Life is hard for Charlie, but, it is worth the struggle if he wins.

Would anyone deny a cancer patient experimental treatment? Would there be people excluded from the hope of a treatment? Answer that. Then there is only one way forward for Charlie Gard. 

We can't know what he is experiencing or whether he is experiencing anything at all, but, I do know if he is suffering he is not an animal that can euthanized. He is a human baby with the PROMISE of life when he was born. Where in the social contract does it say where there is hope it is conditional?

July 10, 2017

By Kristine Phillips and Lindsey Bever

To left: Picture of Charlie Gard three days ago. He is growing. Physically he is thriving. Questions?

I have one. Question. Isn't that "Curious George?"

Washington: The parents of Charlie Gard, (click here) the 11-month-old British infant whose rare genetic condition has captured the world's attention, said they want to move their son to a hospital in the United States, where he would receive experimental treatment.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates on Sunday delivered a petition to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie has remained on life support for months. The petition, which has more than 350,000 signatures, calls for Charlie to be transferred....                                

Whatever works. That was the theme to the Trump campaign, right? Win at any cost.

What should have been done is for Donald Trump, Jr. to have reported the incident to authorities to continue the investigation to his death threats. The campaign should have been completely transparent to the FBI and others regarding it's position on Russia approaching it to win the election. 

Since when is a foreign power influential at any level of American politics? There was an obvious relationship between Russia and the Trump campaign. There is no basis for that. There is a basis for reporting any and all attempts at corruption and coercion by a foreign power of an American campaign for presidency. 

No matter how I look at this, it really does smell bad. Bad enough to be treason considering the intense relationship that exists after the election.

It just doesn't make sense to me. Donald Trump, Jr. received death threats. And he is entertaining Russia for information to throw the election. Is that someone with a false sense of security? Why?

The one entity in all this that could get away with murder and has in the past is Russia. Why mess with this?

July 9, 2017
By Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman

President Trump’s eldest son, (click here) Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.

The meeting was also attended by the president’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kushner recently disclosed the meeting, though not its content, in confidential government documents described to The New York Times.

The Times reported the existence of the meeting on Saturday. But in subsequent interviews, the advisers and others revealed the motivation behind it.

The meeting — at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Donald J. Trump clinched the Republican nomination — points to the central question in federal investigations of the Kremlin’s meddling in the presidential election: whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. The accounts of the meeting represent the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help....

Do you doubt the power of the sun to heat Earth?

There is a very easy experiment to try. 

Obtain two sheets of paper, one complete blank and white and the other dark. The dark one can be colored dark with a "Sharpie" or colored pencil.

Wear shorts that expose the leg at least eight inches above the knee.

Now, sit in a chair so there is sunlight on your legs. Feel the temperature of your skin change and become warm because of the sunlight. Don't get a sunburn, simply allow the sunlight to warm your exposed legs.

Then, place the white sheet of paper over one leg. Cover the other leg with the dark(ened) sheet of paper. 

What happens? I am not going to tell you, but, if you did it right, the evidence should be really obvious. 

When you realize the results, which will occur quickly, get out of the sun as your skin is still unprotected from sunburn, etc. 

If a doctor says not to go into the sunlight unprotected, don't participate in this simple experiment without permission.

"Morning Papers" 

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

This is wonderful news. The USA is not abandoning it's principles and values for countries like Ukraine. 

July 9, 2017

Newly appointed (click here) U.S. special representative for the Ukrainian settlement Kurt Volker will stay in Ukraine for several days to resolve issues of bilateral cooperation, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

“I am very grateful that just within several hours after his appointment, Kurt Volker’s joined your delegation. We welcome him and thank you for your decision that he is going to remain with us for several days so that we do not suspend the issue, and without a delay, could start effective cooperation just a few hours after the appointment,” Poroshenko said at a joint briefing with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Kyiv on Sunday.

Poroshenko expressed the hope that Volker’s experience, combined with his determination, will speed up the negotiation process and ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the Russian Federation.

As reported, Tillerson on Friday, July 7, appointed former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Volker as a special representative for Ukraine, who will coordinate the U.S. State Department’s efforts to settle the situation in eastern Ukraine.'

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) welcomes and shakes hands with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prior to their meeting in Kyiv, on July 9. Rex Tillerson is in Ukraine for a one-day working visit.

"Good night, Moon."

The full moon

15.6 days old

99.2 percent lit

July 6, 2017
By Len Melisurgo

Sky watchers (click here) will have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the full "thunder moon" on Sunday, July 9. It will be the seventh full moon on the 2017 lunar calendar and the first full moon of the summer season in the northern hemisphere.

Here are some facts about the 2017 thunder moon, when it will be visible, how it got its name, and other nicknames for the July full moon....

As a side note:

The presence of atmospheric methane has a role in the scientific search for extra-terrestrial life! The logic is this: the methane in an atmosphere will dissipate if there is nothing there to replenish it. Therefore, the detection of methane on a planet should indicate the presence, or relatively recent presence, of life. This was a topic of hot debate when methane was discovered in the Martian atmosphere by by NASA's Goddard Flight Center (verified by the Mars Express Orbiter in 2004), and in Titan's atmosphere by the Huygens probe (2005). It was argued that atmospheric methane can also come from volcanoes or other fissures in the planet's crust, and that without an Isotopic signature of the carbon, it is difficult to confirm the origin of the methane.