Sunday, April 24, 2022
Saturday, April 23, 2022
And the Hollywood investigations now begin.
23 April 2022
By Alyssa Guzman
Bill Murray (click here) once threw an ashtray at Richard Dreyfuss' head after a 'meltdown' on set of What About Bob, it has been claimed as more 'problematic behavior' emerges about the beloved actor whose actions have caused his latest movie project to get shut down.
Dreyfuss' son Ben, 35, revealed on Twitter on Thursday that Murray, 71, allegedly threw an ashtray at his father's head and threatened to 'throw' a female producer across a parking lot and 'ripped off her glasses' during the meltdown after being denied an extra day off on the What About Bob set in 1991.
Ben also revealed bodyguards had to be on set once filming resumed to separate the Murray and Dreyfuss, 74....
By Alyssa Guzman
Bill Murray (click here) once threw an ashtray at Richard Dreyfuss' head after a 'meltdown' on set of What About Bob, it has been claimed as more 'problematic behavior' emerges about the beloved actor whose actions have caused his latest movie project to get shut down.
Dreyfuss' son Ben, 35, revealed on Twitter on Thursday that Murray, 71, allegedly threw an ashtray at his father's head and threatened to 'throw' a female producer across a parking lot and 'ripped off her glasses' during the meltdown after being denied an extra day off on the What About Bob set in 1991.
Ben also revealed bodyguards had to be on set once filming resumed to separate the Murray and Dreyfuss, 74....
Will Smith has revealed an underbelly to Hollywood. Tempermental actors and actresses and the fall out of their behavior. The public mostly doesn't see that side of the movie set. Now, it is becoming important to remove violence from the Hollywood work place.
The problem with Putin's investigation.
The way I see it the Putin investigations is an attempt to "pin something nefarious" on The West, hence the so called issue with British intelligence. Ukraine is a member of the European Union and has been building that relationship for a long time. The focus of the relationship was economic. Ukraine and it's business community wanted to open economic relationships with the European Union.
The point is regardless of how legitimate the relationship with the EU was and is, Putin will make it look oppressive and in hate of Russians. These investigations are not for the world to understand, but, a closed audience in Russia.
What should really occur is for Putin, his lawyers and his foreign ministers to take their case to The Hague and argue against the charges that were filed. He should do that in person to demonstrate he is not afraid of the truth.
No investigation by Russia will result in anything except a narrow focus for propaganda reflecting his politics.
He does want to escalate the war. If The West gives him no reason to act, then he will create a scenario in order to justify it to the Russian people.
This is very, very tragic.
Such talent should register somewhere and given certain guidelines to prevent such horrible accidents. I am sure there is a tourist bureau in New York City that can provide a structured idea of the trains that run in the subway and the dangers of being near them.
Basically, what to expect with schedules, the electric rail and requesting accommodation for such an event. It is an event. These are international travelers recognized globally for their talent. I have no doubt they would be welcome to paint in New York City. This is really terrible and it seems like a lack of understanding the subject they most wanted to paint.
April 22, 2022
By Stephen NessenA photo of Julien Blanc (front left) and Pierre Audebert (front right) who were found struck by a train.
Two men (click here) found fatally struck by a train in a subway tunnel in East New York Wednesday morning have been identified as two French graffiti artists.
Julien Blanc, 34, and Pierre Audebert, 28, shared two dreams, according to their boss, the artist Ceet Fouad.
The first was to visit New York City. Fouad, also a street artist, who’s known for his chicken character with bulging eyes, brought them to New York to film a short documentary. During the filming, they interviewed veterans of New York City’s graffiti heyday of the 1970s and 1980s.
Their second dream, Fouad said, was to paint a subway train. “It was like winning the World Cup, winning a trophy,” Fouad said.
Fouad said the last time he saw his friends was at dinner Tuesday night. He said they didn’t discuss going out to paint trains and he had no idea they were planning to do it....
Why is this even an issue?
The West has been selling all sorts of things, including military hardware, to Ukraine and it was all legitimate. May items The West comes with instructors so the purchaser knows how to properly use the item. The West isn't interested in jihad warfare so much as correct use of such merchandise. Why does Putin think he has anything and who in their right mind would trust his findings?
By Will Stewart and Adam Soloman and Laurence Dollimore
Warring Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) has today launched a search for British SAS forces alleged to be fighting in western Ukraine.
The Kremlin's Investigative Committee (IC), often referred to as Putin's personal CIA, said Saturday it will look into 'the facts of the activities of British SAS saboteurs in Ukrainian regions,' in particular Lviv, according to state-controlled outlet RIA Novosti.
It comes as Kremlin-backed soldiers encircle the last remaining defenders of Mariupol to the east, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowing to pull out of peace talks with Russia if any of his soldiers are killed in the last stand in the strategic port city....
A question for the January 6th Committee.
Of all the indications that Trump put forward a coupe against the new president and the USA Consititon, of what that he capitulated as classified military information to Russia was to perfect it's nuclear capacity?
Because if there was significant information provided to Russia that assisted in higher military technology, the coupe wasn't just a coupe, it was a resignation of the USA's power and strength to the communists. Trump wanted to remove the USA government, I have absolutely no doubt it. The question is how successful was he to that goal?
Putin's latest so - called perfected dildo shaped human extinguisher to make Russia feel good about itself.
By Dave Mosher
During Vladimir Putin's annual speech (click here) on Thursday, the Russian president played videos that unveiled brand-new nuclear weapons with startling capabilities.
Putin announced an "unstoppable" nuclear-powered "global cruise missile" that has "practically unlimited" range, then showed an animation of the device bobbing and weaving around the globe. He also played a computer animation of a high-speed, nuke-armed submarine drone blowing up ships and coastal targets.
"Russia remained and remains the largest nuclear power. Do not forget, no one really wanted to talk to us. Nobody listened to us," Putin told a crowd in Moscow, according to a translation by Sputnik, a Russian-government-controlled news agency. "Listen now."...
Indeed, Satan's favorite minion.
The date March 16, 1979 is commemorated in the current flags on Ukrainian flag poles.
The Soviet Union was once a power to contend with and this was the height of it's military power. Putin daydreams of this. He blames himself as a KGB in any failure of the Soviet Union. The more land a country holds, the more people it can claim as citizens to press into service of the military. The Soviet Union was a huge piece of land. It was primarly ungovernable. The size of the Soviet Union alone with it's long borders was an unstable aspect to the country.
There are several March 16, 1979 that can be called upon and now of them are good.
Washington D.C., March 16, 2020 - (click here) During the Cold War, false alarms of missile attacks were closely held matters although news of them inevitably leaked. Today the National Security Archive revisits the false alerts of the Jimmy Carter administration when on four occasions warning screens showed hundreds and hundreds of Soviet ballistic missiles heading toward North America....
The Old Communist Guard is finding new legs in a far different world.
India and the Soviet Union today (click here) demanded “an immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of Chinese troops from the territory of Vietnam.” A joint communique issued at the end of the Soviet Premier, Alexie Kosygin’s six-day official visit, also stressed that the “two sides considered it necessary to exert further efforts in the interest of strengthening peace in the Asian continent, of developing cooperation among all Asian countries on the principles of sovereign equality and independence, non-use of force, inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity of states, no interference into internal affairs and on other generally recognised principles of inter-state relations”. The two sides also favoured a “comprehensive and just settlement of the West Asian problem on the basis of the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Arab territories occupied in 1967, the securing of the legitimate rights of the Arab people of Palestine, including their right to establish their own state as well as the ensuring for all states in the area the right of independent existence and development”....
A defending USA figure skating champion is replaced by a Russian.
Vienna - Vladimir Kovalev of the Soviet Union (click here) regained the world figure skating title tonight after Charles Tickner of Littleton, Colo., the defending champion, gave a brilliant exhibition of free skating but failed to make up ground on the leaders....
NATO is used to the culture of the Atlantic, most of which are victories and peace. The complete opposite of that is the Pacific with Asia and war. The Pacific is a far different theater than the Atlantic. The folks from NATO are used to the idea of peace being the pinnacle of a society's victories. To have a country like Russia under Putin, come into the peace and prosperity of the Atlantic is unconscionable. But, to the Pacific cultures there are long standing wars that have yet to meet with victory. Peace is not a culture in Asia.
I find it a bit laughable that China still considers Japan an aggressor country so much so that it has radar for missiles. Japan was disarmed for decades following WWII. It's society and culture are completely different under a democracy instilled there by the USA after the war. One of the industries during reparations by the USA Japan was given whaling. Whale meat is full of PCB and all sorts of ocean pollution because of the blubber, but, it is still considered a delicacy in Japan. That was a method of returning an economy to Japan. The country really needs to stop the silliness of hunting endangered species. But, as far as an aggressor country? Japan? It has developed a national defense, but, aggression is not in it's vocabulary anymore.
Democracy is a fairly new concept, but, war definitely is not. So, for countries far older than the USA settled by Europeans, war is a mainstay. Putin finds it helpful to reach back in Russian history to stake a claim for the future and his legacy. Rather than having a legacy of freedom and democratic principles in governing, Putin rather be remembered in the shadows of Lenin in bringing about war. But, Lenin wasn't about war, he was about revolution. That is a completely different paradigm.
The entire world has a problem and it is about the communists in the Pacific and their resistence to democracy, peace and prosperity. Peace and prosperity go together, but, war robs the people of a greater prosperity and quality of life to compensate the national defenses of any country. If North Korea were to give up it's nuclear prusuits it could feed and educate many more people. Nukes are expensive and completely irrelevant for life on Earth.
Nukes = Fear, Fear = Control, Communism = Control, hence, fear is good.
Putin is deploying nuclear missiles within months. He means it. The West needs to decide about Putin and Russia and their nukes. Just because the Russian military made a poor showing in Ukraine, doesn't mean the nukes are something to ignore.
What the USA sees in expansionism of democracy isn't about destroying land and killing people. It is about business and Wall Street. Since the time of Nixon it was about business and never about taking over China. I do not remember a race for president of China whereby an American was a candidate. As we honor the Ukrainians and their survival in the face of genocide, that same principle holds true for all countries. Ethnics are important and no one wants to kill Russians or Chinese. It would be genocide if that was the ideology of the democratic West. Maybe the leaders of Russia and China don't 'get it.' As a matter of face, they absolutely don't get it, otherwise there would have been no violence in Hong Kong or threats to Taiwan and border threats to Post-Soviet Countries.
Freedom and democracy are not about control. They are about happiness. They are about food, blankets and clothing that fits the season of the year.
Democracies invest in learning and education. They love new ideas and investigation for those new ideas. They like big ideas at a societal level. There is very little a democracy is interested in that is controlling except whatever malady brings about illness or suffering.
The current political right wing of the USA is about control and that means trouble for democracy. Their interest in control is based in greed and that is a princple that does not play well in democratic societies. I have no doubt Republicans like less taxes, until there are threats of war and God help our enemies. So, to justify the end of social programs and allowing hunger for the sake of a political experiment to expose laziness there is no space for that in a democracy concerned with every vote being as powerful as every other vote. Anything other than that is corruption.
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No more appeasement.
People carry red flags (click here) and banners as they take part in the Immortal Regiment march during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a huge Victory Day parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Soviet win over Nazi Germany, amid a Western boycott of the festivities over the Ukraine crisis.
The flag to the left reflects the failed Soveit Union and the colors of the failed Russian Empire. The black, gold and white colors are from the Russian Empire. The flag raising is for propaganda of Victory Day.
April 22, 2022
By Michael Wa Siura
Russian soldiers (click here) have begun raising Soviet-era flags in recently occupied areas of Ukraine. On April 19 in the southern city of Kherson, troops from a Rosgvardia police unit hoisted the red "banner of victory" up the main flagpole in the city's "Alley of Glory," a park dedicated to the memory of locals who fought in the Red Army during the Second World War.
In the runup to Vladimir Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russian domestic media frequently made light of Western claims that the Russian president was seeking to reestablish the Soviet Union. However, when the "banner of victory" was raised in Kherson, Kremlin-controlled television channels were quick to praise the development.
During its noon news broadcast on April 20, Russia's First Channel featured a laudatory segment that began: "May 9th is fast approaching, and the red flag under which fascism was crushed in the 20th century again flutters above Kherson's Alley of Glory. It is a symbol of the great feat of the Soviet people, one which local residents again recall with a special feeling."...
China is probably on the same page as Russia and they are looking to a global conflict that involves nuclear weapons. There is no more being friendly with communist countries. They are toxic to the world order and will kill at will if they believe they can attain their goal. Putin has already declared war. The "talks" are stalemated with no compromise from Russia. Russia will not be hemmed in.
China holds a great deal of value in old wars, old enemies and old desired victories. The children of communists believe they can do better than their ancestors.
April 22, 2022
Russian soldiers (click here) have begun raising Soviet-era flags in recently occupied areas of Ukraine. On April 19 in the southern city of Kherson, troops from a Rosgvardia police unit hoisted the red "banner of victory" up the main flagpole in the city's "Alley of Glory," a park dedicated to the memory of locals who fought in the Red Army during the Second World War.
In the runup to Vladimir Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russian domestic media frequently made light of Western claims that the Russian president was seeking to reestablish the Soviet Union. However, when the "banner of victory" was raised in Kherson, Kremlin-controlled television channels were quick to praise the development.
During its noon news broadcast on April 20, Russia's First Channel featured a laudatory segment that began: "May 9th is fast approaching, and the red flag under which fascism was crushed in the 20th century again flutters above Kherson's Alley of Glory. It is a symbol of the great feat of the Soviet people, one which local residents again recall with a special feeling."...
Friday, April 22, 2022
The Spring 2022 Forecast in the USA.
NOAA issued it's U.S. Spring Outlook today (click here) and for the second year in a row, forecasters predict prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — part of the National Weather Service — is also forecasting above-average temperatures for most of the U.S. from the Desert Southwest to the East Coast and north through the Midwest to the Canadian border from April to June.
“NOAA’s Spring Outlook helps build a more weather and climate ready nation by informing local decision makers and emergency managers of this spring’s hazardous weather, such as extreme drought,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “NOAA’s seasonal outlooks provide advanced warning of the conditions to come, enabling communities to make preparations that boost their resilience to these hazards.”...
Drought in South Asia - May 2021
May 5, 2021
Devastating droughts (click here) are ravaging South Asia just about every year. The countries affected include Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. All of them are subject to the most damaging outcomes of droughts like agricultural land destruction, an increasingly dehydrated population with little access to clean water and growing social distress.
In cities like Karachi, Pakistan the Water Board can only provide half the required amount of clean water needed to sustain the city. According to research by Sewwandhi S.K. Chandrasekara, over three million hectares of rice fields are destroyed annually in Bangladesh. Nepal suffered a 17 per cent decrease in crop production at a national level in one year. Sri Lanka had a 56 per cent decrease in crop production over 40 years, with acute social repercussions. Lack of water has also brought a growing demand for a black market, creating societal tensions between rich people who buys clean water illegally and people who can’t afford it. The prices are gauged by third-party opportunists and civilians are puncturing governmental water circuits to pump their own water. A remote city could wait almost a week before a water truck shows up and reservoirs are emptying at a rapid rate. The question is, why is this happening?...
Drought Impact for Agriculture of Ethiopia - January 2022
Returning function to the homeless.
This San Jose housing effort could be a model for other cities. Jobs and job training is a part of returning the homeless to function and function well. Affordable housing is a country wide issue and should be addressed in a way that resolves the problem for individuals and families forever.
...Although few places in the United States have escaped recent hikes, rental spikes have been particularly pronounced along the Sun Belt and in Florida. The state is home to the three metro areas where monthly rent jumped the most: Naples, Sarasota and Tampa. Monthly rents in those cities are up between 29 percent and 39 percent in the past two years, according to CoStar....
Housing increases are a two edged sword. On one hand increased values for homes and property is a boom for the owner(s), but, with an increase in value comes an increase in local taxes and that is passed on directly to those that rent. So, should there be rent control? Or should there be a process to determine what is an appropriate increase in rent vs. exploitation leading to inflation in the market place?
By Grace Hase
A 2020 ballot measure approved by San Jose voters (click here) to fund affordable housing and the city’s burgeoning homeless crisis has brought in a surprising bonanza — a $65 million surplus.
Measure E — a real estate transfer tax for properties over $2 million — was estimated to put $40 million a year into the city’s coffers in both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022.
But the city’s initial estimates have exceeded expectations, bringing in $50.5 million in fiscal 2021 and $90 million for the current fiscal year.
With the surplus of funds, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to spend some of the dollars to support homeless programs, including the construction of interim, prefabricated homes....
Measure E — a real estate transfer tax for properties over $2 million — was estimated to put $40 million a year into the city’s coffers in both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022.
But the city’s initial estimates have exceeded expectations, bringing in $50.5 million in fiscal 2021 and $90 million for the current fiscal year.
With the surplus of funds, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to spend some of the dollars to support homeless programs, including the construction of interim, prefabricated homes....
Lying matters.
Steve Bannon was never "in it" for the goverance, he was always "in it" for the money. It was he that willfully attacked and still attacks democracies through their freedom of speech and expression. He appears to be in favor of a candidate that he will mentor to victory, but, he is a "hire" and not a supporter. He has no value of life in the way democracies seek quality of life.
Trump abused power in pardoning Bannon to protect himself and his friend. Trump assaulted and continues to assault the USA Constitution that he rather see as a weak governance rather than one of the people. The only reason Trump sees democracy as weak is because he is so successful in committing fraud within it. That is a criminal and not a constitutionalist.
April 22, 2022
By Shayna Jocobs
April 22, 2022
By Shayna Jocobs
New York - Brian Kolfage, (click here) a disabled veteran who headed a $25 million fundraising effort for a U.S.-Mexico border wall with the help of former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon, has pleaded guilty in connection to defrauding donors for his own gain.
Kolfage, an amputee who lost three limbs serving in Iraq, could serve more than five years in prison. He was accused of using more than $350,000 in donations on personal expenses such as home renovations and vehicle payments, after telling “We Build the Wall” campaign contributors that he would not take a cut of the collections or give himself a salary. On Thursday, in federal court in Manhattan, he admitted to siphoning off money for himself and also pleaded guilty to tax crimes for failing to report that income.
The Florida resident told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that the organization met roadblocks in carrying out its original mission of subsidizing the construction of a border wall but that he “continued to raise funds and promised I would take no salary and would not take a penny in profits.”...
Kolfage, an amputee who lost three limbs serving in Iraq, could serve more than five years in prison. He was accused of using more than $350,000 in donations on personal expenses such as home renovations and vehicle payments, after telling “We Build the Wall” campaign contributors that he would not take a cut of the collections or give himself a salary. On Thursday, in federal court in Manhattan, he admitted to siphoning off money for himself and also pleaded guilty to tax crimes for failing to report that income.
The Florida resident told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that the organization met roadblocks in carrying out its original mission of subsidizing the construction of a border wall but that he “continued to raise funds and promised I would take no salary and would not take a penny in profits.”...
A fatal flaw that is Twitter.
I am sure Elon Musk realizes there is dearly little to replace Twitter with another system that is similar. But, the challenge exists.
Twitter became an instrument of control by the dictator named Donald John Trump. He weaponized it. You know there is a limit to free speech. Free speech is not reckless speech. Reckless speech and hate speech are a problem for the democracies of the world and their national security. It is reckless speech we witness with the Trump Republicans. They turn dictionaries on their head.
Much of the defense of reckless speech and at times hate speech lies in colloquial speech. Words that are used off of their definition in attempts to incorporate emotion into words. I don't think colloquail speech is as well defined as it should be. There is a profound need to understand speech far better than it is understood today.
I think as democratic societies go, there is a profound right to protect the democracy from wrongful use of speech that causes issues related to national security. Free expression is not always free speech. They are different. Free expression demands free speech, but, does it also need reckless speech and hate speech to define freedom of expression?
I think what is being obversed with democracies is saturation of wrongful intent. It is similar to the idea of free access to guns. Gun Violence escalates among the best of democracies and the power of gun violence can and has changed the political face of countries. We have seen countries with free access to guns not only change it's politics, but, along side of that is increased deaths and injuries in a free and open society.
There are emotional dynamics in all these issues. Do free societies/democracies need to understand the danger of deleterious dynamics that oppress them in the name of freedom of expression and/or speech. We already know deleterious racial names and epithets carry with it actions in the physical world resulting in human suffering and/or death. I think members of democracies need to understand themselves better to realize the power of society to have far better outcomes through taming of the emotional end of words. There are consequences when freedom of speech becomes oppressive and elicits adverse outcomes to governance in maintaining its constitution. We witnessed such impacts on January 6th in the USA.
Is a polite society a good society?
Being polite brings with it subtile threatening alarms as well as pause.
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