I’ve
had a long running feud with Wash. Gas. Unfortunately, the house was already equipped
with gas appliances when we purchased it back in 1969, including water heater,
dryer, furnace, stove, and oven. Gas was a big new thing in 1969, but no more. New
construction in this city must now be all-electric. The company had threatened
to cut off my gas service on March 15 unless I paid a bogus bill of over $900
before that date. Their meter was apparently not working properly some time ago.
Company literature warns that the meter is their sole responsibility—don’t ever
touch or tamper with the meter and keep it free of vines! Long after-the-fact,
they came up with an arbitrary figure of what I “owe” because the company had not
changed the meter for more than 50 years. During all those years and beyond, I’ve
paid all bills in full and on time. Amazingly, the company has carried on this petty
vendetta against a lone faithful customer for several years now, spending more
on staff time than what I allegedly owe. I refuse to pay anything more without
a hearing before a neutral arbiter and have asked for help from our local
councilmember in light of the cutoff threat.
Speaking of gas, anyone who listens to the Dragnet “true crime” stories on NPR on Sunday evenings realizes that convicted murderers were often executed in the California gas chamber in the late 1940s and ‘50s. Now California has a moratorium on executions.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas might be able to argue that he knew nothing whatsoever of his wife’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, but now he can no longer claim ignorance and should recuse himself from any future cases related to that issue. Will he do so? Probably not, just as he may have blatantly lied during his confirmation hearings many years ago. Simply because someone occupies a high office does not guarantee their integrity. In too many cases, they have achieved that office by subterfuge and cheating.
Women
under 30 have now closed the gender pay gap and are earning as much or MORE
than men in 22 areas while national gap has dropped to 18 cents for every
dollar, research reveals
·
A Pew Research
Center study published Monday concluded that in at least 22 American cities
women under 30 are making at least as much as men
·
In the New York
City and Washington DC metro areas, women are actually earning more than what
their male colleagues are making
·
But in most
cities, men continue to outpace women when it comes to wages
·
The greatest wage
disparities were in cities in the Midwest and South
·
Nationally, women
30 and younger are making an average of 93 cents for every dollar made by
a comparable man
·
When accounting
for all men and women - regardless of age - the number dropped to 82 cents per
every dollar
· That is up from the 77 cents per dollar in 2018
GMA, For red and blue America, a glaring divide in COVID-19 death rates persists 2 years later An ABC News analysis of federal data found that on average, the death rates in states that voted for Trump were more than 38% higher than in states that voted for Biden, post widespread vaccine availability. In addition, in the 10 states with the lowest percentage of full vaccinations, death rates were almost twice as high as that of states with the highest vaccination rates, the analysis found.
While worldwide death totals were greater for the 1918 Spanish flu than for Covid, the sheer number of deaths in the US were fewer in 1918, about 675,000 compared to a total now approaching 1 million, the highest of any country in the world. Will we get to 1 million? Unfortunately, the answer is probably “yes.”
NBC News, Two
cousins, 12 and 14, killed while playing with gun on Instagram Live, family
says
As US statistics show year after year, personal firearms in the home kill more family members by far than any surprise intruders. It’s very rare that a personal firearm proves protective.
Heaven forbid if Trump should run for president again and actually win! Everything must be done to thwart that possibility. Our nation and the world cannot endure 4 more years of a Trump presidency. We already saw what happened last time. Unfortunately, the American electorate is not very savvy in the aggregate and our laws permitting someone to win with a minority of votes is a terrible anomaly. But as long as Republicans enjoy that advantage, they aren’t going to let it go. Putting Trump behind bars is an urgent necessity, even if it further divides the country.
The Week, Hunter Biden was paid millions by Chinese state-linked energy firm, Washington Post report finds
Hunter Biden’s possible failings are red meat for Donald Trump, revealing him once again to be a petty, ignorant, vindictive man who again wants to become the leader of the “free world,” hoping to use the presidency to get even with his supposed rivals, via their offspring if necessary. How small-minded and childish is that? The worst part is that so many of our fellow citizens still support Trump, as I witnessed myself just now in a visit to W Va. That state actually had sided with the north during the civil war, but now Confederate flags abound there, as well as Trump signs.
Multiple programs with varying thresholds of eligibility mar attempts by many to gain visas.
Reuters, U.S. lets Ukrainians fleeing war into United States from Mexico [March 17, finally!]
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10669499/U-S-planning-end-COVID-era-order-blocking-migrants-Mexico-border-May-23.html
Department of
State offers $10 million reward for Guatemalan kingpin | Daily Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10627959/Department-State-offers-10-million-reward-Guatemalan-kingpin.html
Cuba https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/long-lines-fuel-across-cuba-sparking-concerns-over-supply-rationing-2022-03-21/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily-briefing People line up for gas in Havana, Cuba,
March 21, 2022. Hours-long lines formed at gas stations in Cuba´s capital
Havana on Monday after local media reported rationing of fuel in at least one province
amid a biting economic crisis that has already left food and medicine in short
supply across the island. Geobel Quintero, a program coordinator for the
Matanzas provincial government, told local media that rationing had begun in
that province on Sunday but downplayed the problem, blaming the shortfall
primarily on distribution issues. "This is not a consequence of a fuel
deficit in the country," Quintero told state-owned provincial newspaper
Giron.
Reuters, Cuban
anti-government protesters get up to 30 years behind bars [March
17, 2022]
Reuters, Seven U.S. members of Congress call on Biden to withdraw support for Haiti's Henry
Reuters, Haiti
protesters burn plane belonging to U.S. missionary group
NY Times, Honduran Supreme Court Ratifies U.S. Extradition Request of Ex-President [Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras is finally getting extradited to the US where he may join his brother in prison. My Honduran friends are glad to see this.]
Far from Ukraine and the rest of the world, and setting aside W Va. local politics, I had a delightful visit there, celebrating my son’s birthday and my own, only 2 days apart.
Before I left home for W. Va., a very thoughtful neighbor gave me a framed picture of me with my granddaughter. It now sits on my living room mantle.
On my recent birthday, I heard as well from my daughters and granddaughter. My daughter living in Honolulu doesn’t look her age. I used to look rather youthful myself, up until the last few years. My very artistic daughter said she’d made me a special birthday card, but it never arrived. However, I’ll share here some photos of her and of her biology-themed sewing projects. She and other women also do a synchronized roller-skating dance routine to music. That she can still do a split at her age is amazing (I won’t reveal her age). She is a biologist, inspired by Hawaii's natural beauty. She fashions many items for friends.
I also ran across this photo below of my son Jonathan as a toddler with his cousin and then a more recent one of them together, with Jon on the right.
One of my nephews is a completely self-taught natural artist, much more successful in selling his work than some folks I know with university art degrees. He has a unique abstract style. Here is a card announcing his recent exhibit.
How to survive after the loss of a child
DE LA DISTOPÍA A LAS ENTRAÑAS DE CUBA
libertad de asociación en América Latina
ECONOMÍAS CREATIVAS
¿Arrepentimiento, perdón y reconciliación?
SEPARAFILAS
Envía Antecedentes
Adiós al Estrés
Relájate y Disfruta
Formulario de interés
Asadores Eléctricos
Gestión
del Talento Directivo - Formación y Entrenamiento
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