No storm here.

Taking the evening off.

Thank you for your interest.

Interpol did really good work on this.

It would be to the benefit of Maduro to continue talks with the opposition. It is the only way forward for his control of the country.

October 17, 2021

By Joshua Goodman

Venezuela’s government said Saturday (click here) it would halt negotiations with its opponents in retaliation for the extradition to the U.S. of a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro who prosecutors believe could be the most significant witness ever about corruption in the South American country.

Jorge Rodríguez, who has been heading the government’s delegation, said his team wouldn’t travel to Mexico City for the next scheduled round of negotiations.

The announcement capped a tumultuous day that saw businessman Alex Saab placed on a U.S.-bound plane in Cape Verde after a 16-month fight by Maduro and his allies, including Russia, who consider the Colombian-born businessman a Venezuelan diplomat.

A few hours after news of Saab’s extradition blew up Venezuelan social media, six American oil executives held on house arrest were taken back to jail by security forces — a sign that relations between Washington and Caracas could be upended after months of quiet diplomacy since Joe Biden entered the White House. Families of the men known as the Citgo 6 — for the Houston subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company where they worked — expressed frustration with both governments.

“The fact that Mr. Saab is in the U.S. before my father is a disgrace,” said Cristina Vadell, whose father, Tomeu Vadell, is among the Americans serving out long sentences on what the U.S. government considers trumped-up charges....

To understand the level of money laundering carried out by Saab is to understand the extent to which he was supporting hostile activities in the Western Hemisphere, including Hezbollah. Mr. Saab has much to discuss with the USA government.

This is only the tip of the iceberg.

...Saab is set to make his first court appearance on Monday, (click here) October 18 in a court in the state of Florida, the department said in a statement.

The agency also expressed its “gratitude to the Government of Cape Verde for its assistance and perseverance with this complex case and admiration for the professionalism of Cabo Verde’s judicial system.”

Saab and his business partner Alvaro Pulido are charged in the US with running a network that exploited food aid that was meant for Venezuela, an oil rich nation grappling with an acute economic crisis....

There is every reason to believe that Saab will talk about his criminal networking and the issue of corruption in relation to the Venezulean people. Maduro's administration thrives on corrupt practices, including, money laundering and drugs.

...Recent nationwide shortages of gasoline (click here) have added to the complexity of the crisis in Venezuela. Despite having the largest reserves of petroleum in the world, the state-owned oil enterprise, Petroleós de Venezuela (PDVSA), cannot refine its heavy crude due to mismanagement and corruption, leading to mass shortages and pent-up demand. In April 2020, the Maduro regime turned to Iran to partner in helping fix the oil refineries on the Paraguana peninsula, and to provide much-needed fuel to Venezuela. The newly minted oil minister, Tareck El Aissami, and the regime’s special envoy to Iran, Lebanese-Colombian businessman Alex Saab, seemingly worked out a gold-for-gas deal with Tehran.

Shortly after, in a period of a month and a half, the Iranian airline, Mahan Air, flew seventeen flights and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) sailed five tankers from Iran to Venezuela to provide parts from China, Iranian technicians, and approximately 1.5 million barrels of gasoline to the fuel-starved Maduro regime. Months later, the refineries on the Paraguana peninsula still do not operate, and Venezuela is once again facing fuel shortages. But, according to Bloomberg, the Islamic Republic received almost half a billion dollars’ worth (nine tons) of gold bars as payment...

Besides the fact there are reasons to still impeach Trump and he is guilty of violations of the emoluments clause...

...the statistics about the degree Trump is able to derail the national dialogue about him is incredible. He premeditates his appearances to the right wing. The Republicans have no control over the messaging of their party. Trump's exclamations are in complete disregard of the Republican Party's future failures or successes. He will throw every Republican under the bus to distract from the truth. FOX News amplifies it. The GOP doesn't have a chance.

No matter how extreme, Donald John Trump will amplify his own message to maintain control of the national right wing dialogue. He wants the country to hate President Biden while the US House investigates Trump's crimes. Those crimes are so numerous that he literally can spend the rest of his life treading water through the media to remain from incarceration.

Trump's messaging is about him and his so called innocense and the basis of the January 6th insurrection. The violence occurred to legitimately end the election of President Biden so Trump could eliminate his corrupt agendas, concealment of facts and greed. As a dictator/king, Trump would be able to exempt the Executive Branch from any rule of law and his prosecution on any scale. He maintained the Justice Department and the Legislative Branch in disarray to maintain power. Trump's need for power is directly related to his corrupt financial dealings. He never cared about the country, except, where it benefitted him.

 

This is exactly the problem with the US Congress NEGLECT of the Climate Crisis.

This is called discovery and innovation. The former President George W. Bush stated the path to ending the climate crisis was investment and innovation. Well, here it is.

Changes to the way things are done is through research and development. This is an iron battery that assists in the viability of an alternative energy power grid. President Biden wants wind power offshore for the entire east coast. It is long over due. 

Currently, Scotland has wind, wave and tidal energy to bring 80 percent of it's electricity to the Scottish people. Scotland developed it's alternative energy grid starting in 2002. Scotland's wind, wave and tidal energy does not emit one molecule of greenhouse gas in production.

Now, there are iron batteries. What will the future actually look like? I don't think most people can say. But, without profound commitment from a legislature in the USA ready to end the climate crisis, projects important to our children's future will be lost.

Everyone should be ashamed. This is the United States of America where the impossible is possible. Enough already. Research and development MUST go forward to bring alternative energy to the sustainable economy of the USA.

October 11, 2021
By Akshat Rathi

The world’s electric grids are creaking (click here) under the pressure of volatile fossil-fuel prices and the imperative of weaning the world off polluting energy sources. A solution may be at hand, thanks to an innovative battery that’s a cheaper alternative to lithium-ion technology.

SB Energy Corp., a U.S. renewable-energy firm that’s an arm of Japan’s SoftBank Group, is making a record purchase of the batteries manufactured by Energy Storage Systems. The Oregon company says it has new technology that can store renewable energy for longer and help overcome some of the reliability problems that have caused blackouts in California and record-high energy prices in Europe.

The units, which rely on something called “iron-flow chemistry,” will be used in utility-scale solar projects dotted across the U.S., allowing those power plants to provide electricity for hours after the sun sets. SB Energy will buy enough batteries over the next five years to power 50,000 American homes for a day.

“Long-duration energy storage, like this iron-flow battery, are key to adding more renewables to the grid,” said Venkat Viswanathan, a battery expert and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

ESS was founded in 2011 by Craig Evans, now president, and Julia Song, the chief technology officer. They recognized that while lithium-ion batteries will play a key role in electrification of transportation, longer duration grid-scale energy storage needed a different battery. That’s because while the price of lithium-ion batteries has declined 90% over the last decade, their ingredients, which sometimes include expensive metals such as cobalt and nickel, limit how low the price can fall.

The deal for 2 gigawatt-hours of batteries is worth at least $300 million, according to ESS. Rich Hossfeld, chief executive officer of SB Energy, said the genius of the units lies in their simplicity....

It is only a commission. It is not like there are real dollars involved here.

Trump wins even before big, dark money when it comes to three Republicans and the January 6th Commission. Just a little scary. Machin proves his corruption. He hates Democrats that love the country and the people.

Are you people out of your minds?

No one believes in Wildcat Strikes more than me, but, this is an inappropriate use of that union power.

Let me just tell you why I believe in Wildcat Strikes. My father was a union secretary in Golo Shoe Factory in Pennsylvania (click here and 11th paragraph). The year was 1959 and the working conditions were terrible. The union officers decided to pull a Wildcat Strike to improve the workers health and well being. My father voted for the strike in an executive meeting. The factory workers, all union members, were called to assembly and given the information the executive committee had before them regarding working conditions and human health. There was a vote of the members and the factory went on strike.

That strike lasted for 90 days. Back then there was word of mouth information that spread through the surrounding towns. "Golo Shoe Factory is on strike for better working conditions." This area was depressed already due to coal mines shutting down. There was no more anthrocite coal to be mined. The bosses had completely depleted the mountains of it. So, the concept of workers' health was not foreign to any of the laborers at Golo or their communities.

The shop keepers in the area decided they could extend credit to the families of the striking workers. In that was community based support and the Wildcat Strike could go forward until the factory owners committed to the union's terms. Eventually, they did. But, the cost would mean all the six officers of the union had to resign. Among those people was my father, an Air Force veteran from Korea and now with a family of two young children. He went on to find work in New Jersey where his sister said there was good work for good men. To tell you the commitment my family has to unions is to understand my father worked in New Jersey three months before he was asked to be a Shop Steward for the union there.

So, when it comes to Wildcat Strikes, they are invaluable and work extremely well to bring about change for the better in any labor issue. I find the pilot union at Southwest to be heroes and nothing short of it, given their dedication to labor law. But, there are exceptions when a national health emergency exists. I think the courts and the NLRB will say that as well.

Pilots of all people and their attendants on board are exposed to this lousy bug more than most other people. There is a change in air mass components every time there is a landing and passengers depart and board. So, the chance of pilots and other airline workers, including baggage handlers, is higher and would expose them to the contagion is far higher rates. It is important all those without EFFECTIVE immunity get the vaccine. Labor law be damned this is a national emergency and a pandemic. What if pilots got sick and some died, what would that do to the USA economy and families left without one or more of their wage earners gone. We have orphans in this country due to the virus. There are military veterans among these folks. This is no joke. 

This wildcat strike with Southwest Airlines is due to what the pilots see as an assault on labor law. I doubt that can be incurred because of a national health emergency. I am sure they are thinking Biden is another Reagan. The labor union leaders should be meeting with the President. All airline labor union leaders, not just those with Southwest. Heck, where is the AFL-CIO on this thing?

The Railway Labor Act (RLA) (click here) has governed collective bargaining between rail carriers and labor unions since 1926.

This is a national health emergency and there are far different parameters regarding labor practices. If there are businesses with unions salivating at the idea this mandate by President Biden is going to destroy unions, they have another thing coming. Unions can go on strike if their employers are draconian and insistent in breaking the union. Unions are important. They are the backbone of the Middle Class and while there is always concern about the health of labor law, there is a panel of the NLRB that can issue statements as well.

Again, I state, will your ideology save you from the grave?

October 9, 2021
By Mary Schlangenstein

Southwest Airlines Co. pilots (click here) asked a court to temporarily block the company from carrying out federally mandated coronavirus vaccinations until an existing lawsuit over alleged U.S. labor law violations is resolved.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s filing Friday also asked for an immediate hearing on the request before a federal court in Dallas, claiming the carrier has continued to take unilateral actions that violate terms of the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline-union relations. Those steps include the Covid-19 vaccination requirement.

“The new vaccine mandate unlawfully imposes new conditions of employment and the new policy threatens termination of any pilot not fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021,” the legal filing said. “Southwest Airlines’ additional new and unilateral modification of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement is in clear violation of the RLA.”...

You need another reason, then how about the issue of masks for pilots that obstruct their best operating ability? Vaccines would mitigate all that.

October 2, 2020

By Linda Werfelman

Radio transmissions (click here) by pilots wearing cloth facemasks may be more difficult to understand than those by pilots wearing surgical masks, or no masks at all, according to a report by the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA)....

The science involving this speech by President Biden is correct, however,...

...there is concern among the public that natural immunity is better than the vaccine.

There is a large majority of Americans that have not been exposed to or succumbed to the COVID-19 virus and all it's many variants. I think we are upto the letter M in naming variants. I know we have L in Lamda, but, believe there is also one after that, namely M.

In simply talking to people and those that refuse the vaccine there are many reasons, most are dangerous reasons but one in particular is something that the CDC and FDA can address and haven't. 

The Americans that have been exposed to the virus or a variant believe their natural immunity is better than the vaccine. I think the NIH needs to examine that potential and address it formally. They might be right. Their opinion also goes on to believe that if they are vaccinated their natural immunity will be negated and made to be ineffective. They point to the issue that the vaccines need a booster and their natural immunity does not.

The ONE fact that is pushing the issue of vaccines to the forefront is the character of viruses, in that they mutate on a very regular basis. They mutate due to their mRNA content. In that lies the danger that if the COVID-19 virus is allowed to exist for much longer there could be a mutation that is a Level 3 virus that will cause high numbers of deaths, especially if people continue to be resistant to government intervention to end a pandemic. The entire globe has a strong interest in preventing that from happening. A level 3 virus would bring about a great deal of economic hardship and far more invasive government controls than currently exist. 

The other reasons for not getting the vaccine is bizarre. Fear is part of it because it is an mRNA vaccine. The virus is mRNA. Americans don't fear that? They should. Every American should fear contrating the mRNA virus footprint of COVID-19 and it's variants. Fear is irrational when there is a vaccine that will prevent illness, disability and/or death. I remind any American that COVID-19 and it's variants have caused and are causing large numbers of disability in the "Long Haul" lingering symptoms. As a nation we cannot allow a virus to infect large numbers of people and create a nation of the disabled. I would think that is an obvious reason to vaccinate.

Besides fear, there are a variety of reasons that stop Americans from being vaccinated. I am sorry this is even a reason for media to talk about it. Within that daily conversation is politics. Viruses and vaccines are not a political dialogue and if Americans are standing up for their individual rights in not being vaccinated, then they are worshipping a wrongful god. The country has 700,000 dead. The Rwanda genocide that lasted 100 days killed upto 800,000 deaths. The COVID-19 deaths numbering over 700,000 with ANY OF THE VACCINES would have and could have been prevented. Think about that for a moment before crying they are losing their constitutional rights. The dead have lost theirs. 

700,000 deaths if they had been vaccinated could have been prevented. There are those that occurred in the beginning, but, if the vaccines had been perfected after the SARS outbreak under former President Geoge W. Bush, there would be little that would have occurred even in the beginning. All that if fact and cannot be overlooked.

Today, American children are returning to school supposedly for their own good as they rely on social programs at school that provide nutrition. Then there are other noble causes like being proficent in sports for attempts at scholarships and the idea "children need other children." So much for the competency of homeschoolling and of course the American people must get back to work. We all know school time is the best babysitter. All those reasons to me are tragic and based in valuing money over lives. I find all those reasons hideous especially from people that are adult professionals in the care and teaching of a child's mind.

But, as to the President's speech. It is all based in fact. The ONLY real reason I see for any American to question the wisdom of being vaccinated is the issue of natural immunity and it's superiority over vaccinated immunity. That has to be addressed scientifically and soon.

As far as political ideology, I say, can you continue to practice that ideology from the grave?

 

In the USA it is truck drivers that are needed. In China? A miracle.

October 13, 2021

By Dan Ronan

Yantian Port

...Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (click here) President Mark Baxa said the global supply chain was quite fragile before COVID-19 and that Trump administration tariffs against China in 2018 shocked the supply chain.

“It was not long after the introduction of the tariffs that we faced this global pandemic, and that was a crushing impact.”

Kidd said the supply chain challenges are exacerbated by the enormous amount of cargo still to be unloaded at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the nation’s biggest, respectively. Sixty-two ships were waiting to be unloaded on Oct. 12, and some have waited for as long as 24 days to obtain a berth....

Once the ports in the USA are clear and they are back to business as usual, the ports in China where all these containers are packed for shipment to the USA, there are enormous problems, including rotting produce probably.

It is time to realize part of China's national defense is to undo every aspect of the USA democracy. It is time to reassess that relationship and move to bring the supply chain into other countries we trust and call friends.

The changes needed to protect Earth must go forward.

17 September 2021
By Mark Kinvar

The 15 finalists of Prince William's inaugural Earthshot Prize have been unveiled. (click here)

The prize was launched in October 2020 in order to search for inspiring and innovative solutions to problems facing the planet.

The finalists were selected by experts who were looking for projects that had a "significant positive impact" on people and the natural world.

Five winners, each receiving £1m, will be announced in a ceremony in October.

The prize was inspired by US President John F Kennedy's "Moonshot" programme, which resulted in the US Apollo lunar launches and the first man setting foot on the Moon in 1969....

October 7, 2021

Britain's Prince William, (click here) Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George (seated), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Sir David Attenborough in the gardens of Kensington Palace in London after The Duke and Sir David attended an outdoor screening of Sir David's upcoming feature film, on Sept. 24, 2020.

As Prince William prepares (click here) for the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards this weekend, he noted that part of the inspiration for his climate activism comes from one particular eight-year-old. During an interview with BBC Newscast on BBC Sounds, the Duke of Cambridge discussed his son, Prince George's frustration after a litter picking outing with his school, Thomas's Battersea.

"So George at school recently has been doing litter picking and I didn't realize but talking to him the other day he was already showing that he was getting a bit confused," William said.

"[He was] a bit sort of annoyed by the fact they went out litter picking one day and then the very next day, they did the same route, same time and pretty much all the same litter they picked up was back again," the Prince noted. "And I think that for him he was trying to understand how and where it all came from. He couldn't understand, he's like, 'Well, we cleaned this. Why has it not gone away?'"

The Duke of Cambridge also expressed concern that his son's generation will still be tackling climate change in 30 years, when it "will be too late."

Prince William's Earthshot Prize is his new initiative to help the environment. The Duke developed the prize to find innovative and workable solutions to the world’s biggest environmental challenges. When launching the prize, William pledged to make the "maximum positive personal contribution" so he could "look my children in the eye and say that I did my bit."...

It is all in what one values. If a society values life over power and money, then Earth is on the agenda.

October 15, 2021
By Alex Kleiderman

The Queen (click here) has appeared to suggest she is irritated by people who "talk" but "don't do", ahead of next month's climate change summit.

Her reported remarks were overheard during the opening of the Welsh parliament on Thursday.

The monarch, who is due to attend the UN's COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, said she did not know who was coming to the event.

Prince Charles and Prince William have also spoken of their climate concerns.

Global leaders are meeting in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures....

People like US Senator Joe Machin ARE THE PROBLEM. There should be international sanctions against them, including obstruction of trips abroad and the rest. There is no need for Machin to be this difficult. He is power hungry and has no intentions of the USA limiting the use of coal. It is an international problem that needs internatinoal attention. There are limits on what the USA can do with these people.

October 14, 2021

By Alex J. Rouhandeh

Cecil Roberts, (click here) president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), told Newsweek on Wednesday that he could not support President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan with its current goal of achieving 80 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.

Part of the plan, the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), consists of a $150 billion program designed to increase the amount of clean energy distributed to consumers by 4 percent each year. Companies that complete this objective would receive financial incentives and those that fail would face financial penalties.

Under this plan, Roberts said, coal-fired power plants could face a succession of closures, as they would likely fail to meet these deadlines. While coal plants could theoretically meet requirements through the process of storing emissions using carbon capture and sequestration, current technology. Roberts said, makes it unfeasible and that he does not expect it to catch up by the time of Biden's proposed deadlines....

It isn't as thoiugh Manchin is carrying out the business of the people of West Virginia either.

October 14, 2021
By Barnini Chakraborty

Jacob Hannah was born in Kelly Knob, West Virginia. (click here) He is the conservation coordinator for Coalfield Development and believes West Virginia needs to diversify in order to survive.

He was born and raised near the Billion Dollar Coalfield in the southern part of the state. His father worked in the mines, just like his father had before him.

As a child, Hannah saw the economic prosperity that the industry brought to his town. But he was also there for the bad times, when jobs dried up and people were forced out of their homes, away from their families, and the only employment they had known. He watched in horror as vibrant towns turned into hollowed-out shells.

"Everything was built to serve this one industry," he told the Washington Examin.er. "When the jobs went, everything else collapsed."...

President Biden needs to address the needs of the people of West Virginia. He can look into their future and find opportunity for them. Evidently, Machin is not capable.

This edition of "PBS News Hour" is chocked full of Democratic issues, including the very ineffective fuel availablity and cost and the energy crisis. Let's face it who wants energy from petroleum anymore? It is hideous to try and live a Middle Class life when the costs of fueling up an internal combustion engine changes from day to day. That won't hapen with electric vehicles. Energy costs to consumers will stabilize and be very reliable. Electric Vehicles transportation costs won't destroy vacations either.

There are two judges that need to be impeached. Kaplan in one and the other is Preska.

In July 2018, (click here) Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin filed a lawsuit in state court against 21 fossil fuel companies, including Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil, BP and other major oil producers. The suit advances eight claims against the fossil fuel companies for producing, promoting and marketing of fossil fuel products, while concealing the known hazards of their products. Attorney General Kilmartin alleged that the 21 companies were directly responsible for the release of hundreds of gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions between 1965 and 2015 that have caused harm that Rhode Island has experienced and will continue to experience in the future. The severe harms include substantial sea level rise, more frequent and severe flooding, extreme precipitation events and drought.

That same month, the defendant oil companies filed a notice of removal action to federal court. Attorney General Kilmartin filed a motion to remand the litigation back to Rhode Island state court as federal jurisdiction is not appropriate for Rhode Island’s purely state law-based claims. In June 2019, new Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Nerohna notified the Rhode Island federal district court of a well-reasoned decision in federal district court in Maryland that held that the City of Baltimore’s similar lawsuit against oil companies for climate change impacts belonged in state court.

In July 2019, the federal district court in Rhode Island sided with the Rhode Island attorney general in remanding the litigation back to state court as the attorney general had requested. The court found, citing in part the decision in the City of Baltimore litigation, that there is no federal jurisdiction under the various statutes and doctrines as asserted by the defendant oil companies. The defendant oil companies have appealed the district court’s July 2019 decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, while Rhode Island’s lawsuit continues in state court. The defendant oil companies have appealed the district court’s July 2019 decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, while Rhode Island’s lawsuit continues in state court. ...

There are currently valid lawsuits occurring in the United States that will ultimately prove the petroleum industry knew about the damages of their products to an entire planet endangering the human beings that live here. 

These judges are attempting to turn climate advocacy into a crime by their power leverage over Attorney Steven Donziger. This persecution of a very qualified of environmental and human rights attorney is the basis of their hostile priorities for ANY climate lawsuits.

They need to be impeached for their abuses of power as soon as possible.

The picture above is the damage caused by Cheron. That damage doesn't happen by itself. Chevron is trying to rid itself of the liability that is rightfully theirs. Enough of this. The company has found allies in two judges that are leveraging power to silence others that seek the truth and end the petroleum industry assault against human beings and their only "Common Home."

The abuses of these judges are monsterous and they really do deserve to be impeached. It isn't the judicial system that is the problem, it is the corruption leveraged by abusivce judges.

September 1, 2020

Dozens of legal organizations around the world (click here) representing more than 500,000 lawyers along with over 200 individual lawyers today submitted a judicial complaint documenting a series of shocking violations of the judicial code of conduct by United States Judge Lewis A. Kaplan targeting human rights lawyer Steven Donziger after he helped Indigenous peoples win a historic judgment against Chevron in Ecuador to clean up the pollution caused by decades of oil drilling with no environmental controls.

The complaint was formally filed by the National Lawyers Guild in conjunction with the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL). IADL was founded in Paris in 1946 to fight to uphold the rule of law around the world and has consultative status with UN agencies.

Five pages in length with a 40-page appendix with 15 exhibits, the complaint is to be turned over to the chief judge in the federal appellate court in New York that oversees the trial court where Kaplan sits. The complaint is signed by an unprecedented number of legal organizations from approximately 80 countries collectively representing 500,000 lawyers.

The Chief Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Robert Katzmann, has a duty to read the complaint and determine whether he will appoint a committee to investigate and issue findings....

December 31, 2020

In a decision described as Kafkaesque (click here) by human rights advocates, a U.S. judge who leads a pro-corporate judicial organization funded by Chevron has refused yet again to release celebrated environmental attorney Steven Donziger from home detention after he helped his Indigenous clients win a historic $9.5 billion pollution judgement against the oil giant.

Judge Loretta Preska today issued a New Year’s Eve order continuing Donziger’s indefinite house arrest in Manhattan for a 17th month even though the longest sentence ever imposed for his misdemeanor contempt charge – which his lawyers consider unsupported by evidence – is three months of home confinement if convicted. Partly because the COVID pandemic has closed the New York courthouse, Donziger has yet to be granted a trial.

In the meantime, Preska has denied Donziger’s release four times even though not a single person in the U.S. charged with a federal misdemeanor has been held for even one day, much less well over a year, according to Donziger’s lawyer Ron Kuby (see here).

“This case is an absolute miscarriage of justice and is Kafkaesque in the extreme,” said Rex Weyler, the co-founder of Greenpeace who has accused Chevron of committing “ecocide” in Ecuador after courts found the company deliberately dumped billions of gallons of oil waste onto Indigenous ancestral lands in the Amazon.

Preska has attracted wide criticism for refusing to recuse herself from the case despite being a leader of the Federalist Society, a pro-corporate society of lawyers and judges to which Chevron is a major donor. She also has denied Mr. Donziger a jury of his peers and allowed a private Chevron law firm -- Seward & Kissel -- to prosecute the lawyer in the name of the U.S. government after the U.S. Attorney’s office refused the case....

17 September 2020

At a time when so many (click here) black Americans, Indigenous peoples, people of colour and white allies are protesting at systemic racism, we’d like to highlight a different story of marginalised people speaking truth to power on behalf of their most basic human rights. It’s the story of how “big oil” is now using Harvey Weinstein-like destroy-the-accuser tactics to try to crush environmental defenders. It is also the story of how we can all help those defenders peacefully fight back.

In 2001, Chevron acquired Texaco, including all of its assets and civil liabilities. One of those liabilities was the “Amazon Chernobyl”, a 1,700-square-mile environmental disaster in Ecuador that Texaco created through a disregard – and an attitude that local Indigenous groups have called racism – for the health of the region’s peoples. Texaco, the sole operator of the fields from 1964 to 1992, eventually admitted that it deliberately discharged 72bn litres of toxic water into the environment, which ended up in the water supply, and gouged 1,000 unlined waste pits out of the jungle floor. According to several Indigenous witnesses, including Humberto Piaguaje, a leader of the Ecuadorean Secoya people, the company actually claimed that the oil wastes were medicinal and “full of vitamins”....

This video is by "Carbon Brief."

What reason does the rest of the world have to end the climate crisis? Other countries look at their greenhouse gas history and current contributions in comparison to the USA and wonder what is their outcome if the USA does not do it's part?

What is your country's greenhouse gas history? (click here)

The United States of America MUST lead in alternative energies (not carbon based so called green energy such as natural gas) and the car industry MUST go electric, without exception!

The ONLY role for coal anywhere in the world is in making diamonds. Coal under pressure that produces diamonds are natural diamonds. Close the lousy mines in South Africa that go down miles in the planet. Build diamond plants there instead. Import coal from every country that has it and make diamonds. Honestly.

Do you know what really is astounding to me? The mechanism to pull CO2 out of the air, is made in Iceland. Excuse me? There is no excuse anymore.

I have to figure out how to put a video on YouTube. Is shows miles and miles and miles of the greenhouse effect. It is definitely here. I took that video a month or so ago. What I observed today has me extremely worried. I watched sections clouds evaporate right before my eyes. Water vapor leaving stratus clouds to higher elevations. After the clouds evaporate, the water vapor heads to the stratosphere. I already discussed what happens when the stratosphere and the troposphere have no reason to be two different atmospheres. They homogenize and there is no more Earth that is inhabitable. 

WE GET THIS DONE or WE WILL BE DONE FOR.

 

This is the violence in the USA today. Every survivor of shootings in the USA receives the support of those that care.

The deaths are always felt in this country, but, good is that? We lose people everyday that should still be here. And elected legislators find ways to justify their glance in the opposite direction. When will this stop? Never? And why? Because of profits.

October 13, 2021
By Paige Fry, Tatyana Turner, Tracy Swartz and Stephanie Casanova

She’s a fan of TikTok. (click here) She loves to dance. She is shy and petite and her 15th birthday is coming up next week, according to relatives.

“She” is the 14-year-old girl who was shot outside Phillips Academy High School on Tuesday. The girl’s grandmother, Johneece Cobb, said the family is not comfortable releasing the teen’s name because she is a juvenile."

Wednesday morning as the high school freshman was in an intensive care unit, recovering from two gunshot wounds, her family and about 25 others gathered in front of St. Sabina Church on the South Side to hear an update on the teen’s recovery.

“She made it through surgery last night,” Cobb said. “She’s stabilized, she’s going to make a full recovery and there was no severe damage to her organs.”...

This happens in that region of the world once in a while.

My sincerest sympathies to the Norwegian people. I know the country must be in shock. The number of people killed in violence happens everyday in the USA and by gun usually.

October 12, 2021
By Henrik Pryser Libell

Kongsberg is a beautiful town. They don't deserve this trauma.

Oslo - A man armed with a bow and arrow (click here) went on a rampage in a Norwegian town outside Oslo on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding two others, the authorities said.

The attack took place in Kongsberg, a town of 26,000 people about 50 miles southwest of Oslo. A suspect was reported to be in custody.

“The information we now have, this person carried out these actions alone,” the police chief, Oyvind Aas, told reporters.

The attack began shortly after 6 p.m., when the assailant began making his way through the center of the town. Residents were urged to seek shelter inside. A half-hour later, a suspect was in custody, the police said....

The one trillion climate bill must be passed. That is not an option. The USA has among the greatest HISTORY of greenhouse gases in the troposphere and it has NO POLICY that matters to end the pollution.

There is no choice in this. 

None.

We MUST do this now after decades of neglect. The emergency is dire and real. President Biden has the right idea to bring wind power online offshore ASAP. It has to be done.

Scotland is 100 percent wind power and the country loves it. Scotland has been 100 percent wind for quite some time now.

The Democrats don't package it right.

The Democrats have never learned "the trick" to win over more supporters, not Republicans.

Obama had the right idea when he was packaging money to spend. He would invite the banks in for a conference and then write the Democratic Congress and ask for a "Infrastructure Bank." I know Goldman signed on for it. In other words PRIVATIZE the desired amounts of money needed to bring improvements to the Middle Class and lots of people will come rushing to the Dems side and the Republicans will lose support for their opposition.

There are more and more private social agencies that oversee spending and oversee Foster Care. The Child Tax Credit is a direct threat to the Foster Care agencies because impoverishment is a big issue for taking children away from their parents. Substance abuse is as well, but, Foster Care somewhat thrives on taking the children from the poor and placing them with Upper Middle Class and Middle Class parentless children, perferably Chrisitans.

So, rather than doing a $3.5 trillion soical and environment package, look to see what can be privatized and assign enough of the monies to draw those folks away from the Republicans and into the Democratic camp.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME.

So, raising children out of poverty is a good thing, but, what is going to happen to the privatized Foster Care agencies? There has to be either a role for them that is different and perhaps limiting and/or they have to be assigned unemployment EXCEPT to create a different need for their services other than riping kids out of the arms of their parents.

There is a Yin and Yang to everything. The Dems have to find a way to strike a balance with their traditional priorities.\

Repubicans like Public-Private cooporations. They thrive on it. They like throwing money at private concerns. I think that can always have oversight as another public agency to be sure the monies are being used as they were designed. That was Obama's goal with the infrastructure bank. The public monies for infrastructure would be met equally with private funds to be paid with GUARANTEED payment. Right? The government fills in for lending that goes sour. But, when dealing with cities and states, there isn't really that much risk.

October 12, 2021

Washington - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (click here) could have been speaking for the majority of Democrats in Washington when she said on Tuesday that she was “very disappointed” that President Biden’s domestic agenda will have to be pared down because of opposition from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

“If there are fewer dollars to spend, there are choices to be made,” Pelosi said during her weekly press conference at the U.S. Capitol. She promised that the final package would be “transformative” all the same, whatever that package ultimately looks like. The two Senate centrists have said that the president’s proposal to spend $3.5 trillion over 10 years on expanding childcare, health coverage and environmental protections is much too expensive to win their necessary support....

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Thank you, President Biden, for allowing the work of the January 6th committee to go forward. It is important for the Congress to have all the facts before them to legislate and be sure the democracy is safe. It is very important work to secure the US Constitution. There is no doubt the information of the activities of the former President on that date is important. There were activiites that prohibited the response of the DC National Guard. All that has to be part of the Congressional record to move forward to secure the country from a diabolic plan to destroy this democracy. There is an enormous difference between a country seeking change and a cabal that wants the reins of power.

"Good night, Moon."

The waxing crescent

5.2 day old moon

27.9 percent lit

October 7, 2021
By Joe Rao

Between Saturday and Thursday (click here) evenings (Oct. 9 to Oct. 14), the moon will visit not one but three bright planets: Venus, Saturn and Jupiter.

Venus will pair off with a slender crescent moon, while Saturn and Jupiter will join with a waxing gibbous moon the following Thursday. Here are the specifics of each gathering....

The USA should be ashamed of it's history on climate.

Politics in the USA has become a matter of popularity and not about the well being of a democracy and the issues of the people. Washington, DC is not Hollywood. There are real life consequences to the decisions made in the country's capitol. There are very important people under that Capitol Dome and we have an aged president that is more than equipped to bring the people their justice, social and otherwise. We need to let it happen and happen now. The country needs the change that President Biden and the Democrats hold dear. We can't fail. Earth is a planet and not an idea. Earth has physics, not scripts.

Lawmakers at all levels of government need to find God and now! Eight years is a very, very short time line and Americans are dying of the climate crisis. Pass the bills before the Congress now!

If not now, then when?

Anything else will be too late. 

Generations need this.

I dearly hoped lawmakers would make the country a priority rather than a political opportunity. Things MUST change in the Republican Party. 

MUST!

To have species there has to be land and not just any land, habitat. Contractors will buy officials to defeat it.

September 29, 2021
By Dino Grandon

Each mated pair requires that space for their mating, feeding and family growth. Birds want to raise fledlings and not just lay eggs. It is built into their DNA. The forces of nature demand reproduction.

The mated pair (click here) probably requires extensive stands of mature, lowland hardwood forest without disturbance from forestry practices. An area of 6.5 to 8 km2 has been estimated to be the minimum size for a home range for these birds. Ivory-billed woodpecker pairs travel together, following each other through the forest.

The “Lord God Bird” is dead. (click here)

The ivory-billed woodpecker, a ghostly bird whose long-rumored survival in the bottomland swamps of the South has haunted seekers for generations, will be officially declared extinct by U.S. officials after years of futile efforts to save it. It earned its nickname because it was so big and so beautiful that those blessed to spot it blurted out the Lord’s name.

Even the scientist who wrote the obit cried.

“This is not an easy thing,” said Amy Trahan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who reviewed the evidence and wrote the report concluding that the ivory bill “no longer exists.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service proposal Wednesday to take 23 animals and plants off the endangered species list — because none can be found in the wild — exposes what scientists say is an accelerating rate of extinction worldwide. A million plants and animals are in danger of disappearing, many within decades. The newly extinct species are the casualties of climate change and habitat destruction, dying out sooner than any new protections can save them....