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Ponietz
Ponietz's Journal
Ponietz's Journal
June 4, 2021
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/criminal-trial-against-rio-arriba-sheriff-ends-in-mistrial/6131413/
Criminal trial against Rio Arriba Sheriff ends in mistrial
Rio Arriba is the site of Tijerinas courthouse raid in 1967 and the sheriff preceding the present one, Rodella, is sitting still in federal prison for civil rights violations.TIERRA AMARILLA, N.M.- The criminal trial against the sitting sheriff of Rio Arriba County ended in a mistrial Friday.
District Court Judge Kathleen McGarry declared a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Sheriff James Lujan is accused of interfering when Espanola Police were in a high speed chase back in 2017 and officers were in pursuit of suspect Phillip Chacon.
Prosecutors say Sheriff Lujan was friends with the suspect and wanted to help him. Court records claim he "instructed Phillip Chacon to gather his belongings and get in his patrol vehicle" to avoid arrest.
It's not clear whether prosecutors plan to bring Lujan to trial again.
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/criminal-trial-against-rio-arriba-sheriff-ends-in-mistrial/6131413/
January 24, 2021
They are listed as:
1) Subverting the 2020 election
2) Inciting an insurrection
3) Abusing the bully pulpit
4) Politicizing the Justice Department
5) Obstructing the Mueller investigation
6) Abusing the pardon power
7) The Ukraine affair and cover-up
8) Loyalty oaths and personalizing government
9) Firing whistleblowers and truth tellers
10) Profiting off the presidency
Chronicling Trump's 10 worst abuses of power
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/24/politics/trump-worst-abuses-of-power/index.htmlWashington (CNN)Former President Donald Trump flouted the limits of presidential power unlike any of his recent predecessors, leaving behind a legacy of unmatched abuses that range from violations of longstanding norms to potentially criminal behavior.
It was hard to keep track amid the daily deluge of controversial tweets and distractions that were a hallmark of the Trump presidency. And some of the most egregious abuses of power weren't clear at the time but came into focus after exhaustive investigations.
To chronicle Trump's most consequential abuses of power, CNN spoke with a politically diverse group of constitutional scholars, presidential historians and experts on democratic institutions.
While these 16 experts did not agree on everything, there was consensus that Trump's pattern of abusing his powers for personal or political gain reached an alarming level that hasn't been seen in modern history, and will have long-lasting consequences for the future of American democracy.
Here is a breakdown of Trump's 10 most significant abuses of power.
They are listed as:
1) Subverting the 2020 election
2) Inciting an insurrection
3) Abusing the bully pulpit
4) Politicizing the Justice Department
5) Obstructing the Mueller investigation
6) Abusing the pardon power
7) The Ukraine affair and cover-up
8) Loyalty oaths and personalizing government
9) Firing whistleblowers and truth tellers
10) Profiting off the presidency
December 4, 2020
The End of the World by Archibald MacLeish
|
November 18, 2020
(Cont.)
Vision and Breathing May Be the Secrets to Surviving 2020
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vision-and-breathing-may-be-the-secrets-to-surviving-2020/|We are living through an inarguably challenging time. The U.S. has been facing its highest daily COVID-19 case counts yet. Uncertainty and division continue to dog the aftermath of the presidential election. And we are heading into a long, cold winter, when socializing outdoors will be less of an option. We are a nation and a world under stress.
But Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University who studies the visual system, sees matters a bit differently. Stress, he says, is not just about the content of what we are reading or the images we are seeing. It is about how our eyes and breathing change in response to the world and the cascades of events that follow. And both of these bodily processes also offer us easy and accessible releases from stress.
Hubermans assertions are based on both established and emerging science. He has spent the past 20 years unraveling the inner workings of the visual system. In 2018, for example, his lab reported its discovery of brain pathways connected with fear and paralysis that respond specifically to visual threats. And a small but growing body of research makes the case that altering our breathing can alter our brain. In 2017 Mark Krasnow of Stanford University, Jack Feldman of the University of California, Los Angeles, and their colleagues identified a tight link between neurons responsible for controlling breathing and the region of the brain responsible for arousal and panic.
This growing understanding of how vision and breathing directly affect the brainrather than the more nebulous categories of the mind and feelingscan come in handy as we continue to face mounting challenges around the globe, across the U.S. and in our own lives. Scientific American spoke with Huberman about how it all works.
(Cont.)
November 17, 2020
Advertiser content? The only story (unreported) is the financial relationship between WaPo and Chipotle.
Burritos are, by definition, to go. Maybe they can try a few trucks on various street corners.
Burritos to go -- 6 days (so far) on the Washington Post online front page:
[link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/road-to-recovery/2020/11/11/chipotle-digital-kitchen-takeout
You can go to Chipotles newest restaurant, but you cant stay there.
With online orders booming during the pandemic, the fast-casual Mexican chain announced Wednesday that it is rolling out a new restaurant format that exclusively services pickup and deliveries. Chipotle Digital Kitchen is the companys take on the ghost kitchen model empty of diners and fast on orders and when it opens this weekend in Highland Falls, N.Y., it will kick off an effort by the company to boost online sales in nontraditional locations.
As more people turn to takeout and delivery to avoid public places during the coronavirus outbreak, cash-strapped restaurateurs have been forced to chase down dollars in novel ways, including testing new concepts or paring down operational costs with ghost kitchens. Such facilities can be urban warehouses containing multiple small kitchens leased by a restaurant or a restaurant subcontractor for delivery only, eliminating the need for premium locations and fancy build-outs. Orders are often delivered by third-party aggregators such as DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub.
Advertiser content? The only story (unreported) is the financial relationship between WaPo and Chipotle.
Burritos are, by definition, to go. Maybe they can try a few trucks on various street corners.
November 15, 2020
(cont.)
The Coronavirus's origins are still a mystery. We need a full investigation.
From todays Washington Post Editorial Board:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-coronaviruss-origins-are-still-a-mystery-we-need-a-full-investigation/2020/11/13/cbf4390e-2450-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html|
AFTER SO much death and illness, a mystery from the first days of the novel coronavirus has yet to be solved. We still dont understand its origins or how it became a global killer. The answers lie in China, and quite possibly beyond. The world needs a credible, impartial investigation to better prepare for future pandemics.
Most likely, the virus was a zoonotic spillover, a leap from animals to humans, which have become more common as people push into new areas where they have closer contact with wildlife. The facts are still extremely sparse. The closest-known relatives to this coronavirus were collected from bats in Chinas Yunnan province in 2012 to 2013 and in 2019. The first one matches the virus genetic sequence by 96.2 percent, and the second one by 93.3 percent. But with a genome size of about 30,000 nucleotides, the closest bat virus is still nearly 1,200 nucleotides distant.
Moreover, the first outbreak was reported more than 1,000 miles away from Yunnan in Wuhan, Hubei province. How did it cross time and distance? Was there another animal intermediary? David A. Relman, a Stanford University microbiologist, writes in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the origin story is missing many key details, including a recent detailed evolutionary history of the virus, identity of its most recent ancestors and surprisingly, the place, time, and mechanism of transmission of the first human infection.
At first, it was suspected that Wuhans Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was the location of the infection. The market was large, with 653 stalls, selling seafood but also fruits and vegetables, meat and live animals. Trade was carried out in chipmunks, foxes, raccoons, wild boar, giant salamanders, hedgehogs, sika deer, snakes, frogs, quail, bamboo rats, rabbits, crocodiles and badgers. The market was closed right after the outbreak began, and in the rush to disinfect, no samples were taken that might prove a virus connection. However, some environmental samples from the market contained virus matching those in patients who became ill. A study of 41 confirmed human cases from Wuhan showed that nearly 70 percent had a link to the market, but 30 percent did not, including three of the first four cases. The data are insufficient to settle whether the market was the contamination source, or whether it served to amplify the virus for human-to-human transmission, or both, or neither.
(cont.)
November 13, 2020
Governor orders statewide shutdown
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/coronavirus/governor-orders-statewide-shutdown/article_71de96c4-25ec-11eb-ae44-13887e802aa7.html|New Mexico will again shut down nonessential businesses "in order to blunt the unprecedented spike of COVID-19 illnesses and to attempt to relieve dramatically escalating strain on hospitals and health care providers across the state," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office announced Friday.
The emergency public health order will take effect Monday and last at least two weeks.
Under the order, residents are supposed to stay at home "except for only those trips that are essential to health, safety and welfare such as for food and water, emergency medical care, to obtain a flu shot or to obtain a test for COVID-19," according to a news release from the Governor's Office.
Essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, shelters and child care facilities will remain open but only will be allowed to operate at 25 percent of their maximum occupancy or 75 customers at a time, whichever is smaller.
In-person dining will not be allowed during the shutdown, but restaurants will be able to offer curbside pickup and delivery services.
November 13, 2020
Lame duck a l'orange
https://twitter.com/briankarem/status/1327276472718004225Over heard at the WH: "We haven't seen lame duck a l'orange all week. Maybe he's still marinating." @realDonaldTrump
Brian J. Karen
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: NM
Current location: Taos
Member since: Thu Jun 28, 2018, 06:04 PM
Number of posts: 3,322