As a political historian I find this whole affair a worthless waste of time and an affront to the Constitution and DoI.
Yesterday Donny plans to prayer vigil on the National Mall as part of the 250th celebration it’s aim is to restore religious fervor….
The Trump administration plans to stage a nine-hour prayer event on the National Mall on Sunday that organizers describe as a bid to “rededicate” the US to its Christian foundations. They’re using public money set aside for the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Washington Post reports. Billed as Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, the gathering is being run through Freedom 250, a public-private partnership created by the White House. Although the announcement talks of unity, the program is dominated by Protestant speakers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson are scheduled to speak. President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are sending recorded messages.
Religious historians say the scope and tone of the event stand out from presidential observances that have typically featured broad, nonsectarian invocations. Of the 15 faith leaders listed as participating, 14 are Christian, including seven evangelical leaders and two Catholics, per USA Today. The only non-Christian religious leader listed is Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik. Amanda Tyler of the Baptist group BJC argued that the administration is promoting a false notion of the US as officially Christian and blurring church-state lines. Supporters, including Regent University scholar Mark David Hall, likened the jubilee to a Thanksgiving proclamation and emphasize that participation is voluntary.
The event also will also showcase what organizers call a Freedom Truck, one of six mobile exhibits using material from conservative groups PragerU and Hillsdale College to promote a “pro-American, Judeo-Christian” story of the founding. “This is really an affront to the American religious community,” said the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, CEO of the Interfaith Alliance. “They are using an event like this, which could be the opportunity to showcase the incredible diversity of American religious life, which is so rich and beautiful and powerful … to rewrite American history.” Gates open at 9am, with music, military bands, and speeches continuing until 6pm.
Basically I think this is BS from a panty waste of a leader.
Thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday for “Rededicate 250,” a massive 8-hour prayer rally blending worship music, patriotic imagery, political figures and prominent Christian leaders in an event supporters described as spiritual renewal and critics viewed as another step toward the normalization of Christian nationalism in American politics.
The event, tied to upcoming celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, featured speakers repeatedly invoking themes about restoring America’s “Christian roots” and reaffirming the United States as “One Nation Under God.” Organizers, called Freedom 250, framed the gathering as a national rededication of the country to God through prayer, worship and public faith.
As a political historian I find this whole movement to be utterly ridiculous.
After 250 years of a religious freedom Donny and his worthless christian nationalists are trying to make this country something it was never intended to be.
Those who insist that America was founded as a Christian nation run roughshod over the historical record. They use the words of the Founding Fathers to support Republican jeremiads on the moral decay of American life. If only this country could return to its Christian roots, they say nostalgically, everything would be okay.
And how do they demonstrate that America was founded as a Christian nation? By selectively choosing texts from the writings of the Founders without any effort to explore them in the context of the 18th-century world in which they were written. Just because John Adams and George Washington quoted from the Bible or made reference to God does not mean that they were trying to construct a Christian nation. Granted, the Founding Fathers were the products of a Christian culture, but most of them were never comfortable with the beliefs that defined this culture. Very few of them would qualify for membership in today’s evangelical churches.
From time to time the Congress comes up wityh some excellent ideas….sadly they are just that…ideas….they usual;ly go by the wayside…but at least some try to do what is necessary.
Awhile back I figured that there was about 100+ lobbyist per members of Congress and all have buckets of cash….time for that to change….I would be okay with shutting down “K” Street immediately but that would be a dream not a reality.
There is at least someone trying to put these a/holes away….
Congress members would be permanently banned from becoming lobbyists after they leave office under a new bipartisan bill, first reported by CNBC.
The legislation would not only ban senators and U.S. House members from being registered lobbyists, but would also prevent then from being compensated for trying to influence lawmakers and staff on behalf of companies or groups — closing a loophole that would allow former lawmakers to lobby without being a registered lobbyist.
The effort, from Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla. and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., comes as a growing number of lawmakers are speaking out against profiting from their elected positions. Numerous bipartisan bills have been introduced this Congress to ban things like members owning and trading stocks, or banning themselves from betting on prediction markets.
The new bill, which is unlikely to become law, would hold violators to a penalty of $50,000 per violation or up to five years in jail.
“Trust in our institutions is at an all-time low, and the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street is a big part of that,” Scott said in a statement to CNBC. “We need to restore the American people’s trust in their government, and that’s why I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to put government clearly back on the side of the people.”
(cnbc.com)
I can see Warren leading this drive…but Scott from Florida….the MAGA twat for Donny?
Does he realize what this bill would do? If so why would he bite the hand that feeds the GOP?
I have always thought Scott was a bit off center and this does little to change my mind.
I wish them luck with this bill but I think they are just stabbing wildly in the dark.
Since those political hacks we called the supreme court made it possible for corporations to have more clout than the people of this nation the money has been pouring into the super PACs making our elections more about who can draw the most donors than the policies that help the population.
Now the state of Hawai’i is trying to do something about this miscarruage of our system…..
The state of Hawaii has passed a law that poses a direct challenge to the infamous 2010 Citizens UnitedSupreme Court ruling, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending in US elections.
Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Thursday signed into law a bill that takes aim at the court’s ruling that corporations are effectively people with full free speech rights who can face no limits on what they can contribute to political organizations.
As explained by More Perfect Union, the law, which is set to take effect next July, classifies corporations as “artificial persons” who do not have a constitutional right to make political donations.
“The bill could limit the influence of super PACs,” noted More Perfect Union, “and be a model to challenge the influence of money in politics.”
Democratic Hawaii state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, a supporter of the law, said on Thursday he was proud that Hawaii has become “the first state in the nation” to take direct action challenging Citizens United.
“As elected leaders, we do not serve artificial entities,” Keohokalole said. “We serve the people.”
US Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, hailed the law as “big news” that should inspire opponents of limitless corporate political spending across the US.
“The far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections,” said Casar. “But we are not powerless. We can fight back.”
The new law passed despite opposition from Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, who argued that defending it in court could be difficult and expensive.
The law’s passage earned praise from campaign finance watchdogs who have long called for overturning Citizens United and reestablishing guardrails for corporate cash in US democracy.
Another dreary week under the boot heal of Donny and the Tech Bros….
Been a typical week from our Dear Clueless Leader….big talk about the senseless war to measuring DC for more destruction in the name of Trump.
Let’s begin with his ill-conceived war with Iran….we have seen what the price tag for this stupidity will but let’s look at what the price tag will be for you personally….
An updated analysis released Thursday finds that President Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran will cost Americans significant money at the gas pump this year.
The report, released by the office of Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), projects that if gas prices remain at their current level of over $4.50 per gallon, it will cost a US drivers an extra $73.06 per month—or $876 per year—to fill up their cars compared to what they were paying before Trump attacked Iran in late February.
For a family with two cars, this would mean forking over an extra $1,753 for gas this year
I am so glad this douche bag is putting America first.
As long as we are talking about the war with Iran….there maybe a name change coming….
The Pentagon is considering renaming the war with Iran from “Operation Epic Fury” to “Operation Sledgehammer” if President Trump decides to restart the full-scale bombing campaign against Iran, NBC News reported on Tuesday.
Sources also told NBC that the US currently has more firepower in the region before the US and Israel launched the war on February 28. “We are in a better spot now than on February 27,” a US official said. “We have more firepower and capability.”
The potential name change is part of the Trump administration’s effort to maneuver around the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was an attempt to rein in the Executive Branch’s disregard of the Constitution’s requirement that Congress has the sole power to declare war.
The resolution does not supersede the Constitution and states that to introduce US forces into hostilities, the president must have a declaration of war or authorization from Congress, or a “national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces,” none of which the Trump administration had before launching the war.
The War Powers Resolution also includes a 60-day deadline for the president to end any unauthorized military action or obtain authorization from Congress, which has been falsely reinterpreted to give the president 60 days to wage war without congressional authorization.
(antiwar.com)
And that is how you pull an end run on Congress.
And now for the more stupidity that is the Trump admin….
We all know that he wants his name everywhere and has set upon building more monuments in his honor….like the Arc De Trump and now a gold course in DC….
Along the banks of the Washington Channel in the nation’s capital sits the East Potomac Park, a popular green space offering 330 acres of open fields, picnic grounds, tennis courts, and lanes for running and cycling. At over 100 years old, the park is a celebrated “part of the culture in D.C.” But according to renovation plans obtained by the Washington Post, President Donald Trump wants to radically change the park, installing an “exclusive” golf course at the expense of public access.
“Based on the renderings being circulated to potential donors,” reports the Post, “the public golfing facility in the park that has long attracted hackers of all stripes because of its affordability and accessibility would be gone, as would a miniature golf course, the oldest continuously operating one in the country, which underwent a $1 million renovation in 2024. Hains Point, the tip of the peninsula popular with early-morning birdwatchers and weekend barbecuers, would be incorporated into the new course and seemingly inaccessible to anyone not playing golf.”
Donny is not through yet…..the Garden of American Heroes…..
President Donald Trump‘s proposed National Garden of American Heroes will take up a large portion of the Washington, D.C., waterfront – and won’t honor any Native Americans, Hispanics or Democratic presidents.
The order mandates the creation of a task force to establish this garden and to have it open to the public by no later than July 4, 2026.
The list of statues includes “historically significant” Americans, such as former presidents, Founding Fathers, frontiersmen, people who assisted with the discovery of America and African-American abolitionists.
This dick wad never tires of spending money on his vanity.
Now let’s look at some of the morons that enable this douche we have for a leader…..we will start with some fake pastor….
American Reformed Christian pastor, podcaster, and self-confessed plagiarist Dale Partridge says he knows one of the major causes of homosexuality among men, and it is “liberalism.”
Partridge made his comment about liberalism after watching a video of a transphobic MAGA influencer, Kaitlin Marie Bennett, asking questions to a college student dressed in a skirt. The student was part of socialist Democrat protest urging the president of the University of Central Florida to turn the school into a “sanctuary campus” that won’t aid federal immigration officials in arresting undocumented and international students.
The student fell silent when Bennett mockingly accused the student of acting like a “fascist” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer for having a reserved campus protest space meant to exclude her and other counterprotestors. The student’s silence seemed to stem more from a disinterest in participating in a bad-faith debate rather than an inability to debate their position.
After showing a part of Bennett’s video, Partridge said, “Not only does liberalism make men gay, it makes them incapable of thinking, okay? Liberalism is just, like, feminized politics. So the moment you hit them with equivalency or make them think in categories, they shut down.
If you think guy is a moron then wait until you read what Boebert has to say….
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says that aliens from outer space are actually “fallen angels and Nephilim” from the Old Testament of the Bible, according to Right Wing Watch. On Friday, President Donald Trumpreleased declassified government UFO files.
“God is the creator of the universe,” Congresswoman Boebert says in recorded video published Friday by Right Wing Watch. “He’s never not going to create.”
The Colorado Republican lawmaker said that it’s “always been something in my mind to say, ‘Well, how can we be the only ones?’ Like, God’s not going to stop creating just with us.”
Where did this mental midget get this “information”?
Responding to the disclosures, Jeremiah J Johnston of the Christian Thinkers Society attempted to debunk the files, offering a spiritual explanation for the mysterious lights and “orbs” spotted in the night sky.
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Johnston went on to argue that, for him, UFOs can be categorized in four ways: misidentified objects like ice crystals or tricks of light; classified human technology like spy drones or satellites; angelic activity; and demonic activity.
I have 2 problems with his assessment…..”Christian thinkers and angelic activity…..christian thinkers I believe that is what is called an oxymoron.
How many rocks must they look under to find these complete idiots?
They just keep getting more silly by the week, huh?
Most news watchers know about the deadly ‘hantavirus’ that broke out on cruise ships….and Donny has an answer….under normal circumstances a prez would put an infectious disease expert in charge of any program involving this virus….but not our dumbass Donny….
When 18 American passengers who were onboard the MV Hondius were potentially exposed to Hantavirus, the Trump administration dispatched Dr Brian Christine to temper growing fears about another possible pandemic.
For a doctor who specialised in penile implants and surgical treatments for erectile dysfunction, the deadly outbreak is perhaps his most difficult public health challenge to date.
Once again Donny proves just how damn ignorant he is….a stable genius putting a penile implant doctor in charge of a deadly virus response….classic stupid.
But the silliest statement of the week was from the usual suspect….that idiot in charge….
On Monday, during a routine press event, president Donald Trump casually made an announcement that in any normal White House would have kicked off days of frenzied coverage — either about a revelatory inflection point in the history of medicine, or about the mental wellness of the country’s chief executive.
The president’s apparent claim? That an unnamed new drug can bring patients back from the dead.
“We’ve taken people that were dead,” Trump fomented. “We had a person given the last rites — gone, the kids are crying and everything — and started them on this drug. And the person became better. It works.”
Half way through May and things are not any better.
This is for all the old acid heads….Wavy Gravy turns 90…..
Ninety years does not seem like enough time to contain the life of Wavy Gravy. The hippie icon is probably best known as the emcee of Woodstock, but his impact on American culture goes far beyond those three days of peace and music.
He was Albert Einstein’s neighbor, Bob Dylan’s roommate, and the official clown of the Grateful Dead. His friends are a who’s who of 1960s counterculture: Lenny Bruce, Ram Dass, Ken Kesey. He’s been a beatnik poet, a hog farmer and a jester. An actor, an activist, an artist. A Merry Prankster, a Yippie and an ice cream flavor. He introduced granola to the hippies at Woodstock and ran a pig for president against Richard Nixon.
Local–we finally got some rain after months of little to none….4+ inches in a couple of days…..even with that we are still in drought condition.
Forecaster say we are in for a brutal Summer….oh goody more 110+ temps….can’t wait for that.
Personal–A week of no scans,pokes, prods or meetings….and it was hard to keep from just sleeping all day…..but I have two pups that refuse to let me do nothing.
Let’s begin with more cancer treatment advances (hopefully)….
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have designed a new cancer treatment by borrowing a strategy from bacteria that live inside tumors. Instead of attacking cancer cells directly, the approach targets how those cells generate energy.
In prostate cancer models, the therapy delivered its strongest results when combined with radiation, a standard treatment. Tumor growth slowed dramatically. The key component is a lab-made peptide called aurB, derived from a bacterial protein. Once inside cancer cells, aurB disrupts the mitochondria, the structures responsible for producing energy.
Without that energy supply, tumor cells struggle to survive and multiply. The findings were published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.
One of my cancers is prostrate and the biopsy is truly humbling but there may be a better way….
A new urine test may soon change how doctors monitor men with low-risk prostate cancer, offering a much less invasive way to check whether the disease is becoming dangerous.
Researchers found that the test performed better than common methods such as PSA blood tests and MRI scans when deciding which patients truly needed repeat biopsies.
The study, published in The Journal of Urology, suggests that the test could help many men avoid unnecessary procedures while still catching cancers that become more aggressive and require treatment.
All this research needs to be fast forward for cancer patients have only a small window most of the time.
Speaking of research….death…..the great mystery
Humans have been pondering the nature of death since prehistoric times, with evidence of funeral practices dating back to early hominids more than 400,000 years ago. In the millennia since, our curiosity about death has grown more and more complex, with most of the world’s most prominent religions and folklore traditions seeking to answer the mysteries of life’s end. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1900s that researching death became a true science. Known as thanatology, the study of death has yielded fascinating evidence for what it physically feels like to die, and how the mind reacts to those final moments. It may sound like a grim field of study, but thanatology has actually unearthed some surprisingly soothing answers to the mysteries of death.
Thanatology is a uniquely challenging field because, as they say, dead men tell no tales. How can you study an experience without any firsthand accounts? There’s no easy way around this problem, but researchers have a few resources to work with. Believe it or not, near-death experiences, known in the medical field as NDEs, are coming to be seen as valuable evidence. Instances in which people’s hearts stopped but were later resuscitated have revealed unexpected findings about both the physical and emotional experience of dying. On top of that, there have been a handful of cases in which people actually died while undergoing neurological imaging, providing the most intimate look at mortality that doctors have ever observed. It turns out, many of our preconceptions about death have been all backwards.
There use to be a time when America stood for freedom of the press…..I said use to be….
Reporters Without Borders warned Thursday that the United States is facing a “press freedom crisis” as President Donald Trump and his subordinates wage an aggressive assault on the media that has included threats of treason charges and imprisonment against journalists.
The Trump administration’s active disdain for press freedom has pushed the US to its lowest-ever rank on Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, which ranks countries based on numerous indicators including legal protections for journalists, reporter safety, and overall political hostility toward the press. The US landed at 64th out of 180 countries on the latest version of the index, falling seven spots compared to last year.
“The US has experienced a steady decline in the RSF Index over the past decade, but President Trump is pouring gasoline on the fire,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF’s North America section. “Trump and his administration have carried out a coordinated war on press freedom since the day he took office, and we will live with the consequences for years to come.”
“The index shows that this decline is measurable and ongoing, but preventable,” Weimers added. “Our message is clear: Protect legal rights, ensure accountability for attacks on media professionals, and support independent media to restore American press freedom.”
Recently my friend Pete, bettleypete.com, posted on some unanswered questions and I have found one that I never had thought about….
What’s in a fart? This question, far from rhetorical, was one put to Dr Karl Kruszelnicki in the early 2000s. A nurse had asked if quietly farting during an ongoing operation could be considered a contamination of the sterile field.
“I realised that I didn’t know,” Kruszelnicki told Brisbane’s Triple J radio. “But I was determined to find out.”
Farts, known to science as flatulence, are a fact of life. We have seen evidence of the passing of wind in fish, sloths, and certainly humans. Hardly surprising when you consider the internal marble run that is our digestive system.
When we eat, digestion begins in the mouth as we chew up food. Enzymes in our saliva help to break it down further, and our gut mixes it all together with acid until it forms a substance called chyme.
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That gas escapes through our rectum and is released into the air. It’s normal and healthy in most cases, but there’s no getting away from the fact that a fart must pass through a valley of bacteria on its way out into the world. So, does any of it hitch a ride?
We are up to our butts in ‘smart’ things, phones, homes, etc and now we have one for farts….
People have a poor grasp of how often they fart, but smart underwear can provide a more accurate measure of flatulence, helping to spot gut-related conditions that might go undiagnosed like lactose intolerance.
Brantley Hall at the University of Maryland and his colleagues have designed a small hydrogen-detecting device that you can attach to your underwear to measure the frequency of farts, or flatus. “It’s like a medium-sized coin, like a nickel or a two-pence piece, and a couple of coins thick. And it clips on adjacent to the perineum,” says Hall.
He and his colleagues got 37 people to use the device to record what happened after consuming lactose, the sugar in dairy products. Producing excess intestinal gas is a hallmark of lactose intolerance, because if people don’t have the enzyme lactase to break down lactose, microbes ferment it instead. This produces hydrogen, leading to bloating and releases of gas. The trouble is, about one-third of people with lactose intolerance don’t report symptoms – sometimes because they don’t know they are farting.
The researchers put the participants on a low-fibre diet for two days to minimise microbiome activity and establish a baseline of farting. Then, on the morning of the third day, each person received either 20 grams of lactose or of sucrose. On the fourth morning, they consumed the other sugar. The participants and research teams didn’t know who was getting what.
Of the 37 participants, 24 were sensitive to lactose and farted over 1.5 times more than their baseline during the day after consuming it, according to the smart underwear. The day with higher gas production corresponded to the lactose consumption in 22 of these people.
Those weird dreams you sometimes have aren’t just neurons firing aimlessly inside your brain at night. Although they may warp reality into something half-familiar and wholly bizarre, mounting evidence suggests that dreams are actually mirroring your personality traits and lived experiences. As you fall into the deepest phase of sleep, the way your experiences transform into strange movie reels in your subconscious is anything but random. In fact, your most vivid and memorable dreams are the ones with the deepest connection to your daily life and personality traits.
New research from a team of neuroscientists led by Valentina Else of the IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, documented many unexpected connections between dream contents and waking life. The study analyzed recorded dream reports and compared the visions in dreams to data about individuals’ personality traits, psychological profiles, cognitive skills, and sleep habits. Else used AI models known as natural language processing tools to get to the bottom of dream structures and descriptions. And it turns out your brain isn’t just replaying the past. Dreaming is more of a dynamic process that merges lived experience with who you are.
That is enough useless information for this Saturday. If the weather is nice go out and have some fun and just relax….and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….
It is Friday and I would like to end the week with some FYI.
Disclaimer: I am by no means pushing the Dark Web on my readers this post is purely intended to be FYI.
I am sure that most anyone that uses a computer has heard of the Dark Web….but how many really know what it is unless you are a massive computer nerd?
The dark web isn’t something you can just stumble upon, and that’s a good thing. Although it’s often used for transactions and conversations that need to remain anonymous, sites on the dark web can host illegal activity, phishing links, financial scams, and malware. There’s also little to no recourse to be had if you encounter any trouble there, because the dark web is a decentralized collection of websites hidden from search engines. In short, it’s not for the faint of heart, and it’s definitely not a viable alternative to the clear web.
Even in an era of increased online surveillance, the average person on the internet likely has too much to lose to bet on their safety for curiosity’s sake. Heck, I’m one of PCMag’s resident security experts, and I’m not playing around on the dark web just because I know how to. That’s why I’m not going to provide links or detailed instructions for accessing the internet’s shadier side. That said, what you choose to do with your time and devices is solely your business (for now). I will help you understand the risks you face when exploring the dark web and offer you some suggestions for safer browsing.
To understand what the dark web is, let’s examine the onion-like layers of the internet:
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Within the deep web is the dark web. As I mentioned above, the dark web is a decentralized, non-indexed network of web pages, and the sites don’t use standard URLs. The dark web is home to some horrible stuff; think illegal porn and snuff films, along with illicit activity in the form of financial scams, personal data sales, and other anonymous and illegal transactions. There are marketplaces where people can sell stolen credit card numbers, conduct illegal drug transactions, and scam people out of their cash and crypto.
There’s legitimate activity on the dark web, too, as activists, journalists, and whistleblowers use dark web forums for anonymous communication. These forums look similar to those on the clear web, but the content discussed and shared by the anonymous chatters can evade censorship and surveillance on public sites. The problem is that getting to those forums may expose you to safety concerns like those listed above.
With all the Epstein crap and now our attacks on Iran the ‘other’ war in Ukraine is falling through the cracks (for now)….
After years of war and countless tidbits about a ceasefire that never materializes this devastating conflict is no closer to a solution than it was the day after the original invasion.
The West has done all it can with cash and inventory to help without getting directing involved with troops…but after four long years maybe it is time to face reality.
Since the war started, voices in the alternative media have said that Ukraine cannot win a war against Russia. Indeed, John Mearsheimer has been saying this since 2014.
Four years into this devastating war, those voices feel at one and the same time both vindicated and unheard. Ukraine is losing yet western leaders in Europe appear bent on continuing the fight.
Nothing is illustrative of this more than Kaja Kallas’ ridiculous comment of 10 February that Russia should agree to pre-conditions to end the war, which included future restrictions on the size of Russia’s army.
Comments such as this suggest western figures like Kallas still believe in the prospect of a strategic victory against Russia, such that Russia would have to settle for peace as the defeated party. Or they are in denial, and/or they are lying to their citizens. I’d argue that it is a mixture of the second and third.
When I say losing, I don’t mean losing in the narrow military sense. Russia’s territorial gains over the winter period have been slow and marginal. Indeed, western commentators often point to this as a sign that, given its size advantage, Russia is in fact losing the war, because if it really was powerful, it would have defeated Ukraine long ago.
After all the loss of life and the massive destruction from the fighting and all of it could have been avoided by one simple action.
When Zelenksyy was elected all he would have had to do was state formally that he had no intention for Ukraine to join NATO.
How hard would that had been?
After the invasion there could have been a immediate ceasefire with three things coming to the table….
If peace is to come to Ukraine three things are needed. First, the historical causes of the war must be acknowledged. Second, the goals and security needs of both sides must be addressed. Third, each side’s red lines need to be respected. Compromises need to be acknowledged and embraced as an accomplishment and starting point. Instead of seeing the remaining issues as frustrating impasses that lead to despair of diplomacy and continued war, they need to be seen as the last hurdles to a peace that all sides – Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and Europe – should be encouraged to overcome.
No doubt, clearing those hurdles means neither side will get all that it wants, and both sides must decide what they need. That is why the historical causes and essential goals of each side need to be identified. The compromise settlement must then be composed in terms that allow both sides to present it to their citizens as having achieved the core goals and security concerns.
(antiwar.com)
After four bloody years we know that neither side wants to compromise and seems none of the benefactors want it either.
With all that in the spotlight time for the West to buck up and face reality….this conflict is a money pit that will will cost so much that it will be impossible to end it.
I thought I would continue somewhat on her thoughts.
Personally I think that there is too much cash political elections….and apparently I am not alone….
A significant majority of Americans agree that there is too much money in the US political system and that the super rich have more influence over election outcomes than ordinary citizens, a poll published by Politico on Saturday found.
The poll comes after outside spending in the 2024 electionbroke records, with richest-man-alive Elon Musk pouring over $250 million into President Donald Trump’s campaign.
…
According to the poll, 72% of Americans agree that there is too much money in politics, while only 5% disagree. There is broad partisan consensus on this issue, with 80% of 2024 Kamala Harris voters and 77% of 2024 Trump voters also agreeing.
At the same time, 61% think that billionaires have too much influence on US politics. There was a larger partisan gap on this issue, with 75% of Harris voters and 55% of Trump voters agreeing
A total of 67% of respondents think that there is too much special interest money specifically in elections, and 53% see it as a form of corruption that should be restricted. There is also bipartisan support for the idea that special interest money is corruption, with 61% of Harris voters and 56% of Trump voters backing this position.
There is slightly more concern about money in politics from Democratic voters, with 49% of 2024 Harris voters stating it could outright buy elections compared with 33% of Trump voters.
It has been this way for far too long….it is time to stop bitching about and do something is my advice to the Dems in Congress.
The sad part is that they are just as empowered by all this cash as the Repubs….so there will be very little interest in turning a new leaf….there will always be something more important that they have to deal with on their limited agenda.
I am not saying to do not contribute but the money should go into a fund and be divided evenly among candidates….all candidates….this would help eliminate some of the special interests influence.
This will not solve the problem completely but it could help lessen the effect of all that cash.
I know some people use AI for just about everything and I say more power to them but for me it just is not something I would use…..at least for now for my brain still functions and I will use it until there is no more energy in it.
Scientist have taken a good look at the use of AI to excess…..
