Politics, sigh (and religion)

 Yesterday my world tilted just a bit more.

Biden bowed out of Presidential race for 2024.

I am sure lots of pundits will have a lot to say about it.

Not sure how much I'll listen to, though. I'm feeling somewhat sick to my stomach right now as I get used to this.

 I wrote on Facebook, repeating tRump's statement to show his total disregard to this highly respected individual. 

"Just look what the opposition said:

President Trump reacted on his social media platform, Truth Social, shortly after the news broke.

"Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was! He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement. All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t - And now, look what he’s done to our Country, with millions of people coming across our Border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists. We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

I said:

"This maniac (Trump) is not fit in anyway to be our president (again)! But with the crazies of politics, he has a chance. Democracy as we know it is on the line. Your vote may count this election, but be aware that a Trump presidency will take away your future votes under his autocracy."

I'm fully aware that my cousins who live out west are tRump supporters, and am willing for them to leave my friendship. Let's see who goes first from Facebook...

Other respondents to this news: (from CNN)

Israel: President Isaac Herzog thanked Biden for his “friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people” and described him as a “true ally of the Jewish people” in a post on X.

Poland: Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on Xthat Biden had made difficult decisions “thanks to which Poland, America and the world are safer, and democracy stronger. I know you were driven by the same motivations when announcing your final decision. Probably the most difficult one.”

Ireland: Micheál Martin, the foreign minister of Ireland, said he heard the news “with both sadness & admiration,” describing Biden as an “abiding friend of Ireland” in a post on X. Martin said the president provided “invaluable support for peace & prosperity on this island” and wished him the best

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And there are things that supersede politics.

Today is the feast day of Mary Magdalene. What a wonderful saint, the woman who the Catholics decided first was a prostitute, then when it seemed convenient for them, decided she was after all a disciple of Christ.

We women had known all along. The Woman with the Alabaster Jar is a book about her life. I'll defer to those who have written the truth of her history, but I do honor the single woman who devoted her life to doing good works in the name of Christ. That's what the religion was based on. Too bad so many "conservatives" have dragged the religion into politics, and vise versa.

Here's a link to my talented friend Annelinde Metzner who wrote a beautiful poem about Mary Madgalene!

Jesus and Mary in stained glass window in Scotland.

What's happening with climate change?

 Focusing on the environment, climate change, my link to what's actually happening...trying to stay grounded, connected to the earth, water, wind, and weather elements.

Katharine Hayhoe offered this in her newsletter this week (I'd already read the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, but I was sick)

"Americans who hear others talk about global warming at least once a month have higher levels of perceived collective political efficacy than those who hear others talk about global warming less often – 54% versus 39%," they found. (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication)

Political efficacy is a common indicator for the health of a civil society. Wikipedia defines it as “citizens’ trust in their ability to change the government and the belief they can understand and influence political affairs.”

 I don’t think this effect is limited to Americans; we’re all human. So wherever we live, this gives us even more reason to keep talking about climate change—with our friends, family, neighbours, and with our elected officials too. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, politicians usually underestimate how much their constituents care about climate risk and prioritize climate solutions, simply because they don’t hear from them. Now you know what to do about it!

"... our infrastructure was designed for a planet that no longer exists."

In Canada, Hayhoe said:*

Last year, we experienced an unprecedented, coast-to-coast wildfire season. It was so extreme that the area burned exceeded the entire country of Greece and produced four times the carbon emissions of global aviation. Focusing in on Quebec, scientists found that hot, dry weather due to climate change at least doubled the risk of such a season.

 

This June, the eastern half of Canada, from Ontario to the Maritimes, experienced a blistering heat wave that Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) scientists have shown was ten times more likely thanks to climate change.

 

Then, just last Tuesday, Toronto received a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours-- 100 millimeters or 4 inches. Roads and basements flooded, the Don River overflowed its banks, and a GO Transit train was surrounded by water with 1,400 passengers on board. Even Drake's mansion was inundated with muddy water. 

 

It’s the second time my hometown has faced major flooding in the past 11 years. Toronto last saw widespread flooding back in 2013, when 126 millimeters of rain fell in one day. Since then, the city has worked to become more flood-resistant, but climate change is outpacing its efforts. And this isn’t unique to Toronto; as the Canadian Climate Center points out, “over the last decade, the average cost of weather-related disasters and catastrophic losses each year has risen to the equivalent 5-6% of annual GDP growth.”

 

This increasing litany of disasters makes it clear: our infrastructure was designed for a planet that no longer exists. As scientist and former presidential science advisor John Holdren says, “We have three choices: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required and the less suffering there will be.”

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And I can't skip her wonderful coverage of growing flowers in Albania to mine nickel, a vital component of EV batteries, ususally mined in Indonesia.

Now, a start-up in Albania called Metalplant is trying out a new kind of mining: "phytomining," that consists of growing and harvesting nickel-accumulating flowers. Phytomining only works in places where the soil has a high nickel content, and Albania fits that bill. Native plants like Odontarrhena decipiens "take in nickel like a macronutrient,” Aida Bani at the Agricultural University of Tirana in Albania, who is collaborating with Metalplant, told New Scientist.

 

Metalplant is also aiming to sequester carbon on its farms through "enhanced rock weathering," which involves spreading rock dust on the soil on its farms. This means that, rather than depleting ecosystem carbon stocks, they’ll be adding to them. “We’re able to turn the lowest-grade land in the world into some of the most lucrative land in the world,” said Eric Matzner, Metalplant's CEO. Each hectare could produce between 200 to 400 kilograms of nickel, they estimate.

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Keep in mind what John Holdren said: "“We have three choices: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required and the less suffering there will be.”

I'm thinking more about Mitigation, Adaptation, and Suffering.

* Though Hayhoe and many of my blog and Facebook friends are Canadian, Dr. Hayhoe lives and teaches in Texas, when she's not traveling to give talks around the globe.

Is this the beginning of the end?

 Remember, this is the blog where I share my opinions. So far I haven't insulted anyone enough that they wrote anything nasty in a comment....or perhaps blogger has some kind of censorship/editing method.

Anyway this is what happened Fri. July 19.

I woke up with major pain in my right lung...blowing my nose hurt the lung worse, and I cringed at the thought that I'd probably cough sometime soon. So I immediately took Tylenol. Then my temperature, which was normal. OK, maybe this would clear up, I thought.  I tried to get in to see a medical professional to get my antibiotic boosted by steroids, which has helped in the past. No luck. I finally talked to my care coordinator, and he suggested Urgent Care to get an X-ray, and if that didn't work, go to ER. That's still in the back pocket, and I  will have to be major sick to do so! 

My friends who are aware of climate change, already know that we've passed the beginning of the end of our comfortable (?) life with techno gadgets, gas cars, plastics out the wahoo, and fake everything.

But for my life, I've been kind of waiting for some crisis that might mean the crumble of the infrastructure. That has certainly been given in many of our post apocalyptic movies (which I generally don't watch because I don't respond well to gloom and doom.)

However yesterday after I'd attempted to get an X-ray of my lungs, only to find the Urgent Care people's computers were down. I drove home, and as I walked from my car to my apartment, I wondered if this was the beginning of the end of our infrastructure.

I later learned (maybe a half hour later) that there was a world wide outage of Microsoft programs that had closed airports, banks, ATM's, and various schools. Since my little laptop is a Microsoft designated power-module, I immediately thought I'd better back up things. I'd had the thumb drive inserted already, thinking I'd take a few minutes soon to do so. But this made me immediately open it and begin the process of transferring all my recent data onto it. 

I had to take a break and go to lunch. Fortunately Judy came to pick me up. My breathing was shallow to avoid the pain. I had done my 15 min. on the Tera-vest shaking my lungs, and about 5 minutes with nebulizer, to again shake the stuff loose. But I just couldn't do deep coughs because of the pain. I fiddled with my pulse-ox reader whose batteries had died, and charged some rechargeable ones. Good oxygen in my blood.

Ate well, with only small coughs and holding my sides from the pain. Back home, finished the backup to thumb-drive of most of my life. Not any blogs though. They are only out in the ether...through a google program.

If things like Australian and Asheville airports have to close (as well as Milwaukee, thinking of the GOP conventioneers!) this is really a BIG THING.

I read that much at noon on my iPhone checking a "news update" from our local TV station. When I tried live TV, various national news stations didn't have anything about it.

If it's all gone away by the evening news, it should be interesting. A possible interruptions of services.

The news program said our local hospital had internet and no problems. So I still have that ER option, with at least 3 friends offering to drive me, if breathing or coughing problems intensify. I found I couldn't lie down for a nap, even using my C-PAP because again I'd have the cough tickle, and would need to sit up to just to clear it. So sitting at the laptop is more comfortable for now.

AC - I have a recliner, but lying back is a position which triggers my coughing...so I just am using it as a rocker. Sleep with just one pillow, though playing solitaire in bed I do double it up. That sometimes pinches a nerve and my fingers go numb...so I have to be careful there.

Isn't life grand? I'm not ungrateful today. Just reporting on what's happening. The news was updated a couple of hours ago, with increasing statements by Associated Press. OK they have interviewed someone. The folks behind the Microsoft problem are the important ones...not the airlines or banks!

From cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike: they "... pushed a faulty update to its own software that caused affected systems to not boot up correctly. Due to the popularity and extensive use of CrowdStrike's services, the result is a widespread outage with global impact."

AP said: "the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued hours after the company said it was gradually fixing it."

My conclusion, this early in the series of the reports of what has happened, is much the same as I arrived at following the recent assassination attempt towards Trump. We are going to be managed, as much as possible, by the media.

But the ground is shaking beneath our feet. Pay attention. Stay awake. Put your own opinions together.

And what is the good thing to look for from either of these recent stories?

People can find ways to come together, with humor, with softening of views, with support of our shared humanity. Yes that's the bonding of community which always happens with crisis. There may be some who prefer to compete for resources (and always will) but the majority of us will share with those who are hurt or hungry or suffering loss.

Just my humble opinion.

Still here, still coughing

 Sorry not to have been updating anything about climate change, etcc.

My cough has washed me out, just like the lovely summer thunderstorms we're having each afternoon/evening. I'm slowly getting my strength back.

So am just blogging over on the Black Mountain blog for now. And keeping friends updated on the bronchiectasis outbreak!

The syrup queen: Aunt Jemima

 Did you know this?

"Memory Lane Moments
 
A great woman erased from history by idiots.
The branding of the syrup was a tribute to this woman’s gifts and talents. Now future generations will not even know this beautiful woman existed. What a shame. 

 

The world knew her as “Aunt Jemima”, but her given name was Nancy Green and she was a true American success story. She was born a slave in 1834 Montgomery County, KY. and became a wealthy superstar in the advertising world, as its first living trademark. 

 

Green was 56-yrs old when she was selected as spokesperson for a new ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour and made her debut in 1893 at a fair and exposition in Chicago. She demonstrated the pancake mix and served thousands of pancakes, and became an immediate star. 

She was a good storyteller, her personality was warm and appealing, and her showmanship was exceptional. Her exhibition booth drew so many people that special security personnel were assigned to keep the crowds moving. 

Nancy Green was signed to a lifetime contract, traveled on promotional tours all over the country, and was extremely well paid. Her financial freedom and stature as a national spokesperson enabled her to become a leading advocate against poverty and in favor of equal rights for all Americans. She maintained her job until her death in 1923, at age 89. 

 

This was a remarkable woman, and sadly she has been ERASED by politics. I wanted you to know and remind you in this cancel culture time period.

Thanks to fellow blogger who shared it HERE!

Today's quote:

The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace. 

-Carlos Santana, musician (b. 20 Jul 1947)

Marge knows what's up (thanks Tom)

 Just visited Tom the Backroads Traveler, (fellow blogger) and he's got a most amusing post by Marge Simpson...you know, and Homer too. HERE  About how to decide who to vote for...

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I have sadly heard some of the tRump followers in my family sing accolades to the orange one. I kid you not. 

The morning after the assassination's attempt, one posted his photo with this comment.

"He is a billionaire that could have lived out his life in luxury.

He has survived the debunked "Russian disinformation" campaign, impeachments, attempts to bankrupt him, character assassination, and now a real assassination attempt.

He fought the Secret Service agents to get up to raise his fist to reassure his supporters and show defiance.

He has to be the toughest, strongest, most resolute and determined person. Ever."

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That was about the time a friend of mine and myself were trying to figure out how he rigged all this to happen. After all the shooter was registered as a Republican. I just said to my friend: My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were shot (especially the retired Fire Fighter who died.)

There are so many questions about the shooting, I'm reminded of the series called Manhunt on Apple TV...about the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination. I enjoyed it because I learned more than just the thrust of Booth and his ideals, but finding the entire Confederacy had been supporting this idea, before it was defeated, and probably a lot of the leaders continued so afterward. That was the first time I realized a war isn't at all necessarily over when the soldiers surrendered.

So I advise my friends to continue to look at the other people behind the figures we see the most. Biden has a lot of heavy thinkers with him, feeding him facts and guiding his speeches. Every president has a good speech writer.

But tRump has a different attitude, and often has difficulty taking advice from those who want his best interest at heart. For instance, he stopped to find his shoes, after hitting the deck, then posed for the fist-jabbing photo before he allowed the Secret Service to do their job.

We do well to look seriously at the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025...which are said to be the backbone of the GOP plank that will be approved in Milwaukee this week. These are the people who will use the opportunities afforded by tRump if he's reelected to scalp all the good in the US government - mainly removing it from being a democracy and becoming an autocracy.

My family members have already drunk the Kool-aid, and just repeat the rhetoric they've heard repeated over and over by tRump followers. Joe Biden is always "sleepy Joe" in their conversations.

There is no point in a conversation with the cult followers. Find those who are still wondering what is happening, and encourage questions!

And I don't have any facts about this, but I shared it on Facebook.

 "Did you know that you can directly oppose the Heritage Foundation? As a 501c3 corporation, the Heritage Foundation is not allowed to participate in politics, let alone publish political manifestos. You can download Project 2025 pdf from the website and attach it to IRS Form 13909 and challenge their tax exempt status.

Here's their EIN # 23-7327730

Money is the only weapon. Here is your second American Revolution. Right here. It doesn't take that long to file.

Christopher DiverThe People's Project 

From Katharine Hayhoe

Out-of-the-box climate solutions, global temperature hits record high, and the most impactful climate actions you can take

 Her newsletter this week brought this to my attention:

I love innovative and unique climate solutions. I’ve talked before about sand batteries, toilets that give students credit for the biomass (the polite term for poop) they generate, and solar panels on parking lots, but there’s a lot more out there.

There's a concert venue in an old industrial warehouse in Glasgow that since 2022 has been heated and cooled using the stored body heat of the concertgoers. “If you have a thousand people in here, that’s enough to heat 65 homes, and a lot of gas that isn’t being burnt," says geothermal entrepreneur David Townsend, who created the Bodyheat system. 
 
What if there were a way to harvest the kinetic energy that pedestrians produce by walking? There is! Piezoelectric tiles help harness energy from foot traffic. When these tiles are compressed by people stepping on them, they create electricity. A pilot study installed piezoelectric tiles in a metro station in Egypt that saw more than 57,000 passengers move through it every day. The study found that these tiles generated enough energy to power the entire metro station.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to see these technologies developed and spread across the globe?

And she continued with:

You may have seen the news this week: the Earth’s average temperature has been more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the past 12 months, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. And each of the last 13 months was the warmest on record.
 
This does not mean we've passed the threshold the world agreed to in Paris in 2015. For that to happen, the average amount of warming must stay above 1.5C for more than a decade. What this does mean, though, is that we’re closer than ever to that threshold.
 
This last year also gives us a preview of what an average year will look like if the world warms by 1.5C: a sampler, if you will, of what is to come. Over the past 12 months, we've seen a lot of major climate disasters - from Storm Daniel, which killed at least 6,000 people in Libya, to wildfires that scorched Maui, Hawaii, to record-breaking heat across South America in winter, Asia this spring, and the United States right now.
 
What this means is if we want a different future, now is the time to act. We need all voices calling for the societal change we will need to cut our emissions and invest in a cleaner, greener future! While we have not yet passed our Paris targets, the window for us to act is rapidly closing and the science is clear: every bit of warming matters, every action matters and every choice matters.

And then there's "what you can do..."

here's a..."list of the most impactful climate actions individuals can take. If you are worried about climate change and want to make a difference:

 Start a conversation about why climate change matters and what people can do about it
 Join a climate action group to amplify your voice and others
 Consider where you keep and how you spend your money (including your bank, credit card, retirement, and purchases)
 Spark ideas for change at work, school, church, or any other organization you are part of
 Hold politicians at every level accountable by voting and by telling them why climate change matters and what you want them to do about it
 Reduce your personal footprint and make your actions contagious by talking about them

The good news list:

 

• The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas and the Spirit Lake Nation file a challenge against the state of North Dakota for attempting to throw out redistricting maps that enforce voting parity for the reservations’ electorate.
• The Avengers becomes the first movie dubbed into Lakota, a significant step in the preservation and promotion of Lakota language and culture.
• The Biden administration will empower Cuban entrepreneurs to import food and equipment from the U.S., access social media platforms, and hold business accounts with U.S. banks.
• The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions holds a hearing to learn firsthand from those affected by limits to abortion access.
• The Labor Dept. expands a rule requiring financial professionals to act in the best interest of those seeking retirement investment advice.
• The Biden administration proposes extreme heat protection standards for outdoor workers.
• USCIS redesignates and extends Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. 
• USCIS extends employment authorization documents for certain Temporary Protected Status holders.
• The Biden administration announces $1B in climate resilience funding for communities.
• AL: Marilyn Lands is elected to the state House after centering her campaign on reproductive rights.
• CO: Colorado’s governor signs a bill to facilitate in-person voting for incarcerated people in November.
• FL’s governor signs a bill banning intentional balloon releases, which will protect marine ecosystems.
• IN: An appeals court rules that the state’s abortion ban likely violates residents’ First Amendment rights.
• MA allocates $67M in federal grant money to improve Green Line accessibility.
• ME: Acadia National Park will electrify its bus fleet using a $23 million federal grant from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
• NC: A federal court overturns unnecessary impediments to accessing and taking abortion medication at home.
• NY: A new state law mandates paid lactation breaks for people needing to express breast milk.
• NY: Thanks to public outcry, New York City’s mayor and city council restore library funding.
• OH: A campaign successfully ensures a ballot initiative to end gerrymandering through the state’s citizen-initiated constitutional amendment process.
• RI: A circuit court upholds the state’s ban on high-capacity bullet magazines.
• RI makes it easier and safer for residents to change their legal name.
• TX: A judge’s ruling protects a migrant shelter on the US-Mexico border and affirms that offering support to migrants of any legal status is not illegal.
• Newbern, AL residents’ voting rights are restored for the first time in over sixty years.
• Chicago’s mayor launches a task force on reparations for Black residents.
• A former police officer faces legal consequences for using illegal chokeholds and violating the civil rights of two men.
• 100% of profits from tea company Keats & Co. goes toward funding tuberculosis care in impoverished countries.
• Immigration advocacy groups sue to overturn President Biden’s recently ordered asylum restrictions.
• Civil and reproductive rights groups file lawsuits challenging Ohio laws that delay abortion patients’ access to their desired care and ban telehealth medication abortion services.
• To reduce racial disparities in breast cancer treatment and mortality rates, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force adjusts their recommendations for when patients should start getting mammograms.
• The Latino Economic Development Corporation promotes economic empowerment and community development among Latino communities and other underserved populations in Massachusetts.
• Central Falls High School in Rhode Island opens a Diversity Garden for science students to care for and have lessons in.
• Sarah Towle’s new book, Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, outlines two decades of U.S. anti-immigration policies, factually countering anti-immigrant narratives.
• Virginia Hislop, 105, earns her master’s degree 83 years after initially enrolling.
• Hillsborough County, FL residents adopt every pet from a local kennel.
• Sean Ono Lennon and James McCartney co-write a song in a new generation of Lennon-McCartney collaboration.
• Lawmakers in Thailand vote overwhelmingly to legalize same-sex marriage, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to enshrine the right.
• The late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will be honored with a US postage stamp.
• A small business in Rhode Island installs air conditioners for senior citizens for free.

Americans of Conscience Checklist HERE

And they have three things "You can Do"

Worried about the state of things in the US? You're not alone.    Take Action Reminder: Be sure to click the "I did this!" checkbox when you complete an action. we tally our collective effort every week. This week's checklist includes: Support increased voter turnout in Black communities. [Action 2] Ensure campaign ads contain only accurate information. [Action 3] Work toward electing the president by popular vote. [Action 4] Today's quote: We are the miracle of force and matter making itself over into imagination and will. Incredible. The Life Force experimenting with forms. You for one. Me for another. The Universe has shouted itself alive. We are one of the shouts.      - Ray Bradbury

From Letters from an American

 Today, the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Trump is “the only candidate in the race who is patently unfit for office—any office—and an imminent threat to democracy.” “If the [Republicans] had any decency left,” it wrote, they would dump him. Voters, the board said, must see the election as “a referendum on our 248-year democracy, and a choice between a trustworthy public servant who upholds American values and a serial liar who wants to push the country into authoritarianism.

I don't choose to give much of my own blog space the the tRump problems.

Yesterday, Raw Story reported that Ivan Raiklin, Trump’s self-declared “Secretary of Retribution” has compiled a “Deep State target list” of 350 people he wants to see arrested and punished for “treason” if Trump is reelected. The list includes Democratic and Republican elected officials, journalists he considers to be Trump’s enemies, U.S. Capitol Police officers, and witnesses against Trump in his impeachment trials and the hearings concerning the events of January 6, 2021.

The Heritage Foundation, the key author of Project 2025, is a sponsor of the Republican National Convention. 

While the U.S. and our allies celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Erin Banco of Politico reported yesterday that Trump advisors have told foreign officials that Trump plans to scale back U.S. cooperation and support for NATO, including reducing the sharing of intelligence with NATO countries.

This seems likely to be related to the news that the U.S. intelligence discovered a series of Russian plots to assassinate executives from European defense companies that are supplying arms to Ukraine. Americans took that intelligence to Germany and foiled a Russian plot to kill the chief executive officer of a German arms manufacturer. 

But wait: 

there's more...

There was continued good news today about the American economy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had collected more than $1 billion in overdue tax bills from millionaires. That crackdown was possible thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which funded an initiative to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who have an income of more than $1 million and owe more than $250,000 to the IRS. 

Republicans have repeatedly tried to cut the funding that made this enforcement possible. 

Today’s inflation report for June showed that inflation continues to cool, falling in June for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It declined in June by –0.1%, as gas and electricity prices dropped and as rent had its smallest monthly increase since August 2021. Statistics also show that workers’ wages continue to grow more quickly than prices. 

In a press conference this evening, Biden championed the economic boom his policies created for the middle class and reminded attending journalists that “none of you thought that would happen.” 

In that press conference, held after he presided over the three-day NATO summit and thus focused on foreign affairs, Biden answered press questions directly and fully, not only on his health but also on foreign affairs. He reiterated the importance of NATO and reminded reporters that he was key to reinforcing the alliance after Trump weakened it, then went on to talk about foreign affairs more broadly. He also noted that “I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping than any other president,” adding: “And by the way I handed in my notes.” This was a reference to the fact that in an unprecedented move, Trump infamously refused to disclose the notes from one of his conversations with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

At the same time that Biden was holding a press conference that focused on NATO and foreign affairs, Trump was meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Putin ally Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. On social media this evening, Trump indicated that he is trying to conduct his own foreign policy, although the Logan Act prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments, and reiterated his support for Putin’s call for “peace” in Ukraine. Their plan calls for giving Putin the western regions of Ukraine that were central to his 2016 support for Trump; Trump’s 2016 campaign manager promised Trump would look the other way as Putin absorbed them. 

Orbán, who has openly called for Trump’s reelection, posted: “Peace mission 5.0[.] It was an honour to visit President [Trump] at Mar-a-Lago today. We discussed ways to make [peace]. The good news of the day: he’s going to solve it!”

Some good news

More help for communities hit first and worst

"In some communities, pollution is still increasing, even as the environment nationwide has become cleaner. An order from the Biden White House, for the first time, formally seeks to address environmental injustice, instructing that 40 percent of benefits from federal programs flow to environmental justice communities. 

There’s real money behind it, too — $3 billion in federal funding to support projects like turning abandoned properties in Jackson, Mississippi into parks that reduce flooding; a solar job training program in Columbus, Ohio, for people returning from prison; and clean energy upgrades for low-income housing in Rochester, New York. "

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  New federal funding is directing billions of dollars to help communities prepare for disaster and reduce their risks, such as elevating homes in Florida and restoring shorelines in New Jersey to provide natural flood protection. 

Western states can now tap into $4 billion in federal funds to fight drought.  Climate and weather disasters in the U.S. in 2023 alone cost nearly $93 billion. These investments represent the ounce of prevention that’s worth more than a pound of cure."

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From What Has the US done to fight Climate Change? - More than you Think.  

as posted by the Environmental Defense Fund. HERE.

Just something to consider! I've just included points 4 and 5 from the article posted July 3.

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Today's quote:

You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who have ever been alive. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987)