The Iran deal is and always was a business deal

With Iran it’s strictly business

Cal Thomas, you’re dead on so far. Iran is a capitalist’ dream. It’s the blueprint of the corporate-military-industrial-government (CMIG) complex. All intertwined, all co-dependent. Since Iran has already secured the ability to deploy a nuclear weapon in short order, making a deal with Obama was a no-brainer. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain. So Cal starts out on point.

Rouhani’s state visit, the first by an Iranian president in nearly 20 years, follows the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran, the world’s leading supporter of terrorism. Corporate giants and politicians are salivating at the prospect of doing business with a regime led by a man who has referred to Israel as “an old wound” that “should be removed.”

The $150 billion gift from Obama is just the tip of the iceberg. Iran has $700 billion in mineral wealth, not oil, just waiting to be mined and sold in global markets. But then Cal goes astray.

There is plenty of money to be made in deals with the devil, but at what cost? In the 1930s when European and American businesses traded with the Nazis, the rationale seemed to be, “If we don’t sell to them, someone else will.” That amoral view, no doubt, contributed to the slaughter of an estimated 11 million people. Six million of these were Jews.

Re-visiting this hall of shame ought to at least give corporate and political bodies pause when dealing with a regime that seems perfectly willing to finish the job Hitler and his brownshirts started. Have they learned so little from history that they are willing to repeat it?

Why astray? Will the CMIG give pause due to moral or ethical reasons? That’s a serious question?

Will companies signing up to do business with Iran be shamed and perhaps forced by law at a future date to pay reparations to the families of those killed by Islamic terrorists funded by the Iranian regime?

Shamed? Has Cal Thomas learned so little from history that he is willing to believe that the CMIG has a new moral imperative to do the right thing and put American values and welfare above profit and power?

Truth be told, I suspect Cal Thomas knows quite well that the almighty buck triumphs. The global war over natural resources is only gaining strength over time. These are commodities that never lose value. That means fluctuations in price are not the only component in determining value. Controlling markets, land and property access, mineral rights, and the array of other factors that go into determining the true value of the finite riches earth has to offer mean it’s always going to be a war. The boys with the most toys win. Tis why we’ll make deals with the Devil right to the bitter end.

 

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Obama rewards Iran with a great interest rate on their blood money

The year – 1981. The United States cuts diplomatic ties with Iran. $400 million in Iranian assets are tied up. Fast forward to 2016. POTUS decides it’s in our best interest to give it back. With interest.

“For the United States, this settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by Iran,” Obama claimed. “So there was no benefit to the United States in dragging this out. With the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well.”

How much interest? $1.3 billion. Iran gets a check for $1.7 billion dollars. You may ask, what is the interest rate on that. A simple compound interest calculator tells us about 6% for $400 million to grow into $1.7 billion over 25 years. By the way, how much interest is your local bank paying you on your paltry savings account? I suspect it isn’t 6%. But according to Barry, it’s great because it’s less than they wanted.

Iran will be returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount Iran sought,” Obama said.

I wonder how many other State sponsors of terrorism get to dictate the terms of returning their blood money assets? You can be sure if Obama has his say, Iran won’t be the last.

 

Clinton makes Flint water crisis a partisan issue

Hillary Clinton was discussing the Flint water crisis during last night’s democrat debate. She took the opportunity to make it a left/right issue in calling out Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for his inaction in dealing with the lead issue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not here to defend Snyder’s actions or inaction but it was a bit different in her New York Senator days.

“We’ve had a city in the United States of America where the population which is poor in many ways, and majority African-American has been drinking and bathing in lead contaminated water and the governor of that state acted as though he didn’t really care,” she said. “He had requests for help that he basically stonewalled. I’ll tell you what, if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water, and being bathed in it there would’ve been action.”

She also pointed out her track record as a State Senator.

Clinton also discussed appearing on a television show on which “I said it was outrageous that the governor hadn’t acted and within tow hours he had.”

She appeared on the Rachel Maddow show on Jan. 14, on which Clinton said “”This is infuriating to me. I did a lot of work on trying to get rid of lead in residential housing in Upstate New York. I care deeply about this issue. We know it has effects on behavior and educational attainment.”

Let’s review. Clinton served as a State Senator of New York from 2001 – 2009. A $4 million HUD grant was awarded to Rochester, NY in 2008 for lead-free housing. Hmmm, 7 years after she took office. During that time period, New York had democrat Governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson. Currently, both State Senator’s in Michigan are democrats.

So today she lays the blame for Flint at the feet of a republican Governor. No mention of the democrat State Senators. No mention of the democrat Governor in New York with the Rochester lead crisis. You may note that even as recent as 2014, Monroe County, NY still had 139 children with lead poisoning. It begs the question, Sen. Clinton, why didn’t you do more and sooner during your 8 years in office? Why do you point the finger of blame in Flint at republicans when your democrat counterparts get a pass? No call for recall, no call to arrest any democrat.

Fact is, there is culpability all over the place including democrats and republicans. Turning lead poisoning of children into a political talking point is really disgusting. However, she is a Clinton and that’s what we’ve come to expect. I certainly hope Snyder gets what he deserves. But any call for justice from a Clinton is just the pot calling the kettle black.

 

Obama, not Clinton, gave the stand down order in Benghazi? Who knew!

BOMBSHELL: New Benghazi revelation implicates… Obama

Bombshell? Not really. Unless you’ve been buying into the mass media version of events. Implicates Obama? Not new. Unless you’ve been buying into the GOP version which has always been about taking down Hillary Clinton. The bombshell referenced is the new movie “13 Hours” and the stand down order given.

But something much worse than a stand down order was given.

There was military aid sent – but they were ordered to turn back. If true, this new evidence points to someone besides Hillary — yep, you guessed it, President Obama.

I have to say I’m not a fan of the movie. I should say the idea of the movie. Making a movie to honor the brave heroes who died in Benghazi sounds like a reasonable idea. Separating the politics does not. After all, the only reason 4 Americans ever had to fight and die in Benghazi was pure politics. CIA weapons trafficking isn’t unique nor new. Americans dying because our government conducts covert ops around the globe is old hat. Most will never have a movie made about them. It just smacks of poor taste. To leave out the rest of the story seems an injustice to the dead.

Then to release it mere weeks before Iowa and claim it’s not politically motivated? I see disappointment everywhere. The left will hate it. The CIA will pan it. Those who had hoped to see Clinton burn because of it will be let down. I will say this. If the families of the dead find some solace in a movie highlighting their loved ones bravery, then I certainly intend no ill will to them. I’m glad for them. But I’ll bet the biggest question they want answered is why it ever had to happen and this movie doesn’t go there.

It is refreshing to see someone finally shine a light on Obama’s involvement. Leave it to Sharyl Attkisson. However, she’ll never get to the Holy Grail. The fact that Obama gave the order to let our Ambassador die and serve as the fall guy for a CIA op that had become compromised. That and the involvement of members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in standard military-industrial complex fare assures us that the true Benghazi story simply can’t be allowed to ever see the light of day.

 

 

The Flint water treatment process in pictures

With the Flint water crisis making global news seemingly everyday, here is an inside look at at the Flint Water Treatment Plant. These are pictures from when Flint was utilizing the Flint River as its source from April 2014 through October 2015.

This is where it all starts. The raw water intake at the Flint River.

This building houses the pumps that draw water in from the river and then at the end of the process deliver it to the city.

The raw, untreated water then travels to the ozone building where ozone generators disinfect the water by injecting ozone gas into the water to chemically remove contaminants.

These are liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen tanks used in the ozonation process. Note the ice on the condensers even in the summer.

Now it’s off to the coagulation process and the start of Flint’s water woes. Ferric chloride is rapidly mixed in then travels to large settling basins where particles in the water accumulate together and slowly sink to the bottom where they are flushed to the sewer system. It is the ferric chloride that corrodes the pipes in the distribution system. It was causing rust to form on GM’s engine parts at its manufacturing plant that caused GM to drop Flint water and return to Detroit supplied water.

These are the storage tanks used to hold the ferric chloride. Each tank holds 2,000 gallons.

A water softening process is next as lime is added to the water via mixers called lime slakers which create a slurry. The slaker contains a shaker to remove grit.

These are high maintenance machines requiring constant cleaning. The lime starts as a powder and is mixed with water which generates heat quickly. Any steam that isn’t removed will cause the lime to cake as seen here. Machine jams and pipe clogging are common.

The lime slurry is pumped to a 120 ft. circular clarifier which mixes it in and another coagulation/flocculation process occurs to settle out contaminants. The mixing happens in the center, the water then flows outward and up through a blanket of sludge which traps the larger particles. the clarified water spills out over the top and it’s off to the filters.

There are a dozen filters that use a layer of anthracite coal on top of sand to trap particulates.

These filters had to have their media replaced with granulated activated carbon (GAC) due to excessive TTHM problems Flint had in the summer of 2014. TTHM’s, or total trihalomethanes, are byproducts of chlorine reacting with naturally occurring organics in the water. Why didn’t Flint use the GAC from the start? Money, of course, as that’s been the root of all the Flint water problems. Flint finally had to cough up nearly 2 million dollars to replace the media after the news and public outcry even though the GAC won’t be necessary once the new Lake Huron water source comes online in the summer of 2016.

After the filters, the last step is to chlorinate the water. These are one ton cylinders.

That’s it! It’s now off to the city and the aging distribution system where the lead and possibly the legionella bacteria problems began. Of course there is much more to the water treatment process than these few pictures showed. Here are some more miscellaneous examples.

The two million gallon water tank at the plant.

The old water plant #1 now abandoned and condemned.

Decaying Hamilton Dam located in downtown Flint.

The sludge lagoon located on Bray Rd. where the grit from the lime slakers is pumped to dry. It can then be scraped up and disposed of. This fish didn’t fare so well.

The new tie-in connection to the Karegnondi pipeline transporting Lake Huron water to the plant in late summer 2016.

The fluoride pumps used to add fluoride to the water supply. Note the etched glass behind the pumps. What do you suppose that fluoride does to our bodies since the fumes alone can etch glass?

The Flint Water Department. Maintaining quality water for its customers. No really. Says so right here.

 

 

Texas gets behind the Article V movement

Bravo, Gov. Abbott! Texas is pushing to lead the way to get the Article V Convention of States into the national limelight.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for Convention of States to take back states’ rights

If we are going to fight for, protect and hand on to the next generation, the freedom that [President] Reagan spoke of … then we have to take the lead to restore the rule of law in America

Along with the speech, Abbott released a nearly 70-page plan – part American civics lesson, part anti-Obama diatribe – detailing nine proposed constitutional amendments that he said would unravel the federal government’s decades-long power grab and restore authority over economic regulation and other matters to the states.

This is the same movement Mark Levin has been calling for.

By this point, you may be wondering just what a constitutional convention or Convention of the States is and why it would be a big deal. A convention is one of two ways that the U.S. Constitution can be amended, and it’s described in Article V. One way is that Congress can propose amendments approved by two-thirds of the members of both chambers. The other method allows two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a convention to propose amendments. Republicans backing the idea are confident that because they control state government in a majority of states, their ideas would prevail.

In both cases, the amendments become effective only if ratified by three-fourths of the states.

Skeptics abound of course. It won’t work. It will be compromised. However, the biggest skeptics are those who fear it will work. The big government machine  They have the most to lose.

If you think the establishment is worried about a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz or Rand Paul as POTUS, they would be petrified to see the Article V movement take hold.

Let’s hope that Gov. Abbott tips the scales just a bit more to making Article V mainstream.

we the people must raise hell or die!

Terrible Tedly has once again put it all in perspective. Either raise hell and reverse course or watch America wither and die.

In 2016, we the people must raise hell or die!

Exclusive: Ted Nugent cites myriad activities that made up his ‘phenomenal 2015’

But with the sheer number of horrors too long to list, perpetrated by an out of control government in 2015 still stinging deeply, I pray daily to God Almighty that more and more Americans wake up to our we the people duties to raise hell and demand accountability from our elected employees.