Spending infrastructure dollars on climate is badly needed.

Canada was completely unprepared for the heat. Hard to believe this heat map actually is a relief to some.

June 30, 2021
By the AP

Today's USA heat map.

...Oregon health officials (click here) said more than 60 deaths have been tied to the heat, with the state's largest county, Multnomah, blaming the weather for 45 deaths since the heat wave began Friday.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, police said they had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since Friday. Washington state authorities had linked more than half-dozen deaths to the heat, but that number was likely to rise.

"Vancouver has never experienced heat like this, and sadly dozens of people are dying because of it,” Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said in a statement....

What the heck is there to fight about?

Over the past nearly two decades, (click here) the presence of a variety of state and nonstate military and security forces has transformed the Syrian border district of Bukamal and the neighboring Iraqi district of Qa’im. Following the end of the self-proclaimed Islamic State’s caliphate, Iranian-backed militias began to play a major role in the area, turning it into a flashpoint between Iran and its allies on the one side and the United States and Israel on the other. The strain of tensions and the threat of instability are liable to ensure that this heavily securitized part of the border will remain a magnet for conflict for years to come.

Demilitarize the border. You would think that after Daesh was defeated, the region would have learned something, but, evidently not. Don't argue with Iran, just start a process to demilitarize the border. Iranian militias are viewed as the peacekeepers since Daesh cannot reorganize and begin again. But, the peacekeepers have religious differences that spark conflict. The only way this is going to resolve is to prevent the opportunity for violence.

...The militarization of the border and the presence of state and nonstate actors have blurred the lines between formal and informal institutions and obscured who ultimately holds authority and governs the area—state institutions or nonstate militias....

...The tensions between some official Iraqi and Syrian military, security, and civilian institutions and Iranian-backed militias hinder Baghdad and Damascus from restoring the sovereignty and governance capacity they previously had over the area. For better or worse, the lingering presence of Iranian-backed proxies leaves Iraq and Syria with no choice but to accommodate Iran’s interests to some degree....

It is nearly impossible to remove Iran from either Iraq or Syria. Iran currently manages a small town in northwest Syria called Latakia (click here). Basically, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are Shia strongholds. So, when the USA exerts it's authority, there is political backlash in Iraq as well. The Iraqis like Iran and are more likely to start an offensive against the USA than ask Iran to mind it's own business. Iraq and Iran are Shia homelands and all the ruling Alawites want in Syria is civil war reduction and threats. The Alawites are Shia as well.

Now, why I brought up the fact that a town in Syria is occupied by Iran for security purposes is because what exists in that city is a viable drug trade.

In the summer of 2015 a businessman (click here) in the Syrian province of Latakia was approached by a powerful security chief, seeking a favour. The official wanted the merchant, an importer of medical supplies, to source large amounts of a drug called fenethylline from abroad. The regime, he said, would readily buy the lot.

After an internet search, the merchant made a decision. He left his home that same week, first sending his wife and children to exile, then following after, scrounging what he could from his businesses for a new start. “I know what they were asking me to do,” he said from his new home in Paris. “They wanted the main ingredient for Captagon. And that drug is a dirty business.”

Other businessmen in Syria’s north have not shared his reservations. The manufacture of Captagon in the regime heartland has become one of Syria’s only recent business success stories; a growth industry so big and sophisticated that it is starting to rival the GDP of the flatlining economy itself....

No different than Afghanistan, Syria after Deash, is a failed state and what is the one economic structure that sustains in a failed state? Yep, some kind of drug trade. In Afghanistan, it is the poppies and in Syria it is Captagon.

...Captagon (click here) is one of several brand names for the drug compound fenethylline hydrochloride. Captagon is not a new drug. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Encyclopedia places its debut in 1961, when it was manufactured by Chemiewerk Homburg, a subsidiary of specialty chemicals company Degussa. The patent for its production dates to 1962, according to the Merck Index....

This morning FOX News was propagating a wedge issue about how the politics of the extreme left effects the USA military and it's preparedness. Simply put, it doesn't. I don't know if FOX has a hotline to Netanyahu, but, they are obviously attempting to create an issue for the elections of 2022.

While it is correct to retaliate when American troops are threatened or attacked, one has to wonder, "why bother?"

A border war between Syria and Iraq will not break out. What is occurring, including this escalation with the USA, is nothing more than gang warfare, Here again, no different than when the USA military was in Iraq, the Americans are just viewed as another gang. So, the only logical question to be asked is, "What the heck are we doing there?"

What kind of shape is Lebanon in these days, too?

But, the issue with the Iraq and Syrian border is not our business. So, what the heck are we doing there?

These operations in the Middle East have been primarily run by the President's enormous OCO Funds (click here). When American soldiers are attacked it is only correct to end the attack today and in the coming weeks and months ahead. I have absolutely no problem with the USA military defending itself and if it can also end a toxic element in the area with GOOD INTELLIGENCE than do it.

The problem with this latest missile strike with Syria is not that it happened, defending the soldiers is vital. But, the real problem is why are we there at all? If we weren't there the USA military would not have to retaliate for escalations of fighting with American soldiers. Get the picture?

There is no Western answer for the Middle East without killing a whole lot of people and destroying cities' infrastructure. Or in the case of Syria, whatever is left of it's infrastructure. I realize that the USA in the region also limits Israel's idea of heaven in expanding it's borders in the name of peace. How a war brings about peace is anyone's guess. But, that is what goes on with Israel. Isreal doesn't believe in peace, not really. They believe in expansionism AS a tool for their definition of peace.

The USA military in the Middle East usually ends up in trouble of one kind or another. It is not that we lack the sophistication to carry out a mission, it is that we carry out a mission to make it the one and only mission they have to do and it ends up being so very different than any other military power in the region, it attracts attention.

It may be that ending the assault of Iranian militias against the USA could create instability at the border and otherwise. Follow? I mean the buildings that were destroyed in this attack were sort of a part of the infrastructure in the area. See all the trucks parked across the street. This area was somewhat busy and it is my guess the militias in that building were more or less carrying out attacks against DEATH SQUADS like Daesh. In that is the understanding they have purpose and the Shia Crescent has no problem with the skirmishes carried out by these militias.

So, now that the USA has rightfully defended itself, what next? None of the governments of those three countries want the USA there. Our military is attempting to end violence and create it's own understanding of stability, but, one missile strike is not going to do that. The criticism the USA has received in protecting it's own troops is to let all the other militias in the region know this isn't going to happen to them.

To my way of thinking there is only one reason for the USA to be in the region and that is to protect shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

So, while the USA is there it figures it can do some good by attempting to rid the region of militias. Nice idea. A little on the heroic side, but, is it really necessary? Probably not. I really think the USA military needs to rethink it's purpose in this part of the world and perhaps downgrade our presence. And for god sake bring the B52s back where they belong.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning gibbous

18.5 days old

85.3 percent lit

June 10, 2021

As NASA continues (click here) plans for multiple commercial deliveries to the Moon’s surface per year, the agency has selected three new scientific investigation payload suites to advance understanding of Earth’s nearest neighbor. Two of the payload suites will land on the far side of the Moon, a first for NASA. All three investigations will receive rides to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, part of the agency’s Artemis approach.

The payloads mark the agency’s first selections from its Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) call for proposals.

“These selections add to our robust pipeline of science payloads and investigations to be delivered to the Moon through CLPS,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “With each new PRISM selection, we will build on our capabilities to enable bigger and better science and prove technology which will help pave the way for returning astronauts to the Moon through Artemis.”

The Delta Variant is dangerous because it spreads so rapidly. Don't hesitate to get attention to symptoms.

June 22, 2021

By Daren Whitehead

...Nationally, (click here) the Delta variant makes up about 10% of cases, which is much lower than the variant's prevalence in Colorado, Herlihy said.

Missouri is the only state that has more cases of the Delta variant than Colorado, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)....

 

Love him or not, Dr. Fauci has the best guidance for a path that ends the virus danger.

June 22, 2021
By Rob Stein

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned on Tuesday of the danger from the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Among those not yet vaccinated, Delta may trigger serious illness in more people than other variants do.

The dangerous Delta variant (click here for audio - thank you) of the coronavirus is spreading so quickly in the United States that it's likely the mutant strain will become predominant in the nation within weeks, according to federal health officials and a new analysis.

At a White House briefing on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said 20.6% of new cases in the U.S. are due to the Delta variant. And other scientists tracking the variant say it is on track to become the dominant virus variant in the U.S.

"The Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19," Fauci said. He noted that the proportion of infections being caused by the variant is doubling every two weeks.

The variant, first identified in India, is the most contagious yet and, among those not yet vaccinated, may trigger serious illness in more people than other variants do, he said....

Masks work.

Social distancing works.

Hand hygiene works, especially before touching one's face.

This is very serious heat and drought.

 Drought Monitor, June 24, 2021 (click here)

The only reason there is not drought conditions across the entire USA is because of a water vapor transfer that occurs from West Texas to the east coast.

Climate Emergency. This is not some kind of left wing attack on Big Oil. This is real.

On the eastern border of California is the mountain range called the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It can be seen in this picture to the left and is the white color. The "key" describing the picture states the white areas are above 14,000 feet. And that is correct. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in California reach 14,505 feet.

The highest elevation of the Rocky Mountains is Mount Elbert in the Sawatch Range, which at 14,433 feet (4,399 metres) is the highest point in the Rockies.

That is 14,433 feet which is lower than the highest point of the California Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Understand? If the Rocky Mountains becomes dry and as hot as the land and air is not in California, the heat and drought will move east no different than it is doing in California.

THIS IS A CLIMATE EMERGENCY. 

The local, state and federal government needs to work together to prevent heat exhaution and heat stroke.

June 26, 2021
By Page Cornwell

Heat records (click here) are likely to be broken throughout the Puget Sound over the weekend, with temperatures predicted to reach beyond 100 degrees.

Meteorologists have called the weekend forecast an “unprecedented event.” The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for most of Western Washington, effective through Monday evening.

The so-called heat dome — a heat wave that sits over one region — has stretched across the western United States for nearly two weeks, setting record temperatures from Omaha to Death Valley.

Throughout Saturday, on this page, we’ll post updates about rising temperatures in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest, how residents are coping, and resources provided for those trying to beat the heat.

California's severe drought is going to cross into the USA and move east.

 I have not posted a US Temperature Map in a very long time. When I saw this map I knew I had to write about what I saw.

Everyone knows what a tidal wave is and how dangerous they are. What is occurring on the West Coast is a heat tidal wave and it is headed for the east coast. Kindly note the pink and white areas on the West Coast. They are not anywhere else. Now notice that extreme heat as it also exists along the Rio Grande Valley and the western region of Mexico. 

The only thing preventing the movement of that heat bubble east is now the Rocky Mountains. It is right up against those mountains. Once that heat makes it to the highest parts of the Rocky Mountains the descent into the Midwest will be rapid. The Rockies are high enough at this point it can defend the country eat of them, but, it won't last forever.

I found the heat along the Rio Grande extremely significant. There are no mountainous areas that prevent the migration of that heat north and east. What does the Rio Grande River look like at this point. I know Lake Mead is severely affected.

This spreading of drought and heat is a climate emergency.

The Five Justices are WRONG as WRONG can be.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act DOES NOT DEAL WITH CONCRETENESS. Credit reporting is a matter of communication, not some kind of construction machine that had it's backup warning signal turned off by the last mechanic, hence, causing death upon backing up with a construction worker unaware of the danger.

This IS NOT THAT!

Credit reporting is nothing but communication. All entities involved with consumer credit communicate and cooperate to deliver a PRODUCT called a Credit Report. There is nothing CONCRETENESS about a Credit Report unless someone gets a paper cut.

This OPINION of the five justices involved is pie in the sky political pandering to the Federalist Society and their wealthy members as well as Wall Street companies that are traded every day. Ah, if they only came up with Bitcoin first.

Let me make this clear, this OPINION by the five justices is completely WRONG. There is no allowance for such malicious malpractice of justices with such a profound impact on any American at any time in their lives.

We have recently come to a contracting pandemic; although (I will look at this.) the CDC is stating clearly using masks is necessary with the Delta variant emerging as a real threat to Americans, and people had no paycheck for a year or more. How does anyone think that looks on a credit report? This entire OPINION by the five justices is so very, very wrong there are no words in the English language to express such malicious malpractice.

The five justices, including the chief justice, simply turned their backs on the American people.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (click here)

Below is the section that specifically states, "adverse action." The law also refers to the "Equal Credit Opportunity Act." So, the Supreme Court decision not only attacks the American people but, dismantles a law that has stood for decades that protects consumers.

This is about Transunion. It is a credit reporting service and the actions were started by Transunion against a human being. I remind this is about the "money is a citizen" bullshit as well.

This section of the law, clearly states, "adverse action." In (ii) it states an adverse action includes denial of employment or any other decision for employment purposes...any current or prospective employee;

Hm. The five justices simply turned their backs on the law that has stood between employment and a consumer's credit and made up a new direction. So much for stare decisis.

Foreign influence on Americans.

Back in 2003, there was a play in New York called "Anna in the Tropic." It played out at the "Royal Theater" with Jimmy Snits leading the cast. It went on to win a Pulitzer Prize. The play was about hope and longing. It was basically a thinly veiled production about Russia. The Anna in the play is Anna Karenina. 

It was a play steeped in emotions. Within those emotions without be explicit was sexual chemistry. It was quite a play to see. But, the reason it achieved a Pulitzer is because when boiled down, was about the emotions of Russians that were either absent or never could be thought about in any social circle.

People that know something about Russian literature picked up hints of Checkov and Tolstoy. The point is that foreign influence does exist and it can be as invisible as a brilliant play that makes it to a New York stage and the acclaim of others in the way of a Pulitzer Prize.

All these cultural issues cannot be magically erased from any influence in the USA, but, Americans need to know who they are in this country and presently, Anna Karenina could possibly win an election in a Republican primary without proper documents. After all, those documents must have been sabotaged by the State Department or DOJ at the very least. 

Foreign influence in the USA.

There is an awful lot of backing of Russia by the right-wing in the Republican Party. What is so telling is that while Moscow Mitch welcomes oligarchs (wealthy Russians) with open arms he hates the so-called Super-Wealthy in the USA.

It is a FOX News thing to try to make a new hysteria of wealthy Americans to distract from the corporations that now receive free rides on taxes. FOX doesn't expose the corporations that are not paying a dime of tax, only wealthy Americans. 

By Brooke Singman

Exclusive: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (click here) and Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Mike Crapo are demanding the Justice Department and the FBI investigate the disclosure of confidential tax information of some of the country’s wealthiest taxpayers.

They're insisting those responsible be prosecuted and "punished to the furthest extent the law permits."

Fox News obtained the letter McConnell, Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, after a ProPublica report revealed what it called the low "true tax rate" in the U.S. paid by the world's wealthiest people, such as Warren Buffett (0.1%), Jeff Bezos (0.98%), and Elon Musk (3.27%)....

These folks are mostly known to be Democrats to the public. Of course, there are no Republicans that are wealthy enough to be scrutinized by Moscow Mitch and his minions.

I think the fact the Democrats still appear to be a bit spineless to the country, they need to stop abandoning the democracy.

If there is anything true about Republicans it is they are very vengeful. We still hear about the nomination of Bork. It is ridiculous and a clear sign they do not care about the people of the USA.

February 17, 2021

By John T. Bennett

The White House (click here) is defending President Barack Obama’s vote as a senator to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court by saying, unlike Senate Republican leaders now, he had “substantive” concerns. But the president acknowledged that Democrats didn’t do a good enough job making the case for those concerns, a spokesman said.

Only two dozen (24) members of the Republican Senate Caucus joined Moscow Mitch 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., backed by about two dozen members of his caucus, wants to wait for the next president to select a replacement for the late Antonin Scalia, the conservative justice found dead on Feb. 13. Much has been made in the past few days about Obama’s 2006 vote to block Alito’s ascension to the high court. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday called then-Sen. Obama’s vote a “symbolic” one, intended to register his opposition rather than block the appointment. That vote on a specific nominee, Earnest said, is far different from the Republican leaders’ suggestion that they will not consider any nomination in an election year....

One of these days the country's justices will be less alarming and I can actually write about the heat wave.

I might do it tonight anyway because if there is anything alarming it is the heatwave.

Believe me, this is about the plutocrats. At least one of the gentlemen is not with CNN anymore.

Before this decision I never heard the word, "concreteness." I was like, "...is that a real word?" Evidently.

 Transunion LLC vs. Ramirez (click here) 

Concreteness is an aspect of communication that means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general. A concrete communication uses specific facts and figures. Concreteness is often taught in college communication courses as one of the aspects of effective communication.

This is about the plutocratic movement that has been in this country since Wall Street began. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

This decision or rather the OPINION of the five justices is based on defining liability. It will remove everything that is great about this country. We stand as a democracy concerned about THE LITTLE GUY. The little guy is very often the Middle Class. You know the folks that work every day for a living and try to achieve the "American Dream," if it can still be resuscitated.

The Middle Class and the Poor lost in court and the five justices are probably laughing their asses off. Yes, I mean it. At some time in the progress of making this OPINION, there were justices chumming it up with friends, wealthy friends, the kind that are hurt when their products injure Americans. This OPINION came from somewhere and it sure wasn't the halls of justice. 

People will suffer and die because of this OPINION.

Florida Building Collapse

Just a word about the Florida Building Collapse. My deepest sympathies for the families and friends that lost people. This is a prime example of the government not doing it's job.

This building should have been condemned by the people that inspected it in 2018. Those inspectors that wrote up that report should have been empowered to condemn that building until further notice.

Yes, there would be a lot of families displaced and homeless, but, they would still be alive today, and if all those families were displaced the community would respond. If the community could not respond then the state would have to. This is a complete failure of the government. There need to be laws that empower building inspectors to shut it down.

If a building were shut down there would be repairs and/or a complete demolition to building a new one. But, this is not the way people should be living. The entire issue is more than dead citizens it is the complete failure of the government to protect the innocent from the powerful.

There was more than one building involved. Once the first building tumbled, it fell into the one right next to it, like Dominos. There is a whole lot wrong with this incident and it needs to be addressed. The parking garage at the basement of the building was falling apart and succumbing to the unstable ground under it. There is nothing here that was deterioration due to age alone, it was the ground under the building that was shifting and causing cracks in the very foundation that the building sat on.

I guarantee you this isn't the only one in the same condition. What happened to the authority of the people that are educated to know when a building is unsound to act on what they know. This is a crime. Plan and simple. 

'

   

Very troubling. It is almost as though the Robert's Court is bothered by the past or better said resents the past and it's permanence.

Looks like Kavanaugh is going to pull one-off for the Federalist Society and it's path to a Christian Theocracy.

This is definitely the time to take a sincere look at adding more justices to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh was one of the children raised in the USA by ideological parents, just like Josh Hawley (click here), and destined for a place like the Supreme Court. Why? To effect change in the character of the USA to satisfy the outcomes of Evangelical Christians. We do not want nuclear weapons in their hands.

June 26, 2021
By Mark Joseph Stern

Justice Clarence Thomas arrives for the ceremonial swearing in of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at the White House in 2018.

On Friday, (click here) the Supreme Court pulled off a heist decades in the making. In TransUnion v. Ramirez, five conservative justices seized Congress’ power to create new individual rights and protect victims by authorizing lawsuits when those rights are violated. Instead, the court awarded itself the power to decide which rights may be vindicated in federal court, overturning Congress’ own decisions about which harms deserve redress. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion for the court was so extreme it prompted Justice Clarence Thomas to write a furious dissent, joined by the liberals, that accused the majority of infidelity to the Constitution. But because of the court’s 6–3 conservative supermajority, Thomas’ defection from the conservative bloc did not change the outcome. And now, thanks to Friday’s decision, a huge number of Americans harmed by a flagrant violation of the law will be locked out of the federal judiciary altogether....

First up on the chopping block is the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (click here) is a federal law that regulates the collection of consumers' credit information and access to their credit reports. It was passed in 1970 to address the fairness, accuracy, and privacy of the personal information contained in the files of the credit reporting agencies....

• ...The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs how credit bureaus can collect and share information about individual consumers.
• Businesses check credit reports for many purposes, such as deciding whether to make a loan or sell insurance to a consumer.
• FCRA also gives consumers certain rights, including free access to their own credit reports....

What my first impression was that Ginni Thomas would be thrown out of her right-wing clubs for the rest of her life. But, Ginni hasn't been herself recently (click here). It would appear as though since this little falling out by Ginni Thomas, the Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has been interesting, to say the least. He has been taking up the side of women in a few of his recent decisions.

But, this is far more troubling a decision than just losing the Fair Credit Reporting Act, this is about whether or not the Second Branch of Government, the Legislative Branch can expand citizens' rights. The law regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 expanded the right of Americans to know what is going on with a commodity called CREDIT. Allowing average Americans the brevity of knowing their credit reporting is viewed as a right and not a privilege. Owning and using a state drivers' license is viewed as a privilege, it is revokable.

Interesting, isn't it, that a privileged document, a State driver's license, is the backbone of the Republican demands at the ballot box as the true identity of a person.

But, this whole mess the Supreme Court conservative majority is spewing is more than concerning. The Supreme Court with this decision is nullifying the Legislative Branch back to the beginning of time.

Justice Thomas was one of the justices that nearly 100 percent of the time would side with the Late Justice Scalia. I find it more than alarming that he should be standing out as a symbol of warning to this majority of 5 conservative justices to remove the purpose of the legislative branch of the government. That five majority includes the latest Justice Coney Barrett who clerked for the Late Justice Scalia and claims her views were somewhat hammered out by the late justice. Yet, here they are, the two Justices most affiliated with the Late Justice Scalia, in complete opposition to her vote.

The Legislative Branch of the USA Constitution carries out votes for Amendments to add to the rights of American citizens. Does this decision mean the Legislature no longer has the right to pass Amendments to the USA Constitution? Surely not. The Amendment process is clearly written into the USA Constitution. But, then so are the rights and responsibilities of the Legislature. It would seem as though with this decision the five court conservative majority wants to remove the legislative branch and quite possibly the right to pass Amendments that start in the Legislative authority.

This decision can't stand and I would like to know what Attorney General Merrick Garland thinks of all this. I can't help but believe the AG will be in President Biden's office first thing Monday morning to talk about this very concerning decision by the Supreme Court.

I think this decision explains a lot about an agenda within the political right-wing including Moscow Mitch's obstructionist plan the entire time he has been Majority Leader of the US Senate. In circles of my friends, we would call this "a trend." Even more than a trend, a planned assault against the USA Constitution. I am confident members of the US House can think of many recent decisions by the Supreme Court including the right of subpoena, which is rather remarkable from the extremist point of view.

Right now, with this decision by the Supreme Court, the working branches of government are the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch. The Robert's Court would have the appearance of negating many of the roles of the Supreme Court by sending decisions back to the lower courts and taking apart the previously held responsibilities of the US Legislature. This isn't the first assault, it is however the most damaging.

Given that the Robert's Court is dismantling the Legislative Branch, that leaves the Executive Branch which is supposed to uphold the laws passed by the legislature. With the legislature nullified by this decision, the Executive Branch is now the King the Founding Fathers warned against. Be grateful the King is still elected and the current King is President Biden.

This decision clearly puts the Supreme Court on the road to additional justices and the elimination of the filibuster.

The USA Constitution was never supposed to be immobile to society's changing content. The USA Constitution is designed to bring about change as time passes and the country has grown and changed with time. The idea that The Fair Reporting Act of 1970 is dismantled and discarded puts citizens back in time to before the USA Constitution was written. Isn't that why King Trump hoped to take us with his Insurrection of January 6, 2021?

The Kyiv Post picked seven top destinations in southern Ukraine — from the wild desert island of Dzharylhach to the noisy yet comfortable Zaliznyi Port.

Arabat Spit, (click here) the longest sand spit in Europe, is a popular tourist destination, known for shallow sea, large comfortable beaches, recreation centers, salt lakes and thermal springs. The most popular resorts on the spit are the villages of Genichenskaya Gorka, Strilkove and Shchaslyvtseve. The spit separates lagoons named Syvash from the Azov Sea.

Tour De France has started ahead of the 2021 Olympics

Tour De France 2021 (click here)

June 26, 2021

By Chris Cwik

The Tour de France (click here) descended into chaos Saturday after a careless fan caused a massive crash at the event when their sign hit one of the riders.

The fan was posing for the camera with the sign, and not watching the race when a rider collided with the sign....

26/06/2021

Alaphilippe (click here for video - thank you) won the crash-marred opening stage of the Tour de France to snatch the race leader's yellow jersey on Saturday. FRANCE 24's Jean-Emile Jammine tells us more.

Snyder's lawyers (who are paid by the state) will try anything to see if it will stick to the wall.

An emergency manager (click here) said no to the river after speaking to environmental regulators. An ex-Flint official said the governor’s office reversed that decision.

There is one many guilty of the tragedy of poisoning an entire city and that is Rick Snyder.

These are public entities involved in bankruptcy. There are absolutely no private interests in any of these proceedings. While the State of Michigan obtained the documents legally, they should have been able to get it with nothing more than a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request.

Additionally, the state is a party in these proceedings. And the state isn't allowed to have it's own records for prosecution according to Snyder. That is about as backward an idea as it comes.

The people of the State of Michigan have a right to not only prosecute wrongdoing where people have died at the hand of the state government but, to CONSERVER the amount of money these lawyers spend. So, far in Snyder's case alone, the defense attorneys have failed at every motion. They should not be entitled to money if they are carrying out motion after motion in order to add hours to their invoice to the state and make Rick Snyder feel better that there is something that can stop this prosecution. 

July 16, 2021

Detroit - The Flint water criminal case (click here) involving former Gov. Rick Snyder took a strange side trip Wednesday into bankruptcy court where his lawyers asked a judge to penalize state attorneys for distributing confidential documents from Detroit's historic financial restructuring.

The documents were related to private talks between Detroit, the state and creditors while the city was trying to emerge from bankruptcy in 2014. Snyder's administration played a key role in groundbreaking deals.

Armed with a search warrant in 2019, prosecutors in the attorney general's office obtained documents from computer servers controlled by other state attorneys who had represented Snyder in matters related to Flint's lead-contaminated water.

The search apparently swept up sensitive documents from the Detroit bankruptcy as well as attorney-client communications of other state officials, Snyder attorney Charles Ash said....

25 years to life is the usual sentence for someone that murders for the first time.

According to the judge, there is ten years more added to his sentence due to the "character" of the death. The death was particularly heinous and committed by someone in the profession of law enforcement.

Some day in this country we will RETURN to the place where police officers will be able to safely patrol with a six bullet revolver or no gun at all. But, in order to achieve that goal, we all have to work at ridding the USA of the gun lobby and a gun industry that doesn't know it's a place in any society, including the USA.

  

Pass city ordinances that demand regular inspections when temperatures vary widely in short periods of time and/or with chronic winds and/or flooding.

 While on the topic of Belgium, there was a building collapse in Antwerp, Belgium a couple of days ago.

I am no engineer or architect, but, it seems to me there were wide swings in temperature just before the school building under construction collapsed killing five and hospitalizing 9. 

The building collapse in Miami was not of a building under construction. I don't know how old that building was, but, it was built on land that is bordered on two sides by water.

Cities need to assess their buildings to understand their age, their composition and resiliency to weather and varying temperatures in a short period of time.

Some cities that experience severe weather on a regular basis this may not seem as much a threat. But, cities here chronic high winds and widely swinging temperatures in a matter of a couple days need to be aware of the problems that can arise.

In the past few years there have been some alarming problems due to weather, including exploding sidewalks when summer temperatures reach into the 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit range.

Cities should consider ordinances that require regular inspect of buildings both under construction and those already built when temperatures and wind pose a challege to stability.

June 24, 2021

Surfside, Florida - At least one person (click here) is dead and as many as 99 people unaccounted for following the collapse of a residential building in Surfside, a town near Miami.

The incident happened at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

According to officials, 102 people are accounted for, but 99 are still unaccounted for. 35 victims were pulled from the structure and two were pulled from the rubble, including a boy. 11 patients are being treated for their injuries.

Fire rescue officials said they have to be careful when searching because the part of the building that is still standing is also shifting.

"We're still waiting and unfortunately the hope is still there, but it is weaning," Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman said to CNN. "The rest of the search and rescue efforts has been done by man power on the outside, search on the barrier quarters, also with drones and with dogs. It has shifted now or started to shift to recovery."...

The USA needs to bring all those in Afghanistan that worked for the USA military to asylum.

NATO allies are already bringing Afghans to their countries for asylum who have assisted the NATO's military with their missions. There is no excuse for the USA. Those Afghans need to be on transport planes to come to the USA for asylum. They have intelligence about the USA and will be tortured and killed when the troops leave for home. it is vital to bring Afghans who have assisted the USA military to our country to settle along with their families.

Anyone complaining about immigration and/or asylum should be fully ashamed of themselves.

10 June 2021
By Alan Hope

The Belgian government (click here) could offer asylum to up to 30 translators who worked for Belgian troops in Afghanistan, defence minister Ludivine Dedonder (PS) has suggested.

The offer would include the Afghans’ families, and potentially remove them from the risk of suffering reprisals at the hands of a resurgent Taliban.

Dedonder was speaking at a press conference to mark the 19th anniversary of the Belgian presence in Afghanistan.

Translators – more accurately translators and fixers, as they do much more than translate from local languages into languages the troops will understand, most commonly English – are of supreme importance to foreign forces in a country like Afghanistan, where everything from the culture to the languages to the society to the landscape is utterly foreign.

Now, however, after US President Joe Biden announced a US troop withdrawal from the country, the Taliban is making a move. According to De Volkskrant in the Netherlands, the Taliban has claimed 150 victims in one day, mainly among army and police.

American troops are due to leave by the symbolic date of 11 September, exactly 20 years after the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that trigged the invasion....

Afghanistan

Bring these people at the very least to Guam. They assisted the USA military during a very long war and they need protection. We have lost interpreters in Afghanistan and other people who assisted our soldiers through violence. They will face tragedy if they are left behind.

There is going to be a lot of change in Afghanistan after the USA is gone. There are local militias currently acting to establish their own protections. That is the way Afghanistan operated before the war and it will operate that way after the USA leaves.

The USA has tried and tried to engage the people in a way that would bring about a stable democracy. That has worked to a certain extent, but, it is up to the people of that country now. If after twenty years there is no success in Afghanistan it is time to let the people sort everything out and live according to their means and abilities.

The USA was never successful in ending the corruption in Afghanistan and that is the peril the country still faces. With the USA gone, the commerce this country brought will end and perhaps Afghanistan will have to make hard choices that brings them to value democracy and a centralized government.

I am quite sure any rights women and girls have achieved could be lost, but, here again it will be according to how these talented ladies are valued. If the local militias appreciate their knowledge and innate abilities to achieve learning and add to the country's brain trust, then they have a chance at being part of government and the sciences that can advance Afghanistan.

Geologically, it is a difficult country for one military to protect. The mountains and mountain passes are extreme and dangerous. For that reason, the country brakes down into local authorities that have the ability to be the military and police for areas of the country. 

China and Russia may try to bring about an economy based in mining, but, without the USA to stabilize the country in a real way, the attempts to grow an economy will fail.

So, to that end, these people that have helped the USA all these years, they must be given at the very least refugee status to prepare them for life out of Afghanistan. There are many countries that were involved in that country and perhaps they can offer to give refugee families a homeland once again. But, right now, they need evacuation.

June 23, 2021
By Julia Watson and Ben Fox

San Diego - In the chaotic, final hours of the Vietnam War,(click here) the U.S. evacuated thousands of South Vietnamese who supported the American mission and were at risk under the communist government.

With U.S. and NATO forces facing a Sept. 11 deadline to leave Afghanistan, many are recalling that desperate, hasty exodus as they urge the Biden administration to evacuate thousands of Afghans who worked as interpreters or otherwise helped U.S. military operations there in the past two decades.

Despite unusual bipartisan support in Congress, the administration hasn’t agreed to such a move, declining to publicly support something that could undermine security in the country as it unwinds a war that started after the 9/11 attacks.

“We have a moral obligation to protect our brave allies who put their lives on the line for us, and we’ve been working for months to engage the administration and make sure there’s a plan, with few concrete results,” Republican Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan said during a House hearing last week....

SARS-CoV-2

The understanding I have about the current status of the virus is the vaccines are working. Today, those hospitalized are not vaccineated. The vaccines are even effective against the variants. Other Western countries are finding the same conclusions. 

The USA must lead in vaccinating other countries to end the death tolls and protect the people that can be protected. It is interesting how other countries are complaining about not having vaccine or enough of it to protect the people and here in the USA where vaccines are more or less abundant there are people that refuse the vaccines and die because of it.

There must be an investigation into the CULTURE that was propagated last year and continues to be propagated by the Republican Party. There are people that are dead because they believed the propaganda to protect an economy rather than their lives. Like the poisoned water in Flint, the glib attitude faciliated by the Republican Party must come to an end. This is an outrage and the people of this country have a right to understand what occurred. I suppose this death toll can be called, "The Second Big Lie." 

An investigation must be conducted and conclusions reached.

Oh, as far as the idea that China's lab was the original place of the virus. No one will ever know for sure. If the WHO can't get to the truth, I sincerely believe nothing else will.

The Republicans are still trying to blame "The Chinese Virus" as if it were germ warfare. That is nonsense. Even if this was biological warfare, the CULTURE and presidential incompetence that came out of the Republican Party is responsible for such horrid outcomes in the USA.

Let's get this straight. A United States of America President should know how to protect the people from biological warfare. President George Walker Bush knew exactly what to do and harnessed the country's capacity to produce treatments for the virus he was fighting.

There is no excuse for what occurred in the USA. 

The Democrats, especially minority candidates, need to take more of the state legislative seats.

June 22, 2021

By Marie Albiges

Harrisburg - The Pennsylvania House (click here) passed an election overhaul bill Tuesday that creates stricter voter ID requirements and early voting in 2025, despite opposition from most Democrats and a promised veto from Gov. Tom Wolf.

The state Senate is poised to take up the measure in the coming days, but Republican lawmakers in the chamber are charting a separate path that would advance the priorities of county election officials while putting stricter voter ID requirements on a future ballot.

The topic has emerged as a partisan sticking point in Harrisburg. Currently, only first-time voters and those casting ballots at a new polling precinct are required to show ID. Roughly three-quarters of respondents to a recent Franklin & Marshall College poll of Pennsylvania voters said they favor requiring all voters to show photo ID....

A rather interesting poll that finds far less confidence in state government post pandemic. There is more to a state government than just the Governor. I strongly suggest the Democrats take a close look at the moarning the American people are doing and who they believe is most responsible for it.

The poll finds that President Biden is doing a great job for the people. I believe he is liked and respected by the people of the country. He takes his responsibilities seriously, doesn't worry about the impression he makes on the press or those who would have him be deemed incompetent and gets it done. He is doing work the people have wanted for a long time, which only proves there are reasons people were unhappy with the government and it would seem not just the fedreal government.

The pandemic hurt the USA deeply. The death rate, the loss of jobs and income. They will remember who stood at their side and fought the losy virus and who didn't. There are a lot of people dead and they shouldn't be.

...Despite the lessening concerns about COVID (click here) and the increased vaccination rates, Pennsylvania’s voters remain pessimistic. Only two in five (35%) state voters believes the state is “headed in the right direction,” which is significantly lower than the recent, pre-pandemic high of 57 percent reported in October 2019 and essentially unchanged since the March F&M Poll. There is also no notable improvement in voters’ assessments of their personal finances.

These negative assessments about the direction of the state and personal finances likely translate to lower job approval ratings for Governor Wolf. In July 2020, more than half (52%) of the state’s registered voters rated the governor as doing an “excellent” or “good” job; today, his positive job approval rating is at 39 percent. President Biden’s approval ratings have fared better than Governor Wolf’s in Pennsylvania. About two in five (44%) voters in Pennsylvania believe President Biden is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president and his approval rating for managing the coronavirus outbreak is higher (49%) than his overall job approval rating. Both of these numbers are consistent with his March approval ratings....

Is the American Philosophical Society protected from losing it's importance. It is history itself.

There are no plans to display the Declaration anytime soon. Dare I say it should never be on display so much as a copy.

American Philosophical Society (click here)

June 23, 2021
By Stephen Salisbury

American Philosophical Society's head of conservation Anne Downey (left) and Patrick Spero, director of the library, open their copy of the original Declaration of Independence ordered up by President John Quincy Adams in 1820, but not completed until 1823.

The archive of the American Philosophical Society, (click here) consisting of an ever-expanding universe of 13 million manuscripts and 350,000 bound volumes and periodicals, with images and audiotapes proliferating on a daily basis, has reached the point where it is its own universe.

So it should be no surprise that APS, founded in 1743, has discovered that it possesses an exceedingly rare engraved copy of the Declaration of Independence ordered up by John Quincy Adams two centuries ago, and given to the society in 1842 by Daniel Webster. The society has just announced the discovery.

The unearthed document now ascends to APS’s pantheon of Declarations consisting of rare drafts and early printed copies from newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets held....

West Humbolt Park is getting new jobs.

West Humbolt Park, Chicago (click here)  It looks as though Amazon has made a wise decision in building a facility in West Humblodt Park, Chicago. The area has many young people and a comparible low income to Chicago. Perhaps these jobs will be good paying jobs with good benefits that will enhance the community. I congratulate Amazon for taking impoverishment in it's decisions. The company still needs to organize to protect the people that work very hard to make the company a success.

The West Humboldt Park neighborhood, (click here) canopied between Garfield and Humboldt Parks, is a place for new beginnings amidst authentic architecture located just minutes west of downtown. The neighborhood is home to a diverse population of long-time neighbors including African American and Latino residents, particularly a vibrant Puerto Rican community.

June 22, 2021

By Lauren Zumbach and Ryan Ori

Amazon (click here) is planning to build a facility in Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood that could employ hundreds of people.

Construction has not yet started on the 140,000-square-foot delivery station, which is expected to open in late 2022, Amazon said Tuesday. A delivery station is a package’s last stop before it is delivered to a customer....