I will post more. 

Good night for now.

This is just the beginning and it is up to the Free World to end this genocidal idiocy.

February 21, 2023
By Júlia Ledur, Laris Karklis, Ruby Mellen, Chris Alcantara, Aaron Steckelberg and Lauren Tierney

Over the last year, (click here) the war in Ukraine has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv in the north to a conflict of attrition largely concentrated along a 600-mile stretch in the east and south.

Ukrainian troops pushed the Russians back from Kyiv last spring. Russian President Vladimir Putin then shifted the focus of his military’s fighting to what is now the front line, while still launching airstrikes across the country. Analysts note that Moscow’s capabilities appear to be declining — though it now has more than 320,000 troops in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian and Western intelligence, roughly double the number at the start of the invasion.

“The Russian military will be throwing poorly trained and potentially poorly equipped forces forward,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It is doubtful they will be able to conduct complex offensive maneuvers.”

Nevertheless, the war is poised to be punishing and bloody as it enters its second year. “[Putin] likely hopes to severely degrade Ukraine’s forces and break their will to continue,” Bergmann added....

A lot of double talk making the West a perpetrator of war.

2022-12-26
By Ambassador Qin Gang

...Looking at the world as a community (click here) with a shared future naturally leads to the path of peaceful development. China’s development means a stronger force for peace, not a growing power poised to “break the status quo,” as some call it. The tension across the Taiwan Strait was not created by the Chinese mainland breaking the status quo, but by “Taiwan independence” separatists and external forces continually challenging the status quo of “one China.” In the case of the East China Sea, it was Japan who attempted to “nationalize” Diaoyu Dao ten years ago, altering the “status quo” between China and Japan of agreeing to put aside differences. In the South China Sea, the status quo is that regional countries are consulting on a code of conduct that will lead to meaningful and effective rules for the region. As to the border issues between China and India, the status quo is that both sides are willing to ease the situation and jointly protect peace along their borders....

China's answer to "One China" is to destroy everything and kill everyone that has come before regardless of it's prosperity and human rights involved. The communists do not recognize human rights until it serves their purpose and pointing fingers at their enemies.

February 25, 2023
By Kanis Leung

Hong Kong - A Chinese diplomat (click here) accused the U.S. consul general in Hong Kong of interfering in its affairs after he said the city’s freedoms were eroding and warned the American not to cross political “red lines.”

Consul General Gregory May gave a video address last month in which he expressed concern over diminished freedoms in Hong Kong and said its reputation as a business center depended on adherence to international standards and the rule of law.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong said its commissioner Liu Guangyuan met with May recently to express objections to his “inappropriate” words and deeds.

“Liu also drew three red lines for US consul general and US consulate general in Hong Kong, which is not to endanger China’s national security, not to engage in political infiltration in Hong Kong, and not to slander or damage Hong Kong’s development prospect,” his office said in reply to inquiries from The Associated Press....

The countries killing protesters do not believe in self-expression. They see protests as a weakness in the country's government and oppress it at every turn. To contrast the extremism of these oppressive regimes, in the USA when people are arrested they are taken before a judge and handed a $50.00 fine. The arrests are not to oppress the Americans involved, it is for clearing the street and returning its function. It is about commerce. In some protests where property damage accompanied the anger the people responsible are held responsible for the damage and/or looting. Even after all that, the country is fine and protests are put into context and the purpose considered important.

If protesters were ever killed in the USA, the protests would continue and those responsible for the deaths would be held responsible. No different than the insurrection of January 6, 2021.

November 15, 2019

By Miriam Berger

For months, (click here) news outlets have been reporting on the wave of protests rocking the world. From Algeria to Ecuador to Hong Kong, many of these movements share some broad similarities — mainly, anger against political and economic elites.

In taking their grievances to the streets, some protesters also put their lives on the line. Hundreds have paid the ultimate price, many at the hands of their country’s security or police forces. Here is a breakdown of the death tolls, according to the Associated Press and other sources, in some of the more high-profile protests....

Iraq : 320 dead

Lebanon : One dead

Chile : 20 dead

Bolivia : 10 dead

Hong Kong : Two dead

4 September 2019

Hong Kong: Timeline of extradition protests (click here)

...Hong Kong (click here) is a former British colony handed back to China in 1997.

It has its own judiciary and a separate legal system from mainland China. Those rights include freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.

But those freedoms - the Basic Law - expire in 2047 and it is not clear what Hong Kong's status will then be....

This is what democracy breeds. What tragedy happens to one, happens to all.

November 9, 2019

Students (click here) of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology take part in a march toward the school president's lodge Friday, following the death of a student injured during clashes between police and protesters a few days ago.

..."We are shocked and grieved," (click here) said Genki Yeung, a 24-year-old surveyor who joined the mourners. When asked what Chow represented to them, Yeung found himself overcome with emotion.

"Before the movement, we assumed that Hong Kong people were selfish and cared for themselves. But in these five months, we showed that people are connected. We care for each other. [Chow] is like one of the family members in Hong Kong," Yeung said, adding: "We will keep walking this path not only for Chow but all people who share the common value."...

The Extradition Law was repealed and the streets of Hong Kong became quiet. Some say the quiet was do to COVID, but, the law wasn't repealed because of COVID.

Communists cannot cope with individual rights within their governance. They don't know how to accept these dynamics as a form of governance and they are not interested in it.

Regardless of what China and Russia say, they are planning a nuclear assault against The West within the next two years.

The current dialogue is a recognition that the communists do not see individual rights as important. They will use the idea of democracy as a failure of the government. That dialogue is not going to change and will appeal to every autocrat on the planet including Trump.

06 January 2023

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (click here) has lashed back at the United States describing US government officials as cynical "freaks" and "sons of b*****s" whom he likened to Nazis whose egregious behavior is symptomatic of their "moral degradation."

Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, lashed out at the US government on Thursday after the US embassy in Moscow released a video a day earlier in which it highlighted the “commonness” of the cultures and achievements of both countries while stating that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine was “unworthy” of the Russian people.

In the 50-second video titled "an appeal to the people of Russia", which included images of the places which had been hit in the airstrikes, the Americans claimed, "We stand in solidarity with each of you who are striving to create a more peaceful future."...

They are cranking up the propaganda to save the people from the poison from The West. The poison from The West doesn't exist. For decades the USA and Russia have recognized the benefits of commerce over nuclear annihilation. That dialogue brought the two countries together to invest in expensive projects such as the International Space Station. There was complete cooperation in the Non-Proliferation Treaty when Reagan stated.

Below is a declaration of war against NATO. The killing is not going to stop. Russia has no intention for peace. It rather annihilates its enemies. I would think after the invasion into Ukraine with merciless killing it would be obvious what Putin and his henchmen have in mind.

February 24, 2023

By Andrew Oxborn and Caleb Davis

London - Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the only way for Moscow to ensure a lasting peace with Ukraine was to push back the borders of hostile states as far as possible, even if that meant the frontiers of NATO member Poland.

Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, made the comments in a message on his Telegram account exactly a year after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what it called a "special military operation" to protect Russian speakers and ensure its own security....

There was a time when Russia realized the best path forward was peace and mutual economic interests, that has all changed with the current leadership of the Communist Party in Russia.

This is not fun.

New Jersey mostly has climate correct. (click here)

How many deer are left in Deer Park, Texas?

The USA EPA should use this opportunity to deeply regulate the practice of waste and toxic injection into the ground. Such practices have resulted in chronic seismic activity accompanying these practices. Texas is a state like Oklahoma where industry of any kind regardless of harmful results is put first over citizens'health. Making a wage and paying taxes is more important than life.

September 9, 2019
By Anna Kuchment

Locations of Injection-Induced Earthquakes...(click here)

Jacob Walter (click here) likes to remind people that what has transpired in Oklahoma over the past decade is unprecedented in human history.

Walter is Oklahoma’s state seismologist, and he is talking about the surge of earthquakes that has plagued his state since its most recent oil-and-gas boom. Production techniques—including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—led to large-scale underground wastewater disposal, which scientists have tied to the state’s 900-fold increase in quakes since 2008. After 2015, when oil demand fell as prices dropped and Oklahoma instituted new wastewater-disposal rules, earthquake rates fell sharply. Still, the state continued to see rare but damaging tremors triggered by the fluids that had already been shunted underground. “I don’t think people fully appreciate the scale, the amount of water that was injected over the years,” Walter says, adding that humans have now caused four of the five largest earthquakes in Oklahoma’s recorded history....

February 23, 2023

Deer Park - Toxic wastewater (click here) used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal.

“I and my office heard today that ‘firefighting water’ from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is slated to be disposed of in our county," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a Wednesday statement.

“Our Harris County Pollution Control Department and Harris County Attorney’s have reached out to the company and the Environmental Protection Agency to receive more information," Hidalgo wrote.

The wastewater is being sent to Texas Molecular, which injects hazardous waste into the ground for disposal.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality told KTRK-TV that Texas Molecular “is authorized to accept and manage a variety of waste streams, including vinyl chloride, as part of their ... hazardous waste permit and underground injection control permit.”...

If Republicans refuse to govern...

...then it is judges and post offices while the committees do all the heavy lifting. I do believe President Biden needs to place as many judges as possible, especially the ones that enforce the USA Constitution without any leanings to redefining language.

February 23, 2023
By Kevin Freking

Washington - Even as Democrats celebrated the 100th judicial confirmation (click here) of Joe Biden’s presidency, they are clamoring for more — and some are flirting with ending a century-long Senate practice to help make it happen.

The rising friction over what in Washington parlance is known as the “blue slip” is creating tensions on the Senate panel that handles judicial nominations and prompting stern warnings from Republicans about a dangerous escalation in the partisanship that already dominates the judicial confirmation process....

So be it.

Putin is an ideologue. No one can deal with ideologues. There are few treaties, if any, that Putin hasn't already violated.

February 22, 2023
By Tal Axelrod

President Joe Biden (click here) told ABC News anchor David Muir in a new interview that it was a "big mistake" for Russian President Vladimir Putin to temporarily suspend Russia's participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the two countries.

"It's a big mistake to do that. Not very responsible. But I don't read into that that he's thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that," Biden told Muir in Poland on Wednesday, before the president flew back to Washington.

Biden said he was "not sure what else he [Putin] was able to say in his speech at the moment, but I think it's a mistake and I'm confident we'll be able to work it out."...

Democracy is not optional for free people. People want freedom and choice. This is ridiculous already.

February 22, 2023

By Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller

Warsaw - ...Biden’s trip (click here) had provided yet another moment of telling counterprogramming on Tuesday when he delivered a ringing speech on Western unity in Warsaw, a day after he swept into Kyiv unannounced for a visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As Biden spoke in Poland, Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the last remaining U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty....

Keep warm

There are a tier of states that will experience an ice storm. There is only one thing important and that is the ability to say “I survived it.” It is a challenge many in the USA is not focused on. 

Keeping warm does not mean building fires inside iced over buildings. It uses up the oxygen. Being warm with heaters set at modest temperatures and warm clothing with sleeping bags and blankets. Keep an entrance and exit way open with frequent shoveling and vigilance.

Stay warm.

The earthquake survivors are now refugees and need to think about relocating.

20 February 2023

Aftershocks centred in Turkey’s Hatay province were shallow meaning they pose serious danger to those in the quake zone.

10 Kilometers deep (click here)

A shallow magnitude 6.4 earthquake (click here) has struck the Turkey-Syria border region, killing at least three people, two weeks after the area was devastated by quakes that killed tens of thousands of people.

Monday’s aftershock was centred in Turkey’s southernmost province of Hatay at a depth of 2km (1.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and more than 200 others injured.

The quake hit the city of Defne at 8:04pm (17:04 GMT) and was strongly felt in Hatay’s nearby capital of Antakya and in Adana, 200km (300 miles) to the north.

A second quake of magnitude 5.8 shook the region several minutes later, Turkey’s disaster management agency said. It was centred in Hatay’s Samandag district.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the tremors were felt in Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt....

The area where these earthquakes are occurring is unstable. There should be evacuation of the area if at all possible. The rescue crews are still finding people from the previous quakes. Hard to fathom considering these buildings pancaked in a matter of seconds and without any real warning.

Shallow earthquakes have less distance to travel to the surface. They maintain their energy level and cause a lot of surface movement.

The reason it was felt all the way to Jordan is because they life along the same fault line. Shallow quakes with all their energy at the surface aren't necessarily felt at greater distances, but, this makes sense that it did. Arabian Plate and Anatolian Plate are moving.

Physiography of the Anatolian Plateau and the surrounding region. NAF: North Anatolian fault, EAF: East Anatolian Fault. 

DSF, Dead Sea Fault

The fault is sliding in opposite directions.

A transform fault (click here) is a type of strike-slip fault wherein the relative horizontal slip is accommodating the movement between two ocean ridges or other tectonic boundaries. They are connected on both ends to other faults. A transform fault or transform boundary, also known as conservative plate boundary since these faults neither create nor destroy lithosphere, is a type of fault whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal....

The shallow quakes dominate the history of the region.

Epicenters of earthquakes (click here) in the Middle East. You can easily make out the boundaries of the Arabian plate since it is surrounded by earthquakes but the plate itself has little earthquake activity. This plate is moving generally toward the north. As it pushes up into the Iran it causes very serious earthquakes there and continue to build the mountains there. I the Levant region it slides north forming the Jordan Valley....

This brings up the point so many are talking about in Turkey. The people have been pushing for quake proof dwellings for some time. This is a failure of the government to build the housing demanded by the Turkish public.

Hatay, Turkey, Feb 17 - Residents (click here) of a luxury housing complex in southern Turkey thought their apartments were 'earthquake-proof' until the structure toppled like a domino in last week's devastating earthquake, leaving hundreds feared dead....

February 17, 2023

By Jason Beaubein and Claire Harbage

Samandag, Turkey — Yasin Pinarbasi (click here) usually works in an office in the Turkish capital Ankara. Now the civil engineer is clomping across unstable earthquake debris inside a four-story apartment building northeast of the city of Samandag.

From the outside the building appears to be in reasonably good condition, but once he enters there's a cinder block wall that has collapsed on the ground floor. Chunks of plaster and broken tile are strewn across the entryway.

"This building is highly damaged," Pinarbasi says. "It must be demolished."...

Entire families are dead. Unfortunately they are unable to complain. Humanitarian aid is important for the refugees. The region is unstable. The idea of rebuilding soon is imprudent. Turkey is a large country and can absorb many of the refugees.

20 February 2023

Oliver Holmes, Elena Morresi and Finbarr Sheehy

Death toll of 47,000 (click here) expected to rise and WHO says 26 million people need assistance across both countries....

The issue with Syria is bigger and the United Nations needs to assess the ability of the Alawite community to maintain their people in Syria. The Alawites aren't supportive of Assad. They never approved of all the killing. Assad is Alawite, but, he is not their favorite son. Russia did a lot of damage to Syria. The country is splintered and it rarely shows because it is an autocracy.

The Alawites of that region had a very viable economy. It won't survive under continued instability.

I am proud of my President.

He was in Kyiv while an air raid siren was blaring. Joe Biden is a great President of the United States of American. He is unafraid of the threat.

 

I didn’t expect the President Biden to be assessing the genocide and refugee status in Western Europe today.

I will be writing in two hours, but, my assessment will wait until he returns. 

 I will be writing tomorrow.

Thank you for your interest.

Good night.

I believe the tests, however, ...

February 15, 2023
By Emily Sanderson

Columbus. Ohio - 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said water test results (click here) show municipal water in East Palestine is safe to drink following a train derailment and chemical spill.

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency received results from their water sampling of the five wells that feed into East Palestine's municipal water system.

The results show no detection of contaminants associated with the derailment.

East Palestine, Ohio water is from wells. It is highly unlikely underground wells were contaminated at the time of the incident. However, chemicals can leach into a water supply over time. The USA EPA will have guidelines to the frequency of testing necessary to continue to reassure residents the water is free of contaminants.

It is also advisable for all Americans to review their water quality and test at least annually. In the case of East Palestine, Ohio the water should be tested regularly until there is at least a year's worth of data that indicates the wells are completely safe.

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (click here)

Many counties across the country provide free water testing simply by asking so water at the tap can be reassuring. These tests are not a comprehensive test with all the potential contaminants listed with the federal regulations. Comprehensive tests such as this are done privately through a laboratory. In order to have more comprehensive water testing, the local legislature can pass ordinances for that purpose.

February 17, 2023

Cincinnati, Ohio - Greater Cincinnati Water Works (click here) officials are continuing to monitor the chemical contaminants traveling down the Ohio River following the train derailment in East Palestine.

Water works officials said out of an abundance of caution, they will be shutting off the Ohio River intake ahead of the anticipated arrival of the last detectable chemical concentration in the river.

While the water intake is shut off, GCWW will temporarily switch to water reserves, officials said.

This cautious approach by the City of Cincinnati is exactly correct. As the contamination moves in the Ohio River toward Cincinnati the contaminants are becoming more diluted by entering a larger body of water. Testing to follow the plume of contamination is the correct approach in understanding what is happening with the river.

Cincinnati is a large city and if they were forced to use bottled water there would be a problem with a sufficient supply. The city has water reserves that are not connected to the river and are considered safe. If the contaminants are not coming in touch with reserve water there is no reason to be alarmed.

Here again the city of Cincinnati will have to maintain water testing after returning to the use of the Ohio River. Be mindful of the idea that the contaminants are heavy and can fall through any surface waters to the sediment. The US Army Corps test most rivers on a five year basis and have historic information regarding water quality and sediment testing. If there is any doubt regarding the bottom of the Ohio River there are methods to test it.

Just briefly, the contaminants in the Ohio water. 

Butyl acrylate appears as a clear colorless liquid with a sharp characteristic odor. Very slightly soluble in water and somewhat less dense than water. Hence forms surface slick on water.

11.1.2Hazard Classes and Categories (click here) Page down to health and fire hazards.

Vinyl chloride is regulated in drinking water, food, and air. Because it is a hazardous substance, regulations on its disposal, packaging, and other forms of handling also exist. EPA requires that the amount of vinyl chloride in drinking water not exceed 0.002 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of water (0.002 ppm).

Public Health Statement (click here)

Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether (click here)

NJ Health has a better comprehensive data sheet (click here)

The fourth chemical listed in the spill into a creek that is a tributary to the Ohio river is stated as ethylhexyl acrylate, but, the correct name is 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.

This is the chemical structure of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. If the chemical structure of the listed chemical is different than the listing of ethylhexyl acrylate may be correct. It is not normally found in that formulation.

Critical evaluation (click here) of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate dermal carcinogenicity studies using contemporary criteria 

2-Ethylhexyl acrylate (Compound) (click here)

Also interesting:

Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate Copolymer (click here) is a copolymer of ethylhexyl acrylate and one or moremonomers of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or one of their simple esters....

...Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern....

The environmental concerns along the path of these contaminants are going to include fish and wildlife that drink the water. The conservation groups along this path need to take any inventory of disturbed wildlife, including fish, tadpoles and frogs.

No credible scientist advocates mitigation only. I know many of them.

Mitigation is about the immediate weather incidents accompanying the climate crisis. Mitigation is immediate survival and offers no solution to end the crisis. Ending the climate crisis is paramount to the outcomes of current generations and those to come. A crisis is meant to be ended. 

STOP GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS!

16 February 2023
By Damien Carrington

The world is at risk of descending into a climate “doom loop”, a thinktank report has warned. (click here)

It said simply coping with the escalating impacts of the climate crisis could draw resources and focus away from the efforts to slash carbon emissions, making the situation even worse.

The damage caused by global heating across the globe is increasingly clear, and recovering from climate disasters is already costing billions of dollars. Furthermore, these disasters can cause cascading problems including water, food and energy crises, as well as increased migration and conflict, all draining countries’ resources.

The researchers, from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Chatham House, said a current example of the impact of the climate crisis complicating efforts to reduce emissions and other action was the debate over whether keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5C – the international goal – was still possible.

Those arguing 1.5C was still possible risked perpetuating complacency that today’s slow pace of action was sufficient, the researchers said, while those arguing it was not possible risked supporting fatalism that little that could now be done, or “extreme approaches” such as geoengineering.

Avoiding a doom loop required a more honest acceptance by politicians of the great risks posed by the climate crisis, the researchers said, including the looming prospect of tipping points and of the huge scale of the economic and societal transformation required to end global heating. This should be combined with narratives that focused on the great benefits climate action brought and ensuring policies were fairly implemented....

Climate Tipping Points should be observed and reported on regularly.

The location of climate tipping elements (click here) in the cryosphere (blue), biosphere (green), and ocean/atmosphere (orange), and global warming levels at which their tipping points will likely be triggered.

Climate tipping points are conditions beyond which changes in a part of the climate system become self-perpetuating. These changes may lead to abrupt, irreversible, and dangerous impacts with serious implications for humanity. Armstrong McKay et al. present an updated assessment of the most important climate tipping elements and their potential tipping points, including their temperature thresholds, time scales, and impacts. Their analysis indicates that even global warming of 1°C, a threshold that we already have passed, puts us at risk by triggering some tipping points. This finding provides a compelling reason to limit additional warming as much as possible. —HJS

Oh, well. There is always the summer 5ks.

February 7, 2023
By James Cook and Brendan Quealy

ACME — Changes have been made to the 47th annual North American Vasa (click here) this coming weekend because of current weather conditions and forecasts for the remainder of the week.

Vasa, one of the largest cross-country skiing events in the United States, will only be one day this year, with all of Sunday’s classic races canceled amid fear there won’t be enough snow.

“The weather forecast is pretty unpredictable,” Vasa Race Director Janice Davidson said. “Our (snow) base is pretty limited as it is.”

The Traverse City forecast from the National Weather Service calls for temperatures in the 40s and rain Thursday, which would dramatically shrink the already-limited amount of snow on the ground at Timber Ridge Resort in Acme, host of the annual series of races that draws thousands of participants. Wednesday also is predicted to be in the 40s.

Davidson said Saturday’s modified slate is being rebranded as a “Looptacular,” featuring courses all going on the same 6-kilometer loop at Timber Ridge....

A qualifying race for Iditarod was cancelled due to poor weather.

February 15, 2023
By Brandon Champion

Marquette, MI - Sled dog races set to take place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (click here) have been canceled due to deteriorating weather conditions, the Upper Peninsula Sled Dog Association announced Wednesday.

Due to safety concerns, the UP200, Midnight Run and Jack Pine 30 set to depart from Washington Street in Marquette this weekend have been canceled.

“Safety is our top priority. Given the rain overnight, the impending flash freeze and the lack of snow in this week’s forecast, it would be irresponsible to encourage mushers, volunteers and spectators to be on the trail this weekend. We will make the best of a difficult situation,” said Darlene Walch, UPSDA president....

The video was last year. The cancellation is the first time in the history of the race. 

 

There is the issue of the appropriate nature of the object and it's customers.

The fact the objects were immediately identifiable is a concern, too. The companies involved will no doubt want their equipment back and replacement for any damage, but, why weren't they readily identifiable? I don't understand how objects simply fly around the country without appropriate identification.

There is still the question as to what information is being gathered, for what reason and who are the customers to that information. It is all a question of national security. 

February 16, 2023

By Joey Garrison and Michael Collins

...He said the intelligence community is "still assessing" objects (click here) that were shot down over Alaska, Canada's Yukon Territory and Lake Huron. "Nothing right now," he said, suggests the objects are tied to China’s spy balloon program, even though they were shot down about a week after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the Atlantic coast.

Biden said the intelligence community's "current assessment" is that the three objects were "most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conduct other scientific research."...

Water quality is required in the USA in 2023.

February 16, 2023
By Jennifer Somers

St. Charles, Missouri -The City of St. Charles (click here) shut down another water well in the Elm Point Wellfield to maintain safe drinking water for its residents after detecting contamination.

The closure of City Well No. 7, announced Thursday morning, means that the city has shut down six of its seven wells due to traces of 1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride. To combat a drinking water shortage, the city has been purchasing millions of gallons of water daily from the City of St. Louis instead of producing its own at a lower cost....

This tragedy could have been prevented. The railroad is responsible.

February 16, 2023
By Scott Dance and Justine McDaniel

Train derailment (click here) in East Palestine, Ohio photo from drone overflight 

East Palestine, Ohio - Fear, uncertainty and anger (click here) are mounting among residents of this Ohio village after a train derailment and fire unleashed a glut of toxic chemicals on Feb. 3.

Officials have tried to assure locals that the town is safe to live in — a message imparted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan, who visited the village Thursday — but many say that’s only left them with more questions.

Concern about air pollution from the Norfolk Southern train’s wrecked rail cars has given way to long-term worries about contamination of the water and soil in East Palestine and beyond. Many who evacuated as the blaze burned are questioning whether it was safe to come back. Some say they are suffering headaches and rashes and are not comforted by what they see as a lack of solid answers from authorities....

From the National Cancer Institute

Vinyl chloride exposure (click here) is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia.

This accident could have been prevented. There are reports the train was experiencing mechanical problems the day before. This is not an issue of any long drawn out lawsuit that will result in a guilty verdict. The facts are known and the railroad is directly responsible for this tragedy. It could have been prevented.

February 16, 2023

By Benjamine Duer

...drone photo...

A new federal lawsuit (click here) against Norfolk Southern over the massive train derailment here alleges that 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride were released into the environment.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by law firm Morgan & Morgan in U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio is one of six suits the railroad company is facing after the derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border almost two weeks ago....

...Attorney Rene Rocha with Morgan & Morgan described the amount of vinyl chloride released into the environment as "pretty shocking." The law firm based its calculation on the total volume of five 25,800 gallon DOT 105J300W tank cars carrying 8.6 pounds per gallon of vinyl chloride....