Loss of electricity for any reason will kill people.

May 12, 2023
By Monica Samayoa

Amid a record-smashing heat (click here) wave across the Pacific Northwest, residents in Portland, Ore, find shelter on June 27 in a 24-hour cooling center at the Oregon Convention Center.

Portland could see record breaking temperatures over the weekend, (click here) with weather conditions similar to the deadly heat dome event in 2021.

That extreme weather, which killed 69 people in Multnomah County, brought heat to the forefront of the climate crisis in the region and prompted swift action from city and local organizations that promised to help residents adapt. While those efforts have had some success nearly two years later, some say more needs to be done.

Starting Friday, the Portland metro could see temperatures rising into the 90s, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an excessive heat watch through Monday. NWS meteorologist Daniel Hartsock said the increase in temperature is coming from a high-pressure system like the heat dome event that trapped hot air over the region in June 2021. He said the same system is also creating offshore easterly winds, which add to dry conditions.

Hartsock said the average high is typically around 70 degrees in mid-May.

“We’re looking at temperatures 20 to 25 degrees above normal, so that’s definitely not very common,” he said....

People will not abandon pets either. Often not even to save their own lives.

July 8, 2021
By Jon Jackson

The death toll in Oregon's record-breaking heave wave (click here) from last weekend has risen to 116, according to data released by the state's medical examiner on Wednesday. Officials said that many people who died were found inside their homes without air conditioning or fans.

Many people who died during Oregon's recent heat wave lacked air conditioning in their homes. In this photo, people and their pets rest at the Oregon Convention Center cooling station in Portland, Oregon, on June 28....

She is missed.

May 10, 2023
By Phil Helsel and Lindsey Pipia

What happened in 2005? (click here)

A Dutch man (click here) who was suspected in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway is being extradited to the United States in connection with a fraud case, Peruvian officials said Wednesday.

Joran van der Sloot is serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the 2010 killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman.

He was arrested but never convicted in the disappearance of Holloway, who vanished in Aruba in 2005.

Holloway has never been found. The 18-year-old from Alabama went on a high school graduation trip and never returned. A judge later declared her dead.

Van der Sloot was arrested and released in that case and was never charged.

The extradition is the latest twist in a case that generated countless news stories when Holloway disappeared and multiple fictionalized movies and documentaries, some even more than a decade later....

Trump speaks out of both sides of his mouth at once

He backs Russia. He still hates NATO. He is still the same, “There are good people on both sides.” 

Vladimir Putin has a warrant for his arrest because he committed genocide against children. There is no forgiveness in that. Trump is playing his money hand. He wants communists to back him so he can be the authoritarian leader he plans on. He doesn’t care how many elections he has to run in to achieve his goal.

Trump backs Russia’s genocide. Russia responded in stating American expats are welcome in Russia to a new village he will build for them. Putin is hoping he gets some real soldiers out of the deal including military intelligence.

The opposite side of the spectrum is Ralph Nader. He always would run for office, too. Now Trump has a following of radicalized anti-American idiots and he will run every election because he can collect monies as a candidate.

Trump is immoral and violent. I didn’t watch the so called town hall, but, did he confess he killed two Iranian generals so MBS didn’t have to surrender? Because that is why they are dead.

Trump is anti-American. He consents to genocide. People can be blinded to the danger in their own lives with someone like that in Republican leadership. If Trump will immorally consent to genocide, with the right participants in his own administration, he will carry out genocide within the borders of his own country. Dear God, wake up. There were gallows on the Capitol grounds. What is so different from the Taliban?

CNN did a disservice to the USA. Ralph Nader needs to demand equal time!

Things are not going well at Zaporizhzhia.

First the people were evacuated. Now it is the workers. No one is taking the danger seriously in ending it, so much as making it worse.

This is genocide. The workers at the plant were made to sign contracts that included a declaration of being a Russian citizen. When a person loses their identity of citizenship it can result in catastrophic outcomes. As examples: 

...Russian exiles (click here) under the Soviet laws of the 1920s, Jews under the Reich citizenship laws enacted by Nazi Germany in the 1930-40s, Kurds in Syria under the “Arabisation” policy of the 1960s, Rohingya in Myanmar after the passing of an ethnicity-based citizenship law in the 1980s... In all these cases people died. This is not a minor problem. 

Ukraine wants it's land back to reestablish the homeland for the people currently under siege or in exile. The Zaphorizhzhia nuclear power plant has been an issue for a long time now and the Russians have proven to be in competent in protecting the people and the world from a nuclear accident. There is every reason to believe there will be an enormous accident. The latest report was that Russian troops were planting bombs around the plant. No doubt to prevent anyone from retaking the power plant and begin competent operations.

The manner in which Russia has conducted itself throughout this latest expansionism episode is through every definition of genocide. People and children were deliberately killed for soldiers hatred of them. Some of the details of the death of these people are horrific. Russians have abducted people and children into it's borders and relocated them into areas of Russia where they have no frame of reference. They are now defined as Russians or at least we think that is the case. There have been public displays of children indoctrinated to speak of welcoming their new status as Russians. Where a child resists they are punished.

The International Criminal Courts have decided there are children killed in the manner defined as genocide. There is just no doubt that Russian occupation of Ukraine in any manner is carried out with genocidal intentions.

The Zaphorizhzhia nuclear plant is being abandoned by Russian troops because of the ongoing war. It is unclear the danger that now exists with workers being evacuated. But, one thing is certain, the Russians are evacuating and abandoning this nuclear plant. It is time Zaphorizhzhia is declared neutral territory and restaffed with competent third party personnel. That will dilute any war intentions and remove the threat to Ukraine of Russian occupation. The plant does not have to be restarted because that would pose a far different danger, but, it does not the attention of competent personnel soon.

Russia has no right to this power plant and is obviously abandoning it. It is time to declare the power plant and land surrounding it as neutral. The IAEA can oversee its operations with approved staff that answers only to them.

May 10, 2023

Kyiv - Russian forces (click here) are planning to evacuate more than 3,000 workers from the town that serves the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, resulting in a "catastrophic lack" of personnel, Ukraine's state-owned Energoatom company said on Wednesday.

Last week, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear power watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said the situation around the Russian-held nuclear station had become "potentially dangerous" after Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas....

...Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports. Russia did not immediately comment.

Ukraine is widely expected to soon launch a counteroffensive to try to push back Russian forces, and commentators say retaking the whole of the Zaporizhzhia region is one of its aims....

This was the past. We need not repeat it.

28 August 2022

Kyiv - Russian rocket and artillery strikes (click here) hit areas across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, as fears persisted that fighting in the vicinity could damage the plant and cause a radiation leak....

...Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure, which can cause health problems.

Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The systems require power to run, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown....

This is not about setting a sports endurance record...

...this is asking human beings to live in an oven without a temperature gauge. That is not governance. That is neglect!

May 7, 2023

Vietnam has recorded its highest ever temperature, just over 44C (111F) (click here) - with experts predicting it would soon be surpassed because of climate change.

The record was set in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, where officials warned people to stay indoors during the hottest times of the day.

Other countries in the region have also been experiencing extremely hot weather.

Thailand reported a record-equalling 44.6C in its western Mak province....

This is what a politician in the 21st century looks like.

Her work is perfection. (click here) She connects all the dots. She brings the natural world's harmony to impact a state's economy with a livable future and safe environment for generations of Washingtonians. 

SHE and those like her are the future. Without these magnificent leaders I am afraid so much will be lost. She is not only very climate and natural world saavy, she is a woman with an understanding of life that only women carry in their hearts and minds.

May 10, 2023
By Shauna Sowersby

Elect Hillary Franz (click here)

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz (click here) announced Wednesday that she will run for governor of the state of Washington in the 2024 election. The gubernatorial run announcement came one week after Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he would not be seeking a fourth term as governor.

The announcement also came a week after Attorney General Bob Ferguson said that he would be “exploring a run” for governor in 2024. 

“My office has been on the front lines of our changing world. I know what it means to take bold risks to make big progress because there isn’t time to wait,” Franz said in a tweet Wednesday when she made the announcement. “We’re facing many challenges, but we can tackle them, together.”...

All of these negative feedback loops were discussed for decades by scientists.

The dialogue regarding the climate crisis has never been more pressing, but, looking across the front pages of news media, no one would ever understand the urgency. Today's reality has been predicted and lectured and researched for decades by scientists around the world. 

The scientists had the answer. The petroleum and coal industries portrayed all sorts of nightmare scenarios and politicians caved. The weakness of the political resolve to prevent disastrous outcomes has been a testament to the lack of strength of people to latch onto survival in the face of greed.

COP 3 (click here)

01 - 10 Dec. 1997

Third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3), December 1997
The COP 3 took place from 1 to 10 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.

Figures: Summary for Policymakers (click here)

May 9, 20

By Matt Simon

...The figure above (to the right, click here)) shows statistics extracted from the CNFDB, and provides a comparison with those numbers reported annually to the National Forestry Database (NFD). This chart shows the high variability in both number of fires and area burned in Canada per year....

...In fact,(click here) over 100 wildfires are burning across Alberta, Canada, right now, forcing nearly 30,000 people from their homes—an “unprecedented situation” in the region. The annual area burned in Canada has doubled since the 1970s, says Mike Flannigan, a fire scientist at Thompson Rivers University. (He wasn't involved in either of the new studies.) “A warmer world means more fire,” he says. “As the temperature warms, the atmosphere gets very efficient at sucking moisture out of dead fuels. So it means more fuels available to burn, which leads to high-intensity fires, which are difficult to impossible to extinguish.”

Northern boreal forests are the largest land biomes on the planet. When they burn, they release greenhouse gases from both vegetation and carbon-rich soils, which the first new paper, released in March, quantified. In fact, burning boreal forests spew between 10 and 20 times more carbon than fires in other ecosystems. Typically, the blazes account for 10 percent of global fire CO2 emissions annually, but they contributed 23 percent in 2021, thanks to severe heat waves and drought.

“We are facing a dangerous positive feedback between climate and boreal fires,” says lead author Bo Zheng of China’s Tsinghua University. “The slow recovery of soil microbial communities in forests after extreme wildfires weakens carbon sinks, and makes it difficult for them to fully absorb the large amount of carbon dioxide released during combustion.” That, Zheng adds, “will increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and promote global warming, further increasing the likelihood of extreme wildfires.”...

This is the level of awareness and preparedness every leader in the world needs to exercise.

May 10, 2023
By Nadine Schmidt and Caolán Magee,

A Swiss village (click here) has been ordered to evacuate amid warnings a large mass of rock looming overhead could come tumbling down in the coming days.

Leaders in Brienz held a town hall event on Tuesday evening and told residents they would have to leave by 6 pm local time on Friday.

The head of the early warning service, Stefan Schneider, said that measurements indicated a “strong acceleration over a large area” in recent days, and “up to 2 million cubic meters of rock material will collapse or slide in the coming seven to 24 days.”...

It is called valuing human life. Anything less than this is a human rights violation. This is the opposite of valuing human life.

...On September 20, (click here) a collapse of a hanging glacier from the slope of Mt. Dzhimarai-Khokh onto the Kolka Glacier triggered an avalanche of ice and debris that went over the Maili Glacier terminus then slid more than 15 miles (24 km). The avalanche buried small villages in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, killing dozens of people. Where the ice stopped, the glacial debris flow dammed rivers further below. Several lakes formed and one of them flooded a village. These lakes are now threatening to burst and form debris flows....

Russian elites have their own everything including a hospital. They carry out all the functions of a society with the latest technologies and studies, however, there is little that moves the Russia elites to protect all Russians, yet alone any ethnicities outside of Russia.

August 17, 2010

In 2010 the wildfires in Russia were disabling with death tolls in the thousands if not tens of thousands. Putin always looks good in ordering interventions that are supposed to stem damage and deaths, but, there is never any back-up in the way of sincere efforts.

According to the State environmental agency (click here) "Mosekomonitoring", in the morning in Moscow, the maximum concentration of carbon monoxide in the air exceeded the acceptable norm by 3.6 times, the content of suspended particles by 2.8 times, and specific hydrocarbons by 1.5 times.

The Moscow airports of Domodedovo and Vnukovo were unable to land more than 40 planes and were only able to send about 20 planes due to the strong haze caused by the smoke. As of 10 a.m., visibility at Domodedovo was 350 m and 300 m at Vnukovo. According to the Federal Air Transportation Agency, the Sheremetyevo airport works as usual because of visibility of about 800 m.

Moscow - Several thousand Muscovites are thought to have died in July alone (click here) from this year’s unprecedented heatwave and August could add more fatalities, a Russian scientist said on Tuesday.

Moscow, a metropolis of over 10 million people, has suffered intense heat since late June, with day temperatures sometimes nearing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The crisis shriveled a third of Russia’s grain crop, shaved billions off this year’s economic growth and killed at least 54 people in wildfires. The heat subsided on Tuesday.

Citing a report by the Moscow Registry Office, Boris Revich, a senior demography and ecology researcher at Russia’s Academy of Sciences, said 5,840 more Muscovites had died in July than in the same month last year.

Revich said he believed the overwhelming majority of these additional deaths had been caused by the fierce heatwave.

“This situation was absolutely easy to forecast,” he told a news conference. “The only thing I blame myself for ... is that my estimate (of deaths) was too low at the start of the heat.”...

There is an enormous difference in GOVERNANCE between communist countries and Free Countries. Free Countries value human life and don't dismiss deaths.

We lucked out this year with the Colorado River. DO NOT TAKE THIS YEAR FOR GRANTED. MOVE ON TO TOMORROW!

There is nothing like existing government funded facilities to develop much needed new technologies to facilitate a safer world for our children.

...A new report funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), (click here) Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Hydropower: Challenges and Opportunitie, discusses the potential to use advanced manufacturing and materials to modernize the existing hydropower fleet and enable designs for new hydropower technologies. The report finds advanced manufacturing and materials could save costs as well as optimize hydropower system repairs and upgrades.

The report, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, identifies high-impact opportunities for advanced manufacturing and materials, including additive manufacturing, machining and casting, coating processes, and the use of innovative materials to address specific manufacturing-related challenges in U.S. hydropower....

...The report identified several advanced manufacturing capabilities that could be employed to both help strengthen the existing hydropower fleet and expand opportunities for new hydropower: Additive manufacturing: 

Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data. This technique allows operators to optimize the construction and design process so parts can be manufactured on-site, easing pressure on the supply chain.

 
Novel machining and casting processes: Novel processes can return production of large parts back to the United States, enabling faster production and resulting in higher-quality parts. These novel processes can include hybrid and subtractive manufacturing, which use nonconventional machining (including laser beams and abrasive jets) to produce hydropower parts that are typically hard to manufacture.

Innovative materials: Alternative materials are often lighter, stronger, more resistant to cavitation and corrosion, easier to repair, and more environmentally friendly than traditional materials. These material innovations have a high likelihood to increase part lifetime, increase efficiency, and decrease costs of hydropower operations.

Novel coating processes: Coatings are applied to the surface of an object to prevent wear and component degradation. New coating processes can mitigate biofouling, corrosion, and toxicity while improving component durability and extending the overall life of parts or components....

The Climate Crisis can't wait. I promise you that.

Legislation is needed to end the sale of USA military surplus to civilians and/or straw purchasers for perhaps Russia.

They are using it to modify the AR-15. They don't need to modify AR-15s, they need to give them up. There is no place in this world for an AR-15, except, perhaps in war with the USA military. The sales of USA military surplus is absolutely ridiculous. All this mess needs to be melted down and reused.

May 10, 2023
By George Harris

A rimfire conversion kit such as the U.S. military-surplus model (click here) shown above is a budget-conscious means of refining one’s vital marksmanship skills....

"Me, too.

There are countless women in the USA that have come forward to declare the end of abuse of women.

E. Jean Carroll is typical of the oppression of women, until now. Her story is compelling and the jury found it to be credible. 

Realize it has taken nearly three decades for Ms. Carroll to receive recognition for her injuries. Trump still is not held legally criminal in his acts against her. That is still not justice.

May 9, 2023

By Becky Sullivan, Andrea Bernstein, Ilya Marritz, and Quil Lawrence

A federal jury (click here) has found former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation in the lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who says he raped her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

The nine jurors, who deliberated for barely three hours before reaching their unanimous conclusion, did not find that Trump raped Carroll. But they agreed that he "sexually abused" her and that he defamed her when he denied her story.

Carroll was awarded $5 million in total damages for both claims.

"Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed," Carroll said in a statement....

The "Me, too" movement proves the extent women have been oppressed for decades. Every women that has come forward to be counted in this oppression wears a badge of honor in declaring "No more!" for generations to come.

How many members of Congress were involved with January 6th?

Section 4.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

There are members of the US House and US Senate that supported the insurrection until today. Their decision to oppose the payment of the national debt is a weapon of insurrection and should not be viewed in any other capacity.

Santos must be expelled and the people allowed to bring in a good and decent person as their representative.

Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member."

This is the low life the Republican Party has become. They are indistinguishable from insurrectionists and liars.

May 9, 2023

Federal prosecutors (click here) have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York’s eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal.

The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims.

The congressman’s attorney declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment....

Trump needs to be impeached. He doesn't deserve to be called a former president.

May 9, 2023

How very delicious it is that Donald J. Trump (click here) — the very man who in early 2016 promised to “open up our libel laws so” that when people lie to millions, “we can sue them and win lots of money” — was found liable for defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll when he falsely called her claims that he sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s “a complete con job,” not to mention “a Hoax and a lie.”...

Any legislator that looks the other way regarding Trump's abuse and liable should be brought up on ethics charges. There is no way any elected official can look the other way an still represent women. Everyone of them should be brought up on ethics violations.

May 9, 2023
By Kelly Garrity and Nancy Vu

...The verdict, (click here) which was announced in a federal courtroom in New York City on the first day of jury deliberations, sparked quick reactions from the former president — who continued to deny the allegations — and from multiple members of Congress, including Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)....

...The verdict “creates concern,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said, but whether or not it disqualifies the former president from his current presidential bid will be up to the voters....

...“This won’t be the last,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who has endorsed Trump this election cycle, said of the case. “I mean, people are gonna come at him from all angles... People are gonna try and convict him on the papers in Mar-a-Lago. [They] Can’t have him win.”

The case and the jury were both “a joke,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said he believes it is “very difficult” for Trump to get a fair trial “in any of these liberal states.”...

They are all insurrectionists without a concern for the integrity of the country. Every one of them.

...And Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) doesn’t think it will change many minds. “People who love him will still support him and people who don’t, won’t,”...

Include McConnell in the list of ethic violators as he hedges his bets by say "It is too early to tell the effect no the electorate." OMG!!!!!

They don't care about the country, they care about power and whether their politics will hold up to keep it, women be damned!

198 mass shootings

The massacre at the Texas Mall was the 198th mass shooting in the United States of America. Considering a mass shooting event is four or more deaths that means at least 1000 Americans have died in a mass shooting event, among them children.

That is four months which means there are an average of 250 Americans dying per month because of very loose gun laws. That doesn’t count the murders with guns that are less than four persons dead.

250 Americans per month die because of the gun lobby and greed.

These are human rights violations. The Texas governor is a human rights violator and a racist. He likes to characterize the dead as illegal aliens as if they have no right to be alive.

Inside the border of Russia? And the Kremlin of all places.

I am impressed. Congratulations. It is amazing to realize Moscow is admitting it hasn't got a clue in how to carry out their own national security. I think Russia needs to admit defeat and stop killing Ukrainians. They also need to hand over Vladimir Putin to the International Criminal Court.

The USA had an attack on its Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It was from within it's own borders and carried out by terrorists that took control of a commercial airline.

Russia has had an attack on a building where government functions occur. That is about as bad as it gets. Russia needs to stop blaming the world for its problems and finally admit it attacked Ukraine to satisfy Putin's politics with the communist party. It is time to hold Vladimir Putin responsible for the war crimes.

May 4, 2023

...Responding to a press query on social media, (click here) Prigozhin said that the "use of nuclear weapons in response to a drone, of course, is out of the question."

Russia should prioritize becoming the "leading power" in UAV development and "respond with exactly the same drones," Prigozhin said in a statement....

There is no leadership in Russia. When a billionaire mercenary leader has more meaningful answers than the president and his generals it is time to end the conflict and carry out a responsible measure to remove those responsible for the murderers from power.

Putin is hiding behind aggression. Ukraine is suffering because of it.

Thank you, Mike Pence, great American.

His role on January 6, 2021 showed Former Vice President Mike Pence dedication to the USA Constitution, incredible bravery and leadership. He is not party before country.

In this image (click here) from video released by the House Select Committee, Vice President Mike Pence looks at a tweet by President Donald from his secure evacuation location on Jan. 6, is displayed as House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing Thursday, June 16, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

May 3, 2023
By Kristen Holmes, Jamie Gangel and Katelyn Polantz

Special counsel Jack Smith (click here) sat in on the federal grand jury proceeding while former Vice President Mike Pence testified for more than five hours last week, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Smith and Pence interacted while Pence was at the courthouse, and one source described the interaction as respectful.

Smith's appearance is the first known time the special counsel has attended a grand jury proceeding in the investigation. Smith is leading the criminal probe with a team of prosecutors into the aftermath of the 2020 election and efforts to overturn the results....

From the article in "Le Monde." Eastman and Guiliani were the polar opposites to the leadership demonstrated by the Former Vice President that day. The communists were everywhere (click here) including the FBI.

...Silk scarf, cowboy hat and white hair, John Eastman (click here) stepped out of the shadows on January 6, 2021 in the Ellipse near the White House. He took the stage alongside attorney Rudy Giuliani to harangue the crowd of Donald Trump supporters. In the final weeks of the presidency, the lawyer and Chapman University law professor played a key role in plotting a coup to prevent Congress from certifying the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election won by Joe Biden....

Protect Putin?

Russia can complain about drones buzzing the Kremlin all it wants, but, it has no right to protect a genocidal murderer.

There are plenty number of Russians that would agree with his arrest. The drones may not have been Ukrainian. There are Russians involved in trying to stop Russia’s genocidal ideology. 

It seems blaming Ukraine is an easy storyline that falls well within the propaganda.

Can we all get on the same page, please?

The United States Supreme Court should be held to the toughest ethical and reporting standards of any other branch. Why? Because they are in their position for life. That is a long time to afford any degree of corruption to take hold and grow.

There is no excuse, the justices Alito and Thomas are way outside the reporting and ethical standard for legal practice.

...The two principal statutes most relevant to the Thomas situation are:(click here)

The 1978 Ethics in Government Act is a wide-ranging post-Watergate, anti-corruption statute. One provision directs government officials, including justices and judges, to report annually “all gifts [above a certain amount] received from any source other than a relative. . ., except that any food, lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality of an individual need not be reported.” The “personal hospitality” phrase is key to the Thomas controversy.

The 1989 Ethics Reform Act seeks to reduce conflicts of interest, in part by barring government officials, including justices and judges, from “accept[ing] anything of value from a person . . . seeking official action from the individual’s reporting entity [or] whose [financial] interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the individual’s official duties.” Conference regulations specify that “anything of value” includes most “gifts,” but they exclude various items from the definition of a “gift”, including “social hospitality based on personal relationships.”...

...First, the statutes apply to members of Congress and “officer[s and] employee[s]” of all three branches; they do not exclude supreme court justices. Second, the Conference’s financial reporting regulations include the justices by defining them as covered “judicial officer[s].”

But the regulations on gifts and outside income exclude justices from their definitions of “judicial officer.” Instead, those regulations delegate to the Chief Justice the Conference’s administrative and enforcement authority as to the Court. In 1991, the justices by resolution agreed to comply with the “substance of” the gift and outside income regulations. In his “2011 Year-End Report,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., said that the justices “[f]or purposes of sound administration,” file their annual financial disclosure reports with the Judicial Conference Financial Disclosure Committee, and, referencing the 1991 resolution, “agreed to follow the [gift and outside income] regulations as a matter of internal practice.”...

...c. Enforcement

Enforcement mechanisms in the 1978 Ethics in Government Act come into play for individuals who “willfully failed to file a report or . . . willfully falsified or willfully failed to file information required to be reported” under the Act. The relevant provisions authorize the Justice Department to bring civil actions against such a person. They also direct various agencies, including the Judicial Conference, to report such individuals to the department if they have “reasonable cause to believe” the individuals willfully falsified or failed to file required reports...

Both Alito and Thomas willfully left information blank on their reporting forms. Omitting information is as much a violation as any false statement. There is no going back to correct an "oops." These are people at the highest legal office in the land. Do they look the other way when reporting information in any of the cases before the justices? 

If the justices don't fill in all the blanks it is willful. Oops is not in the vocabulary of these eminently qualified justices. That is what the public trust expects and both these justices have fallen woefully short of the standard.

Saudi Arabia has surrendered.

It is very odd to watch the Prince throw in the towel. MBS, right? He was the one that came into power, via Trump’s efforts, and proceeded to take an aggressive stance. It was MBS’s posture that brought on the war at his borders.

Now, he and China want to called it normalization. Sure. First Iran agrees to end the conflict, now it is the Houthis. There is no other way to look at it, MBS screwed up. I love the way he wants to normalize relations with Israel for a POSSIBLE recognition that it exists.

I would think "normalization" would immediately include recognizing Israel as a sovereign nation.

April 30, 2023
By AFP and Lazar Berman

Amman, Jordan — Arab foreign ministers (click here) will gather in Jordan on Monday to discuss Syria’s long-running conflict and ending Damascus’s diplomatic isolation in the region, the Foreign Ministry in Amman said.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad has been politically isolated since the conflict in his country began in 2011.

However, recent weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity after Saudi Arabia and Iran — a close ally of Damascus — resumed diplomatic ties in March, shifting regional relations.

Monday’s meeting in Amman will bring together foreign ministers from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

The talks will “take stock of the contacts of these countries with the Syrian government to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis,” a Foreign Ministry statement said Sunday....

I would expect at least the USA would be in attendance. Has Arabia noticed there have been conflicts with Russian and USA aircraft over Syria? I would think the first thing that needs to be done is to have the USA at the meeting to discuss what the problem is that Russian aircraft are causing tensions over Syria.

The USA is involved because of it's alliance with Israel. There is not going to be attacks of Israel by any other Arab country. Jordan and the USA are on good terms and I would expect the USA State Department and possibly a representative from the USA military as well. There is a lot going on with China trying to leverage a presence in the region so tensions are high.

April 30, 2023

China has resumed construction work on a military base (click here) in the United Arab Emirates in defiance of displeasure by the United States, leaked intelligence documents have revealed.

According to the Washington Post, leaked US intelligence documents that it obtained reportedly show that Chinese plans to continue construction in its military base in the UAE have gone ahead.

The suspected Chinese military facility at Khalifa port near Abu Dhabi is part of plans to create a global network of military facilities at ports across the Middle East, south-east Asia, and Africa by 2030, labelled 'project 141.'

The reported continuation of the build-up of that base comes after the works there were forced to halt in 2021 due to US objections. According to the outlet, however, US intelligence detected the resumed construction in December, a mere year after it was apparently halted....

It would appear that all of Xi's propaganda about peace isn't really about peace. It sincerely looks like Xi wants conflict with the USA.

Al Dhafra Air Force Base, United Arab Emirates (click here)

October 22, 2020

For the first time in over a decade, (click here) the US Air Force is publicly acknowledging it runs an air war out of Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.


The US embassy in country recently worked with Emirati counterparts to make the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing — an Air Combat Command-run unit at the base — known, officials told Military.com.

Military.com first spoke with members of the 380th on a trip to the Middle East earlier this summer on condition the name and location of the base not be disclosed, and that full names of personnel not be used due to safety concerns amid ongoing air operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

While the 380th was established at the base on Jan. 25, 2002, the US military has had a presence on the base for approximately 25 years. The base is home to a variety of combat operations...

One might note the base was established January 25, 2002. Why? Because of the events of September 11, 2001. The USA has a strong interest in maintaining a base for national security interests. However, Xi and Putin seem more interested in victimizing the USA further and raise conflict instead of peace. The USA has a right to be safe and it has operations there for one reason and one reason only; to maintain the peace.

Samuel Alito leaked his own opinion.

In an article in USA Today the Associate Justice openly stated he discusses confidential court cases with others at dinner with his wife. Another “Ginny.”

End of discussion!

Supreme Court Justices are bound by the same confidentiality as lawyers and other judges. He states in the article he knows who leaked it. Yeah, he did. Dinner guests are not bound by fiduciary licensed oaths.

The Robert’s Court ran an investigation internally. The leak didn’t occur internally. Alito leaked it at dinner with a trusted confidant. For all we know the people at the next table leaked after overhearing Alito disclose it.

The DOJ needs to file appropriate charges against these justices who obviously believe they are above the law.