Happy Fat Tuesday !

White Supremacy dominated the leadership of the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

August 10, 2022
By Michael Kunzelman

A Maryland man (click here) described by the FBI as a “self-professed” white supremacist was sentenced on Wednesday to four months of incarceration for storming the U.S. Capitol while wearing a court-mandated device that tracked his movements, court records show.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly also sentenced Bryan Betancur to one year of supervised release after his term of imprisonment and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution.

Betancur, 22, was on probation for a 2019 burglary conviction when he traveled from the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, and joined the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A GPS-enabled monitoring device that he was wearing under the terms of his probation showed that he spent roughly three hours in or around the Capitol that afternoon....

January 8, 2023
By Ella Lee

Opening remarks (click here) are set to begin this week in the seditious conspiracy trial of members of the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group with ties to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Longtime Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio and four other members of the group are charged with plotting to forcibly oppose the authority of the federal government and halting certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, along with a plethora of related crimes.

The trial comes weeks after the historic sedition convictions of two leaders of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers. Three other Oath Keepers were also found guilty of multiple felonies in connection with the attack that left several dead, dozens of police officers injured and nearly 1,000 rioters arrested....

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, (click here) who’s Cuban, has tried to sell the group as “rough around the edges,” but welcoming to people of color. Many of those who’ve bought the message are fixated on proximity to power at any cost.

13 January 2024
By Adam Gabbatt

Supporters of Donald Trump have long been forced to suspend their belief in reality (click here): expected to believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that the one-term president won the 2020 election, hasn’t committed any crimes and is a successful businessman.

But as another tight presidential election looms, the recent efforts by Donald Trump to reimagine the people imprisoned for their role in the January 6 insurrection as “hostages”, and to downplay the horrors of that day as a peaceful protest, could have serious ramifications for democracy and his own party, onlookers have warned....

February 16, 2021
By Maya King

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, (click here) D-Miss., takes his ballot from election managers Gail Davis, left, and Joyce Moore to vote at his home precinct in Bolton, Miss., in Mississippi's Second Congressional Democratic Primary, Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

On the heels of the Senate’s acquittal of Donald Trump (click here), the NAACP, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson and civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll filed a lawsuit against the former president, Rudy Giuliani and two white supremacist groups, citing their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Trump and Giuliani, in collaboration with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, conspired to incite the riot to keep Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. It claims they did so in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act (click here), a Reconstruction-era statute designed to protect both formerly enslaved African Americans and lawmakers in Congress from white supremacist violence....

If one hates equality and "the other" then one hates the USA Constitution.

The adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution (click here) extended civil and legal protections to former slaves and prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Forces in some states were at work, however, to deny black citizens their legal rights. Members of the Ku Klux Klan, for example, terrorized black citizens for exercising their right to vote, running for public office, and serving on juries. In response, Congress passed a series of Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 (also known as the Force Acts) to end such violence and empower the president to use military force to protect African Americans....

EEOC needs additional funding and/or personnel

"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies." New York City, April 4, 1967. "We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. '"

I am sure they are pedaling as fast as they can, but, the agencies are still overwhelmed with a backlog of cases.

October 29, 2021

By Barbara Bellinger

...Civil Rights officials say staffing shortages predate the pandemic. (click here)

“Prior to the pandemic, we had experienced an increase in turnover, with a number of experienced staff retiring or leaving for other positions,” said Vicki Levengood, the communications director for the department.

The pandemic complicated matters.

“The hiring freeze that was put in place early in the pandemic meant we were not able to fill a number of open positions in enforcement,” Levengood said. “For some time, we were down more than 10 investigators and intake staff.”

Since the state’s hiring freeze was lifted in December, the department has been able to fill open investigative positions, but training takes time. It still has only 30 investigators to work on the 2,500-case backlog, Johnson said.

“Those jobs are now being held by newly hired people who require training and on-the-job experience before they can be as efficient and productive as the experienced individuals they replaced,” Levengood said....

Hunter Biden is being used as a political pawn by the Republican Party.

Hunter Biden should be given a pardon for all his past mistakes and immunity to testify for whatever he believes needs to be said.

In this Congressional hearing Hunter Biden showed up because it was televised. He wants to be heard by the American people and Congress needs to allow him to do exactly that.

Iowa needs a state of emergency declared

It is a little late to prepare but the people will need some education (click here).

For those taking medication be sure a sufficient supply is in the house.

This is from the Des Moines Register

Houthis ?

They have been menacing the shipping channels for a long time. Until recently the USA presence was able to maintain some control. But, the Houthis with Iran’s help, are now using drones and missiles. This is an entirely new menacing profile for the Houthis and it is without a doubt far more dangerous. 

This is not an escalation in the Israel-Hamas War. Israel has no arguments directly with the Houthis as it does Hamas. I believe the Houthis hate. They are using the war with Hamas as an excuse to carry out hate directed death. 

This is not new, it has just become far more dangerous and simple measures don’t work anymore.

The USA along with the United Kingdom are doing the right thing. Every American and Brit should be proud of their country and it’s capacity to enforce peace when violence escalates.

This is pure insanity.

 https://youtube.com/shorts/WALMzvloRuA?si=I5pUmZylyqmXsh3z

Earth’s moon is sacred territory. It is our satellite directly related to the gravitational stability of Earth, ie: tides. That is only one example.

We already know Lunar Landers have caused moonquakes. Enough already.

The manned missions to the moon that began in 1968 were a magnificent achievement for the USA, but, that is where it should end.

If countries want to explore space then do so in space and not Earth’s only satellite. No way stations, no nothing!

I found the idea of cremated remains being placed on Earth’s moon a huge ethical issue and it should never have been considered. Those canisters are now floating remains forever. The egos involved in wanting a cemetery plot on Earth’s moon is appalling.

Molecules and atoms matter and Earth’s moon needs to be returned to pristine condition and the USA should lead the way. 

Space exploration is about planets and those that can support human life orbiting around a more youthful sun. 

End of discussion!

Chris Christie…

 …needs to reconsider continuing his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.

Iceland has many tiny vents of active eruption.

Link below:

https://youtu.be/2ZJs4gjHda0?si=C7C5qRKd_IBzroiK

WINDEARO LLC (click here) provides a full range of services in the field of blade maintenance from blades inspection to their repair. WINDEARO LLC has a great expertise in permanent of blade condition monitoring and provides appropriate expert advice on the timely elimination of any blade faults and failures. All repair works are performed by qualified and certified staff. WINDAERO LLC uses only the state-of-the-art technologies and equipment, in particular: specially tailored drones, a unique software and own neural network that automatically detects the slightest damages that appear on the turbine blades in order to timely repair such blades.

Russia is a global menace.

9 January 2024
By Cosmo Sanderson

A GE turbine in Ukraine (click here) has been destroyed and a wind farm partially shut down following a “massive night attack” by Russian drones, said local industry officials.

UK developer Elementum Energy partially shut down its 100MW Dnistrovska wind farm after it was damaged yesterday, the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) told Recharge.

An amateur video seen by Recharge shows what the UWEA says is a 5.5MW GE turbine collapsed to the ground, with others still standing around it.

It is unclear if the attack specifically targeted the wind farm, but Russia has launched waves of attacks on Ukraine’s energy system since invading the country in 2022.

UWEA said it “cannot disclose more detailed information about the nature of the damage and losses” because local police have opened criminal proceedings and an investigation into the incident.

However it confirmed that no wind farm employees were injured.


The UWEA said the attack was a Russian “terrorist act” against Ukraine and its energy security.

It added that the incident has “become the subject of several fakes about unfavourable weather conditions that led to the damage.”

Elementum, which has offices in London and Kyiv, is an independent power producer focused on the development and operation of renewable energy assets in Ukraine, where it reports having 540MW of capacity.

It is owned by London-based hedge fund VR Capital.

Elementum brought the 40MW first stage of its Dnistrovska wind farm, featuring ten GE 137-4.0 MW wind turbines, online in 2021....

Siemans is Number One in Wind Energy. It isn't enough.

Siemans is a magnificent company and should be proud to be the wind energy leader, but, this effort is not enough. Every country on the planet should be building more wind turbine facilities as quickly as possible.

I don't want to hear anything except positive words for this technology, this company and the way forward. There is absolutely nothing more ugly in this world than an offshore oil rig and all it's hazards and deaths of employees!

Siemans (click here)

Revenue: US$78bn
Country: Germany

A more than 175-year-old technology company which played a major role in the early years of electricity, Siemens’ wind power offering is extensive. The company established the world’s first offshore wind power plant in 1991 and continues to be a large player in both the onshore and offshore spaces. As a market leader in connecting offshore wind to the grid, Siemens has 6.5GW connected to date and a further 4.5GW under construction.

Siemens Gamesa, a leader in the renewable energy industry and a Siemens AG subsidiary, is well-known for its SG 14.0-222 wind turbine, the largest variant based on the Siemens D7 Platform, as well as being the largest wind turbine in the world.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

His silence is completely understandable. The United States of America is involved with at least two wars, one as an ally and the other as munition procurement.

Defense Secretary Austin loves this country and protects it with his life, including allowing any enemy of this country feeling empowered by perceived weakness. Defense Secretary Austin stood under his own power to tell the nation of his diagnosis. He is still on the job.

A grateful nation wishes him all the empowerment available to see him and his family through a difficult time. I am looking forward to more of his leadership. He has and will continue to protect us everyday.

Peregrine

Apollo 13 

This is the Republican strategy for democracy. Starve democracy and it will fail.

January 4, 2024
By Noah Robertson

The U.S. had no funds left (click here) to replace weapons sent to Ukraine, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a Thursday press briefing.

“We’re out of money,” he told reporters....

There is nothing that is going to satisfy any Republican to return funding to Israel and Ukraine. 

NOTHING.

This is an election strategy to hold the House border districts. If the Republicans settled the dispute with the bill that also funds Israel and Ukraine, there would be no reason for current House Representatives to remain in office.

Endangering the lives of people in Israel and Ukraine and allowing weakness to creep into democracy is nothing but a political party display of desperation to keep US House seats. There is no governance here. It is politics creating weakness in the USA and our interests.

If Ukraine is going to be required to build their own munitions, it needs to be on NATO soil as there is nothing that can be built with Russian missiles constantly barraging the country of Ukraine. In order to build munitions Ukraine needs a plant. WHERE IS THE FUNDING AND LAND?

This picture is pure politics with absolutely no regard for freedom or democracy!

There is nothing to fear at the USA southern border.

January 3, 2024

Eagle Pass, Texas - U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (click here) led about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border to demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden's emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine.

He expressed serious doubts about whether he would support a bipartisan compromise.

The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, came as the Senate engages in delicate negotiations in hopes of striking a deal....

I love Joe Biden as POTUS.

He stands for everything I believe in, freedom, fairness, unions, but mostly the strength of the American Middle Class. Every month as critics are looking for the weakness in the USA economy there are more and more demands for workers. No real critic can figure it out. Why isn't the American economy collapsing? Why? Because the American Middle Class is protected, nurtured with the vision of equity and empowerment for all Americans.

Joe Biden is a great president. He reclaimed our democracy and now he needs to protect us one more time and he is willing to do it. This is a great speech.

"...everyday people...can govern themselves without a king or dictator..." 

The idea of the USA at the time of General George Washington was and is "One of the highest moral lessons ever given the world."

When will the assault on democracy end?

Pearl Harbor, September 11, 2001 and now January 6th.

The New Yorker (click here) is publishing the full report of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, in partnership with Celadon Books. The edition contains a foreword by the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, which you’ll find below, and an epilogue by Representative Jamie Raskin, a member of the committee.

Our forefathers and mothers came to the USA for freedom. They wanted to live their lives in peace and with the right for free thought and expression of that thought. Who would know after all this time that free thought and peace would be an enemy to anyone?

Merrium-Webster

1: the quality or state of being free: such as

 a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
 b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another :                           INDEPENDENCE

 c: the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something                 onerous freedom from care
 d: unrestricted use gave him the freedom of their home
 e: EASE, FACILITY spoke the language with freedom
 f: the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken answered with freedom
 g: improper familiarity  (any inappropriate or unduly intimate or informal conduct)
 h: boldness of conception or execution

See, freedom, is a lot more than freedom of speech. Freedom is a state of being. It is the right to one's own body, movement, and any aspect of life. Freedom touches all aspects of one's life with bold intent of self-expression OR the withholding of that expression.

It is so sad to realize a segment of the American society hates freedom so much they were willing to remove the very document, the USA Constitution, that ensures and enshrines the freedom so many of our ancestors wanted and fought to institute and/or keep.

The USA Constitution is powerful. It has built a nation of people into the most secure and powerful country in the world. And the incredible aspect of the USA Constitution is that it demands peace as the pinnacle of this country's development. The idea of peace is also enshrined with the understanding of freedom, for without peace freedom is simply a word and not a method of living. Peace is necessary to fully appreciate and understand freedom.

What do you want to do with your freedom? 

George W. Bush decided painting was a freedom he loved. If there was not enough peace in his life he would not be AVAILABLE to paint and freedom of expression would be denied to him.

Showcasing (click here) President George W. Bush’s tribute to America’s servicemen and women

...But it wasn’t until Bush had a conversation with Fort Worth, Texas, painter Sedrick Huckaby that he thought to combine his interests in art and military service. “[He] suggested I paint people whom I knew but others didn’t,” writes Bush in the book’s introduction. “Instantly, I thought of painting wounded warriors I had gotten to know.”...

We all know George W. Bush had an abiding regard of the people who served our military. While the military personnel might appreciate a visit from the Commander and Chief, it was often regarded as politics and not profound respect for all that served. So, with the understanding this respect was part of the former president's idea of freedom, to express it in THE WORK of painting is a deeper understanding of his respect.

What if that expression were gone? What if it were oppressed and never even considered valuable? Would our military have a clear understanding of their standing in the American society? 

The value of freedom as granted under the USA Constitution is precious and should never be taken for granted or spat upon. 

Our country is great. There is a reason.

Nasrallah should look toward peace.

Cleric Nasrallah was far more wise to stay out of the fray as he stated in the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. Cleric Nasrallah needs to reflect on the fact that Israel formally declared war against Hamas and he was giving aid and comfort to the enemy of Israel. They didn't come for the Cleric. Israel knew exactly who was to be dealt with and they carried out an act to end one of the masterminds that killed 1200 of it's citizens.

January 3, 2024

Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah (click here) said in an address Wednesday that Israel should expect “a response and punishment” a day after the death of senior Hamas leader Saleh Arouri in a suspected Israeli drone strike in a Beirut suburb. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group based in Lebanon, has traded fire with Israel in recent weeks, though the Lebanese government said it was urging Hezbollah to show restraint. “If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon,” Nasrallah said, they “will regret it.” Before Nasrallah’s speech, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops were “prepared for any scenario.”...

Cleric Nasrallah should be careful not to become a puppet to Iran. This war is not about the Shi'ites. This is about a deadly attack on citizens of Israel within their own borders. I wish Cleric Nasrallah and the Grand Ayatollah Sistani (click here) would collaborate to find a peaceful end to all this. I remind that the power of Islam is it's people. The Grand Ayatollah knows all too well how the people marched to the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf and that march ended a siege of American troops and their tanks. It was correct and right that it occurred and the mosque was intact and maintained as a place of worship.

Hezbollah is not a part of this, nor should its members be seeking revenge against Israel for defending it's citizens. The tragedy of Palestinians has yet to be defined, but, one thing is certain, the citizens of Gaza were used as a weapon of war as Hamas deployed the strategy of "human shields." That strategy led to the death of the very people Hamas should have sought to protect.

Cleric Nasrallah needs to maintain the understanding this is not about the Shi'ites. This is about the violent regime of Hamas that brought innocent Israeli lives to an end. Iran is attempting to bring about a war of inclusivity with all Shi'ites, but, that is a wayward view of the world. This war is about ending the blood thirsty regime of Hamas. This is not about Hezbollah or Iran or Iraqi Shi'ites. It is wrong to expand this conflict. It will lead to greater and greater deaths. The Shi'ites should be standing up for peace and not the death of others.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The Grand Ayatollah Sistani moved the people to walk the path of Mohammad and stopped the hostilities of the USA military. It was the most magnificent movement of people I ever witnessed. The Shi'ites cannot compete with advanced militaries. However, militaries can't compete with the people.

August 25, 2004

Shiite Muslims (click here) demonstrate outside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, southwest of Baghdad

...Makeshift barricades (click here) set up to protect the entrance were torched as tanks moved along the western side of the compound wall towards the surrounding Old City.

To the east, US forces had smashed through militia defences in the marketplace in Midan square while the heavy boom of artillery fire thundered out across the area from the southern side.

The situation on the northern side, closest to the city's vast cemetery, was not immediately clear but the southern and northern exits from the shrine were in the sights of snipers, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

The shrine -- one of the holiest Shiite pilgrimage sites in the world -- was very close to being sealed off from the rest of the city, the AFP correspondent said....

The Anthropocene

Why is it that humans have to a aggrandize their own existence?

Quite possibly the best synonym for Anthropocene Epoch is death.

In 1922 British geologist Robert Lionel Sherlock (click here) published a book, Man as a Geological Agent: An Account of His Action on Inanimate Nature, that put forth what is now considered to be the central argument for recognizing the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch: the scale and character of human activities have become so great as to compete with natural geological and geophysical forces. One hundred and one years later geologists have broadly rallied around Sherlock's core idea, and the Anthropocene Working Group—a committee of scientists (including me) who report to the International Commission on Stratigraphy—has proposed Crawford Lake in Canada as the official site for marking the Anthropocene....

When the dinosaurs all died did they call it the Triassic Epoch? No, it is called the Triassic–Jurassic (Tr-J) extinction event (TJME).

See, that is what humans are on the brink of, extinction. 

Ya know. A long time ago when scientists stated it was important to uphold life and maintain species integrity and diversity, they meant it. Why did they mean it? Because they were "tree huggers" and "left wing bleeding hearts?" No, because they knew if species of the natural world began to fail, die off and become extinct, humans would not be far behind.

So the idea that Earth is dominated by humans to the point where they change the environment is a very sad observation. Humans must learn to live with Earth as the planet it is, otherwise, it will be lost to dangerous conditions such as methane overload or it is just to hot to sustain life.

The last thing anyone in this world should be considering normal is the domination of human abuse and immorality when it comes to Earth and it's gaseous layers where humans live and breath. The human species needs to be far more reverent about the precious planet we have to live on. It should not be taken for granted.

Yes, the USA southern border is all nonsense.

Mexico is an ally. There is nothing to fear. Mexico and the three Northern Triad countries of Central America are all allies to the USA.

These countries are overwhelmed with the climate crisis. A secondary issue is the drug cartels, but, they are dealing with the climate crisis as well. 

The migrants coming into the USA illegally face many problems and it is those problems that brings them to the USA. It is survival. Many are climate refugees. As allies facing a different struggle than war they come to us for relief. The majority of those crossing the USA border are poor and destitute without violence in mind or munitions to threaten anyone they meet at the border. The cartels are the only violent threat to Border Guards.

The migrants would still be home if the USA right wing extremist Republicans didn’t end the progressive programs of the USA to build those countries into stronger allies. Sure there is corruption. But, our programs were working, including priorities to end that corruption.

So. All the hubbub about the insecurity of the USA southern border is nothing but politics. There is absolutely nothing to fear from these people. They are being treated as chattel by the southern border states and being shipped north. The northern states need support from the federal government to absorb all the costs that go along with housing them, providing medical care, and processing them. 

Anyone know how many immigration courts are in the northern tier states?

(click here) It would seem as though migrants to the USA, be they legal or illegal, are peaceful people. They love freedom. 

The USA is a mighty nation of mostly moral people. Being the only remaining Superpower is an inconvenient responsibility and unfortunately Americans don’t have the luxury of looking the other way.

It is time Americans become aware of successful programs ended by the Trump White House of the very countries now shedding citizens as migrants headed north.

None of the Northern Triad governments are promoting Illegal migration. 

There is nothing to fear. I will say this, as illegal migrants come unprepared for cultural differences including language and the free flowing gun supply in the USA there is crime. But, that is more reason to incentivize the successful programs through USAid to these people to remain in their own countries.

The bottom line is the Republicans that are now in seats in the House and Senate are completely wrong in their priorities. It is highly unethical for freely elected officials to use their power to cause problems that lead to their own politics.

Fully fund Ukraine, Israel and return progressive programs to Central America.