Where does any Michigan legislator get the idea they can simply do as they please without consulting authorities?

There are parts of Flint that do not have clean pipes yet. Their water tests are not normal. The entire city of Flint cannot simply be considered safe. This isn't even a matter of consulting with the professionals as Mayor Weaver is seeking. This is about SAFE PIPES that water flows through.

KNOCK IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leave them alone and provide the bottled water!

December 9, 2017

By Casey Mendoza

Michigan lawmakers may soon reconsider supplying bottled water to Flint. (click here)

For the past year, Flint's water has tested pretty clean. And unless new tests show lead or copper levels above the federal threshold, the city's water distribution program could end as soon as next month.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said in a statement that she would consult with medical and public health professionals before supporting the decision. She said she hoped other state officials would do the same.

If the distribution program is cut, it likely wouldn't affect the bottled water supplied in Flint schools. That water is reportedly from private donations. A Flint schools spokeswoman told MLive the district is working on ensuring the donations last the remainder of the school year....

I take it all the American troops will be home for Christmas.

It is good to know there won't be extra-ordinary budget needs to hurt domestic programs.

December 9, 2017

Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi. Haider al-Abadi (click here) has announced the ‘end of war’ with ISIS after his troops regained full control of the Syrian border.

Baghdad — Iraq said Saturday (click here) that its war on the Islamic State group is over after more than three years of combat operations drove the extremists from all of the territory they once held.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Iraqi forces were in full control of the country’s border with Syria during remarks at a conference in Baghdad, and his spokesman said the development marked the end of the military fight against IS.

A senior military commander confirmed that combat operations had been completed.

“All Iraqi lands are liberated from terrorist Daesh gangs and our forces completely control the international Iraqi-Syrian border,” Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said in a statement released shortly after al-Abadi’s remarks. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for IS.

Juneau has been pleasantly warm all this week with a high of 49 degrees Fahrenheit.

Juneau, AK (click here)

Rain

45 degrees Fahrenheit

Winds: 15 mph out of the east

Humidity : 98%

Juneau City and Borough Web Cam (click here)

Below is the current water vapor image from UNISYS. The reason Juneau, Alaska is warm is due to a heat transfer system off the west coast of North America. The entire area of southern Alaska is warm (click here). As a matter of fact, moving inland to Sitka Airport the tempature is 56 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is quite a mess, isn't it? That big deep Arctic Air mass dipping into North America. 

Current Temperatures (click here)

What I find interesting is all the 'white' areas on the map. That is very, very cold air. It is dangerous air, as a matter of fact.

Mexico is so lucky to be the neighbor of the most climate abusive country in the world. Now, Mexico gets to have some of our dysfunctional climate.

Be sure to keep scarves around the neck to protect the mouth and nose from icey winds. Eye protection needs either a parka or goggles. Goggles become obstructed should their be snow.

See, the way this mess takes place is to realize there are heat transfer systems off the east and west coast of North America taking hot air from the ITCZ over top of the Arctic Ocean. The colder air is displaced down, like it is now over North America and it becomes really, really cold.

Yep. This is the Climate Crisis that no self respecting right wing politico seems to recognize. But, then they aren't good at complicated ideas.

Evacuations in California. There is the ability to register phone numbers to maintain personal monitoring.

December 8, 2017

By Melissa Etehad, Louis Sahagun, Ruben Vives, Joseph Serva and Sonali Kohli

The first fire-related fatality (click here for video) from a series of wildfires that have covered Southern California in smoke and ash was confirmed Friday, authorities said.

Virginia Pesola, 70, of Santa Paula, was found dead in a car that had been involved in a crash along an evacuation route in a burn area of the Thomas fire in Ventura County on Wednesday night. According to the county medical examiner, Pesola's cause of death was blunt force trauma with terminal smoke inhalation and thermal injuries....

The FOX News women have all the luck.

Ms. Huddy can now join her sisters from FOX News in being treated as a sex object rather than journalist.

December 9, 2017
By Avery Anapol

A former syndicated Fox News host (click here) said Friday that President Trump tried to kiss her in an elevator in "2005 or 2006," which she said surprised her but did not make her feel threatened.

It's unclear whether Trump was married at the time since Juliet Huddy does not recall the exact date, Page Six reported. 

“He took me for lunch at Trump Tower, just us two,” Huddy said on Compound Media’s “Mornin’! With Bill Schulz.” “He said goodbye to me in an elevator while his security guy was there; rather than kiss me on the cheek he leaned in to kiss me on the lips. I wasn’t offended, I was kind of like, ‘Oh my god.'”

She added that she “didn’t feel threatened,” but was “surprised” that Trump tried to kiss her.

“It was a weird moment,” she said. “He never tried anything after that, and I was never alone with him.”

Huddy said that while she was not offended at the time, in hindsight she would have resisted his advances....

As an American television news reporter, (click here) Juliet Huddy was the news topic of numerous media outlets in 2016. That was after it emerged that she lodged sexual harassment allegations against two of the network’s big shots – O’Reilly and Fox News Co-President Jack Abernethy.

In September 2016, Juliet left Fox News. It was later revealed that she reached a settlement with the network over the claims of sexual harassment. Fox quietly settled her with a sum in the high six figures in exchange for her silence and not instituting legal proceedings against Fox News....

Puerto Rico is a main supply of a vital intravenous solution, normal saline, and the Baxter production plant is still on life support. Why?

The struggle to restore this production plant has been going on for some time now. This is not a good situation.

The FDA (click here) is taking steps to help with a worsening shortage of saline in the U.S., including asking that Baxter saline plants in Puerto Rico get their power restored ahead of others.

December 6, 2017

Baxter, a major manufacturer of intravenous fluids and bags, (click here) has three factories in Puerto Rico. In an email, a spokesperson at Baxter said 10 weeks after the hurricane hit the island, one of their factories in Puerto Rico is still being powered by a diesel generator. The other two factories are back on the electrical grid, but power is intermittent. Severe damage to roads and bridges is also slowing the recovery.

IV fluids like saline and dextrose are the lifeblood of hospitals. They’re needed to deliver medications and rehydrate patients. Hospital pharmacies use the smaller IV bags to mix medications. But they’ve been in short supply, especially since the hurricane, so pharmacists have relied on the larger bags. Now those larger bags are running out, too....

December 8, 2017

By Ahsley Harrell

...I spent three weeks in the country, (click here) dodging unwanted advances and hearing stories of frequent, unpunished sexual assaults. It was the most threatening environment for women that I had ever navigated. If somehow you still don’t recognize the sweeping scale of sexual assault, if you think women across the world don’t need to fight for each other with everything we have, try visiting Lesotho, where holding a man accountable for sexual violence is almost impossible.

In my work as a guidebook author, Lesotho certainly isn’t the only place I’ve dealt with sexual aggression. In Bali, men asked me to pose for photos and grabbed me close. In the Dominican Republic, I couldn’t stroll in the capital without being hissed at. In San Jose, Costa Rica, a man approached me in a residential neighborhood, smacked my butt and ran.

I shrugged it all off, preferring to think of these men as worthless outliers. In retrospect — and especially after what I discovered in Lesotho — this was wildly optimistic.

The epidemic of sexual violence against women in this nation of 2.2 million people is arguably the worst in the world, but it is rarely reported. The problem, women’s rights advocates say, begins in childhood. Girls are taught to be compliant, to quietly endure suffering and to serve men....             

This is a new angle. Women just naturally want a baby no matter the father. Zero tolerance.

Just to clarify how ludicrous this is, surrogate mother's recieve sperm in a surgeon's office under sterile conditons. 

December 8, 2017
By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Alex Moe

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., (click here) announced his resignation Thursday evening as the House Ethics Committee announced it was opening an investigation into potential sexual misconduct.

Franks said in a statement that he had discussed his interest in finding a surrogate mother with two women in his office, making them uncomfortable. His wife has struggled with infertility, he said.

The Ethics Committee said that it was convening a subcommittee to determine if Franks "engaged in conduct that constitutes sexual harassment and/or retaliation for opposing sexual harassment."...

A little too young. Singer should have looked for another at least one more year older.

December 8, 2017
By Scott Neuman

Bryan Singer, (click here) the director best known for the X-Men series of films, is being sued over an allegation that he raped 17-year-old boy during a party 14 years ago.

Singer has denied the accusation.

In a complaint filed in Superior Court of the State of Washington for King County on Thursday, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman says he met Singer in 2003 at a party aboard a yacht owned by technology investor Lester Waters, who the complaint says "frequently hosted parties for young gay males in the Seattle area."...

Sanchez-Guzman alleges that Singer, while giving him a tour of the yacht, lured him into the master stateroom, shut the door and demanded oral sex...

Body-Cam Video Of Daniel Shaver Shooting | Los Angeles Times. The cop that assassinated Daniel Shaver walked.

GRAPHIC FOOTAGE: Daniel Shaver was fatally shot by Arizona police on Jan. 18, 2016, in the hallway of the hotel where he was staying. Philip Mitchell Brailsford, the officer who killed Shaver, was acquitted of murder charges on Dec. 7, 2017.

The fact Gena Richardson scribbled in her own notebook changes nothing.

Roy Moore is a pedophile. There is no denying it. He molested young girls, including, Gena Richarson. Roy Moore wrote in Gena's yearbook and signed it, end of discussion.

She was a teenager acting like a teenager with her yearbook. She is completely innocent in her handling of the yearbook and Moore is victimizing the victim. This is typical behavior of men when they get caught victimizing young girls. They always and in every way blame the victim as if 'she wanted it.' It is outrageous.

Roy Moore was twice her age. Her emotional maturity shows through in the way she scribbled in her yearbook. SHE WAS ALLOWED TO WRITE/SCRIBBLE/DRAW IN HER OWN YEARBOOK! HER SEXUAL ABUSER HAD NO RIGHT IMPOSING HIS PRESENCE IN A YEARBOOK. 

Gena Richardson is a victim. She doesn't have to be the perfect victim, she simply needs to report her victimization. It doesn't matter if she only is reporting her victimization now. She has carried it around in her heart long enough!

She is still a pretty lady and it is obvious she was damaged emotionally and still has the scar of Roy Moore's sexual abuse. Ms. Richardson is a brave woman. She should not have to be brave, she needs to be believed. She should have been empowered a long time ago to report sexual abuse by Roy Moore. She was intimidated and scared. That is typical of the reaction by teen girls. 

November 15, 2017

By Stephanie McCrummen, Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites

Beverly Young Nelson points to her photo in her high school yearbook during a news conference in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Roy Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. Moore has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Gena Richardson (click here) says she was a high school senior working in the men’s department of Sears at the Gadsden Mall when a man approached her and introduced himself as Roy Moore.

“He said, ‘You can just call me Roy,’ ” says Richardson, who says this first encounter happened in the fall of 1977, just before or after her 18th birthday, as Moore, then a 30-year-old local attorney, was gaining a reputation for pursuing young women at the mall in Gadsden, Ala. His overtures caused one store manager to tell new hires to “watch out for this guy,” another young woman to complain to her supervisor and Richardson to eventually hide from him when he came in Sears, the women say.

Richardson says Moore — now a candidate for U.S. Senate — asked her where she went to school, and then for her phone number, which she says she declined to give, telling him that her father, a Southern Baptist preacher, would never approve...           

December 8, 2017
By Paul Gattis

A handwriting expert (click here) who formerly worked for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has determined that the signature (of Roy Moore) in the yearbook of one of Roy Moore's accusers is authentic, according to the accuser's lawyer.

Gloria Allred, attorney for Beverly Young Nelson, said the Georgia-based handwriting expert retained by Nelson, Arthur Anthony, studied multiple examples of original and copies of signature samples of Moore's in reaching his conclusion.

Allred made the announcement at press conference in Atlanta....

...Allred also said that she believes Nelson's life is in danger because she had alleged that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 in late 1977 or early 1978. Moore has repeatedly denied that allegation as well as all others made by women who have come forward in recent weeks.

Nelson has more evidence against Moore that she is withholding at this time but would be used in an ethics investigation against Moore if he wins Tuesday's election against Democrat Doug Jones.

Moore has said he would welcome an independent analysis of the yearbook signing but Allred has insisted that such an analysis would have to be part of a Senate judicial or ethics hearing, which has not taken place....

Leeann Tweeden should appear on "Morning Joe" to explain her hypocrisy.

The fact Senator Al Franken resigned does not change any facts about Ms. Tweeden. She needs to explain how she separates her political choices over and above a Pedophile President. Why should Trump get a pass and no one else does?

December 8, 2017
by Aiden McLaughlin

...“I’m concerned about women, who are legitimately sexually harassed in the workplace across America, and where this is taking us,” Brzezinski said, before reading an excerpt from a Washington Post column asking “Was Al Franken’s punishment fair?”

Brzezinski then seemed to call into question the legitimacy of Leeann Tweeden’s allegations (the radio news anchor first accused Franken of forcible kissing and groping her while she slept, which prompted the other women to come out and accuse the senator of misconduct.)

“We’ve never really talked about the woman who first came out against Al Franken,” she said, before questioning the “Playboy model who goes on Hannity, voted for Trump.”

“I see some politics there, but I haven’t brought that up every step of the way because of course, in this ‘Me Too’ environment, you must always believe the women.”...

I don't trust them. Their political show is not insurance to any spending for the poor or needy.

December 7, 2017
By Arthur Allen

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin (click here) has killed a plan to shift money from a major homelessness program in response to a wave of protest from veterans' advocates, who said the move would aggravate conditions for chronically ill and vulnerable vets.

Advocates for veterans, state officials and even officials from HUD, which co-sponsors the $460 million program, had attacked the decision, saying the service has helped dramatically reduce homelessness among veterans. After POLITICO published a story about their anger, Shulkin reversed course late Wednesday....

Does anyone actually believe the monies for homeless veterans will remain intact? No one believes that, do they? Trump puts on a good show, but, it has no substance. The US Senate and House just passed a hideous budget and tax cuts to match. Ask Mitch McConnell if he knows FOR A FACT the Veterans will receive their homeless monies year after year after year until the problem is solved? Ask him. Ask Ryan. Make them PROVE the monies are going where it is needed.

...The announcement came after a confusing week of messaging from the VA. On Nov. 27, Shulkin and HUD Secretary Ben Carson appeared at a Washington shelter to tout President Donald Trump's commitment to ending veteran homelessness.

Then on Dec. 1, Shulkin's staff told advocates on a phone call that the agency was ending the program--one of two major VA homelessness projects-- and funneling the money to local VA hospitals that could decide how to use it. The original VA decision was buried in a September circular without prior consultation with HUD or veterans’ groups....

Who are homeless veterans? (click here)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly 9% being female. The majority are single; live in urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About 11% of the adult homeless population are veterans.

Roughly 45% of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 10.4% and 3.4% of the U.S. veteran population, respectively.

Homeless veterans are younger on average than the total veteran population. Approximately 9% are between the ages of 18 and 30, and 41% are between the ages of 31 and 50. Conversely, only 5% of all veterans are between the ages of 18 and 30, and less than 23% are between 31 and 50.

America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF), and the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served our country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone.
About 1.4 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

How many homeless veterans are there?

Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 39,471 veterans are homeless on any given night.

Approximately 12,700 veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation New Dawn (OND) were homeless in 2010. The number of young homeless veterans is increasing, but only constitutes 8.8% of the overall homeless veteran population....        

Technical police arguments also work to provide injustice.

February 24, 2017
Albuquerque, NM

Retired Detective Keith Sandy and former Officer Dominique Perez (click here) will not face a retrial for the shooting of James Boyd, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez announced Friday.

A jury last fall deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of former Albuquerque police officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez. The state spent more than $230,000 prosecuting the now former officers....

James Boyd was marginalized by Albuquerque laws that provided no place for the homeless to rest and sleep. He was forced to break the law of Albuquerque that put him in a park where he was not allowed to stay overnight. He had no other place to turn to, yet as a human being he needed a place to rest and sleep.

A swat team was dispatched to a location where a homeless man was sleeping. A SWAT TEAM. Why a Swat Team? So they could practice with their dogs in case the real thing happened. 

The Swat Team members violated human rights and civil rights and they are not held responsible for murder because they 'acted well within technical police work.' 

I don't care who I ask about that video, it makes people want to vomit. The USA has a problem and it isn't the people.

Homelessness is a symptom of a society unwilling to address the needs of all people. Sending police to kill off the problem is not a moral human response.

Another school shooting with deaths. What was the weapon(s) and how did the person get them?

People are stating this is not the time to talk about guns. There is no other time anyone does talk about guns, except, when they cause deaths and problems. Now, is the only time to talk about guns because otherwise it is all swept away by the media due to another shooting elsewhere. Everyday in the USA someone dies of gun violence. EVERY DAY. What does anyone mean now is not the time to talk about guns?

December 7, 2017
By KRQE

Aztec, N.M.  – Three people are dead (click here) after a school shooting at Aztec High School in Aztec, NM.

Two students are dead, the shooter is dead as well. There are no other injuries reported. According to the San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, no injured people have been transported from Aztec High School.

Earlier deputies and Lt. Kyle Lincoln from the San Juan County Sheriff Department cleared the building and actively searched the school.

San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has asked parents of Aztec High School to pick up their kids at Mcgee Park at noon.

A former Aztec school board member who went by the scene shortly after it unfolded says this is absolutely unheard of in their small community.

“Tragically the horrors that visited many other communities have come to roost here in Aztec,” Michael Padilla said. He also called the scene chaotic and said there was a massive law enforcement presence.

As of 10 a.m. Bloomfield schools are no longer on lockdown. All students faculty and staff are accounted for....                       

Michael Slager lied. He did so expecting to have no witnesses to killing an African American man murdered.

What is troubling about his murder is the fact the police officer falsified documents. 

There was a tail light out in the rear of the car he was driving and Walter Scott was behind on his child support. Two relatively benign issues drove Walter Scott from the car to run from the police in fear of being arrested. Walter Scott was not in violation of any major felony that involved violence, weapons or assault on a police officer. He was afraid of being arrested and what that might mean for his life. He ran. He ran from fear of arrest and jail.

The fear Walter Scott felt was irrational fear, yet it overwhelmed his common sense and instill dread about his life. That fear was instilled in him by experiences by other African Americans confronted by Caucasian police. The fear that drives African American men to flee for their own lives is completely irrational, but, it exists no less.

I don't know what the USA has to do to prevent others like Walter Scott from placing themselves in a compromising circumstance than the one they are facing when confronted. I have seen such heinous use by police officers of their weapons and this is one of them.

There was another instance that upset me, when a man, an African American man, in a wheelchair with a gun in his lap, was gunned down because police had the right to do it. There was no reason for the police to kill a basically helpless man, except, their training stated as long as they tell someone to drop their gun they have the right to shoot that person if the gun remains in the person's possession with potential danger. There was no way that man sitting in a wheelchair was going to cause any harm to the many police officers surrounding him.

The same type of incident was carried out with Tamir Rice. The child never even understood the words the police was stating as the police car pulled up next to him. He was innocently playing with a toy gun in a park when a police officer decided it was okay to use the gun on a child. The police officer rather use  a gun out of proper police procedure than actually treat Tamir as a citizen, WITH RIGHTS and try to understand the circumstances to disarm and/or disable a potential shooting.

That is not police work, that is an issue of some of the poorest police work ever recorded and the easy way out. See, Walter Scott required a police officer to call for assistance while he gave chase. Tamir Rice needed an officer to stop, with weapon at the ready, to find out if this was a life or death situation. Even the person making the phone call eventually stated, before Tamir was shot, I think that gun is a toy. The person reporting the incident stated that to a dispatcher. I cannot imagine how the person reporting Tamir feels today. I don't imagine it is easy to simply ignore it.

There is absolutely no reason for Tamir to be dead. It was technically correct for the officer to use the gun, but, it was very sloppy police work that killed an innocent person.

The police work being conducted in the USA is very troubling. It is knee jerk reaction to situations and circumstances. The police work today are laced with lies reported and signed off. A reporting that treats the citizen as if a ferocious criminal that no one could control and as if an animal on the run. Heck, they even use tranquilizers on dangerous animals among society.

I blame the police unions in instructing their officers to use whatever force is legally before them. That type of advise is not good advise, it is not advise police should listen to and it is advise to justify murder to prevent costs for defense of police officers. If the officers acted as they should in assessing the situation for what is was the idea of charging a police officer with any crime would not even be an issue.

Michael Slager would not be facing prison if he bothered to assess the situation. Officers would not be facing charges, investigations and potentially prison if they actually conducted effective police work and assessed the situation. Walter Scott was no threat to anyone, but, himself because he could not control his fear of police officers and the temporary hold in jail he would have faced.

There are no reasons for any of these killings. The awareness began with Michael Brown, but, it was occurring long before them. It needs to stop and good police work replacing police with the right to kill.

My continued sympathies for the Scott family and friends and all African American families that have lost members to very poor police work.

December 7, 2017
By Med Kinnard

One by one, (click here) relatives of the late Walter Scott urged a judge to mete out a significant punishment for Michael Slager, the white former police officer who fatally shot Scott, an unarmed black man, in the back after a 2015 traffic stop.

Through tears, Scott's family told Slager they felt sorrow for him and the loss his young children would feel in his absence. In the end, a judge sentenced Slager to 20 years in prison, giving the Scott family the justice they had sought ever since a stranger came to them with the shocking video of Scott being killed.

"I forgive Michael Slager. I forgive you," Scott's mother, Judy, said as she turned toward her son's killer. "I pray for you, that you would repent and let Jesus come in your life."

Sitting just a few feet away, Slager wiped tears from his eyes and mouthed: "I'm sorry."

The punishment wrapped up a case that became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement. Slager, 36, is one of only a few police officers to go to prison for a fatal shooting, and his sentence is by far the stiffest since the shootings came under extra scrutiny in recent years.

Attorneys for the former North Charleston officer said he shot the 50-year-old Scott in self-defense after the two fought and Scott grabbed Slager's stun gun. They said race didn't play a role in the shooting and Slager never had any "racial animus" toward minorities....

WATCH: Sen. Al Franken announces resignation on Senate floor

Senator Franken has been a loyal Democrat and devoted US Senator during his entire service in the US Senate. I think he did the right thing by resigning today. 

Before he completely leaves, he should file a bill that will end the exploitation of women and their bodies in the media; such as Howard Stern. Senator Franken knows something about radio and entertainment. He has had to compete with such men as Howard Stern and understands the dynamics that bring radio talk shows pressure to be sexual in their content. That content brings pressure to women in our society. It carries over to the work place as well. I think US Senator Franken could find the exact words that would bring about respect for women through media engagement.

I wish him well and continued success in his career choices.

Russia likes to say this is none of The West's business. It is between the family of former Soviet states. I don't think so.

The issue facing the USA and Germany in the case of Ukraine is the blatant breaking of the treaty that secured Ukraine from having nuclear weapons. It is understandable how Russia would want Ukraine disarmed from it's former nuclear arsenal, but, to Europe it was a big sigh of relief to end Russian nuclear weapons parked on Europe's border.

When Russia acted aggressively against Ukraine after Yanukovych was ousted from power, was a violation of the treaty with the USA, Germany and Ukraine; but; also placed Europe in grave danger if Russia were to rebuild the arsenal in Ukraine.

To some, annexing Crimea and the invasion into eastern Ukraine bordering Russia was a given. But, when realizing what Russia gave up in national security by violating that particular treaty, was pure foolishness. Instead of Ukraine maintaining neutrality, as a country under treaty obligation to never rearm any nuclear capacity; President Putin thought he would simply take over Ukraine as a former state and according to him 'under siege' from militants. Putin bargained and now there is a problem and Ukraine has reconstituted it's national military with missile capacity. Additionally, there were sanctions placed again on Russia and it's oligarchs. I, personally believe, it was a huge blunder by Vladimir Putin in all fronts; national security as well as economic isolation of a BRIC country. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s (click here) invasion of Ukraine posed the most serious challenge to European security in decades. In one stroke, he thumbed his nose at the Helsinki Accords of 1975, the Paris Charter of 1990, the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, and other agreements and commitments that had kept the peace in Europe—with the exception of the Balkans—since the end of World War II. Suddenly, the post–Cold War order was torn to shreds, and many worried that if Putin’s brazen act was left unchallenged, other authoritarian regimes would think they, too, could get away with aggression against their neighbors.

On balance, the Western reaction to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was much stronger than Putin anticipated, even if it was less than what many advocated. At the time Putin made his move, few would have thought that a year later the West would have in place a harsh sanctions regime against Russian officials and entities. Russia was too big and important, both strategically and commercially—or so Putin and others assumed. But Putin left the West little choice. His thuggish treatment of his own population belied his claims that he cared about the plight of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine. His cold-blooded reaction to the tragic shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 turned around the mood in Germany, among other places, overnight.

The combination of Putin’s misplaying his hand numerous times during 2014 and the resolve of the West to take a stand against his aggression has left the Russian leader facing the gravest crisis of his presidency. There is some talk that Putin might not even serve out his current term, which runs until 2018....

The price being paid by all in the face of Russia's decision to follow the Old Communists rather than striking a new tone has been extremely tragic. The error by Russia to invade Ukraine and annex Crimea is a snowball rolling downhill and it never seems to end.

Tomorrow belongs to the next generation and refusing to allow that to occur globally has been stifling for Russia and the USA, especially when it comes to the climate crisis. President Putin has to step back from the brink of continued disaster and redefine the future of Russia to recapture it's movement toward peace. If Russia had not invaded Ukraine it could have a world stage to ridicule the USA for all it's offences as well. 

November 20, 2016
By Paul Roderick Gregory

On November 14, (click here) the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its preliminary findings that “there exists a sensible or reasonable justification for a belief that a crime [my italics] falling within the jurisdiction of the Court ‘has been or is being committed’” within the Crimean and Donbas territories of Ukraine. On release of the ICC report, Russia announced that it would withdraw from the organization because it "failed to meet the expectations to become a truly independent, authoritative international tribunal." The ICC report intensifies Russia’s isolation following the Joint Investigative Team’s (JIT) blaming Russia for shooting down MH17.

Russia thus finds itself in the questionable company of Burundi, Gabon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Columbia, and Niger as suspects in creating international armed conflicts. The ICC report demolishes Putin’s narrative of the Ukrainian conflict, which paints Russia as an innocent bystander. Following the ICC report and Russia’s angry withdrawal from the international tribunal, there should be no further reference to “civil war,” “separatists,” or “insurgents.” Instead the conflict that has claimed 9,578 lives is an “international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” Another consequence is that Russia, as a party to the conflict, should no longer have a “peacemaker” seat in negotiations in Minsk.

The ICC report is particularly embarrassing for the Kremlin as it tries to peddle its parallel-reality version of the Ukraine conflict to the incoming Donald Trump administration....

There is a global community with rights seeking justice. It is not just East vs West in a regression to the cold war. The invasion by Russia was completely wrong and the negligence of the USA to be a moral leader on climate is egregious. Neither country are the international heroes many had hoped they would become. It is a mess, all because of the politics of each country. Not because of a moral right or wrong, but, because each politics dictates moronity.

The Magnitsky Act was enacted into law on December 14, 2012.

H.R.  6156 (112th): (click here) Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012

Who was Sergei Magnitsky? (click here) 

Mr Magnitsky was an auditor at a Moscow law firm when he discovered what he said was a massive fraud by Russian tax officials and police officers.

He uncovered the alleged theft of $230m (£150m). After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained in 2008 on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37.

He acted as a legal adviser for London-based Hermitage Capital Management (HCM), where colleagues insist the case against him was fabricated to make him halt his investigations.

Despite his death Russian prosecutors decided to put him on trial - a case dismissed as a "circus" by his family and by HCM founder Bill Browder, who was himself tried in absentia. Mr Browder is now a British citizen, based in London.

Sergei Magnitsky’s Torture and Murder in Pre-Trial Detention (click here)

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Title I—Permanent normal trade relations for the Russian Federation

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Termination of application of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to products of the Russian Federation.

Title II—Trade enforcement measures relating to the Russian Federation

Sec. 201. Reports on implementation by the Russian Federation of obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization and enforcement actions by the United States Trade Representative.

Sec. 202. Promotion of the rule of law in the Russian Federation to support United States trade and investment.

Sec. 203. Reports on laws, policies, and practices of the Russian Federation that discriminate against United States digital trade.

Sec. 204. Efforts to reduce barriers to trade imposed by the Russian Federation.

Title III—Permanent normal trade relations for Moldova

Sec. 301. Findings.

Sec. 302. Termination of application of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to products of Moldova.

Title IV—Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012

Sec. 401. Short title.

Sec. 402. Findings; sense of Congress.

Sec. 403. Definitions.

Sec. 404. Identification of persons responsible for the detention, abuse, and death of Sergei Magnitsky and other gross violations of human rights.

Sec. 405. Inadmissibility of certain aliens.

Sec. 406. Financial measures.

Sec. 407. Report to Congress.

June 15, 2017
By Jeremy Herb

Washington — The Senate was nearly unanimous on Thursday (click here) passing a bill that would slap Russia with new sanctions and give Congress the power to review any White House attempts to roll them back.

The Senate approved the bill 98-2, with Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont voting against the measure. The bill, which includes both Russian and Iranian sanctions, now heads to the House, which still needs to pass it before it goes to President Donald Trump's desk.

The measure is widely seen as a rebuke to Trump, as it hits Russia with new sanctions to punish Moscow for its interference in US elections, as well as over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and Syria.

The bill establishes a review process for Congress to have a say whether the White House eases Russia sanctions. It also establishes new sanctions against those conducting cyberattacks on behalf of the Russian government as well as supplying arms to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and it allows for sanctions to hit Russia's mining, metals, shipping and railways sectors....

December 6, 2017
By Philip Ewing

Sanctions on Russia were to be "ripped up" (click here) early in the Trump administration, then-national security adviser Mike Flynn said on Inauguration Day, according to new information released Wednesday.

The new details suggest that President Trump and his aides not only were amenable to new negotiations with Russia about its bilateral relationship with the U.S — despite its attack on the 2016 presidential election — but had concluded by the time they took office that they would definitely void existing sanctions.

That information comes from a letter released by the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md....

December 6, 2017
By Ken Dilanian and Natasha Lebedeva

Donald Trump Jr. asked a Russian lawyer (click here) at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting whether she had evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation, the lawyer told the Senate Judiciary Committee in answers to written questions obtained exclusively by NBC News.

The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, told the committee that she didn't have any such evidence, and that she believes Trump misunderstood the nature of the meeting after receiving emails from a music promoter promising incriminating information on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump's Democratic opponent.

Once it became apparent that she did not have meaningful information about Clinton, Trump seemed to lose interest, Veselnitskaya said, and the meeting petered out....

"...So, let's give you that opportunity. Os, in June, you met with Donald Trump, Jr., with Jahred Kushner and with Paul Manafort. What was the purpose of that meeting?..."

Indeed.