There is a lot that bothers me about US Senator John Thune's speech.

Senator Thune is playing politics on the US Senate floor with the issue of defunding the police. He along with many of his colleagues of the Republican Party is investing a lot of political rhetoric on two topics, police defunding and inflation. The defunding of the police rhetoric also is accompanied by support for the gun lobby by saying that guns have nothing to do with the increased violence in our cities so much the lack of police presence as it existed before.

To begin there is no reason for me to address a financial issue here, but, the inflation Republicans hold dear as a spending problem is not that at all, it is a savings problem. During the time Americans were quarantined at home they received income to support themselves and their families. They saved money, and who wouldn't given the surprise attack of a virus by a president that was unqualified to protect them. But, to conclude, when the economy opened up people began to spend those monies they were saving and it was on big-ticket items, such as cars and homes. As a result, the higher demand which was counter to the demand only a short time ago by quarantine, resulted in supply chain shortages as cutbacks occurred during the virus shut down. I think most Americans can discern the inability of capitalism to maintain REASONABLE prices when demand skyrockets vs an otherwise poor economy with high-interest rates that normally drive inflation.

As to Mr. Thune, he is a very inflammatory figure in his rhetorical speech on the US Senate floor chamber. I will place evidence here that dispels his rhetoric. But, what bothers me more is the fact he has now labeled himself as a person that believes in spending plenty on the country's police. He will not back away from that rhetoric and it is wrongful rhetoric. However, Mr. Thune will never apologize for the rhetoric and instead will double down on it and demand legislative resolves to his nonsensical politics. 

There has been an uptick in violence in major cities around the country. 

August 16, 2021

By Josh Campbell

...From May to June 2020, (click here) homicides in 20 major US cities increased by 37%, led by Chicago, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, according to new data from the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) think tank. Aggravated assaults jumped by 35% over the same period of time, while other types of crime were down....

Those are the facts, but, they are not all the facts. Gun sales escalated beyond any expectations during the same period of time. Before I get into the very significant gun issue, there was a decrease in other crimes, too.

Crime Rates and COVID-19 (click here) : A Review of Data from 27 American Cities

You can read it for yourself, but, all the crime rates were down after the shutdown was instituted. Less of everything from purse snatching to drug crimes that normally occur "on the street."

Property and drug crime rates fell significantly during the spring and early summer of 2020, coinciding with stay-at-home mandates and business closings. Residential burglary dropped by 20% between February and June 2020. Larceny and drug offenses decreased by 17% and 57%, respectively, between March and June. These declines reflect quarantines (people staying home resulting in reduced opportunities for residential burglary), business closings (reduced opportunities for shoplifting), and reduced police and street activity (fewer open-air drug transactions)....

Below are graphs below regarding the sales of guns in the USA comes from a group by the name of "The Trace (click here)." The Trace's front page is interesting as well. They go beyond awareness to advocacy such as this article.

If adopted, (click here) the rule would require brace owners to apply to the NFA Division, which has long been understaffed and routinely misses its own performance benchmarks.

The very agencies and offices within the federal government required to do the policing have been stripped of their capacity to keep up with their responsibilities. They are understaffed. So much for safeguards.

But as to The Trace gun sales recordkeeping (click here). The graphs look confusing, but, the color difference displays separate types of guns. The blue are handguns and the more orange or peach color are long guns (rifles and shotguns).

The pandemic sales are especially enlightening. The sales of long guns even went through the roof, but, the sales of handguns are incredibly high. Now, what do gun sales have to do with homicides? For real? Mr. Thune isn't aware of the spike in gun sales. To me, the record-setting gun sales have directly contributed to homicides in our larger cities.

I sat in on a recent meeting that provided the necessary 8-hour exposure to guns and their laws in order to get a concealed carry permit, a story was told of two men who were arguing over their mobile phones while driving down a highway with their families were in the car. The argument became so heated the two men pulled off the highway and walked to the back and front of their cars and killed each other with concealed carry permitted handguns in their cars. Right there in front of their families. Two dead providers, to the well-being of their families killed each by the side of the road because they could not hold their anger, and the guns, were handy.

That is the real cost of having so many guns on the street, it creates solutions to social arguments that didn't exist before.

But, certainly, Mr. Thune knew about these statistics alongside that of his rant about defunding police. During the protest marches police were also used differently. Rather than patrolling, they were downtown with riot gear on to confront protesters.

The pandemic caused economic hardship which increases stress resulting in violence and in the USA where guns flow like water, the violence is met with a new answer, the power of a pistol.

"The Trace" goes beyond these graphs to drop-down menus that show gun sales over time and state by state. It seems like an excellent resource that has done it's homework.

If there are more guns on the street it is guaranteed there will be more homicides. The power of the final solution to any hate, greed or anger is too tempting to many people.

So, why is the increase in homicides in USA cities happening; economic strife, anxiety with the pandemic, the death of George Floyd and the continual trials to find justice for his heinous death, a social movement to defund police, the demoralization of police who do their best to do a good job, and the change in assignment of police from neighborhood policing to confronting protesters. Heavy within this dynamic was and is racism that was palpable. 

So, while Mr. Thune tries to villanize the Democratic Party as those that allow violence and even propagate it while hating police, he is dead wrong. He is exploiting a SINGLE dynamic of these very upsetting and sad statistics in order to play his particular type of politics. The explosion of homicides in our cities is complicated and isn't solved by ONLY placing police on the street. That is how we got here in the first place.

  

The human cost of violence is present with the Capitol Police.

This resulted because of Republican politics. The day of January 6, 2021 was supposed to be a great day for the USA that their democracy actually works as it was designed. Instead, a crowd of violent participants stormed the USA Capitol building with no reverence for the greatness of the country they wanted to disrupt.

Some of the violence came from legitimate militiamen who actually wanted to do away with the government. Others were there to spawn a consumer base for their homegrown company, at least that is what some have said. But, the majority of those that violated civil law and marched into the Capitol to conduct vandalism, the mayhem of the proceedings, and even capture legislators to be hung in a gallows that was built on the grounds were political activists for the right-wing Republicans.

This is their politics. They are violent and do not believe in government so much as anarchy. As a result valuable people taking care of the US Capitol and it's legislators now have permanent scars. PTDS does not go away and interrupts people's lives without notice.

These brave people that care for our most cherished buildings and people of government need to be recognized for the infliction of the pain resulting from the events of January 6, 2021. They should be provided the benefits they need permanently, regardless, of their personal choices to continue to work for the government or to leave. There should be a fund to provide any needed services. We do this for our 911 heroes and we certainly can do this for these magnificent police.

July 24, 2021
By Peter Hermann

Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, a Capitol Police officer, is suffering from physical and psychological injuries stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection

More than six months after Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell (click here) battled the mob that stormed the Capitol, he remains hobbled, a hand scarred, a shoulder aching, recovering from surgery to an injured foot that swelled so large it no longer fit his shoe.

The 42-year-old Capitol Police officer and Army reservist is also seeing a therapist to help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), first diagnosed after he served in the war in Iraq.

He said bouts of anxiety returned after his battle on American soil in the Jan. 6 riot.

“I can be fine now and see or hear something and next thing I get tears and get emotional,” said Gonell, who was hurt when rioters tried to yank away his ballistic shield, threw a speaker at him, struck him in the face with a pole and sprayed him with chemical irritants.

“I tried to be strong,” he said of the months following the riot. “I tried not to show my emotion.” But once, he said, he retreated to a quiet space at his home in Virginia, away from his wife and 9-year-old son: “I completely broke down.”....

The News Media has been the best record keeper of the poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan.

"The Intercept" has printed an article listing the vast level of corruption that has surrounded the poisoning of a city. It is a considerable issue to consider. The evidence is incomplete, therefore the prosecutions are incomplete. Powerful people can literally get away with murder. That is not the way of the Rule of Law of this country, but, it is occurring and Flint, Michigan is a prime example.

July 21, 2021

By Jordan Chariton, Jenn Dize

...Investigators (click here) also discovered that phone data belonging to a key official close to Snyder was completely erased shortly before the Flint criminal investigation was launched.

Sara Wurfel, Snyder’s press secretary during the water crisis in 2014 through fall 2015, told Flood her phone was “wiped” when she left her job at the end of November 2015, after a civil suit was filed against the Snyder administration and a month before the launch of the Flint water criminal investigation.

“Do you have text messages from 2015 currently [on your phone]?” Flood asked Wurfel in a confidential interview obtained by The Intercept.

“No. So when I left the governor’s office, everything got wiped. I mean, when — I turned in my phone, it got wiped,” Wurfel told Flood. Wurfel, who kept her state cellphone number when she left her government job, said she didn’t recall if she had been asked to hand in her phone at any other time in 2015 prior to leaving her job in November. She also said she didn’t think that she had used iCloud to back up her phone data....

Where does corruption begin and why?

These are the stables of Glenn Youngkin.. Mr. Youngkin was able to get a 95 percent tax reduction because it is recently declared as an agricultural assessment.

Below is Glenn Youngkin and his wife, Suzanne. He is a newly minted GOP candidate for Governor in Virginia. There are a lot of horse farms in Virginia. Hm?

July 23, 2021
By Patrick Wilson

GOP gubernatorial nominee (click here) Glenn Youngkin and his wife last year successfully petitioned Fairfax County to designate their horse farm as an agricultural district, which led to a 95% reduction in the taxes they pay on the 31.5-acre property in Great Falls that surrounds their home.

The agricultural district reduced the Youngkins’ real estate tax bill on the farm by a total of $151,844.90 in 2020 and 2021 combined, according to public information that the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration provided to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in a statement that the couple sought the agricultural designation as part of a commitment to environmental stewardship and conservation.

“The Youngkins made their home in Fairfax County in order to meaningfully enjoy and care for the unique land and habitat of the area,” the statement said. “The Youngkins are wholly committed to keeping the land protected and preserved, and remain in full compliance with all local, state and federal laws, regulations, tax codes and ordinances.”...

That all seems very noble and responsible and even a left-wingish Liberal Republican, except, environmental stewardship is not considered an agricultural designation in Virginia's agricultural assessment.

...Title 58.1-3230 of the Code of Virginia (click here) states that, “a county, city, or town may adopt an an ordinance that provides for use-value assessment under four categories: real estate devoted to agricultural use, horticultural use, forest use and open space use. Land used in agricultural and forestal production in an agricultural district, a forestal district, or an agricultural/forestal district is eligible for use value assessment in the absence of a local ordinance.” The State Land Use Advisory Council (SLEAC) was created in 1973 to estimate the use value of qualifying land for every locality participating in a use-value program. As of now, 64 counties and 13 cities in Virginia including Albemarle County participate in a use-value program. There are some people, like Martha Moore of the Virginia Farm Bureau who see land use assessment as an effective (if temporary) method to halt excessive land development. Moore says, “Without land use assessment, the tax burden would increase so rapidly that the land would not be able to be used for agriculture or forestry operations. There would be development at a rapid pace rather than at a planned pace.”...

The only assessment that remotely applies to the Youngkin's estate is "Open Space Use." I stress USE in that designation because accordingly, this is a private residence and not open to the use of the public. If the Youngkins are going to say their estate is Open Space Use, then every backyard in the State of Virginia should receive the same agricultural designation.

It is a sham. As a result of a corrupt president the USA has the most extremist Supreme Court in history.

I was a good boy, went to the finest schools, was an ordinary drinking bastard that sexually assaulted whatever women could be trapped, worked within the system to achieve a station of power to remove the rights of citizens and replace them with religious dogma. And why? Because it was what my parents and the power structure that accepted by wayward credentials wanted.

July 22, 2021
By Kate Kelly

Nearly three years after Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s (click here) tumultuous confirmation to the Supreme Court, the F.B.I. has disclosed more details about its efforts to review the justice’s background, leading a group of Senate Democrats to question the thoroughness of the vetting and conclude that it was shaped largely by the Trump White House.

In a letter dated June 30 to two Democratic senators, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Chris Coons of Delaware, an F.B.I. assistant director, Jill C. Tyson, said that the most “relevant” of the 4,500 tips the agency received during an investigation into Mr. Kavanaugh’s past were referred to White House lawyers in the Trump administration, whose handling of them remains unclear.

The letter left uncertain whether the F.B.I. itself followed up on the most compelling leads. The agency was conducting a background check rather than a criminal investigation, meaning that “the authorities, policies, and procedures used to investigate criminal matters did not apply,” the letter said.

Ms. Tyson’s letter was a response to a 2019 letter from Mr. Whitehouse and Mr. Coons to the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, posing questions about how the F.B.I.’s review of Mr. Kavanaugh was handled....

Based on this reality, the Senate Democrats will draft a bill to demand all records be sent to the confirmation committee to expose wrongdoing and ethical violation. That bill will die when McConnell demands a filibuster and the people of the USA will be trapped in a corrupt judiciary at the highest levels of the court. It will happen because ONE MAN CAN STOP VITAL LEGISLATION TO KEEP THIS DEMOCRACY ALIVE AND TRUE TO IT'S RULE OF LAW.

The reason this occurred is that the FBI falls under the authority of the Executive Branch no more than Homeland Security and the Border Guards. One person in the White House with the power the USA can muster to protect itself and bestow to the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED KING can undo every democratic norm to ensure a theocracy that violates the rights of every citizen that falls outside the Christian dogma.

That is why this occurred. It wasn't the FBI, it's practices, or the ability of it's agents, but, the power over that agency by the president. It is wrong and the confirmation committee should have the right to receive all reports about a nominee and to openly question that nominee to guarantee the American judiciary is free of any form of corruption, including theocratic dogma.

What Trump did here was unethical as was the four years of his presidency, yet, no one seemed to be able to remove him from the very highest office in this country, while Senate Republicans pretended to be able to control his corrupt demands upon this democracy. Kavanaugh is one of them!

This is a particulate map of the United States.

Fire and Smoke Map (click here)

The spots can be clicked on to show the level of particulates in the air caused by the fires in the country. I guarantee you there are emergency rooms full of people with lung conditions today. Add to that the fact the pandemic numbers are increasing and the hospitals have their hands full.

It is primarily the national forests that are on fire in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.

Current Large Incidents (click here) It is going to be very difficult to fight those fires due to their close proximity. The firefighters won't know if the one they are fighting is being contained or not because as one fire might be diminished another is burning right behind it making visibility impossible.

Depending on where the fires and smoke are dangerous (click here), camping is out of the question.

I am proud of her. She is protecting the US Constitution and refuses to allow Republicans a political stage.

Speaker Pelosi has passed some incredibly wonderful legislation that directly benefits this country, with the Child Tax Credit as one. And have to face an extremist agenda from the Minority leader McCarthy is profound disrespect for her, for the country, and the USA Constitution. McCarthy is a political minion for Trump and has no regard for the country. 

No one is supposed to be playing politics with the USA Constitution. It is not a toy to bantered around. The two House members she banned from a bipartisan committee were going to make a circus out of a very serious insurrection they don't even believe was an insurrection, so much as party politics.

PEOPLE DIED ON JANUARY 6, 2021. A Capitol Police Officer gave his life to protect the election process and the future of the USA Constitution. There is no room for Republicans to treat the US Constitution as political fodder. This is not a game!

Those two House Republicans were picked by Trump, not McCarthy. McCarthy was just to visit Trump in Maralago and the choice for the Republicans on the committee was solicited by Trump. Just that simple. 

In the meantime, there are people being indicted in New York (click here), there is an off duty DEA agent that was at the Capitol on January 6th with his gun (click here), and there is the first prison sentence for a participant that day (click here).

Kevin McCarthy should be putting restrictions on the members of his party in the US House unfit to back to represent their constituents because they back Trump's Big Lie (click here). They are not competent to serve. Jordan is still wanted for questioning from his former coaching position that exploited young men for sex (click here). McCarthy should not be pandering to right-wing extremists. They just had CPAC so they are all hyped. CPAC is not the GOP although they would like to think they are and their money is used to back political sellouts that vote for their cronies' demands and not their constituents.

I take it US Rep. Elizabeth Cheney was the farthest from McCarthy's mind when the committee selection took place.

Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats are doing a magnificent job for the country and it is a national shame the Republicans causing such problems in the USA Senate. The obstruction has gone on too long.

July 21, 2021

By Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany, and Karoun Demirjian

Plans for a bipartisan committee (click here) to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection fell apart Wednesday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) moved to block two controversial Republicans appointed by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from sitting on the panel — paving the way for two separate and largely partisan investigations of the violent attack on the Capitol.

Pelosi called on McCarthy to name two new Republicans to the committee after refusing to appoint conservative Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a privilege she has as speaker. As staunch backers of former president Donald Trump, both members voted against his impeachment and pushed to overturn the election results certifying Joe Biden as president.

“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”....

I don't speak Polish. I think we get the picture. I believe Poland is a NATO country as well.

This is Głogoczów, Poland on July, 2021.

   

Oh dear, what a shame. Blame the Republicans. They are the ones with the old wives tales about bleach and the NO MASK MANDATE.

July 19, 2021
By Paul R. LaMonica

New York (CNN Business)Investors are getting spooked by the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases as the Delta variant spreads across the globe.

The Dow fell about 725 points Monday, a drop of 2.1%. The S&P 500 ended the day down 1.6% and the Nasdaq was 1.1% lower.

This was the worst day for the Dow since a 943-point drop in late October, and it was the biggest decline this year. But the blue chip market barometer has had several even bigger point plunges since the start of 2020 due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Dow plummeted more than 1,000 points six times last year, with five of those market meltdowns taking place in March at the start of the pandemic in America. The Dow suffered its biggest point slide ever on March 16, 2020, dropping nearly 3,000 points — a 13% freefall....

If Wall Street thinks this is bad, wait to see what happens when the Republicans actually hold an insurrection and it turns the country into opposing warring parties rather than political parties. Isn't that what the generals are REALly afraid of?

The Delta virus is real and dangerous. It will kill. It will do a lot of damage to unvaccinated people. The "Long Haulers" will create a disability class of people that every country will have to cope with. And why all this tragedy? Because the Republicans played a game with the electorate. They actually gave themselves permission to play politics with one of the most deadly viruses on Earth.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson suddenly came out with "Freedom Day." It is the idea that everyone with vaccinations don't have a thing to worry about, but, be cautious when you need to. I think it is obvious what "Freedom Day" was for and it wasn't to celebrate the end of the pandemic, it was to give false hope to Wall Street. The UK will have a "COVID PASSPORT" for everyone vaccinated with two JABS. They use the word JABS instead of injection. The COVID PASSPORT is to recognize the people with complete immunity for nightclubs. Boris is excited about the vaccine for children age 12 to 15.

I was sitting outside Panera Bread in the USA the other day waiting for my curbside pick-up when a mother with two children walked into the shop. She was not wearing a mask, obviously vaccinated, and her two children about the ages of 5 and 7 were wearing their masks to try to protect from any virus in the air.

Delta is real and it is serious. The authorities are saying the vaccine helps PREVENT hospitalizations. The severe symptoms of the disease is far lower and the infection rate is lower. That is all good news. The infection rate is dropping compared to other escalations of the infected. The admission to hospitals is slower and less than any other exposure. We are doing something right.

I read a report that the INCENTIVIZED programs that award a million dollar to the lucky winner of the vaccine drawing; don't work. It did not spur all the unvaccinated to the vaccination sites to get their first JAB and a ticket to being a lucky winner besides being a winner in being vaccinated and IMMUNE to prevent serious disease.

Warning. 

There is another virus variant on the rise and it is not fully understood by scientists. They say this variant has different mutations than any other. There is some worry, although unspoken, as to this might be the level three virus we cannot stop.

July 14, 2021
By Sanjay Mishra

A coronavirus variant known as Lambda, (click here) which has largely slid under the radar for the past nine months, is now causing almost all new infections in Peru.

Lambda (also known as C.37) was first detected in Peru in August 2020 and has spread to 29 countries, many in Latin America. And, since January 20, 2021, 668 Lambda infections have been reported in the United States. In Peru, Lambda is now responsible for more than 90 percent of new COVID-19 cases, a steep rise from less than 0.5 percent in December. The country has already suffered the world’s worst mortality due to COVID-19; the disease has killed about 0.54 percent of the population.

...Peru has revised its official death toll (click here) in the covid-19 pandemic from 69 342 to 185 380, after a scientific review of medical records ordered by the government. The new figure means that Peru has had 5551 covid deaths per million population, proportionally the worst official toll in the world. Hungary, which before this week had the world’s highest official toll per capita, now stands a distant second at 3094 deaths per million....

...Many Peruvian households lack a fridge, necessitating daily trips to crowded food markets. In one acknowledged mis-step Peru became one of the first countries to issue relief cheques to compensate for lost income, but because only 38% of Peruvians have bank accounts they had to crowd into banks to collect cash....

Peruvians need an infrastructure of green energy in wind mills and solar panels to accommodate refrigerators. They also need ONLINE BANKING for those that do not have traditional bank accounts. Let's hope they have Wifi access, too.

The Lambda variant likely caused the high number of infections during the second wave between the end of March and April, Peruvian Minister of Health Óscar Ugarte said in a news conference. In neighboring Chile, where the primary vaccine is China’s CoronaVac, Lambda accounts for 31 percent of sequenced cases in the last 60 days. The high case numbers are occurring even though 58.6 percent of Chile’s population is fully vaccinated and another 10 percent has received a single dose. The poor efficacy of the vaccine maybe partly to blame. A study by the University of Chile found that a single dose of the CoronaVac vaccine was only 3 percent effective, but that rose to 56.5 percent after both doses....

The scientists up to now have not had difficulty deciphering the genetic code of the variants to classify and understand them. Lamda is an outliar. It is not standard virus genetics. Lamda is a worry. If this turns into a level three virus, we are all in a lot of trouble.

STOP THE SPREAD OF THESE VIRUSES. The more OPPORTUNITY they have to sample human DNA, the more of a mutation will occur, and it will over come our immune system.

The Republicans MUST end their politics of virual hubris. This is ridiculous and borders on inhumane and genocidal.

I usually put a rooster at the top of the blog but something serious has happened to a celebrated journalist. This picture was the way Albert Einstein's office looked the day he died.

David Siddiqui is celebrated in India (click here).

July 16, 2021

Danish Siddiqui, (click here) the Reuters journalist killed in crossfire on Friday covering the war in Afghanistan, was a largely self-taught photographer who scaled the heights of his profession while documenting wars, riots and human suffering.

A native of New Delhi, Siddiqui, 38, is survived by his wife Rike and two young children.

He was part of a team that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2018 for documenting Myanmar's Rohingya refugee crisis, a series described by the judging committee as "shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar."

Friends and colleagues described a man who cared deeply about the stories he covered, carrying out meticulous research before embarking on assignments and always focusing on the people caught up in the news....

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

9.2 days old

69.2 percent lit

Didn't I say to leave the moon alone. No digging, no transporting moon rock back to Earth that will result in a change in Earth's mass vs. that of the Moon. The Earth and it's moon have a delicate balance. Disturb that balance in a major way and we will all be sorry for being "just that stupid." I don't want to think about what will happen in Europe with the moon and Earth out of balance.

The reason Europe is devastated by floods is that a NORMAL jet stream is not at work anymore. It is there, but, diminished in it's ability to move air due to the heat that expands the air mass. The air mass of Earth now moving by two transport systems, "heat transport systems" that bring flooding rain and the Coriolis effect. The jet stream has little influence to the air masses of Earth compared to the past. The stalled air mass over Europe is what caused those enormous floods. People have to wait for the Coriolis effect of Earth to move the storming clouds away from those flooded areas.

July 16, 2021
By Dan Fastenberg

U.S. coastlines (click here) will face increasing flooding in the mid-2030s thanks to a regular lunar cycle that will magnify rising sea levels caused by climate change, according to research led by NASA scientists.

A key factor identified by the scientists is a regular "wobble" in the moon's orbit - first identified in the 18th century - that takes 18.6 years to complete. The moon's gravitational pull helps drive Earth's tides.

In half of this lunar cycle, Earth's regular daily tides are diminished, with high tides lower than usual and low tides higher than usual. In the cycle's other half, the situation is reversed, with high tides higher and low tides lower.

The expected flooding will result from the combination of the continuing sea level rise associated with climate change and the arrival of an amplification part of the lunar cycle in the mid-2030s, the researchers said....

One has to ask since the stratosphere is shrinking where is it going when it shrinks?

The only progress made regarding health care was by Democrats. They accomplished the Affordable Care Act and Patient Protection Plan on their own without any Republican support while FOX News gamed the legislation for ratings using the old "Hillary Strategy," from the time Gingrich was serving in the USA House.

The issue of the climate has never been addressed by the USA, except to corruptly let Big Oil dictate energy policy in the USA. Basically, the USA Congress has royally failed the entire world when it comes to the Climate Crisis.

This failure cannot continue. It cannot continue on racism, income inequality, healthcare, and the climate crisis. These huge issues change the way Americans live and their quality of life. The actions regarding climate will change the way Americans live today, but, also the way they may survive into the future.

The evidence is in, Earth itself in the way it maintains the upper layers of the atmosphere is in jeopardy. No one can ignore the findings of this past winter in that the MIXING of the troposphere and stratosphere has become more severe and is damaging the stratosphere, as it shrinks due to the mixing.

One has to ask if the stratosphere is shrinking where is it going when it shrinks?

We know all matter is stable. If two air masses interact in a mixing of the two where did the mixed atmosphere go because the stratosphere that is shrinking is giving up it's content to the mixing? Follow that?

The shrinkage of the stratosphere is not normal. It is occurring because it was impacted by the troposphere. The mixing has REMOVED a portion of the stratosphere and those molecules are in the troposphere thinning the amount of oxygen and at the same time, increasing the oxygenation of the ozone layer.

Got that?

The MIXING of the gaseous troposphere and stratosphere is redistributing the gases in those two layers. The oxygen content of the stratosphere is going up while the displaced gases of the mixing are going into the troposphere to think out that layer of Earth's atmosphere.

If the mixing creates an imbalance in the support of the two layers of air as they are today or were at the turn of the century in 1900 before the industrial revolution, there is absolutely nothing to stop the collapse of the troposphere to completely mix with the stratosphere and then what is supporting the rest of the layers of Earth's atmospheres directly into space?

The pollution of every greenhouse gas on Earth must stop now. When the dinosaurs died, they rotted into the oil. That was their burial and it should have been respected and left undisturbed.

As far as Greta's statement about beef and dairy, she is correct in that there is an emission of methane from those sources, however, it is less than 2 percent of actual and anticipated methane emissions on Earth. Americans are already making changes to their choice of milk. I am sure those choices are occurring all over the world, except, Brazil where they burn down lush rainforest to graze beef cattle.

In the USA there is a mission in those industries, beef and dairy, to look to adjust the type of feeds these farm animals are given to reduce the methane emitted. I consider that a serious attitude in those industries and they are taking their small contribution seriously. The petroleum industry should take its disastrous emissions as seriously as the beef and dairy industry does.

On all other counts, as stated by Greta Thurnberg, I have no criticism. She is amazing in her resolve. She is highly moral in her statements. "The money" that the US Supreme Court stated has equal rights with people, doesn't breath, and only exists to be used as a currency. We all know how currency is shaping up these days.

But, the climate crisis is a highly moral issue whereby all the people of Earth are equal in their right to a CLIMATE SAFE life; generation after generation after generation.

I wish the climate crisis solutions were fast-tracked in the way the Alzheimer's drug for profit has been handled. There is a profit to moving quickly on climate. The profit is the repurchase of the future. The bargain of all bargains, we get to keep Earth intact for generations to come. If we do this correctly, Earth will be around and habitable until Sol supernovas.

The time to act on all these issues is now and not two decades from now when there is another reason for war to take precedent of our very existence.

Shazam, there it is. Let's use a vast number of real Americans to study the drug.

 June 7, 2021

Today FDA approved Aduhelm (aducanumab) (click here) to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease using the Accelerated Approval pathway, under which the FDA approves a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that may provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments when the drug is shown to have an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit to patients and there remains some uncertainty about the drug’s clinical benefit.

This approval is significant in many ways. Aduhelm is the first novel therapy approved for Alzheimer’s disease since 2003. Perhaps more significantly, Aduhelm is the first treatment directed at the underlying pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, the presence of amyloid beta plaques in the brain.  The clinical trials for Aduhelm were the first to show that a reduction in these plaques—a hallmark finding in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s—is expected to lead to a reduction in the clinical decline of this devastating form of dementia....

This is the initial discussion about the application of Aduhelm

This was in the middle of the vaccine trials for COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine trials were Emergency Use basis. One of the facts pointed to in this presentation is that deaths from Alzheimer's Disease increased 150 percent from 2000-2018. That has to play on the minds of this panel in an atmosphere of urgency regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Friday, November 6, 2020

Page 23 of 325 pages

...Before briefly describing some of the issues (click here) we will ask you to discuss today, I want to stress that we have not made any final decisions on the approvability of this application. With that said, you have had the opportunity to review background materials, including the briefing documents and presentations from the applicant and FDA prior to today's meeting.  Today, following my remarks, you will first hear a summary presentation from the applicant reviewing important aspects of the data presented in support of aducanumab's approval. After that, I will return to discuss the issues involved in consideration of these data. The reason we are here today is to gain your input into some of the issues we have confronted during our review process. Thank you for the substantial efforts you have made in preparing for and attending this meeting, and thank you for the important work you will do today....

This is flooded Germany.

If one looks at the devastated places in Germany where waters destroyed so much and follow the water into Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg; the breadth of the destruction can be appreciated. This is a huge land area where many people lived.

July 16, 2021
By Alissa Higham

Record amounts of rainfall (click here) in Western Europe has caused widespread devastation and death, with at least 80 people confirmed dead and hundreds more left unaccounted for. Germany has been the worst affected, but flooding has also caused many in the Netherlands to flee their homes.

Residents of towns and villages along the Meuse river in the province of Limburg were urgently advised to seek refuge until at least Friday.

Water levels on the Meuse and Rur rivers reached record levels on Thursday, prompting panic among locals and authorities following the devastation that has taken place in Germany over the course of this week.

In Germany, the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia are the worst hit.

Unusually heavy rains from a slow-moving low pressure system have inundated Western Europe, causing rivers to burst their banks and flooding streets in cities, towns and villages, while power was knocked out for hundreds of thousands of households....

The devastation to Germany's infrastructure is catastrophic.

The land is missing. 

I was worried this would occur. The Dutch military was magnificent. They were ready for this nightmare.

July 16, 2021
By Thomas Erdbrink

A breach in the dike along the Juliana Canal (click here) in the southern Netherlands on Friday was closed by the Dutch military by dumping hundreds of sandbags into the growing hole. Hours before, thousands had been told to evacuate after the dike was breached along the canal, a 22-mile waterway that regulates the Meuse River.

The river’s water level is at heights not witnessed since 1911, the Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported.

That is no small thing in a water-logged country where taming water has been a matter of survival for centuries and the imperative to keep levels under control is inextricably bound up with Dutch identity. Much of the country sits below sea level and is gradually sinking. Climate change has also exacerbated the twin threats of storms and rising tides.

Residents of the villages of Brommelen, Bunde, Geulle and Voulwames were ordered to evacuate immediately, after initially being told to move to higher floors in their homes. About 10,000 people live in the area....

There is abject destruction in large areas of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

July 18, 2021

This is what Olivier Hamelers, (click here) chief production officer of rail operator Crossrail Benelux told sister publication RailTech Belgium. This was also confirmed by Infrabel.
Fifty trains cancelled.

The Belgian rail operator saw its train traffic to Germany come to a standstill from Wednesday after severe weather in the province of Limburg had damaged the track. Crossrail has about thirty trains daily commuting between Belgium and Germany.

“We have tried to shift trains to the Brabant route through the Netherlands, via Venlo. Because this connection is very busy with traffic from the Betuweroute, where work is underway, the options were limited”, continues Hamelers. Fifty trains were impacted at Crossrail due to the problems with the track.
Liège region still impacted

In the Liège region, where a lot of cargo to and from China departs for Germany via the Montzen route, the problems have not yet been solved. “The damage to the track in the Liège area is much bigger”, says Hamelers, who hopes that this traffic will also start again by Monday.

According to Infrabel, the infrastructure manager, the prospects for the Walloon axis between Charleroi and Liège are positive. “If everything goes according to plan, railway lines 125 and 130 could run again on Monday, 19 July. The railway line between Liège and the Dutch border at Maastricht is closed at the border crossing. The water damage is significant there and the recovery is not in sight until 2 August. Infrabel is in close consultation with its customers and foreign infrastructure managers to seek and offer solutions.”...

These are our allies and they are missing by the thousand. This is directly due to the Climate Crisis.

July 7, 2021

Europe (click here) has been battered by days of torrential rain and floods that have left more than 160 people dead and hundreds more injured.

By Saturday, waters were receding across much of the affected regions, but officials feared that more bodies might be found in cars and trucks that were swept away.

Germany has borne the brunt of the extreme weather, with at least 141 people killed in two states.

Belgium’s national crisis centre said the country's confirmed death toll rose to 27.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier travelled to Erftstadt in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where a massive rescue effort unfolded on Friday.

“A lot of people have lost everything they spent their lives building up — their possessions, their home, the roof over their heads,” Steinmeier said.

“It may only be possible to clear up in weeks how much damage needs to be compensated,” he said....

There is a lot of buzz about this book. There should be a lot of buzz, but, Donald John Trump did not have one catastrophic year, he had four. And, why? Because he thought he alone could fix it.

What is IT, in the title of the book? It is the country? What was so wrong with the USA that wasn't identified decades ago that he had to call the country, IT. That was his personal statement, "I alone can fix it." That is not a title pulled out of thin air.

It is a con. He wants whoever believes he is so important to their future that he and only he can carry out the rehabilitation of the USA. Well. If rehabilitation means removing eons of American thought and policy, then anyone able to write with a crayon can do that.

There were so many things wrong with his time in office. The "signing ceremony" where people gather to receive a pen at the signing of the legislature by the President; turned into a political icon whereby his signature was witnessed with special cameras so his followers could scrutinize every word and every stroke of the pen. Like, what? It made the viewer think there is something to the idea that our government is wrong and only one person is even willing to prove he will correct paths of wayward centuries of abuse of power.

It is all a con, played out in front of the American people as if it really is supposed to have status in history.

"The Fix" definitely was in during the Trump years.