Estelle Harris, and so it goes.
"Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, began this weekend for the 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. From sun-up to sundown, the physically able among them will fast — abstaining not just from food but also so much as a sip of water."
Gwenda Bond talks about the Lexington Writer's Room and the recent fire there. It's always been a dream if I hit the lottery (both the actual lottery and/or success in publishing) to follow up with something similar for the Cleveland area. There is a special energy when two or more writers are working in the same room. When I was able to go on retreats I was able to crank out 10-20,000 words in a weekend which is just a gobsmacking amount compared to normal (even when I could set aside days to write). Doing that, and being a part of a community of writers is such a rewarding experience.
"NASA's orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory captured yet another solar flare blasting from the same overactive sunspot that triggered radio blackouts and stunning aurora displays on Earth earlier this week."
"When the Human Genome Project was declared completed in 2003, it had mapped 92% of genes, with the rest remaining a mystery for nearly two decades due to technological limitations. Now, scientists have finished sequencing the other 8%, and the human genome has finally been fully sequenced."
"This strain of anti-immigrant environmentalism may be growing today — but it isn't new. And that brings up another misconception — that environmental politics are always left-leaning… The truth is, eco-fascism has a long history, both in the U.S. and in Europe. Blair Taylor is a researcher at the Institute for Social Ecology. He said even the Nazis saw themselves as environmentalists."
"Iowa is the country's top corn producer and almost 60% of that grain goes to produce ethanol, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Archer-Daniel-Midlands (ADM), Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures want to capture the carbon these plants emit into the air while making that fuel and then pipe it to be stored deep underground."
"Scientists believe Summer Lake has been around for at least 10,000 years. Its main source springs can release water that’s been percolating through rocks for a millennium. This slow-moving water cycle provides a drought-resistant lifeblood in a region with very little annual rain and increasingly less snow. But, current state management of groundwater puts the Ana River springs in danger of disappearing within a generation. Their flow has been in steady decline since wells began pumping water to nearby hay farms."
"Scientists say the highest water temperatures ever in the Gulf of Maine were recorded last year… The Gulf is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water on the planet, and fishermen are noticing signs of the change… Data released by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute show that last year surface water temperatures in the Gulf were on average a half-degree higher than the previous record, with record highs recorded on 169 days — almost half the year."
"Lu is the secret sauce at the heart of many Chinese family cuisines. To Peter, his Lu sauce is also a heritage from his beloved mother."
"'What I see is who can play the game best,' Wilt said. 'Big corporations trying to work the system in a way that they don't have to take full responsibility is nothing new.'… Johnson & Johnson, which is headquartered in New Jersey, is valued at more than $400 billion. But in October 2021, the company used a controversial legal maneuver in bankruptcy court to freeze Wilt's case along with thousands of others."
"Police say six people are dead and at least ten others have been injured after a shooting early Sunday morning in downtown Sacramento… Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference that police were patrolling the area at about 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire. When they arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathered on the street and six people dead. Another 10 either took themselves or were transported to hospitals." Just another day in America filled with freedom.
"Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, have voted to unionize, a first for Amazon, and a stunning win for a grassroots campaign led by former and current Amazon employees… The historic vote was 2,654 for the union to 2,131 against."
"The strikers demand that Warrior Met Coal, the company they’re striking against, restore the pay and benefits miners gave up in 2016 when the mines were in danger of shutting down… As the months crawled on, the miners stuck with a slogan — 'one day longer.' As in, they’re willing to hold out on this strike one day longer than Warrior Met Coal will. But a year without their old paychecks has caused a few workers to cross the picket line. The hundreds that remain still defiantly say 'one day longer,' though they admit that it requires deep sacrifice and it’s building resentment."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Two American energy groups are targeting the Biden administration over its dismissal of domestic oil and gas production, one with a five figure ad purchase and another whose president will offer testimony before a Senate committee next week… The American Energy Alliance launched a five figure ad campaign against President Biden and his administration for 'sending mixed signals' when it comes to energy production in America." Understand this is about an industry that sees its end and this is an attempt to forestall any regulation. American oil companies are sitting on thousands of land leases that they could, if they wanted to, start production on. But that's not enough. Why? Because those untapped leases are directly tied to their stock performance. And they want more. They don't want to have to capture methane released from oil wells, it's cheaper to burn it off. "'The best thing the White House can do right now is to remove barriers to investment in American energy production and infrastructure,' said API President and CEO Mike Sommers." What barriers, Mike? Be specific and show your work.
"No One Is Coming to Save Us" Jim Wright on the current political situation. And I'll add a little to what Jim said, conservatives are counting on liberal politeness. They're laying it all on the line that liberals wouldn't do what they would do and will instead hope to mend fences and not damage institutions further than they already have. And it's time that the Democrats show them that we will burn this motherfucker down if need be to restore liberty, democracy, the rule of law, and the rightful order of society.
"Two rocket launchers and a practice grenade were found in a trash can at a residence near a California middle school earlier this week, authorities said… A community service officer with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department found the weapons while carrying out a search warrant in Temecula, Calif. Christopher Whetstone, 41, has been arrested on charges of grand theft through video footage and fingerprint evidence."
"Police found five fetuses in the home of a self-proclaimed 'anti-abortion activist' who was indicted this week on federal charges alleging that she was part of a group of people who blocked access to a Washington, D.C. reproductive health center."
"Ukrainians returning to Kyiv as Russian forces pulled out over the weekend found a shocking trail of destruction and death, including slain civilians lying on the streets with their hands bound… Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said scores of the dead were found on the streets of Bucha and the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel in what looked like a 'scene from a horror movie.'"
"Ukraine's president has stripped two generals of their military rank, calling them 'traitors' and 'antiheroes.'… Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly public address on Thursday the two intelligence officers — Naumov Andriy Olehovych, the former chief of the main department of internal security of the Security Service of Ukraine, and Kryvoruchko Serhiy Oleksandrovych, the former head of the Office of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kherson region — are no longer generals."
"Ukrainian forces have buried hundreds of people in a mass grave in a commuter town outside Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, after retaking control of the area from Russian troops, according to an official… 'In Bucha, we have already buried 280 people in mass graves,' Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told the AFP news agency by phone on Saturday."
"Six weeks ago, Hungary's election campaign looked and sounded very different… The stakes were already high. Viktor Orban, the longest-serving national leader in the European Union, was seeking to extend his authoritarian premiership deep into its second decade. His rival, leading a united front of opposition parties, bluntly denounced Orban's crusade against independent institutions and the rule of law."
"The UN’s cultural agency has confirmed that at least 53 historical sites, religious buildings and museums have sustained damage during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… 'This is the latest list, but it is not exhaustive, as our experts are continuing to verify a number of reports' filed by Ukrainian authorities, a Unesco spokesperson told AFP as the body published a list of the 53 damaged sites in the north and east of the country."
It's the Daily Beast, so… "For 77 years, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) has kept the use of nuclear weapons at bay… But an increasingly desperate Russia, bogged down in a disastrous war of choice in Ukraine, threatens that status quo. As Russian President Vladimir Putin grows ever more desperate for a battlefield fix, his press secretary this week refused to rule out Russia using a nuclear weapon if the country faces an existential threat." There is no such thing as a "limited exchange."
"More than a month into Putin’s invasion, Ukrainian resistance has proved mightier than the Russian leader seems to have anticipated. On this week’s On the Media, hear how Russia is following the well-established American track record of entering wars without plans for ending them. Plus, a sober look at Russia’s nuclear strategy. And, how the threat of nuclear apocalypse has shaped American culture since World War II. Then, a look at the 1983 made-for-TV film that spurred a national conversation about disarmament." And the NukeMap website discussed in one of the segments.
Putin must go.
"Donald Trump blocked plans by his chief White House photographer to publish a book of pictures of his time in power – then published a book of such images himself, the New York Times reported… One former White House photographer told the Times that by using Shealah Craighead’s images for his own profit – with books selling for as much as $230, Trump is reported to have made $20m – the former president had dealt her 'a slap in the face'."
"Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate under Senator John McCain, is running for Congress, shaking up an already unpredictable race for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat. Palin, who shared the news on her Twitter account Friday, now joins a field of at least 40 candidates seeking to fill the seat that had been held for 49 years by the late-U.S. Rep. Don Young." Yet another job she can quit.
"(Idaho) Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin may have to work for free through the end of the fiscal year due to a projected budget shortfall brought on by her private legal fees… In a letter from Chief Deputy Controller General Joshua Whitworth to McGeachin on March 22, he predicts her office will run a $22,000 deficit – even if she halts all vendor payments." Ah, the party of fiscal responsibility.
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