Mr. Elon Musk must stop hate speech.

Hate speech is not free speech because it seeks to remove the speech of others. Antisemitism seeks to end an entire race of people from Earth. Racism is another form of hate speech that victimizes and sometimes kills human beings.

There is a global group of people that base their movement in hate. That group practices racism and anti-semitism. The group believes in violence and death to attempt control of the human race. The group has many subsets of names, but, are white supremacists and Christian Nationalists. 

Mr. Elon Musk lives in cloud city where absolute freedom exists and everything is right with the world. In the real world, there is no absolute freedom and people die because of hate speech. Musk’s Twitter must roll back it’s policy of absolute freedom of speech. Hate speech should never be tolerated. 

The two First Ladies looked really nice at the State Dinner.

France and the USA are linked forever. There would be no USA if there was no France. It was nice to see President and First Lady Macron in the USA, especially at the White House.

Guest List: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/01/state-dinner-macron-guest-list/?=undefined&utm_campaign=wp_for_you&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_personalizedforyou&utm_content=readinghistory_Style__position1

There is something a little more radical.

The reservoir system in the USA provided three things; water to drink, electricity for power and lakes for recreation. In order to turn the downward spiral at Lake Powell it will most likely mean giving up any recreational areas.

There is an alternative to allowing the drought to deteriorate the water supply to the dam. It will also mean conservation in the area will change depending on how the wildlife adapts.

It may be possible to capture the water from the Colorado River at the entrance to the lake and create manmade channels directly to the turbines. In other words, every turbine will have it’s own small river running to it.

Basically, what that means is taking all the water currently in Lake Powell and condensing it into a far narrower channel that will deliver water to the turbines for a longer period of time simply because an entire lake doesn’t have to be filled in order to run the turbines. 

It is a massive task and it isn’t an easy fix, but, if the water is coming close to deadpool there are few options. I don’t know of any engineering firm that would want a high risk project like this except the government, Army Corp. They have decades if not a century of experience that no one else can match.

Good luck. 

White concrete please. Conservationists need to be included as shareholders to estimate the impact of the change and decide how to protect species from extinction even if it means relocating them. We aren’t going to be in a climate crisis forever so long as the GHGs are reducing to livable levels.

Every word is true, but, there are measures to be examined for viable use of the dam.

The Colorado River is a magnificent river and has been a loyal partner to an American West that grows even today. Besides the people that rely on the river for water and professions there are numerous creatures that call the river home. This drought has been hard on them and now it is threatening the people themselves.

But, there are a few things to consider. This is not a short read necessarily.

December 1, 2022
By Joshua Partlow

Page, Arizona - The first sign of serious trouble (click here) for the drought-stricken American Southwest could be a whirlpool.

It could happen if the surface of Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir along the Colorado River that’s already a quarter of its former size, drops another 38 feet down the concrete face of the 710-foot Glen Canyon Dam here. At that point, the surface would be approaching the tops of eight underwater openings that allow river water to pass through the hydroelectric dam.

The normally placid Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, could suddenly transform into something resembling a funnel, with water circling the openings, the dam’s operators say....

..Anxiety about such outcomes has worsened this year as a long-running drought has intensified in the Southwest. Reservoirs and groundwater supplies across the region have fallen dramatically, and states and cities have faced restrictions on water use amid dwindling supplies. The Colorado River, which serves roughly 1 in 10 Americans, is the region’s most important waterway.

The 1,450-mile river starts in the Colorado Rockies and ends in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. There are more than a dozen dams along the river, creating major reservoirs such as Lake Powell and Lake Mead....

To begin the Upper Colorado has a snow pack that will melt come spring and supply water to the river and below. Currently, the early stages of the snow pack are following the trend in 2020. That is not an optimistic point of view, but, may provide relief to some extent.

Snowpack is 97.5% of the December 1st average. (click here)

This is only December and we have a way to go yet so optimism is not the way to view the dam and it's porous rock.

On that graph 2017 and 2019 has seen the highest snow pack, but, it has not returned to that level since. The trend is more the 2018, 2021 and 2022 accumulations. I do not expect the snow pack to return to higher levels. The amount for December 2023 shows the trend is still down from those maximums. The current levels look similar to 2020, however, there is still a chance it will drop to the power snow pack amounts. I do not believe it will fall below the snow pack of 2018.

Now, as to the Powell Dam. It has always been a problem. Always and everyone involved with the dam knows it. They have known it from the beginning.

RED SANDSTONE, ROCK STRUCTURE, GLEN CANYON DAM, LAKE POWELL, PAGE, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (click here)

"Rainbow of Rocks" (click here)

The picture to the right is an overhang of red sandstone at Lake Powell.

Lake Powell is a tier of rock, but, the largest part of the rock that surrounds the lake is "Navajo Sandstone." It appears on Page 4 of the "Rainbow of Rocks" article. Yes, there are people all over the USA and the world interested in rocks and not just as geological formations to find oil in the ground which were once dead dinosaurs.

The Navajo Sandstone is very porous. That means when the dam was built and the water started to accumulate there was an enormous amount of water that had to fill all that porosity before the lake level increased. Lake Powell is one of the most selfish lakes in the world simply because it requires enormous amounts of water to fill the shores first and then the lake.

That is probably clear as mud, so let me put it this way. You are coming home after an especially terrible day at work. All you could think of all day long was climbing into the tub, lighting some candles and adding your favorite bath salts. You arrive at the bathroom to find the tub has been replaced with a sponge lined ceramic modernized renovation. Your spouse is especially proud of the new design as it will cushion any fall. Not bad thinking really. So, you are the first to try it out.

You turn on the water to fill this new modern idea of a bathtub, but, it is taking longer than usual to fill it. See, the sponge lining has it's price. It has to be saturated first before the level in the tub rises. You have lighted your candles and are waiting to put the bath salts in the tub, but, it is taking a long time and it is rather frustrating.

That, my friend is Lake Powell. It has to absorb a lot of water before it fills the shores to deliver water to the hydroelectric power dam. Lake Powell's rock formation is sandstone. Sandstone has it's price.

It, for the most part, regardless of the frustration in filling it initially has not been as much an issue as today. Drought is forcing everyone involved to take a look at that beautiful lake and it's magnificent rock and ask what can be done?

Now, AI folks will be coming to the rescue to increase the dams efficiency. And all those engineers currently worried will be looking at improving the performance of the dam, but, what if after all that there is still a problem? The obvious answer to me regardless of the horrible impact of such an act is to line the lake with white concrete.

It is an outrageous idea that no one will even entertain, but, if one is talking about electric power to millions of Americans it is definitely in the running of a myriad of answers to this problem.

The dark stand stone now only absorbs water, it absorbs heat making the drought even worse as the water evaporates with hot temperatures. White color will cool the land surrounding the lake and change the dynamics of water retention in the basin which is Lake Powell. It is not a minor change. There are all sorts of wildlife in and around that lake. Change in albedo will change the daytime and nighttime temperatures in the area. It is not a minor consideration at all. 

The concrete is almost a no brainer, it will be far less permeable and remove the issues with sandstone that has plagued Lake Powell since it's inception. When producing hydroelectricity every inch counts in the case of drought.

The project of this enormity may be untenable simply because it may require building coffer dams to temporarily wall off the water to pour the concrete. The issue is enormous and I do not envy anyone making decisions. 

But, at this point it is a wait and see to decide what the snow pack is looking like and how much of it will make its way to the lake.

This is a climate crisis and it is more or less becoming a climate emergency. There are a few factors that are dictating avoiding radical changes in what we do with issues such as large lakes like Powell. This is an illustration of how ridiculously expensive surviving this climate crisis might cost. But, lives are at stake and it is completely impractical to shutdown towns and states and move all those people, economy and culture to places in the country where they won't be effected. Some of that might already be underway by personal choices, but, currently there is no such policy by the government to do so.

Desert Wildlife of Lake Powell (click here)

‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

28 November 2022

In this age of misinformation (click here) —of “fake news,” conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls, and deepfakes—gaslighting has emerged as a word for our time.

A driver of disorientation and mistrust, gaslighting is “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.” 2022 saw a 1740% increase in lookups for gaslighting, with high interest throughout the year.

Its origins are colorful: the term comes from the title of a 1938 play and the movie based on that play, the plot of which involves a man attempting to make his wife believe that she is going insane. His mysterious activities in the attic cause the house’s gas lights to dim, but he insists to his wife that the lights are not dimming and that she can’t trust her own perceptions.

When gaslighting was first used in the mid 20th century it referred to a kind of deception like that in the movie. We define this use as:

: psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator

But in recent years, we have seen the meaning of gaslighting refer also to something simpler and broader: “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.” In this use, the word is at home with other terms relating to modern forms of deception and manipulation, such as fake news, deepfake, and artificial intelligence.

The idea of a deliberate conspiracy to mislead has made gaslighting useful in describing lies that are part of a larger plan. Unlike lying, which tends to be between individuals, and fraud, which tends to involve organizations, gaslighting applies in both personal and political contexts. It’s at home in formal and technical writing as well as in colloquial use:...

Shut-Up!!!!

This isn't the United States. This is a bunch of right wing wackos trying to get attention, fans and money. This is a method to consolidate White Supremacists/Nationalists under one nation within a nation. It seeks to undermine democracy and hate is especially successful with these people. 

Star of David (click here) 

April 25, 2022

Incidents reported in all 50 states, (click here) including a dramatic spike during Hamas-Israel conflict; Attacks against synagogues and JCCs increased 61 percent

New York, NY, April 26, 2022 … Antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States in 2021, with a total of 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported to ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). This represents the highest number of incidents on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979 – an average of more than seven incidents per day and a 34 percent increase year over year.

ADL’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, issued today, found that antisemitic incidents reached a high watermark across virtually every category. Attacks against Jewish institutions, including Jewish community centers (JCCs) and synagogues, were up by 61 percent, incidents at K-12 schools increased 106 percent, and incidents on college campuses rose 21 percent.

Assaults – considered the most serious incident type because it involves person-on-person physical violence triggered by antisemitic animus – increased 167 percent, jumping to a total of 88 reports in 2021 from 33 in 2020. Incidents of harassment were up 43 percent, and acts of antisemitic vandalism rose 14 percent....

And the complaint by six states which the Supreme Court believes has a claim...

(click here)

There are income limits that will govern who receives balance reductions. Individuals who earn $125k or less per year will see their federal student loan balances reduced by up to $10k. (People won’t receive checks in the mail. Their loan balance will just be reduced.) Married couples earning less than $250K will also be eligible for $10k in relief. Using those same income guidelines, the government will forgive up to $20k for borrowers who had received Pell Grants.

Parent PLUS loan borrowers and current college students will also be eligible for relief using the same $125k/$225k income guidelines. Dependent college students will use their parents’ income. Loans taken out after June 30, 2022, are not eligible for a reduction.

Most people will need to complete a simple application form to receive forgiveness, but roughly 8 million current loan holders whose income data is already on file with the US Department of Education won’t need to apply. The application form and process are still in development but are promised to be ready by the time loan payments resume in January 2023.

The administration is also proposing significant changes to income-driven repayment, which calculate monthly payments at 10% to as much as 20% of discretionary income. The proposal would limit monthly payments to 5% of discretionary income, cutting most monthly payments in half. These changes will need to be posted in the Federal Register and be open to public comment for 30 days. The changes could be in place when payments resume.

Chart at right (click here)

...states they will lose tax income from this loan forgiveness? 

What? How the devil do you lose tax income from student debt? My imagination may be somewhat limited, but, these are federal loans. The states income tax from banks servicing the loans? Is that the loss of tax income? Like how much loss of tax income, because, banks are really the issue, are they?

My understanding is that the federal government forgiveness plan will impact federal collections and it touches up to trillions. But, the states have no losses. These are federally insured educational monies and were not a burden to the states when they were incurred. The federal loans are granted nationally by a FAFSA which is uniform in every state. If anything the FAFSA has brought billions to state universities and 2 year colleges across this country, so where are these states collecting taxes on the loans? It sounds corrupt to me.

August 31, 2022
By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Jeff Stein

The White House estimates roughly 43 million federal student loan borrowers (click here) are eligible for forgiveness, and about 20 million could have their debt completely wiped out, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on Aug. 24. The policy will deliver the single largest discharge of education debt on record.

“This is going to change the lives of a lot of people,” said Mark Huelsman, director of policy and advocacy director of the Hope Center, a higher education think tank. “When we’re talking about full cancellation for 20 million people, this is unprecedented.”

Still, the announcement disappointed some activists who had fought for a more generous policy. And it angered other Democrats and conservatives who say it is fiscally irresponsible and unfair to people who never borrowed, as well as those who have already repaid their student loans....

The majority of states were trying to decide if loan forgiveness was actually income subjected to state income tax. It doesn't make sense six states are complaining they are losing income through taxes when they have every right to tax it as income.

...After some confusion (click here) regarding whether or not states would count the money saved by student loan forgiveness as taxable income, student loan borrowers in a few more states can also relish in the fact that they’ll no longer have this hanging over their heads. With the exception of three states — Mississippi, North Carolina and Indiana — that have decided to levy state taxes on federal student loan forgiveness, and several others that have yet to announce their final decision, in most states, additional state taxes will not be required for those whose federal student loans have been forgiven....

...Taxes on forgiven student loan debt.

Typically, when you have debt discharged, the IRS treats it as taxable income. Since you didn’t pay the debt you owed but kept the money that would normally have been sent to a debtor, it is seen as income, which makes it taxable.

With student loan forgiveness, taxes work differently. In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, which included a clause regarding student loan forgiveness saying that any federal student loans that were discharged between 2021 and 2025 would not be considered taxable income — in terms of federal taxes.

That said, as Eric Bronnenkant, certified financial planner, certified public accountant and head of tax at Betterment, tells Select, residents of several states may still be on the hook for state taxes if their state determines the money saved from student loan forgiveness to be taxable income.

It all comes down to the concept of conformity — whether or not a state chooses to conform to federal tax regulations or go its own way thanks to statutes that are already in place — and whether or not non-conforming states have time to update those statutes to conform with the new legislation.

″[37 states] choose to have conformity with the federal tax system, have conformity with specific federal legislation or create their own specific exceptions and exclusions,” Bronnenkant said. “There are 13 states where the debt forgiveness may be considered taxable income.”

According to Bronnenkant, these states can adjust this for their respective residents through “legislative changes or administrative decisions by state tax authorities.”...

There is complete separation of federal and state tax structures unless the state decides it will follow the federal tax system which does not consider loan forgiveness taxable income. 

So what are these six states complaining about? These are federal loans and only federal loans. The federal government has control over these loans. They don't have any room to complain and their tax structure is still within States Rights to decide if loan forgiveness is income. The complaint makes no sense.

Bad credit to big polluters

November 30, 2022

By Tim Quinson

Bloomberg -- Credit risks keep creeping higher for the world’s biggest polluters. (click here)

In fact, the companies facing perhaps the largest climate crisis-related losses have more than twice as much rated debt as they did when the Paris Agreement was announced almost seven years ago, according to an analysis by Moody’s Investors Service.

To be more specific, the 16 industries considered to have “very high” or “high” environmental credit risks have about $4.3 trillion of rated debt (roughly equal to Germany’s gross domestic product), up from $2 trillion in November 2015, Moody’s reported. That equals about 5.1% of total debt outstanding, up from 3% in 2015.

Whether this upward trend continues “largely depends upon the direction of environmental regulations, policy and corporate actions,” said Ram Sri-Saravanapavaan, senior analyst and lead author of the report.

That is a misstatement.

Last week, (click here) our team at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) released the final update to its 2021 Billion-dollar disaster report (www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions), confirming what much of the nation experienced throughout 2021: another year of frequent and costly extremes. The year came in second to 2020 in terms of number of disasters (20 versus 22) and third in total costs (behind 2017 and 2005), with a price tag of $145 billion.

By allowing companies to pollute to continue to make profits means the profit is paid for by American taxpayers carrying the burden for climate catastrophes and that doesn't begin to measure climate deaths.

The loss of a mother, father, child or grandparent, friendly neighbors is never measured in dollars. Entire communities have met with devastating climate disasters and the loss of a community goes far beyond understanding individual deaths due to climate.

The USA EPA, Department of Agriculture, Interior and Energy are only a few agencies involved in climate disasters. Include in the international realm, Departments of State and USAID. The Russian wars now on three fronts are absolutely climate disasters, but, the USA is the one country that can still produce large amounts of grains and foods in Southern California that might be the one true source of sustenance for our allies.

When politicians want to play with government laws and protecting cronys and their profits, it is more than corruption, it is a threat to the lives of Americans as well as our allies. There is no room for pollution anymore and any politician that sees it differently does not care about the COST of these disasters or the LIVES lost because of them. We don't need corruption, we need legislators with a conscience willing to protect the American people and bring down the enormous toll on land and air.

We cannot go on forever with escalating climate disaster costs.

The numbers are consistent with the amount of funds that banks have served up for fossil-fuel producers via bond sales and loans. Since the start of 2016, banks have arranged about $4.5 trillion of financing for oil, gas and coal companies, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Companies most susceptible to credit risks are those involved in the coal, chemicals, mining, and oil and gas industries, according to Moody’s. To put that in perspective, only coal mining and coal terminal operators were seen by the firm’s analysts as having “very high” environmental credit risks as recently as 2020....

...In 2021, the U.S. experienced 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, putting 2021 in second place for the most disasters in a calendar year, behind the record 22 separate billion-dollar events in 2020.  What really made 2021 stand out was the diversity of disasters:

There is not one area of the USA that hasn't faced climate disasters in 2021. In the Northern Great Plains of the USA it appears on the map to be free of trouble. They had livestock losses and hardships of heat and drought.

October 4, 2022
By Annie Gowen

McCook, Neb. — As the sun rose on another hot day, (click here) rancher Brad Randel rode through his feedlot working at a grim task — culling cattle from his herd because his ranch’s sparse grass can’t sustain them during a crushing drought.

As Randel swung his quarter horse Bay Belle in tight circles, he and a ranch hand separated runty Black Angus heifers to be sold at a livestock auction from the more promising stock. The cows bellowed as the temperature began its climb into the high 90s, the remnants of a late-summer heat wave that blasted the American West with furnacelike temperatures....

No one, except the Dept. of Agriculture and Farm Bureau cares about these losses. They could mean more loan availability. Wall Street just sees it as a fluctuating price for commodities.

The climate crisis must end. It is just too bad that Big Oil lived past 2005 when the peak of their production occurred. Big Oil never dies, it just seeks political power to ensure their subsidies. These ranchers don't receive guaranteed federal subsidies year after year. 

End the climate crisis now.

That should be a priority of any US Congress.

Wall Street jitters are not the jitters of Americans.

Boomers are retired. They are on a fixed income. Costs of living are important. But, the generations employed coming off the pandemic unemployment payments are not as bad off as they could have been.

The housing crisis didn't always hurt those that saw the opportunity to trade up. There are definitely housing crisis in the USA, but, not everyone is feeling it.

November 22, 2022

By Adam Hardy

For most of 2022, (click here) an inflation rate hovering above 8% took a toll on the wallets of Americans across the board. But a new report shows that Gen Z is especially confident that they’ll be able to turn things around next year.

A survey released this month by the financial firm Goldman Sachs found that Gen Zers are far more optimistic about their finances in 2023 than any other generation.

The firm asked more than 2,400 Americans across age groups if they expect their financial situation will be better or worse next year. Of all respondents, only 45% say they believe their situation will improve in 2023. For Gen Z, though, a whopping 77% believe their finances will improve next year.

Most millennials were optimistic, too: 54% say they will be financially better off in 2023, while 45% of Gen X report the same.

Boomers are far and away the least optimistic. Only 28% report that they believe their finances will improve in 2023....

The only thread between the pains Wall Street feels and Americans in general are 401k.

November 29, 2022

by Ashlyn Brooks

Morningstar (click here) recently compared the numbers on different scenarios for investors who may be thinking of pausing their 401(k) contributions. The result was not favorable for those who opted to stop contributing to their retirement plans, and the data showed that it rarely ever is.

After comparing those who continued investing to others who withheld and tried out the "wait and see" approach, the end return was quite drastic in terms of dollars earned and dollars lost. Let's look at their results and see an example of what you could stand to lose should you choose to pause your retirement investing.

Investors needing guidance on creating a resistant retirement plan can find assistance through a financial advisor. You can connect with a financial advisor for free in just five minutes....

I never followed by 401k much. I saw it mostly as a savings account with 4 percent interest. 4 percent was the employer contribution to my deposits. I realize 401ks are a sweet spot for Wall Street, but, if anyone gets caught up in the markets and tries to ride bubbles with them, it usually doesn't work out.

Wall Street and citizen investors through 401ks make money if the funds are left in guaranteed money market accounts or secured investments with known returns. Otherwise, leave the money in a standard reliable money market with annual interest and consider it an addition to the 4 percent from the employer. 

Uncertainly in the markets is simply a meaningful reason to keep the money in guaranteed income accounts.

November 30, 2022

By Andrew Keshner

Amid stubbornly high inflation, (click here) a record-breaking share of Americans are turning their 401(k) accounts into emergency piggy banks, according to Vanguard.

Dissecting data from a sample of the approximately 5 million employer-sponsored 401(k) accounts that Vanguard handles, researchers said 0.5% of account holders were making hardship withdrawals in October.

That’s a “concerning” all-time high, said Vanguard, the retirement-savings and asset-management heavyweight, offering a view that stretches back to 2004.

For comparison, 0.3% of accounts had hardship withdrawals last October, and during October 2020, the share was 0.2%, Vanguard’s data showed. In October 2019, it was 0.4%, it said.

At the same time, Vanguard’s numbers show that 401(k) loans and nonhardship withdrawals are also currently rising. In October, 0.9% of 401(k) plan participants had loans and another 0.9% had nonhardship withdrawals....

Hardship loans and withdrawals may only be a hardship for Wall Street in losing volume of funds in their accounts. The fact is sometimes if payments are made to existing loans for the consumer it can open up important disposable income and/or opportunity to leave high interest rates behind. This is not necessarily bad news depending on the focus of the consumer.

November 21, 2022
By Sarah Hansen

2022 just keeps getting worse for cryptocurrency investors. (click here) 

More than half of all bitcoin investors are now in the red, according to data from blockchain analytics platform IntoTheBlock. As of Tuesday morning, 54.5% of all bitcoin addresses were categorized by IntoTheBlock as “out of the money,” meaning that the bitcoin held by that investor is worth less now than it cost on average.

That figure is based on a recent bitcoin price of $16,171.61 per coin, which is 66% lower than bitcoin’s price at the beginning of the year and its lowest level since November 2020....

Cryptocurrency is a permanent bubble. Long term investment usually results in losses. It is not a retirement wonderland. It is opportunistic and is a climate crisis nightmare.

Working at home is less expensive and provides perks that contribute to quality of life. Additionally, it is easier on the climate.

September 14, 2022
By Mary Ellen Cagnossola

Employees (click here) who returned to the office are probably spending far more compared to working from home. How much more? According to recently released data, working at the office can cost twice as much — adding up to an extra $5,000 a year — even if employees are only commuting a couple days a week.

A new survey from Owl Labs, a video conferencing solutions company, found that employees who go into the office at least part-time spent an average of $863 per month in work-related expenses. Employees working full-time remote jobs averaged less half that amount, spending $423 per month on internet, phone, meals, utilities and other expenses.

That's a difference of $440 per month, or $5,280 over the course of a year....

Stowaways Rescued from Ship's Rudder After 11-Day Voyage

Stowaways Rescued from Ship's Rudder After 11-Day Voyage: LAS PALMAS, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Two of three stowaways who were rescued in Spain’s Canary Islands after enduring 11 days on the rudder of a fuel tanker from Nigeria have been...

The Nantucket fire…

…destroying Secret Service vehicles assigned to President Biden is the same type of attack carried out on UN peacekeeper vehicles.

Nantucket was also the target of DeSantis plane drops of immigrants/environmental refugees.

This is happening at a time when those who attacked the legislators certifying the election of President Biden are on trial for seditious conspiracy. 

This fire is not an isolated incident. 

What is the problem?

Congress has no right to block a strike if the company is not bargaining in good faith. There needs to be a clear understanding that the impasse is due to unreasonable negotiation tactics.

So, what is the problem?

There is a lot of newsprint about President Biden asking Congress to intervene in a potential rail strike, but, the politics isn't the problem. What is the problem with the negotiations that Congress has to wade into a legitimate union negotiation.

What is the union saying besides the fact they oppose Congress interfering? 

November 29, 2022

By Adriana Belmonte

...“Congress (click here) has to act to prevent [a rail strike],” Biden told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy’s at risk.”

According to the Association of American Railroads, roughly one-third of U.S. exports move by rail.

“Let me be clear: A rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” ...

Sick time? The company doesn't want their workers to have sick time? That seems unreasonable.

...The move (click here) was a serious setback for the unions, who say they needed the right to strike in order to get railroad management to negotiate over their major demand to give workers sick days that are not in the current contracts. They say the railroads, many of which reported record profits last year, are enjoying even stronger profits this year and can afford to meet the union’s demands....

What Congress can do besides banning a strike is to allow incremental strikes to emphasize the problem with the negotiations. Incremental strikes would respect both sides without shutting down the country's economy. 

Incremental strikes can occur in whatever is workable to maintain function of the rail services, but, letting management know their negotiations are not agreed upon. The issue involves sick time which includes children's needs. There is Family and Medical Leave, but, it isn't really structured for a day or so. 

If the rail workers walked off the job for an hour and returned, it would cause delays and inconvenience, but, would not be catastrophic. The public safety has to come first, but, the economy is important to unions, too. If after a brief walk off there were still stalemates over the contract another incremental strike could be carried out and this time perhaps for four hours. The idea is to let the management know the rail services run with good and competent workers. 

The only people not really allowed to walk off during incremental strikes are the maintenance crews so the lines are intact to restart. These interruptions are major events so I am sure management would be better listeners if such job actions were to take place.

There are reasons the rail workers are upset about this issue.

...He said this is an issue that the rail unions have been seeking to address for decades, but it has received more attention from membership recently.

“This became a glaring issue during the pandemic when we had members who were forced by their employers, the railroads, to stay home and quarantine without pay,” he said. “But really it comes down to simple things like the flu for a day or two, or a sick child, and the ability to take a day or two paid.”...

That is not an unreasonable request. Paid sick days aren't helpful if they can't be taken when needed. The pandemic was a different issue and the states carried out the Congressional laws that provided unemployment with higher limits. The pandemic put people in touch with these issues and being able to stay home with an ill child or relative that needs the care should not be based in the choice of being home vs. a day without pay.

Management needs to ask themselves why their employees work in the first place. It is usually because they have to support a family. 

The USA is holding it's own in the World Cup. Go, team!

November 29, 2022

By Nick Bromberg

...Pulisic was tended to by the United States’ training staff (click here) and the game restarted after trainers moved Pulisic behind the Iran goal. The game restarted with the USMNT having just 10 players on the field as Pulisic was still getting tended to.

Pulisic limped toward the sideline and it appeared for a brief moment that he may need to be substituted right away. He was able to return to the game minutes later and played the rest of the first half as the U.S. held onto its 1-0 lead but was subbed off at halftime for Brenden Aaronson.

The final minutes of the second half got quite nervy as there were nine minutes of stoppage time added to the full 90 minutes. Iran had a couple of decent chances over the course of the second half and also had a very weak shout for a penalty in stoppage time. The penalty wasn't given and the U.S. kept Iran at bay.

Iran had most of the possession for the final 20 minutes but ended up with just four total shots and one shot on goal while the U.S. had 12 shots and five on frame....

I am grateful…

 …for my country and the men and women that defend it.

I hope this holiday was a time of reflection as what is important in life, including a safe and plentiful Earth.

Good night.

The Republicans have weaponized politics. Literally.

I find the Republicans are making it harder and harder to live without violence in the USA. On this blog, I don't recall the year but it has to be at least ten years ago I did a "It's Something Night" and featured what has occurred across the globe when the gun lobbies have been successful in instilling fear and arming in large numbers the citizens. In those entries what was occurring in other countries is now occurring in the USA. The entries that night were to serve as a warning to the potential of what could happen in the USA. We have arrived now.

The United States, no different from Europe and other Free World allies, is not immune from the impact of the personal power within a firearm. In the beginning there are people that will arm to protect from regional or neighborhood violence. But, then the handling of the gun(s) becomes familiar. The gun then is no longer a threat so much as a trusted friend and the owner or user then believes they can handle anything in their lives. That translates into settling their own arguments. Why wait for a judge and the cost of lawyers, when it is so much more easy to pick up a weapon and emotionally release the hate and frustration. Don't say that doesn't happen. It happens everyday in the USA. Perfectly sane people are killing other people because they feel self-righteous to pulling the trigger.

The laws like the Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground not only carry very liberal gun laws, but, allow enforcement of personal boundary issues. The signs saying "No Trespassing" can now be enforced by a gun. It isn't enough to make a complaint to the police about trespassers, the landowner can use their own weapons to settle the issue.

Up to recent years with the pandemic I think most Americans associated guns with war. There are hunters, of course, but, the number of hunting licenses in the USA has been fairly steady at an average of 35 million annually since 2004 (click here). So, in realizing hunters' purchases of guns and ammo is consistent it is easy to make the estimation that the rest of the guns sold in growing numbers are for personal protection or home invasion.

The point is Americans have emotions and when they become familiar with an object it becomes part of them. The most dramatic example is the computer. Right? First it was a desktop, then a laptop and then a mobile phone all the way up to a cell phone being the primary telephone for everyone in the USA. Not only the primary phone, but, also a platform for the interests of the owner, including, politics. One has to wonder if the issue of cell phones and their use only exacerbates the issue of violence. OMG, I just heard Wall Street quake. Other people give gun owners the right to feel exonerated for the violence a gun inherently carries with it. In other words, it is okay to kill.

I think that is where we are. We have a society saturated with violence and personal weapons. The result is daily mass shootings of four or more people gunned down by a single gunman with a grudge and/or moral issues. The moral issues for gun violence is, of course, to teach everyone a lesson for some odd personal ideology and/or vendetta against society. In actuality, the only lesson gun violence brings to the American public is the chronic political struggle between owning guns and controlling guns.

I will say this one more time, when people feel threatened by the "unknown" there is a special feeling that life is not secure. Life itself becomes a political fight to win the day to continue to either own or control guns, fight the virus or not and succumb to disease or worry about becoming pregnant so abortion is not an issue. 

The uncivilized society of which the USA is entering if not already arrived, is a problem. The uncivilized society is not livable. 

Let's say women are looking at the Supreme Court as grossly irresponsible because they are now afraid of becoming pregnant. It isn't just getting pregnant at inconvenient times that is the worry, but, just getting pregnant in general. I don't believe we are at that juncture, but, inevitably it will occur. As women worry now within the boundaries of the USA whether or not they can receive an abortion, the pregnancy takes on an identity of death. Why become pregnant if there is even a remote chance I could die because I can't have an abortion? What happens to the population of the USA when young people decide to become sterile? What a political folly that is.

If I were an enemy of the USA, I would have created the perfect diatribe that will bring the end to democracy and the USA Constitution without firing a shot. I have provided dialogue that has instilled fear, armed that fear and now watch as a political theocracy is taking over to remove freedom from Americans. Ask yourself, is there greater freedom with safety or not? Is there greater freedom with guns or not? Is there greater freedom with contraception and abortion or not? Is there greater freedom of religion when an American can choose to be a member of a faith or not? If a theocracy results in the USA because of Justices without a clue to what they are doing to the people and just lament their decisions in ideology, is there greater freedom in that? Take any aspect of American life and ask, Is there greater freedom with ... or not?

The analogy below should be obvious. But, in case it isn't, it is my opinion the USA is as polluted with power and death as China was at the time of Tienanmen Square. The government is not rolling tanks out to stop peaceful protests, but, the political dogma of the Republicans is achieving the exact same content. Who is going to step out in front of an Open-Carry Gunman to say he or she is an insult to the USA democracy? 

November 26, 2022

By Mike McIntire

Historian and journalist T.D. Allman, who witnessed the uprising from the balcony of a Beijing hotel room, has described him as the “true exemplar” of the Chinese protesters’ heroism.

Across the country, (click here) openly carrying a gun in public is no longer just an exercise in self-defense — increasingly it is a soapbox for elevating one’s voice and, just as often, quieting someone else’s.

This month, armed protesters appeared outside an elections center in Phoenix, hurling baseless accusations that the election for governor had been stolen from the Republican, Kari Lake. In October, Proud Boys with guns joined a rally in Nashville where conservative lawmakers spoke against transgender medical treatments for minors.

In June, armed demonstrations around the United States amounted to nearly one a day. A group led by a former Republican state legislator protested a gay pride event in a public park in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Men with guns interrupted a Juneteenth festival in Franklin, Tenn., handing out fliers claiming that white people were being replaced. Among the others were rallies in support of gun rights in Delaware and abortion rights in Georgia.

Whether at the local library, in a park or on Main Street, most of these incidents happen where Republicans have fought to expand the ability to bear arms in public, a movement bolstered by a recent Supreme Court ruling on the right to carry firearms outside the home. The loosening of limits has occurred as violent political rhetoric rises and the police in some places fear bloodshed among an armed populace on a hair trigger....

November 8, 2022

By Ron Fonger

Flint - Former Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) and other government officials involved in the Flint water crisis cannot be held in contempt of court for invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled.


In an opinion published Tuesday, Nov. 8, the appeals court ruled that Snyder and four other officials -- Richard Baird, former senior advisor to Snyder; former Flint emergency managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley; and former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft -- did not waive their privilege against self-incrimination at a civil trial by testifying at an earlier deposition in the same case....

The corporate environment is too difficult at the level of the personnel.

November 15, 2022
By Clark Schultz

...Heading into the earnings report, (click here) Walmart (WMT) is being widely viewed by analysts and investors as a trade-down beneficiary that should outperform on a relative basis in a recessionary environment. However, the trick is that shares of WMT have already outperformed in 2022 on a relative basis and valuation is somewhat stretched after investors took refuge in the defensive name.

For Q3, analyst expect Walmart (WMT) to report revenue of $146.8B and EPS of $1.32. The Bentonville-based company is also expected to post comparable sales growth of 4.8% for the quarter. Guidance from the retail giant on the status of its inventory level and transportation costs headwinds are seen as crucial in setting the post-earnings tone.

On Wall Street, Deutsche Bank recently named Walmart a top pick just ahead of the report....

I have no interest in what the note of the killer said. I can guess.

There is far too much pressure/stress on employees working for Wall Street corporations. Unions make a difference in these high stress environments because grievances are taken seriously. The union representative takes the grievance seriously, hence, the company does.

Americans expect justice. They go to work and do their level best and if that isn't good enough and requires superhuman effort a grievance can be filed for issues of fairness and expectations. Unions are more or less part of the justice department on a private scale. Unions maintain a safe and sane work environment. It is what unions do. They are in touch with employees of a corporation and when things are going off the rails it can be corrected before extremes are the outcomes.

These days, if Americans are dying of viruses, they have guns that can kill them or dying because they can't get an abortion. That is a high stress environment in and out of work. They feel they are under attack more frequently than not. 

Since the pandemic the USA work force has been in flux. I do not see it as a bad thing. Not at all. I think Americans needed a break to restructure their lives to be more productive with a higher quality of life as a return for their efforts.

Wall Street corporations have a lot of fluidity as a rule. That means when the work force is tight they can survive by paying the highest prices to the available talent. Small businesses don't necessarily have that option and the workers are going to the highest bidder.

HOWEVER. 

There is a price to be paid by the workforce when they are receiving far higher pay rates than they ever had before. The price they pay is higher demands on the product at the end of the corporate equation. I am not familiar with all the pressures Walmart employees have to endure. I do know in the past Walmart employees had to endure the embarrassment as "The Working Poor" with corporate offices giving advice to where and how to apply for Medicaid and Food Stamps. Basically, Walmart has been supplementing their stockholders with government monies and programs, not really profits.

All those stock returns are not necessarily well earned, so much as found money in sending employees to welfare programs on poor wages. 

Now, the wages are better so they don't really qualify for those government subsidized benefits anymore. 

To say corporations are driven to closing the gap between higher wages and prices for profit is an understatement. An example is McDonalds. The average customer doesn't know that while they are ordering their latest "App Offer" their car is being tracked by magnets of some kind under the paved drive through, sorry "Drive thru". Yes, indeed, consumers of McDonalds can enjoy being bombarded by McDonald's radar. Now, one might ask, "That can't be, there is no purpose to it."

But, Ahhhhhhh, there is.

Inside the McDonalds hard at work are very busy people that have no chairs to sit in even if they wanted to slow down. Each car enters the drive through, sorry "Drive Thru" and is tracked from the beginning of the entrance to the point where they leave with their purchase. The tracking appears on a computer screen at one or all cash registers to know how long each car is on the drive through, sorry "Drive Thru" property. Why is that important? Profits. See, there is a time threshold set for each and every car that enters the drive through, sorry "Drive Thru". The personnel preparing the food are to achieve compliance with the maximum time allowed for a car traversing the drive through, sorry "Drive Thru."

Got it? 

No?

So, the personnel inside preparing the INDIVIDUAL order have to take the order, the money and deliver the food in the time allotted according to the car tracking device to ensure profits to the corporation. Got it now? See, employees can demand all sorts of pay rates, but, the profitability of the company must be maintained, so the product at the end of the pay rate has to exceed the costs to provide profits to the stockholders. In the case of Walmart, to deliver profits to the Walton Family.

To say I have a "thing" about corporations is an understatement. They are profit driven and as a result depersonalize the people that work for them. Believe me when I say corporations rather rely on drones and robots than people. That by the way is the actual goal for trucking companies and McDonalds. Trucking firms can use driverless trucks across the interstates and McDonalds can enact kiosks for self-serve while it dispenses exactly what the person ordered.

As a rule, people cause problems for Wall Street corporations as well as family owned businesses like Walmart in profitability.

So.

That said, people will never be machines nor should they be nor should they be asked to produce as a machine. People are highly valuable to the USA economy and when they are replaced by robots and drones, the USA economy will faulter.

So, the corporations that feel uncomfortable about a good paying wage and seek profits through unrealistic outcomes by human beings, then I strongly suggest their CEOs don't belong in the board room and the unions need to be in negotiations with them.

I know the gun people will side with Walmart and state the gunman had mental health problems. If that is true, then my only statement is, "Why?"

My sincerest sympathies to the friends and families of:

People from Chesapeake.

Fernando Chavez-Barron, 16
Brian Pendleton, 38
Kellie Pyle, 52
Lorenzo Gamble, 43
Randy Blevins, 70

Person from Portsmouth.

Tyneka Johnson, 22

Happy Thanksgiving

A world without greenhouse gas emissions is more than possible.

November 22, 2022
By Alexa Heah

The Pillswood Project, (click here) Europe’s biggest battery energy storage system, has been finally been fired up near Hull in Yorkshire.

Developed by Harmony Energy Limited and running on a Tesla two-hour Megapack system, the facility is said to be able to store up to 196 MWh of electricity in a single cycle—or enough energy to power 300,000 UK homes for two hours.

According to the firm, the power system will bring “critical balancing services” to the country’s electricity grid network, while allowing for fossil fuels to be replaced with eco-friendly, renewable sources of energy....

This is not happening in Russia, it is happening in Europe.

...Next year, the adjacent Dogger Bank, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, will go online, sharing the same connection point with Pillswood Project to maximize the efficiency of the wind farms, such as limiting the amount of time it will need to be switched off....

This is called peace, prosperity, self-reliance and a world to inherit for all generations to come. This is moral!

There is no reason why the USA is not engaging this technology throughout the entire country.

November 22, 2022
By Sharon Udasin

The Biden administration (click here) announced on Tuesday that it will be allocating $550 million to support the deployment of community-based clean energy initiatives.

Through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block (EECBG) Program, the funds will help state, local and tribal governments implement plans aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions and overall energy use, according to a notice of intent first shared with The Hill....

THIS IS CALLED MORAL!

States and Tribes don't have to go it alone. The DOE is a partner.

....DOE (click here) looks forward to being a partner for states, communities, and industry as we move the U.S. economy towards a clean energy, lower carbon emissions future by strengthening the nation’s out dated energy infrastructure....

The Republicans have a real problem with Trump's announcements.

He brings back into focus all the adverse baggage that adheres to him. Trump and his minions are about money, never about governance. So, when they act as consultants they are making money and the governance that results is ungovernable as demonstrated in the USA with out of control everything. They deregulate and stand back to let chaos prevail.

November 23, 2022

...Others want a global fight over free speech....

While tens of thousands of supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro (click here) camp outside military facilities across Brazil to protest his election loss, members of Bolsonaro’s inner circle are meeting with advisers to former president Donald Trump to discuss next steps.

Brazilian congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, the president’s son, has visited Florida since the Oct. 30 vote, meeting Trump at Mar-a-Lago and strategizing with other political allies by phone. He spoke with former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who was in Arizona assisting the campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, about the power of the pro-Bolsonaro protests and potential challenges to the Brazilian election results, Bannon said. He lunched in South Florida with former Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller, now CEO of the social media company Gettr, and discussed online censorship and free speech, Miller said....

Bannon is only one of the bad actors that seek power over governance. The list is long and I am confident they want back in power like Michael Flynn.

...Viktor Orbán (click here) wins elections and claims a democratic mandate, but his legislative maneuvers and rewrites to the constitution have rendered political opposition increasingly powerless. Marantz finds the admiration for him from many on the American right unsettling. “I couldn’t really imagine a Putin-style takeover” of power in America, Marantz says, but “this kind of technical, legalistic Orbán model” seems all too plausible.

These bad actors are really impressed by Viktor Orban and want to emulate his success, if you can call it that. Basically, Viktor Orban is a surprise success that occurred after the fact. His election was not on the idea that democracy is weak and needs to be replaced by an autocratic leader that limits freedom and turns loose the beasts of regulation.

November 16, 2022

BUDAPEST,- Hungary will ratify Sweden's and Finland's accession to NATO (click here) before Turkey, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff told a briefing on Wednesday.

Hungary and Turkey are the only members of the alliance who have not yet cleared the accession. The Hungarian government has submitted the relevant legislation to parliament but it has not yet been tabled for debate and vote.

Of course Orban will seek approval of Findland and Sweden because Turkey is the last hold out. Why would Orban withhold ratification to NATO as it makes him look bad.

The article below is on the website of the country of Hungary, but, it comes out of the right wing Washington Times in the USA. The entire article is about genocide as if language is the only aspect of an ethnicity that needs to be preserved by autocrats while removing freedom. It is fascinating to watch these bozos turn morality on it's head. 

As inconvenient as this may seem, the attacks such as this upon Ukraine has to be answered. Ukraine needs it's own State Department (it does not have to be housed in Kyiv) to intercept such tactics. It is important to let them know this garbage exists and won't be tolerated. There needs to be methods for the diaspora to vote on issues concerning Ukraine. The people want to return, should have the right of return and the Ukraine Constitution is vital to that purpose. Allowing these chronic problems of dialogue to exist with sovereignties such as Hungary muddies up the waters. Russia and it's minions have to understand the people of Ukraine are displaced because of their ideologies.

The Balsonaro PLOT against democracy also has to be answered by the government of Brazil. These trouble makers cannot be ignored and allowed to continue to blackmail legitimate government with lies and attempts at treason. The people need to know the truth and its brevity in their lives.

These are sovereign governments with enormous capacity in the world. Their people must be defended with strong language to ensure peace and democracy. The trouble makers cannot pretend to be winners when in fact they are not.

It is unsafe for democracy to leave things as they are without confrontation. Old arguments that were settled in the past election must not be rekindled. Not recognizing the continued danger is to allow it to fester. Disagreements from the past must be put to rest and on a regular basis to reassure the people their freedom is preserved and safe. These people are not about governance, they are about wealth and sequestering it where they can control it.

...First, “ethnic minorities” (click here) in the United States and Central and Eastern Europe are not comparable. To stick with the Hungarian example, there are approximately 2 million ethnic Hungarians who live in Hungary’s neighbor countries whose mother tongue is Hungarian. They became citizens of these states as a result of the border changes after the two world wars, including some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Subcarpathia. The borders moved, not the people. My great-grandfather, for instance, was born in 1919, and was the citizen of five different states without leaving his village in today’s South Slovakia where his ancestors lived for centuries.

In contrast, American minorities, with the exception of African Americans, the Native American population and Hispanics living in the Southern states, became minorities as a result of their own decision by immigrating to the U.S. Therefore, it is a legitimate expectation that they adjust to the norms of their chosen homeland and use the English language in public relations, and even then, non-English languages are often accommodated. But forbidding people to use their mother tongue in their own homeland, just because it came under the authority of a different state due to geopolitical events, is a whole different ballgame.

Second, one of the hardest lessons learned from the 20th century is that the stability of multiethnic Eastern Europe is contingent upon the protection of the rights of national minorities. The most fundamental of such rights, having long-standing traditions in Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, is the opportunity to be educated in the mother tongue.

This, of course, does not mean that national minorities in Ukraine, for example, are refusing to learn or speak the official state language. There is a mutual understanding that every citizen, regardless of their mother tongue, must properly speak Ukrainian. However, the new Ukrainian legislation, instead of improving the quality of teaching Ukrainian for ethnic minorities, poses a serious threat to the very existence of national minorities in Ukraine.

Third, Hungary has a special bond to ethnic Hungarians living beyond its borders — just like other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The well-being of these communities, including ethnic Hungarians in Subcarpathia, has always been important for Hungary. This is, in fact, not only the priority of the current government but also an obligation under its Fundamental Law dating back to the country’s independence.

Since taking away the most fundamental language rights of the community is a clear violation of this principle, Hungary’s reaction was quite foreseeable. All actors in the region were aware of this sensitivity, Ukraine knew that its move would strike a nerve in Budapest.

Here we come back to Russia, which is a key player of the dispute....

Any movement even distantly affiliated with Russia must be identified and denounced. Venezuela is a prime example of the dangers of silence in identifying the dangers.

The entire language focus in this Washington Times article is exactly from the Russian playbook.

According to Vladimir Putin, Russia is the only aggrieved country in the world and this dialogue is supposed to be proof of the leadership that really cares about the people and their country when in fact Putin seeks control over land and people for his own purposes. Freedom and healthy economics is the last on the list of these leaders. The current wars Putin is engaging in with his economic alliance is proof there is no free choice or peace on his agenda. Putin wants to build strength by conquering people and pressing them to obey with nationalism as his banner and language as his tool.