News Blogs (3,095)

A few days ago, Donald J. Trump posted on his social media site he had information to exonerate himself from the current legal matters that entangle him. On the advice of his lawyers (probably because it would open a quagmire that he could fall into) he restated the claim and said that it would wait for his day in court.

This morning in the news, Rudolph William Louis Giuliani aka Rudy Giuliani, who is facing election fraud charges in the 2020 election, claimed he has 'scientific proof' that will exonerate him. Rudy was at Mar-a-Lago last week asking (more like begging) the former president for money to pay his legal fees. I read, to raise money, he's got his apartment up for sale and there's a chance he could file for bankruptcy.

I dislike gambling, but I'd wager both claims of self-exoneration are just a case of "Open foot, insert mouth."
Yes, I know what I said...

With the discovery of oil in the Orange Basin off the Namibian coast, will most probably mean the 'homing in' of countless vultures/ criminal elements from around the globe.

I lived in Namibia for 10 years, it's a wonderful clean and orderly country.

Wonder what the future holds.

A day or two ago Hilary was a hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed Baja and Southern California. Now the winds are less than 50 miles per hour but moving North at 23 miles per hour.
Heavy rains are expected and a flood watch in effect from Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, including parts of Oregon and Idaho.

Hilary is the first storm of its kind to hit the region since Nora in 1997.

Over the years, I've seen videos of waves pounding the shoreline where beach erosion and houses on stilts often collapse into the water. I'm sure this will happen again.

Rumors are beginning to spread (fueled by some new laws in Russia coupled with some announcements from Moscow) of a new mass mobilization of Russian men to occur in September. The new draft will include men up to age 65 and could possibly impact as many as one million Russian men..
We can view it as proof of Russia's desperation and inability of their army to hold the lines in Ukraine with their present strength. It is not clear how such a sweeping round up of males in Russia will effect production in Russia's factories.
The new changes and announcements indicate that the call up orders may arrive by paper OR by electronic media OR both. Announcements by Moscow indicate that when a name is chosen for activation Border Police will be among the first notified and then other legal agencies involved. When that is done then the notifications will be sent out. I
n short if you are Russian you may already have been secretly drafted, but won't know of it until you show up at a border crossing trying to leave the country, or get pulled over for a traffic stop, or go to a bank to get a loan, etc. At that time you will be told you have been called up and turned over to the military. Or maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who first learns of it by email, which is better than a couple of guys in uniform knocking at your door to give you a piece of paper to read as they drag you away.
It is such fun being Russian these days.

Young man gives up first-class seat to an elderly lady after hearing her story
When 88-year-old retired nurse Violet boarded a plane following a visit to see her daughter, she was completely unaware that she was about to get one of the most magical experiences of her life.
She had hit it off with young man Jack and the two had chatted before boarding the plane, during which Violet had revealed it was her dream to travel at the front of the plane.
Unbeknown to her Jack and his family were traveling in first class and what he did when he boarded the plane has attracted the praise of people around the world.
When Violet got on the plane she was informed by the flight attendant that she was to swap seats with a passenger in first class allowing Violet to travel home in style and fulfill her dream.
“Of the hundreds of flights I’ve operated, I’ve had the pleasure of looking after footballers, supermodels, and some Hollywood movie stars but let me tell you about my two favorite passengers EVER!
“Jack and Violet. Jack and his family purchased seats In our upper-class cabin for a flight home, but when he got onboard, Jack went and found violet in the economy and swapped seats with her.
‘The kindness of his own heart
“He then sat on the row of seats directly next to the economy toilets and never made a peep or asked for anything the rest of the flight. No fuss, no attention, literally did it out of the kindness of his own heart, no one asked him to .
“Violet is 88 years old and has been a nurse. She travels to New York to see her daughter but hasn’t been able to for a while because of a knee replacement. Her dream has always been to sit at the front, and Jack made that come true.
“You should of seen her face when I tucked her in her bed after supper. She said her daughter won’t believe her and wanted a ‘selfie’ to prove it.”

The rumor is Ukraine has crossed the Dniepre River in force, and pierced the first Russian line in the vicinity of Kozachi Laheri and is already about 800 meters past that. A public satellite fly by of the area is still several hours away. There is concern Ukraine may also have gotten some vehicles across the river (somehow). The location of the incursion will provide opportunity for Ukraine to sever the E58 route. Previously Russian VDV (airborne (what remains of them) troops) had manned the line, but they were pulled out earlier this week and sent to fighting to the North and were supposedly replaced by regular infantry. As stated, this is still a not confirmed rumor on Russian Social Media not yet publicly confirmed by Ukraine.

Fancy Farm Picnic is regarded as Kentucky's political Super Bowl. Senator Mitch McConnell was there and gave a speech that was drowned out by chants of 'retire' but he continued talking as though he was being supported.



It appears they gave him a standing ovation:

In response to Russia's threat to destroy civilian vessels carrying grain from Odessa and other parts of Ukraine, Ukraine has issued it's own Black Sea warning.
Any vessel entering the Black Sea intending trade with Russia may find itself at risk of being sunk, either by Russian mines or Ukrainian drones.

Yesterday, a Russian owed oil tanker attempting to pass under the Kerch Bridge received a (filmed) drone strike in the engine compartment area. The tanker was empty and en route to pick up a shipment of oil which will now not be sold. Further strikes on other shipping is probable.

Watch the Russian oil tanker take a hit.

On Tuesday August first, Donald J. Trump received his 3rd indictment. This one was for his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election leading up to the January 6th insurrection. He appeared in court Thursday for the arraignment. Travel from the Regan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia to the courthouse to was by way of motorcade with an entourage of secret service. Private entrance around the courthouse was prepared for his visit. The street to the courthouse was lined with barricades and details of special security.

After leaving the courthouse, he gave a brief speech to news media waiting at the airport and stated “This is a very sad day for America, and it was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti. This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it.”
He blamed this all on president Biden... were you expecting that?

I got to see a news feed of the tree lined highway path back to the airport and unable to catch any buildings along the way. I'm sure there were some between the highway and the courthouse. My plan was to trace the route with Google Earth just to see for myself what was actually visible along the way.

My schedule is super busy right now, having submitted a revised quotation for a project, the GC also wants the drawing revisions. That could take most of today and part of the weekend.

The good news is many of the people on social media who are familiar with the Washington DC area contested Trump's statement about the filth and decay.

Anderson Cooper said: “We should point out that when the former president left office and left Washington, D.C., the city was on lockdown because of the attack on Jan. 6,”
“That is the city he left behind.”
It was noted that damages caused by the Capitol riot exceeded $2.7 million.

Again, it's a case of who do you want to believe?