The Palestinians did not start this conflict.

President Biden needs to stop the genocide of Palestinians.

Israel started this conflict now they need to end it. Israel’s entitlement was emboldened under Trump.

Gaza is not going back into Israeli possession.

The latest attacks by Israel are about racism. Hate can never be a reason for war!

The Biden peace initiative is novel in that it is taking place in his first term. Everything bout the Biden Administration is novel. He is tackling some of the most contentious issues between Democrats and Republicans. Expect more of the Biden Administration's place in all peace talks, especially, between Israel and Palestine.

Israel must stop it's aggression both in this latest war of hate and in the streets of Jerusalem. The USA embassy in Jerusalem will act as a place of peace and bring about solutions for the continued racism. The conflict between these two peoples should have been addressed as soon as there was tension in the streets of Jerusalem. It is outrageous the USA didn't demand an end to conflict at the point where it began. Escalations always end in bloodshed and death. The Death Toll today is over 200 people. That is an outrage within the streets of one of the most holy cities in the world.

May 15, 2021
By Patrick Kinsley and Isabel Kershner

Jerusalem -Weeks of simmering tensions(click here) in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters, the police and right-wing Israelis suddenly veered into military conflict on Monday, as a local skirmish in the decades-long battle for control of the city escalated into rocket fire and airstrikes in Gaza.

After a raid by the Israeli police on the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem left hundreds of Palestinians and a score of police officers wounded, militants in Gaza responded by firing a barrage of rockets at Jerusalem, drawing Israeli airstrikes in return.

The catalyst for the escalation was the conflict over recent Israeli efforts to remove Palestinians from strategic parts of the city. The issue became a rallying cry for Palestinians, who saw the moves as ethnic cleansing and illegal, and right-wing Israeli Jews, who said they were fighting for their property as landowners while also attempting to ensure Jewish control over East Jerusalem....

Trouble with Wifi

Tonight will have to be postponed until the WiFi is up and running well. 

But, while we are on the subject; there is a big push for connecting the country. I think it is a great idea.

HOWEVER.

It is time to regulate the charges placed on internet services. As I write this Spectrum with 100 megabytes is selling for $44 and change per month. Good deal, right? Sign up, right? 

While Spectrum is doing it’s best to offer internet at an affordable price, by the time all the fees are attached to it the monthly cost is $108 plus change per month. That includes TV cable, too.

That is disgraceful. The internet is a necessity in the year 2021, no different than electricity, for every American. Knowing that cities, state and federal governments have added fees and taxes to raise revenues. The companies themselves add fees for different aspects of service.

The federal government needs to take control of this interstate function. Get rid of the fees and make it affordable as Spectrum is at least trying to do. The more Americans using the internet the greater the commerce. It is the commerce everyone should be interested in propagating. Return normal sales tax to internet commerce.

It isn’t right that in a national health emergency where children are taught over the net that a family is burdened with a cost they never had in public school.

The fees and taxes are too much. Do something about it!

There is plenty upsetting about this episode of a Demcratic governor, except for the BUT.

Most political people in office have some kind of entourage following their time in office, so these issues occur.

A couple of years back it was found out that Nikki Haley, then Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations had taken rides between New York and home on a private jet. I believe she resigned after she was exposed. Nikki Haley didn't have to worry about a pandemic at that time nor was she the target of radical right extremists that wanted her kidnapped and killed.

That is where this particular story of Governor Whitmer takes a sad turn. She is a Democratic Governor that was the focus of right-wing extremists to kidnap and kill her. Not only that but, to make her reality a bit more troubling these same extremists were part of an insurrection at the USA Capitol on January 6, 2021, where people actually did die.

So, the idea of her riding in a private jet to see her father is understandable. The fact she paid for her seat as if a commercial airline is a correct thing to do. Why didn't she just take a commercial airline? For one, were they in the air and flying at that time and what if news got out she was flying would that mean trouble for the passengers and airline if violence broke out at 30,000 feet?

Everyone during the pandemic was worried about their older parents. I did. I went to stay with her for what seems like an entire year until she was fully vaccinated. A daughter has a right to have some peace of mind about her father. Just because she is the Michigan governor doesn't change her feelings about her father.

What is really so very wrong about this story is the fact it is exploited for political purposes when there is so much right about this story. A staff that actually cared about her. A daughter that cared about her father and a father that obviously cared about his daughter. Additionally, a private jet was paid for by a non-profit that is a supporter of the Governor. At least they could do it for her. There were no government monies involved in her transportation and that is where it ends as far as I am concerned. If supporters of the non-profit want to penalize them for renting a private jet for a governor under siege that is up to them.

Governor Whitmer has done many things to instill the need for precautions, including wearing a mask, yet the Republicans in the Michigan legislature have worked harder at dismantling the precautions mandated by the Governor. See, this is where it gets really weird.

On one hand, there is a governor fighting for every life within the State of Michigan and she is under siege by the very people she is trying to save. On the other hand are people in the legislature that don't give a damn if people are wearing masks or not and spreading the virus, getting sick and dying while they want to ridicule a governor because she is the "other party." That is what this story is all about after all. It isn't as though there is a real reason why Whitmer was on a private plane to see her father, she was just out for a good time, right?

It is extremely unfortunate that every breath a Democrat takes has to be measured for exploitation of political dogma so the Republicans can "take the office by storm." This is a non-story about a Governor that cared about her father and a staff that was scared witless for the Governor's safety. This is not a story for the newspapers. There is nothing here to report. Now, if there was quid pro quo there might be a story, but, from what I suspect of the staff there was none of that just a humanitarian act to protect the life a dearly loved Governor.

I think there was some comment in the news stating if the staff hadn't dragged out the transparency for so long, there would be no story. That is exactly correct. The staff needs to have confidence in their ability to not only report the facts that the plane trip happened but, the REASONS why the plane trip happened. The people elected to office need to TRUST THE PEOPLE WITH THE TRUTH.

No one needs details about the state of health of Governor Whitmer's father, that is all confidential. All the people need to know is that full disclosure of the facts and the reasons was important and the Governor's staff didn't trust the public. That is not the Governor's fault.

I hope everyone is getting vaccinated and while the CDC states those fully vaccinated don't have to wear masks at certain times; I will continue to wear one on the chance the virus could be in my nose and it could infect people around me with a breath, the spoken word or a sneeze. They can't infect me, but, I can still infect them.

Good night.

May 14, 2021
By Craig Mauger

Lansing -A nonprofit organization (click here) tied to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration paid to charter the flight that carried her to Florida in March to visit her father, but Whitmer funded her seat on the flight with her own personal money.

The revelations came in a memo signed by Whitmer's chief of staff, JoAnne Huls, on Friday afternoon, weeks into a controversy centered on the out-of-state trip during a pandemic.

"Due to ongoing security and public health concerns, we made a decision to use a chartered flight for this trip," Huls wrote in the memo. "The governor's flight was not a gift, not paid for at taxpayer expense and was done in compliance with the law."

The social welfare nonprofit organization, Michigan Transition 2019, chartered the private plane, which took Whitmer to Florida on Friday, March 12, and returned her to Lansing, on Monday, March 15. The group spent $27,521 on travel over the first 14 days of May, according to a voluntary disclosure, which apparently covers the flights....

Flint, Michigan gives a reason for losts of comments about water quality and water treatment.

Rick Snyder is still trying to place the fault for Flint's water poisoning on the current AG. Attorney General Dana Nessel was nowhere near the State of Michigan when the poisoning occurred and yet there is a TECHNICALITY that can impose restrictions on Snyder's prosecution.

Snyder's invoking Emergency Manager restrictions on the democracy of elected officials in Flint killing people living in Flint and maiming innumerable children of that city is HIS CRIME, NO ONE ELSE'S.

Somehow, supposed documents were leaked in regard to the Detroit bankruptcy that involved the water shut off to Flint. Imagine that. I would expect the documents of the Detroit bankruptcy that includes the shut down of water supply to Flint would be very important to this case. Snyder wants to squelch all that to end his trial.

I will never understand why Snyder wasn't charged with minimally criminally negligent homicide.

...Manslaughter charges (click here) or criminally negligent homicide charges fall into different legal categories because of the role of intent. This article focuses on the significant differences between manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide....

People died. Children were maimed for the rest of their lives. Women lost their pregnancies. If that isn't negligence in putting people before profit. 

There he is all masked up and protecting his health. Interesting.

 

May 12, 2021

By Craig Mauger

...Snyder's attorneys filed a motion (click here) Wednesday in Michigan's Eastern District, asking a judge to impose sanctions "appropriate to coerce" the office's compliance with 2013 court orders that required secrecy about the Detroit bankruptcy mediation.The filing points to concerns that privileged documents related to the bankruptcy have been shared with other defendants and legal teams involved in the Flint prosecution cases.

The mediation occurred at a time when Flint officials were on course to end their service with the Detroit water system in 2014 over concerns that rates were too high. The Eastern District oversaw the mediation that led to the so-called "Grand Bargain" resolving the bankruptcy of Michigan's largest city while Snyder was governor....

...Courtney Covington Watkins, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office said the filing appeared "to be part of an ongoing strategy of distraction by the defense."

"We look forward to addressing these concerns in court so that we can move forward with the prosecution of those responsible for the Flint Water Crisis," she said....

It is amazing at times the amount of corruption occurring in a single city in the USA. There is a right way of doing things and a wrong way. If Robert Massey was having a difficult time handling the expense of the landfill, he could have petitioned the courts for an increase in fees and/or filed bankruptcy. The bankruptcy of a landfill operator would have gotten everyone's attention.

May 14, 2021

Flint - The owner of a Flint chemical company (click here) was sentenced to a year behind bars for discharging landfill leachate into the city’s sewer system.

Robert Massey, who owns Oil Chem Inc. on 12th Street, pleaded guilty in January to a Clean Water Act violation for discharging nearly 48 million gallons of heavily contaminated landfill leachate into the sewer over 8.5 years from January 2007 to October 2015.

A federal judge ordered Massey to spend 12 months in prison during a sentencing hearing on Friday.

Leachate is the water that collects in the bottom of a landfill. Landfill operators have to pump leachate from landfills, truck it to a waste facility and dispose of it properly....

The USA EPA sets regulations for water quality in this country. The current Administrator of the USA EPA is Michael S. Regan. He should address the issues of landfills and aquifer water contamination. There are some very interesting solutions in the era of the computer. It would create better outcomes for less money.

Holistic approach (click here) for evaluation of landfill leachate pollution potential - From the waste to the aquifer 

The article below talks about a "green" solution for landfill leachate (click here)

A large portion of landfill operational budgets (click here) is consumed by the cost of handling leachate, the liquid that drains from a landfill. Leachate management accounts for approximately 35% of a landfill’s annual non-labor operating expenses, and can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for an individual landfill.

Leachate often contains elevated levels of contaminants.  By federal law, it requires extensive and expensive treatment and disposal throughout the landfill’s active life, and for at least 30 years after it has been closed.  Historically, leachate disposal has been limited to costly options such as hauling to a wastewater treatment plant or operating an on-site treatment system.

LMS provides their clients with alternative, GREEN technologies that can greatly reduce leachate volume and management costs, while at the same time lowering their carbon footprint.  Our systems can operate at open and closed landfills across the country, including pre-Subtitle D, interim areas of open facilities, and closed Subtitle D landfills.  We have collaborated with some of the largest solid waste companies in the USA, including Republic Services, WCA Waste Corporation, and Waste Management. 

Every year, millions of dollars are spent and millions of miles are driven to dispose of leachate. Natural Systems change that....

The latest “stick to the wall” political rant is the word “inflation.”

The pandemic resulted in inflation. Why? Because there was a global paradigm shift. Everyone knows it is true, so stop trying to make up all kinds of political rhetoric to back Moscow Mitch and his stubborn ability to pander to million-billionaires and cheat the Middle Class. And for McConnell, forget about the poor, they are just lazy no-good people.

So let’s just think about this a minute.

Republicans like supply side economics. Supply side can reduce the cost of items even if they are in demand. Right? More of a product exists the cheaper the cost; ie: best Wall Street example is oil and every adult in the USA is used to the price abuse of the petroleum industry.

So, here were all this warehouses full of stuff feeding the supply side economics. Then a preventable pandemic hits. People are told to stay at home, including the children and there goes a regular income to count on right out the window. 

Anyone run out and buy all those warehoused school supplies? No? Well, why not? Could it be the world got scary and the thought of traveling anywhere on a shopping trip with a very reduced income became a flyin’ nightmare.

Supply side economics with a global pandemic became a weight around Wall Street’s neck. Nothing was moving and the manufactured products even if they came from overseas were now coming into warehouses that had no inventory moving out. Who do you think will do at for all that storage? Yep, it gets passed along to the consumer. When the consumer is hit with higher prices through no fault of their own, isn’t that inflation? It sure seems like it to me.

Now, let’s consider why, a year after the pandemic and opening venues that have been shuttered, why would there be inflation?

Buffet said his holdings that manufacture are being met with inflation. Ya, think? The economy is starting to creak alive again. The warehouses over the past year emptied out of products that were in demand. Now, people are returning to work and enjoying a better income and benefits. Items start to sell. Is the paradigm changing again?

You betcha. Are manufacturers fully engaged with supply side economics?  Heck no. 

For the manufacturer that weathered the storm, it needs a new supply of raw materials to return to high volumes of goods to sell. Restarting a business, especially manufacturing, has high costs. Who do those costs get passed on to? Yep, the consumer. Do prices go up? Darn right they do. And who is feeling the inflammation? The consumer.

The inflation, where it exists l, is do the collapse and now expansion of the global economy, which is not at the stage of trade for every country.

The USA currency is as strong as ever and the markets have been fine. In case no one was looking there have been leaps of good news for Wall Street during the pandemic. And why shouldn’t there be, they got paid their dividends while the consumer picked up the tab.

US Rep. Liz Cheney never broke the rules while other Republican Representatives and Senators did exactly that in carrying forward anti-American priorities.

11 May 2021

By Martin Pengelly

The only woman in Republican Senate leadership (click here) complained about cancel culture on Monday, regarding the imminent removal of Liz Cheney, the only woman in Republican House leadership, because she opposes Donald Trump’s big lie that the presidential election was stolen.

The Iowa senator Joni Ernst told reporters: “I feel it’s OK to go ahead and express what you feel is right to express and, you know, cancel culture is cancel culture no matter how you look at it.

“Unfortunately, I think there are those that are trying to silence others in the party.”

“Cancel culture” has become a shibboleth of the modern Republican party, repeatedly invoked when public figures become embroiled in controversy regarding opinions or statements deemed to be racist, sexist or otherwise unacceptable....

There can't be two truths. The courts are weighing in on the activities of January 6, 2021 and finding the election of President Joe Biden was factual. There is no other truth. There is no basis to "The Big Lie." The Senators and Representatives that continue to state there was a big lie and/or Trump should be president are anti-American. They should not be holding a seat of power in either the US House or US Senate.

The only truth when spoken by a Republican must be met with complete support and acceptance of their willingness to stand up for the US Consitution. That is what US Rep. Cheney did as others in the US House. It is what US Senator Joni Earnst is doing. They are protecting the USA Constitution and fulfilling their oath of office.

The New Abnormal

May 11, 2021

Bulwark’s editor-in-chief (click here) tells TNA host Molly Jong-Fast why Josh Hawley is the GOP’s own Walter White. Plus! Eric Topol shares when we can get back to “real life.”

Josh Hawley isn’t actually dealing meth out to Trumpers (that we know of!) but he and his fellow GOPers have major Breaking Bad vibes when it comes to supplying the Trump base with BS.

According to Bulwark Editor-in-Chief Charlie Sykes, they have the right amount of intelligence and self-grandeur to pull it off....

"Cancel Culture" is not the reason Baffert was replaced as a trainer. He broke the rules.

Breaking rules is not "Cancel Culture," in horse racing, it is unethical and dangerous to the horses. It is my guess that under a different trainer, Medina Spirit would never have needed corticosteroids. Betamethasone reduces inflammation and suppresses any immune response. The question is did Medina Spirit perform as the fastest horse on the track because he felt no pain?

Inflammation is pain. If a horse has issues that lead to inflammation while running on the track he will not perform well. Secretariat at one time in his career wasn't performing well after a lot of impressive victories. His performance fell off and finally, a veterinarian was called in to examine the champion thoroughbred. He was sound as a dollar. He had no leg problems, but, he wasn't eating well. He was off his feed.

The veterinarian finally diagnosed an abscessed tooth in the back of his mouth. Did he give him painkillers or steroids of any kind to put the horse back on the track? No. The vet treated the abscess and Secretariat was back to running in no time without any injuries or ailments.

When animals for any reason are given drugs to improve their performance it is usually the people involved that have the illness. They see the animal as a commodity. That point of view is what placed the thoroughbred race horse in jeopardy as a viable breed about a decade ago. Most of the horses racing, even the champions, needed a diuretic in order to win. The breed itself was being looked at as more of a detriment to breeding strong and healthy racehorses. The champions weren't really champions as the horses of the past.

What Bob Baffert did was wrong. He is of the "old school" that racehorses need to be handled so they always win, including using medical enhancements. That is not the way champions should perform. Champion racehorses that win prizes like the Triple Crown are supposed to be the best of the best. A drugged-up horse, no matter the drug is not performing in the true spirit of the breed. It was wrong to provide an enhancement to Medina Spirit's performance in the Derby. It isn't cancel culture. 

May9, 2021
By Matt Hegarty

Medina Spirit, (click here) who led from start to finish in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 to post a hard-fought half-length victory, tested positive for betamethasone, a regulated anti-inflammatory, after the race, according to his trainer, Bob Baffert, who acknowledged the test result Sunday morning during a press conference on the backside of Churchill Downs.

Medina Spirit tested positive for “21 picograms” per milliliter of blood serum, according to Baffert, who was accompanied at the press conference by his attorney, Craig Roberston. Baffert said that Medina Spirit had “never” been administered the corticosteroid, and he vowed to fight the positive, which has not yet been confirmed through a split-sample test....

The USA does not lead on gender equality, except, for a few judical precedents. The lack of USA leader shows around the world with less rights for women and girls.

May 7, 2021
By Gabriela Baczynska

Lobbying by Poland and Hungary (click here) has led to the removal of the phrase "gender equality" from a Friday declaration on advancing social cohesion in the European Union as it strives to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poland's nationalist ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and eurosceptic ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban promote what they call traditional social values at home and have repeatedly clashed with their more liberal Western peers over the rights of women, gay people and migrants.

The two countries opposed mentioning "gender equality" directly in a statement by the bloc's 27 national leaders, who are meeting in the Portuguese city of Porto on Friday and Saturday to look for ways to reduce social and economic inequalities that widened during the pandemic....

Gender, believe it or not, is still a real political issue in the USA, and women of all ethnicities are disadvantaged.

May 3, 2021

By Pete Williams

Virginia and two other states (click here) filed notice Monday that they intend to appeal a federal judge's ruling that said their votes to ratify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment came too late.

"Throughout the years, efforts to have the Equal Rights Amendment added to the Constitution have met with many impediments, but every single time this movement has overcome those hurdles and come out the other side stronger than ever," said Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford joined in the appeal.

The three states — the most recent to vote for ratification — had asked a federal judge to declare that the amendment was formally adopted after Virginia last year became the 38th state to vote to ratify it. They argued that a deadline for adoption had no force of law, since it was placed only in the amendment's proposing clause, not in the actual text that the states voted on....

The family that test and vaccinates together, stay together.

May 10, 2021
By Carolyn B.Johnson

The Food and Drug Administration (click here) cleared the first coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children as young as 12 on Monday, expanding access to the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to adolescents ahead of the next school year and marking another milestone in the nation’s battle with the virus.

The decision that the two-shot regimen is safe and effective for younger adolescents had been highly anticipated by many parents and pediatricians, particularly with the growing gap between what vaccinated and unvaccinated people may do safely. Evidence suggests that schools can function at low risk with prevention measures, such as masks and social distancing. But vaccines are poised to increase confidence in resuming in-person activities and are regarded as pivotal to returning to normalcy.

“Adolescents, especially, have suffered tremendously from the covid pandemic. Even though they’re less likely than adults to be hospitalized or have severe illness, their lives really have been curtailed in many parts of the country,” said Kawsar R. Talaat, an assistant professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “A vaccine gives them an extra layer of protection and allows them to go back to being kids.”...

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Russia and China should be held responsible for profiting off others' suffering. There is a reason these communist countries ignore calls for peace, climate, and international peace. It is called PROFITS.

May 9, 2021
By Lee Brown

Wild images show thousands of assault weapons, (click here) machine guns and sniper rifles the US Navy says it found on a sailing ship believed to be bringing them from Iran to support the war in Yemen.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey discovered the weapons hidden aboard a dhow, a traditional Mideast sailing ship spotted in the northern reaches of the Arabian Sea off Oman and Pakistan, the Navy said Sunday alongside images and video of the arsenal laid out.

The huge cache was found below deck, most wrapped in green plastic, officials said of the two-day operation that started Thursday.

It included nearly 3,000 Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, a variant of the Kalashnikov, as well as hundreds of other heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, the Navy said.

There were also dozens of advanced, Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, and several hundred rocket-propelled grenade launchers and optical sights for weapons, according to the Navy....

These are not minor weapons. Russia and China got away with it under the previous administration. It is time for the global community to act as one and end the export of weapons by Russia and China. Global embargoes on all raw materials imported by Russia and China that produce these weapons should be sanctioned. The soldiers on the USS Monterey saved lives, why didn't Russia and China care more for the thousand upon thousands that would have died?

Thousands of illicit weapons are displayed onboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey.

"Good Night, Moon"

The new

28.0 days old

2.5 percent lit

22 April 2021
By Jacinta Bowler

Update (22 April 2021): (click here) Since we first wrote about the Moon Trees, interest in these wonderful living relics of the Apollo era has renewed. Now, the Royal Astronomical Society and the UK Space Agency have begun a quest to search for these trees across Britain.

According to a recent BBC Radio 4 program, around 15 of these trees were planted in the UK. However, any records of how the seeds may have arrived in the country are nowhere to be found.

"Space has a wonderful way of inspiring people. We saw that excitement when space saplings grown from the seeds from Newton's apple tree were planted on our soil," says space exploration expert Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency.

"I'll be interested in discovering if any of the Moon seeds came to the UK and what has become of them."

To learn more about the Moon Trees, you can read our original article below.

Original (12 July 2019): On 31 January 1971, the Apollo 14 mission launched from Earth and spent nine days in space. Along with the necessary space gear, scientific equipment, and two golf balls, the Kitty Hawk command module was also housing 500 seeds....

Net Zero is the only real answer.

I started blogging in 2004 after a perfect stranger stated I had a lot to say and people need to hear it. That was 16 years ago. At one point during those 16 years, I remember the Washington Post stating the issue of the climate has moved faster than any other topic the paper had covered. I would like to think that was true, but, then what is holding everyone back?

For the first time in those 16 years, I finally feel there is a president in the White House that actually cares about the climate crisis and hears the cries of the young people. Clinton and Obama had some influence, but, the petroleum industry and the financial institutions like Goldman and Dimon still hang on intensely to the cash flow that oil provides their investment banks. 

But, for the first time during this effort do I finally feel as though everyone concerned about a terrible reality is being heard. For god sake people, what the heck takes so long to bring about change that is going to last to save the Earth for generations to come. Elon Musk might be more than willing to escape into outer space, but, most of us are not so inclined. Sol, our sun, is not about to supernova and we kinda like it here.

Some of the greatest scientists in the world have been carrying this warning for the past 60 years. When is that message finally going to break through and we have a plan for modern society that is sustainable. If people like things to stay the same more than they like change, then let's get this over and done with so the next 100 generations don't have to change a thing.

It is so good of everyone to notice something scientists have been pointing out for decades.

By Elle Hunt, Nick Evershed, Dave Fanner and Andy Ball

When Cliff Goodwin first came to Franz Josef (click here) he didn’t know what a glacier was. It was 2001, and Goodwin had been travelling down the length of New Zealand from his hometown Taranaki, doing odd jobs: fruit picking, housekeeping. “I worked until I had $1,000, then I travelled until I had $100,” he says.

Goodwin had been intending to top up his bank account, then go. But soon after arriving in Franz Josef – on the West Coast of the South Island, at the foot of the Southern Alps – he went to see the town’s biggest draw for himself.

A short drive into the valley, Goodwin was confronted by the bright white face of the glacier: a thick seam of ice churning its way down from the mountains and into the stony riverbed below. The sight of snow was almost startling, so close to the ocean – the glacier terminates only 20km from the Tasman Sea – and so close up.

But Goodwin was not content just to look. “I did what most young boys did: jumped over the barriers, went and walked on the ice, and had a great old time,” he says. “It was awesome. I didn’t have any shoes on, either.”

Soon afterwards, Goodwin got a job as a glacier guide – and one season turned into many. Now he and his wife Tash run their own company, taking nature walking tours through the glacier valley.

What drew Goodwin in was the local history – stories of the glacier’s storming advances, sometimes so fast that snow would swallow shoes left at its base within a day; and the subsequent periods of retreat, revealing gear and paths from the past.

On the computer in his office, Goodwin has collected thousands of photos of the glacier, dating back to the late 19th century and its early days as a tourist destination.

“I fell in love with the glacier a long time ago – I think just because it’s moving, it’s living, it’s changing,” he says. “You can try and understand it, predict it, know what it’s going to do next.”

By nature, glaciers go through phases of advance and retreat. But lately these immense bodies of ice – so vast and ancient as to have carved the surface of the Earth – have been losing ground in a warming world.

Over 40 years, annual aerial surveys of the Southern Alps have shown the altitude at which snow persists throughout the year is climbing higher, and the overall volume of ice reducing – with flow-on effects for the glaciers.

Analysis by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) revealed that from 1977 to 2014, a third of the permanent snow and ice was lost from the Southern Alps – a dramatic decline that began accelerating rapidly in the last 15 years.

More recent surveys have been even more sobering. The summer of 2017-2018 – which saw January temperatures of nearly 3C warmer than average – was the worst on record, scientists said. Some glaciers had shrunk so much, they were hard to see; many would be gone within decades.

A new analysis of more than 200,000 global glaciers found that those in New Zealand showed record thinning of 1.5m a year from 2015-2019 – a nearly sevenfold increase compared to 2000-2004....

The Paradise Parrot disappeared at the same time indiginous people were being massacred.

1 May 2021
By Paul Daley

Few but the most dedicated ornithologist (click here) will know anything about Australia’s Paradise parrot.

That is because it has the dubious distinction of being the only mainland Australian bird marked “extinct” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Its premature vanishment almost a century ago, meanwhile, remains prescient today when it comes to how best to protect other threatened Australian avian species.

That the Paradise parrot – Psephotellus pulcherimus – was already on the verge of extinction by 1900 in its habitat on the Darling Downs in the Queensland colony speaks volumes about the dramatic environmental impact of colonisation on native grassy woodlands....

And they call it progress.

First it was that the churches had more power than the CDC.

Now, it is just any landlord in the country has more power than the CDC. Are judges so ideological they don't even see the deaths and illnesses and the potential for viral spread in their own cities? It is ridiculous. The judges have this idea that legal decisions are always based on the ideology of law.

WRONG!

Law, when it comes to curtailing a pandemic is REAL!

It is one thing to have a head of state make an executive order based on health care because they are not qualified to make such decisions. But, the health of the country is the business of the CDC. Like, huh?

May 5, 2021
By Kyle Swenson

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (click here) ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its legal authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium, a ruling that could affect millions of struggling Americans.

In a 20-page order, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich vacated the CDC order, first put in place during the coronavirus pandemic under the Trump administration and now set to expire June 30.

“It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic,” the order states. “The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not.”...

Methane is in violation of Environmental Justice.

May 5, 2021
By Michael Hawthorne

Pollution from natural gas (click here) is now responsible for more deaths and greater health costs than coal in Illinois, according to a new study highlighting another hazard of burning fossil fuels that are scrambling the planet’s climate.

Researchers at Harvard University found that a shift away from coal during the past decade saved thousands of lives and dramatically reduced health impacts from breathing particulate matter, commonly known as soot. But the numbers declined only slightly for gas, another fossil fuel that by 2017 accounted for the greatest health risks.

About half the deaths from soot exposure that year can be attributed to the state’s reliance on gas to heat homes and businesses, the study found. Coal is more deadly only when used to generate electricity.

The alarming findings raise questions about whether Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed transition to a zero-carbon economy would move fast enough in phasing out the use of gas — not only to blunt the impacts of climate change but also to ensure Illinoisans breathe clean air.

Chicago appears to be locked into a gas-dependent future. Peoples Gas is charging its customers $7.7 billion during the next two decades to replace aging distribution lines throughout the city, even though an accelerating shift to renewable energy could make the project obsolete before it’s completed....

Yes, when fossil fuels burn they cause soot. No one ever saw the residuals of gas burning in a stove above the pilot light?

Symposium (International) on Combustion

Volume 15, Issue 1, 1975, Pages 1427-1438

Soot formation in methane-oxygen flames (click here) 

By A.D'Alessio, A.Di Lorenzo, A.F.Sarofim,*F.Beretta, S.Masi, C.Venitozzi

The physical and chemical processes governing soot formation in the burned gas region of an atmospheric, premixed flat CH4/O2 flame have been studied, using scatter and extinction by the flame to characterize particle size and number, and samples withdrawn from the flame to characterize the soot H/C ratio and the concentration of soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PCAH) and the principal gas constituents. A range of CH4/O2 ratios of 0.95 to 1.35 was covered. The mean particle size was found to increase with height above the burner from 50above the oxidation zone to 150at 18 mm (∼40 msec) for a CH4/O2 ratio of 0.95, and from 50to 1530for a CH4/O2 ratio of 1.27. Soot deposition was found to persist in the burned gas region, and surface growth rates ranged from 0.8/msec at CH4/O2=0.95 to 4/msec at CH4/O2=1.27. The observed increase in particle diameters was dominated, however, by the coagulation of particles and the coagulation constants deduced from the data ranged from a value that agreed with theory at R=0.95 to a value that was an order of magnitude larger than the theoretical values at R=1.35. The total concentration of PCAH was found to increase continuously with height but the ratio of PCAH to soot decreased. Individual PCAH were found to increase either continuously with height or to pass through a maximum. The H/C ratio in the soot was found to decrease with height from a value of 0.34 to 0.24. Pyrolytic dehydrogenation of the soot samples at 1000°C reduced the H/C values to 0.1.

The Pentagon is back to talking to the people. Nice.

The certainty of a future was never a question, now, it is.

April 22, 2021
By Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Before COVID-19 crashed into our world, governments (click here) had two major crises to tackle: the oil price crash and the climate crisis. Now that three crises have converged, so too can the path through them. We can rebuild clean and healthy with trillions of dollars of stimulus, transitioning away from fossil fuels to clean infrastructure and industries that create millions of jobs, overcome deep social inequalities and create a thriving economy.

In our book, The Future We Choose, we outline two possible futures; one where we act to halve emissions in this decade, and the one imagined in extract below, if we fail.

It is 2050. Beyond the emissions reductions registered in 2015, no further efforts were made to control emissions. We are heading for a world that will be more than 3 degrees warmer by 2100.

The first thing that hits you is the air.

In many places around the world, the air is hot, heavy, and depending on the day, clogged with particulate pollution. Your eyes often water. Your cough never seems to disappear. You can no longer simply walk out your front door and breathe fresh air. Instead, before opening doors or windows in the morning, you check your phone to see what the air quality will be. Everything might look fine—sunny and clear—but you know better. When storms and heat waves overlap and cluster, the air pollution and intensified surface ozone levels can make it dangerous to go outside without a specially designed face mask (which only some can afford).

Our world is getting hotter, an irreversible development now utterly beyond our control. We have already passed tipping points, like The Great Melting of the Arctic sea ice, which used to reflect the sun’s heat. Oceans, forests, plants, trees, and soil had for many years absorbed half the carbon dioxide we spewed out. Now there are few forests left, most of them either logged or consumed by wildfire, and the permafrost is belching greenhouse gases into an already overburdened atmosphere....

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The horse had a great pedigree, why mess with it? Bob Baffert (click here). I thought he had turned a corner. I guess not.

Medina Spirit's reputation is ruined. He won't be a triple crown winner and now there is skepticism as to the quality of his Derby win. Why give these great horses to trainers with poor reputations?

May 9, 2021
By Jason Frakes

Trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday morning Medina Spirit tested positive (click here) for betamethasone after winning the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs, a result that ultimately could lead to the horse’s disqualification.

Baffert disputed the positive test result of 21 picograms, saying Medina Spirit “has never been treated with betamethasone (click here),” which is an anti-inflammatory drug.

According to Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regulations, a second positive test – called a “split sample” – is required before a horse can be disqualified.

Baffert said he didn’t know when the result of the split sample will be available. Marc Guilfoil, executive director of the KHRC, said the positive test result was received Friday.

“During the investigation, both the trainer and owner of the horse will be afforded due process and opportunity to appeal,” Guilfoil said. “Therefore, the KHRC will not provide further comment at this time.”...

This is Kentucky and not New Jersey, but, the testing of these horses is always under scrutiny. Either a track and commission believes in fair play or not.

March 3, 2020

How bad is New Jersey’s split sample rule? (click here)

First, it is contrary to the best practices as set forth by the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Safety & Integrity Alliance, and the model rules of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).

It is also unfair to horsemen. Very unfair.

Background

Recently, I wrote a piece called, “New Jersey drug finding: Bad regulation and poor judgment equals injustice for Monmouth Park trainer.” In that piece, I wrote about a trainer, Glenn Thompson, who won a maiden race last July at Monmouth Park only to be disqualified for a positive test, despite the fact that the split sample results were below the regulatory threshold set by the New Jersey Racing Commission’s (NJRC) own regulation....

Trump's pandemic has been good for gun sales.

Interesting statement "Gun violence spiked at the beginning of the pandemic and has remained high."

Why? Guns aren't going to kill the virus. It is fear. The heightened fear that is the basis of Trump politics took hold. The trend does look as though it is returning to a lower level in 2021.

 

PUT DOWN THE GUNS AND GET VACCINATED!

April 26, 2021
By Nigel Chiwaya

It may feel like America entered a new wave of gun violence in 2021, (click here) but a review of shootings with multiple victims shows that their frequency has been unusually high for more than a year.

Data from the Gun Violence Archive shows that the number of multiple-victim shootings first spiked in April 2020 and has stayed high since. The most recent wave of shootings around the country, including the April 15 attack in Indianapolis where eight people were killed at a FedEx facility, is just the latest symptom of that trend.

The deadly pattern has continued this year. There have been 160 shootings from Jan. 1 to April 26 in which four or more people were injured or killed, compared to just over 90 during the same period in 2020. And this year’s total is nearly double the average for the same time period for every year since 2014....

People buy guns out of fear and then they become weapons in revenge of hurt and anger.

PUT THE GUNS DOWN, AMERICA!

May 9, 2021

By Shelly Bradbury

A man walked into a birthday party in Colorado Springs (click here) early Sunday and opened fire, killing six people before ending his own life, police said, in what is now one of Colorado’s deadliest mass shootings.

Freddy Marquez, who attended the party with his wife and children, but left before the shooting, said all of the victims were members of the same extended family, which had gathered to celebrate the birthdays of Marquez’s wife and her brother.

The shooting happened just after midnight at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park in the 2800 block of Preakness Way, Colorado Springs police Lt. James Sokolik said in a news release.

Investigators believe the shooter, who has not been publicly identified, was the boyfriend of a woman at the party.

“He drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life,” Sokolik said in the news release.

None of the children at the party were hurt and they are now in the care of relatives, police said....