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Eastern Mediterranean Comment

Here’s to our National Grid and the Interstate Commerce Act

"Assembly Day One: Prepping the Microgrid" by Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Ohio wind setbacks (2014) have interrupted a “normal” Christmas for people not only in Ohio but those on the national grid.

Remember Texas of another sort. With the coldest Christmas this side of the Solar cycle, people in Ohio are being asked to cut back on energy usage with the possibility of outages.

With the inauguration of a national grid unification program, we are all or will be interconnected. Failure of politics in Ohio to recognize a national progressive energy strategy in lieu of fossil fuel emphasis makes us all pay more and we have been paying.

Ohio HB6, the biggest statewide corruption ever, is still being prosecuted. It also continues to pour subsidies to coal plants outside of Ohio that have yet to be rescinded even though the bill has been leveraged on bribes, kickbacks and absolute corruption.

Consider California’s recently passed legislation, California’s philosophical energy crisis, denying solar grid ties their fair share of energy dollars, killing any incentive to add solar to their homes. The ignorant rebirth of Diablo or any wack-a-mole nuclear renaissance is not going save us.

We need interstate commerce act enforcement.

If people are tied to the grid with solar then it is in everyone’s interest connected to the grid and should be encouraged with unfeigned severity. The climate isn’t going to change dodging these politics. Fossil fuel’s literal grip on our necks must end. Rooftop Solar and all grid tied alternative energy sources should be freed from unjust financial infringement, especially from those with the current energy monopolies.

Remember in whose hands the U.S. house will be in in January. Will it keep going the way of Cong (coal, oil, nukes gas)?

It’s up to us, our thoughts and of course, our actions to steer this, our earth-ship in the right direction.

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Dictator-wannabe Donald J. Trump and 13 of his “Favorite Authoritarians”

By Gary G. Kohls, MD – October 2, 2019 (1106 words)

Trump with Likud Party Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Aka, the Likud Party Half of the “US/Israeli Wannabe Authoritarian Tag-team”)

Israel’s influential center-left newspaper, Haaretz, commented recently on the Netanyahu/Trump relationship:

“The historically deep ties that bind the United States and Israel were profoundly damaged Thursday when the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu succumbed to pressure from the Trump Administration…’

“The ‘wannabe authoritarian tag-team’ (ie, ‘Trump and Netanyahu’) has committed a reckless, racist, contemptible act driven by stunningly short-sighted political calculations by barring [US House of Representatives members] Omar and Tlaib from visiting Israel. The action will have fateful repercussions…”

It is instructive to recall that in the 1995 campaign for Israeli Prime Minister, a number of violent hate-group protests were organized by Netanyahu’s Likud Party which caused serious divisions in the state of Israel – quite similar to the divisions that have occurred in the US since the campaign for president by Donald Trump.

The hateful rhetoric coming from right-wing Likud party led to the assassination of the left-wing, peace, justice and reconciliation candidate Yitzhak Rabin, who pledged during his campaign to adhere to the Oslo Peace Accords – which the Likud Party ultimately succeeded in killing.

The Rabin assassination took place when a far right-wing Jewish student with a semi-automatic pistol murdered Rabin, managing to fire 3 shots before he was subdued by bodyguards.

During the hate-filled anti-peace process campaign that was largely orchestrated by Netanyahu’s party, there were many totally unjustified campaign depictions of Rabin in a Nazi SS uniform, with some placards showing Rabin in the crosshairs of a gun. 

Pro-Likud protesters also compared Rabin’s Labor party to the Nazis and Rabin to Adolf Hitler. Chants "Rabin is a murderer" and "Rabin is a traitor" were also common. In July 1995,

Netanyahu even led a mock funeral procession featuring a coffin and a hangman's noose at a rally where protesters chanted, "Death to Rabin".

The shameful anti-Rabin character assassination campaign ultimately came to its successful conclusion – physical assassination – a few months later, in early November 1995.

US President Donald Trump, who has never read history books, is therefore justifiably labeled as being historically-illiterate and likely has no knowledge of the USS Liberty scandal or the Likud/Netanyahu role in the assassination of Rabin, also is likely unaware of the historical backgrounds of nation-states like Egypt, whose current leader is Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who became dictator after a violent coup against the first and only democratically-elected president in the history of Egypt. Trump once called Al Sisi “my favorite dictator”.

Trump with Egyptian Military Dictator Abdel Fattah Al Sisi (Trump’s “Favorite Dictator”)

Other authoritarian leaders that the similarly authoritarian Trump has proudly been photographed with include (see the photos further below):

1. Saudi Arabia: an oppressive (anti-democracy) “kingdom” and its most recent authoritarian ruler, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (aka “Butcher of Yemen”), who has taken responsibility for the brutal murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi;

2. Russia: from the oppressive Tsars to the anti-tsarist communist revolution of Lenin and the oppressive Stalin to the authoritarian capitalist Vladimir Putin; 

3. China: from the oppressive fascism of Chiang Kai-Shek to the oppressive, anti-fascist, communist revolution of Mao to the anti-democratic capitalist chairman Xi Jinping; 

4. North Korea: from the brutal occupation of Japan before and during WWII, the US-led Korean War through the communist revolution and the dictatorship of Kim Jung-Un and his father; 

5. The Philippines: from the oppressive Spanish colonization, through the oppressive occupation of the United States to client state status, independence and now to strong-arm President Roberto Duterte; 

6. Turkey: from the Ottoman Empire (which was destroyed during WWI), to support of the Nazis      during WWII, to the current authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; 

7. Brazil: from the oppressive rule of the Portuguese, through the series of Fascist Military Dictatorships (and their “death squads), to the massive exploitation of its mineral resources by multinational corporations to current President Jair Bolsenaro; 

8. India: from the fiefdoms, the oppressive rule of the British Empire to the non-violent revolution led by Gandhi, et al to the authoritarian presidency of President Narendra Modi.

 

Trump and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud

Trump and Russian “Dictator” Vladimir Putin

Trump and Chinese Communist Party Dictator Xi Jinping

Trump with North Korean Dictator Kim Jung-Un

Trump with Philippine Strong-arm President Roberto Duterte

Trump with Turkish Strong-arm President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Trump and Brazilian Strong-arm President Jair Bolsenaro

Trump with India’s Strong-arm President Narendra Modi

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, India’s Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping

And while I’m showing disturbing photos of Trump and prominent authoritarians, here are a few more photos of Trump with some politically-prominent Fundamentalist Christian Dominionists (aka “Christian Reconstructionists” aka “The Family”). One of the movement’s hidden agendas is the gradual establishment of a theocratic government to replace American democracy! Seriously!

It is important for all US voters to watch NetFlix’s new series, titled “The Family” (or read the book by that name, both authored by Jeff Sharlet). Here is the link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7knN2TXQPzw.

Trump at this year’s annual “Family”-sponsored National Prayer Breakfast. (Photo from the Guardian’s important article, “The Family: Inside the sinister sect that has infected western democracy”,

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/15/the-family-netflix-powerful-sinister-christian-sect-trump)

Here is a definition of the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement that has been increasingly – and successfully - trying to gain control over the Republican Party for decades. The definition comes from Julie J. Ingersoll, the author of a new book on the subject, titled Building God's Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction.

“Christian Reconstructionists (believers in biblical inerrancy and male Christian supremacy, among other dogmas, including expanding the death penalty for sins mentioned in the Old Testament) are a small but influential group of conservative Christians who argue that biblical law as it is contained in the Old and New Testaments should be the basis of our modern legal system and the organizing mechanism regulating every aspect of human life. Most known for “dominionism,” they have had an important, but often hidden, influence in the culture, the agenda, and the framing of concerns of conservative American Protestantism.” – Julie J. Ingersoll

A recent Counterpunch article written by Karl  Grossman, Professor of American Studies at SUNY, does a good job of explaining the movement and the implications for the US and VP Mike Pence if Trump is removed from office. Read it at:  https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/30/a-theology-of-power-mike-pence-and-the-dominionists/.

Trump with Christian Dominionist Sarah Palin

Trump with Christian Dominionist Mike Pence

Trump with Christian Dominionist Betsy DeVos

______________________________________________________________________________

Dr Kohls is a retired family physician from Duluth, MN, USA. Since his retirement from his holistic mental health solo practice, he has been writing weekly columns for northeast Minnesota’s alternative newsweekly magazine, the Duluth Reader. His columns, which are widely re-published around the world, deal with a large variety of justice issues, including the dangers of American fascism (including religious fascism), conscienceless corporatism, militarism, racism, xenophobia, industrial pollution, climate geo-engineering/solar radiation management, the dangers of electromagnetic radiation, Big Copper Mining’s attempts at exploitation of northeast Minnesota’s water-rich environment, Big Medicine’s and Big Pharma’s over-charging, over-screening, over-diagnosing, over-drugging, and over-vaccination agendas, as well as other corporate global movements that threaten human health, the environment, democracy, civility and the sustainability of life on earth.  Many of his columns have been archived at a number of websites, including these four: http://duluthreader.com/search?search_term=Duty+to+Warn&p=2; http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/gary-g-kohls; http://freepress.org/geographic-scope/national; and https://www.transcend.org/tms/search/?q=gary+kohls+articles

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NC Republican Dirty Tricks via Dennis Van Berwyn?

https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article234966387.html

Rep. Deb Butler (D) and her Democratic colleagues protest an unexpected vote in the NC House to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of the budget. BY REP. JOHN AUTRY

The verdict is now plain. North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders — not actually leaders, but connivers — are beyond shame.

In a stunning display of contempt for democracy, House Speaker Tim Moore, a Cleveland County Republican, called a surprise vote to overturn Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget just after a session opened at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Democratic lawmakers and the media had been told by Republican leaders that there would be no vote in the morning.

Most Democrats were absent. Enough Republicans, aware of the secret plan, were there. When Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincolnton Republican, made the motion to reconsider the state budget, the handful of Democrats on hand objected strenuously.

“This is a travesty of the process and you know it,” said Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover.

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1,700 Mile Crack Across the USA Discovered by Scientists, Here’s What You Need to Know

 July 7, 2016 ·  Earth / Weather Changes, Editors' Picks ·  5 Comments  

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Is America at risk for Great earthquakes spanning across the full United States? “Cracks Across America”, in Rift zones, may conceal large fracture type faults where scientists may not be able to identify where these hidden fractures may unleash catastrophic earthquakes.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) – In Nov 1981, a study was published that rocked the scientific world, and sparked concern in FEMA circles, in which a 1,700 mile “Crack Across America” was discovered. Worse yet, this crack cuts through the New Madrid Seismic Zone, where in 1811 and 1812 three giant earthquakes devastatingly struck the center of America. Scientists have been struggling, since then, to answer the question of what risk this mega feature may pose to our heartland today. Recently, and less known, is a study from an independent geologic research set of work [2], that has identified a possible second “Crack Through America” that crosses into and through the same volatile New Madrid Seismic Zone.

The original 1,700 mile “Crack Across America” was found using modern day gravity mapping satellite data, and using computers, to process the measurements [1]. In 1981, Dr. Raymond E. Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis used data processing techniques where 600,000 discrete gravity measurements, from 20 years of scientific data gathering, to synthesize a map. The results revealed an astonishing ancient rift in the North American crust that extends some 1,700 miles from Idaho to the southern Appalachian Mountains. New discoveries, from more recent research, has extended this “Crack” anomaly in where it combines with a MegaShear [3] zone to the middle of Washington State and possibly with the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament (OWL) [2] – which reaches to the Pacific Ocean near Port Angeles Washington. Thus the total length may total nearly 2,200 miles.

This ancient rift, estimated to be a billion years old, was dubbed the “Missouri Gravity Low” in the eastern most section of the “Crack Across America”. Another rift, 60 miles by 30 miles, underlying the Mississippi river valley, called the “Reelfoot Rift”, was found to cross through the Missouri Gravity Low and head to the northeast/southwest. These two rift zones intersect at the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Over 4,000 small earthquakes have been mapped within these intersecting “rift” regions since 1974.

A maverick geologist, Jack Reed, performed a study in mapping the frequency and location of larger magnitude earthquakes trending along the northeast trending lineament of the “ReelFoot Rift”. The resulting data indicated another concerning revelation – that a possible second “Crack Through America” connects the Reelfoot Rift with the well known St. Lawrence rift zone in Canada. Just as the New Madrid Seismic zone revealed its active potential in its “rift zones”, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake, in 1663, struck near Charlevoix and revealed its power in the St. Lawrence rift zone.

Perhaps a partial clue to what may link to the existence and nature of the “Crack Across America” and the “Crack Through America” is the Midcontinential Rift (MCR) System. Research has identified that a movement direction of the MCR, from tremendous intraplate pressure, forced a southern expansion of this large rift, where the southern edge traversed directly towards the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The Midcontinental Rift thus forms a horseshoe that straddles and reaches, by its tips, at or near the two major “Crack” lineaments. Intraplate pressure could be intensified into these intersecting lineaments, including the resulting pressure(s) at the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Fig 1. 1,700 mile to 2,200 mile “Crack Across America”, “Crack Through America”, and Midcontinental Rift (MCR)

What can make these – 70-90 mile wide and thousands of miles long – low gravity crack lineament features so dangerous is their hidden fractures, buried in the earth’s crust below. These low gravity areas are called “Rift zones” where the continental crust tried to pull itself apart, but failed. The thinning of the crust enabled lighter density young rock to intrude, thus resulting in the lower gravity characteristics in the rift zones. Other recent studies have suggested that the thinning of the crust may occur from the delamination of heavier crustal rock “falling” down into the earth’s mantle. However, in the case of linear features of these long distance “lineament rift zones”, the case of random delamination from “falling” into the mantle would not be able to explain these highly organized structures.

What is known, is that these linear rift zones have exhibited the ability to unleash very large earthquakes. This has been aptly demonstrated by the three 1811-1812 New Madrid M7-M8 earthquakes and the large 1663 M7.9 Charlevoix Earthquake. Since the regularity of such earthquakes are measured in centuries, scientists are unable to identify if any section of these linear rift zones may be at risk of a sudden large earthquake.

The bigger the length and depth of a buried fracture and its subsequent pressure induced release, the greater the chances for this rupture to unleash a giant earthquake. Indeed, the three 1811 to 1812 M7-M8 earthquakes had rupture release areas comparable to any single biggest locked segment of the San Andreas CA fault region could do – except in the New Madrid quakes, it did it all in the same location with each huge quake spaced only a month apart. With thousands of miles of possible buried fractures within these lineaments, it’s possible that changes in intraplate pressure may be all that is necessary to activate a segment. Another unanswered question is if Yellowstone Supervolcano is susceptible or interactive with this lineament. Indeed, in 2002, geologists observed distant triggering of earthquake swarming at Yellowstone from the M7.9 Denali Alaska earthquake [4]. As the Denali earthquake was 2,000 miles distant, what would happen if a large earthquake within a rift zone lineament was much closer to Yellowstone? Certainly it would be useful to know if there were any susceptible buried fractures in the nearby lineament that traverses near Yellowstone Supervolcano.

Fig 2. Reelfoot Rift zone image mapped via magnetometer data with overlay of thousands of small earthquakes (red dots). Map shows the northeast trending “Crack Through America” intersection at New Madrid Seismic Zone – follows line of earthquakes.

However, scientists are placed at a disadvantage, in earthquake risk assessment, since any hidden fractures are buried deep in what is called the “Midcontinental Basement”. Without having any data to the size, length, and number of any hidden fractures, it renders any risk analysis “blind”. Only a paleogeologic assessment of past locations, patterns, frequency, and magnitude of earthquakes are scientists able to form a type of a risk assessment. Compounding any risk assessment is understanding the rupture process of these hidden fractures. Scientists refer to these as “Intraplate earthquakes” as the quake occurs within the interior of a tectonic plate. Pressure, within the buried fracture (i.e. “fault”), may instigate an earthquake. GPS, strain sensors, and even inSAR (interferometric Synthetic Aperature Radar) are of no use to proffering answers to these questions as these fractures are inaccessible since they are deep below – while the sediment or crust above hides any telltale sign of crustal creep or stress.

Fig 3. Estimates of the severe impact from a study commissioned by FEMA if a New Madrid Earthquake of M7.7 were to occur.

Because of risk assessment uncertainty, FEMA and other emergency agencies are left to estimating the risk to America’s infrastructure based on a worst case paleogeologic history (i.e. the maximum at any moment). Indeed, in 1999, FEMA listed as one of the major top four hazards in the United States, as “catastrophic”, would be a giant earthquake striking the central U.S.

Because scientists are unable to predict the timing nor the location of the next large earthquake in these Rift zones, there is a difference of viewpoints, regarding cost tradeoffs of implementation and/or upgrades of rigorous seismic building codes, between the scientific community and the emergency management organizations. Complicating this situation is that earthquakes, that occur in the central or eastern United States, affect much larger areas than similar magnitudes in the western United States. The FEMA guide references that the 1906 M7.8 San Francisco CA earthquake was felt 350 miles away in the middle of Nevada. In contrast, the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake was reported to have rung church bells in Boston, Massachusetts, 1,000 miles away. Differences in the geologic makeup of the earth’s crust east and west of the Rocky Mountains are noted to be the cause of this stronger conduction of the earthquake’s P-waves and S-waves creating the distant shaking contrast.

As the rate of earthquakes have been increasing in the New Madrid Seismic Zone and in other parts of the Central United States, such as in Oklahoma, there are concerns that intraplate tectonic pressure may be driving these trends. Other areas, such as the Wabash Valley and East Tennessee Seismic zones also produce earthquakes on a regular basis. Quoting from the CUSEC – “Depending on earthquake magnitude and location, each of these zones could impact multiple states, causing major physical, social and economic disruption in a region that is home to more than forty million people.”… “On April 18, 2008, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck near Mt. Carmel, Illinois. This relatively minor earthquake was felt in 28 states and Canada and was responsible for an estimated $3 million in non-structural damages and damaged at least 240 structures in Illinois alone. The Mt. Carmel earthquake shows the widespread impact a larger earthquake might have on the region”

Scientists now believe the Eastern U.S. could have a major quake of its own, and events like the New Madrid Great quakes may happen again, but there is no way to guess where or when.

Fig 5. Mid Continental Rift System (MCRS) rotation movement & direction towards the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The direction of the blue arrows show the historical intraplate pressure & movement from the southern edge of the Midcontinental Rift System (MCRS) towards the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The MCRS is estimated to be 1.1 Billion years old.