Don't be afraid to change your mind

 

If you never change your mind, it shows you aren't learning

Abuse of corpse charge after miscarriage

 This kind of thing was predicted because it has happened at other times & places.

https://www.tribtoday.com/news/local-news/2023/11/womans-abuse-of-corpse-case-heads-to-grand-jury/

Nov. 4, 2023

Brittany Watts, 33, of Tod Avenue NW, faces a single charge of abuse of corpse, a fifth-degree felony. During an arraignment in Warren Municipal Court earlier this month, Watts pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Warren Assistant Prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri said the police investigation found that Watts miscarried the baby while using the restroom and tried to plunge and flush the remains down the toilet, where it got stuck in the pipes

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The fetus was about 22 weeks old when the incident took place on Sept. 22

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Timko [her lawyer] argues that no law requires a mother suffering from a miscarriage of a non-viable fetus to bury or cremate the remains.

“Women miscarry into toilets everyday. If the state of Ohio expects these women to fish those remains from the toilet and deliver them to a hospital, funeral home or crematorium, the laws need changed,” Timko said, adding that “we aren’t there yet.”

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Experts give you permission to stop raking your leaves this fall

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/to-rake-or-not-to-rake-expert-tips-for-eco-friendly-autumnal-lawn-care

Oct 20, 2023 5:15 PM EST

trustworthy journalism.

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PBS NewsHour

• Live

By — 

Bella Isaacs-Thomas

Experts give you permission to stop raking your leaves this fall. Here’s why

Science Oct 20, 2023 5:15 PM EST

Autumn is in full swing in communities across the United States, making your sidewalk stroll or mountain hike a little more colorful.

But some view fallen foliage as a mess to be conquered rather than a source of crunchy delight.

READ MORE: The science behind the aroma of fall

Experts say the hallmark of autumnal lawn care — attempting to do away with each leaf that falls on a person’s property — comes with an ecological price.

“Leaves are often thrown out — they’re treated as trash,” said Matthew Shepherd, director of outreach and education at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. By raking and bagging them all up, “we are inadvertently impoverishing our landscapes.”

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there are plenty of ways to put an abundance of leaves to good use if homeowners opt to work with nature rather than against it, advocates say.

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As temperatures drop, fallen leaves and the soil underneath offer crucial habitat for all kinds of creatures, including salamanders, frogs and rodents. Shepherd noted that this shelter is especially important for the smallest animals, mainly insects and other invertebrates. That list includes cocooned moths and bumblebee queens, as well as those that might be less eye-catching to humans.

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Leaf litter is also a destination for non-migrating birds like cardinals, who hop around feasting on the sheltering bugs below.

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In Shepherd’s garden, he leaves flower stems and seed heads standing, providing both extra groundcover and food options for wildlife. He gets the benefit of watching the birds over the fall and winter, an entertaining show from the warm indoors.

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Dead leaves play a major role in infusing soil with new nutrients. The invertebrates that come along to munch on the leaves start the process of breaking them down before microbes help finish the job.

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Entitlements

 

Nov. 28, 2023

Irritating to see people saying social security is not an entitlement, as if that were bad.

https://www.britannica.com/money/entitlement

entitlement, generally, any government-provided or government-managed benefit or service to which some or all individuals are entitled by law. 

We need trees

 

Voting advice

 

Jerry Falwell Jr. lobs attacks that will 'will rock' Liberty U 'to its core'

 

https://www.rawstory.com/jerry-falwell-jr-2666333522/

Nov. 22, 2023

Axios reports that journalist Tim Alberta is coming out with a new book in which Falwell Jr. candidly admits that his late father, Jerry Falwell, Sr., founded the university solely to be an institutional arm of the Republican Party and not to be a Christian university aimed at spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Stand together

 

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-intended-for-delivery-the-texas-democratic-state-committee-the-municipal

“Let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation's future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause.” – JFK in an undelivered speech intended for Austin, Texas, 11/22/63 presidency.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SPENT NEARLY $1 MILLION AT TRUMP PROPERTIES FROM JULY 2017 TO NOVEMBER 2019

 

https://www.americanoversight.org/defense-department-spent-nearly-1-million-at-trump-properties-from-july-2017-to-november-2019-records-obtained-by-american-oversight-reveal

June 8, 2023

Records recently obtained by American Oversight and reported on by Forbes reveal that the Department of Defense spent nearly $1 million at properties owned by former President Donald Trump between July 2017 and November 2019. 

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As Everson noted in Forbes, “There’s no full public accounting of how much taxpayers shelled out to the Trump Organization during the Trump administration.”As Everson noted in Forbes, “There’s no full public accounting of how much taxpayers shelled out to the Trump Organization during the Trump administration.”

Climate change is hastening the demise of Pacific Northwest forests

https://apnews.com/article/trees-climate-environment-pacific-northwest-iconic-cedars-d1f58b79c5c92376f4fe835f6b433602 

By NATHAN GILLES, Columbia Insight

Nov. 16, 2023

Last year, Buhl and colleagues reported that red cedars were dying throughout the tree’s growing range not because of a fungus or insect attack, but due to the region’s “climate change-induced drought.”

Red cedars aren’t alone.

In recent years, at least 15 native Pacific Northwest tree species have experienced growth declines and die-offs, 10 of which have been linked to drought and warming temperatures, according to recent studies and reports.

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Global decline in male fertility linked to common pesticides

 

Not a surprise.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/national-international/global-decline-in-male-fertility-linked-to-common-pesticides/3357293/

Nov. 16, 2023

A prolonged decline in male fertility in the form of sperm concentrations appears to be connected to the use of pesticides, according to a study published Wednesday.

Researchers compiled, rated and reviewed the results of 25 studies of certain pesticides and male fertility and found that men who had been exposed to certain classes of pesticides had significantly lower sperm concentrations. The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, included data from more than 1,700 men and spanned several decades.

“No matter how we looked at the analysis and results, we saw a persistent association between increasing levels of insecticide and decreases in sperm concentration,” said study author Melissa Perry, who is an environmental epidemiologist and the dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University.

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It could happen to us

 From Facebook:

Something to think about....

What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly). 

Your bills:

 $1, 000 . 00 / rent 

 $150 .00 / electrical 

 $250 .00 / car payment

 $150 .00 / car insurance

So let’s do the math : 

You bring home about 

$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).

You’re making it, but barely. 

This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .

(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)

Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00

How do you pay that? 

To put it simply , you don’t. 

Because you can’t. 

So your power gets shut off.

But you know what your lease says? 

It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.

So now you’re in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care, & you have 10 days to get out. 

Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month! 

But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted. 

You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent. 

Time’s up ....

Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks. 

So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by. 

You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.

You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave.Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ? 

They remove your child from your care. 

As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .”) 

So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.

Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.

When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.

You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00 

~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now 

“ high risk .” 

You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full. 

I’ll stop here .....

Because I think you get the point . 

The people we work with everyday are these people . 

WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .

We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it . 

All it takes is : 

* one unexpected bill📃~

* one fender bender🚙💥🚗~

* one lay-off 📊~

* one house fire 🏠🔥 , etc. 

Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why don’t you try being grateful that you’re not in their shoes ...... YET ! 

This is about staying humble & being kind . 

BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVESomething to think about....

What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly). 

Your bills:

 $1, 000 . 00 / rent 

 $150 .00 / electrical 

 $250 .00 / car payment

 $150 .00 / car insurance

So let’s do the math : 

You bring home about 

$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).

You’re making it, but barely. 

This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .

(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)

Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00

How do you pay that? 

To put it simply , you don’t. 

Because you can’t. 

So your power gets shut off.

But you know what your lease says? 

It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.

So now you’re in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care, & you have 10 days to get out. 

Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month! 

But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted. 

You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent. 

Time’s up ....

Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks. 

So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by. 

You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.

You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave.Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ? 

They remove your child from your care. 

As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .”) 

So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.

Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.

When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.

You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00 

~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now 

“ high risk .” 

You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full. 

I’ll stop here .....

Because I think you get the point . 

The people we work with everyday are these people . 

WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .

We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it . 

All it takes is : 

* one unexpected bill📃~

* one fender bender🚙💥🚗~

* one lay-off 📊~

* one house fire 🏠🔥 , etc. 

Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why don’t you try being grateful that you’re not in their shoes ...... YET ! 

This is about staying humble & being kind . 

BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ❤ (copied)

We Are All Struggling In Different Ways.. 😭😩 ❤ (copied)

We Are All Struggling In Different Ways.. 😭😩

UN says up to 40% of world’s land now degraded

 More than a year old. Must be worse now.

I suggest reading the whole article.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/27/united-nations-40-per-cent-planet-land-degraded

Fiona Harvey

Wed 27 Apr 2022 09.00 EDT

Human damage to the planet’s land is accelerating, with up to 40% now classed as degraded, while half of the world’s people are suffering the impacts, UN data has shown.

The world’s ability to feed a growing population is being put at risk by the rising damage, most of which is caused by food production. Women in the developing world are particularly badly affected as they often lack legal titles to land and can be thrown off it if conditions are tough.

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Does New Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Have a Bank Account?

I'm not happy that Mikme Johnson is speaker of the House, but I care about truth & fairness. There are a lot of posts on Twitted about the fact he didn't show any bank accounts on his financial disclosure forms. At first I found it suspicious. But looking into it further, it is not necessarily a problem.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-new-speaker-of-the-house-mike-johnson-have-a-bank-account

Of course, it’s unlikely Johnson doesn’t actually have a bank account. What’s more likely is Johnson lives paycheck to paycheck—so much so that he doesn’t have enough money in his bank account to trigger the checking account disclosure rules for members of Congress.

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House Ethics Committee filing guidelines state that members must disclose bank accounts they have at every financial institution, as long as the account holds at least $1,000 and the combined value of all accounts—including those belonging to their spouse and dependent children—exceeds $5,000.

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When science showed in the 1970s that gas stoves produced harmful indoor air pollution, the industry reached for tobacco’s PR playbook

https://theconversation.com/when-science-showed-in-the-1970s-that-gas-stoves-produced-harmful-indoor-air-pollution-the-industry-reached-for-tobaccos-pr-playbook-21

Nov. 3, 2023

In 1976, beloved chef, cookbook author and television personality Julia Child returned to WGBH-TV’s studios in Boston for a new cooking show, “Julia Child & Company,” following her hit series “The French Chef.” Viewers probably didn’t know that Child’s new and improved kitchen studio, outfitted with gas stoves, was paid for by the American Gas Association.

While this may seem like any corporate sponsorship, we now know it was a part of a calculated campaign by gas industry executives to increase use of gas stoves across the United States. And stoves weren’t the only objective. The gas industry wanted to grow its residential market, and homes that used gas for cooking were likely also to use it for heat and hot water.

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The industry’s efforts went well beyond careful product placement, according to new research from the nonprofit Climate Investigations Center, which analyzes corporate efforts to undermine climate science and slow the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels. As the center’s study and a National Public Radio investigation show, when evidence emerged in the early 1970s about the health effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide exposure from gas stove use, the American Gas Association launched a campaign designed to manufacture doubt about the existing science.

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the multipronged strategy related to gas stoves directly mirrored tactics that the tobacco industry used to undermine and distort scientific evidence of health risks associated with smoking starting in the 1950s

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The commercial interests of many industries, including alcohol, tobacco and fossil fuels, aren’t always compatible with the public interest or human health. In my view, exposing the tactics that vested interests use to manipulate the public can make consumers and regulators savvier and help deter other industries from using their playbook.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Polls

When Reagan was president, the published polls didn't even have a choice for those of us with very negative ratings of him. Same thing for a poll a few months after he left office. So I finally wrote Gallup and complained. Of course, they defended the validity of their polls. But a few months after that they came out with a poll on Reagan and Carter, with a full range of choices. Reagan and Carter got about the same number of favorable ratings. But while few people disliked Carter very much, many people disliked Reagan a whole lot. But we weren't allowed to know that while Reagan was president.

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2011/07/judis-wrong-on-reagan-bush-popularity.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrendanNyhan+%28Brendan+Nyhan%29

Judis wrong on Reagan, Bush popularity

July 30, 2011

John Judis writes in The New Republic that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush "enjoyed great popularity even though polls showed that the public disliked some of their initiatives" because they provided "leadership and not mediation"

[...]

In reality, Bush's popularity shot up to stratospheric levels immediately after the 9/11 attacks (86% in a September 13 ABC News poll) before he'd even had time to show much leadership. It was a classic rally-around-the-flag response -- exactly what you'd expect given the magnitude of the attacks. The rest of his presidency was a slow decline toward the highest disapproval ratings ever recorded by an American president.

While Reagan also enjoyed high levels of approval at times (most notably, when he was shot, when the economy was booming before Iran-Contra, and when he was about to leave office), he was actually not especially popular either -- his average Gallup approval ratings in office were lower than those of Kennedy, Clinton, Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, and George H.W. Bush.

[...]


..

Effective altruism

 

Voting is not marriage

 I don't know anybody who is perfect, but they still expect other people to be their idea of perfect.

No! Obama Did Not Control Congress His First Two Years!

http://cjonline.com/blog-post/lucinda/2012-06-01/no-obama-did-not-control-congress-his-first-two-years

Posted June 1, 2012 12:05 am - Updated June 1, 2012 01:39 am
No! Obama Did Not Control Congress His First Two Years!

•••••

Let’s take a trip back to 2008.

And let’s brush up on some basics. First, did you forget that the President needed 60 votes to pass legislation? The healthcare bill is a good example of that. There were NOT 60 Democrats in the Senate. Remember that? So there had to be reconciliation.

What about the Stimulus? Again, there was NOT 60 Democratic votes to pass it. Reconciliation did not work. It was blocked by the Republicans, and Obama traded job-creating for tax cuts. Remember those tax cuts he let go on? Yep, traded for job creation - which it did accomplish as much as the baby stimulus that he was able to get would allow.

Is it all coming back to you now? How about this: It was Obama’s inaugural dinner. Senator Kennedy suffered a seizure. It’s kind of hard to work when you’ve had a seizure. He went back to Massachusetts.

Old news is so much fun to go back and read about. Here’s one I had forgotten, too. Al Franken had not yet been seated because the previous senator had challenged the election. Mein Gott, that went on forever with no way for him to vote in the Senate.

With Kennedy in Massachusetts and Franken in purgatory, awaiting his chance in the hell that is Congress, that left just 58 votes in the Senate. Memory Refresher: It took 60 votes to pass a bill in the Senate. The Republicans were already playing dirty politics and would not work across the aisle with the Democrats.

By the way, that was 56 Democrats and 2 Democratically-minded Independents. Not 58 Democrats.

Then, in April 2009 – good news. Republican Arlen Spector switched to Democrat. That gave the Democrats 60 seats with which to discourage a Republican filibuster (their most prized procedure at the time). But… oh no… we forgot, Al Franken was still in Purgatory out there in election recount turmoil. So… back to 59 votes.

We can pause here to lovingly remember the filibuster I just mentioned. Republicans made history during that time by using it more than any time ever before. Reminder (because this can get confusing): It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. The Democrats only had 59 at this point… technically. One of those votes was the very ill, Senator Kennedy. He did cast one vote during that time.

Then, Senator Byrd was admitted to the hospital.

Then Al Franken was sworn in but Byrd was still in the hospital and Kennedy was too sick to ever vote again.

Senator Byrd finally returned, but Kennedy did not.

It wasn’t until August- 2009 that Senator Kirk was appointed to Kennedy’s seat, and finally they had the 60 votes.

That filibuster-proof 60 votes lasted exactly 4 months – Not 2 years. Not 1 year. Not 6 months.

Just 4 months – from August 2009 to February 2010 - when Scott Brown was sworn in.

But here’s a fact that nobody can deny:

Republicans had the presidency, the House, and the Senate from 2001 – 2007.

For six years, Republicans had total and complete and undeniably absolute control over everything.

And how did that work out in the final analysis?

It doesn’t bear repeating. You know the answer to that as well as I do. Six years to screw up the whole country – nay, the entire damned world!

And you whine because Obama could not fix it all in four months?

Alright, I expect you to whine. But from this point on there is no excuse for lying. Not now that you know the truth.

tags: obstructionism, control of congress

Storm Ciarán whips Western Europe, blowing record winds in France and leaving millions without power

 https://apnews.com/article/storm-ciaran-uk-france-winds-climate-61b722101874e7f0610961c03c509229 

Nov. 2, 2023

Record-breaking winds in France and across much of Western Europe left at least seven people dead and injured others as Storm Ciarán swept through the continent Thursday. The storm devastated homes, causing travel mayhem and cut power to a vast number of people.

Winds of more than 190 kph (118 mph) slammed the northern tip of France’s Atlantic coast overnight, uprooting trees and blowing out windows.

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Why Democrats voted not to expel Santos right now

 

https://raskin.house.gov/2023/11/raskin-statement-on-vote-against-h-res-773

November 1, 2023

Washington, DC – Today Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) released the following statement after voting “No” on House Resolution 773, a resolution to expel Congressman George Santos (NY-03) from the House of Representatives.

“I’m a Constitution guy. The House has expelled five people in our history, three for joining the Confederacy as traitors to the Union and two after they were convicted of serious criminal offenses. Santos has not been criminally convicted yet of any of the offenses he has been indicted for that were cited in the Resolution nor has he been found guilty of ethics offenses in the House internal process.

“This would be a terrible precedent to set, expelling people who have not been convicted of a crime and without internal due process. If and when Santos is convicted of these serious criminal offenses or ethics charges, I will certainly vote to expel him. Until then, it’s a very risky road to go down and we have to stick by due process and the rule of law, as obvious as the eventual result seems. In these times of war, chaos, insurrection, division and lawlessness, the rule of law is a lifeline for us.

“I can think of four or five Democratic Members the Republicans would like to expel without any criminal conviction or adverse ethics findings tomorrow simply because they hate their politics. Indeed, the same New York Republicans who want to expel Santos now because he is a complete political albatross for them acted to vigorously defend him in the spring because they wanted his vote for their party on the floor. If Members are not going to be expelled for purely political reasons, we need to stick to due process and the rule of law.

“Back in the spring, the Republicans promised action within 60 days on the sprawling Santos ethics investigation, but nothing has happened since then. Now, they are promising action by November 17. Good, it’s about time.”