There are infrastructure models to assess carbon pollution.

At ABS we are pairing our maritime (click here) and offshore experience with our in-depth understanding of carbon economics to provide you with the tools and support that you need to seamlessly develop and deploy carbon accounting within your organization. Contact us today to learn more....

Basically, no excuses for greenhouse gas pollution.

An antiviral is not an antibiotic.

Paxlovid (click here) is an oral antiviral pill that can be taken at home to help keep high-risk patients from getting so sick that they need to be hospitalized. So, if you test positive for the coronavirus and a health care provider writes you a prescription, you can take pills at home and lower your risk of going to the hospital. You can also get Paxlovid directly from your pharmacist, provided you can give the pharmacist your electronic or printed medical records, including a list of medications you are already taking, and blood test results from the last 12 months....

Understanding antivirals is different than understanding bacterial infections.

Antibiotics disrupt cell membranes of the bacteria and eliminate the infection. An antibiotic is best taken as prescribed for the ten days. It takes ten days to completely eliminate the bacteria. If antibiotics are not completed the remaining bacteria can bounce back as a resistant bacteria and then the infection is even more difficult to eliminate.

Antivirals are about viral load. The antivirals interfere with the virus ability to replicate. In interfering with replication limits the number of virus in the body, hence, the term "viral load." 

COVID and it's variants typically run it's course in 13 days unless there is tissue damage and patients have a far more difficult time in recovery. The COVID pill works best if taken within the first 5 days, because, the viral load has not exploded. The course of the virus replication is now reduced to 8 days when the virus is not suppressed by an antiviral. The most dangerous viral load of these coronavirus, with the interference of the pill, is reduced at the least and is primarily a nuisance.

The viral load is so suppressed by the anti-viral a person will test negative after the last set of pills is taken. Understanding there is still some virus in the body, the bounce occurs after the end of the medication and usually after a negative test. Why? Because there is still some viral load, but, not enough to continue to build a large infection.

Paxlovid suppresses replication. These coronavirus of COVID is large and causes cell damage after it replicates and ruptures the cell to enter the body and infect more cells. The cell damage by these virus is more of a problem than the virus itself. The ability to avoid cell damage is difficult and is highly individual. Every antiviral that suppresses replication is protecting cells and proper functioning of the immune system. These antivirals are very important. They are protective as well as suppressive of the viral load. 

I am sure all that is clear as mud, but, the fact of the matter is the COVID pills work and should be taken as prescribed. They will help protect body cells from being invaded by the virus, hence, reducing the number of virus the body has to fight and overcome.

It is not unusual to have a bounce in viral load after the full course of the antiviral because like bacteria there will be virus still in the body. They will replicate and a positive test after a negative is not unusual. Please do not see a positive test after the five days of pills as a failure of the therapy. It is not a failure. It is the normal course of viral suppression by the body after developing it's own antibodies.

Please understand an infection of COVID-19 or any of it's variants is still serious disease and should not be viewed as a minor annoyance. There are serious effects of these virus resulting in permanent changes in the way the body functions. The worse of the lingering effects of the virus is Long COVID. 

I read an article some time ago saying that Vitamin D is a resistant to the virus. Of the people who became ill with the virus, those least effected had a healthy level of Vitamin D which would explain why summers see less infections than winters, when people are outside far more often then in the winter. I have been taking Vitamin D orally daily for a decade or more when normal levels were maintained it ended chronic pain.

The Vitamin D phenomena if it is sincerely correct research in relation to COVID is more a level of healthy body chemistry with proper levels of vitamins and minerals daily. Why expect the body to be able to fight off insults to it if it doesn't have all the building blocks it needs?

Take medicine as prescribed for the entire length of time required. Beat the infection, otherwise, it will beat you.

Oh, by the way. 

Masks work.

Social distancing works.

Hand hygiene works, especially when touching the face.

Stay well.

Have a good evening.

To get weapons of war off the street

Provide a $3000 tax credit to directly come off the total taxes owed on individual tax returns starting retroactively to 2021 taxes. The weapons of war will have to be turned into a local police station for melt down and a numbered receipt will be issued to receive the tax credit. 

$3000 is more than a person has to pay for the weapon and there can be abuse in purchasing a weapon just to pay taxes due. Therefore serial numbers on the guns will have to be reported to ATF, not the persons ID, along with the date sold. That information will be available to police and/sheriffs to valid a receipt for the tax credit. If a weapon of war serial number is listed as purchased after a start date of January 1, 2021 the credit will only be a 25 percent credit of the manufacturer’s recommended list price.

There is no requirement to list gun dealer or price paid otherwise. Commercial entities that want to purge itself of such weapons may do so but the credit reverts to the price paid with a required purchase receipt. 

Ammunition can receive a separate receipt for $1.00 per round with disposal determined by local law enforcement authorities. 

By allowing such tax credits for commercial interests, gun dealers will have a method of recouping any potential losses with a potential assault weapons ban. The assault weapons ban does not have to be the same bill as the “Weapons of War Tax Credit Act.” There should be no sundown date for either of these bills.

Police departments know these types of measures work when they offer people the opportunity to relinquish guns voluntarily without requiring ID to do so. These types of voluntary gun surrendering works because after an American owns one they realize the danger and responsibility to them and their household in securing any gun regardless of semi-automatic status.

Trump’s assault of the USA Constitution…

…was the strongest at the quirky weakness written into election law through the Electoral College. It needs to go.

According to our intelligence agencies, the 2020 Elections was the most secure election ever held in the USA. This was possible because Former Director of the FBI Mueller filed his report on the foreign interference of Russia during the 2016 election.

I believe the agencies and in that case, there is no need for quirky 100 year old electors. The majority vote can be accurately counted to determine the federal elected officials.

Sinema has her demands.

July 26, 2022
By Andre Beganski

A bill was introduced(click here)  in the Senate today that would prevent Americans from needing to disclose capital gains or losses on most smaller-scale crypto transactions.

Introduced by senators Patrick Toomey (R-PA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), the Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act would exempt reporting crypto transactions of less than $50, or trades in which a person earns less than $50....

It is basically an experiment. Crypto is not really having a good reputation. This bill would allow people that purchase crypto with returns of $50.00 without taxes.

It is harmless. If Senators Sinema and Toomey believe there is some interest in crypto as investments that is fine. They should be allowed to try.

Tony Blinken should bring home all the Americans in Russia.

Give the Russians who they want and make the separation complete. No American should be traveling to Russia again until the country has free and fair elections. After there is an elected leader by the majority of the Russian people then and only then should the USA have anything to do with Russia.

Bring them all home. Give them all the murderous Russians they want.

J. D. Vance…

…cannot expect women to stay in abusive marriages without expecting children to tolerate abuse as well.

This is not who we are.

Today, in Los Vegas outside a casino a puppy was locked in a Mercedes’ with its mouth taped shut. The police arrived to see the puppy removed from the car by a Good Samaritan. The owner was arrested. That is who we are and not some cockamamie Christian Nationalists from the Federalist Society. 

The purging of records goes all the way to the top. Trump ordered it. It seems obvious.

It is being said that each member of the department was responsible for preserving their records. I am wondering how many members of the department thought they did only to find out they didn't.

Trump promised people heading these departments it would all be okay because he would provide pardons after the coupe.

Look, the bozo that was leaving the Secret Service to be an officer at Snapchat would have access to any part of information that might still be there. It is a huge assumption. But, it makes sense to me.

July 29, 2022

By Drew Harwell

, 

Will Oremus, 

and 

Joseph Menn

 

Cybersecurity specialists (click here) said the agency bungled a routine task by telling agents to back up their own records, which is ‘not something any other organization would ever do’

Cybersecurity experts and former government leaders are stunned by how poorly the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security handled the preservation of officials’ text messages and other data from around Jan. 6, 2021, saying the top agencies entrusted with fighting cybercrime should never have bungled the simple task of backing up agents’ phones....

I refuse to believe all the Secret Service is corrupt. The leadership did this and it is my estimate the officers can make testimony to what was in those records.

July 28, 2022
By Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti

Text messages (click here) for former President Donald Trump’s acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to four people briefed on the matter and internal emails.

This discovery of missing records for the senior-most homeland security officials, which has not been previously reported, increases the volume of potential evidence that has vanished regarding the time around the Capitol attack.

It comes as both congressional and criminal investigators at the Department of Justice seek to piece together an effort by the president and his allies to overturn the results of the election, which culminated in a pro-Trump rally that became a violent riot in the halls of Congress....

These shipping rates are passed onto consumers.

July 29, 2022

By Mike Schuler

An Ocean Network Express (ONE) containership at the Port of Oakland

Ocean Newtork Express (click here) reported record profit of $5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022, more than doubling its profit from the same period last year.

ONE said freight rates remained firm despite some softening in supply-demand conditions. Global cargo demand in the second quarter remained steady, with no major breakdown despite the impact of the Shanghai’s lockdown and the Ukraine crisis, ONE said.

On the supply side, port congestion showed signs of improvement in some areas, but supply chain disruptions continued around the world, including deterioration on the east coast of North America. As a result, freight rates remained “significantly higher” than those in the same period last year, increasing ONE’s quarterly profit amount by $2.9 billion of 115%....

The Fed rate increase hasn't hit the mortgage rate yet.

July 28, 2022
By Alisa Wolfson

This is Fred 30 year fixed rate (click here).

Mortgage rates are dipping. (click here) Back in June, 30-year fixed rates hit 6%, but this month we have watched them fall. Indeed, 30-year fixed mortgages decreased to 5.60%, which is the lowest in weeks, according to the latest Bankrate data from July 28. Meanwhile, the national average for 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loans declined to 4.89%.

The storm that hit Nevada and Kentucky isn't finished yet.

July 29, 2022

1:20 PM

Accuweather Water Vapor Satellite (click here)

The storm is moving northeast, but, it's eastward movement seems faster than it's northern movement.

Chattanooga is next. They are already starting to receive rains. The people have to be warned this is the same storm that hit Arizona and Kentucky.

People along the path of this deadly storm must be warned early enough to take shelter at higher elevations than the creeks and rivers in their area. This storm is a deluge of water. It will raise the smallest creeks into torrents of water. People need to be able to get in the family car and leave the area before the flooding begins.

The Northeast may receive some of the wrath, but, it might be depleted once it gets there.

I think the map is wrong.

According to the pictures of Ivana's grave in this article, the grave is within sight of the First Tee and not the other side of the railroad tracks.

Trump is selling grave sites for the Bedminster Golf Club members. It's not Forest Lawn.

29 July 2022
By Emma James

Ivana Trump’s (click here) final resting place has been pictured for the first time, a week after she was buried next to the first hole at her was ex-husband's tony Bedminster Golf Club.

The New York socialite has had her grave marked with a discreet black glossy memorial and white flowers in a private grassy area in the Trump family plot at the club in New Jersey.

Ivana was laid to rest after a ‘beautiful’ invite-only ceremony at the St. Vincent Ferrer Church, in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The 73-year-old was found dead at the bottom of her staircase of her Upper East Side townhouse on July 14.

Her grave, which has been cordoned off from the public, is in a secluded spot close to the first hole on the golf course....

July 28, 2022
By Beth LeBlanc

Lansing -  The Michigan Supreme Court (click here) in a series of five decisions Thursday expanded state statute and federal case law prohibiting mandatory life sentences for juveniles convicted of homicide, further limiting the circumstances under which Michigan prosecutors and judges can imprison youth offenders for life. 

The decision is likely to upset many cases across the state involving so-called "juvenile lifers" who have, in some instances, been sentenced for the same crime multiple times due to successive federal and state changes clarifying how and when youth found guilty of murder can be sentenced to life without the possibility for parole.

In largely 4-3 rulings, the state's higest court created five additional guidelines for resentencing decisions related to youth killers, resulting in tense clashes in opinions between the four Democratic-nominated justices and three Republican-nominated justices....

November 17, 1999
By Keith Bradsher

A state jury found a boy guilty today of second-degree murder (click here) for a killing committed when he was 11. He is believed to be the youngest American ever charged and convicted of murder as an adult, in a case that has highlighted a national trend toward putting children on trial as adults.

The convicted boy, Nathaniel Abraham, was 11 years and 9 months old when he went out on a hillside here in this northern suburb of Detroit on the evening of Oct. 29, 1997. He used a borrowed .22-caliber rifle to shoot an 18-year-old stranger who was walking out of a convenience store, killing him with a single bullet in the head.

Nathaniel could receive a sentence of up to life in prison. But prosecutors said they would ask that the boy, now 13, be incarcerated initially in a juvenile detention center and reassessed at 19 and 21 to determine whether he had been rehabilitated enough for release or should be sent to a prison for adults....

Needless to say the prison system is not adequately address juvenile offenders. They are raised in the system.  

September 3, 2018

By Mike Martindale

Pontiac - Now 32, Nathaniel Abraham (click here) has spent more than half of his life incarcerated, first in a juvenile facility and later in adult prison.

And Abraham may be soon headed back to prison on charges of indecent exposure and assaulting police officers, the latest in a string of legal troubles that followed his arrest at 11 years old for shooting a stranger to death outside a Pontiac party store.

Those who know and care for Abraham have described him as troubled but also bright and engaging and say his problems stem from youthful mistakes and being branded with a reputation he may carry for a lifetime....

Out of State prosecution is being pursued in states with legal and safe abortions.

July 29, 2022

By Matt Stout

Governor Charlie Baker (click here) on Friday signed a bill that broadens access to abortion in Massachusetts and helps shield providers from out-of-state prosecution, delivering into law an expansion of the state’s reproductive rights protections a month after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Baker’s office announced he had approved the legislation just days after the Legislature sent it to him, releasing a picture of him signing it alongside Senate President Karen E. Spilka, an Ashland Democrat.

The second-term Republican supports abortion rights and has sought to protect providers through an executive order he signed last month in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion — elements of which were included in the legislation he signed Friday....

I think the provisions protecting doctors is important.

...The bill also seeks to help shield providers from out-of-state prosecution for procedures that are legal here, such as abortions and gender-affirming care.

Among other changes responding to last month’s ruling that allowed states to outright prohibit abortion for the first time in 49 years, the legislation also makes emergency contraceptives such as Plan B available in vending machines and requires medication abortion availability at public colleges and universities, lawmakers said....

Samuel Alito is not Supreme Court caliber.

DO NOT apologize to Alito. He is a pompous ass. 

He has no right to assail foreign dignitaries or leadership.

He is promoting his own cock-eyed political views. He is a Christian nationalist as is his peer Coney-Barrett, probably include in that Thomas.

The USA has a horrible Supreme Court and Alito's "highly insulted" ego is more of the same.

Their jobs are too secure to insure civil decisions and behavior.

He was full of himself having lectured at a religious conference.

...“I had the honor this term of writing (click here), I think, the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders, who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law,” the appointee of President George W. Bush declared in his speech, according to a video posted online by the university on Thursday — one week after the address was delivered....

That is a point of pride? 

I guess if one has to make history notice judicial decisions, this is one way of doing it. The USA Supreme Court Justices live in cloud city. They have no clue about the law and how it applies to American lives. They are out of touch and never wonder why honorable people in other countries would criticize their decisions. They don't see they are the problem.

These folks, no different than Virginia Thomas, understand power, but, not its' application to American lives. 

Those that came to the defense of Americans should expect to receive an answer from Alito, not criticism. He is completely self absorbed. He does not belong on the Supreme Court.

The Gay Community needs to be able to ask for prioritized vaccines.

Monkey Pox is not COVID. Not even close.

It has no variants.

Vaccines work if people choose to get one.

Physical contact will pass the virus on to another person. The virus appears to be a "Gay Disease" simply because it was passed on between Gay partners. This is not HIV. 

Anyone that makes physical contact with a person infected with the virus will contract it. Gay or straight, the virus can be passed on.

Monkeypox virus (click here) is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. There are two distinct genetic clades of the monkeypox virus: the central African (Congo Basin) clade and the west African clade. The Congo Basin clade has historically caused more severe disease and was thought to be more transmissible. The geographical division between the two clades has so far been in Cameroon, the only country where both virus clades have been found.

Monkey Pox is a known infective. It is not new. Someone traveled to these areas and brought the virus back home.

President Biden might want to prioritize the Gay communities reporting higher incidence of Monkey Pox for vaccines. I think that is reasonable. Once brought under control the entire country will not necessarily need the vaccine.

Russia needs to pursue peace and not more and more destruction.

Kherson is very near other populous areas. Putin has no respect for human life. This is probably a realistic report. The more Putin loses, the more likely he will become extreme. There are also reports of more human rights violations by Russian soldiers filming Ukraine captives being castrated. Russia is completely out of control. They are grasping at any power play available to them.

This entire region is sensitive to a widening war. Odessa is very near Moldova. The red dot is Kherson. Putin would be a mad man to release nuclear material near Crimea. That is only the war shoreline. The Black Sea has shoreline along Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia.

Russia is not conducting a winning war. Russia can only hold small areas at a time. When they seek to increase their so called victories, they loose control of other areas. It is time for Russia to become realistic about this entire war into Ukraine. They are chronically losing their status in any given area when moving into another area. Russia needs to end their hostilities.

Putin was right to keep these invasions secret if he wanted his politics to survive a war he could never win. I think the Russians knew they didn't have a chance to win when they started. Now that Putin's secret is out with returning dead soldiers he is more and more desperate to gain what he considers wins. This war is not being waged in any way that makes sense. Ukraine is a political issue for Putin, not a need for Russia. Ukraine wanted to trade with Russia. This is an ego driven war. It has nothing to do with Russian sovereignty.

The reason Putin stated he would use nukes, is if Russia was threatened. NO ONE IS THREATENING RUSSIA. Russia is misinterpreting a defensive stance with a threat. No one is invading Russia. If Putin is misdirecting his decisions deliberately to state Russia is under attack that is simply a strategy to use weapons of mass destruction. No one, not even Ukraine, is seeking to invade Russia. China needs to understand that it's communist ally is not under threat. This was a war of choice, not need or protection of the people. This is a political choice for Putin. It can be stopped at this very moment if Russia would stop.

We know Russian military is capable of being reckless. The immediate area of the Black Sea theater is a concern. I am fairly certain normal ship traffic is being sacrificed for this aggression by Putin.

28 July 2022

By Mark Nicol Deffence

An expected counter-attack (click here) against Russian forces in southern Ukraine has increased fears that the Kremlin could resort to using nuclear weapons, according to a British expert.

Ukrainian forces were said yesterday to be gaining momentum near the occupied city of Kherson.

Air strikes have destroyed several bridges leaving the remaining Russian troops cut off.

As Russian military doctrine prescribes tactical nuclear weapons when its forces are facing defeat, concerns are growing that Vladimir Putin could use them. 

Last night, chemical weapons expert Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: 'The spectre of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is no doubt a growing concern in Nato capitals....

This is the inhumane war by Putin. It is crazy. Citizens are suffering. There is no dignity to find to allow Putin some rational reason. This is genocide. There is never dignity in these wars. 

Double digit numbers of those dead in Kentucky.

There is severe flooding in Las Vegas, too. No deaths reported.

Hoover Dam received monsoon rains.

The people in the Kentucky facing the flooding may need airlift if there is no escape from the flooding. My concern is that with the rapid rainfall, people are trying to escape rising creeks that probably have never risen like this before. They will run into flash floods of all available roads. They need to stay in one place and helicopters will have to airlift them out. Local authorities won't be available to help with direction of the people if communities are in disarray.

July 29, 2022
By Caleb Stultz, Lucas Aulbach and Thomas Birmingham

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (click here) said Friday morning that the death toll has risen to 15 after torrential rains flooded Eastern Kentucky, destroying hundreds of homes and wiping out entire communities.

Search and rescue teams, with the help of the National Guard, were searching for missing people Friday after record floods washed through the region. The governor declared a state of emergency.

Beshear told the Associated Press before touring the disaster area that the 15 dead in Kentucky includes children, “but I expect that number to more than double, probably even throughout today.”

More rain was expected Friday and into the weekend after more than 6 inches of rain fell in some counties Wednesday night into Thursday. Meteorologist Brandon Bonds with the National Weather Service in Jackson said it won't take much more rain to "cause even more damage." A flood watch or warning was expected to stay in effect for many of the areas that saw the worst of the flooding....

If China can't handle a space project, they shouldn't do it. This isn't the first time.

This is ridiculous. 

29 July 2022

By Sam Tonkin and Jonathan Chadwick

An out-of-control Chinese rocket booster (click here) will hurtle back to Earth on Sunday – and could hit land in populated areas, experts say.

The falling space debris is the result of the Long March 5B launch on July 24 to deliver the Wentian experiment module to China's Tiangong Space Station.

Weighing around 22 metric tons (about 48,500 lb), it's set to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at 00:24 BST on Sunday, give or take 16 hours either way, according to Aerospace Corporation.

The US nonprofit, which is tracking the debris, has highlighted a huge area of Earth where the debris could fall, but said it's 'still too early' to know exactly where....

More than 88 per cent of the world’s population lives under the potential re-entry area, which spans all of Africa, India, Australia and Central America....

Yesterday, Senate Republicans voted down the health plans needed for our veterans.

This is a burn pit the USA Defense Department uses for any kind of waste. Those soldiers standing there are sick now. I guarantee it.

When all kinds of waste is dumped into a pit and lit to permanently dispose of it, there is no permanent disposition, the soldiers have lingering effects in their lungs and it never leaves.

In June 2014, (click here) VA launched the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry in response to concerns that Veterans were experiencing a range of respiratory illnesses possibly associated with exposure to burn pits. The registry is open to many Veterans and active-duty Servicemembers who deployed to various locations. This fact sheet describes why you should participate in the registry and how it might help uncover links between exposures and certain health conditions.

The action to protect these soldiers has been in existence for years. Nearly a decade. But, the monies to support that effort has to be passed by the Congress regularly since the size of the fund is not fixed. 

Yesterday, Republicans for no real reason except hubris for the egos in the chamber voted the funding down and placed our veterans at risk for worsening disease. We know the disease exists, it is a matter of getting funds to effectively treat the disease and work as hard as we can to prevent their deaths.

There is NO EXCUSE for Republicans to deprive these soldiers of their support. 

Besides the funding needed for the health of these soldiers there needs to be separate funding for research and development of debris incinerators that can travel with the military units. There is no reason for this disease. The toxins have to be handled and waste is a problem, but, the USA military can bring all sorts of large and heavy equipment to places where soldiers are stationed all around the world. There is simply no reason for the disease in the first place.

But, to return to the funding for the health fund for the veterans the Republicans have no excuse. They are lying to pretend they did the right thing in the USA Senate while they were pumping their fists in joy of the failure of the bill. They are all ego and they lie to justify any action they take. The Republicans are not putting our veterans first. It is time for the US Senate to have elected officials that prioritize the people and not their own interests. Yes, stroking their egos is definitely their own interests.