expand Medicaid under Obama-care if they don’t want to. Right now, 29 states are moving toward expansion, according to the consulting firm The Advisory Board. You’ll need to check to see if your state is among them. Now we come to Americans who buy their health insurance themselves on the open market. This is about 5 percent of the population, or 15 million people. Typically, these people work for small firms that don’t offer insurance, or they work for themselves, or they don’t work but don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. Another issue is that the STATE exchanges are going to cost a 1 billion dollars to each tax payer, and there lots more problems reported . Under the Affordable Care Act, subsidies are only available for state exchanges. But through regulation the Internal Revenue Service has extended subsidies to federal exchanges too. The implications are immense. Family plans will cost $20,000 a year in 2016, according to the IRS. If Americans on the federally run exchanges do not qualify for health-insurance subsidies, few will sign up. Plans will be simply unaffordable. Obamacare will collapse not because of Congress, but due to flaws in the structure of the law.

It's a long ways off , we just have to buckle up and take a back seat till 2016.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** Regarding the "name" of the Affordable Health- Care Act .  Dubbed  " Obama-Care", I think it's dis-graceful to use the Presidents name as a label to the new legislation . I don't know why , but its nausea for me . It's like calling Social Security the  Franklin D Roosevelt  retirement plan.....