On February 20, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), released the findings that January 2014 experienced global temperatures 1.17°F warmer than the 20th century average, making it the fourth warmest January on record. NOAA data shows that the last time the planet experienced a month colder than the 20th century average was February 1985 -- 29 years ago.

ALERT: Following map includes the entire planet outside of America, global warming deniers may be upset:

Are American Organizations Agitating In Ukraine?

(Are Americans Being Misled By The Mass Media About The Protests?)

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/02/are-american-organizations-agitating

______________

On its face, this looks to be a righteous endeavor on the part of the rebels. However, the more I read about it, the less enthusiastic I am, especially when I see comments like this from think tanks like Cato:

"The changes that occurred after the Orange Revolution weren't simply deep enough. This time around, it appears that the disenchantment is so strong that there is a genuine opportunity to make a fresh start," said Dalibor Rohac, policy analyst with the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.

"For Ukrainians this is a chance to get on a different trajectory from the one the country has been on for the past 22 years and become eventually a part of prosperous, democratic Europe."

From April 2012 to March 2013, the Cato Institute sent $245,000 in grants to what they describe as Russia/Independent States on their most recent tax filing with the IRS. Other conservative libertarian groups like Freedomworks and even the for-profit Breitbart.com "news" organizations are expanding operations globally to influence elections in favor of conservatives.

The Ukrainian oligarchs are standing by their man, but perhaps they're not interested in competing with American oligarchs. Here are some details on who owns the Ukraine:

Ukraine’s oligarchs got rich during the privatization sales of former Soviet-owned industries and factories shortly after independence in 1991. The country’s main industries of mining, metals, chemical production, and energy distribution were snatched up by individuals, who then reaped millions in profits.

_______________


In December, Koch Industries acquired Molex for $7.2 billion. Molex is a global company which maintains business centers in Ukraine, Russia, Poland and other European countries. The acquisition does not necessarily suggest anything untoward, but the Molex acquisition was the first I found with operations in that country. Would there be a vested interest in exacerbating the underlying conflict in order to create enough chaos to dislodge the oligarchs?

I don't know. I do find it curious that countries with dangerous levels of unrest -- Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand -- are struggling under the burden of oligarchies, inequality and corruption, something the libertarian Kochs know a lot about.

Perhaps this statement from Koch Industries' press release about the Molex acquisition reveals more than they intended:

"We’re looking forward to applying our Market-Based Management philosophy at Molex to help identify and capture additional opportunities.”

These protesters need to be careful not to trade one set of oligarchs for another.

Tea Party Fav Matt Bevin Exposed As Hypocrite; A Fatal Blow?



http://www.kentucky.com/2014/02/17/3094476/political-paddock-is-this-the.html

________________

"Even Alison Lundergan Grimes' grandmother seems to think Matt Bevin is headed toward defeat at the hands of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell."

"After he finishes with that Tea Party feller, he will come after Alison with a vengeance," Elsie Case, Allison Grimes' grandmother, told a Northern Kentucky audience Monday.

Case joins a growing chorus.

The revelation last week that Bevin (McConnell's Tea Party, Koch Brothers primary opponent) signed a letter to investors praising the 2008 bank bailouts, combined with Bevin's tortured explanation and repeated condemnations of the bailout, make for a potentially fatal political blow. To McConnell's re-election team, it represented "the final piece of the puzzle.

Now, Team Mitch is armed with what it thinks is the right ammunition to achieve the ultimate goal: dividing Tea Party voters from Tea Party fundraising groups by exposing those groups as hypocritical for denouncing bailouts but backing Bevin."

"Four incumbents! But that's all it takes to make all the rest of them petrified with fear of the Koch Brothers and the Club for Growth."

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/02/heres-pitiful-micro-drama-behind-yesterdays-debt-ceiling-vote

Because reducing the number of Americans subject to the devastation of having no health insurance coverage was the prime directive of the ACA, remember?



http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/obamacare-enrollment-numbers-103451.html?hp=l1

"The poll, part of the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index, shows 16% of Americans were uninsured as of Feb. 10, the last day the survey of 19,000 people was conducted. The poll was begun on Jan. 2.

The last time the percentage of uninsured reached that level was in early 2009. Previous polls found the number of uninsured was close to that mark in early 2011, at 16.1%, and late 2012, at 16.3%. The slice of uninsured peaked at 18% in mid-2013, the pollsters said."

"The poll also found that the number of uninsured “invincibles,” or those aged 18-34, is declining. Uninsured consumers aged 18-25 is down to 23.3%, showing a steady decline since the ACA’s passage allowed them to remain on their parents’ plans. The percentage of those without coverage ages 26-34 was down to 25.7%, a level not seen since late 2010. Consumers in those age groups are needed to help pay for older, less healthy patients."

Stay warm, stay safe, and kudos to government officials for getting this right and shutting things down.

http://trafficland.com/city/ATL/index.html

as informative:

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php

Looks like Atlanta, and most of Georgia got spared (click to storm total loop), but NC and SC are getting walloped, not with freezing rain I hope.

across the pond during a global celebration of sport and culture and peace, throw them where they can make a difference:

‘Tolerant’ GOP’er Wants Gays Purged From The Republican Party - Because Satan!

"Mary Helen Sears, who currently serves as the vice-chair of the Michigan Republican Party‘s 1st District, posted a viciously homophobic rant on her county’s Republican website last April. In it she claimed that homosexuals prey on young children, and said that “Satan uses homosexuality to attack the living space of the Holy Spirit.” She went on to argue that the GOP “as a party should be purging the perversion and send them to a party with a much bigger tent.”

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/02/tolerant-gop-er-wants-gays-purged

And, I must add, these American Holy Rollers are welcome in the Republican Party, and only the Republican Party, when their only welcome should be as place mats at the door of Haydes.

American exceptionschism seems to now translate into one national TV station monopolizing all coverage, none of the coverage is live, live coverage is banned by some kind of national internet switch being thrown to OFF, they censor what they please, the announcers are uninformed, they do not even carry the opening ceremonies live!

Then you wonder why so many Americans are not into The Games, why some did not even know it started.....

In the meantime, while the monopoly TV station is not covering their monopolized event, the other TV stations are ginning up the fear angle at every opportunity, elevating a drunken man armed with a airplane peanut snack into an international terror alert, toothpaste into fear.....

Idiot America, enslaved by its exceptional Media Cartel.

P.S. CBC Canada coverage, French and English have different event coverage, always live first and the repeat on tape, is freaking AWESOME. Sochi is a beautiful city.


______________

Edit added: Apparently some of the coverage IS live, if you can find it on the national NBC channel and not NBC Sports, the cable channel, I would like to know.

section at the official Comments Page of the 30 day official comment period....seems like if someone wants to comment and be heard it would be good to register and comment directly to the decision makers at the State Department AND on blogs like DU:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOS-2014-0003-0001


Here are a couple of comments on the site, only 1060 so far:

"The extraction and processing of bitumen via the Keystone pipeline is a horrific misallocation of government and private resources. The expected emission increases from the development of this resource in the EIS for the state department is not accurate. It should also be expected that a significant portion of the petcoke developed in the refinement process will also be utilized either domestically or as a resource to be sold, at the cost of containment, to developing countries. This process then significantly raises the climate impact of this resource on future generations. At the very minimum, a tariff must be developed for this resource that implements a societal cost of carbon penalty on a per unit basis. This societal cost of carbon MUST include a negative discount rate of -.05% as the full utilization of this fuel resource will lead to a climate collapse and run-away warming within the next 40 years."

"No NO NO to the Keystone Pipeline. We need protected water supplies, NOT more oil to refine for export sale."

____________________

And this article is seriously worth reading from a fellow DU commentator I believe:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024465008

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21691-william-rivers-pitt-diary-of-a-dying-country