I said from the very beginning COTTON made the best masks. Please get this right.

Major League Baseball is using the absolute WORSE form of face mask to contain the spread of the virus.

August 9, 2020
By Tamar Lapin

...The scientists (click here) also discovered that neck fleeces, or neck gaiters, often worn by runners, were the least effective and actually allowed more respiratory droplets to escape than not wearing a mask at all.

That’s because they were shown to break down larger droplets into smaller particles, allowing them to slip out the sides of the covering more easily.

“We were extremely surprised to find that the number of particles measured with the fleece actually exceeded the number of particles measured without wearing any mask,” Martin Fischer, one of the study’s authors, told CNN....

I am going to tell you about the filter mask I finally decided on as the best. I have no relationship with the company, it has been around for a long time and they don't make just filter masks. They make all kinds of medical masks, including those that people use to help breath when they sleep.

The company is out of Canada, but, has manufacturing plants in the USA. It is a really nice company and they practice "give back" in donating masks to firefighters of wildfires and citizens that find themselves compromised by wildfire smoke and dust.

I could be mistaken but I believe the manufacturer is SOLD OUT of these masks. The reason I chose this mask is that its filter comes closest to N95 masks. This company also makes a surgical mask that was sold out some time ago.

O2 Canada (click here) electrostatic filters are charged with pockets of both negative and positive ions, which attract, trap and neutralize small particles. They efficiently filter particles at 0.1 microns and larger. The highly effective O2 Canada filter traps mechanical pollutants found in pollution as well as bacteria and diseases, and based on average use the filter can last up to 2 weeks.

The icon is O2 (two dots) for the electrostatic charge of the filters. O2 is the chemical symbol of oxygen. I like the filter mask a great deal. It fits well and it is the best mask I have worn that actually allows me to breathe easy and forget I am wearing a mask. It has a cushion on the rim of the mask that adds comfort to the face and reduces irritation and pressure on the skin. It can be washed regularly even after each use outside with soap and water. Alcohol-based cleaners are not recommended for the plastic mask. The filters are good for two weeks OR unless they are visibly dirty from looking at the outside shell. The filters should not be washed and should be put in a dry place as a precaution while washing the mask with soap and water or any non-alcohol based cleaner.

This mask was purchased after a short advertisement campaign to the point where it is sold out. They should consider increasing their production and perhaps the size of their manufacturing plant.

The filters are what makes the difference in my choice of this mask. Again, I have no relationship with the manufacturer at all. My only interest is promoting a mask I found helpful as a consumer of such products. This virus is a really lousy episode in USA history and I believe this mask provides better confidence. At least it does for me.

FYI, below.

...4. How do N95 masks block SARS-CoV-2? (click here)

N95 masks are designed to remove more than 95% of all particles that are at least 0.3 microns (µm) in diameter. In fact, measurements of the particle filtration efficiency of N95 masks show that they are capable of filtering ≈99.8% of particles with a diameter of ≈0.1 μm (Rengasamy et al., 2017). SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus ≈0.1 μm in diameter, so N95 masks are capable of filtering most free virions, but they do more than that. How so? Viruses are often transmitted through respiratory droplets produced by coughing and sneezing. Respiratory droplets are usually divided into two size bins, large droplets (>5 μm in diameter) that fall rapidly to the ground and are thus transmitted only over short distances, and small droplets (≤5 μm in diameter). Small droplets can evaporate into 'droplet nuclei', remain suspended in air for significant periods of time and could be inhaled. Some viruses, such as measles, can be transmitted by droplet nuclei (tellier et al. 2019). Larger droplets are also known to transmit viruses, usually by settling onto surfaces that are touched and transported by hands onto mucosal membranes such as the eyes, nose and mouth (CDC, 2020). The characteristic diameter of large droplets produced by sneezing is ~100 μm (Han et al., 2013), while the diameter of droplet nuclei produced by coughing is on the order of ~1 μm (Yang et. al., 2007). At present, it is unclear whether surfaces or air are the dominant mode of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but N95 masks should provide some protection against both (Jefferson et al., 2009; Leung et. al., 2020)....

There is no "there there." EXCEPT, for Ukraine and it's people from Russia.

The joke of a president in the USA White House is not shared by other countries, nor is there such LOOSE standards to carry out investigations.

August 8, 2020

By Betsy Woodruff Swan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (click here) is calling on Ukrainians to refrain from interfering in the upcoming U.S. elections. The call comes after the U.S. intelligence community released a statement saying the Russian government is trying to help President Donald Trump win reelection, and that a Ukrainian member of Parliament is participating in that effort.

"It is never and under no circumstances unacceptable to interfere with another country's sovereign elections," Zelensky said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. "Once again, I assure our partners that Ukraine did not allow and will not allow itself to intervene in the future in the elections and thereby harm our trustworthy and sincere partnerships with the United States."...

There is a very serious conflict in Ukraine. The "idea" there was corruption with Hunter Biden was indulged by the current Ukraine government and it was found there was no corruption.

When Ukraine's new president received a phone call from Donald John Trump he was expecting a discussion about the military hardware. Instead, Trump PLAYED HIM to engage in corruption ITSELF by putting forward a FALSE charge against Hunter and/or Joe Biden. Trump was impeached successfully because of his corrupt actions while in office. Ukraine wants no more of this mess. It has an important place on the world stage and it is taking that seriously.

Ukraine was once the epicenter of the Soviet Union's nuclear program sitting on Europe's border as well as the Black Sea. For that reason alone, Putin is obsessed with exerting control in Ukraine. Ukraine no longer has any nuclear munitions or any nuclear capacity, except, for brilliant scientists that have a right to live their lives in peace.

Ukraine has long played an important, (click here) yet sometimes overlooked, role in the global security order. Today, the country appears to be on the front lines of a renewed great-power rivalry that many analysts say will dominate international relations in the decades ahead....

Ron Johnson has been involved in Republican engagement in digging up dirt about the Bidens. It is odd though. Johnson is retiring at the age of 62 from his seat in the year of 2022. Why would a person planning on retirement continue to hack away at a false path?

August 9, 2020

By Shirin Ali

A national intelligence document released Friday (click here) by the Trump administration revealed Russia is using pro-Russia Ukrainian officials to slander presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, undermining a key pillar of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s ongoing investigation into the former vice president.

Johnson, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has drawn criticism from Democrats and foreign policy experts for what they see as an attempt to smear Biden as he challenges Republican President Donald Trump.

And while the committee prepares to release an interim report on its findings next month, a nonpartisan watchdog has given Johnson, R-Oshkosh, failing marks for his committee’s workload for the second consecutive year....

This mess is entertaining by some, evidently. But, the REAL ISSUE is the fact there is still ongoing conflict in Ukraine with Russia. We know how a US president sees all this; he favors Russia. The REAL investigation that Johnson should be conducting is HOW DOES TRUMP'S FAVORITISM OF RUSSIA EFFECTS UKRAINE, NATO AND USA NATIONAL SECURITY? Best I can tell, Johnson isn't the least interested in ending the Ukraine conflict or punishing Russia for it.

When the REAL investigation comes forward, I might even be interested in it.

The death toll above is primarily according to the United Nations. The Euromaidan protests in Kiev began 21 November 2013 and ended 23 February 2014, a total of 110–123 protesters and 18 police officers were killed in street clashes in the Ukrainian capital. The protests resulted in a civil war currently backed by Russia. It also included an annexation attempt by Russia of Crimea. Those changes in the map of Ukraine are still under contention. There was nothing democratic about balloting held in regard to Crimea.

This conflict does not serve anyone in the entire world, except two men Putin and indirectly Trump.

February 25, 2019

KYIV -- Some 13,000 people have been killed, (click here) a quarter of them civilians, and as many as 30,000 wounded in the war in eastern Ukraine since it broke out in April 2014, the United Nations says.

The estimated toll includes more than 3,300 civilian deaths, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a document dated February 25 and provided to RFE/RL the same day.

It comes as the simmering conflict between Russia-backed separatists and government forces approaches its sixth year, with little progress toward the implementation of a Western-brokered cease-fire and political-settlement deal known as the Minsk Accords.

"OHCHR estimates the total number of conflict-related casualties in Ukraine...at 40,000-43,000" from April 14, 2014 to January 31, 2019, the statement said, including "12,800-13,000 killed."...

The conflict of interest with Chao is more than a conflict of interest, it is a national security issue that was allowed by McConnell.

Mitch McConnell is PROVEN to bend to the will of China and Russia for his personal wealth, power, and influence.

All Mitch's boats were manufactured in China with Chinese steel.

Mitch McConnell is the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate. (click here) McConnell fast-tracked the PROMESA bill through the Senate. He made sure that a minimum wage cut to $4.25, and the installation of a powerful Financial Control Board, went through quickly – with virtually no debate and no amendment.

It is therefore ironic, that Mitch McConnell has been linked to the distribution and sale of 90 pounds of cocaine.

MITCH McCONNELL and HIS COCAINE BOAT

A boat was recently detained before leaving from Colombia.

During the search, the Colombian Coast Guard discovered 90 pounds of cocaine, in forty neat packets.

The vessel’s is named Ping May – one of sixteen ships operated by the Foremost Maritime Corporation (FMC). 

Bloomberg (click here)

(Foremost is McConnell's million dollar contributor to his private wealth.)

The imported coal from China sold for less than domestically mined coal. The USA never needed imported coal and it still doesn't. The USA continues to be the one country in the entire world with enormous quantities of coal.

100 COVID-19 free days WITHOUT a huge national debt or disruption in economy.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a community meeting with COVID-19 community responders at Wainuiomata's Memorial Hall on July 30, 2020, in Wellington, New Zealand.

New Zealand, (click here) a country of about 4.8 million, has now gone 100 days without a single locally transmitted case of COVID-19, according to news reports.

The last COVID-19 case acquired locally from an unknown source was reported on May 1, BBC News Reported around the time that lockdown measures began to ease. In late March, the South Pacific island implemented one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, "a lockdown so severe that even retrieving a lost cricket ball from a neighbor's yard was banned," The New York Times reported.

To date, New Zealand has recorded a total of 1,569 cases and 22 related deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins virus dashboard. Just 21 cases are considered active, and those people are isolating, CNN Reported...

August 10, 2020

By Julia Hollingsworth

..."We have seen overseas (click here) how quickly the virus can reemerge and spread in places where it was previously under control," Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said Sunday.

"We need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand. Don't let the team down -- none of us can afford to do that."...

Moscow's Mitch has a direct conflict of interest with his wife's family shipping company.

Chao family's business, which she and Mitch receive millions of income yearly, is shipping. The company, named Foremost, is in direct competition with USA steel.

...Foremost (click here) has received hundreds of millions of dollars in loan commitments from a bank run by the Chinese government, whose policies have been labeled by the Trump administratio as threats to American security. The company’s primary business — delivering China’s iron ore and coal — is intertwined with industries caught up in a trade war with the United States. That dispute stems in part from the White House’s complaints that China is flooding the world with subsidized steel, undermining American producers.

Foremost, though a relatively small company in its sector, is responsible for a large portion of orders at one of China’s biggest state-funded shipyards, and has secured long-term charters with a Chinese state-owned steel maker as well as global commodity companies that guarantee it steady revenues....

I don't care what she has to say. Her actions in CUTTING OUT competition with her family business is PRE CORRUPTION. It isn't that Choa's family has exclusive shipping from China to the USA for INGREDIENTS of steel. 

...Since Elaine Chao became transportation secretary, records show, the agency budget has repeatedly called to cut programs intended to stabilize the financially troubled maritime industry in the United States, moving to cut new funding for federal grants to small commercial shipyards and federal loan guarantees to domestic shipbuilders....

This is a huge breech in USA national security. Set aside the coal and iron from China which is to produce steel. The fact China has an active interest in the USA shipping because it's companies are thriving at the cost of the USA. It serves China's best interest to maintain an active interest, such as campaign funding, no different than Russia. 

Chao has proven she will use her power within the cabinet to end the competition with her family's business. Mitch McConnell needs to be removed from office. He is looking the other way to benefit his wife and the couples' wealth. Russian oil and gas are not permitted in the USA, so what is it doing here?

Moscow Mitch's Russian oligarch for Kentucky is directly involved in the steel industry. There is no getting away from the corrupt priorities of Moscow Mitch. He allows a communist oligarch from Russia to run a steel plant in Kentucky, while his wife imports everything needed to produce steel from China. The personal wealth dividend these two people carry into their own agenda is benefitting not only the McConnells/Chao, but, Russia and China as well.

The Chao family has provided funding for a ship simulator at Shanghai Maritime University and backed scholarships for training programs.

Got that part? Chao is assisting Chinese students to staff the family shipping business, BUT, when it comes to allowing competition in the USA of smaller companies there is no such thing! 

Understand Moscow Mitch is importing coal from China to make steel within the Russian steel rolling plant in Kentucky while stating he is protecting coal jobs in the USA. Kentuckians cannot look the other way or turn the other cheek when it comes to sending this deeply corrupt Senator and wife back to Congress.

Don't do it.

As the majority leader of the US Senate, he is controlling enormous power that is benefitting China and Russia and NOT his own constituents, yet alone the country.

Credit...

There are fiscal problems within the states. The states are being punished by Senate Republicans.

July 28, 2020

By Craig Mauger

Lansing — Cuts to public safety and education in Michigan (click here) will be "unavoidable" unless federal lawmakers step up with more financial aid, State Budget Director Chris Kolb cautioned Tuesday.

During a press conference in Lansing, Kolb and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on President Donald Trump, the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate and the Democratic-controlled U.S. House to negotiate a new relief plan that provides more federal cash to states as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to slash government revenues.

Kolb and Whitmer also bashed a plan put forward by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. Kolb said the $1-trillion plan wouldn't provide a "single new dollar" of economic relief that Michigan and other states need.

“With this plan, the budget reductions in the coming year would be severe,” Whitmer's budget director said.

Given current revenues, cuts to public safety, education and health care services would be unavoidable at the local and state levels, Kolb said....

This is a national health emergency that has resulted in illness and deaths as well as an economic contraction in the USA resulting in lost revenues for states through normally collected taxes.

July 30, 2020

By Gordyn Grzelewski

Dearborn — Ford Motor Co. (click here) took a $1.9 billion hit to its pretax earnings during the second quarter — far better than the $5 billion the automaker had warned it might lose during the eight-week pandemic shutdown.

But by recording a one-time $3.5 billion gain on its investment with self-driving software Argo AI, the automaker managed to post an overall $1.1 billion profit. That gain was recorded as a "special item" on Ford's balance sheet, chief financial officer Tim Stone told investors Thursday. The automaker would have posted a loss without that item....

CAMUS the law worked on by the Trump administration to replace NAFTA is not being respected. Tariffs are a way of replacing some taxes that currently exist. Trump likes tariffs and in this case, enjoyed the idea of limiting Canadian steel.

August 9, 2020

By Keith Lying

Washington — Just one month (click here) after the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, the Trump administration is re-imposing a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from Canada.

In a proclamation signed Thursday, President Donald Trump said that he is setting aside a previous commitment to exclude Canada and Mexico from tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum he implemented in 2018 under a section of law that allows the president to unilaterally impose tariffs to protect the nation's security....

Canadian steel and tariffs has been at issue since the beginning.

Aug. 16, 2017 — Canada, Mexico and the United States (click here) commence the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement which U.S. President Donald Trump had called “the worst trade deal in history” while campaigning for the role in 2016.

March 14, 2018 — Prime Minister Justin Trudeaud says Canada won’t be “bowled over” at the NAFTA talks by Trump. Trudeau makes the remarks while visiting steelworkers in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont....

May 31, 2018 — The U.S announces tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum to take effect the next day. Lack of progress in NAFTA renegotiations was cited by Washington as the reason for the tariffs.

In retaliation, Canada later the same day announces plans to impose taxes of up to $16.6 billion on steel, aluminum and hundreds of other products from the United States....

US Steel production for more than a decade:

...Adjusted year-to-date production (click here) through August 1, 2020 was 46,102,000 net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 66.2 percent. That is down 19.9 percent from the 57,553,000 net tons during the same period last year, when the capacity.

Broken down by districts, here's production for the week ending August 1, 2020 in thousands of net tons: North East: 134; Great Lakes: 462; Midwest: 145; Southern: 515 and Western: 72 for a total of 1328....

The only way a tariff applies to any commodity is if the USA cannot sell/use all the steel produced in the USA. Canada is not flooding the market. The USA steel industry doesn't provide all the steel needed in the USA.

Vice President Pence state of Indiana produces USA Steel. There is absolutely no way an ally, like Canada should be receiving tariffs on their steel imports that the USA needs. This tariff is anti-American and needs to be blocked by  Congress.

How much steel does the United States import? (click here) 

According to a report released by the Commerce Department in February, the U.S. is the largest importer of steel.

"On an average month, China produces nearly as much steel as the U.S. does in a year," the Commerce Department said in a summary of the report.

In 2017, there were 36 million metric tons of steel imported to the U.S., and only 10.1 million metric tons of steel produced, according to the report.

Which country produces the most steel?

China is far and away the world leader in steel production. In 2017, China produced 49.2 percent of the world's steel, with 831.7 million metric tons, WorldSteel reported.

Japan is the second-leading producer, adding 6.2 percent of the world's steel to the marketplace, followed by India, which produces 6 percent, according to WorldSteel.

The U.S. is ranked fourth

Some housekeeping. If judges can't legislate from the bench, presidents can't legislate from the Oval Office.

The executive order today by Trump is not all that it appears. It is basically a weak order. Now, let's get this out of the way. Executive Orders are no part of the US Constitution. There is nothing in the document that states the president has the right to an executive order. The so-called Executive Order is DERIVED from the powers afforded the USA Consitution. The Executive Order was begun as a method to carry out "executive" vs. "legislative" power. The president cannot legislate and it is why these executive orders are so easily challenged in court. The Executive Order is antithetical to the definition of democracy. So, the executive order needs to have a strong reason to exist or it will be defunded by Congress. 

August 9, 2020

President Trump took the unusual (click here) — and highly controversial — step Saturday of attempting to provide additional economic relief to millions of Americans on his own, without the approval of Congress.

At his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., Trump announced he was postponing payroll taxes through the end of the year, extending the unemployment "bonus" at $400 per week (down from $600), helping people “stay in their homes” and waiving student debt payments through the end of 2020. The details, however, are not as generous as he made them sound.

He is ordering a payroll tax deferral, not a cut, meaning the taxes won’t be collected for a while but they will still be due at a later date. On housing, he instructs key officials to “consider” whether there should be a ban on evictions. He also insists that state governments pick up the tab for some of the unemployment aid....

The once place he could have triumphed is with an eviction moratorium throughout the country. The order fell far short of protecting the people and the order asks pretty please think about what you are doing before you do it. There is no strong language with regard to evictions.

THIS IS A NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY WHEREBY SOCIETAL EXPOSURE TO EACH OTHER CAUSES INCREASES IN CASES AND DEATHS. THEREFORE, ENDING EVICTIONS BEFORE THE VIRUS WILL ONLY CAUSE GREATER SPREAD. THIS WOULD HAVE HELD UP IN COURT DUE TO THE BACKING OF THE HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY AND AUTHORITIES IN THE USA.

The United States of America is a legislated-representative democracy. The Executive Branch is to carry out the legislation/LAWS for the people. The judiciary is about upholding the law that is administered by the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch contains all the agencies of the government. Those agencies are supposed to be lead by COMPETENT people to interpret the law and write regulations based on the law.

When the regulations of the Executive Branch are out of step with the law the judiciary reins-in the wayward Executive Branch. An executive branch order be used to replace wayward regulation by the agencies and rapidly change the regulation for relief to the people.

There is no place in the USA Constitution that provides for a king that carries out his own idea of the law. So, no doubt this executive order by Trump will be met with lawsuits because there is a great deal of ambivalence in the wording.

The Trump family of jokers.

 Don, Jr. has had a come to Jesus moment. He said he is an environmentalist and worried about global warming. Amazing. It must have occurred when he became Obsessed with the Tiger King and habitat preservation.

It wasn’t only four years ago, his sister Ivanka had the same come to Jesus moment and asked Al Gore to visit with her at Trump towers when the Russians weren’t there. Al went with good intentions and insight. But, alas, all was lost on the moment and greenhouse gases have increased in Trump’s years in the White House.

Indeed, the Trump family are passionate about so many issues and money. But, passion is only a fleeting moment and all good intentions that got them political attention vaporizes in a matter of seconds or minutes.

The president can't appropriate monies.

Donald John Trump can order the moratorium on evictions nationwide. That is a very big deal. It is about housing, but, it also is to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

The president has a budget he can spend from and if that is the case then he can provide monies to the unemployment checks, but, I doubt it can be $600 per week. He also has OCO funds which are to carry out military actions.

The appropriations of funds belong to the US House and it why it is pushing for "The Heroes Act." The reason the Senate and Trump are opposing "The Heroes Act" is that they want to bankrupt the US Post Office. The USA Constitution guarantees the American people a free (minimal cost for all) and well functioning  Post Office. The US House is correct to address the emergency of the US Post Office during this national health emergency. The US Senate needs to pass "The Heroes Act" and the president needs to sign it.

One thing has to stand out about the US Senate and that is their majority leader. He is enamored with China and Russia. He hails a loyalty to China(click here) through his personal attachments which include enormous about of money McConnell receives every year as allowance and to his political campaign. I am sure McConnell's connection to his wife's family business benefits that shipping company, a transportation industry. Moscow Mitch is also strongly affiliated with Russian oligarchies that provided him with a steel mill to bring jobs to Kentucky citizens. There are all sorts of monies trees within that Russian paradigm and too much to list here. What I find more than interesting is that when Moscow Mitch is faced with the well being of Americans he obstructs nearly every measure to improve American's quality of life including health care during a global pandemic. Obstruction of free and fair elections is what Russia and China are engaged in today. It seems as though obstruction is part of a Moscow Mitch paradigm that works for him as well.

Among other things, the bill (click here)

• provides FY2020 emergency supplemental appropriations to federal agencies;
• provides payments and other assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments;
• provides additional direct payments of up to $1,200 per individual;
• expands paid sick days, family and medical leave, unemployment compensation, nutrition and food assistance programs, housing assistance, and payments to farmers;
• modifies and expands the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans and grants to small businesses and nonprofit organizations;
• establishes a fund to award grants for employers to provide pandemic premium pay for essential workers;
• expands several tax credits and deductions;
• provides funding and establishes requirements for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing;
• eliminates cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments;
• extends and expands the moratorium on certain evictions and foreclosures; and
• requires employers to develop and implement infectious disease exposure control plans.

The bill also modifies or expands a wide range of other programs and policies, including those regarding

• Medicare and Medicaid,
• health insurance,
• broadband service,
• medical product supplies,
• immigration,
• student loans and financial aid,
• the federal workforce,
• prisons,
• veterans benefits,
• consumer protection requirements,
• the U.S. Postal Service,
• federal elections,
• aviation and railroad workers, and
• pension and retirement plans.

Carrying the message of environmental justice. It is a unique burden of the impoverished.

It is also creeping into the Middle Class with a hamstrung EPA and FDA. The lack of due diligence by the government is creating a wave of cancer within the next ten to twenty years.

August 7, 2020

Flint, Michigan (click here) is the site of one of the worst ongoing water crises in recent U.S. history. Artist LaToya Ruby Frazier has spent years capturing the stories of life living with toxic water.

About LaToya Ruby Frazier

LaToya Ruby Frazier is a visual artist. She is a 2015 TED and MacArthur Fellow, and earlier this year she received the Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl Book Prize.

Her first book, The Notion of Family, received the International Center for Photography Infinity Award. She is also known for Flint Is Family, portraits of three generations of women surviving the man-made water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Following the Flint Is Family project, Frazier partnered with AWG Contracting and Moses West to bring an atmospheric water generator to Flint so that residents could produce their own supply of clean water. It is in its second year of use.

Notable solo exhibitions of Frazier's work have run at Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, and Institute Of Contemporary Art, Boston. Her work can also be found in public and private art collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art....

In the past 24 hours....

...259,344 new cases of COVID-19 has been reported globally. (click here)

The USA is at the top of the list in new cases with 49,629 and only out flanked by Brazil with 51,603 and India with 56,282.

No one is going to let Americans into their country,

This is such a flyin' joke. LOL.

What countries are going to allow Americans to travel to them? The USA has been banned in most Western countries if not all. I don't even know if China will let an American into the country.

The USA has been NUMBER 1 in viral cases and deaths. The virus is far from under control and NO ONE WANTS AMERICANS TO TRAVEL TO THEIR COUNTRY!

August 6, 2020

By Jennifer Hansler

After more than four months, (click here) the US State Department on Thursday lifted its advisory warning US citizens against traveling abroad.

The department issued the Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory -- the highest level of travel advisory -- on March 19, urging US citizens not to travel overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, "(w)ith health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice (with Levels from 1-4 depending on country-specific conditions), in order to give travelers detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions," a Thursday note from the State Department said.

"This will also provide U.S. citizens more detailed information about the current status in each country," the note said. "We continue to recommend U.S. citizens exercise caution when traveling abroad due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic."...

Russia.

August 6, 2020

By Mary Ilyushina, Katie Polglase and Ali Youne

...Once it arrived, (click here) the ship never left Beirut's port, according Lebanon's Director of Customs, Badri Daher, despite repeated warnings by him and others that the cargo was the equivalent of "a floating bomb."

"Due to the extreme danger posed by this stored items in unsuitable climate conditions, we reiterate our request to the Port Authorities to re-export the goods immediately to maintain the safety of the port and those working in it," Daher's predecessor, Chafic Merhi, wrote in a 2016 letter addressed to a judge involved in the case....

August 6, 2020

By Mia Jankowicz

...The cargo ship that brought 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate (click here) to Beirut — which exploded Tuesday with devastating consequences — was abandoned in 2014 by a Russian businessman based in Cyprus, according to multiple reports. 

Igor Grechushkin was named as the owner of the MV Rhosus by the ship's former captain Boris Prokoshev, in an interview with the Russian edition of Radio Free Europe.

According to Prokoshev, the Grechushkin now lives in Cyprus — a common destination for wealthy Russians.

Business Insider has been unable to reach Grechushkin for comment, and a LinkedIn profile with his name is inactive. CNN reported that its attempts to call him received no answer....

STOP HIM FROM LEAVING CYPRUS. ONCE HE REACHES RUSSIA HE IS PROTECTED FROM EXTRADITION.

It is stated Igor Grechushkin is in Cyrus. There needs to be immediate apprehension of the Russian oligarch to be questioned in regard to the dead, missing, injured and displaced caused by his boat. 

Who was the explosive intended for?

The shipment was under investigation and considered suspicious when the ship was detained.

5 August 2020

Igor Grechushkin (click here) is reported to be still residing in Limassol, Cyprus with his wife.

The Russian father of one, currently reported to be living in Limassol, Cyprus, was accused by the crew of his ship in abandoning both the people and the cargo.

The ship called Rhosus was going under the flag of Moldova from Batumi in Georgia to Mozambique. It was detained in October 2013 by Lebanese authorities after it stopped in Beirut due to a malfunction on board.

The cargo was checked and detained after the port authorities said it was ‘lacking documents and conditions necessary for transportation.

The crew - eight Ukrainian and two Russian men - was forced to stay on board of the vessel while the owner Grechushkin declared himself bankrupt and ‘abandoned the ship’

Lebanese authorities agreed to let six out of ten sailors to leave the country, others were left stranded on the ship for almost a year....

135 dead in Beirut and many missing.

Amazing. France sends more than supplies and food, they send hope. Magnificent. President Macron is absolutely correct. This is not about terrorism, it is about a country floundering in the 21st century to move into a global city with an economy to match.

August 6, 2020

By Sarah Dadouch and Erin Cunningham

Beirut - French President Emmanuel Macron (click here) on Thursday announced plans for a "new political pact" and sweeping economic reforms in Lebanon as he toured devastated areas of Beirut following a massive explosion that killed scores of people earlier this week.

Macron, who said the disaster should “mark a new era” in the tiny Mediterranean nation, is the first world leader to visit the Lebanese capital in the aftermath of the blast, which engulfed its commercial center Tuesday, eviscerated its port and killed at least 135 people. More than 5,000 residents were wounded and tens more remained missing, officials said. As many as 300,000 people have been displaced.

The immediate cause of the explosion, which sent a towering plume of red smoke into the sky, appeared to be an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can also be used to make bombs. It was stored in a warehouse at the port for years despite repeated warnings about the risk it posed — a revelation that has angered Beirut residents and prompted calls for resignations and wider accountability....

Trump is not appalled at the charges against the NRA. His advice is more corruption, "Move to Texas."

What does Trump know? He didn't state for any reason that there was no wrongdoing by the NRA, he simply added to the corruption by directing the NRA to move to Texas. That is astounding. Trump is a crime boss. Never saw it more clear.

August 6, 2020

By Tim Mak

The attorney general of New York (click here) took action Thursday to dissolve the National Rifle Association following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is "fraught with fraud and abuse."

Attorney General Letitia James claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she found financial misconduct in the millions of dollars and that it contributed to a loss of more than $64 million over a three-year period.

The suit alleges that top NRA executives misused charitable funds for personal gain, awarded contracts to friends and family members, and provided contracts to former employees to ensure loyalty.

Seeking to dissolve the NRA is the most aggressive sanction James could have sought against the not-for-profit organization, which James has jurisdiction over because it is registered in New York. James has a wide range of authorities relating to nonprofits in the state, including the authority to force organizations to cease operations or dissolve. The NRA is all but certain to contest it.

The NRA said in a statement that the legal action was political, calling it a "baseless premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend... we not only will not shrink from this fight – we will confront it and prevail."...

Viruses don’t go away.

I can’t think of one virus or bacteria that simply go away without a vaccine. The exception is Bush’s SARS response. “W” did make it go away. He was brilliant in plotting to end SARS before it ever got started. 

There was not one death from SARS in the USA under Bush. Only 115 cases. Bush wrote the quarantine orders for Americans himself.

The opening and closing of travel bans for cities and counties during the SARS outbreak was determined by the WHO. 

“Double speak” Trump

Even almost immune is not immune. Children need to stay home until it is safe. I would like Trump to say which one of his grandchildren are okay to catch SARS-CoV-2. I want to know which of his grandchild is okay to contract the maiming virus? That is what he is telling the country when he disregards the well being of all children in this country. Which ones, Mr. President are okay to get sick?

Come to think of it some may have already been exposed as Ivanka tested positive. If that is the case then there is sincerely unfortunate circumstances within the president’s family due to COVID-19. 

There is no police protocol for causing the death of a person under arrest.

There is nothing in the newly released George Floyd videos of the police body-cams that changes the fact he was murdered by police. As a matter of fact, it provides even more insight into the poor police work of four officers.

There is absolutely no justification for his death. He was in custody and he died.

Where were the tasers to assist in putting him in the police car? Where was a taser when he fell to the ground? The legal reasons for his death do not exist.

There were violations of the Geneva Conventions in Portland, Oregon.

I don't want to hear complaints about the dates of the regulations. They are current and quite frankly there is no difference in the human body since 1864 that would require changes to modern-day human beings.

Geneva Convention (1864) (click here)

Article 2 of the 1864 Geneva Convention provides:

Hospital and ambulance personnel, including the quarter-master’s staff, the medical, administrative and transport services … shall have the benefit of the same neutrality [as military hospitals and ambulances] when on duty, and while there remain any wounded to be brought in or assisted.

Geneva Convention (1906)

Article 9 of the 1906 Geneva Convention provides:

The personnel charged exclusively with the removal, transportation, and treatment of the sick and wounded, as well as with the administration of sanitary formations and establishments … shall be respected and protected under all circumstances. If they fall into the hands of the enemy they shall not be considered as prisoners of war...

August 4, 2020

By Jonathan Levinson

A team of experts with Physicians for Human Rights, (click here) a New York-based group that documents rights violations, spent seven days in Portland investigating the use of crowd control weapons against protesters and law enforcement violence directed at volunteer medical staff.

That team released its findings Tuesday ahead of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C.

“PHR has concluded that the response by federal agents that it documented in Portland was disproportionate, excessive, and indiscriminate, and deployed in ways that caused severe injury to innocent civilians, including medics,” the report states.

Dr. Michele Heisler, PHR’s medical director, led the team visiting Portland. Heisler said they didn’t see any official EMTs or paramedics at the protests and that medical care was left to volunteers and civil society.

The report cites numerous instances where law enforcement deliberately targeted volunteer medics and their supplies.

“There was the case of OHSU, their tent was destroyed,” Heisler said. “There was one day where the police actually took their supplies.”...                            

Large numbers of mail-in/absentee ballots have been counted before.

August 4, 2020

...The 1.59 million absentee ballots (click here) received as of Tuesday morning significantly outstrips the roughly 484,000 absentee ballots received in the August 2016 primary and surpasses the record 1.27 million absentee ballots received in the November 2016 presidential election. 

Donald John Trump took the presidency in 2016. There are more mail-in/absentee ballots this election, however, it is not an astronomical difference. In 2020 there are 320,000 more ballots compared to 2016. All this is very easy to accommodate. There should be no problem in counting ballots in the presidential election.

The November 2016 presidential election set a record, too. All the ballots were counted and became a record popular vote then, too. Election results are forthcoming and in the Republican primary, the winner is already known and is Peter Meijer.

There were no problems in 2016 and there are no problems in 2020.

"By all accounts, today’s elections were a great success," Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said after the close of polls Tuesday. "All of these (voting) options — making sure they’re available and voters are aware of them — are key to our success in November and were key to our success today.”...