Melt from Greenland & Antarctica Increases World Sea Level .95 mm Annually

Scientists found that Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets are melting (Greenland at a faster pace) and contributing to the rise in sea level. The rate of increase has risen several hundred percent since 1992. There should be a carbon tax and passage of tax credits for alternative energy.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Grace/news/grace20121129.html

Long ago Canada's Banks Island had foot-thick trees growing on it according to petrified wood discoveries. It appears that fossil fuels and cars are driving the world further in that direction with mid-west drought along the way.

The Obama administration will spend another 120 million on cheaper electric battery development though that hasn't worked before when the government spent 2 billion. Passing tax credit legislation for a decade might be a better way to go.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-launches-new-project-to-develop

Obamacare Will Inflate Public Cost of AIDS by Trillions

With medical costs at 400,000 dollars per AIDS patient over a lifetime the homosexual lifestyle bites hard on public budgeting. Obamacare's 'compassionate liberalism' approach to medicine will cost the public trillions unnecessarily at that cost will transfer wealth from the middle class to the powers of concentrated wealth. It would be far less costly to simply expand the V.A. hospital system to include the poor. AIDS patients could be given free AIDS drugs and medical treatment without transferring that cost to private insurers who in turn transfer the cost to the public paying taxes.

The C.D.C. presently estimates the number of people with AIDS in the U.S.A. at about one million and one hundred fifty thousand. That number multiplied by 400,000 dollars is about a half a trillion bucks, and of course there are another 12,000 individuals contracting the disease each new year. It gets to be real money.
Some public illnesses such as HIV are too epidemic and lasting to treat as usual medical phenomena financially. Transferring coverage for AIDS to insurers by force of law as a pre-existing condition probably will cost trillions when generic drugs and government incentives to provide low cost AIDS treatment to pharmaceutical companies could drive the cost way down-and should.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm

U.S. veterans already have a vast and epidemic number of head injuries and P.T.S.D. psych treatments as well as Gulf War disease and a host of other problems that could use a better V.A. hospital system and of course a substantial public hospital system would be a good way to treat large numbers of biological or radiological casualties some day if that ever occurs. It is better to be prepared and with a balanced budget than to be on vacation when disaster strikes.

Another D.O.D. Spending Reform Scenario

The President as the executive chooses to order troops here or there for 90 days (War Powers Act) before requiring Congressional approval (if they actually took their responsibility seriously) and the Department of Defense deploys them.

The D.O.D. should train the Army and Marines to fight a large conventional war (with the new unconventional, emergent weapons systems included) instead of anti-terrorist cell operations. Anti-terrorism wars tasking should fall to S.F. Black Ops in the 50,000 man rapid deployment S.F. BOP for efficiency. A conventional Army or Marines is rather a large target for-itself and attacked as a sitting duck in financially assymetric warfare thereby harming the United States with great cost effectiveness.

Obviously with American reliance on foreign fossil fuels the Bin Ladens of the world have ample spare change to finance terrorist ops now and then to which the states leadership responds with speeches and multi-trillion dollar troop deployments that are as effective as a snowball in hell at making permanent social transformations stop nurturing  terrorism.

The United States cannot become a colonial power enacting the mistakes of the past especially as a temporal occupier. That direction is an egregious historical error and ought to be avoided. The military is no substitute for intelligent civil economic leadership and a good society that others want to emulate. A blunt instrument does not raise I.Q. even if it obliterates some opposition.

Much effort to transform society for the good should be found in global ecospheric restoration concurrent with full employment and enhanced well-being of all American citizens.

Anti-safe haven interdiction efforts can be accomplished with surveillance droids on ground and air with some being as small as a mosquito along with aerial weapons delivery packages. If the governments themselves are corrupt the U.S. cannot simply send a conventional military to do nation makeovers and it ought not conduct aggressive war upon governments it does not regard as 'democratic' because they don't want to have a Wal-Mart society.

Contemporary U.S. politics are largely designed to concentrate wealth with real support from both parties and the is media owned by the rich even if they own both the left and the right broadcasters. The displacing political power of the media means that thousands of individuals never rise to run by acclaim from local radio podcast-broadcasters reaching consensus. That situation presents not even a semblance of democratic, popular nomination or selection of qualified citizens in the Presidential campaigns.

'Lots of Money' can be spent very quickly by the congress and war excuses for dubiously necessary contests are a modern leverage tool for redistribution of wealth to the rich from all taxpayers. Eisenhower warned in his Farewell Address about the 'military-industrial complex'. The economist Lester Thurow described the military-industrial 'maintennance economy' pattern in a (1999?) book-The G.W. Bush administration embodied that non-creative political modus vivendi.

 A profligacy in spending and perennial foreign wars have defeated more than one civilization or nation. Incompetent and corrupt national leadership that fails to develop its economy in an ecospherically useful way as well as its social environment moves toward being an obstruction to democracy, human survival on Earth and Toynbean fin de sicle status.

One wants to have constructive civil rather than military engagement with adverse foreign powers, lend support to regimes experiencing subversive  anti-freedom rebellion movements and develop an excellent and consolidated intelligence gathering capability that would locate actual terrorist dangers to the security of then people of the United States in addition to the problem of egregious deficit spending.

Altruism doesn't require payment-that's why its altruism. Those fighting for their own interests (themselves, profit motive, family, global powers of concentrated wealth, NPR etc) should be paid moderately in a Democratic society. Their pay should be consistent with the best interests of the society. I met a medal of honor winner from EL Campo Texas that was a Green Beret that didn't get paid a lot ('Sgt. Benevidez had a glorious day'). He returned his medal to the Congress because of the way they treat the poor. The late Sgt. Benevidez was a humble auto mechanic-small business auto garage owner.

One cannot purchase freedom from hostile foreign or domestic powers without in effect paying tribute to the victors. A people that requires military substitutes for themselves is one in decline. In the Spanish American war there were far too many volunteers to accept into the Army. In the Vietnam war the Army volunteers that enlisted inn the 1950s fought very well until discharge about 1966 and at low cost. The draft Army didn't do too badly either considering and they weren't paid much either. Before the Bush administration a private e-1 might get just a few hundred dollars a month-and that's an acceptable cost for the nation to shoulder on a longer-term basis.

A permanent high cost military where a 'combat' soldier e-1 on some sort of foreign occupation is paid about 24,000 annually isn't reasonably sustainable. It creates a culture of paying off a mercenary militia that is economically devastating.

My father was a four year world war two veteran that wasn't paid much like the other 20 million Americans that served in uniform from a national population of what-about 140 million? Military training before the end of the cold war in December 1990 when President Gorbachev withdrew 250,000 troops from East Germany during the Reagan years had pay still quite low. Reagan developed a potential military power rather than exploiting that power in protracted-ill-thought out and ineffective military contests of less than total war. That is still not a bad idea. One should put a firewall between special forces (S.F. BOP) rapid response units and escalation by the conventional military by separating the S.F. BOP into its own force. The conventional special forces such as the Seals and Rangers would remain as they are.

The planetary anti-terrorism war so far as the United States goes should be met by the intelligence community and specialized rather than conventional forces.

Congressional Vertigo at the Fiscal Cliff

Because it's there the U.S. government hasn't so far found a way to ford the fiscal cliff regardless of presentation as a vertical or horizontal challenge. A cliff viewed from below is a wall to climb while viewed from above it's the mouse in the elephant's tent. When the nation was on the way up it overcome challenges, and while a decadent establishment is on the top (establishments implicitly become supremist) it is paralyzed with fear of budget cutting vertigo.

The military cost in a personnel pay bloated era is a good example. It could easily use a 25% budget reduction and become more efficient. Since L.B.J. and Brown and Root developed a cozy relationship Texas and military contractors have profited from protracted, expensive foreign wars. In times past though the soldiers weren't paid much unlike today.

The Department of Defense should not deploy the Army or Marines to bizarre locales with dubious national interests. They should be reduced in size and train to fight one large conventional war against China in a decade or two, as they are the realistically single substantial possible general war foe. The United States cannot afford to splurge on a bloated military budget now when it isn't necessary and be broke and incapable of fighting in the future when it may be necessary.

Money diverted from development of the U.S. economy and scientific research to pay for an overpaid military and legions of military contractors weakens the United States in its global economic competition and status. Since so many of the establishment (implicitly supremist) have deemed the United States to be a declining economic power comparatively they seem unconcerned about wasting tax dollars on a presently badly deployed military instead of developing the U.S. economy toward a new era of global high efficiency, advanced tech ecospheric syntegrity with liberty and justice for all citizens.

The Marines should be reduced in size by 25%, as should the Army. The Air Force research budget should increase and the Navy should develop a next generation of ships able to survive the plethora of drone mach assault platforms below and above the surface. A new corps of special force fighters numbering 50,000 should be created as a rapid deployment force able to work anywhere globally needed very swiftly to relieve the oppressed such as they are until a U.N., African, Asian or other interim occupation force arrives for sedentary security.

The vertigo of the budget cutters at cutters seems to preclude the reorganization of anything so that it would increase efficiency. Soldiers can receive lower pay as they used to yet they deserve far better veterans health and hiring services after service. Obamacare should have expanded the V.A. hospital system and included all veterans as well as the poor of the nation for free, quality reliable service.

The poor have 50 state bureaucracies to go through for 'insurance' as they travel around the nation seeking work to deny they are have a domicile in Fargo, Houston or Anchorage where they might seasonally look for a job. Establishments are implicitly supremist and badly serve veterans not uncommonly after their active useful value date stamp term of service has expired.

Proportional tax incentives should be created to employers to hire those without a job for the greatest length of time. Keeping people working and off relief will be necessary in the new economic era ahead. Keeping soldier out of protracted unnecessary troop deployments such as Afghanistan and Iraq will reduce public medical costs for generations as well as public payments to military contractors for luxury deserts and foods in restaurants former palaces of dictators. A little good intelligence is a leavening needed in political leadership to use a military effectively. Quality C.I.A. field operatives are one method of learning of terrorist planners from madrassas to laboratories. Like the chess pieces on a board politicians have the choice to use knights to play a good game or for cracking nuts.

The chiaroscuro political landscape of the nation in a twilight era of alleged decline suffused with a thousand points of starlight and more receding to the beginning of light in the Universe presents the paradox of sweet and sour pork politics, unused rice dishes of invention and hopes for a new ecospheric renewal economic foundation with low entropy, conservation of endangered species, wild habitat and full employment without global warming.

Plainly the Congress is not up to the challenge of fording the fiscal cliff or of finding a way to overcome their own contentedness in material wealth and comfort, security and power. Legislating more of the same fiduciary input with clever legalistic tricks is the congressionally preferred method even if that way leads to more national comparative decline as if taking a stroll on moss covered boulders in rain and cold wind downhill was less difficult.

The uncompetitive broadcast media has saturated the nation with fantasy politics and fantasy economic reality. Chess at chess.com is competitive-the broadcast media is not. Like the Congress it is used to being a silly elite lecturing the public who are not peers of power in any way. That conditioning by the media is permitted by the congress that could reform it if they could reform anything positively and as during the Clinton era it just keeps getting dumber and dumber with concentrated wealth.

A nation or civilization on the rise finds new ways to overcome challenges that a contented society at the top does not. They may be concerned with standing tall and looking good while they crumble as social cookies baked by hostesses of the legendary past of which the recipe is lost. Tomorrow's economic leadership twits can bring a new message to the masses that a ford beyond the terrible cliff at the edge of the world has been found. Those visionaries work simply in faith to transcend the temporal challenges by ignoring them and hoping they go away, they work tirelessly to overcome the perennially emerging establishment of new supremacies in opposition to a healthy, recovering ecosphere, full employment and freedom of religion trusting that God will bring the end game on his own schedule. It is the role of the Congress to find ways to generate a balanced budget and full employment without public debt while the citizens wait on God and take care of the planet that is his footstool, as it were.

Hamas Attack on Israel & Egyptian President's Move Toward Authoritarianism Follows Obama Re-election

Such coincidences make me wonder a little about the under-the-surface motivations for the Muslim Brotherhood's season of organized power enhancement across the Middle East from Syria to Israel, Gaza and Egypt. I guess they might have believed that Mitt Romney would have taken a different stance on the issues than President Obama. N.P.R. reporters have called the Hamas missile attacks those of 'resistance fighters'. Romney might have closed down N.P.R. One can discern which way the cookies crumble even while they are standing tall.

http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.4465801/k.972/Timeline_Terror_Attacks_by_Hamas_Since_Israel8217s_Gaza_Withdrawal.htm

http://www.idfblog.com/facts-figures/rocket-attacks-toward-israel/

Hamas has increased its rocket range to reach most densely populated regions of Israel. With the open border between Gaza and Egypt since the Muslim Brotherhood took over the security situation has become more complex for Israel. Not only is Iran a potential nuclear threat-so is Hamas in then future with short hop suitcase nuclear package launched from Gaza to air burst at a thousand feet or so over Tel Aviv if Pakistan, Iran or Korea convey such a device clandestinely to the wicked ones.

One might argue that Israel can't look to the U.S.A. for much help since from some perspectives Republican and Democrat Parties are parties of death. The Democrat party support abortion and partial birth infanticide and the error of homosexual 'marriage' in disregard of biological realism while the Republican Party supports the death of all life on Earth through global warming and species extirpation in their blind quest for concentration of wealth. So both parties are under the authority a little, of Satan.

Yet Satan is inherent in original sin of us all and only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ might humanity be washed and freed from the ignorance of Washington D.C. political elites. Unfortunately there is not a priesthood of believers ecclesiastical structure preponderantly for Christians (and paradoxically the Muslims are closer to that) so most churches resemble a shadow of the commercial and feudal business model that serves commercial priesthoods and their families. That conflict of interest means the non-development of a Christian church that works for all equally well in America.

Israel is then in a tough spot today with a Muslim Brotherhood leader and President of Egypt Morsi taking steps toward theocracy a day or two ago. He is now called 'Pharaoh' by many.Pharaoh will be able to better supply the Gaza strip (the Obama administration must like that name a lot) and informally bring it into the Egyptian annexed status useful for generating a sustainable low level conflict of attrition against Israel

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/23/egypt-mohamed-morsi_n_2176978.html?utm_hp_ref=world

Recently I started reading Reston's book 'Defenders of the Faith' about a time in the 16th century when Suleyman the Magnificent and Charles V eyed down one another over the future of Europe. One wonder today if the future of environmentalism and of morality too may not be wrapped up in an equally significant struggle for the Israelites to survive against overwhelming demographics (I think they can). The lawyer President Obama seems to approach political leadership in a reactive lawful way rather than materially inventive son the quantitative easing of macro-social economic and social issues isn't likely to develop through innovation.

It isn't easy to find an inventor President obviously, one could write a book on Reagan & Roosevelt and why they were successful macro-social changers of the way things were and probably all it would accomplish would be to create even more support for dogmatic followers of the way it was already done. One must be cautious about using the idea of change though, for the present Democrat party that seems to mean to make everything as queer as possible and little else. The lawyerly way of following the decadent upper class concerned with getting more wealth on earth concentrated and flooding the U.S.A. with cheap labor that won't vote for them in thanks for letting them in to the U.S.A. to keep wages done for poor citizens isn't going to invent new political reforms of material evolution.

I wish I could find something to be optimistic about in this post. I guess it is that God is good-so that goodness exists even while people are stupid as sin politically speaking.

LUX Dark Matter Detector in S. Dakota Gold Mine May Open February 2013

A new detector of dark matter built deep in a South Dakota Gold mine may go active in February of 2013 since it's construction is done. No one knows what dark matter is though-it could be brown dwarf stars and planets with heavy elements made from baryonic matter and if so those probably won't show up.

http://phys.org/news/2012-11-dark-detector-nearing-sd.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/dark-matter-insights.html

The Large Underground Xenon experiment (LUX) may show the scintillation of incoming gamma rays in liquid xenon gas surrounded by a water shield. The tank in the Gold mine then would show neutrons and weakly interacting massive particles (W.I.M.P.S.) as a secondary product  if WIMPS exist and are the strong bulk of mass.

http://lux.brown.edu/experiment.html

 A number of specially engineered particle detectors have been used for neutrino observatories. neutrinos are difficult to detect because they are nearly without mass and pass right through the Earth and people living on it only rarely colliding with other subatomic particles. The Icecube Neutrino Observatory is located a mile below the surface of Antarctica.


image credit: Danielle Veevea national Science Foundation & Jamie Yang N.S.F.


http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy/


image credit: NASA/STSci/Ann Feild 

The mass of the Universe that is visible is believed to account for just 5% the stuff of the Universe with missing 'dark' matter being another 25% and dark energy being the remainder at 70%. Matter and energy are convertible one recalls as Einstein's formula E=MC2 shows.
It is possible that dark matter in such quantity may not exist, and instead, quantum probability entanglements may 'warp' space conformably to criteria of General Relativity.

Unemployment Increases Risk of Heart Attack-Dopers Lght Up in Colorado and Washington

The BBC ran a story reporting that for people in the 50s and 60s unemployment, redundancy and stress increase heart attack risk 25% and up. That isn't a very controversial observation tough-reasonable people are aware of the link between poverty and health insult.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20391529

Perhaps that's a reason why voters in Washington and Colorado amongst other states voted to legalize marijuana -to reduce stress without the physical consequences of alcohol. One can imagine that with raving radio broadcasting lunatic empiricism these days as if even economics and environment were existential phenomenalities one should ignore the option of the electorate to commute to work smoking reefer and arriving in a cloud of blue smoke would cut down on road rage even if they still want a Thomson sub machine gun between the bucket seats just in case.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/colorado-washington-states-legalize-recreational-marijuana/story?id=17652774#.UKvnc2fAu1e

If the broadcast spectrum were reallocated from control by corrupt, prosperous elites that are globalists and government indoctrinating the body politic to a non-democratic form of realpolitik the electorate could have their own podcast-rebroadcast locally opportunities to decide their own political organization and interests letting thousands of political philosophical opinions bloom locally as it should.

That's a better way to go then for the citizenry to just inhale their own soma and to be dopers acquiescent in the idiot control of elites.