Here is a link to his statement in the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2016. Will he stand by his words? Will he be honorable or will he be without any honor?
The Trump administration is directing hospitals to use a new platform to report COVID-19 data instead of an existing system at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
— Read on http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/15/891351706/white-house-strips-cdc-of-data-collection-role-for-covid-19-hospitalizations
Comment
Suppressing the truth begins. This is what third wold dictators do to keep their power. Trump must think he is an Iranian supreme leader. One appointed by a god.
The truth always wins when there is a free press. This does not include the propaganda machine Fox (masquerading as news) News.
Army officer Clint Lorance became a hero on Fox News and was later pardoned by Trump. For the forgotten men of 1st Platoon, it’s a crushing betrayal.
— Read on www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/clint-lorance-platoon-afghanistan/
A link to a news report from Quartz about the untended effect of the President’s obsession with the border. It postulates that his tweets and speeches about the border advertise how to get to and cross the border.
The entire article is at Quartz. The link is:
https://qz.com/1585758/trumps-immigraton-policy-is-worsening-the-border-crisis/
I am not sure how long the link will be active.
Here is a letter from the Florida Senator Marco Rubio. It was sent in response to an email asking him about his stand on the easy availability on guns. I cannot believe a sitting United States Senator could write such a long email on gun violence that does not have a commitment to try to solve this very serious problem.
He starts this email by declaring that “Our schools are woefully unprepared to prevent an attack before it occurs.”. This is the basis for the rest of Rubio’s “say nothing” email. All the bills he mentions, not one has a solid answer on curbing gun violence. Why does he say that schools have to be prepared for an assault by a gun-toting individual? He should be saying that the easy access to guns is part of the problem. He has shown on many occasions that he will not take a stand that will cause friction to one of his largest donors, the NRA. He wants his NRA campaign donations of about $1.50 for every student to keep coming. Money talks, others walk.
Here is the letter.
From: “Senator Marco Rubio” <Do_Not_Reply@Rubio.senate.gov>
Date: April 14, 2018 at 9:54:45 AM EDT
Subject:Responding to your message
Dear Mr. …………….,
Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts regarding the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Understanding your views helps me better represent Florida in the United States Senate, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
As you know, on February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the lives of 14 students and 3 faculty members were senselessly taken. As a Floridian and father of 4, my heart breaks for the victims’ families, friends and loved ones.
The tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was the result of multiple system failures, and requires a multi-faceted approach to prevent future mass shootings. I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to create a more effective system to prevent gun violence.
Our schools are woefully unprepared to prevent an attack before it occurs. By the fall of 2016, both school officials and law enforcement knew the Parkland shooter posed a serious danger, yet nothing happened to stop him from buying a rifle. Currently, there are insufficient programs in place to report dangerous individuals, like the Parkland shooter, and to coordinate between law enforcement, school officials, and mental health experts. This is why I am an original cosponsor of the STOP School Violence Act (S. 2495), which was introduced on March 5, 2018. This bill will strengthen school security, provide training to identify threats, and create crisis intervention teams that coordinate law enforcement and school personnel to identify students who may pose a violent threat and intervene to stop them before they act. I am pleased the House of Representatives passed a similar bill (H.R. 4909) on March 14, 2018 by a vote 407-10. It passed the Senate as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 on March 23, 2018, which President Trump signed into law that same day.
On March 22, 2018, I introduced the ABCs in School Discipline Act (S. 2618) to help protect our schools by preventing federal funds from being used to establish school discipline policies that discourage reporting dangerous student behavior to law enforcement. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
In addition, I am a cosponsor of the School Safety and Mental Health Services Improvement Act (S. 2513), which enables schools to use federal funds to improve their physical security, and training of personnel to better identify and respond to school related violence. The bill would also prevent schools from adopting policies that discourage faculty from reporting violent or threatening behavior of students to law enforcement. S. 2513 was introduced on March 7, 2018 and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
There are other common sense measures that can prevent shootings in the future. The Fix NICS Act improves the background check system and ensures that individuals who should not be able to purchase or possess a firearm are not improperly passing background checks due to lack of information in the background check system. This helps ensure that firearms stay out of the hands of individuals with a history of violence or mental illness. I am also a cosponsor of this legislation. The bill was introduced on November 11, 2017, and passed the House on March 22, 2018, and the Senate on March 23, 2018 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (H.R. 1625), which President Trump signed into law that same day.
I am also a cosponsor of the NICS Denial Notification Act (S. 2492). This bill would reinforce the background check system by requiring the federal government to notify states when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm but fails to pass a background check. This action would strengthen communication between federal and state law enforcement and increase prosecutions of these individuals. This bill was introduced on March 5, 2018, and has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. A House companion bill (H.R. 4471) was introduced on November 28, 2017 and has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. Another paragraph saying the same thing in a different way. Another do nothing bill.
Another unfortunate lesson that has been learned is the fact that we lack tools for law enforcement or families to take away guns from someone in their community they know is a danger to themselves or others. I am working to change this by incentivizing states to enact extreme violence protection orders, or sometimes referred to as “red flag laws.” Under my proposed law, the Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act (S. 2607), introduced in the Senate on March 22, 2018, grants would go to states that enact policies that seek to empower families or law enforcement to prevent dangerous individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms, with due process protections. This is modeled after Florida’s recently enacted risk protection order law. Florida became the sixth state to enact such laws, with hopefully more to follow. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
The tragic day of February 14, 2018 will continue to bring us great sorrow. Like many of the parents, students and teachers that I have met with since that day, I am turning that sorrow into actions that can get accomplished. I am committed to working with my Senate colleagues to implement common sense measures that will prevent such a tragedy from happening again, without unnecessarily infringing on the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your United States Senator. I will keep your thoughts in mind as I consider these issues and continue working to ensure America remains a safe and prosperous nation.
Sincerely,
Marco Rubio
United States Senator
Each week I provide a weekly update on issues in Washington and ways in which my office can assist the people of Florida. Sign up here for updates on my legislative efforts, schedule of events throughout Florida, constituent services and much more.
This shows that he is putting into legislation the arguments used by the NRA to obscure the obvious. The only way you can stop gun violence is to restrict easy access to powerful semi automatic rifles and hand guns. The proposed legislation also places the burden of identifying shooters on families and law enforcement. (The reality is; Families are the last to know.) Last time I checked, law enforcement did not employ psychics in a pre-crime unit.
What does Marco Rubio support? What does he believe in? Who knows!
This senator is never in his office, never returns phone calls, never answers direct questions and sends out no commitment emails. He is the master of opinion changes.
Do you really want to keep this person in the United States Senate? Vote No to Rubio!
I seems that almost every day there are news reports on a member of the Trump team discussing adoptions with people representing Russian state’s interests. The news report on the adoptions meetings without giving any background on what the motivation is for the these discussions. When there is any reference to the Trump team discussing adoptions it is really an oblique reference to the “Sergei Magnietsky Rule of Law Accountability Act” passed on November 16, 2012 by the Republican controlled House of Representatives and Senate on the Thursday, 6 December, 2012. The Act, signed into law by President Obama, is a bill which introduces targeted sanctions on named Russian officials deemed to have violated human rights. The Act simultaneously normalizes trade relations with Russia by repealing the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which is legislation, the Washington Post calls “one of the last vestiges of the Cold War,” and dates back to 1974, when the US put pressure on the Kremlin to grant Jews and other religious minorities emigration rights.
The Magnitsky Act is a new form of pressure. Its language allows the US to impose visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials allegedly involved in the torture and death of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, as well as, other gross human rights abusers in Russia. Currently there are about 18 people on the list. It does not include Putin, and his very close advisors and senior government officials.
The person who is the subject of the act was a Russian Lawyer who was arrested, tortured, abused and when he got sick, due to the extremely bad treatment due to the conditions in a Russian gaol, was left to die in 2009 from neglect. Sergei Magnitsky only crime was uncovering a massive corrupt enterprise where he accused Russian officials of tax fraud. He was under the delusion that Russia under Putin was ruled by the law. He paid for this mistake with his life.
The story on NPR as told by William Browder, the businessman who was screwed by the massive fraud is found here. He is the one who hired the lawyer Sergei Magnietsky.
The table shows the value placed on mothers and families. Every county on the list has universal healthcare of one kind or another and paid maternity leave, except the United States of America. The U.S.A. tells its nursing mothers, get pregnant at your own risk. The country really doesn’t care if you have medical insurance or need any money to live while you have a newborn. Why?
| Country | Weeks of paid maternity leave |
| Iceland | 105.6 |
| Sweden | 48 |
| Norway | 36 |
| United Kingdom | 35.1 |
| Estonia | 20 |
| Lithuania | 18 |
| Portugal | 17 |
| Czech Republic | 16.8 |
| Austria | 16 |
| Latvia | 16 |
| Italy | 16 |
| Luxembourg | 16 |
| Netherlands | 16 |
| Spain | 16 |
| Germany | 14 |
| Finland | 12.6 |
| Belgium | 12.3 |
| Switzerland | 11.2 |
| Canada | 9.35 |
| United States | 0 |
Source: Save the Children (pdf)
My home is located on a Canal which feeds into the Intracoastal Waterway. The Intracoastal is 3000mi long and runs inland along the Atlantic coast of the U.S., from Boston MA in the north, ending in Texas, where the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico meet. Lately, the change in the water mark on the […]
Most people have never heard of ractopamine. It is a growth drug fed to hogs and cattle to make them put on weight. (Additional weight with less feed means more money for the farmer per animal.) There are questions about the drugs safety for the animals and the humans eating them.
What is Ractopamine? It is a beta-agonist. That defines “a class of medication that relax muscles of the airways, which widens the airways and results in easier breathing”. It is a drug originally developed to treat asthma in humans. It also helps animals develop more muscle instead of fat. This helps farmers meet the consumer demand for leaner meat and makes heavier animals to market.
“The drug has triggered more adverse reports in pigs than any other animal drug on the market,” Helena Bottemiller reported for the Food and Environment Reporting Network in 2012. Ractopamine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in animals.
Have you figured out whose health the FDA is looking out for?
More on this drug and its use on animals is here: FORTUNE MAGAZINE STORY
My "Not Daily" Journal 
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