When Donald John Trump talks about "the numbers" he expects by the end of the year that will save his run for a second term, he isn't talking about the falling numbers of COVID-19; he is talking about Wall Street numbers.
The USA has been and is grossly mismanaged during this national health crisis. Putting people back to work with a risk for poor outcomes to Americans' health is completely immoral and out of the question. When Americans return to work it MUST BE SAFE without any percentage of risk. AMERICANS are not living to provide profits to stockholders at the cost of their health or their lives!
Thursday, July 02, 2020
This is the unemployment statistics of the European Union. The rise because of COVID-19 is all the way to the right.
Europe's recovery from the "Great Recession" was very long and plenty of ups and downs. But, the effect of COVID-19 has been minimized to date.
88/2020 - 3 June 2020 (click here)
April 2020 Euro area unemployment at 7.3% EU at 6.6%
In April 2020, the second month after COVID-19 containment measures were implemented by most Member States, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3%, up from 7.1% in March 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 6.6% in April 2020, up from 6.4% in March 2020. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Eurostat estimates that 14.079 million men and women in the EU, of whom 11.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2020. Compared with March 2020, the number of persons unemployed increased by 397 000 in the EU and by 211 000 in the euro area....
88/2020 - 3 June 2020 (click here)
April 2020 Euro area unemployment at 7.3% EU at 6.6%
In April 2020, the second month after COVID-19 containment measures were implemented by most Member States, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3%, up from 7.1% in March 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 6.6% in April 2020, up from 6.4% in March 2020. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Eurostat estimates that 14.079 million men and women in the EU, of whom 11.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2020. Compared with March 2020, the number of persons unemployed increased by 397 000 in the EU and by 211 000 in the euro area....
Most economies will be sensitive to loss of imports and exports. The economy has to be relearned.
Michael Baker was chosen to stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus in New Zealand.
...The government ultimately (click here) decided to go with Baker’s advice, possibly because of his public health track record. In the 1980s, for example, he helped establish the world’s first national needle exchange programme, which has meant that rates of HIV among injecting drug users in New Zealand are some of the lowest globally....
Michael Baker was and is correct. His approach not only brought New Zealand a virus-free society but, in the long view, there will be few if any New Zealanders with deficits/handicap/effected longevity because of the virus. The greater issue Michael Baker prevented was chronic health conditions that the USA will have to come to terms with into the future.
There is no other way to handle a novel (click here) virus. There is no research on the virus and everything is learned as we go. Why? Why learn as we go when eliminating the risk of the virus is a higher moral value? Dr. Fauci tried in every way to achieve such a goal, but, he was disregarded and it shows.
July 1, 2020
By Ashlea Lynch
Microsoft today (click here) announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing digital skills to 25 million people worldwide, including 100,000 in New Zealand by the end of the year. The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen New Zealand’s unemployment rate rise. This initiative, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes:
...The government ultimately (click here) decided to go with Baker’s advice, possibly because of his public health track record. In the 1980s, for example, he helped establish the world’s first national needle exchange programme, which has meant that rates of HIV among injecting drug users in New Zealand are some of the lowest globally....
Michael Baker was and is correct. His approach not only brought New Zealand a virus-free society but, in the long view, there will be few if any New Zealanders with deficits/handicap/effected longevity because of the virus. The greater issue Michael Baker prevented was chronic health conditions that the USA will have to come to terms with into the future.
There is no other way to handle a novel (click here) virus. There is no research on the virus and everything is learned as we go. Why? Why learn as we go when eliminating the risk of the virus is a higher moral value? Dr. Fauci tried in every way to achieve such a goal, but, he was disregarded and it shows.
July 1, 2020
By Ashlea Lynch
Microsoft today (click here) announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing digital skills to 25 million people worldwide, including 100,000 in New Zealand by the end of the year. The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen New Zealand’s unemployment rate rise. This initiative, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes:
- Data and analytics. Using data to understand the most in-demand skill and jobs.
- Free learning resources. Offer access to free learning paths through the end of 2020 and free content from across Microsoft, LinkedIn and GitHub to help people develop the skills needed for these in-demand jobs. The resources can be accessed at: https://opportunity.linkedin.com/.
- Connecting skills to opportunities. Providing low-cost access to industry-recognised certifications through the end of the year and access to free powerful job-seeker tools that will help people get hired once they have the skills and certifications....
Putin has been using "for hire" military. 200 Russian soldiers of fortune were killed in Syria due to an attack on USA soldiers. Now, there are "for hire" assassins in Afghanistan. Talk about a deterioration of relationships under Trump.
When the Afghanistan war began after September 11, 2001 Russia was first into the country ahead of USA soldiers to set up medical care should any of our soldiers become injured or worse. Now, Russia is willing to kill via mercenaries in the country where the USA soldiers exist. The 200 mercenary attack force didn't work, so he is now trying assassination.
The reason for all these problems is because there is no leadership from Trump. Both China and Russia have been challenging the awareness of the USA forces expecting to find "empty and/or soft spots" to the protection of USA assets and borders. There has been an occasional success in four dead soldiers in Niger (click here) and the few soldiers in Afghanistan.
Every Free Country needs to be aware of this underhanded and illegal strategy by Putin and possibly with Xi's approval. Trump is not enforcing policy or limits. He has ended the intermittent nuclear missile treaty to mimic "W." I guess he is a braver man. Who knows? None of it makes sense. If these treaties are that easy to end, why not end them when needed before a war is engaged. Sort of like calling the ambassadors home.
But, I think this is a second time THAT THE PUBLIC IS AWARE OF that Putin has sought to use "for hire" soldiers. It prevents the observation of the Russian troop movements.
Every democracy has to up its game with intelligence efforts to stop Putin from starting WWIII. Lack of leadership in the White House is being misinterpreted by Russia and China as a weakness.
When the Afghanistan war began after September 11, 2001 Russia was first into the country ahead of USA soldiers to set up medical care should any of our soldiers become injured or worse. Now, Russia is willing to kill via mercenaries in the country where the USA soldiers exist. The 200 mercenary attack force didn't work, so he is now trying assassination.
The reason for all these problems is because there is no leadership from Trump. Both China and Russia have been challenging the awareness of the USA forces expecting to find "empty and/or soft spots" to the protection of USA assets and borders. There has been an occasional success in four dead soldiers in Niger (click here) and the few soldiers in Afghanistan.
Every Free Country needs to be aware of this underhanded and illegal strategy by Putin and possibly with Xi's approval. Trump is not enforcing policy or limits. He has ended the intermittent nuclear missile treaty to mimic "W." I guess he is a braver man. Who knows? None of it makes sense. If these treaties are that easy to end, why not end them when needed before a war is engaged. Sort of like calling the ambassadors home.
But, I think this is a second time THAT THE PUBLIC IS AWARE OF that Putin has sought to use "for hire" soldiers. It prevents the observation of the Russian troop movements.
Every democracy has to up its game with intelligence efforts to stop Putin from starting WWIII. Lack of leadership in the White House is being misinterpreted by Russia and China as a weakness.
Excuse me, but, I thought India was an ally in democracy as well? What is going on that Russia is selling munitions to India?
Typical Putin. Russia gives the facade as being friendly to India so long as it purchases its military munitions from them. That will not limit Russia's involvement in the conflict brewing between India and China. That will simply put Russia in as a broker to both sides while limiting the available technology to India is what it is WILLING to sell them.
Once a communist, always a communist and Russia has done little to discourage China's plans to expand its borders.
This has to be the lamest foreign policy of the USA with India one can imagine.
March 13, 2020
Washington - The United States and India (click here) on Wednesday agreed to strengthen security and civil nuclear cooperation, including building six U.S. nuclear power plants in India, the two countries said in a joint statement....
India has 1.3 billion people with a fair number of them impoverished. So, as part of it's national defense India is trying to make the potential of wealth to other countries. Russia gets Indian money for military munitions while the USA gets six more nuclear power plants to build. WHILE India is being crowded out in the north by China and Pakistan.
This has got to be the worst foreign policy ever too exist and it is probably replicated with other countries. The USA is not involved militarily while Russia is raking in plenty of money to bolster an economy burdened with sanctions. TRUMP IS CIRCUMVENTING THE USA MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX TO ALLOW RUSSIA ECONOMIC INCOMES OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY SANCTIONS. TRUMP IS MANIPULATING THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA TO BENEFIT RUSSIA.
July 2, 2020
The Defence Ministry (click here) on Thursday approved a proposal to acquire 33 new fighter aircraft including 12 Su-30MKIs and 21 MiG-29s along with upgradation of 59 MiG-29s at a cost of Rs 18,148 crore.
“Addressing the long felt need of the Indian Air Force to increase its fighter squadrons, the DAC also approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MiG-29 along with upgradation of existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft and procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday after a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh .
While the MiG 29 procurement and upgradation from Russia is estimated to cost Rs 7418 cr, the Su-30 MKI will be procured from HAL at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 cr.
The decision comes in the wake of high tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have been in a standoff position for several weeks now....
India needs to realize Russia can cut off any supply of parts to these jets and end the relationship "at will" now that it is engaged in a border war with China. India needs to rethink it's national security as should many other countries currently bogged down in economic deals with Russia.
We are looking at a very different leader than The West is used to in the former president Hu Jintao. China has made Xi a permanent fixture in the presidency, so it really isn't a presidency so much as a dictator. The same can be said today if Putin rides the popular vote into a forever dictatorship of Russia. Lenin would roll over in his grave. It wasn't enough to get rid of the Czars, Putin is now installed as Russia's permanent president.
Hu Jintao was interested in improving the Chinese quality of life and openly welcomed Wall Street to conduct employment at very low rates of pay. Hu Jintao brought the Olympics to China. He was a far more benevolent leader than Xi. I think it is time to reassess China's plans for the future in expansionism and intolerance of democracy.
India needs to stop believing its neighbors are friendly and realize it is in the pit of hell.
July 2, 2020
By Shiahir Gupta
Myanmar, China’s closest ally in southeast Asia, (click here) has pointed fingers at Beijing for arming insurgent groups with sophisticated weapons and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups. In a recent interview to Russian state-run TV channel Zvezda, Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said terrorist organisations active in Myanmar are backed by ‘strong forces’ and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups.
The reference to ‘strong forces’ was widely seen to be a reference to Myanmar’s neighbour in the north, China.
Myanmar military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun later elaborated on the comment made by the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s armed forces. The spokesperson said the army chief was referring to Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), terrorist organisations active in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar that borders China....
Once a communist, always a communist and Russia has done little to discourage China's plans to expand its borders.
This has to be the lamest foreign policy of the USA with India one can imagine.
March 13, 2020
Washington - The United States and India (click here) on Wednesday agreed to strengthen security and civil nuclear cooperation, including building six U.S. nuclear power plants in India, the two countries said in a joint statement....
India has 1.3 billion people with a fair number of them impoverished. So, as part of it's national defense India is trying to make the potential of wealth to other countries. Russia gets Indian money for military munitions while the USA gets six more nuclear power plants to build. WHILE India is being crowded out in the north by China and Pakistan.
This has got to be the worst foreign policy ever too exist and it is probably replicated with other countries. The USA is not involved militarily while Russia is raking in plenty of money to bolster an economy burdened with sanctions. TRUMP IS CIRCUMVENTING THE USA MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX TO ALLOW RUSSIA ECONOMIC INCOMES OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY SANCTIONS. TRUMP IS MANIPULATING THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA TO BENEFIT RUSSIA.
July 2, 2020The Defence Ministry (click here) on Thursday approved a proposal to acquire 33 new fighter aircraft including 12 Su-30MKIs and 21 MiG-29s along with upgradation of 59 MiG-29s at a cost of Rs 18,148 crore.
“Addressing the long felt need of the Indian Air Force to increase its fighter squadrons, the DAC also approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MiG-29 along with upgradation of existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft and procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday after a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh .
While the MiG 29 procurement and upgradation from Russia is estimated to cost Rs 7418 cr, the Su-30 MKI will be procured from HAL at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 cr.
The decision comes in the wake of high tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have been in a standoff position for several weeks now....
India needs to realize Russia can cut off any supply of parts to these jets and end the relationship "at will" now that it is engaged in a border war with China. India needs to rethink it's national security as should many other countries currently bogged down in economic deals with Russia.
We are looking at a very different leader than The West is used to in the former president Hu Jintao. China has made Xi a permanent fixture in the presidency, so it really isn't a presidency so much as a dictator. The same can be said today if Putin rides the popular vote into a forever dictatorship of Russia. Lenin would roll over in his grave. It wasn't enough to get rid of the Czars, Putin is now installed as Russia's permanent president.
Hu Jintao was interested in improving the Chinese quality of life and openly welcomed Wall Street to conduct employment at very low rates of pay. Hu Jintao brought the Olympics to China. He was a far more benevolent leader than Xi. I think it is time to reassess China's plans for the future in expansionism and intolerance of democracy.
India needs to stop believing its neighbors are friendly and realize it is in the pit of hell.
By Shiahir Gupta
Myanmar, China’s closest ally in southeast Asia, (click here) has pointed fingers at Beijing for arming insurgent groups with sophisticated weapons and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups. In a recent interview to Russian state-run TV channel Zvezda, Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said terrorist organisations active in Myanmar are backed by ‘strong forces’ and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups.
The reference to ‘strong forces’ was widely seen to be a reference to Myanmar’s neighbour in the north, China.
Myanmar military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun later elaborated on the comment made by the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s armed forces. The spokesperson said the army chief was referring to Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), terrorist organisations active in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar that borders China....
I believe we are seeing the end of the "Wealthy White Man" era.
It is how the corruption of society, government, and international relations begins and sustains. Money can buy everything.
July 2, 2020
By Haven Orecchio-Egresitz
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
FBI agents (click here) in New Hampshire have arrested Ghislaine Maxwell, a British heiress and longtime girlfriend to Jeffrey Epstein.
July 2, 2020By Haven Orecchio-Egresitz
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
FBI agents (click here) in New Hampshire have arrested Ghislaine Maxwell, a British heiress and longtime girlfriend to Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein died by suicide in jail last August while facing charges related to the sex trafficking of dozens of underage girls. His victims have accused Maxwell, the daughter of media baron Robert Maxwell, of procuring and grooming the young girls to sleep with the rich and powerful in Epstein's circle....
Very big and exciting news.
By Jason Kelly
(From left) Maverick Carter and LeBron James.
...The pair thought it was going to be a big year (click here) for different reasons. On March 11, the same day the NBA suspended its season and a little more than a week before their adopted hometown ordered residents to shelter in place, James and Carter formed the SpringHill Co. after raising $100 million. They describe it as a media company with an unapologetic agenda: a maker and distributor of all kinds of content that will give a voice to creators and consumers who’ve been pandered to, ignored, or underserved.
SpringHill is named for the Akron apartment complex where James and his mom moved when he was in sixth grade. It consolidates the Robot Co., a marketing agency, with two other businesses. The first, SpringHill Entertainment, is behind The Wall, a game show on NBC, and the movie Space Jam: A New Legacy, which stars James and is scheduled to be released next year. The second, Uninterrupted LLC, produces The Shop: Uninterrupted—an HBO talk show featuring James, Carter, and other Black A-list celebrities—as well as Kneading Dough, an online partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co., in which athletes talk about money to promote financial literacy. (“They do it in a way that’s incredibly relatable,” says Kristin Lemkau, chief executive officer of JPMorgan’s U.S. wealth management business, who created the show with Carter.) Uninterrupted, a hybrid production-marketing business, is also responsible for a Nike Inc. shoe collaboration and a hoodie collection for Pride Month designed with soccer star Megan Rapinoe and basketball great Sue Bird....
Texas is very hot right now, That is due to the hot air that arrived with the dust. The dust is not causing the heat, the air the dust traveled on caused the heat. The dust will ultimately become particulates that will accumulate water vapor to cause rain once the heat abates. It is a large amount of hot air though.
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Okay, here we go. The addition of the flu. This is out of China.
July 1, 2020
By Rachael Rettner
In the midst of COVID-19, (click here) the last thing we need is another pandemic. But scientists in China are now warning that they have identified a new flu virus in pigs that could possibly cause a future flu pandemic.
The virus, called G4 EA H1N1, is a genetic mix of the H1N1 "swine flu," which caused a flu pandemic in 2009, and other flu viruses. The study, published Monday (June 29) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found evidence that G4 EA H1N1 has infected workers on pig farms in China. But importantly, there is no indication that the virus spreads from person to person, according to CNN....
Let me clarify why the USA needs to be very vigilant regarding this virus. China currently OWNS pig farms in the USA. (click here)
Smithfield Farms sold their operations to China a few years ago. The pig FARMERS that supplied Smithfield Farms are in several states and they know who they are. There MUST BE STRICK STANDARDS IN REGARD TO THE PEOPLE AND SUPPLIES USED ON THESE FARMS.
China businessmen/women could easily carry this new virus into the USA and to the pig farms here. NOW, is the time to prevent infections making it into the USA and DEFINITELY control it to remain in China.
The National Academy of Science isn't publishing this for no reason, this is very important and the containment of any global spread is extremely important.
From the Proceedings:
Contributed by George F. Gao, April 28, 2020 (sent for review December 9, 2019; reviewed by Ian H. Brown and Xiu-Feng Henry Wan)
Pigs are intermediate hosts (click here) for the generation of pandemic influenza virus. Thus, systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is a key measure for prewarning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza. Here, we identified a reassortant EA H1N1 virus possessing pdm/09 and TR-derived internal genes, termed as G4 genotype, which has become predominant in swine populations since 2016. Similar to pdm/09 virus, G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus. Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus. Controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented.
These findings need to be expedited and they may have already been sent to the White House. If there is any evidence to this virus in the USA it will fall on the shoulders of the White House IF NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO PREVENT THE SPREAD.
No one in the scientific community has been sitting on their hands. This is from 2009.
A swine influenza virus (SIV) (click here) vaccine-challenge pig model was used to study the potential of a conserved matrix 2 (M2) protein vaccine alone or in combination with an inactivated H1N1-vaccine to protect against H1N1 and H1N2 viruses. The H1N1-vaccine and heterologous H1N2-challenge virus model has previously been shown to prolong fever and increase SIV-associated pneumonic lesions. The M2 vaccine in combination with the H1N1-vaccine reduced the H1N2 induced fever but not virus shedding. The M2 vaccine alone reduced respiratory signs and pneumonic lesions to levels similar to the negative control pigs following H1N2 infection. This study found that the M2 protein has potential as a vaccine for SIV-associated disease prevention. However, development of an immune response towards the major envelope HA protein was required to reduce SIV shedding
Smithfield Farms sold their operations to China a few years ago. The pig FARMERS that supplied Smithfield Farms are in several states and they know who they are. There MUST BE STRICK STANDARDS IN REGARD TO THE PEOPLE AND SUPPLIES USED ON THESE FARMS.
China businessmen/women could easily carry this new virus into the USA and to the pig farms here. NOW, is the time to prevent infections making it into the USA and DEFINITELY control it to remain in China.
The National Academy of Science isn't publishing this for no reason, this is very important and the containment of any global spread is extremely important.
From the Proceedings:
Contributed by George F. Gao, April 28, 2020 (sent for review December 9, 2019; reviewed by Ian H. Brown and Xiu-Feng Henry Wan)
Pigs are intermediate hosts (click here) for the generation of pandemic influenza virus. Thus, systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is a key measure for prewarning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza. Here, we identified a reassortant EA H1N1 virus possessing pdm/09 and TR-derived internal genes, termed as G4 genotype, which has become predominant in swine populations since 2016. Similar to pdm/09 virus, G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus. Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus. Controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented.
These findings need to be expedited and they may have already been sent to the White House. If there is any evidence to this virus in the USA it will fall on the shoulders of the White House IF NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO PREVENT THE SPREAD.
No one in the scientific community has been sitting on their hands. This is from 2009.
A swine influenza virus (SIV) (click here) vaccine-challenge pig model was used to study the potential of a conserved matrix 2 (M2) protein vaccine alone or in combination with an inactivated H1N1-vaccine to protect against H1N1 and H1N2 viruses. The H1N1-vaccine and heterologous H1N2-challenge virus model has previously been shown to prolong fever and increase SIV-associated pneumonic lesions. The M2 vaccine in combination with the H1N1-vaccine reduced the H1N2 induced fever but not virus shedding. The M2 vaccine alone reduced respiratory signs and pneumonic lesions to levels similar to the negative control pigs following H1N2 infection. This study found that the M2 protein has potential as a vaccine for SIV-associated disease prevention. However, development of an immune response towards the major envelope HA protein was required to reduce SIV shedding
I think the innovation of the face masks available today is wonderful.
Breathable Face Mask (click here) With Clear Window Visible Expression For The Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
This one is very thoughtful in providing a face mask that disabled Americans find helpful, especially with their caregivers.
This one is very thoughtful in providing a face mask that disabled Americans find helpful, especially with their caregivers.
I have a concern for all these magnificent masks, in that there is no rating system. The new "social masks" need a way of testing them and assessing their effectiveness. The consumer needs to feel confident they are purchasing the mask they need to protect them from each other's potential to carry the virus. I doubt Homeland Security will take up this task, but, I think the better authority to develop a system of testing and a classification ID is the CDC. If there are foreign methods already in use that can be applied to American masks, all the better.
Americans need to take this seriously. The "social mask" provides freedom of movement while being responsible. I think they need to feel confident in their choices.
Happy National Postal Worker Day
We want to say thanks!
And make sure you do just that this Wednesday for National Postal Worker Day.
Of course, you'll want to thank your post women as well, I guess there weren't post women back when the Marvelettes wrote that song.
National Postal Workers Day a chance to show our appreciation for everything they do six days a week, rain or shine.
And on this special day, here's a little factoid that might impress your friends:
Back in 1913, the Postal Service started delivering packages up to 11 pounds.
You could send anything as long as it didn't weigh too much, and I mean anything, including children.
For the whopping price tag of 15 cents, little James Beagle, barely under the weight limit, was delivered to his grandma just a few miles away.
And believe it or not, that kind of thing actually happened for more than a year before the postmaster general decided it probably wasn't the best idea.
Good call, buddy.
There are about 490,000 postal workers across the country.
National Postal Worker Day was put together by some Seattle postal carriers in 1997.
July 1, 2020
Taliban commanders (click here) have confirmed that Russia has offered financial and material support to its members in exchange for attacking US forces in Afghanistan.
The practice was first reported by the New York Times last Friday, which cited US intelligence officials.
President Donald Trump has since strongly denied that he was told of this intelligence, and has attacked its credibility, characterizing the existence of Russian bounty payments as fake.
But three separate Taliban sources told Insider that they were aware of Russian bounty payments being made — though they stressed that only the less-disciplined elements on the fringes of the group would take up such an offer....
Fringe or no fringe Putin is practicing contract killing.
Taliban commanders (click here) have confirmed that Russia has offered financial and material support to its members in exchange for attacking US forces in Afghanistan.
The practice was first reported by the New York Times last Friday, which cited US intelligence officials.
President Donald Trump has since strongly denied that he was told of this intelligence, and has attacked its credibility, characterizing the existence of Russian bounty payments as fake.
But three separate Taliban sources told Insider that they were aware of Russian bounty payments being made — though they stressed that only the less-disciplined elements on the fringes of the group would take up such an offer....
Fringe or no fringe Putin is practicing contract killing.
The USA fails to stem SARS-CoV-2 within the population of the country.
There are now 2 strains that are known. The "G" strain is more contagious and is the strain that entered New York. The changes revolve around a "U" nucleotide. I think the "G" is a popular reference and not scientific.
This is a unique strain to the USA, in that, it came from a Seattle student with flu symptoms. This strain contains five mutations that cannot be traced to any other part of the world. Uracil is the scientific name of ONE OF FOUR nucleotides bases. Yes, the human genome is built on 4 bases linked together to form 20 nucleotides of "3 base chains."
uracil (U) (click here)
Five weeks later, (click here) a high school student in Snohomish County, Wash., developed flu-like symptoms. A nose swab revealed he had Covid-19. Scientists sequenced the genome of his coronavirus sample and found it shared the same distinctive mutations found in the first case in Washington, but also bore three additional mutations....
The confirmed cases of COVID-19:
Globally - 10,321,689
USA - 2,573,393
The USA now accounts for more than 24 percent of all confirmed cases.
The Americas have 5,218,590 confirmed cases. The Americas are more than 50 percent of confirmed cases. Of the Americas, the USA is more than 49 percent of the confirmed cases. The USA leads in the number of confirmed cases.
Deaths caused by COVID-19:
Globally - 507,435
USA - 126,573
The USA now accounts for nearly 25 percent of the deaths. The USA leads in the number of deaths.
The USA has FAILED to protect it's people, hence, it's economy. Now, the strategy by the White House is to return the economy regardless of leading the world in cases and deaths, ALLOWING more and more danger to the people and increasing the chances of infection and/or death.
uracil (U) (click here)
Five weeks later, (click here) a high school student in Snohomish County, Wash., developed flu-like symptoms. A nose swab revealed he had Covid-19. Scientists sequenced the genome of his coronavirus sample and found it shared the same distinctive mutations found in the first case in Washington, but also bore three additional mutations....
The confirmed cases of COVID-19:
Globally - 10,321,689
USA - 2,573,393
The USA now accounts for more than 24 percent of all confirmed cases.
The Americas have 5,218,590 confirmed cases. The Americas are more than 50 percent of confirmed cases. Of the Americas, the USA is more than 49 percent of the confirmed cases. The USA leads in the number of confirmed cases.
Deaths caused by COVID-19:
Globally - 507,435
USA - 126,573
The USA now accounts for nearly 25 percent of the deaths. The USA leads in the number of deaths.
The USA has FAILED to protect it's people, hence, it's economy. Now, the strategy by the White House is to return the economy regardless of leading the world in cases and deaths, ALLOWING more and more danger to the people and increasing the chances of infection and/or death.
The CDC has been issuing guidelines to stem "at risk" behavior.
Guidelines including for funerals (click here)
These are a few of the guidelines for riding in elevators when unable to take the stairs, which has it's own "Passing Distance" problems.
The recommended measures will include: (click here)
- requiring all riders to wear masks;
- limiting the number of riders;
- marking paths on the floor to direct people in and out;
- and posting signs to remind people to "not talk unless you have to,"
Nancy Clark Burton, a senior industrial hygienist at the CDC, told the Times.
These are a few of the guidelines for riding in elevators when unable to take the stairs, which has it's own "Passing Distance" problems.
The recommended measures will include: (click here)
- requiring all riders to wear masks;
- limiting the number of riders;
- marking paths on the floor to direct people in and out;
- and posting signs to remind people to "not talk unless you have to,"
Nancy Clark Burton, a senior industrial hygienist at the CDC, told the Times.
Senator Harris is the only qualified Democrat with an extensive history of police reform. Critics will always exist.
I think some of the resistance to Senator Harris during her presidential run was her laughter. She tends to smile and laugh at times when perhaps is best expressed with a more serious tone. I know she finds challenges to her ideas amusing because they are well thought out, but, a response that incurs a smile should be curtailed to a serious attitude that takes on the challengers rather than dismissing them.
I wish her great luck in pursuing the VP post. I think she is great and will be greater as Vice President.
June 29, 2020
By Jeffery Taylor
Kamala Harris’s push (click here) for police reform in the Senate is shaping up as an audition for the job of Joe Biden’s vice president, as she makes herself a highly public voice for change after years as a no-nonsense prosecutor.
By promoting a bill to ban police chokeholds and make other changes -- and by publicly clashing with a senior Senate Republican over the legislation -- Harris has put herself front and center in the debate over congressional efforts to change police behavior.
The reform debate burnishes the former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general as a social-justice activist. It also protects the Biden campaign from potential criticism of her efforts while in those jobs to slow innocence bids and punish parents whose children were truants, among other contentious actions....
I wish her great luck in pursuing the VP post. I think she is great and will be greater as Vice President.
June 29, 2020
By Jeffery Taylor
Kamala Harris’s push (click here) for police reform in the Senate is shaping up as an audition for the job of Joe Biden’s vice president, as she makes herself a highly public voice for change after years as a no-nonsense prosecutor.
By promoting a bill to ban police chokeholds and make other changes -- and by publicly clashing with a senior Senate Republican over the legislation -- Harris has put herself front and center in the debate over congressional efforts to change police behavior.
The reform debate burnishes the former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general as a social-justice activist. It also protects the Biden campaign from potential criticism of her efforts while in those jobs to slow innocence bids and punish parents whose children were truants, among other contentious actions....
Peace lost to heavily armed anarchists.
June 30, 2020
New video shows (click here) the chaotic aftermath (click here) of Monday’s deadly shooting in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest area — which one volunteer medic described as a “war zone.”
Footage posted on Facebook by Converge Media shows the frenzy inside the cop-free CHOP zone after gunfire erupted there around 3 a.m. on Monday, leaving a 16-year-old boy dead and a younger teen critically wounded.
The nearly 40-minute clip also shows the bullet-ridden white Jeep Cherokee SUV that the teens were believed to have been riding in.
Witnesses said they had spotted the vehicle near one of the makeshift barriers around the protest zone just before the shooting, Seattle Police said....
New video shows (click here) the chaotic aftermath (click here) of Monday’s deadly shooting in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest area — which one volunteer medic described as a “war zone.”
Footage posted on Facebook by Converge Media shows the frenzy inside the cop-free CHOP zone after gunfire erupted there around 3 a.m. on Monday, leaving a 16-year-old boy dead and a younger teen critically wounded.
The nearly 40-minute clip also shows the bullet-ridden white Jeep Cherokee SUV that the teens were believed to have been riding in.
Witnesses said they had spotted the vehicle near one of the makeshift barriers around the protest zone just before the shooting, Seattle Police said....
Monday, June 29, 2020
The only "carrot and stick" Trump has with Putin to stem any war is the G8.
Trump doesn't read. He has repeatedly refused national security meetings while he was a candidate. It isn't that Trump didn't have the information about the assassination of American troops, it was that he didn't bother to know it.
September 2019
By Shannon Bugos
Less than one year (click here) after President Donald Trump informally announced that the United States would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the State Department announced on Aug. 2 that the move was officially complete. The treaty’s death leaves just the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in place to limit U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons deployments, and that pact is due to expire in February 2021.
For several years, the United States has alleged that Russia was in violation of the INF Treaty by testing and deploying a banned missile system, and Washington pinned its treaty withdrawal squarely on Russia. “Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in announcing the U.S. move. “Over the past six months, the United States provided Russia a final opportunity to correct its noncompliance. As it has for many years, Russia chose to keep its noncompliant missile rather than going back into compliance with its treaty obligations.”...
Trump is not a competent leader.
June 29, 2020
By Carl Bernstein
In hundreds of highly classified phone calls (click here) with foreign heads of state, President Donald Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials -- including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff -- that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States, according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations....
All this is happening because Trump is an absentee president. It isn't as though he even cares about these developments. He just has no will to confront major powers unless it is to defame and demean allies. They are easy to pick on without worrying about real confrontation.
Besides, I think Trump believes if he can only get the strongmen of the world to understand how much better life would be if they were all capitalists along with him, the world would have peace.
June 29, 2020
By Eva Dou and Shibani Mahtani
China on Tuesday (click here) adopted a contentious national security law that will allow Beijing to override Hong Kong’s judicial system and target political opponents in the city, stripping the territory of autonomy promised under the handover agreement with Britain and raising the prospect of further retaliation from Washington.
The move has strained China’s relations with the United States and other Western nations, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying on Friday that Washington would place visa restrictions on Chinese officials responsible for curtailing freedoms in Hong Kong. On Monday, China said it would impose reciprocal measures on unspecified American officials, while the U.S. Commerce Department suspended some of Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment under U.S. law....
September 2019
By Shannon Bugos
Less than one year (click here) after President Donald Trump informally announced that the United States would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the State Department announced on Aug. 2 that the move was officially complete. The treaty’s death leaves just the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in place to limit U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons deployments, and that pact is due to expire in February 2021.
For several years, the United States has alleged that Russia was in violation of the INF Treaty by testing and deploying a banned missile system, and Washington pinned its treaty withdrawal squarely on Russia. “Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in announcing the U.S. move. “Over the past six months, the United States provided Russia a final opportunity to correct its noncompliance. As it has for many years, Russia chose to keep its noncompliant missile rather than going back into compliance with its treaty obligations.”...
Trump is not a competent leader.
June 29, 2020
By Carl Bernstein
In hundreds of highly classified phone calls (click here) with foreign heads of state, President Donald Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials -- including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff -- that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States, according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations....
All this is happening because Trump is an absentee president. It isn't as though he even cares about these developments. He just has no will to confront major powers unless it is to defame and demean allies. They are easy to pick on without worrying about real confrontation.
Besides, I think Trump believes if he can only get the strongmen of the world to understand how much better life would be if they were all capitalists along with him, the world would have peace.
June 29, 2020
By Eva Dou and Shibani Mahtani
China on Tuesday (click here) adopted a contentious national security law that will allow Beijing to override Hong Kong’s judicial system and target political opponents in the city, stripping the territory of autonomy promised under the handover agreement with Britain and raising the prospect of further retaliation from Washington.
The move has strained China’s relations with the United States and other Western nations, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying on Friday that Washington would place visa restrictions on Chinese officials responsible for curtailing freedoms in Hong Kong. On Monday, China said it would impose reciprocal measures on unspecified American officials, while the U.S. Commerce Department suspended some of Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment under U.S. law....
Now is the time for Democrats to shine.
June 29, 2020
Democrats hoping to flip the Senate (click here) seized on a major Supreme Court ruling on Monday striking down a Louisiana law that would've restricted abortion access, attacking Republican candidates in crucial races across the country for supporting conservative justices who dissented in the case.
Nowhere was that more evident than in Maine, where state House Speaker Sara Gideon sharply criticized Sen. Susan Collins for voting to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, even though Collins supported the court's decision.
Gideon touted her endorsements from groups supporting abortion rights like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action and publicly questioned whether Collins still believed that Kavanaugh viewed Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision in which the court ruled that the Constitution protects a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion, as "settled law."...
Abortion must be safe and available.
June 7, 2019
By Domenico Montanaro
Three-quarters of Americans (click here) say they want to keep in place the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on abortion rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll.
What the survey found is a great deal of complexity — and sometimes contradiction among Americans — that goes well beyond the talking points of the loudest voices in the debate. In fact, there's a high level of dissatisfaction with abortion policy overall. Almost two-thirds of people said they were either somewhat or very dissatisfied, including 66% of those who self-identify as "pro-life" and 62% of those who self-identify as "pro-choice."
"What it speaks to is the fact that the debate is dominated by the extreme positions on both sides," said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, which conducted the survey. "People do see the issue as very complicated, very complex. Their positions don't fall along one side or the other. ... The debate is about the extremes, and that's not where the public is."...
Democrats hoping to flip the Senate (click here) seized on a major Supreme Court ruling on Monday striking down a Louisiana law that would've restricted abortion access, attacking Republican candidates in crucial races across the country for supporting conservative justices who dissented in the case.
Nowhere was that more evident than in Maine, where state House Speaker Sara Gideon sharply criticized Sen. Susan Collins for voting to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, even though Collins supported the court's decision.
Gideon touted her endorsements from groups supporting abortion rights like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action and publicly questioned whether Collins still believed that Kavanaugh viewed Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision in which the court ruled that the Constitution protects a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion, as "settled law."...
Abortion must be safe and available.
June 7, 2019
By Domenico Montanaro
Three-quarters of Americans (click here) say they want to keep in place the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on abortion rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll.
What the survey found is a great deal of complexity — and sometimes contradiction among Americans — that goes well beyond the talking points of the loudest voices in the debate. In fact, there's a high level of dissatisfaction with abortion policy overall. Almost two-thirds of people said they were either somewhat or very dissatisfied, including 66% of those who self-identify as "pro-life" and 62% of those who self-identify as "pro-choice."
"What it speaks to is the fact that the debate is dominated by the extreme positions on both sides," said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, which conducted the survey. "People do see the issue as very complicated, very complex. Their positions don't fall along one side or the other. ... The debate is about the extremes, and that's not where the public is."...
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