Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Democrats need to be sure the bureau has all the clout it needs now that The Fed is increasing interest rates. Guaranteed consumers did not read the fine print that allows no interest consumer debt can be increased as necessary.

Housing foreclosures are increasing back to average levels before the pandemic. All that can be exploitive by the financial institutions and consumers will need a reliable federal agency to turn to if injustice is realized.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (click here)

Courting Insurrection

When realizing the "Christian Nationalist (White Supremacist/Nationalist)" philosophy in the USA, remember the word, "Preordained."

January 7, 2021 the conversation between Republicans went like this, "We are finally rid of the guy, but, we still need the people that voted for him." So, with that McConnell and Graham and McCarthy came out and denounced everything the day before.

Trump was sitting in the White House listening to the "gutless wonders" and laughed. He knew what they were thinking, they were glad they could go back to being "Regular Republicans" in a way they always understood. They could go back to betraying those that voted for them to keep the Electoral College victories because they were the only party that would keep their guns legal and plentiful.

Well, McCarthy went to Florida to kiss the ring because Trump threatened to replace everyone of them and their traitorous ways. Not that they betrayed the USA Constitution, they betrayed the voters that assembled to have them win their elections and keep their "Electoral College Presidencies." With that reality the "Regular Republicans" placed themselves outside the measure of the "Rule of Law" and became a governance of the "Rule of Men." Enter the strongman philosophy with one exception, they backed Ukraine. In that and a vote to place more standards on gun sales and more money for mental health in the USA the "Regular Republicans" began to find their way back to stand up for the end of abortion in the USA.

The extremism of the Republican Party has been groomed over many, many decades. It is sort of like Putin and his extensive plans through his entire life to keep communism alive in the Soviet Union and when that failed he would keep communism alive in Russia. Now that is he aged he can't fail in his life long mission. But, alas that is getting away from the issue of abortion in the USA.

When we think of the extremism of the Republican Party and the fact they demand NO ABORTIONS ever in the USA it is because they are aligned with the Christian Nationalists. Christian Nationalists believe in preordained outcomes. It is an ancient belief system before modern day medicine. Preordination would exclude all forms of abortions for the sake "god's will." So, that ten year old girl was preordained to give birth to a baby in her uterus because the Christian Nationalists demand it! 

Preordination is a CULT BELIEF SYSTEM. I believe Associate Justice Barrett-Coney is a cult member, isn't that right? Didn't the radicalism find it's balance in the US Supreme Court with her addition? So, the extremists that have been "at this" all these many years and growing older by the day finally crossed the line that kept civilization alive in favor of Christian Nationalism.

Now, does it all make sense? The extremism is about a corrupt and corrupting Republican Party engaged in courting insurrection and believing they can control it. They can't. Trump's election proved that. All the insurrectionists need now is another corruptible Republican willing to step over the line as soon as the power is within their grasp.

The United States of America is a powerful country. There is no room in the world for radical extremists embedded with an ancient belief of pre-ordination. The Republicans are completely out of step with the USA Constitution by the very nature of the violent groups they court for votes.

That is what the sane people in the USA are up against in seeking votes and in voting. The Democrats and the sanest Americans (including two Republicans on the Committee) are on the correct path in pursuing justice and holding everyone involved in January 6th responsible, including fines and prison. 

Donald John Trump has no "stops." He was always been rescued regardless of his ostracized social standing. He has always had problems and his self-defense is "unfairness." Donald John Trump was able to accumulate a lot of assets and through lies he accumulated a lot of money. He is living in the penthouse in Trump Tower, not an estate in Bedminster. Every place he lives earns money, hence, he is perfect for "public housing" in the White House. He is not a success. He is a placated idiot that managed to hold onto the power of impoverishment from his father's wealth to the point of chronically sabotaging banks and government from a resolve to end the "point of bankruptcy."

July 20, 2022
By Peter Hall

Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano’s (click here) use of the far-right social media platform Gab.com to engage potential voters is a step toward extremism that more moderate members of the Republican Party have a responsibility to repudiate, experts on politics and the internet say.

Mastriano paid $5,000 for campaign consulting to Gab.com, according to his campaign finance reports filed in May. Gab was the site where a gunman posted anti-Semitic screeds before the October 2018 shooting when he allegedly killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The 49-year-old Allegheny County man, who faces federal hate crime charges, wrote on the site about the white supremacist conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced in American society by immigrants and people of color, a theme Mastriano also has touched on in public statements.

Libby Hemphill, a University of Michigan professor who studies political communication and social media, said Gab emerged as a refuge for hate speech after mainstream platforms including Facebook, Reddit and Twitter took steps to moderate and remove racist and bigoted content.

“When a mainstream politician says I want to reach hate groups where they meet, that’s scary to us,” Hemphill said....

The statute of limitations are a worry for the people.

Lester Holt conducted a good interview with Attorney General Merrick Garland. I think Attorney General Garland is correct to work meticulously to bring justice to the country regarding January 6th.

Part of the issue regarding January 6th is a significant fear within the country that Trump could run again and possibly win the presidency. The DOJ preserves civil rights of those being investigated in case the investigation does not turn out to be indictable. 

January 6th was traumatic. It was an assault on our democracy. It seems urgent. The indictments have to be perfect in order to protect the country.

This is a terrible time for Americans. Coming off the Trump presidency there are huge problems, including a global pandemic. American lives are not usually troubled in this way. The country would like those guilty before a judge and contained, but, it has to be done well. It is a time to believe in the strength of the USA. I am sure the Attorney General is looking at any statute of limitations. I believe he knows these trials need to take place within this administration.

I believe the correct statute of limitations for sedition is covered under the “Subversion Activities Control Act.” That would be Title 50, Section 783(e). It would be a ten year statute of limitations. However, the indictments need to go through and trials held within the Biden administration’s first term of office.

Next Republican President will look like Youngkin if not Youngkin himself.

The strategy of the "Big Lie" has been a part of genocides before.

This is a known method to turn reality to a different paradigm. I resist any analogy of Hitler, but, this is exactly the history where the "Big Lie" became the understanding of an entire country to tolerate genocide.

There is a reason to adhere strongly to THE TRUTH. The truth is not about dangerous propaganda, it provides the strongest reality for any citizen of any country. When I hear the words the "Big Lie" it sends chills down my back. It is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Vigilant Americans can always feel good about saying, "That is a bald face lie!" History is on their side.

...This is an excellent definition of the “Big lie,” (click here) however, there seems to be no evidence that it was used by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, though it is often attributed to him.

The original description of the big lie appeared in Mein Kampf. Adolf Hitler applied it to the behavior of Jews rather than as a tactic he advocated. Specifically, he accused Viennese Jews of trying to discredit the Germans’ activities during World War I. Hitler wrote of the Jews’ “unqualified capacity for falsehood” and “that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation…. From time immemorial, however, the Jews have known better than any others how falsehood and calumny can be exploited.”

The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie:
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it....

When police are allowed to kill at will it is a police state, a totalitarian form of law enforcement.

This killing was particularly heinous as the grandmother involved was unarmed. She was not a criminal getting away that will kill other Americans. The police officer had the license plate number and a dented car. I think that is called an insurance problem.

Traffic stops can be removed from the dangers Americans face in their lives. Cameras within the police car can easily see any traffic violations. Traffic tickets can be mailed to the driver and/or with the judges authorization of a hold on the driver's license renewal to bring them in to pay their fines. Traffic stops have become more and more problematic. Why not just protect the police and the citizens and conduct traffic violations online with cameras.

April 16, 2022

By Christine Fernando

Lawyers representing family members (click here) of a woman fatally shot by a California police officer claimed this week that the officer acted with excessive force when he responded with a volley of gunfire after she backed her car into his police vehicle.

Tracy Gaeta, 54, died after a K-9 officer identified by police officials as Kyle Ribera fired more than two dozen shots into her car on Feb. 22, according to police and body camera footage released this month.

"Like too many Black women across this country, Tracy Gaeta is yet another victim of preventable police violence," Angelina Austin, an attorney at the firm representing Gaeta's family, said in a statement this week.

Gaeta's daughter, Tressie Gaeta, remembered her as a "loving, caring mother and grandmother" who "always knew how to put a smile on your face," according to the statement from family lawyers....

People are sicker when they come to the hospitals and floor staff demands are higher.

This is from the ANA (American Nurses Association).

...The groundbreaking (click here) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) compels nurses to continue innovation, transformational leadership, and care coordination as major stakeholders in provision of the next generation of cost containment, quality advances, and patient access improvements....

The original Affordable Care Act that was passed by Congress had within it's provisions educational monies for nurses and general practitioner doctors (family doctors).

Nurses have been ready take on the demands of the profession. That was completely obvious during the first year of the global pandemic. President Vice President needs to review that provision in the Affordable Care Act and perhaps reinstate that initiative if it has run out of funds.

Staffing the floors with operating room nurses is not the best idea. Most nurses with expertise of higher demand hospital work do not want to return to bedside patient care on the floors. They have signed on to education that elevated their expertise and the pay differential. Using specialty nurses on the hospital floors because of poor staffing otherwise is not an effective solution. They will leave to go to work in their specialty. 

There are plenty of hospitals that will give them sign-on bonuses and retention bonuses as well as higher pay. The hospitals must solve their short staffing needs, but, this is not the answer. OR Nurses do not want to work the floors.

July 26, 2022
By Jessica Bartlett

Depleted by two years of fighting a global pandemic, (click here) some of the state’s largest health systems have had to temporarily close their operating rooms due to staffing issues, exacerbating their financial troubles.

Many of the operating rooms have been shuttered off and on for months, due to unexpected staff absences and family leaves. An influx of sicker than expected patients onto hospital floors and into emergency rooms, many of whom delayed care during the pandemic, has also complicated staffing plans, as more specialized nurses or larger teams are needed to care for more complex patients.

“Across the health care system, closing ORs is a near daily event,” said Dr. Eric Dickson, chief executive of UMass Memorial Health. “Some procedural area or OR is not open, and we’ve had to adjust. cases because of our ability to staff.”...

Trumpism is completely based in lies, corruption and a lot of money to promote FAKE NEWS.

July 25, 2022
By Craig Mauger

Lansing - The campaigns of five Republican candidates (click here) for Michigan governor who were disqualified from the ballot because of a wave of fraudulent petition signatures collectively spent about $11 million on their bids for the state's highest office, according to new disclosures.

The reports, filed in recent days with the Secretary of State's office, reveal how the GOP hopefuls used donors' money and their own cash ahead of being knocked off the Aug. 2 primary ballot in May....

These candidates aren't even trying to meet the legal requirements for their candidacy. Johnson has spent $7.2 million including $4.3 million on media. Evidently, money can't burn through corruption.

June 1, 2020

The Michigan Court of Appeals (click here) rejected Wednesday a lawsuit from Republican businessman Perry Johnson, who asked the judges to revive his campaign for governor by giving him a spot on the August primary ballot.

The unanimous decision from a three-judge panel marked a significant setback for five GOP candidates for governor who were caught in an alleged wave of fraudulent petition signatures. Last week, the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on whether the candidates had gathered the 15,000 required valid signatures, denying the five gubernatorial hopefuls spots on the ballot....

Other than sanctions, these are also national security concerns.

Putin uses Russian citizens to carry out his strategies. One strategy the USA has to assess and change is the "pregnancy tourism" used by Asian countries to have a child born in the USA. It is a national security issue that Trump properties participated in for profits.

The Free World must take a look at all aspects of Russian influence and remove the threat. Russian's genocidal war is an entirely new chapter for global security. Russia is a rouge state. Nothing can be overlooked.

25 July 2022

A straw poll (click here) carried out by the Finnish News Agency STT suggests strong backing for a ban on new tourist visas for Russian citizens.

The agency asked the leaders of the largest parliamentary delegations whether Finland should stop issuing tourist visas for Russian citizens due to the country's attack on Ukraine, now in its sixth month.

Leaders of each of the four largest parties – the prime minister's SDP, the National Coalition (NCP), the Finns Party and the Centre – said they would back an immediate halt to issuing visas. The SDP and Centre are the main government parties while the other two are the main opposition blocs.

Antti Lindtman, chair of the 40-member SDP delegation, said that there was good reason for the government to urgently look into restricting tourist visas....

Housing prices are coming down. So much for inflation.

July 26, 2022

The Bay Area’s once-scorching pandemic housing market (click here) continued to cool in June, with home prices plunging to the largest monthly drop for this time of the year in at least three decades.

In June, the median price of existing single-family houses in the nine-county region declined 7% from the previous month — from just over $1.5 million to $1.4 million, according to data for the California Association of Realtors. That’s the steepest May-to-June dip ever recorded in the association’s regional home sales data, which dates back to 1990.

What’s behind the record price drop? Real estate experts point to rising interest rates squeezing buyers, more homes staying longer on the market and an increasingly uncertain economy — all signaling the Bay Area housing market may have peaked after prices hit all-time highs earlier this year.

“From this point on we probably won’t see another record price, at least for this year, for either the Bay Area or for the state,” said Oscar Wei, deputy chief economist with the California Association of Realtors....

Just an FYI, as of July 12, 2022 the FBI released a warning about scams related to housing.

As rents, home prices, (click here) and inflation surge in today’s highly competitive real estate market, the FBI Boston Division is warning the public about the risk of rental scams, and the need to be cautious when posting and responding to rental properties and real-estate online.

“We have seen a significant increase in the amount of money being lost by people who are desperate for a good deal. Scammers are cashing in on renters who need to act quickly for fear of missing out, and it’s costing consumers thousands of dollars, and in some cases, leaving them stranded,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “We are asking everyone to exercise caution, especially over the next few months, as folks look to book last minute summer getaways.”

Russia is doing the Free World a favor by ending dependency on Russian anything. This Putin. Every entity in Russia is under Putin's control. He is trying to get the Free World to collapse and end aid to Ukraine.

25 July 2022

Russian gas giant Gazprom (click here) said Monday it was cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 33 million cubic metres starting Wednesday.

That would correspond to 20% of the pipeline's capacity. The current flow of gas into Germany is only at 40%.

The company said it was halting the operation of another turbine due to the "technical condition of the engine".

The full capacity of Nord Stream 1 is over 160 cubic meters of gas exported daily. Stopping the turbine will result in reduced capacity of 33 million cubic meters. Gazprom said the production capacity is to be reduced at Russia's Portovaya compressor station.

"We are monitoring the situation very closely in close exchange with the Federal Network Agency and the gas crisis team,'' the German Economics Ministry said.

"According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in deliveries,'' it added.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told Germany's dpa news agency Monday that "Russia is breaking contracts and blaming others," adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a "duplicitous game." ...

Awareness. Many Russians will learn of their country's genocide as travelers.

July 25, 2022
By Leonie Kijewski

Countries around the world (click here) should ask every Russian national applying for a visa whether they support the war in Ukraine, Kyiv's special envoy on sanctions told POLITICO.

"We insist that those Russians who support this genocidal war — and different polls show that over 80 percent of Russians still support the war — they should not get access to the free world," sanctions envoy Oleksii Makeiev said in an interview. He suggested introducing "special treatment" for Russians.

That special treatment would come in the form of a mandatory new questionnaire for Russian citizens when applying for a visa to go to, say, France or Germany....

Any Russian empowering the war effort in their travels should be refused entry. The only real problem with traveling Russians is their passports, in that a passport at entrance to the country doesn't require a questionnaire.

Russia doesn't want peace, they want lasers in space. All the rouge countries in the world, including Russia, will have their own space station. Russia will probably be collecting fees from all it's allies.

July 28, 2022
By Kenneth Chang and Ivan Nechepurenko

The new head of Russia’s space agency (click here) announced on Tuesday that Russia will leave the International Space Station after its current commitment expires at the end of 2024.

“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” said Yuri Borisov, who was appointed this month to run Roscosmos, a state-controlled corporation in charge of the country’s space program.

The pronouncement came during a meeting between Mr. Borisov and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Mr. Borisov told Mr. Putin that Russia would fulfill its commitments through 2024. “I think that by this time we will begin to form the Russian orbital station,” he said....

The Free World will have to meet and surpass the Russian armaments. Yes, this is the cold war space race. No satellite, including Musk's will be safe. To a greater extent the world can thank Donald John Trump for the escalation when he assembled "The Space Force" when it was never necessary. Welcome to blatant stupidity in the arms race.

July 18, 2022
By Brett Tingley

Recent Google Earth images reveal construction (click here) at what appears to be a sophisticated laser system at a Russian space facility designed to blind adversary satellites.

The construction is taking place at the Russian Ministry of Defense's Krona space facility near Zelenchukskaya in Russia's far southwest, home of the massive RATAN-600 radio telescope. The existence of this new complex was brought to light in an in-depth open source investigation(opens in new tab) published by The Space Review that analyzed public satellite imagery, solicitation documents from Russian industrial contractors and Russian financial documents.

All of these sources lay out the construction of a project named Kalina, described in the financial documentation obtained by The Space Review as a laser system designed for "electro-optical warfare" that can permanently blind adversarial satellites by shining laser pulses so bright they can damage optical sensors. (This is distinctly different from other lasers known as "dazzlers," which are aimed at only temporarily blinding optics systems.) ...

Mississippi needs regime change.

Mississippi’s Bryant was the state’s 40th auditor from 1996 to 2008. The investigation of fraud involves him. It is why the Attorney General was fired. 12 years of controlling the audit of the State of Mississippi is more than a decade of cover-up.

The minions of Clarence Thomas. Amazing. Hair and make-up politically correct.

How many met Ginny at Trump's office? Was it actually Clarence Thomas that was president?

Just sayin'.

July 16, 2022
By Lauren Frias

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (click here) has faced growing ethical concerns from critics due to his wife Ginni Thomas's political activism and participation in partisan politics — especially her support for former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

In January, Thomas held the lone dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court's order rejecting a bid from former President Donald Trump to withhold presidential records from the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.

A number of people who at one point ran in Clarence Thomas's circle went on to help prop up the former president — some of whom have been evoked during the January 6 House panel's public hearings.

Conservative news host Laura Ingraham and former Trump lawyer John Eastman are among those who formerly clerked for the Supreme Court justice and now share ties with Trump....

Lightning is a growing issue. It isn't necessarily predictive in it's behavior now.

This is from the Tampa Bay areas on July 6, 2022. Florida has also been finding water spouts more frequently than before. But, as for this lightning strike, it is mostly defying what we know about lightning. The idea the rubber in the tires is grounding the lightning might be violated as a trend of the air conditions found during storms.

This lightning not only struck the pick-up truck ahead of the photographer, it lingers long enough to strike both trucks. The people were not injured because the lightning was grounded into the tires. While that behavior by the lightning is normal, the strike itself was wide, easily discerned in the film and sustained longer than a normal single strike of lightning.

The filming has pixels and the actual nature of the lightning may not have fully been recorded. It is a video and not a captured voltage either. It would be interesting to know if there were any signs of the strike on the bodies of the trucks. That would indicate a more physical capacity that could prove to be a changing character of lightning.

I find this video very unusual. The lightning wasn't completely grounded by the first truck. It sustained passing into the ground long enough for the MOVING truck with the photographer to be struck as well.

Some of the characteristics I think may be the culprit is higher levels of static electricity in the air. I don't know if I enjoy the same enthusiasm as Penn State, but, they are sincerely concerned about the characteristics of lightning.

Nitrogen, oxygen and water vapor molecules (click here) are broken apart by lightning and associated weaker electrical discharges, generating the reactive gases NO, O3, HO2, and the atmosphere's cleanser, OH.

 

The reason for the California wildfires is not much different than the low levels of Lake Mead.

The drought has been more than two decades long. Where has everyone been? The US legislature only understands emergencies and petroleum industry subsidies. It seems to me those subsidies are poorly spent.

July 22, 2022
By Judson Jones

New satellite images (click here) released by NASA Wednesday reveal the dramatic loss of water at Lake Mead due to the ongoing mega-drought.

“The largest reservoir in the United States supplies water to millions of people across seven states, tribal lands, and northern Mexico,” NASA wrote about the image. “It now also provides a stark illustration of climate change and a long-term drought that may be the worst in the US West in 12 centuries.”

When you compare these two natural-color images — one acquired on July 6, 2000, and the other on July 3, 2022 — you can see the lake full and, in the most recent imagery, you can see the mineralized lakeshore which used to be underwater.

Move the slider to the left to reveal the minimal water remaining in Lake Mead. Move it back to the right to see where the level once stood....

The multi-decade drought has dried the land where it touches. In that is a sad reality, in that fire spreads quickly and with voracity. There are some people seeking to pump the Mississippi to provide water to the west. That is not realistic. The Pacific Ocean and desalination is vital to the RETURN of moisture to the California air mass. There is no other answer. The wetter the air, the wetter the ground.

I find it foolish to end irrigation and/or lawn watering. The air has to be moist and it isn't going to happen without the ground being wet. Dry land evaporates water in the air. There goes the rain.

Irrigation is a must and every method of protecting land moisture need to be carried out. That means no building into wetlands and pouring concrete. Laying down any kind of anti-nature cover is absolutely stupid.

July 25, 2022
By Jacobs Rodgers

Hot and tinder-dry weather on Monday (click here) is expected to further test firefighters battling the explosive Oak Fire west of Yosemite National Park, which barreled out of control over the weekend into California’s largest fire of the year, forcing thousands of people to flee from their homes.

Fire crews issued several fresh evacuations on Sunday as the blaze metastasized in several directions — overtaking the communities of Jerseydale, Darrah and Lushmeadows while threatening the small enclaves of Bootjack and Mariposa Pines. But with nothing in the way of rain or cooler temperatures in the forecast, fire crews braced for more erratic fire behavior, while warning that the number of destroyed structures was likely to increase in the days ahead from an initial count of 10....

Desalination is not a threat to nature. The salt can be processed to add to the American diet. Everyone is familiar with "Sea Salt." I understand there is a built in pool that is best served by salt water to minimize the use of chlorine.

Marine biologists need to be asked to check the salinity of the oceans as all the ice fields, regardless of form of ice fields, melt into the ocean. The volume of fresh water melting into the ocean may have an effect on salinity. If there is a change in salinity in waters, even at the locality of the melting is not normal, salty formulations that match sea water will have to be returned to Earth's ocean. DO NOT dump salt into fresh water, there is very little fresh water on Earth.

United States Forest Service (USFS) Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) (click here) The majority of the USA is currently assessed for at least moderate fire dangers. That is not good. 

This is the only way to think about Russia.

July 24, 2022
By Brad Dress

Moldova’s prime minister (click here) on Sunday said she is “very worried” about Russia invading her country next as it makes advances in Ukraine’s east and south, near the Moldova-Ukraine border.

“It’s a hypothetical scenario for now, but if the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odessa, then of course we are very worried,” Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”...

Turkey calls them friends. NATO does not deal with terrorists. What is the problem with Turkey? 

May 24, 2022
By Alexander Ward and Nahal Toosi

President Joe Biden (click here) has finalized his decision to keep Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a terrorist blacklist, according to a senior Western official, further complicating international efforts to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Another person familiar with the matter said Biden conveyed his decision during an April 24 phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, adding that the decision was conveyed as absolutely final and that the window for Iranian concessions had closed....

Terror on Sunday Morning

Did it occur after weekly collection of gifts to the church? It looks like a local criminal. They seemed comfortable with the acts. Besides armed robbery they conducted it in a remarkably calm manner.

July 25, 2022 

By Elder Sanders

New York - A bishop (click here) was robbed at gunpoint in the middle of a sermon Sunday in Brooklyn, and it was caught on video, CBS New York reports.

Bishop Lamor Whitehead says five to ten minutes into the sermon, he saw the door in the back of the room kicked open and three to four men walked in with guns. He believes he was targeted, the station says. The service was being livestreamed"I said, 'Alright, alright, alright,' pretty much stating that I'm not going to do anything because I know you're coming for me. You're coming straight to me. I don't want my parishioners hurt. I've got women and children there," said Whitehead, of Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries.

"As I got down, one went to my wife and took all her jewelry and had the gun in front of my 8-month-old baby's face. Took off my bishop's ring, my wedding band and took off my bishop's chain, and then I had chains underneath my robe and he started tapping my neck to see if anything else. So that means they knew. They watched and they knew that I have other jewelry," he explained. ...

 

Some areas of the country have less than $4.00 per gallon gas.

July 25, 2022
By Frank Witsil

Gas prices fell yet again (click here) - down 19 cents from a week ago, according to AAA — with Michigan drivers paying an average of $4.44 a gallon, an big drop from a month ago when gas was well over $5 a gallon.

"Michigan motorists have seen gas prices decrease 65 cents within the past month," Adrienne Woodland, a AAA spokeswoman, said Monday, adding that if demand remains low as supply increases, motorists "will likely see pump prices decline."

Gas is still $1.16 more than this time last year.

But one Biden senior official has predicted gas will eventually fall to about $4 a gallon nationally.

Motorists are now paying an average of $66 for a full 15-gallon tank of gasoline....

In the EU. There are no new supply because the companies don't want to pay wind fall profit taxes.

July 22, 2022

On 26 May 2022, (click here) Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced a temporary tax on the profits of oil and gas companies operating in the UK and on the UK Continental Shelf. This is a tax on companies that have made high profits, particularly where these result from increases in energy prices....

In the USA the burden falls to the national debt. Some Americans think that is a burden and a windfall profits tax is in order.

July 11, 2022

By Guest Commentary Ukaykiran Vissa

President Biden has called for Congress to approve a three-month federal gas tax holiday. (click here)

Although this has the potential to ease pain at the pump, responsibility for a viable solution should fall on large oil companies, especially given their record-high profits.

ExxonMobil, America’s largest oil company, reported that its net profit of $5.5 billion, more than doubled in 2022. Shell recorded its highest earnings ever, and Chevron reported its highest quarterly profit in almost a decade.

Even more infuriating is that oil and gas companies currently possess 12 million acres of leased U.S. public lands, along with 9,000 unused drilling permits, according to the Center for American Progress.

Given their record profits and vast land reserves, oil companies should technically have the ability to increase supply and subsequently lower fuel prices. So why don’t they? The simple answer is they choose not to....

The US State Department needs to arrange for asylum.

It may not have occurred to Mayanmar that asylum is available for people that are targeted for assassination.

July 25, 2022
By Zubaidah Abdul Jalil

Four democracy activists (click here) have been executed by Myanmar's military in what is believed to be the first use of capital punishment in decades.

The four - including activist Ko Jimmy and lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw - were accused of committing "terror acts".

They were sentenced to death in a closed-door trial that rights groups criticised as being unjust.

Family members of the deceased gathered at Insein prison on Monday desperate for information on their loved ones.

The mother of Zayar Thaw says she was not told when exactly her son would be executed, adding that she was unable to make proper traditional funeral plans as a result.

"When we met on Zoom last Friday, my son was healthy and smiling. He asked me to send his reading glasses, dictionary and some money to use in prison, so I brought those things to the prison today," Khin Win May told the BBC's Burmese Service. "That's why I didn't think they would kill him. I didn't believe it."...

"Good NIght, Moon"

The waning crescent

26.3 days old

11.3 percent lit

James Webb is worth it's weight in gold, literally and figuratively. It is sending back information about other galaxies. That is a good thing, because, I think Mars is old news and a new, young, livable galaxy is in order.