Ralph Nader: Donald Trump, Resign Now for America’s Sake

Photo: Click On Detroit

The point of time has come for a large number of Americans to say - enough is enough -- to President Trump.  That point in time will be in November at the voting polls.  Of course, it would be nice if that time was sooner -- given the tragedy of losing 100,000 Americans due to mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic among other catastrophes.

Ralph Nader appropriately and precisely points out many reasons why President Trump should resign in his weekly newsletter - shown below:

Donald Trump, Resign Now for America’s Sake: This is No Time for a Dangerous, Law-breaking, Bungling, Ignorant Ship Captain

Where are the calls for Trump’s resignation? Since his first months in the White House, Trump has been the most impeachable, most lawless, most self-enriching, most bungling President in U.S. history. He relies entirely on lying and scapegoating to avoid taking responsibility for his failures. Trump didn’t even win the popular vote – the Electoral College selected him. President Trump has fomented chaos and corruption in his administration without encountering insistent demands for his resignation.

The supine Republican Senate shields Trump from any political accountability. Dominated by the evil “Moscow Mitch” McConnell, the Senate prevented Trump from being convicted under the impeachment clause of the Constitution. But Trump makes the case against himself – “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” Trump makes good on that statement every day, making decisions with reckless abandon and doubling down, falsely accusing people of crimes, turning our government over to big businesses, and firing inspectors general investigating crime and corruption in Trump’s regime of corporatism, favoritism, and nepotism.

Trump exercises his pouting, unstable ego as the determinant of misgoverning on a deadly scale, as with his delaying, downplaying, over-riding science and providing lethal advice regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. For which he boastfully gives himself a perfect ten.

Trump keeps flailing, failing, and using foul-mouthed rhetoric because about 43 percent of voters stick with him, no matter what.

Well – the parents of many Trump supporters did not stay with Richard Nixon in 1974. Public demands for “Tricky Dick” to leave office ultimately included much of his “base” including scores of Republicans in Congress, led by Mr. Conservative Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ). Why? Nixon had defied a Congressional subpoena and committed an obstruction of justice. Trump, on the other hand, has defied many Congressional subpoenas and engaged in over a dozen obstructions of justice, many of which are ongoing.

Why no demands for resignation? Have too many Americans lost their proper sense of honest public service and accountability? From 1974 to now, the American Bar Association (ABA) – supposedly a first responder against the destruction of rule of law and constitutional observance – has done nothing to challenge above-the-law presidential abuses. (In 2005-2006 the ABA displayed some courage and charged the Bush/Cheney administration with three sets of unconstitutional behavior. See: https://nader.org/2013/04/19/aba-white-papers/).

Many Trump voters seem to expect more of virtually every public figure who isn’t Trump! Ask Trump voters if they would support their local fire chief if he or she lied daily about the fire department’s readiness to fight fires? Would they support a fire chief who appoints firefighters with no experience? Would they support a police chief who accepts no responsibility for a street crime wave while disabling the force?

Would they support a CEO of a major hospital who promotes, against the advice of his/her medical scientists, chemicals and drugs that can take the lives of patients? Would they support a super predator bank CEO who gives sweet-heart deals to the rich at the direct expense of customers of modest means? Would they support a CEO of a big construction company, spouting anti-immigrant hate, while hiring hundreds of poorly paid undocumented foreign laborers taking jobs away from American workers? The answer is pretty clear.

These people in positions of power would have lost their jobs if they engaged in such reckless and unjust behavior. Corrupt Donald, on the other hand, has done all of these continually and remains an escapee from justice. In addition to these previously acknowledged failings, Trump has wrecked the federal health, safety, and economic protections including many life-saving controls on deadly pollution, dangerous business practices and business theft of your earnings as consumers, workers, and savers.

In addition, here is a top betrayal: Trump promised his voters a big infrastructure repair and upgrade program in all communities – with good paying jobs. He betrayed them, giving instead about 2 trillion dollars in tax cuts to the rich and big corporations, like the drug and banking industries and even his own family!

Trump voters need to ask themselves – what else does Trump have to do to our livelihood, health, safety, and dignity before you say – “no more!” If you want more details about Mr. Trump’s lying betrayals, read Fake President by Mark Green and me and judge Trump by his own contemptuous words and misdeeds.

Most puzzling are the many columnists – both Democratic and Republican – who week after week show how disastrously unworthy and unfit Trump is, yet never conclude with a demand for his resignation or further impeachment. Many in the opinion class may believe it would never happen.  My response is that judging the odds is not the primary responsibility of a columnist. Making the demand is telling readers that your critique is serious enough to warrant a necessary remedy.

Devastating critics like Dana Milbank, Republican Michael Gerson, Eugene Robinson, Margaret Sullivan, and conservative Max Boot of the Washington Post, or Charles Blow, Paul Krugman, David Brooks, Maureen Dowd and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times have cogently taken Trump apart on very serious matters since 2017, yet they leave their readers without the obvious conclusion -Trump has to go.  A clear daily peril to innocent Americans “I’m in total control”, why not try bleach, etc. The country cannot wait until January 2021 – assuming dictatorial Donald and his determined GOP don’t criminally suppress enough votes to postpone Trump’s departure until January 2025.

Ralph Nader has underlined some of the most blatant violations of our Constitution above.  Not to mention, pointing out that any other person in his position (i.e., CEO conducting himself in the same manner) would have been convicted of multiple crimes after termination from the job.



President Trump enjoys the vale of protection from Senator Mitch McConnell (leader of the Senate).  If not for him, President Trump would be out of office -- and rightly so.  In the future, history writers will not be so nice to both the Republican Party nor President Trump.



Time will tell the degree to which the disaster builds up.  Currently, the United States sits at nearly 100,000 deaths from the mismanagement of the COVID-19 threat.  That is not even considering the plethora of crimes already committed to which many history books will be devoted to in the future.





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Judge Rules for Birds Not the Trump Administration

Photo: Politico Energy  

Every once in a while, the news organizations shine a bit of sunlight and provide a breath of fresh air to environmentalists.  The Trump administration has been on a death march to undo all of the Obama era environmental policies to protect wildlife along with the land that is owned by the public (i.e., American citizens). 



To serve as the perfect protector, a judge in Montana has undoubtedly done so, upholding a range of rulings for the environment as briefly mentioned in reporting by Politico Energy this morning:

THE BIRD IS THE WORD — JUDGE TOSSES 440 OIL AND GAS LEASES: A federal judge in Montana has thrown out hundreds of federal oil and gas leases after determining the Interior Department failed to protect sage grouse habitat. Chief Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court in Montana in a Friday ruling struck down 440 oil and gas leases across 525 square miles in the West. Morris noted that his ruling will require the federal and state governments to return millions of dollars to lessees but said the "economic harm" was not great enough to keep the leases intact.

Environmentalists argued that under a 2015 conservation plan, the Bureau of Land Management should have prioritized non-habitat lands before possibly turning to leasing areas where sage grouse can live. Morris agreed, ruling that the Trump administration “undercut” the 2015 plan’s goal to prioritize for sale places the bird does not live. “The errors here occurred at the beginning of the oil and gas lease sale process, infecting everything that followed,” including each lease's environmental analysis and BLM's response to green groups' protests, Morris wrote.

— Morris’ ruling “confirms that the Trump administration violated the law in bulldozing those commitments in its haste to sell off lands that are owned by all Americans to the oil and gas industry,” said Earthjustice attorney Michael Freeman.

Rising star? Morris, an Obama appointee, is quickly proving himself to be a bee in the Trump administration’s bonnet. Several key energy lawsuits have landed in his docket, and Morris has ruled several times now against Trump policies, more than the average district court judge might do in a lifetime on the bench. It helps that he’s one of just three active judges in the Montana district court, but his rulings have had wide-reaching consequences in recent years.

In 2018, Morris blocked Keystone XL construction until the federal government’s environmental review better addressed the project’s climate impacts — prompting President Donald Trump to issue a whole new approval. Then last month, Morris stopped work on Keystone again, along with any other new oil and gas pipeline in the U.S., when he struck down a key nationwide permit used by the Army Corps of Engineers. Last year, he stopped the Interior Department from resuming nationwide coal leasing until it studied the environmental impacts. And now Morris has undone hundreds of oil and gas leases over habitat protection concerns. That’s the kind of judicial record that can attract attention 1,600 miles away in Washington.

Thank goodness for Judge Morris of Montana district court.  He is a reasonable man who would like to preserve our land as a natural habitat for wildlife rather than see large corporations roll in a destroy the homes for endangered animals like the Sage Grouse.  We need more judges like Judge Morris across the United States to protect us from unreasonable/harmful sales of U.S. land to large corporations for the profit to their shareholders.

Why Don't People Wear Masks In Public?

Photo: Medical Xpress

Ever since the beginning signs of the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective gear has been a point of concern.  How much do I wear to avoid contracting Coronavirus (i.e., COVID-19)?  What are the routes of exposure to the unknown virus?  As with any unknown virus, sealing all pathways into the human body is a good start.  As time passed, the main route of exposure was determined to be through the nose and mouth (i.e., lungs).  The mask has emerged to be at the forefront of the fight against Coronavirus.



What is the issue then?  Everyone should just wear one, right?



In fact, in a recent post, I pointed out that in a news article, the number of deaths reported in Hong Kong was 4.  That was amazing.  What is also amazing is that 99% of residents wear masks out in public.  The correlation/causation is simple.  Reducing the transmission by covering the mouth and nose can be accomplished with a mask.



The problem in the United States of America is that residents do not like to be told what to do on a large scale.  Additionally, at the highest levels of government, leaders (i.e., President Trump) refuses to wear a mask due to vanity concerns -- absolutely ridiculous.



Where Have We Come From In Two Months?



The main question as a scientist is the following:  Where has the United States progressed from in 2 months of quarantine? 



Another question is:  Are we any safer now as opposed to back then?



The answer depends on who is questioned.  Scientists might be inclined to report that national numbers could be declining with the implementation of the quarantine.  Against that backdrop is President Trump claiming that the time has come to open up the economy -- the benefits outweigh the dangers.



Has a vaccination for COVID-19 been discovered and mass-produced yet?



The answer is NO.



Two months have passed with trillions of dollars in stimulus given to residents and large corporations.  The result is not great.  The economy must be opened.



We are nearly standing at 100,000 deaths from the virus since the origin in our country.  The inability of the residents who are getting extremely frustrated with the lack of 'high numbers' in each state has caused a widespread rebellion.  A rebellion to denounce the presence of the virus or the severity of it.



In a recent Twitter post shown below is a video of a crowd.  The crowd is chanting "Take it off" to the reporter who is wearing a mask:

Came across this clip in @FOX9 video from Monday's protest/rally outside Shady's Tavern in Albany, MN. This is @LouRaguse, a fellow Reporter & friend trying to cover the story. And getting *harassed* for wearing a mask. A judge will decide soon whether the bar can legally re-open pic.twitter.com/iHYXUvysow

— Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) May 22, 2020

Wow!  The level of ignorance of the crowd is beyond reproach.  A second video is shown below. It is of a Tweet in which a GOP representative blames the pandemic on the Democrats:

Absolutely bizarre. The Bexar County GOP chair concludes this rally by stating that the coronavirus is a hoax perpetuated by Democrats, tells people to take off their masks, and then everyone hugs each other. pic.twitter.com/1XOFeswMiO

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 22, 2020

Again, amazing.  The lack of integrity of these politicians is insane.  In future history books, words were written will not be so kind to those who show ignorance or deference to the cases and deaths caused by the Coronavirus. The last Tweet is from ABC News and displays the range of people (ages and abilities) that we have lost to this terrible virus over two months:

The first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School, a 29-year veteran of the Boston Police Department—more than 90,000 people have died in the United States from the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

Remembering those who died from COVID-19: https://t.co/F5wnr3gs2i pic.twitter.com/sZNsK8z2BB

— ABC News (@ABC) May 25, 2020

Think about the talent lost to the virus shown in the video above.  Additionally, think about the carelessness of the people in the first video and second in regard to this terrible pandemic.  On which side do you want to be written about in history?  Take proactive measures to reduce the spread of the virus for yourself and others in society.  Be kind to those who are adversely impacted by the changing times facing the world during this pandemic.

Ralph Nader: Letting Big Corporations Get Away with Whatever They Want

Photo: Bill Meuhlenberg

Business suffers during a pandemic.  Revenue is lost to live potentially saved by the quarantine.  Nonprofit organizations such as churches suffer income loss and struggle to keep the doors open -- providing religious comfort to the community.  Big businesses seem not to experience the same loss during a pandemic. Yes, stock market drops are not suitable for shareholders, but the market will eventually recover.  What is amazing is that President Trump favors big corporations over small Mom & Pop shops.  The stimulus which has been dispersed has favored large corporations over small corporations.  As a result, corporate America is changing is getting a makeover.



In a recent newsletter, Activist Ralph Nader discusses how President Trump is letting Big Corporations get away with poor behavior:

Trump: Letting Big Corporations Get Away with Whatever They Want

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has allowed large corporations to run rampant, exploit people, and get away with it. Trump considers himself above the law, boldly claiming, “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” For more information about Trump’s misdeeds, please see the Articles of Impeachment proposed by me and constitutional law experts Bruce Fein and Louis Fisher in the December 18, 2019 Congressional Record, page H 12197.

In 2017, Trump betrayed his own voters by giving the corporate rich a nearly two trillion dollar tax cut instead of fulfilling his promise to invest in repairing infrastructure and expanding well-paid job opportunities.

These tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, which benefited the Trump family, ran up the deficit for our children and were largely used to give executives bonuses and let CEOs waste money on stock buybacks. In short, the corporate bosses lied to the Congress, saying they wanted these tax cuts to invest and create jobs, but actually used them to enrich themselves.

After his Trumpian giveaway, Trump crushed health and safety law enforcement, unleashing more disease-producing corporate polluters and corporate thieves. The result: harm to workers, consumers, and defenseless communities.

The New York Times reported 98 lifesaving regulations were revoked, suspended, or simply replaced with weaker versions. What remains on the books is not enforced.

Similar wreckage of corporate law-and-order has exacerbated the crisis of working people. Trump has worked to further punish student borrowers; diminish workplace and auto safety; and remove safeguards against banking, credit, and payday loan rackets.

Trump, during his failed business career and bankruptcies, saw the law as a nuisance and breaking and escaping justice as a competitive advantage.

While raising huge sums for his reelection campaign from business lobbyists, Trump keeps giving them no-law government, more loopholes for tax escapes ($170 billion more buried in the $2.2 trillion relief/bailout legislation), more corporatist judges to shut you down in the courtroom, and more of your taxes for their endless corporate welfare greed.

Big companies such as banks, insurance companies, real estate behemoths, and Silicon Valley giants have so many tax escapes and cuts that they’re moving toward tax-exempt status.

Howard Stern, a longtime friend of Trump who promoted Trump’s notoriety early on, has recently called on Trump to resign. Stern said that, in reality, Donald Trump was “disgusted” by his own voters. Why won’t more Trump voters realize that Trump has nothing but contempt for them? Trump will betray his followers at every turn.

During the COVID-19 virus pandemic – which Trump dismissed and scoffed for eight critical weeks, leaving the country defenseless – Trump has allowed a corporate crime epidemic. He has no qualms about aiding and abetting a corporate crime wave epidemic.

Trump, with Congressional Republicans, wants more legislation giving big companies immunity from lawsuits by victims for their negligently harmful products and services. Another rigging of the system.

Trump’s agencies actually announced that they’re putting their law enforcers on the shelf. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) astonishingly told foreign importers of food and medicine that inspections overseas are suspended. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signaled similar retreats, as have other enforcement agencies. Why would the Trumpsters signal green lights for corporate crooks? Especially since corporate scams and other corporate crimes – some crude, others sophisticated – are exploding as trillions pour out of Washington.

A year ago, Public Citizen reported a steep decline in corporate prosecutions and fines under Trump. Now, compared to the size of the previous corporate crime wave, they’ve fallen off a cliff. You can ignore the stern warnings by Attorney General William Barr. He is a phony. He has neither allocated nor asked Congress for a budget that will provide the Department of Justice the capacity to crackdown.

In fact, Trump has fired inspectors general and not filled vacant inspectors general positions. Trump’s boasts bear repeating: Congress can’t watchdog him because “[he has] an Article 2, where [he has] the right to do whatever [he wants] as president.”

With vicious madness, Trump pushes for federal deregulation of nursing homes where residents are dying from COVID-19. He pursues court cases in attempts to end Obamacare, the result of which would be throwing 20 million Americans off of their insurance during a lethal pandemic. He is cravenly freeing corporate emitters of life-destroying mercury and coal ash in our air, condemned pesticides and toxins in drinking water, and whatever else is on the deadly wish list given to him by his corporate paymasters.

Trumps actions that dismantled protections for all Americans families have been expertly documented. Yet, few critics are calling for his resignation or removal from office, despite the clear and present danger he poses to the American people and the Republic.

Trump is doing whatever he wants. He is getting away with abandoning the rule of law and the dismantling of crucial government institutions as he embraces American-style fascism and nepotism.

Perhaps people will learn how to effectively fight back against Trump, a delusional, flailing, ego-obsessed, foul-mouthed, self-enriching bully. The people must stand up to this corrupt politician who lies every hour and turns our government over to Wall Street.  He sacrifices the people on Main Street to enrich fat cats and oligarchs.

One person, Eugene Jarecki, offers a rebuttal to Trump. In a Washington Post op-ed, Jarecki’s sources found that “had the guidelines been implemented earlier, a crucial period in the exponential spread of the virus would have been mitigated and American lives saved.” According to conservative estimates from epidemiologists, “had the Trump administration simply implemented mitigation guidelines by March 9, approximately 60 percent of American COVID-19 deaths could have been avoided.” On his website, TrumpDeathClock.com, Jarecki “displays both the number of people who have died in the country from COVID-19 and an estimate of that portion whose lives would have been saved had the president and his administration acted just one week earlier.” Jarecki has also erected a 54-foot high Trump death clock in New York City’s historic Times Square.

See the numbers yourself on TrumpDeathClock.com. Email david@theeisenhowerproject.org to see how Eugene Jarecki’s team can help you set up such an accountability clock in your community.

If the lack of regulatory oversight listed above is real for the FDA and EPA, then the public should be worried.  I will end the blog post with a question for each of us to ponder looking down the road to recovery:


Does the public feel safe with President Trump relaxing regulatory standards in the food supply, medical supply, or environmental side at this time?



As the pandemic spreads throughout America, Americans should be more vigilant with their safety, not less.






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Minorities and Immigrants are Left Behind Without Aid?

Photo: NYCLU

Why are individual Americans left behind during a pandemic?  What do I mean by 'left behind'?  Have you received your stimulus check yet?  I have along with my wife.  What about those who have been waiting to receive aid that actually needs help?  Who has been without a job for a few months? Additionally, let us not forget that we are a nation built upon the backs of immigrants and slave labor.  That definitely needs to be driven home while considering dispersing out financial aid to the citizens of the United States.



Recent reporting by Politico Nightly suggests that minority groups and immigrants are without aid:

The damage is spreading: Minority business owners say they’re struggling to stay afloat. Some 45 percent of black and Latino small business owners anticipate closing within six months, according to a poll released Monday by Global Strategy Group for the nonprofit and civil rights advocacy groups Color of Change and Unidos US. The survey of more than 500 minority business owners, black workers and Latino workers found 51 percent of black and Latino small business owners applied for less than $20,000 in federal relief each. But just 12 percent say they received the full amount of assistance requested.

The stimulus packages passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump have offered no relief to immigrants without social security numbers, temporary visa holders, or undocument immigrants like Dreamers. A Latino Decisions poll conducted for SOMOS, Unidos US, and MoveOn scheduled to be released Wednesday found 31 percent of U.S.-born Latinos and 45 percent of immigrants did not receive a stimulus check.

With large corporations receiving federal aid in record time, significant questions remain as to why small businesses remain out in the cold without financial help.  Time and time again, big corporations receive bailouts while mom & pop shops continue to financially fail and go out of business. 


Yet, now with the news above, another dimension is brought into play to discriminate against small businesses.  Race is a dimension that need not be used in any discriminatory manner.  Now is not the time to show that minority business owners should not receive equal financial assistance compared to their caucasian counterparts.



Immigrants have received the short end of the stick time and time again.  Why?  In America, only the rich get richer, and the poorer get poorer.  Now, more than ever, that trend is playing out.  Immigrants perform jobs that ordinary Americans would choose not to do.  Often times, immigrants are cheated out of fair wages simply because their employers are aware that effectively -- the person (immigrant) have very little legal protection -- while working without papers here in the U.S. 



The result is even more financial hardship on the poorest of the poorest.  How people in power sleep at night is beyond my comprehension.  The inequity of financial disbursements has got to stop.  The time is well past in stripping minorities of their equal economic rights. 

Do Masks Protect Against the Coronavirus?

Photo by Jonathan J. Castellon on Unsplash

One of the major shortcomings of our society that has been brought to light with the COVID-19 pandemic is a lack of understanding in science by the general public.  Specifically, with the transmission of a virus.  Stop and think about the following daily activity described in the next paragraph.



Under normal daily operation, each of us touch our noses without thinking and then spread the contents (i.e., viral load - number of viral particles) to the public rail, door knob, drinking fountain button, door handle, subway rail, product in a grocery store.  Each contact thereafter could easily spread whatever contents were in or out of our noses onto that surface.  Did you ever do this pre-COVID-19 times?



The obvious answer is that a large percentage of Americans (and world citizens) do so without thinking.  Then why do we not get sick more often?  Because, our bodies build up defense mechanisms (i.e., antibodies) that are 'on call' to fight a virus.  Of course, the vaccination or defense is made up of genetic components of the virus that is a threat.  In the current case of the Coronavirus or COVID-19, these vaccinations/defenses are not built up in each of us.  Nor are they commercially available in a vaccination.



In light of that, what is the next best defense?  According to experts, the mask and social distancing has been conveyed in briefing after briefing over the last few months.  Why?  In short, because a barrier (i.e., mask) prevents us from spreading a viral load (as described in the second paragraph above) along with preventing the viral load from accessing our mouth and nose -- direct paths toward our lungs -- to eventually pass a single cell layer into our blood stream.  Once in our blood stream, game on.  The virus attacks, mutates and spreads until annihilation by our own defense or defeating our defenses (and kills the person).

Wear A Mask In Public!

Recent reporting by the Los Angeles Times highlights the obvious benefit to society of wearing a mask in public:

Hong Kong has a dense population of about 7.5 million while New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, has had more than 27,000 COVID-19 deaths. Los Angeles County, with 10 million people, has recorded 1,700 deaths.

But Engel was right. As of last week, only four deathsin Hong Kong had been attributed to COVID-19. He put me in touch with his niece, Katie de Tilly, who owns an art gallery in Hong Kong. She emailed me to say that when news of a SARS-like virus first appeared in January, “no one and no government official needed to tell people to wear a mask. Literally 99% of the population” did so voluntarily.

Schools were closed early in February, De Tilly said, and people returning to Hong Kong after foreign travel were screened, tracked, and told to quarantine for two weeks. But most businesses, including hers, were able to remain open because there was no surge in cases.

The mask along with social distancing greatly reduces the chance of transmitting (i.e., passing) a viral load to another person.  A mask is the cheapest solution until the government can come up with a vaccination.  And the solution is embedded in a simple concept.  Just do not pass germs along to others.  Each of us have been taught these rules (i.e., values) over the years growing up by our parents.  Until now, the reason has not been brought to light.  The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the nation just how unhygienic each of us are in our daily business.  Government and health officials understand this obvious fact.  Each flu season, officials try to guard each of us from ourselves and reduce the rate of disease threat (i.e, flu infection).



To bring the point home further, Dr. Nahid Bhadelia of Boston School of Medicine was interviewed on Morning Joe about the importance of wearing a mask in public.  The short video below outlines the following above:

If after reading the above and watching the video above, are still not convinced that masks work, keep reading and educating yourself.  Keep reading scientific literature.  Take a step back and re-read the second paragraph above.  Think critically about how you conduct yourself in public each day?  Do you spread germs?  How careful are you each day?  The time is now to reflect on each of our behavior.  Especially, with moving forward with a new normal.



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"I Have a Hunch" is NOT Real Science

Photo: Washington Post

If there is one certainty that exists today in our society, that is, President Trump is NOT a scientist.  Nor does (as is conveyed in his press interviews) he believe in science.  Yes, the President is reaching a point where the debate about opening up the economy is centered around the danger of mass unemployment and business closings versus mass infection (and death).




In a recent episode of Morning Joe, which airs on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough discusses the laughable dismissal by President Trump of Dr. Fauci's answer regarding opening up the economy.  Namely, President Trump claims to "have a hunch" about the correct way to proceed further with the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  Meanwhile, Dr. Fauci testified (from his home via the internet) to Congress about the State of the Nation on the COVID-19 crisis along with specifically, opening up the economy:

Wow!




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Photo: The New York Times

A person going about their business is going to run into a crowd eventually.  Especially, if that same person, lives in a densely populated city such as New York City or Los Angeles.  With the economy in shambles, economists and politicians are worried about the future fate of the world economy.  How does the United States open back up?  How is normal business conducted without drawing a crowd?  What new precautions/actions will be mandatory to go about the same business pre-COVID-19 times?  These are open questions waiting for answers.

In the meantime, a brief exploration of the issues at heart is warranted.  Education is the best way to tackle ignorance about a given topic.  If each of us educates ourselves (and others) on the risk factors associated with opening up the U.S. economy again, then the total number of casualties can be reduced looking into the future.

To educate us on the potential issues with the spread of COVID-19 while carrying out daily business, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has interviewed scientists and uncovered interesting issues outlined below in the 13-minute video -- worth watching.

Easy right?  The time is right to address the failures of models presented by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and other government organizations.  Scientific models vary considerably depending on the granularity (accuracy) which are dependent on inputs (i.e., parameters).  The models are approximate only.



One large parameter that is difficult to quantify is person-to-person contact.  As the number of contacts is considered, the computational model is weighed down in difficulty.  The reason mainly is due to the ability to trace a person's action relative to other people's locations.  These complex interactions are difficult to parameterize.  That is one major reason why the models vary largely with respect to predictions.



Additionally, the interaction can be minimized if people practice social distancing in the correct manner.  Also, wearing masks in close contact situations (markets, stores, restaurants, etc.) is critical to minimizing these complex parameters (which are difficult to quantify).



As the states start to open up, scientists use data from testing along with the movement to get a better handle on the complex parameters (i.e., individual or group interactions).  Other major parameters are addressed in blogs listed at the bottom of the web page below.  Temperature readings, limits on the number of occupants in buildings, masks, social distancing are just a few obvious changes to society to look forward to in the near future.



Stay tuned for further information and suggestions on best practices or dangers associated with the current COVID-19 crisis.



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Ralph Nader: We Honor What We Value – Entertainers Over Saviors

Photo: Youth First Inc

Life under quarantine has certainly given each of us time to pause and take account of our lives.  What is essential for us to accomplish looking into the future?  What was necessary to us pre-COVID times?  How has our initial ambition changed with Covid-19?  Who do we value?  First responders?  Shakers and movers in society that genuinely work to keep us safe (i.e., activists).  The opinion piece below has given me a chance to stop and reconsider values in my life.



Ralph Nader recently pointed out in his newsletter that Americans value entertainers over saviors:

We Honor What We Value – Entertainers Over Saviors

“We honor what we value,” goes the old saying. In our hedonistic culture we value most those who can put a ball in a hole. We ignore those who save lives through civic action.

The sports champions – golf, basketball, football, and baseball – receive riches and accolades from the masses. They are inducted into “Halls of Fame” and are the subjects of biographies, and documentary and feature films. As for the mass life-savers –few even know their names, much less their dramatic victories against overwhelming odds.

I was reminded of this contrast by a major New York Times Sports feature on Tiger Woods and his comeback win in the 2019 Masters Tournament, which was watched breathlessly by millions of golf fans around the world. Praises poured in on social media and many articles, features, and editorials covered every nuance of this golf match.

Barack Obama tweeted, “To come back and win the Masters after all the highs and lows is a testament to excellence, grit, and determination.”

What about the excellence, grit and determination of economist James Love? In the midst of the horrendous HIV epidemic, Love brilliantly organized, argued, wrote, and traveled the world before he found Dr. Yusuf Hamied and Cipla, an Indian company that took down Big Pharma’s $10,000 price for HIV drugs per African patient per year to $300 per patient. Neither Love nor his allies William Haddad and Robert Weissman were the subjects of features in major media outlets.

Others in the unsung circle of self-motivated stalwarts are David Zwick, Clarence Ditlow, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, and Joan Claybrook. Zwick helped write the Clean Water Act of 1972 and then started Clean Water Action which canvassed tens of millions of homes, distributing materials sparking local citizen action and nationally lobbying against water pollution for over four decades.

Engineer and lawyer Clarence Ditlow ran the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, DC and over forty years caused the recall of millions of defective cars. He also got the states to enact “lemon laws” to give voice to new car owners getting justice when their new car turned out to be “lemons.” Over roughly the same time span Joan Claybrook repeatedly blocked the auto-giants’ constant efforts to weaken or stop federal safety regulation that protected motorists.

As for Dr. Wolfe, with his small team, he  produced three major books: Worst Pills Best Pills, Pills That Don’t Work: A Consumers’ and Doctors’ Guide to Over 600 Prescription Drugs That Lack Evidence of Effectiveness, and Over the Counter Pills That Don’t Work  reaching millions of consumers through  mass audience outlets such as the Phil Donahue Show. Dr. Wolfe also persistently pushed the FDA and drug companies to remove hundreds of ineffective and/or dangerous drugs from the market, thus preventing health-threatening side-effects and saving consumers billions of dollars. That’s just a few of the successes of Dr. Wolfe’s Public Citizen Health Research Group.

In 1971 three scientists spun off from our organization to start the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Still turning its pistons nearly 50 years later, its long-time leader Dr. Michael Jacobson went after the junk food/drink industry and the deadly amount of high salt, high fat, and high sugar content in processed foods with scientific rigor and persistence. CSPI publishes the very popular health newsletter Nutrition Action and uses litigation and regulatory interventions to educate the public. CSPI arguably changed the nutritional habits of millions of people and exposed the slick and deceptive ads and crude direct marketing to children by the fast food chains and the cereal manufacturers. These companies are heavily responsible for the childhood obesity epidemic and its ongoing malignant health consequences.

Then there are Karen Ferguson and Karen Friedman running the Pension Rights Center in Washington, DC. They provide members of Congress and labor unions with technical advice on pension policy, inform the press, and help thousands of pensioners who are being ripped off by employers. Only trillions of dollars are at stake.

For these and many other long-term fighters for justice up against cruel or reckless corporations and their political toadies, there are few accolades, almost no recognition, and no citizen Hall of Fame. (See breakingthroughpower.org)

It is time for foundations or the enlightened super rich to start an annual “Citizen Academy Awards” to correct this imbalance of recognition and offer the mass media some inspiring content. This big-time dramatic event would elevate our priorities as a society and showcase motivating role models for our youngsters. Perhaps Barack Obama could be the first MC for this authentic reality event.

To put the spectator mania for professional sports in perspective, we can listen to the words of the great all-round Hall of Fame superstar, the late Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers. At his peak in the nineteen sixties, he told New York Times reporter Ira Berkow:

‘Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing, if I’ve wasted my time all these years,’ he told me, his eyes thoughtful. ‘And sometimes I think I have. I would like to have more to contribute to society. I don’t know, maybe a doctor. Something where you really play an important part in people’s lives.’

Al Kaline was one humble, great athlete, compared, with some luminous exceptions, to the “me, me, me” narcissism of too many sports stars today.  Sports superstars could easily direct more support and attention to those little recognized citizen advocates who protect the serious necessities of life on shoe-string budgets.

Moreover, in these critical times the selfless dedication of the nurses, doctors, grocery store clerks, postal workers activists, sanitation laborers, and other truly essential workers should spark long-overdue recognition of these valiant heroes and their critical contributions to our lives beyond the stage or stadium. ESPN has just broadcast a ten-part series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bills’ triumphant years of putting balls in holes for championships. Someday a network may produce a ten-part series on how citizen leaders historically built the justice safeguards that benefit us all. We should make it happen as owners of our public airwaves.

How do you contribute to society?  Take time during this quarantine to consider what is essential in your life and what is secondary.  What are your values?  Are you living up to the standards that you set 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago?  What do you want in life?  How have you moved society forward?


Relax, reflect, learn, and have good discussions within your family during these difficult times.

Republican Senators Pressure Banks to Consider Climate Change in their Investments

Photo: Politico Energy

Historically, as in the last 50 years, the Republican party has been associated with fossil fuels.  The party, time and time again, has boosted the drilling for oil in remote areas (some of which are protected and not protected) for profits to individual companies with high lobbying power.  Recently, however, the pressure of the upcoming election coupled with the change in tide toward divesting in fossil fuels has led the party to shift positions.  Not all members agree.  But there is an emerging pressure building to take into account (with investments) climate change.



Reporting from Politico Energy shows a growing presence among Republican leaders to push banks to shy away from fossil fuels and aim investments at addressing climate change:

REPUBLICANS' COUNTER ATTACK: Two GOP senators tell POLITICO a group of congressional Republicans are planning to launch their own pressure campaign against large U.S. banks for refusing financial support for Arctic oil drilling projects, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports this morning.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said the Republicans will send a letter to the banks, warning them that ruling out specific fossil fuel projects, such as oil drilling in the newly opened Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, comes with risks. The letter follows pledges in recent months by Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup that they would not invest in Arctic drilling projects, amid pressure to address climate change and protect sensitive lands. Bank of America is the sole major holdout.

This is a good sign from the Republican party.  Hopefully, the younger generation has started to get through to the remainder of the world that renewable energy is of a growing interest among youth.  Of course, the youth are not the only interested population.  The baby boomer generation has a large percentage of activists who would like to see the government take a harder stance (i.e., stricter regulations) on environmental management. 

EPA comes Down in the Middle on Coal Power Plant Emissions

Photo: Wikipedia

Creating firm regulations for the environment has not been the signature of President Trump's administration.  In fact, the opposite is true over the last few years.  The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to roll-back the Obama regulations for the environment.  Mostly out of distaste for the Obama administration exclusively.



Recent reporting from Politico Energy suggests that this commitment to rolling back all of the regulations might not be so bold after all:

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: EPA's emergency rule that temporarily eases requirements to check real-world pollution emitted by power plants during the coronavirus pandemic had originally called for a broader and potentially permanent rule, Pro's Alex Guillén reports this morning.

The final version released by EPA last week underwent changes following a White House review. Since then, the rule has drawn praise from environmental advocates who have typically been critical of the Trump administration's moves, given the unique circumstances. "I could see myself having said yes to this kind of thing," said Janet McCabe, the Obama-era acting air chief at EPA.

But that would not have been the case with EPA's original plan. The rule issued last week was altered following criticisms from the White House review, Alex reports. Documents posted by EPA show one commenter at the Office of Management and Budget questioning that plan, writing: "The interim final rule does not provide any justification or explanation for why this temporary exemption should be made permanent."

John Walke, director of the Clean Air, Climate and Clean Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he was "satisfied" with EPA's rule as finalized, especially since the agency is taking public comment before acting further, in contrast with EPA's broader March enforcement memo that drew widespread criticism from green groups. "At least this represents EPA undertaking a notice-and-comment rulemaking process and amending the regulations to deal with the specific challenges and disruptions represented by Covid-19," he said.

Now, recall that in earlier posts on this blog site, environmental regulations have followed others formed in Congress.  That is if the regulation (i.e., law) is better for society than the law will replace old legislation.   Often new administrations have to test this out in court.  This has been the case with the environmental legislation that the Trump administration has pushed over the last few years.  Although, most of the legislation he has 'rolled back' has resulted in minor adjustments.  Still, environmental advocates are usually not happy in the end.



Which leads me to the current legislation reported above.  Environmental advocates are able to live with the changes.  Meaning, that either side had to give in to the other in the end.  Which resulted?
Therefore, the current change to the EPA rule was an overall win for environmental groups fighting for environmental justice during this administration.

Trump Administration Cuts Coronavirus Research Funding for Wuhan China Research Institute?

Photo: CalMatters

Over the last few years, the Trump administration has tried to defund research programs that seem to not be productive.  Or more importantly, to save money.  Recent news reports have shown that the Trump administration has defunded specific programs aimed at fighting/preventing rare diseases from entering the United States of America to save pennies (annually $200 million).  The programs defunded by the Trump administration (or attempted to do so) were serious bang for our bucks in terms of saving lives.  These days with the Coronavirus, one cannot help thinking that the current administration does not care about American lives.  People are dying.  Why cut research funding to save lives?



News arrived in my email inbox on last Tuesday from Politico Prescription about the cancellation of a multiyear research contract with a research institute in Wuhan (China) on Coronavirus:

TRUMP CUTS CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH OVER CHINA TIES — The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people after reports linked the work to a lab in Wuhan, China, at the center of conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic's origins.

The National Institutes of Health on Friday told EcoHealth Alliance, the study's sponsor for the past five years, that all future funding is gone and it immediately had to stop spending more than $300,000 left on this year's grant. The group caught national attention after reports swirled that millions from its NIH grants had been sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research facility in the city where the coronavirus pandemic originated.

"We will end that grant very quickly," Trump said when asked about it during a briefing just a week before. "It was granted quite awhile ago," he added, referencing the Obama administration. "Who was president then, I wonder?"

The NIH awarded the original grant for the project during the Obama administration, but renewed it in July 2019. The funding allotted this year, and cut last week, came from the Trump administration.

Within days of Trump's comments, an NIH official emailed EcoHealth employees asking for a list of all Chinese sites "that have been in any way linked to this award." EcoHealth's president categorically denied giving funding this year to the Wuhan lab.

NIH killed the project days later, despite coronavirus origin and transmission being one of its top research priorities. The EcoHealth Alliance has received more than $3.7 million since 2015 for its research on the risks of coronavirus spread through bats and the potential for spillover into humans. The effort has produced at least 20 scientific papers, including several published in prominent journals such as Nature.

On Wednesday, reporting from Morning Joe highlights the emerging information war on the optics of the Coronavirus research that was funded in part by the United States through the National Institutes of Health:

Instead of addressing the main issue at stake -- which is funding for research surrounding the Coronavirus, the situation reported above has turned into a finger-pointing match.  Some countries must be blamed. A country other than the U.S. must be blamed -- is the Trump administration strategy.



How has a research funding story turned into a shouting (and blaming) match between superpowers? 



Each was funding and tracking research done in Wuhan.  Researchers have been conducting research that will yield results in a timely manner.  The problem is that the world is now seeing the timeline of such research.  Further, the conversion of scientific research into a marketable item (i.e., a vaccine) is longer than most Americans envision.



In the meantime, instead of fighting over the origin of a pandemic, fund international collaboration in scientific research to speed up a vaccination that will ultimately reduce the total number of deaths in the end.  We, as a nation, should be building collaborations intra-country and inter-country to solve a growing crisis.



Science does not care about emotion or feeling.  Scientific research produces data.  And data leads to outcomes whether positive or negative for a given problem.  Ultimately, through research and discovery, more positive has emerged than negative.  The scientists of the world have solved a range of problems over decadess.



Why stop funding science now because the optics do not look good?  Research should be conducted at the site of origin.  If Wuhan is the ground zero for the outbreak, we should have scientists living there now conducting research.  Finding solutions rather than complaining about problems.



Just because our administration has failed us in the past, does not mean that the future needs to entail more failure on their part.  Wake up and take a valid temperature of the world.  We are in need of a solution rather than hearing about ongoing problems.  Take action!



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