This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman (I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
Monday, November 14, 2022
Murdoch's propaganda Wall Street Journal lacks profound moral leadership.
You talk about irresponsible. This is grossly malpractice of the profession of journalism.
On page 17A of the Wall Street Journal entitled "The Lancet's "Heat Death" Deception by Bjorn Lomborg is a multiparagraph fantasy to serve the right political wing.
I believe this is the study being referred to by Lomborg.
08 July 2021More than five million extra deaths a year (click here) can be attributed to abnormal hot and cold temperatures, according to a world first international study led by Monash University.
The study found deaths related to hot temperatures increased in all regions from 2000 to 2019, indicating that global warming due to climate change will make this mortality figure worse in the future.
The international research team, led by Monash University’s Professor Yuming Guo, Dr Shanshan Li, and Dr Qi Zhao from Shandong University in China – and published today in The Lancet Planetary Health – looked at mortality and temperature data across the world from 2000 to 2019, a period when global temperatures rose by 0.26C per decade.
The study, the first to definitively link above and below optimal temperatures (corresponding to minimum mortality temperatures) to annual increases in mortality, found 9.43 per cent of global deaths could be attributed to cold and hot temperatures. This equates to 74 excess deaths for every 100,000 people, with most deaths caused by cold exposure.
The data reveals geographic differences in the impact of non-optimal temperatures on mortality, with Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest heat and cold-related excess death rates....
Lomborg states no facts. He writes creatively that since there are more people in the world there are more heat deaths. When a study measures deaths in numbers there is always a comparison to the increase as being a natural occurrence because of recent increases in population. The one sure way to eliminate that level of inaccuracy is to report the increase in deaths by PERCENTAGES.
...Scotland’s renewable electricity generation in 2022 (click here) in quarter 2 was 7,358 GWh – a 36.2% increase from the 5,402 GWh generated in the same quarter in 2021. This is more than 25% greater than any quarter 2 reported previously and is likely due to increased wind and East Moray offshore windfarm coming online at the end of quarter 1.
In the first half of 2022, Scotland generated 18,568 GWh of renewable electricity, up 29.2% on the same point in 2021. This increase is likely explained by higher wind speeds, increased rainfall and East Moray offshore wind farm coming online affecting wind and hydro generation.
Renewable electricity capacity increased by 10.5% from June 2021 to 13.3 GW in June 2022. This is more than four times the increase in capacity seen between June 2020 and June 2021 where renewable electricity capacity increased by just 2.2%....
The Ukraine war by Russia is all about Russian politics. It is why they are hanging on so desperately to their claims.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (click here) on Friday described Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a sacred conflict with Satan and warned that his country was capable of sending “all our enemies to fiery Gehenna.”
Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, appeared to be using a version of the Hebrew word for hell in his speech to mark Russia’s Day of National Unity.
The former president said Russia’s task in the invasion was to “stop the supreme ruler of hell, whatever name he uses — Satan, Lucifer or Iblis,” according to quotes run by the Reuters news agency....
By David Ignatius
As Russia’s military troubles mount in Ukraine, (click here) it’s also becoming more isolated internationally as organizations affiliated with the United Nations purge Moscow’s representatives from leadership positions.
This rollback of Russian power and prestige at the United Nations has accelerated in recent months. It’s another example of the way the Ukraine war is realigning the international system into a small bloc supporting the Kremlin and a larger group backing the United States and its broad coalition of allies.
The General Assembly, the closest thing to a global parliament, has condemned Russia’s assault on Ukraine twice by overwhelming margins. In March, it demanded Russia’s unconditional withdrawal, 141-5. Last month, it rejected Russia’s attempted annexation plan, 143-5. The only countries that backed Russia were Belarus, Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea and Syria....
On June 9, 2022, (click here) Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) government renewed the authorization of Russian military forces to operate in the country. In doing so, it reminded the United States and the hemisphere that the dictatorial regime of Daniel Ortega not only continues to abrogate the rights of its own people for democratic choice, free expression, and other fundamental human rights, but also serves as an entry point for the projection of threats into the region by extra-hemispheric rivals of the United States, such as Russia, Iran, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)....
The intension behind this vote and the Eritrean regime’s support for Russia (click here) are part and parcel of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s decades-long anti-American policy—a key pillar of his dictatorship....
By Seth J. Frantzman
Russia has suffered a serious setback (click here) in having to abandon Kherson, a city that it had occupied during its war on Ukraine this year. However, Moscow wants the world to know that it is not down for the count.
“Today, Russia is building an equal world order for the future and is fighting alone against the West, while protecting its citizens and returning its lands, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday,” Moscow’s state media TASS news reported
Moscow’s leadership, particularly Vladimir Putin, has often said that Russia is leading a new world order....
Sunday, November 13, 2022
There are similarities.
Neither Donald John Trump nor Vladimir Putin know when to quit. It is not a joke, it is a fact.
Neither have a conscience. All they know is power. Putin is less absorbed with money, but, he doesn’t need to buy the presidency.
It is troubling to realize Russia hasn’t surrendered the Ukrainian land it occupies. Ukraine is not a toy that wears out only to be used again and again as if a political volleyball.
It is time Russia recognize it is not a superpower simply based on a poorly understood nuclear capacity.
Trump just needs to stop being stupid and return to his Florida residence as soon as sea level rise has receded enough until the next supercell arrives. The American people are tired of the threat to their democracy. I would think that would be obvious.
Has he apologized to Speaker Pelosi for his hate speech that lead to violence against her and her husband?
What do you do with men that look in the mirror and don’t see the truth?
Good night.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Sometimes it is difficult to get all parties on the same page for peace proposals taken seriously.
The 17th Century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (click here) is now widely regarded as one of a handful of truly great political philosophers, whose masterwork Leviathan rivals in significance the political writings of Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Rawls. Hobbes is famous for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles or arrangements by appeal to the agreement that would be made among suitably situated rational, free, and equal persons. He is infamous for having used the social contract method to arrive at the astonishing conclusion that we ought to submit to the authority of an absolute—undivided and unlimited—sovereign power....
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that the supreme principle of morality is a principle of practical rationality that he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). Kant characterized the CI as an objective, rationally necessary and unconditional principle that we must follow despite any natural desires we may have to the contrary. All specific moral requirements, according to Kant, are justified by this principle, which means that all immoral actions are irrational because they violate the CI. Other philosophers, such as Hobbes, Locke and Aquinas, had also argued that moral requirements are based on standards of rationality. However, these standards were either instrumental principles of rationality for satisfying one’s desires, as in Hobbes, or external rational principles that are discoverable by reason, as in Locke and Aquinas. Kant agreed with many of his predecessors that an analysis of practical reason reveals the requirement that rational agents must conform to instrumental principles....
I don't know who Putin is channeling to continue to commit genocide against innocent and peaceful people, but, it is my guess communists have less desire to talk than fight.
The peace prospects with Russia by any other country do not exist. Propaganda is immoral and Putin shines it on all the time.
International Law must be upheld as the supreme measure of morality. Enforcing it may be difficult, but, cannot be compromised. Allowing any act of genocide is not to be tolerated.
Democracy in the United States of America will never be compromised by anything less than moral.
Who is this guy?
He is iconic to the Federalist Society (click here). His profile is used for their purposes. I just was wondering who he is that he carries such emblematic clout.
Our Purpose (click here)
- Law schools and the legal profession are currently strongly dominated by a form of orthodox liberal ideology which advocates a centralized and uniform society. While some members of the academic community have dissented from these views, by and large they are taught simultaneously with (and indeed as if they were) the law.
The Future of NEPA Reform (click here)
As a condition of his vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, Sen. Joe Manchin demanded space for his own permitting-reform package in the latest spending bill. While his proposed legislation was ultimately pulled over objections to aspects tangential to permitting, interest in permitting reform remains strong. The target of many reformers’ ire is the current interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act: a 1970 statute (click here) designed to ensure that the government gives adequate consideration to environmental impacts before embarking on major actions. While this has had significant benefits for environmental quality, the review process is often long, costly, and subject to aggressive litigation that often stretches for years. Is it time to rewrite portions of NEPA? And, if so, what should those reforms look like?The LGBT community is safe in Oregon, are they in every other state? What will the Republican Supreme Court do next to thank the Federalist Society.
By Mariana Alfaro
Democrat Tina Kotek (click here) is projected to win the tight race for Oregon governor.
The former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives defeated Republican Christine Drazan, a former state lawmaker, and Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic state lawmaker who left the party and ran as an unaffiliated candidate....
...With the victory, Kotek is now one of two women — along with Maura Healey in Massachusetts (D) — who will become the country’s first openly lesbian governors.
During her nearly decade-long tenure in the state legislature, Kotek played a key role in expanding abortion access, increasing Oregon’s minimum wage, investing $50 million in clean energy and passing legislation that guarantees sick leave for all Oregon workers....
...“I ask my fellow Oregonians, no matter who you voted for, or even whether you voted at all, to believe in our state and our future,” she said. “Please, be engaged so we can all help solve problems togeth
Kotek said that, once she takes office, she will focus “on three things first”: Declaring a state of emergency over the state’s homeless crisis, expanding access to mental health and addiction treatment services and working to “bridge the divisions in our state.”...
I especially liked her approach to housing. It is vital for a healthy economy and successful schools.
We simply have to get more serious about building a lot more housing. The goal will be to build enough housing to meet the need for people currently experiencing homelessness, address the current shortage of housing, and keep pace with future housing demand over the next decade. I’ll start by issuing an executive order on Day One to create a long-term plan to build enough homes in urban, suburban, and rural communities to meet this goal."...
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Welcome to 5G
November 10, 2022
...At the CyberwarCon security conference in Arlington, Virginia, (click here) today, analysts from the security firm Mandiant laid out a new set of tools and techniques that they say Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency is using against targets in Ukraine, where the GRU’s hackers have for years carried out many of the most aggressive and destructive cyberattacks in history. According to Mandiant analysts Gabby Roncone and John Wolfram, who say their findings are based on months of Mandiant’s Ukrainian incident response cases, the GRU has shifted in particular to what they call “living on the edge.” Instead of the phishing attacks that GRU hackers typically used in the past to steal victims’ credentials or plant backdoors on unwitting users’ computers inside target organizations, they're now targeting “edge” devices like firewalls, routers, and email servers, often exploiting vulnerabilities in those machines that give them more immediate access.
That shift, according to Roncone and Wolfram, has offered multiple advantages to the GRU. It's allowed the Russian military hackers to have far faster, more immediate effects, sometimes penetrating a target network, spreading their access to other machines on the network, and deploying data-destroying wiper malware just weeks later, compared to months in earlier operations. In some cases, it's enabled the hackers to penetrate the same small group of Ukrainian targets multiple times in quick succession for both wiper attacks and cyberespionage. And because the edge devices that give the GRU their footholds inside these networks aren't necessarily wiped in the agency's cyberattacks, hacking them has sometimes allowed the GRU to keep their access to a victim network even after carrying out a data-destroying operation....
Sorry, folks but there absolutely nothing normal about this map. That hurricane is enormous.
On Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, at least 29 tornadoes (click here) were recorded in northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana. The tornadoes varied in strength and intensity with four measuring EF-0, 15 were EF-1, six had an EF-2 rating, and two each were EF-3 and EF-4.
The severe thunderstorm systems that caused these tornadoes put 28 million people at risk throughout the region. In advance of the storms, there were concerns about tornadoes occurring at night because the risk of death with nighttime is 2.5 times higher than daytime tornadoes....
Nicole (click here) is continuing its destructive journey across the southeastern United States with multiple fatalities and significant damage reported across the region. Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane before sunrise on Thursday and has since returned to tropical storm status as the storm churns over Florida. Its destructive winds and heavy rains toppled homes and piers along the coast into the ocean and created widespread damage across the state.
An unresponsive man was pronounced dead Thursday morning after being shocked by a downed power line in Conway, Florida, which is just outside of Orlando, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO). A woman traveling with the man was also electrocuted and later died at a hospital.
“We are urging all of our residents and visitors to use extreme caution if they are outside in the wake of the storm today,” the office wrote in a social media post. “Never touch a downed power line. If you are driving and see a downed power line, change directions immediately.”
Authorities in Orange County, Florida, said that two more people have been killed in a storm-related incident. Florida Highway Patrol said a pickup truck driving on the turnpike around 5:30 a.m. swerved toward the shoulder of Florida's Turnpike after losing control and struck a driver of a tow truck who was standing behind his parked truck. Both drivers were killed. The crash remains under investigation....
Tomorrow is Veterans Day.
Veterans Day parade
The annual Veterans Day parade will start at 11 a.m. Friday on Austin Avenue at 12th Street. The parade route will end at Third Street.
The parade is sponsored by the McLennan County Veterans Association and the Stan C. Parker Foundation.
Flag retirement ceremony
The 21st annual McLennan County Veterans Association Flag Retirement and Disposal Ceremony will start at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Carleen Bright Arboretum in Woodway. The event is hosted by the city of Woodway and the Elizabeth Gordon Bradley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Following an indoor program "Women in the Military" at the Pavilion, disposal of unserviceable U.S., Texas, POW/MIA and military service flags as prescribed by the Flag Code will occur at Woodway Family Center, with entry at City Hall, 922 Estates Drive.
Congratulations to every Democrat who worked to be elected and a special congrats to those that were elected at all levels of government.
By Erica Meltzer
Democrats (click here) will maintain control of the Colorado State Board of Education and might expand their majority in an election that many education observers called one of the most important on the ballot.
Democrat Kathy Plomer, a former Adams 12 school board president, won decisively in the election for a new statewide at-large seat on the Colorado State Board of Education. She was running against Dan Maloit, a St. Vrain Valley parent who organized others in support of in-person school.
Incumbent Democrat Rebecca McClellan, who represents Arapahoe County and southeast Denver suburbs, won her re-election bid.
The closest race is for the new 8th Congressional District in Adams and Weld counties. Rhonda Solis, a former Greeley-Evans school board member and Latina community activist, still leads Republican Peggy Propst, an educator and former State Board member, but the race tightened significantly as more voters were counted Wednesday and Thursday....
Wednesday, November 09, 2022
I think Mike said it best through the election season.
“No Signs of ‘Red Wave’ as Race for Congress Remains Tight” (New York Times)
“Congress hangs in balance as Democrats defy expectations” (Washington Post)
“‘Red wave’ fails to materialise as Fetterman clinches crucial Senate seat for Democrats” (The Guardian)
“Control of Congress Remains at Stake as Democrats Fend Off Anticipated ‘Red Wave’” (The Wall Street Journal)
I’ve checked my inbox and so many of you have written to me through the night. So many of you who worked hard over these last months to prevent the bloodbath. A fascist takeover by a full slate of election deniers and voting suppressors.
And now we know there will be no bloodbath. Not today. And it’s because we and millions of others erected a force field around the haters and bigots to stop them in their tracks. And that is what has happened. Sometimes you have to lose a battle or two in order to win the war.
I love how you all knew that if for some reason we couldn’t create a blue tsunami on Election Day, our second best choice was to make sure there would be no red wave....
Americans know there is trouble and they love their democracy.
Tuesday, November 08, 2022
Monday, November 07, 2022
More genocide and no escape by boat.
Ukrainian forces have been piling pressure on Russian troops on the western bank of the Dnipro that bisects Ukraine, fueling speculation that Moscow’s troops are preparing to retreat to the other side.
The Ukrainian General Staff’s spokesperson said in a statement that the fuel from the destroyed vessels had leaked into the river’s delta and also accused Moscow’s forces of appropriating the vessels’ engines and other equipment.
The Ukrainian General Staff gave no explanation for Moscow’s actions. Destroying civilian vessels would prevent Ukrainian forces from using them should they decide to cross to the eastern side in the event of any Russian withdrawal....
By Gaspard Sebag and Stephanie Baker
A Spanish court (click here) moved to seize a superyacht valued at $140 million that’s linked to a senior executive at a Russian defense conglomerate, after the owner stopped paying maintenance fees in June.
The court order to seize the 85 meter (279 feet) Meridian A — formerly called Valerie — was handed down by a Barcelona judge on Wednesday, according to the Spanish maritime authorities.
The vessel, linked to Rostec State Corp.’s chief executive officer, Sergey Chemezov, was immobilized in mid-March by Spanish authorities while it was at a Barcelona shipyard for repairs. The European Union considers the vessel is formally owned by the stepdaughter of Chemezov.
The court decision comes after the MB92 shipyard lodged a complaint when the vessel’s maintenance fees went unpaid.
Yachts owned by sanctioned businessmen have been immobilized in ports or naval yards across Europe in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That includes the blocking in Germany of Dilbar — tied to billionaire Alisher Usmanov — and French authorities’ move to prevent a possible swift departure of the Amore Vero.
A luxury yacht once owned by sanctioned billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky was sold for $37.5 million at auction in Gibraltar....
Political violence are hate crimes.
A hate crime is, typically one involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds.
November 7, 2022by Clare Foran
...The violent attack on Paul Pelosi (click here) has raised fresh concerns over threats of political violence driven by partisan animosity and increasingly hostile political rhetoric – and highlighted the potential vulnerability of lawmakers and their families in the current political climate....
The Republicans are tossing out their own ballots. NICK is voting absentee and most likely Republican.
By Amy Gardner and Emma Brown
The lawsuits (click here) coincide with a systemic effort by GOP leaders to persuade voters to cast ballots in person, not absentee
Republican officials and candidates in at least three battleground states are pushing to disqualify thousands of mail ballots after urging their own supporters to vote on Election Day, in what critics are calling a concerted attempt at partisan voter suppression....I am quite certain this is a philosophy not frequently heard. Perhaps it is more Republican in nature.
Sunday, November 06, 2022
VOTE!
Stop looking for reasons to trust Republicans.
Vote Democrat if you love this country.
...Americans (click here) are increasingly talking about civil war. In August, after the FBI raided Donald Trump’s Florida home, Twitter references to “civil war” jumped 3,000%. Trump supporters immediately went online, tweeting threats that a civil war would start if Trump was indicted. One account wrote: “Is it Civil-War-O’clock yet?”; another said, “get ready for an uprising”. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump was indicted. Trump himself predicted that “terrible things are going to happen” if the temperature wasn’t brought down in the country. Perhaps most troubling, Americans on both sides of the political divide increasingly state that violence is justified. In January 2022, 34% of Americans surveyed said that it was sometimes OK to use violence against the government. Seven months later, more than 40% said that they believed civil war was at least somewhat likely in the next 10 years. Two years ago, no one was talking about a second American civil war. Today it is common....
Americans love their 401ks too much to be involved with a civil war. There is no practicality to it besides complete chaos. I don't buy it.
But, I do believe the Republican elite will try to undermine every aspect of civil rights they can. I sincerely believe Trump wants a kingship out of his next election. He wants to destroy this country and bring comfort to his own life. That is all he has ever wanted and did little to contribute to society or the country most of his adult life.
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