Erdogan needs to stop his verbal assault against the free world.

Erdogan is only fueling greater hatred and violence and not ending it. These are knife attacks within religious freedom. It cannot be tolerated. Boycotting is not a peaceful method of bringing about the differences in cultures. The Free World requires tolerance of differences. If Erdogan is going to assist the hatred rendered by extremists he can expect more adverse cartoons about him.

France did not change their alliance with Turkey through NATO, it only affirms there are differences in the freedom France enjoys. Erdogan backing terrorists and their violence is a worrying development.

Why is it places of worship are targeted by violent radicals?

29 October 2020

By Sinead Baker and Mitch Prothero

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi gives a statement at the site of the knife attack in a church in Nice, France. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (click here) has called for a boycott of French goods and compared Europe's treatment of Muslims to the way Jews were treated before the Second World War.

Erdogan branded European leaders 'fascists' and 'links in the chain of Nazism' as he said Muslims on the continent 'are now subjected to a lynch campaign similar to that against Jews in Europe before World War II'.

It is just the latest attack from the Turkish strongman leader after he spent the weekend verbally lashing French President Emmanuel Macron, over his toughed stance on Islamic extremism....

Summertime. This was expected. It does not give permission for herd immunity.

We know where the USA economy lives and it is small businesses and a service economy.

SARS-CoV-2 is a disabling virus. It disables the economy and it disables survivors of it's attack on the human body. Nothing has changed with what works to avoid infection of this virus. Social distancing was in play this summer when restaurants moved to the street and provided an outdoor venue. This improved their income from the take out and delivery already at work.

This uptick in GDP is not growth, it is partial recovery from the fact SARS-CoV-2 was allowed to infiltrate throughout the USA.

The American people with their stimulus behind them found a return to a new form of business, one modified for social safety. The people and their love of life fueled the third quarter partial recovery.

GDP reflects many things. This partial recovery also includes increased spending for healthcare and funerals. Over 200,000 Americans are dead. That is greater than any war in US history. As morbid as it is to say, there is economic spending that goes along with that, too.

I remind during this same period of time there were airlines hurting from the lack of travel from abroad. So, while the summertime economy was good, it wasn't great.

October 20, 2020

By Ben Winck

Just as the coronavirus' toll drove a record plunge in economic output, (click here) the US's summer recovery fueled the largest-ever jump in gross domestic product.

US gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 33.1% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. The reading marks the largest output gain in recorded history, based on data going back to the 1940s. It came in roughly double the next-biggest jump seen in 1950. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a 32% gain.

The reading represents how much the economy would've grown had the third-quarter rate lasted for a year. It's a sharp reversal from the second quarter, which saw a 31.4% annualized rate of contraction.

Thursday's figure is also the first of three estimates published by the Commerce Department, and could be revised in the coming months.

The financial markets are absolutely pathetic. IT IS A BEAR MARKET!

This is good news from Ford Motor Company. They are doing well because of the "Bubble-Up" policy of the Democrats that provided income to households throughout the USA with the realization COVID-19 was causing hardship in the country.

The financial markets have an option to protect their investments by taking an interest in companies finding their way through this paradigm shift due to a very deadly virus. 

October 28, 2020

Ford’s Strong Q3 Driven by Higher Demand, OperatingExecution, With Game-Changing Vehicle Launches Startingin Fourth Quarter

Reports $2.4 billion in net income (click here) and 6.4% net income margin, on revenue of $37.5 billion

Achieves adjusted EBIT of $3.6 billion and adjusted EBIT margin of 9.7%, led by North America at 12.5%

Generates $11.1 billion in company operating cash flow – $6.3 billion of adjusted FCF – ending Q3 with nearly $30 billion in cash and more than $45 billion in liquidity

Readies for fourth-quarter launches of three anticipated, all-new vehicles: 2021 F-150, allelectric Mustang Mach-E, and Bronco Sport – first of new Bronco family of products

Expects positive full-year 2020 adjusted EBIT, including fourth-quarter adjusted EBIT between break-even and a $500 million loss...

The financial markets are so hooked on money highs they have forgotten what it is like to actually have sparse income AND SURVIVE!

October 28, 2020
By Matthew Fox

US stocks cratered on Wednesday (click here) as a spike in COVID-19 cases prompted new lockdowns in Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average's 3.4% decline marked its worst single-day drop since June 11, while the S&P 500's 1.9% drop was its largest since September 23.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a deal for a "lockdown light," in which bars, restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters will close for at least a month starting this weekend while schools and nurseries remain open, Bloomberg reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a new national lockdown to begin this Friday and last until December 1, though, like in Germany, schools will remain open, according to Bloomberg....

The repeat vaccination is more or less like a booster shot.

Considering tuberculosis attacks the lungs this study is interesting in it's positive effects. 

 

October 28, 2020
By Kaylan Ray

A one-hundred-year-old vaccine (click here) to safeguard children from tuberculosis has been shown to boost the immune system in senior citizens in India, priming the body's internal defence mechanism to take on Covid-19, suggests new research from the Indian Council of Medical Research.

While the new ICMR study hasn't yet demonstrated the actual protection, initial results from the trials of BCG vaccine on the elderly are promising.

The study is part of ICMR's larger multi-centre trial to check whether BCG vaccination in the 60-plus group can protect them against Covid-19.

The Indian trial was launched in the wake of multiple scientific reports of how countries with BCG vaccine in their child immunization portfolio had benefited indirectly with a lower number of Covid-19 positive cases as well as deaths....

Governor Whitman has maintained a steady appearance with the people.

Those are not small approval ratings. She has been great. She has taken on every challenge presented to her, including a dam collapse. She is brave and her administration is working hard for the people as opposed to the wealthy.

She has continued to whittle away at the unemployment rate (click here). Think about that a minute. The state has been through a lot this year, yet unemployment continues to fall. She is held in ridicule by the political right-wing for limiting it's openness in areas with high COVID-19 rates. Yet, there is still a steady drop in unemployment. I think that reflects a steady vigilance of the Michigan economy despite closed areas due to the virus.

Governor Whitmer took office at a time when GMC was shaving off jobs and ending product lines. She is more than interesting to both candidates running for president (click here). The former Vice President took pride in the fact the Obama administration stood by the car industry during their 8 years in office.

October 27, 2020
By Beth LeBlanc

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (click here) has maintained a steady job approval rating with a majority of Michigan voters despite election-year sniping by President Donald Trump, whose job approval is about 15 percentage points lower, according to a Detroit News-WDIV-TV poll released Tuesday.

Nearly 54% of Michigan voters view the Democratic governor favorably and 59% approve of the job she's doing, according to the Oct. 23-25 survey of 600 likely Michigan voters. The job approval number inches up to 61% about her handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the survey, which had a margin of error of plus-minus 4 percentage points.

The poll by the Lansing-based Glengariff Group found 37% viewed Whitmer unfavorably, 38% disapproved of the job she is doing and 37% disapproved of her handling of the pandemic....

Sen. Lisa Murkowski fears courts are becoming more political losing confidence

Lisa Murkowski has always been an interesting politician. But, I find her words fall flat considering her vote for Coney-Barrett. From a spectator perspective, I think Murkowski's votes in the US Senate is as much populous as she isn't. 

Coney-Barrett's opinion polls changed after her hearings. It went from 48 percent in favor to 51 percent. I think Senator Murkowski reacted to that shift in changing her position on the judge while stating she doesn't believe the judge will rule against abortion.

Senator Murkowski does represent an interesting mix of populous and sincere governance. She has to be admired for her election that displaced an extremist. I think she is fully aware of the worries in regard to the Supreme Court, however, if she wavers this easily, will she be a stalwart in protecting the USA Constitution? I hope her decision about this judge holds up and doesn't cause her problems in the future.

October 26, 2020
By Allison Pecoria

Three hours (click here) before the Senate was poised to vote on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, walked toward the Capitol contemplating the "incontrovertible" reality that her party was about to confirm a justice nearer to an election than any confirmation in history.

Murkwoski is a rare moderate Republican who found herself at the center of the debate over Barrett's confirmation when she was one of two senators in her party who moved to delay the vote until after Election Day. She said Monday afternoon that she's fearful of what is becoming of the judiciary and even the Congress in this increasingly partisan era....

The dialogue that will obviously go forward regarding the Supreme Court has to bring the country with it. It will require information and education about The Court in order for the people of the USA to appreciate the sincere concern of those in the US Legislature.

Just because Federalist Society judges are smarter than Trump, doesn't mean they are smart.

Brett Kavanaugh plagiarized Donald John Trump in a recent opinion. He didn't plagiarize a speech at some radical right religious meeting, he plagiarized a Supreme Court opinion. That is called incompetency.

I don't think there is anything smart or especially politically leaning about plagiarism, it is just pure stupidity and brings into question the competency of Federalist Society judges.

October 27, 2020
By Mark Joseph Stern

While the Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett on Monday night, (click here) Justice Brett Kavanaugh handed down a startling opinion that laid out how the Supreme Court could steal the election for Donald Trump. Kavanaugh’s opinion was an assault on the integrity of America’s upcoming election; it was also extraordinarily sloppy, riddled with errors that would make even a traffic court judge blush. It’s worth highlighting these mistakes, not just to set the record straight but also to show how Kavanaugh uses falsehoods to twist the law against voting rights....

When Supreme Court justices are valued for their political ideology and iconic victories of right-wing politics, the USA has lost it's third branch of the government. I hear that addicts of any particular type of substance, including alcohol, stop growth and development at the age a person became an addict. There was a question not asked of Kavanaugh during his confirmation, "Did you ever receive therapy for your alcoholism?"

I think having Brett Kavanaugh plagiarize political ideology into a Supreme Court decision should be a warning shot about what is going on in the Robert's Court. The exception for that is the Chief Justice himself who has heroically written to preserve the Majority Rule of the USA Constitution. I do believe the Chief Justice once openly corrected Gorsuch within the past year. Just sayin', it is time to examine Trump's justices for their ability to be loyal to the USA Constitution. Chief Justice Roberts may not alone be able to correct the course of the current Supreme Court members by his vote alone.

The Federalist Society along with it's obsession with judicial placement for it's own purposes must be investigated, especially in the face of Kavanaugh's obvious incompetency. He, like Bill Barr, was chosen for that incompetency. If one remembers right before Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination he was writing rather strange opinions. If there is going to be a majority of Justices writing strange and assaultive opinions against the US Constitution, then it and the Rule of Law is lost to anarchy. I think scrutiny of past and present opinions is very much in order for the purpose of our democracy and sincerely religious, civil rights, and cultural freedom.

end

The Miami Herald is reporting while voter turnout in Miami-Dade is historic, the Democratic vote is lagging.

Hurricane Zeta is not expected to cause problems in Florida, except the panhandle.

October 27, 2020

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Florida Department of Health (click here) reported 727 new cases of COVID-19 and 9 additional deaths in Miami-Dade County on Tuesday. It’s the second highest number of newly added cases in more than a month.

The additional cases increased Miami-Dade county’s overall total to 183,250 and 3,624 deaths....

It could be a matter of missing ballots because they were wrongly collected.

October 27, 2020

...POWER CENTER (click here) — “Florida’s top prosecutor once sued Trump. Now she’s fighting for his reelection,” by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody ran on a promise to keep her office out of politics. Two years later, she’s become one of Donald Trump’s biggest surrogates in the nation’s biggest swing state. Moody, a former college Democrat whose family once sued Trump over a condominium dispute, has jumped into conservative causes with gusto, attending presidential campaign rallies and stepping out as a defender for the GOP president. She’s making appearances on right-wing media and has become a voice for the Republican Attorneys General Association. In the run-up to the election, the former judge has taken on billionaire Michael Bloomberg and joined 10 other Republican attorneys general backing the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google. And she could be at the center of the post-election fallout if the results in Florida are called into question....

The Democrats are tracking rejected ballots. It is believed those are in the thousands, not the tens of thousands, but, the party has vowed to make every ballot count.

Where else besides California are Trump headquarters setting up false drop boxes while collecting ballots.

Why don't they shutter the office because they are willfully breaking the law. Lawlessness. That is what the country can expect from Donald John Trump.

October 27, 2020
By Paul Blest

The video was shot by a voter (click here) at a Republican campaign headquarters and was sent to California officials: “PLEASE INVESTIGATE!!!," they said.

Undercover video taken at a GOP campaign headquarters in California and "Trump Store" selling merchandise featuring the president shows store employees describing an operation to collect ballots in an unofficial ballot box. It also shows them offering to store ballots for voters in a safe, ostensibly because the ballot box had been moved off premises for ballots to be delivered. 

The video was taken at a location in Newport Beach, California, by a citizen who sent the video along with a complaint to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. It was obtained by VICE News in a public records request from that office. The California GOP has defended its use of the ballot boxes and continued to use them, saying they’re legal under California’s ballot collection law, despite a cease-and-desist from Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The video in question was taken after the cease-and-desist was ordered, according to the person who filed a complaint....

One of the defense attornys are saying they were just playing army.

The evidence includes hundreds of hours of recordings and 13,000 encrypted emails. 

..."The evidence (click here) also included potentially illegal firearms and explosives evidence, which must be examined by FBI and ATF experts to determine whether additional federal charges are appropriate," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote.

FBI agents in Michigan, Delaware and Wisconsin also have collected “voluminous evidence” from the six men while executing search warrants, including computers and cellphones.

The men facing federal kidnapping conspiracy charges were part of a broader attempt to spark a civil war by overthrowing the government and kill police personnel, according to the government. In all, 14 people have been charged with crimes in state and federal court, including members and associates of an obscure militia, the Wolverine Watchmen.

The six charged in federal court are:

• Adam Fox, 37, of Potterville, known as "Alpha F--- You"
• Ty Garbin, 25, of Hartland Township, known as "Gunney"
• Kaleb Franks, 26, known as "Red Hot"
• Daniel Harris, 23, known as "Beaker"
• Brandon Caserta, 32, known as "Debased Tyrant"
• Barry Croft, 44, of Bear, Delaware

Law enforcement officers do not want loose munition laws. The crowds have become homogenous with open gun carry. A gunman can take advantage of the crowd and kill the police. It happened in Texas. No one knew who was shooting. 

July 11, 2020

By Lisa Marie Pane

Paris, Texas - ...Moments later, (click here) when a sniper gunned down officers patrolling the peaceful march, killing five, the attack ignited panic and confusion. Who was shooting? Were the people with weapons friend or foe?

It was the same nightmare scenario that some law enforcement officials predicted when Texas approved the open-carry proposal.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown estimated that 20 to 30 open-carry activists attended the rally. He said some wore gas masks, bulletproof vests and fatigues. They ran when the shots rang out, but the presence of so many armed individuals at the scene of a sniper attack caused instant confusion.

“Doesn’t make sense to us, but that’s their right in Texas,” Brown told CNN, adding: “For our officers, they were suspects. And I support that belief. Someone is shooting at you from a perched position, and people are running with AR-15s and camo gear and gas masks and bulletproof vests. They are suspects until we eliminate that.”

One man in the crowd, Mark Hughes, was carrying an AR-style firearm and wearing a camouflage T-shirt. In the early moments after the attack, police released a photo of Hughes describing him as a suspect. He was questioned and released, and authorities soon announced that the attack had been the work of a single gunman named Micah Johnson....

This guy is an absolute disaster. He is divisive. He is definitely racist.

Does Jarad Kushner actually believe African American communities want to have a career as a prison inmate? 

What is FOX doing carrying an interview with racist views? They are as responsible for any racist attitudes in this country as the racists themselves, even more so. I don't know another major media service that allows racist advocacy as FOX News service does. That isn't even thinly veiled racism.

FOX News is an agitator. They are irresponsible in their content and a danger to the country.

October 26, 2020
By Michelle Garcia

White House adviser Jared Kushner (click here) described Black America's issues with inequality and racism as "complaining" in an interview Monday.

"The thing we've seen in the Black community, which is mostly Democrat," he said on "Fox & Friends," "is that President Trump's policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful....

Houston, we have a problem.

Dr. Fauci has been stating using exposure to the virus as a strategy could be a real problem. There is a reason the common cold exists year after year after year. 

There is no such thing as Herd Immunity for this virus. Of the 365,000 people in the study did not BUILD immunity over time. Twenty-six percent had falling immunity. Over a quarter of the population does not build immunity. That is trouble.

THE NEW ZEALAND MODEL IS THE CORRECT MODEL TO ELIMINATE SARS-CoV-2 from Earth. There is no longer a choice. This virus MUST be eliminated from Earth. It is too dangerous to human beings.

THE MORE HUMAN BEINGS ARE EXPOSED TO THE VIRUS, THE MORE IT WILL MUTATE AGAINST IMMUNE RESPONSES. It is RNA and will soak up the human response.

The virus is winning.

Consider what people are facing in defeating this virus, "Moderna" is a new hope in immunity. I hope they are successful in learning all they can about SARS-CoV-2 for more than immunity, but, a real treatment to end it's course when early exposure occurs. I am thinking something like "The Day After Pill."

27 October 2020
By Thomas Moore

Hopes that the population will become immune to COVID-19 (click here) have been dashed by new research showing antibodies fall rapidly after recovering from the disease.

So-called herd immunity has been proposed by some scientists as a better alternative to lockdowns in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

It would require around 50-60% of the population to have protection against the virus so it could no longer transmit efficiently....

A non-peer reviewed study out of the UK states post recovery of COVID-19 results in diminished cognitive functioning.

I said this early on. COVID-19 was a sincere worry, especially considering the neurological symptoms manifesting in patients, and that should be a profound reason to protect the public. The study is not peer reviewed and that matters, but, it is an indication investigative medicine needs to look further.

Why would physicians even be interested in cognitive tests with a virus? Because they were finding deficits in more than a few patients during the examination and they have to decide what to treat and with what.

October 27, 2020

People recovering from Covid-19 (click here) may suffer significant brain function impacts, with the worst cases of the infection linked to mental decline equivalent to the brain aging by 10 years, researchers warned on Tuesday.

A non-peer-reviewed study of more than 84,000 people, led by Adam Hampshire, a doctor at Imperial College London, found that in some severe cases, coronavirus infection is linked to substantial cognitive deficits for months. "Our analyses ... align with the view that there are chronic cognitive consequences of having Covid-19," the researchers wrote in a report of their findings. "People who had recovered, including those no longer reporting symptoms, exhibited significant cognitive deficits.

Cognitive tests measure how well the brain performs tasks –- such as remembering words or joining dots on a puzzle. Such tests are widely used to assess brain performance in diseases like Alzheimer's, and can also help doctors assess temporary brain impairments.

Hampshire's team analysed results from 84,285 people who completed a study called the Great British Intelligence Test. The findings, which have yet to be reviewed by other experts, were published online on the MedRxiv website.

cognitive deficits were "of substantial effect size", particularly among people who had been hospitalised with Covid-19, the researchers said, with the worst cases showing impacts "equivalent to the average 10-year decline in global performance between ages 20 to 70.

Scientists not directly involved in the study, however, said its results should be viewed with some caution....

The dastardly deed against the wishes of the American people is done.

In truly Republican manipulation, while other election issues remain on the sidelines Pennsylvania is to take center stage. It is truly unfortunate that Coney-Barrett has to show her true colors so early on.

I would think the decision about Wisconsin should carry brevity in the Pennsylvania case in that the Democrats asked that due to the pandemic, which is a ridiculous situation the American people have to deal with in the first place, the mail-in ballots deadline should be extended. The court stated in a majority that local authorities rule in this request and no the Democrats cannot legislate an end date for a state through the court.

So, the Republicans being Republicans want the court to tell Pennsylvania that the local authority is wrong and there will be no extended time for counting ballots after the election in the face of a pandemic. IF the court is true to its focus regarding local authority the Pennsylvania rule for accepting ballots after November 3rd by mail will stand. Otherwise, the court will be legislating Pennsylvania law from the bench. Now the country will find out if the Supreme Court is full of political hacks or real judges.

By the way, Coney-Barrett doesn't yet have her staff in place. One thing to consider.

October 27, 2020
By Jeremy Herb

...In Pennsylvania, (click here) a state critical to President Donald Trump's path to victory, the state Republican Party asked the high court last week to reconsider whether the state should count ballots received within three days of Election Day, even if they do not have a legible postmark. The court issued a 4-4 ruling earlier this month denying the GOP challenge and leaving in place a lower-court ruling allowing the ballot receipt extension to stand. Now Republicans want the court to decide the case in an expedited fashion.

There are also lawsuits over the in-person voting process, such as a suit in Michigan seeking to block Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's directive to ban open carry of firearms within 100 feet of polling locations.

I hope Gorsuch remembers his words when Trump comes knocking at the Supreme Court door.

The decision of the court refers to local control. They need to be consistent in the future. Bush v. Gore removed the vote from the American people. It appears returning control to the states is a priority for the Roberts Court. 

If I remember correctly and something Kavanaugh seems to have forgotten is that the Supreme Court stated their decision was a one time event and not available for precedent in the future. 

October 26, 2020

By Robert Barnes

The Supreme Court on Monday night (click here) rejected a pandemic-related request from Democrats and civil rights groups to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

The vote was 5 to 3, with the court’s liberals in dissent.

Conservative justices said federal courts were interfering too much in election procedure choices that should be left to local officials.

“It’s indisputable that Wisconsin has made considerable efforts to accommodate early voting and respond to COVID,” wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. “The district court’s only possible complaint is that the state hasn’t done enough. But how much is enough? … The Constitution provides that state legislatures — not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not other state officials — bear primary responsibility for setting election rules.”.

Justice Elena Kagan answered for the liberals, and included a reference to an opinion from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when the court considered similar changes during the Wisconsin primary.

“Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, through no fault of their own, may receive their mail ballots too late to return them by Election Day,” wrote Kagan, joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. “Without the district court’s order, they must opt between ‘brav[ing] the polls,’ with all the risk that entails, and ‘los[ing] their right to vote.’ The voters of Wisconsin deserve a better choice.”...

Just to be clear.

Normalization of diplomatic relations is only the beginning of the peace process, not the final product. Russia has no right to establish an oppressive presence in any of it. Normalization invites UN peacekeepers not a Russian invasion.

I don’t see normalization between Taiwan and China without a strong military defense force in Taiwan. That is especially true after the problems China caused in Hong Kong.

China is preparing for a war with Taiwan.

October 23, 2020

By Gerry Shih

...But this week, (click here) that tidy narrative has overwhelmed China’s state newspapers, dominated the airwaves and even filled box offices as the Communist Party rolled out an unprecedented week of commemorative events and coverage to mark 70 years since Chairman Mao Zedong sent Chinese forces across the Yalu River and ground the Americans to a stalemate....

China was humiliated by the USA jet that flew the understood boundary between China and Taiwan. China does not like to be humiliated. China has established manmade islands to define its' borders into the Yellow Sea, it has invaded Hong Kong, and now fully expect this confrontation by the West with China's jets will take an even more aggressive stance.

October 26, 2020
By Ben Winck

Industrial stocks dragged major indexes lower (click here) on Monday after China announced it will sanction US defense firms over planned weapons sales to Taiwan.

The country will impose sanctions on Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as individuals involved in the proposed $1.8 billion deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement. The move comes in retaliation to the US State Department's approval of the arms sales.

The announcement drove a sharp sell-off of the involved companies' stocks that broadly pulled industrials into a hefty intraday loss. The corresponding S&P 500 sector sat 2.9% lower as of 12:50 p.m. ET, trailing only energy stocks in what's poised to be the worst day for stocks in a month. Within the industrials sector, aerospace and defense stocks fell more than 3%....

Donald Trump has been playing a very foolish game with American national security. In anticipation of peace treaties which he claims should win him a Nobel Peace Prize, he has withdrawn from global conflict to let Russia inflict enough oppression to force countries into dialogue. What he is going to do now that Taiwan is on the line?

Don't believe me? 

Trump calls it normalization. Sound familiar? Recently in the Middle East there was a big splash of media about normalizing diplomatic talks. Yes? Want to know what Trump's normalization looks like?

September 15, 2020

By Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalai and Jonathan Landa

Washington - An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo (click here) to work on economic ties, hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday as a “major breakthrough,” reaffirmed pledges to establish highway and railway links but left movement on political normalization on hold....

My, my, money not only buys happiness, it buys peace too.

October 22, 2020

Russia (click here) is moving toward opening a Defense Ministry office in Serbia to deepen military ties with its longtime ally, a move that risks straining relations with the West, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Serbia, which claims military neutrality, is an EU candidate country that also maintains close ties with Moscow. Belgrade suspended its military drills with all partners for six months last month, pointing to pressure from the EU to drop out of joint military drills in Belarus with Russia....

The better translation of normalization under Trump is surrender. NATO is a much higher profile ally and the American people oppose breaking off the alliance. But, Kosovo? Serbia? Americans only know them from the Olympics. Most Americans don't think of them as USA allies.

So, the normalization is about developing markets for Trump, but, for Putin, it is about conquered territory, fulfilled plans, and Russian advances on The West.

This is what Trump's normalization looks like, disengage the USA and allow Russia more territory] and human beings the USA considered good friends. Ukraine lucked out, it had a man of conscience listening in on a phone call.

Grennell is Trump's appointment.

June 20, 2020

By Patrick Kingsley and Kenneth P. Vogel

Berlin — Last October, with the Balkans unsettled (click here) and the old tethers of American diplomacy coming apart, the Trump administration dispatched a new envoy to try to solve one of Europe’s longest-running territorial disputes: the two-decade standoff between Serbia and Kosovo.

The move was unconventional. The State Department already had a special envoy to the region, and President Trump’s new emissary, Richard Grenell, was also ambassador to Germany, where his brash style and embrace of right-wing figures broke with diplomatic norms.

Before long, Mr. Grenell offended and alienated European diplomats who had worked hard on Kosovo for years. They accused him of ignoring their own, more evolved peace initiatives, of undermining democracy in Kosovo and of turning a blind eye to budding authoritarianism in Serbia, a Russian ally.

“I’m doubtful that in this way you can really resolve a situation like Kosovo, the way it’s being tried by Grenell,” said Wolfgang Petritsch, a former European Union envoy to Kosovo....

There are red flag warnings on the West Coast due to high winds. Fires are expected to worsen with winds up to 90 mph.

October 26, 2020

Tropical Storm Zeta (click here) is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it heads for a strike on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, where it's likely to bring heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge.

Current Status

Zeta is centered in the northwest Caribbean right now and is moving northwestward toward.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, from Tulum to Dzilam, including Cozumel and Cancún. Hurricane conditions are expected in this area Monday night into early Tuesday.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and for small areas west and south of the hurricane warning in Mexico....

"Morning Papers"

October 25, 2020
By Frances D'Emilio

Vatican City - Pope Francis  (click here) on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat.

In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28.

Other new cardinals include an Italian who is the long-time papal preacher at the Vatican, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan friar; the Kigali, Rwanda, Archbishop Antoine Kambanda; the Capiz, Philippines, Archbishop Jose Feurte Advincula, and the Santiago, Chile, Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

9.8 days old

74.7 percent lit

Don't forget the Halloween Blue Moon.

In 2001, (click here) ghosts and goblins in Central and Pacific time zones trick-or-treated by the light of a full Moon, but a Halloween full Moon hadn’t appeared for everyone in all time zones since 1944!...

Below is a winning photo. It is a contradiction in terms. Clouds are moving about with a random pattern and all of a sudden there is a saucer-like cloud, perfectly formed regardless of the winds below it.

October 18, 2020

By Brandon Spektor

...A ghostly white saucer (click here) hovers over the peaks of El Chaltén in southern Argentina. As wind thrashes the nearby clouds, the saucer remains fixed above the craggy summit, anchored in the sky like a mothership surveying the hills below....