The United States Allegidly Failed To Predict Russian Invasion Into Crimea?

The United States Allegidly Failed To Predict Russian Invasion Into Crimea?

Looking at Politico application on my cell phone March 5, 2014, I was confused by reading that the United States did not expect that Putin would make a move into the Crimea.  Some reports state that the United States intelligence agencies did not pick up on this.  I am a bit confused because this should have been a real possibility if anyone took the time to look at a map and read some recent past history about the Crimea.  Putin is a pragmatic, self serving, ambitious oligarch.  The possibility that the Ukraine might attain freedom could spark a parallel outcome as the Arab spring and unravel Putins ambitions for a new Soviet Union where Putin plans to put all the former Soviet empire pieces back together.  Just imagine if the Ukrainian people were to be free of the oligarchs, have close ties to Europe and cut their Russian puppet strings.  Those factors would be unthinkable for a dictator like Putin.  The next factor is the Black Sea Naval base is at the southern end of the Ukraine.  Military logistic requirements may necessitate that a reliable causeway for men and materials be secured for the supply of that military base.  In short, Ukraine is a problem for Putin if he fails to fully control its politics and its people.  Any oligarch wants to maintain his fortune and power. Both go hand in hand.  Putin could not allow the resident oligarch, Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych , to fall because oligarchs typically have the same goals, to pillage the country for its wealth for as long as possible.  Both men worked well together because they shared the same values of suppressing freedoms, controlling media, controlling the sham government process and dictating the direction and policies of the nation and eliminate any opposition.  Another factor that few have picked up on is that Putin is a bully, a liar and seeks self aggrandizement and will do anything to attain the goals for making himself a Czar for an expanded Soviet Union. Invading the Crimea is so fitting for Putin as it seems to solve his immediate concerns which are quit logical and predictable.  It is up the rest of the world to teach this dictator that his apparent clever invasion will make for a worse situation for him and his country if he comes out looking foolish by his people.  We can only hope that the Russian people will make a move against Putin if this plays out well for the Ukraine people.

Ukraine vs Russia – Dictatorship vs Freedom

Ukraine vs Russia – Dictatorship vs Freedom

Russian situation:
The current ruler of Russia, Vladimir Putin runs a authoritarian regime quite similar to a dictatorship which the Russian people seem never to get out from under.  He has allegedly reaped approximately 75 billion making Russia a plutocracy.   Russia also has quite a number of plutocracy individuals.  The smarter one’s have figured out how to live with Putin as a self determined dictator (that they can barely control).  His administration has led to some surprising good economic, political and social changes.  Putin may have expansion motivations and is antagonistic toward NATO for this reason.  NATO’s intention is to thwart possible Russian military expansion into Europe states some of which were former Soviet “members”.  One of Putin’s possible intention is to allegedly restore the former Soviet Empire.  Put another way, he wants to expand the current Russia by getting back portions that were allowed to break away.  The fear among the rest of Europe is his intentions may be further into Europe.

Wikipedia: Putin allegedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that if Ukraine joined NATO Russia could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea.

Ukraine situation:
The “former” leader of the Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych, not only was close to Putin in political thinking but allegedly raping his county of wealth.  The point here is that Yanukovych has three attractive items in his resume that attract Putin.  He is the alleged current legal (temperately deposed) leader.  He professes to support Putin’s expansion policies.  He is immensely rich.  He allegedly stole 12 billion, by plundering the wealth of his nation.  This “former” leader of the Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, professed he was open to the proposed creation of a Eurasian Union thus falling in line with Putin’s goals.  The Ukraine would thus come under the Russian government control and meeting one of Putin’s dreams of a solidified and expanded Soviet empire.  But, the Ukraine people are fed up with corruption, unemployment and inflation. It seems that the people of western Ukraine have seen the results of unrestricted thieving plutocracy.  They want a better life and are willing to fight.

Crimea situation:
Crimea is an immensely important strategic military site for Russia.  It houses the Russian Black Sea Fleet.  This nearly complete island just south of the Ukraine has been in turmoil in that Russia and Ukraine have had a couple of crisis situations take place over how this near island is administered.  The latest crisis, February 2014 came about with Ukraine dictating that only Ukrainian be the state language, a most stupid move.  Problem is that most of the Crimea citizens, 58% are ethnic Russians.

Summary:
The Russian military needs Crimea under their control.  Putin needs Crimea and would love to also to have Ukraine.  Ukraine wants Crimea back but they do not have any power to make this happen  except to rely upon some far away countries to apply trade and financial pressure.  Europe and the United States will dance across the floor with political postures making themselves look like they really care.  Putin respects power factors more than anything else.  Trade restrictions and condemnations by foreign governments mean nothing to him until it hurts in some way.   Putin will get whatever he wants.  He holds a powerful position.

Fracking Contaminates Our Ground Water?

Fracking Contaminates Our Ground Water?

This blog piece attempts to examine whether any harm will take place from the oil well method of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, where huge amounts of water that is mixed with chemicals could be poisonous to our population now and into the future.  Our concern is this.  Is there any potential for the contamination of local community aquifer layer where ground water can be extracted?

It appears that fracking is currently taking place in a very significant way.  Problem is, there appears not to be any meaningful studies that can prove yes or no or how much  ground water contamination is there or might be in the future.  We have heard reports that methanol is escaping from compromised oil well casings and entering ground water supplies.

From: Health Impact Assessment of Shale Gas Extraction: Workshop Summary ( 2014 ) Page 67:

Dr. Swackhamer stressed that each of the steps of the water cycle in hydraulic fracturing constitutes a potential risk for water contamination and consequent impact on the environment. Not only with wells that are used for shale gas extraction, but in general all wells of similar construction present the most noticeable weaknesses in their physical structure. Most reports on contamination of aquifers pinpoint the cause of contamination as a leak of the well casing, pipes, or storage tanks. The integrity of the wells is critical in their operation and in the minimization of risk. Some of the wells are intended to be used several times, debilitating the structure and compromising operations. In terms of water use, the fluid is injected in the well at extremely high pressures under circumstances that are not completely known. Any engineering structure has a failure rate.

After the fluid has been injected and the fissures in the rock have been opened, there is not a clear indication of what happens to that water. There are estimates that the flowback or collected water is around 40 percent, but some locations have reported a 20 percent and even 80 percent flowback. Considering that a large percentage of the water remains in the ground, it is possible that it can migrate upward or continue to flow for long distances. The gases themselves can be pushed and potentially contaminate aquifers. Another consequence of not accounting for the total balance of injected water and flowback is the accumulation of chemicals in the ground. All the chemicals that are injected in the fluid could prove a more serious long-term contamination problem. Even though the injection is done several thousand feet “underground, the composition of the soil is being altered and there is a disruption in the ecosystem, with unknown consequences.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18376&page=67

It would appear that fracking is so new that science finds itself way behind measuring its long term health impacts upon our aquifers.  Because this practice is currently so wide spread and expanding across the United States, it has the potential to irreparably harm this nation’s water resource if we do not stop fracking or strictly limit it to certain geographical locations so as to study what the health risks, if any may be, and how this may play out for future generations of humane beings.  Another approach is to use no chemical fracking.  The point is to hold fast until science can catch up.  This is not to conclude, at this moment, that the practice is definitely harmful even though common sense seems to indicate that it is, but how about letting the scientists prove that it is safe?

Take Out From Buca di Beppo On Valentines Day 2014.

Take Out From Buca di Beppo On Valentines Day 2014.

Buca di Beppo Brea on Valentine’s Day take out
1609 East Imperial Highway
Brea, CA 92821

Not recommended for take out on Valentines Day.

Traffic:  I found traffic atrocious at about 5:15 on Valentine’s Day around this restaurant.  I used side streets to avoid traffic around Imperial Highway and Associated road.
Parking:  This shopping center had a lack of adequate parking near this restaurant.  I drove around and around trying to find a parking spot but could not.  I had to park illegally behind the restaurant parallel to where they dump their trash.
Service: The restaurant take out line was so long it reached the front door and it moved very, very, slowly.
Our pick up time was 5:30.  Our food was already prepared by the kitchen staff, bagged and the paid receipt was hung on the wall inside the take out closet just waiting for me to pick it up.  I did not reach the take out person until about 20 minutes after I arrived.
Our order was made using the Internet using Buca di Beppo web site so the items were preselected and paid for.  Quite a few people in the take out line did not pre-order but decided what to buy when they reached the take out booth.  The only menu was at this counter which was a big mistake.
A waitress came up to the people that were close to the take out window to see if they had pre-ordered or not.  I was able to get my food just before reaching the cashier but had to wait quite a long time to pay and get out of the place.  The person in front of me took his time deciding what to buy and the cashier typing in the order did so with a computer screen instead of a keyboard.  I could see her fingers slowly traversing the screen typing out the fellow’s order.
The food comes in very good aluminum containers.  You can not microwave using these containers so you must put the containers in an oven which requires more wait time or you can dish what you want on to a plate and then microwave.
We ordered a salad which came in a very large bowl and the salad dressing was adequate and in side containers.
The spaghetti marinara dish had very little tomato sauce, a telling deficiency.  My wife took some extra tomato sauce from the (wrong) chicken dish and poured it on to the spaghetti which helped a little.  I doused the dish with Parmesan cheese which helped.
The main meat dish should have been chicken Limone but we received chicken parmigiana instead.
They did get the desert correctly, large chocolate chip cannolis.

The pre-order process did ensure that our food was ready to be picked up but that is the only advantage.  I surmise that if we had table reservations, instead of take out, we could have had a much better and quicker meal.

The total bill for 4 people was $59.80.

Summary:  Take out for me is this.  You arrive, pay; they hand you your food and you leave in quick time.  Take out at this restaurant on Valentines Day for me was the opposite, a dreadful slow painful process.  I will never do this again.  I totally understand that the restaurant had no control over traffic and parking.  The lesson for me is to celebrate Valentines Day some other day when the automobiles and restaurant are more relaxed to perform better.  The restaurant made a large number of mistakes probably due to the speed at which they had to push out product and being swamped with customers all wanting attention.

  1. They should have had a person going down the take out line seeing if anyone had a pre-order.  That person could call using a FRS radio or go and get the completed order and holding a mobile credit card device complete the transaction.  They also could have had two people side by side dealing with take out.  Both those improvements would have sped up the line.  Even better yet, they should have directed all take out orders to a separate entrance next to the freeway.
  2. The kitchen staff could have shown more professionalism in their preparation and delivery.
  3. Almost every other take out establishment that I have used in the past, I find my food hot enough upon arriving home to sit down and eat right away but not with this meal.
Ford 2006 Escape – Lessons Learned (#6 in a series).

Ford 2006 Escape – Lessons Learned (#6 in a series).

  •  This Ford Escape experience seems directly related to why I love the Mac and despise Windows computers.  I work for a university and they have to hire a lot of computer support people because the Windows computers are like Ford and the Mac is like a Toyota.   I am a contract worker so I should love Windows computers because I can increase my billing hours.  I am always having to repair Windows but Mac issues are vastly insignificant in comparison.  My point is that you can buy cheap computers so your immediate up front cost is less.  The problem with this “logic” is it may cost much more if you tally all the time and money you spend over the life of the device.
  • If you have a daughter or son, take the time to make a well researched vehicle choice that  is Mac like, reliable and safe.
  • Really consider buying Japanese automobiles.  There are web sites and cell phone applications that will help you to easily decode the VIN numbers so you can be sure of where the vehicle came from.  Use the words “vin number decoder” when doing a Google search.
  • If you buy a Ford consider buying an extended warrantee.  If you buy a Ford also consider buying AAA Premium.  If you buy a Ford and live in a cold climate, store survival gear in the trunk.
  • I still think that the dealership should be an important component for choosing a vehicle.  The mistake I made was that we should have decided upon the vehicle first and then found a dealership that could best buy from and support our choice.  We did go back to McCoy Mills because we could not find fault with them and their front end service people were perfect.  And, have asked them to find us a Toyota RAV 4.