US Army Retired

US Army Retired

Monday, August 6, 2018

News and Interesting Stuff for August 6, 2018

2019 National Defense Authorization
Sent to the president for his signature 1 Aug. If you want to read all 700+ pages, it can be downloaded as a PDF @ https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr5515/text
There’s some really interesting stuff in the summary.
2.6% pay raise for the troops
The proposal ensures no military medical treatment facility will be closed or downgraded until all facilities are transitioned to the Defense Health Agency, and directs the Department of Defense to improve the process for reporting crimes to the FBI database, require DoD schools to improve tracking of juvenile misconduct, and refine sexual assault prevention and response to better assist victims.
Increased training
Aviation readiness
Repairing equipment
Readiness at sea
Building a modern force
Airborne Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Rebuilding Infrastructure
[this is a great one!] Reforming Bureaucracy - The bill creates a new DOD Chief Management Officer charged with finding efficiencies and reducing by 25% the budget of certain Department-wide activities including logistics, human resources, services contracting, and real property management by 2021.
And much more.

Key U.S. election matchups at stake in final big nominating contests
There are hundreds of articles on the net with this same theme and I’m not going to give this a plus over the others. It just appears to have an unbiased viewpoint.
Vital battleground states such as Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida highlight this month’s primaries. The final five state primaries are in early September, clearing the way for a general election campaign that has become a referendum on Republican President Donald Trump’s chaotic first 19 months in office.
And we all know this:
Democrats need to pick up 23 seats in the House of Representatives and two seats in the Senate to claim majorities in each chamber of Congress and put a brake on Trump’s agenda. All 435 House seats and 35 of 100 Senate seats are up for grabs on Nov. 6, along with 36 of the 50 gubernatorial offices.
So, here’s the gist of things:
Arizona’s Joe Arpaio may split the vote with Kelli Ward letting the Dim Martha McSally win. Dim Krysten Sinema to replace RINO Jeff Flake.
Wisconsin has a former Marine and Democrat battling as a Repub.
Michigan is the most troubling with a Muslim running for governor. He’s calling for a state-level, single-payer healthcare system.
The article doesn’t state so but it all hinges on voter turnout. While Mochelle Obama and her buddies are signing up new Dims in droves, they lack $$$ and it will be interesting to see if they actually turn up to vote.
Michigan: Candidate for Governor Has Substantial Connections to The Muslim Brotherhood @ https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/abdul-elsayed-muslim-brotherhood/
South African News the Leftists Will Disavow
I don’t understand how they can continually deny the utter racism of the South African government and the majority of its people.
And of course parliament sources denied the tweet was official. However, they cannot deny this:
139 S Africa Farms May Be Taken From White Owners Without Compensation @ https://sputniknews.com/africa/201808051066972867-south-africa-white-farmers-land-seizure/
South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has targeted 139 farms that they plan to expropriate without compensation in the coming weeks, in line with section 25 of the country's Constitution, according to the website News 24.
And those farms are probably what keep the majority from starving.

America’s Often-Neglected Armed Service Celebrates Its 103rd Birthday
I have no idea why this says 103 years. It’s ancestry actually dates back to Alexander Hamilton in 1790 when he established the Revenue Marine.
The Coast Guard that exists today was officially created in 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service was combined with the Life-Saving Service to create a flexible force with a broad range of responsibilities and capabilities.
The Life Saving Services was formed in 1848. So technically, Coasties have been around for more than 200 years.;
The American public owes this service a debt of gratitude for all of the ways it keeps us safe, and it deserves the full support of those in Congress to ensure it has what it needs to complete its vital missions.

Are There Really More Jobs Open Than Unemployed People?
Verdict” True
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on job openings and labor turnover said that there were 6.6 million open jobs in May, the most recent month for which that data is available. The bureau’s monthly jobs report found that there were 6.1 million unemployed people the same month.
And there are a whole lot of people who are not qualified, for a variety of reasons, to fill those jobs.
Construction
Farmers
Truck Drivers
911 Dispatchers
Trump: ‘There Has Never Been a Better Time to Learn a Trade, Hone a Skill, and Pursue Your Dreams’ @ https://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/08/04/trump-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-learn-a-trade-hone-a-skill-and-pursue-your-dreams/

'We really are their last resort':
A look behind the scenes at the White House VA hotline
Here in a small West Virginia town, 74 miles from the White House, a Donald Trump campaign promise is being fulfilled. He told the country's 20 million veterans that if they had an issue with the Department of Veterans Affairs, there would be a number they could call 24 hours a day to talk to a real person.
I don’t quite know how to react after reading this article and the one linked to. It’s supposed to be the White House VA Hotline but it seems to be quite distant, behind another layer of bureaucracy. Over 100,000 calls since June 2017. Here’s the claim of what it does:
A VA spokesman said 21 full-time employees are responsible for the hotline's cases. Since Oct. 15, when the hotline became 24 hours a day, 89 percent of the cases marked for further action have been resolved, the spokesman said.
If that’s the truth, it would appear to be worth the millions spent to keep it going. I just wonder if the unresolved cases actually go to the president.

EPA: Maybe adding ethanol to gasoline wasn’t smart after all!
It takes 4 years for them to come up with this? How much damage has occurred in the meantime?
A hot, new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that requiring ethanol made from corn and soybeans to be added to gasoline in the name of “environmental protection” is doing more harm than good.
The report, Biofuels and the Environment: The Second Triennial Report to Congress, is four years overdue and contains many findings that should be troubling to those of us interested in real environmental protection.  Here are some of the analysis:
  • The substantially increased acreage used for crop production has impacted local environments (e.g., loss of natural habitat for wildlife).
  • Ethanol from corn grain has higher emissions of harmful pollutants than ethanol from other feedstocks.  These emissions include s nitrogen oxides (NOx gases), which can ultimately form ground-level ozone that contributes to smog).
  • Fertilizer-infused runoff water from the new farms has contributed to harmful algal blooms (e.g., as in the case of Lake Erie).
These issues are on top of all the other troubles associated with ethanol-infused fuel, as described by John Stossel in a 2016 report:
The report highlights one of the challenges in relying on the government to solve all problems at all times: The bureaucracy put in place to do so is disinclined to leave once the issues are resolved. For example, the Clean Air Act of 1970 been successful in substantially reducing air pollution, as noted in another just-published EPA report:
…[B]etween 1970 and 2017, the combined emissions of six key pollutants dropped by 73 percent, while the U.S. economy grew more than three times. A closer look at more recent progress shows that between 1990 and 2017, average concentrations of harmful air pollutants decreased significantly across our nation:
  • Sulfur dioxide (1-hour) ↓ 88 percent
  • Lead (3-month average) ↓80 percent
  • Carbon monoxide (8-hour) ↓ 77 percent
  • Nitrogen dioxide (annual) ↓ 56 percent
  • Fine Particulate Matter (24-hour) ↓ 40 percent
  • Coarse Particulate Matter (24-hour) ↓ 34 percent and
  • Ground-level ozone (8-hour) ↓ 22 percent
Clearly, there is a need for environmental protection regulations. However, there must be a balance so that monies and resources are not being diverted to address non-existent problems in ways that create real ones.





Posted by Dale Day at 9:35 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)