Arabian peninsula = Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Leb¬anon, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

MERS is the viral infection that's causing severe respiratory disease in lots of folks over there. There have been just a few cases in the US, starting in May. I'm wondering if military personel are coming back sick? Apparently pretty much all of the camels on the Arabian peninsula have this virus. We don't know if it causes chronic infections, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did, considering what we are learning about viral DNA mingled with our own.

Today on MoveOn they're soliciting for signatures on a petition to make Walmart pay its workers better. Moveon says it's an outrage that Wallyworld employees have to use public services for healthcare because can't afford better. What isn't mentioned is that they spent what they had on vehicles and fuel, guns, alcohol and cigarettes, mobile phones and flatscreens. And a roof over their head.

Minimum wage is law. No company can hire you over the table for anything less. Walmart can pay minimum wage and if people apply for and accept that job, they have made a deal with that company. If they don't like it, they can quit, get another job. If there isn't another job, they can start their own business, or be useful to a family business or take care of an aging elder. They can run for office, start a protest, try and change the minimum wage. There is no shame in doing these things. The shame is in doing nothing. I just don't know how far from nothing this petition is. Having a grievance is not the same as having a solution.

When the economy contracts, families get closer. The resources that we do have get shared with those we care about. The death rate went down in the Great Depression, perhaps for this reason.

I can't get on board with political efforts to increase "jobs" because what "jobs" means is working for large corporations which will strike the best deal they can get for everything including manpower. It's the game, and winning for the 1% means never having to worry about a job. The worker never wins. The worker is a cog in a machine that cares nothing about him and will replace him the moment he begins to crack. The safety net may ease his passage a bit, but it is easy to get caught in.

To be trapped in the safety net is to lose your self respect, to become depressed, to want to die. This may be why so many white American men commit suicide. Middle-aged white guys commit suicide more than anybody else. Perhaps the veterans are driving that statistic.

The Pentagon began tracking active duty military suicides in 2001. They begin rising in 2006, soared in 2009 then leveled. Military suicides hit a record high in 2012. Exceeded combat deaths in Afghanistan in 2012. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta calls it an epidemic. All branches are suffering.

The use of combat drones overseas divides Congress, but not in the usual partisan way.

Supporters of the “war on terror” in both parties tend to support the use of unmanned aircraft that often try to assassinate terrorism suspects. But libertarian Republicans have teamed up with civil liberties-backing Democrats to oppose the drones.

Now, the partisan trenches have been crossed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D – Ohio, and Rep. Ron Paul, R – Texas, in order to force the administration to release its legal justification.

The two mavericks who are leaving Congress at year’s end have introduced a resolution of inquiry — legislation that is used to compel specific documents from the administration, and must be considered by the committee of jurisdiction, or on the House floor, within 14 legislative days.

Since the legislation was introduced on November 28, it could come before the House this year, which means that the administration will be forced to turn over the legal justification it uses for the strikes, including any memos from the Office of Legal Counsel.

SOURCE
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=159916

According to the Oregonian yesterday, there are 15 million illegal Mexicans in the US today. The announcement today is that Obama will issue work permits to some 800,000 young illegals instead of deporting them. The older folks are still getting deported, but the young will be... assimilated? Perhaps. Once they have a work permit, and they can be in this country under the light of day, they may decide they want to stay and seek citizenship.

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Here's the actual text of the EO. It looks kind of totalitarian on its surface, and the conservative blogosphere is screaming stuff like Obama seizes control over all food, farms, livestock, farm equipment, fertilizer and food production across America!!! But the Hot Air blog breaks it down relative to the old law, and it appears that the changes are really quite minimal. In the name of National Defense Resources Preparedness an assortment of agencies are authorized to do whatever they need to take over the means of production and supply the military. Which they already were.

People will believe it if told enough times that black is white. Unfortunately. It appears that the majority of Americans have painfully weak powers of observation and critical reasoning. Such is the embarassment of our land. The Canadians absolutely adore Obama, so I hear, and they can't understand why "we" despise him. I guess those of us who find him to be masterful really need to make more noise. Obama rocks. And this from a person who did not vote for him.
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