Russia won't dare.

April 15, 2022
By Jeremy Herb

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (click here) told CNN Friday that "all of the countries of the world" should be prepared for the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine.

Putin is still trying to have it his way and be the strongest strong man on planet Earth. It is the Chinese that would say, "He is saving face." Right? I think the militaries of the Free World are more than vigilant to all the players. This entire episode with Russia has caused enormous shifts in the global understanding of what world order looks like. Putin hasn't even begun to deal with it. He is still trying to have it his way and annihilate Ukrainians. The Russians will never admit they have committed genocide in Ukraine, after all that is what war is for, to kill those that are different than Russians. Give me a break. This guy has been rampaging around the world and killing people. Even his own people are jailed and dead for opposing his regime. Someone should do a head count to all the people Putin has authorized to be killed. It is a lot. A lot.

April 15, 2022
By Michael Wasiura

The Russian army's initial attempts (click here) to take Kyiv by force have failed. However, the Kremlin has not revised its goal of regime change in Ukraine.

"The aim is the liquidation of Ukraine as a puppet of the Anglo-Saxon block," says Pyotor Akopov, a columnist for the Russian state news outlet RIA-Novosti, his comments matching those of others close to power in the Kremlin.

"Ukraine in its current form will not come out of this conflict," Akopov told Newsweek. "It will be a different country with a different leadership completely in the Russian sphere of influence."....

The invasion map looks very different today.

Aside from the sinking of the Moskva, (click here) Russia is also having to contend with strikes against Belgorod and heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine as it prepares for a fresh assault there. However, it has struck a missile factory in Kyiv it claims was used to build the missile that sank Moskva, and also appears poised to capture Mariupol in the south.

Nothing short of brilliant. They shoud paint a "Z" on the body bags when they are sent home.

15 April 2022

by Walter Finch

Ukraine has hit upon a macabre ploy (click here) of using facial recognition software to identify the bodies of dead Russian soldiers and contact their mothers.

Ukraine's IT Army, a volunteer force of hackers and activists, has used the corpse identifications to tell the families of 582 Russians that their son has been killed in Putin's war.

Even up to sending the families photos of the abandoned and bloodied corpses of their sons....

Norwegian Navy Test Missile Strike

This is the same ship that killed so many in Syria.

April 15, 2022

The Russian (click here) guided-missile cruiser Moskva rests deep beneath the Black Sea this morning.

Whether it lies there as the victim of Ukrainian missiles, Russian incompetence, bad luck or a combination of all three is unclear. What is certain, though, is that the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years will raise troubling questions not only for Moscow, but for military planners around the world....

CNN has a very revealing look at the Moskva. Christiane Amanpour also has a magnificent interview with a Russian foreign minister. Both are very insightful work that puts sunlight on the facts as to the brutality of Putin's military. I sincerely believe the change that is all too obvious in Putin is due to the Russian communists compromising Putin's politics.

This is a huge strategic victory for Ukraine. Putin frequently threatened the use of nuclear weapons; the Moskva is why. Now, there are concerns that the nuclear missiles of the ship are sitting in water.

It could be assessed as to the presence of nuclear missiles on board by water displacement. The ship would sit lower in the water if the large missiles were on board. The conventional warhead weights 500 kilgrams. The nuclear warhead of the P-1000 is stated to weigh 350 Kt.

April 15, 2022
By Ahron Young

Anti-ship missiles P-1000 “Vulkan”, (click here) which can possibly carry a nuclear warhead were carried by the Moskva cruiser.

The sinking of the Soviet-era Moskva in the Black Sea prompted Russia to launch a retaliation against a weapons factory in Ukraine.

The defence ministry says it targeted the ‘Vizar’ plant on the edge of Kyiv, which it says manufactures Neptune anti-ship missiles....

For Ukraine on Good Friday

1 Samuel 17: 1 - 54

The world stands in awe of your thunder.

The United States of America is suffering from agism.

Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age. Who does ageism affect? Ageism affects everyone. Children as young as 4 years old become aware of their culture's age stereotypes.

I am really surprised at the level of age discrimination, primarily that of older adults, that the USA is exhibiting. I don't recall any such dynamics before and I think it is primarily coming out of the politics of the day. There is this whole mess that goes on with "public concensus" that is ridiculous and it is that type of political movement that is driving enormous disrespect for aged individuals.

People seem to want to be judge and jury to every aspect of "normalism." I believe that entire mess stems from Evangelicals that are hooked into politics and want to control every aspect of life of every individual. In other words, we all need to have the same "WORLD VIEW." If I hear anyone say "World View" in the USA as a judgement of a person's values I will be rather upset by the idea of such strong prejudice that the only results in independent thought that occurs while deciding about body art.

Strom Thurmond (click here)

...He turned 100 years old in 2002, the only senator to reach that milestone while still in office. He also holds the Senate's record for the longest individual speech, his filibuster against the 1957 Civil Rights Act, which lasted for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

If anyone should have been removed from office it was him. He was a lousy son of a bitch and he did the country no good for most of the time in service to the people of South Carolina. But, he stayed and he stayed and he stayed. His staff would have to put him into a wheel chair, take him to the US Senate floor and remind him of how he wanted vote for a bill.

Speaker Pelosi spoke out today about the harassment of agism of US Senator Diane Feinstein. My words, not hers. She was too polite to say it the way I do.

February 28, 2022
By Clare Foran and Ted Barrett

Longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, (click here) died Sunday evening following "a long battle with cancer," according to an announcement from Feinstein's office.
Feinstein, a California Democrat, said in a statement that her "heart is broken today."
"My husband was my partner and best friend for more than 40 years," she said. "He was by my side for the good times and for the challenges. I am going to miss him terribly."
Blum died at the family's home, the announcement from the senator's office said. He was 86. Feinstein is 88 years old....

CAN IT!

One of the aspects of life that Americans have always fought for was longevity. If a society is going to value longevity then the quality of life that accompanies it is of value, too.

I have recently had two separate conversations with retired adults that have living parents, mothers in this case. They were concerned for their safety and well being as the lived alone in the homes where their marriages played out and their children were rasied. 

Meet the Nanny Cam.

In both instances, the siblings could not settle the dispute about privacy. But, when concluded it was decided it was about protection of life and it was a good thing. It wasn't like the women lead lifestyles that required a great deal of privacy. Besides, no one cares about privacy anymore. There are more videos and pictures of all sorts of people on the internet that privacy is a word not well defined these days. 

This wasn't about a conservativeship relationship, it was about being able to see "Mom" and know that she is doing okay. These lovely elderly women were in their 90s.

One of the things I brought up in both instance is that do we or do we not value longevity? And if we value longevity then WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO DEFINE IT'S END or the end of it's activities. Just because a mother that lives into her 90s and is able to care for herself at home is a concern to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren doesn't mean they have to give up their independence to be supervised by a group of employees at some kind of adult living arrangement.

The USA values longevity. It is why we have been hopping mad over the deaths in this country of some of the most precious people in our lives due to an avoidable virus. We love our families. We love the elderly members more than any others at times.

My Irish grandmother passed away at 94 years old. But, she was one of the most incredible people I had ever met. She was born in 1902. Her spouse was born in 1900. He passed away from Black Lung as he worked most of his years from the age of 14 in the Pennsylvania coal mines. When the bird flu took his parents he was already the breadwinner in the household and the children simply kept going. 

My grandmother saw the industrial revolution, the invention of the light bulb, the first telephone and on and on and on. I would listen to her and ask questions about her life and the times she lived in. She was fasinating. She didn't complete high school, but, she made sure her children did and every one of her grandchildren went on to earn degrees. At family get togethers she would see and just admire all of her children and grandchildren and was proud of the lives they were living. That is something no one and I mean no one can replace. A woman that had lived nearly 5 generations (20 years a generation) and could sit in a garden at a family gathering and take in all that was wonderful about her entire family.

The senior adults in this country have a lot to offer. That includes those still serving in government. US Senator Feinstein has a career that is completely unbelievable. She has been a power house. Now, because the tears of her husband's death still lingers in her mind she is supposed to be seen as "losing it?" I don't think so. 

Every American has a debt of thanks to US Senator Feinstein whether they realize it or not. She is a strong fighter. We need to let her continue to work for the best outcomes of all Americans as she grieves the loss of the dearest person in her life.

I have had enough of the hate speech about our older citizens.

Questions?

President Biden is one of those Americans that happened to live his life right. He is a decent and moral man with a solid understanding of the United States democracy. He is a bit of a sympathetic figure because of all the hardship he has endured in his life. He isn't corrupt and values the American people. He is a highly qualified and rather gregarious.

I am not surprised the University of Pennsylvania latched onto him after he completed his Vice Presidency to lead their new center of diplomacy and national security. How lucky can a university get?

February 7, 2017
By Sydney Schaedel and Jacob Winick

The wait is over. (click here)

Former Vice President Joe Biden has been officially named a University professor, Penn President Amy Gutmann announced Tuesday.

Under the title of “Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor,” Biden will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, based out of Washington, D.C. The center, which is set to open later this year, will be focused on diplomacy, foreign policy and national security, according to a University statement released Tuesday morning.

Biden will hold joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Arts and Sciences, with a secondary affiliation in the Wharton School....

Awkward moments abound as a president at times.

There are more munitions to be provided to Ukraine to sustain it's gains and continue it's national security against Russia.

Finland and Sweden (click here) are recieving threats at their sovereign borders by Russia. These are currently neutral countries. They should be unafraid to join NATO. Putin's standard line is nuclear brinkmanship. Neither of these countries deserve this type of treatment. Putin knows that, too.

Oddly enough, President Biden is receiving strong opinion polls that the USA should be doing more to end the killing by Russia in Ukraine. President Biden does not want to open threatening doors to Putin. He isn't getting that fact across to the American people. 

President Biden is a 180 degree turn from the previous administration in providing much needed munitions to Ukraine. He also does not want to open up a more violent war that could be a profoundly upsetting issue for all the people of the world. I think President Biden's predictions about Russian aggression have been spot on. I also believe his knowledge of these circumstances is excellent and his approach is measured as it should be.

The Finland President paid a visit to President Putin after the illegal and threatening fly over by Russia of war games between Finland and Sweden. Vladimir Putin clearly understood the deaths taking place in Ukraine, but, admitted nothing and blamed the Ukraine military for those deaths even in the face of the fact there is a filming that proves Russian forces are responsible for the deaths. There is genocide occurring in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin clearly knows that and simply denies it as if nothing Russia has done could have killed all the dead in Ukraine.

There is an aspect to Putin those in disbelief need to remember, that is the friends he is keeping are ruthless killers. Assad and the Saudi Prince are among those friends. They are ruthless and Putin is in that group of untrustworthy leaders of countries that are mostly considered to be hostile in their policies. Saudi Arabia proved there is no freedom of speech in the heinous assassination of a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi (click here). I also remind that Putin does not allow negative commentary about himself by anyone. It seems as though Putin is passing on that directive to other leaders.

The response by Ukraine, normally a neutral country, is absolutely appropriate in the face of genocide. At no time in the future does Ukraine have the luxury of being neutral. It has to be armed, no differently than Israel.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö (click here) has known Putin for a decade and often acts as a de facto interpreter, explaining the Russian president's thinking to Western allies – and vice versa. Niinistö is among a handful of world leaders who continue to contact the Russian president, trying to put a stop to the war. Christiane speaks with Niinistö in London to get a sense of Putin’s endgame.

When President Biden stated Russia has committed genocide in Ukraine, it was very important for many reasons, but, the most important is that Russians were listening.

It is a return to the Cold War. It gives an entirely new meaning to "Russia are you listening?" 

Also, Anonymous is reporting they are using Russian Ransomware in Russia. Oh, you didn't know the ransomware in the USA is launched by Russia. That is where the money is going when American cities throw their hands in the air and surrender to paying the ransom. Oh, yeah, ransomware curtosy of Russia. No one bothered to link such annoyances to national security.

Well. Here we are in the middle of a genocide of Ukraine by Russia and guess who is partly funding it? Oh, yeah, Americans that pay the ransom. No different than the elderly that succumbs to scamers that take their money. Where do you think those monies are going? Pedophiles, an Indian mafia and quite possibly Russia. 

All these illegal schemes have consequences beyond a balanced budget in homes and businesses across the USA.

I am grateful to the people that broadcast the truth to Russians. The Russians will be grateful as well, when their sons are spared from entering a battlefield where they will be slaughtered without an ounce of preparedness or education. It isn't easy being a soldier, it takes technique and education.

Russia literally throws their young men into the war and it is up to them to survive, if they only knew how. Sink or swim. 

April 13, 2022
By Julian E. Barnes and Edward Wong

Washington - Using a mix of high-tech and Cold War tactics, (click here) Ukrainian activists and Western institutions have begun to pierce the propaganda bubble in Russia, circulating information about the Ukraine war among Russian citizens to sow doubt about the Kremlin’s accounts.

The efforts come at a particularly urgent moment: Moscow appears to be preparing for a new assault in eastern Ukraine that could prove devastatingly bloody to both sides, while mounting reports of atrocities make plain the brutality of the Kremlin’s tactics.

As Russia presents a sanitized version of the war, Ukrainian activists have been sending messages highlighting government corruption and incompetence in an effort to undermine faith in the Kremlin.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S.-funded but independent news organization founded decades ago, is trying to push its broadcasts deeper into Russia. Its Russian-language articles are published on copies of its websites called “mirrors,” which Russian censors seek out in a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole. Audience numbers have surged during the war despite the censorship....

They didn't expect 40 inches of snow and preparedness fell short.

April 11, 2022
By Adriana Navarro

A calf from Klasna Farms during a previous winter's snowfall. 

Nearly halfway through the month of April (click here) is the heart of calving season, and for ranchers in the northern Plains, the blast of wintry weather will endanger the lives of their most fragile animals....

...Over the last few days, Katelyn Dynneson-Larson has been preparing her livestock at Dynneson Ranch in Sidney, Montana, near the western border of North Dakota. While her Gelbvieh cross cows are suited for the chilly weather, the newborn calves will take much more work to keep warm and safe.

"The main issue is that we have been really warm lately, so it will be a shock to everyone," Dynneson-Larson told AccuWeather....

Being a good shepard has never been more important.

April 13, 2022
By Adriana Navarro

Sheep at Hollenbeck Ranch are guided through a snowdrift.

Hundreds of miles of roads (click here) were shut down, ranchers and their animals faced brutal conditions -- and will see more tough weather ahead. Meanwhile, snowdrifts in some spots were estimated to be higher than 10 feet in some places.

The sun was out and shining Wednesday morning in Molt, Montana -- a stark contrast to the blizzard conditions that had kept Sara Hollenbeck busy on her ranch, working to keep the wind and snow from burying her sheep.

The storm that delivered deadly severe weather to the South Central states buried those farther north in record-challenging snowfall and blizzard conditions.

A little more than a 30-minute drive from Hollenbeck Ranch, a record accumulation of 13.9 inches of snowfall was set at Billings, Montana, on Tuesday, breaking the old record of 5.8 inches set in 1991 and earning the title of the snowiest April day in the city since 1955. The mercury plunged to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, overtaking the old record of 15 F held since 1986. A total of nearly 11 inches of snow was reported roughly 10 miles east of Molt. The highest snowfall total in the state was an astounding 47 inches at Albro Lake in southwestern Montana....

There is currently a very bad storm occurring in the USA.

This is hail that fell in Salado, Texas. The storm is proving to be very difficult for calves of the beef herds.

It is Polar Vortex displacement.

March 30, 2022

By Danielle Kaeding

After a year of maintenance, (click here) a U.S. Coast Guard vessel arrived in Duluth on Wednesday that will break up ice for ships moving through Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan. The vessel’s arrival comes as Congressional lawmakers are pushing for another heavy icebreaker on the Great Lakes.

The 225-foot Coast Guard cutter Spar ended its journey from Baltimore after undergoing repairs. The vessel was commissioned in 2001, built in Marinette, Wisconsin, and originally based in Kodiak, Alaska. The vessel replaces the Coast Guard cutter Alder, which left the port last summer for maintenance before being transferred to San Francisco.

As the Spar transited the Great Lakes, Coast Guard Lt. Commander Joel Wright said his crew encountered thick ice in Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior after passing through the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan....

Corruption in plain sight. That is what placed Americans on the path to the climate crisis. Everytime the USA Congress, dating back two decades attempted to approach the greenhouse gases pollution, there was obstruction after obstruction to benefit the petroleum industry.

100 million Americans.

100,000,000 Americans.

100 million Americans are a third of the USA population!

April 12, 2022

By Alex Sosnowski

Close to 100 million Americans (click here) will be at risk for all forms of severe weather that includes tornadoes on Wednesday and Wednesday night as a dangerous severe weather threat persists, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. The severe weather is a continuation of violent storms that targeted locations from Texas to Minnesota on Tuesday and part of the same massive storm system responsible for an ongoing blizzard over the northern Plains and high winds over the southern Plains....

Anti-science politics is the MOST dangerous of tactics for elections.

The anti-science paradigm employed by the GOP for elections HAS CAUSED the outbreak of COVID-19 and uncontrolled spread. It has caused the climate crisis which should have been addressed decades ago and it imperils American lives in national security.

These very dangerous politics are practiced by the GOP. The country needs to stop being stupid about the hubris that gets Republicans elected.

Let's not forget gun violence.

Revenge politics

April 12, 2022
By Annie Karni

In a bitterly divided Congress, (click here) it was a rare measure that had been expected to sail through without a fight.

A bill to name a federal courthouse in Tallahassee after Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, the first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme Court — sponsored by the state’s two Republican senators and backed unanimously by its 27 House members — was set to pass the House last month and become law with broad bipartisan support.

But in a last-minute flurry, Republicans abruptly pulled their backing with no explanation and ultimately killed the measure, leaving its fate unclear, many of its champions livid and some of its newfound opponents professing ignorance about what had happened.

Asked what made him vote against a measure that he had co-sponsored, Representative Vern Buchanan, Republican of Florida, was brief and blunt: “I don’t know,” he said....

The Republicans are the white supremacists party. There is absolutely no doubt in that. This is yet another example of it.

Dating back to Judge Bork (click here), the Republicans have held increasingly obvious vengeful politics. And now, considering the past work within the Senate Justice Committe, President Biden is receiving his full share of Republican Revenge Politics.

I think "Moscow Mitch" is doing Americans a great favor by declaring that judges are no longer nominated by any given opening on the Supreme Court with a President of either party, but, by political majority in the US Senate. So, when Americans go to the polls they now have one more paradigm to consider. Do Americans elect their US Senators by reputation of blocking obstruction or by the judges they will approve? Or both?

I think Americans when they vote believe they are acting to make their government benevolent, fair and democratic. That has changed with the Republican Party, especially obvious with Trump's involvement in the GOP. Now, when Republican Seantors are elected it isn't under the idea that there is benevolence, but, more a dictatorshiop according to Republcan politics and not the policies of the country.

"Moscow Mitch" is anti-American. That is not just a political statement, it is a statement in fact. The US President is supposed to decide anyone nominated to the Supreme Court. The US Senate is supposed to advise and consent. "Moscow Mitch" has changed those RULES OF LAW. Advise and Consent is not being honored as a Constitutional precept if all the nominations are decided at the ballot box and not that of the US President. That is a great deal of damage to the USA democracy.

The circus the Republicans carried on in the most recent judicial nomination to the US Supreme Court was shameful, yet, to Republicans it was all about B Roll for the PACS to use at will to throw their money at the next election. That is not a democracy, it is a Plutocracy with policy imbedded in a dictatorship.

When a US Senator is elected that means there is one vote in the US Senate. That one vote exists because of the governance of the US Constitution. Predecided votes is not ethical or legal. "Moscow Mitch" needs an ethics investigation. There is absolutely no way a predetermined vote regarding Supreme Court nominations is legal. In that, realize, profoundly qualified nominations will be sent back to their day job without a fair hearing or a fair vote. That is highly illegal according to the USA Supreme Court. If we, as Americans, are to have the governance we want we have to end the openly opposition to the USA Constitution. "Moscow Mitch" is a chronic ethical violator including casting a vote to bring monies to Russian oligarchs to establish steel rolling factories in Kentucky, the state "Moscow Mitch" represents.

The revenge politics of the Republican Party is attacking the USA Constitution. There is no doubt about it. A US Senator having a predetermined vote regarding a nomination to the US Supreme Court is EXTREMELY corrupt. The CORRUPTION is directly due to the monies donated to politics by The Federalist Society. This is a closed loop that provides a guarantee that the USA Constitution takes a back seat to partisan politics and standards set by an private organization. The Federalist Society is BUYING the government. That is EXTREMELY corrupt. What is interesting is that because it is known to be a fact in the USA and openly known, the corruption somehow doesn't matter at the time of elections. 

If states that elected CORRUPTED politicians into their seats of power believe they are most qualified to protect that power and the USA Consitution I strongly suggest the states build a new political brain trust and out the current corrupted politicans.

The country acted to protect the USA Consitution in the 2020 election, it isn't over yet. The Republicans are doubling down on a dictatorship and there is no doubt whatsoever.

Ukraine at the time of Maidan

I think Western leadership, regardless the person be it government or the private sector, needs to remember where Ukraine’s national military was at the time of the Maidan. There was no Ukrainian military at the time of the Maidan.

The then president of Ukraine was a puppet for Russia and completely disarmed Ukraine. The national military was in name only. In place of the national military for Ukraine, Yanukovych established militias with the Ukraine oligarchs. Those oligarchs serve at the pleasure of the president, therefore, the Pro-Russia militias were in place to control the people during any armed insurrection.

What occurred at the Maidan was an extension of that oligarch directive. 

When I hear President Zelenskyy speak about returning Ukraine to it’s sovereign borders including Crimea and eastern Ukraine I hear someone who has not only felt the oppression that Putin is trying to exert now, but, also a man who watched a disarmed Ukraine lose pieces of itself against it’s will.

What the West needs to understand about this, is the sheer will and determination the Ukraine military has conducted to reconstitute it’s strength and capabilities to civil fight a war after 2014, and to date repel an attack to annihilate any Ukrainian that was alive and breathing. That is a people to admire and realize the strength of people to demand a government where democracy and the Rule of Law matter.

Ukraine deserves every advantage the world can give it. They are a magnificent country to live through decades of disappoint and attempted oppression at a time when authoritarianism and dictatorial heads of state are raising their ugly heads in attacking democracy. Ukraine is literally telling the world that freedom and self-governance is the only path for civilized people.

The GOP can't hide from this. Evidently, "Stop the Steal" has an organizer.

The organization has not submitted reports to the Federal Election Commission. The movement to end the USA Constitution has money behind it.

April 12, 2022
By Zuch Everson

Women Vote Smart PAC (click here) and its treasurer Any Kremer now owe the Federal Election Commission at least $49,000 in past-due fines for failing to submit financial reports. The FEC disclosed the latest fine, $11,800 for not filing the 2021 mid-year report, on Friday.

In October, the agency referred a fine of $6,500 to the Treasury Department for collections, which was first reported by Rantt Media.

Through the nonprofit Women for America First, Kremer and her daughter Kylie organized the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol. In September, the House select committee investigating the attack issued subpoenas to both Kremers for their records and communications regarding the rally.

Women Vote Smart violated FEC rules from its launch. Founded in May 2016 as Women Vote Trump, it changed names the following month after the FEC pointed out that using a candidate’s name violated campaign-finance rules.

In a February 2019 filing, just before Kremer became the PAC’s treasurer, Women Vote Smart reported owing Trump’s D.C. hotel $40,000. The debt was not listed in the PAC’s next report—nor was an explanation for how it was wiped out.

Another fine may be in the works: Women Vote Smart’s 2021 year-end report is a couple months past due.

Kremer did not respond to an inquiry.

OMG, "Moscow Mitch" is fired!

A tamer Trump? (click here) 

McConnell confident GOP can retake Senate with 'restrained' former president

Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY
Tue, April 12, 2022, 5:00 AM

Louisville - If Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is worried about former President Donald Trump meddling in the 2022 midterm elections, he hid it well beneath his notorious stoicism in a recent USA TODAY interview.

Many political observers argue Trump cost the GOP its Senate majority leading up to the January 2021 runoff races in Georgia when he regularly made false assertions about the state's election integrity that reportedly hurt turnout among conservative voters.

Asked if the former president could once again jeopardize the GOP chances in retaking the chamber this year, the Kentucky Republican now sees a much tamer Trump.

"So far this cycle, he's been rather restrained in his nominations," McConnell told USA TODAY in a one-on-one interview....

The GOP hasn't even begun to address the tragedy of January 6th or the legal decisions of it's particpants and this is what "Moscow" has to say? Mitch McConnell is just about the most crase human being I have ever witnessed in power. He is anti-American. Trump is a Putin puppet. There isn't anything good or decent about him.

The Democrats don't have this problem. If any party in the USA has the right to be flag wavers, the Democrat Party does. 

With McConnell, a friend in need is a friend in deed, whether it be a Russian oligarch or a Putin puppet, if it bring McConnell the word "majority" instead of "minority" in front of his name he will do anything to this country to achieve it.

McConnell cannot possibly love the USA for it's democracy because he has absolutely no respect for the USA Consitution and the Rule of Law. To state he is making Supreme Court nominations a rally cry is to be anti-demoncracy. 

January 7, 2021

Melissa Brown, Kirsten Fiscus and Emily Enfinger

A north Alabama man (click here) who family said was a supporter of President Donald Trump has been identified as one of four fatalities in Wednesday's pro-Trump rally and subsequent riot. 

Kevin Greeson, of Athens, Alabama, died due to a heart attack, according to a statement from his family Thursday provided by his wife. 

"Kevin was an advocate of President Trump and attended the event on Jan. 6, 2021 to show his support," the statement reads. "He was excited to be there to experience this event. He was not there to participate in violence or rioting, nor did he condone such actions."

But social media comments apparently made by Greeson on Parler advocated for "a war" and frequently referred to armed insurrections, including a call to "storm" the U.S. Supreme Court....

He jumped off the train when it stopped and got away in the chaos.

How does it feel to be a subway communter today?

Bicycle.

It is most likely a man. With a gas mask on, who knows?

Five foot, five. That is a tough one.

 (click here)

FBI joins NYPD in frantic search for 5ft 5 gas mask gunman who shot ten NYC commuters on rush hour train before dumping his JAMMED .380 automatic, three extended round magazines and backpack in Brooklyn subway: One victim was 14-years-old

Kurt Cobain was loved. I guess it is up to everyone to understand why he was loved.

April 11, 2022
By Matt Owen

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the guitar (click here) – which featured in the iconic 1991 music video – will go towards supporting mental health charity, Kicking The Stigma

Kurt Cobain’s iconic Fender Competition Mustang electric guitar, which appeared in the 1991 music video for Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, is set to go up for auction for the first time in history.

The Lake Placid Blue six-string will feature in Julien’s Auctions’ three-day Music Icons event, which takes place during Mental Health Awareness Month on May 20, 21 and 22.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the guitar – and from other Cobain items up for sale – will go towards supporting mental health charity Kicking The Stigma(opens in new tab), which was founded by Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay....

With the lack of gun control in the USA, I am taking out stock in Yellow Police Tap.

When I was a child I remember seeing the "Do Not Cross" yellow tape at a house that burned down. It was rarely seen back then. But, with the steady flow of gun violence in the USA, I figured Yellow Police Tape and Evidence Bags were a good investment.

I can't quite bring myself to buy stock in body bags yet.

April 12, 2022

By Ryan W. Miller, Kevin McCoy, Gabriela Miranda and Eduardo Cuevas

New York - At least 10 people (click here) were shot and a gunman remains at large after an attack on a Brooklyn subway train left riders in panic Tuesday morning, city officials said....

It is a heinous premeditated crime. The gunman waited until the subway doors were closed and there was no escape. People would have been killed if they had jumped.

12 April 2022

By James Gant

This is the harrowing moment (click here) terrified passengers banged on a subway car door as they desperately tried to flee a rampaging gunman in Brooklyn this morning.

Shocking footage showed one of the travelers repeatedly launching his body against the metal frame and tugging at the handle in a bid to escape the hail of bullets.

Others recorded themselves yanking on the handgrip several times to prove it was locked, while the shooter loomed nearby.

It comes as terrified witnesses told how the shooting on the packed train triggered a horror stampede - with children trampled on as commuters ran for their lives.

Passengers revealed there was a huge surge towards the exit of the subway carriages as people screamed 'gun' and 'bomb' while the sound of shots rang out.

Cemile Toseglu, 17, a student at Brooklyn Tech who was on her way to school, said other riders jumped over her in panic while the gunman continued to cause carnage....

      

I think Lavrov is still the Foreign Minister of Russia. It seems to be a life time assignment under Putin.

Foreign Minister Lavrov gave an interview or wrote something and stated the reason Russia invaded Ukraine was to stop a USA hegamony along with NATO. He accused basically The West of genocide.

I am certain Lavrov is referring to the invasion of Iraq. We know Russia was with us when Osama bin Laden crashed jets occupied by people into New York skyscrapers and the Pentagon. So, as to Iraq. I am confident the World Courts heard from others about the atrocitiess of the USA military in Iraq. Entering that country was not an issue and very little Saddam Hussein tried to counter with his military worked.

In the course of the early war into Iraq, there were casualties on both sides, including civilians. No American ever consented to the deaths of civilians and yet it went on. I was screaming for someone to help when Bush aimed the tanks at Najaf and the Imām 'Alī Mosque. Gratefully, the Grand Ayatollah Sistani was listening and ordered civilians to bravely walk the path of their saviors and the advance of the tanks stopped. They would have slaughtered nearly 1000 or more if they continued.

Anyone in the world that understood the facts could have filed a case with the World Court, yet I remember nothing about any of that. There is a reason I believe and it is because Saddam Hussein, the man that dug mass graves for his people over and over again, was taken out of power. That more than likely ended any doubt and at the same time the American people were disapproving of the invasion into Iraq. It has been seen in history as an illegal war, but, there is always Saddam and his hate crimes to justify that invasion. 

In the case of Ukraine, Putin has tried to MODEL his invasion the same as the invasion into Iraq making President Zelensky in the image of Saddam. It is all a lie. Nothing Bush stated about Saddam was a lie. There is proof of the mass graves Saddam dug and the skeletons in them.

President Zelensky is one of the most decent men Ukraine ever put into power. He is amazing in this war he has to face. He loves the people of Ukriane and obviously Putin does not. 

Russia never had anything to be afraid of from NATO. Putin was brought on board the G8 to help Russia and not hurt it. Yet, even being a member of the G8, people affiliated with the Russian press and American business became victims to the Putin regime. Do I have to refer to The Magnitsky Act? 

The USA is a powerful country and it's very mission is to make the world a good place for Americans and in understanding that mission as a democracy, all the countries the USA considers allies and trading partners are included in that mission. Russia was in the G8 until it invaded Ukraine and stole Crimea with Eastern Ukraine locked in a civil war backed and funded by Russia. There is no way the USA could ever back such an insult to a sovereign country simply trying to self-govern while attempting to remove Russian corruption from it's banking and government structures.

Ukraine was invaded by Russia in an implusive act by a Russian president that may as well be czar. There are more than 10,000 people dead in Mariupol. That is not a war, that is genocide. 

Vladimir Putin hates Ukrainians so deeply he is sacrificing his youngest soldiers on a battlefield that is contested in it's manifestation. There is a lot wrong here. This invasion into Ukraine is nothing like the USA has done or PAID REPARATIONS to fix what was destroyed. The USA worked 20 years, an entire generation, in Afghanistan only to have extremists backed by Pakistan take over, destroy everything the USA built and oppress the people once again. That is hardly genocide by the USA. It might be by the Taliban, but, not The West.

April 12, 2022

Kyiv, Ukraine - The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol (click here) said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, as weeks of attacks and privation leave the bodies of Mariupol’s people “carpeted through the streets.”

Speaking by phone Monday with The Associated Press, Mayor Vadym Boychenko also accused Russian forces of having blocked weeks of thwarted humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage there from the outside world.

Mariupol has been cut off by Russian attacks that began soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in late February, and has suffered some of the most brutal assaults of the war. Boychenko gave new details of recent allegations by Ukrainian officials that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of the corpses of victims of the siege....

It is about time! Putin has publicly pledged to continue the invasion into Ukraine until all his directives are met.

12 April 2022
By David Averre

Ukrainian prosecutors(click here) are expanding their war crimes investigations into the northeastern suburbs of Kyiv after Russian forces withdrew.

Investigations into civilian massacres carried out by Russian troops have primarily focused so far on the northwestern suburbs such as Bucha, Makariv and Borodyanka, but the Prosecutor-General's Office said Tuesday it was also looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast.

Russian trooops advanced into that area last month before retreating to focus on fighting in Eastern Ukraine....

"Good Night, Moon"

 Long live, Navalny!

We live in dangerous times.

We are in a climate crisis and we need to end the use of fossil fuels in our country. It is just that simple. No more greenhouse gas emissions. We need to push the curve currently destroying Earth the other way. The biotic Earth doesn't have enough trees or wildlife habitat. The oceans are becoming very warm and fish are now found far more north because the water temperature is an issue of survival for them. Also, plastics in our ocean is an enormous problem, microbeads have now been found in our food chain. That's right, human beings dumped their microbeads into the ocean and other waters and it is now coming back to haunt us.

You may (click here) have heard from friends, read the blogs, and seen the articles – microplastics have infiltrated our marine and freshwater environments. Whether they're plastic microbeads from personal care products (think facial scrubs, exfoliating cleansers, and toothpaste), or plastic microfibers from your favorite yoga pants, small plastics escape our wastewater treatment facilities and enter the water stream....

New Research has found evidence of plastic in the bloodstream of humans for the first time. (click here)

A global pandemic with variants coming out every other week. Currently, there is a new omicron virus variant that is proving to be a problem far greater than the other variants. I TOLD YOU SO. This was bound to happen as people put their "liberty" before the public health. Again, more wayward decisions by the Supreme Court. 

There are gun deaths in the USA surmounting previous records. President Biden is about to issue an order regarding "ghost guns." There is too much violence in the USA. I think the country needs to revisit efforts by states to limit the availability of high powered weapons on the market and if legislation can actually stop the deaths we are witnessing. 

There is a Russian president that has blatantly disobeyed international order and laws. He has committed genocide including at least 200 dead children. These children did nothing to Putin, yet they are dead anyway. The West has acted valiantly. The West opened it's borders to parents and children and elderly and there are many Ukrainians now safe that would otherwise have been killed in the impulsive war by Russia. No punishment for this regime in Russia is too great. This is the year 2022 and we are witnessing genocide by a large country with nuclear capacity. 

Our legal system has been burdened as never before with an insurrection that was inspired by a former president. It was this past week when Trump stated he wanted to march to the Capitol with the demonstrators. It was for politics and to drive his MAGA electorate to the voting booths in 2022. It is very unfortunate Trump still has a megaphone to continue to press an ideology harmful to the USA Constitution. The coup was prevented on January 6th because Vice President Pence loves this country just the way it is. We were lucky in many ways, including the fact no Congress person was killed. Unfortuantely, the police that responded that day have suffered. 

We live in dangerous times, but, incredible times whereby computers extend our ability to work quickly on issues of survival on Earth. We must tackle these problems no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel about our politics. The best way forward is TOGETHER and on the same page that will end these tragedies. It is vital we end the lethargy of putting profits before life. Profits should follow THE BEST PRACTICES of living on Earth. We need to do this now.