This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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...In other areas where Russia also claims the role of a security guarantor, (click here) it’s not much better. Azerbaijan and Armenia have resumed their war: fighting that Moscow had supposedly stopped in 2020. More recently, another military conflict erupted between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, despite them both belonging to the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. These factors cannot fail to take their toll on Russia’s authority and influence over its neighbors.
The tensions exist between the CISFTA member states and the EEU member states. EEU is a Russian alliance. I think what is going on here is obvious. Free Trade is not the real agenda for Russia. The picture for NATO involvement is larger than it appears. Russia is too stretched to maintain it's own sovereign military. Putin is stuck with decisions he cannot face. Dropping bombs is easy, maintaining order takes more than that.
Amid Moscow’s numerous diplomatic and military failings, Transnistria is becoming a tempting—and relatively easy—target for neighboring Ukraine. Kyiv’s claims that its armed forces could easily take control of the self-proclaimed republic are more than just talk.
Russian troops there serve side by side with local residents: Transnistrians who are Russian passport holders. For the latter, military service has more to do with earning a decent wage by local standards than it does with identity. This puts their willingness to fight in doubt, especially since it would be hard to send in reinforcements from Russia: given the Russian army’s failure to carve out a corridor through southern Ukraine, they could not make their way there overland, and flying them in would risk them being targeted by Ukraine’s air defenses....
Moldovan citizens (click here) protest against some governmental measures in Great National Assembly Square, in front of the Arch of Triumph in Chisinau, Moldova, 26 August 2018.
They have too much stress. If their complaints were addressed and their quality of life higher, they won't want to emigrate. Extensive change needs to take place and the best place for that to occur is longevity, especially cardiac.
According to the latest WHO data published in 2020 Coronary Heart Disease Deaths in Moldova reached 14,292 or 37.00% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 245.76 per 100,000 of population ranks Moldova #18 in the world.
The current life expectancy for Moldova in 2022 is 72.18 years, a 0.17% increase from 2021.
High salt intake (click here) is one of the main dietary risk factors for death and disability-adjusted life years globally, and one of the main risk factors for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, stomach cancer and renal disease. Reducing salt consumption and improving dietary habits requires comprehensive policies targeting multiple sectors of the food system and active collaboration among of a variety of stakeholders. The Ministry of Health, along with “Nicolae Testemitanu” State University of Medicine and Pharmacy and the WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova developed this EBP, supported by technical experts from WHO Regional Office for Europe, to be published under the guidance of the WHO European Evidence-informed Policy Network, to make available evidence-informed options for policy-makers to tackle the problem of reducing salt consumption in the Republic of Moldova. A working group convened by the Ministry of Health identified, selected, appraised and synthesized best available evidence on the problem; formulated the options for tackling it; and weighed up considerations in implementing each option. The seven options grouped across two approaches are: Approach 1 Structural population-level interventions, including (1.1) Food product reformulation; (1.2) Food labelling; (1.3) Food procurement policy in specific settings; (1.4) Restrictions on marketing to children; (1.5) Pricing interventions; and Approach 2 Population-level behaviour change interventions, including (2.1) Health education; and (2.2) Information campaigns.
Moldovans complaints about Russia are exactly the same as Ukraine. Every place ya look countries in the region of Russia want air defense missiles. The former DOD Secretary Esper should have been a better salesman for the company he worked for, what was that? Oh, that's right, Raytheon. Where is everyone? There are sales for the Patriot System waiting in Eastern Europe.
Nosatîi said that in the past days a number of Russian missiles were fired from the Black Sea and subsequently flew over Moldova’s territory to strike targets in Ukraine....
I like Moldova's style. Well done. Ask Mr. Non-grata if he actually wants to go back to Moscow. A lot of business people are dying there for some reason.
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry did not identify the employee in a statement issued after the Russian ambassador was summoned and informed that the employee must leave Moldova....
According to Al Jazeera, Russia is illegally using Moldovan air space for striking Ukraine.
10 October 2022
Russian cruise missiles (click here) targeting Ukraine crossed Moldovan airspace, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu has said, adding Moscow’s envoy has been summoned for an explanation.
“Three cruise missiles launched on Ukraine this morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova’s airspace,” Popescu said on Twitter on Monday....
12 October 2022
Mr Geoană (click here) thanked Moldova for its contributions to the NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo, and commended the generosity of the Moldovan people in hosting Ukrainian refugees, driven to flee by Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.
The Deputy Secretary General further underlined that NATO is committed to deepening its partnership with Moldova, including to boost resilience and civil preparedness. He welcomed Moldova's EU membership candidate status, saying that NATO and the EU will continue to coordinate closely to ensure that the support provided by both organisations is complementary, in support of democratic reforms and the modernisation of Moldova’s security and defence sector.
Mr Geoană reiterated NATO’s full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova, and NATO’s full respect for Moldova’s constitutional neutrality.
10 October 2022
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro during her meeting with Ambassador of Moldova Mihaela Mocanu (OSCE)
Ribeiro and Mocanu discussed, among other things, the challenges posed by disinformation and “fake news” and their effects on media freedom, including the importance of maintaining the enabling media environment as one of the crucial elements to address the issues.
Ribeiro and Mocanu agreed to engage in further discussions about the prospects of co-operation and a possible visit of the RFoM to Moldova.
October 6, 2022
By Lally Weymouth
Maia Sandu is a woman on a democratic mission in a war-torn neighborhood (click here) — the first honest president that Moldova has elected since breaking away from Russia in 1991. After a series of pro-Russian oligarchs enriched themselves at the expense of this small former Soviet republic, Sandu, a 50-year-old former World Bank employee and education minister, formed her own political party in 2016 to fight corruption. She was appointed prime minister in 2019 and elected president in 2020. Now, instead of focusing fully on criminal justice reforms, she is navigating the shock waves of Russia’s war against neighboring Ukraine and the impact of Russian cutbacks on gas sales to Europe. The Post’s Lally Weymouth sat down with Sandu this week in the presidential offices in Chisinau. Edited excerpts of their conversation:
Weymouth: How do you see the war in Ukraine going?
Sandu: We have condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine from the very first day. One year ago, none of us would have thought we would have a full-fledged war in Europe. Ukraine is fighting for the free world and is also defending us....
Smoke plumes rise from a suspected fuel depot in Odessa, Ukraine, that was hit by Russia early on April 3.
Chisinau, Moldova — When thousands of protesters (click here) first gathered in September outside Moldova’s presidential palace calling for the country’s pro-Western leader to step down, the man behind the demonstration — an opposition party leader in exile in Israel — soon received plaudits from Moscow.
One senior Russian politician praised the protest organizer, Ilan Shor, as “a worthy long-term partner” and even offered the Moldovan region led by Shor’s party a cheap Russian gas deal, according to Shor’s press service. Referred to as “the young one” by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the 35-year-old Shor is a leading figure in the Kremlin’s efforts to subvert this former Soviet republic, intelligence documents and interviews with Moldovan, Ukrainian and Western officials show.....
Putin's GRE and any other person with cyber competency is being used to push for an expanded war. The propaganda of hysteria and speculation plays to Putin's wish list and not the best outcomes for anyone, including Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has absolutely no respect for life in any form.
October 26, 2022 By Michael Crowley
The Biden administration (click here) on Wednesday imposed sanctions on more than 20 Moldovan and Russian individuals and entities for assisting Russian efforts to manipulate Moldova’s political system.
Moldova, like its neighbor Ukraine, wants closer relations with the West but has long battled Russian political interference and intimidation. Russian-backed separatists have controlled a strip of the country since 1992, and Moldovan leaders worry that should Russia prevail in Ukraine, their country may be Moscow’s next target.
The new American sanctions are aimed at punishing Moldovans allied with Moscow who have worked to keep the country in Russia’s sphere of influence.
In a statement, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken singled out two Moldovan oligarchs, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor. He said that Mr. Plahotniuc’s “bribery of law enforcement officials reflects his longstanding efforts to capture and corrupt Moldova’s judicial and law enforcement institutions, while using his wealth and political influence to undermine political rivals and rule of law in the country.”
Mr. Shor, he added, “has worked with other corrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova and sought to undermine Moldova’s bid for E.U. candidate status.”...
Russia is the terrorist and when bombs fall into Moldova and Poland it is Putin saying, "If you continue to resist us, you will end up no different than Ukraine."
This GRAIN PLANT is no mistake. Russia is stating it was not their munitions. They lie. Russia has no credibility.
November 15, 2022 By Monika Pronczuk
...Mr. Mueller, (click here) the Polish government spokesman, said special procedures had been put in place, including boosting combat readiness of certain military units. He said the Polish government was also examining the possibility of triggering Article 4 of the NATO charter, under which members can consult with one another when a nation feels its territorial integrity or security has been threatened....
Russia would like it very much if Article 4 of the NATO treaty was enacted. A single strike is not a reason, no matter the validity of belonging to Russia, is not a reason to engage a huge war effort. It makes no sense. It isn't as though NATO is not ready, it is a matter of practical application of defense assets. You don't ask a surgeon to remove a splinter in the finger.
You talk about irresponsible. This is grossly malpractice of the profession of journalism.
On page 17A of the Wall Street Journal entitled "The Lancet's "Heat Death" Deception by Bjorn Lomborg is a multiparagraph fantasy to serve the right political wing.
I believe this is the study being referred to by Lomborg.
The study found deaths related to hot temperatures increased in all regions from 2000 to 2019, indicating that global warming due to climate change will make this mortality figure worse in the future.
The international research team, led by Monash University’s Professor Yuming Guo, Dr Shanshan Li, and Dr Qi Zhao from Shandong University in China – and published today in The Lancet Planetary Health – looked at mortality and temperature data across the world from 2000 to 2019, a period when global temperatures rose by 0.26C per decade.
The study, the first to definitively link above and below optimal temperatures (corresponding to minimum mortality temperatures) to annual increases in mortality, found 9.43 per cent of global deaths could be attributed to cold and hot temperatures. This equates to 74 excess deaths for every 100,000 people, with most deaths caused by cold exposure.
The data reveals geographic differences in the impact of non-optimal temperatures on mortality, with Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest heat and cold-related excess death rates....
Lomborg states no facts. He writes creatively that since there are more people in the world there are more heat deaths. When a study measures deaths in numbers there is always a comparison to the increase as being a natural occurrence because of recent increases in population. The one sure way to eliminate that level of inaccuracy is to report the increase in deaths by PERCENTAGES.
The study above does exactly what is supposed to do, it reports increases in deaths in percentages. The study clearly reports the information in percentages and allows for a mathematical equivalent in what it equates to.
Lomborg not only goes on and on about heat deaths but then states there are more cold deaths that are not reported. He is lying. The report CLEARLY states the increase in deaths related to temperature occurs when temperatures drop and not rise.
"The Wall Street Journal" is just another Murdoch rag that ENTERTAINS the reader and never addresses any opposition intelligently or with facts.
In previous meetings of COP (Conference of the Parties) (click here) the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated there was eleven years before catastrophic climate consequences. That was a full two if not approaching three years ago. Recently, the Washington Post reported nine years until catastrophic climate consequences. Those years do not mean Wall Street can keep polluting greenhouse gases, then stop in 2030 and everything will be okay. Eleven years and nine years are supposed to instill a sense of emergency to act NOW!
If a physician tells a patient they have nine years to live without treatment, does a patient wait for those nine years before starting treatment?
Please this is a humiliation to the countries of the world that have governance that can and have invoked justice in changing methods to energy that DO NOT POLLUTE GREENHOUSE GASES. This method of denial by the Wall Street Journal by propagating lies is an insult to the people of the world that know better than to believe this ideology of greed.
Let me put it differently so it is very, very clear.
We, as a global community, have ONLY NINE YEARS LEFT before there is catastrophic climate changes.
ONLY NINE YEARS BEFORE THIS PLANET BECOMES MORE AND MORE UNFORGIVING FOR THE ABUSES OF GREED.
...Scotland’s renewable electricity generation in 2022 (click here) in quarter 2 was 7,358 GWh – a 36.2% increase from the 5,402 GWh generated in the same quarter in 2021. This is more than 25% greater than any quarter 2 reported previously and is likely due to increased wind and East Moray offshore windfarm coming online at the end of quarter 1.
In the first half of 2022, Scotland generated 18,568 GWh of renewable electricity, up 29.2% on the same point in 2021. This increase is likely explained by higher wind speeds, increased rainfall and East Moray offshore wind farm coming online affecting wind and hydro generation.
Renewable electricity capacity increased by 10.5% from June 2021 to 13.3 GW in June 2022. This is more than four times the increase in capacity seen between June 2020 and June 2021 where renewable electricity capacity increased by just 2.2%....
The wind farm (click here) exported its first power to the national grid via its new substation south of New Deer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on Saturday, 5 June, the developer said.
The world's populations need to demand MEASURABLE CHANGE IN EMISSIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES now!
The Wall Street Journal is an enemy of the people of the world.
No country in the Free World is immune from the ravages of the climate crisis.
It is a holy war now against Satan. Medvedev has also stated Russia will again invade Kherson.
The point is their politics need to change now otherwise this faux ambition will be around for another generation.
They have a Russian service similar to Twitter and the politics of this invasion is everywhere on his page (click here). They need to stop playing with fire and begin to deal with the reality before them. There are no forces anywhere that want to invade Russia. There is no evil in Ukraine ready to vanquish every soul in Moscow. These are all false stories about an invasion written into a five year plan. This has to stop.
The ideology (click here) has Russia taking half of Ukraine while Poland absorbs the other half and Ukraine is nothing more than a city on a map. That is nothing but lies. Poland doesn't have to invade Ukraine, half the population are there as refugees.
4 November 2022
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (click here) on Friday described Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a sacred conflict with Satan and warned that his country was capable of sending “all our enemies to fiery Gehenna.”
Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, appeared to be using a version of the Hebrew word for hell in his speech to mark Russia’s Day of National Unity.
The former president said Russia’s task in the invasion was to “stop the supreme ruler of hell, whatever name he uses — Satan, Lucifer or Iblis,” according to quotes run by the Reuters news agency....
More and more countries around the world are finding relations with Russia is not what it appeared to be less than a year ago. They are abandoning the genocide by Russia of Ukrainians. Why is this still an issue?
This rollback of Russian power and prestige at the United Nations has accelerated in recent months. It’s another example of the way the Ukraine war is realigning the international system into a small bloc supporting the Kremlin and a larger group backing the United States and its broad coalition of allies.
The General Assembly, the closest thing to a global parliament, has condemned Russia’s assault on Ukraine twice by overwhelming margins. In March, it demanded Russia’s unconditional withdrawal, 141-5. Last month, it rejected Russia’s attempted annexation plan, 143-5. The only countries that backed Russia were Belarus, Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea and Syria....
It is all politics with Donald John Trump lending his Americanism as inspiration to these right wing dictators. There are also communist backed regimes in Venezuela and Brazil as Balsonaro "Pulling a Trump" (click here) in not conceding but providing a transfer of power to the newly elected president. Balsonaro wants what Trump wants, a regime of their own to take over the countries government with violence at a later date.
All this is politics and it needs to end. The people of all these countries should be demanding a better quality of life and not a lifetime of lies and poverty.
August 29, 2022
On June 9, 2022, (click here)Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) government renewed the authorization of Russian military forces to operate in the country. In doing so, it reminded the United States and the hemisphere that the dictatorial regime of Daniel Ortega not only continues to abrogate the rights of its own people for democratic choice, free expression, and other fundamental human rights, but also serves as an entry point for the projection of threats into the region by extra-hemispheric rivals of the United States, such as Russia, Iran, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)....
The people's voices must be heard and alternative governments that are of and by the people need to address the United Nation's General Assembly to understand the suffering that exists because of the politics of the country.
This is from 2009, but, more recent estimates state poverty is down to 53 percent since more women are working to support their families.
Poverty, (click here) one of the world's most serious problems, is particularly severe in Africa. Eritrea is a 16-year-old nation that gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The country's economy was doing relatively well between 1993 and 1997. Eritrea was then exposed to numerous challenges such as drought, famines and recurrent war. As a result, poverty has become more rampant in a country where over 66 per cent of people live below the poverty line. Some families live on remittances. The government has taken some poverty alleviation measures. However, it has not mitigated poverty due to a lack of resources and a poorly implemented poverty alleviation programme. This article attempts to explore the incidence of poverty. It also provides details of poverty surveys that have been conducted since independence. It discusses various poverty challenges and provides some policy implications for development....
Hillary Clinton doesn't take credit for the empowerment of women around the world, but, her visits had resonance, "Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights." She has empowered women and girls and it shows internationally. This is one small example of how her words drive change. The USA does not have to be directly involved, but, women around the world listen to other strong women and begin to take on the challenge of improving their lives and the lives of their families. It is women like this that move a country out of impoverishment, not war of any kind, but, women seeking a better life.
Empowerment movements like this are Hillary Clinton's legacy.
All the propaganda wars need to stop. There is absolutely no reason for such hate anywhere in the world, especially coming out of Russia.
THERE IS NO NEW WORLD ORDER. A NEW WORLD ORDER REQUIRES MORE THAN RUSSIA ALONE AND A FIVE ALLIES.
THE WORLD IS NOT INTERESTED IN BEING COMMUNISTS!
November 12, 2022 By Seth J. Frantzman
Russia has suffered a serious setback (click here) in having to abandon Kherson, a city that it had occupied during its war on Ukraine this year. However, Moscow wants the world to know that it is not down for the count.
“Today, Russia is building an equal world order for the future and is fighting alone against the West, while protecting its citizens and returning its lands, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday,” Moscow’s state media TASS news reported
Moscow’s leadership, particularly Vladimir Putin, has often said that Russia is leading a new world order....
Neither Donald John Trump nor Vladimir Putin know when to quit. It is not a joke, it is a fact.
Neither have a conscience. All they know is power. Putin is less absorbed with money, but, he doesn’t need to buy the presidency.
It is troubling to realize Russia hasn’t surrendered the Ukrainian land it occupies. Ukraine is not a toy that wears out only to be used again and again as if a political volleyball.
It is time Russia recognize it is not a superpower simply based on a poorly understood nuclear capacity.
Trump just needs to stop being stupid and return to his Florida residence as soon as sea level rise has receded enough until the next supercell arrives. The American people are tired of the threat to their democracy. I would think that would be obvious.
Has he apologized to Speaker Pelosi for his hate speech that lead to violence against her and her husband?
What do you do with men that look in the mirror and don’t see the truth?
Good night.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Is the Second Amendment to the USA Constitution moral as it is used today?
Rationalist theories (click here) have met with difficulties when used to establish credible security governance in multicultural environments for actors possessing a different sense of logic. The case of Ukraine serves as a perfect example of a Hobbesian challenge to a Kantian international system. The present research topic is influenced by the theoretical works of Alexander Wendt and Richard Lebow, and seeks to examine the cultural patterns that influence international systems and their security governance practises. In addition, it is also an attempt to produce contrasting conceptions for interpreting norms, perceptions, and motives. Motives impelled by a Kantian system are divergent from the motives of Hobbesian and Lockean systems. In Ukraine, the Hobbesian political culture, presented by Russia, challenges the Kantian principles of international organisations (UN, EU, OSCE, NATO), which are responsible for the security governance in the postmodern international system. Figuratively, ‘the world of Merkel’, which is influenced by Western liberal traditions, is opposition to ‘the world of Putin’, which corresponds to a Hobbesian and Lockean interpretation of international security. A determined Hobbesian actor can pose serious challenges, or even enact permanent changes, to a Kantian international system. With their intervention in the Ukrainan crisis Russian political elites successfully carried out neoconservative postulates of foreign policy, while international institutions (e.g. the UN, the OSCE) have met with serious difficulties in their attempts to introduce necessary measures of effective security governance.
First published Tue Feb 12, 2002; substantive revision Mon Sep 12, 2022
The 17th Century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (click here) is now widely regarded as one of a handful of truly great political philosophers, whose masterwork Leviathan rivals in significance the political writings of Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Rawls. Hobbes is famous for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles or arrangements by appeal to the agreement that would be made among suitably situated rational, free, and equal persons. He is infamous for having used the social contract method to arrive at the astonishing conclusion that we ought to submit to the authority of an absolute—undivided and unlimited—sovereign power....
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that the supreme principle of morality is a principle of practical rationality that he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). Kant characterized the CI as an objective, rationally necessary and unconditional principle that we must follow despite any natural desires we may have to the contrary. All specific moral requirements, according to Kant, are justified by this principle, which means that all immoral actions are irrational because they violate the CI. Other philosophers, such as Hobbes, Locke and Aquinas, had also argued that moral requirements are based on standards of rationality. However, these standards were either instrumental principles of rationality for satisfying one’s desires, as in Hobbes, or external rational principles that are discoverable by reason, as in Locke and Aquinas. Kant agreed with many of his predecessors that an analysis of practical reason reveals the requirement that rational agents must conform to instrumental principles....
I don't know who Putin is channeling to continue to commit genocide against innocent and peaceful people, but, it is my guess communists have less desire to talk than fight.
The peace prospects with Russia by any other country do not exist. Propaganda is immoral and Putin shines it on all the time.
International Law must be upheld as the supreme measure of morality. Enforcing it may be difficult, but, cannot be compromised. Allowing any act of genocide is not to be tolerated.
Democracy in the United States of America will never be compromised by anything less than moral.
Each month, (click here) a panel of experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting by sitting. The cases that will be covered are included below.
Do they utilize the Shadow Docket much? What is their interest in it? I mean they own so many Justices. And at least one wife.
Normally, there is a Mission Statement for an organization this size with as much private money to achieve their goals. But, I can't find one. There is only a list of stuff that includes in it the words "Mission Statement" (click here).
Law schools and the legal profession are currently strongly dominated by a form of orthodox liberal ideology which advocates a centralized and uniform society. While some members of the academic community have dissented from these views, by and large they are taught simultaneously with (and indeed as if they were) the law.
As a condition of his vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, Sen. Joe Manchin demanded space for his own permitting-reform package in the latest spending bill. While his proposed legislation was ultimately pulled over objections to aspects tangential to permitting, interest in permitting reform remains strong. The target of many reformers’ ire is the current interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act: a 1970 statute (click here) designed to ensure that the government gives adequate consideration to environmental impacts before embarking on major actions. While this has had significant benefits for environmental quality, the review process is often long, costly, and subject to aggressive litigation that often stretches for years. Is it time to rewrite portions of NEPA? And, if so, what should those reforms look like?
The attack every aspect of the law regarding the natural world. And we are living on Earth that is on meltdown. The opening for complete reform of Greenhouse Gas POLLUTION into our atmospheres is less than nine years. What is the organization and political action committee even in existence for?
Joe Manchin is affiliated with The Federalist Society?
Tina Kotek (click here) on her last day in office as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Jan. 20, 2022. Kotek, D-Portland, served as speaker from 2013-2022 and resigned to focus on her campaign for governor.
Democrat Tina Kotek (click here) is projected to win the tight race for Oregon governor.
The former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives defeated Republican Christine Drazan, a former state lawmaker, and Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic state lawmaker who left the party and ran as an unaffiliated candidate....
...With the victory, Kotek is now one of two women — along with Maura Healey in Massachusetts (D) — who will become the country’s first openly lesbian governors.
During her nearly decade-long tenure in the state legislature, Kotek played a key role in expanding abortion access, increasing Oregon’s minimum wage, investing $50 million in clean energy and passing legislation that guarantees sick leave for all Oregon workers....
...“I ask my fellow Oregonians, no matter who you voted for, or even whether you voted at all, to believe in our state and our future,” she said. “Please, be engaged so we can all help solve problems togeth
Kotek said that, once she takes office, she will focus “on three things first”: Declaring a state of emergency over the state’s homeless crisis, expanding access to mental health and addiction treatment services and working to “bridge the divisions in our state.”...
I especially liked her approach to housing. It is vital for a healthy economy and successful schools.
"Housing supply in Oregon has not kept pace with the population growth, and the state continues to fall behind every year. What is your plan to increase housing stock?
The housing supply crisis has been decades in the making and is being felt in every corner of our state. As House Speaker, I led the way to begin the arduous work of addressing our severe housing shortage, including investing over a billion dollars to build more affordable housing and maintain the current supply of affordable housing, removing barriers to housing development, allowing for more housing options, and more. But there is much more work to do. My priority on day one will be to start implementing my plan to tackle Oregon’s housing crisis.
We simply have to get more serious about building a lot more housing. The goal will be to build enough housing to meet the need for people currently experiencing homelessness, address the current shortage of housing, and keep pace with future housing demand over the next decade. I’ll start by issuing an executive order on Day One to create a long-term plan to build enough homes in urban, suburban, and rural communities to meet this goal."...
The rural communities in Oregon (click here) need to be addressed as well as the cities. The rural areas a primarily Republican, but, with an outreach by the Governor getting to know the farming community and smaller towns, their problems can be solved as well.
There is a difference in the election map from 2020 to 2022. The Republican influence in the rural counties has come under question. The strongly Republican counties are now only leaning Republican. The Democrats have primarily held their ground in Oregon. Governors like the Governor-Elect can continue to bring traditionally Republican counties into a clearer understanding of the Democratic Party by solving problems and making it real.
The LGBT community is important to Governor-Elect Tina Kotek. I believe when members of that community are elected to office it makes Clarence Thomas' ridicule of the USA Constitution where all citizens have rights all the more clear what a completely horrible Associate Justice he is. It only proves how religiously bigoted many of the Robert's Courts decisions are when it comes to the civil rights of American.
5G is the 5th generation mobile network. (click here) It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.
5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.
Those are the same GRU hackers that were found by USA Intelligence and in the Mueller Report. This is what Russia has planned for the Free World.
November 10, 2022
...At the CyberwarCon security conference in Arlington, Virginia, (click here) today, analysts from the security firm Mandiant laid out a new set of tools and techniques that they say Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency is using against targets in Ukraine, where the GRU’s hackers have for years carried out many of the most aggressive and destructive cyberattacks in history. According to Mandiant analysts Gabby Roncone and John Wolfram, who say their findings are based on months of Mandiant’s Ukrainian incident response cases, the GRU has shifted in particular to what they call “living on the edge.” Instead of the phishing attacks that GRU hackers typically used in the past to steal victims’ credentials or plant backdoors on unwitting users’ computers inside target organizations, they're now targeting “edge” devices like firewalls, routers, and email servers, often exploiting vulnerabilities in those machines that give them more immediate access.
That shift, according to Roncone and Wolfram, has offered multiple advantages to the GRU. It's allowed the Russian military hackers to have far faster, more immediate effects, sometimes penetrating a target network, spreading their access to other machines on the network, and deploying data-destroying wiper malware just weeks later, compared to months in earlier operations. In some cases, it's enabled the hackers to penetrate the same small group of Ukrainian targets multiple times in quick succession for both wiper attacks and cyberespionage. And because the edge devices that give the GRU their footholds inside these networks aren't necessarily wiped in the agency's cyberattacks, hacking them has sometimes allowed the GRU to keep their access to a victim network even after carrying out a data-destroying operation....
Previous to Nicole was a tornado outbreak in Texas. Among the many tornadoes that touched down and did damage was an EF 4 that sustained as an EF4 for one hour.
ONE HOUR EF4 TORNADO. The satellite images show the straight and devastating path of an hour long tornado.
This is November. The heat within the troposphere is incredibly high.
November 5, 2022
...Among (click here) the most severe was a strong EF4 tornado that touched down near Clarksville, Texas, at 6:15 p.m. local time and left a wide line of damage as it moved toward Idabel, Oklahoma, over the course of an hour. On November 5, 2022, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this natural-color image (right) showing the damage track in Red River County, Texas. For comparison, the OLI image on the left shows the same area on October 20, 2022, prior to the tornado. Signs of damage are most visible where the tornado tore through forests (dark green). The track is more difficult to see in pastures and farmland (light green)....
November 10, 2022
On Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, at least 29 tornadoes (click here) were recorded in northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana. The tornadoes varied in strength and intensity with four measuring EF-0, 15 were EF-1, six had an EF-2 rating, and two each were EF-3 and EF-4.
The severe thunderstorm systems that caused these tornadoes put 28 million people at risk throughout the region. In advance of the storms, there were concerns about tornadoes occurring at night because the risk of death with nighttime is 2.5 times higher than daytime tornadoes....
Nicole has plenty of water vapor and heat feeding that system.
Nicole (click here) is continuing its destructive journey across the southeastern United States with multiple fatalities and significant damage reported across the region. Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane before sunrise on Thursday and has since returned to tropical storm status as the storm churns over Florida. Its destructive winds and heavy rains toppled homes and piers along the coast into the ocean and created widespread damage across the state.
An unresponsive man was pronounced dead Thursday morning after being shocked by a downed power line in Conway, Florida, which is just outside of Orlando, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO). A woman traveling with the man was also electrocuted and later died at a hospital.
“We are urging all of our residents and visitors to use extreme caution if they are outside in the wake of the storm today,” the office wrote in a social media post. “Never touch a downed power line. If you are driving and see a downed power line, change directions immediately.”
Authorities in Orange County, Florida, said that two more people have been killed in a storm-related incident. Florida Highway Patrol said a pickup truck driving on the turnpike around 5:30 a.m. swerved toward the shoulder of Florida's Turnpike after losing control and struck a driver of a tow truck who was standing behind his parked truck. Both drivers were killed. The crash remains under investigation....
In case any American is wondering if the Climate Crisis is bad and dangerous to human life, the answer is "yes." It is very dangerous and deadly.
Very dangerous winds will produce some damage: (click here)Well-constructed frame homes could have damage to roof, shingles, vinyl siding and gutters. Large branches of trees will snap and shallowly rooted trees may be toppled. Extensive damage to power lines and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few to several days
The annual Veterans Day parade will start at 11 a.m. Friday on Austin Avenue at 12th Street. The parade route will end at Third Street.
The parade is sponsored by the McLennan County Veterans Association and the Stan C. Parker Foundation.
Flag retirement ceremony
The 21st annual McLennan County Veterans Association Flag Retirement and Disposal Ceremony will start at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Carleen Bright Arboretum in Woodway. The event is hosted by the city of Woodway and the Elizabeth Gordon Bradley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Following an indoor program "Women in the Military" at the Pavilion, disposal of unserviceable U.S., Texas, POW/MIA and military service flags as prescribed by the Flag Code will occur at Woodway Family Center, with entry at City Hall, 922 Estates Drive.
Democrats (click here) will maintain control of the Colorado State Board of Education and might expand their majority in an election that many education observers called one of the most important on the ballot.
Democrat Kathy Plomer, a former Adams 12 school board president, won decisively in the election for a new statewide at-large seat on the Colorado State Board of Education. She was running against Dan Maloit, a St. Vrain Valley parent who organized others in support of in-person school.
Incumbent Democrat Rebecca McClellan, who represents Arapahoe County and southeast Denver suburbs, won her re-election bid.
The closest race is for the new 8th Congressional District in Adams and Weld counties. Rhonda Solis, a former Greeley-Evans school board member and Latina community activist, still leads Republican Peggy Propst, an educator and former State Board member, but the race tightened significantly as more voters were counted Wednesday and Thursday....
“No Signs of ‘Red Wave’ as Race for Congress Remains Tight” (New York Times)
“Congress hangs in balance as Democrats defy expectations” (Washington Post)
“‘Red wave’ fails to materialise as Fetterman clinches crucial Senate seat for Democrats” (The Guardian)
“Control of Congress Remains at Stake as Democrats Fend Off Anticipated ‘Red Wave’” (The Wall Street Journal)
I’ve checked my inbox and so many of you have written to me through the night. So many of you who worked hard over these last months to prevent the bloodbath. A fascist takeover by a full slate of election deniers and voting suppressors.
And now we know there will be no bloodbath. Not today. And it’s because we and millions of others erected a force field around the haters and bigots to stop them in their tracks. And that is what has happened. Sometimes you have to lose a battle or two in order to win the war.
I love how you all knew that if for some reason we couldn’t create a blue tsunami on Election Day, our second best choice was to make sure there would be no red wave....
Americans know there is trouble and they love their democracy.
Russian troops there serve side by side with local residents: Transnistrians who are Russian passport holders. For the latter, military service has more to do with earning a decent wage by local standards than it does with identity. This puts their willingness to fight in doubt, especially since it would be hard to send in reinforcements from Russia: given the Russian army’s failure to carve out a corridor through southern Ukraine, they could not make their way there overland, and flying them in would risk them being targeted by Ukraine’s air defenses....
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