Dr. Peter Hotez also writes for the Washington Post along with Dr. Vin Gupta

Rumble with Michael Moore, Episode 225 (click here)

In this episode with Michael Moore, Dr. Peter Hotez speaks about his effort to vaccinate the world. The vaccine he developed can be produced in a sterile setting and he is willing to provide others sincerely interested in vaccinating people no matter the country with the start doses needed.

This is the article that discusses his accomplishments. If it makes a difference in the comfort with the vaccine, Houston is one of the blueberries in the Texas Red State.

October 19, 2021
By Karen Brooks Harper

Maria Bottazzi, left, and Peter Hotez at the Tropical Medicine Lab at Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston on Oct. 5, 2021.

The day before COVID-19 (click here) claimed its first Texas victim in 2020, Dr. Peter Hotez was a guest on the popular Austin-based podcast “The Drive.”

After 10 years of research into coronavirus vaccines, Hotez and his Houston team needed an infusion of cash to build on their past work and make a vaccine that could, as Hotez told listeners then, “rescue the world” from the deadly emerging coronavirus pandemic.

“You’d think that people would be pretty eager to support us to move this forward, but so far it hasn’t happened,” the Houston pediatrician and vaccine scientist told the host, Dr. Peter Attia, on March 14, 2020....

...Now, nearly 18 months later, the Houston team’s vaccine, called Corbevax by its maker in India, is cheap, has no patent, can be made by many vaccine producers globally — including those in low- and middle-income countries — and is poised to receive approval for widespread global use.

The Indian government has promised the biopharmaceutical company Biological E Limited, which is making the vaccine in that country, that it will buy 300 million doses with the potential for more.

A halal version of the vaccine, for use in Islamic countries because it doesn’t contain animal-based ingredients, is also about to start clinical trials in Indonesia.

And later this year, the company hopes the vaccine will be endorsed by the World Health Organization for use globally, which could open the doors to quicker authorization in several countries that need it....

Dr. Hotez does all the work no one else seems to take on with  chagas and schistosomiasis. He has now developed a RBD based vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. This is not an mRNA vaccine.

This is an article about RBD based vaccines in relation to this virus. When Dr. Hotez heard the call for "all hands on deck" he didn't hesitate to perfect the ability for this vaccine to be ready to assist in a global innoculation.

Maria Bottazzi holds a vial of the RBD-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine at the Tropical Medicine Lab at Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston on Oct. 5, 2021.

Scientific rationale for developing potent RBD-based vaccines targeting COVID-19

• By Harry Kleanthous, 
• Judith Maxwell Silverman, 
• Karen W. Makar, 
• In-Kyu Yoon, 
• Nicholas Jackson & 
• David W. Vaughn 

Published in npj Vaccines volume 6, Article number: 128 (2021)

Vaccination of the global population against COVID-19 (click here) is a great scientific, logistical, and moral challenge. Despite the rapid development and authorization of several full-length Spike (S) protein vaccines, the global demand outweighs the current supply and there is a need for safe, potent, high-volume, affordable vaccines that can fill this gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Whether SARS-CoV-2 S-protein receptor-binding domain (RBD)-based vaccines could fill this gap has been debated, especially with regards to its suitability to protect against emerging viral variants of concern. Given a predominance for elicitation of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) that target RBD following natural infection or vaccination, a key biomarker of protection, there is merit for selection of RBD as a sole vaccine immunogen. With its high-yielding production and manufacturing potential, RBD-based vaccines offer an abundance of temperature-stable doses at an affordable cost....

The real danger with the decision regarding Project Veritas is it's anti-democracy precedent.

"Project Veritas" is an organization involved in seeking legal opinions so it can TAYLOR it's work to appear to be legitimate. That form of advise is illegal. Lawyers are not suppose to give opinion on how to break the law so that there is a minor fraction of truth and protection to lies, deceit and political danger to this democracy.

Currently, the January 6th Committee is engaged in exposing the truth regarding the impetus of persons of power and how a gathering of protesters in Washington, DC turned into a stolen mob first attending a rally with Donald John Trump. If such hidden lies by lawyers are allowed to stand, it could cause problems for the January 6th Committee in that lawyers abound in Trump's world to do exactly what Veritas' lawyers do in advising on how to effectively break the law.

The Rule of Law is how the USA governs itself. If that is polluted by liars and theives the American people can lose their democracy and find themselves in a cesspool of violent authority know to be the result of dictatorships.

The decision regarding "Project Veritas" is completely and utterly wrong. It protects dangereous criminals engaged in upholding at the very least organized crime and it's pursuit for political power. The decision must be overturned, but, the correct dialogue in that needs to be made clear; Project Veritas is not a journalism enterprise, it is a political enterprise masquerading as a news organization.

At the very least, at this point, Project Veritas lawyers need to be investigated and reviewed by New York State lawyers' associations. The type of lawyering they perform is not protected by Client Priviledge. 

Project Veritas is lead by a "Fraudmaker," not a filmmaker. It is a political organization, not a disinterested non-profit.

The entire right wing movement in adopting journalism rights when it is political dogma, rhetoric adn propaganda and nothing more is long lived.

Hannity's America features a segment on The Advocate's (click here) 7-state investigation into Planned Parenthood's dirty money--employees accept donations from racists to abort Black Babies. Planned Parenthood has been targeting minorities since it was founded by elitist Margaret Sanger, who wanted to use abortion to control and limit minorities...And with almost 80% of Planned Parenthood clinics in minority neighborhoods, with African American women almost 4 times more likely than whites to abort, Planned Parenthood's founder's vision is lived out today...By killing over 1400 Black babies a day, Planned Parenthood and abortion affiliates are accomplishing what the KKK could only dream about...Don't excuse this kind of killing. Demand that the Federal Gov. cut the $300 million a year in tax money that it gives Planned Parenthood.The Advocate is an independent student magazine at UCLA. Go to Laadvocate.com for the full story.

For sometime O'Keefe has been creating lies to back his politics. Veritas is nothing new for O'Keefe as CEO. He is still producing political propaganda and not even close to journalism. The premise for the lawsuits are incorrect. Project Veritas is a political organization KNOWN to have lies and falsehoods leveled as part of their politics.

"Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?" (click here)

Margaret Sanger, as a young public health nurse, witnessed the sickness, disease and poverty caused by unwanted pregnancies. She spent the rest of her life trying to alleviate these conditions by bringing birth control to America. During the early 20th century, the idea of making contraceptives generally available was revolutionary. Contraceptive usage was considered a distinguishing feature of the 'haves.' In recent years, some revisionist biographers have portrayed Sanger as a eugenicist and a racist. This view has been widely publicized by critics of reproductive rights who have attempted to discredit Sanger's work by discrediting her personally. The basic concept of the eugenics movement in the 1920s and 1930s was that a better breed of humans would be created if the 'fit' had more children and the 'unfit' had fewer. This concept influenced a broad spectrum of thought, but there was little consensus on the definitions of fit and unfit. In theory, the movement was not racist--its message intended to cross race barriers for the overall advancement of mankind. Most eugenicists agreed that birth control would be a detriment to the human race and were opposed to it. Charges that Sanger's motives for promoting birth control were eugenic are not supported. In part of her most important work, "Pivot of Civilization," Sanger's dissent from eugenics was made clear. By examining extracts from her books, the author refutes the notion that Sanger was a eugenicist. Another unsupported argument raised by the anti-Sanger group was that Sanger, in her position as editor of "Birth Contol Review," published eugenicists' views. It would be more accurate to say that the review covered a wide range of opinions and research; the eugenicists views were included because they conferred respectability. David Kennedy, author of "Birth Control in America," does Sanger a grave injustice by falsely attributing to her the quotation: 'More children from the fit, less from the unfit--that is the chief issue of birth control.' This quotation should be attributed to the editors of "American Medicine." The only area Sanger is in agreement with the eugenicists is in her belief that severely retarded people should not bear children. Several authors, including Linda Gordon, argued that Sanger's interest in providing contraceptives to black Americans was motivated by racism. This notion is entirely misconstrued by distortions of language quoted by Sanger. Rather than wanting to exterminate the Negro population, Sanger wanted to cope with the fear of some blacks that birth control was the white man's way of reducing the black population.

Everyone knows abortion is about socio-economic disparities and not that of racism. Margaret Sanger wrote and in that reflected a revolution for the USA introducing birth control to promote the HEALTH AND WELL BEING of women unable to care financially for a family. The idea this is racism, isn't accurate. 

Sanger's focus was empowerment and brought opportunity to Black Women to decide about their future and that of their children. If Black Women are a majority of abortions (I don't recall anything like that reported anywhere) it is because racists in government did exist and through neglect of the Black population in the USA created great disparity in wealth and income.

The burden of a Black Woman with family disintegration and oppressive forces within the American society would provide a greater accent on Black Women for the same reasons White Women sought birth control and abortion. Nothing is different for minority women in acceptance of their decision to abort or use contraception. The failure of the USA to adequately address racism put a larger burden on Black Women in deciding about their reproductive rights.

This early work by O'Keefe defined his future. He was a right wing political extremist that carries PLAUSABLE lies and falsehoods into films designed to discredit opposing parties, candidates and VALUES. There is absolutely no reason why such extremist political views can't be exposed for what they are and to that end the lawsuit against the New York Times is extremely wrong and anti-American.

It is my best estimation that Project Veritas is producing video to create the "Big Lie" as reality. He needs to be exposed and the judge in the case is grossly out of touch with what occurred on January 6th.

March 29, 2017

By Camila Domonoske

Two anti-abortion rights activists (click here) who covertly recorded themselves discussing fetal tissue with Planned Parenthood staff are facing felony charges in California, for allegedly violating state law by filming people without their permission.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt on Tuesday, saying the state "will not tolerate the criminal recording of confidential conversations."

In a statement, Daleiden called the charges "bogus" and reiterated claims that Planned Parenthood has violated the law by selling fetal tissue — an allegation that has been investigated by more than a dozen states, none of which found evidence supporting Daleiden's claim....

...Last year, a grand jury in Texas was examining Daleiden's allegations. The grand jury determined there was no sign of criminal wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.

Instead, in a surprise twist, it indicted Daleiden and Merritt on felony charges of using fake drivers licenses to gain access to a Planned Parenthood meeting. They also indicted Daleiden on misdemeanor charges of trying to buy human tissue — the kind of misconduct he was trying to pin on Planned Parenthood...

The fraudmakers were not only facing criminal indictments, but, liable suits as well.

November 15, 2019
By Sabrina Tavernise

Planned Parenthood (click here) was awarded as much as $2.2 million in damages on Friday, after a federal jury in San Francisco ruled that an anti-abortion activist had broken federal and state laws when he secretly recorded workers for the organization.

The activist, David R. Daleiden, recorded the videos in 2015 in an attempt to show that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue, a claim that created a political uproar and mobilized conservatives against the organization.

Mr. Daleiden, the leader of a group called the Center for Medical Progress, posed as a biotechnology representative to make the recordings. The jury found that he had trespassed on private property and committed fraud, according to court papers. Planned Parenthood said in a statement that the jury had ruled in its favor on each of its claims, including a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act....

Why give it up now? Don't send the children back to school after Winter recess.

Children are not exempt from COVID-19 long haul. The children that have stayed home from any risk of exposure are for the most part happy and healthy. That has been my experience as an Online Teaching Substitute. I think the children belong at home until the entire Pandemic is declared over and the coast is clear.

There needs to be aggressive accounting for the children that had COVID-19 and those with Long Haul Covid-19 with variants and which variant it is. Every city, town and hamlet in the USA needs to keep accurate statistics, so the US Government can begin to plan for intervention as more children become infected. Currently, children are the highest statistic in COVID-19 new onset illnesses.

Sending children back to a social setting is the worst idea anyone ever had. They need to be home and happy and healthy. Enough of this economic martyrdom. There is going to be a disabled society in greater numbers as the years pass. It is my estimation the youngest generation will have shortened longevity due to the damage caused by microscopic blood clots. Such microscopic damage most easily observed in "COVID Toes" cuts down on the residual life of any organ. The virus' microscopic blood clots sometimes turns into larger ones, but, the microscopic blood clots are just as deadly over time because the residual of any human organ that would provide longevity, is now reduced by these unseen clots. 

I TOLD YOU SO!

December 9, 2021
By Stacy Weiner

When Haley Bryson’s post-COVID-19 symptoms began, (click here) they struck mightily. The 9-year-old from Manassas, Virginia, suffered headaches, earaches, exhaustion, soreness in her chest and throat, and stomach problems so bad they sent her to the emergency department twice. She quickly dropped 20 pounds from her 75-pound frame, according to her mom, Javanese Hailey.

The fourth grader — who previously reveled in performing handstands, cartwheels, and forward rolls — felt sick every day starting in August 2021, just a few weeks after a fairly quick recovery from COVID-19.

“I was really sad because being sick was preventing me from doing a lot of things I like to do” — even arts and craft projects, she says.


Haley, who’s been seen at the Post-COVID Care Program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, since October, is feeling much better now. But before, she explains, “all I wanted to do was lay down because everything hurt so much.”

Although COVID-19 infections in children are usually not severe, even those with mild cases can suffer from long COVID-19 months later....

It has to be a nightmare for children and their parents with isolation and illness. Any pediatric floor or PICU must be a nightmare by now.

December 9, 2021

By Sheryl Gay Stoleberg

Courtney Grund, (click here) whose husband died of Covid-19 in August, got an alarming text message last week: Her 16-year-old son was “talking about self-harm,” according to the message, sent by his friend. She quickly signed him up for grief counseling, she said in a tearful interview, using her maiden name to protect his privacy.

John Jackson, a disabled veteran on a fixed income, said he had struggled to find help for his 14-year-old daughter, whose mother died in the pandemic. “I can see it in her, where she’s suffering,” he said.

Pamela Addison, a reading teacher whose husband died, said she felt fortunate that she could afford therapy — $200 a session out of pocket — for her grieving 3-year-old.

Although Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to combat the pandemic, including more than $100 million for existing children’s mental health programs Dand $122 billion for schools, the Biden administration and lawmakers have not yet created initiatives specifically for the tens of thousands of children who have lost parents and primary caregivers to Covid-19....

Mental health issues as well as disabiling outcomes are a real concern. The children that are already handicapped have it worse now. All those on "The Spectrum" are not going to do well while ill. I do not believe there is over-regulation anywhere, actually. Staying alive and healthy is the result of caution and regulation. There is nothing shameful in government being aware and acting to protect precious lives in the USA.

December 16, 2021

By Laura Rosen Cohen

As the parent of a severely disabled and non-verbal child, (click here) I've spent his entire life as a caregiver looking out for his medical, educational, social and equipment needs and ensuring he leads the most meaningful, healthy and safe life possible. More often than not, this requires hours advocating and negotiating with countless officials, educators and medical specialists. Some are incredibly kind, but many are unspeakably indifferent. It's soul sucking and relentless but the buck stops at me.

And pandemic over-regulation has made the challenges of my son's life infinitely harder—as it has the lives of countless other individuals with disabilities.

Throughout the pandemic, young children with autism and other special needs have been kicked off of flights, have been banned from flying, denied entry into museums, thrown out of bookstores and had their education stunted. They have been generally treated like loathsome vectors of disease, like contagiants....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Poinsettia (click here)

I have an incredible story to tell about the scamming taking place with people. I just think the day after New Years is a better time for this story.

I do believe we have a real concern with the legal antics of a very inflammatory "Project Veritas" that seeks to destroy main stream media. That is not funny. I think the expertise that could be lost with more and more disintegration of the news media should be a concern to all Americans.

So, I hope your holiday has been wonderful, even if at home where being safe is important. Seriously. This is just a time when a runaway virus needs to be taken seriously. As we have witnessed in South Africa, the virus does become contained if we are consistent in attempts to control it. 

Good night.

A flawless launch of the James Webb telescope.

There is great expectations of the James Webb telescope. It also has a rather short life of 5 to 10 years for it's expectations. It launched from it's home in Peru in a joint effort with the European Space Agency and NASA.

The James Webb telescope will not be seen again by human beings. It is now out of reach of any camera.

The launch was fascinating. The telescope was rotated during the launch to protect it's sensitive instruments from exposure to the sun. It also served to acclimate the instruments to the environment of space.

The telescope passed over several stations on Earth that will monitor it. The California center will serve to receive and interpret the data sent by James Webb Space Telescope.

The journey of this telescope won't be complete for 6 more months when it will be deployed and begin returning data. This is a highly anticipated launch that was delayed for several reasons over the years. I am certain this enterprise will prove important and valuable to all those that participated in it's engineering and the countries that funded it.

 

On the eve of Christmas, I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas.

15 December 2021
By Kenneth Libbrecht

SNOWFALL in Pasadena, California, (click here) is so rare, it’s almost unheard of. Except, that is, at the California Institute of Technology, where Kenneth Libbrecht can conjure it up using the world’s most sophisticated snowflake-making equipment.

As a physicist, Libbrecht has tackled some fairly epic questions, like the nature of gravitational waves and the internal workings of the sun. But he also has a delightful sideline in the science of snowflakes, which are far more complex and mysterious than you might think. One of the biggest unanswered questions about them is why they appear to come in two distinct types.

Libbrecht went on a 20-year odyssey to solve this mystery. Recently, he published the fruits of that journey in the form of a monograph that runs to more than 500 pages. It contains a kind of grand unified theory of snowflakes, explaining for the first time how and why they grow into the delicate shapes they do.

Joshua Howgego: What got you interested in snowflakes?

Kenneth Libbrecht: One day I was chewing the fat with one of my students and we got talking about how crystals grow and take on shapes. We started thinking about what we could study in this area and I thought: well, water would be cheap and easy. Then I thought: actually, that would be the physics of snowflakes, I wonder how that works? Apropos of nothing – I was just curious – I started reading up on research on snowflakes and I found it really fascinating....

No matter where an American lives it looks as though "caution first" is prudent when travelng. Please.

Remember to get updates at Weather.gov (click here) the USA National Weather Service.

Looks like NORAD is still focused on the North Pole. (click here)

The "Met Office" (click here) in Europe is reporting Santa is over France.

Below right are storm totals thus far for Eureka, California from Weather.gov when clicking on color of warning.

December 24, 2021
By Doyle Rice

Forget (click here) about trying on those new coats or boots if you live in the south-central U.S.: Record, spring-like warmth is forecast to overspread the region into the Christmas weekend.

"Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Little Rock and Memphis all stand to match or top the record high for Dec. 25, this Saturday," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said.

Highs in the 70s and 80s, which will be common for much of the south-central region, are more typical of early to mid-October, he said.

Weather.com meteorologist Domenica Davis said these highs are 25 to even 30 degrees above average for this time of year and that "dozens" of records are likely to be broken.

The National Weather Service in Houston said record highs remain "a very distinct possibility" for Christmas Day as temperatures surge into the lower 80s there....

This is going to sound hokey and a little old fashion, but, I think it is time for a group effort.

Half a century ago, (click here) the Supreme Court settled the matter of when a court can stop a newspaper from publishing. In 1971, the Nixon administration attempted to block The Times and The Washington Post from publishing classified Defense Department documents detailing the history of the Vietnam War — the so-called Pentagon Papers. Faced with an asserted threat to the nation’s security, the Supreme Court sided with the newspapers. “Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people,” Justice Potter Stewart wrote in a concurring opinion....

It seems to me if Project Veritas (click here) can defame and accuse at will, there needs to be a newsprint somewhere with the facts. Veritas is obviously more interested in putting mainstream media out of business before the 2024 elections. No one else sees that? Today, CNN, the one channel of news that Trump insisted on insulting regularly and tomorrow then who?

...In requesting the order from Justice Wood, Project Veritas’s lawyers acknowledged that prior restraints on publication are rare but argued that their case fits a narrow exception the law recognizes for documents that may be used in the course of ongoing litigation....

That is so Trumpian. A narrow anything in the law to carry forward the "Big Lie." Give me a break this is a project far less interested in democracy and it's many freedoms so much as overthrowing it.

The Netherlands is doing the right thing for the people.

The available bed space is the problem and to have those vaccinated, but sick with Omicron needing hospital care is more than the health care service can provide.

There have been disasterous episodes in the USA. There have been some poorer cities and states that were overwhelmed by the virus in the beginning and thereafter. I remember the horrible bed statisics from Louisiana. I am certain Netherlands is looking at those episodes and learning from them. There does need to be clinics established for boosters in the Netherlands.

This is a huge problem. There is no balance with the global pandemic because the virus continues to mutate. It is so grossly unfair for a single past president of the USA to cause this level of hardship. At some point the truth of abrupt change in USA policy with scientific observers in China must be brought to light and remedies of justice decided.

The idea China created this virus is ridiculous. Recent explosions in Chinese student laboratories (click here) is proof that China is not even close to being considered a First World country and it's people are still exposed to animal markets that breed deadly viruses.

The current light at the end of the tunnel is that South Africa is proving to have emerged from Omicron and travel restrictions were lifted by the USA. There is still a deficit of vaccine in South Africa. Both the WHO and CDC along with the NIH are still concerned for a greater threat, so the idea this is over is too soon to tell. It would be good if Omicron was the last of the variants. But, as to the Netherlands, it's government is doing the right thing and people need to realize they are lucky if they are free of the most recent variant and the lack of movement is protecting them further.

I might add, this area of the world was hit very hard with storms, floods and devastating destruction to infrastructure. It doesn't make the responsibility any easier now that a virus can cause more hardship.

December 24, 2021
By Senay Boztas

Amsterdam - Since 5 a.m. on Sunday, (click here) bars, restaurants, museums, schools, clothing stores, gift shops and anything resembling fun have been closed across the Netherlands. We’ve become the first European country to go back to lockdown life amid Omicron (until at least early January): It was “unavoidable,” said Prime Minister Mark Rutte. So here we are, looking over the borders enviously at holiday sales and seasonal celebrations in Belgian Antwerp. Once more, it doesn’t look a lot like Christmas.

The Netherlands’ lockdown stands as a warning to the United States, other European countries and Covid hot spots across the globe. The warning, though, isn’t just about Omicron — other countries have more coronavirus cases and worse vaccination rates than the Netherlands does, and they are not locking down (at least yet).

The warning is about policy failures — the failure to start a booster campaign sooner, to spin up free testing capacity quickly when needed, to persuade more groups of the benefits of vaccines and to ensure there are enough beds in intensive care. Now our hospitals are already full of patients who are infected with the Delta variant, and we probably won’t have enough beds for all of the people who need care if the Omicron wave hits vaccinated people hard too....

The formula is a bit more complicated based on whether a person is vaccinated or not.

But, I should not be a monumental task for the CDC or Dr. Fauci from the NIH to formulate recommendations or have a hotline for employers.

I would think the seven day isolation in the nurse recommendation can also be a guide to employers, too.

December 24, 2021
By Lauren Hirsch and Emma Goldberg

Barbara Sibley’s (click here) four New York restaurants had already weathered the city’s initial Covid-19 wave, the prevaccine surge last winter and this summer’s Delta spike when last weekend it finally happened: Fearing an outbreak and struggling with staffing after one of her workers got sick with Covid, she temporarily shut down one of her locations.

That was only the start of Ms. Sibley’s worries. She also had to weigh how long the employee, who was fully vaccinated, should isolate before returning to the job. And the messaging from public health experts was not clear-cut.

In the early days of the pandemic the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that most people who tested positive for the coronavirus isolate for 14 days. It later reduced its recommended isolation period to 10 days. But these policies were based on data from unvaccinated individuals and were implemented before the widespread availability of rapid tests. An increasing number of health and policy professionals now suggest that vaccinated people can end their isolation after five to seven days, so long as they are not symptomatic and they test negative....

Any fines paid to Russia is a national security threat to Ukraine and the USA.

This is censorship. The Russia Roubles are basically worthless anyway, but, $40,000 USD is still more than should be tolerated in paying a fine to the Russian government. The Tech companies should consider removing their exectives from the country, such as Russia and China, and end their companies interest.

The Russian Rouble above (click here) has gained value due to natural gas exports. Worth a little more than a penny now, when natural gas values went up so did Russian curreny. There are a lot of reasons to convent to alternative fuels and Russia is still another reason. Russia achieves income from the petroleum industry.

...The recovery of the Russian ruble coincides with the decline in the dollar exchange rate, during the trading of the Moscow Stock Exchange, to below 72 rubles to the dollar for the first time since last June....

December 23, 2021

A Moscow court on Thursday (click here) said it had fined Twitter TWTR.N 3 million roubles ($40,920) for failing to delete content Russia deems illegal, the latest in a string of penalties against foreign technology firms.

Moscow has increased pressure on Big Tech this year in a campaign that critics characterise as an attempt by the Russian authorities to exert tighter control over the internet, something they say threatens to stifle individual and corporate freedom.

Twitter has denied allowing its platform to be used to promote illegal behaviour.Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moscow's Tagansky District Court said Twitter had been fined 3 million roubles for failing to delete banned content....

A word from the national weather service.

For complete and up to date weather information check their website (click here). Easy to remember:

https://www.weather.gov/

Arrive alive!

A series of Pacific storms will bring periods of heavy low elevation rain and heavy mountain snow to the Western U.S. through the Christmas weekend. Flash flooding and debris flows are possible in the vicinity of recently burned areas.

9:48 PM · Dec 22, 2021·Twitter Web App

Tic-Toc is a populous website and it is very dangerous.

Tic Toc does not compare to Google in that it exceeds in popularity. Google is a work space and the most popular work space on the planet. Tic Toc is a populous attraction, highly sexual and spawning iconic challenges to the youth of our country in a very unhealthy way. Google is taking responsibility for what is occuring in their internet environment, while Tic Toc is a free for all.

December 24, 2021

Editor:

In the Dec. 18/19 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, (click here) the Journal's investigation team pointed out the terrible dangers faced by teenage users of Tik Tok. Teenage girls seem to be especially targeted by this site. Many of the posts on the site urge girls to starve themselves, advocate consuming only 300 calories a day, and promote the so-called "corpse bride" diet, among other life threatening actions. Too many young girls have actually died as a result of following this terrible advice.

I wonder how many parents realize that Tik Tok is owned by the Chinese company Byte Dance, and that Byte Dance is owned and controlled by the government of Communist China?...

There are terrible things occurring do to the lack of cyber regulations. The USA needs to stop this malicous use of American cyber space. This is outrageous. American children have plenty of challenges in growing up, they don't need a cyber space where sexuality and guns are promoted.

December 16, 2021

PECATONICA, Ill. (WIFR) - Pecatonica Schools Superintendent (click here) posted a google document on the districts Facebook page on Thursday, warning parents and teachers of a viral Tik Tok challenge flagged by The Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center.

The document, on official District 321 letterhead reads:

“Subject: TikTok Challenge...

The need for Congress to act to end malicous software is now. This is not a freedom of speech issue and falls into the National Security interest under the Patriot Act. 

I don't see at home testing as a critical statistic.

The postives will show up at the point of care. There is no way reporting from home can be enforced. The at home testing will result in higher reporting of positive results. That is what is important. While some negatives may be reported, the incidence of postitives is what will result as an overriding importance.

Currently, the number of Omicron cases reported exceed that of Delta at it's peak. That could be due to testing. That is a good thing. This is an important holiday to most Americans and it is wise to be safe and to be treated. Soon there will be pill available to Americans that will result in better treatment and conquer the symptoms of the Omicron variant. That is also a good thing.

This holiday season the USA and First World countries need to focus on the Third World. The statistics in the Third World are very poor and why Omicron was reported in South Africa in the first place.

The World Health Organization has voiced it's concern for the administraiton of boosters in the First World Countries. The Third World is as important as the First World in receiving vaccines. The WHO is concerned with still another variant emerging because of the unvaccinated in the Third World. This concern is the fact that Omicron came out of South Africa where vaccines have not reached all the people. These folks want to be vaccinated and they are used to it as well. The Third World countries are some of the most vaccinated people globally.

Infrastructure to vaccinate the Third World is in place thanks to the exceptional work of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. All that is needed is the vaccine. Considering the urgency of this, the First World needs to up their game and begin to produce MORE AND EFFECTIVE vaccine as soon as is possible. The Third World has the same human rights as everyone else on Earth. It is time to realize while other countries are having less incidence of the variants of COVID-19, it is more important than ever that they are vaccinated.

December 23, 2021
By Emily Deruy

With the omicron variant spreading quickly (click here) even among vaccinated people, and pandemic-weary families eager to gather for the holidays, at-home COVID tests are flying off the shelves as fast as stores can stock them. Lines at testing sites across the Bay Area are long, and some places that welcomed walk-ins are now requiring appointments as demand outstrips availability at certain locations.

While health experts say testing is a valuable tool for keeping people safe, all those nasal swabs happening at home this week could actually pose a challenge when it comes to the state’s COVID-19 data and our understanding of exactly where and how the virus is spreading. That’s because the results of the more accurate “PCR” tests done by private and county labs are reflected in California’s COVID-19 data, but the results of rapid tests people take at home are not, which could mean a major undercount....

Primary Manchin

I might add, there are plenty of West Virginians that don't like or approve of the window dressing that earns Shelley Moore Capito (click here) an election.

For the Democrat that is going to primary Joe Machin start now to dispel the lies that support his elections.

The people of West Virginia don't know the truth about the new jobs the Build Back Better bill would bring to West Virginia. They don't know what alternative fuels will do for them? They have children and grandchildren that need to inherit a promising and beautiful future with an Earth that will sustain for millenium.

The people of West Virginia are among the most impoverished in this country and it is a shame that they are and ignorant of the lies that exist to support their political choices. If nothing else a strong, truthful candidacy that seeks out the young people and their families will begin to chip away at the rhetoric that has locked them in servatude all these many decades.

West Virginians are people of conscience and in that they have a right to the truth. 

Every year West Virginia is feed the truth will be a greater and greater success for Democrats and this USA Constitution. The union needs to help to demonstate the LOSS of jobs under Machin and his promise to cronies that ignore the need of the people and the future of their children. I would like to see a union member run to primary Machin and speak the truth to the power of the people of West Virginia.

We can bring the truth to West Virginia, it just has to be done.

Joe Manchin is devoted to the Old World. West Virginia is not moving forward so much as maintaining old paradigms.

I started this entry and was going to post it after Christmas, but, now is a good a time as any.

December 20, 2021
By Jonathan Weisman and Lisa Friedman

Open Secrets (click here)

Washington - Senator Joe Manchin III (click here) on Monday cited a litany of issues that drove him to oppose President Biden’s $2 trillion Build Back Better bill, from Democrats’ refusal to attach work requirements to social benefits to their failure to raise tax rates on the rich. But left almost unsaid was the issue that has always propelled his political career as a Democratic maverick: climate change.

The version of the bill that passed the House last month devoted $555 billion to shifting the nation to renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power, and away from fossil fuels like West Virginia coal. Mr. Manchin, who defied gale-force political headwinds in 2010 by running for the Senate on his opposition to President Barack Obama’s climate change legislation, killed a provision in Build Back Better that would have imposed stiff penalties on electric utilities that continued to burn coal and natural gas....

Senator Machin was once governor of West Virginia and it has tainted his ability to place priorities on what is important.

Michael J. Anderson is on the Board of Directors at First Energy in West Virginia. He was also CEO of First Energy before joining the Board (click here). He along with the entire Board of Directors provides Machin with some of his largest donors.

But, that is not all.

I want to portray a state of these magnificent United States that is TRAPPED in the past and never to let go.

The Climate Crisis movement has been an agenda item for a long time. It has been an agenda item for the Democrats from at least 2002-3. I wrote in the "New Source Review" in 2003 that carbon dioxide was a toxic gas when found in large amounts in Earth's troposphere and that Global Warming was real. That leadship after that testimony resulted in the US Senate Chair of the environmental committee to bring about legislation to regulate any effects of carbon dioxide and any other GHG (greenhouse gas) that is forcing change in Earth's climate leading to adverse effects for citizens. The Senator was Barbara Boxer, who we all still miss, but, gave rise to another great Californian, Vice President Harris.

Given that time frame it is easy to say the majority of states in the USA have been moving as they can toward alternative energy sources, such as Solar and Wind. EXCEPT, West Virginia.

US Department of Energy (click here)

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West Virginia's electricity is 88 percent coal fired plants. Coal is followed by Natural Gas/Methane, Motor Gasolines (it is used to generation electricity), Distilate Fuel Oil ( “distillate fuel oil” includes kerosene, kerosene-type jet fuel, diesel fuels (Diesel Fuels No.1, 2 and 4)). West Virginia hasn't even tried to change it's form of energy supply. I mean, you have got to be kidding me. All these fuels used in West Virginia to produce electricity are high offenders of the Climate Crisis, no exceptions. This state is so backward, it has no forward gear anywhere.

Now, as far as wind energy for West Virginia.

...Annual average wind speeds (click here) around 6.5 meters per second and greater at 80-m height are generally considered to have a resource suitable for wind development....

West Virginia has a corridor of wind that reaches into the 6.5 category. That is the brick and orange category. We all know that transmission lines have to be updated and the Obama Adminstration provided that guidance when he was in office. 

In the topigraphical map below is noted the corridor is the mountain tops. It is easy to say that region is also good for solar. Now, I have been through West Virginia many times and the mountains are signficantly high. Ask any trucker that drives through there on a regular basis. Those mountains also host some of West Virginia's tourist economy. (click here) So, there is always the argument wind mills are unsightly. No more than power lines are and we as a society have accepted their above ground reality for a long time. Power lines also bring electricity to tourists and everyone knows a smart phone is a tourist's best friend for location and safety.

But the lack of will for change is also a moral issue. There are some areas of West Virginia where residents could install solar as a better fuel and sell it any excess back to the grid. But, in all honesty, I don't believe the unsightly issue or private solar panels is the resolve either. I think it is blatant corruption and nothing short of it.

Everyone knows that coal is a huge GHG pollutant. Natural gas is also undesireable but is slightly better than coal in the offense of fossil fuel burning. Ready? I mean like where do you find energy in those mountains except coal? Yes? No.

In 2019, (click here) West Virginia had the third-largest natural gas reserves of any state. It overlies part of the Marcellus Shale area, one of the largest natural gas-producing areas in the nation....

So, I asked myself, where are all the fracking wells? There aren't any that I know of, but, there is a good reason. Everywhere coal exists, coal bed methane exists.

US Geological Survey Report (click here) on coal bed methane in the USA.

There is a problem in West Virginia in that their energy infrastructure is antiquated AND DANGEROUS TO CLIMATE. Better alternatives exist and if West Virginia hired Elon Musk in how to convert energy to GREEN ENERGY for the state he would find a way to bring about a more benevolent energy for West Virginia. Elon Musk is a genius and knows the potential of harnessing energy and has batteries that do the job.

At one point coal was a far cheaper fuel, but, not anymore. Wind is surpassing coal as a far more economical alternative that carries with it morality. If one drives through West Virginia it is difficult to get a radio signal, but, when one finally reaches the in car radio it is usually a program with religious content and that goes for any Rock'n'Roll stations as well. Where is the morality in the energy sector in West Virginia? There isn't any. West Virginia's energy sector is pure unadultered profit driven by cronies to Manchin as old as those mountains. Nothing changes in West Virginia. I mean nothing.

Electricity (click here) routinely flows between the Lower 48 states and, to a lesser extent, between the United States and Canada and Mexico. Electricity generation exceeds electricity consumption in 25 states, and excess electricity is transmitted across state lines—almost 10% of U.S. electricity generation is traded among states. In 2019, California’s net electricity imports were the largest in the country at 70.8 million megawatthours (MWh), or 25% of the state’s total electricity supply. Pennsylvania’s electricity exports were the largest of any state in 2019, at 70.5 million MWh, or 24% of total supply....

The point is there are many, many alternatives for West Virginia to achieve Zero GHG Emissions. There is no excuse for coal fired power plants anymore EXCEPT CORRUPTION. By corruption I mean an unwillingness to change, no matter the reason including crony capitalism.

Cheap costs of living create cheap labor. This is the unwillingness for even governors to change the status quo.

West Virginia is one of the poorest states in this country and the quality of life of residents is far below that of most Americans. There are all kinds of health problems attributed to the coal industry in that state, including exposure of children at school on playgrounds due to wind blown coal dust.

The coal industry DOES NOT support any type of green economy and has been eroding jobs out of the industry as it has become highly mechanized. There are tens of thousands of former coal workers that need retraining and sustainable jobs in West Virginia. The Build Back Better program provides that training and new CLEAN jobs for West Virginia that do not cause health problems. Green jobs do not cause health problems in the workplace and that reduces the cost of health care across the country, including West Virginia.

The Obstructionists in the US Senate are doing it to promote profits for cronies. It is just that simple. The Build Back Better legislation is good for America and will change the danger of GHG to allow a vision for the future of Zero GHG emissions. There is every reason to do this and not one good reason to postpone any of it. 

I thank the United Mine Workers. Magnificent and a strong support of President Joe Biden.

United Mine Workers of America and Who They Represent (click here) West Virginia's Democratic Party needs to "primary" Joe Manchin and provide a strong candidate representing human rights and dignity.

December 20, 2021
By Valerie Volcovici

UMWA and it's' proud history (click here).

Washington - The main union representing U.S. coal miners (click here) urged West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to reconsider his opposition to the Biden administration's $1.75 trillion climate and social spending bill to preserve measures that would have benefited its members.

United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil Roberts, a long-time ally of Manchin's, said the sweeping bill contained important measures like an extension of funding to aid victims of black lung disease, tax incentives to urge manufacturers to build new factories and employ ex-miners, and protect union workers.

“For those and other reasons, we are disappointed that the bill will not pass. We urge Senator Manchin to revisit his opposition to this legislation and work with his colleagues to pass something that will help keep coal miners working, and have a meaningful impact on our members, their families and their communities," Roberts said on Monday....