OBOF TYMHM & MORE PART 42

WELCOME TO OPINIONS  BASED  ON FACTS (OBOF)

&

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)

YEAR THREE

 

Name	Published
OVERVIEW
OBOF & TYMHM PART 14	Dec  18, 2012
OBOF & TYMHM PART 15	Jan.  02, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 16	Jan.  08, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 16 EXTRA	Jan.  11, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 17	Jan.  15, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 18	Jan.  22, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 19	Jan.  29, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 20	Feb.  05, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 21	Feb.  14, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 22	Feb.  20, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 23	Feb.  27, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 23 SPECIAL	Mar.  06, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 24	Mar.  07, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 25	Mar.  12, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 25-EXTRA	Mar.  14, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 26	Mar.  19, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 27	Mar.  26, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 28	Apr.   02, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 29	Apr.   08, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 30	Apr.   17, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 31	Apr.   23, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 32	Apr.   30, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 33	May   07, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 34	May   18, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 35	May   21, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 36	May   30, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 37	June  05, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 38	June  11, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 39	June  18, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 40	June  25, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 41	July   02, 2013
OBOF & TYMHM PART 42	July   09, 2013

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE

1.  Bolivian Pres. plane denied air space.

2.  Missing LA dog found in Florida 3 yrs later.

3.  Groups & leader NM are appalled.  USDA approved

            application for horse slaughtering plant.

4.  May trade $45 billion, what it means and what to

            do about it.

         

 

BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT'S PLANE

DENIED AIR SPACE

 

By Floyd Bowman.

Publisher "Opinions Based On Facts."

Tuesday, July 09,2013.

 

 

This is with regard to the, so called, kidnapping of the Bolivian President, as he was returning to Bolivia from Russia.  After leaving Russia in his government plane and in the air, he was denied fly over air space of France, Italy, Spain, & Portugal.  This denial came without knowing how much fuel was on board or knowing where, at the time, they could go.  This is unprecedented, as heads of Government are always permitted to fly over any air space.

 

It turns out that these denials were a result of some report from somewhere, no one seems to know, that Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, was on the Bolivia plane.  The plane was finally permitted to land for fuel in Austria.  While there, the Austrian Government reported that Snowden was not on the plane, even though the Bolivian President denied access to his plane.

 

At any rate, soon after that France reversed their denial and apologized to the Bolivian Government.  Shortly after that, Italy and Spain reversed their denial, but Portugal had not for some time, but finally did.  You think that is the end of it?  Not hardly.  Bolivia is really "up in arms" about this and has called for a conference of the South American Countries for discussion of this unjustified act, which they refer to as putting the life of their President in jeopardy.  

 

Up to this point, I have given you the facts as I have learned about them.  Now my opinion based on those facts.  There is no doubt in my mind that the United States was behind this entire fiasco.  Folks, we have a group of leaders in our country, that are either doing some things they shouldn't be doing, or are just paranoid, particularly in the NSA (National Security Agency).  I can understand why they want to apprehend Mr. Snowden, but there has to be a limit.  Is it worth setting in motion a world wide upheaval that appears may leave the US coming out on the short end of the stick?  We don't need that. 

 

One other thought.  I failed to get the name of who said this, but it was someone in our government.  With regard to the military coup in Egypt, this person said, "We have to consider the will of the people."  Frankly, I think that is a hell of a statement when our government doesn't even listen to the will of the people in our own country.  If our government doesn't start listening to the will of our people, what we are seeing happening in Egypt, right now, may well happen right here in the next 10 to 20 years or sooner. 

 

Our people must wake up now and start to get this situation turned around, beginning in 2014.  We have to start campaigning right now and hard too.  Think about trying to chip in a few dollars once in a while.  It doesn't have to be much.  Even $5 or more will really help.  Just think about it.  If 1,000 people donate $5, what do you have?  Sure $5,000.  If you can try to think about $25 each month, that would be a tremendous help, but anything you can give, as often as you can give, will really help.  Of course, I am talking about donations to Democratic candidates.  WE SIMPLY HAVE TO GET THAT CONGRESS OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE REPUBLICANS AND PARTICULARLY THE TEA PARTY REPUBLICANS.

~~~

 

Missing LA Dog Turns Up in Florida—

3 Years Later.

 

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 5, 2013

 

 

Microchip,  pet  detective  reunite

  Bayou  with  owner

 

 

Newser) – Three years ago, a Los Angeles man lost his pit bull; he thinks an ex-roommate took the dog after she was informed she had to move out.  Now, Bayou the dog has reemerged—all the way across the country.  What happened in the meantime remains a mystery, but Bayou and Eric Hough are about to reunite, the Los Angeles Times reports.  Believed to be a stray, the dog was given to a Brevard County, Florida, shelter last month; fortunately, he'd been implanted with a microchip.

The chip gave his owner's name as Eric Hough, but the attached phone numbers didn't work, says a shelter staffer.  Given the vast distance between dog and owner, the shelter struggled to send the dog home.  That's when a "pet detective" entered the picture. "I love these impossible cases, so I spent a lot of time, a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls, trying to track down this person," says Ryan Gamache.  Indeed, he tried to get in touch with every Eric Hough in California, he says.  Finally, he found the right one on Facebook, and Bayou began a days-long trip home June 27.  He's due to arrive on Sunday.  "I can't lose him again," says Hough.

~~~

 

 

Groups, New Mexico Leaders Appalled by USDA’s Decision to Process Application for Horse Slaughter Plant

 

Animal Welfare Institute / News Report

Published: Saturday 29 June 2013

 

NOTE FROM FLOYD:

 

If you have any concern at all for animals, the following article   certainly is one you need to read in it's entirety.  I have been reading a number of articles relating to the treatment of animals and most have been about the good work of ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).  However, this article is the opposite.   After you read this you will want to do something about it, that is if you care at all about animal treatment.  Well you sure can do something.  Get on the horn and let you Senators and Representative know, you don't want any horse slaughtering in the United States.  Tell them you want them to vote for S-541 and HR 1094.

 

Above all, read this entire article.  It really brings to light the terrible treatment that is taking place with these beautiful and intelligent animals.   

~~

This surprising move to reopen a horse slaughter plant defies common sense, given Congress’s recent votes to eliminate funding for such inspections and the scandal in the European Union, where horsemeat was found to be mislabeled as beef in prepared food products.

 

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), and Animal Protection of New Mexico are dismayed over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent decision to approve an application for a horse slaughter facility at Valley Meat Company LLC in Roswell, N.M.  Their serious concern is based on the grounds that killing horses for human consumption is inhumane and creates a serious health risk to consumers.  Similar applications are pending for Rains Natural Meats in Gallatin, Mo., and Responsible Transportation LLC in Sigourney, Iowa.  They could be approved as early as Monday.

Valley Meat is slated to be the first facility in the U.S. to be green-lighted to slaughter horses for human consumption since 2007, when the few remaining plants closed after Congress voted to eliminate funding for horsemeat inspections.  This surprising move to reopen a horse slaughter plant defies common sense, given Congress’s recent votes to eliminate funding for such inspections and the scandal in the European Union, where horse meat was found to be mislabeled as beef in prepared food products. On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee voted to include language prohibiting the use of tax dollars for horse slaughter inspections in its Agriculture Appropriations bill, and on June 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted in favor of including the same language in its version of the Appropriations bill.  These bills are both expected to move for floor action in July, signaling revocation of the USDA’s inspection abilities in a matter of months.

“The writing is on the wall – Americans don’t want our horses slaughtered, here or in any other country.  Moving ahead with a government program to fund horse slaughter inspections is a cruel, reckless and fiscally irresponsible move,” said Nancy Perry, senior vice president of ASPCA Government Relations. “Recent polling shows that 70 percent of New Mexicans, along with the overwhelming majority of Americans, are opposed to the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption.  Given the recent firestorm of concern and outrage over horsemeat entering the food supply in Europe, this decision is shocking. The USDA is knowingly diverting tax dollars from programs that protect American consumers to programs that jeopardize them. It is time for Congress to take action to prevent American horses from suffering this terrible fate and stop horse slaughter in the U.S. once and for all.”

Horse slaughter is inherently cruel and often erroneously compared to humane euthanasia. The methods used to slaughter horses do not always result in quick, painless deaths, as horses are difficult to stun and may remain conscious during their butchering and dismemberment.  Whether slaughter occurs in the U.S. or abroad, these equines typically suffer abuse even before they arrive at the slaughterhouse, often transported for more than 24 hours at a time without food, water or rest, and in dangerously overcrowded trailers where the animals may be seriously injured or even killed in transit.  The majority of horses killed for human consumption are young, healthy animals that could go on to lead productive lives with loving owners.  Last year, more than 160,000 American horses were sent to a cruel death by a grisly foreign industry that produces unsafe food for consumers.

“I am baffled and greatly disappointed that the USDA has chosen to approve this application despite strong opposition from the state of New Mexico, the U.S. Congress and the American public,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI. “Given an earlier statement from USDA Secretary Vilsack opposing horse slaughter and calling for alternatives and recent votes in Congress against this practice we had hoped no plant would be allowed to open.  It just means we will have to redouble our efforts to pass the SAFE Act which will ban slaughter and ensure our horses are safe from this cruel and predatory industry.”

“New Mexicans reject the idea of a horse slaughter plant in our state,” said Lisa Jennings, executive director of Animal Protection of New Mexico.  “Horses are a valuable part of our heritage, and we have worked hard to develop a robust safety net for them, not condemn them to slaughter.”

“Despite the federal government’s decision to legalize horse slaughter for human consumption, I believe creating a horse slaughtering industry in New Mexico is wrong and I am strongly opposed,” said New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez.  “Like the overwhelming majority of Americans across the country, New Mexicans opposed the slaughter of horses for human consumption.  Not only is there not a domestic demand for horsemeat, the act of slaughter itself is considered inhumane by experts, given that a horse’s biology makes them difficult to stun, leaving them conscious during the slaughter process.”

“Granting an inspection of the proposed horse slaughtering facility does not resolve the issues of potential violation of New Mexico State requirements,” said New Mexico’s Attorney General, Gary K. King.  “Our office has expressed concern that under current practices it is unlikely that the plant can show that it meets the requirements of the New Mexico Food Act in their manufacture and delivery of horse meat for human consumption.  The plant will also likely be required to meet State environmental standards for their discharges.”

“As a veterinarian, natural resource manager, and someone who has had the great good fortune to grow up with and around horses, I am very concerned about their health and safety.  If a horse is hurt, terminally ill, or has no chance to find a loving home, then humane euthanasia is an important option,” said New Mexico State Land Commissioner Ray Powell, D.V.M.  “I am told the USDA is considering the proposal to open a horse slaughtering facility in our state.  Since we do not have enough unwanted horses in New Mexico to make this economically viable, it means that horses would be trucked in from across the nation.     We do not have the safeguards and oversight in place to ensure their humane handling, transport, and euthanasia.  New Mexico can do much better by these intelligent and gentle animals, and I strongly oppose this ill-conceived proposal.”

The decision to allow facilities to slaughter horses adds further to the burden on U.S. taxpayers at a time when spending cuts associated with the sequester could curtail food safety inspections for U.S. meat products.  Additionally, with the opening of a horse slaughter plant in the U.S., it will be more difficult to prevent the kind of comingling between horsemeat and beef products that has occurred in Europe.

In March, U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Reps. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., introduced the Safeguard American Foods Export (SAFE) Act (S. 541/ H.R. 1094), bipartisan legislation.  This legislation will prevent the introduction of horse slaughter operations in the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horsemeat.  The AWI, APNM and the ASPCA all, urge Congress to swiftly pass the SAFE Act to protect horses and consumers.

 

~~~

May Trade Deficit Drained $45 Billion

From Our Economy and Democracy

 

Dave Johnson

Campaign for America’s Future / Op-Ed

Published: Friday 5 July 2013

 

 

 

In democracies where people have a say, people say, they want good wages, worker safety, environmental protections and taxes that provide good schools and roads etc.

 

 

NOTE FROM FLOYD:

I want to call your attention back to Posting #40 and how it ties in with what this article is saying about trade.  The biggest trade deal of all time is being negotiated and nobody’s paying attention.  That is the lead into the present secret trade negotiations that are entitled "Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)," and "Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)."  Both of these secret trade agreements are detailed in posting 40.  After you read this article it will really make added sense for you to take a look again at Posting 40.

~~

The trade deficit is a measure of how much money and how many jobs we are transferring in or out of the country.  The May trade deficit was just reported, and it jumped sharply.  Other countries see themselves as countries and compete with us as a country while we refuse to respond as a country, so we are losing that competition.  As a result, we are losing trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, entire industries and our future.

May Trade Deficit

In May imports rose while exports dropped, a double-whammy that caused our trade deficit to jump more than 12%, from 40.1 billion in April to $45.0 billion. Imports went up 1.9 percent to $232.1 billion.  Exports dropped 0.3 percent to $187.1 billion.

Reuters notes ,that “imports of services, autos and auto parts, and food, feeds and beverages also hit record highs, as did total non-petroleum imports.”

The reason exports dropped was economic slowdown in other countries combined with one-way trade deals that allow countries to get away with selling more to us than they buy from us.  This benefits the 1% here by forcing wages down and rearranging the economy so more goes to … the 1%. But it eats the rest of the country alive and “hollows out” the middle class.

Trade Deals That Make Democracy A Competitive Disadvantage

 

The reason imports increased is because, the one-way trade deals make democracy a competitive disadvantage.  They turn democracy into a “cost.”

In democracies where people have a say, people  say, they want good wages, worker safety, environmental protections and taxes that provide good schools and roads etc.

In countries where people don’t have a say they are told they can’t have those things, which means “costs” are lower.

We should not allow American companies to move jobs and factories to countries with lower wages and lower levels of protection of human rights, worker safety and the environment. That just undermines our own wages, rights and protections.  We should not allow goods that are made without this level of wage, rights and environmental protections to be sold here for lower prices that undermine our companies.

 

When we do not protect ourselves and our democracy from those lower costs in non-democracies, this massive trade deficit and hollowing-out of our middle class is inevitably the result. This undermining of our democracy by the wealthy who benefit from this undermining is the inevitable result as well.

We should impose tariffs on goods from low-wage, low-protection countries so their goods do not undermine our standard of living.  Then use the proceeds to increase the international competitiveness of goods made here, including free education, government-funded research, even subsidies on exports as needed to ensure a balance of trade.  We can withdraw these tariffs and subsidies as other countries increase their own level of wages, rights, and protections.

China

It’s always important to look at the trade relationship with China, because that is the biggest hole in our trade budget.

Imports from China jumped 10.7 percent to $36.6 billion.  The monthly U.S. goods deficit with China climbed to $27.9 billion in May, up from $24.1 billion in April.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing released this chart illustrating how our trade deficit finances China’s military expansion:

How Do We Fix This?

1) First our country’s leadership has to recognize the seriousness of the trade deficit problem and what it does to our own wages, rights and protections.  Imagine what we could do with the hundreds of billions – trillions over time – that have left our economy as we borrow to purchase from others instead of trading with balance.

Well-funded Wall Street campaigns have succeeded in giving the impression that the budget deficit is a problem, while ignoring the real problem, which is this trade deficit.  The budget deficit is largely money we owe ourselves, which has been used to make our lives and economy better. But the trade deficit just drains money, jobs and our future.

2) Trade agreements that are not “trade” agreements should be renegotiated.  These one-sided, one-way deals have drained our economy because they encourage other countries to sell to use without buying from us, while not improving their own wages, rights and protections. Yes, these “trade” agreements enrich the 1% everywhere but this is at the expense of the rest of us, our economy and our ability to make a living in the future.  We need leadership that cares about the way these trade deals make democracy into a competitive disadvantage, destroying the middle class — but greatly enriching the 1%.

3) Following #1, the country’s leadership must recognize that other countries compete with us as a country.   Whether America’s political and business leadership think it is out-of-date to see the United States as a country or not, other countries do see themselves as countries and us as a competing country, and compete with us that way. We are in an economic struggle as a country and we are losing that struggle because we cling to an ideology (that conveniently benefits the funders of that ideology) that refuses to develop a unified national economic and manufacturing strategy as a country.

~~~

If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again next Tuesday, July 16, 2013.

 

God Bless You All

&

God Bless the United States of America

Floyd