This is not about fraud, this is about throwing elections.

August 6, 2022

By Danny Westneat

To those (click here) who would suppress the vote: careful, we're checking your "alternative facts" and speaking to your experts.

This has been vote-counting week around the state. (click here) But the guy in charge of counting them down in Mason County says he can’t go into the vote-counting room.

“If I go in, someone would immediately accuse me of fraud,” says Paddy McGuire, Mason County’s Democratic auditor. “I have a great team down there, so I just stay up here in my office.”

So it goes in the era of election fraud mania. What started on a national level in 2020 has trickled all the way down to the trenches of democracy.

McGuire is one of three county auditors in the state who have been challenged by election fraud conspiracists for their jobs. He says auditors used to be treated like pharmacists: They were anodyne, invisible professionals.

“Now people distrust us innately,” he said....

Every elected official should have a job description. If there is no job description perhaps those legitimately looking to do a good job for the people should state one of the first things they will do when elected is to compose a job description to be included in all voting ballots.

The way I see it, those "screaming fraud" are not looking for anything fraudulent because they know they won't find it. They are looking for consenting adults to put in place fraudulent ballots and then throw the election to the insurgent. People screaming fraud before any balloting and/or ballot recounts are insurgents. It is just that simple.

The "fraud screamers" are insurgents.

There is no fraud in USA elections.

There just isn't.

Do not indulge this mess!

I would think a person in charge of vote counting is expected to be supervising the vote count and/or the recount. By staying away from the process to supervise or assist, that is putting the process at risk while opening up the one person in charge to complains of refusing to do the job. This is not only ridiculous, it is also risky in not having responsible people in the room for counting the ballots. 

These "fraud screamers" want observers in the room while the ballots are being counted and/or recounted, so why would any official duly assigned to this task not be in the room? None of that is prudent and/or legal. A vote counter needs to count votes.

If the most legally responsible person is not present that opens up the entire process to questions and sends the entire mess to a court where the person responsible for counting can be accused of refusing to do his/her job. 

The process requires an integrated method of recording votes, even if it is with a purple finger. That means there is a STANDARD to counting votes. These fraudsters are not your neighbors or family, they are complete strangers that will conduct fraud and ballot stuffing and everything they can muster to turn the election in the way they want the outcome and not what the voters want as an outcome.

Those responsible for a legal and clean vote count needs to do their jobs. Let the "fraud screamers" tell it to a judge.

End of discussion.

The women's league has men coaches?

This is like the LIV Golf league. The players like the money, but, the country isn't the best place in the world to play the game. This is just wrong on so many fronts. Americans need to stay home and be ratified with their earnings and live to see another day with full engagement of QUALITY OF LIFE. This is proof that money absolutely does not buy happiness.

Stop sacrificing sport for wealth. It is not worth it.

I have nothing against James Wade, but, a woman's league should be coached, owned and managed by women.

August 6, 2022
By Julia Poe

...He (James Wade) (click here) was introduced as the Chicago Sky's new head coach and general manager, he met people in the organization, and he did rounds of media interviews....

Women’s basketball in Russia (click here) used to offer an offseason dream for WNBA players — first-class treatment, million-dollar contracts, elite competition.

But as the WNBA and U.S. government plead for the release of Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner — who was sentenced Thursday to nine years in a Russian prison after being convicted of drug possession and smuggling — the prospect of returning to Russia became a non-starter for her former teammates in Chicago.

Griner played under Sky coach James Wade for two seasons in Russia and won EuroLeague and Russian Cup titles with Sky stars Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Emma Meesseman.

All three Sky players made an exodus when Russia invaded Ukraine in March, cutting short their season with UMMC Ekaterinburg. They returned to the U.S. as the war shifted the political axis in the country...

BRING THE AMERICANS HOME!

The market has to wake up to Ukraine commodities again.

It will be six months since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th. All the old channels of trade have to be reignited. The agricultural markets are the only currently allowed in the agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine would like to also export iron ore, but, unless it is vital for human survival there is not likely an agreement with Russia to do so.

August 5, 2022
By Michael Hogan

Hamburg - International and local traders (click here) started to offer more Ukrainian-origin grain for sale on Friday as news of the first shipment from the country since Russia’s invasion boosted confidence in a deal to unblock exports from its sea ports.

Prices were discounted, with roughly 20 million tonnes of grain from last year’s crops still stuck in the country.

Diplomatic efforts have focussed on finding a way to transport around 1.5 million tonnes of grain loaded on ships or housed in port storage and millions more in silos across the country, as well as massive volumes from the ongoing harvest.

The July 22 deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey paved the way for the resumption of grain shipments from Ukraine after U.N. agencies warned a growing global food crisis would lead to starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale....

See how nicely this is working out now?

The Fed raises it's interest rates, the return on MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities) comes down and in turn the interest rate of mortgages comes down.

MBS have dropped significantly (click here).

August 2, 2022

By Marisa Kendell

For the first time in years, (click here) the tables are starting to turn in the Bay Area’s insane housing market — as prices drop, some sellers have been forced to make concessions.

They’re chipping in to help pay closing costs and even to buy points to lower mortgage rates — all to convince increasingly reluctant buyers that the time is right to purchase a home.

“I’m seeing sellers concerned about prices dropping,” said San Jose-based real estate agent Gustavo Gonzalez, who works with both buyers and sellers. While he said recent price drops have not been drastic, sellers are having to reset their expectations of what they can get for their property.

The change comes as June home sale prices dropped from the previous month in all of the five core Bay Area counties, according to new data from CoreLogic and DQNews. Meanwhile inflation and interest rates remain high, giving many potential buyers pause. But there’s no reason to assume the real estate market is about to come crashing down, experts say. After all, prices are still extremely high.....

Get the insurgents off the jury.

Pastor Will Morgan reflects on Flint’s Water Crisis.(click here)

“Is this economic racism?” (click here) asks Pastor Will Morgan, a lifelong Flint resident, General Motors retiree and reverend of the Apostolic Church, which has become a water distribution point for residents on Flint’s impoverished east side....

August 4, 2022
By Ron Fonger

Flint - The jury in a civil Flint water crisis trial (click here) that started more than five months ago has told a federal judge it is deadlocked in its deliberations, creating the potential for a mistrial.

A source familiar with the case told MLive-The Flint Journal that the jury told U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy about the stalemate in a note on Thursday, July 29, and that Levy instructed jurors to continue trying to reach a verdict.

The five-woman, three-man jury is scheduled to resume deliberations when it returns to court after a 12-day break on Tuesday, Aug. 9. If it remains divided, Levy could be faced with a mistrial in the case, which was brought by four Flint children who accuse two city of Flint water consultants of professional negligence.

A mistrial would be a setback for the children and their attorneys, who would be faced with the prospect of trying the case again in front of a different jury with no assurance that they recoup their upfront investment in another trial.

In addition to the years attorneys have spent preparing for the case, the four children and the companies -- Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam -- have each invested in multiple expert witnesses and prepared scores of legal motions, costs that could be duplicated if the case is litigated again....

July 18, 2022

By Beth LeBlanc

The state has spent nearly $53 million since 2016 (click here) for both the prosecution and defense of Michigan's top officials in the Flint water criminal and civil litigation, with costs spanning four departments and at least 25 state employees, according to records obtained and reviewed by The Detroit News.

About $15.8 million of the $53 million total has been spent by the attorney general's office since 2016 to investigate the actions surrounding Flint's lead-tainted water, prosecute state and local officials, and defend against civil lawsuits. 

About $37.1 million has been paid to at least two dozen firms for legal contracts associated with the defense of state employees and state departments since 2016, according to state records....

What is Orban's intention with these people? What was he paid for his appearance?

August 4, 2022
By Elaine Godfrey

The Hungarian flags are on sale at Amazon (click here).

...Today in Dallas, (click here) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. You heard that correctly! The leader of an Indiana-sized European country traveled 5,000 miles to speak at an American political gathering best known for its fringe characters and own-the-libs merchandise. If it sounds strange, that’s because it is. Strange and bad....

...“We must find friends and allies in one another. We must coordinate a movement of our troops because we face the same challenge,” he told the audience. Coming elections in the U.S. and in Europe “will define the two fronts in the battle being fought for Western civilization.”...

Orban is aligning with the insurgents of January 6th to bring about a violent and deadly overthrow of the US Constitution. Who does he think he is? Hungary is a member of NATO. It is time President Biden address this issue at NATO and end this ideology inspired by Russia to feed Trump's insurgency.

Whatever CPAC paid him, it was more than what he cares about becoming an insurgent himself to spend the rest of his life in prison. This could be moved to the Hague because Orban is obviously talking about an alliance with insurgents within the sovereign borders of the USA. 

He’s parlayed his election victories into constitutional changes that make it harder for his electoral opponents to win. Elections are free, in a sense, but they are not fair, experts say.

He’s cracked down on the Hungarian media. Orbán and his allies now own many of the papers in the country, and few independent outlets survive. This means less airtime for his opponents and less criticism of him.

He’s a socially conservative Christian nationalist. He’s staunchly anti-immigration, and in a recent speech, he said that he wanted to keep Hungary from becoming a “mixed-race” country.

Orban, now TWICE (once in Hungary and once in Texas) has declared an alliance with USA criminals to run a civil insurrection to end the governance of the USA Constitution. This is not remotely an issue of topic in the USA. Orban is declaring war on the USA as soon as his alliance lines up while he is among NATO countries. 

Lock them up!!!!!!!! 

All of 'em!!!!! 

Orban, too!!!!

The picture to the right is Orban speaking to CPAC convening in Budapest, Hungary.

Anyone in attendance at either meetings in Budapest and Texas are suspect.

Hurricanes

August 4, 2022

...NOAA is predicting 14-20 named storms (click here) (winds of 39 mph or greater), including 6-10 hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) and 3-5 major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). This, again, is only a slight adjustment compareed to May’s outlook which predicted 14-21 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes, and 3-6 major hurricanes.

“We’re just getting into the peak months of August through October for hurricane development, and we anticipate that more storms are on the way,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D....

Grain is moving out of Ukraine at Odessa.

August 4, 2022

Stanbul – Three ships carrying a total of 58,041 tonnes of corn (click here) have been authorized to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday as part of a deal to unblock grain exports, the organization arranging the operation said on Thursday.

A first vessel carrying Ukrainian grain set sail from Odesa on Monday, arriving at the Bosphorus Strait some 36 hours later under a deal between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, that aims to ease a global food crisis stemming from the war.

The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which groups Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel, said two ships would leave from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa on Friday.

“The three outbound vessels are estimated to depart in the morning from their respective ports,” it said.

From Chornomorsk, the Polarnet would leave for Karasu in Turkey with 12,000 metric tons of corn and the Rojen would take 13,041 tons of corn to Teesport in Britain.

From Odesa, the Navistar would take 33,000 tons of corn to Ringaskiddy in Ireland.

Turkey earlier said there were plans for three ships to set out from Ukrainian ports on Friday, adding Defence Minister Hulusi Akar had held talks with Ukraine’s defense and infrastructure ministers to discuss grain deliveries....

Container companies are using New York/New Jersey ports for storage.

August 4, 2022

Motor carriers (click here) are quickly raising driver pay and fuel surcharges as the costs of drayage spiral. 

...As of Thursday, (click here) numbers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey showed 19 containerships at anchor awaiting berthing space. A glut of empty export containers awaiting pick-up by ocean carriers contributed to the problems, prompting the port authority to announce this week a new “container imbalance fee” for ocean carriers. Under the program, which will be effective as of September 1, 2022, ocean carriers’ total outgoing container volume must be 110% or more of their incoming container volume or face a $100 per container fee over the benchmark.

“When ocean carriers continue to bring thousands of containers per month to a port and only pick up a fraction of that number, it creates an untenable situation for terminals, importers and exporters, trucking companies, and the port itself,” said Chairman Maffei. “The Commission has already been investigating reports of carriers charging per diem container charges even when the shipper or trucker cannot possibly return the container due to terminal congestion. I will ask that this investigation be broadened and intensified to cover instances where shippers and truckers are being forced to store containers or move them without proper compensation.”...

Hate before economy.

China should be worried about it's economy rather running "let's pretend we are at war" drills. China does not know what it is doing. It is firing missiles any place it wants without regard for shipping or Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.

August 4, 2022
By Kevin Varley

The drills reached 3 times into Japan's EEZ. (click here)

Shippers rerouted vessels as China (click here) began its most provocative military drills in decades around Taiwan, with at least one owner barring ships from transiting the strait. 

Taiwan said China fired 11 missiles in waters around the island as of 4 p.m. local time Thursday. The maneuvers, in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island this week, are taking place in six areas surrounding Taiwan, and China advised ships and aircraft not to go near the regions.

A statement by the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said it had completed live-fire training and lifted relevant air and sea controls. It didn’t clarify whether that meant all exercises had ended, but the state-run People’s Daily later said controls off the eastern coast of Taiwan have been lifted. The drills began at noon on Thursday and were set to last until Sunday.

Ships continued to travel through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the data showed approximately 15 vessels in the drill zones at noon, those may have moved out of the impact areas before exercises began. There were no ships in the zone closest to the China mainland in the Taiwan Strait or to the east of the island....

Russia doesn't pump it's own oil.

We all know how things turned out when Russia nationalized McDonalds.

August 1, 2022
By David Wethe

Baker Huges Co. (click here) has become the second of the big three oilfield service providers to plan a sale of its Russian business to local employees following international sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine.

The No. 2 global crude contractor will sell its oilfield services unit in Russia to its local management team for an undisclosed price in a deal that’s expected to close in the second half, according to a statement Monday. The Houston-based company took a $365 million charge in the second quarter for the suspension of all oil drilling and other work in Russia.

Halliburton Co. said late last month it executed a non-binding letter of intent with its Russian employee group in May and is negotiating final sale documents. Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oilfield contractor, hasn’t gone as far as rivals to disengage from the oil and natural gas powerhouse. It says its unique corporate structure gives it flexibility to work in Russia while complying with sanctions....

While on the subject of Halliburton, a little "oil baron" trivia.

August 1, 2022
By Sami Zaptia

The Tripoli-based Libyan Ministry of Oil and Gas (click here) has refuted reports that U.S. oil services company, Halliburton, has evacuated its employees from Libya’s oilfields

The Oil Ministry said it reassures the Libyan oil sector that what was published regarding the departure of the Halliburton ‘‘is a distortion of reality and has no basis’’.

It stated that Halliburton is still continuing its normal work with the Libyan oil sector, and that it is a large and experienced company that manages its operations professionally.

The Oil Ministry’s rebuttal comes after social and traditional media news alleged that Halliburton was evacuating its staff, implying that fighting was about to take place between Libya’s opposing militias.

HALLIBURTON COMPANY (HAL) (click here)

Nobody is dumping Halliburton because of the Russian war into Ukraine. It has a good return on investments.

July 10, 2022

...Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: (click here)

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity


So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Halliburton is:

22% = US$1.6b ÷ US$7.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.22.
Does Halliburton Have A Good Return On Equity?

One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Halliburton has a better ROE than the average (5.7%) in the Energy Services industry.

Peace, prosperity and security

August 4, 2022
By Qin Gang

To the left is a map of Formosa in 1870. (click here) That waterway is the Formosa Strait. That was a long time ago and the island has become an autonomous state and is no longer called Formosa.

Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China’s territory for 1,800 years. In 1943, the leaders of China, the United States and Britain issued the Cairo Declaration (click here), which clearly states that all territories Japan stole from the Chinese, such as Taiwan, shall be restored to China. The Potsdam Declaration of 1945 affirmed that the terms of the Cairo Declaration would be carried out. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, passed in 1971, recognized that the representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations....

It appears the Chinese ambassador is stuck in the past. In 1943, Japan was a very different country. It was terrorizing the world and a peace agreement hadn't been reached. Japan surrendered September 2, 1945 which brought the end to World War II. To say the influence of this document is the current state of affairs in the world is ridiculous.

The Potsdam Declaration (click here) simply states the Cairo Declaration will stand and Japan would have limited possessions. The Potsdam Declaration turned the corner for Japan and removed the emperor and replaced it with a democratic government. The Potsdam Declaration clearly states it's understanding of democracy. Nowhere does it say that any land China claims can continue as a slave state to China. It states clearly the understanding that democratic principles will dominate Japan and in that relationships going forward with all other entities shall be governed by a government elected under democracy. 

The UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 allows China to the United Nations, not Taiwan. As a matter of fact the history of Taiwan opposed being named Formosa. Formosa is a Portuguese name for the island at the time of past dynasties when the Chinese could not keep control of the island nation. Taiwan is the name of the island nation and it went back to being called Taiwan to regain it's identity and culture. Basically, no different than the past insults to native people in the USA, past Chinese dynasties attempted to change the culture completely. At one point, the Taiwan people would defeat landings of the Chinese as headhunters claiming the Chinese were the most desired by the native inhabitants. China never had control of Taiwan. 

Pescadores means fisherman in Portuguese.

Formosa being a Portuguese reflects the relationship "The West" has always had with Taiwan. As a matter of fact, the Chinese allowed the Dutch to settle the island. The Dutch were then followed by the Spanish. The fact of the matter is the past documentations claimed by China to OWN Taiwan are highly insulting to the Taiwan nation of people as China as a sovereign power was never accurate in the REALITY of the island governance.

The Spaniards settled the island and would trade with The East from Taiwan. All during this time the dynasties within the Chinese borders of what can be called the mainland were at war chronically with turnovers in governance authority. China had no interest in Taiwan. AT ALL!

Taiwan was actually liberated from The West by the rejected dynasties of China. When a dynasty lost a war they went to Taiwan to live. The idea China actually has a claim to Taiwan is grossly misrepresented. China has no history with Taiwan as a possession. At the best it was a sovereign island where the rejected and defeated Chinese dynasties then set up Government of the Republic of China. 

That Government of the Republic of China was a democracy consisting of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other islands that remained a population of rejected and defeated Chinese dynasties. Mainland China has never had a long history of ownership of these areas, but, for some reason the Chinese communists seem to think they can simply expand their borders without regard to peace and prosperity of the peoples long living in this part of the Pacific.

These lands are no longer a part of Japan, but, they were NEVER, EVER determined to be a sovereign state of the communists of China. Quite the contrary. Taiwan has always been autonomous and NEVER, EVER relied on China for governance and it's prosperous economy PROVES IT!

China can huff and puff all it wants, but, the truth is if China ever invades Taiwan it will be committing a CRIME!

The so called agreements decades ago were signed by The West in complete ignorance of the actual sovereign state of these lands. The West believed China and China was never a governing authority.

As China has no right to these lands, The West had no right to agree to their possession by China. It was all bogus. The Japanese never owned the islands either. These lands were about defining sovereign borders because they feared the USA genocide atomic bombs.

So, China needs to get over itself and decide to be a prosperous nation rather than a Trump Scheme Opportunist expansionist. China has no right to Taiwan and it never did.  

The genetics of Taiwan will reveal Chinese heritage, but, it was the defeated dynasties that contributed, not the governing Chinese of the so called Mainland. One can only have a Mainland if there are other lands. China is a sovereign country, but, not hardly a mainland to any islands.

The United Nations needs to get their history strait and rule in Taiwan as a sovereign country member.

There is no reason to get excited, these were just inappropriate military drills by China (click here). China's borders do not include Taiwan.

The current Chinese Communist rule is rather violent, actually.

On October 1, 1949, (click here) Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The announcement ended the costly full-scale civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which broke out immediately following World War II and had been preceded by on and off conflict between the two sides since the 1920’s. The creation of the PRC also completed the long process of governmental upheaval in China begun by the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The “fall” of mainland China to communism in 1949 led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades....

PRC is only 73 years old, yet it claims rights to land dating back to 1800 years. I don't think so.

Janet Yellin is not alone.

August 3, 2022
By David Lawder

Washington - Five former U.S. Treasury secretaries (click here) - four Democrats and one Republican -- on Wednesday voiced support for a proposed $430 billion drugs, energy and tax bill, saying that it would reduce costs for middle-class families.

The statement from former secretaries Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Jacob Lew, Tim Geithner and Henry Paulson echo a letter sent by current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to congressional leaders on Tuesday that the bill would not raise taxes for Americans earning less than $400,000....

There is no excuse for Republicans to avoid this bill. They are opposing the improvement in the USA Middle Class' financial status and why? What have they got against the Middle Class getting ahead?

Oh, I see. The Republicans want to lie about the benefits of the bill so they can place blame on Democrats. It seems as though the Democrats have a real winner in this bill to help the Middle Class financially. Those are the largest number of Americans in this country. They have the most children of any economic class in the USA.

Are the Republicans having fun dissing Democrats while lying about every bit of it? Because the Middle Class is not laughing while the country is still not recovered from a global pandemic and a fight for democracy in Ukraine. So, what gives? Lies? Lies are the best option for Republicans in any election? Lies in elections only lead to lies all the time once elected. Americans need to live with the truth to protect their democracy and their economy.

August 3, 2022

Republicans see inflation (click here), taxes and immigration as Democratic weak spots worth attacking, and two opposition senators as prime targets, in the upcoming battle over an economic package the Democrats want to push through the Senate.

The measure embodies some of the top environment, energy, health care and tax policy aspirations that President Joe Biden and party leaders want to enact as voters start tuning in to this fall's congressional elections. The GOP would like to derail or weaken the measure, or at least force Democrats to take votes that would be painful to defend in reelection campaigns....

Skirting sanctions

August 3, 2022

The El-Hamra (click here) terminal has six tanks that can hold 1.5 million barrels of crude oil. It also makes it possible to mix Russian and Egyptian.

Russia appears to have found a new means of getting its oil to market (click here) with western sanctions looming for Moscow.

A cargo of about 700,000 barrels of Russian oil was delivered to Egypt’s El Hamra oil terminal on its Mediterranean coast early on July 24. A few hours later, another vessel collected a consignment from the port — which may have included some or all of the Russian barrels — according to vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.

The unusual move makes the cargo’s ultimate destination harder to track, adding to a trend of Russian oil shipments becoming increasingly obscured since European buyers began to shun them following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

El Hamra, operated by Egypt’s Western Desert Operating Petroleum Co., has six storage tanks, able to hold 1.5m bbl of crude, and a single buoy mooring facility for loading and unloading. The terminal was built to handle crude produced in Egypt’s western desert, creating possibilities to blend the Russian barrels with local volumes.

The owner of the El Hamra terminal did not respond to multiple attempts to contact it by phone....

...Transit Route

Egypt is already being used by Russia as a transit route for fuel oil. It’s unclear if El Hamra is a one-off, or will become a more commonly used port for Russian oil flows.

Previously, tankers carrying Russian crude have conducted ship-to-ship cargo transfers off the Spanish north African city of Ceuta and, more recently, in the mid-Atlantic. That’s an unusual location for such a tricky operation that’s normally carried out in sheltered near-shore locations.

Another crude cargo transfer appears to have taken place off Johor, near Singapore, in June. The area has already become a location for transshipping cargoes of Iranian crude heading to China.

August 4, 2022

By Smith

...The El Hamra terminal, (click here) operated by the Egyptian company Western Desert Operating Petroleum Co., has six storage tanks with a total capacity of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil, and a single loading and unloading dock. The infrastructure is designed to store and move crude oil produced in Egypt's western desert, and the oil it receives from Russia can therefore be blended with local oil....

Supposedly Russia has admitted to the use of this route to circumvent the sanctions. If Russia's purpose is to circumvent sanctions, then Egypt also knows it is conducting illegal operations with Russia.

August 3, 2022

By Eamonn Sheridan

Bloomberg reporting that Moscow (click here) has for the first time ever used Egypt’s El Hamra oil terminal on its Mediterranean coast.

• 700k bbls of oil offloaded on July 24
• Another vessel collected a consignment from the port just a few hours later
• Experts say the highly unusual move makes the cargo’s ultimate destination much harder to track, adding to a trend whereby Russian oil shipments are becoming increasingly obscured since European and western buyers began to shun them following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

I am so glad he brought this up.

Several times in speeches made by President Joe Biden, Social Security and Medicare was brought up regarding a five year review. I am certain every dismissed those comments as inconsequential. They are very important statements.

I strongly believe the extremists want to end these programs and/or alter them dramatically. They will attempt to do so at first opportunity and they just might have a perfect storm to do so.

Social Security and Medicare is the baseline of the USA economy. It would through the entire economy into a tail spin if these programs were altered or terminated or reduced as promised to working Americans. The entire issue is ideology and belongs nowhere in American political discourse, except, to remind everyone how too many conservatives and extremists in office presents a danger to all of us.

August 3, 2022
By Amy B. Wang

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) (click here) has suggested that Social Security and Medicare be eliminated as federal entitlement programs, and that they should instead become programs approved by Congress on an annual basis as discretionary spending.

Those who work in the United States pay Social Security and Medicare taxes that go into federal trust funds. Upon retirement, based on a person’s lifetime earnings and other factors, a retiree is eligible to receive monthly Social Security payments. Similarly, Medicare is the federal health insurance program that kicks in for people 65 and older, or for others who have disabilities.

In an interview that aired Tuesday on “The Regular Joe Show” podcast, Johnson, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, lamented that the Social Security and Medicare programs automatically grant benefits to those who meet the qualifications — that is, to those who had been paying into the system over their working life....

Social Security Review 2021-2023 (click here)

Your Social Security Statement (Statement) (click here) is available to view online by opening a my Social Security account. It is useful for people of all ages who want to learn about their future Social Security benefits and current earnings history.

Republican vs Christian Nationalist Party

The Christian Nationalist Party in the USA is real. It has hidden among the ranks of the Republican Party for decades with identification of White Supremacists/Nationalists, so it is not a movement. It has never been a movement, it has always been a consistent racist entity, especially at voting time. In the past political observers would all it “the silly season” and it normally would occur with regularity at the end of the campaign, within the last two weeks before the vote.

I also believe Trump can easily be traced back to this entity with his father’s policies in renting and the overt presence of this entity in marches and meetings over the decades. Whether the Trumps marched in those parades or not doesn’t matter because the parades bolstered everyone who carried the beliefs, there overt or not.

So, accepting the presence of this entity within the Republican Party is proof that it’s rise to power with Trump’s birther rantings and his multi-campaign influence, ie: pizza with Palin, it is time to define Republicans vs. Christian Nationalist Party.

It would be wise for the Republican Party to cast off from the Christian Nationalists, conduct separate primaries and run their own candidates. Granted it would be splitting traditionalist Republicans and reducing their ranks, but, was the Tea Party or the Freedom Caucus ever voting with Republicans anyway. 

See, the Christian Nationalists eagerly voted with Trump, but, the Republicans did so reluctantly. The Republicans have the money and accepting a smaller delegation initially only leaves room for it to grow and reestablish it’s legitimacy.

The Christian Nationalist Party are insurgents with criminal intent. It is time that the extremist Christian Nationalists be identified for the criminal element they are and allow Republicans to have a clean break from it’s insurgent criminal element once and for all.

Kansas trusts women!

Go, Democrats, Go!

We need majority to legislate the Right to Women’s Health and an Equality Amendment to the US Constitution to protect generations of women to come. 

The Tenth Vote

August 2, 2022
By Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett

The Justice Department (click here) has filed its first lawsuit in the wake of a historic Supreme Court decision allowing states to outlaw abortion, arguing that a near-total ban on the procedure slated to take effect soon in Idaho would violate a federal requirement to provide medical care when a pregnant person’s life or health is at stake.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the lawsuit filed Tuesday is aimed at stopping Idaho’s “trigger” ban, which is set to take effect Aug. 25.

The Idaho law allows doctors to be criminally prosecuted for providing abortions, Garland said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. He argued it could conflict with federal law that says patients seeking emergency medical treatment at a hospital accepting Medicare funds are entitled to any life-saving treatment.

“We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that every pregnant woman gets the emergency medical treatment of which they are entitled to under federal law,” Garland said....

"I am not a witch."

The Republicans running as right extremists and willing to falsify the election process in the USA are not Republicans. I think the Republican Party is dead. The current candidates running under the Republican montra are actually the Chrisitan Nationalist Party. They are opportunists.

The Republican Party was obviously bizarre by the people it attracts more than a decade ago. The 2010 elections was further deterioration of real governance. Republicans like Snyder were elected in a wave because of the passage of the Affordable Health Plan. Yet, today, the ACA is one of the most treasured legislations ever to pass into American life.

October 5, 2010
By David Gura

In a new ad, (click here) Christine O'Donnell responds to a clip of her, from Oct. 29, 1999, on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, that has resurfaced since she won the Delaware Republican primary:

I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.

None of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us: politicians who think spending, trading favors and back-room deals are the ways to stay in office. I'll go to Washington and do what you'd do.

I'm Christine O'Donnell, and I approve this message. I'm you....

The deterioration of the major party has been stunning. They are nothing more than liars. So, they now have a man that is the liar of all liars leading them by the nose. The people that vote for them are gullible.

August 1, 2022

By Stephanie Raymond

...Finchem, (click here) a retired Michigan police officer and longtime member of the Oath Keepers far-right militia group, was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and contends Trump lost Arizona because of rampant fraud, the Associated Press reported. He also introduced a resolution to decertify Joe Biden's election win in Arizona....

Finchem probably moved to Arizona because it is cheaper there after he retired in Michigan. He isn't happy with a regular retirement and now wants to suppliment it by running for office. So, he is a model for all the right wing extremists. They want a job with benefits so they say and do anything to meet their goals. Additional retirement funds are nice, too.

Trump has created a following that approve of his lies and misdirection of authority. Why would any American misdirect their loyalties to Russia? Why would Plutocrats see submitting to communists as their best bet to profits? It doesn't matter if a candidate is competent in governance, they simply have to do what Trump says they have to do. It is an obvious strategy as the current Republicans in office perform exactly to that standard.

It is that standard that is facing veterans to recieve their justly important benefits. The Republicans are stalling until the US Senate is dismissed for the summer. Majority Senate Leader Chuck Shumer must commit to remain in session until the bill passes and working through whatever objections are being held as a reason to not vote. The hubris within the Repulblicans in the Senate is obvious. High five, fist pump. They want to be obstructionists as they mimic Moscow Mitch and are elated every time they do.

The Republican candidates are mostly not capable of making vote decisions on their own. They simply fall in line to the party line vote. That is not governance, that is politics that cater to an ideology and/or cronies.

Christian Nationalists Party do not have a spiritual leader, hence, the Shaman that rose to prominance in the January 6th movment. They are anarchists that live by the gun. They have no real commitment to governance and making the United States of America the best possible country it could be. Realizing the Christian Nationalist Party has no mainstream religious or spiritual leader the only sincere ideology is "Every man for himself." Sure, they travel in groups, but, they don't think that way. They don't recognize where a democracy is strong as opposed to a dictatorship. They don't want to think about it. They have assigned success looks like Trump, hence, follow the leader.

The only rules the Christian Nationalists obey is the rules of capitalism and not even healthy captialism.  So, the anarchists want only the rules of the market place to handle governance. They move as one to end the governance of the USA only to replace it with nothing except a draconian market place.

TO BE CLEAR.

These faux Republican candidates are insurgents. Any entity, company, or persons donating to them to promote the assault on the USA Democracy is providing AID AND COMFORT TO THE ENEMY. Masquerading because they deceive the public by declaring they are Republicans is not allowed.

So what is occupying the time of the DOJ?

July 25, 2022
By Clint Rainey

The Justice Department’s ambitious bid to stop Penguin Random House (click here) from buying rival publisher Simon & Schuster has started taking on more of the trappings of a legal thriller.

It was already one of the biggest, most unexpected antitrust cases of President Biden’s tenure—in which the DOJ is arguing that Penguin, the largest publisher, merging with Simon & Schuster, the fourth largest, will hurt industry competition, cut authors’ advances, and reduce the variety of books available to consumers. But as Penguin reinforced in its pretrial brief submitted on Friday, a copy of which was shared with Fast Company, the publishing giant believes the complete opposite: that this deal will result in higher advances for authors and more choices for consumers....

The January 6th Committee needs to pen a letter to the Attorney General that there are pressing national security issues to be addressed now. I am quite confident the DOJ will be thrilled with all the evidence they requested while sending a letter.