I think the cooperation with the Taliban is remarkable.

I find it remarkable the USA military is peacefully in contact with the Taliban to facilitate the evacuation of Americans and others. That has never occurred with a recognized enemy of the USA.

I don’t know the beginnings of the cooperation other than top level leaders of the USA agencies, but, I do remember General McChrystal was adamant about communing with the townspeople. I can’t help but believe that expression of unarmed friendliness changed the way the Afghan people, including the Taliban, saw American soldiers. I think General McChrystal did impressive groundwork to the cooperation we are seeing today.

I also find it impressive The American Soldier is viewed with humanitarian interests and not simply a killing machine. It is a very strong position the USA military has developed in this model at a critical time on Earth. I congratulate every one of the military leaders and our soldiers for bringing compassion, integrity and honor to our country’s purpose.

Taliban Coup

One of the reasons the evacuation from Afghanistan had gotten bizarre was because of the Taliban coup. Previous to the coup there was a predictable elected government of the people. Then the Taliban removed predictable with chaos and all hell broke out at the Kabul airport.

The USA had intelligence about such a possibility but until it actually happens there is no absolute daily routine at the airport with our troops that could be put I place. There weren’t enough troops, President Biden had to send more.

So, considering the impressive airlift now since additional soldiers arrived, order has been restored. To complicate things there is now a credible threat from ISIS-K since the execution of its jailed leader. Do our troops ever have an easy day in Afghanistan?

A good estimate is that there will be an effort by the Taliban to end any ISIS presence in Afghanistan. That will probably be met with an effort by Pakistan to secure its borders while escalation takes place between ISIS and the Taliban. I am sure the intelligence base of the Taliban regarding ISIS in Afghanistan was a topic of conversation with our CIA Director when he met with the Taliban leader.

The Afghan people should prepare for chaos and Taliban war with arrests and executions of ISIS. There will probably be false arrests and executions because there is no democracy or due process.

The circumstances regarding the withdrawal of troops became emergency evacuation due to the coup. Whatever economic growth Afghanistan achieved during the past 20 years will be lost dependent on the bloodiness of the burgeoning war between ISIS and the Taliban.

Actions have consequences and when it comes to Afghanistan the coup has caused massive upheaval of the people’s belief of their safety and security.

I wish our troops and their evacuation efforts the best. Come home safe, anything otherwise is not acceptable. There will be casualties of one kind or another and it need not be one more soldier’s life.

Afghanistan will become very upsetting. As greater chaos of this civil war grows death squads will be organized locally to protect citizens. Death squads have no rules, circulating and patternless leadership and frequently racist based in religious and ethnic divisions.

The USA needs to leave Afghanistan rather than trying to figure out what side our soldiers are on.  This two decades of USA involvement was a dedicated effort to bring a better quality of life; it has failed and today the reasons are obvious. 

Vietnam is today a friend that has grown out of a unified population and consistent leadership that saw The West as a potential friend. That effort with Vietnam was assisted by the Late US Senator John McCain. That effort was a historical model after a failed war. 

May God, regardless of religious preference, walk with all of us today. 

What?

The Robert’s Court took a sovereign country outside the USA and assigned it the burden of maintaining climate refugees and asylum seekers with a destination to the USA in Mexico. The USA Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over Mexico.

Those people are destined to the USA. The jurisdiction in question is the USA, not Mexico.

I don’t get it. The USA has no right to impose domestic policy on Mexico UNLESS there is cooperation with the USA. There is no treaty supporting the Robert’s Court.

Those people in Mexico are not the responsibility of Mexico because they have no citizenship standing in Mexico. They are seeking asylum in the USA. Obstructing them from entering the USA violates USA existing law on asylum. 

The Robert’s Court is incompetent. The decision was nonsense and has no relationship to Dreamers. Dreamers are in the USA. The people in Mexico are not at all the same as Dreamers. It would be interesting if any Dreamers are trapped in Mexico for whatever reason. But, Dreamers and the Obama policy has no relationship to OUR asylum seekers.

The rules are clear for anyone seeking asylum including any Americans seeking asylum elsewhere. As long as a person can make it to a country within its borders to seek asylum they are safe. OUR asylum seekers are not here yet and may be in the same danger for the reason they left their homeland to come to the USA.

How long will American laws be trampled by a political Supreme Court? This is outrageous and can endanger Americans that could be seeking asylum elsewhere.

What is to prevent any country from DUMPING their asylum seekers in other countries?

More expensive than vaccine

Any Governor stating Monoclonal Antibodies is the way to go rather vaccines does not respect life. I understand Dr. Fauci has stated these antibodies are valuable to save lives and I applaud him, but, he is not stating this treatment is preferable to vaccine.

I remind that the SARS-CoV-2 causes microscopic clots that will cause damage that will cause increasing damage as time passes. Every measure to prevent infection of the virus is vital to human longevity and optimal health.

I am more than pleased there is a very effective treatment in the monoclonal antibodies for those infected with the virus. But, when Governors place politics before the well being of citizens by getting vaccinations, that is a human rights violation. Putting a “treatment” before the importance of a vaccine that is at the very least a maiming standard for Americans.

continued…

The Taliban stated:

They were prohibiting Afghans from leaving the country because they are NEEDED to rebuild the country.

What have we been doing for 20 years? Have we not rebuilt the country? So what does the Taliban have to do with rebuilding when they have been doing nothing but destroying it. They can forget about war reparations because they weren’t elected, they couped the elected government.

Before the Taliban use excuses about detaining Afghans in the country they need to put forward exactly where the people are needed to rebuild the country. And get on with it. Why postpone it? Give the Afghan people hope and expectations for their country. Get started. Put people to work and pay them a living wage.

It is called governance. Governance is not about terrorizing the people. It is about peace and prosperity.

What normally occurs with coups is that the power structure views the people as the enemy. Ultimately, the people fall into poverty and those with the guns and tanks become the ruling class and have the wealth of the country sequestered with military dominance of the people. They rule with the people in fear of them. Considering the Taliban are attacking protesters, they are headed down the typical coup path.

Killing ISIS prisoners is the easy part, to be accepted as leaders of Afghanistan. Holding the people in fear is not at all an accomplishment. Those that might see the Taliban as desirable as leaders need to reflect on the benevolence of Islam and not The Jehad.

Child Endangerment

Throw DeSantis in prison. End of discussion.

Hostages

I hope all Westerners are making it to the airports because the Taliban will take hostages and prisoners if they haven’t started already.

It isn’t as though there was no notice about the withdrawal. There are plenty of videos coming out of independent sources. 

GET OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!

Americans live in artificial security bubbles. They don’t need vaccines and they don’t need to heed warnings about USA withdrawal from Afghanistan.

THEY DON’T LISTEN ANYMORE !!!!! 

Whatever false sense of security Americans have, they better shake it and GET REAL!!  

They are NOT their own authority!!!!

Surprise, surprise, surprise!!!!!

There is no reason to block anyone from going to Kabul Airport.

The Taliban has accepted August 31, 2021 as the  day the USA is vacating Afghanistan. The Taliban have no right to interfere with those that are leaving the country. That is especially true of the elderly, women and children. That has been the majority of those received as refugees by many other countries and not just the USA. 

There is no place on any inflammatory statements as stated by Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

The evacuations, especially of foreign visitors and workers should continue until the last flight on August 31, 2021.

The United Nations should be assisting with this difficult regime to quiet objections and threats by the Taliban.

This decision to clear the Capitol Police Officer that shot and killed Ms. Babbit is absolutely correct.

There is corruption in the USA media (click here) in that an occasional reporting service gives the idea that corruption existed in this decision because the officer was a bodyguard for a high-ranking Democrat. Placing doubt on this decision is a matter of political interest and not the facts.

Below the Washington Post is reporting the truth. The Washington Post also reported the facts at the time and before this decision (click here). This insurrection was all about the money. I am confident Ms. Babbit was known as a loyalist by Trump who promised the moon, even his personal general, for the actions she took that day. 

It is unfortunate that Ms. Babbit decided to go through a broken window to continue the assault against Congress. It was shortly after this that the National Guard arrived. We don't know her actions should she had been in the hallway after the Guard arrived. 

Was there anyone there that participated in the insurrection that wasn't about the money and a financially enhanced future?

Regardless, this is the correct decision and I stated it from the beginning. The officer had a duty to the members of Congress and he did his job.

August 23, 2021

An internal investigation (click here) has cleared a U.S. Capitol Police officer of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt during the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6, the department announced Monday.

The Justice Department previously announced that the officer would not face criminal charges in the killing of the 35-year-old California woman, who was shot as she tried to force her way through a set of doors deep inside the Capitol.

Babbitt, who was the only Capitol rioter fatally shot by police, was praised by former president Donald Trump in a statement earlier this month. In the statement, Trump said he had questioned why the officer who shot her was “getting away with murder.” White supremacists and other far-right groups have labeled Babbitt a martyr....

 

Eight days away from complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Pushing the exit date past August 31, 2021, is MISSION CREEP. It also shows indecisiveness. It is a political ploy to project the image of uncertainty to this administration. There is no easy way to leave Afghanistan.

August 23, 2021

President Biden (click here) is considering pushing back his Aug. 31 deadline for the U.S. troop withdrawal, but the Taliban said that this would not be welcome. Violent clashes continued at Kabul’s airport....

If the USA pushes it's authority beyond August 31, 2021 the Taliban will begin a war all over again. 

Afghanistan has a footprint that is 6 percent of that of the USA. A good amount of that footprint of Afghanistan can be traveled by mule or caravans on very bad and torturous roads. The USA announced July 8, 2021 it would be leaving the country.

...Our military mission in Afghanistan (click here) will conclude on August 31st.  The drawdown is proceeding in a secure and orderly way, prioritizing the safety of our troops as they depart....

July 8th was nearly two months of travel to be ready to leave the country. Afghanistan just isn't that big a country that anyone is still somewhere among the people to not be prepared to evacuate out.

Shopkeepers in Kabul are stating their businesses are suffering from a decrease in business since the Taliban have taken over. People of Kabul are stating they don't know if they will receive their paychecks since the Taliban rolled into town. These people have existing businesses and have banks with a currency that will be more disrupted if the USA extends it's presence in Afghanistan.

There is no doubt Afghanistan's business and quality of life have been disrupted by the Taliban coupe on the existing government. But, there is little to be done now to reverse that without the people standing up for themselves. When they do they are assaulted by Taliban militia to end the demonstrations. If the USA commits to mission creep to stay past August 31, 2021, there will be MORE disruption and not less.

It is in the best interest of the people to leave and let the dust settle due to the coupe of the existing government. No one needs more dead and more economic disruption. The people of Afghanistan had two decades, a generation, to put their lives in order that allows democracy to flourish. Instead, they allowed the Haqqani Network to be a part of the GDP and Pakistan to recover the power of the Taliban. For the USA to stay any longer is foolishness. Nothing will change by mission creep by the USA. It will get worse instead of better and the Afghans will be given false hope that everything will return to normal. Normal in the case of Afghanistan includes hideouts for terrorists and a poppy culture that refuses to die. It is time to leave. We should have left as soon as bin Laden was found and killed.

Stick to your guns, Joe. Get out of there. We no longer have a reason to continue. The entire country is corrupt and not just the instilled Western democracy. Corruption is clout in Afghanistan and it needs to end, but there is nothing the USA can do to bring about a better Afghanistan.

With family

 Tony Blair came out to say there are such things as forever wars and Afghanistan is one of them. Everyone who believes in the politics of ending forever wars are blithering idiots.

Time to end the lies and war.

The Taliban are taking out ISIS from Afghanistan.

When the Taliban ran Afghanistan before the USA occupation, they didn't have any other organization challenge them. It may be the reason Pakistan reconstituted them. I am not making excuses for Pakistan, but, the ISI is rather independent of the Pakistani government and may see the Taliban as capable of stabilizing the region.

It wasn't much of a battle the Taliban won by the way. The Afghan military disintegrated, except, for a police station chief that was assassinated because he was wearing a uniform that did not represent the Taliban. Did they ask him if those were the only clothes he had to wear? But, the police chief may have been hated by the people. It is just something that isn't known. Iraq was like that for a while. Local authorities were some of the most hellish figures in Iraq and then one day the British came to investigate and there were no more terrorists running the police station. There were death squads for a time in Iraq. Everyone has their own revenge list and it surfaces when there is chaos in the country.

Al Baghdadi is dead (click here). He created a modern day terrorist organization empowered to return his variety of Islamic Law to its original haunts. When the Middle East defeated ISIS it was to destroy it forever, but, some members decided they had a noble cause and made it to Afghanistan to find a place to call home. This is what I mean when I say geography alone provides an impossible task to end the hideouts of extremists and murderers.

Khorasani, also known as Mawlawi Ziya ul-Haq

The leader of the Islamic State (click here) group in South Asia and the Far East has been arrested in Kabul, Afghanistan's intelligence service says.

Zia ul-Haq, also known as Sheikh Omar Khorasani, was held with two other senior leaders of the militant group.

The Taliban are the main militant group in Afghanistan but IS has been active in some areas and has carried out several bomb attacks in Kabul.

Correspondents say the arrest will be a major breakthrough if confirmed.

The other two were named as his spokesman Saheeb and chief of intelligence Abu Ali....

See, the economy of Afghanistan is built around poppies. It has been for a long time. So, the occupation of the USA brought a challenge to these goons that run the Poppy Cartels, namely the Haqqani Network (click here). And eventually, the USA was made to leave the poppy growers alone because there was no other economic opportunity on the horizon.

Richard Holbrooke ate, drank, and slept Afghanistan. He believed he could turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. He died trying. He died of a heart attack. The land and the people were tougher than he was. He would make testimony to Congress and report all the upside of our occupation and then he would report the ideas and hopes that were more lackluster than possible.

I think the Pakistani ISI is responsible for the long-standing presence of the Taliban in the region. Haqqani probably funded their militia. The land is tough land and the people are very difficult to change because overbearing force maintains a presence in every thought the people have. If a woman has a burka too short showing too much ankle they are hung in the town square. At least that is the way it used to be. They may have mellowed a bit. They are stating women do have rights in Sharia Law. I would not want to live under Sharia Law, but, at least everyone knows where they stand.

But as to Khorasani, the people were terrified of him or any ISIS member. I don't doubt the fact he was in prison rather than executed played into the Taliban's insistence on control of one kind or another. They saw groups of men inhabiting what was their land and the Taliban didn't think they were safe. Today, with Khorasani dead, there are people in the Middle East that might admire the Taliban for doing what no one else would do, end the life of a man intent on others' destruction if he ever obtained any power at all.

There are reasons for the way things rolled out in Afghanistan and it was going to happen that way no matter how much the USA prepared to leave. It is a land that does not adhere to Western principles. There are many divisions of authority in Afghanistan along the lines of ethnicity. If one ethnic is doing better than another, it is an issue. The USA never wanted to recognize those divisions as important so much as an evil of democracy, the melting pot.

Equality is a threat in Afghanistan, where one authority rules their corner of the world while another would like to eliminate them. There is no equity in Afghanistan. It is a foreign idea that the people might like to have as governance, but, with a drug cartel running the only economy that sustains, that will never happen. Reality took over in Afghanistan no matter the efforts of the USA and its allies

The drama at the airport is unfortunate and the gunmen that fired into crowds to disperse them didn't know water cannons can do the same thing, only better. This is the land that God forgot. Afghanistan is a niche in the world where small minorities could be safe enough to survive. It is a marginal land with extremist populations that cannot survive any place else. Afghanistan is what it is called, but, the country is completely unmanageable unless it is ruled by men who see their lives through limited possibilities and act on those possibilities with the idea of survival.

So long as the people understand the dynamics of their governors and the governance, they will be okay. Women will be recognized and in time the affiliation they have with Pakistan might even prove to be a changing force in the country ruled by the Taliban.

Democracy is a strange thing. Once a peoples have had a taste of it, it is difficult to ignore. I would say, the future for Afghanistan isn't written yet and I would not give up on the idea that the people liked democracy enough to carve out a future where it can grow and bring their children prosperity.

For now, the people will have to get used to their new governance and decide what the future holds. I am sorry the nation-building didn't work. So, did Richard Holbrooke in his chronic insistence that it would.

August 19, 2021

With the Taliban having won the battle (click here) for supremacy in Afghanistan, the group appears to have begun a crackdown on its rivals. According to media reports and social media footage, Omar Khorasani, former head of the Islamic State in South Asia.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Khorasani, also known as Mawlawi Ziya ul-Haq, was taken from an Afghan government prison and executed. Khorasani had been arrested by Afghan security forces in an operation in May 2020. Khorasani headed the group’s South Asia operations, but had been replaced as chief at the time of his arrest....

Here is another fine mess the Flint residents are seeing due to deadly water and a maniacal govenor.

Flint is having trouble maintaining it's population. That will affect funding across the board and will slow the city's recovery. The Mayor and Council will have to decide, but, they should consider a lawsuit against the state and the people involved for causing irreparable harm to the city causing fiscal and economical distress as well as poisoned water.

Water is a very big deal. The city will never be the same. The city should find those that left to move to a safer city and ask exactly what caused them to uproot their family and move away from Flint, Michigan.

The people that moved away should file a lawsuit as well for damages that caused them to leave.

This is not the normal attrition of a city's population. There has been a loss in longevity in the USA and probably a loss in population due to COVID-19 in most parts of the country, especially the southeast. But, this is due to poisoned water. The averages of losses in population can be known across the country and other cities with population the same as Flint going into the Global Pandemic will reflect a loss of life and longevity of their residents, but, more than a fifth of the population was moved to leave beyond the deaths from the pandemic. This is due to the poisoned water.

August 12, 2021
By Dave Boucher

The number of people living in Flint (click here) dropped to its lowest point in more than 100 years, according to the results of the 2020 U.S. Census released Thursday.

The city had 81,252 residents as of last year, according to the national survey conducted once every decade. That's a substantial drop from the 102,434 residents reported in 2010. Census estimates from 2019 had put Flint at closer to 95,500 residents.

It's the first time the city's population dropped below 100,000 since surpassing that total in 1930. The city's population jumped from 38,550 in 1910 to 91,599 in 1920.

Flint experienced arguably the worst public health crisis in its history during the past decade, as the city continues to grapple with the impact of its tainted water.

Flint City Council President Kate Fields was a little surprised the population drop wasn't larger. She pointed to job losses and the water crisis, as well as the massive attention it garnered, for driving the decline....

Repair after repair may not bring them back. People don't like to continually uproot their children. So, those that left may not want to return for the reasons that they made a new home elsewhere.

August 20, 2021

Flint - Officials from the City of Flint Department of Public Works (click here) will start the 95-5 water increments to the secondary water pipeline on Monday, August 23, pending no issues with the pipeline connection work over the weekend. This work is needed to begin repair work on the primary water pipeline system.

All protocols with the State of Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act and the City’s agreement with its primary water supplier, the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) will continue to be followed. Residents will continue to be updated regarding the progress of this infrastructure project.

As a reminder:

- Additional monitoring will take place during the incremental increase, valve replacement work on the primary water delivery system (GLWA) and during all other major infrastructure projects. Monitoring results are posted on the EPA’s “Taking Action on Flint Water” website at www.michigan.gov/flintwater....

Today was an eye opener.

I went to an uncle's funeral at Great Lakes National Cemetery. He was a navy veteran. He died at the age of 82 and left a widow who is devastated without him. She held up well today. The service was lovely and two of our finest sailors were there to present her with the flag. The people that are employed by the cemetery are always very sensitive to the family and others there to pay the soldier honor. It helped her to realize the depth of her husband's love of people and country. He was honored during his life with service to the community through the "Knights of Columbus."

But, the scenery was different today. I have other relatives buried at that same cemetery. I visited their graves. But, when I was standing at the administration building waiting for the service to begin I looked out across the field and remembered it was only two years ago when no headstones could be seen from that building. I looked out today and there were far more headstones in all the fields surrounding the administration building. Then it hit me. COVID. The cemetery had many more veterans buried today than two years ago or earlier. 

It is my estimation with that reality check today, the country has lost many of our veterans to COVID-19. I could not believe the population of headstones in the fields at Great Lakes National Cemetery. I did not engage the staff to discuss such observations although I am sure they see it as well.

We should take a census of the veterans that died of COVID-19 and hold a national remembrance of their service and their equally tragic death. My uncle did not die of COVID-19 or any of its variants and his widow was there and she is perfectly healthy and vaccinated. But, the early months of the virus until there were vaccinations took the lives of many elderly people. Our veterans were among them.

The people of Haiti have to be relocated.

The USA has California, but, we can afford to build earthquake-proof buildings. Haiti is still building weak structures that collapse at the first shake of an earthquake. We can provide tidal wave warning systems, but, there aren't warning systems that will work for Haiti. It is in a very volatile part of the Caribbean Sea. Ten years between quakes is a lot for people, but, on a geological timeline, it is bearly a blip.

The problem is this: Haiti sits on a small plate between two large plates and next to two smaller plates. All three of the small plates, Nazca, Cocos, and the Caribbean move independently of each other. The colored lines of the diagram above illustrate a very stark and worrisome future.

The divergent plates between the Cocos and Nazca plates actually help those two plates remain relatively calm because they are moving in opposite directions of each other and DO NOT HAVE A BUILD-UP OF PRESSURE BETWEEN THEM. Haiti does not get a break from the pressure. The illustrations also show that divergent plates also provide a place for volcanos to erupt. That is true. It is also true of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (click here) that runs north and south in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. The volcanos are underwater and particularly under seawater. Those volcanos contribute to the land at the bottom of the ocean as the plates move apart.

The transformation faults move past each other. They build up pressure along their borders and when the pressure is great enough the plates move and cause earthquakes, underwater and on land. The north end of the Caribbean Plate where Haiti sits is a transformation fault between it and the North American Plate. 

MASS matters with these plates. The bigger and heavier the plates are the less they will move and cause damage to any human settlements. However, the North American Plate is the dominant plate with the Caribbean Plate and it will push the Caribbean Plate around. But, the danger to the people doesn't stop there.

The other three sides of the Caribbean Plate are convergent plates. They all put pressure on the Caribbean Plate. They cause a lot of stress on the Caribbean Plate and when that stress meets up with pressure by the North American plate, the answer is a catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. Basically, Haiti is caught in between two bullies the North American Plate and the South American plate. None of these plates give the Caribbean plate relief. They are all converging on the Caribbean plate.

There will be no relief for the people of Haiti. This will continue for the remainder of the existence of that island nation.

The United Nations is getting used to the idea of Climate Refugees and what to do about them when their islands are swallowed up by rising oceans and seas. It is my opinion that is the best way to treat the people of Haiti. There is profound poverty which leads to poor construction of houses and buildings which leads to deaths of the people on a regular basis.

When entire nations of people are reassigned to a different place on Earth, the idea of preserving the ethnic composition of the people is very important. So, while sending aid to Haiti is always a plan, what isn't a plan is the idea this can go on forever. In one lifetime a Haitian can experience eight devastating earthquakes if they occur every ten years and the people live at least to the age of 70. One earthquake for every decade of life.

The problem with those statistics is the understanding if a person is exposed to eight severe earthquakes, they won't live through one of them. They will never achieve the age of 70 years old. That is a human rights issue and one the entire world has to grapple with to ensure the survival of the genetics of Haiti and the people's culture.

I hate to say this, but, this is the only reasonable solution for Haiti and there is no reason to do anything else, except, hand a sign on the island that says "No Trespassing, Danger Ahead."

They need stable land to begin to move out of poverty and into an economy that flourishes for them while preserving their beliefs and customs with their children.

When the North and South American Plates meet they will have turned the island of Haiti to dust at the bottom of the Caribbean. That is a long way off, but, it creates a picture of the future of this island that provides for a better outcome for the people of Haiti.

Hobby Lobby get a clue! This is a human rights issue!

Did you realise that through your last trip to the bathroom, you were actually exercising one of your fundamental human rights? (click here)

August 16, 2021
By Nara Schoenberg

There’s a woman’s restroom at the East Aurora Hobby Lobby (click here) where Meggan Sommerville works, but for 10 years, she’s been barred from using it because she is transgender.

She has had to punch out of work and cross a parking lot in the rain or snow to access the bathroom at a fast-food restaurant, she said. She has used the men’s room, which is shared by both employees and customers. She has restricted her fluid intake and endured dehydration, muscle cramps and headaches, according to court documents.

So when Sommerville contemplated the Illinois Appellate Court’s ruling that she had the right to use the women’s restroom at work, she paused, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“It’s a huge, huge relief,” said Sommerville, 51, of Oswego. “It’s still an emotional roller coaster, because we don’t know how Hobby Lobby is going to respond, and we have a ways to go. But to have a court uphold unanimously: I can’t put into words the relief that this brings.”

Hobby Lobby could not be reached for comment. The company has the option of appealing the case to the Supreme Court of Illinois....

The Taliban were never elected by the people of Afghanistan. They are not an ethnicty with long ties to Afghanistan. They are a militant militia.

Newsweek has reported there are women news anchors that have interviewed members of the Taliban leadership currently in control of the country. This new somewhat younger Taliban leadership might be adopting global values in that human rights are important.

There were leaders in negotiations with The West for years. It may be they are now taking on the policies they were exposed to in negotiations. The Taliban leadership did not come to their current status by permission of the people. I understand there were demonstrations against the Taliban insurgency that took over the country and the demonstrators were met with guns and violence.

The Taliban are not the legitimate leaders of Afghanistan, but, a coup occurred for whatever reason it did. It is in the Taliban's best interest to allow the USA to carry out an evacuation of people desiring to leave. It is the experience of the USA, especially with Iraq, that as soon as the country is viewed as orderly, respecting human rights, and a government representative of the people, the diaspora will return if that is their first priority. Not all refugees want to stay in a country where they are safe. They, in many instances, want to return to their homeland. The Taliban should consider that and demonstrate a society and government focused on human rights.

In the past and what the USA found in Afghanistan after ending al Qaeda's stranglehold on the country were enormous human rights abuses by the Taliban including public hangings of basically innocent women and men. The Taliban MUST do better and treat people with dignity and respect and win over their ability to trust them. A repeat of their past human rights record will bring many sanctions and dissension from the global community. That dissension was obvious in the UN Security Council meeting.

   

Why the booster vaccination may be necessary.

The first issuance of the booster vaccine is for Americans that are immune-compromised. People that are immune-compromised for any reason are not going to have as much immunity available against the viruses as people with a normal immune system. 

In recent weeks, I believe it was Dr. Fauci that stated the immunity by 90 percent of vaccinated Americans that received 2 vaccines. The other 10 percent was divided between immuno-compromised and others each with 5 percent of Americans. Compromised people can include Americans fighting for their lives with cancer and others that have these immuno-compromised problems. The booster vaccine is to address those 5 percent that Dr. Fauci talked about. Keeping their immunity up is important because their health is compromised and the virus takes advantage of that.

There is also an article in "VOX" that attempts to explain the immunity acquired and maintained by those that received two injections. "VOX" looked at two studies about the issue of immunity and the need for a booster. This is their article.

January 19, 2021
By Julia Belluz

For the nearly 100 million people (click here) around the world who’ve been infected with the coronavirus, new science offers some comfort: Reinfections appear to be rare, and you may be protected from Covid-19 for at least five months.

The study, the largest of its kind, followed more than 20,000 health workers in the UK, regularly testing them for infection and antibodies. Between June and November, the researchers — from Public Health England (PHE) — found 44 potential reinfections out of the 6,614 participants who had tested positive for antibodies or had a previous positive PCR or antibody test when they joined the study. Meanwhile, of the 14,000-plus people who had tested negative for the virus at the start of the study, there were 409 new infections.

Only two of the 44 potential reinfections were designated “probable” and the rest were considered “possible,” “based on the amount of confirmatory evidence available,” according to the health agency. Fifteen people — or 34 percent — had symptoms.

So if all 44 reinfections are real, that translates to an 83 percent lower risk of reinfection compared to health workers who never had the virus. If only two are confirmed, that rate of protection goes up to 99 percent. Either way, it suggests natural immunity might provide a similar level of protection as the approved Covid-19 vaccines....

 

What concerns me is that I read a report on a television program at the gym two days ago that stated the CDC did their own testing for continued immunity following 2 initial injections. It found that after six months Moderna offered 84 percent immunity down from 94 percent after the initial two injections. Pfizer on the other had only had 34 percent immunity down from the initial two injections of 95.4 percent.

I haven't been able to find the written report of the CDC, but, these percentages, especially for the Pfizer vaccines are worrisome because the virus is not confirmed dead and under control, either in the USA or the world.

I do believe there is a reason to fast-track the Pfizer vaccine booster because it has a poor performance over time. The Moderna can be fast-tracked because there is at least 10 percent of their vaccines are not proving permanent immunity. Both these vaccines are in use in the USA and need to be provided boosters to return the higher levels of immunity. There is just no feasible way to have one or the other totally in the USA immune regime. That level of vaccine is impossible to produce at this point.

The long-term goal is to end the need for vaccines by removing COVID-19 from the face of the earth. It is possible as we have had that success with Small Pox. The Small Pox vaccine worked and ended the disease from ever invading human beings again. In the case of COVID-19, the long-term goal is out of reach at this point and the dangers of the virus mutating to a Level Three Virus is still possible.

Two of the variants are proving to be a problem, Delta and Lambda. Lambda is less understood than Delta and that is not good. We know Delta is blocked by the vaccine, hence, the speedy need for a booster in some people. But, we are uncertain about Lambda. Lambda may be the first of the variants that is successful in infecting people even those with healthy immune systems and are vaccinated with good immunity.

So, the most dangerous variant in the USA that is spreading quickly is Delta and it would be a good idea if the people vaccinated received a boost. Ultimately, all those fully vaccinated should receive a booster, but, the ones in most danger at the moment are immunocompromised.

One other aspect to this is the global community and it's problem in being vaccinated to end the virus. Some countries only recently started their vaccination process and may not have started at all. If the USA uses vaccines for boosters that reduces the number of vaccines for the rest of the world.

There is no easy answer for any of this and why the New Zealand Model is so very, very valuable even today with vaccines and continued outbreaks of variants.

In contrast to Florida, California, home of Disneyland, is asking industry leaders to require COVID-19 vaccine or weekly testing.

I would suggest the federal Health and Human Services standardized definitions be used across the country in regard to reporting COVID-19 status. A surge in states like North Dakota is going to be different than a surge in California or Florida.

Since the COVID-19 virus is becoming a chronic issue, there needs to be the standard language in reporting the virus. There also needs to be in place, if there isn't already, a strategic plan when a level three virus is DETECTED and isolation of potentially an entire region of the country. Part of that strategic plan has to be humanitarian measures such as food, clean water, housing, and medical care. I would not expect any exportation of goods from such a region as there will be the transmission of the virus in such exports. There will be a complete collapse of the economy in such exposures to a level three virus.

August 16, 2021

San Diego County, California - San Diego County leaders (click here) and public health officials Monday recommended that all employers in the county begin requiring COVID-19 vaccines for their employees or require weekly testing for the virus.

The recommendation comes a day before the county will begin collecting vaccination proof from its 18,000 employees before the requirement goes into effect next Monday. County employees unwilling or unable to receive the vaccine will be subject to weekly COVID-19 testing and are required to wear masks while indoors.

Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher mentioned the possibility of penalties attached to fraudulent proof, but said the county is still in negotiations as to what that might be.

The Delta variant of the virus is considerably more contagious than previous strains and now comprises 95% of the virus' genome, Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, said at a news conference Monday.

"We are in the middle of the surge right now," she said, referring to a spike in coronavirus infections in recent weeks far outpacing last summer's surge and matching the early trajectory of last fall and winter's spike.

"It will get worse before it gets better," Wooten said....

The United States of America will never have any variants or COVID-19 under control until Florida is in compliance.

Florida is a tourist haven. Foreign countries can list Florida as a danger to health because of the widespread problems with the virus, but, the states have no border guards preventing access to dangerously infected states.

Homeland Security may want to develop a map of the country advertising dangerous regions and entire states so Americans know the danger in states such as Florida. I could not be more serious. By identifying states or regions of the country where the virus is out of control, other countries may designate those as a "No Go Zone" while the rest of the tourism in the USA is undisturbed.

Florida is also a Super Spreader State with absolutely no repercussions to it's economy and causing the rest of the world problems due to the COVID-19 virus and it's variants.

It is most likely the states without compliance to viral precautions will be the first states to develop a level three virus. Orange County is testing positive for the virus 20 percent of the time and that is only a fraction of the population. Twenty percent positive testing is significant and should not be disregarded as a potential for further spread and further mutation of the virus.

August 16, 2021

Orange County, Florida - Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, (click here) along with health officials, addressed the public on Monday regarding COVID-19 and the detection of the virus in wastewater.

Demings and other health leaders discussed the process by which they collect and test the wastewater, and said that levels of the concentration of the virus detected in the wastewater are "very high" and "very concerning."

Officials said there has been more than a 600% increase in levels of the concentration of the virus detected in the local community's wastewater.

Sampling began back in mid-May, according to Ed Torres, utility director.

"The results of the virus RNA that we measure in the wastewater, indicate that we will see continued clinical cases and hospitalizations this week," Torres said....