I hope Gorsuch remembers his words when Trump comes knocking at the Supreme Court door.

The decision of the court refers to local control. They need to be consistent in the future. Bush v. Gore removed the vote from the American people. It appears returning control to the states is a priority for the Roberts Court. 

If I remember correctly and something Kavanaugh seems to have forgotten is that the Supreme Court stated their decision was a one time event and not available for precedent in the future. 

October 26, 2020

By Robert Barnes

The Supreme Court on Monday night (click here) rejected a pandemic-related request from Democrats and civil rights groups to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

The vote was 5 to 3, with the court’s liberals in dissent.

Conservative justices said federal courts were interfering too much in election procedure choices that should be left to local officials.

“It’s indisputable that Wisconsin has made considerable efforts to accommodate early voting and respond to COVID,” wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. “The district court’s only possible complaint is that the state hasn’t done enough. But how much is enough? … The Constitution provides that state legislatures — not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not other state officials — bear primary responsibility for setting election rules.”.

Justice Elena Kagan answered for the liberals, and included a reference to an opinion from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when the court considered similar changes during the Wisconsin primary.

“Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, through no fault of their own, may receive their mail ballots too late to return them by Election Day,” wrote Kagan, joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. “Without the district court’s order, they must opt between ‘brav[ing] the polls,’ with all the risk that entails, and ‘los[ing] their right to vote.’ The voters of Wisconsin deserve a better choice.”...

Just to be clear.

Normalization of diplomatic relations is only the beginning of the peace process, not the final product. Russia has no right to establish an oppressive presence in any of it. Normalization invites UN peacekeepers not a Russian invasion.

I don’t see normalization between Taiwan and China without a strong military defense force in Taiwan. That is especially true after the problems China caused in Hong Kong.

China is preparing for a war with Taiwan.

October 23, 2020

By Gerry Shih

...But this week, (click here) that tidy narrative has overwhelmed China’s state newspapers, dominated the airwaves and even filled box offices as the Communist Party rolled out an unprecedented week of commemorative events and coverage to mark 70 years since Chairman Mao Zedong sent Chinese forces across the Yalu River and ground the Americans to a stalemate....

China was humiliated by the USA jet that flew the understood boundary between China and Taiwan. China does not like to be humiliated. China has established manmade islands to define its' borders into the Yellow Sea, it has invaded Hong Kong, and now fully expect this confrontation by the West with China's jets will take an even more aggressive stance.

October 26, 2020
By Ben Winck

Industrial stocks dragged major indexes lower (click here) on Monday after China announced it will sanction US defense firms over planned weapons sales to Taiwan.

The country will impose sanctions on Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as individuals involved in the proposed $1.8 billion deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement. The move comes in retaliation to the US State Department's approval of the arms sales.

The announcement drove a sharp sell-off of the involved companies' stocks that broadly pulled industrials into a hefty intraday loss. The corresponding S&P 500 sector sat 2.9% lower as of 12:50 p.m. ET, trailing only energy stocks in what's poised to be the worst day for stocks in a month. Within the industrials sector, aerospace and defense stocks fell more than 3%....

Donald Trump has been playing a very foolish game with American national security. In anticipation of peace treaties which he claims should win him a Nobel Peace Prize, he has withdrawn from global conflict to let Russia inflict enough oppression to force countries into dialogue. What he is going to do now that Taiwan is on the line?

Don't believe me? 

Trump calls it normalization. Sound familiar? Recently in the Middle East there was a big splash of media about normalizing diplomatic talks. Yes? Want to know what Trump's normalization looks like?

September 15, 2020

By Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalai and Jonathan Landa

Washington - An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo (click here) to work on economic ties, hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday as a “major breakthrough,” reaffirmed pledges to establish highway and railway links but left movement on political normalization on hold....

My, my, money not only buys happiness, it buys peace too.

October 22, 2020

Russia (click here) is moving toward opening a Defense Ministry office in Serbia to deepen military ties with its longtime ally, a move that risks straining relations with the West, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Serbia, which claims military neutrality, is an EU candidate country that also maintains close ties with Moscow. Belgrade suspended its military drills with all partners for six months last month, pointing to pressure from the EU to drop out of joint military drills in Belarus with Russia....

The better translation of normalization under Trump is surrender. NATO is a much higher profile ally and the American people oppose breaking off the alliance. But, Kosovo? Serbia? Americans only know them from the Olympics. Most Americans don't think of them as USA allies.

So, the normalization is about developing markets for Trump, but, for Putin, it is about conquered territory, fulfilled plans, and Russian advances on The West.

This is what Trump's normalization looks like, disengage the USA and allow Russia more territory] and human beings the USA considered good friends. Ukraine lucked out, it had a man of conscience listening in on a phone call.

Grennell is Trump's appointment.

June 20, 2020

By Patrick Kingsley and Kenneth P. Vogel

Berlin — Last October, with the Balkans unsettled (click here) and the old tethers of American diplomacy coming apart, the Trump administration dispatched a new envoy to try to solve one of Europe’s longest-running territorial disputes: the two-decade standoff between Serbia and Kosovo.

The move was unconventional. The State Department already had a special envoy to the region, and President Trump’s new emissary, Richard Grenell, was also ambassador to Germany, where his brash style and embrace of right-wing figures broke with diplomatic norms.

Before long, Mr. Grenell offended and alienated European diplomats who had worked hard on Kosovo for years. They accused him of ignoring their own, more evolved peace initiatives, of undermining democracy in Kosovo and of turning a blind eye to budding authoritarianism in Serbia, a Russian ally.

“I’m doubtful that in this way you can really resolve a situation like Kosovo, the way it’s being tried by Grenell,” said Wolfgang Petritsch, a former European Union envoy to Kosovo....

There are red flag warnings on the West Coast due to high winds. Fires are expected to worsen with winds up to 90 mph.

October 26, 2020

Tropical Storm Zeta (click here) is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it heads for a strike on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, where it's likely to bring heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge.

Current Status

Zeta is centered in the northwest Caribbean right now and is moving northwestward toward.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, from Tulum to Dzilam, including Cozumel and Cancún. Hurricane conditions are expected in this area Monday night into early Tuesday.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and for small areas west and south of the hurricane warning in Mexico....

"Morning Papers"

October 25, 2020
By Frances D'Emilio

Vatican City - Pope Francis  (click here) on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat.

In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28.

Other new cardinals include an Italian who is the long-time papal preacher at the Vatican, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan friar; the Kigali, Rwanda, Archbishop Antoine Kambanda; the Capiz, Philippines, Archbishop Jose Feurte Advincula, and the Santiago, Chile, Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

9.8 days old

74.7 percent lit

Don't forget the Halloween Blue Moon.

In 2001, (click here) ghosts and goblins in Central and Pacific time zones trick-or-treated by the light of a full Moon, but a Halloween full Moon hadn’t appeared for everyone in all time zones since 1944!...

Below is a winning photo. It is a contradiction in terms. Clouds are moving about with a random pattern and all of a sudden there is a saucer-like cloud, perfectly formed regardless of the winds below it.

October 18, 2020

By Brandon Spektor

...A ghostly white saucer (click here) hovers over the peaks of El Chaltén in southern Argentina. As wind thrashes the nearby clouds, the saucer remains fixed above the craggy summit, anchored in the sky like a mothership surveying the hills below....