US Senator Tester is a really great man. I am glad he is a Democrat from Montana because he brings a lot with him. He would make a great President. I would remind him about President Teddy Roosevelt. He was not nearly as tall as Senator Tester, he came in at 5 feet, 9 inches and weighed 220 pounds. We did lose him ten years after his presidency at the age of 61. Teddy Roosevelt was loved by the American people. Regardless of whether he is President or not we want Senator Tester around for a long time. So, he can take all that as he wishes.
But, entertain this. Tariffs take a heavy toll on USA agriculture sometime in the near future. Unless land has a dedicated use by some sort of set aside as in NJ Green Acres Program, what do farm families do with the land if they go out of business?
They sell it. But, to who? Developers.
What if Donald Trump doesn’t really care if farmers lose their land? What kind of policies would he care about when it comes to agriculture if he simply does not care about farming, farmers or feeding the world?
I think the USA is in far more trouble with Trump in the White House that it can imagine right now. Trump is very capable of doing the unthinkable.
Friday, November 30, 2018
I swear the State of Michigan is trying to put Flint back into enormous fiscal deficits.
November 29, 2018
By Zahra Ahmad
...Had (click here) the city agreed to the terms outlined in a Nov. 1 letter from the Attorney General's office, its $4 million disbursement request, along with any requests for work done prior to Nov.1, would be reimbursed to Flint....
The State of Michigan simply will not do what is right and best for Flint, Michigan.
Nov. 5
...The state will not reimburse the city of Flint (click here) for its service line replacements until what the state claims are violations of a $97 million dollar settlement are resolved.
According to a letter from the state Attorney General's office dated Thursday, Nov. 1, the city is violating the settlement by its current excavation method and its failure to look for lead and galvanized water pipes.
Flint city officials could not be reached immediately for comment.
In 2017, a $97 million fund was set up by the state in a settlement to reimburse the city after social groups demanded enough funding to replace the estimated 18,000 hazardous lead and galvanized steel pipes in Flint.
The price of digging up and burying a copper pipe increased from $77 to $1,800 after contractors were directed to dig 8- to 10-foot holes without a hydrovac, according to the attorney generals' office letter.
The letter states this, along with the city's current method of finding lead, is in violation of the settlement's agreement and could leave hundreds of hazardous pipes underground and in use.
According to the letter, from 2016-17 the city used available information and a predictive model to find lead or galvanized pipes which resulted in a 71 percent hit rate for finding hazardous pipes. The city's current plan has dropped that hit rate to 20 percent this year....
I think Mayor Weaver is going to have to meet with the new Governor as soon as she takes office and has office hours to discuss this and get rid of the old agreement and redistribute the monies FOR RESPONSIBLE PIPES for Flint residents. This is ridiculous. These people get no piece of mind and they will stop drinking the water again.
August 15, 2018
By Ron Fonger
...The mayor has said (click here) hydro excavation resulted in some lead and galvanized pipe having been missed and instead has required contractors dig a minimum of 4 feet on both sides of the curb stop, exposing much more of the service line.
"The mayor is correct that canceling the hydrovac contract was done to protect the health and safety of Flint residents," Joe Parks, project manager for Goyette, said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal....
...Last week, Weaver visited service line replacement crews on the job, vowing to continue to use only traditional excavation tools like backhoes and shovels.
In addition to missing lead and galvanized lines that have been spliced with other material, city officials have said they risk breaking utility lines with high-pressure water and vacuum.
"We're going to ... take our time and do it right," the mayor said during a Facebook broadcast. "I think people's lives are worth it."...
By Zahra Ahmad
...Had (click here) the city agreed to the terms outlined in a Nov. 1 letter from the Attorney General's office, its $4 million disbursement request, along with any requests for work done prior to Nov.1, would be reimbursed to Flint....
The State of Michigan simply will not do what is right and best for Flint, Michigan.
Nov. 5
...The state will not reimburse the city of Flint (click here) for its service line replacements until what the state claims are violations of a $97 million dollar settlement are resolved.
According to a letter from the state Attorney General's office dated Thursday, Nov. 1, the city is violating the settlement by its current excavation method and its failure to look for lead and galvanized water pipes.
Flint city officials could not be reached immediately for comment.
In 2017, a $97 million fund was set up by the state in a settlement to reimburse the city after social groups demanded enough funding to replace the estimated 18,000 hazardous lead and galvanized steel pipes in Flint.
The price of digging up and burying a copper pipe increased from $77 to $1,800 after contractors were directed to dig 8- to 10-foot holes without a hydrovac, according to the attorney generals' office letter.
The letter states this, along with the city's current method of finding lead, is in violation of the settlement's agreement and could leave hundreds of hazardous pipes underground and in use.
According to the letter, from 2016-17 the city used available information and a predictive model to find lead or galvanized pipes which resulted in a 71 percent hit rate for finding hazardous pipes. The city's current plan has dropped that hit rate to 20 percent this year....
I think Mayor Weaver is going to have to meet with the new Governor as soon as she takes office and has office hours to discuss this and get rid of the old agreement and redistribute the monies FOR RESPONSIBLE PIPES for Flint residents. This is ridiculous. These people get no piece of mind and they will stop drinking the water again.
August 15, 2018
By Ron Fonger
...The mayor has said (click here) hydro excavation resulted in some lead and galvanized pipe having been missed and instead has required contractors dig a minimum of 4 feet on both sides of the curb stop, exposing much more of the service line.
"The mayor is correct that canceling the hydrovac contract was done to protect the health and safety of Flint residents," Joe Parks, project manager for Goyette, said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal....
...Last week, Weaver visited service line replacement crews on the job, vowing to continue to use only traditional excavation tools like backhoes and shovels.
In addition to missing lead and galvanized lines that have been spliced with other material, city officials have said they risk breaking utility lines with high-pressure water and vacuum.
"We're going to ... take our time and do it right," the mayor said during a Facebook broadcast. "I think people's lives are worth it."...
Butina's contacts were not babes in the woods, including one tied to Michael Cohen.
August 9, 2018
By Betsy Woodruff, Allison Quinn and Anna Nemtova
...When the accused infiltrator of the NRA needed cash, (click here) she turned to Igor Pisarsky, two sources familiar with her activities tell The Daily Beast....
...Pisarsky was Butina’s point of contact for the Nikolaev money, according to these sources—the face of the financing. According to one of the sources, he essentially acted like he was distributing grant money....
Konstantine Nikolaev - Banker
Igor Pisarsky - Middleman for banker and Butina, that has worked for two banks that faced USA sanctions, including the Bank of Moscow. Also, Pisarsky's firm's website: ...also says R.I.M. Porter Novelli has represented Skolkovo, an innovation center in Moscow run by a foundation connected to Putin ally Viktor Vekselberg, a sanctioned Russian billionaire linked to longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen. The FBI warned back in 2014 that Skolkovo, which has cooperated with MIT and other American organizations, could be a hotbed for Russian spies looking to worm their way into U.S. companies, as The Boston Globe reported....Pisarsky has also worked with Alfa Capital, a unit of Alfa Bank...One of the bank’s co-founders, billionaire German Khan, is the father-in-law of Alexander van der Zwaan, who spent several weeks in prison after pleading guilty to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about work his law firm did alongside Paul Manafort for the Ukrainian government.
Paul Erickson - USA Republican
Alexander Torshin - Kremlin contact
By Betsy Woodruff, Allison Quinn and Anna Nemtova
...When the accused infiltrator of the NRA needed cash, (click here) she turned to Igor Pisarsky, two sources familiar with her activities tell The Daily Beast....
...Pisarsky was Butina’s point of contact for the Nikolaev money, according to these sources—the face of the financing. According to one of the sources, he essentially acted like he was distributing grant money....
Konstantine Nikolaev - Banker
Igor Pisarsky - Middleman for banker and Butina, that has worked for two banks that faced USA sanctions, including the Bank of Moscow. Also, Pisarsky's firm's website: ...also says R.I.M. Porter Novelli has represented Skolkovo, an innovation center in Moscow run by a foundation connected to Putin ally Viktor Vekselberg, a sanctioned Russian billionaire linked to longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen. The FBI warned back in 2014 that Skolkovo, which has cooperated with MIT and other American organizations, could be a hotbed for Russian spies looking to worm their way into U.S. companies, as The Boston Globe reported....Pisarsky has also worked with Alfa Capital, a unit of Alfa Bank...One of the bank’s co-founders, billionaire German Khan, is the father-in-law of Alexander van der Zwaan, who spent several weeks in prison after pleading guilty to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about work his law firm did alongside Paul Manafort for the Ukrainian government.
Paul Erickson - USA Republican
Alexander Torshin - Kremlin contact
I don't know that there has been a USA President as lousy as this one. His deregulation is killing Americans.
The Trump deregulation directly attacks the USA quality of life. Sonny Purdue, the Secretary of Agriculture should be up in arms at deregulation that kills Americans. Oh, wait. Sonny Purdue is the one allowing deregulation.
I might point out the deregulation Trump is overseeing hits California hardest. Is there a reason to bring hardship to California by Trump? Everything he does is due to politics and cronies.
The April outbreak of E. coli came from Yuma, Arizona (click here) Americans died then, too (click here)
November 11, 2017
Agriculture, Food Systems, Local, Sustainability, Urban Farming (click here)
That broccoli you and your family had for dinner last night, any chance you know where it was grown? Unless you bought it at a Farmer’s Market, chances are it was grown and shipped from California. Many people recognize California for Hollywood, scenic beaches, coastal cities, and it’s delicious wines. But California also grows nearly half of the produce consumed in the United States and it’s almost the sole source for some domestically grown fruits and vegetables.
To name a few, California grows:
I might point out the deregulation Trump is overseeing hits California hardest. Is there a reason to bring hardship to California by Trump? Everything he does is due to politics and cronies.
The April outbreak of E. coli came from Yuma, Arizona (click here) Americans died then, too (click here)
November 11, 2017
Agriculture, Food Systems, Local, Sustainability, Urban Farming (click here)
That broccoli you and your family had for dinner last night, any chance you know where it was grown? Unless you bought it at a Farmer’s Market, chances are it was grown and shipped from California. Many people recognize California for Hollywood, scenic beaches, coastal cities, and it’s delicious wines. But California also grows nearly half of the produce consumed in the United States and it’s almost the sole source for some domestically grown fruits and vegetables.
To name a few, California grows:
99% of Artichokes
97% of Plums
95% of Celery
95% of Garlic
94% of Broccoli
89% of Cauliflower
69% of Carrots
97% of Plums
95% of Celery
95% of Garlic
94% of Broccoli
89% of Cauliflower
69% of Carrots
You get the idea. California has some of the most ideal growing conditions for fruits and vegetables, in terms of climate and soil. It is even potentially one of the most productive places in the world. Which is quite the notable achievement for us as a nation....
Russia's crimes begin with the invasion of Crimean in 2014.
19 March 2014
By John Simpson
The annexation of Crimea (click here) was the smoothest invasion of modern times. It was over before the outside world realised it had even started.
And until Tuesday 18 March, when a group of pro-Russian gunmen attacked a small Ukrainian army base in Simferopol, killing one officer and injuring another, it was entirely bloodless.
For much of February, thousands of extra soldiers were quietly sent in to the bases which Russia was permitted by treaty to own in Crimea. Civilian "volunteers" moved in too. The plan was carried out secretly and with complete success.
The first obvious sign that Crimea was being taken over was on Friday 28 February, when checkpoints were established at Armyansk and Chongar - the two main road crossings from mainland Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula....
Long before Russia began to destroy Ukraine with the invasion in 2014 there were issues of great concern to the world in general.
After the disintegration of the USSR, (click here) Ukraine found itself in possession of the world's third largest nuclear arsenal. There were 176 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers with some 1,240 warheads on Ukrainian territory. This force consisted of 130 SS-19s, each capable of delivering six nuclear weapons, and 46 SS-24s, each armed with ten nuclear weapons. An additional 14 SS-24 missiles were present in Ukraine, but not operationally deployed with warheads. Several dozen bombers with strategic nuclear capabilities were armed with some 600 air-launched missiles, along with gravity bombs. In addition, as many as 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons rounded out an arsenal totaling approximately 5,000 strategic and tactical weapons. Today, Ukraine’s remaining nuclear activities are entirely civilian in nature, and Ukraine is a member of all major nonproliferation treaties and regimes....
This reality was not strange when the Soviet Union disintegrated. As a matter of fact there were three Soviet astronauts circling the Earth for three months before anyone bothered to bring them back. That's right. Three cosmonauts were left in space unattended for three months before Russia got their act together to bring them back to Earth.
February 28, 2014
By Ron Synovitz
...The "Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances" (click here) is a diplomatic memorandum that was signed in December 1994 by Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
It is not a formal treaty, but rather, a diplomatic document under which signatories made promises to each other as part of the denuclearization of former Soviet republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Under the memorandum, Ukraine promised to remove all Soviet-era nuclear weapons from its territory, send them to disarmament facilities in Russia, and sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Ukraine kept these promises.
In return, Russia and the Western signatory countries essentially consecrated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as an independent state. They did so by applying the principles of territorial integrity and nonintervention in 1975 Helsinki Final Act -- a Cold War-era treaty signed by 35 states including the Soviet Union -- to an independent post-Soviet Ukraine....
Ukrainian leaders realizing the proximity of the country to Russia gave up their weapons IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. Russia could not leave it alone and with the help of Paul Manafort put Viktor Yanukovych into the Presidency of Ukraine. Manafort, Putin and Yanukovych were buddies and made sure the leadership of Ukraine returned to Russia. It is well established Yanukovych was Putin's henchman.
Yanukovych disarmed the national military and instead placed militias under the control of oligarchs in cities around the country. Yanukovych made it completely impossible for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.
Before Yanukovych was elected, Russia attempted to kill another Ukraine leader, Viktor Yushchenko by poisoning him. He narrowly survived.
The crimes of Russia is significant and it was at a time Russia was lead by Vladimir Putin.
Putin's politics embrasses the idea Russia is leading a return of the Soviet Union. Putin is ruthless and instituted nationalism in the country in the face of profound poverty with many of it's poeple, including those near the Olympic grounds in Sochi. For the wealth of the oil it sells, that wealth never translate into a better quality of life for the Russian people, while the elite of Russia and Putin accumulate incredible wealth.
March 20, 2014
By Mark Landler, Annie Lowrey and Steven Lee Myers
Washington — President Obama (click here for video thank you) expanded sanctions against Russia on Thursday, blacklisting a bank and several wealthy businessmen with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin, as the United States struggled to forestall further Russian incursions into Ukraine.
Among those targeted were Sergei B. Ivanov, the president’s chief of staff; Gennady N. Timchenko, a billionaire investor with links to Mr. Putin; and Yuri V. Kovalchuk, whom the administration described as the personal banker for Russian leaders, including the president.
Mr. Obama also opened the door to more sweeping measures against core parts of the Russian economy, including the oil and natural gas industries, which account for much of Russia’s exports. He said the actions could disrupt the global economy, but might be necessary because of what he described as menacing movements by the Russian military near eastern and southern Ukraine....
Since the sanctions by President Obama because Russia continues to break international laws and invade and kill Ukraine, there have been additional sanctions on Russia by Congress as well. This was not a single act by a President, it was also backed by the USA Congress, too.
Enter stage right, Donald Trump, engaged in negotiations with Russia for a Trump Tower Moscow. He was securing a great deal of money from a bank sanctioned by the Russian government.
November 29, 2018
By David E. Sanger
...March 2016 (click here) was also when Mr. Trump brought into his campaign Paul Manafort, the longtime Republican lobbyist and strategist who had made millions of dollars advising and lobbying on behalf of the pro-Russia leader of Ukraine, Viktor F. Yanukovych. Mr. Manafort became the campaign’s chairman several months later.
The annexation of Crimea hardened anti-Putin sentiment among most Republicans. But from the start of his campaign in mid-2015, several months before prosecutors say his company began considering a deal in Russia, Mr. Trump departed from the normal Republican hard line about Russia, attacking President Barack Obama’s approach because it alienated a potential partner.
“I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin,” Mr. Trump said soon after announcing his run for the presidency. “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions.”
It was an unusual argument for a Republican candidate; the party had been instinctively anti-Soviet during the Cold War and deeply suspicious of Mr. Putin thereafter. So Mr. Trump’s position that sanctions were counterproductive — and harmed American interests — stood out from the start of the campaign, prompting many to question whether his interest in selling properties to rich Russians seeking to park their assets in the United States, or his efforts to build the tower in Moscow, explained his position....
That was Trump's position as a candidate and as the president. Trump UNDERSTOOD Putin better than anyone else in the world.
NO ONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND A LEADER OF A COUNTRY ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.
All the President of the USA needs to understand is the international laws broken and the role of the USA in enforcing protections of the international status of democracy INCLUDING the democracy, freedom and USA Constitution and it's Amendments and subsequent laws.
The USA institutes the "Rule of Law" within it's borders and "Rule of International Law" outside it's borders.
President Trump seems to be stuck in thinking the only issue before the country, due to his manner of conducting business, is that he didn't build the tower.
"W"rong!
Trump INVITED Russia to unleash it's power on the USA elections of 2016. And it did. THAT is the issue. The fact that he was negotiating with Russia for building a luxury tower in Moscow is very interesting, because, it was when the USA government had significant sanctions against Russia. And what a relief it must have been to have a USA billionaire wheeling and dealing to bring dearly needed business to Moscow in complete conflict of the role of the USA.
Trump has no respect for the role of the USA in the world and he still doesn't.
He is complaining the Mueller investigation is getting in the way of any relationship between Russia and the USA.
I BET IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dates of his lies are interesting. He was actively negotiating with Russia through his attorneys until July 2016. He never denied it before those dates.
By John Simpson
The annexation of Crimea (click here) was the smoothest invasion of modern times. It was over before the outside world realised it had even started.
And until Tuesday 18 March, when a group of pro-Russian gunmen attacked a small Ukrainian army base in Simferopol, killing one officer and injuring another, it was entirely bloodless.
For much of February, thousands of extra soldiers were quietly sent in to the bases which Russia was permitted by treaty to own in Crimea. Civilian "volunteers" moved in too. The plan was carried out secretly and with complete success.
The first obvious sign that Crimea was being taken over was on Friday 28 February, when checkpoints were established at Armyansk and Chongar - the two main road crossings from mainland Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula....
Long before Russia began to destroy Ukraine with the invasion in 2014 there were issues of great concern to the world in general.
After the disintegration of the USSR, (click here) Ukraine found itself in possession of the world's third largest nuclear arsenal. There were 176 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers with some 1,240 warheads on Ukrainian territory. This force consisted of 130 SS-19s, each capable of delivering six nuclear weapons, and 46 SS-24s, each armed with ten nuclear weapons. An additional 14 SS-24 missiles were present in Ukraine, but not operationally deployed with warheads. Several dozen bombers with strategic nuclear capabilities were armed with some 600 air-launched missiles, along with gravity bombs. In addition, as many as 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons rounded out an arsenal totaling approximately 5,000 strategic and tactical weapons. Today, Ukraine’s remaining nuclear activities are entirely civilian in nature, and Ukraine is a member of all major nonproliferation treaties and regimes....
This reality was not strange when the Soviet Union disintegrated. As a matter of fact there were three Soviet astronauts circling the Earth for three months before anyone bothered to bring them back. That's right. Three cosmonauts were left in space unattended for three months before Russia got their act together to bring them back to Earth.
February 28, 2014
By Ron Synovitz
...The "Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances" (click here) is a diplomatic memorandum that was signed in December 1994 by Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
It is not a formal treaty, but rather, a diplomatic document under which signatories made promises to each other as part of the denuclearization of former Soviet republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Under the memorandum, Ukraine promised to remove all Soviet-era nuclear weapons from its territory, send them to disarmament facilities in Russia, and sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Ukraine kept these promises.
In return, Russia and the Western signatory countries essentially consecrated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as an independent state. They did so by applying the principles of territorial integrity and nonintervention in 1975 Helsinki Final Act -- a Cold War-era treaty signed by 35 states including the Soviet Union -- to an independent post-Soviet Ukraine....
Ukrainian leaders realizing the proximity of the country to Russia gave up their weapons IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. Russia could not leave it alone and with the help of Paul Manafort put Viktor Yanukovych into the Presidency of Ukraine. Manafort, Putin and Yanukovych were buddies and made sure the leadership of Ukraine returned to Russia. It is well established Yanukovych was Putin's henchman.
Yanukovych disarmed the national military and instead placed militias under the control of oligarchs in cities around the country. Yanukovych made it completely impossible for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.
The crimes of Russia is significant and it was at a time Russia was lead by Vladimir Putin.
Putin's politics embrasses the idea Russia is leading a return of the Soviet Union. Putin is ruthless and instituted nationalism in the country in the face of profound poverty with many of it's poeple, including those near the Olympic grounds in Sochi. For the wealth of the oil it sells, that wealth never translate into a better quality of life for the Russian people, while the elite of Russia and Putin accumulate incredible wealth.
March 20, 2014
By Mark Landler, Annie Lowrey and Steven Lee Myers
Washington — President Obama (click here for video thank you) expanded sanctions against Russia on Thursday, blacklisting a bank and several wealthy businessmen with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin, as the United States struggled to forestall further Russian incursions into Ukraine.
Among those targeted were Sergei B. Ivanov, the president’s chief of staff; Gennady N. Timchenko, a billionaire investor with links to Mr. Putin; and Yuri V. Kovalchuk, whom the administration described as the personal banker for Russian leaders, including the president.
Mr. Obama also opened the door to more sweeping measures against core parts of the Russian economy, including the oil and natural gas industries, which account for much of Russia’s exports. He said the actions could disrupt the global economy, but might be necessary because of what he described as menacing movements by the Russian military near eastern and southern Ukraine....
Since the sanctions by President Obama because Russia continues to break international laws and invade and kill Ukraine, there have been additional sanctions on Russia by Congress as well. This was not a single act by a President, it was also backed by the USA Congress, too.
Enter stage right, Donald Trump, engaged in negotiations with Russia for a Trump Tower Moscow. He was securing a great deal of money from a bank sanctioned by the Russian government.
November 29, 2018
By David E. Sanger
...March 2016 (click here) was also when Mr. Trump brought into his campaign Paul Manafort, the longtime Republican lobbyist and strategist who had made millions of dollars advising and lobbying on behalf of the pro-Russia leader of Ukraine, Viktor F. Yanukovych. Mr. Manafort became the campaign’s chairman several months later.
The annexation of Crimea hardened anti-Putin sentiment among most Republicans. But from the start of his campaign in mid-2015, several months before prosecutors say his company began considering a deal in Russia, Mr. Trump departed from the normal Republican hard line about Russia, attacking President Barack Obama’s approach because it alienated a potential partner.
“I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin,” Mr. Trump said soon after announcing his run for the presidency. “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions.”
It was an unusual argument for a Republican candidate; the party had been instinctively anti-Soviet during the Cold War and deeply suspicious of Mr. Putin thereafter. So Mr. Trump’s position that sanctions were counterproductive — and harmed American interests — stood out from the start of the campaign, prompting many to question whether his interest in selling properties to rich Russians seeking to park their assets in the United States, or his efforts to build the tower in Moscow, explained his position....
That was Trump's position as a candidate and as the president. Trump UNDERSTOOD Putin better than anyone else in the world.
NO ONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND A LEADER OF A COUNTRY ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.
All the President of the USA needs to understand is the international laws broken and the role of the USA in enforcing protections of the international status of democracy INCLUDING the democracy, freedom and USA Constitution and it's Amendments and subsequent laws.
The USA institutes the "Rule of Law" within it's borders and "Rule of International Law" outside it's borders.
President Trump seems to be stuck in thinking the only issue before the country, due to his manner of conducting business, is that he didn't build the tower.
"W"rong!
Trump INVITED Russia to unleash it's power on the USA elections of 2016. And it did. THAT is the issue. The fact that he was negotiating with Russia for building a luxury tower in Moscow is very interesting, because, it was when the USA government had significant sanctions against Russia. And what a relief it must have been to have a USA billionaire wheeling and dealing to bring dearly needed business to Moscow in complete conflict of the role of the USA.
Trump has no respect for the role of the USA in the world and he still doesn't.
He is complaining the Mueller investigation is getting in the way of any relationship between Russia and the USA.
I BET IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dates of his lies are interesting. He was actively negotiating with Russia through his attorneys until July 2016. He never denied it before those dates.
The Hawaiian hot spot is still moving and contributing to the seismic activity of the Ring if Fire. There is some real damage to Anchorage. They are going to need some help. The roads alone are an issue.The Pacific Plate has been very active.
By Rachel D'oro
In this image (click here) courtesy of Dr. Holy A. Bell, books and ceiling tiles litter the floor at the The Mat-Su College library in Anchorage, Alaska
...Cracks could be seen (click here) in a two-story downtown Anchorage building. It was unclear whether there were injuries....
...People went back inside buildings after the first earthquake struck, but the 5.8 aftershock about five minutes later sent them running back into the streets....
In many ways, Alaska is a frontier and there can be people in the surrounding area that may have been affected. USGS would like to hear from people that FELT the quake so long as they can respond.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake (click here) struck north of Anchorage, Alaska on November 30, 2018 at 8:29 a.m. local time (17:29:28 UTC).
Visit the USGS event page for more information. For estimates of casualties and damage, visit the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) website.
If you felt this earthquake, report your experience on the “USGS Did You Feel It?” website for this event.
For information about tsunami watches, warnings or advisories, visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tsunami website.
The USGS operates a 24/7 National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado that can be reached for more information at 303-273-8500.
It is amazing the USA has this level of information almost instantly. The USGS does a really great job. The Big Lake Quake goes to Cook Inlet and all the way north to the Alaskan Range (mountains). There are some seismic activity that goes beyond the mountains.
2018-11-30 20:26:54 (UTC)
M 5.2 - 17km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska (click here)
Seismic activity surrounding Anchorage (click here)
There are a couple of volcanos in that region. Mount Redoubt is one of them. Mount Spurr is there, too. With a 7.0 quake followed by significant other quakes like the one at Big Lake requires an assessment of those mountains with a potential to eruption. AIRPLANE SAFETY. Just a brief look without an extensive assessment. Be careful.
I would suggest if there is even evidence of steam from those volcanos the airline paths need to be averted.
It is amazing the USA has this level of information almost instantly. The USGS does a really great job. The Big Lake Quake goes to Cook Inlet and all the way north to the Alaskan Range (mountains). There are some seismic activity that goes beyond the mountains.
2018-11-30 20:26:54 (UTC)
- 61.369°N 150.044°W
M 5.2 - 17km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska (click here)
Seismic activity surrounding Anchorage (click here)
There are a couple of volcanos in that region. Mount Redoubt is one of them. Mount Spurr is there, too. With a 7.0 quake followed by significant other quakes like the one at Big Lake requires an assessment of those mountains with a potential to eruption. AIRPLANE SAFETY. Just a brief look without an extensive assessment. Be careful.
I would suggest if there is even evidence of steam from those volcanos the airline paths need to be averted.
How many times and in how many ways does it have to be said to a party of gas lighters that Whitaker is not qualified to be Attorney General of the United States of American? He should not have a license to practice from the looks of it. Ignoring fraud is gross malpractice. He is not interested in protecting the public trust. He needs an ethics review by the Bar and possibly criminal neglect. He should pursue all those professional venues while Trump is still president and can issue him a pardon like Scooter Libby.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
A weak person
I don’t know what a weak person is; did he and Trump so to the gym together?
Weak person? He broke the law. Did he womanize like Trump?
I have no idea what a weak person is or does. How does one tell whether a person is weak or strong? Lifting dumbbells, maybe? Are Trump supporters weak people because he does all the thinking for them? I think that might be a weak person, one that can’t tell the truth from a lie. I think that must be the ultimate weak person. Living life as a lie. That is a very weak person.
Weak person? He broke the law. Did he womanize like Trump?
I have no idea what a weak person is or does. How does one tell whether a person is weak or strong? Lifting dumbbells, maybe? Are Trump supporters weak people because he does all the thinking for them? I think that might be a weak person, one that can’t tell the truth from a lie. I think that must be the ultimate weak person. Living life as a lie. That is a very weak person.
Russian spies, huh?
In case you missed this addition to the "Trump Collection." Trumpy Bear need not feel threatened with a gold 45 mm by his side.
November 27, 2018
By Lorraine Woellett
Revenue at the National Rifle Association (click here) fell by $54 million in 2017, a 15 percent decline that coincided with a record number of mass shootings in the U.S. and a rise in spending by gun-control groups.
The gun-rights group posted an even steeper drop in membership dues, which fell 22 percent, or $35 million, to a five-year low, according to documents the NRA filed with the Internal Revenue Service this month.
The group directed $27 million to its political arm, the Institute for Legislative Action (click here), down from 2016, a presidential election year in which the institute spent more than $76 million....
November 27, 2018By Lorraine Woellett
Revenue at the National Rifle Association (click here) fell by $54 million in 2017, a 15 percent decline that coincided with a record number of mass shootings in the U.S. and a rise in spending by gun-control groups.
The gun-rights group posted an even steeper drop in membership dues, which fell 22 percent, or $35 million, to a five-year low, according to documents the NRA filed with the Internal Revenue Service this month.
The group directed $27 million to its political arm, the Institute for Legislative Action (click here), down from 2016, a presidential election year in which the institute spent more than $76 million....
The USA needs to take a strong stand about the involvement in Yemen.
Crowned Prince Mohammed bin Salman has to be made to understand his decision is killing alot of children to be killed and starved. Just because they MIGHT be Shi'ite children gives him nor Trump the right to continue the war.
November 28, 2018
The US has "slammed the brakes on" a United Nations Security Council resolution (click here) calling for a limited ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid in Yemen over concerns about angering Saudi Arabia, two sources tell CNN.
The US has "slammed the brakes on" a United Nations Security Council resolution (click here) calling for a limited ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid in Yemen over concerns about angering Saudi Arabia, two sources tell CNN.
The reason for the delay continues to be a White House worry about angering Saudi Arabia, which strongly opposes the resolution, multiple sources say. CNN reported earlier this month that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, "threw a fit" when presented with an early draft of the document, leading to a delay and further discussions among Western allies on the matter....
Prostitution Today
November 29, 2018
By Shea Rhodes, Sarah Robinson and Jamie Pizzi
In October, (click here) Gov. Wolf signed a law to protect children from being arrested, charged, and adjudicated delinquent for prostitution. Known as a "SafeSubscribe to read more!
An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) (click here) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in human trafficking, further providing for definitions, providing for concurrent jurisdiction, repealing provisions relating to appropriate implementation for minor victims of human trafficking, providing for special relief to restore victim's dignity and autonomy and for safe harbor for sexually exploited children, establishing the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund and imposing penalties; and, in juvenile matters, providing for dependency in lieu of delinquency....
November 29, 2018
Camden -A man from Camden (click here) could spend the next 30 years in prison for running a sex-trafficking ring out of hotels in Pennsylvania.
A judge sentenced Dominic Roach to at least a decade behind bars.
According to prosecutors, Roach forced two drug addicts into prostitution and then took the money they made.
Prosecutors say the women had sex with customers for money in exchange, Roach provided them with drugs and let them keep a small amount of money.
He was convicted of 15 felonies.
November 29, 2018
By Alex Mester
Monroe — A former Monroe County district judge (click here) will serve time in prison for misconduct in office, related to hiring prostitutes.
Jarod Calkins, 41, of Carleton, Mich., pleaded guilty in September to four counts of misconduct in office following his March arrest. On Thursday he was sentenced in Monroe County Circuit Court and will serve between one and five years in prison, with no alternative programs allowed.
Calkins resigned in April after he was initially charged with one felony count of transporting a person for the purposes of prostitution as well as four misdemeanor counts of hiring women for the purpose of prostitution following an investigation by the Michigan State Police.
The investigation started after state police were told of “prostitution-related activities” at a Monroe Township hotel. Investigators learned a person matching Calkins’ description met women at the hotel for sex in exchange for money, according to a news release....
November 29, 2018
By Alex Newman
Arlington – The owner of an Arlington massage parlor (click here) was arrested Wednesday in connection with a large-scale human trafficking operation in greater Boston, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. Dan T. Zheng, 47, owner of Lisa Massage Therapy on Massachusetts Avenue, was arrested at Rose Health Spa in Boston Wednesday.
She was turned over to Arlington police to be arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and procuring support for prostitution, according to the DA's office.
Zheng also owns massage parlors in Stoneham and Dracut. Six female workers were found in the four spas after months of investigation....
November 29, 2018
The various societal crises affecting Belgium and Europe as a whole have had a strong impact on prostitution, Espace P…, a non-profit association that assists sex workers, noted on Thursday.The
By Shea Rhodes, Sarah Robinson and Jamie Pizzi
In October, (click here) Gov. Wolf signed a law to protect children from being arrested, charged, and adjudicated delinquent for prostitution. Known as a "SafeSubscribe to read more!
An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) (click here) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in human trafficking, further providing for definitions, providing for concurrent jurisdiction, repealing provisions relating to appropriate implementation for minor victims of human trafficking, providing for special relief to restore victim's dignity and autonomy and for safe harbor for sexually exploited children, establishing the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund and imposing penalties; and, in juvenile matters, providing for dependency in lieu of delinquency....
November 29, 2018
Camden -A man from Camden (click here) could spend the next 30 years in prison for running a sex-trafficking ring out of hotels in Pennsylvania.
A judge sentenced Dominic Roach to at least a decade behind bars.
According to prosecutors, Roach forced two drug addicts into prostitution and then took the money they made.
Prosecutors say the women had sex with customers for money in exchange, Roach provided them with drugs and let them keep a small amount of money.
He was convicted of 15 felonies.
November 29, 2018
By Alex Mester
Monroe — A former Monroe County district judge (click here) will serve time in prison for misconduct in office, related to hiring prostitutes.
Jarod Calkins, 41, of Carleton, Mich., pleaded guilty in September to four counts of misconduct in office following his March arrest. On Thursday he was sentenced in Monroe County Circuit Court and will serve between one and five years in prison, with no alternative programs allowed.
Calkins resigned in April after he was initially charged with one felony count of transporting a person for the purposes of prostitution as well as four misdemeanor counts of hiring women for the purpose of prostitution following an investigation by the Michigan State Police.
The investigation started after state police were told of “prostitution-related activities” at a Monroe Township hotel. Investigators learned a person matching Calkins’ description met women at the hotel for sex in exchange for money, according to a news release....
November 29, 2018
By Alex Newman
Arlington – The owner of an Arlington massage parlor (click here) was arrested Wednesday in connection with a large-scale human trafficking operation in greater Boston, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. Dan T. Zheng, 47, owner of Lisa Massage Therapy on Massachusetts Avenue, was arrested at Rose Health Spa in Boston Wednesday.
She was turned over to Arlington police to be arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and procuring support for prostitution, according to the DA's office.
Zheng also owns massage parlors in Stoneham and Dracut. Six female workers were found in the four spas after months of investigation....
November 29, 2018
The various societal crises affecting Belgium and Europe as a whole have had a strong impact on prostitution, Espace P…, a non-profit association that assists sex workers, noted on Thursday.The
sector has had gone through various migratory waves these last decades, it said, while the economic crisis in the late 2000s also had an impact on sex workers, some of whom are women who forced to work in the sex industry to survive financially.
Espace P… plans many activities in connection with the 30th anniversary of its creation.
The association, which is present in Wallonia and Brussels, notes that the economic and migrant crises, and armed conflicts that have wracked Europe in the past 30 years have had a marked effect on the sector.
“There have been many different waves of migrant men and women, which was already the case after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with women coming from Eastern Europe,” recalls Espace P… Coordinator Cécile Cheront. The war in Kosovo later led to an influx of Albanians, which went hand in hand with the arrival of mafias and human trafficking. Today it’s mainly Bulgarians and Rumanians who practice this occupation....
Two-thirds of drug related deaths are due to opiods.
The best place to look for effective programs are going to be the cities if they administer NARCAN.
By Lenny Bernstein
Life expectancy in the United States declined again in 2017, (click here) the government said in a bleak series of reports that showed a nation still in the grip of escalating drug and suicide crises.
The data continued the longest sustained decline in expected life span at birth in a century, an appalling performance not seen in the US since 1915 to 1918. That four-year period included WWI and a flu pandemic that killed 675,000 people in the United States and perhaps 50 million worldwide....
...Overall, Americans could expect to live 78.6 years at birth in 2017, down a tenth of a year from the 2016 estimate. Men could anticipate a life span of 76.1 years, down a tenth of a year from 2016. Life expectancy for women in 2017 was 81.1 years, unchanged from the previous year....January 11, 2018
By Martha Bebinger
In Massachusetts, (click here) where at least five men and women are dying from an opioid overdose every day, everyone tied to the epidemic is desperate for signs of hope.
They got some late last year, when state data showed an estimated 10 percent decrease in overdose deaths for the first nine months of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016.
But data, and conversations with doctors, suggest the opioid epidemic is getting worse, not better — at least in the state's largest city.
We offer the chart here with caveats: It's from Boston EMS and so doesn't capture all overdoses or deaths in Boston; the cause of death is not confirmed by a medical examiner; and the categories, such as "heroin mentioned," are based on observation by EMTs....
New York State: (click here)
City Drug related deaths in triple numbers
Albany 101
Bronx 461
Dutchess 176
Erie 377
Kings 621
Monroe 289
New York 534
Niagara 107
Onondaga 205
Orange 183
Queens 464
Richmond 248
Suffolk 823 - Long Island
Westchester 285
This was March, what happened to the rest of the year? Heck, this even reached into the Bronx. The raid didn't include prescription drugs. The raids aren't netting the killer, though. Police detectives might be looking in the wrong place to remove opioids off the street. Not that this is insignificant. I am glad for it, but, it isn't hitting the opioids.
March 25, 2018
One of the biggest drug trafficking networks in Suffolk County (click here) was taken down this weekend, police said, announcing the arrest of six people and seizure of large amounts of cash and drugs.
Officers raided four locations and seized $362,000 in cash, 3,250 grams of cocaine, 475 grams of heroin, 400 grams of crack and drug paraphernalia, Suffolk County police said. Four handguns were also seized.
Michael Fearon, 50, of Middle Island, was the ringleader, said District Attorney Timothy Sini. Fearon was arrested after a chase in which he crashed into two unmarked police cars, Sini said. No one was injured.
Fearon and Elius Cefarino Garcia Ovalles, 31, of the Bronx, were charged with operating as major traffickers. They face a slew of other charges, including criminal sale of a controlled substance and weapons charges....
August 23, 2018
East Patchogue, Suffolk County (click here) -- A suspected Suffolk County drug dealer is under arrest after he was linked to a deadly overdose.
Suffolk County police charged 28-year-old Anthony Legette of East Patchogue with selling drugs that contained fentanyl.
Investigators believe the drugs are behind the deadly heroin overdose of a person in Massapequa on Monday night.
He's charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal sale of a controlled substance....
"The Rules of Opioid Perscribing" (click here)
- Overdose rates from prescription opioids were highest among people aged 25 to 54 years.
- Overdose rates from prescription opioids were higher among non-Hispanic whites and American Indian or Alaskan Natives, compared to non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.
- The rate of overdose deaths from prescription opioids among men was 6.2 per 100,000 people and the rate among women was 4.3 in 2016.
The highest overdose death rates from prescription opioids were in West Virginia, Maryland, Maine, and Utah....
The prescribing name on the bottle. Why aren't the pharmacists acting on what they know? Pharmacists need to have a region data base at least. Patients can only go so far from home to fill the scripts.
October 12, 2018
Prosecutors (click here) unveiled charges on Thursday against five New York doctors, a pharmacist and associates for allegedly illegally distributing millions of oxycodone pills and fueling the nation's opioid addiction crisis.The prescribing name on the bottle. Why aren't the pharmacists acting on what they know? Pharmacists need to have a region data base at least. Patients can only go so far from home to fill the scripts.
October 12, 2018
The 10 defendants, arrested in raids across the US financial capital, were accused of conducting little or no examination of patients before prescribing the pills in exchange for hefty cash payments.
"They were drug dealers in white coats," said Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for Manhattan. "They hid behind their medical licenses to sell addictive, dangerous narcotics," he added.
One doctor with offices in the Bronx and Westchester was accused of issuing oxycodone prescriptions in exchange for thousands of dollars, expensive dinners, high-end whisky, cruises and all-expenses-paid trips.
Another, Dante Cubangbang, 50, and his associates at a clinic in Queens, allegedly prescribed more than six million oxycodone pills knowing that the recipients had no legitimate medical need for them....
The state medical societies need to monitor the scripts for opioids. It is the perscriber and the pharamacies negligence in "good practice." Nationally, the big pharmacies will have records of the drugs they sell. This is why there needs to be federal legislation to monitor the sale of this stuff. I would love to read the POLICIES instituted by pharmacy chains in regard to opioids. I bet they are a money maker.
Fentanyl is usually maintained in hospital supplies, HOWEVER, there are patches given to people with chronic pain as a prescription. However, patients will complain fentanyl patches are not as effective as the opioids. Which is odd because resistence to opioids occurs quicker than fentanyl patches.
I don't know, I never tried it, if the fentanyl patches can be manipulated to extract the fentanyl. Otherwise, the dealers are mixing this stuff up in their kitchens somewhere. What I don't understand is why we don't see more dead drug dealers that are using fentanyl laced opioids or heroine. The stuff is strong and only a very small amount is effective.
It is used in hospital for conscious sedation, so it is strong enough to put someone in a twilight sleep for a procedure. The patients are always monitored while under the drug, that is why the illegal stuff on the market doesn't make sense in a lot of ways. It is more the fentanyl than the opioids that are causing the deaths. I THINK. From the stand point of potency.
Autopsies should be performed on overdose victims for the purpose of determining drug and level of drug to achieve death.
September 26, 2018The state medical societies need to monitor the scripts for opioids. It is the perscriber and the pharamacies negligence in "good practice." Nationally, the big pharmacies will have records of the drugs they sell. This is why there needs to be federal legislation to monitor the sale of this stuff. I would love to read the POLICIES instituted by pharmacy chains in regard to opioids. I bet they are a money maker.
Fentanyl is usually maintained in hospital supplies, HOWEVER, there are patches given to people with chronic pain as a prescription. However, patients will complain fentanyl patches are not as effective as the opioids. Which is odd because resistence to opioids occurs quicker than fentanyl patches.
I don't know, I never tried it, if the fentanyl patches can be manipulated to extract the fentanyl. Otherwise, the dealers are mixing this stuff up in their kitchens somewhere. What I don't understand is why we don't see more dead drug dealers that are using fentanyl laced opioids or heroine. The stuff is strong and only a very small amount is effective.
It is used in hospital for conscious sedation, so it is strong enough to put someone in a twilight sleep for a procedure. The patients are always monitored while under the drug, that is why the illegal stuff on the market doesn't make sense in a lot of ways. It is more the fentanyl than the opioids that are causing the deaths. I THINK. From the stand point of potency.
Autopsies should be performed on overdose victims for the purpose of determining drug and level of drug to achieve death.
Katherine Hoover (click here) gave more than 335,000 opioid painkiller prescriptions under her name from December 2002 to January 2010 — meaning the West Virginia doctor wrote about 130 prescriptions per day, assuming she worked seven days a week.
But in a new story by Corky Siemaszko at NBC News, Hoover argued she did nothing wrong. “I prescribed narcotics to people in pain. I did everything I could to help people have a better life, which I told the FBI,” Hoover said. “Every prescription I wrote was justified for the person who had gotten it.”
That contradicts court records and what others closely involved with Hoover’s clinic told NBC News. According to them, the clinic was basically a for-profit pill mill — charging $450 in cash for first-time appointments, and the doctors often didn’t even see the patients to whom they were giving prescriptions.
Unlike some of the doctors and clinics that have been prosecuted during the opioid epidemic, Hoover wasn’t charged and convicted for the excess prescriptions. When the police raided her clinic in 2010 due to its excessive opioid prescribing, she went to the Bahamas (where she owns an island and reportedly hopes to start a nudist resort)....
There is a side of this we are missing. It has to be the perscribers and the pharmacies, otherwise, why aren't drug raids in a high death rate district in Long Island not finding opioids, other than heroine? Why aren't they finding the fentanyl, too?
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