Birds of a feather.

Bill Barr would not do Trump's bidding so the State of Texas will carry on with a single campaign as if it is even legal. What, not use Trump''s failure to the advantage of millions of right-wing Evangelical voters

Texas almost went blue this year. If Thomas Moore says this is important then it is important.

A state cannot throw it's assets behind one candidate. It is not legal. At least a Republican governor can say "they tried."

This is an assault on the USA Constitution and "Safe Harbor."

December 8, 2020
By Tucker Higgins and Kevin Breuninger

Texas’ Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, (click here) on Tuesday announced a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate presidential election results in four key swing states that helped secure Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump.

The unusual lawsuit, which was filed directly to the Supreme Court, asserts that “unlawful election results” in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan — all of which Biden won — should be declared unconstitutional.

Legal experts quickly dismissed the case as political theater without precedent in American history.

The filing argues that those states used the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to unlawfully change their election rules “through executive fiat or friendly lawsuits, thereby weakening ballot integrity.”...

The only rule changes that were noted by the Trump Campaign were in Michigan and the courts ruled on that in favor of Trump.

The monies received by states to SECURE their POLLING PLACES are NOT rule changes. The monies were to secure a safe environment for citizens while voting and the staff while working. THAT IS OSHA and POSHA issues. It has nothing to do with local election procedures.

There is a national health emergency.

There were more than key battleground states that received these monies. Heck, Texas received the money, too.

There is a law!

3 U.S. Code § 5.Determination (click here) of controversy as to appointment of electors

If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior to the day fixed for the appointment of the electors, for its final determination of any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, by judicial or other methods or procedures, and such determination shall have been made at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such determination made pursuant to such law so existing on said day, and made at least six days prior to said time of meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution, and as hereinafter regulated, so far as the ascertainment of the electors appointed by such State is concerned.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673.)

The State Attorney General for Texas should concentrate on something the people like, secession. WARNING: There is a Democrat in the White House.

December 7, 2020
By Paul Krugman

Republicans can't handle the truth. Ya think?

President Trump’s continuing attempts (click here) to overturn an election he lost decisively more than a month ago is, like so much of what he’s done in office, shocking but not surprising. Who imagined that he would go quietly?

What some people may not have been fully prepared for is the way Trump’s party as a whole has backed his dangerous delusions. According to a survey by The Washington Post, only 27 Republican members of Congress are willing to say that Joe Biden won. Despite the complete lack of evidence of significant fraud, two-thirds of self-identified Republicans said in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that the election was rigged.

But you really shouldn’t be surprised by this willingness to indulge malicious, democracy-endangering lies. After all, when was the last time Republicans accepted a politically inconvenient fact? It has been clear for years that the modern G.O.P. is a party that can’t handle the truth.

Most obviously, Republican refusal to accept the election results follows months of refusal to acknowledge the dangers of the coronavirus, even as Covid-19 has become the nation’s leading cause of death, and even as a startling number of people in Trump’s orbit have been infected....

Georgia needs the "Poor People's Campaign."

The Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign will bring the national We Must Do MORE tour to North Carolina on Sept. 28 (Greenville) and Sept. 30.

Reverend Barber has stated with great patience there are millions and millions of voters poor and oppressed with little self-will to rise up and vote. The first step to ending oppression and economic disadvantage is to vote for representation that will lift all Americans to a better quality of life.

If Georgia ever needed those dear people it is now. There is great fear about the virus. It isn't easy to move forward to vote for perhaps the first time at a time of great fear. Hopefully, the appeals of those with a vision for Georgia can be heard to those that need trustworthy leadership the most.

Offer masks, instruction, and guidance to voting. Ask people to plan their vote. Their time is now when faced with the greatest oppressor of all, "The Trump Virus."

 

DeSantis is afraid of his own shadow. He is looking for a scapegoat.

Ms Jones needs an attorney. The worst is that she is a Whistleblower and has to be afforded the full weight of the law against DeSantis and his depraved governorship. She also needs her job back with back pay.

DeSantis is looking for incriminating evidence of her personal life. Smoker, drinker, orgy goer, etc. He needs something to attack her. The illegitimate politics of character assassination.

7 December 2020
By Ed Pilkington

Rebekah Jones, (click here) the Florida data scientist embroiled in a dispute with the state’s Republican governor over the handling of coronavirus figures, had her home raided on Monday by armed police who confiscated her computers.

In a stream of posts on Twitter, Jones posted a video of the raid that showed state police carrying handguns escorting her out of her Tallahassee home. She can be heard saying: “He just pointed a gun at my children,” with her husband and two children apparently upstairs at the time.

Jones claimed in her tweets that the raid was the work of Ron DeSantis, the governor with whom she has clashed repeatedly since she was fired by the state’s department of health in May in a row over Covid-19 data. She compared the incident to sending “the gestapo”, adding: “This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. This is what happens to people who speak truth to power.”

The Florida department of law enforcement confirmed they had entered Jones’s house on a search warrant. But in a statement the department said the action was related to a recent computer hack of the health department website, in which emergency response coordinators were sent an unauthorised message.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the message urged the coordinators to “speak up before another 17,000 people are dead. You know this is wrong. Be a hero. Speak out before it’s too late.”....

Safe Harbor Day

It is about 90 minutes until "Safe Harbor Day" arrives. President-Elect Biden has the 270 electorates to move into the President's office. 

It is safe to say at this point the illegitimate politics of the extremists will be relegated to tabloid papers.

This needs to be a turning point whereby legitimacy ONLY exists in the political spectrum of the USA. Anything else is unethical.

I understand the current president is refusing to let military intelligence have the right to speak to the new president. I have to wonder how much of the current president's intelligence is legitimate. Russia has polluted this country. I believe at the highest levels. Russia probably is still mentoring Trump for another Venezuela in the Western Hemisphere.

President Biden may very well need to rebuild his own military intelligence. I couldn't be more serious. There is NATO and the intelligence of The West. I am confident they didn't trust Trump either.

Reality check: Ukraine 

Ukraine's alarming reality with Trump wasn't happening in a vacuum. It just had a great American whistleblower. Former Ambassadors' knowledge will recreate that great military intelligence once again.

Everyone worries too much. 

The only way the work force in North Carolina can be safe is with a union and demand safe working environment.

Duke University Hospital Nurses came close to having a union not long ago. The effort should be revitalized. 

The Labor Secretary of North Carolina prides herself with her name in every elevator in the state. Lately, there have been some reports that her inspections of those elevators have fallen off. Her retirement is more than welcome. Let's hope the new Labor Secretary of NC cares about people like Rose Liberto. 

The issue of a depressed isn't the overriding factor to her death. Immunity can be infused like a blood transfusion if she needed Immunoglobulin G (IgG). Rose died because of an infection of SARS-CoV-2. 

My sincerest sympathy to her family, friends, and colleagues. It is unjust for dedicated, valued, and needed health care professionals anywhere in the USA to become ill, let alone die because they were not cared about enough to be certain they were safe.

The USA had a nurse shortage before this pandemic. How is the country going to replace them with the worst of the winter still ahead?

May 8, 2020
By Jim Morrell

When the coronavirus (click here) outbreak first began to spike in March, Rose Liberto’s family urged her to take a break from her job as a critical care nurse at Atrium’s Cabarrus County hospital

.They knew her immune system had been compromised years ago by intensive chemo treatments.

“We were actually begging her to quit work or retire but she wanted to (go back),” her daughter Jennifer Liberto, told the Observer Friday. “She felt so morally obligated. She kind of wanted to see all this through.”

Rose Liberto, 64, died Thursday at Atrium Health Cabarrus, the hospital where she’d worked for over a decade.

Liberto, who lived in Charlotte, is the area’s first reported health care worker to die from the virus that as of Friday had killed 527 people in North Carolina and 60 in Mecklenburg County....

 

Why does the Thomas Moore Society exist?

To pretend a democracy actually exists to be converted to a theocracy.

In a democracy, a jury of peers decides the guilt or innocence of a defendant. A JURY. In case the folks of the right-wing extremists don't get it; a lot of people were asked to be jurors and a select few made it to let the defendants know they were not exempt from the rule of law and where damage is caused there are penalties to pay.

The lawyers trying the case SELECTED THE JURORS. Hello!

November 15, 2019
By Maria Dinzeo

San Francisco - A federal jury (click here) found an anti-abortion cohort led by David Daleiden caused substantial harm to Planned Parenthood by infiltrating abortion industry conferences to secretly tape abortion doctors and staff – and awarded punitive damages of $870,000....

...The jury of nine men and one woman deliberated for a little less than three days. They found Daleiden and his group, which also includes abortion opponents Albin Rhomberg and Troy Newman, conspired to commit fraud, breach of contract and trespass and to violate federal and state recording laws in Maryland, California and Florida....

Crackpots like the Thomas Moore Society defend the people who break the law in order to make martyrs that later deliver political messages. 

More empty lawsuits.

It is the same Trumpism the campaign has been peddling. They are attacking states won by narrower victories than other states with fraudulent attempts to undermine the USA Constitution. I suppose the Thomas Moore Society (click here) doesn't mind dabbling in fraud so they set up a faux front legal group with their own loyalists. The question is why?

They are complaining that voters and staff at polling places were too protected because of precautions like see-through panels and masks and gloves due to monies they obtained through efforts by Congress to secure the election from the pandemic. Well, too bad. The Moore Society legal front was attempting to cause an end to precautions and instill fear. Same ole, same ole, Trumpism.

The theory was if the monies to secure the elections were stopped, the voters would be afraid to go to the polls. Well. The voters were afraid anyway and they mailed in their ballots. Where voters believed the mail-in ballots to be insecure they went to the polls UNAFRAID!

Thomas Moore pretends to be in favor of the Almighty when it comes to who runs the country until they do something this stupid and place people's lives at risk for the sake of secluding power for the few and the wealthy.

December 7, 2020
By Jon Swaine, Rosalind S. Helderman, Josh Dawsey, and Tom Hamburger

A conservative legal organization (click here) that has filed lawsuits challenging the election results in five states has a tie to President Trump’s legal team, raising questions about the independence of what has appeared to be an endeavor separate from the president’s last-gasp legal maneuvering.

Senior Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis serves as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, which has filed lawsuits through the newly formed Amistad Project alleging problems with the vote in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin....

...The first glimpse of the Amistad Project came late this summer, when the new legal outfit popped up in courts across the country, trying to stop county election officials from taking grants to bolster their operations amid the pandemic....

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

So, this is what it has come to, a need for a well-versed fighter for the ACA heading HHS. President Biden has to get used to the idea of having an "Acting" Secretary of HHS, because, any Republican votes (if in the majority) will oppose this appointee more than any other. Xavier Becerra is more than qualified to lead HHS. He is vital to the best outcomes of American healthcare as we are entrenched in what seems a never-ending battle to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2. After all, it is the virus we are bringing under control, not COVID-19.

The fact that political extremism has set in with this virus running rampant in the USA will require soon to be Secretary of HHS Becerra's knowledge and experience to develop a policy that will eradicate the virus and not allow it to run the USA's economy. While every American has the right to refuse treatment of any kind, they are not allowed to become a vector that endangers the public's health. I wish Secretary Becerra great success.

December 7, 2020
By Tina Reed

Rep. Xavier Becerra, (click here) D-Calif., addresses the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, Monday, Sept. 13, 2010.

President-elect Joe Biden (click here) plans to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

As first reported by The New York Times, if confirmed as HHS secretary Becerra would take the reins amid a pandemic that has killed more than 280,000 Americans, overwhelming hospital ICUs and financially decimated many health systems and physician practices across the country.

He also would be taking over at a time when HHS is in the midst of overseeing rule changes over telehealth payment reimbursement, new hospital transparency rules and new rules aimed at driving down the price of pharmaceutical drugs....

It will take more than vaccines to end the scourge of the virus spread and its aftermath. There is much more lung compromise, including transplants, then before the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Pollution standards need to be improved across the USA, especially in the homes of minority citizens.

December 7, 2020

By Coral Davenport

Washington - The Trump administration (click here) on Monday declined to tighten controls on industrial soot emissions, disregarding an emerging scientific link between dirty air and Covid-19 death rates.

In one of the final policy moves of an administration that has spent the past four years weakening or rolling back more than 100 environmental regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency completed a regulation that keeps in place, rather than tightening, rules on the tiny, lung-damaging industrial particles, known as PM 2.5, even though the agency’s own scientists have warned of the links between the pollutant and respiratory illness.

E.P.A. administrator Andrew Wheeler is expected to announce the rule this afternoon, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Public health experts say that the rule defies scientific research, including the work of the E.P.A.’s own public health experts, which indicates that PM 2.5 pollution contributes to tens of thousands of premature deaths annually, and that even a slight tightening of controls on fine soot could save thousands of American lives....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waning gibbous

21.3 day old moon

59.4 percent lit

5 December 2020

Jeff Bezos’ (click here) space company Blue Origin will take the first woman to the moon, the billionaire said as Nasa nears a decision over who will supply its first privately built lunar landers, meant to be capable of sending astronauts to the moon by 2024.

“This is the engine that will take the first woman to the surface of the moon,” Bezos said in a post on Instagram with a video of a BE-7 engine test this week at Nasa Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Twelve men have walked on the Moon, but no women. Nasa aims to change that, administrator Jim Bridenstine saying last year the first woman to complete a lunar landing will be drawn from the current astronaut corps.

“In the 1960s, young ladies didn’t have the opportunity to see themselves in that role,” Bridenstine said. “Today they do, and I think this is a very exciting opportunity.”

The Blue Origin engine, which has been in development for years, has tallied 1,245 seconds of test-fire time. It is meant to power the company’s National Team Human Landing System lunar lander.

Blue Origin is the prime contractor in a “national team” assembled in 2019 to help build its Blue Moon lander. The team includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper....

Lose the politics.

The current politics of the Trump Republicans assault democracy, authority, and the well being of the American people. No one can deny that. This country has never been in this condition. The economy is failing and so is the health of the people.

Trump is attempting to dissolve the results of free and fair elections. The guy is a wacko and his politics are anti-American.

There are protesters at the Michigan Secretary of State home  after she did the right thing (click here). This isn't politics anymore, it is a confrontation of our own USA Constitution.

The Trump influence in the Republican party has to end. The Republicans need to return to benevolent policies for the people and have the backbone to stand up to the pressure to do differently.

Both parties need to reassess their strength and weaknesses and move into the 21st century. This past election saved democracy. Now what?

December 7, 2020

Atlanta - Georgia’s governor (click here) is again telling lawmakers that he won’t call a special session to overturn Georgia’s election results and appoint 16 presidential electors who would support Republican President Donald Trump instead of Democratic president-elect Joe Biden.

Republican Brian Kemp issued a joint statement Sunday with Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, saying it would violate state law for the General Assembly to name electors instead of following the current state law that calls for the governor to certify electors after results are certified.

“Any attempt by the legislature to retroactively change that process for the Nov. 3rd election would be unconstitutional and immediately enjoined by the courts, resulting in a long legal dispute and no short-term resolution,” the two said in their statement....

2030 and no later to stem the climate crisis. Seriously.

President Joe Biden is going to need a team to lead the COVID-19 response to the country.

Dr. Fauci has been correct about this pandemic. He warned about this exact second wave. He stated it could be very bad including overwhelming hospitals and staff. All that said, Dr. Fauci is not trusted by a segment of the political right-wing. A Libertarian stated to me only a week ago, this incident clearly states Dr. Fauci is untrustworthy. He said, "He didn't trust the American people enough for them to understand how masks were important for healthcare workers."

Dr. Fauci will need a team member "that speaks Republican and Libertarian" to garner a unified approach to ending the pandemic. They demonized Hillary Clinton all her career. They will do it here, too.

There is nothing wrong with the interview, but, there is plenty wrong with the politics. End of hate.

July 16, 2020
By Grace Panetta

Dr. Anthony Fauci (click here) says he doesn't regret joining other Trump administration public health experts in advising Americans against buying masks early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with CBS Evening News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O'Donnell published in InStyle magazine, Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, defended his credibility amid a steady stream of attacks on his expertise and trustworthiness from the White House.

In late February and early March as the COVID-19 outbreak began accelerating in the US, hospitals and health facilities experienced severe shortages of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. In response, experts like Fauci and the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams advised Americans against wearing masks.

"I don't regret anything I said then because in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct. We were told in our task force meetings that we have a serious problem with the lack of PPEs and masks for the health providers who are putting themselves in harm's way every day to take care of sick people," Fauci told O'Donnell.

Wellness depends of Earth's climate.

December 2, 2020
By Catherine Clifford

The world is getting warmer, (click here) but the global response has “remained muted” despite efforts like the Paris Climate Agreement — and millions of lives are at risk as a result.

This according to a report published Wednesday by The Lancet, a leading peer-reviewed medical journal.

“This past year, we have seen the harms of our converging crises — COVID-19, climate disasters, and systemic racism; it’s been a preview of what lies ahead if we fail to urgently make the necessary investments to protect health,” Renee Salas, lead author of the U.S. Lancet Countdown Policy Brief, said in a statement published alongside the report.

Salas likened the kind of plan needed to what she does during her day job as an emergency room doctor.

“Just like in my emergency department, I can’t take one health problem and place it in isolation because one insult on the body creates new problems and worsens old ones,” Salas says. “We must take an integrated approach when tackling these challenges. Climate action is the prescription we need for better health and equity as we emerge from this pandemic.”...

The tragedy of Paradise, California was less about trees and more about wind and combustibility. It is interesting the number of trees still standing among the rubble. Healthy trees are often not effected by rapidly moving fire. The forest floor had very little to do with the tragedy in Paradise. That is all misinformation.

There were 86 people dead (click here) from the "Camp Fire" of which Paradise was a victim. The wind was the enemy. It carried embers miles. The climate crisis caused this tragedy. Nothing else did.

Previous to the USA being involved,...

...the Horn of Africa was under the influence of Russia and Cuba before the USA became involved. They didn't do well with it. They ran a war between Ethiopia and Somalia that established Somalia's borders, but, there was no government established and terrorists took over the country and hijacked ships.

Does anyone really want to revisit this mess?

Elon Musk is nothing short of a genius. If it weren't for his batteries humanity wouldn't have a chance.

This was on the web. It is a Tesla battery used to save energy derived from solar cells.

December 3, 2020
By Shalini Nagarajan

...Tesla stock (click here) rose as much as 5%. The electric vehicle maker's shares are up 603% year-to-date, boosted by its upcoming inclusion in the S&P 500 on December 21 and fading concerns about its ability to make profits.

Goldman's strategists wrote in a December 2 report that "the shift toward battery electric vehicle adoption is accelerating and will occur faster than our prior view."

They noted battery prices are falling faster than expected, while governments around the world are passing regulations that could entirely phase out higher-emission vehicles within 10 to 20 years. That, in turn, is improving the sales outlook for electric vehicles....

22 December 2017

Ahmad Umar, (click here) also known as Abu Ubaidah, is the emir of al Shabaab. Al Shabaab spokesman Ahmed Abdi aw Mohamed announced Umar as the group’s leader on September 6, 2014, after a September 1 U.S. airstrike killed former al Shabaab emir Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Al-Shabab means The Youth in Arabic. (click here)

It emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia's now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu in 2006, before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.

There are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to Somalia to help al-Shabab, from neighbouring countries, as well as the US and Europe.

It is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

Al-Shabab advocates the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis.

It has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves....

...There have also been numerous reports that al-Shabab may have formed some links with other militant groups in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, based in the Sahara desert.

Al-Shabab debated whether to switch allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group after it emerged in January 2014.

It eventually rejected the idea, resulting in a small faction breaking away.

Al-Shabab is currently led by Ahmad Umar, also known as Abu Ubaidah.

The US has issued a $6m (£4.5m) reward for information leading to his capture....

The cooling effect of La Nina no longer works. Earth has exhausted all it's temperature mitigation.

November 17, 2020
By Brett Anderson

NOAA and NASA (click here) have recently released their October global surface temperature data. Despite a strengthening La Nina, which typically has a cooling influence on the global average temperature, last month ranked as the fourth warmest October on record. Records go back to 1880....

Is there something to be explained or studied? NO! Earth has reached it's ability to mitigate climate. Is there a question about achieving far lower greenhouse gases in the troposphere by 2030? NO!

Are humans so greedy and hard-wired to GHGs they can't save themselves? It is a question asked by scientists for a generation!

This was the "real" map of Somalia in 2010. The country cannot be allowed to return to this map or worse.

 Maps (click here)

The first map shows the locations of the three main Islamist groups in Somalia: al Shabaab, Hizb al Islam, and Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama'a.  Al Shabaab is currently in control of southern Somalia and has established Islamic administrations in its territories.  Hizb al Islam controls Beledweyne and administers Hiraan region, as well as Afgoi district near Mogadishu. These two Islamist groups have coordinated their efforts in central Somalia and in Mogadishu, but have clashed over important southern cities, such as the port city of Kismayo.  The third Islamist group in Somalia, Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama'a, tends to align itself with the governments - both local and national.  It has worked in cooperation with the Transitional Federal Government and with the Galmudug Administration....

With the Climate Crisis well established, the Paris Climate Accords is widely successful at empowering "the people."

Under Jacinda Ardern's (click here) administration, New Zealand has sought to play a progressive role in climate negotiations.

Around the world, (click here) the courts are increasingly being used as a battleground in the fight against climate change. MLS News spoke with experts about what this means for business, government and the legal community.

By Kate Stanton.

In February, the NSW Land and Environment Court ruled against a proposal to build the Rocky Hill open-cut coal mine in Gloucester, a farming community in rural NSW. The court cited the mine’s impact on the social and environmental welfare of the town as one reason for rejecting the proposal. In an Australian first, Chief Judge Brian Preston also recognised the country’s obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement. It was a landmark decision, one that signalled how Australian courts could start approaching climate change, says Jacqueline Peel, a professor of environmental law at Melbourne Law School. “The court talked a lot about the impacts of the mine on climate change, not just for the local environment but in the broader global context,” Peel says.

The Rocky Hill mine decision is part of a growing, worldwide movement to tackle climate change through the justice system. Many environmental activists see litigation as a viable path – in addition to public protest and lobbying politicians – to creating change where governments have been slow to act. Brendan Sydes (BSc 1993, LLB(Hons) 1993, MEnv 2006), CEO of Environmental Justice Australia, says that in the absence of major policy developments, climate change litigation pushes courts to develop a jurisprudence around environmental law. “I think we really need solutions at all levels of government, but legal action has a really important role to play in continuing to raise those demands and force that change,” he says....

Hillary Clinton, both as Senator and Secretary of State was adamant about Somalia.

August 2, 2009
By Edmund Sanders

Nairoli, Kenya - Bolstered by a meeting Thursday (click here) between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Somalia’s transitional president, the Obama administration is embarking on the most direct engagement in the Horn of Africa nation since 18 U.S. peacekeepers were killed there in 1993, diplomats of both countries say.

Wrapping up her first stop of a seven-nation Africa tour, Clinton met Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya to discuss ways Washington can provide additional financial and military support to help the fragile government defeat an insurgency by Islamic extremists.

Clinton is the highest-ranking U.S. official to hold a one-on-one meeting with the head of Somalia’s 5-year-old transitional government. The meeting was part of a new approach by the Obama administration to restore formal diplomatic ties with Somalia and take a more active role in assisting the U.N.-recognized government....

In 2005, when Katrina hit the USA, it was not okay to say there is a climate crisis.

Now, Eta is nearly the same kind of storm as Katrina except it took a different path. It is okay in 2020, nearly a generation later, to say "climate crisis."

If coming to terms with Earth's physics and where humanity is headed because it requires generational change, there is something wrong with the understanding of "WARNING."

15 November 2020
By Jeff Ernst

Paddling in a canoe through the flood waters (click here) left by Hurricane Eta in his rural village near the north coast of Honduras, Adán Herrera took stock of the damage.

“Compared with Hurricane Mitch, this caused more damage because the water rose so fast,” said Herrera, 33, a subsistence farmer who is living on top of a nearby levee with his wife and child while they wait for the water to recede. “We’re afraid we might not have anything to eat.”

Hurricane Mitch in 1998 was the most destructive storm to hit Central America. But hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers across the region have lost everything in flooding caused by Eta, which made landfall in Nicaragua as a category 4 hurricane on 3 November. Now, with a second hurricane projected to make landfall on Monday near where Eta did, even more could find themselves in the same situation.

Climate scientists say that this year’s record-breaking hurricane season and the “unprecedented” double blow for Central America has a clear link to the climate crisis.

“In a 36-hour period [Eta] went from a depression to a very strong category 4,” said Bob Bunting, CEO of the non-profit Climate Adaptation Center. “That is just not normal. Probably it was the fastest spin up from a depression to a major hurricane in history.”...