Tag: National Emergency

Real National Emergency

The news is full of national emergence stories from severe weather too immigrants to ….well you pick one….but there are some true national emergencies that we should address before too long….like our endless wars and our failing infrastructure and a democracy suffering it’s death throes…..those need addressing and instead we are laser focused on things that will not save our republic from doom.

Where shall we begin?

Seventy years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the cost of a military-industrial complex, America is still stealing from its own people to fund a global empire.

In 2025 alone, the U.S. has launched airstrikes in Yemen, bombed Houthi-controlled ports and radar installations (killing scores of civilians), deployed greater numbers of troops and multiple aircraft carriers to the Middle East, and edged closer to direct war with Iran in support of Israel’s escalating conflict.

Each of these “new” fronts has been sold to the public as national defense. In truth, they are the latest outposts in a decades-long campaign of empire maintenance—one that lines the pockets of defense contractors while schools crumble, bridges collapse, and veterans sleep on the streets at home.

This isn’t about national defense. This is empire maintenance.

It’s about preserving a military-industrial complex that profits from endless war, global policing, and foreign occupations—while the nation’s infrastructure crumbles and its people are neglected.

The United States has spent much of the past half-century policing the globe, occupying other countries, and waging endless wars.

…

The government is destabilizing the economy, destroying the national infrastructure through neglect and a lack of resources, and turning taxpayer dollars into blood money with its endless wars, drone strikes and mounting death tolls.

This isn’t just bad budgeting. It’s moral bankruptcy. A country that can’t care for its own people has no business policing the rest of the world.

Clearly, our national priorities are in desperate need of overhauling.

We are funding our own collapse.

Read On!

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/06/19/the-real-national-emergency-endless-wars-failing-infrastructure-and-a-dying-republic/

As we ignore our failing infrastructure and the need for a vibrant republic and spend our money on protecting those shit wipe countries that cannot flex their international muscle without the US kissing their asses….this must stop….and stop now….the American people do not deserve the screwing they are taking now even with their own consent.

Step forward and be the change you want to see.

Where do you see this nation, if the trajectory continues, in a decade or further down the line?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Covid-19 Fraud In Mississippi

In the recent past a pharmacist and a doctor and his son were nailed for prescription fraud against Medicare…..well it seems that we also have some d/bags that were hoarding supplies in this time of emergency….

A pharmaceutical company owned by Ocean Springs developer Kenneth Ritchey is accused in a federal court case of hoarding scarce personal protective equipment needed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with federal agents recovering a trove of respirator masks, face shields, gloves and other items from the business.

FBI agents raided Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus LLC on North Halstead Road on April 17, but Southern District U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst declined then to comment on the investigation.

Ritchey is a former business partner of Clark Levi, a pharmacist who owned Lovelace Drugs in downtown Ocean Springs before he died in a car crash with his wife.

I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

What Is The Defense Protection Act?

I will take a break from my traditional postings on the weekends to help my readers understand the confusion info they are being fed daily…..hopefully I can help.

In one of his daily babbles the President made reference to the Defense Protection Act……and now we need to know just what that means to the nation and its fight against a fast paced virus.

Law:

Pub. L. No. 81–774, 123 Stat. 2006, codified in relevant part at 50 U.S.C. § 4558 Link:

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title50-section455…

Section 708 of the Act requires the Commission and the Department of Justice to participate in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on voluntary agreements among industry members, pursuant to federal determination of need and federal oversight, that are aimed at solving production and distribution problems impairing national defense preparedness (such as a voluntary agreement to make ships, services, and facilities available to the Department of Defense in case of military emergency). The Act establishes a limited antitrust exemption for such voluntary agreements.

The president has taken the action needed…..

The president invoked the Defense Production Act to get needed medical supplies such as ventilators and masks on the front lines, per the AP. Trump had said earlier in the week he would tap the 1950 act as needed, and on Friday he put that “in gear.” Essentially, he can marshal the private sector to help fight the pandemic. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he implored Trump during a phone call Friday to invoke the act immediately. The president told Schumer he would, then could be heard on the telephone making the order.

A more in-depth look into this “Act”…..

President Trump on Tuesday invoked the Defense Production Act, a wartime authority that allows him to direct industry to produce critical equipment, to confront the spiraling crisis over coronavirus pandemic.

The act was established in 1950 during the Korean War following war powers legislation used during World War II to direct private industry to produce weapons, vehicles and other materiel for war. At that time, automakers in Detroit, for instance, shifted production from automobiles to tanks.

The act gives the president a broad set of authorities to influence private companies for national defense, according to the Congressional Research Service. In 2009, Congress amended the act to include domestic preparedness and national emergency response efforts. 

“The Defense Production Act permits the president to push national security items to the front of the line, rather than following items that were previously ordered,” said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and military expert at the Lexington Institute. “It exists to speed up urgently needed items.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/18/coronavirus-what-defense-production-act-trump-has-invoked/2865598001/

Remember in 1941 the US turns auto makers into airplane makers almost overnight……then why in an age of great technology why cannot that type of emergency work be accomplished again?

Will this help the situation?  Or could it be too little too late?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Threat Of Martial Law

My fellow blogger and friend John at https://linesbyliming.com/ has been writing about this inevitable consequence of this raging virus.

Whenever something big happens in this country there will always be those that see detention camps and martial law.

Well we have something big happening now….that damn virus that is raging across the country as well as the world.

The first question some have asked was will this virus cause Americans to lose civil rights?

First think back a couple of years…..

Chances are you don’t remember Kaci Hickox, but in 2014 she was a household name. Back then, when the world was gripped by fear of another aggressive virus — in this case the deadly Ebola disease — she was an American nurse who went to Sierra Leone to treat the sick. Her return to the US made headlines, caused her to clash with two governors, and eventually led to her vindication by the courts, a victory celebrated by civil libertarians. But Hickox’s story might have a far different ending today, as the country contends with not only the coronavirus pandemic but also a far more conservative judiciary. 

When she returned to the US, Hickox did not have Ebola, a disease that is not airborne and is transferred only through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. 

Will Civil Liberties Be Another COVID-19 Victim?

And then as if right on cue….word has come out about a plan for martial law.

Will it come to the use of martial law?

But first, what is martial law?

Martial law is a law administered by the military rather than a civilian government. Martial law may be declared in an emergency or response to a crisis, or to control occupied territory.

  • Martial law is law administered by the military rather than a civilian government, typically to restore order.
  • Martial law is declared in an emergency, in a response to a crisis, or to control occupied territory.
  • When martial law is declared, civil liberties, such as the right to free movement, free speech, protection from unreasonable searches, and habeas corpus laws may be suspended.

Understanding what is meant by martial law……

The declaration of martial law is a rare and momentous decision for a civilian government to make and for a good reason. When martial law is declared, civilian control of some or all aspects of government operations is ceded to the military. This means that, in the case of elected governments, the representatives chosen by the voting population are no longer in power. Civilians have thus ceded control of the country in exchange for the potential restoration of order with the possibility that control may not be reclaimed in the future.

When martial law is declared, civil liberties, such as the right to free movement, free speech or protection from unreasonable searches, can be suspended. The justice system that typically handles issues of criminal and civil law is replaced with a military justice system, such as a military tribunal. Civilians may be arrested for violating curfews or for offenses that, in normal times, would not be considered serious enough to warrant detention. Laws relating to habeas corpus that are designed to prevent unlawful detention may also be suspended, allowing the military to detain individuals indefinitely without the possibility of recourse.

(Investopedia)

Will this virus come to martial law?

Even as President Trump says he tested negative for coronavirus, the COVID-19 pandemic raises the fear that huge swaths of the executive branch or even Congress and the Supreme Court could also be disabled, forcing the implementation of “continuity of government” plans that include evacuating Washington and “devolving” leadership to second-tier officials in remote and quarantined locations.

But Coronavirus is also new territory, where the military itself is vulnerable and the disaster scenarios being contemplated — including the possibility of widespread domestic violence as a result of food shortages — are forcing planners to look at what are called “extraordinary circumstances”.

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-top-secret-plans-if-coronavirus-cripples-government-1492878

Whatcha think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Finally A National Emergency!

The president finally went on TV and declared a national emergency just in time to get the markets closing.

Personally, I think he is about a week too late….but as they say….better late than never….

But enough of what I think…..here is what was said……

President Trump addressed the nation for the second time Friday about the coronavirus pandemic, this time to declare a national emergency. Trump said he would invoke the Stafford Act, typically used for natural disasters, which he said will free up tens of billions in emergency aid for states. It also means FEMA will play a bigger role in coordinating the federal response, reports Politico. Among other things, the result could be the construction of mobile hospitals and temporary shelters. Related:

  • Faster tests: The White House has been taking flak for the lack of coronavirus test kits available, and the administration took steps Friday to fix that, reports the New York Times. The Department of Health and Human Services will give more than $1 million to two companies, DiaSorin Molecular and Qiagen, to ramp up development of the tests. Also, the FDA set up a 24-hour hotline for private and academic labs to process tests and authorize new ones.
  • Drive-thrus: Soon, people may be able to make use of drive-thru testing sites. The Washington Post reports the White House is partnering with the private sector and local health departments on the idea. The story notes that South Korea, widely hailed for its handling of the pandemic, has had such sites in use. Essentially, people head to a drive-thru clinic set up in a parking lot to be swabbed, and specimens are then sent to labs for testing.
  • More help: Alibaba founder Jack Ma says he will donate 500,000 test kits and 1 million masks to the US through his foundation, reports Mashable.
  • ‘Flatten the curve’: As the US and other nations cancel mass gatherings, the phrase “flatten the curve” is gaining widespread use. The idea is that nations must slow the spread of the disease, starting immediately, or hospitals will be overwhelmed. A post at Vox has details, along with the origins of one doctor’s graph explaining the principle.

After this pandemic some interesting news has dribbled out about the CDC…..

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became the latest target of President Donald Trump’s attempts to deflect blame for what is being roundly condemned as a disastrous response by his administration to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump claimed, without evidence, on Friday that the federal agency had for decades sat idle on efforts to build an adequate testing system—a situation he blamed former President Barack Obama for supposedly exacerbating. Trump’s latest twitter fusillade comes despite the fact that his administration has directly controlled the CDC for more than three years. The president then repeated the lie that his predecessor failed to act on the H1N1 outbreak—commonly known as the swine flu—until thousands had already died.

Trump, Still Hoping to Slash CDC Funds, Blames CDC for Coronavirus Fiasco

Did you know that the US was ill prepared for this pandemic?

The logical answer to that question is….NO SHIT!

A secret report by the Director of National Intelligence says that the United States is starkly unprepared for a global pandemic — and the White House is blocking its release.

At least, that’s according to two senior government officials who blabbed to Time about the report, which was scheduled to be released early February, according to the magazine. But, says Time, plans to release it were scrapped as the COVID-19 coronavirus started going global.

https://futurism.com/neoscope/secret-gov-intel-report-us-unprepared-global-pandemic

There is always info coming out daily….and so far that has done little to help the situation other than confusing the shit out of everyone which feeds the fear and panic.

Any thoughts?

I Read. I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

One More “National Emergency”

We have an imaginary national emergency on the border and we will throw money at a problem that does not exist only in the mind of a delusional malignant toad.

He, Trump, has even stopped aid to “3 Mexican counties” (as FOX News put it…..”
Sunday morning’s Fox & Friends applauded President Donald Trump’s Saturday directive to cut aid to Central American countries by declaring, “Trump Cuts U.S Aid to 3 Mexican Countries.” )…..he keeps doubling down on this border fantasy that his base laps up like sweet pudding…….

Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Trump moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming US resources at the southern border. The State Department notified Congress that it would look to suspend 2017 and 2018 payments to the trio of nations, which have been home to some of the migrant caravans that have marched through Mexico to the US border, reports the AP.

We know there will be a full field of Dem candidates for 2020….so the question is will Trump stand for re-election?

My thought is yes he will because he has not milking all the money he can out of the presidency.

Now let’s say he loses his bid….will he go peacefully from office?

What better way to retain that hold than to use a tactic he, Trump, has used before….declare a “national emergency” and stay in the White House until the legal wrangling is over.

I wrote about that awhile back……https://lobotero.com/2019/03/18/will-he-ever-go/

The below article was printed in Raw Story…..it pertains to the Mueller Report more so than an election but the outcome could be the same…..

But ultimately, politics is not about what is always right and just but rather what is practical and expedient.

Why is impeaching Donald Trump viewed by many people — including prominent Democrats — as a near-term impossibility? Could impeachment succeed, and under what circumstances? Are congressional investigations and hearings a better way of holding Trump and his administration accountable for their misdeeds and general disregard for democracy? What would happen if Donald Trump were to be impeached and convicted, or if he loses the 2020 presidential election? Would he declare a national emergency in an effort to stay in office?

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/03/trump-may-not-leave-office-peacefully-will-declare-national-emergency-loses-2020-harvard-constitution-expert/

I recall there were many that thought GW and Obama would use their executive power to retain office, their hold on the presidency, but Trump strikes me as someone who would want to retain his strangle hold on the country and its policies.

Side Note: This is just an opinion….no one is saying this will happen….just that it could….please do some thought before attacking….works best for everyone.