The vigilance is not over.

January 4, 2019
By Pamela Pugh

...What is notable (click here) is the persistent austerity and paternalistic behavior that the MDEQ under the Snyder administration had clung to up until the end. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's first act in office was a commendable and strong first step in prioritizing the health and well-being of Michigan residents. On Wednesday, she issued a directive to require public workers to report threats to public health. 

Although the quality of water in Flint has improved, there is no safe level of lead to consume. And there is very little information about the pathogens residents were potentially exposed to and the resulting long-term health effects.

After four years, residents still live with the devastation of what was and what is and are left wondering if they will ultimately have to live with some level of contamination and without being made whole.

“Flint has not moved into a post-disaster phase because there continues to be problematic events that extend the impacts of the Water Crisis," wrote Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, co-project director for the Flint ReCAST (Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma) Initiative....

January 2, 2019
By Paul Egan

Lansing – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, (click here) in a response to the Flint water crisis and more recent concerns about drinking water quality, signed an executive directive Wednesday requiring state employees to immediately report to their bosses any threat to public health or safety.

The directive requires department directors to immediately investigate whether the concern is a valid one and take further actions to mitigate or eliminate the threat if they determine it is valid. That includes reporting the threat to the state's chief compliance officer if agency officials don't have the resources to address it on their own.

"This executive directive will ensure that our government works for the people of our state," Whitmer said.

The directive goes further than a letter former Gov. Rick Snyder sent state employees in 2016, near the height of the Flint drinking water crisis, but it doesn't set out penalties for violations....

Governor Whitmer was absolutely correct in issuing the law to COMPEL individual workers that protect the public health to act quickly and without hesitation. In turn when a supervisor is notified he or she are supposed to act to protect the public and begin the process of finding the cause and the remedy. Of course such actions require funding if not a simple fix, but, the public will be protected from toxins. 

I would hope a public notice would be issued when such a problem is first discovered and confirmed.

Part 127 of Act 368 of 1978 (Statute) (click here)
PUBLIC HEALTH CODE (EXCERPTS)
STATUTE

Act 368 of 1978

The current law as noted above does not compel workers to act when a potential danger to the public is realized. It provides for the formation of a commission to investigate any problem within the interest of the well being of the public. There is a section in that law providing for fines when violations are realized.

333.12715  Violation as misdemeanor; penalties; prosecution.

Sec. 12715. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who violates sections 12701 to 12714, a rule or the construction code promulgated under section 12714, or an order issued by the department or local health department under sections 12701 to 12714 is guilty of a misdemeanor.

      (2) A member of the advisory board who intentionally violates section 12713(2) shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, as ;amended.

      (3) The attorney general or local prosecuting attorney shall be responsible for prosecuting a person who violates sections 12701 to 12715.

                                                   History:  1978, Act 368, Eff. Sept. 30, 1978.

The statute has been law since 1978. The only reason Governor Whitmer wrote this new law was because of the blatant disregard of ethics and human dignity by Governor Snyder in his ruthless approach to his Emergency Manager Law.

It says a lot about the time we live in when elected government officials look for words in law that will weaken it's meaning and allow danger to the well being of the public. In the case of Governor Snyder he did not feel compelled to act when there was an obvious danger to human health in Flint, but, instead valued the US Dollar over the Citizen. Since Flint was having economic troubles, resolving those financial issues came first and human health second.

We saw the value system of Republican Governor Snyder when GM complained about rusting engines due to exposure to Flint River Water. The Public Health Code, at the time, did not COMPEL him to act to protect the health of the people of Flint. His Emergency Manager Law passed by his Republican Majority Legislature and signed by him into law took precedent over the health of the people of Flint.

Now, why would any reasonable man elected Governor not make the connection between a rotting engine exposed to Flint River Water and human beings?

NO ONE EXPECTED AN ELECTED GOVERNOR TO BE THIS BLATANTLY UNETHICAL. NO ONE. WHAT SNYDER DID WAS UNTHINKABLE, YET IN THE NAME OF "FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY" HE NOT ONLY THOUGHT THE UNTHINKABLE HE ACTED IN A WAY THAT WAS UNTHINKABLE.

Governor Whitmer has fixed the problem FOR NOW. The people of Michigan still need a watchdog to insure the majority Republican State House and Senate doesn't pass a law to negate the intentions of the original law or that of Governor Whitmer. 

January 1, 2019
By Paul Egan

...Here are five things Whitmer said during her inaugural address: (click here)

Working together: "Let’s fix our roads, and be the state that’s not paralyzed by partisanship, but works together. And create the blueprint for rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. Let’s show the rest of the country how to solve America’s literacy crisis, and show them what good government actually looks like."

Closing the skills gap: "Many will question whether we can protect our families and bolster our economy by fixing those damn roads. They may not believe we have the ingenuity to solve the literacy crisis. And no doubt, some are betting against our ability to close the skills gap. But we are up to it, Michigan."

Shared future: "We have always defied the odds.  And we are going to do it again, together. We are going to prove that our shared future is more powerful than the issues that divide us."

Building bridges, not walls: "At a time when too many people want to separate us by building walls, we here in Michigan are going to get back to building bridges together. The story of the Mackinac Bridge reminds us that we can do great things when we work together."

Her victory: "I’m here because, over the past year, the people of Michigan showed up. At town halls, at rallies, and in record numbers on Election Day. I am so grateful that you did. But our work is just beginning. That’s why, today, I’m asking you to keep showing up."...

Expect to be concerned for the new Governor's priorities, the water of Michigan and the well being of the people. The vigilance is more important than ever and any violation of the PUBLIC TRUST should be reported as the individuals in the State House and Senate that feel free to disregard ethics and the well being of the people and their water.

Flint is a dramatic example of the leverage money carries when it is considered an equivalent or in the case of Snyder, more important than the citizen.

The Supreme Court is dead wrong!

Money or corporations are not a citizens.

I think the governors of the states along the southern USA border have clear ideas as to the best solution for their state. Texas would lose a great deal of land to federal authority and I know that bothers Texans more than most of the other southern states.

While I believe the federal government has authority to protect the country, there is the issue of States Rights. We have been here under President Obama and then Governor Perry opted for 1000 National Guard troops. That is an option, however, the influx were children that had ridden on trains from the Northern Triad. The children were completely unarmed. 

So, there are options and if the US House wants a comprehensive look at what each state needs along all USA borders, then perhaps ask the 50 governors and the provinces what needs to be done. The territories will probably send letters discussing the Climate Crisis and what they are facing to secure the safety of their people.

I think a lot can be done, but, I really think a concensus from all the states and territories is the place to begin. New York State frequently cites it’s ports and the I-95 corridor when it comes to drugs. Let the ideas flow.

Why not put fences around entire towns you lousy bunch of communists!

EVIDENCE of demonstrations regarding the cuts to Russian pensions have been somewhat ongoing when a report can be found. Most of the media reports have stopped as of September. YET, RT carries demonstrations from any country where they exist nearly daily. Where are the Russian demonstrations and the promotion of the people demonstrating within Russia?

Oh, I forgot, Putin is the world's most powerful man that is going to save us all.


10 January 2019

Police officers detain a demonstrator in Moscow's Pushkin Square. May 5, 2018

Article 31 of the Russian Constitution (click here) states that citizens of the Russian Federation “shall have the right to assemble peacefully.” However, when protests are not approved by local authorities, those who join them can face arrest, professional consequences, and even criminal charges. The anti-corruption protests that swept Russia on March 26 and June 12, 2017, as well as the Voters’ Boycott marches of January 28, 2018, largely fell into this category of “unsanctioned” demonstrations, and hundreds of people were detained by police during each event. According to the media project OVD-Info, which reports on and combats political persecution in Russia, the process by which local governments approve or reject public gatherings remained until very recently an almost total secret—one that allowed authorities to maintain control over “how a public event proceeds, how the media covers different gatherings, and sometimes even the fates of those who participate in protests.” Natalya Smirnova and Denis Shedov of OVD-Info recently released a 75-page investigative report in Russian detailing the inconsistent norms and frequent pitfalls that await protest organizers at every stage of that process. We at Meduza read the report so you don’t have to....

I knew it, I knew it. Russia still yet again.

Now that Russian agents have gone to the internet to harness the potential to cause internal strife, it is easy to see. France is not normally this violent. When these issues occur it can be anything from an increase in college tuition or in this case a tax on fossil fuels.

The demonstrations have become incrementally more violent to the point where demonstrators attempted to ride motorcycles to defeat police. They have been trying to assault the French equivalent of the White House. They want to get their hands on President Macron. I am waiting to see government tanks rolling in the streets of Paris as the violence ratchets up.

I wish President Macron and his government well in their allowance of demonstrations while attempting to return Paris and France to a peaceful countryside.

December 14, 2019

By Claire Berlinski

It's no surprise foreign observers (click here) have a difficult time separating the truth about France’s Gilets Jaunes protests from the tide of online misinformation and deliberate disinformation about them when the same is true for French citizens themselves. Four out of every five tweets I’ve seen myself are misleading or false.

I assume most people are passing on this nonsense unwittingly. But there is a significant contingent doing it on purpose.

In France, militants from both the far right and far left are attempting to harness what started as an authentic protest movement to serve their own ends. Many of the online supporters of the Gilets Jaunes, the Yellow Vests – demonstrators named after the reflective jackets worn as an identifying uniform - are either deliberately lying or genuinely unable to distinguish lies from the truth....

It doesn't matter the reason, even if the email stated "Reply All." It happened and the reason is irrelevant.

There is underhanded dealing everywhere AND it all involves Russia's sanctions due to it's highly international illegal (treaty violations) invasion into Ukraine. The sanctions work, otherwise, Russia would not be moaning and groaning so much.

9 November 2018
by Peter Stone

A Russian man (click here) who is said to have ties to Moscow’s intelligence services will be receiving renewed scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian 2016 election interference, according to former federal prosecutors.

Mueller is investigating Konstantin Kilimnik with assistance from three Kilimnik associates, including Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who mentored Kilimnik as a political operative for pro-Kremlin figures in Ukraine.

Kilimnik, an elusive 48-year-old, has already been charged by Mueller with witness tampering. His most recent business partner has been charged with illegally funneling $50,000 from a wealthy Ukrainian into Trump’s inauguration fund.

Kilimnik was also caught up in Manafort’s apparent intentions in 2016 to use his position at Trump’s side to settle multimillion-dollar debts claimed by their ex-client Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president....

There was conflict of interest everywhere and they thought no one would notice. Amazing.

Trump obviously believes dealing with communist oligarchs is the way forward for his administration in Ukraine. Trump's Treasury Secretary is facilitating the deception. I suppose it is time Munchkin and Trump pay Putin's piper.

Ukraine is not yet NATO. (click here)

...The U.S. ambassador in Budapest, David Cornstein, told a parliamentary committee that Hungary could do more to “prioritize alliances” at a time when he said Russia posed a renewed threat to Ukraine and to Europe....

That's interesting, Munchkin provides relief for Russians and Putin violates the ceasefire and shells Ukraine for over 24 hours. No Ukrainians were injured, however, one of the Donbas militants was killed and two others were wounded.

11 January 2019

...Over the past day, (click here) January 10, Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire three times, opening fire at the Ukrainian military. At the same time, on one occasion, Russian proxies used weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Staff reported on Facebook Friday morning. "The enemy opened fire from 82mm mortars and large-caliber machine guns at positions of the Ukrainian military near the village of Zhovte on the Luhansk line, from grenade launchers of various types, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms – in the area of Vodiane and Pavlopil in the Mariupol direction," the report says....

...Recall that on January 9, pro-Russian militants twice violated the ceasefire in Donbas.

January 10, 2019
By Kenneth P. Vogel, Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Julia Mendel

An image posted to Facebook on Jan. 21, 2017, shows Serhiy Kivalov, a lawmaker from Ukraine, attending the Liberty Ball, part of Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

...How active a role Mr. Flynn (click here) played in the discussions about a peace plan for Ukraine is unclear, but congressional investigators have been pursuing whether he or his former business partners might have gained financially if the sanctions on Russia were ended.

The committee, whose chairman is Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, is continuing to pursue its investigation of Mr. Flynn’s business dealings and “his potential misuse of his public position when he was national security adviser,” a committee spokeswoman said.

In 2017, a whistle-blower told committee investigators that Mr. Flynn had mentioned to a business associate around the time of the inauguration that the Russia sanctions would be “ripped up” as one of the administration’s first acts. Mr. Flynn believed that ending the sanctions could allow a business project he had once participated in to move forward, according to the whistle-blower....

Trump Will 'Definitely' Declare A National Emergency, 'Probably' (click here for Truman Library Reference - thank you)

The sign "The Buck Stops Here" that was on President Truman's desk in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred A. Canfil, then United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to the President on October 2, 1945.

This is gross negligence by Congress. End the open emergencies that are causing chaos, especially with the USA military.

Emergency provisions are too open ended. The old ones must be terminated to bring about the people's understanding of government actions.

Congress can terminate the status of these emergencies. End those completely which empower the USA military to war.

The President authorizes "States of Emergency" all the time when a state requests it after a hurricane, etc.

The Stafford Act (click here)

The federal government uses the Stafford Act of 1988 to respond to disasters that are less than national in scope but still call for federal relief. The act authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate with and deliver aid to state or local governments overwhelmed by disasters or emergencies. It works according to a two-step process.

This is such nonsense by Trump. He is CAMPAIGNING on the people's tax dollars.

Immunity and Liability Issues (click here)

The national emergency provisions of the NEA do not address liability issues or provide any immunity. The act could be used to activate emergency authorities in other federal statutes that provide immunity during emergency events.

National Emergencies (click here - many still open)

December 8, 2017

By Catherine Padhi

...All presidential authority (click here) is derived from either the Constitution or an act of Congress. As our Constitution contains no general emergency powers provision, presidents must look to Congressional acts for the authority to act beyond the normal limits of their powers. By 1973, Congress had enacted over 470 statutes granting the president special powers in times of crisis. These powers would lay dormant until the president declared a state of emergency, at which point all would become available for his use. And at the time, the president could declare an emergency as he alone saw fit: no procedures or rules constrained his discretion.

On Dec. 16, 1950, President Harry S. Truman declared a state of emergency in response to Korean hostilities. But the emergency didn't end with the war. By 1972, it was still in effect (and being used to wage war in Vietnam), so the U.S. Senate convened a special committee to investigate. The committee discovered three other active emergencies, each of which independently gave the president access to the entire set of emergency powers. According to the committee’s 1973 report, the crisis provisions together “confer[red] enough authority to rule the country without reference to normal constitutional process.”...

US Code (click here)

STATUTORY LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES 1130(3) (click here) (also known as National Emergency Act)

of a joint resolution or bill to amend or repeal its provisions (P.L. 98–

119, Sept. 29, 1983, p. 26493). The 98th Congress provided for expedited consideration in the Senate of bills or joint resolutions requiring the removal of U.S. forces engaged in hostilities outside U.S. territory without a declaration of war (P.L. 98–164, 97 Stat. 1062). Those procedures appear in section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (P.L.

94–329; 90 Stat. 765). In the 102d and 107th Congresses the President was granted specific authority within the meaning of section 5(b) of the Act to use U.S. armed forces (P.L. 102–1; P.L. 107–40; P.L. 107–243).

As of January 2019, (click here) 58 national emergencies have been invoked since the Act was enacted in 1976, with 31 of them having been renewed annually and remaining in effect as far back as 1979. On 6 March 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama, invoked, inter alia, the National Emergencies Act, and signed an executive order that declared a national emergency and ordered sanctions, including travel bans and the freezing of U.S. asset, against not-yet-specified individuals, later to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury (in consultation with the Secretary of State) who had "asserted governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine" and whose actions were found, inter alia, to "undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine". Donald Trump has kept in place the states of emergency put in place by his predecessors.

Name recognition, ladies.

Everyone said, "Barak, who?" Yet by November of 2008, Barak Hussein Obama was the favorite at the ballot box. I think his rise to the presidency is fascinating and a real study for those seeking the office in 2020.

January 11, 2019
By Lee Moran

Will she or won’t she? (click here)

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) did nothing to dampen speculation over whether she’ll run for president in 2020 on Thursday’s broadcast of “The Late Show.”

“I might,” the laughing former attorney general of California teased host Stephen Colbert.

“That’s it. Alright, there you go,” host Stephen Colbert replied. “There’s your headline right there.”

Harris ― who was promoting her new book The Truths We Hold: An American Journey ― refused to be speculate on reports that she will announce her candidacy on Martin Luther King Day.

Special Council Robert Mueller doesn't need an interpreter.

January 11, 2019

CNN's Pamela Brown (click here) reports that the White House is beefing up its in-house legal team to prepare to fight the possible release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.

Letter appointing Robert Mueller to the Special Council (click here)

The White House is welcome to issue their own findings, but, any tampering with the Special Council's investigation will be viewed as treason by most Americans.

The Former Director of the FBI Robert Mueller was charged with a duty by the people of the United States of America. He was to take it seriously and carry out the law.

There are consequences if there is tampering by the White House of any of the findings of the investigation.

Hate is no longer fashionable.

11 January 2019
By Max Koslowski

...Reclaim Australia (click here) – the series of rallies in 2015 that turned out thousands of anti-immigrant, anti-Islam “patriots” – saw Cottrell as the next golden child. And so did Cottrell. One researcher says he views himself as the “sexy Fuhrer”: a muscular, blond, articulate leader who has said Jews are “a much deadlier enemy than the violent Islamic pillagers”, and that to keep women in line you should “crack them around the ear every once in a while”.

But in his three-year tenure as de facto leader of Australia’s far-right, the "sexy Fuhrer" has failed. The movement has dramatically weakened since its Reclaim Australia days – something that could have been predicted from watching Burgess’ resignation video three years ago.

“I won’t be making videos and I’m taking down my page,” he said, before adding: “Now it’s not because of media, it’s not because of death threats from Islam - even though I’ve received many of those.

"It’s because of the dumb f---ing patriots out there.”...

...Despite his best efforts, the wildly different strands of far-right Australia refused to cooperate. Since Reclaim Australia, the single biggest ideological clash in far-right circles has been whether to be pro or anti-Israel. Some nationalists celebrate Israel, believing it sets a precedent for the emergence of other single-ethnicity states, while others find more ammunition by blaming Jews for faults in the economy and media....

Two extremes of a healthy democracy in Australia. When it comes to leadership, civility always wins. Democracies work best when all voices are heard and the people lean toward social order and international peace.

12 January 2019
By Deborah Snow and Alexandra Smith

...Daley’s father John (click here) came from dairy farming stock and he says he was taught from childhood to “treat animals as individuals”. “It's a respect for life - I think that's where the fish come from. I like living things, I like creatures, I like the environment.”

One suspects it takes a particular kind of patience to keep fish alive for two decades – the same patience, perhaps, that allows you to bide your time to become party leader, having played bridesmaid or runner-up for close to eight years....

...“I’m not the sort of person who got in to public life to be leader,” he told the Herald this week. “I [didn’t] wake up every day yearning to be the leader of the party, never have. I’ve always thought that if I was good enough, and the colleagues wanted me, I’d put my hand up. I’ve had reasonable success in life just being me, and I’m going to continue to be me.”

He cites Paul Keating’s philosophy that “when you get into public life, you jump on your bike and you pedal like buggery. I’ve always had that view - work as hard as you can and merit should take you as far as you can go.”...

Pedophile. Another Elizabeth Smart, but, this time the parents were killed.

The parents probably knew the killer. That is why they are dead. The killer would have been quickly identified and probably was known to have an affection for Jayme.

January 11, 2019
By Haley BeMiller

Green Bay – A missing 13-year-old girl (click here) was found alive Thursday nearly three months after her parents were found shot to death in their Wisconsin home, authorities say.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald announced that Jayme Closs was located Thursday afternoon by officials in Gordon, a town of fewer than 1,000 people in northwestern Wisconsin. A suspect was taken into custody shortly after, Fitzgerald said. 

Fitzgerald said no further details are available at this time, citing a “fluid” and active investigation. 

A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. CST Friday at the Barron County Sheriff’s Department....

Interesting new study indicates people identify with who they are in their work, not just the paycheck.

11 January 2019
By James Adonis

The beginning of a new year, for many people, is accompanied by a resolution to find a new job.

Often, a driver of that job-seeking ambition can be attributed to the fact they perceive their current work as unnecessary – a useless set of duties and responsibilities – a job that, were they to resign, wouldn’t need to be replaced, although it almost certainly would be.

A massive new study, which encompasses more than 100,000 employees across 47 countries over almost three decades, reveals a number of startling statistics. One of these, for example, is that nearly one-in-ten workers think their job is socially useless. This is especially true of Australians who significantly outrank the Kiwis and the Yanks in regards to job uselessness.

The findings, published this month in Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society (click here), also disclose that people in the private sector are far more likely than those in the public sector to believe their job serves no valuable purpose: 11 per cent versus 3 per cent....