In “Harpers,” April 2021, page 2 under “Letters,” “A Modest Proposal.”
...By aligning monetary and fiscal policy, we can protect our national sovereignty, rebuild our economy, payoff the national debt, reduce (prevent eliminate) national deficits, and guarantee that the dollar remains a stable currency....
His description is a long term structural policy that Democrats should consider and lead to that goal.
I observed 2 foot swells on Lake Michigan from high winds at the air-surface interface. The water is cobalt blue. Toward evening a greenish tint among the blue water. Plenty of white caps. NO FLOODING! Plenty of sea spray from crashing waves on the shoreline, but, absolutely no flooding.
Magnificent!
The Army Corp. is Magnificent!
President Joe Biden (click here) has a big, looming decision to make by May 1: Whether or not to withdraw all 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan and end America’s 20-year war in the country.
Biden, very broadly, has two paths to choose from. He can abide by former President Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban, which would require all American service members to leave Afghanistan by that deadline. Or Biden can extend the US military mission, either unilaterally or by negotiating an extension with the Taliban, as a way to pressure the Taliban to strike a peace deal with the Afghan government.
Both options are fraught with risk. Experts warn that ending America’s presence will almost certainly lead the Taliban to take over the country, including the capital city of Kabul. Staying, though, will invite the insurgent group to restart killing American personnel in the country, adding to the over 2,300 US personnel who have already been killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001.
There’s simply no overarching consensus on which is the best course of action, underscoring just how difficult Biden’s decision — expected in a few weeks — will be....
He should care about Texans and the rule of law more than he cares about vengeful assaults against President Biden's agenda for saving the country, it's economy and the rule of law.
The Biden Justice Department owes it to the people of Texas to follow up on the charges Paxton faces.
He can't stop himself from committing crimes. He has little conscience if any at all. He keeps playing political games and worse with the power of the State of Texas Attorney General.
On July 28, 2015, a state grand jury indicted Paxton on three criminal charges: two counts of securities fraud (a first-degree felony) and one count of failing to register with state securities regulators (a third-degree felony).
Eight witnesses to the crime and ethics violations can't be wrong. He is a second state attorney general that does not deserve the power or the confidence of the people. Kentucky is the other.
November 11, 2021When news broke last month (click here) that top aides to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had accused him of bribery and abuse of office, many in the Texas political scene were shocked but not surprised.
In a mutiny without precedent, eight of Paxton’s most senior aides told law enforcement they believed Paxton broke the law by using the agency to serve the interests of a political donor, Nate Paul. Media reports and documents have now shown four times when Paxton used his office in a way that appeared to benefit the struggling Austin real estate magnate.
Paxton’s reaction was anything but cowed: He shot back at the “rogue employees,” called their allegations false and, just over a month later, has fired four of the whistleblowers. While the nature of the attorney general’s relationship with Paul remains unclear, Paul revealed last week in a deposition that he had employed a woman at Paxton’s recommendation. Paul said it was not a favor to Paxton. But the woman had been involved in an extramarital affair with Paxton, according to two sources who said they learned of it directly from the attorney general in 2018....
Ever since President Biden has taken office he has filed lawsuit after lawsuit, including suing Twitter for taking his buddy's account away from him. You know the one, the guy that inspired the insurrection and then denied it. The one that lied to all those people to push them past the point of no return. Well, Paxton is another that can't be trusted.
My understanding is that Paxton has again filed another lawsuit against the Restoration Act to prevent monies from coming into Texas. That is ridiculous. The attorney generals from the other states are upset about the "no tax reduction" clause in the bill. I can understand why the clause is there because these are monies for a particular purpose in restoring essential services and administering vaccines, not balancing the state budget.
I am not a lawyer, but, it is my suspicion the states that need those funds to return to a normal balance in their treasuries, return essential services, and continue to provide vaccines should file a countersuit against the states that are playing politics. It is one thing to complain about State Rights in regard to taxes, however, the federal government is the final authority on that, but, to simply say a state cannot accept those funds is punitive and a sincere assault against the well-being of the American people. A global pandemic effects us all.
My concern is if there are no states making claims in opposition of Paxton and the courts will only see one side of any constitutionality. It should be made clear to any court the need for those funds to the states and cities. I believe it will be necessary to stand strong against otherwise weighted courts.
The states in need of the funds are not all blue states either. US Senator Rick Scott told Ron DeSantis to refuse the money. DeSantis stated Florida needs those monies and he would accept the help.
So, when it comes right down to it, some of this may be political grandstanding. I think governors will reflect on the needs of the state and the ability of that state to recover and serve the people.
One more thing:
The Federal Reserve came out stating there will be no increases in the interest rates at least until the end of 2023. The reason is to recover the job rate in the country. They also don't see inflation taking over either. The worst it will get will be seen in 2023 at about 2 percent. The frenzy on the political right-wing is a lie.
My sincerest sympathies to all the families and friends that are mourning tonight.
The arrest and subsequent justice of hate crimes that are to follow are correct. But, the losses will never go away. The hate in this country has to stop and the path of equality has to rule in the USA.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to President Joe Biden
President Biden, (click here) who has a particular affection for Ireland, spoke virtually with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin from the White House on Wednesday.
I am Irish. The third generation in the USA. Our family, which is sizeable has done well. I would like all people in the USA to find happiness and prosperity, too. I think this is an important year. It is time we take measures to bring the Equal Rights Amendment to fruition. I would love to see that happen in my lifetime. It is hard to believe it hasn't. This has been a struggle since the 1960s. It is time the Amendment was passed to ensure equality.
March 17, 2021There is a lot of work to be done this year. It requires all 50 Democratic Senators and most probably the President of the Senate Kamal Harris to all the change that needs to be carried out.
Justice Reform
Voting Rights
Immigration
Climate Crisis
The Equal Rights Act
It is a big agenda, but, it is big because of the obstruction/oppression of the Republicans in the Senate. These issues have stagnated for decades and the country looks pieced together because of it.
President Obama was brilliant and made the best of a very hostile Mitch McConnell. I don't know how in good conscience any Democratic legislator can look the other way at more obstruction when reform and new laws need to go into effect.
We have been given a second chance to get this done. Under President Obama, we saw the Affordable Care Act to become law. It took a year and in the final 60 vote majority of the Senate, not one Republican voted to secure the needed changes for the country. Not one. Even after a year of debate and back and forth. In the end, it was the commerce of the bill that passed it by 51 votes.
It is time for the US House and US Senate to do what is right for the country. The Republicans are unable and unwilling to do what is necessary. We have decades to prove it.
We have learned how bizarre the Republican Party has become with leadership that carried out an insurrection and a US Senate unable and unwilling to carry out the impeachment from the US House, not once but twice. The Democrats will not be ridiculed for carrying out the promises they made over those decades. They need to have confidence and faith to realize the magnificent outcome of the legislative agenda now facing them. They will be heroes.
I was thrilled when I heard President Biden is rethinking the Senate filibuster. He was a proud Senator for a long time and President of the Senate for eight years. He knows the obstruction all to well. I am hoping he will provide the way forward for the US Senate Democrats, the country has never needed them more.
It is time. It is long over due.
North Korea has no incentive to speak to The West. It has nuclear capacity now with missiles that reach the USA. North Korea is not planning on giving that up. Un won’t use it against South Korea because he wants to unit the North and South. That will be the aspiration of the North forever.
Un’s idea of uniting with the South is to maintain leadership as he has nuclear missiles and the South would disarm from them. In sees any disarmament as opening up danger to all Koreans.
North Korea has amusement parks now along with many impoverished. It sees these western cultural achieves as an advancement.
Un’s sister has also stated in the past South Korean activists were responsible for infecting North Korea with the current SARS virus. She complained South Korea did nothing to stop the activists. I think she has a point in that in a global pandemic activists by principle alone should not be flying balloons over the border. That is just a global standard. For all we know the North Korean citizens that receive the packages from the South might actually welcome the contact as if family.
So, while The West sees nothing wrong with allies meeting for whatever the reason, North Korea does. Has anyone welcomed an invited North Korean delegation to the meetings? Perhaps that would mean real in roads if the North was welcomed to meet with the South and it’s friends.
That’s McConnell’s warning if the filibuster is ended? He has got to do better than that, the USA Senate is already so anti-American and bigoted from the climate crisis to voting it can’t get worse.
If the filibuster is McConnell’s only hope then he is not interested in the USA being anything but wealthy Caucasian.
No minority leader should ever be that dead set on obstruction.
Capital Police were attacked with chemical weapons that disabled and injured them. In the case of Military Veteran and Capital Police Officer Brian Sicknick, it caused his collapse and ultimate death.
Bear Spray is made of oleoresin of capsaicin or red pepper oil intended to severely irritate the eyes and upper respiratory system. On autopsy the officer’s lungs should show foreign substance with an oil base causing obstruction of air exchange. The chemical causes swelling of the tissue.
“Be Bear Aware Campaign,” experts stating bear spray will cause the bear to lose it’s ability to inhale and exhale deeply. Within a second the bear will have lost it’s ability to see, hear, and breath. The spray is meant to stop a charging bear moving up to 30 mph.
The US Senate is exactly where it was with Obama. The Joe Biden presidency is nearly following the same path as the presidency of the Obama White House. First, rescue the country from the "Wrong Way Republicans" and then set a path to pass bills that the country really needs to provide status and rights to those completely ignored by any Republican administration, the minorities, and the immigrants.
It is now that we need to act to provide citizenship to the people who belong here and have spent their entire lives in the USA. I am not worried about the filibuster. It is antiquated and provides power to a minority party that DOES NOT DESERVE POWER after a nightmare of a presidency for four years.
The way to defeat draconian Republican politics is to maintain healthy majorities in the US House and US Senate. That is done by providing rights to the people that are otherwise ignored. Give citizenship to the Dreamers. They have done all the necessary steps under Obama's generous executive orders and they want to be a citizen. It is wrong to simply allow the same wrong-headed thinking of the US Senate to maintain the filibuster. If the immigration laws are passed that President Biden has on his agenda there won't be another Republican president in the White House or a majority in the House and Senate until they change their evil ways.
The filibuster is standing in the way of democracy. The fifty US Senate Republicans have the country by the throat and will not see people of this country as the focus for the laws so much as the people as a problem, especially for their corporate cronies. Enough of this disaster of an opposition party. The people have a right to their country the way they want it and the Republicans are not the way they want it.
Speaker Pelosi has set congressional records in passing legislation to bring justice to the people, while Republican House leadership only passed legislation in the single digits. The Republicans want the status quo. It is where they live and where their wealth lies. The agenda of the Republicans' status quo is corrupt and based in greed even if it includes accepting Russian oligarchs into the USA to provide jobs. Kentucky is a "State of Shame" for the corruption that exists at all levels including with the Senate Minority Leader. McConnell gave legitimacy to "pass-through" Russian money by allowing a business to exist. Just think about that. The Republicans ae so mired in keeping the status quo that McConnell rather sells out to Russia rather than seeking the best way forward for the people of Kentucky. The American people have had enough of the Republican status quo. The country needs this immigration policy and it needs it now.
Prime Minister Modi is trying desperately to bring India to a balanced democracy at a time when democracy is under attack globally. The people of India cannot be kept in a turmoil of local power plays that disrupt their lives. The people of India need to understand what a sincere democracy is and how best to live their lives in demand of equal treatment and within high standards of quality of life.
The corruption within the practices of the local governments and the states has to stop. If it won't stop then prosecution of those causing disturbing realities have to be brought to justice. The clear measure of justice the UK brought to a criminal in the diamond trade means India understands the severity of lawlessness.
The farmers have been able to find a person willing to stand on strong principles and refuse to allow any measure of the legislature to victimize India's farmers. The entire circumstances need to be assessed with public hearings held to better understand the complaints that may have brought this action to the legislature. But, to lock out a political party from a vote only leads to more problems with corruption than not. The farmers have a right to their land and they have a right to farm it. There are many measures that must take place to secure the food needed for all of the people of India. The farmers need to understand the brevity of their practices and the deep meaning their produce and grains mean to the country.
The wildlife conservation preserves need to be handled properly. India has a problem with tigers on the loose as well as elephants. There should be partnerships between India's conservationists and those of The West to bring better outcomes to these animals and a point of pride to India. China had it easy in bringing the Panda to the forefront of it's conservation efforts, but, tigers and elephants are slightly different concerns. It would be best if there were partnerships at least for awhile between established leaders in conservation in The West and those currently caring for the animal preserves now. It would be a delight to many of that took place.
This is a very difficult time for democracy. It is important the leaders at all levels of government in any country stay honest and abiding by principles long-held as democratic. Prime Minister Modi has lead India's military to a strong position since the loss of two of it's great leaders. Prime Minister Modi cares about the people and the country. He wants what is best. The people of India should be guided in their vote and their decisions from people already proven to be strong and influential with other leaders of other countries.
Prime Minister Modi wants to end corruption at all levels in India. The people of India need to be full partners with him to bring about the change needed.
The present investigation (click here) was conducted during the period 2017–2018 on Ganga riverbed mining-affected areas of district Haridwar for the assessment of seasonal dynamics of surface quality using the Overall Index of Pollution (OIP). OIP analysis was helpful in determining surface water quality. For the analysis, five sampling sites were selected with triplicate analysis of collected water sample were done to represent the effective impact of riverbed mining on selected physicochemical parameters. OIP value of surface water quality were found in winter (excellent: 1.13) > summer (acceptable: 3.37) > monsoon (slightly polluted: 7.94). As compared to site where mining was not carried out, the spatial analysis showed that the selected riverbed mining sites had high OIP score. Therefore, it was concluded that the riverbed mining practice had a negative influence on the surface water quality of the Ganga River in the selected region, and hence should be given special attention to maintaining ecological sustainability.....
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned on Tuesday as the state's ruling BJP opted for course-correction a year before polls, amid growing resentment in the ranks. His exit was certain after his trip on Monday to Delhi, where he had met with the BJP leadership.
Mr Rawat, 60, handed in his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya just days short of completing four years in power, becoming the latest in Uttarakhand's legacy of Chief Ministers exiting before term. A first-timer, he was chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP swept the Uttarakhand election in 2017, winning 57 seats in the 69-member assembly. The Congress won just 11 seats.
"I have been working in politics for a while now and my party gave me an opportunity to work as the state Chief Minister for four years - the golden years of my life. Despite coming from a rural background, I was entrusted with the responsibility to lead the state; that is only possible in a party like BJP," said Mr Rawat.
"Now that party has taken a collective decision to entrust the responsibility of state chief ministership to some other leader."...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (click here) appears to be set to take the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign to win away the “Epar Bangla” from Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress to “Opar Bangla” too.
Just a day before the first of the eight-phase polling for the assembly elections in West Bengal, often referred to as “Epar Bangla” (Bengal on This Side), will take place, the Prime Minister will embark on a two-day visit to Bangladesh a.k.a “Opar B.
And, with his BJP already on a no-holds-barred campaign to wrest power from the Trinamool Congress in the State, the Prime Minister’s March 26-27 visit to the neighbouring country too is expected to be loaded with political messages to the voters in West Bengal.
The most conspicuous will be the one that will come out of his visit to Orakandi, a small town in Gopalganj district of Bangladesh.
The ‘Thakur Bari’ in Orakandi is the most sacred shrine for the Matuas – a Vaishnavite Hindu sect, which, with a population of over three crore in West Bengal, has emerged as a ‘vote-bank’ that the BJP is keen to win away from the TMC. Modi is likely to pay obeisance to the temple dedicated to Harichand Thakur, who founded the sect out of a reformist movement in the early 19th century. The sect comprised Namashudras, Chamars and Malis, who were then treated as untouchables by the upper caste Hind...
Modi will meet his counterpart Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka. He will take part in the celebration of the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the founder of Bangladesh, in Dhaka....
