I hope everyone is enjoying the three day weekend.

Americans need to temper their spending since inflation due to Wall Street greed is rampant. There are plenty of jobs so the spending isn't really benefiting the worker so much as the already wealthy.

"The Sale" has become a permanent verbiage of the American culture now. "Black Friday" now lasts all the way to Christmas and then the after Christmas sales run until Black Friday next year.

Some stores are downsizing and closing shops. What were long trusted shops, such as Sears, is gone now. "The Sale" has become a form of shame, really. Do we need sales to incentivize prudent purchases? The old culture was the wise purchase was important and not the cheap purchase. 

President Day Weekend has become a shopping holiday rather than an extra day of time at home with family and friends. It isn't like a picnic will be at the top of the agenda in February, but, that is better in some ways. People actually have to spend time conversing and living in the same space for three entire days. Families can close gaps and parents can have a reality check with the kids to know where they are headed socially. 

I would like to think this weekend means more to Americans than shopping. I think shopping is a bad vice that Americans may need a 12 step program to end.

Happy President's Day. I liked it better when it was Lincoln and Washington's Birthday.

It is on record now California is Pro-Life.

The State of California is second to Texas in the number of deaths that occur due to gun violence. It is followed by Florida, Georgia and Ohio (click here). Every one of those deaths are felt by the people and they want it to stop. California has one of the lowest gun death rates per 100,000 people, but, it is one of the largest states in area and the largest state in population with 39,613,493 in 2022.

The legislation passed in California empowers each and every citizen to report gun crimes and concerns about high powered guns that are known to kill multiples of people in seconds.

February 18, 2022
By John Woolfolk

California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom (click here) announced legislation Friday modeled on Texas’ restrictive new abortion law that would subject firearm manufacturers and distributors to lawsuits over weapons banned by the state.

Senate Bill 1327 by Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, would let citizens sue anyone “who manufactures, distributes, transports, imports into the state or sells assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles, ghost guns, or ghost gun kits.”

A plaintiff could obtain an order to stop the spread of those weapons and recover damages of at least $10,000 for each weapon involved, as well as attorney’s fees.

It was part of a package of bills that also includes AB 1594 by assembly members Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, Mike Gipson, D-Carson, and Chris Ward, D-San Diego, which would let individuals and the California Attorney General sue manufacturers and sellers of firearms for the harm caused by their product....

The escalation in the civl war in Ukraine is now heading into a national emergency.

This could be the first salvoes of the Ukraine-Russian war. It appears President Biden is correct.

19 Februray 2022

With tension escalating (click here) between Ukraine and Russia, full military mobilization was ordered on Saturday by separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine. Also soldiers have been put on standby in Kremlin-backed eastern territories Donetsk and Luhansk. As Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelenskiy asserted that the country is looking at ‘peace’, the US vice president Kamala Harris said, The world “is at a decisive moment in history." Meanwhile, several European nations have asked citizens to leave Ukraine. Check the latest development here....

Putin's Pro-Russian forces are in violation of the ceasefire. As soon as Ukraine takes action they will off to the races and it will activate Putin's Russian forces. What should be happening is Russia moving to end the shelling. The shelling is offensive and coming from Pro-Russian separatists with munitions provided by Russia. Russia needs to step in and stop the shelling.

1:40 PM
By Grayson Quay

Ukraine's military said artillery shells fired by Russian-backed separatists (click here) killed two Ukrainian soldiers and wounded four others in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, the "Ukrainian military said on its Facebook page" at around 5:00 p.m. local time that "it had recorded 70 ceasefire violations by separatists since the start of the day compared with 66 cases over the previous 24 hours." Since 2014, around 14,000 people have been killed in fighting between the separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst, who pulled back from the front in eastern Ukraine on Saturday afternoon after the unit with which he was embedded came under separatist artillery fire, said the Ukrainian forces he was with did not return fire. He also said other Ukrainian troops he had spoken with earlier in the week said they returned fire in response to other attacks, but only "within the confines of the [Minsk] Agreement," which banned heavy weapons from the front....

Ukraine is surrounded on three borders by the Russia military. Russia is ready to pounce at first hint of a REASON. Any reason will be good enough. Every one of those forces other than border patrols at roadway check points should be removed from a threat to Ukraine. 

Russia needs to stop fueling the fire with the separatists and end the muntiuon GIFTS to them.

The FACT is that Russia's willingness to provide munitions to rebels is a huge problem for the entire world (click here). The Rebels backed by Russia are anarchists. They have no rules. They have no treaty they follow. They are a wild card that Russia cannot control.

I ran head long into the outcome of a politically conservative father on Wednesday.

I was on an elementary school playground when one of the fourth graders came to me and stated her classmate was crying and won't tell her why.

Whenever I teach and a child regardless of grade or college year secludes themselves from social interaction an alert goes up in my mind that this is bullying. 

So, I approached a fourth grade girl sitting on a swing with her head in her lap and when I stood in front of her she looked up and huge crockadile tears where running down her cheeks in 40 degree weather with melting snow all around. I looked into her eyes and asked her, "What happened," giving her the opportunity to tell me what occurred on the playground that caused her all these tears and hurt. She looked at me and stated, "My father died." 

Oh, no. I reached down to her and pulled her to standing and wrapped my arms around her as strong as I could muster. I rocked her gently back and forth saying, "Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry." We stood there for what seems like an hour but actually was about five minutes as I cried for her. I wiped her tears away and told her these things happen and she will miss her father for a time to come, but, the hurt will start to be tolerable. 

She stated her mom was crying a lot at home. So, I walked her to a bench and state down with her and told her to speak about her mom so she could incorporate all her pain into a single event that both shared and she could even find ways to help her mother at home. She stated her father became very ill at home and couldn't breath and went to the hospital with Mom. She said Mom was scared and she didn't come back home right away and she had to stay with the neighbors.

I listended as this lovely young girl told me about a father she loved and a mother in profound grief. I stated that life can be unfair for what seems like no reason at all. I told her she and her mother would miss her father for some time. I told her there is no way to know when Mom would seem more normal and didn't cry and was able to go about life as usual. There could be changes in her life that she could not stop or control. I told her she needed her education and she had to come to school everyday and be sure her mother knew she was awake in the morning and getting ready to for school. She was to tell her mother she was leaving for the bus. I told her she could ask the school for breakfast and lunches.

This young girl was robbed of her father by COVID-19 or one of it's variants. Gratefully, her mother was okay and she was not an orphan. But, her father died of the virus. This area of the country has a strong conservative presence that is either Libertairan, but, most frequently Republcan. I am confident her father died due to political ideology.

So, there you have it. When politicians rattle on and on as they currently are doing in North Carolina among the Republicans in demonizing decency and the expertise of the medical researchers and scientists and the vaccines they discovered constitutents or soon to be constituants suffer. When they say COVID-19 is a fraud and dreamed up by those on the left. When all that demonizing of THE BEST OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA goes on people die. So, ranting and raving all these anti-social diabribes at voters is not being a patriot or esposing liberty, it is killing people, injuring their survivors deeply to the point where they will never be the same. That widow probably won't vote for years because she was disillussioned by her own government. Are we so proud to have vicious politics taking place that literally kill people and leave enormous grief in the wave of a death?

I never hear Republicans take down Pfizer or Moderna or J&J. They never denounce CEOs for manufacturing the vaccines. I never hear them complain about profiteering of Wall Street causing inflation. What I do hear is how they CHOOSE to victimize voters to allow such paradigms of grief and suffering. They complain about spending money to get Americans through this time in history and they chronically complain about Democratic spending and focus. But, I never hear them state how great the researchers for cures are or how they are fortunate to have them in this country that cares for it's citizens. 

Every Republican that ever spoke an ill word about vaccines demonized the ONE method that it proven to save lives. Every one of them is responsible for the death of fathers, mothers, siblings and grandparents as well as sons and daughters. They are responsible for a fourth grade child's tears and grief and a wife's widowhood after only three days of witnessing the death of her husband. The virus took him in three days. Every person that ever spoke ill of vaccines should be charged with at the very least a public nuisance crime. 

No Knock Warrrants

End “No Knock” warrants. If the Fourth Amendment is to be respected for the power within the USA Constitution that protects those arrested for wrong doing, then a warrant MUST allow a citizen the opportunity to defend themselves. A No Knock Warrant is unconstitutional. The federal government needs to defend the innocent and their right to a trial without the threat of assassination with a No Knock Warrant.

Federal legislation is appropriate in this measure. Protect the rights of innocent people to live a life without fear of assassination.

Ukraine - Russia relations

 The United Nation’s Security Council needs to send Inspectors into Ukraine to validate the Russian claims.

Local control on mask mandates are best.

The Democrats should not prioritize mask mandates in their campaigns at the federal level. I think Virginia is a good example of how local municipalities have the control of mask mandates. Virginia’s new Governor violated the state constitution which provides local control over issues of health.

Mask mandates were necessary in the beginning as there was a learning curve with a global pandemic spawned by an incompetent populous president. The local elected officials have the right to institute any necessary health mandates and that is where it should stay. 

"Good Night, Moon"

The full

14.2 day old moon

99.6 percent lit

What will Russia achieve with a bloody invasion into Ukraine?

From Ukraine to the Olympics, is there any place in the world where Russia does not cause adverse outcomes?

Frequent nuclear accidents that cause air pollution that reaches the scandinavian countries to the point of monitoring the wind that comes from Russia to determine the level of radiation it contains.

Methane holes that look like their reach into hell itself and spew tonnes and tonnes of methane into the air and all unabated in any way. At least when the Saudis had a methane hole leaking to the surface of Earth, they closed it.

The famous ballet is still performing well:

The Bolshoi Ballet is back! (click here) Lincoln Theater is bringing three spectacular ballets, captured live in Moscow, right to our community living room here in the heart of Damariscotta. Bolshoi Ballet, the legendary Russian company, offers dance lovers the opportunity to experience their most iconic shows on the big screen, and is kicking off 2022 with George Balanchine’s sparkling “Jewels,” which will screen for one showing only at Lincoln Theater Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.

February 15, 2022
By Sean Lyngaas and Tim Lister

A cyberattack hit the websites of Ukraine's defense ministry and armed forces, (click here) and the websites of two Ukrainian banks on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian government agencies' statements.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the hacking incident. "It's too early to attribute" responsibility, Victor Zhora, a deputy chairman at the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) -- who is investigating the incident -- told CNN.

The incident comes as Russia has massed an estimated 150,000 troops close to Ukraine's border, according to United States President Joe Biden, and as US officials warn that a fresh Russian invasion could come at any time. Russia has denied it is planning to invade Ukraine.

SSSCIP identified the incident as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which floods a website with phony traffic to disrupt access to it. DDoS attacks are relatively cheap and easy to carry out. While they can be disruptive, they do not necessarily require sophistication....

If cyber attacks is the new bomb Russia drops in the name of war, can war be that bad anymore?

This is the year 2022. We have enormous problems and none are reconstructing the Soviet Union. There are issues of virus and climate that are a huge burden. They both need to be addressed and adding a war in the way of enormous human suffering is not really on the agenda of global efforts of peace.

Russia has it wrong. Putin never accepted the fact that the Soviet Union fell of it's own weight. When it occurred The West stood by and waited for everyone to recover from the implosion of a superpower. It was a peaceful transition of a failed state. 

Russia and China are recognized as communist governments. No one is rushing to end communism, in case they didn't notice. The Cold War is over and it should stay over. If Vladimir Putin needs an old style politic of hate and pushing the envelope of war, NO ONE ELSE WANTS IT, except the communists. So, Russia needs to keep their politics of oppression and hate within it's borders and I guarantee it that no one will try to change it. Except. The Russian people themselves. That is the real enemy to Putin. Internal disharmony of a Russian president that seeks only stable states of government.

If the Russian people want free and fair elections they should have them. If the USA wants free and fair elections they should have them. If Somalia can contain the brink of civil war, then I would think Ukraine should be able to be given a chance to do the same. 

No one wants this invasion into Ukraine. It makes no sense to anyone, except, Putin and the communists. That should be an awakening in Russia to the fact, they are the only ones struggling with the idea of better quality of life. The Ukrainians already have it.

Paleontologists believe they have found the foundation of the modern canine.

18 October 2021
By David Grimm

If you were walking through a dark forest in ancient Japan, (click here) you might hope to run into an okuri-ōkami, a wolf that would escort you safely to your destination. This creature of folklore may be based on the Japanese wolf, a border collie–size animal with short legs and stubby ears that lived in Japan for thousands of years until humans wiped it out in the early 20th century. Now, scientists studying ancient DNA from this wolf’s bones say they may have solved the long-standing mystery of where it came from: a vanished population of gray wolves in East Asia that also gave rise to modern dogs.

“It’s a very meticulous study,” says Peter Savolainen, a geneticist at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm who was not involved. The research, he says, adds evidence to the idea that dogs arose in East Asia, as he and other researchers suspect, rather than in Europe or the Middle East, as some experts have proposed.

All of today’s dogs likely descend from a single population of gray wolves. But exactly where and when those wolves lived has long been a source of contentious debate. Part of the problem is that although the species persists, that original population has likely vanished, wiping out genetic clues about doggy origins.

Enter the Japanese wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax). Described by some as one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Japanese zoology, the animal’s origins are unclear, as is the route it took to reach Japan. A genetic analysis of remains from a single Japanese wolf published earlier this year found it was closely related to a lineage of Siberian wolves, long thought extinct. Recent evidence also suggests dogs may have arisen in Siberia. Might Japanese wolves and dogs share more than just geography?...

I think this invention by the Chinese was long overdue. Congratulations to China for taking the initiative.

Finally, a way to clean up space!

September 2, 2022

Last month, (click here) a private satellite tracking company spotted a Chinese spacecraft apparently grabbing and throwing a dead satellite away into a "graveyard" orbit.

Something out of a Star Wars movie occurred in Earth's orbit last month.

A Chinese satellite was spotted in late January grabbing another long-dead satellite and days later throwing it into a "graveyard" orbit 300 km away, where objects are less likely to hit spacecraft.

These rare events were presented by Dr. Brien Flewelling in a webinar hosted by the Center of Strategic and International Studies and Secure World Foundation last month. Flewelling is the chief space situational awareness architect of ExoAnalytic Solutions, a private U.S. company that tracks the position of satellites using a large global network of optic telescopes.

The Chinese SJ-21 satellite was seen on January 22 changing its usual place in the sky to approach decommissioned satellite Compass-G2. A few days later, SJ-21 attached to G2, altering its orbit....

The successful efforts of the Biden Administration that don't make the front page.

Why, one might ask, do these not make the front page? Because they are bipartisan and without any controversy and absolutely no wild protests or demonstrations at the driveway leading to Yellowstone National Park. 

Today, Senior Advisor and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator (click here) Mitch Landrieu and other senior administration officials, including Sarah Greenberger the Associate Deputy Secretary at the Department of Interior, discussed how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will build a better America by investing in the conservation of and access to our public lands. Landrieu outlined the President’s commitment as part of the America the Beautiful Initiative to building partnerships with states, conservation groups, hunters, anglers, Tribes and others to conserve America’s lands and waters for future generations.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes billions for ecosystem restoration and resilience of America’s lands, invasive species detection and prevention, and native vegetation restoration efforts, on top of nearly $16 billion for cleaning up legacy pollution. On Friday, the Department of the Interior announced distribution of a record $1.5 billion in Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program allocations to state wildlife agencies throughout the nation. The WSFR was reauthorized as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Landrieu noted that these grants will make significant progress in our work to protect our cherished natural treasures, and together with other Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments, will make significant progress in our work on collaborative conservation....

Someone put a road in the middle of the meadow.

Oh, yeah, the SuperBowl. Who won?

Here is something you will rarely hear. Ever notice how the LA Rams always helps their team mates off the ground after a play? They do it all the time. The Cincinnati Bengals never did it once.

This is a complete guess. Nothing more. But, those men are not being polite. I think getting up from what was just a strenuous event, a football play, can cause injuries to muscles and tendons. If not big injuries, then small ones that add up.

I could be completely wrong, but, I think the LA Rams always help each other up from lying to standing after each play to prevent injury. Just a guess.

February 13, 2022
By Emma Bowman and Peter Ganitz

The Los Angeles Rams (click here) won't have to travel far to enjoy a celebratory Super Bowl victory parade. The Rams rallied for a late touchdown to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, 23-20, marking the second straight year a team won the Super Bowl on its home field.

The championship capped a triumphant return to Los Angeles for the Rams, which won its only other Super Bowl as the St. Louis Rams in 2000. And the team's home field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., also hosted a halftime show that featured hip-hop with a West Coast flair.

The Rams needed more than 59 minutes to seal the victory in Super Bowl LVI, with Cooper Kupp, the game's most valuable player, catching a short touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford with 1.25 left to play. That put the Rams on top - again - and for the final time....

The loyalty of the GOP to Trump isn't about his ideology so much as winning an election.

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and it hit the floor hard today. Donald John Trump was dropped from his accounting firm because they no longer will stand behind ten years of records. What does ten years of lies look like? The US Presidency is what ten years of lies looks like. A man who never belonged in the Oval Office made it because he was seen as a great success that "Only he could do." 

Well, guess what? It was a lie and the American people paid for it.

February 15, 2022
By Alexander Bolton

Senate Republicans are scrambling (click here) to figure out how former President Trump’s mounting legal troubles will affect his grip on the party and chances of running for office again in 2024.

Allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has worked behind the scenes to counter Trump, are wondering whether the former president’s clout may fade regardless of what happens in the 2022 midterm elections because of his many legal entanglements, including investigations by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

The latest development came Monday evening when Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, severed ties with him and his business empire and said it could no longer vouch for the reliability of a decade’s worth of financial statements it prepared for the Trump Organization....

Again? We were just coming down off the fourth wave. It was the fourth, wasn't it?

January 24, 2022
By Herb Schribner

It was only a matter of time (click here) — scientists have reportedly found a subvariant of the omicron variant, raising questions about what’s going to happen next with the novel coronavirus.

The news: Scientists across the world have found a sublineage of the highly-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant, called BA.2.

The BA.2 variant is now under investigation because it could have a growth advantage, replacing the original omicron variant, per Reuters.

Why this matters: The subvariant BA.2, which has been nicknamed the “stealth omicron,” could be spreading faster than the original omicron and lead to even more COVID-19 cases, according to Fortune.

Details: Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist and a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said he is “concerned” about the new subtype because it is surging....

February 1, 2022
By Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD

The NIH continues (click here) to support the development of some very innovative therapies to control SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. One innovative idea involves a molecular decoy to thwart the coronavirus.

How’s that? The decoy is a specially engineered protein particle that mimics the 3D structure of the ACE2 receptor, a protein on the surface of our cells that the virus’s spike proteins bind to as the first step in causing an infection.

The idea is when these ACE2 decoys are administered therapeutically, they will stick to the spike proteins that crown the coronavirus (see image above). With its spikes covered tightly in decoy, SARS-CoV-2 has a more-limited ability to attach to the real ACE2 and infect our cells.

Recently, the researchers published their initial results in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, and the early data look promising [1]. They found in mouse models of severe COVID-19 that intravenous infusion of an engineered ACE2 decoy prevented lung damage and death. Though more study is needed, the researchers say the decoy therapy could potentially be delivered directly to the lungs through an inhaler and used alone or in combination with other COVID-19 treatments.

The findings come from a research team at the University of Illinois Chicago team, led by Asrar Malik and Jalees Rehman, working in close collaboration with their colleagues at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The researchers had been intrigued by an earlier clinical trial testing the ACE2 decoy strategy [2]. However, in this earlier attempt, the clinical trial found no reduction in mortality. The ACE2 drug candidate, which is soluble and degrades in the body, also proved ineffective in neutralizing the virus.

Rather than give up on the idea, the UIC team decided to give it a try. They engineered a new soluble version of ACE2 that structurally might work better as a decoy than the original one. Their version of ACE2, which includes three changes in the protein’s amino acid building blocks, binds the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein much more tightly. In the lab, it also appeared to neutralize the virus as well as monoclonal antibodies used to treat COVID-19....

All this medical talk. But, basically the way responsible medical scientists and researchers see their responsibility is that, "It ain't over until it is over." One just has to look at the initial Boston study of HIV/AIDS treatments and to realize where the science has brought us. It is nothing short of a genius. Their work ethic and the ethical standards of the professions are magnificient. 

A Possible Role for Anti-idiotype Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccination

By William J. Murphy, Ph.D.and Dan L. Longo, M.D.

The Clinical Implications of Basic Research (click here) series has focused on highlighting laboratory research that could lead to advances in clinical therapeutics. However, the path between the laboratory and the bedside runs both ways: clinical observations often pose new questions for laboratory investigations that then lead back to the clinic. One of a series of occasional articles drawing attention to the bedside-to-bench flow of information is presented here, under the Basic Implications of Clinical Observations rubric. We hope our readers will enjoy these stories of discovery, and we invite them to submit their own examples of clinical findings that have led to insights in basic science.

The pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is incompletely understood, with its effects on multiple organ systems1 and the syndrome of “long Covid” occurring long after the resolution of infection.2 The development of multiple efficacious vaccines has been critical in the control of the pandemic, but their efficacy has been limited by the appearance of viral variants, and the vaccines can be associated with rare off-target or toxic effects, including allergic reactions, myocarditis, and immune-mediated thrombosis and thrombocytopenia in some healthy adults. Many of these phenomena are likely to be immune-mediated.3 How can we understand this diversity in immune responses in different persons?...

To beat a dead horse, where is Steve Bannon and the Alt Right? It is like looking for Waldo.

It is getting too expensive in the USA for the Alt Right. They are getting caught in law breaking, being taken to court, paying fines and jailed or even prison. They are being sued for their racism and they are losing the lawsuits.So, if they can't live comfortably in the USA with their hate, move to Canada.

Steve Bannon has been causng trouble all over Europe. Bannon wants to disrupt democracy to make a living. Bart what it's name?????? Oh, yeah, Britbart. It has been doing nothing but creating all sorts of misinformation and political disharmony. They are allowed to do it.

For those that want to destroy democracy, it is because of democracy allows them to carry on the way they do. Does that make sense? Silence the demonstrators after they fought so hard to end freedom of speech and The West's constitutions.

?????

I ask myself what this mess is truly about? Nothing. It is about nothing that matters, because, disharmony and aggitation is the way Bannon makes his millions. That is all this is. No other reason. The amusement of million-billionaires.

No different than the truckers at the border or Canada and the USA. They were allowed. They were even tolerated. Democracy at work. They caused problems, but, those that live in a democracy won't give it up.

Look, democracy has given us the ticket line that starts an entire day before the ticket sales begin. You know what I mean? Americans and Canadians have a great deal of patience with democracy. They like it. They don't want to give it up. So, the only reason Bannon is doing this is because he can and let's face it, he is at least a few millions wealthy, right? Or was that left?

Febraury 13, 2022
By John Bacon and Christine MacDonald

Windsor, Ontario – The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing (click here) reopened late Sunday after protests against COVID-19 restrictions closed it for almost a week, while Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.

Detroit International Bridge Co. said in a statement that “the Ambassador Bridge is now fully open allowing the free flow of commerce between the Canada and US economies once again.” Esther Jentzen, spokeswoman for the company, said in a later text to The Associated Press that the bridge reopened to traffic at 11 p.m. EST.

Police on Sunday swept through the lingering protest that has brought a week of chaos to the massive bridge linking Detroit to Canada, arresting a few truckers and other protesters still attempting to block the nation's largest border crossing....

I didn't know the EPA critiqued plumbers. I always thought that was OSHA or the Better Business Bureau.

At any rate I never had a problem with plumbing when living in a high rise like Trump Tower. In a high rise anything the toilets work well because the higher the water starts running the more likely the toilet flush will be a success. It is called physics. Oh, well, populous politics has it's own laws of gravity I suppose.

 

The invisible Sarah Palin.

On one hand I think the American public is correct in that they have had enough of the former governor and her holier than thou lifestyle. But, on the other hand I think she is politically dangerous and we don't need another populous candidate for president if that is what she might have on her mind.

But, to update:

September 22, 2021

...Todd Palin filed for divorce in 2019 (click here) after 31 years of marriage, according to People, citing "incompatibility of temperament." While they didn't publicly reveal the cause of their split, it's possible that the pressures of fame took their toll on the couple. Family friend John Coale told the outlet, "It's been a long road to this. The family just had to take so much and couldn't handle it, I don't know if anybody could. It's a tragedy. Sarah Palin is a great person, and now it seems the family is in tatters" (via People)....

I think "incompatibility of temperament" is interesting and a bit abusive, if not a lot abusive. It isn't the same as irreconcible differences. I can picture her being verbally abusive. I think that political identity lends itself to abusive behavior and alienating personality. She is dating a former NHL start.

February 12, 2022
By Dana Kennedy

Ex-NHL star Ron Duguay (click here) has confirmed that he and “buddy” Sarah Palin are indeed dating, according to a report.

Duguay has been on hand supporting the one-time vice presidential candidate at the Manhattan Federal Courthouse, where her defamation case against The New York Times was in its seventh day of trial Friday.

“We’re friends. I’m here to support her,” The New York Rangers legend said of Palin on the courthouse steps earlier Friday....

This all came to light with the conclusion of her recent libel trial with the New York Times. She may be trying to change her image, new man, hence, new woman. I think her political days are over. I would be surprised if after Trump another populous candidate actually gains the country's interest.

February 10, 2022

By Seth Stevenson

...I admit, at this point in her testimony, *click here) I was a little impressed. Palin in no way resembled the caricature I had in my head. She was confident, articulate, and—somewhat to my surprise—quite lucid. I’m not saying she was Stephen Hawking, but she at least evinced a sort of horse sense, paired with grinning charisma, that you could imagine might make her an effective mayor or governor. Then, about a half-hour in, the wheels came off.

Palin’s own attorney asked her to shift her focus forward from 2011 to 2017, when a New York Times editorial revived that false connection between Palin’s rhetoric and the Giffords shooting (thereby provoking this lawsuit). Palin responded by saying the Times had “lied” about it “again.” A lawyer for the Times objected, for obvious reasons: No one—including Palin in her filed complaint—has ever alleged that the New York Times got this wrong on any other occasion aside from that one editorial.

Palin’s lawyer tried to help her clean it up. Judge Jed S. Rakoff invited her to clarify what she meant. But Palin doubled down, saying, “My view was the Times took a lot of liberties” in the wake of the Giffords shooting and that the paper had “led the charge” against her back then. Confused looks sprouted on everyone’s faces. Reporters exchanged glances. Palin grew flustered, recognizing that something had curdled but not exactly sure what she’d screwed up. And here she reverted to the caricature: that fidgety posture and those looping, meaningless sentences. “I don’t have the specific references in front of me,” she said, desperately scrambling to recover....

The conclusion is:

February 14, 202
By Jody Godoy and Jonathan Stempel

...In an abrupt twist (click here) in a trial seen as a test of longstanding protections for American media, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said Palin's lawsuit must be dismissed because she failed to show the Times acted with "actual malice," the standard in lawsuits involving public figures....

This is a good commentary about the Platinum Jubilee in both the read and the video.

February 11, 2022

By Oli Smith

THE QUEEN (click here) broke with tradition to mark the start of the Platinum Jubilee move as she took the "unusual" move of inviting the public into her private Sandringham Estate.

The Queen marked the start of her Platinum Jubilee year with her first public engagement of the year. Last Saturday, on the eve of the Jubilee, the Queen hosted a reception at Sandringham House in Norfolk. ITV's royal correspondent Chris Ship commented that the decision to invite the public and media into Sandringham was "quite unusual"....

I think by opening the Sandringham Estate to the public she can still stay in touch after Charles is made king. I hope that occurs soon. I think the UK is ready for Charles and Camilla and a bit of a different tone of leadership with a man at the head of the government. Seventy years is a long time for Queen Elizabeth II. She was greatly admired and always addressed the issues of the day with grace and intelligence. She will always be remembered with fondness. 

February 10, 2022

By Stephanie Petit

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (click here) is speaking out for the first time about her future title of Queen Consort.

Prince Charles' wife stepped out solo in London on Thursday, including a stop at community kitchen Nourish Hub. There, she was asked by a member of the public about Queen Elizabeth confirming her wish over the weekend for Camilla to be known as Queen Consort when her husband eventually becomes King.

"I feel very, very honored and very touched," Camilla answered.

Camilla's outing on Thursday came as the couple's office at Clarence House announced that Prince Charles, 73, tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating. His visit to Winchester was canceled with hopes to reschedule for the near future....

Pope Francis offers guidance.

15 February 2022

By Christopher Wells

With a new motu proprio (click here) published on Tuesday, Pope Francis has modified canon law for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches, changing the areas of competence for various bodies within the universal Church. Specifically, with the Apostolic Letter Assegnare alcune competenze (“Assigning certain competencies,” taken from the opening words, or incipit” of the document), Pope Francis transfers certain responsibilities from the Vatican to local bishops.

Fostering collegiality
The new norms deal with different areas of Church life, in each case specifying the authorities competent to make decisions with regard to those issues. “The intention,” of the changes, writes Pope Francis at the beginning of his Letter, “is above all to foster a sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility on the part of Bishops […] as well as Major Superiors, and also to support the principles of rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency.”...

Febraury 15, 2022
By Jackie Turvey Tait and Tobias Winright

A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (click here) seems imminent, but nobody really wins if this happens. The global economic and food security impacts would fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable. Catholic concern for the common good and just war principles require us to look for a diplomatic solution that might avert the evils such a conflict would unleash. In particular, a personal intervention by Pope Francis may be our last hope for successful negotiations to preserve peace.

Notably, Pope Francis writes in “Fratelli Tutti” that “it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘Just War’” (No. 258), in part because of the destructive power of modern weapons. However, this does not mean contemporary Catholic ethics calls for unqualified pacifism; the just war framework allows leaders to judge whether military action is reasonable in light of traditional principles and pragmatic considerations....