There is no doubt StarLink saved precious Ukrainian lives when no other power in the world could. Musk gets a pass on his estimation of Twitter. Sometimes things balance out in this world and this is one time it should for Elon Musk.
May 11, 2022
ON MARCH 29, Ukrainian forces rolled into the shattered streets of Irpin, (click here) northwest of Kyiv, littered with blackened wreckage and dead bodies. The destruction had knocked all 24 of the city’s cell towers offline, preventing traumatized survivors from letting friends and relatives know they were safe. “Most of those base stations had significant destruction,” says Kostyantyn Naumenko, head of radio access network planning and development at cellular network Vodafone Ukraine. Just two days later, with help from Elon Musk, the city was back online.
Irpin was reconnected on March 31 after engineers from Vodafone Ukraine arrived with a circular white satellite antenna known by its manufacturer as Dishy McFlatface—a terminal for the Starlink satellite internet service offered by Musk’s SpaceX. The engineers mounted the receiver and its motorized base to a mobile base station on the edge of Irpin whose fiber-optic connection and power had been severed, and attached a generator. Within hours, the city was back online, and so were its remaining residents. “The first thing they are doing is calling relatives to say that they are safe and sound,” Naumenko says....
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
It is amazing the lies Republicans sign on for.
This report was filed before the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The truth is really easy to find. I didn't need FOX News to find it.
January 8, 2021
By Jim Garamone DOD News
Washington – Once the reality of the assault on the U.S. Capitol (click here) became apparent, National Guard troops responded appropriately and with alacrity, Department of Defense officials said in a phone briefing on Jan. 7.
"Yesterday was a horrible and shameful day here in the capital, and the nation at large," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on the call. "The District of Columbia asked the Army for help, and our National Guard responded."
McCarthy, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman and Kenneth P. Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, put the timeline of the National Guard response in perspective during the call.
District of Columbia officials knew of the planned protests and had requested some assistance when the "First Amendment demonstrations" were planned for Jan. 5 and 6, McCarthy said. Based on this request, officials called up 340 National Guardsmen to help. The Guardsmen were assigned mainly to traffic control, Metro crowd control, some logistics support and a 40-member quick reaction force to be based at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
"No other requests were made," the Army secretary said....
January 8, 2021
By Jim Garamone DOD News
Washington – Once the reality of the assault on the U.S. Capitol (click here) became apparent, National Guard troops responded appropriately and with alacrity, Department of Defense officials said in a phone briefing on Jan. 7.
"Yesterday was a horrible and shameful day here in the capital, and the nation at large," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on the call. "The District of Columbia asked the Army for help, and our National Guard responded."
McCarthy, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman and Kenneth P. Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, put the timeline of the National Guard response in perspective during the call.
District of Columbia officials knew of the planned protests and had requested some assistance when the "First Amendment demonstrations" were planned for Jan. 5 and 6, McCarthy said. Based on this request, officials called up 340 National Guardsmen to help. The Guardsmen were assigned mainly to traffic control, Metro crowd control, some logistics support and a 40-member quick reaction force to be based at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
"No other requests were made," the Army secretary said....
Trump's claims have been debunked. It will be refreshing to hear the reports of truth from the January 6th Committee.
December 16, 2021
By McKenzie Sadeghi
...Trump’s claim (click here) is one of many efforts by Republicans and supporters of the former president to shift blame and downplay the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that resulted in four deaths and led to more than 600 arrests....
This is what an official ballot drop box looks like in California.
June 7, 2022
For me when the economy goes astray, the answer is always develop the local economy wherever possible.
Local produce and meats reduce the overall cost of food. There is far less transportation to market needed and that is only the beginning. Locally produced foods, even refined foods, can add jobs to the economy, expanding the number of consumers and bringing down prices when demand goes up. That's right. In local economies, the demand for more items will bring down the prices simply because the brick and morter needed to produce the products does not increase the cost while high profits are realized.
As local producers receive larger profits due to increased consumer base and larger numbers of items sold, the price will ultimately remain stable or come down as it becomes more efficient with increased production.
What does it cost to purchase and raise one turkey with a non-GMO philosophy? A lot. The purchase of the bird is higher and the personal hours is the same as if there were hundred turkeys. As more turkeys are fed their feed cost drops due to larger purchase of items needed. A bag of corn for one turkey is far more expense than a truckload of corn for 100 turkeys.
So, when the economy seems worrisome look to local merchants and their suppliers to expand their consumer base and increase the opportunity to serve more people. Everyone profits. The producer, the feed supplier, the market where the turkeys are sold. What becomes more efficient is the cost of personnel and the brick and morter that supports the increased production, that includes a truck idling on diesel waiting for more deliveries. The more the truck delivers, the less the cost to own it.
Stop worrying, get busy!
This is our country!
This is our economy!
This is our democracy and not Vladimir Putin's obedient satellite!
Who would do this?
Example of highly immoral legislators.
June 7, 2022
..."Simple solution: (click here) Say a particular AR-15 costs $950. Then gun store owners simply need to sell a 'fun-sized' Snickers bar for $950. Then have the customer eat the candy at the store so they can't request a refund. And then sell the AR-15 for $1. Then charge the $10 excise tax," he tweeted on Monday....
The country is trying to find measures to curtail gun violence and the idea of a 1000 percent tax on them would be viable and is filibuster proof. So, Republicans learned of the effort and decided it would be easy for a loophole to exist for gun sellers.
Legislators that are to pass the 1000 percent tax on weapons of war needs to be sure the legislation has no loopholes and/or address them when they manifest.
This example of immorality only goes to show what caliber of legislator sits in Washington, DC that would even brag about methods to circumvent a law that will make it very difficult to purchase a weapon of war.
The question arises as to what would come of the taxes and can it easily be repealed?
The taxes when collected need to go into the budget that funds programs for police. If repelled it would cause a reduction in monies to law enforcement and there needs to be notice to the public before such repeal laws could be passed.
NO MORE SUNDOWNING! Public notice is the new sundown. It needs to be the type of notice that will allow for 2 years to make the rounds in the states and public comment taken both in physical testimony and/or written. Once the public comment has been collected only then can any legislation to roll back a vitally important tax be voted to rescind it.
Federal legislators need to make the bills they pass very difficult to reverse. Our country is taking on the appearance of a banana republic and it has to be stopped. This is ridiculous. The Affordable Care Act is a vitally important measure and has been hacked away at by the states and federal Republicans. It is time to make legislation that is passed very difficult to reverse.
Women's health needs is the same in all 50 states. This is nothing but diabolical by the Supreme Court.
The Robert's Court is dismantling the federal government.
Gov. Tony Evers (click here) announced Wednesday during a news conference in Milwaukee that he is calling the Legislature into a special session to repeal Wisconsin's 172-year-old criminal abortion ban.
If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Wisconsin's law could go immediately into effect banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy without exception for rape, incest or the health of the woman.
Wisconsin remains one of several states with existing criminal statutes enacted before Roe v. Wade became the law.
"Every single Wisconsinite should have the right to consult their family, their faith and their doctor to make a reproductive health care decision that is right for them. And every single Wisconsinite should be able to make that deeply personal decision without interference from politicians who don't know anything about their life circumstances, values, or responsibilities," Evers said. "We cannot allow our kids and grandkids to grow up in a world where they have fewer rights than we did growing up. That's not the future we’ve promised them. And it’s not the future they deserve."
Evers signed the executive order following the news conference.
The special session is to be held at noon June 22.
The Robert's Court has a systemic agenda and it is to dismantle the authority of the federal government.
...At times, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. (click here) has labored to maintain the Supreme Court’s legitimacy against the gale-force pressures of partisan acrimony and social division. When it comes to voting rights, he has pushed in the opposite direction, presiding over the court’s systematic dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, overriding Congress’s clear intentions and gravely injuring U.S. democracy....
Liars, the new trusted politician.
What does the preference for liars say about the electorate's ability to discern the truth and truth tellers? Why do voters prefer to be lied to rather than standing within a paradigm of the truth? Are candidates mired in the truth facing designer speeches taylored to the emotional preference of the voters. This is crazy, the basis of the USA Constitution is always the truth as demanded by the trial process. Why is the truth so mistrusted? People can't "get there" in their understanding of life? Undereducated? Is the lack of education and reading to current events too much of a drudgery?
The Working Poor may be burdened with the acceptance of liars because they receive their information about life on the run and fractured. It has to be addressed and in a way that is nonthreatening. Voters need empowerment to move forward with the truth.
I remember Bill Clinton was praised for explaining the events of the times. I think voters need to be given the truth through explanation and fact in a way that is empowering and not ridiculing. Ridiculing is a strong motivator these days and should be seen for what it is, a distraction from a person's strength of character. Ridiculing is a method that should itself be ridiculed.
It think there is a lot wrong in the motivations of voters.
May 27, 2022By Richard Wolfe
We are smack in the age of the normalization of lying. (click here)
Not of lies. Of lying.
Lying as a strategy, lying as an ethos. Lying because lying as a modus operandi can reap benefits, even if tainted. Benefits ranging from monetary gain to sexual gratification to power and influence.
Everyone tells lies but only some people are liars. The distinction is important.
The comedian Jon Lovitz used to have a schtick on "Saturday Night Live" wherein he played Tommy Flanagan aka The Pathological Liar. He’d tell an initial lie and then try to authenticate it by telling subsequent lies, each more absurd than the last. After each lie came out, he’d say out loud what his inner mind was thinking, e.g., “yeah, yeah. That’s it. That’s right.”....
This RETREAT from the truth is more toxic and is has become a standard method of maintaining support for Republicans. The Republicans have surrendered to lying. Given their ability to obstruct this is a dangerous paradigm that needs to be addressed. McConnell has been a liar for a long time, but, it also faciliated Trump even during his years in office.
Lying facilitated the problem with the global pandemic we face now in it's second year. There is a lot wrong.
...Enter California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a liar also but a dismally inept one. The kingdom of Flanagandom is denied him because he, McCarthy, often begins by telling the truth. He regains his feet, however, when the perils of his truth saying are realized and he then lies about what he’d said. And then he floats another lie. Repeat ad nauseum.
Impurity of process notwithstanding, Tommy would still beam with admiration....
Does every method of politics have to be unearthed again?
What does this do to the state of play of politics? Voters are voting ideology and not for the candidate? It further divides the people. How does an ideological voter reconcile their candidate appearing under other ideologies as a candidate?
June 7, 2022
By David Wildstein
A new political party (click here) aimed at attracting moderate voters will test New Jersey’s law banning fusion voting by filing nominating petitions today to create the Moderate Party with two-term Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) as their candidate in New Jersey’s 7th district.
The move would allow Malinowski’s name to appear twice on the general election ballot, giving moderate Republicans – the kind who used to vote for candidates like Christine Todd Whitman and Thomas H. Kean, Sr. – the chance to vote for him without having to do so in the Democratic column.
One of the organizers of the Moderate Party is Republican Richard A. Wolfe, a township committeeman in East Amwell and a former three-term mayor. Wolfe had contributed $4,500 to Tom Kean, Jr. for his 2020 run to unseat Malinowski.
“I felt compelled to help form the Moderate Party because I believe the majority of voters in this country are neither far right nor far left, but instead support positions that are at or close to the center — in other words, moderate positions,” Wolfe said. “These centrist voters feel that their party of choice, whether the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, no longer shares their views.”
Fusion voting – the ability for a candidate to run on multiple party lines and combine their vote totals – was legal in New Jersey until around 1920 when Democratic and Republican party leaders sought to limit the influence of independent candidates. It’s still legal in eight U.S. states, including New York....
Why not just remove the idea of political party all together? Funding would be diffuse with more candidates funded by their own monies to lead most voting.
June 7, 2022
By David Wildstein
A new political party (click here) aimed at attracting moderate voters will test New Jersey’s law banning fusion voting by filing nominating petitions today to create the Moderate Party with two-term Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) as their candidate in New Jersey’s 7th district.
The move would allow Malinowski’s name to appear twice on the general election ballot, giving moderate Republicans – the kind who used to vote for candidates like Christine Todd Whitman and Thomas H. Kean, Sr. – the chance to vote for him without having to do so in the Democratic column.
One of the organizers of the Moderate Party is Republican Richard A. Wolfe, a township committeeman in East Amwell and a former three-term mayor. Wolfe had contributed $4,500 to Tom Kean, Jr. for his 2020 run to unseat Malinowski.
“I felt compelled to help form the Moderate Party because I believe the majority of voters in this country are neither far right nor far left, but instead support positions that are at or close to the center — in other words, moderate positions,” Wolfe said. “These centrist voters feel that their party of choice, whether the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, no longer shares their views.”
Fusion voting – the ability for a candidate to run on multiple party lines and combine their vote totals – was legal in New Jersey until around 1920 when Democratic and Republican party leaders sought to limit the influence of independent candidates. It’s still legal in eight U.S. states, including New York....
A Rapper is not a criminal because he sings about it.
The list of federal crimes specified in RICO includes bribery, fraud, gambling offenses, money laundering, financial and economic crimes, obstructing justice or a criminal investigation, and murder for hire. At the state level, racketeering can include crimes such as murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, and drug crimes, as long as they align with the "generic definition of the state offense referenced at the time RICO was enacted."
By Evette Dionne
In early January,(click here) Atlanta-based rapper Gunna’s third studio album, “DS4Ever,” debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart after selling 150,000 copies in its first week. It was the seeming culmination of Gunna’s rap ascension: He has hit songs (“Pushin P,” the first single from “DS4Ever,” spawned a viral TikTok trend), an enviable label situation with rap superstar Young Thug, and a much-rumored but never confirmed relationship with pop star Chlöe. But it all came crashing down last week when Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis unveiled a sweeping 56-count indictment that accuses Gunna, Young Thug and 26 of their associates of using their music label, Young Slime Life, as a cover to participate in criminal activities....
These charges are not out of line with the national intelligence of The Bloods, as in Crits and Bloods. What do the Bloods have to do with any of this? “Young Slime Life” was formed in 2012 according to current facts and the is affiliated with the Boods.
By convicting the artists that sing within the culture the prosecutors hope to end the long term success of violence. Below is an assessment of the Bloods from the State of Virginia. These gangs are followed because they do indulge in crime.
The Bloods street gang (click here) has become one of the most violent and notorious criminal organizations, spreading its influence in the U.S. from coast to coast. A traditionally African American gang, Bloods membership today includes Caucasians, Hispanics, and Asians. Blood members are involved in a variety of criminal activities including murder, assault, robbery, and narcotics distribution. Nationally, gang membership in the Bloods has been estimated between 15,000 and 20,000 members.1 Blood sets range from highly organized and structured groups similar to the Italian Mafia to loosely organized cliques with little discipline and loyalty. The Bloods have grown in popularity over the years thanks in part to the proliferation of music, movies, and television shows glorifying the “gangsta” lifestyle as well as social networking sites and the vast amount of information on the gang available on the Internet. Current intelligence gathered by the Virginia Fusion Center and other law enforcement agencies indicates the Bloods are a significant criminal threat to the Commonwealth and will continue to grow in numbers and operational scope....
Interesstingly enough, there is also a case in New York one would not expect to see. A murder story author is indicted for the violent death of her husband. She is Caucasian, but, she is also a woman. But, her writing exposed her as a suspect when normally that would not pre-determine the murderer.
May 18, 2022By Mike Baker
Portland - While pondering the best methods for spousal murder, (click here) the romance novelist Nancy Brophy wrote that her career as an author — with steamy stories of romance and betrayal — left her thinking often about killings and how the police investigate them.
A spouse who commits mariticide will almost certainly become a prime suspect, she said in a 2011 blog post titled “How to Murder Your Husband.” The wife, she said, must “be organized, ruthless and very clever.”...
...Seven years later, Ms. Brophy’s husband, Daniel, was brutally murdered, shot twice inside the kitchen of a Portland, Ore., culinary institute where he was arriving for work on a sunny June morning. Now, prosecutors are trying to build a follow-the-string criminal case to prove that Ms. Brophy, 71, killed her husband with the same type of brutal cunning she once speculated would be necessary to evade conviction and reap the rewards — compiling gun components to avoid leaving a trace, attacking when no cameras or witnesses were present and moving to collect on a series of life insurance policies within days of her husband’s death....
The death of Mr. Brophy is not a RICO issue, but, it is an author facing her own fiction as proof of the murder.
Organized crime has always been one of those soft spots for law enforcement where it is often too difficult to prove. The idea of taking down the "real" gangsters at the top is difficult. Law enforcement across the country would love to stop these crimes and taking down the leadership is supposed to achieve it. Considering some of the history of an east coast USA crime family was first the dreamscape of two inmates at Ryker's Island, the idea of ending it is not likely.
The issue should not be the culture or the language or icons of RAP, but, if the monies earned from performances and/or sales of recordings supported crime or co-mingled with monies gotten from crime, then the relationship may be real, but, to assign a song or performer to a RICO statute without a solid link to crime then it is a slippery slope that needs scrutiny.
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