Thank you, Robert! So much news, such little time for any conclusions re: Trump. I do pray that SCOTUS works in our favor. Tonight on Lawrence O’Donell’s show, he read an opinion or brief written by Brett Kavanaugh regarding whether or not a sitting president can be charged with crimes. This opinion piece was written 25 years ago, in 199…
Thank you, Robert! So much news, such little time for any conclusions re: Trump. I do pray that SCOTUS works in our favor. Tonight on Lawrence O’Donell’s show, he read an opinion or brief written by Brett Kavanaugh regarding whether or not a sitting president can be charged with crimes. This opinion piece was written 25 years ago, in 1998, titled “Presidents and Independent Counsel”. Kavanaugh apparently stated then that a president can be indicted after he leaves office. After is the operative word! Here’s a link: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-justice-kavanaugh-destroyed-trump-immunity-claim-25-years-ago-200090181672
Hope we get the 5 votes needed to proceed to trial in March. In the meantime, we can all use a break but I worry about Ukraine. I hope the other NATO nations can pull enough money together to give Zelenskyy what is needed for the soldiers and for the brave people. We have Christian Nationalists in Congress who are beholding to Putin. Very frightening for this to happen! Should the funding be denied, Biden said we would may have to put boots on the ground to fight the Russians. God forbid!!
Hey, Marlene! Thanks for the O'Donnell link. I don't have cable so it can be a hard search for his Last Word show as well as other shows on cable.
Also, I just wrote to Robert as well about Ukraine. I worry so that they will lose our support due to some very, very, very misguided folks on the Hill.
Some of those folks are guided all right, very much so. Putin made a huge mistake not invading Ukraine while his buddy was still in power in Washington. As things didn't go as planned his big hope are the elections coming November. Little did I expect that already now he has enough people placed on the Hill to seriously hamper the necessary assistance for a country which is not only defending itself but also our values and interests.
"Misguided" is a very generous word for the stupidities being practised by the republiMAGAts in the House and Senate. The short-sightedness of the MAGAts as regarding the national interests of this country and Western Europe as a whole is staggeringly ignorant, arrogant, frustrating and infuriating to a majority of Americans--those that actually follow what is going on with this dysfunctional Congress, at least.
Unfortunately they are following the leader who is carefully guiding the way: pukin, himself, c/o the orange sadist. It's HORRIFIC to watch this happening!
I'm desperately worried about Ukraine! Why oh why are the Republicans giving Russia an advantage in this war? It's unbearable to think about. And for President Zelensky to come all this way and leave with nothing - it is shocking. Do they have no consciences? Apparently not!
Kathleen, if we look at the actions and statements of Republicans in recent times along with the Project 2025, reports of Trump’s sycophants identifying loyalists for his next administration, and Trump’s statements re: retribution and talk of Mark Milley as a traitor. we cannot see any light between Trump’s mob and Putin’s Russia.
Add to that their embrace of Viktor Orban and you have a cohort of politicians who appears prepared to jump off the cliff and take the rest of us along for the ride. In the end, it would be my thought that we will have let go of the extended hand at the cliff’s edge.
Vote in 2024. Get out the vote and message. It is time for the full court press. Take the time to enjoy the holidays and dress for the ice swim on January 1st.
Not only are they beholden to Putin they wrap themselves in the Christian takeover of Hungary by Victor Orban largely thanks to the most despicable Tucker Carlson and money behind CPAC with their right wing embrace of nonsense.
As I recall, O'Donnell highlighted at least 3 separate statements in the opinion piece by Kavanaugh where K. explicitly states that a former president can be charged and tried in the 'civilian' court system (my wording) once no longer president.
Marlene, I'm finding it hard to believe your last sentence, about American boots on the ground. Do you have a link?
But I think we should just give the GOP the border restrictions they want. The US is, after all, environmentally unsustainable with the current population, and more people will just make it more so.
Propublica warns that within several decades Americans will become climate refugees. The last thing we need to do is to keep growing our population--which the Census Bureau projects will add 20 million per decade--that's one New York State equivalent per decade.
All that immigration--if it happens--will make it that much harder to get to zero on global warming emissions. The average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival. That's because they come mostly from low per capita emissions countries to the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita emissions.
Democrats used to support reducing immigration, as the late Barbara Jordan (D-TX) recommended--in no small part for the sake of Black employment, when she ran a commission on the issue under Clinton.
So lets give the GOP what they want on the border--I can't see how hundreds of thousands crossing into the US without authorization can be a good thing--and lets get Ukraine the money and weapons they need to fight Russia.
Here is where Biden made a reference to "boots on the ground" in Ukraine. "Biden warned that if Congress doesn’t defend Ukraine now, the United States risked having to put boots on the ground if Putin invades a NATO country."
the Ogalala Aquifer that waters the breadbasket of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas areas are being depleted rapidly. Please forgive me if some of my geography is wrong. The concept is correct.
most of California's Central Valley has an aquifer beneath it, which is being drained mostly by agricultural uses, but I don't think any of that water is pumped over mountains. It was already there. the Colorado river--among much else--forms at least part of the border between California and Arizona. The Colorado runs out of water before it gets to where it used to drain into the Gulf of California, but it seems to end in different places depending on rainfall or lack thereof. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/
Excellent article and especially good videos. As the article points out, it has been decades since Colorado River water has reached the Gulf of California, or even makes it across the Mexican border.
The Colorado River water pumped over the mountains to Southern California into reservoirs is mostly for urban uses west of the mountain ranges. Some is used by relatively small farmers in areas west of the mountains but major agricultural interests north & east of LA receive their water from 1) local aquifers as in the Central Valley [which has experienced substantial land subsidence as the support of water has been withdrawn, or 2) the State Water Project, a system of canals and reservoirs bringing water south for distribution to, mostly, corporate agriculture. The State Water Project is dependent on runoff from rain and melting snow the Sierras. A bit oversimplified but it's a complex issue.
The Imperial Valley doesn't need pumps though they're dependent on the Colorado River as it is east of the mountains. A network of canals serve small towns and agriculture which is a huge part of the Imperial Valley economy even though some of their allotment is left in Lake Mead for use by San Diego County. That deal was made a decade or more ago wherein SD County paid to line the canals to deter loss of water into the soil. Water saved comes to SD Co. via LA's Metropolitan Water District (MWD).
As a resident of SD County, I'm pleased to report that our County Water Authority has greatly expanded access to local water resources over the past 2 decades, steadily reducing the quantity of water which must be purchased through and transferred through MWD.
Our water rates continue to increase but the resulting wastewater reclamation facilities (2 so far) are worth it as water from the river becomes less available to us. A third facility, to purify recycled water to potable standards for release eventually into reservoirs, is under construction.
One answer to overpopulation is that Americans decrease the size of their families so that immigrants have a place in our country. Another answer is what Kamala Harris has been working on and that is convincing shit hole countries to protect their people from violence and destruction. Our country is willing to fund these efforts only if their leaders are have the readiness to do so. It’s disingenuous to blame immigrants, in my opinion. Many of us wouldn’t be here if our parents hadn’t escaped from peril.
We are close to steady state. 90% of the increase in the US population is from immigration.
This is not a matter of "blaming" immigrants. I'm just doing the math. Our population is beyond sustainability, and fast becoming ever less sustainable. Over the next 40 years, the Census Bureau projects that immigration will add 68 million (nearly 3.5 New York state equivalents) while native increase will at 7 million (less than half a NY State equivalent).
Thank you, Robert! So much news, such little time for any conclusions re: Trump. I do pray that SCOTUS works in our favor. Tonight on Lawrence O’Donell’s show, he read an opinion or brief written by Brett Kavanaugh regarding whether or not a sitting president can be charged with crimes. This opinion piece was written 25 years ago, in 1998, titled “Presidents and Independent Counsel”. Kavanaugh apparently stated then that a president can be indicted after he leaves office. After is the operative word! Here’s a link: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-justice-kavanaugh-destroyed-trump-immunity-claim-25-years-ago-200090181672
Hope we get the 5 votes needed to proceed to trial in March. In the meantime, we can all use a break but I worry about Ukraine. I hope the other NATO nations can pull enough money together to give Zelenskyy what is needed for the soldiers and for the brave people. We have Christian Nationalists in Congress who are beholding to Putin. Very frightening for this to happen! Should the funding be denied, Biden said we would may have to put boots on the ground to fight the Russians. God forbid!!
Hey, Marlene! Thanks for the O'Donnell link. I don't have cable so it can be a hard search for his Last Word show as well as other shows on cable.
Also, I just wrote to Robert as well about Ukraine. I worry so that they will lose our support due to some very, very, very misguided folks on the Hill.
Some of those folks are guided all right, very much so. Putin made a huge mistake not invading Ukraine while his buddy was still in power in Washington. As things didn't go as planned his big hope are the elections coming November. Little did I expect that already now he has enough people placed on the Hill to seriously hamper the necessary assistance for a country which is not only defending itself but also our values and interests.
"Misguided" is a very generous word for the stupidities being practised by the republiMAGAts in the House and Senate. The short-sightedness of the MAGAts as regarding the national interests of this country and Western Europe as a whole is staggeringly ignorant, arrogant, frustrating and infuriating to a majority of Americans--those that actually follow what is going on with this dysfunctional Congress, at least.
“Misguided” is too kind, Lynell. I Live Stream MSNBC on my iPad. You might want to try doing that.
I knew you would say that about that "misguided" word!
Thanks for the tip about live-streaming; I'll look into it.
Lynelle-Another option is to go to You Tube and look for Lawrence O' Donnell posts. Highlights of his shows are posted there.
Thanks, Barbara, good suggestion!
☺️
Oops! I wrote almost the same thing before I read further down in the comments...z
Sorry about that!
Unfortunately they are following the leader who is carefully guiding the way: pukin, himself, c/o the orange sadist. It's HORRIFIC to watch this happening!
I'm desperately worried about Ukraine! Why oh why are the Republicans giving Russia an advantage in this war? It's unbearable to think about. And for President Zelensky to come all this way and leave with nothing - it is shocking. Do they have no consciences? Apparently not!
Kathleen, if we look at the actions and statements of Republicans in recent times along with the Project 2025, reports of Trump’s sycophants identifying loyalists for his next administration, and Trump’s statements re: retribution and talk of Mark Milley as a traitor. we cannot see any light between Trump’s mob and Putin’s Russia.
Add to that their embrace of Viktor Orban and you have a cohort of politicians who appears prepared to jump off the cliff and take the rest of us along for the ride. In the end, it would be my thought that we will have let go of the extended hand at the cliff’s edge.
Vote in 2024. Get out the vote and message. It is time for the full court press. Take the time to enjoy the holidays and dress for the ice swim on January 1st.
Not only are they beholden to Putin they wrap themselves in the Christian takeover of Hungary by Victor Orban largely thanks to the most despicable Tucker Carlson and money behind CPAC with their right wing embrace of nonsense.
They all so despicable!
As I recall, O'Donnell highlighted at least 3 separate statements in the opinion piece by Kavanaugh where K. explicitly states that a former president can be charged and tried in the 'civilian' court system (my wording) once no longer president.
Marlene, I'm finding it hard to believe your last sentence, about American boots on the ground. Do you have a link?
But I think we should just give the GOP the border restrictions they want. The US is, after all, environmentally unsustainable with the current population, and more people will just make it more so.
We are running out of groundwater according to the NYT, which is going to reduce our country's ability to produce food--that when we've recently learned the importance of keeping our supply chains in house. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html
Propublica warns that within several decades Americans will become climate refugees. The last thing we need to do is to keep growing our population--which the Census Bureau projects will add 20 million per decade--that's one New York State equivalent per decade.
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
All that immigration--if it happens--will make it that much harder to get to zero on global warming emissions. The average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival. That's because they come mostly from low per capita emissions countries to the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita emissions.
Democrats used to support reducing immigration, as the late Barbara Jordan (D-TX) recommended--in no small part for the sake of Black employment, when she ran a commission on the issue under Clinton.
So lets give the GOP what they want on the border--I can't see how hundreds of thousands crossing into the US without authorization can be a good thing--and lets get Ukraine the money and weapons they need to fight Russia.
Here is where Biden made a reference to "boots on the ground" in Ukraine. "Biden warned that if Congress doesn’t defend Ukraine now, the United States risked having to put boots on the ground if Putin invades a NATO country."
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/06/biden-congress-pass-ukraine-aid-00130373
Thanks, Robert! I should’ve included that link.
Oh no! But I can see how that could happen.
Thank you Robert!
the Ogalala Aquifer that waters the breadbasket of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas areas are being depleted rapidly. Please forgive me if some of my geography is wrong. The concept is correct.
more extensive than that, I think--basically underlies most of the Great Plains from Canada down to Texas. Which includes all of the above.
Look at S Colorado and how California pumps some of that water over mountains to irrigate for vegetables and avocados (i think avocados are a fruit).
most of California's Central Valley has an aquifer beneath it, which is being drained mostly by agricultural uses, but I don't think any of that water is pumped over mountains. It was already there. the Colorado river--among much else--forms at least part of the border between California and Arizona. The Colorado runs out of water before it gets to where it used to drain into the Gulf of California, but it seems to end in different places depending on rainfall or lack thereof. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/
Excellent article and especially good videos. As the article points out, it has been decades since Colorado River water has reached the Gulf of California, or even makes it across the Mexican border.
The Colorado River water pumped over the mountains to Southern California into reservoirs is mostly for urban uses west of the mountain ranges. Some is used by relatively small farmers in areas west of the mountains but major agricultural interests north & east of LA receive their water from 1) local aquifers as in the Central Valley [which has experienced substantial land subsidence as the support of water has been withdrawn, or 2) the State Water Project, a system of canals and reservoirs bringing water south for distribution to, mostly, corporate agriculture. The State Water Project is dependent on runoff from rain and melting snow the Sierras. A bit oversimplified but it's a complex issue.
The Imperial Valley doesn't need pumps though they're dependent on the Colorado River as it is east of the mountains. A network of canals serve small towns and agriculture which is a huge part of the Imperial Valley economy even though some of their allotment is left in Lake Mead for use by San Diego County. That deal was made a decade or more ago wherein SD County paid to line the canals to deter loss of water into the soil. Water saved comes to SD Co. via LA's Metropolitan Water District (MWD).
As a resident of SD County, I'm pleased to report that our County Water Authority has greatly expanded access to local water resources over the past 2 decades, steadily reducing the quantity of water which must be purchased through and transferred through MWD.
I'm glad you're getting the water you need.
Our water rates continue to increase but the resulting wastewater reclamation facilities (2 so far) are worth it as water from the river becomes less available to us. A third facility, to purify recycled water to potable standards for release eventually into reservoirs, is under construction.
I thought you might find this article from the San Diego Union interesting. There seems to be some progress being made in the struggles over Colorado River water for southern California. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/columnists/story/2023-12-13/michael-smolens-lots-of-snow-rain-and-federal-money-make-landmark-water-deal-a-reality
One answer to overpopulation is that Americans decrease the size of their families so that immigrants have a place in our country. Another answer is what Kamala Harris has been working on and that is convincing shit hole countries to protect their people from violence and destruction. Our country is willing to fund these efforts only if their leaders are have the readiness to do so. It’s disingenuous to blame immigrants, in my opinion. Many of us wouldn’t be here if our parents hadn’t escaped from peril.
We are close to steady state. 90% of the increase in the US population is from immigration.
This is not a matter of "blaming" immigrants. I'm just doing the math. Our population is beyond sustainability, and fast becoming ever less sustainable. Over the next 40 years, the Census Bureau projects that immigration will add 68 million (nearly 3.5 New York state equivalents) while native increase will at 7 million (less than half a NY State equivalent).