Month: August 2021

Closing Thought–31Aug21

We all have seen the chaos at the Kabul airport with Afghans rushing and pushing to get the Hell out of the country to avoid any Taleban retaliation….so this report makes the situation even more bizarre…..

US gave Taliban lists of names. Some lawmakers and military officials have been outraged by reports that American officials gave the Taliban lists of names of Americans and Afghan allies so they could get past the group’s checkpoints, Politico reports. With the Taliban’s history of killing collaborators with foreign forces, one defense official describes the move as putting the Afghans on a “kill list.” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne acknowledged that the US has “shared information with the Taliban that has successfully facilitated evacuations from Kabul.”

Seriously?

The US gave the names of people trying to avoid the Taleban….what part of that makes sense?

I question the wisdom of this move…..

And now the last soldier is out and has turned off the lights…..

Taliban guards at Kabul’s airport and officials at the Pentagon have confirmed that the last US planes have flown out. Celebratory gunfire erupted across the Afghan capital marking the symbolic end of 20 years of war, with the Taliban back in power, the AP reports. In Washington, the US confirmed the withdrawal of its last troops, which faced a self-imposed Tuesday deadline. In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29pm Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. The evacuation effort, set to end Aug 31, was wrapped up a full day early, with military equipment loaded onto transport planes before the last US service members flew out, reports the New York Times.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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What Is This ‘Booster” Thing?

There is lots of opposition to the vaccines….and now we learn that a ‘booster’ will probably be ready by this Fall……but why a ‘booster’?

A good question since all the info available is confusing us mere mortals and making the dialog even more mind numbing….

What exactly is a booster shot? According to Emily Landon, associate professor at UChicago Medicine, “Boosters are offered to people who got the full course of a vaccine and developed a good response initially, but it waned over time” (via UChicago News). A third round of COVID-19 vaccine shots has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically for those who are immunocompromised. Booster shots, on the other hand, pertain to the general public.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are categorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. They function by prompting the body’s natural immunity response in our cells to create and fight off a specific protein known to cause COVID-19.

When it comes to the upcoming booster shots, representatives from both Pfizer and Moderna explain that they have more than one type of booster shot in development (via WUSA9). Some being developed are the same as the initial two doses administered, while others are different and contain variations that cater specifically to the emerging virus variants.

In her Q&A series, Emily Landon goes on to stress the importance of sticking with the same vaccine manufacturer from which individuals received their first two doses (via UChicago News). Therefore, it’s advised that individuals not mix their original Pfizer or Moderna vaccine with a different brand of the booster shot, if possible. Once official approval is obtained from the CDC and FDA for general population usage, individuals should schedule their booster shot eight months out from the date of their original second dose.

Read More: https://www.healthdigest.com/493776/how-is-the-covid-19-booster-different-from-the-original-vaccine/

This for those that are still resistant to getting a vaccine…..

It can feel like the battle lines have been drawn: on one side, those who have been vaccinated, and on the other, those who haven’t.

But things are never that black and white. Even among those who have been vaccinated, many people still have concerns and questions about the vaccine. And among those who haven’t, their reasons for not getting the jab vary from concerns over potential side effects, to a fear of needles, to simply not being able to take time off work. The roughly 30 percent of eligible Americans who have yet to be vaccinated are not all anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, and treating them as such could make them even less likely to get the shot.

We’ve collected some of the most common concerns with vaccination mentioned by people who are vaccine hesitant, and we’ve provided evidence-based responses to each one. If you or someone you know share any of these concerns, click through to see what information is out there to help you make this important decision.

Still Unsure About Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine? Start Here.

Help keep you self and your family safe in these times……

Get all the info then make your decision….

FYI–We all have heard about the Delta Variant…..and now yet another is poppinbg up….

Another coronavirus variant has been detected, say researchers who caution against becoming too concerned but suspect it’s better at getting around immunity protection than delta. The researchers spotted the C.1.2 variant in May in South Africa, Reuters reports, and published their work this month. It has not been peer-reviewed, but the findings have been forwarded to the World Health Organization. The variant has reached most of the country’s provinces as well as England, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland. It’s related to the C.1 variant that hit South Africa earlier in the year, per the Hill.

In C.1.2, scientists see “concerning constellations of mutations,” calling it “highly mutated beyond C.1 and all other” variants of concern. The researchers said the new variant is 44 to 59 mutations removed from the original Wuhan Hu-1 virus. WHO lists it, and three other variants, as being “of concern.” Researchers can’t answer many questions about C.1.2 yet. But they say it shares many mutations with other variants linked to greater transmissibility and reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies—though the mutations aren’t mixed the same way. One of the study’s authors said such mutations can be expected as a pandemic progresses. “This virus is still exploring ways to potentially get better at infecting us,” he said.

For God sake (if you believe in God) make your decisions based on facts and not the word of some babbling pastor or an overweight, over paid talk show host.

Be well

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Endangered Voting Rights

Golly be!  WiFi has returned after Ida….

The 60s have come and gone and still voting is not as it should be….IMO this is happening because Civil Rights leaders settled and moved on….and the damn silly policy of state’s rights….after all it is the 21st century.

Red states are trying their best to limit who votes through gerrymandering and through assault on voting out right.

A right that all citizens have a right to indulge themselves for whatever candidate…..instead of making it easier for the people to exercise their right to vote…..these states are trying to limit who, when and where they may vote….the people have to jump through imaginary obstacles set up by these assailants on their rights.

Some have asked how can this assault be happening to the people…..it is made possible because the right of a citizen to vote is not directly protected in the Constitution.

Voting is an American principle and a basic democratic right that should be protected, promoted, and practiced, which is why many people are surprised to learn that the U.S. Constitution provides no explicit right to vote. This leaves voting rights vulnerable to the whims of politicians, and some citizens with fewer rights than others.

A majority of Americans want something done about voting rights…..

Hours after the Senate GOP once again blocked debate on the For the People Act, progressive organizations on Wednesday released the results of a survey showing that a majority of U.S. voters—including nearly three-quarters of Democrats—want President Joe Biden to “take a more active role in the fight” to pass the sweeping voting rights legislation.

Conducted by Data For Progress, Equal Citizens, End Citizens United, and other progressive groups, the poll found that 51% of U.S. voters—including 74% of Democrats, 42% of independents, and 30% of Republicans—would be more likely to support Biden if he is able to convince the Senate to pass the For the People Act, which the survey describes as “a bill to reduce the role of big money in politics, end dark money, strengthen the freedom to vote for all eligible citizens, and ban partisan gerrymandering.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/11/poll-majority-us-voters-want-biden-fight-key-voting-rights-bill

Not to worry…..there is the DoJ that is there to protect our voting rights, right?

Nope not at all……..

In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), stripping the Justice Department of the powers it had for five decades to curb racial discrimination in voting. The Election Assistance Commission was left without commissioners for years and frequently faces bills in Congress that would end its existence entirely. Many schools skip civics education, contributing to the decline in voter turnout in local and primary elections.

Voting should be simple exercise for the citizens of this nation….but that is not necessarily true….

Voting should be a simple process in which any registered citizen can easily participate. However, this is not always the case. Voter identification and registration requirements, as well as the machines that voters use, vary widely between states. States and counties design their own ballots, pursue their own voter education, and have near-complete authority over their state voting policies and procedures. With over 10,000 different jurisdictions, voters and potential voters are much more likely to cast a counted vote in some states, some counties, and some areas of the country than others, simply based on the difference in standards for each election. Elections in many states are rife with lost and incorrectly counted votes, and many voters are incorrectly told that they cannot cast a ballot. 

Since voting is regulated by the states, there is little the national government can do if voters are intimidated or harassed at the polling booth. With the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to strike down section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, and Congress’s unwillingness to act to restore key components of the Act, a Right to Vote Amendment is needed to further enforce voting rights.

Let’s be clear….all this Red State assault on voting is not and has never been about free and fair elections…..

“Republican party and its candidates got fewer votes in the last seven of eight presidential elections,” he said, noting that new Census data shows the country growing more diverse.

“Take how this is played on the ground for Texas. Republicans trying to suppress the vote. Why would they be doing that? People of color make up 95% of the population growth. As those trends combined with the current platforms of these two political parties, it would seem that the Republican Party faces a binnary choice, or losing many future elections. That’s a buy in. It turns out and many experts and analysts warning about this, the Republican Party trying to find, well, not this way or that way but a third way,” he explained. “Lying about its losses and suppressing democracy itself so it could win rigged elections.”

(rawstory.com)

The whole states rights thing is destroying an institution in this country….the right to fair and open elections…..I have no use for the states rights thing and I have made my opinion known on this issue…..https://gulfsouthfreepress.wordpress.com/2021/05/05/those-states-rights/

This nation needs an amendment that will guarantee the right to vote…..The Right to Vote Amendment will guarantee all American citizens at least 18 years of age a constitutionally protected individual right to vote. Much like the rights to speech and religion, a constitutionally protected right to vote will be difficult to limit without showing a strong need for the limitation to exist.

Time is quickly running out for any action to protect the citizen’s right to vote….the Dems must go it alone if necessary….

The window for action to protect voting rights from the GOP’s nationwide assault is rapidly closing as Democrats—despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House—fail to take the steps necessary to pass federal legislation that would expand ballot access, restore the gutted Voting Rights Act of 1965, and end partisan gerrymandering.

Progressive warnings about the implications of continued inaction on voting rights have grown increasingly dire in recent weeks as state governments—nearly two dozen of which are completely dominated by Republicans—prepare to redraw their 10-year congressional maps for upcoming elections and implement new ballot restrictions.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/06/fascist-gop-threat-grows-dems-verge-historic-failure-secure-voting-rights-0

Do the Dems have the guts to do what is needed and necessary?  Or will they keep chasing the pipe dream of bi-partisanship?

Democrats have publicly united around a legislative response to Republican efforts to roll back voting access in various states — a bill called the For the People Act.

Known as HR 1 in the House, where it passed in early March with only a single Democratic defection, and S 1 in the Senate, where it’s co-sponsored by every Democrat except West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, it’s a bill that Democrats and allied outside advocates argue is urgently necessary to save the country not only from voter suppression, but also from gerrymandering and the malign influences of big and dark money in politics.

“If our democracy doesn’t work, then we have no hope — no hope — of solving any of our other problems,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said last month. “We will fight and fight and fight to get this done legislatively. Failure is not an option.”

Beneath this public unity, however, some in Democratic and electoral policy circles have misgivings about the bill, however well-intentioned it might be. Jessica Huseman recently wrote at the Daily Beast about a set of objections to one section of the bill from election administrators, who said, under cover of anonymity, that it contains various poorly written and confusing requirements that could be difficult or even impossible to implement. (Democratic aides say they’re working on addressing those concerns.)

https://www.vox.com/22346812/voting-rights-bill-hr1-for-the-people-act

Since Georgia is the ground zero for voting rights….there is an attempt to stop the theft….

Preventing Election Subversion Act of 2021, a bill introduced by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) that seeks to fill that gap.

It doesn’t prevent Georgia’s elections board from removing a local election official, but it does impose some procedural safeguards intended to prevent local officials from being removed for partisan reasons. Among other things, it allows such officials to sue for reinstatement in federal court.

Additionally, the bill would make it a felony to harass or intimidate election workers in order to interfere with their official duties. GOP lawmakers in some states, including Texas, are pushing legislation making it harder for election workers to remove partisan observers who disrupt an election. Warnock’s bill would subject the worst-behaved election observers to criminal charges.

Realistically, Warnock’s bill has a long way to go before it becomes law. Warnock is reportedly in negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to include safeguards against “election subversion” in a package of voting rights reforms that enjoys Manchin’s blessing. As the most conservative Democratic senator in an evenly divided Senate, Manchin is key to advancing any meaningful voting rights legislation.

https://www.vox.com/22616752/raphael-warnock-georgia-sb202-voter-suppresion-voting-rights-supreme-court-atlanta-fulton-county

A valiant attempt but will go NOWHERE…..the votes are not there in the Senate….plus then if it were to make it into law there is SCOTUS to contend with…..

The legislation, known as the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” is now a focus of the House and is expected to be part of the voting rights package negotiated in the Senate to win over West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s support. The bill would restore a provision of the Voting Rights Act meant to address racial discrimination that was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. Doing so has long been a goal of lawmakers, and one that seemed only remotely possible after Democrats obtained narrow control of Congress while winning the White House.

…

Still, legal experts remain skeptical that any amount of procedural legwork by Congress would be enough for the current Supreme Court and its 6-3 conservative-liberal majority.

“Whichever way congress would go in trying to amend the Voting Rights Act and reestablish some form of preclearance, it’s going to have a Supreme Court where at least some members are going to be extremely skeptical of congressional power in this area,” said Rick Hasen, law professor at University of California, Irvine.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/congress-democrats-john-lewis-voting-rights-supreme-court/index.html

NO amount of proposed laws will do anything but provide some cover for Dems in the next election.

This will do nothing to protect everyone’s right to a fair election or make it possible for everyone to vote.

I think they, Dems, will do something but like in 1965 it will not be enough.  We should not expect too much progress on this issue from the Dems…..they will once again display their spinelessness to the nation.

There was a small bright light, especially in Georgia….

A federal judge has found that a part of Georgia’s sweeping new election law that broadly prohibits the photographing of a voted ballot is likely unconstitutional. US District Judge J.P. Boulee on Friday granted a preliminary injunction on that section of the law, meaning it cannot be enforced for now. In the same order, he declined to block a number of other provisions that mostly have to do with monitoring or photographing parts of the election process. From the AP:

  • Lawsuit was filed by election integrity group. The judge’s order came in a lawsuit filed by the Coalition for Good Governance, an election integrity group, and others. Boulee wrote that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit “have shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claim” that the broad ban on photographing a voted ballot in both public and nonpublic places violates their First Amendment rights.
  • Other parts of the law. The new law, known as SB 202, also adds a voter ID requirement for mail ballots, shortens the time period for requesting a mail ballot, results in fewer ballot drop boxes available in metro Atlanta and gives the State Election Board new powers to intervene in county election offices and to remove and replace local election officials. There are currently eight federal lawsuits challenging parts of the 98-page law enacted earlier this year, including one filed by the US Department of Justice.
  • “An overreach by lawmakers.” “The Court’s striking of the Photography Ban was an important first step in demonstrating that SB202 is an overreach by lawmakers who prefer ballots to be counted behind closed doors, blocking the important oversight of the press and public,” Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, said in a statement.
  • Other provisions allowed to stand. Boulee declined to block another photography provision that prohibits the photographing or recording of the face of a touchscreen voting machine while someone is voting. He also declined to block provisions that require that absentee ballots be requested at least 11 days before an election and prohibit observers from communicating any information they see during absentee ballot processing to anyone other than election officials.
  • Raffensperger calls it a win. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly said the law will stand up to court challenges. “This decision is a clear victory for Georgia voters and common-sense election integrity reforms,” he said in a statement.

AS the Gulf South readied itself for yet another devastating hurricane marches across the US in support of voting rights were taking place…..

Thousands of people rallied across the US on Saturday to call for sweeping federal laws to wipe out election legislation advancing in some Republican-controlled states that could make it harder to cast a ballot. Many activists view the fight over voting rules as the civil rights issue of the era. But frustrations have mounted for months because two expansive election bills have stalled in the US Senate, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The rallies Saturday were intended to increase pressure on Democrats to rewrite procedural rules that would let them muscle the legislation through without Republican votes, the AP reports.

A great effort but I fear it is falling on deaf ears….Washington is about retaining position and not the benefits of voting for those back home.

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–30Aug21

Pls forgive the typos and such….Hurricane Ida has made it necessary to post from my phone.

Ida hit at 12 noon….our winds and rain started about 1400 hrs…..and for the last 20 hours we have been dealing with 45-80+ mph winds and heavy heavy rains….so far about 12 inches and it still continues….

I lost part of my privacy fence (yet again for Zeta took a portion of it in 2020) and some tree damage but no loss of trees……we are still trying to cope with being locked down for at least 24 hours straight.

My garden has ceased to exist…..

MoMo is coping without her normal morning walk….the gusts of 60-80 mph winds is not something she enjoys.

Sorry had to make this short but sweet…..time to make my rounds to be sure the house has no problems………..

Be Well….Be Safe…..

A New Conspiracy?

There are lots of moronic conspiracies out there….some are even credible….like the 9/11 conspiracy, the death of Kennedy, the Moon Landing, etc……a case can be made that they are at least believable…..

The events of 06 January have spawned a few….but I read an article that could be the beginning of a brand new story line for some to grasp and expand on……

Are you on the edge of your seat with anticipation?

The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s followers is the most documented crime scene in history.

On that day, Trump and his agents attempted to overthrow American democracy. We now know his conspiracy to nullify the results of the 2020 election was well underway. 

The world watched as Trump’s attack force, possessed by white rage and Christian nationalist fervor, and fueled by a willingness to kill and die for Trump in the name of “patriotism,” viciously attacked police who were protecting the Capitol and the people inside. A core group of Trump’s attack force acted with military precision as they breached the Capitol building’s defenses.  

Once inside, Trump’s attack force continued to battle with police while running amok and chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” Some of Trump’s followers hunted for Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats and Republicans deemed to be “traitors,” with the apparent goal of capturing and then executing them.

https://www.salon.com/2021/08/26/is-the-fbi-telling-us-the-truth-about-the-jan-6-coup-attempt-because-it-doesnt-feel-that-way/

I admit that I have felt at various times that there is more than we are told to this saga…have questioned the actions by the police, the president, the insurrectionists, et al…..but is there more to this day and the actions of some that we are not being told?

Another report has the far Right idiots close to a “new” civil war……

The Sun reported in November of last year how gun-toting militias were arming themselves across America as they prepared for Joe Biden’s presidency.

Dr Rakib Ehsan, a research fellow from think tank the Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun Online then that the rise of groups like My Militia is “deeply concerning” for the US.

He warned the potential of these organizations clashing with extreme left-wing groups could turn the US into a “powder-keg.”

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3511040/rise-far-right-militia-us/

Is this hyperbole or is it something that is truly brewing?

Is it just a new conspiracy in the making to sell ‘papers’?

Whatcha think?

Is there more we should be told?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Trial Of The Chicago Seven

NOTE:  This will be my only post today for Hurricane Ida is heading my way and I need to batten down the hatches and move stuff around to keep it from flying around….so my time will better spent doing precautionary work.

This is a seldom review by me…..this film interest me for I was around for the real trial….but before I go into the film maybe a little history for those that were not around for the actual event.

The film did do one thing….it illustrated what a clown show it was with the old fart Judge Hoffman (which illustrates why judges should be forced to retire at age 65).

The trial was held to punish the leaders of the protests of 1968 at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

The Chicago Seven (originally eight) were political radicals accused of conspiring to incite the riots that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. During the five-month trial, the prosecution stressed the defendants’ provocative rhetoric and subversive intentions, while the defense attributed the violence to official overreaction. The case drew national attention for the artists and activists that testified as witnesses, as well as defendant Bobby Seale’s actions, which earned him four years in prison for contempt of court. In February 1970, five of the seven were found guilty, but an appeals court overturned the convictions in 1972.

There were originally eight defendants: David Dellinger, a pacifist and chairman of the National Mobilization against the War; Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, leaders of theYouth International Party John Froines and Lee Weiner, local Chicago organizers; and Bobby Seale, cofounder of the Black Panther Party.

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/chicago-seven-1

Now that the history lesson is over…I will move on the the film…..

Netflix’s portrayal of the trial directed by Andrew Sorkin…..the film had an excellent cast…..the major characters of the trial……

If one watches this with the mindset of entertainment then it is excellent….but if one is looking for historic accuracy then it is lacking.

As someone who lived through those turbulent days I was disappointed in the film all together.

Sorkin seeks to tame these radicals, and the anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and revolutionary politics they represented (not, of course, without differences among them) by recasting them as boosters for liberal reform. The result is not only an inaccurate rendering of the group’s political visions but a tone-deaf affirmation of the American state, and specifically law enforcement, as fundamentally virtuous.

Since I am not the best reviewer on the web….I will let others give you the review this film deserves…..

https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/chicago-7-trial-film/

https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/aaron-sorkins-inane-history-lesson/

All in all the film was well acted but the character study it portrayed failed.

I recommend this film for entertainment reasons…..if you want historic accuracy then I would, if I were you, pass.

On a side note–I would like to see the same dogged determinism by the government when the leaders of this most recent insurrection against the government when they go to trial and the same sensationalism by the media as well during the trial.

Turn The Page!

To close out the day…..as with my tradition “Trying To Reason With The Hurricane Season by Jimmy Buffet……

A Truly Disgusting POS

These days there seems to be a wealth of disgusting individuals….but this a/hole leads the pack……

A Louisiana man accused of “very disturbing acts” with two dogs now sits behind bars.

According to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, 52-year-old Kenneth Ord Starling is facing 32 counts of Sexual Abuse of Animals after they received a complaint about “possible inappropriate behavior involving animals”.

STPSO says that a search of the “Victoria Way residence resulted in the discovery of numerous images and videos of animals being sexually abused.”

Deputies then interviewed Starling about what had been uncovered during the investigation.

According to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Starling admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with two of his dogs.”

Starling is currently in the St. Tammany Parish Jail.

(arklatex.com)

This person deserves the most severe punishment imaginable….I can think of many ways to make this disgusting slug pay for his crime….none of which would be pleasant.

I wish I could say that I hate myself for thinking of such extreme measures….but as a dog lover I want this ‘person’ to suffer and die.

Sorry!

“lego ergo scribo”

Saturday News

My news first…we here on the Gulf Coast are waiting for final word on the landfall of Hurricane Ida….here we go again…..well it is Summer on the Coast where we are always just North of a hurricane…..

The weekend begins and I want to report a few stories that may not have made your local news show….

I am an old fart so I am confused at why so many young people need flavored beverages….like booze, coffee, soft drinks, vitamins and the list goes on and on…….then there are those damn energy drinks that are filled with caffeine and artificial BS…like a fan favorite Mountain Dew (a truly disgusting tasting drink)….now there is a new flavor to tease the idiots….those most easily manipulated….

You can now have your Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and drink them, too.

In perhaps the most bizarre flavor mash-up of 2021, Mountain Dew has introduced a Flamin’ Hot flavor combo that blends “the sweet, citrus DEW with a new spicy goodness.”

“As a brand, DEW has a rich history of experimenting with new flavors our fans love. We certainly had them in mind when we developed the FLAMIN’ HOT beverage,” said Matt Nielsten, senior director of marketing at PepsiCo, in a press release. “This is one of our most provocative beverages yet, and we’re excited for DEW Nation to taste the unique blend of spicy and classic sweet citrus flavor of MTN DEW.”

https://people.com/food/flamin-hot-mountain-dew/

WHY?

I am a big fan of a maled milk shake…..different from the MacD’s thin soft swirl they calla milk shake….if you are unsure what it is then this should help…..

First, let’s learn what a chocolate malt is. Because let’s be real, we all know what a milkshake is. A chocolate malt is also a milkshake made with chocolate ice cream. You can even use vanilla ice cream and add chocolate syrup to it to get the chocolate flavor. What makes it different is the extra step. You need to add malted milk powder to round out the drink.

“Malted milk powder was invented by a man named William Horlick in 1873 as a much more manageable means of using malt rather than the very thick malt syrup,” Piedmont Grocery store shared. “Malted milk powder is made by sprouting and drying a grain, typically barley, and mixing it with powdered milk and wheat flour. Sometimes sugar and chocolate flavoring are also added to the powder. While you may not often order a malted milkshake, you may be familiar with the flavor thanks to Whoppers or Ovaltine,” myrecipes.com added.

Malted Milkshakes: The Classic Milkshake Add-in Soon To Be Lost to History

If you love the Earth then you are trying to soften your solid waste especially plastic bags, right?  You may have gone to those cotton bags for your shopping to eliminate adding to plastic waste……you may not be doing the Earth a favor with cotton…..

How many cotton tote bags do you have shoved into closets and cabinets and your car trunk? If the answer is too many, but you’ve at least consoled yourself that you’re doing the planet good, bad news. In a piece for the New York Times on our “cotton tote crisis,” Grace Cook cites some disheartening stats: Cotton is a water-intensive crop, and offsetting the environmental impact of creating just one bag is a long road. Per a 2018 study out of Denmark, an organic cotton tote would need to be used 20,000 times to zero out the impact that its production had on the environment. “That equates to daily use for 54 years—for just one bag,” writes Cook. If you have more like 25 bags, that works out to a thousand-plus years.

And to add insult to injury, they’re really tough to recycle, in part because most compost facilities don’t accept textiles, and the scant amount of cotton that does make it to a treatment plant can’t be recycled if it features PVC-based logos, as many bags do. Cook dates the origins of the cotton-bag explosion to 2007 and a British designer and looks at how brands ranging from the New Yorker to the beauty brand Aesop have contributed to the problem. If this has you wondering whether plastic is actually the lesser evil, Cook definitely doesn’t go that far. “Lightweight plastic bags use greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels, never biodegrade, and clog up the oceans,” she cautions. The best bet might be skipping a bag altogether when possible.

Sometimes we just cannot win, right?

Finally…asphalt with a floral smell….

Construction workers know the stench of hot asphalt all too well, and it doesn’t smell like roses. Or does it? Polish construction firm Budimex says it’s teamed up with refiner Lotos to create a floral-scented asphalt more pleasing to road builders. Added to the typical bitumen recipe are natural and synthetic essential oils, some of which neutralize the unpleasant smell, per Reuters. The others give off a floral scent, Budimex says in a news release.

 

“At times one could smell the scent of flowers, which made working more pleasant,” a Budimex foreman is quoted as saying in the release. It notes the company will look at introducing the compound on a wider scale. However, it’s unclear if the alteration will be any safer for road builders. According to the CDC, exposure to asphalt fumes is associated “with irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat” as well as “acute lower respiratory tract symptoms.”

Now that is something I have always worried about….the smell of asphalt.

Finally with all the hub-bub over pills being taken as a deterrent to the Covid there is some fairly promising news…but first….

DISCLAIMER:  Do not take any medication without first checking with your doctor.

Second–DO NOT for any reason take a drug that is formulated for use on cows and horses….regardless what some overweight pastor or talk show host may tell you…if you do talk their words as fact the  you are proving just how f*cking stupid you truly are.

Since Covid-19 patients started showing up at clinics and hospitals a year and a half ago, doctors and researchers have been hard at work trying to figure out how to treat them. Most drugs and treatments haven’t panned out, producing either no results or small ones in large-scale clinical trials. Many of the few that work are expensive and difficult to administer.

Hydroxychloroquine, enthusiastically endorsed by President Trump last year, has been shown to have no measurable benefits. New drugs like monoclonal antibodies — proteins meant to imitate the immune system’s response to the disease — have been approved by regulators but must be administered by a doctor through an IV or series of injections.

But scientists haven’t stopped searching, and the results of a new massive clinical trial suggest they’re getting somewhere. In a large, randomized clinical trial conducted with thousands of patients over the past six months, researchers at McMaster University tested eight different Covid-19 treatments against a control group to figure out what works.

One drug stood out: fluvoxamine, an antidepressant that the Food and Drug Administration has already found to be safe and that’s cheap to produce as a generic drug.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22619137/fluvoxamine-covid-ivermectin-together-study-mcmaster

I am finished with the ‘dump’….have a great Saturday….

Be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–27Aug21

Douche Bag Of The Week

It is absolutely NO secret that I have a serious dislike for Erik Prince of Blackwater Fame….as low as this d/bg sinks he has reached a new low as a profiteer of human suffering….

Michigan-born military contractor and former Navy SEAL Erik Prince is offering chartered flights out of Afghanistan at $6,500 a seat, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Prince, who is the brother of former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and grew up in west Michigan, told the Journal it would cost more if people needed his aid in getting out of their homes and to the airport with the Taliban in control of the country.

The article, which described the scramble underway by both American forces and private rescue operations to evacuate Afghans, U.S. citizens and others ahead of an Aug. 31 withdrawal of U.S. troops from that country, said it was unclear whether Prince — who founded the military security firm formerly known as Blackwater — was capable of carrying out such rescue missions and flights.

…

The White House criticized any attempts for private actors to make money off the evacuations, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki noting Wednesday the Biden administration is evacuating tens of thousands of people free of charge.

“We wouldn’t be supportive of profiting off of people who are desperate to get out of the country,” she said.

Prince has been involved in controversies before, including during the Iraq War when Blackwater security forces killed more than a dozen Iraqi citizens in Baghdad. Four years ago, President Donald Trump’s advisers brought Prince in to look at ways of using contractors to conduct military operations in Afghanistan rather than using additional troops.

(Detriot Free Press)

WH not supportive?

How about doing something about this douche bag who is trying to profit off human suffering.

He is a disgusting DOUCHE BAG!

More on this…..https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/25/monstrous-human-erik-prince-reportedly-charging-6500-seats-out-kabul

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Insurrection Update #13

MY continuing series on tracking the idiots that participated in the rebellion of 06 January and those traitors that are lurking in the wings waiting for their next ‘big” chance….

Think about this before I get into the idiots that got caught from their part in 06 January…..

Less than a year after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol, nearly half of Republican voters (47%) say that “a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands,” per a new nationwide survey by George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.

Only about 29% of Americans agreed with this statement on some level, the poll found, including just 9% of Democrats. And 49% said they disagree or strongly disagree.

The poll also found that a majority of Republicans (55%) say “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast we may have to use force to save it.” About 15% of Democrats agreed with this statement, but more Americans disagreed (46%) than agreed (34%).

(Yahoo News)

Did you think you would see this stupidity from the “America love it or leave it” crowd?

First they broke the law…they need to pay!

Now for the ‘justice’ for their treason…..

Capitol riot defendant Robert Reeder was set to appear in court Wednesday when the proceedings were called off at the last minute due to new videos that surfaced showing his actions on Jan. 6.

BuzzFeed reported that Reeder pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor “parading, demonstrating and picketing the Capitol” charge, which would result in a low-level punishment. He was going to argue for no jail time, the report claimed.

Then everything changed.

The Sedition Hunters, a group of online activists that have dedicated months to looking through videos and photos to identify people at the Capitol Jan. 6, found Reeder attacking Capitol Police officers in a video.

https://www.rawstory.com/new-video-capitol-insurrectionist-trial/

Now an idiot insurrectionist looks for an excuse for her stupidity…

Jenna Ryan, the infamous Dallas-area realtor who took a private plane to Washington before participating in the Capitol insurrection, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing.

During her plea hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper asked Ryan if she was “under the effects of any substances that would alter her ability to proceed,” according to a report from Jordan Fischer, an investigative reporter at Washington’s NBC affiliate.

“I had a single glass of wine last night,” Ryan reportedly responded.

“That doesn’t count,” Cooper replied before Ryan pleaded guilty.

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-jenna-ryan/

Screw her!  She knew what she was doing….throw the damn book at the bitch!

Assassinate Pelosi!

Oath Keepers were calling for action against the Speaker of the House…..

NBC News reporter Scott MacFarlane, who covers the insurrectionist beat, tweeted that Friday is the day in which several people will be in court over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Among the messages prosecutors found in the inspection of Oath Keepers’ phones was an Election Night chat that discussed a “shooting spree,” beginning with ” [Nancy] Pelosi first.”

He’s not the first one, as the New York Times documented several months ago. A Proud Boys supporter in New York was accused in Feb. 2021 of posting violent threats on the conservative social networking site Parler. A Colorado man was charged with sending a text about “putting a bullet” in Pelosi. A man living near Chicago left an alleged voicemail message about killing Democrats on Inauguration Day.

https://www.rawstory.com/oath-keeper-text-nancy-pelosi/

If this is NOT treason what the Hell is?

Some insurrectionists are still defiant even after they have been charged…like this ex-cop from Florida….

Kevin Tuck, part of a father-and-son police officer duo facing charges related to the January 6 Capitol riot, posted a new YouTube video calling for other conservatives to “rise up,” according to ABC affiliate WFTV-9 in Orlando.

Tuck is a former Windermere, FL police officer who joined his son Nathan at the riot — also a former Florida cop — and had boasted, “We stormed the Capitol, fought the police,” Kevin Tuck allegedly wrote. “… We took the flag. It’s our flag,” according to the FBI.

Here’s some of the content of Tuck’s YouTube video, as reported by WFTV-9:

“Pastor Kevin here, the patriot pastor, coming to you…(when) you look at Jan. 6, that was a day that patriots were fed up — fed up,” he said. “Patriots are being arrested left and right for trespassing. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-kevin-tuck/

Another disgusting insurrectionist gets a plea deal…..

Robert Keith Packer, who was photographed wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt in the Capitol, was arrested in January and charged with two misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

He pleaded guilty to both counts in February, but prosecutors on Tuesday said they have offered him a deal in exchange for his guilty plea, CNN reported.

While the federal government did not provide any additional details about the deal, several rioters facing similar lower-level charges in recent weeks have pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol.

https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-offers-plea-deal-to-capitol-rioter-who-wore-camp-auschwitz-shirt

Why are these traitorous slugs getting off easy with plea deals?

When it comes to holding the January 6 US Capitol rioters to account, the Justice Department has plenty of tools in its prosecutorial toolbox — and plenty of critics who have questioned whether they are prosecuting defendants to the fullest extent of the law.

Some of the alleged rioters are facing felonies stacked upon felonies — an assortment of obstruction, assault and theft charges, like the Pennsylvania man who’s been accused of punching a police officer and stealing the officer’s body camera. But dozens of other alleged rioters could plead guilty to misdemeanors and walk away with a slap on the wrist.
 
Former prosecutors and other legal experts tell CNN that the strategy makes sense, as the department should prioritize its resources on the most dangerous of the mob participants, while securing cooperation from the more peripheral rioters to help build cases against the serious offenders.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/25/politics/capitol-riot-cases-charges-explainer/index.html

There should be NO slap on the wrist for their decisions and actions.  PERIOD!

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”