February 18, 2020
By Ann Pierret

Flint - The Capitol Theatre, (click here) Ferris Wheel Building and Mott Community College Culinary Arts Teaching Facility were all funded by taxpayer money intended to help Flint recover from the water crisis.

At least that’s what the Flint Emergency Appropriations and Expenditures spreadsheet says. This is the report ABC12 first reported about in January.

"I’m gonna just smile because stuff like that like that makes me angry," one resident said.

Adding up the numbers -- $46,382,475 was spent on economic development in the city of Flint beginning in 2016, when the water crisis was declared an emergency.

The money was dished out to both the Michigan Strategic Fund and Michigan Economic Development Corp. and then they passed it on.

Going line by line …

The Michigan Strategic Fund gave $5.5 million to the Capitol Theatre Project. The reason listed: "support for Capitol Theatre renovation" and "creation of 82 jobs."

The report also shows the MSF gave $3 million to iSource Worldwide and SkyPoint Ventures for the "creation of 100 jobs," along with $5.7 million to C3 Venture Flint, LLC for the "creation of 380 jobs."...

...Once again, the he claimed former Gov. Rick Snyder's administration used their Flint Water Expenditures website to dupe people into thinking more was being done for Flint's recovery than Ananich said the former governor actually did.

"This is the point I made early on and throughout the time of Governor Snyder's term -- this is a public health crisis, not a PR crisis for his reputation. And that document I think, further shows it was all about PR for them," Ananich said....

While on the subject of quality of life, Trump intends for his to be lavish, but, he intends nothing lavish to SSD recipients.

SSD recipients paid for their insurance no different than seniors. Enough of this victimization in exchange for the feel good feelings perverted Americans receive when kicking the disabled. I would think the disabled is the last place anyone would look before raiding the USA Treasury for a border wall.

February 21, 2020
By Sean Williams

It's that time of the year again, folks... and no, I'm not talking about tax season. (click here)

The first quarter of every calendar year is traditionally when a sitting president will release their federal budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year (a federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and begins on Oct. 1). Although presidential budget proposals often prove to be nothing more than talking points, with the actual spending bills passed by Congress rarely mirroring what the president suggested, one aspect of Trump's latest budget proposal has people talking.

In Trump's fiscal 2021 budget, he calls for a reduction in outlays to the Social Security program of $24 billion over the next decade. More than half of these savings would be derived from changes made to Social Security's Disability Insurance (SSDI) program.

The president's proposed "cut" to Social Security is of special concern to the 9.9 million people who received an SSDI benefit check last month. Of these 9.9 million people, almost 8.4 million are disabled workers, many of whom are reliant on the $1,258 a month that the program pays, on average. 

This proposal also comes after President Trump promised not to touch any of the entitlement programs, which includes Social Security, while on the campaign trail in 2015 and 2016....

Great Britain has a "Horse Welfare Board."

Do you have to have a Queen to have humane treatment of animals? Or have them esteemed by a society?

February 21, 2020
By Jason Hanna and Stella Chan

A 4-year-old horse was euthanized (click here) Thursday at California's Santa Anita Park after suffering a fracture in training, becoming at least the seventh horse to die at the famed complex in 2020 and eighth of its racing season....

I suggest insurance fraud. Many horses are insured for their value. Not every horse can run a good race, but, the horse doesn't know that and will run to end their life to satisfy their trainers, owners and jockeys. It needs to be investigated beyond the fact the horses were euthanized for humane reasons. 

Do you know in the University of Pennsylvania has a horse hospital called the New Bolton Center (click here). They even set broken legs for horses. I thought any sincere race horse is valued for their genetic contribution to the breed. It makes little sense to write off the losses if there was no sincere effort to assess, protect and recover a horse. There is something very wrong here.

The New Bolton Center even has a field serve that makes house calls.

The William Boucher Field Service (click here) at New Bolton Center provides routine and emergency health care for equine and food animal clients. The group's specialists offer preventative health care, reproductive services, evaluation and treatment of lameness, medical and surgical disorders, on-farm diagnostic services, and emergency services. 

We are a fully equipped ambulatory practice that services all equids, cattle, and some small ruminants. Our goal is to care for our client’s animals with expert knowledge, state-of-the-art equipment, and compassion while providing clinical training to veterinary students. We strive to bring the best of primary and emergency care to our patients.

What is the issue with the dead horses? Seems like poor management from the time they are born. It isn't right. I just isn't right.

February 21, 2020
By Graham Dench

The New Market Stallion (click here) - Large sculpture depicting a stallion, rearing up beside its handler.

An ambitious and innovative five-year plan (click here) drawn up by the Horse Welfare Board with "respect for the horse" at the heart of it has received a broad welcome from racing's often divided interests.

In what is being described as a pivotal moment for racing, the 130-page document, released Feb. 20 and titled "A Life Well Lived," proposes a strategic five-year plan for the welfare of horses bred for racing and commits to a lifetime of responsibility, measuring quality of life and well-being from birth to death and making use of unprecedented data to minimize injury and manage safety....

In Great Britain, former race horses still live on to enjoy a purpose other than running.

During her visit, she was reunited with two of her former racehorces, Quadrille and Barbers Shop


Imagine that, actually remembering the good ole days with a four legged friend. It is called quality of life.

February 21, 2020
By Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc

Roaring, or laryngeal hemiplegia, (click here) describes a condition in horses in which one side of the larynx (voice box) becomes paralyzed. Thoroughbreds and draft horses are more commonly affected, with reports suggesting up to 64% and 42% of those breeds, respectively, have varying degrees of hemiplegia.

“Because the paralyzed side of the larynx droops down into the airway of exercising horses, these animals produce a characteristic ‘roaring’ sound, prompting further evaluation,” said Ali Broyles, DVM, Dipl. ACVS (Large Animal), currently with Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, in Weatherford, Texas. “The test of choice is endoscopy, which involves passing a camera through the nasal passages to directly view the back of the throat and larynx.”

Based on what a veterinarian observes during that endoscopic examination, a grading system introduced in 2003 helps categorize horses based on degree of paralysis. A grade of I describes horses with no abnormalities. Those with a maximum grade of IV have complete paralysis of laryngeal components, including the arytenoid cartilages and vocal folds.

“The treatment goal for horses diagnosed as roarers is to open the airways, ensuring the arytenoid cartilages and vocal folds no longer droop,” said Broyles....

...Key findings Broyles reported include:

• Horses with Grade III.2 and III.3 had a 1.83 times higher chance of returning to racing than horses with Grade IV;
• Horses with Grade IV required more time to return to racing compared to the Grade III horses; and,
• Grade of laryngeal hemiplegia didn’t influence a horse’s average postoperative race earnings.

There are just some things related to capitalism that require regulation.

Remember this guy? He has been working really hard donating to all kinds of charities to improve his image.

I am sure he was rooting for Roger Stone.

February 20, 2020
By Jordan Frias

New England Patriots (click here) owner Robert Kraft is expected to be back in a courtroom in Florida within the next few months.

An appeals court agreed to hear arguments from both sides in the case against Kraft in regards to a prostitution sting at a massage parlor in Florida last year, court records show.

Kraft is accused of soliciting prostitution from the Orchids of Asia Day Spa and is facing misdemeanor charges stemming from a raid of that spa last year, prosecutors say.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Kraft and other men paying for sex acts during a massage session.

Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Yep.

Even in China the press was fascinated with the ease of meeting with an impeached president.

Li Yang (front) (click here) snaps a selfie with US President Donald Trump at a Super Bowl watching party held at the president’s West Palm Beach country club on February 3.


That is not Melania in that picture either. Trump entire "entourage in life" stinks. Jeffery Epstein would fit in well at these bashes. It must be a guy thing, right? No? Oh, not all guys like what Trump did? I suppose not.

We have been here before.

September 9, 2019

U.S. and Taliban representatives (click here) spent months negotiating peace and American withdrawal from Afghanistan. But after canceling meetings in the U.S., President Trump says the talks are dead. Why did they collapse, and what are the prospects for ending the country’s decades of violence and chaos? Judy Woodruff talks to Laurel Miller, former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan....

I take it the Taliban still haven't made it to the Oval Office for that photo-op and the sweetheart deal, huh?

...Laurel Miller:

They don't have to be dead. It's a question of whether the U.S. has the will to restart the talks.

Some of the statements that have been made by Secretary Pompeo, in particular, have indicated some openness to restarting the talks, and the Taliban has likewise. It's hard to know how to interpret President Trump's latest statements that sound more definitive, given that he has changed his mind on similar issues in the past....

It would seem the talks were restarted from the Trump graveyard (click here). The question no one asks of Pompeo is, "Did you tell Trump to shut up about the peace deal?"

...The scope and prospects of any renewed negotiations remained unclear, and White House officials gave few details beyond Mr. Trump’s sudden revelation. On the flight to Afghanistan, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, had insisted that the secret trip was “truly about Thanksgiving and supporting the troops” and “nothing about the peace process” with the Taliban....

Did he or didn't he, only Putin knows for sure.

How much is Pompeo and how much is Putin kicking the USA out of the region for mining of it's wealth. (click here)

September 11, 2019
By Samual Ramani 

Over the weekend, (click here) the prospects of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban seemed to fall apart. That is a major setback, since it will likely delay a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and could lead to an escalated Taliban offensive on Afghan government-held territories. But one player—Russia—might benefit.

In an otherwise dark period for U.S.-Russian relations, Afghanistan seemed to have recently emerged as a rare bright spot for bilateral cooperation. After a visit to Moscow in May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described achieving a “reduction in violence” in Afghanistan as a shared interest of the United States and Russia. Dialogue between U.S. and Russian officials on Afghanistan, which was largely frozen after the collapse of the Northern Distribution Network—a rail network passing through Russia that supplied U.S. forces—in 2015 is now commonplace. Russia had even offered to act as a guarantor for any future U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. Although such a deal now seems to be off the table, Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, stated that he believes U.S.-Taliban peace talks are “suspended” but not “dead,” and he announced Moscow’s plans to consult with the United States on the future of the negotiations....

See, most Americans don't know that Afghanistan is now a proxy war with Russia.

23 May 2018

The Chairman of the Afghan Senate, (click here) Upper House of the Parliament (Wolesi Jirga), Fazal Hadi Muslimyar strongly reacted at the remarks of Zamir Kabulov, the special envoy of President Vladimir Putin.

Calling the remarks of Kabulov as shameful and silly, Muslimyar said he strongly condemns the remarks of Kabulov and called on the ministry of foreign affairs to summon the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan to lodge a strong protest in this regard.

Mulsimyar further added that Russia along with the other countries are interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and support the Taliban to kill the innocent Afghan civilians and destroy the public welfare projects....

...The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has urged for the launch of direct talks between US and Taliban in a bid to end the ongoing violence.

He has warned that the US refusal to talk with the group would lead to persistent war and bloodshed for many years in Afghanistan, according to Bloomberg.

Russia backs the deaths of innocent people in order to continue the war and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a stable democracy in the region. The USA has been an ally to Afghanistan before when it was not a war torn country. Afghanistan's mountains were of interest to Americans and scientists alike. The Afghan infrastructure was once compliments of the USA. That was before the fall of the King, Mohammad Zahir Shah (click here), and the rise of the Taliban with the help of Osama bin Laden. The King came back briefly to endorse the new Karzi government that was seated after the USA invasion of 2001.

Nice, right? I mean human beings in Afghanistan are simply trying to live their lives in some of the most remote areas of the world and Russia plays with their lives to stir up anti-American and anti-Afghanistan governments. Karzai was no saint by the time he left office, but, he was far better than the Taliban. 

To some extent the Taliban stand on their own. I believe they have the ancient technology to make guns, but, they can't really conduct war without efforts from Russia.

So, in order for Pompeo to deliver the goods for Trump's re-election he had to stop over in Russia and ask pretty please. 

Russia has no intentions of ending violence in Afghanistan because it serves it's purpose. 

January 29, 2019
By Peter Baker

Washington - One day in October 1979, (click here) an American diplomat named Archer K. Blood arrived at Afghanistan’s government headquarters, summoned by the new president, whose ousted predecessor had just been smothered to death with a pillow.

While the Kabul government was a client of the Soviet Union, the new president, Hafizullah Amin, had something else in mind. “I think he wants an improvement in U.S.-Afghan relations,” Mr. Blood wrote in a cable back to Washington. It was possible, he added, that Mr. Amin wanted “a long-range hedge against over-dependence on the Soviet Union.”

Mr. Blood’s newly published cable sheds light on what really drove the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan only two months after his meeting with Mr. Amin. Spoiler alert: It was not because of terrorism, as claimed this month by President Trump, who said the Soviets were right to invade. Among the real motivations, the cable and other documents suggest, was a fear that Afghanistan might switch loyalties to the West.

“This was a key moment that raised the Soviet sense of threat,” said Thomas S. Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive, a research organization at George Washington University that recently obtained the cable through the Freedom of Information Act and posted it online on Tuesday. “It’s a fascinating case study of the necessity in all of these international affairs of putting yourself in the other guy’s place — what does it look like over there?”...

So, the peace plan Pompeo is touting is only Part One. It is not a complete and lasting peace plan. Trump needs to "see how it goes." But, the US peace plan is a direct result of talks with Russia. The agreement is with the Taliban. It is unclear if the Afghanistan government is actually backing this mess.

February 21, 2020
By Robbie Gramer

...What remains unclear (click here) is whether the peace negotiations to follow will make the current Afghan government a full partner, an issue that has long been a sticking point, as the Taliban refuse to formally recognize Kabul’s authority. Once the agreement is signed on Feb. 29, Pompeo said, “Intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon thereafter, and will build on this fundamental step to deliver a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and the future political roadmap for Afghanistan.”...

So, it appears this is Russia's strategy for the Taliban to extricate the USA from Afghanistan and make a happy victory for Trump's re-election.

Yep, Russia is winning the war on democracy, yet again. The only real reason I remain skeptical of any good outcome to Pompeo's efforts is not just about Russia. The presidential elections were just announced and things are not all happy in Mudville (click here).

February 22, 2020
By Daud Khattak

...Amid the nearly five-month delay (click here) in announcing the conclusion, the hotly contested Afghan presidential election had faded into the background as something more important was happening: The much-awaited outcome of the 18-month peace talks between Taliban representatives and the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on February 21 that the two sides plan to formally sign their peace deal at the end of the month.

The Ghani-Abdullah dispute over the poll result, however, sent shockwaves across Afghan society, where people are anxiously awaiting an end to the nearly two decades of violence. The not-so-unexpected row also exposed the ethnic fault lines in Afghanistan — majority Pashtuns vs the rest — at a time when the war-battered country needs unity more than anything else to open a window to lasting peace....

end

Covid-19

On February 1, 2020 the Scientist and scholar Eric Tone (click here) stated that his simulations of the virus proved China's efforts to contain the coronavirus will not be effective. 

February 21, 2020

...The last few days have seen a perceptible flattening in growth of Covid-19 cases in China (click here), raising hopes that the epidemic has peaked. (Though there are doubts about the accuracy of China’s count.) That supports the emerging consensus on the Wuhan quarantine in particular: that, at minimum, it bought China and the world time to prepare. Crucially, the time lag allowed public health agencies to devise and distribute a diagnostic test that hospitals can use to identify patients ill with the novel coronavirus.

“Measures on movement restriction have delayed the dissemination of the outbreak two or three days within China and a few weeks outside China,” Sylvie Briand, director of Infectious Hazard Management at the WHO, told reporters this week. “Those measures, if well implemented, could have an impact on the propagation of the outbreak.”...

Casting doubt on China's census of patients promotes the idea the virus has not reached it's peak of virulence in the country. That is probably a good speculation.

February 22, 2020

...The international COVID-19 response (click here) has been focused on avoiding a pandemic, of which many experts suggest we could be in the early stages. As of Feb 18, 2020, WHO reported 804 total confirmed cases and three deaths in 25 countries outside China. In addition to confirmed cases from travellers to Wuhan and on cruise ships, countries including Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea have identified clusters of locally transmitted cases. The numbers are small, but the rate of secondary and tertiary transmission is of grave concern and misinformation and fear are rampant. Thousands of medical workers in China are thought to have COVID-19 and, as countries implement scaled up diagnosis and surveillance, the risks from inadequate protective gear and shortages in testing kits are heightened. The first confirmed case in Africa (in Egypt) is worrying, as weak primary health-care systems could undermine preparedness. WHO has called for more investment in surveillance and preparedness, but governments have been slow to take heed. A huge amount of funding has been committed for vaccine platforms but, even with four candidates in development, there is unlikely to be a viable vaccine for at least another 12–18 months. Dozens of clinical trials of treatment are underway, but it will be weeks or months before the results are known....

What does that mean? With reports here and there becoming common place, it means the virus is not contained. While quarantining China has proven to slow the spread, the new areas of the world now reporting in only proves the opportunity to contain it is probably coming to an end. Basically, the window is closing on a potential worldwide pandemic.

The question is will it become an epidemic?

To Third World countries this is just another thing.

February 22, 2020
By Goma and Kampala

There are so many crises in Congo. (click here) ” Gervais Folefack, who co-ordinates the emergency programmes run by the World Health Organisation (who) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has mastered the art of the understatement. The country has been shattered by war and corruption. “All the time we are responding to crises,” says Dr Folefack. He lists the most recent: Ebola, measles, cholera. To them, he may well have to add covid-19, a respiratory disease that originated in China. Those who would need to respond to a surge in covid-19 cases are already busy with the Ebola outbreak that began in 2018. “We are trying to prepare,” continues Dr Folefack, but there is simply not enough time.

So far 99% of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have been in China. Of the 1,000-odd cases outside mainland China, more than half have been on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship docked in Japan; the rest are scattered among 27 countries, mostly in Asia....

I am afraid global travel will have to be curtailed and use of electronic media must replace what would usually be essential meetings for whatever purpose it is being held. It is just not a good idea to travel at this time. The new cases in the USA have connections to China, but, diagnosis connected to travel to the Wuhan area does not spell complete containment yet.

...And the warnings come as the United States (click here) reported over the weekend finding three more cases, the country’s third, fourth, and fifth. Two were diagnosed in California. One is a traveler from Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have started, who was diagnosed in Orange County. The other is someone who visited Wuhan who was diagnosed in Los Angeles County. The fifth case was diagnosed in Arizona and is a student at Arizona State University; the person had also traveled to Wuhan....

The problem with Covid- 19 is it's manifestation. First it is a flu like illness and the pneumonia is absent in the early stage not showing up until Day 9.

...The results (click here) also showed that the timing of positive swabs changed. On the first day of illness, 80% of oral swabs were positive in a small group of patients, but by day 5, 75% of anal swabs were positive for COVID-19 virual RNA, and only 50% of oral swabs were still positive in the same patients with lab-confirmed COVID-19.

"These data suggested a shift from more oral positive during early period (as indicated by antibody titres) to more anal positive during later period might happen," the authors said.

The results of the study are the first to show COVID-19 could be transmitted via respiratory, fecal-oral, or body fluid routes, the authors say. They also warn that a patient with negative oral swabs after several days of illness may still be capable of transmitting the virus....

It is no longer believed it is solely transmitted through aerosol. That means washing hands is very important and there is no indication the synthetic hand sanitizers work. Good old fashioned soap and water and firm hand washing UNDER RUNNING WATER it necessary at this time. Rinse hands from the wrist down under that running water.

...China’s health minister, Ma Xiaowei, warned Sunday that the virus seems to be becoming more transmissible and the country — which has taken unprecedentedly draconian steps to control the virus — was entering a “crucial stage.”...

...The finding suggests stool can contaminate hands, food, water, and, as with the other study, it points to multiple routes of transmission....

...The authors also provided a timeline for infection: "Among 56 patients who could provide the exact date of close contact with someone with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, the median incubation period from exposure to symptoms was 4 days (interquartile range 3-5 days). The median time from onset of symptoms to first hospital admission was 2.0 (1.0-4.3) days."

SARS-CoV-2 is another name for the COVID-19 virus....

The thing to remember when reading reports of individuals and the virulence of the illness once contracted brings to mind several things. To begin, everyone is different by if no other measure their birthday. The important fact to remember is that it is easily spread and there is no reason to think lightly of this virus. At least, not yet.

The pandemic is real and the Third World is seeing individuals that are infected. The chance of them spreading the virus is real and potentially there are undiagnosed cases.

As each person is healthier than others there are those that are less healthy than the "norm." How the symptoms manifest and how severe they are is not important. What is important at this time is containment REGARDLESS of virulent strains that might be less virulent in some or most people. The spread has to be contained. Once that is resolved, then the degree people were sick can be assessed, but, viruses are RNA and when they get hold of DNA they replicate quickly. Covid-19's RNA is still out there and probably doing well on fomite (objects or materials which are likely to carry infection, such as clothes, utensils, and furniture.)

...In a study from The Lancet Infectious Diseases, meanwhile, investigators detailed the first case of COVID-19 in a Vietnamese woman who acquired the virus in China. The woman lived in Wuhan for business for 2 months in December and January and did not report visiting the Wuhan seafood market or having close contact with any person with influenza-like symptoms....

If people do well after contracting the disease, that is wonderful. But, at this time there are too many variables to make any definitive conclusions except containment is vital.

2019-nCoV is also another term used for the same virus. There is nothing wrong with having a variety of names for the same entity just so long as people understand there are several names that have evolved out of the identification of the disease in multiple countries. Some languages do not lend itself easily to standard English language. What is important is that there is a global understanding of the disease and it's identity and name. 

The halls of the Trump Administration are lined with "Yes Men and Women."

February 20, 2020
By Adam Goldman, Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Haberman and Nicholas Fandos

Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, is planning to leave government, according to an American official.Credit...

...Though intelligence officials have previously told lawmakers(click here) that Russia’s interference campaign was continuing, last week’s briefing included what appeared to be new information: that Russia intended to interfere with the 2020 Democratic primaries as well as the general election.

On Wednesday, the president announced that he was replacing Mr. Maguire with Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany and an aggressively vocal Trump supporter. And though some current and former officials speculated that the briefing might have played a role in that move, two administration officials said the timing was coincidental. Mr. Grenell had been in discussions with the administration about taking on new roles, they said, and Mr. Trump had never felt a kinship with Mr. Maguire....

May 11, 2019
By Everett Rosenfeld

Anyone suggesting (click here) that President Donald Trump is not tough enough on Russia is talking crazy, according to America’s top diplomat.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Saturday that such criticism — including from members of the previous administration — fails to recognize what Trump’s team has done, or the missteps of past presidents.

“Boy, that’s crazy talk. That’s absolutely crazy talk. And I’ve heard it — I’ve heard it from the previous administration. They say, ‘Oh, we’re not tough on Russia.’ I only wish they would have stopped the election interference,” Pompeo said, referring to Kremlin meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections....

Really? Are they blind? They can't see what is right in front of their face?

The Foreign Minister of Russia arrived the day Jim Comey was fired. Former General Michael Flynn is known to have been sitting at the head table of a pubic affair with Vladimir Putin and IN CONVERSATION WITH HIM. What's his name was just sentenced to jail for assisting with Russian interference in the 2016 elections and the Russian Foreign Minister has been to the White House OVAL OFFICE for a visit recently.

If the intelligence services of the USA are stating Russia is interfering in the Democratic Primary and the upcoming national elections then the Russians are interfering in the Democratic Primary and upcoming national elections.

IMPEACHED PRESIDENT DONALD JOHN TRUMP IS A LIAR!