This settles any question about the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and where The West stands on an independent investigation.

10 June 2021
By Finbarr Bermingham

The leaders of the United States and Britain (click here) vowed to support an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19, “including in China”, in a meeting on the eve of the
G7 Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall.

A joint statement from US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson added to earlier comments from European Union leaders urging China to permit inspectors “complete access” to all relevant sites and information related to the pandemic.

“We will also support a timely, transparent and evidence-based independent process for the next phase of the WHO-convened Covid-19 origins study, including in China, and for investigating outbreaks of unknown origin in the future,” said the statement, issued on Thursday.

The readout referred to China only once by name, but hinted at the rivalry with Beijing throughout, vowing to advance “the values of liberal democracies, open societies and open markets” and to “defend media freedom [and] advance a free and open internet”....

President Biden does not have to apologize for the large number of vaccines in the USA, because, Trump left the USA in shambles. The USA had the highest number of cases and the highest number of deaths. Someone had to bring the virus in the USA under control and it was President Biden and his vaccination efforts.

There are countries that won't need vaccines at all. There are countries like India that will require not only vaccines, but, a complete readdress of the way the people live. India needs a new quality of life and living in slums where people are stacked densely has to be replaced with more modern buildings that allow for safe quarantine. Other countries that faced or are still facing these deplorable conditions also need to improve the people's quality of life. All that can be done with an eye on the horizon of the climate crisis and putting the global community back together in a way that benefits all and Earth as well.

June 10, 2021

By Betsy Klein, Kate Sullivan and Maegan Vazquez

Falmouth, England - President Joe Biden announced Thursday (click here) evening that the United States plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally as part of his efforts to reassert US leadership on the world stage.

"America knows first-hand the tragedy of this pandemic. We've had more people die in the United States than anywhere in the world, nearly 600,000 of our fellow Americans," Biden said in remarks after meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He added, "We know the tragedy. We also know the path to recovery."

The move will also serve to counter efforts by Russia and China to use their own state-funded vaccines to expand their global influence....

The West needs to decide about Russia and it's failed society, as well as a failed economy reflected by it's failed currency. The only strength Russia has in the global community is regarding ballistics and it's use to intimidate other countries. There is no benevolence to Russia anymore. It needs to return to a better economic status and revitalize a freedom movement within that country abandoned by Vladimir Putin when he needed the communist vote to win re-election.

In exchange for Russia to become a global trading partner with the USA and NATO again, it needs to come clean about the information Trump handed to them and why.

NATO should come together to sponsor their own space station and eliminate communist countries from the opportunity.

June 7, 2021

The head of Russia's space agency (click here) on Monday suggested Moscow would withdraw from the International Space Station in 2025 unless Washington lifted sanctions on the space sector that were hampering Russian satellite launches.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, was addressing parliamentarians ahead of a summit in Geneva later this month between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden.

Rogozin said Moscow was struggling to launch some of its satellites because of U.S. sanctions which meant Russia could not import certain microchip sets needed for its space programme.

"We have more than enough rockets but nothing to launch them with," Rogozin said, in a rare admission by a senior Russian official that Western sanctions are seriously impeding the development of a given industry....

I honestly don't believe Russian spacemen will be leaving the ISS anytime soon. But, honestly, who cares?

13 May 2021

By Catherine Shoard

Yulia Peresild has been announced as the female lead in the Russian production. 

The space race (click here) appears set for a relaunch following the news that Russia is to send an actor and director to the International Space Station in October, with the ambition of making the first feature film in space.

The crew are scheduled to begin their expedition on 5 October 2021. While on the space station they could encounter some fellow film-makers: Tom Cruise and the director Doug Liman, who are also due to travel there in October to make a movie.

The exact date of Cruise’s blastoff has not yet been revealed, but the departure of the Russians in the first few days of the month suggests an intention to beat the Americans.

Russia was first reported to be mounting a rival production last year, shortly after plans were confirmed last summer for Cruise, who will be 59 at the time of his mission, to go into low Earth orbit, backed by Nasa and Elon Musk....

Fire sale in Russia!

May 19, 2021

Russia (click here) has put up for sale one of its space modules, which in 2018 returned a Russian and two Americans from the International Space Station (ISS)....

June 4, 2021
By Sissi Cao

Next month, (click here) a big module called Pirs will be jettisoned from the Russian half of the International Space Station and fall into Earth’s atmosphere. No need to worry about pieces of metal falling from the sky, though, as calculation suggests that the giant debris should have completely burned up before making it to the ground.

Still, it will be the first ISS module to be completely decommissioned and discarded in space. On Wednesday, a pair of ISS residents, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, went outside the orbital lab and performed a seven-hour spacewalk to prepare for Pirs’s release....

The communists have their own space station. Russia will be going here. Now, why not be a part of the ISS? Right? Assets spent together provides for better domestic budgets. 

BECAUSE THE COMMUNISTS DON'T CARE ABOUT PEACEFUL USE OF SPACE.

May 31, 2021

By Arjun Kharopal

Guangzhou, China - China (click here) has completed another major part of its own space station, the latest in a string of ambitious extraterrestrial projects from the world’s second-largest economy.

The Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft took off at 8:55 p.m. local time on Saturday from the Wenchang launch site, according to the China Manned Space agency.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Tianzhou-2 docked with the core module of the space station called Tianhe.

China’s space station will be made of three modules which includes the Tianhe “core,” cargo spacecraft such as Tianzhou-2 and laboratories. China will carry out 11 missions this year and next to complete the construction of the space station, and bring astronauts and supplies up too. The space station is expected to go into operation in 2022....

The Voting Rights Act of 1964 was impressive and massively changed everything about voting oppression.

Joe Machin is ridiculous. On one hand he touts all the expansions afforded the people of West Virginia. Then on the other hand he pretends as if all the changes he made as West Virginia Secretary of State are permanent and will never change.

Either Joe Machin hasn’t read a newspaper lately or he simply doesn’t care about the vulnerability of voting rights regardless of it’s fundamental and constitutional right to every citizen. He treats the “For the People Act” as a partisan witch hunt to eliminate Republicans. He is wrong and his rhetoric is disgraceful.

I have a suggestion for Speaker Pelosi. Break down “For the People Act” into smaller bills so those voting against it can be identified to their particular hatred of freedom and Democracy. 

When the “For The People Act” is broken down into separate parts and still rejected by the US Senate, send it on a tour of the country asking citizens to do two things. First, adopt the provisions into a state referendum. Second, begin the process of an Amendment proposal that will take voting rights out of the hands of politicians and into the hands of the people. 

For Amendments to be successful Americans need to understand the proposed Amendment and how best to support it through a 2/3rds vote in Congress and in the states.

E. Jean Carroll Case

President Biden needs to consider filing an Amicus Brief with the courts regarding the proper function of a President of the USA in regard to women’s rights and sexual assault. There can be no back sliding in regard to the efficacy of these sexual assault cases. Women and prosecutors have made incredible gains in taking back a woman’s dignity and rights in cases of sexual abuse assault. Ms. Carroll was assaulted by the Former President. When she came forward her employment was then in peril. There is a lot wrong with what occurred in Ms. Carroll’s life. Since the assault including her deafening silence for decades because of fear of retribution. She was right in being silent in this white wealthy man dominated society where money talks louder than a woman’s right to safety from sexual predators.

The DOJ may be technically correct but is morally disgraceful within its purview. A friend of the court filing is necessary by the White House to set the record straight. This behavior of sexual assault cannot be tolerated in the highest ranking officer in the military either. There is a great deal at stake and the Biden Administration has a place in this case far afield from Merrick Garland’s DOJ.

Mayoral races? Really?

Texas isn’t really all that surprising, now is it. The Democrats have given up for so long in Texas that they didn’t have candidates with governance experience or familiarity to the voters. McAllen is a city right on the Mexican border chocked full of illegal migrants. How willing were the voters to over turn a familiar government? If Democrats want to continue to win in states where Republicans have dominated the corruption has to be routed out and made part of  a campaign. Candidates will have to be familiar and with some experience in governance and not just experience in politics.

Thank you for stopping by, but, It’s Sunday Night will occur later this week. 

There is a lot of climate misinformation and I have to tackle that. 

Until later...

Dr. Fauci is a national treasure and a hero to all those that survived the pandemic.

There is no there, there.

Dr. Fauci is not a punching bag for the likes of Rand Paul. Paul is PO'ed because Dr. Fauci always answers him with dignity and grace and makes sense. No one can say that about Rand Paul's questions of anyone he embarks on to make a political commercial and free B Role.

I am serious about the lawsuits. The political attacks are a bunch of hogwash. Rand Paul and FOX News would love to drive Dr. Fauci right out of the government positions he holds. That is a fact and it is vicious defamation.

June 3, 2021
By Nachiket Mhatre

02 Jun 2021: Dr. Fauci's leaked 2020 emails (click here) reveal knowledge of lab-leak theory

Not long after Dr Anthony Fauci changed his tune on the possibility that the COVID-19 could be man-made, more skeletons tumble out of the US medical advisor's closet. A massive cache of email correspondence obtained by BuzzFeed News and The Washington Post reveal that Dr. Fauci was appraised of the possibility that the SARS-COV-2 virus could have been bioengineered in a lab....

To begin with, there were no government leaks. These emails were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

DAH!

Gee, do you think Dr. Fauci knew that a lab could produce such a thing as a virus? It is called biological warfare. He has the credentials and the position to speculate on such issues. There is no skeletons in Dr. Fauci's closet. He was engaging his freedom of speech power to communicate with others about issues of the day and this has been an issue since Trump called it The Chinese Virus.

June 3, 2021

Key points raised by critics (click here) such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) concern the alleged NIH funding of dangerous bioengineering ("gain of function") research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and Dr. Fauci's responses to questions about this....

I watched this interchange between Fauci and Paul. Rand Paul was pathetic. Dr. Fauci clearly stated to him there was no funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 'gain of function' (click here) research. That is correct.

Get for real people. The USA government is going to fund gain of function research in China? That is just about the most stupid thing I have ever heard reported. This is all about discrediting a very valuable science-based part of the USA government, the NIH. The Republicans absolutely love to play "we are the people" and let's topple the government at every turn. The USA could not function without the NIH.

I will comment on the points being made by other physicians and surgeons below.

The NIH funds for research at the university in Wuhan were for the discovery of sources of the coronavirus that continues to plague the world. Those monies were once accompanied by American scientists to be sure they were applied to the proper research in the proper way. Trump ended that. He pulled the scientists from China because he didn't want to fund them anymore. American scientists were completely welcome in China to assist with the prevention and/or the discovery of disease. Got that? Our scientists were welcome in the labs in China, even the ones at the university in question.

The comment was once made about the discovery of SARS under the Bush White House that the president knew about the virus before the Chinese president did. Why? Because American scientists were on the ground with Chinese scientists as issues presented themselves. The lack of that connectedness was witnessed with the Chinese physician screaming to his government that there was a virus killing the people in Wuhan. The Chinese government wanted nothing to do with a screaming physician. YET, if the President of the USA called up President Xi Jinping there would be something done about it and probably with the assistance of the Americans in China.

You can say what you want, but, there was no relationship between Trump and Xi. End of discussion over that. There is nothing that can be done by the NIH with monies proposed for specific purposes if the American component is not in China. We still don't know if that funding was misused and we will never know. This is all noise by Rand Paul and FOX News to push some kind of political agenda to remove President Biden from office and defame the Democrats in the 2022 elections.

May 25, 2021
By Samuel Chamberlin

The National Institutes of Health earmarked $600,000 (click here) for the Wuhan Institute of Virology over a five-year period to study whether bat coronaviruses could be transmitted to humans, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers Tuesday.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the money was funneled to the Chinese lab through the non-profit EcoHealth Alliance to fund “a modest collaboration with very respectable Chinese scientists who were world experts on coronavirus.”

But Fauci emphatically denied that the money went toward so-called “gain of function” research, which he described as “taking a virus that could infect humans and making it either more transmissible and/or pathogenic for humans.”

“That categorically was not done,” he insisted.

Rand Paul has no proof otherwise, but, he never stops. He goes on and on about topics that irritate his constituents who like to filet scientists. You know ripe the guts out of them kinda stuff.

This is Rand Paul who said what about wearing masks? And this is the beautiful part, that the CDC said all those that were vaccinated didn't have to wear masks. Dr. Fauci came out to clarify the statement, but, did it matter? No. Why? Because the political machinery for the Republicans would not let it be known the information was misinterpreted to the public.

This is Rand Paul again carrying on as if he actually knows something that no one else can purport to Dr. Fauci because Rand Paul was an optomologist. Rand Paul the eye doctor is an authority on vaccines. 

March 19, 2021
By Morgan Watkins

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul clashed yet again (click here) with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious diseases expert, on Thursday as he derided public health experts' recommendation that people wear a mask even if they've caught or gotten vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Paul suggested it's just "theater" to mask up if you've already been immunized either through infection or vaccination and accused Fauci of making policy based on conjecture. 

Fauci pushed back against that and said COVID-19 variants are circulating in the U.S. that pose a threat even to people who previously got infected or vaccinated.

"You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show," Paul told Fauci during a congressional hearing Thursday. "You want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy? Tell them they can quit wearing their masks after they get the vaccine....

Anyone with a dead friend or relative that listened to Rand Paul, get a lawyer and sue the lousy no good eye doctor for their deaths.

Rand Paul created a "hot topic" for the folks back home that will vote him out of office in that the CDC was stupid and knew nothing about the real world. You know Paul has got a neighbor that absolutely hates him for this kind of reason. I think the guy attacked him more than once. The neighbor has an excuse, it is called "aggravated" anything. Because Rand Paul is an outright liar that keeps getting re-elected. People with good conscience can only put up with all this for so long and they react because they feel they are saving lives and good government policy.

The issues below are correct and troubling. But, don't look to Dr. Fauci who was on the firing line every day with Donald John Trump contradicting the president and being sure Americans knew there were facts known about the virus and that it was a growing base of knowledge they were finding to treat people and prevent "the spread." It wasn't Dr. Fauci that was out front telling Americans not to believe the experts and there was no danger. That was the policy of the Trump White House. 

When it comes to all these issues, this is not neglected by Dr. Fauci or any agency he is affiliated with, this is due to the lack of real policy by the USA during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Secret science? Is there not a Freedom of Information Act that provides all that information to the public. The AAPS needs to do some research before they come out and scapegoat Dr. Fauci. 

...AAPS states that the following issues are of critical concern: (click here)

AAPS (click here)

Secret science: What research is NIH funding or suppressing?

Oversight and FOIA. There are legislators that are involved in oversight, where are they? If AAPS doesn't want to seek FOIA requests then they should be writing the legislative committees and ask them why there isn't better oversight? This is nonsense.

Oversight: Why are Americans learning about these Covid controversies only through FOIA? Are there no checks and balances on individuals and agencies that have such a profound effect on our lives?

There are medical journals that publish research about these drugs. AND. No one is preventing any physician from prescribing them. If a physician wants to prescribe hydroxychloroquine they can do exactly that. There is no law against it, HOWEVER, there is research that has found the drugs to be invaluable and in some instances causes damage and/or hastens death.

There is nothing preventing any litigation against anyone working for the government. The point is mute. 

Central control with no accountability: NIH "guidelines" are being used to deny treatment with long-approved drugs including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to thousands of Americans. This therapeutic nihilism is likely the cause of more than 100,000 preventable deaths—but the policymakers have no liability.

Conflict of interest. Ask the legislative committees because this is about oversight again. What I find interesting is that Pfizer CEO is a veterinarian and he is rolling out vaccines every quarter to prove to his stockholders he is deserving of his bonuses. I find that interesting. He now wants to vaccinate infants. I don't know there is something about a profit-driven veterinarian and an infant that raises a lot of questions for me.

Conflicts of interest: What interest groups are determining NIH policy? Foreign governments? The pharmaceutical/vaccine industry? Big tech? Non-governmental organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

This is inflammatory. It has a distinct political undertone that brings up genetic medicine in a very bad light. If find these physicians and surgeons appalling when they know full well people benefit from genetic medicine, ask Moderna.

Before a professional group of physicians and surgeons carry on like this, they need to have some kind of proof of their SPECULATION.

Genetic engineering: The SARS-CoV-2 virus may be genetically engineered. If so, for what purpose? The only NIH-touted response other than lockdowns and masks are genetically engineered products. Not themselves vaccines by the previous definition, they introduce genetic instructions for the recipient to make genetically modified proteins to stimulate an immune response. The long-term consequences cannot be known.

I have no problem with Dr. Fauci because I pay attention. If he wasn't on the firing line every day, this country would have seen far more dead Americans. Dr. Fauci deserves the Medal of Freedom. He certainly defended mine.

Trust: Should we hand over control of our lives and medical treatment to Dr. Fauci and the agency he heads? Do they have our welfare at heart, or only their own power and a political agenda?

There is no deeply troubling situation here, except, for the witch hunt of Rand Paul AGAIN and this time a group of wealthy physicians looking for a scapegoat.

"The e-mails provide a glimpse into a deeply troubling situation," states AAPS executive director Jane M Orient, M.D. "But would be a mistake to focus solely on reading thousands of e-mails by one government official and overlook the work of thousands of bioengineers that could profoundly alter our lives."...

Dr. Fauci saved lives and if it were up to him, there would not have been a pandemic. It was Trump that insured the virus spread at will through the USA. Did I mention, the gun lobby really profited from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Somehow a gun was going to protect Americans from an invisible virus. Amazing. Americans were flocking to hospital emergency rooms with overburdened nurses without PPE. The nurses weren't carrying guns, so I guess sick people aren't really interested in a war so much as a cure.

I think the detractors of Dr. Fauci that side with Rand Paul need to ask themselves if they would have wanted Dr. Fauci's job working alongside Donald John Trump. See, Dr. Fauci attempted to get Trump to address the virus long before it began it's uncontrolled spread, but, causing such concern would hurt Wall Street profits and his re-election.

The folks here have no stone to cast against Dr. Fauci. He did his job and he did it well. The AAPS needs to form its own oversight committee and do the real work before clamoring for political attention.

Huh?

So, Ms. Baez is another victim of the circumstance of a government that allows citizens into the Capitol when the electoral votes are being counted. Sure, sure and I am Whistler's Grandmother.

Why then did the Capitol Police line up to prevent entry when in fact if the doors were swinging wide open for citizens didn't they greet everyone with a MAGA hat as a symbol of consolation?

The Capitol had been closed to visitors. I guess everybody has got to try.

Some of these insurgents need to do lots of community service every election year going from town to town to tell everyone they had been duped by Donald John Trump by the isolation of information on FOX News and the Trump YouTube Channel. Trump was a big spender to reach those folks by having a YouTube channel. Amazing.

The difference (click here) between metropolitan average household income and nonmetro average household income, 2009–2019

Remember those payments Trump was handing out to the farmers? Did they ever get them or did the poor Wall Street bozos get them when they didn't have commodities to sell to China anymore? The income gap widened incredibly during the Trump years. I am assuming this graph reflects the income with the subsidies.

I wish Democrats would have viable candidates in the local and state levels as well as federal for every Republican-dominated state. This information alone should be turning their heads. They are similar to coal miners. They actually believe the Republicans are the only ones that care about them. When did Moscow Mitch actually add jobs to the coal industry that resulted in the boom of "the good 'ole days." Never. Yet Republicans will come out of elections as if they were the only ones that voted for The Farm Bill. The Republicans have some of the best propaganda machines in this country and the MidWest and farms show it. The number of farms in the USA keeps shrinking. That plays into the idea the USA can no longer feed the world, so why not hunker down with Russia and eat Chinese Rice.

Look, why not classify Trump as a terrorist. The classical definition of a terrorist is one that uses a country's infrastructure against them. That is exactly what Trump did for four years in allowing Russia free access to all kinds of information. He used the USA government to OPPRESS information, lie and deceive through agencies like the EPA and destroyed precious records related to decades of truth about scientific investigation and the widening divide between Ag and Non-Ag incomes.

June 4, 2021
By Dominique Mosbergen

Stephanie Baez, (click here) a woman who was recorded saying on Jan. 6 that she wanted to “find me a Proud Boy,” referring to the white supremacy group, has been arrested in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that day.

Baez was arrested Friday in Alabama for her alleged involvement in the riot. According to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department, she was among the throng of Donald Trump supporters who violently forced entry into the Capitol in an attempt to stop the tally of Electoral College votes that affirmed Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election....

...She denied that she had been in the building unlawfully

“The defendant … stated that everyone was calm and no one had any reason to believe that they were not allowed inside,” the complaint said.

“The defendant further stated that some people were just following groups and she feels like it is insane not to take that into consideration,“ it added.

To date, the Department of Justice has arrested more than 465 people in connection with the Capitol riot.

“The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6th has not, and will not, wane,” the Justice Department said in a statement Friday.

When does the abuse of our minority citizens stop? This is unconcionable. It is all corruption. All of it.

I cannot believe the level of abuse and lack of respect for life that chronically surfaces with Flint, Michigan. These people were tested when the lead was first found. Any testing with this scanner needs to be removed as evidence ANYWHERE. 

What is going on already? Lawyers want a full third of the settlement and now the people remaining to receive the monies have to be exposed to the abuse of lawyers wanting to illegitimately disqualify them. Where does it stop? The State of Michigan Justice Department should be all over these people.

June 3, 2021
By Paul Egan

Lansing - The manufacturer of a handheld lead scanner (click here) wrote to a Flint law firm in May and told the lawyers to stop using the device on Flint residents because the company has not certified that it is safe to do so.

But the device has already been used on likely thousands of Flint residents seeking a share of the proposed $641.25-million proposed settlement — with the state of Michigan and other defendants — of the Flint water crisis civil litigation.

“The safety instructions contained in the … User’s Guide explicitly instruct all users to ‘(n)ever point your analyzer at yourself or anyone else when the shutter is open,’” Thermo Fisher Scientific Vice President and General Manager Chloe Hansen-Toone said in the May 12 letter to the Napoli Shkolnik law firm, obtained by the Free Press.

“All users are expected to abide by the safety instructions, except under specific circumstances (not present here) that require adequate assurances regarding safety.”...

Thermo Fisher Scientific (click here)  The only lead scanner I found available from this company was to detect lead paint.

This is corruption. There is no other word for it. As a matter of fact, the accused and their lawyers need to demand a second grand jury of peers. These tactics are so outrageous I would be surprised that any crime charged of anyone with a one-person grand jury in Michigan would receive an acquittal.

Our justice system is based on the Rule of Law and the idea that a jury of the accused peers would pass judgment. This one-person grand jury should never have been tolerated in Michigan or any other state. One person can indict a citizen and ruin their life. Ridiculous. How many people over how many years?

May 30, 2021
By Oe Guillen and Elisha Anderson

The ongoing Flint water case (click here) against former Gov. Rick Snyder is relying on an investigative tactic so rarely used that some legal experts aren’t familiar with it.

Known as a one-person grand jury, the process is cloaked in secrecy.

It involves the appointment of a single judge to review evidence out of public view and decide whether charges should be brought. In contrast to the way most criminal charges are brought, using a one-person grand jury alters how evidence is turned over to defense attorneys and delays their ability to cross-examine witnesses.

Prosecutors call the one-person grand jury an essential tool for fighting crime and compelling reluctant witnesses to testify. Defense attorneys of the accused decry its use because they have no official role during the grand jury proceedings, which they say is a denial of due process.

The tactic now is under attack in one of the most high-profile political cases in years: the state’s prosecution of Michigan’s former governor and a slew of his former aides for their alleged criminal roles in the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water supply....

It is time to clean up the mess!

Unions are a beautiful thing. I was a member and a shop steward at one time. My family are union people. We stand for the right things. Fair wages and benefits define the quality of life for Americans. It is right to be union members. It is completely wrong to be a union official and exploit the worker's membership dues.

June 3, 2021
By Robert Snell and Riley Beggins

Detroit - Prosecutors (click here) want former United Auto Workers President Gary Jones to spend more than two years in federal prison for helping steal as much as $1.5 million from union members.

Prosecutors revealing the desired 28-month prison term Thursday also requested Jones pay $550,000 in restitution to the UAW, $42,000 to the IRS and a forfeiture of $151,377.

Jones's lawyer is also expected to ask U.S. District Judge Paul Borman for a preferred sentence later Thursday for his role in a conspiracy that undermined members' faith in union leadership and led to prolonged government oversight....

President Biden calls for strong reform of the filibuster. It is currently abused by Republicans that support the insurgency.

It is about time the Democrats got serious about their constituency. The DNC should scrutinize the voting records of those they fund for a Senate office. What good is a democrat for Congress if they do the bidding of the Republicans? President Biden as the leader of the Democratic Party has the right and a duty to call the shots the way he sees them. This was long overdue. 

If Manchen and Sinema cannot support the return of filibuster rules that were originally intended for the minority to be heard and not controlling the outcome of a vote, then what use are they. Any vote with Republicans is supporting the insurgency. There is no reason to see it any other way. 

June 2, 2021
By Savannah Behrman and Jorey Garrison

Washington - President Joe Biden (click here) appeared to single out two moderate Democratic senators as obstacles to passing parts of his agenda, yet the White House insisted Biden was not being critical of them.

On Tuesday, Biden referenced Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, while he discussed his support for the For the People Act voting rights bill during remarks commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma.

Though he didn't mention them by name, Biden referred to “two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends."

"I hear all the folks on TV saying, ‘Why doesn’t Biden get this done?’” Biden said. “Well, because Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate, with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends. But we're not giving up."...

Britian is hosting the G7 post pandemic.

The Democrats can put through the minimum global corporate tax with the next budget after the G7 passes it into law.

May 31, 2021
By Jan Strupczewski

General view of a working session during the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Chantilly, near Paris, France, July 17, 2019.

Finance ministers from the group of seven rich nations (G7) (click here) will vow this week to support their economies as they emerge from the pandemic and reach an "ambitious" deal on a minimum global corporate tax in July, a draft communique showed.

G7 officials, set to meet in London on June 4-5, will also say that once the recovery is well established, they will need to "ensure long-term sustainability of public finances", which is understood to be code for a gradual withdrawal of stimulus.

The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada.

"We commit to not withdrawing policy support too soon and investing to promote growth, create high-quality jobs and address climate change and inequalities," the draft communique, seen by Reuters, said....

It is called corruption and the US Congress needs to hold hearings about it.

The gambling at race tracks may have to be curtailed if the industry cannot treat the horses humanly and the races are not run according to the rules. 

This is not Baffert's first scandal. He doesn't the horses. He doesn't love their running heritage. He wants winners. He wants winners at any cost. That is a trainer that cannot be trusted with some of the best horses in their generations. There is no excuses left for Baffert, he has been a trainer far longer than he should have and he knows all the ethical practices with thoroughbred race horses. This was not an oversight, it was a manipulation of Medina Spirit and the cold will never be known to his real capacity as a race horse. As a horse that will be bred, his reputation is scarred for the rest of his career.

June 2, 2021
By Jason Frakes

The New York Times (click here) reported Wednesday a split sample of Medina Spirit’s drug test following the Kentucky Derby confirmed the presence of betamethasone, further jeopardizing the horse’s status as the winner of the Run for the Roses.

The New York Times’ Joe Drape reported lawyer Clark Brewster, who represents Medina Spirit owner Amr Zedan, said the laboratory at the University of California-Davis confirmed the presence of betamethasone, a corticosteroid.

While legal as a therapeutic aid for horses, betamethasone is illegal when found in the blood on race day because it’s considered a possible performance-enhancer.

Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert announced May 9 — eight days after the Kentucky Derby — that Medina Spirit had tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone....

Additionally, Santa Anita still had racehorse deaths in the year 2020. Each dead horse had a life insurance policy. Their policy is worth more than their running careers.

There are many people within the thoroughbred industry that sincerely loves the horses, their heritage, and the nitch they have in providing a pastime for Americans. Jockeys put their lives on the line every time they mount a horse to race in some of the best ideas of the sport, but, they are little valued for their sportsmanship or dedication to a breed of horse that has seen its species nearly gone due to the corruption in the industry. Trainers and managers were producing winners that should not be in the winner circles and going on to breed offspring that continued the diminished vitality of the thoroughbred racehorse.

Congress needs to hold hearings on this sport and it's link to gambling and whether or not that endangers the animals as well as the people that like to watch them run and follow a horse's and jockey's career. The public needs to know they are going to a race track with a good reputation and wagering on horses that are honestly displaying their odds to win.

NO MORE DEAD RACEHORSES WHO ARE TOO YOUNG TO DIE OTHERWISE.

December 16, 2020
By John Cherwa

Southern California’s main thoroughbred tracks (click here) had their first racing or training fatality in more than three months when an unraced 2-year-old filly suffered life-ending injuries during morning training at Santa Anita on Wednesday.

Penelope Rose had not run a race and was galloping on the main track when she fractured her right front humerus, the bone that joins the shoulder to the elbow, while galloping. Radiographs showed that the injury was unrecoverable and she was euthanized. As is standard, a necropsy will be performed and reviewed by the California Horse Racing Board.

It was the second training death this year for trainer Eddie Truman. Miss Romania, a 3-year-old filly, died on Feb. 12, also of a fractured humerus....

McCarthy expected another minion for Trump. Evidently, Meijer knows the constitution is at risk with them.

May 31, 2021
By Orlandar Brand-Williams

U.S. House (click here) Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has endorsed Peter Meijer in the Republican primary for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District. Pictured is Meijer during a Republican debate at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Dec. 2, 2019.

Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Meijer (click here) appeared to blast some Trump conservatives as "treacherous snakes" in his Memorial Day observances on social media as the military veteran slammed those "salivating for civil war."

Meijer, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq as a non-commissioned officer and was a conflict analyst in Afghanistan, issued a three-tweet barrage Monday about the holiday. It included his "struggle with Memorial Day" due to "browing-beating from the holier-than-thous."

But the 33-year-old congressman from Grand Rapids Township also acknowledged the sacrifices of veterans for whom Memorial Day holiday was created 50 years ago....

Definitely unethical...

 ...and my be illegal. 

Governor Abbott of Texas is attempting to use fear of intimidation to force his agenda on the Texas Democrats by withholding food and beverages to demonstrators and legislators. Will they stop at nothing?

This Illinois legislation needs to be federal law.

May 31, 2021

By Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen

Parents and nonprofit groups (click here) are suing districts for teachers isolating students improperly in school isolation rooms.

Illinois lawmakers (click here) took sweeping action Sunday to limit the use of seclusion and restraint in schools, following through on promises made after a 2019 Tribune-ProPublica investigation revealed that school workers had regularly misused the practices to punish students.

The House voted unanimously to pass legislation barring school workers from locking children alone in seclusion spaces and limiting the use of any type of isolated timeout or physical restraint to when there’s “imminent danger of physical harm.” The legislation requires schools that receive state funding to make a plan to reduce — and eventually eliminate — the practices over the next three years. Schools that develop plans more quickly can receive priority for new grant funding for staff training....

The FCC needs to do something about FOX News and their commentators.

Their programming recently featured the headline that violence in USA cities was picking up as if that is actually news. I think most Americans recognize the violence that has broken out in this country because of incompetent leadership in 2020. But, it wasn't even that they recognized the increased violence in cities, they had a former I.C.E. executive on the program to talk about it. The segment I watched was intended to imply the increased violence was due to illegal immigrants and of course some of the worst-hit cities were sanctuary cities. There were no facts, it was a segment built on the inspiration of hate of illegal immigrants. 

Additionally, I saw a segment from Hannity designed to disgrace President Biden as an aged-old coot that is incompetent in his responsibilities as president. The segment was nothing but Age Discrimination. There were segments of President Biden as a young Senator and then there were segments of him as he aged and then of course as President Biden is now. There were no real facts to state that in an annual physical certain deficit turned up that raised question of his competency. It was pure age discrimination and buffoonery. 

This is not entertainment or infotainment, it is pure unadulterated slander.

After January 6, 2021, it is the FCC's responsibility to take action against such performances that are intended to promulgate hate. FOX News and its commentators do nothing by promoting the hate of others. It is time to call them out and do something about it.

Some time ago the American people decided to ostracize a word was a good idea. There was a recent column about it. And why did that occur?? It stigmatized people and as a society and country, we could not get past the negativity of that word. We are at the same crossroads as the infotainment industry. They dictate the hate people should feel for others and it is time to end that practice. No different than a stigmatizing word, the industry involved is not journalism. As a country, we have tolerated this too long and it has hurt our democracy. 

Enough. I do not believe infotainment, as it is practiced by FOX News and other right-wing extremist channels, is freedom of speech. That is true of organizations such as White Supremacists that tantalized young minds with power and hate to become extremists themselves. And now, we see the product of those organizations carrying weapons of war to the streets of the USA and killing at will. Even the sanctity of churches is not safe anymore. 

Enough. We as a society have been slapped in the face too many times and it is time to end this debate about freedom of speech as related to right-wing extremism. They are cruel people that hate freedom and democracy. They only want to hate and kill others that are different from them. It is time to end the infotainment industry's stranglehold on power and hate and return this country back to a place of domestic peace.

April 30, 2021
By John McWhorter

...In 1934, Allen Walker Read, (click here) an etymologist and lexicographer, laid out the history of the word that, then, had “the deepest stigma of any in the language.” In the entire article, in line with the strength of the taboo he was referring to, he never actually wrote the word itself. The obscenity to which he referred, “fuck,” though not used in polite company (or, typically, in this newspaper), is no longer verboten. These days, there are two other words that an American writer would treat as Mr. Read did. One is “cunt,” and the other is “nigger.” The latter, though, has become more than a slur. It has become taboo....

Oh, one more thing. When it comes to President Biden, he is the best President for our time, and harassment such as the kind the "hate-entertainment" industry hands out is giving our country a black eye internationally.

When President Biden sits down with Putin and speaks of human rights, the entire country should be behind him.

There needs to be similar legislation as a federal law as adopted in Illinois.

Ya know real freedom of speech such as attending government meetings and even meetings of citizens with similar interests is the hallmark of democracy. It is protected by the First Amendment and Freedom to assemble. This action by police regarding citizens is appalling. There needs to be a further investigation of the people targeted by the police and whether they were actually kept silent and if so what transpired with a government that should not have. The legislation is the first step, there need to be more investigations and quite possibly charges filed. 

May 31, 2021

By Jeremy Gorner, Gregory Pratt, and Dan Petrella

Illinois lawmakers approved a bill (click here) that makes it illegal for police to access at least one commonly used law enforcement database to perform criminal background checks on citizens who sign up to speak at public meetings.

A previous version of the measure was introduced in the House by state Rep. Kam Buckner, a Chicago Democrat, in 2019 after the Tribune disclosed how the Chicago Police Department ran secret background checks for more than a decade on several hundred citizens who signed up to speak at public meetings before the Chicago Police Board....

This Veteran's Day military families need to be recognized as well.

There is an association that is supposed to help military families during deployments and when their family is serving at home. I think there should be a monument that is recognized for the service families provide along with their soldiers. Dr. Jill Biden served the interest of military families when she was Second Lady. Perhaps she can capture that spirit in asking for a monument to military families in appreciation of their sacrifice to this country.

Alexandria, VA — The National Military Family Association (click here) Board of Governors is delighted to announce Besa Pinchotti as the Association’s new Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Pinchotti steps into this position after having served most recently as Acting Executive Director and Senior Director for Advancement at the National Military Family Association (NMFA).

“In her eight years at NMFA, Besa has demonstrated unparalleled leadership, enthusiasm and commitment to the Association, its people, and the community we serve,” said Tina Jonas, Chairman of the Board of Governors. “The Board is excited to strengthen its support of military families under Besa’s continued leadership.”

As Executive Director, Pinchotti brings years of leadership at NMFA, a deep understanding of the military community, and strong partner relationships. She is an award-winning journalist and marketer whose passion for our military began during her time as a reporter and television news anchor. From Jacksonville, NC to Kosovo, her assignments opened her eyes to the post-9/11 military experience, and its cycles of deployment, redeployment, and constant transition....

This was a good initiative to stem corruption. That is something every state should be doing since the 4 years of Trump.

May 4, 2021
By Craig Mauger

Lansing - The Michigan House (click here) voted unanimously Tuesday to place new limits on separation agreements between agencies and departing state employees two months after revelations of secret deals roiled the Capitol.

Most notably, Robert Gordon, the former state health director, received nine months of pay after he resigned on Jan. 22, and Steve Gray, the former unemployment director, got nearly seven months of pay when he left on Nov. 5. Both deals required Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration and the ex-officials to maintain confidentiality about the circumstances of the departures....

Americans need to know who sincerely cares about them.

The map to the left is from the New York Times' continuous coverage of the virus.

Risk for unvaccinated people based on cases and test positive. (click here) The color key is at the news article. Orange is a high risk, red is very high risk and purple is extremely high risk.

May 27, 2021

By Lance Lambert and Nicolas Rapp

...These 24 states (click here) all have Republican governors who argue that the federal enhanced benefit—which is paid on top of state benefits—is incentivizing jobless Americans to not go back to work. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce agrees. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp expressed that view recently on Fox News: "We’re not doing away with regular unemployment...We’re just taking away this federal subsidy that’s encouraging people not to get in the workforce."

The White House doesn't agree with the assessment. Instead, the Biden administration cites school and daycare closures and low wages for many jobs as bigger contributors to the increasingly tight labor market....

The $300 per week was to assist in the gap when SAFE employment wasn't available. No American should be choosing between being safe and being dead. We have seen incidents like that, with a meatpacking plant and other restaurant businesses where people have gone back to work out of necessity and subsequently became ill and died. The $300 subsidy allows Americans to be protected from a financial burden that accumulates due to UNSAFE WORKING CONDITIONS.

Life and death in the USA are all political. Guns, Covid, and now unemployment benefits. If Americans are  in a red state their longevity could be cut short because of their Governor. It is the lower population density of the Red States involved that allows Governors to shirt the issue without too much damage to their political careers. The southeast USA just doesn't vote for their own best interest and it shows.

Have a better Memorial Day. Until later, good night.

 

Beto O'Rourke is correct. The Republican voting bill in Texas changes the QUALITY of evidence.

It is an unconstitutional law. It is not only unconstitutional, it changes the basis of our democracy is proving a crime.

May 8, 2021
By David Montgomery

...“This is the single greatest attack on our democracy, (click here) not just in our lifetime, but perhaps in the lifetime of this very democracy,” said former Representative Beto O’Rourke, who was a Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 presidential primary....

The Texas law is so dangerous it cannot be allowed to stand. The quality of evidence it calls for lowers the standard of "beyond a shadow of a doubt." Only a preponderance of the evidence is required. That is more than ridiculous because voting is about numbers. Voting is about the majority of voting being successful in turning out the vote. The basis of the USA democracy is based in "the majority" when it comes to winning elections. There would have to be a greater number of "preponderance votes" than the number the winning candidate drew to his election. But, the elections these days are often won by a small majority, even a few votes. So, the idea a preponderance will overturn an election is real. But, that isn't the worst aspect of this law. Introducing the word "preponderance" changes the quality of evidence needed for the conviction of a crime. The word "preponderance" hacks away at our Rule of Law.

The Texas legislature has a majority of crooks voting in laws in Texas. The entire paradigm of Texas' legislature is a threat to human life and not just a democracy. It is based in the superiority of protecting private concerns over that of the public. The utility laws that killed so many people this past year is clear proof of the leanings of the power structure in Texas. This new initiative is a real threat to a democracy whereby the Rule of Law demands proof of a crime beyond a shadow of a doubt and not simply the preponderance of the evidence. It puts too much power in the hands of a few officials and not enough power in the power of the people.

Anyone voting for this bill hates democracy and prefers dictatorial powers.

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

...But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The morality of the government we elect lies in his words that every American shall cherish.

This legislature is an assault on our democracy seeking to change the quality of evidence upheld by the Rule of Law. We cannot allow it, nor tolerate those that create and defends it.