Putin's most innocent spy.

May 24, 2023
By James Frater and Jack Guy

People should “avoid contact” (click here) with a famous beluga whale to avoid accidentally injuring or killing it, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has said.

The whale, nicknamed Hvaldimir, shot to international fame in 2019 after it was spotted wearing a specially made harness with mounts for a camera, leading experts to believe the whale may have been trained by the Russian military....

The Norwegians are worried and rightfully so, the whale is unable to conduct itself like a Beluga and reproduce. There is a segment of the Beluga population now that is genetically unavailable because of Russia priorities for military reasons. The entire use of innocent animals for military purposes is outrageous. The Russians will try to attach bombs to them and deliver them like moving mine fields. 

Trump harnessed the innocent American minds of the tabloids, but, there is another group of innocent Americans being exploited as we watch.

The religious. They know not what they do.

Freedom of religion is granted in our USA Constitution and there is no reason for any religion to seek to dominate the minds of Americans. Yet, in Iowa, the legislature is taking religion and politicizing it in ways that inhibit American freedoms. My guess is that most of the Iowans are in favor of the values they practice at home. They would like to see that those values are reflected everywhere, but, that is a very dangerous idea when it is laced with the idea the USA Constitution is the enemy and other Americans are not as important within the understanding of the First Amendment.

What is occurring in Iowa and with rampaging politicians like DeSantis is a perversion far more dangerous than any DIFFERENCE we have from one another. The people of Iowa, regardless how simple their focus and benevolent their point of view are victims to those that see the USA Constitution as an enemy focusing only on what can be politically advantageous.

The USA Constitution is a very unique and powerful document. It is laced with generosity and not authority. The USA Constitution views the people as those most important and not the authority of the government. While that seems as though the people have the right to HAVE THINGS AS THEY WANT THEM, that is not what the USA Constitution states. In it's generosity the USA Constitution provides a platform for individuality of everyone. It provides also in generous portions TOLERANCE of difference between Americans and the First Amendment teaches us that.

Freedom of Religion is one place where I would expect TOLERANCE to be most at work, yet, today that freedom is creating indifference and intolerance and mean spirited forms of legislation that create victims rather than benevolence to bring about security for all Americans. Hate is replacing the real teachings of religion and it is being sanctioned under the idea the political power has the right to bring about these powers of intolerance and indifference in the name of religious freedom.

In the Supreme Court are religious extremists. They can't see the forest for the trees. The religious extremists are the majority and they believe every aspect of government should be lifted from the individual to allow purity of spirit to ascend to the here after. Really? I thought one of the most extremists in purity of spirit was illustrated clearly in the Bible's New Testament. I thought Jesus Christ was the iconic figure that was the most pure. The lessons of the Bible's New Testament is about a man who God called his son and how he traveled through his life changing the hearts of people by preaching about a monotheistic god and not the many deities the Romans held dear. 

The life of Jesus Christ was not about HAVING IT HIS WAY, it was about purifying the soul through mindful understanding of a moral life of generosity and tolerance. The followers of Jesus Christ did not know plush living with more than ample staples, but, of struggle and sacrifice and being true to that morality no matter the suffering asked of one's heart and mind. Today, that meaning has been perverted by this Supreme Court and those that seek power over the USA Constitution. The idea of Freedom of Religion is not to be intolerant in law of others, but, to allow all forms of spirituality to exist and even the right to be without a spirit god if one chooses.

There are always schisms that occur within religious organizations for ideological reasons, but, the schism occurring in the legislatures of this country is not supposed to exist. The USA Constitution recognizes the right for every American to have a life they cherish. That is not happening in some areas in the USA and unfortunately we have a Supreme Court that is suffering under ethical issues.

It is time to regroup to understand what life in the USA means without a USA Constitution to protect our individuality. It is a precious document and the First Amendment is important, but, not as a means of politics when that freedom is already secure. Legislating hate is highly immoral and causes harm to lives of innocent Americans.

May 24, 2023

United Methodist congregations in Iowa (click here) are leaving the denomination over a split on same-sex marriages and ordaining openly LGBTQ clergy.

The denomination has repeatedly upheld bans on both, but some U.S. churches and clergy have defied them. The Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church approved a new vision last year that allows Methodist ministers to host same-sex weddings and makes way for gay clergy to serve without fear of church charges.

Last year, conservatives launched a new Global Methodist Church, where they are determined to maintain and to enforce such bans. Across the United States, 3,755 churches have parted ways with the United Methodist Church, according to United Methodist News. There's an estimated 30,000 congregations in the United States, with nearly 13,000 more abroad....

There is a movement in some city to help pollinators survive and maybe even thrive.

It is called "No Mow May." (click here)

No Mow May (click here)

Ann Arbor resident Sarah Baird, who is participating in No Mow May, plays with her rescue dog Suki in the tall grass in front of her Harbroooke Avenue home on May 23, 2022.

Of course there are no pesticides applied to prevent toxicity to the pollinators.

With 40 million acres (click here) dedicated to them, lawns are the largest irrigated crop grown in the US. Maintaining them requires significant effort and resources, such as mowing, fertilizing, weeding, and chemical treatments, which can be time-consuming and expensive.

Despite this, lawns offer minimal benefits to wildlife and can even be harmful due to their lack of floral resources and nesting sites for bees, as well as the use of pesticides.

The common association with habitat loss is usually linked to images of bulldozers and damaged earth, yet the loss of habitat caused by well-maintained lawns covering acres can be just as significant as any construction site....

So, the idea is this, if bees have pollen to collect and return to the beehive to produce honey, they will do better. That is exactly what might help. If "No Mow May" participants are seeing bees and other pollinators enjoying the taller plants that are normally mowed down, they will be correct in their focus to give the pollinators a "leg up" this  year.

Bees (click here) feed on and require both nectar and pollen. The nectar is for energy and the pollen provides protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used by bees as larvae food, but bees also transfer it from plant-to-plant, providing the pollination services needed by plants and nature as a whole....

continued...

I think the Biden Administration needs to get started.

The gap in income to the USA Treasury is about two weeks in length. There is no reason to continue the standoff with a GOP that can't get their act together. McCarthy is basically incompetent. It took him forever to be elected to Speaker in the first place, there is no reason it won't take forever to close the gap on the income ceiling.

Secretary Yellen is most worried about US Treasury Bonds paid in June and December. It is those that are finding the shortfall a threat. US Treasury bonds are vital to the health of the USA government and economy. It is time to move forward with measures the White House can carry out because there is just no hope competency will return to the US House soon.

May 24, 2023

By Al Weaver

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (click here) on Wednesday called for President Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment in order to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default on the nation’s credit as White House and House GOP negotiators race to strike a deal.

In an Fox News op-ed, Sanders said enacting many of the proposed cuts Republicans passed in their debt limit bill last month — and that are on the table now — would be “a disaster,” just as a default would be....

Press Secretaries are very important in Russia. This is more of the same from Putin.

24 May 2023
By Iryna Balachuk

Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov (click here) says Russia will intervene in the event of a popular armed uprising in Belarus to overthrow the regime of its self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Source: Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti

Quote: "This neighbouring country [Belarus − ed.] is our partner, ally and fraternal state. Naturally, the Russian Federation has obligations with regard to ensuring the security of Belarus, which we will do in the face of such an evident threat."

Details: He also called Poland a "hostile" state to Russia, claiming it is now "engulfed in Russophobic hysteria".

Peskov also claimed that Poland is "openly speaking of its intention to intervene directly, including by force, in the internal affairs of a neighbouring state"....

May 24, 2023

By Filipp Lebedev, Lucy Papachristpou, and Mark Telvelyan

London - The director of a top Russian science institute, (click here) arrested on suspicion of treason along with two other hypersonic missile technology experts, stands accused of betraying secrets to China, two people familiar with the case told Reuters.

Alexander Shiplyuk, head of Siberia's Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ITAM), is suspected of handing over classified material at a scientific conference in China in 2017, the sources said....

More rampaging against the machine that Putin can't seem to get to do as he wants. The killing didn't work in Ukraine so maybe it will work somewhere else. And if the weapon systems aren't functioning well enough to defeat other's defenses it must be someone's fault and not Vladimir.

China does the exact same cyber facial recognition technology to maintain control over any freedom of expression.

May 24, 2023
By Dasha Litvinova

Yekaterina Maksimova enters a Moscow subway station in Moscow, Russia, Monday, May 22, 2023. The journalist and activist has been detained five times in the past year, thanks to the system's pervasive security cameras with facial recognition. She says police would tell her the cameras "reacted" to her — although they often seemed not to understand why, and would let her go after a few hours.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Yekaterina Maksimova (click here) can’t afford to be late, the journalist and activist avoids taking the Moscow subway, even though it’s probably the most efficient route.

That’s because she’s been detained five times in the past year, thanks to the system’s pervasive security cameras with facial recognition. She says police would tell her the cameras “reacted” to her — although they often seemed not to understand why, and would let her go after a few hours.

“It seems like I’m in some kind of a database,” says Maksimova, who was previously arrested twice: in 2019 after taking part in a demonstration in Moscow and in 2020 over her environmental activism.

For many Russians like her, it has become increasingly hard to evade the scrutiny of the authorities, with the government actively monitoring social media accounts and using surveillance cameras against activists.

Even an online platform once praised by users for easily navigating bureaucratic tasks is being used as a tool of control: Authorities plan to use it to serve military summonses, thus thwarting a popular tactic by draft evaders of avoiding being handed the military recruitment paperwork in person....

Surveillance cameras are not uncommon in the USA to protect from dangerous intersections and enforce speed limits. Americans really to object in many instances to the presence of these cameras and the traffic fines that result. But, they have also been heroes in places like Boston when terrorists struck innocent citizens enjoying a celebratory event in the way of a marathon. 

However, in Russia these cameras are a nefarious part of life that are more than traffic reporters or heroes to marathon runners, they are the police and enforcement of silence. Putin's propaganda is not to be questioned. Period. No freedom of speech. That is authoritarianism that Americans are not exposed to and quite frankly would cause problems in the USA economy. Begin grateful for our Constitution and the freedoms it affords us should never be a political debate. 

January 30, 2021

By David Chapek

Free speech (click here) is usually considered a constitutional right, which is certainly correct. It’s also often discussed as a human right—also correct. But the benefits of free speech go further. Free speech acts as a gateway toward human improvement and the betterment of society.

How, you ask? It’s simple: innovation.

Most great discoveries and achievements come not through one person’s sole genius, but through collaboration with others. Take, for example, the one and only Albert Einstein. His special theory of relativity was based not on his own solitary contemplations but on discussions with two other innovators, Marcel Grossmann and Michele Besso. Grossmann’s work in mathematics is said to have greatly helped Einstein. Who knows what would have happened had the latter worked alone?

Discussion leads to innovation.

When we are able to discuss and collaborate with one another, we are putting together our own individual gifts and talents (a principle known in economics as specialization) toward a broader purpose—in this case, discovering, inventing, or creating something. And, just as with Einstein, when we are free to collaborate, society is improved....

The Republican agenda of anarchy serves Musk's plans.

The assault against democracy and the free enterprise system are too numerous to mention, but, it is plainly obvious that his antics from the Florida Governor mansion was all political with the aspiration that rolling back history would win the presidency.

May 24, 2023
By Sara Fisher and Mike Alan

Elon Musk (click here) has displaced Rupert Murdoch and Fox News as the king of conservative media in recent weeks.

Why it matters: Fox News used to be the place where conservatives went to break news. But the right-wing ecosystem has turned on the network, leaving Twitter as the center of media gravity for the Republican Party just as the 2024 election heats up....

May 23, 2023
By Dasha Burns and Matt Dixon

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (click here) will announce he is running for president during a discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, three sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.

Musk and DeSantis will host an event on Twitter Spaces, the site’s platform for audio chats, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET. It will be moderated by David Sacks, a tech entrepreneur who is a Musk confidant and DeSantis supporter....

May 23, 2023
By Charisma Madarang

Amanda Gorman (click here) prepares to speak at the 2020 inauguration of Joe Biden.

A Florida school (click here) has banned elementary students from reading “The Hill We Climb,” the poem written and recited by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s inauguration as president.

The powerful poem, which was been internationally praised, was one of several works banned at the Miami-Dade County school library after a parent complained they referenced critical race theory, gender ideology, “indirect hate messages,” according to the Miami Herald.

On Tuesday, Gorman addressed the ban, in a statement posted to social media. “I’m gutted. Because of one parent’s complaint, my inaugural poem, ‘The Hill We Climb,’ has been banned from an elementary school in Miami-Dade County, Florida,” she wrote.

“And let’s be clear: most of the forbidden works are by authors who have struggled for generations to get on bookshelves,” she continued. “The majority of these censored works are by queer and non-white voices. I wrote ‘The Hill We Climb’ so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. Ever since. I’ve received countless letters and videos from children inspired by ‘The Hill We Climb’ to write their own poems.”

“Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech,” the poet wrote. “Together, this is a hill we won’t just climb, but a hill we will conquer.”...

We saw the same prowess with the hacking of the USA elections of 2016 with both the DCCC and the Clinton Campaign.

On the same note, the FBI did really well in basically walking into the GRE through online access. Russia has maintained the idea of being furious through propaganda and sheer brutality as noted in it's methods in Syria. The same methodology was witnessed in Ukraine. This form of so called intelligence interference is about the best developed skill that Russia has when it comes to warfare, other than propagating nuclear weapons.

29 March 2023

By Frank Gardner

Russia's security and intelligence services (click here) have achieved greater success in Ukraine than its army, says a leading UK defence think tank.

Russian spy agencies began preparing for the invasion of Ukraine as far back as June 2021, says a report by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

The Federal Security Service (FSB) has quickly dominated populations in occupied areas of Ukraine, Rusi adds....

These are not my entries.

It is my complete confidence this blog was hacked by China or Russian spies. I would say this was the GOP or DeSantis, but, they aren't that smart. I also have been unable to remove them. So. The protest regarding their content does not belong to me but some adverse entity that I has assaulted this blog. 

Google should trace the origins of the posts and send them to the FBI. I apologize for being unable to do that myself. The FBI is also welcome to investigate this on it's own if it care to.

There was only one other time this blog was hacked and it was some time ago. I was convinced then it was Carl Rove. Not this time.

I sincerely have nothing to hide from anyone.