The change in administration leading a far different national security focus was obvious.

January 5, 2017
By Phillip Rucker

Amb. Woolsey (click here) previously served in the United States Government on five different occasions, where he held Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently (1993-95) as Director of Central Intelligence.

Former CIA director R. James Woolsey Jr., (click here) a veteran of four presidential administrations and one of the nation’s leading intelligence experts, resigned Thursday from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team because of growing tensions over Trump’s vision for intelligence agencies.

Woolsey’s resignation as a Trump senior adviser comes amid frustrations over the incoming administration’s national security plans and Trump’s public comments undermining the intelligence community.

“Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Advisor to President-Elect Trump or the Transition. He wishes the President-Elect and his Administration great success in their time in office,” Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for Woolsey, said in a statement.

Woolsey suggested in a pair of cable television interviews Thursday evening that he was only an informal adviser to Trump, with duties that included speaking to the journalists about Trump and his national security policies....

This year was a tipping point in Antarctica. Surface melting is noted where before glacier terminus was an indication of deterioration.

February 26, 2020
By Laura Tenenbaum

Boydell Glacier, (click here) Antarctica retreat in Landsat images from 2001 and 2017,  terminus in 2001 at red dots in 2017 at yellow dots. 

From February 5 through February 13, (click here) temperatures in Antarctica were about the same as in Los Angeles. Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsula reached 65 degrees, the hottest ever recorded. But this hasn’t been the only heatwave in Antarctica this summer. There were major warming events in both November 2019 and January 2020. And sea surface temperatures in the area were also higher than average.

Not surprisingly, these sustained high temperatures, which were significantly above freezing, caused rapid melting. During all three of these warm spells, widespread melting occurred on nearby glaciers. About 0.9 square miles, which equates to about 20 percent of snowpack on Eagle Island, melted during the February event. Satellite images also detected widespread surface melting nearby on Boydell Glacier.

Until the 21st century, this type of persistent high temperature was unusual in Antarctica, but it has become more common in recent years....

Every administration has a culture.

"Fraud" Magazine
March/April 2014

This week, (click here) after nine years of trying, Freeh and some friends were finally hired as the "go-to investigators" for the scandal-plagued NCAA.

During Louis Freeh’s eight years as the FBI’s director, (click here) he received hundreds of awards, plaques and honors. None of them adorned his office walls at FBI headquarters. However, he eventually papered one entire wall next to his desk with drawings and sketches by his six sons. 

“I chose that wall so I could look at them during phone calls or meetings when I needed to keep my focus on reality and what, at the end of any Washington, D.C., day, is really important,” he writes in his 2005 book, “My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror.”

“I promised myself when I became director that I wouldn’t be one of those D.C. types who would announce — usually when things were going south — that they were leaving government in order to spend more time with their family. I actually spent all the time I needed with them while director,” Freeh wrote.

When Freeh was FBI director, he sent a message to the bureau’s employees about the agency’s Core Values: 

• Rigorous obedience to the Constitution of the United States.
• Respect for the dignity of all those we protect.
• Compassion.
• Fairness.
• Uncompromising personal integrity and institutional integrity.
• Accountability by accepting responsibility for our actions and decisions and the consequences of our actions and decisions.

“We who enforce the law must not merely obey it,” he exhorted his people. “We have an obligation to set a moral example, which those whom we protect can follow.”

Freeh, by example, could have added a seventh core value: Keep all things in perspective. He has blended an impressive law enforcement career with raising a large family, which he’s worked to keep as his first priority....

Adademik Vernadsky Station NEVER belonged to Russia.

Until 1996 the Ukrainian Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky (click here) station belonged to the United Kingdom and was named Faraday station.

During the Graham Land Expedition (1934-1937) the British founded a scientific base on the Argentine Islands (Western Antarctica). As a permanent meteorological observatory, the base began to work on the Winter Island from 1947. In 1954 the station was moved to the Marina Point, Galindez Island.

From 1994 to February 1996, the process of transferring the station to Ukraine continued. This was British Government gesture of goodwill. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia declared itself to be its successor, and then, at the request of Ukraine to transfer within the framework of the distribution of assets of the former USSR one of the five operating at that time Antarctic stations gave a negative answer.

On November 21, 1994 “Vidrodzhennia” international fund allocated 12000 dollars for the project “Ukraine goes back to Antarctica”. On December 5, 1994 four Ukrainian experts – Yuri Oskret (station life support system), Dr. Gennady Milinevsky (scientific programs), Оleksandr Lushnivsky (communications service) and Volodymyr Georgiev (diesel stuff) have arrived to Faraday station and worked there till February 15, 1995....

February 28, 2020
By Lily Katzman

Earlier this month, (click here) Antarctica experienced record high temperatures, causing the southernmost continent’s ice caps to melt at an unprecedented rate. As a result, Eagle Island, a small island off Antarctica’s northwest tip, experienced peak melt; brown rock appeared from beneath the ice and several ponds of melt water accumulated at the center.

And with these unprecedented temperatures, the algae that normally thrive in freezing water and lie dormant across the continent’s snow and ice are now in full bloom and cover the Antarctic Peninsula with blood-red, flower-like spores.

On February 24, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine posted photos of the phenomenon to their Facebook page, showing ice around their Vernadsky Research Base—located on the Galindez Island off the coast of Antarctica’s northern Peninsula—covered in what researchers call “raspberry snow” or “watermelon snow”. This red-pigmented algae, also known as Chlamydomonas nivalis, has the potential to jumpstart a feedback loop of warming and melting, worrying scientists about the continued impact of climate change on this critical region....

It is a green algae regardless of it's color. It is like people, the color is different but the basic anatomy remains the same.

C. nivalis, contains a red pigment known as hematochrome, which sometimes imparts a red colour to melting snow.

...We studied temperature and light-dependence of photosynthesis, (click here) and plastid and extraplastid red pigment composition of red snow algae (Chlamydomonas nivalis) from snow patches in the high Alps of Austria. Both photosynthetic and respiratory data support the cryophilic adaptation of snow algal cells, but C. nivalis produced oxygen without any inhibition at temperatures up to 20°C and maintained this for 1 h, at irradiances up to 1800 µmol m−2s−1. Chlorophyll and primary carotenoid pigment composition was similar to that found in most other Chlorophyta....         

The disinformation campaign to bring down the Rule of Law started in Trump's first year.

December 3, 2017
by Jacqueline Thomsen

The head of FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) (click here) fired back at President Trump’s comments against the bureau on Sunday, saying any suggestion that agents aren’t dedicated to their jobs “is simply false.”

“Every day, FBI Special Agents put their lives on the line to protect the American public from national security and criminal threats. Agents perform these duties with unwavering integrity and professionalism and a focus on complying with the law and the Constitution,” FBIAA head Thomas O’Connor said in a statement.

”This is why the FBI continues to be the premier law enforcement agency in the world. FBI Agents are dedicated to their mission; suggesting otherwise is simply false.”

Trump tweeted earlier Sunday that the FBI’s reputation was in “tatters” after being lead by former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May.

“After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness,” Trump tweeted....

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Tampa - April 15 2015 - Live - Just because it is that good!

It's Sunday Afternoon

Has sexy changed much? 

Official Website for Taylor Swift (click here)

Joan Jett - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 (click here for Hall of Fame page - thank you)

Joan Jett - Bad Reputation ( uncensored ) (click here for appearance and interview on David Letterman)

"Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (click here fpr official website thank you.)

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
You're living in the past, it's a new generation
A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
Never said I wanted to improve my station
An' I'm only doin' good when I'm havin' fun
An' I don't have to please no one

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
I've never been afraid of any deviation
An' I don't really care if you think I'm strange
I ain't gonna change

An' I'm never gonna care 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me
Pedal, boys!

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
The world's in trouble, there's no communication
An' everyone can say what they wanna to say
It never gets better, anyway

So why should I care about a bad reputation anyway?
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me

I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
You're living in the past, it's a new generation
An' I only feel good when I got no pain
An' that's how I'm gonna stay

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me
Not me, not me

Unconstitutional. The USA has no official language.

February 25, 2020

The Trump administration (click here) on Monday finalized a rule that would limit access to Social Security disability benefits for non-English speakers.

“It is important that we have an up-to-date disability program,” Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul said.

“The workforce and work opportunities have changed, and outdated regulations need to be revised to reflect today’s world,” he added....

The USA has a proud heritage of multiculturalism. That means language plays a huge role in preserving that heritage. In the past there were deaths during illnesses such as the spread of HIV and the USA needed to change it's health information to communities to include at the very least Spanish. We are now faced with a new threat with it's first death from Covid-19. Now is not the time to rethink the USA policy on open and free speech which demands the intact status of multiculturalism and information in diversity of languages.

The First Amendment guarantees open and free speech, this policy is ludicrous and bigoted.

Unlike many other countries, (click here) the United States does not have an official national language policy. Educational language policy in the country is largely the result of widely held beliefs and values about immigrants and patriotism. Language policies, implicit or explicit, are used to influence and control social behavior, and the U.S. is no different. Nothing prohibits states from having one or official languages, and a majority of U.S. states have designed English their official language policies. New Mexico and the Common Wealth of Puerto Rico have designated both English and Spanish as co-official languages. The state of Hawaii also has two official languages, English and Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi).

Traditionally, the discourse on language policy in the U.S.has been framed as an either-or choice between English and other languages. In schools, the result was an imposition of English language and Anglo culture on minorities, which goes back to the deculturation of American Indians through the system of English-only boarding schools. During World War 1 and the early 1920s, imposition of English-only policies went along with persecution of German speakers.

For a brief period during the sixties and seventies languages other than English were accommodated in schools. However, since the nineties, the English-only movement has reversed most of those gains, and currently 28 states have English-only policies.

Whenever I see the number of states as 28, I automatically think there is an amendment to the USA Constitution in the works somewhere.

Educational access through English not only ignores the linguistic resources in many immigrant or indigenous communities, but also negatively affects educational equity, achievement, and a sense of identity. Foreign language teaching has generally been restricted to languages useful for defense and intelligence purposes, with foreign language programs delinked from heritage language resources in communities.

In the last decade, we have seen a growth in community schools teaching heritage languages, and in formal dual-language programs. Hopefully this trend will continue and opportunities for developing multilingual competence from an early age will be expanded.

...........................................................................

February 29, 2020

Gov. Jay Inslee (click here) released a statement today on the death of a Washington state individual from the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus. 

"In partnership with the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Department of Emergency Management and local and community health partners, we are strengthening our preparedness and response efforts. I am committed to keeping Washingtonians healthy, safe and informed."

February 29, 2020

Officials in Washington state (click here) say a person has died of COVID-19, the first such death in the United States.

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities after confirming three patients were infected by unknown means.

The patients — an older Northern California woman with chronic health conditions, a high school student in Everett, Washington and an employee at a Portland, Oregon-area school — hadn't recently traveled overseas or had any known close contact with a traveler or an infected person, authorities said....
.........................................................................

March 1, 2018

In the event of an awkward silence, (click here) it’s generally a good idea to have a stockpile of random trivia handy.

So next time you’re at a party and need a topic of conversation that makes you sound smart, whip out these fun facts about bilingual and multilingual U.S. presidents.

Here are 11 commanders-in-chief who could speak another language (and two honorable mentions).

John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren
Herbert Hoover
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Jimmy Carter
William Jefferson Clinton
George W. Bush
Baradk H. Obama

Assad will not give up Idlib and Russia will back him. This is also not a basis for global war, either. If I may?

The map to the left is from an article from 2018 describing the ongoing civil war in Syria. (click here) These are not new struggles, so much as reignited and the addition in recent times of Turkey is a real problem because Assad ultimately won't accept a Turkish presence. If one recalls, after Trump pulled USA troops from the region there was a Turkish incursion that rejected the Kurds as a partner to the region. Well, when Turkey basically declared an ethnic war against the Kurds, they in turn joined forces with Assad and other Shi'ites in the Shia Crescent. So, now the tensions between Turkey and Assad is manifesting as Assad moves to retake lost ground.

There is one other major problem Turkey is now facing, refugees seeking an opportunity to leave Turkey and Erodogan at the European border. (click here) From the picture it looks like the refugees do not deserve sympathy because they are primarily young men. The last time such a movement occurred Europe was not ready for it and the attacks in Paris were a direct result of extremists entering the country.

Refugees and migrants (click here) take an inflatable boat as they attempt to enter Greece from Turkey by crossing the Evros river on Saturday.

There are many sympathetic faces and stories, however, the militants manage to make themselves part of the masses.

28 February 2020

At least 33 Turkish soldiers (click here) have died in a Syrian government attack in opposition-held north-western Syria, in a major escalation of the conflict.

Turkey, which backs the opposition, says it hit 200 government targets in response, "neutralising" 309 soldiers.

Russia, Syria's key military ally, says Turkish troops were attacked in Idlib province by Syrian forces while operating alongside jihadist fighters.

The EU has warned the crisis could escalate further.

"There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted. "It is also causing unbearable humanitarian suffering and putting civilians in danger."...

Before the conflicts in Syria that have taken many lives and instilled an ongoing civil war the coastal region of Syria is HISTORICAL land for the Alawites. In recent years the Alawites migrated from that coastal area because of war that had begun there. If the Alawites are now in Idlib, Assad will protect them beyond any attempt by Turkey or others, including potentially NATO to stop him.

Additionally, the coastal region of Syria are ancestral lands. Idlib provides a region that could pose a threat to that coastal region. Assad will see any forces other than his own as a threat to the Alawites retaking and resettling that coastal region.

So, basically, this is more of the same ongoing war in Syria with one more player in Turkey. Obviously, NATO is not seeing Turkey's actions as their own so much as an attempt for more land possession by Turkey in an effort to remove Kurds from near Turkey's borders or end any claimes there is a Kurdistan in any way.

Trump vs the CDC

Community transmission is exactly what exists in China. China used flying drones to warn people to go back into their homes.

February 29, 2020
By Gerry Shih, James McAuley, Miriam Berger and Katie Mettler

More coronavirus infections (click here) were reported from South Korea to France to Qatar on Saturday after health officials in Washington state, Oregon and California on Friday reported a worrying development: new cases among people who have not traveled recently to countries hit hard by the outbreak or come into contact with anyone known to have the disease, which public health officials refer to as community transmission.

The four new cases Friday bring the total number of covid-19 cases detected through the U.S. public health system to 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington state announced late Friday that a high school student in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, tested positive for the deadly virus and was in home isolation in a suspected community transmission case. State health officials also said a woman in her 50s in King County tested positive after traveling to Daegu, South Korea, the site of a major coronavirus outbreak. She, too, is in home isolation....

How the heck did a high school kid get the darn stuff? There is nothing in Snohomish County. This lousy virus better not be on wind currents either, but, Washington State is east of South Korea and Japan.

It is possibly the King County resident that traveled to South Korea. King County is directly south of Snohomish County in Washington State, but, where did the transmission occur?

Washington County isn't even close to either Snohomish or King Counties.

February 17, 2020
By Hannah Yasharoff, Jayme Deerwater, and David Oliver

...One plane carrying American passengers (click here) touched down at Travis Air Force Base in northern California just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday local time. A second flight arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas around 2½ hours later, early Monday.

The California flight had 177 people on it, seven of whom tested positive for coronavirus, Walters said. An additional three people were isolated during the flight for fever. Upon arrival, 171 stayed in Travis while six traveled to Omaha....

The FDA is allowing other labs to carry out the complex testing for Covid-19 in anticipation of a widening exposure to the general public. It is officially called a public health emergency.

2/29/2020
By Sarah Owermohle

The Food and Drug Administration (click here) on Saturday morning laid out how academic labs can use in-house coronavirus tests in hopes of expanding the health care system’s ability to detect the virus.

The guidance would let certain labs develop FDA-authorized tests without relying on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement....

This is current as of yesterday, communities need to mobilize for cases of Covid-19. One thing is sure to result as more hospital labs use techniques to diagnosis the virus, there will be some false positives and false negatives. I think we have already seen false negatives with persons originally thought to be negative. That is due to viral load (click here for similar procedure for HIV) most probably. Where a person's immune system can inhibit the virus to grow there will be false negatives. Statistically, these errors will occur. Every person is different which leads to different outcomes. There is a lot no one knows about this virus, including any latent stage. A latent stage would indicate a "carrier" rather than a symptomatic person. I am quite confident the CDC and WHO are looking at everything.

This virus is a puzzle and isn't neatly fitting into any stereotypes of other coronavirus.

...This report summarizes (click here) the aggressive measures (2,3) that CDC, state and local health departments, multiple other federal agencies, and other partners are implementing to slow and try to contain transmission of COVID-19 in the United States. These measures require the identification of cases and contacts of persons with COVID-19 in the United States and the recommended assessment, monitoring, and care of travelers arriving from areas with substantial COVID-19 transmission. Although these measures might not prevent widespread transmission of the virus in the United States, they are being implemented to 

1) slow the spread of illness; 
2) provide time to better prepare state and local health departments, health care systems, businesses, educational organizations, and the general public in the event that widespread transmission occurs; and 
3) better characterize COVID-19 to guide public health recommendations and the development and deployment of medical countermeasures, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. U.S. public health authorities are monitoring the situation closely, and CDC is coordinating efforts with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global partners. Interim guidance is available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html. As more is learned about this novel virus and this outbreak, CDC will rapidly incorporate new knowledge into guidance for action by CDC, state and local health departments, health care providers, and communities.

Person-to-person spread of COVID-19 appears to occur mainly by respiratory transmission. How easily the virus is transmitted between persons is currently unclear. Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath (4). Based on the incubation period of illness for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses, as well as observational data from reports of travel-related COVID-19, CDC estimates that symptoms of COVID-19 occur within 2–14 days after exposure. Preliminary data suggest that older adults and persons with underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems might be at greater risk for severe illness from this virus (5)....

It is what it is.


Tomoyuki Sugano, (click here) starting pitcher of Yomiuri Giants, throws the first pitch during a behind-closed-doors opening game against the Tokyo Yaklut Swallows at Tokyo Dome baseball stadium in Tokyo on Feb. 29, 2020. 

If I were the Taliban chief I would be looking at those prisoners as a five to one ratio of return of troops. 5000 is a lot of troops. I hope the diplomacy holds up and in 14 months there is no further violence that will complicate the treaty between the USA, the Taliban and the Afghan government.

February 29, 2020
By David Welna

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad attends the Intra-Afghan Dialogue talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, in July.

The U.S. and the Taliban have struck a deal that paves the way for eventual peace in Afghanistan. U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and the head of the militant Islamist group, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, signed the potentially historic agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, where the two sides spent months hashing out its details.

Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. commits to withdrawing all of its military forces and supporting civilian personnel, as well as those of its allies, within 14 months. The drawdown process will begin with the U.S. reducing its troop levels to 8,600 in the first 135 days and pulling its forces from five bases.

The rest of its forces, according to the agreement, will leave "within the remaining nine and a half months."

The Afghan government also will release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a gesture of goodwill, in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security forces held by the Taliban....

The expanded Medicare program for the victims of the Flint Water Crisis is coming to an end. The program is still needed. Kindly write to your US House representatives and ask them to continue the Flint Medicaid Program until it is proven that it is no longer need.

Thank you.

Just another day in paradise compliments of Republican extremism.

February 27, 2020
By Adrianna Rodriguez and Gina Barton

The Journal Sentinel, (click here) citing a police source, said the shooter was armed with two handguns, including one with a silencer. The make and model of the weapons remained unknown Thursday.

Silencers or suppressors are legal in 42 states, including Wisconsin, but must be registered under the National Firearms Act. More than 29,000 are registered in the Badger State, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Milwaukee - The city of Milwaukee (click here) was in mourning a day after a brewery employee fatally shot five people at the city's Molson Coors campus before killing himself Wednesday in one of the worst mass shootings in Wisconsin history.

The alleged gunman was identified as Anthony N. Ferrill, 51, who had worked as an electrician for more than 20 years, according to a law enforcement source who spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and online employment records.

Mayor Tom Barrett called it the "saddest day" in the 165-year history of the iconic "Miller Valley," where a massive red Miller sign towers over a sprawling complex that includes one of the nation's largest breweries and packaging and distribution centers.

Hours before the rampage, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called on lawmakers to take up legislation aimed at keeping guns away from people who are dangerous.

In response, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican, made it clear that Wisconsin's gun laws would not change under a Republican-controlled Legislature....

Jesus Valle Jr., 33 of Milwaukee
Gennady Levshetz, 61, of Mequon
Trevor Wetselaar, 33, of Milwaukee
Dana Walk, 57, of Delafield
Dale Hudson, 50, of Waukesha

Moscow Mitch knows mass shootings are such a small number in the statistics there is just no way reason for legislation. Some lives are just expendable for the sake of the cronies. Nothing else really makes the news in the way mass shootings do, so that is further reason to let the issue disappear.

UC Davis Health (click here)

February 27, 2020
By Matthew Daly

Washington, DC - Frustrated Democrats (click here) again lambasted Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell Thursday as they marked a year of Senate inaction since the House passed landmark gun control legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged that Democrats have been here before — complaining about McConnell's “legislative graveyard" — but she said Democrats were energized to “accelerate a drumbeat” on calls for McConnell to allow a Senate vote on a House-passed bill to expand background checks for gun purchases.

McConnell's name came up repeatedly at a raucous House ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the House bill. Speaking a day after a gunman killed five people at a Milwaukee brewery, Pelosi said McConnell was giving new meaning to his self-described nickname as the “grim reaper” of Democratic legislation.

“It's very sad that the Grim Reaper has decided that more people will die because he is the Grim Reaper,'' Pelosi said. ”One hundred people a day die from gun violence. Not all of them could be saved by this legislation, but many could.''...

Ya gotta die of something. 2015 through 2019 saw a marked increase of gun violence deaths. It has yet to stop or even level off.

December 13, 2018
By Niall McCarthy

According to data (click here) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 40,000 people died in shootings across the United States in 2017, the highest number in 20 years. The data takes into account deaths classified as unintentional, suicide, homicide, undetermined and legal intervention/operations of war.

That trend was driven by a steady rise in suicides involving firearms The U.S. now has 12 deaths per 100,000 people due to guns compared to 0.2 per 100,000 people in Japan, 0.3 in the UK and 0.9 in Germany....

The "Stand Your Ground" laws which include the "Castle Doctrine" were first passed in 2005 in Florida. In the chart above, the number of Americans that died of gun violence began to rise in 2005. What is slightly more interesting is the FACT the Assault Weapons Ban was sun-downed by a Republican president in 2004.

I think that is really interesting. The Assault Weapons Ban is sun-downed by a Republican in 2004 and by 2005 ALEC was legislating loose gun laws in 2005. That took no time at all to increase the firearms sales, too. The graph below is from the AFT.

The bar graph (click here) depicts the number of NFA firearms processed from applications captured in the NFRTR by Fiscal Year from FY 2005 to FY 2018.  The number of NFA firearms the NFA Division processed were: 147,484 NFA firearms in FY 2005; 296,127 NFA firearms in FY 2006; 563,127 NFA firearms in FY 2007; 981,303 NFA firearms in FY 2008; 834,328 NFA firearms in FY 2009; 828,462 NFA firearms in FY 2010; 992,975 NFA firearms in FY 2011; 1,112,041 NFA firearms in FY 2012; 1,152,163 NFA firearms in FY 2013; 1,383,677 NFA firearms in FY 2014; 1,426,211 NFA Firearms in FY 2015; 2,538,397 NFA Firearms in FY 2016; 1,607,952 NFA Firearms in FY 2017; and 1,422,353 NFA Firearms in FY 2018. 

Ammoland has it broken down by type of gun sold. It all adds up to one thing, the number of guns sold was dependent on changing the gun laws in the USA as of 2004. 

July 3, 2019

GREENVILLE, SC, USA & HALIFAX, NS, CANADA -  Small Arms Analytics (click here) & Forecasting (SAAF) estimates June 2019 firearms sales at 973,500 units, a year-over-year increase of 3.8% from June 2018.

Likely single handgun sales (544,807) increased year-over-year by 4.0% and single long-gun sales (322,033) decreased year-over-year by 0.1%. All other likely firearms sales (106,660) increased year-over-year by 16.9%. This includes so-called “multiple” sales where the allocation between handguns and long-guns cannot be determined from the data record....

The Sandy Hook shootings occurred in 2012 (click here). There were 14 mass shootings in 2016, including the Pulse night club shooting. The gun industry goes into overtime after high profile killings of Americans through gun violence.

The moral role of the federal government is to end this level of danger in the American society. I think the Republicans have had 16 years to prove having more guns on the street reduces American deaths. They can't. The fact of the matter is the less guns are regulated, the more American deaths occur. That is a fact and there are enormous amount of data to prove it.

Republicans have lead the USA in many majorities and presidents since 2000 and the USA is not a better country for the obstructionist agenda of Moscow Mitch. Who does he think he is helping besides his own interests?

Why am I not surprised?

Donald Trump's middle name is COMPROMISED. He is compromised by Russia, his lousy attitude about Americans and his chronic and constant egotistic lies.

This is a COMPROMISE TO USA NATIONAL SECURITY!

USA national security is not guns and war only, it is the relationships we build with other countries that protect the people of this country. I am not at all surprised this news is coming from still yet another Whistleblower, either. 

Donald "Compromised" Trump should be letting people know all along the way that the country may be more susceptible to Covid-17 than originally thought. Did he come to the country so the people can prepare? No, he kept silent because he might actually have to take ownership of a wrongful process in preventing disease from reaching USA shores.

THE ONLY THING HE THINKS ABOUT IS POLITICS AND HOW HE NEEDS TO WIN THE NEXT ELECTION. NO ONE OR ANYTHING IS IMPORTANT OTHER THAN HIS OWN INTERESTS.

If that isn't enough of Trump's KOMPROMAT, Turkey (click here) had a surprise attack from Russia today. Syrian children are dying of the cold and what does Putin do, attacks the very people he should be helping. Since when has Turkey been a problem to Russia? The entire past year Erdogan (click here) has done nothing but kiss Putin's behind and without the assistance of Trump.

I want to know from the Erdogan are the S-400 missiles preventing the invasion of Russia?

The Trump administration is a complete failure and Senate Republicans endorse the failure he continues to be.

February 27, 2020
By Lena H. Sun and Yasmeen Abutaleb

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (click here) sent more than a dozen workers to receive the first Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, without proper training for infection control or appropriate protective gear, according to a whistleblower complaint.

The workers did not show symptoms of infection and were not tested for the virus, according to lawyers for the whistleblower, a senior HHS official based in Washington who oversees workers at the Administration for Children and Families, a unit within HHS.

The whistleblower is seeking federal protection, alleging she was unfairly and improperly reassigned after raising concerns about the safety of these workers to HHS officials, including those within the office of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. She was told Feb. 19 that if she does not accept the new position in 15 days, which is March 5, she would be terminated....