The extremists groups have been emboldened by Trump. They are on the move.

Michael Moore is exactly correct. Crimo studied his victims and the response. He planned his get away, but, it is curious he left the gun behind. I guess it didn't fit under the dress as well as he thought.

July 7, 2022
By Michael Moore

How the Highland Park shooter (click here) understood the country he lived in, which allowed him to initially escape the massacre he created

I’ll say this about mass murderer Bobby Crimo. He knows that we are safe from the 51% of the population who doesn’t do mass murder. 99.9% of mass murderers are men. So he knew that the best way to escape his slaughter on Monday in Highland Park, Illinois, was to blend in with the terrorized crowd running for their lives — and to do so dressed as a “woman.“ Because no one would dare suspect he was the shooter because, well, he was a “woman.” He had dressed as a woman, even as he was up on the roof, wearing a skirt and makeup as he fired off his 70+ bullets....

This group is in Texas, but, recently there were recruiting pamphlets distributed in Massachusetts. The recruitment flyer was in a plastic bag with a rock in it. The flyers were probably distributed by car or van or truck.

November 10, 2020

By Paulina Villegas

Some residents in the San Antonio area (click here) woke up Sunday to find a smattering of anti-Black Lives Matter and white supremacist messages on their doorsteps.

Hundreds of the fliers were distributed around homes in Hollywood Park, Oak Haven Heights and Stone Oak and nearby communities. They are believed to have been distributed by members of 14First the Foundation, a self-described “pro white organization fighting for the white race,” in an effort to recruit like-minded followers and enlarge their ranks, Hollywood Park Police Chief Shad Prichard said.

“We are in fact in a war for our people,” read one of the fliers, which led with a swastika at the top. Other fliers denigrated the Black Lives Matter movement, attacked Jewish people and invoked Adolf Hitler....

Masschusetts had the largest number of flyer distribution in 2020. This march was unauthorized. The Mayor and Council have held closed door meetings with law enforcement regarding these violent extremist groups. 

July 2, 2022
By Laura Crimaldi and Nick Stoico

Members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front (click here) marched through downtown Boston Saturday afternoon, according to officials, while Boston police said they had a report that members of the group attacked a Black man near Copley Square.

Dressed in khaki pants, navy T-shirts, and wearing white neck gaiters covering most of their faces, sunglasses, and baseball caps, the marchers were videotaped in well-known spots along the Freedom Trail. Some of the participants held shields, carried Patriot Front flags, and a banner reading, “Reclaim America,” as they walked in step with a snare drum. The organization published four videos of the march on Telegram, a messaging app, with captions that said they were in Boston for the Fourth of July....

Young men in the USA are targets for these violent groups. To date, USA intelligence has not sought to dismantle the web access to these groups. Congress needs to address this ENORMOUS PROBLEM PARENTS DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER. The young men recruitment begins early at the age of 13. If the Patriot Act is not sufficient to end this threat to American lives, then the legislation must be passed and the FBI needs to end this threat to young American minds.

The $7500 tax credit should go forward, so long as the EVs are priced realistically.

EVs have always carried the reputation of being for the wealthy. That needs to change. Every family, every household should be able to shop for EVs without retreating into a petroleum industry price gouging utopia.

It has been decades since the auto industry has maintained it's focus on the internal combustion engine in the face of a very danger climate crisls. They have a responsibility in ending greenhouse gas emissions out of their tailpipes. In that is the responsibility they have to the American people to provide EVs every person and family can afford.

Let's face it, the petroleum industry has created an economy that will springboard sales of EVs. The American people are ready for this change. They want to go on road trips. That is now impossible for many people. The costs are prohibitive.

March 21, 2022

By Andrew Lisa

...GOBankingRates surveyed more than 1,000 American adults (click here) from across the country and found that more than half — 52.87% — are driving less. Older sets are more likely than their younger counterparts to cut back on driving, although men and women are driving less in nearly identical percentages. But for some people, less time behind the wheel just isn’t an option.

About 1 in 5 respondents would like to drive less but simply can’t manage to. Another 28% aren’t changing their driving habits at all.

So, beyond not driving as much as they used to, what can regular people do to endure this very irregular spike in gas prices? GOBankingRates asked the experts to share their best gas-saving tips....

The people that want to drive less but can't is probably hit hard by the cost of gasoline. It is a lot of stress. They are being pinched and their savings is disappearing. The auto makers need to know the need of these Americans and build EVs that can be purchased by everyone.

See, the cost of gasoline has put these consumers on the same platform as those that normally could afford the EVs. Everyone is qualifying as weathy now simply because the petroleum industry is charging ridiculous amounts of money for their commodity.

Americans want EVs and now that gasoline puts their auto expenditures on the same level of previous EV purchases, they should be a focus for all the automakers. I might add, Tesla's pickup trucks are coming in around $55k. That is competitive with Ford and GM and their top end gas guzzlers.

The Congress should provide a very healthy incentive for the automakers to push more EVs out the door and into consumer's garages. Whatever it takes should be taken seriously, so long as the consumer is benefiting from the purchase.

June 21, 2022
By David Shepardson and Tina Bellon

...General Motors Co (GM.N), (click here) Ford Motor Co (F.N), Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV (STLA.MI) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) have pledged to invest more than $170 billion through 2030 to bolster EV development, production and sales.

Automakers are making a furious last-ditch effort to convince Congress to approve an extension of EV incentives before Republicans, who are largely opposed to doling out EV subsidies, could potentially take over both houses of Congress next year.

Without those incentives, particularly an extension of a $7,500 EV purchase tax credit, the U.S. auto industry will fall behind on the Biden administration's goal of 50% EV sales by 2030, auto executives, lawmakers and consultants say....

The reason Trump is chomping at the bit is to push back against the January 6th Committee.

Trump wants to enforce his lies and think up bigger ones. It is just that simple. He hopes to overtake the loss of support he has garnered due to the TRUTH! I believe the truth will win. Some Americans have been resistent to give up on the idea of a 2024 Trump campaign, but, that has changed. Americans value the truth and to realize the Big Lie is actually the Big Lie and a method to end our democracy matters.

There is always the money, too. Donations. Trump's anti-election campaign of 2020 is more about money than any opposition to a flawed election. That focus is more or less a Giuliani issue, too. He has received a lot of money during the Trump years.

July 6, 2022
By David Jackson

Washington - Donald Trump's prospective campaign (click here) to reclaim the presidency in 2024 faces legal and political jeopardy, but allies said some of the potential roadblocks – including the threat of prosecution – actually motivate him to run.

Trump is dealing with revelations about his conduct during the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pushback from Republicans and, above all, the prospect of an unprecedented indictment of a former president.

Despite these problems, Trump is considering a 2024 campaign and may make an announcement as early as this summer, said aides and allies discussing internal deliberations on condition of anonymity....

The World Cup is beginning soon.

This is what is so ridiculous about communism, they aren't good at governance and oppress people rather than leading them. It  shows.

July 6, 2022
By Michael Nowels

China needs to be a real country to it's people and not some kind of mess of a power player in the world. (click here)

Mexican soccer fans in the Bay Area will have the opportunity to see their men’s team off this fall before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mexico will face Colombia on Sept. 27 at Levi’s Stadium as part of El Tri’s “MexTour Sendoff Series”. No time has been announced for kickoff yet.

Tickets are set to go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.

The Santa Clara date is the third of three games in the U.S. for the Mexican team over the course of a month. Mexico will face Paraguay in Atlanta on Aug. 31, then play Peru at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Sept. 24 before the match at Levi’s Stadium three days later....

Maybe the Republicans are counting on communists.

I don't recall ever seeing this level of engagement of the public by two security allies. I don't appreciate China's "space war" mongering. War is impossible in space. Space is a void. There is nothing there that would feed a flame. There is no oxygen and there is no gravity. The entire idea of space wars is hideous. It is nothing by war mongering. 

A space race is not a war.

This joint press moment is possible because President Biden doesn't practice oppression of the Press. That is a complete 180 degree turn from the previous administration. There is far more information flowing to the public now.

July 6, 2022
By Gordon Corera

The heads of UK and US security services (click here) have made an unprecedented joint appearance to warn of the threat from China.

FBI director Christopher Wray said China was the "biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security" and had interfered in politics, including recent elections.

MI5 head Ken McCallum said his service had more than doubled its work against Chinese activity in the last three years and would be doubling it again.

MI5 is now running seven times as many investigations related to activities of the Chinese Communist Party compared to 2018, he added.

The FBI's Wray warned that if China was to forcibly take Taiwan it would "represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen".

The first ever joint public appearance by the two directors came at MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London....

If Republicans can get away with breaking the laws, then 2022 elections will return a Republican federal majority and no worries.

"I always counsel against assuming (click here) that any one court decision is going to dramatically change the landscape. But this case is different," says Marc Elias on the Supreme Court taking up a case on state legislatures' authority over elections.

Democracy Docket (click here)

November 18, 2021

Lawsuit filed on behalf of plaintiffs from Harper v. Lewis (click here) challenging the state’s new congressional and legislative maps drawn with 2020 census data. The North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the maps for being partisan gerrymanders that violate the North Carolina Constitution. In a 4-3 decision, the court concluded that partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable and any map “that diminishes or dilutes a voter’s opportunity to aggregate with likeminded voters to elect a governing majority…infringes upon that voter’s fundamental right to vote,” explicitly rejecting the lower court and Republican defendants’ notion that partisan gerrymandering is allowed under the state constitution. The trial court then adopted remedial plans: the state House and Senate remedial maps passed by the General Assembly and a congressional map drawn by court-appointed special masters. The congressional map will only be in place for the 2022 elections...

July 6, 2022
By Zachery B. Wolf

The US Supreme Court is on a tear remaking the way Americans live. (click here)

It cut back states' abilities to regulate the carrying of guns.

It gave states the power to outlaw abortion.

It undercut the power of the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies to regulate polluters.

Next up could be a complete re-imagining of American democracy, where, if a legal theory based on the word "legislature" is adopted by the Supreme Court, state lawmakers could, in theory, have new power to ignore voters and pick presidents.

The conservative-majority court has agreed to hear a North Carolina case that pits the state's GOP-controlled legislature against state courts that threw out congressional maps they said were gerrymandered....

The case will end democracy in the USA where every vote is supposed to matter. This is a regressive court that rather have George Washington as King than a democracy that Franklin stated, "If you can keep it."

The Supreme Court is corrupt and they are pushing the elimination of individual rights as a loyalty to the Federalist Society.

The opinions above are not alone. This estimate is showing up in more than one location. It is a legitimate concern.

The Supreme Court (click here) has agreed to hear a case in its fall term that has the potential to make partisan gerrymandering an unstoppable political force and gut voting rights protections. That may be a best-case scenario....

The party that cuts food stamps also allows specific funds for COVID to be used as a block grant.

DeSantis is breaking the law in multiple ways (click here). The latest is using COVID funds for his own agenda.

What it boils down to with many Republican governors is that they never spent the COVID-19 monies on the people. Instead, they spread fear of the vaccine only to turn around and play politics with money intended for human health.

The Republican Governors in many instances are using COVID-19 funds to raise their approval rating among the people and voters. It has campaign funds stored in the state's treasury.

When politicians violate the public trust this deeply to the point where people die, it is time to investigate and prosecute.

July 5, 2022
By Tony Romm

As gas prices climbed toward record highs this May, (click here) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) secured a pause on the state’s fuel taxes — a $200 million plan he helped pay for with a pot of federal funds awarded earlier in the pandemic.

The policy was intended to save money for local drivers and state coffers alike. But it also appeared to mark a potential violation of federal law — and the latest skirmish in an escalating clash between GOP officials and the White House over how states can use generous federal stimulus dollars.

More than a year after Congress approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, Republicans in nearly two dozen states have ratcheted up efforts to tap some of those funds for an unrelated purpose: paying for tax cuts. The moves have threatened to siphon off aid that might otherwise help states fight the pandemic, shore up their local economies or prepare for a potential recession....

Isreal will continue to defend it's people. Basically, Putin is backing Hezbollah.

This is not unusual for Israel. They have always been vigilant of transfers of weapons to Hezbollah because it increases the danger to Israeli citizens. Russia has no right to back Hezbollah. It has become a member of the South American drug cartel.

July 5, 2022
By Anna Ahronheim

Russia (click here) has again condemned an alleged Israeli airstrike that hit targets in Syria over the weekend, calling the IDF’s war-between-wars campaign in Syria “categorically unacceptable” and demanding it to stop.

"We strongly condemn such irresponsible actions that violate the sovereignty of Syria and the basic norms of international law, and we demand their unconditional cessation," said Foreign Minister Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova..

Two Syrian civilians were wounded in the airstrike targeting sites near the coastal city of Tartus. 

While Syria’s SANA state media said that the missiles targeted “several poultry farms in the vicinity of Hamadiyah, south of Tartus,” Israeli reports said that they targeted advanced air defense systems that had been transferred to the country by Iran.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile said that the strike targeted weapons that were headed to Hezbollah in Lebanon....

...Israel has warned repeatedly about Iran’s nuclear ambitions as well as aspirations of regional hegemony and has admitted to hundreds of airstrikes as part of its campaign to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of its forces in Syria where they could easily act against the Jewish state....

It seems obvious why Hezbollah has become a member of the drug cartel. Russia doesn't care about Syria, it cares about dependency of other countries on Russia petroleum. Israel opened up another gas well.

July 3, 2022

Jerusalem - The Israeli military on Saturday (click here) said it shot down three unmanned aircraft launched by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah heading toward an area where an Israeli gas platform was recently installed in the Mediterranean Sea.

The launch of the aircraft appeared to be an attempt by Hezbollah to influence U.S.-brokered negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime border, an area that is rich in natural gas.

In a statement, the Israeli said the aircraft were spotted early on and did not pose an "imminent threat." Nonetheless, the incident drew a stern warning from Israel's caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid.

"I stand before you at this moment and say to everyone seeking our demise, from Gaza to Tehran, from the shores of Lebanon to Syria: Don't test us," Lapid said in his first address to the nation since taking office on Friday. "Israel knows how to use its strength against every threat, against every enemy."...

Israel and Lebanon were close to settling their maritime dispute in March of this year (click here), now with Israel opening another gas well, the border issues have begun all over again. With added tensions Hezbollah is attempting to make advances.

Isreal is looking at the need with the alliance of free countries and they are attempting to address it. There is a global paradgm shift for resources that sustain civilizations while attempting to address the climate crisis. The global community needs to pull together and find solutions for food scarcity and energy resources.

It is time to pursue peace and end this hatred that seems to permeate international relationships due to communists. The free world never threatened China or Russia for it's government of choice but their hatred of the free world has become a sincerely ridiculous political stance.

July 6, 2022
By Marc DAOU

An Israeli floating gas production unit  (click here) arrived in the maritime zone disputed between Israel and Lebanon on Sunday – prompting the anger of the Lebanese government, especially as negotiations between the two countries on this dispute are at a standstill.

In abeyance for more than a decade, the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the two countries’ maritime borders resurfaced on June 5. The Lebanese presidency warned the Israeli government against any “aggressive actions” in the disputed maritime area.

After a floating production, storage and offloading unit belonging to the company Energean (listed in both Tel Aviv and London) arrived on Sunday, the problem was obvious: Israel and Lebanon have never drawn their borders. The Karish gas field where Israel is exploring is located in a disputed area of 860 km2 in the middle of the eastern Mediterranean where huge gas reserves have been found in recent years....

Benjamin Netanyahu needs to stop gaminig the Knesset.

This is the fifth election in Israel in three years.

June 21, 2022

By Patrick Kingsley and Isabel Kershner

...Differences (click here) between the coalition’s two ideological wings, compounded by unrelenting pressure from Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing alliance, led two right-wing lawmakers to defect — removing the coalition’s majority in Parliament. When several left-wing and Arab lawmakers also rebelled on key votes, the coalition found it impossible to govern.

The final straw was the government’s inability last week to muster enough votes to extend a two-tier legal system in the West Bank, which has differentiated between Israeli settlers and Palestinians since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.

Several Arab members of the coalition declined to vote for the system, which must be extended every five years. That prevented the bill’s passage and prompted Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former settler leader, to collapse the government and thereby delay a final vote until after another election....

Long standing leaders are leaving.

July 5, 2022
By Noa Shpigel

Two veteran lawmakers (click here) – Likud Knesset member Yuval Steinitz and Meretz lawmaker-turned-minister Esawi Freige – announced on Tuesday that they would not run in the upcoming Knesset election.

The 64-year-old Steinitz said that “After 23 years as a Knesset member – during which I was honored to serve as finance, intelligence and energy minister and as chairman of the [Knesset] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee – I felt that my family and I deserve to breathe a little fresh air."...

Regardless of the chronically imploding Knesset, Israel has been making progress on many fronts.

July 5, 2022\

Jerusalem - Israel said on Tuesday (click here) it will reopen its economic and trade office in Turkey, as the countries work to restore diplomatic ties that have been strained for more than a decade.

Both governments expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though they are now looking to restore representation to ambassador level. Israel cut back its economic representation as well in 2019....

The Associated Press is reopening it's Gaza office.

July 5, 2022

Top executives from the Associated Press (click here) launched the news agency’s new office in the Gaza Strip more than a year after Israel gave AP staff an hour’s notice to leave before bombing the building it said also housed a Hamas intelligence unit.

The importance the agency attached to reopening the bureau was signaled by the presence of Daisy Veerasingham, the AP president, and executive editor Julie Pace at the dedication of the new office on Tuesday. Israel is already under intense scrutiny of how it handles the international media following the shooting death in May of a popular Palestinian American journalist.

“AP’s resilient Gaza team has never wavered, even in the moments our bureau collapsed and in the weeks that followed,” Veerasingham said in a release. “The Associated Press has operated in Gaza for more than half a century and remains committed to telling the story of Gaza and its people.”...

Israel has been accepting Ukraine refugees.

July 4, 2022

Jerusalem/Warsaw - Israel and Poland have agreed (click here) to improve relations that had deteriorated after Warsaw introduced a law last year limiting the ability of Jews to recover World War Two properties, saying on Monday they would mutually restore ambassadors.

The move marked a shift for new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who as foreign minister had denounced as "anti-Semitic and immoral" the bill affecting property seized by Nazi German occupiers and retained by Poland's post-war communist rulers....

July 5, 2022

One hundred and fifty new immigrants from Ethiopia (click here) landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday as part of Operation Tzur Israel, in cooperation with the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Jewish Agency and the Fellowship.

Molokan (55) and Estabel (50), who landed with the special flight, waited in Gondar to immigrate to Israel for about 20 years. They stayed there with their children aged 23, 15, 11 and 4. Molokan, who was waiting to be reunited with his father and brother in Israel said before he took off on the special flight "We didn't think we would wait that long. Our brothers made aliyah 11 years ago and we stayed in Ethiopia. We went through the whole aliyah process with them but ours just stopped."...

Some Israelis would like relations on a social level with Arabia to gain momentum, but, it appears to be slow.

4 July 2022

As speculation mounts (click here) over a possible breakthrough in relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the near future, an Israeli journalist recently traveled to Riyadh to see how the Saudi people may feel about warming relations with the Jewish state.

While traveling on non-Israeli passports, since individuals with Israeli passports are officially not yet allowed to enter the kingdom, Channel 13 military correspondent Alon Ben-David said he and a fellow Israeli reporter did not hide the fact that they were from Israel. (* See Editor’s note at the foot of this article.)

In a segment broadcast Monday night, the reporter noted that obtaining a visa for the trip was a quick and easy process, and described going through passport control upon landing as a smooth experience....

A battalion of AR-15s won't stop one single tank.

It is institutionalized fear to drive profits. Just that simple. The fear of "the other" is rampant in the USA. It is racist and bigoted in nature and delivers profits to Wall Street.

Yes, tanks are deployed to protests. It was during the "W" administration when peaceniks were protesting the Iraq war that tanks showed up and attempted to intimidate the protesters.

Those protesters were the best armed group against tanks, they carried protest signs and wore costumes of CEOs and government officials. There were even snippers on the rooves of buildings along the protest route. 

Those protesters, if armed with AR-15s, would have been mowed down regardless of their message. The idea citizens could ever be armed well enough to stop the military is idiotic and disordered thinking. There is absolutely no basis for this ideology anywhere in modern American society.

Oh, what came out of the protests? Nothing?  "The Iraq Study Group." (click here)

The idea Americans need weapons of war is bizarre, and a social lie to the greatest democracy ever to exist on Earth.

Plutocrats are social poisons.

April 8, 2013

By David Welna

...Seated at the witness table (click here) was Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had a question for the NRA chief: Did he agree with the point of view that people needed firepower to protect themselves from the government?

"Senator, I think without any doubt, if you look at why our Founding Fathers put it there, they had lived under the tyranny of King George and they wanted to make sure that these free people in this new country would never be subjugated again and have to live under tyranny," LaPierre said.

The same argument is being made by a smaller, more strident gun lobbyist, the Gun Owners of America.

"I think principally the Second Amendment deals with keeping the government from going astray in a tyrannical direction," says Larry Pratt, the group's executive director....

...To get a sense of how much more mainstream, I spoke with some gun owners at a diner in Hellertown, Pa. All said the government is not to be trusted.

"I fear the government, and I think when they start getting background checks, they're going to — just like in Germany years ago, they used that to confiscate weapons later on," David Kulp said.

"Everyone who has a gun, they want to take them and put them into a system that everyone can look at and say this person has a gun," said gun owner Michael Shallot.

Vasilios Christogiannis put it this way: "They put the Second Amendment in the Constitution ... in order for us individuals to protect ourselves against a power-hungry government."

Elected officials seem to be playing off those fears. Ted Cruz, the newly elected Republican senator from Texas, had the crowd on its feet at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference....

Still another one with similarities that occured in others.

It seems more important that killers have free access to their weapons of war and plenty ammunition to feed their diseased minds then have an uneventful July 4th parade. I don't know who has the worst diseased minds, the gunman or the government that enables him.

The gunman is the same as others, having nine years of violence programming and relatives that say, "I never knew. I can't believe he is capable of such a thing."

The websites and indoctrination aren't any different than those in the past. They want to kill people that are nameless and faceless with a weapon of war to make a statement about their priorities. It never changes. The scenario is always the same.

Law enforcement does a great job in responding to the violence and in conducting a man hunt. They can't get any better as they walk through carnage carrying their own AR-15 to counter the weapons power of the killer.  Any and all spending to support a response by law authority was always well spent. The hearts and minds of the men and women that seek to serve always demonstrated to be disgusted with the violence in the stone faced response. 

It is always the same as if authored by the same demon. 

Hours (click here) after a mass shooting at a 4 July parade in Illinois left six people dead and dozens of others injured, state senator Darren Bailey asked Americans to move on and celebrate....

Of couse, let's move on and wait for it to happen again. Osama bin Laden was a sick man that chose 911 to conduct horror, and the killer choose July 4th to kill. They are sick bastards that have no appreciation for life and the simple joy of a parade. How did such depraved people come to be an abomination to everyone?

But, hey, let's just move on. 

Protect the NRA and the profits from selling weapons of war as well as the Republican dogma, so, let's just move on.

This didn't really happen. Did it?

The scars don't matter, the PTSD doesn't matter. Look at the young people, they know exactly what to do to carry out a successful lockdown. So proud of them. They know what to do, while generations older say, "Lockdown? Shelter in place? I don't know what to do exactly and my life depends on it."

The great United States knows how to cower to the gun lobby and their bought and sold Republicans, so we do what? Shelter in place? Is that normal for a society? Does anyone ever ask that question?

July 4, 2022
By Cheryl Teh

A doctor (click here) who was in the thick of the chaos during the Highland Park parade mass shooting on Monday said he saw people with "horrific injuries" at the scene.

Dr. David Baum told NBC Chicago that he was about 100 yards away from where people were shot and killed during the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb.

Baum described hearing the "pow, pow" of a "Howitzer-type" weapon and that people began screaming and scattering moments after.

"You saw blood everywhere. You saw bodies down. You saw people screaming, you saw massive amounts of blood in the people who were gone," Baum told NBC. "There were a lot of bodies. Who was expecting to need 15 ambulances on the scene of our Highland Park parade?"...

Highland Park is an idyllic city, until today.

July 4, 2022

By Katherine Fung

...Highland Park, (click here) which is well known as the backdrop of several movies, including Home Alone and Ferris Beuller's Day Off, has a relatively low crime rate. The suburb has a population of about 30,000 people and is safer than 72 percent of U.S. cities, according to online database Neighborhood Scout....

There are too many guns on the street.

What do gunmen think when they are practicing with their weapons of war? This is a picture of a woman practicing with her AR-15. As a rule these gunmen are men and not women. They are frequently young men.

But, until an American has fired a gun do they understand what enables the people full of hate. Remember the Vegas gunman?

January 19, 2019
By Venessa Romo

More than a year (click here) after the FBI began its investigation, the agency has completed an analysis of the man behind the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas, concluding there was "no single or clear motivating factor" driving Stephen Paddock's killing rampage and subsequent suicide.

The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit shared key findings Tuesday from the report, which explored details of Paddock's developmental, interpersonal and clinical history as they related to his behavior before the attack, as well the 11-minute massacre, during which he killed 58 concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest festival and injured nearly 1,000 others....

How about the motive being an "itchy trigger finger?"

Unless a person has held a gun in their hands realizing the killing power of that gun does that person realize the attraction to guns by the FEELING of power. Just hold it. Don't do anything else with it, just hold it and think this is a gun I can shoot and kill many, many people. I might add, it isn't easy to kill a person.

These weapons are powerful and the reason they are powerful is because it is not easy to kill a person. It takes a powerful effort by the weapon and/or the power of physical size and strength. So, hold an AR-15 and understand the weapon. Now, once one understands the weapon, what is it for? It is for killing. There no other purpose. It is a weapon and it isn't a kitchen knife turned weapon. There is absolutely no reason to have these guns except to kill.

What if a person can bring themselves to walk into a shooting range and take a gun, any gun, walk to the firing lane, with an instructor or a spouse and hold the gun at a target. Don't fire it. Just hold the gun with the target in the sites on the gun, either an add on site or the one on the gun that might even have radioactive material to bring the site into an easy gaze.

If a person can then take aim, reasonably accurate for anyone, with ear protectors and eye protection and place the finger on the trigger. Don't fire it. Just put the finger on the trigger. One thing a gunman/woman needs to be able to understand is the resistence the trigger provides to pulling the gun into action. So, even holding a gun with reasonable accuracy, so the gun doesn't have a kick back so strong it will send the gun upward to an unknown target, feel that trigger. That trigger is a person's best friend or enemy. Hesitation in firing the gun in a real life situation or being unable to know the trigger, may be more of a danger than a help.

Now that a person is ready to fire the trigger, hence putting the gun into a method of killing, what is that person thinking? I think most women when they practice with their guns they are looking to be masterful enough to protect themselves and quite possibly their family. I do not believe women are thinking about killing people so much as defending oneself.

Now that a White Supremacist is ready to pull the trigger what is he thinking when he practices? He is thinking about his own defense from another man ready to kill him or his family? I doubt that is ever a reason in their thinking when they practice. I think White Supremacists see more than a zombie on that target at the end of the practice range. I think that White Supremacist sees a person he hates when he pulls that trigger.

Back to the Vegas gunman. What did he think when he practiced with his arsenal? He spent tens of thousands of dollars if not a hundred thousand dollars on guns, ammunition in preparation of that war that is promised to Americans that hate. The war is the important part. He, no different than other men in prison with similar crimes, believes he if was clever enough and pulled off a mass killing, other haters of his loyalty would follow. That argument could be reasonably made these days with frequent mass shootings.

But, as to the Vegas gunman. What the heck? Right? A man that had anything he wanted in life all of a sudden takes up a room in a multi-floor hotel, sets up surveillance of the halls to see any police response and then sets up his weapons so he can aim at unknown people gathered at an outdoor concert. The concert or performer wasn't the draw, it was the large number of targets in the open. He did research enough to know there was a hotel near a place in Vegas where large numbers of people would be gathering to listen to a concert. An outdoor concert. Perfect. It was all premeditated. There was nothing spontaneous about it. He hadn't lost his mind and took guns to a room by chance there would be targets. It was all premeditated.

I do not believe it is easy owning a gun. It comes with a great deal of expense, regardless the gun or it's intended use. Then there is the issue of mastering the gun so it doesn't become a danger to the owner. That means taking lessons. Plenty of lessons to know how to safely use the gun. If people are simply trusting their own ability to master a gun, that is dangerous. There is too much in holding the gun correctly, aiming it at a target with purpose, feeling the trigger and then successfully pull the trigger without danger to anyone in the area.

There should never be a gun sold without proper education BEFORE the purchase and required education and practice year to year to maintain concealed carry permits. There is plenty of reason for Americans to pass muster in order to purchase their own gun. Does anyone realize how many children are killed because the owner, usually a parent, neglected to handle the gun correctly and being sure it was locked or put away to a locked safe to the point where a child could never accidently fire it? How many guns are bought into friends homes to only realize that mom or dad was not a friend at all?

The point to this is whenever there is a mass shooting in the USA, the gunman has practiced either formally or casually and there is a particular thinking that occurs when that practicing goes on. 

What if it was impossible to get a gun? 

What if it were?

What would the hate-filled American think about instead?

This is written on a day when more Americans are dead, maimed and wounded; in honor of those that have perished in mass shootings in the USA since the Assault Weapon Ban was sundowned. My sincerest sympathy to those left behind.

The balance of power and peace's progress has been destroyed.

July 3, 2022
By David Cohen

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (click here) said Sunday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine ruptured illusions that had been in place since the end of the Cold War, creating a different dynamic in Europe than existed a few months ago.

Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Scholz told host Margaret Brennan that the brutal invasion launched in February by Russian President Vladimir Putin had shaken the world out of its complacency.

“I think too many in the world were hoping that we are living in a different world that is different to the experiences of the last century and the centuries before,” Scholz said, adding that a part of that gentler world order was that “we have had an agreement that there should be no attempt to change territory, to change borders, to invade the neighbor.”

He told Brennan: “And this agreement is now canceled by Putin.”

Scholz said Putin was a throwback to those leaders who saw conquest as a demonstration of a nation’s greatness....

Assad must be reading Trump's media, because his reality is not within the understanding of most of the world. Assad and Putin are allied in the deaths of innocent people. Russia committed war crimes in Syria no differently than it is in Ukraine.

"Long live Czar Putin."

July 3, 2022

Damascus recently recognised the independent republics of Donetsk and Luhansk from Ukraine

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad (click here) has indicated that Russian victory in Ukraine is in the interests of both Syria and Iran.

His comments came during his reception of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir al-Lihyan in Damascus on Saturday.

The Syrian president said that Russian dominance in Ukraine “serves the interest of Syria, Iran and all peoples and nations that seek to defend their rights, principles, freedoms and sovereignty.”

Western losses caused by the war, described by al-Assad in the interview as “the slipping of the mask”, represents a redistribution of global power away from America and the West, he said.

“The steadfast relationship that has strengthened over decades between Syria and Iran has become a coalition committing to overthrowing the hegemony of the west”, continued al-Assad in his speech.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky had previously severed diplomatic relations with Syria, after Damascus recognised the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk from Ukraine at the end of June....

Russia states victory in Donbas

What that tells me is that Russia is unable to advance but only hold land that has already been destroyed by years of bombings and cruelty. It is interesting that Ukrainian forces were able to penetrate it at all. It appears Russia can only fight for so many square miles of land at a time leaving the territory taken open for invasion again.

Russians are currently in the process of building drones. Evidently, they are in mass production. Russia has been impressed by their effectiveness early in the war. The Ukrainian drones were owned and operated by private citizens who know what they were doing. I doubt seriously, the Russian drones will be as effective. Russia has to teach their military to operate them. I would not underestimate the drone capacity in the beginning, but, realistically, the Russians are simply mimicking the Ukrainians and hoping to have the same result. That should tell The West all they need to know about the future of Russian drones.

Ukrainian grain has come into focus. The grain is normally supplied to other countries. Turkey (click here) has intercepted a ship stated to have stolen grain from the stores in the country. The UK is monitoring grain shipments with destinations to the rest of the world. The UK is using aerial surveilance to protect those shipments.

Map (click here)

Basically, The West is doing everything it can to end genocide everywhere before it begins. Let's hope The West continues to be the advocate for the well being of all people. Russia or it's satellites such as Belarus cannot make that claim. 

July 4, 2022

By Bryan Pietsch, Victoria Bissef and Annabelle Timsit

Russia is setting its sights on the eastern Donetsk region (click here) after seizing Kyiv’s final major foothold in neighbouring Luhansk, a regional official said Monday.

Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai told Reuters he expects Russia to target Slovyansk and Bakhmut in particular, as the Kremlin seeks to take control of the larger Donbas area, which includes both Luhansk and Donetsk, in the latest phase of its invasion. While Haidai said that Ukrainian forces still controlled a “small part” of Luhansk, the loss of the city of Lysychansk means Moscow has seized virtually all of the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained defiant after the loss of Lysychansk on Sunday and pledged to return, saying: “Ukraine does not give anything up.”

Elsewhere, attention will turn to Switzerland Monday as senior Ukrainian officials gather with European leaders in the city of Lugano for the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Zelensky is set to address the conference virtually....

Lavish Russian assets are making it to USA territory to be held for sale to fund Ukraine. I would expect any sale of Russian assets not to fall into the hands of Russians again.

There is every reason to believe Putin intends genocide at any cost. Besides depriving the world of Ukrainian grain, the people Putin has rounded up are not prisoners of war, but, civilians treated as prisoners of war.

12 April 2022
By Shweta Sharma

Vladimir Putin (click here) has sent almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees thousands of miles away from their home, to resettle in remote corners of Russia, including Siberia and the Arctic Circle, according to Kremlin documents.

Moscow made the emergency order last month to move 95,739 people of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Donetsk, and Lugansk away from the war zones to be resettled as far as 5,500 miles away from their homes, the Kremlin decree seen by The i stated.

It comes amid several reports that Russian forces have allegedly forcibly disappeared, held captive or interrogated people in Ukrainian towns since Mr Putin’s invasion of the country on 24 February....

These deliberately displaced Ukrainians will not do well by every estimation. When people are forced to evacuate an area there is a degree of disorientation that occurs. Most people have mind maps of their everyday movements. Those mind maps will be destroyed as soon as the Ukrainians are removed from their homeland and/or forced to leave to survive. Additionally, added to that disorientation is the harshness of their placement. This movement of Ukrainians by Russia is not benevolent despite claiming it is moving Russian speaking people to Russia as if bringing them to a homeland.

Putin's Russia has no interest in peace or protecting the lives of others.

This is Independence Holiday in the USA.

July 4th is a long standing tradition in the USA to celebrate adoption of the Declaration of Independence (click here). The Revolutionary War (click here) was being fought while this declaration was drawn up and signed. The war was officially over in 1781, but, fighting continued until 1783. The United States Constitution would not be drawn up and in effect until 1789 (click here). After the USA Constitution was signed and brought to bear as the law of the land, the Twelve Amendments (click here) was drawn up in 1789. Only Amendments three through twelve were ratified in 1791. So, the coveted First Amendment was actually the Third Amendment in the first draft of the amendments.

That said, this Independence Day finds many Americans disillusioned and disadvantaged because of radical decisions by the USA Supreme Court. This 246th commemoration of Independence Day is troubled. In 2023 will be the 250th celebration of July 4th. I am certain there is anniversary celebrations already underway for next year. Hopefully, by this time next year there will be new legislators in the US House and Senate that will return function to the USA.

This Supreme Court confuses their religious and/or political affiliations with interpretation of the Rule of Law. This time next year, on the 250th July 4th needs to prove to all Americans that elections matter and with a moral majority in the federal legislature the country and the people are safe.

It needs to be investigated, but, it seems mostly an unfortunate accident.

One bomb does not equate to "Russia in ruins," as it is in Ukaine. This is an interesting accident in that the Russian people need to know there is a war proceeding and the degree of which Ukriane has suffered. This can serve as an example of what Russia has done to Ukrainians since February 24th.

While this accident is upsetting it is important Ukriane target military installations and not civilian areas. Ukraine has run a war anchored in excellent standards of international treaties. Ukraine should maintain those treaties at the center of their defense of their land. There is absolutely nothing wrong with striking Russia in military instillations, however, Russian civilians are out of the question.

This war is known internationally as "Putin's War." It is important it remain that way.

July 3, 2022
By Henri Astler

Russia has accused Ukraine over explosions (click here) which reportedly killed three people in the city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine.

The regional governor said the blasts hit dozens of residential buildings and air defences had been activated.

The Kremlin said that Sunday's attack had been a deliberate attempt by Ukrainian forces to target civilians.

Ukraine dismissed the claim, saying the Russians had lied about similar incidents in the past.

Belgorod - a city of 370,000 that lies just north of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv - has been attacked on several occasions since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.

The latest incident happened in the early hours of Sunday morning....

Americans have invaded Sky/Cloud City.

Why would Supreme Court justices expect to have peace and order in their lives when the rest of the country doesn't?!?!?!?

July 2, 2022
By Ariane de Vogue and Veronica Stracqualursi

Sky City Haya (click here)

The marshal of the Supreme Court has asked Maryland and Virginia officials (click here) to direct law enforcement to enforce state and county laws prohibiting picketing outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, according to letters obtained by CNN.

Col. Gail A Curley sent letters to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Democrat Marc Elrich, the county executive of Montgomery County, and Democrat Jeffrey McKay, Fairfax County board of supervisors' chairman.

The letters, released by a court spokesperson on Saturday to reporters and sent as the court ended a blockbuster term which saw historic decisions on guns, abortion and climate, refer to protests that have taken place "for weeks on end." Curley called in the letters for the officials to direct police to enforce the laws.

According to Curley, "large groups of protesters" have "picketed" justices' homes in Maryland and Virginia, "chanting slogans, using bullhorns, and banging drums."...

Article 2, Section 2 of the USA Constitution

The religious and political zealots of the USA Supreme Court are dismantling the USA Consitution.  

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

The agencies, by definition, are part of the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch does not legislate. The Secretary of the EPA serves at the pleasure of the President. The entire ruling by Robert's Court is idiocy.

The Late President George H. W. Bush was concerned about Earth's climate. He recognized this was a global concern and the USA had a place in it.

December 3, 2018
By Scott Waldman,

...Through legislation he signed in 1990, (click here) Bush started the National Climate Assessment, a sweeping study documenting climate change’s impacts on the United States. The Trump administration released the latest iteration on Black Friday and has since downplayed its definitive body of research, making false claims about its accuracy and inadvertently drawing more attention to the clear science that shows Americans will be increasingly at risk as a result of climate change.

Bush’s presidency came during a different time, when bipartisan actions to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants seemed possible, observers said. The very existence of the NCA is a reminder that Republicans in Washington once crafted aggressive climate policy....

President Clinton (click here) had extensive policies and was eager to address greenhouse gases whenever he could.

President George W. Bush addressed the issue of Clmate Change early in his presidency.

June 11, 2001

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. (click here) I've just met with senior members of my administration who are working to develop an effective and science-based approach to addressing the important issues of global climate change....

This is an issue that I know is very important to the nations of Europe, which I will be visiting for the first time as President. The earth's well-being is also an issue important to America. And it's an issue that should be important to every nation in every part of our world.

The issue of climate change respects no border. Its effects cannot be reined in by an army nor advanced by any ideology. Climate change, with its potential to impact every corner of the world, is an issue that must be addressed by the world.

The Kyoto Protocol was fatally flawed in fundamental ways. But the process used to bring nations together to discuss our joint response to climate change is an important one. That is why I am today committing the United States of America to work within the United Nations framework and elsewhere to develop with our friends and allies and nations throughout the world an effective and science-based response to the issue of global warming....

President Obama reached out to China specifically to have the two largest economies, the USA and China, to enter into agreements to bring about a resolve to end the dangers of Climate Change.

November 11, 2014

President Obama (click here)  Announces Ambitious 2025 Target to Cut U.S. Climate Pollution by 26-28 Percent from 2005 Levels

Building on strong progress during the first six years of the Administration, today President Obama announced a new target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.  At the same time, President Xi Jinping of China announced targets to peak CO2 emissions around 2030, with the intention to try to peak early, and to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 percent by 2030....

When I said the USA Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roberts is guilty of gross malpractice, I meant it. It is obvious the Robert's Court is out of control and way outside the parctice of the Rule of Law.

September 3, 2016
By Mark Landler and Jane Perlez

Hangzhou, China — President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China (click here) formally committed the world’s two largest economies to the Paris climate agreement here on Saturday, cementing their partnership on climate change and offering a rare display of harmony in a relationship that has become increasingly discordant.

On multiple fronts, like computer hacking and maritime security, ties between China and the United States have frayed during the seven and a half years of Mr. Obama’s presidency. The friction has worsened since the ascension of Mr. Xi as a powerful nationalist leader in 2013.

Yet the fact that he and Mr. Obama could set aside those tensions to work together yet again on a joint plan to reduce greenhouse gases attests to the pragmatic personal rapport they have built, as well as to the complexity of the broader United States-China relationship, a tangle of competing and congruent interests....

These agreements directly come from the powers of the President.

November 10, 2021

U.S. - China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s. (click here)

l. The United States and China recall their Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis of April 17th, 2021. They are committed to its effective implementation and appreciate the intensive work that has taken place to date and the value of continued discussion.

2.The United States and China, alarmed by reports including the Working Group I Contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report released on August 9th, 2021, further recognize the seriousness and urgency of the climate crisis. They are committed to tackling it through their respective accelerated actions in the critical decade of the 2020s, as well as through cooperation in multilateral processes, including the UNFCCC process, to avoid catastrophic impacts...

China EXPECTS the USA to maintain it's promises and agreements. In reaction to the Robert's Court gross malpractice, China immediately reminded the USA of it's responsibilities.

July 1, 2022

Beijing (Reuters) - The United States must meet its international obligations (click here) on climate change and do more than "shout slogans", China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting Washington's ability to cut power sector emissions.

The Supreme Court voted to constrain the authority of the U.S.'s Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal- and gas-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act, sparking dismay among environmentalists....

Every national leader on Earth is completely aware of the dangers of the climate crisis. It is time to end the foot dragging and the US Congress, as if they don't have their hands full with January 6th, must begin a review of the malpractice of the Robert's Court. It is completely obvious the court is out of control. Robert's can't keep the court secure without leaks and absolutely has abdicated his leadership to the right wing extremists since Coney-Barrett showed up and is running her own game from inside the court.