I hope everyone has had a good holiday. 

With all the religious faiths in the world it is difficult to isolate just one for good wishes. Every member of every faith should have a wonderful experience. Faith is important and a moral guardrail for people.

Good night.

Is it possible to suspend some of the debt?

This is a country that is trying to protect every Ukrainian they can through a refugee process and/or protecting the cities as best they can. The idea Ukraine has the luxury of worrying about it's economy and/or a better GDP is simply unrealistic. As an example, one aspect of the Ukraine GDP was a rocket factory. That has been bombed by the Russians. 

So, the idea Ukraine can at all provide some degree of normal financial functioning is absurd. The country needs relief from it's debt and since this is still a new war the path forward is uncertain. One has to consider not just the enormous damage to cities and their infrastructure, but, Russia has been carrying on very strange movements around Chernobyl. For the Ukrainians still living in that region, there may or may not be permanent damage to the region and it may have to one more time be evacuated until radiation levels are down.

The debt Ukriane is incurring to allow for a national defense will have to fall to Russia in reparations. It is international law and Russia is not exempt. 

President Zelensky in making this request is worried about the well being of the Ukrainian treasury and it's perception in the international market place. The future for the Ukrainians that are now children are still a concern for President Zelensky. I am most confident the World Bank and other financial institutions can begin to assess Ukraine's problems vs. it's assets which include the people and determine the best path forward. With any luck this conflict will be short lived and Ukraine can return to correct it's path today and rebuild a better business infrastructure.

There is currently an intrinsic value to this conflict the financial world is not considering. THE CONFLICT or WAR has a value to the world that reveals new truths about the global balance of power and the future of weapons and wars. Ukraine has to be assessed as a country that has withstood incredible strife to get this far in protecting it's sovereign state. Ukrainians have overcome some of the most terrible circumstances that can be leveled at a human society and that is a value in lessons that are part of the value of Ukraine.

The lessons the world is learning from Ukraine and it's magnificent people must become part of it's financial legacy going forward. In that understanding comes a reverence for the country in knowing the future holds a great deal of hope. That hope and the knowledge the world has gained is part of a greater legacy that has to be valued in the real world.

No financial institution can replace the people lost in Ukraine that are part of it's economy. But, for the perseverence of the Ukrainians, financial institutions can and must consider wisdom in serving their national debt and their needs today. In that is to realize Russia has a profound indebtedness to Ukrainians regardless of the outcome of the conflict and it is Russia that needs to held responsible TODAY for the destruction they have carried out and the real life damages to the people of that incredible country.

There is no doubt President Zelensky is making an honorable request and all I am stating here is that there is higher regard that can be shown by the world financial institutions and the place where Ukraine's debt actually lies. Please assist President Zelensky in his struggle to protect Ukraine's sovereign borders and the land that will once again be home to a proud nation of people and their children. These are young families and their potential is unlimited as soon as the country is once again functioning as it should.

April 17, 2022
By Grayson Quay

Ukraine has asked the G7 countries for $50 billion (click here) to help cover the war-torn country's budget shortfall, said Oleh Ustenko, the economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Per Reuters, Ukraine "is also considering issuing zero percent coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months."

The World Bank projected last week that Ukraine's economy is expected to shrink by 45.1 percent in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, though "the magnitude of the contraction will depend on the duration and intensity of the war."...

The Russian soldiers crucified and tortured Ivan Monastyrskyi to entertain themselves.

April 16, 2022
by Louisa Loveluck and Serhiy Morgunov

Bucha, Ukraine - Police found the body (click here) in an abandoned Russian military camp where occupying soldiers had sat around drinking wine, their laughter so loud that neighbors seethed as it echoed down Yablunska Street.

They had known for weeks that there was a body in the camp, yet another among so many corpses the Russians left behind. Overwhelmed crews picking them up simply hadn’t gotten to it yet. So no one knew it was Ivan Monastyrskyi.

His neighbor was the first to identify him, recognizing the unshaven face of a man who had watched his beloved street become a killing field. When his wife, Yulia, approached the body, her blue eyes froze.

There were bullet holes in his calves and his arms were stretched out at strange angles between slats of wood with nails through them. His wife looked at the thin sweater he was wearing and couldn’t help thinking how he must have been so cold in his final minutes.

Yulia’s neighbors heard her that night, inconsolable.

“What happened?” they heard her crying. “What did they do to him?”...

May Ivan Monastyrskyi rest in peace. May his wife find solace in his passing. He did nothing wrong. He was a victim of hate.

The 2016 Russian Yaravaya Law makes it illegal to be Christian. It is my guess Mr. Monastyrskyi tried to make friends with the Occupation Russians. Obviously, his wife did not know he was in the camp, so he probably approached them in hopes of finding common ground and welcome them to their neighborhood. Other Ukrainians have done that with the Russians and were mildly successful, especially with the young conscription soldiers.

The older Ukrainians didn't want the war, as far as they were concerned the lack of electricity and heat in the cold winter and the lack of water was a form of suffering and they believed if the Russians were allowed to take over at least they would have water and heat in their homes. They attributed much of their suffering to the younger Ukrainians that wanted to live within a democracy with economic vitality.

Both of these perspectives regarding the Ukrainian people were written in accounts I read and/or were videos of those waiting in line for water. There was on occassion a working hand water pump in the community, probably a farm where the animals were watered.

I am sure Mrs. Monastyrskyi was hoping her husband would return soon with some sort of resignation to the presence of Russians now.

A: Russia adopted a law (click here) making it unconstitutional to be a Christian, even though the (Russian) constitution says you are free to profess any faith. (The Yarovaya law increases regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of “missionary activities” in non-religious settings.)

Based on this law, which is active right now, if you declare that you belief this or that or if you publically invite someone to church, of if you share an invitation to a Christian conference or service on facebook, sometimes even if you just attend church you will receive a huge fine or you can be jailed for up to 3 years. If you represent a church as a pastor or leader, then the fine is $1M rubles ($15,700) and up to 5 years in jail, if they can prove that you were promoting your faith....

Russia expelled non-profits some time ago. Recently, human rights groups were removed from the country. They coulc even be in jail or prison by now.

April 9, 2022
By Mark Robinson

Under mounting international pressure (click here) for reported war crimes, Russia on Friday forced the closure of several prominent human rights groups' offices, CNN reported.

Driving the news: The Russian Ministry of Justice rescinded the registrations of 15 offices belonging to foreign NGOs and international aid organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace....

The march to war in Ukraine by Russia didn't happen overnight. Putin directed his military unexpectedly, but, the Russian government has been closing down freedoms and any alliances connected to any country that practiced freedom. It has been coming for some time. The more difficult the communists made the politics, the more and more Russia became a dictator state with plans for expansion.

19 September 2012

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (click here) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.

The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.

USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.

The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups....

USAID was not the only non-profit to be closed down by the Russian government.

March 1, 2022

By Peter Smith 

Ukraine’s tangled political history with Russia (click here) has its counterpart in the religious landscape, with Ukraine’s majority Orthodox Christian population divided between an independent-minded group based in Kyiv and another loyal to its patriarch in Moscow.

But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine's fight for survival.

Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in part as a defense of the Moscow-oriented Orthodox church, leaders of both Ukrainian Orthodox factions are fiercely denouncing the Russian invasion, as is Ukraine's significant Catholic minority.

“With prayer on our lips, with love for God, for Ukraine, for our neighbors, we fight against evil — and we will see victory,” vowed Metropolitan Epifany, head of the Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine....

True to form, freedom of speech has brought criticism of the Ukraine military.

The article below is not the reporting I am discussing here. The article below shows the continued genocide by Russia of the Ukriane people. The gossip that I heard today sought to understand and somewhat justify the Russian invasion. There is no rational that allows Russia to slaughter innocent people.

The comments come from someone who believes the Nazis are the Ukrainian military. That is not the case and I remind the leader of the Ukriane military is the commander and chief and he is Jewish. I think the Ukraine people have been in the hands of a man, namely President Zelensky, qualified to lead the country. He certainly has hands on time in the streets and in the killing fields. He does not sit at a desk without understanding what is transpiring across Ukraine.

Previous to the Russian invasion there was an extremist right wing group called the Azovs. They studied the methods of fighting, etc. It is my understanding they were involved in the Maidan in 2014. Why? Because they were battled trained. Azov shamelessly speaks to their philosophy as Nazis. In the USA we have similar people called White Supremacists/Nationalists. They do the same thing the Azov group has done. The difference in the focus of the two is startling.

To understand the Azov group one has to realize the Ukrainian national military was disarmed and mostly disbanded by the Pro-Russia faction of the Ukraine government. Instead of the national military, Yanukovych gave the Ukriane oligarchs power to organize and train militias acoss Ukriane to control the people. The national security of Ukriane was literally handed over to Russia at Russia's insistence. Basically, under the Yanukovych rule Russia saw Ukriane as a satellite to it's own power. Yanukovych was overseeing the country of Ukriane not as a sovereign country, but, as a state within Russia. The best example is the annexing by Russia of Crimea after the 2014 uprising. It is safe to say that the uprising in 2014 at the Maidan probably would not have happened without the Azovs.

Was the uprising a good thing? Yes. It separated Ukraine from Russia. The uprising in the Maidan began a backlash that ousted Yanukovych from power and sent he and his family to Russia. I am certain he would love to come back to rule over Ukraine as a state again. The people don't want it.

The reporting of Russia capturing Ukrianian people and forcing them into servitude to destroy their own country is a good illustration of Russia's perceived entitlement to the land and the people that populate that land.

• An advisor to Mariupol's mayor warned (click here) Russia plans to close off access to city
• He said 'filtration' of men still in the city has reached 'maximum momentum'
• He claimed Russian forces are using filtration camps and checkpoints to determine which of the city's residents could still be of use to Moscow
• Russia is doing this because the city is no longer habitable for many who remain, he said. Mariupol has been all-but reduced to rubble by Russian shelling 

Basically, Putin is running out of men and believe pressing captured Ukrainians into service for Russia is going to give him a better hand to play. Putin is desperate. The Russian military has set up "filtration camps." Such a camp by any other name is a concentration camp. The Ukrainians are probably being treated as possessions and used as if they are Russia's chatel. We now know what has become of the men, but, what has become of the women and children the Russians have captured and placed in their filtration camps? Better name is reassignment camps.

At any rate, the Avozs exist because of Russian oppression. Now that the Ukrainian government has reconstituted it's national military, with this invasion by Russia, the Avozs have joined the ranks of the Ukrainian military and are fighting for their country.

In the USA White Supremacists/Nationalists are more interested in racism (click here). The use of "Nazi" by Putin is for the purpose of instilling fear that dates back to WWII. That is not the issue at hand. Additionally, most countries are not "melting pots" like the USA. So, when the Azov group is discussed in relation to Ukriane there is no racism involved. They are a fighting force with military training related to the Nazis, but, Ukrainians are Ukrainians.

This is a map of the varied ethnicity in Ukraine. (click here) Make no mistake, Putin and his military want to wipe out the Ukrainian population from the map. The forces within Russia are only interested in Russians and no other ethnicity. The rest of the world needs to take example of this because Putin is coming for them next.

Russia's invasion into Ukraine is about control and not about eradicating Nazis. If that was the case Russia and Ukraine might work together, but, since there has been little uprise since the Maidan, the Azov groups seem quite happy.

Vladimir Putin has no intention to allow Ukrainians the right to live and carry on their identities or their faiths. As far as Putin is concerned Ukrainians are a problem and they will be less and less a problem if they are eradicated. That is what this boils down to and the Azovs are not true died in the wool Nazis. They are Ukrainians that armed themselves in training during the time when Yanukovych was in power and disarmed the national military.

Putin is using the Nazis as scapegoats for his war against Ukrainians. There is no threat to any other country, except, Russia by the Avozs. Especially now, they are part of the Ukrainian mlitary.

We know for a fact that Russia is only interested in Russians because of the internal laws that have taken place by the Duma. The Russian diaspora was returned and given jobs, but, within a year after their return they had to declare their dual citizenship. In another year there was a fine for dual citizenship status. That fine was supposed to be paid annually. But, after a time that fine was dropped and all Russians had to declare their Russian heritage as their only identity and their only citizenship. The opportunity to have a dual citizenship in Russia was then criminalized.

This tightening noose around the Russian people has lead to political dissent. Well over half the Russian people do not approve of this level of oppression. They are unable to rid themselves of the oppression because of a very, very corrupt election process.

The resistence by Ukraine to become a Russian possession is real for real reasons and has nothing to do with the Nazis of WWII or racism. 

April 16, 2022
By Adam Schreck and Mstyslav Chernov

Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, (click here) western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russia’s pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia’s military command had warned a day earlier of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites.

But the toll of war reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of a war that has shattered European security and plunged East-West relations to new lows. In the Kyiv region alone, Ukrainian authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago....

Time to check expiration dates.

16 April 2022
By Sheryk DeVore

Avian flu (click here) has likely killed hundreds of double-crested cormorants nesting at Baker’s Lake near Barrington, Illinois.

Wildlife biologist Chris Anchor said this is the largest outbreak of disease in wild birds he’s seen in Cook County.

“I’ve never seen anything like this since I started working here 41 years ago,” said Anchor, of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. “Chances are this is happening in other places, and we’re not aware of it because no one is looking.”

The outbreak, which affects wild, backyard and commercial bird populations, was likely caused by the same highly infectious strain of avian flu that is sweeping the country.

Since early February, more than 23 million birds in commercial flocks have been killed by avian flu or euthanized due to the outbreak, mostly outside Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Cases have been reported in 24 states this year, with Iowa the hardest hit, The Associated Press reported. While poultry remains safe to eat as long as it’s properly cooked, the prices of eggs and other poultry-related foods are soaring....

On April 17, 2007, (click here) FDA licensed the first vaccine in the United States for the prevention of H5N1 influenza, commonly referred to as avian influenza or "bird flu." This inactivated influenza virus vaccine is for use in people 18 through 64 years of age who are at increased risk of exposure to the H5N1 influenza virus subtype contained in the vaccine. This vaccine is derived from the A/Vietnam/1203/2004 influenza virus. The vaccine is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur Inc. of Swiftwater, PA and has been purchased by the federal government for inclusion within the Nation's National Stockpile.

This vaccine could be used in the event that the H5N1 avian influenza virus develops the capability to spread efficiently from person to person, resulting in the rapid spread of disease across the globe. Vaccines are critical to help counter the spread of influenza disease during a pandemic.

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....