February 16, 2020
By Savannah Behrmann and Kristine Phillips

More than 2,000 ex-employees (click here) of the Department of Justice have signed a letter calling on Attorney General William Barr to resign, writing that his handling of the Roger Stone case "openly and repeatedly flouted" the principle of equal justice under the rule of law.

The letter, published Sunday, comes after a contentious week for the Justice Department, which already faces allegations of succumbing to political pressure from President Donald Trump.

"Although there are times when political leadership appropriately weighs in on individual prosecutions, it is unheard of for the Department’s top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case," the letter reads....

They have good reason to ask for Barr's resignation other than just the Roger Stone case. The problem is who will he be replaced with and how do Americans know they won't be effected by a DOJ supervised by Putin?

And don't tell me there is nothing supporting such concerns:

October 4, 2019
By Adam Taylor

President Trump (click here) has spoken privately with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at least 16 times since he entered office in 2017. These conversations have long been the subject of scrutiny and speculation, given the Kremlin’s interference in the election that brought Trump to power.

Now, with Trump’s private interactions the subject of a broader scandal after the release of a partial rough transcript of his July 25 conversation with Ukraine’s president, Trump’s conversations with Putin are being viewed with renewed interest.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) has said that Congress is particularly interested in finding the records of Trump’s calls with Putin, especially if they had been stored in an unorthodox way. The Kremlin initially said it did not want the conversations made public, though Putin said Wednesday that he would not be against it....

Well, the Secretary of the Treasury simply can't print money fast enough.

February 10, 2020
By Leah Nylan

The Trump administration (click here) is asking for 71 percent more money in congressional appropriations for the Justice Department’s antitrust division in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 — an increase that would allow the agency to hire 87 additional staffers.

The increase — the biggest increase sought for antitrust in recent memory, according to DOJ officials — is another indicator that the agency is serious about its pending investigations into tech giants like Google and Facebook...

February 25, 2020

Last month, (click here) the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released updated Vertical Merger Guidelines in draft form. These guidelines provide a useful resource for aerospace and defense contractors involved in M&A transactions. Vertical competition issues frequently arise in this industry given the nature of the supply base and contracting and supply relationships between companies operating at different levels of the supply chain.

This is the first time the antitrust agencies have released updated guidelines for analyzing vertical mergers since 1984. Although the agencies have updated the Horizontal Merger Guidelines several times since then (most recently in 2010), they have not provided similar updated guidance to businesses regarding vertical merger enforcement until now. The new guidelines summarize the practices, standards, and theories the agencies have used in evaluating vertical mergers for a number of years. Although the guidelines do not signal any shifts in current agency practice, they do provide the business community greater transparency about how the agencies analyze vertical mergers. This is helpful for the aerospace and defense industry, which is particularly susceptible to vertical competition issues given the heavy reliance on contracting out important elements at different levels of the supply chain....

Ever wanted to hold power over a sector of the USA economy to dictate what happens and what doesn't happen? Any form of anti-trust is a huge issue and a lot of power over any sector of the USA economy.

Aerospace is a huge industry and directly is involved with some of the most sensitive defense hardware of the United States of America. 

If the USA is going to be hobbled in technology and advancement, this is the way to do it. I would seriously like to know why this is an issue and DOES THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION KNOW WHERE ANTITRUST WILL LEAD? THIS IS THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE USA, THE TRUMP-BARR-PUTIN CABAL NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS GOING TO BE. 

I would think the Secretary of Defense is already aware of the final outcome, right? 

Who's ambition is this, Barr or Espers? The DOD is nowhere in this draft.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (click here) 
DRAFT VERTICAL MERGER GUIDELINES 
RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON JANUARY 10, 2020

Trump, Barr Imposition Sets D.C. Federal Prosecutors On Edge | Rachel Ma...(click here for Rachel Maddow Show - thank you)

February 26, 2020
By Bob Van Voris

The Trump administration (click here) can block states from receiving Justice Department grants if they fail to help with federal immigration enforcement, a U.S. appeals court in Manhattan ruled, in a significant win that sets up a possible Supreme Court showdown.

Six states including New York and New Jersey sued in 2018 claiming the U.S. was trying to coerce states and cities into enforcing the administration’s immigration policies by illegally threatening to withhold federal criminal justice grants. A federal judge ordered the government to release funds withheld under the policy and blocked it from imposing immigration-related restrictions on the funds, known as Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants....

It is right and best to be concerned about the Barr DOJ simply because it jumps to awareness and action with every word stated by Trump. There must be a real concern that the Barr DOJ is actually influenced by Russia through Trump and his relationship with Putin's Russia. Basically, Putin is pulling Barr's chain and in return Barr is weakening the Rule of Law.

As far as these grants are concerned, it is pure coercion and violates States' Rights. New York and New Jersey are strongly Democratic states as well. It is all political.

The Barr DOJ is leaning more and more on the "Granston Memorandum" (click here). Basically, the Barr DOJ is writing it's own rules without the benefit of litigation.

First, Trump can't be prosecuted and now there are memos emerging that take the Rule of Law to task. What is the legal definition of unfair?

February 1, 2018
By David M. Glaser

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (click here) has issued another memo likely to help healthcare providers avoid potentially unfair government investigations. 

The Jan. 25 memo from Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand to the heads of all civil litigation components and U.S. Attorney’s offices instructs the government lawyers to refrain from using government “guidance documents” when bringing a case. (When this happens, it is often referred to as “affirmative civil enforcement,” or ACE)....

......................................................................

16 May 2019
By Jennifer Z. Belveal, Thomas F. Carlucci, Melissa B. Coffey, Pamela L. Johnston, Jessica E. Joseph, Michael P. Matthews, Lisa M. Noller, Lori A. Rubin and Michael J. Tuteur
In a memo leaked last year (the Granston Memo), (click here) the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) instructed its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless whistleblower False Claims Act (FCA) cases when it is in the government’s best interest to do so. See “Leaked DOJ Memo Indicates New Government Focus On Dismissing Meritless False Claims Act Cases,” Health Care Law Today (January 29, 2018). A Pennsylvania federal judge recently provided important additional guidance on the limitations to DOJ’s dismissal authority, specifically rejecting the notion that the government’s right to dismiss is “unfettered.” United States v. EMD Serono, Inc., Civil Action No. 16-5594, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57150 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 3, 2019). 

Although DOJ has incorporated the Granston Memo’s policy into its practices in the year since its release, there has not been a spree of dismissals. This may be due in part to the restrictions that many courts — now including the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — have imposed on the government’s discretion to dismiss cases....

February 26, 2020
By Piliero Mazza, PLLC

1. Continue qui tam Enforcement Efforts (click here)

In 2019, we saw an upward trend in motions to dismiss filed by DOJ in qui tam actions in which the government failed to intervene. The government’s decision to file a motion to dismiss in a qui tam action is informed by the Granston Memorandum, which was issued in 2018. The Granston Memorandum provides a number of factors for the government to consider when deciding whether to seek strategic dismissal of a qui tam action, including curbing meritless FCA litigation, preserving government resources, and preventing interference with agency policies and programs. Prior to the Granston Memorandum, the DOJ rarely sought dismissal of qui tam cases. In fact, in the thirty years preceding the Granston Memorandum, the DOJ had sought dismissal of only 45 cases; the DOJ has dismissed approximately that same number of cases in the two years since the Granston Memorandum was issued. Citing the government’s role as a “gatekeeper” and its goal of “protect[ing] the integrity of the False Claims Act,” AG Cox expressed DOJ’s intent to “judicious[ly]” and “more consistent[ly]” rein in whistleblower overreach.

Although DOJ generally seeks dismissal of qui tam litigation in a modest number of cases, AG Cox confirmed our expectation that the government will continue to seek dismissal of unjustified qui tam complaints in 2020.

Trump is part of the problem and not the solution to any problem.

Do I trust Trump to say the right things to the public? Hell no! No one MAKES Trump look bad except Trump. He is ALWAYS conflicted between what is politically correct for his image, including the bounces on Wall Street and reality. He is an untrustworthy partner everywhere. Show me one place where his image does not circumvent reality.

February 25, 2020

Fears of a pandemic come (click here) after the Trump administration spent the past several years gutting the very government programs that are tasked with combatting such a crisis.

In 2018, for instance, the CDC cut 80% of its efforts to prevent global disease outbreaks because it was running out of money. Ultimately, the department went from working in 49 countries to just 10.

Here are some other actions the Trump administration undertook to dismantle government-spending programs related to fighting the spread of global diseases, according to Foreign Policy:

- Shutting down the entire global-health-security unit of the National Security Council.

- Eliminating the US government's $30 million Complex Crises Fund.

The Complex Crises Fund (CCF) (click here) prevents and responds to emerging or unforeseen crises by focusing on countries or regions that demonstrate a high or escalating risk of conflict, instability, or unanticipated opportunity for progress in fragile democracies. CCF provides global, flexible funding, enabling the United States to respond outside of planned programming.

- Reducing national health spending by $15 billion.

- Consistently attacking Mark Green, (click here) the director of the US Agency for International Development. Also known as USAID.

The CDC is working on a new test to screen for the coronavirus, but according to New York magazine, problems with the test's development resulted in only three out of 100 public-health labs being equipped to screen for the virus. Moreover, each test costs as much as $250, and the Health and Human Services Department is already running out of money to finance an adequate response to the outbreak.

The Trump administration recently requested $2.5 billion in emergency funds — $1.25 billion in new funding and $1.25 billion to be diverted from other federal programs — to aid in preparing and responding to coronavirus cases in the US....

I have to add, there is real reason to expect further investigation into the virus itself. It is highly contagious and surprisingly so, including educated health care workers. The actual virus itself has to be understood to assist in containment. Someone within the international health infrastructure may already have that information, it might be some time before it actually shows in the public records.

This is not a measure of Covid-19, however, 3M is selling masks for protection from that very virus.

Figure 222-1. Electron micrograph of a typical coronavirus. Negative-contrast electron micrograph of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoV). The typical crown-like spike proteins on the surface of the coronavirus particles are shown. 

Bar = 100 nm or 0.1 microns. (click here for conversion table)

(From Kuiken T, Fouchier RA, Schutten M, et al. Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Lancet 2003;362:263–270.) (click here for original article - thank you)

Coronaviridae (click here)are enveloped nonsegmented, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses named after their corona- or crown-like surface projections seen on electron microscopy that correspond to large surface spike proteins (Figures 222-1 and 222-2). Coronaviruses are host-specific and can infect humans as well as a variety of different animals, causing diverse clinical syndromes.1 Three serologically and genetically distinct groups of coronaviruses have been described. Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are part of groups 1 and 2 and primarily cause a variety of respiratory tract infections1 (Table 222-1).

I cannot find a measure of the Covid-19 virus. Perhaps, 3M already has been given that information.

Infectious Disease professionals (click here) are writing all kinds of precautions, but, no mentions of the size of Covid-19. 


N95 Respirators

Image (click here)
The 2019 Wuhan COVID-19 Coronavirus has created unprecedented global demand for 3M respiratory products. We are currently fulfilling backorders, and will be receiving new stock in March and April.


or 


Image (click here)

Since 3M makes both types of N95 masks, it would be more prudent to have direct manufacturer input to the appropriate use regarding 2019 Wuhan COVID-19 Coronavirus.

An N95 respirator (click here) is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles.

The ‘N95’ designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles. If properly fitted, the filtration capabilities of N95 respirators exceed those of face masks. However, even a properly fitted N95 respirator does not completely eliminate the risk of illness or death.

N95 respirators are not designed for children or people with facial hair. Because a proper fit cannot be achieved on children and people with facial hair, the N95 respirator may not provide full protection.

There are alternatives to these masks for hospital personal and that is a AIR PACK that supplies breathable air from a portable pack. Fire personnel wear them. It isolates the respiratory system from the surrounding air and supplies breathable air to the wearer from a canister supply.

Health care persons are showing up in larger numbers than acceptable in contracting this virus. They have to be protected to care for others.

There is also this:

pureAir Personal - Wearable Advanced Air Purifier System (click here)

I have not seen where any of these devices are tested against the Covid-19 virus. There are also filters for larger spaces:

Coway Airmega 400 (click here) is designed to accommodate room sizes up to 1,560 square feet and it cleans the air two times in one hour.

Coway Airmega Max2 filter – combined activated carbon and True HEPA filter – captures and reduces up to 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns in the air, including pollen, pollutants and other allergens. It also reduces more than 99% of volatile organic compounds and reduces fumes such as NH3 and CH3CHO. It also includes washable and permanent pre-filter to catch larger dust particles.

Hospitals have used similar devices to convert regular rooms into isolation rooms. This particular device is somewhat simpler than I am familiar with, but, times change.

CDC/NIOSH recommendations (click here)

Difference from Average - Monthly (click here)

Was the month cooler or warmer than usual?

Colors show where and by how much the average monthly temperature differed from the month’s average temperature from 1981-2010. Red areas were warmer than the 30-year average for the month and blue areas were cooler. White and very light areas had temperatures close to the long-term average.

Where do these measurements come from?

Daily temperature readings come from ground-based weather stations in the Global Historical Climatology Network. Volunteer observers or automated instruments collect the highest and lowest temperature of the day at each station over the entire month,...

The first place a warming planet will show the extent of its impact is during the cold weather months. Why? Because the coldest of cold temperatures will become less cold.

The baseline of this map are temperatures from 1981-2010. So, considering there has been significant warming during that baseline there should be little to no notice of a warming planet in a decade later. But, there is. Using a baseline of recent temperatures rather than from the beginning of recorded warming is called a shifting baseline and that is not normally done to bring about a different comparison than the one obtained from original baselines.

By all means the map above should not exist considering the baseline is already compromised to illustrate a higher temperature group of data already. But, there it is. In ten years after a baseline was rearranged by the USA government to minimize any estimate of a warming Earth, it doesn't matter.

The map above clearly shows regardless of data manipulation Earth continues to warm. And the paid 19 year old woman proclaiming she is the "Anti-Greta" is absolutely correct, she doesn't know what she is talking about. It is time for the "Climate Realist" to get real.