This is not the way Americans treat elections. It is however the way Russia does it.

September 8, 2022
By Bob Ortega, Audrey Ash, Yahya Abou-Ghazala and Drew Griffin

The evening before Michigan's state primary, (click here) Wayne County GOP leaders held a Zoom training session for poll workers and partisan observers -- warning them about "bad stuff happening" during the election and encouraging them to ignore local election rules barring cell phones and pens from polling places and vote-counting centers.

"None of the constraints that they're putting on this are legal," former state senator Patrick Colbeck told trainees on the August 1 call.

As far as cell phones, "I would say maybe just hide it or something, and maybe hide a small pad and a small pen or something like that because you need to take accurate notes," Cheryl Costantino, the GOP county chairwoman and host of the call, told participants.

Some participants raised concerns about being tossed out if they broke the rules. "That's why you got to do it secretly," Costantino replied....

Wayne County, Michigan Republican Officials need a perp walk. Voters should know who they are dealing with.

Wayne County, Michigan Elected Officials (click here)

Wanted for law violation and election fixing:

Chairman, Doug Deeken

Deputy Chairman, Charlie Hardman

Secretary, Christine Kobak

Treasurer, Dave Tschanz

Shame on you all!

His Majesty, if following in his father and mother's steps, should be a generous and concerned sovereign.

September 9, 2022
By Alex Barker

At the moment of the Queen’s passing (click here) on Thursday, her eldest son acceded to the throne as King Charles III, head of state of the UK and 14 other Commonwealth countries.

The King, aged 73, is the oldest monarch to take the crown, as well as the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. Unlike his late mother, who became queen at just 25, King Charles’s life has been one of extended preparation for this moment.

The historic transition from one royal generation to another will be marked by a period of national mourning and what is expected to be a relatively low-key coronation, which will set the tone for King Charles’s reign.

Alongside the ceremonial formalities of succession, the moment of the King’s elevation will also be one of personal loss and grief; he has been beside the deathbed of both his parents in the past 18 months.

“The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” he said in a statement on Thursday evening. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother.”...

I wish he and the people of the UK the very best through a time of transition and reflection.

Allies

Trump has exposed the military defense of our allies. He has compromised the national security of the USA. It is time for the USA to empower our allies, with the exception of the likes of Orban, to overcome the knowledge our enemies have. It is the best we can do now.

Trump should be arrested and jailed until his trial.

Farewell, Queen Elizabeth II

 https://youtu.be/WoWlWb6vbzA

They are great portraits. President Obama opted for an all white background. Interesting.

September 7, 2022

Former President (click here) Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama unveil their official White House portraits during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Washington. 

Washington - It’s been more than a decade (click here) since President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, welcomed back George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, for the unveiling of their White House portraits, part of a beloved Washington tradition that for decades managed to transcend partisan politics.

President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are set to revive that ritual — after an awkward and anomalous gap in the Trump years — as they host the Obamas today for the big reveal of their portraits in front of scores of friends, family and staff.

The Obama paintings will not look like any in the White House portrait collection to which they will be added. They were America’s first Black president and first lady.

The ceremony will also mark Michelle Obama’s first visit to the White House since Obama’s presidency ended in January 2017, and only the second visit for Barack Obama. He was at the White House in April to mark the 12th anniversary of the health care law he signed in 2010....

The United Nations should set a policy for this extremist actions by any military engaged in war.

The only people that should be permitted in the plant are those qualified to be there and run it to maintain safety. It is wiser to shut the power producing capacity of the plant down to only maintain safety. Allowing power generation of the plant will invite attacks by Russia. That potential has to be minimized and the only way forward is to stop electrical generation at all. 

All troops, except for a UN peacekeeping force, should be removed from the power station. There needs to be neutral oversight and the UN IAEA can decide who best would be able to protect the plant while Ukraine and Russia work out their differences. The war of shelling and bombing is a wayward plan, but, until both parties end the conflict the nuclear power plant will have to be considered neutral territory void of soldiers.

The propaganda has to stop as well. Russia cannot be calling attention to the IAEA and increasing any danger to them. The area is to be neutral and handled by neutral peacekeepers. No propaganda can be leveled to ensure the well being of outside agencies to protect from a nuclear disaster. This is a human rights issue and cannot be ignored by Russia any longer.

Europe needs to move away from Russian energy anyway. The G-7 (click here) came up with a reasonable solution to this dilemma, but, Russia will be difficult regardless. Scotland for one will never have much of a problem since it went into 100 percent wind power. As for the rest of Europe each country has it's own agenda for independence from Russia natural gas. But, the USA has been attempting to build LNG facilities to send gas to Europe. Here again for as important a gesture this is, the vulnerabilities of this form of energy over the distance of the Atlantic with three hurricanes in the middle of the ocean spinning up, the practicality is lacking. Europe must build as much alternative energy as it can including Long Lines from the geothermal giant, Iceland.

September 6, 2022
By Hanna Arhirova

Kyiv, Ukraine - The U.N. atomic watchdog agency (click here) urged Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday to establish a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the Zaporizhzhia power plant amid mounting fears the fighting could trigger a catastrophe in a country still haunted by the Chernobyl disaster.

In a report following a visit by an inspection team last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said “shelling on site and in its vicinity should be stopped immediately to avoid any further damages to the plant and associated facilities, for the safety of the operating staff and to maintain the physical integrity to support safe and secure operation.”

“This requires agreement by all relevant parties to the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant, it said.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, who led the inspection visit, was due to brief the U.N. Security Council later Tuesday on his findings.

Shelling continued around Europe’s largest nuclear plant on Tuesday, a day after it was again knocked off Ukraine’s electrical grid and put in the precarious position of relying on its own power to run its safety systems....

I think the man is confused.

...Although newspaper and periodical ownership (click here) cannot be the monopoly of any one ownership, Axel Springer Verlag AG controls a significant share of the market. Other major newspaper publishers, some of which also publish magazines and other periodicals, include Gruner+Jahr AG (a Bertelsmann company), Süddeutscher Verlag, Bauer Media Group, and Hubert Burda Media....

“We want (click here) to be the leading digital publisher in democracies around the world,” says Mathias Döpfner, shown here on the rooftop of Axel Springer's headquarters in Berlin.

His media interests will not do well. He is another Murdoch wannabee. You can't be looking at the remnants of the Berlin Wall and pray for Trump to win a presidency. It makes no sense.

Praying for Trump to win is not a non-partisan act. I never thought of Politico as non-partisan. 

While every country (click here) has the responsibility to fight antisemitism within its borders, only one country has the responsibility to lead this battle on a global scale, and that is Israel.

Anti-semitism is a problem in the USA. There has been killings in synagogues by right wing White Supremacists. That is why I can't see that Mr. Dopfner has his understanding of Trump correct. I don't know what he has been feed by partisans at Politico, but, Trump is a danger to democracy. He openly rebuffed Palestine and increased tensions rather than brought about peace. Trump had no intentions of entertaining the idea of a Palestinian homeland. He fully condoned a war by Israel of the Palestinian people. He believes in expansionism in the Middle East no different than Russia. 

I think the Rupert Wannabee needs to come to terms with the reality of Trump's hatred and set his media services on a real non-partisan track. Trump is not the answer, he is the problem.

August 19, 2021
By James Kirchik

...Döpfner took a different tack. (click here) “I think, and I’m being very frank with you,” he said on a companywide conference call, “a person who has an issue with an Israeli flag being raised for one week here, after antisemitic demonstrations, should look for a new job.” And with that, the minor uprising at Axel Springer was kaput.

For American observers, this exchange was notable not so much for what it said about media bias, Germany’s ongoing attempt to reckon with its past, or the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in other countries. What made it significant was something more basic and universal concerning the integrity of elite institutions. Put aside your beliefs, for a moment, about the propriety of an independent media outlet appearing to take sides in a war halfway around the world. By flying the Israeli flag while the Jewish state was under attack, and while European Jews were threatened close to home, Axel Springer was adhering to one of its fundamental principles.

Since 1967, the Axel Springer media empire has officially committed itself to upholding a set of values devised by its eponymous founder, which he called the company’s “Essentials,” and which have been updated over time. They are as follows:

1. We stand up for freedom, the rule of law, democracy and a united Europe.

2. We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.

3. We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe.

4. We uphold the principles of a free market economy and its social responsibility.

5. We reject political and religious extremism and all forms of racism and sexual discrimination.

Every Axel Springer journalist signs a contract agreeing to uphold the Essentials, which function less as rigid dogmas than as guiding professional precepts; wide latitude exists, for instance, within the scope of what constitutes “a united Europe,” “the transatlantic alliance,” and “the principles of a free market economy.”...

At least Dopfner has Putin right.

March 26, 2022

By Mathias Döpfner 

Mathias Döpfner speaks with Elon Musk at Tesla's factory in Fremont, CA.

...Mathias Döpfner: Before we talk about the future, (click here) let's look at the present. There is war in Europe. If you see the horrible images of Putin's troops invading Ukraine, killing people. What are your thoughts?

Elon Musk: It is surprising to see that in this day and age. I thought we had sort of moved beyond such things for the most part. It is concerning. If you can get away with it, then this will be a message to other countries that perhaps they could get away with it too....

I think he sounds interesting, but, praying for Trump to win an election to take on the Tech Giants is only reaffirming there is nothing non-partisan about his intentions in obtaining a media organization like Politico. Non-partisan has to be devoid of the self-interest of an owner within an influential media service. Wielding power to vanquish a competitor is highly unethical and ethics in any profession has to rule the outcomes of the principles of that profession. Media is no different and to state there is partisanship in major news outlets in the USA is completely uninformed.

The New York Times reports both sides and as a climate advocate I have often found NYT leaning against the best wind for this planet. There are many times I found right wing opinions insightful, but leaves the less fortunate in the breach, in the NYT.

The Washington Post is not left leaning. It has a clear understanding of decades of "inside Washington" and where politics has gone bad to the point of breaking the law. The Post has been one of the most decent newspapers in the history of the USA and considering it's neighborhood the paper has protected democracy when it was clear the path forward was adverse to it.

I admire the values Mathias Dopfner brings to his media services, but, he really needs to get to know the USA before he thinks he can dictate to it. If he tries to take on the Tech Giants alone, he may find himself very much ostracized from being legitimate.

Dopfner needs to extend himself beyond the usual comfort of Europe to realize he is in foreign territory and it can eat him alive. I hope he succeeds in creating a non-partisan media service in the USA, but, that is a hard climb considering the corruption that exists in the MAGA party at this point. I mean. MAGA is an insurgency. That is a fact. There is nothing beneficial about it.

Dopfner needs to interview Michael Cohen and he will then know what Trump is all about and it isn't about loyalty to others, so much as others need to be loyal to him. Trump destroys lives and will think nothing of destroying media services when they don't serve his interests.

Livermore Air Force Base hits 116 degrees F

There is a very dry troposphere with three hurricanes manifesting in the middle of the Atlantic. By this time in 2005 Hurricane Katrina had already decimated the Louisiana coastline. 

Trump declassified documents.

The classification process in the White House or any branch of government of anything or any document, electronic or otherwise is a process. Declassification is also a process. Trump had no right as president or former president to declassify any document he wanted.

Trump has clearly demonstrated why any aspect of national security has redundancy. 

Obama wrote an executive order about all of it. I do believe there was some legislation passed regarding it as well. I think the legislation was a Republican bill. It all started because of the political wrangling surrounding the Clinton server and emails.

No national security issue is decided unilaterally. Trump is lying and his base is just as deranged in their thinking about everything and everyone. Everything in the government before Trump was “up to something.” Trump is a nut case.

He plays to his estranged American audience.

So. There are rules regarding the stolen documents and we know what the rules are.

If there ever is any doubt Trump was leading an insurgency look to the Queen of England. Remember how Queen Elizabeth and Trump were reviewing the troops? Trump stepped out of line to walk ahead of the Queen. None of Trump’s behaviors made sense “in context,” but, put an audience of one in the circumstances and it all makes sense. Trump insulted Queen Elizabeth to impress Putin. Putin was Trump’s only audience, go ahead America drink bleach.

What are the definitions?

One thing the media is having trouble with are Trump’s claims. His claims are not defined in USA law and are a wish and not stated or case law. Trump is hoping the judge deciding any case presented on behalf of his “belief” system will be just corrupt enough to (1) decide in his favor and it sticks or (2) decide against him to move further up the ladder of appeals to find enough corruption to rule with his claims. 

Example: Trump is screaming executive privilege about the documents at Maralago. What does he mean by that?

Is Trump World executive privilege:

(1) resonating with Trump World member/citizens? Why? What understanding do they hold in the exclusive media they listen to? 

(2) resonating with established media like FOX News? What definitions (that is plural for a reason) do they adhere to to further their propaganda?

(3) resonating with Trump ONLY as he is a genius as no other? I believe when Trump screams executive privilege he is stating everything within his administration is so very unique that only he understands it therefore is protected from all other people and interpretations. That, of course, is nonsense, but, it is a definition that is not being applied while all others are using definitions based in law regardless it’s adjective. 

Question: What will give the legitimate media and not the politburo, at FOX and Trump World media, more authority to speak on these topics? Stating “…according to Trump World executive privilege means…blah, blah, blah…while the truthful definition of executive privilege states, “It is an act by the current President to protect information important to his duties and decisions that are reasonably protected by secrecy.” Therefore, this request to the court is most likely a nuisance rather than legitimate.

From my perspective if the national mainstream media is providing interpretation of illegitimate use of our laws and legal system and legal language, it gives greater authority to the national media as the purveyor of the truth with a complete understanding of all the pleadings. Legitimate interest in all the people is my thoughts about this as well.

What is occurring with Trump is an alienation into a universe manipulated by communists and dictators and/or his own scared self of the actual weight of USA law now upon him. Regardless, his rallies are to serve one purpose and that is incitement of anger, hate and violence. His authority within that paradigm is absolute as allies like Graham cower at his words.

Trump has one strategy with everything.

Time.

A message over time unanswered will carry brevity it shouldn’t. Trump is banking on time and fatigue of the political fight to win out. It works with Graham, why not everything else? Graham is sitting in the catbird seat. If he agrees with Trump and carries his message he wins if Trump wins. If Graham agrees with Trump and carries his message and Trump loses, Graham wins anyway.

This is a challenge to national media and it is a time for them to reclaim precious grounds that is legitimate to be theirs.

I really want to bring focus to the video because there is a lot to unwrap here.

So this is my only entry for tonight. Please watch this from beginning to end. Americans, especially African Americans need to be careful around police officers.

In this video there are two police, the driver and his partner. I do not know their names, but, I am confident there will be people that can identify them. They need to be arrested for falsification of records and attempted murder as well as harassment of a civilian including attempted entrapment.

In this video it is the police that are the criminals and by the tatoos on the driver's arm, they look to be White Supremacists.

There is no real reason for the stop. The officers literally saw the blue Ram pickup and ran the license plate FOR NO REASON, except the driver of the pick-up truck is a black man and the computer identified he is a concealed carry citizen. In other words, the chance there is a loaded pistol or more in the truck is high. Most people that conceal carry usually have a gun on them. It may not be on their person, but, in the glove compartment (locked or not) or somewhere in the vehicle in a lock box or not. This particular individual may not have had a gun with him as it is never obvious in the video that he does. 

I will continue my assessment of this video below. This is real life. It is not a production. The only cameras involved are dash cam videos. The film should be played for the Michigan State Police as what not to do to a black man, especially if you are a White Supremacist.

  

Continued from the above video of a stop of an African American who also has a concealed carry permit.

The first thing to notice is the posture of the officers and their readiness to use their guns. The partner actually draws his gun at one point when the driver was first stopped. There was no provocation to do so. This driver of the pick-up truck is a victim of a well rehearsed plan. I have to wonder how many times these two officers pulled this off successfully. How many were killed and/or charged with a crime they didn't commit only to pay fines and/or serve time behind bars. 

So the truck driver stops his vehicle and waits for the officers to approach and tell him why he was stopped. The driver of the police car, the one with the tattoos speaks to the truck driver and gives him no clear indication why he was stopped. He mentions the concealed carry permit and the asks for the truck registration. The truck driver attempts to retrieve the registration AS ASKED and the tattooed state police officer starts yelling "hands, hands." Immediately without provocation the incident becomes confrontational. There is a gun drawn and the truck driver is now in peril of his life. The confrontation becomes a matter of the truck driver submitting to search and seizure.

He does tell the officer driver he was going to meet his mother. That makes for a short conversation as the police continue to harass and endanger the well being of this truck driver. 

The truck diver exits his vehicle and is hand cuffed. It is better than being dead. I am sure long about the time the cuffs went on he figured he was going to keep breathing as he made up his mind there was nothing he could do with this circumstance that wouldn't cost him his life. So, he did what he was told to the letter. I have to wonder if the truck driver also noticed the tattos of the officer driver and that they were a Caucasian team.

At first the truck driver is frisked and has his pants pockets turned inside out, which means all his ID is now in the possession of the police. He has a modern day wallet that protects credit cards from identity theft. That will be apparent later. 

The truck driver is positioned on the hood of the patrol car so that the dashcam can't record the officers activity in and around the blue RAM truck. The police partner is the one that is primarily out of camera view. The driver has no control as to whether anything is planted in his vehicle and there would be no video to that effect. Neither of the officers are wearing bodicams. Everything we know about the scene is through the dashcam. 

As the driver is patiently waiting to be released after the officers find that he is lawful in his person and possessions there is at least one woman witness. She stops her car and wants to know what is going on. It is unclear that this might be his mother because at one point there is a phone ringing and of course the truck driver doesn't answer.

The woman carries on and actually is saying things like, "Would this be happening to a white man?" But, the really astounding part that should not be lost on the witnesses dedication to purpose, is that office partner literally tosses the truck driver's wallet on the hood of the car and then pulls his concealed carry permit out of his pocket. See, these officers had ever intention of arresting this man for carrying a loaded weapon without carrying his permit to do so. I am convinced officer partner was going to destroy the concealed carry permit before they were able to get to the station for the booking into the system. 

The woman witness is successful in ending the arrest. The handcuffs are removed and all during the time the officers are releasing this AMERICAN they are attempting to deprogram him as to what they were doing and how lawful it was. The truck driver is made to believe all that didn't happen and I have to believe he was so relieved to be returning to his blue RAM truck that any threat to his life, any abuse and embarrassment he sustained didn't matter because the officers convinced him it was a routine when finding an African American man that conceals carries. 

There are more and more African American men and women seeking to be on the right side of the law by not only owning a gun through proper channels, but, operating one with a lawful permit. The numbers are there that proves the new gun owners are a majority of minorities, more than 50 percent.

The State of Michigan has a separate concealed carry permit that looks exactly like the one in the upper left corner. The state does this because the permits are issued at the county level. The driver's license is issued at the state level. So, the counties use the picture already affiliated with the state driver's license and simply issues a permit that looks very much like a driver's license.

In this video it is unclear at the onset of the circumstances if the truck driver tells the officers he has a gun in the vehicle and has a concealed carry permit. That information now is mandatory in the State of Michigan when a person conceal carries. If approached by an officer the citizen has to tell the officer I conceal carry and there is a gun in the vehicle. Most gun organizations (of course, they facilitated this phenomena) will WARN their members that it is best to keep hands at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on the steering wheel when approached by an officer and as soon as a conversation engages to state the weapon is in the car as she/he has a concealed carry permit. That is mandatory now. A citizen has to openly state their personal information about a weapon in their possession or they have broken the law. It is unclear at the point of telling a police officer about the gun whether that can lead to a search and proof of what the driver stated.

There are so many violations of civil and personal rights in this video it made me think it was staged by a gun club somewhere. But, all information states this is real and this truck driver's life was in danger in the hands of two White Supremacists State Police officers. 

I find the entire encounter disgusting and very threatening for any race of American.

I don't believe in free flowing weapons in the USA. I sincerely don't. I don't have a problem with New York requiring concealed carry permits for those that demonstrate they are qualified and/or trained to use a gun. The question among gun activists is that "qualifying' can be a reason to examine the race of a person. Perhaps black men in NYC aren't allowed to have a gun, but, Bernie Goetz (click here) can protect himself from young black men.

This video is really disturbing. I would like to believe it is produced for reasons of propaganda and that "I really don't trust the government" feeling. But, to me, it is more reason to remove guns and the threat at any level they cause.

Good night.

No date noted
By Nick Hawkins

A Woman’s Mission to Bring Clean Water to Flint (click here)

For many years, (click here) WT Stevens supplemented his Detroit autoworker income with a small construction business. But there was nothing small about his impact on the people of Flint, Michigan.

When Stevens, a father of eight, died in February 2002, his daughter Rhonda Grayer realized that the "nice, non-confrontational guy" she had known had ­another side. "I was just amazed at his funeral, how many people's lives he'd ­impacted," she says. Many mourners told Grayer that her dad had trained them for free, given them a chance when nobody else would, and in some cases inspired them to start their own businesses. Those stories changed Grayer's life: To carry on her father's legacy, she registered his side business as a corporation, launching WT Stevens Construction in April 2002. By 2019, the company had made the Inc. 5000, at No. 79.

But that success took years of hardship--and a willingness to learn. For 10 years, Grayer kept working in corporate America while building up WT Stevens: "Sometimes you're the one who doesn't get paid," she says. "You pay your vendors and your employees and get what's left over."

So she asked for help. Grayer credits the ­National Small Business Association and the Michigan Department of Transportation's small-business certification program for providing valuable training--and the National Asso­ciation of Black Women in Construction for a network of peers.

Those connections and training prepared Grayer for the biggest opportunity--and challenge--of her career, when in 2016 WT Stevens landed a spot in a pilot program to replace the lead pipes in 50 of Flint's houses. The WT Stevens crew had the excavation experience. But they didn't know how to install new pipes....

So, this is it then with the poisoning of the people in Flint. There has been no word about further criminal or civil litigation regarding the poisoning of so many people in Flint, Michigan. The last time any of this was being litigated was June and July of this year.

Snyder's attorney general, Bill Schuette, skirted the prosecution long enough for everyone to get away with the crime and the deaths of Flint residents and the poisoning of so many.

That is nothing short of pure corruption of a legal system in Michigan that exonerates the wealthy and the powerful.

Due to a water switch in April 2014 (click here) to the City of Flint’s water supply, Flint residents rang the alarm almost immediately about a serious change in their water quality. Although the water supply was switched back to water sourced from Lake Huron in 2015, the damage had been done.

As a result of the 2014 switch, the Flint Water Crisis has become an ongoing public health crisis that has left a lasting effect on so many who call Flint home.

In early 2016, then Governor Rick Snyder declared a State of Emergency in Genesee County and an investigation was launched by the former Office of Special Counsel— appointed by then Attorney General Bill Schuette.

In late 2018, Attorney General Dana Nessel was elected and upon taking office in 2019, she made decisions to put a conflict wall in place that allowed her to lead the civil litigation into the Flint Water Crisis. The Office of Special Counsel was no longer needed, and Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy were tapped to lead the criminal investigation.

See below for more information regarding both the civil litigation and criminal investigation into the Flint Water Crisis....

The former Attorney General of Michigan has a son, with the same name, running for the Representative of 95th District encompassing Midland County and parts of Gladwin County.

...He is the son of Bill Schuette (click here) -- former U.S. Representative from 1985-1991, state senator, Michigan attorney general and 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate. Bill G. Schuette looks to carry on the family legacy of representing Midland County's interests....

To bring scrutiny to the senior Schuette in regard to Flint is probably in order. He brought charges against all those under Snyder, but, never Snyder himself. This is a miscarriage of justice. No one diverts water and allows contaminated water to be administered to the people of Flint causing deaths and maiming to the people of Flint without being held for the crimes they committed.

Perhaps, as soon as the misdeeds of Trump are settled the DOJ can review the issues that mounted after Snyder took away the election results of Flint only to poison the people.

There is this.

July 5, 2022

By Russ McNamara

Governor Rick Snyder's Men (click here) Originally Rejected Using Flint's Toxic River 

The Flint Water Crisis (click here) began with government mismanagement. As a result, tens of thousands of people and thousands of children in Genesee County were exposed to lead. The overall impact is not yet known. Lead does not leave the body and can lead to a loss of cognitive function and developmental delays.

Civil settlements have put a small price to the suffering of Flint residents, but justice and accountability have lagged far behind.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week that the use of one-man grand juries violates the state constitution. The prosecution of former state health officials – and former Gov. Rick Snyder – headed by the Michigan Attorney General’s office will essentially have to start over....

So there is a ruling to begin the prosecution over again with a formal grand jury and not a one man circus.WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?

IS IT GOING TO HAPPEN OR SHOULD EVERYONE JUST EXPECT THIS TO BE SWEPT UNDER ANOTHER RUG IN THE CONTINUED CORRUPT SAGA OF RICK SNYDER?

June 13, 2022
By Mitch Smith

...After Mr. Schuette (click here) left office in January and was replaced by Dana Nessel, a Democrat, there were signs of a change in course. Todd Flood, the lead prosecutor appointed by Mr. Schuette, was dismissed. New prosecutors assigned by Ms. Nessel expressed concern about evidence collection and took steps to seize Mr. Snyder’s phone. Then, most drastically, Ms. Nessel’s team dropped all charges on Thursday and pledged to investigate more, saying “all evidence was not pursued” by their predecessors....

What is going on? How much more investigation needs to be conducted? When is a Grand Jury going to convene?

What is wrong with America?

It is the principle of the thing, ya know? If a person is going to steal firewood, then by damn it, she is going to pay the price.

This is called anarchy. That is what is wrong with America. The guns on the street carry out their own justice.

September 2, 2022

By Christopher De Los Santos

Police believe a Waco woman missing since April (click here) was held at knifepoint in a confrontation over stolen wood before a woman she stole the wood with shot and killed her in Gatesville, arrest affidavits reveal.

Gatesville police listed Elizabeth Ann Romero, 44, as missing April 8, and she is presumed dead. Three Gatesville residents have been arrested in the case, and more arrests are expected soon, Coryell County authorities said.

Affidavits the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office released Thursday say that the chain of events started with a March 31 theft of wood from a Gatesville construction site, in which two women who look like Jessica Colleen Robinson, 34, and Romero used a pickup truck that looks like the one Jessica Robinson drove. Romero later told the owner of the wood she and Jessica Robinson had stolen it, according to the affidavits, which cite several witness statements....

Whatever happened to valuing human life?

Oh, wait. How silly of me.

Valuing human life is restricted to fetuses.

Of course, of course, women can't decide for themselves and they break the law and deserve to die for taking wood.

Of course. 

No different than a woman Vice President in Argentina has to die (click here). Right? Women are so disposable these days.

Ya want to know what abortion law in Texas is? Jihadist would be proud. The abortion law in Texas is inspired by Islam. Has to be.

...In Islam, (click here) and most religions, abortion is forbidden. Islam is considerably liberal concerning abortion, which is dependent on (i) the threat of harm to mothers, (ii) the status of the pregnancy before or after ensoulment (on the 120th day of gestation), and (iii) the presence of foetal anomalies that are incompatible with life. Considerable variation in religious edicts exists, but most Islamic scholars agree that the termination of a pregnancy for foetal anomalies is allowed before ensoulment, after which abortion becomes totally forbidden, even in the presence of foetal abnormalities; the exception being a risk to the mother’s life or confirmed intrauterine death....

I apologize.

Islam is MORE REASONABLE and inclusive of medical science than Texas!

I want a national "Sell Your Guns to Police Month!"

We had "Cash for Clunkers," now we need "Cash for Trading in Danger."

Red Flag Laws aren't cutting it.

September 3, 2022
By Bernard Condon

Chicago is one of the nation’s gun violence hotspots (click here) and a seemingly ideal place to employ Illinois’ “red flag” law that allows police to step in and take firearms away from people who threaten to kill. But amid more than 8,500 shootings resulting in 1,800 deaths since 2020, the law was used there just four times.

It’s a pattern that’s played out in New Mexico, with nearly 600 gun homicides during that period and a mere eight uses of its red flag law. And in Massachusetts, with nearly 300 shooting homicides and just 12 uses of its law.

An Associated Press analysis found many U.S. states barely use the red flag laws touted as the most powerful tool to stop gun violence before it happens, a trend blamed on a lack of awareness of the laws and resistance by some authorities to enforce them even as shootings and gun deaths soar.

AP found such laws in 19 states and the District of Columbia were used to remove firearms from people 15,049 times since 2020, fewer than 10 per 100,000 adult residents. Experts called that woefully low and not nearly enough to make a dent in gun violence, considering the millions of firearms in circulation and countless potential warning signs law enforcement officers encounter from gun owners every day....

Police and prosecutors needs to meet to bring safety to communities. Police want their streets safer, use the Red Flag Laws. Selling firearms to police, does not allow anyone to go back out and purchase more. There has to be a stop placed in the data base after the sale.

Ah, come on. Trump had no respect for anything USA.

Respect protocol for national security? What is that? Is it in the PDB everyday? Give me a break. Those empty folders are the REMAINING evidence of highly classified documents either burned in the fireplace, dissolved in an acid bath or run through Trump's shredder. 

HE WASN'T GOING TO LEAVE EVIDENCE BEHIND HE SENT TO OTHERS. By others, I don't mean anyone trustworthy or within the USA government.

What model shredder did Trump have in his office? Yes, they are probably gone forever. I mean no one makes copies of highly classified documents before the President of the United States of America takes possession of them.

September 3, 2022

By Rebecca Beitsch

100% Jam Proof System (click here) eliminates paper jams and powers through tough jobs

...“The least optimistic scenario is that they are nowhere to be found because they are already with someone else.”

The inventory list was given to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon shortly before she heard arguments from Trump’s legal team asking to stall the FBI investigation so that a third-party special master could review the evidence to protect what they claim could be privileged material. The DOJ has argued such a move is unnecessary as its own team of staff not assigned to the case has already reviewed the evidence for privileged material.

Beyond the empty folders, the Friday inventory details in broad strokes the other types of documents that were found within Trump’s office among the tranche of more than 100 recovered classified records: three documents marked confidential, 17 documents marked secret and seven documents marked top-secret....

The day it is too late is the day the climate of Earth evaporates.

We are in a fight for this planet and the lives of people.

Do you understand me?

We fight like we never have before and we do it well. Let's do this thing!

End of discussion.

1 September 2022
By Jude Coleman

...The stratosphere (click here) sits between roughly 10 and 50 kilometres above Earth’s surface. Smoke particles don’t typically get to the stratosphere, but smoke from the Australian fires reached heights of more than 35 kilometres owing to unusual, fire-induced pyrocumulonimbus clouds. These smoke-infused thunder clouds hold lots of black carbon, which absorbs heat and rises into the lower stratosphere like a hot-air balloon, says study co-author Jim Haywood, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Exeter, UK. Once there, the black carbon continues to absorb sunlight and warm the air.

“There were parts of the coastline that were under a haze of smoke for months on end,” says Abram. “The scale of that bush-fire season was just off the charts.”

Haywood and his team used data from polar-orbiting and remote-sensing satellites to observe changes in the distribution of smoke particles in the stratosphere, and combined this information with climate models. They found that the impact of smoke particles on stratospheric temperatures that was predicted by the models matched observed temperature spikes. Previous studies2 have used models to simulate the length and degree of warming in the aftermath of the fires, but this study incorporates a global analysis, definitively attributing the rise in temperatures to the bush-fire smoke, says Haywood.

“This is really putting another nail in the coffin,” says Clare Murphy, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Wollongong in Australia. She says the work builds on earlier studies, “extending the evidence”.

Damaged ozone layer...

September 2, 2016

A predictable pattern of winds in the stratosphere recently changed in a way scientists had not seen in more than 60 years of record-keeping.

High above Earth’s tropics, (click here) a pattern of winds changed recently in a way that scientists had never seen in more than 60 years of consistent measurements.

This disruption to the wind pattern – called the “quasi-biennial oscillation” – did not have any immediate impact on weather or climate as we experience it on Earth’s surface. But it does raise interesting questions for the NASA scientists who observed it: If a pattern holds for six decades and then suddenly changes, what caused that to happen? Will it happen again? What effects might it have?

“The quasi-biennial oscillation is the stratosphere’s Old Faithful,” said Paul Newman, Chief Scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author on a new paper about the event published online in Geophysical Research Letters. “If Old Faithful stopped for a day, you’d begin to wonder about what was happening under the ground.”...

"We the people..."

 Indeed.

The highest job creation of modern history was the Carter administration, Joe Biden's record to February 2022 is following the same climb.

Chart in Wikipedia (click here)

...To be his Secretary of Labor, Carter selected Ray Marshall, (click here) a labor economist at the University of Texas. Marshall had worked and published extensively on unemployment problems, particularly for minority groups. He had also worked in such areas as industrial relations, rural development and international migrations of workers. Marshall saw his role as Secretary as setting overall policies, selecting subordinates who would best achieve these policies, and representing the Department in external relations. Like many of his predecessors, Marshall believed in refraining from unnecessary intervention in collective bargaining. He sought to improve the representation of qualified women, blacks and other minorities among the Department of Labor's political staff. He sought to develop adequate relations and liaison with groups ranging from the White House, Capitol Hill and state government to unions and business. To improve the performance of the Department, Marshall emphasized the need to simplify operations and strengthen the Department's policy analysis capabilities.

The Department played a major role in the President's economic stimulus program. It received about $8 billion for Public Service Employment and other programs under CETA. Public service jobs increased from 310,000 in 1976 to a peak of 725,000 in 1978. The Department also expanded the Job Corps and other youth training programs. It developed and tested new ways to meet employment related needs of rural workers and Native Americans. It improved on-the-job training for veterans and others through the Hope through Industry Retraining and Employment program. This program provided incentives for companies to hire and train needy persons. A Skill Training Improvement Program provided retraining for displaced workers to prepare them for jobs by giving them skills which were in short supply.

CETA was extended and revised by the 1978 reauthorization act. This legislation was driven by two concerns: the need to make employment and training more effective through greater involvement of the private sector; and, the concern that CETA resources were not targeted on those most in need. The major new feature was the Private Sector Initiatives Program. PSIP complemented the public employment program already in full swing. The main goal of PSIP was to redirect CETA toward placing the unemployed in jobs in the private sector. To do this, PSIP sought to increase the participation of private employers in CETA programs. Enacted as a two-year demonstration program, PSIP helped private firms provide job training for disadvantaged persons and the long-term unemployed. Business executives, labor leaders and others set up Private Industry Councils in the local areas to work with CETA prime sponsors....

The Carter Administration when it came to jobs was about reformation. Jimmy Carter was the Governor of Georgia before being elected to the Presidency of the USA. He knew something about the South and hurdles for those with rural understandings of life and oppression of minorities.

Those that only understand dollars spent that increase the national debt laugh at this administration because they believe he spent money into the national debt to have an economy. That was not the case. Former President Carter was a reformer and wanted those LEFT OUT of the American economy and the American Middle Class to have the opportunity to increase their quality of life.

I find it more than interesting that President Joe Biden is facing the same paradigm more than a half century later. There is a definite focus to increase opportunity for minority Americans in the USA within this administration and what is ever more interesting is that the trajectory is taking on the same curve. There is definitely problems within this country that persists through generations.

Russia’s official news agency (click here) photographed President Trump’s meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov in the Oval Office on Wednesday. The American press was denied access.

We are still fighting White Supremacy/Nationalism. Now, today, the USA is looking at a former president that was literally leader of the Christian Nationalists in the USA and the oppression of American minorities. We have come full circle. The Republicans at the time of Carter CHOSE to have a baseline electorate that include people that were misdirected in their morality to judge others by skin color or eye slant. The Republicans over decades of time elected a man to the White House that redirected the entire focus of the federal government and exposed the USA to danger. Donald John Trump is known to have benefitted and won the 2020 election with the assistance of Russia according to an examination of evidence by Former FBI Director Robert Mueller. That is a fact. 

Maria Butina, (click here) who was charged last month with being a covert Russian agent, passionately promoted gun rights and better relations with Russia, charming a string of older men along the way. Clockwise from top right: Ms. Butina in 2014 with James W. Porter II, then president of the N.R.A.; Wayne LaPierre, the group’s executive vice president; and Rick Santorum, the former senator.

So, most appropriately, the Biden Administration is fighting back against the oppression enforced in the Trump Administration and the job numbers and spending reflect it. The question in this economy is when will The Fed finally reach a level of interest to the banks that actually impact high housing prices? That is the main hurdle today in the American economy. Owning a home is everything, including a secure retirement. The Fed must increase interest rates to bring demand down because of the cost of a mortgage. The increase in job rates is inevitable with the focus of this White House. The USA in the Biden Election of 2020 completely rejected White Supremacy/Nationalism, decided women know how to make their own decisions, including a career path, and having a good paying job and a family to love was vital to being an American. Don't leave out a strong military. NATO has been tested as never before.

I think Joe's Jobs Numbers are great. Every person regardless of race or religion should be finding jobs and opportunity to be upwardly mobile to increase their quality of life, no matter how they define it, so long as it is legal.

September 2, 2022

Employers (click here) added 315,000 jobs last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said Friday. That was down from 526,000 in July, though it still represented a strong pace of growth.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent, from a half-century low of 3.5 percent in July. That rate only counts people who are actively looking for jobs, and the uptick came alongside a big increase in the size of the labor force — a sign that rising wages, abundant job opportunities and the receding pandemic are leading more people to look for jobs.

Economists have been saying for months that job growth was likely to slow as the economy comes down from last year’s vaccine-fueled boom and as higher borrowing costs make it harder for businesses to expand. Instead, the labor market remained red hot even as other parts of the economy, such as the housing market, turned sharply lower. The data released Friday indicated the long-delayed slowdown may finally have begun.

“It’s definitely a downshift from what we saw earlier in the year,” said Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo. “But step back and look at the bigger picture here. The fact that we’re still putting up gains of over 300,000 even as we’ve recovered all the jobs lost, that’s still a really impressive feat.”...

September 2, 2022
By Jim Tankersley

...The jobs report on Friday (click here) was the first of the summer to support the case Mr. Biden and his economic aides have been making for months: that the economy is beginning to step down from a high-growth, high-inflation expansion coming out of the pandemic recession but avoiding another recession.

The report showed the country added 315,000 jobs in August, down from 526,000 in July. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly, to 3.7 percent. That cooling is enough to support Mr. Biden’s contention, which he first laid out in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece in May, that the country is set to “see fewer record job-creation numbers, but this won’t be cause for concern.”

There were also signs in the report that inflation could be coming down, as the Federal Reserve aggressively raises interest rates in order to tame price growth that has reached a 40-year high. Average wages continued to rise, the Labor Department said, but not as quickly as in previous months. Administration officials have been hoping for the Fed’s rate increases to bring down inflation while not slamming the brakes on growth, triggering a recession and plunging millions of Americans out of work....

DeSantis has an Office of Election Crimes and Security and it is ALL a waste of money!

To begin, interestingly if there were 20 invalid votes in Florida, the Bush v. Gore outcome may never have gone to the Supreme Court. The initial reaction is that 20 votes would never effect the elections, but, there are occasions when it would, especially in hyper-funded media campaigns where the vote anymore comes down to a small margin to win.

Unfortunately, the 20 people charged fell through the cracks of their return to society after serving time in prison. Their crimes were serious and they needed to be in prison (1) to be removed from society for the real chance the crimes were habitual and could effect others and (2) hopefully, for rehab and a new direction in life that would permit them to continue to carry on lawful lives. These particular crimes receive a forever punishment of never being allowed to vote again. I think that is probably unconstitutional. Sex crimes of minors aren't a voting issue to begin and there are only people 18 years of age and older in voting places.

This policing of voting is a political arm of the DeSantis administration. Bush v. Gore was carried into conflict because of a ballot system that allowed close elections to have a skeptical outcome. So, to say these 20 people would have impacted Bush v. Gore is grossly incorrect. I made the point because I am sure everyone looking at this will make that exact example.

Bush v. Gore was scrutinized over and over, even after the Supreme Court decided the election. So, to say this would have mattered in that election is grossly incorrect. This political policing within an administration of any party is blatantly wrong. These issues belong AT THE LOCAL AND COUNTY level where the precincts have authority and understand the voting mechanisms involved. If these 20 Floridians would appeal the decisions leveled at them they may win in the State Courts. This entire political policing is probably unconstitutional as voting irregularities are local crimes and should be treated as such. 

Incorrect ballots for any reason should be understood and where there are crimes, even white collar crimes by those being elected, criminal investigations and charges should follow. But, it is my estimate the Secretary of State reports the votes within the precincts as a state total, it is not the authority that understands the balloting of a district or the balloting mechanism. 

Here again, as with Disney and so many other DeSantis antics, the governor is overreaching and causing harm to the people. The governor's office is not a dictatorial governance where an entire state can be effected erroneously by a members of government.

August 27, 2022
By Ashley Lopez

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Aug. 18 press conference in Fort Lauderdale, where he announced that the state's new Office of Election Crimes and Security was in the process of arresting 20 individuals for voter fraud.

Many of the individuals (click here) recently charged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new election crimes unit told investigators they had no idea that with their felony convictions, they were unable to vote when they cast ballots in the 2020 election.

Their experiences shed new light on Florida's controversial program for felons to restore their voting rights.

In a press conference last week, DeSantis announced to a crowd of supporters that the election crimes unit was charging 20 people across the state with voting illegally.

DeSantis described the arrests as the "opening salvo" from the new election and security unit. State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year, known as Senate Bill 524, that created the policing force. The legislation followed pressure from DeSantis for the state to spend more resources on combating alleged voter fraud, which experts say remains very rare in American elections.

"People weren't getting prosecuted," he said last week. "Before we proposed this [unit] there were examples of this stuff seeming to fall through the cracks."

State law permits felons to try to gain back their voting rights, but not after convictions for certain crimes....

Michael Cohen says Trump has copies of same Maralago documents at his other homes.

That is why the documents were strewn about. Trump didn’t just read them, he copied, and distributed them.