Putin believed taking Ukraine away from Ukrainians would be a cake walk. Now. It is just yellow cake on Putin's agenda.

October 4, 2022

By Eliot A. Cohen

Tehran – Iran said (click here) on Monday London’s lack of “political will” has thwarted a deal with Kazakhstan on import of 950 tons of yellow cake, an acquisition that would not violate the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. 

Margarita Simonyan, (click here) the editor in chief of RT and one of Russia’s top propagandists, has in the space of seven months gone from supreme confidence that Kyiv would fall in days to something like despair at Russia’s shambolic mobilization and battlefield defeats. In addition to confessing to “terrible grief,” she admits that she now sings Russia’s national anthem using the old Soviet lyrics. That choice is appropriate, because Moscow now specializes in Soviet-style bluster and hysteria. Nowhere is this more evident than in the nuclear threats issued by President Vladimir Putin.

In his speeches announcing the annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts that his battered army does not fully control, Putin raised the specter of nuclear war. In the finest tradition of Soviet whataboutism, he spoke of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, calling them an American precedent for … what, he did not exactly say, but the meaning was clear. Since then, the menace has been amplified by subordinates like Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s security council, as well as panicky tub-thumpers like Simonyan’s colleague Vladimir Solovyov.

It is impossible for the USA (click here) to sit out any nuclear threat and exchange. No one believed Putin would lead according to a five year calendar that included invading Ukraine. He is now playing his hand as he planned it. The nukes are next. He has always stated he would use whatever it took to protect the Russia people. In his mind this is the time for such nuclear measures. No one has invaded Russia and partly that is the problem. Putin isn't rational in a way that most international relations play out, he is enamored with his 

Any threat to use nuclear weapons by a country that possesses them has to be taken seriously. That’s particularly true of Russia, a country whose military doctrine has always entertained the deployment of relatively low-yield nuclear weapons in a war. To be clear, low-yield can mean a detonation equivalent to 5,000 or 10,000 tons of TNT. When Soviet war plans for Europe were revealed after the Cold War, analysts blanched at the magnitude of the nuclear assault the Soviet general staff had contemplated as the preparatory bombardment for a potential drive to the English Channel....

Putin is not demented, his plans are demented and woefully bad in preparation and deployed. Putin has practiced brinkmanship and gotten away with it for far too long. He is convinced he is invincible. 

June 9, 2022

By Anton Trojanovski

Among President Vladimir V. Putin’s motives (click here) for invading Ukraine, his view of himself as being on a historic mission to rebuild the Russian Empire has always loomed large. On Thursday, Mr. Putin went further, comparing himself directly to Peter the Great.

It was a new, if carefully staged, glimpse into Mr. Putin’s sense of his own grandeur.

Mr. Putin on Thursday marked the 350th anniversary of Peter’s birth by visiting a new multimedia exhibit about the czar in Moscow. He then held a town-hall-style meeting with young Russian entrepreneurs and opened it by reflecting on Peter’s conquest of the Baltic coast during his 18th-century war with Sweden.

Mr. Putin described the land Peter conquered as rightfully Russian.

“He was returning it and strengthening it,” Mr. Putin said, leaning back in his armchair, before hinting with a smile that he was now doing the same thing in his war in Ukraine. “Well, apparently, it has also fallen to us to return and to strengthen.”...

Israel is no exception. There is danger coming. Putin is most probably assisting the Iranians.

Syria is right there. These are supposed to be Russian allies. I find the timing of Iran's statements about building/acquiring nuclear weapons ominous to Putin's ambitions. This is no consequence.

August 4, 2022
By Jon Gambrell

Dubai - Iranian officials (click here) now speak openly about something long denied by Tehran as it enriches uranium at its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade material: The Islamic Republic is ready to build an atomic weapon at will.

The remarks could be bluster to force more bargaining-table concessions from the U.S. without planning to seek the bomb. Or, as analysts warn, Iran could reach a point like North Korea did some 20 years ago where it decides having the ultimate weapon outweighs any further international sanctions.

All this could be put to the test Thursday as Iran, the U.S. and the European Union prepare for a snap summit that appears to be a last-ditch effort in Vienna to revive Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal amid the new pressure. That includes one Iranian video online suggesting the country’s ballistic missiles could “turn New York into a heap of rubble from hell.”...

Putin always denies his plans for aggression.

February 7, 2022
By Vladimir Kuznetsov and Nancy Cook

Institute for the Study of War (click here) with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project

The U.S. ramped up warnings (click here) of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, with President Joe Biden saying a “false-flag” event may be underway and a top diplomat describing Moscow as moving toward an “imminent invasion.”

Russian officials said no invasion of Ukraine was underway and none was planned. But the Kremlin said in an official response to the Biden administration’s proposed security assurances that the offers were unsatisfactory and Russia might have to resort to unspecified “military-technical measures.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken changed his travel plans Thursday to address the United Nations Security Council on the crisis. Russia expelled the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Moscow, Bart Gorman, in what a State Department spokesman called an unprovoked move....

The Free World needs to ready their first strike weapons. Ukraine must evacuate the provinces Russia is claiming is part of their country now. Putin will release nuclear horror on the land that is supposed to be part of his country. Absolutely, he will.

Moving military equipment by train is a favorite of Russian command. They are going to launch nukes and the Free World needs to have their first strike weapons ready for launch when Putin releases his particular type of heel.

October 4, 2022

Rare video (click here)

The Kremlin said on Tuesday (click here) that it did not want to take part in "nuclear rhetoric" from the West after a media report that Russia was preparing to demonstrate its willingness to use nuclear weapons in its conflict with Ukraine.

The Times newspaper reported on Monday that the NATO military alliance had warned members that President Vladimir Putin was set to demonstrate his willingness to use nuclear weapons by carrying out a nuclear test on Ukraine's border....

There is a counter to this report that is somewhat but not completely skeptical.

October 3, 2022

By Joseph Trevithick

Imagery has emerged on social media (click here) recently that shows one or more Russian trains carrying a number of rare 4x4 BPM-97 Vystrel light armored vehicles fitted with turrets armed with 30mm cannons. The movement of the BPM-97s has garnered unique interest as they may be associated with the Russian military's 12th Main Directorate, which oversees the country's nuclear arsenal. These observations come amid growing threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials in Russia about the potential use of nuclear weapons as Ukrainian forces continue regaining territory. As such, they seem to have led to some startling headlines that seem unsubstantiated. The fact is that while such a deployment could very well point to a more ominous nuclear operation in the works, there are many other reasons, some of them glaring, for such a movement, in addition to just normal training operations....

President Zelensky is a great man. He has accomplished what many believed impossible. However, he was in denial of any harsh actions by Putin and believed he would not invade Ukraine.

North Korea is practicing.

October 3, 2022
By Motoko Rich and Choe Sang-Hun

Tokyo - North Korea (click here) on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, the South Korean military said, prompting a rare warning by the Japanese government for residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter.

The launch represented a major escalation by North Korea, which has conducted a flurry of missile tests in recent days as the United States and its allies held military drills in the region.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Defense, the missile passed over Japan toward the Pacific Ocean at 7:22 a.m. and landed in the ocean 17 minutes later. Japan said the missile crashed down outside its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from its shores.

North Korea has fired 23 ballistic and other missiles this year — four just this week — but it was the first time since the 2017 launch that Japan had issued a warning for residents to take shelter....

USS Indiana reported in after a deployment of six months. They seem happy to be home.

11 August 2022

From Lt. Seth Koenig, Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic Public Affairs

“I could not be more proud (click here) of what this Hoosier crew has become and accomplished during this deployment,” said Cmdr. Scott Bresnahan, the commanding officer of USS Indiana. “Always humble and hungry, each Sailor showed no ceiling in the face of multiple dynamic challenges during a unique geopolitical environment. Most importantly, this crew became an even stronger family. Exceptionally supported by our loved ones at home, the Battle Bass and her crew met and exceeded every expectation while deployed, leaving an indelible impression on me and our Hoosier family.”

The ceremonial first kiss upon return to homeport was awarded to Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Trogdon and his wife and child, Lexie and Tucker Trogdon. The ceremonial first hug was awarded to Francesca Osborne and her dad, Chief Petty Officer Kirk Osborne.

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting six long months for,” said Rhonda Hatchett, the command ombudsman and wife of Petty Officer 2nd Class Cameron Hatchett. “The work our Sailors have been doing out at sea on behalf of our nation has been worthwhile and important. But now it’s time for their families to welcome them back home. We are all looking forward to spending time together again.”...

It is not a floating array. Don't ya want one?

October 3, 2022
By Li Cohen

The Babcock Ranch solar array, (click here) which is run by Florida Power and Light.

Hurricane Ian's impact on southwest Florida (click here) has been nothing short of devastating. But even as millions lost power, had their homes destroyed and were left in total disarray, one small community managed to get through relatively unscathed.

The community is known as Babcock Ranch, situated just 20 minutes away from downtown Fort Myers, an area among those hit hardest by the storm. The community calls itself "the world's first solar-powered town." But what makes life so different for the roughly 4,600 residents? It was built on the basis of sustainability for a future of survival.

"When storms take aim at southwest Florida and evacuation orders are issued, residents of Babcock Ranch are at a distinct advantage," a representative for the community, Lisa Hall, told CBS News. "Storm safety and resiliency has been factored into every element of design and engineering of the town."

Babcock Ranch rests on higher ground than much of the surrounding area – at least 25 feet or more above sea level – which the ranch says is "beyond the reach of coastal storm surge." All of the buildings and structures in the community are developed to withstand winds of up to 145 mph, or what would be a mid-range Category 4 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson scale. Even the plants are able to withstand storms – the community relies on native flora that is generally better able to handle Florida's extreme weather and also reduce storm runoff and flooding.

On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that there were more than 2 million reported power outages in southwest Florida. Lee and Charlotte counties, "are basically off the grid at this point," he said that morning. But Babcock, located in Charlotte County, was the exception....

...“Powered by the Sun” (click here) is not just Babcock Ranch’s slogan, it’s the foundation upon which the new master-planned community is being built.

Early on, developer Kitson & Partners donated 800 acres at the town’s northern end to Florida Power & Light, which built its Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center there. Its 650,000 solar panels generate 149 megawatts of solar capacity, enough to power Babcock Ranch and surrounding areas. FPL added a state-of-the-art battery storage facility—the largest one operating in the U.S.—in 2018....

Don't wait until the rain starts falling, it is too late.

September 30, 2022
By Sara Burnett

..."This morning, Invest 98L (click here) strengthened into Tropical Depression Nine," the governor tweeted. "While the eventual track of #TD9 is uncertain, Floridians should remain vigilant and ensure their households are prepared for potential impact."...

The deaths and damage is directly the governor's fault. It is the governor's responsibility to protect the people and provide for the common good. When warnings turn into an "All Clear" signal, all the people need is to realize they are safe. Being careful is not a crime. Being inefficient to protect lives and property is caring. 

All those boats that became trash were many captains that misunderstood the danger. They simply had to move away to a safe port. Tragedy could have been averted.

October 3, 2022

By Emma Neuburger

Days after Hurricane Ian hit Florida and the Carolinas, (click here) residents are struggling to navigate flooded roads and neighborhoods and federal emergency management officials are conducting major search-and-rescue efforts amid the destruction.

The recorded death toll from the storm surpassed 80 over the weekend and is expected to rise as floodwaters recede and rescue teams are able to access new areas.

Insurers could also face costs of up to $57 billion from Hurricane Ian’s damage in Florida and South Carolina, risk modeling firm Verisk said Monday.

In Florida, which took the brunt of the hurricane, roughly 600,000 homes and businesses were without power as of Monday morning, down from a peak of 2.6 million on Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 1,600 people have been rescued across the state, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are traveling to Florida on Wednesday to assess the hurricane damage. Last week, the president said the destruction from Hurricane Ian is likely to be among the worst in the country’s history.

“We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction,” the president said during a briefing on Friday. “It’s likely to rank among the worst ... in the nation’s history.”...

Ah. The sanity of the Free World.

Why get upset, get busy.

October 3, 2022
By Jill Lawless

Birmingham, England - The Joint Expeditionary Force group of northern European nations (click here) will meet Monday to discuss the safety of undersea pipelines and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Wallace said the virtual meeting has been called by the U.K. and the Netherlands. The force brings together troops from 10 countries, including the Baltic and Nordic nations, and has seen its importance increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Wallace also said Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect undersea cables and pipes, with the first “multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare” operational by the end of next year.

Undersea blasts that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last week have led to huge methane leaks. Nordic investigators said the blasts involved several hundred pounds of explosives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of sabotaging the Russia-built pipelines, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and its allies.

Britain has not officially blamed anyone for the blasts, but Wallace told the Conservative Party’s annual conference that “Putin’s reactions are wider than just Ukraine. His reach goes further. This week, we saw the ‘mysterious’ damage inflicted to the Nord Stream pipelines. And it should remind us all how fragile our economy and infrastructure is to such hybrid attacks.”

Britain has been a major contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Wallace said Britain would train another 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainian troops in the U.K., in addition to the 10,000 it has trained this year....

The real question is what sovereign authority carried out such sabotage?

I find this sabotage all too interesting when one links it to the withdrawal of Russian troops from annexed Ukrainian soil.

October 3, 2022

By Rachel Treisman

A week after several suspicious ruptures (click here) were discovered along the undersea Nord Stream pipeline, gas has reportedly stopped leaking but the questions keep flowing. Namely: What — and who — caused the damage? And how can countries try to prevent similar incidents going forward?

Scientists say the two leaks were likely caused by powerful underwater explosions, based on seismic data from Sweden and Denmark. And European leaders believe those leaks were no accident, with NATO blaming "deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage."...

Russia is claiming the Free World, NATO specifically is responsible. It isn't. Winter is coming and NATO would not seek such resolve in a war that is undeclared by them.

If Putin has determined in his own mind that NATO is responsible for Gazprom's loss, it is a reason for him to declare war on NATO. It is what he wants. I have no doubt he has China at the ready and quite possibly North Korea. Venezuela.

Europe needs subzero sleeping bags until full swing of alternative energies are in place and they are self-sufficient again. I am serious about the sleeping bags.

I wish someone would run long lines of energy to Europe from the thermal beds of Iceland.

As far as I am concerned, the annexation of Ukraine land and the sabotage of Nord Stream are all Putin's plans for nuclear exchange.

I can hear it. Can't you?

Moscow, Russia - news report - "In a tirade, Putin states he will damn Europe to a dark and freezing winter. The sanctions will find a new victim, Europe, with the end of Nord Stream."

The issue is who throws the first punch? Will any Free World country feel compelled to end Putin and the communists? Is that what Putin is planning? Will he recline in Moscow with his many children and their mothers and wait for the first punch to be thrown? The evidence states differently. The removal of Russian soldiers and the end of Gazprom's excellent customer are the first salvos of Putin's deadly use of nuclear aggression.

Russia's allies are lining up. The Free World has enemies. This is not an isolated incident by Iran's Khamenei. Putin is telling all those he has coveted to oppress the misbehaving children and prepare for a greater unrest with The West.

October 3, 2022

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (click here) responded publicly on Monday to the biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called “rioting” and accuse the U.S. and Israel of planning the protests.

Khamenei said he was “heartbroken” by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police, which set off the nationwide protests. However, he sharply condemned the protests as a foreign plot to destabilize Iran, echoing authorities’ previous comments....

Russia is defeated.

Vladimir Putin is talking tough because he wants to move the war from Ukraine to a larger venue that invites the Free World. Why? Because he has nothing left but any nuclear armament.

Vladimir Putin has stayed as the Russian president far, far too long. He needs to retire immediately and end the aggressions he thinks he can wage which ultimately will invade Russia itself.

Sometimes I really think leaders like Putin take the wrong message from the USA's victory over Japan in WWII. It is easy for military leaders to sit back and examine the aftermath of the WWII use of two nuclear bombs and think that is a viable solution. It is not.

After WWII the USA began reparations. Those reparations were extensive and brought a new society to Japan. Those reparations changed the future of Japan, HOWEVER, the USA never took Japan as a province. The surrender of Japan also provided for a culture that adheres to the new ruler. In other words, if a Japanese emperor was vanquished, the new emperor would receive the loyalty of the people. That loyalty was a survival mechanism, so, the movement of Japan to an entirely different country was highly cultural. That is not the case with every country after WWII.

Post WWII the USA has an ally, not a colony. Japan governs itself. The bombs dropped by the USA over two cities in Japan were to end a war, not begin a new one and has never been repeated.

The plans to take parts of Ukraine and the withdrawal of the Russian forces could be an overture to the use of nuclear devices. It would be a folly if Putin thinks he can get away with such tactics.

The Ukrainian military should consider further evacuations of citizens and a withdrawal as well, if nuclear preferences are going to be deployed over these so called annexed provinces. It will render the land unusable, but, Russia is used to exactly that. If Russians can't live there why should everyone else? There are no words to describe Putin at this moment in history, except, Satan in flesh.

 

They mean it.

I fully believe if it weren't for Donald John Trump these groups would still be on the periphery of society and living as criminals in many instances. The occasional out lash of a pizza delivery boy killing an innocent person was always contained. Tragic, yes, but, there was no ruthless mob trying to end the existence of the USA.

October 3, 2022
By Rachel Weiner, Spencer S. Hsu and Tom Jackman

Jessica Watkins marches down the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol with other Oath Keepers affiliates on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Stewart Rhodes (click here) is on trial in federal court in Washington along with four people described by prosecutors as “top lieutenants” in the militia-movement group he founded, the Oath Keepers. Rhodes is the highest-profile defendant charged so far in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and is accused of steering a months-long effort to prevent by force the swearing-in of President Biden. Rhodes is among 14 fighting the historically rare charge of seditious conspiracy in what the government has called one of the largest investigations in U.S. history....

They line the prisons. The White Supremacists/Nationalists and other hate groups and gangs including some ethnic gangs, too. The USA has stood the tide of hatred century after century. We take them out of society and put them behind bars where they can live their demented lives with their bodies tattooed to remind them exactly who they are and what they did and why they did it.

December 20, 2021

By Eric Mayer and Tom Hanson

Sioux Falls - The judge overseeing the sentencing (click here) of Jahennessy Bryant and Raymond Banks called their February 2020 robbery and shooting of Casey Bonhorst “brutal, inhumane and senseless” and issued long prison sentences to both men.

After saying an “innocent man died over a few coins” Minnehaha County Presiding Circuit Judge Robin Houwman said there’s nothing she could do to ease the pain of Casey’s family and friends. Judge Houwman, during an hour-long ruling, discredited witnesses that supported Banks’ belief that Bryant was the shooter.

For his role, Banks was sentenced to 80 years in the state prison with 20 years suspended. He’ll get credit for the more than 400 days already served.

Bryant, who was pointed to as the original shooter but cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation, was sentenced to 50 years in the state prison with 25 years suspended and credit for time served. He’s first eligible for parole halfway through his 25 years....

I am quite confident such judges are provided bodyguards. Those bodyguards should be there for the rest of their lives, including, their families.

The really unfortunate solicitation by Trump has now enamored a political movement that is dangerous. The Republican politicians that fall in with these brothers of doom are more dangerous and have no appreciation of life, especially that of other human beings. 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) (click here) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

Right? So, how can anyone point a finger at an elected Republican and say they are up to no good? They took the oath.

Well, it all depends how one defines the United States of America, enemies and God.

The USA Constitution doesn't come with a definition section as federal legislation does. There is nothing in the USA Constitution that defines an American. 

Understand? Everything is on the chopping block. Everything. Where meanings of words and gods can be contorted to fill in the blanks of why men would turn against the country they claim as their own it is done. It is criminal, but, when one is committed by tattoo and prison and prison potential, the meanings of sovereign documents are contorted until the end justifies the means.

Americans have enemies inside their own country and Trump galvanized them in many, many instances. 

"Gather"

The magazine is not the issue (click here), it is the "idea" that most understand. The print edition can be obtained from most VFWs for free.

I found the cover and back cover only at an Evangelical facility. As far as I am concerned it was there as a message. The contents of the magazine was gone and it has been sitting in the window for some time now.

The ultimate method of veterans and police everywhere (click here). The digital edition is free.

MAGA Republicans have their own debate to fall back on when it comes to deciding the purpose of insurrection.

Of course, there he is, the saint himself, Mel Gibson. Straight out of the "Cult-ure of W."

And nobody wants to be found swinging in the wind.

https://youtu.be/0nVjoU_8LH8

Fought at Rorke's Drift, died the day after V/E Day, aged 90. An inspirational figure, as portrayed by Nigel Green in the classic Zulu. Unlike in the film, he was only 23 at the time of Rorke's Drift, and was the youngest Non Commissioned Officer in the British Army....

https://youtu.be/rxepGxyz-Y4

The same kind of dirt is being peddled in Europe as well. If a change election is alarming, it is because it has been won through propaganda and not the facts.

 

"You Tube" is not used for history, it is used for training by MAGA Republicans.

This is Part One below, but, there are a series the MAGAs watch. Of, course, this happened before and of, course, it is saintly because they are worried about African Americans according to the videos. But, in real life they are not worried about anyone except themselves, White Supremacists/Nationalists.

This is called PROMOTING VIOLENCE! Promoting violence and insurrection is not protected speech.

Part 2   https://youtu.be/s0MDgyDzvSY

Part 3   https://youtu.be/9O11JpG5UX8

 

 I will be blogging tomorrow.

Thank you for your interest.

There are nations of people all over the world looking to the USA and the Free Countries for safe haven.

It is so easy to simply be a climate denier, huh?

Yeah.

Dead people can't complain.

President of Vanuatu Nikenike Vurobaravu addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 23, 2022, at the U.N. headquarters. Vurobaravu argued it was time for the International Court of Justice to begin considering climate change.

September 30, 2022

By Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson

APIA, Samoa (AP) — When and if an island nation fully submerges due to rising seas, (click here) what happens to the nationalities of its citizens?

This and other related questions are being considered by island nations advocating for changes to international law as climate change threatens their existence.

“Climate change induced sea level rise is a defining issue for many Pacific Island states and like most climate change issues, Pacific Island states have been at the forefront of challenging international law to develop in a way which is equitable and just,” said Fleur Ramsay, head of litigation and climate lead of the Pasifika Program at the Australia-based Environmental Defenders Office.

During a recent with The Associated Press, Ramsay noted the shortcomings in the development of international law. For example, under international law, there are discussions of nomadic tribes making claims over lands they have historically passed over. However, rights over historical ocean passages have not yet been explored for citizens of island nations.

“If you ask our people to move, there is no way we would voluntarily leave,” said Eseta Vusamu, who is currently working in Samoa but from a village on the island of Ovalau, Fiji. “There are graves there, these are our ancestral lands.”...

Republican governors don't care about people except when the vote.

This is Fort Myers. (click here) These boats were never moored in a way that would protect them.

There are millions of dollars of insurance money piled up in a heap.

When DeSantis was watching Ian as a subtropical system on the way to the Gulf of Mexico he should have evacuated the islands and told boat owners to find a safe place to anchor their ships because it was going to be bad. Is that what DeSantis did? Heck, no.

See, the government knows nothing. Ian is just a subtropical storm and nothing is going to come of it. Right? That is the Republican line, MINIMALISTS. Everything will be okay and if not well who knew?

How many times over the past two decades, as long as this blog existed have Atlantic storms come in from the ocean as tropical storms or Cat One storms only to hit the Gulf of Mexico and become monsters? How many? Far too many to count here.

When Ian was a subtropical storm in the Caribbean Sea, it was then that evacuations should have occurred, especially from any outer islands that were connected by one bridge to safety. When Ian was a subtropical storm in the Caribbean Sea the warnings by the governors should have gone out long before the sport boats and yachts were piled in a heap in Fort Myers, Florida.

It is all predictable in a climate crisis. The Gulf of Mexico is exceptionally warm. As soon as a storm in much cooler waters begins to move toward the Gulf of Mexico is is highly predictable. HIGHLY PREDICTABLE that as soon as those winds find warm Gulf water it is going to spin up to destroy life in it's path.

Ron DeSantis does not think for a living. He lives his politics and if a subtropical storm off the Keys is nearly the Gulf of Mexico then scientists involved with the climate crisis are nobody's in Ron's life in the capital city of Florida.

It took an enormous storm surge to raise those boats from their anchor to carry them into shore and destroy their hulls. That was all predictable. I personally don't need the National Weather Service to say it. I have been watching this growing climate disaster personally for more than two decades and it is bad. I knew the disaster that would exist in the aftermath. 

October 1, 2022

By Melissa Montoya

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno (click here) said the death toll from Ian has risen to 35 deaths.

Marceno made the announcement in a Facebook post.
Marceno also said there have been about 600 to 700 rescues as of Saturday morning.

Marceno said authorities need to notify next of kin before releasing the identities of those who died.

“It is with a heavy heard that I say that number,” Marceno said.

“We are going to work harder and we are going to be stronger than ever,” Marceno said....

The rescue crews across Florida were extremely busy. Why? Because people didn't evacuate. Why? 

I remember Hurricane Harvey. When I left Wilmington, NC with my young college students that were my responsibility, as the storm was bearing down on the state, there were license plates on cars from Florida and Georgia as well as North Carolina heading west on Interstate 40. All lanes were headed west and the roads surrounding Wilmington and some areas of I-40 just past the first rest area were already flooding. There was no turning around. Hotels were booked all the way to Raleigh and even Greensboro.

Harvey was an enormous storm and it cut off Wilmington from the mainland as it flooded the roads and lowlands. Twenty-one people died in that storm. It did a lot of damage and it took nearly two weeks to get back home to Wilmington and see those young college students back to studies.

What happened? Where is the vigilance that warns people that far ahead to instill a healthy fear of the inevitable when the present seems safe? What happened here?

Harvey was 1999. Late August, early September, after Dennis visited North Carolina twice. It, Dennis, went out to the sea (ocean) and turned around and came back. I saw Dennis' outer clouds from I 40 as it meandered through. It was myself and my son that decided to see what a hurricane cloud bank on the exterior of the storm really looked like. It was amazing to see. We were completely safe with our red with white pin stripes (boys) Chevy Camaro sitting completely alone in the middle of I-40 east. The education those boys received was more than incredible.

People attend college to learn more than a trade. Not to demean trades, they are very important and they are more important today as we move through old ideas to new climate crisis strategies. But, those that attend college learn to think. They learn to think and experience life in a way that is predictable for them, the ones they love and the people surrounding their lives in the capacity that education provided for them to think.

WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!!!!

If Ron DeSantis thinks he is going to run for president of this great country he is sorely wrong. The people will remember this storm and the deaths it caused and the damage it did and the frantic way people had to be saved from NEVER RECEIVING ENOUGH WARNING TO GET OUT OF IT'S WAY!

Cuba

The United States should consider assistance to Cuba for relief from the hurricane damage. The USA must begin to build back friendships, especially with near shore countries. Russia is primarily defeated and has no military to send to assist communist countries with devastation from major storms. The Cuban embassy must be made safe with the cooperation of a friendly Cuban government. The USA must take request from abandoned countries of Russia and China seriously.

In the “Kyiv Independent “…

 …the leader of the Ukraine Parliament, the Prime Minister and the President are asking to fast track Ukraine into NATO.

Ukraine should be made a member of NATO as soon as possible. They have fought and won. It is time to make them safe. 

Candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court. It is not an empty vote anymore.

Candidates to fill two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court (click here) were near unanimous during a candidate forum Wednesday evening: They said they would be impartial judges, not merely politicians sitting on the bench of the state's highest court.

The forum, held virtually by the League of Women Voters and the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan, was an opportunity for voters to hear from five candidates who will be on the ballot this November: Justice Brian Zahra, Justice Richard Bernstein, state Rep. Kyra Bolden, Paul Hudson and Kerry Morgan.

All of the individuals have been endorsed by a political party for the contest — Democrats have backed Bernstein and Bolden, while Republicans have endorsed Zahra and Hudson. Morgan has been endorsed by the Libertarian Party of Michigan....

...Zahra and Bernstein will likely be boosted by their incumbent status, as voters will see "Justice of the Supreme Court" next to their names when they receive their ballots, either on Election Day or during early voting. Zahra was appointed to the court by former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011 before winning a partial term the next year and a full term in 2014. During the forum, Zahra highlighted his work as co-chair of the Michigan Justice For All Commission, a state-sponsored group that works to ensure equitable access to justice.

"One of the biggest areas of injustice in our civil justice system is when people who have legal problems are denied assistance," Zahra said.

Bernstein, whose family name is synonymous with the Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Michigan, is the first and only blind person to serve on the court....

..Bolden, a state representative whose district includes Southfield and other nearby communities, is in her second term in the Michigan House of Representatives. She is also an attorney, and would be the first Black woman to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Hudson leads Miller Canfield's appeals division. Hudson has argued more than 150 cases in the Michigan appellate system, per his website.

Morgan is an attorney for Pentiuk, Couvreur and Kobiljak. He specializes in a variety of fields, including labor law and municipal law, according to the law firm's website.

While there are two seats on the court that will be decided at the ballot box this November, a third new face will appear on the Michigan Supreme Court before next year. Chief Justice Bridget McCormack has announced her retirement from the court. Whitmer will name her replacement before the end of the year.

Snyder is not mentioned in any proceedings.

Have the payments to the lawyers for Snyder and his co-defendants ended?

September 30, 2022
By Ryan Jeltema

Days after the Flint City Council approved $300 water bill credits, over 28,000 customers got their money. (click here)

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said $8.4 million worth of bill credits were successfully applied to all active water customers in the city by Friday. City Council members approved the spending on Monday.

Money for the credits came from Flint's share of American Rescue Plan Act funding.

"I'm so proud that this administration has accomplished another one of our goals in reducing the cost of water for Flint residents,” Neeley said. “I’m grateful to our staff who were prepared to implement this so quickly following the resolution passing earlier this week."...

September 30, 2022

By Ron Fonger

A federal judge (click here) who presided over a bellwether Flint water crisis trial that ended with a hung jury in August has set the schedule for a retrial in 2023.

U.S. District Court Judge Judith E. Levy published the schedule in an order filed Thursday, Sept. 29, targeting Feb. 22 as the first day of jury selection in the retrial at the federal courthouse in Ann Arbor.

Levy’s scheduling motion also sets multiple deadlines for later this year in preparation for the second trial, including the filing of expert depositions and reports....

September 30, 2022

By Katrenia Busch

Statistics released Friday by the Flint Police Department show a reduction in overall crime from last year.

Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter is down 50 percent for 2022 in comparison to 2021.  First-degree criminal sexual conduct is down just over 70 percent compared to 2021.  Overall crime is down 13.05 percent, according to the city’s Crimestat report.

September 30, 2022

By Ron Fonger

The House of Esther (click here) is asking a Genesee County Circuit Court judge to block the city from selling property that the organization says it has the right of first refusal to purchase — the former St. Agnes Catholic Church.

Paul Taylor, an attorney for the nonprofit group, asked Judge David J. Newblatt for the temporary restraining order in a motion filed Thursday, Sept. 29, just days after the Flint City Council voted down a resolution asking Mayor Sheldon Neeley to halt the sale of the property and the eviction of the House of Esther and the Flint Freedom School Collaborative....