November 18, 2021
By Morgan Greene

Microcystins is the toxin produced by Blue-Green algae.

Straved Rock State Park - Barges carrying mounds of coal (click here) toward St. Louis passed by Starved Rock at a snail’s pace, inching past yellow-orange trees and sandstone canyons. A bald eagle hovered above a path leading hikers toward Lover’s Leap. Near the Starved Rock Lock and Dam, a pinch point along the Illinois River, the water was dull and unremarkable.

But the area is home to a problem that taints waters throughout the state: toxic algae blooms.

In June, its surface was streaked with neon green. The bloom, one of dozens sampled this year throughout Illinois, contained levels of a potent toxin more than 30 times above the advised state recreational standard.

Blooms of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, happen when, given the right mix of conditions including temperature, sunlight and excess nutrients, the microscopic organisms proliferate to the extent that it sometimes looks like someone dumped paint in the water.

The rise of blooms appears to be connected to human-caused climate change. Along with nutrient overload from intense storms, warming air temperatures — and in turn warming water temperatures — can feed blooms....

It is so strange to think about toxic algal blooms caused by the climate crisis and coal is one of the biggest greenhouse gas polluters. So, here are barges full of coal floating past the algal bloom which it causes.

Europe is moving on greenhouse gas emissions, but, as is the case globally, not enough yet.

Graph above (click here)

November 10, 2021

By Tereza Pultarova 

Europe's climate (click here) is warming much faster than the rest of the world and scientists are trying to understand why. 

The world is nowhere near on track to limiting the global temperature rise to the 1.5 degrees Celsius required by the Paris Agreement, the international treaty negotiated at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in 2015. In fact, latest predictions show that globally, the climate is set to get on average 2.4 degrees C warmer compared to the pre-industrial era, unless emissions of greenhouse gases are drastically cut. 

But not all parts of the world are set to be hit equally. Europe, in fact, has already passed the 1.5-degree C threshold and is currently 2.2 degrees C warmer than it was before the industrial revolution, Samantha Burgess, deputy director for climate change services at the European Earth observation program Copernicus, said Tuesday (Nov. 2) in a briefing at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) that is concluding this week in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Climate denial is waning, but it is being replaced with anti-immigration rhetoric.

21 November 2021
By Oliver Milman

...“When the Roman empire fell, (click here) it was largely as a result of uncontrolled immigration – the empire could no longer control its borders, people came in from the east and all over the place,” the British prime minister said in an interview on the eve of crucial UN climate talks in Scotland. Civilization can go into reverse as well as forwards, as Johnson told it, with Rome’s fate offering grave warning as to what could happen if global heating is not restrained.

The forgotten oil ads that told us climate change was nothing

Read more

This wrapping of ecological disaster with fears of rampant immigration is a narrative that has flourished in far-right fringe movements in Europe and the US and is now spilling into the discourse of mainstream politics. Whatever his intent, Johnson was following a current of rightwing thought that has shifted from outright dismissal of climate change to using its impacts to fortify ideological, and often racist, battle lines. Representatives of this line of thought around the world are, in many cases, echoing eco-fascist ideas that themselves are rooted in an earlier age of blood-and-soil nationalism.

In the US, a lawsuit by the Republican attorney general of Arizona has demanded the building of a border wall to prevent migrants coming from Mexico as these people “directly result in the release of pollutants, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere”. In Spain, Santiago Abascal, leader of the populist Vox party, has called for a “patriotic” restoration of a “green Spain, clean and prosperous”....

October 25, 2021

On Thursday, (click here) the National Security Council released a long-anticipated report on what environmental advocates are calling one the most pressing issues of our time: climate change-induced migration. The report is the first U.S. government report on the effects of climate on migration and arrives right as President Biden is slated to attend a major United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland known as COP26.

The 37-page report, which was commissioned by President Joe Biden in February with an August deadline, notes that climate migration, both within countries and between them, is already here, but is set to get a lot worse. Climate change is expected to displace as many as 143 million people, nearly three percent of the populations of Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, by 2050. Roughly a quarter of those are expected to migrate internationally as a result of their displacement. The sheer mass of migrants will have “significant implications for international security, instability, conflict, and geopolitics,” the report says. This includes climate change-induced wars and conflicts over natural resources, namely water....

President Obama has advocated for help to poorer countries partly to stem migration.

November 10, 2021

By Somini Sengupta

Former President Barack Obama, (click here) who helped to seal the Paris climate agreement six years ago, returned to an international climate summit here to rally nations to heal the planet, acknowledging the enormous complexity of the crisis but arguing that humanity has the capacity to create a safer, healthier world.

“To be honest with ourselves, yes, this is going to be really hard,” said Mr. Obama, who was welcomed with sustained applause by delegates from nearly 200 nations. “The thing we have going for us, is that humanity has done hard things before. I believe we can do hard things again.”

Mr. Obama noted that the Paris agreement, signed by 197 countries in 2015, created a framework for climate action, but nations, including the United States, failed to follow through on their commitments to keep global warming within relatively safe margins.

“Important work was done there, and important work is being done here,” he said. “That is the good news. Now, for the bad news. We are nowhere near where we need to be.”...

We are witnessing the destruction of the land based Greenland Ice Sheet. Is Antarctica far behind?

20 November 2021

This 2016 photo (click here) shows a rift that, within a few months, widened even farther and and released a Delaware-size iceberg from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf. The rough surface of ice mélange is visible on one side of the rift.

Here's another reminder of the precarious position (click here) that the world's climate and ecosystems are in: a new study estimates that global warming could push the Antarctic ice sheet past a tipping point in as little as 10 years....

...As icebergs break off Antarctica, they float down a major channel known as Iceberg Alley. Debris released from these icebergs accumulates on the seafloor, giving researchers a record of history some 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) under the water.

By combining this natural logbook of iceberg drift with computer models of ice sheet behavior, the team was able to identify eight phases of ice sheet retreat across recent millennia. In each case, the ice sheet destabilization and subsequent restabilization happened within a decade or so.

The results published by the researchers augment modern satellite imagery, which only goes back around 40 years: they show increasing losses of ice from the interior of the Antarctic ice sheet, not just changes in ice shelves already freely floating on the water. 

"We found that iceberg calving events on multi-year time scales were synchronous with discharge of grounded ice from the Antarctic ice sheet," says glaciologist Nick Golledge, from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

The study showed the same sea rise pattern happening in each of the eight phases too, with global sea levels affected for several centuries and up to a millennium in some cases. Further statistical analysis identified the tipping points for these changes.

If the current shift in ice in Antarctica can be interpreted in the same way as the past events identified by the researchers, we might already be in the midst of a new tipping point – something we've seen in other parts of the world and the Arctic in recent years....

On the Fiest of Christ the King, Pope Francis directs young people to be Earth's stewards.

People cannot declare science dead in order to facilitate "creationism" while at the same time denouncing the climate crisis. If one believes in creationism then they have to believe God's creation is being destroyed by the hands of greedy stockholders and the fossil fuel industry. It can't be both.

The Vatican (click here)

November 21, 2021

Vatican - Pope Francis (click here) on Sunday praised young people for their efforts to protect the Earth’s environment and told them to “be the critical conscience of society.”

Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, filled with hundreds of young faithful, to mark a church day focused on youth in dioceses worldwide.

“You have been entrusted with an exciting but also challenging task,'' the pontiff said, ”to stand tall while everything around us seems to be collapsing."

Francis expressed thanks “for all those times when you cultivate the dream of fraternity, work to heal the wounds of God's creation, fight to ensure respect for the dignity of the vulnerable and spread the spirit of solidarity and sharing.”...

At COP26 mayors are viewed in a pivotal role in energy production.

Alternative energies are absolutely carbon zero without dangers of any kind.

Nuclear power is a form of energy with high costs to safety. For cities and counties in the USA looking for answers should put nuclear at the bottom of the choices, but, above any use of fossil fuels, includig methane. Nuclear is not as expeditious as alternative energies. Nuclear has many years of planning and it not quickly built. So, the idea nuclear is better because it can be a quick answer is not the case.

I am glad the IAEA was at COP26 as it shows a sincere concern for the climate and the role nuclear energy could have to end the fossil fuel emissions. The IAEA needs to develop a protocol for establishing nuclear energy across the globe that will also provide for high levels of safety. Russia is a prime example of the gross mismanagement of nuclear energy and other forms of nuclear radiation. The folks in Russia don't have good science or practices surrounding this dangerous form of fuel.

Interested participants (click here) have until 30 November 2021 to submit synopses for a presentation at the fifth International Conference on Nuclear Power Plant Life Management, to be held in Osaka, Japan from 16-19 May 2022....

This is self--righteous racism. It is another Zimmerman case whereby law is taken into the hands of others.

"Property" seems to be a theme. With Trayvon Martin, Vigilante Zimmerman takes up arms to end robberies in the area and acting as judge and jury in deciding Trayvon was the guilty party and carrying out a death sentence. Zimmerman stated in calling the police the crime would still be committed because the police wouldn't stop it. Self-righteousness.

Kenosha was about "property" and self-righteous vigilantism and the idea police are inadequate to do what Rittenhouse did. Self-righteousness.

The death of Ahmaud Arbery is about "property" and the idea no police were doing their jobs to end the people walking through the property. Self-righteous vigilantism.

The theme of police incompetancy and property protection seems to be a common thread. It used to be the only way a citizen could be justified in using their weapons against another human being and killing them was if the stranger was inside the four walls of the residence. Now. Anything goes. This is a result of very loose laws regarding guns. Police are viewed as inept, not by the left that are concerned about racism, but, by the political right that use police response as an excuse to kill.

November 21, 2021 

Bruswick, Geogia - Carrying signs that read "Justice for Ahmaud," (click here) the demonstrators marched past majestic live oaks draped with Spanish moss. They chanted Ahmaud Arbery's name as they wound through the streets, past a hardware store, several homes, a convenience store. They rounded the corner by the floral shop, calling for those watching from the sidewalk to join them. 

They soon stopped on a lawn of the Brunswick African American Cultural Center, 10 miles from the residential block where Arbery was shot to death. It was the fifth day of testimony in the trial of the White men accused of killing the Black jogger, and dozens of people had gathered for a march that started outside the Glynn County courthouse. 

At the cultural center, where a mural of Arbery's smiling face sits against a blue and yellow backdrop, Annie Polite took a break, sitting down in her walker.

"The system has got to change," the 87-year-old Black woman said. "It's not fair. There's no justice in what goes on behind close doors. We all deserve equal justice."...

 

Maiming is the new normal? This was not an accident. Barriers were destroyed. The car kept going.

November 21, 2021

Waukesha, Wis. - More than 20 people (click here) were injured when an SUV plowed into a Christmas parade in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on Sunday, the city’s police chief said.

Chief Dan Thompson said the investigation is ongoing, but that a “suspect vehicle” was recovered. Some of those injured were taken by police to hospitals, and others were taken by family members, Thompson said.

Police in Waukesha, located about 20 miles west of Milwaukee, were urging people to avoid the downtown area.

A live video feed of the parade from the city of Waukesha, as well as videos taken by parade attendees, showed a red SUV breaking through barriers and speeding into the roadway where the parade was taking place.

Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.

“Then we heard a loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who are who are struck by the vehicle,” Tenorio said. “And then, and then we saw people running away or stopping crying, and there, there are people on the ground who looked like they’d been hit by the vehicle.”...

What the heck? Meet-ups to stage a robbery event?

November 21, 2021
By Don Sweeney

Dozens of robbers swarmed a Nordstrom (click here) store Saturday night, Nov. 21, at an outdoor mall in Walnut Creek, streaming out with boxes and bags to flee in waiting cars, police said.

“I probably saw 50-80 people in, like, ski masks with crowbars, a bunch of weapons,” Brett Barrett, who manages a nearby restaurant, told KPIX. “They were looting the Nordstrom.”

“There was a mob of people,” Barrett told the station. “The police were flying in. It was like a scene out of a movie. It was insane."

The robbery spree broke out at 9 p.m. when as many as 25 vehicles pulled up in front of the store and 80 people in masks dashed inside, KNTV reported.

Police responding to 911 calls arrested three people in the chaos, two fleeing in a vehicle and one fleeing on foot, KGO reported.

A similar incident took place Friday night at Union Square in San Francisco, where a swarm of people ransacked stores, San Francisco police reported on Twitter.

Six were arrested after people shattered windows and ran off with merchandise from Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and other high-end stores, KTVU reported....

Proactive and not reactive...regulators are necessary - 100 miles of solar panels to power the entire USA - battery back up is a very tiny thing.

The Rittenhouse decision.

There are a lot of issues surrounding this jury verdict. I find the jury incompetent in its inability to discern the reason two dead man and the one maimed were assaulting Rittenhouse. The jury verdict was also contaminated by a judge that "set up" the prosecutor to fail. Because the prosecutor could not assert Freedom of Speech in accurating describing the victims of Rittenhouse's vigilantism, the jury was making assumptions they never should have regarding the victims to this crime.

I believe the Rittenhouse decision is the opening salvo of a civil war. All that is needed now are two sides at a demonstation brandishing weapons and democracy will be dead, too.

Rittenhouse was possible because of the false belief the USA government will come to arm it's military to destroy democracy. That would not be the case in any way. The "call to arms" so to speak is a false premise and needs to be seriously addressed in it's content and it's extremist views and agenda.

The gun lobby took a simple concept that is anti-government and turned it into political dogma within elections of people sympathetic to the capitalism of gun sales. The reason the gun lobby conducted itself in that manner is for profits and not any other reason. The gun lobby is not the friend of the people.

Capitalism is an enemy to the people in the allowance of extremism within it's politics. In the content to which the USA elections are corrupted by extremism, including, allowing an enemy foreign power to carry out pressure on the electorate is another example of how capitalism is running amuck in our society that results in two dead men and another maimed for life.

I think it is time to reread the book by Ron Suskind, "The Way of the World." I am confident the dynamics of Rittenhouse can be found in this book written in 2008.

The gun lobby played a huge roll in the exoneration of Zimmerman and now Rittenhouse. They invested millions in these trials. Money is the root of all evil and I believe it more today than ever before.

Where is the morality? Where are ethics? Where are all the invisbile qualities of the USA that actually improve the quality of life for the American people. Those invisible agents in our society are desperately missing and LEANS into extremism is becoming the norm.

With the climate crisis raging, the people of Flint have received permission from a judge to the settlement.

November 11, 2021

By Tyler Clifford and Kanishka Singh

A federal judge on Wednesday (click here) approved a settlement worth $626 million for victims of the lead water crisis in Flint, Michigan, in a case brought by tens of thousands of residents affected by the contaminated water.

"The settlement reached here is a remarkable achievement for many reasons, not the least of which is that it sets forth a comprehensive compensation program and timeline that is consistent for every qualifying participant," U.S. District Judge Judith Levy said in a 178-page order.

Earlier this year, the judge gave preliminary approval to a partial settlement of lawsuits filed by victims of the water crisis against the state....

November 28, 2021

By Isis Simpson-Mersha

Community members in Flint (click here) and surrounding areas are invited to partake in free dinners and turkey giveaways as Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

This year, Thanksgiving takes place on Thursday, Nov. 25.

Events are lined up this week and next for community members to enjoy a free hot meal, a turkey and cases of water to take home....

November 16, 2021

By Ron Fonger

Flint - Hurley Medical Center (click here) is operating at 100 percent capacity as cases of COVID-19 surge in Genesee County and multiple viruses circulate.

Bed occupancy statistics for the Flint hospital as of Monday, Nov. 15, show Hurley is at full capacity based on the number of beds available given current staffing, according to the state of Michigan’s coronavirus dashboard for hospitals.

Hurley’s patient census includes 43 patients with COVID-19, 14 of whom are in the hospital’s intensive care unit....

October 26, 2021
By Ron Fonger

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

Flint - A virtual motion hearing (click here) in the criminal Flint water crisis case of former Gov. Rick Snyder has been rescheduled after problems with the courthouse WiFi system made it impossible for the judge to communicate with attorneys.

Genesee District Court Judge William H. Crawford adjourned the Tuesday, Oct. 26, hearing on a motion for a protective order that had been requested by attorneys for Snyder until Nov. 3.

Crawford stopped the hearing about 20 minutes after it started, while attorney Brian Lennon, who represents the former governor, was addressing the motion.

District Court Administrator Christal Jones said Tuesday that a morning power outage apparently caused the WiFi problem in the McCree Courts and Human Services Building in downtown Flint.

Snyder was one of nine current and former state and city of Flint employees charged with crimes related to the Flint water crisis in January....

Military Style Weapons are now the gun of choice to take to a protest rally. Vigilantism is a live and well. This is the second time a jury has declared a vigilante not guilty, the other was the late George Zimmerman (click here).

The Climate Crisis is reeking havoc and Xi and Putin are planning war. Ridiculous.

While on the subject, let me comment further. Isolation can be a death sentence and is why the Canadian government is moving quickly. There is no way into Vancouver to even replenish grocery shelves of food. Everyone knows this is a dangerous sitution. We saw something as dangerous in the USA that isolated people away from civilization and it wasn't a flood, it was a frozen terrain.

This is the climate crisis. I will tell you these scenarios are going to become more frequent and will overwhelm most if not all emergency measures civilization has put in place. Imagine a population of people in a food desert looking to McDonald's for their regular meals at least once a day. Then a severe storm comes and there is no way to get to McDonalds and when available every bit of food is sold and/or stolen. How are people going to survive? 

I am sure most college folks know the the phenomena of Easter Island. They did not survive and it was due to the lack of food. They created all sorts of godly scenarios, but, ulitmately none of their god worship saved them.

Think of civilization as many potential Easter Islands. Then look at the solutions. McDonalds would probably form a method to fly supplies into a distressed area to provide food to people. Right? I think it was Dominos that stepped up their humanitarian principles in the past and fed people and they did that for one reason, to save others. To save their customers. 

Realize now that flying planes into distressed areas releases carbon and/or greenhouse gases into the air and further complicates the very effect that is causing the distress in the first place.

What is humanity going to do to address these problems? How is the climate crisis suppose to end so long as the emissions of greenhouse gases continues to rise? Is the end game basically the end of human survival?

I ask these questions, not to be cruel or set up some distopian political game, but, because this is all real and no one is dealing with it.

Earth's history and its recovering into ice ages NEVER had this many people practicing consumerism that emits greenhouse gases. NEVER before has Earth been so challenged and it has physics, not a conscience.

 

Lukashenko' is treating human beings as chattel. There is a good example of the communists and their coveted propaganda.

The pompous butt hole of Belarus. I don't recall any summit between Poland, NATO and Belarus where they came together as partners to solve an immigration problem. The land between Belarus and Poland is now a Refugee Camp.

This is just so typical of communists that love propaganda as a leverage point to disgracing The West. Lukashenko takes people that would normally receive a great deal of sympathy for their circumstances and turns them into a weapon. You know, al Qaeda used infrastruture to wage their wars against civilization, basically, Lukashenko is a terrorist.

November 19, 2021
By Steve Rosenberg

Belarus's authoritarian leader (click here) has told the BBC it is "absolutely possible" his forces helped migrants cross into Poland but denies they were invited.

In an exclusive interview in the Minsk presidential palace, he told me: "I think that's absolutely possible. We're Slavs. We have hearts. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany."

"Maybe someone helped them. I won't even look into this."

However, he denied inviting thousands in to provoke a border crisis.

"I told them I'm not going to detain migrants on the border, hold them at the border, and if they keep coming from now on I still won't stop them, because they're not coming to my country, they're going to yours.

"That's what I meant. But I didn't invite them here. And to be honest, I don't want them to go through Belarus."

Alexander Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994 but his re-election as president was widely discredited by the West and not recognised by the EU....

I have been reviewing some of the welcoming of Putin to the world of Wall Street, and he is not the same man as he was then. On November 12, 2001, shortly after September 11, 2001, there appeared an article in "Business Week" entitled "Vladimir'Putin's Russia, At an historic moment Russia is emerging as a key U.S. ally and a rising oil power". It was an article that recognized the fact Russia was the first on the ground in Afghanistan with a medical field deployment to treat injured Americans that were to soon be landing to defeat al Qaeda.

Back then The West saw a Putin that was engaged in expanding it's economy and was making grounds with the sale of oil to The West, including the USA. It was a welcome change to all involved, including Russia. But, then Putin was running for re-election as Russia's president and he ran into communist headwinds. His place as president was waning and it was the communists in Russia that was the power that would remove him from office. So, being the good KGB agent he always was, he turned away from any prosperity The West could bring and catered to those that opposed him, the communists. 

Today, Russia is in isolation from most other countries, except for the occassional G20 Meeting. He has corraled his diasphora, eliminated any dual citizenship within Russian borders and seeks to destroy The West through propaganda granted by for profit IT such Facebook. The Mueller Report clearly demonstrated a spy network that could cause problems politically leading to hostile elections and ultimatly an inept presidet of the USA.

Belarus is an ally to Putin when it should be separating from him and the only reason it is an ally is because of Lukashenko. It is no different than the former Ukraine president that is currently in exile in Russia. Putin is a desperate man these days and has made decisions to exacerbate tensions with The West and there is only one reason, the communist party in Russia has control over his presidency and re-election. They are feeling the opposition to them and they are damnable to achieve their goals.

Putin has been posturing for a fight since President Biden has come into office because he is scared the information fed to him by Trump will soon be obsolute. In other words, between Xi and Putin, "If not now, then when and if not us, then who?"

The people at the Belrus border are propaganda tools. Tools for opposition parties in The West that is food for people like Bannon and tools for the communists who will state The West are liars and have no real compassion. The propaganda won't work in the way it is hoped to work, but, everyone has to try, ya know?

The Belarus Refugee Camp must be addressed by the UN with a humanitarian mission if not already in the works. That is the best anyone can do right now.

It seems as though the judiciary isn't working very hard at their jobs.

Oklahoma needs to release Julius Jones. The murderer still needs to be found. Ther family should continue to advocate the truth. Certainly, The Howell family certainly can't rest until the real murderer is found.

November 17, 2021

Julius Jones was scheduled to be executed at 4 p.m. (click here) Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, however, announced at noon Thursday he has commuted Jones' sentence to life without the possibility of parole.

Jones, now 41, has been on death row for more than half of his life for the murder of Paul Howell. 

Jones has maintained his innocence, saying he was not responsible for the fatal shooting in Edmond in 1999....

 

Excuse me, but, because a victim to murder may have used a racial slur means they deserved to die? I don't think so.

Somehow a dead man is the problem? Really?

In a civilized society dialogue is paramount to democracy. There is nothing to say people can't get angry and verbalize their anger, but, to resolve anger with a gun is not allowed. There is NOTHING the victim of this crime did to cause his death.

People with guns often believe that is an extention of their authority no matter what form it takes. That is not the case.

I don't know what one would call that, the Castle Doctrine or the Stand Your Ground Doctrine or the You Got Me Pissed Off Doctrine.

November 18, 2021
By Jonathan Allen and Rich McKay

A Georgia judge (click here) will decide on Thursday whether a jury can hear from Travis McMichael about a racial slur officials say he uttered as Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man, lay dying from shotgun blasts fired by McMichael last year.

Travis McMichael began testifying in his own defense on Wednesday, taking the stand even though it opened him up to questioning by prosecutors who have said they might ask him about evidence he had "racial animus" against Black people.

Travis McMichael, 35, his father, Greg McMichael, 65, and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, all white men, are charged with murder, along with other crimes, in the Feb. 23 slaying of Arbery in their mostly white neighborhood just outside coastal Brunswick.

The McMichaels told police that they chased Arbery in a pickup truck because they thought he looked like a burglar, and Bryan joined the chase after they went by his driveway....

I don't think Wisconsin has a paparazzi law. MSNBC probably should challenge the judges ruling.

This is about freedom of speech and the information necessary to secure it regardless the scandalous or not topic. California took up the issue because of the film making business within it's economy. These are primarily civil suits that are filed to prevent the "assaultive" behavior of independent journalists when seeking pictures.

The photographer was ticketed for running a red light. That is a dangerous citation and he should never have gone that far. He could have caused his injury or worse or others. It was foolhearty and he deserved the citation. But, to bar an entire news network from reporting on the trial of Rittenhouse basically unrelated to the independent journalist is just wrong. That is lumping all journalists that work with MSNBC into one category and it is not correct to do so.

There are people that watch and listen to MSNBC on a regular basis. How are they to get their news? How are they going to know about the jury's outcome in a verdict? People can be very loyal to news reporting media. They get used to listening to their favorite anchor. In slicing and dicing up the pool of journalists by a judge, MSNBC is put at a disadvantage. That effects a lot of things, including the advertisers that will be seen on that nework, hence, effecting the viability of the network itself. What does that do to the Americans that rely on MSNBC for their news?

I don't know what the conduct of the journalist would have been if he had caught up with the bus and was able to photograph or interact with the jurors, but, that is a different issue. That could be seen as interfering with a jury deliberations. Whoever spoke to him if there was an interaction would be taken off the jury and another juror put in that person's place. But, nothing like that occurred. For all we know the independent journalist may have simply photographed the bus with people leaving it. I don't think that is harmful.

...California passed a law in 1998 (click here) designed to protect public persons from intrusive conduct by paparazzi. California Civil Code section 1708.8 prohibits constructive invasions of privacy, defined as follows:

“A person is liable for constructive invasion of privacy when the defendant attempts to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person, any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a personal or familial activity under circumstances in which the plaintiff had a reasonable expectation of privacy, through the use of a visual or auditory enhancing device, regardless of whether there is a physical trespass, if this image, sound recording, or other physical impression could not have been achieved without a trespass unless the visual or auditory enhancing device was used.”

In 2006 the California legislature amended the law to provide that those who face such invasions of privacy can sue the paparazzi for “three times the amount of any general or special damages” caused by their conduct. Given the astronomically high-dollar demand for photos of celebrities, it is likely that the legislation will be tested in the courts in the near future with cases involving a charged paparazzo....

November 18, 2021

By Amika Kim Constantino

The judge overseeing Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial (click here) banned MSNBC from the courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Thursday after a freelance producer working for the network was accused of following a bus carrying jurors the previous night.

“I have instructed that nobody from MSNBC news be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial,” Judge Bruce Schroeder said during a hearing.

“This is a very serious matter, and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is, but absolutely it would go without much thinking that someone who is following a jury bus, that is a very ... that is an extremely serious matter and will be referred to the proper authorities for further action,” the judge continued.

Schroeder said the man who allegedly followed the bus identified himself as James J. Morrison and claimed he was a producer for NBC News employed by MSNBC.... 

Somehow "Kylo Ren" seems an easy reach for a former Marine.