Washington Post

And then we wonder why there is a migrant problem!

So last night my landlady called me up and she sounded just awful. What she called about was fairly trivial but then she announced that she had been diagnosed with Covid. I was stunned. I flashed back to the last time I spoke with her before this. I had mentioned to Cula that I'd just gotten my second Covid vaccination and was feeling some mild side effects.

Cula replied that she was much older than me and in good health. She saw no need to get the vaccine and was in fact worried that some national mandate might come down forcing EVERYONE to get vaccinated. I think that such a mandate might be a good idea, but I tried to calm Cula's fears and I told her that I didn't think "they" would force her to get a vaccine against her will. I wish they would have.

I worry that given Cula's age, she may not pull through. I worry that her husband Bud who is also in his 80's and has cancer will catch Covid and his compromised immune system will fold on him.

I've been thinking and then saying it aloud that the republicans deserve to catch Covid, given how destructive the republican stance on Covid has been for our nation. Let them all die so that no one will be left to support Trump sez I. But Cula doesn't deserve the death sentence just because she's so deluded that she supports Trump. The county we live in is a real right wing stronghold and you can practically count all the Democrats who live here on the fingers of your hands. Cula's farming and ranching family have been staunch republicans from the dawn of time. I can't blame her for her Trump lawn sign when her family and friends and the community at large also support that SOB.

Cula has been beyond kind to me and her life has not been an easy one. She deserves better than this. There are many Cula's out there, I think. They have been brain washed by Fox, but inherently, they are not bad people and they don't deserve to die.

I need to be more careful about what I wish for.

And yet we claim that we still can keep global warming at a mere 2 C:

None of the world's major economies -- including the entire G20 -- have a climate plan that meets their obligations under the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to an analysis published Wednesday, despite scientists' warning that deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are needed now.

The watchdog Climate Action Tracker (CAT) analyzed the policies of 36 countries, as well as the 27-nation European Union, and found that all major economies were off track to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The countries together make up 80% of the world's emissions.

The analysis also included some low-emissions countries, and found that the Gambia was the only nation among all 37 to be "1.5 compatible." As the study only included a few smaller emitters, it's possible there are other developing countries in the world on track as well.

Under the 2015 Paris accord, more than 190 countries agreed to limit the increase in global temperatures to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures -- ideally to 1.5 degrees. Scientists have said 2 degrees is a critical threshold for some of the Earth's ecosystems, and is one that would also trigger more catastrophic extreme weather events.

The report comes less than two months ahead of UN-brokered international climate talks in Glasgow, known as COP26. The event's president, British MP Alok Sharma, has said he hopes to "keep 1.5 alive" as a global warming limit.

- MORE

To Colorado's ever lasting shame, the voters in its Third District (where I so happen to reside) elected a gun happy (there was a pic of her posing in front of a bookcase filled with guns instead of books on another recent thread here on DU) minor criminal with a rap sheet as long as your arm. I guess my neighbors here in rural Colorado believe that we are still living in the Wild West where a Congress person can incite insurgencies and strap a six gun to her side to be properly attired for a debate on the House floor, all with no repercussions.

To my lasting disgust, someone has kept up a sign at the corner of the highway not far from my house which reads:

LAUREN BOEBERT
FREEDOM!

I have to pass by this at least once a day, and given all that has happened and is continuing to happen, my blood is coming to a slow boil. Right from the start, I noticed how similar her name is to "Lorena Bobbitt". For those of you too young to remember the case, Lorena Bobbitt cut her sleeping husband's penis off after he had raped her. Ms. Bobbitt threw her husband's manhood into a field where it was finally found after a lengthy search and reattached.

I am so tempted to go out there to the highway in the small hours of the morning and change the sign so that it reads Lorena Bobbitt instead of Lauren Boebert. It would be child's play to carry out the evil deed since the names are so close. I can just imagine the smoke pouring out of the ears of all those good ole boy Trump supporters when they finally notice the changed wording of the sign. Their private parts would probably shrivel up to become even smaller then Trump's hands as they imagined themselves meeting a similar fate at the hands of a Democrat "feminazi." The subliminal damage would take its toll and I'd bet anything that their hands would hesitate when they hovered over the ballot with the name "Lorena Bobbitt" come the next election.

My roommate (also a DU member) doesn't want me to go out and fix that sign because I would be "defacing private property." And if the election had not yet been held, I'd leave the sign alone. After all, that's freedom of speech even if I happen to loathe the candidate, I wouldn't interfere with that.

But the election is long over and Lauren Boebert has just only begun her rampage through Congress. Time to fight back, says I. I told my roomie that if the folks on DU agreed with him, I'll leave that sign alone. But if you guys agree with me... Well, pictures will be posted here soon! What say you?

I have gone in to "my account" and made sure these features are turned on, but it makes no difference. What do I do?

Oh, I can't see avatars anymore, either.

I have a bad tooth that's broken half way off and that my dentist was going to fix for me except that he had to close his office thanks to the coronavirus the day after he gave me my first exam. When he was finally able to open up, I was worried about going in thanks to my concern about catching covid (I'm in a high risk group). So, I've been getting by with taking my dog's antibiotics and sometimes a codeine tab (how pathetic am I?)

But tonight I'm out of codeine and my dog refuses to give me anymore of his amoxicillin and I wanna die! Needless to say, I can't sleep - just trying to hang on until I can call my dentist's emergency number in the morning.

Is there anyone still awake who knows of any home remedies for a toothache from hell?

Oh, please!

Anyone at all??

[link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/06/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching/?itid=hp_no-name_hp-breaking-news%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar|

Australia has had a very bad year and there is no end in sight.

Source: POLITICO

A federal judge has ordered former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to sit for a sworn deposition for the first time in connection with her use of a private email account during her State Department tenure.

U.S. District Court Royce Lamberth issued the order Monday in connection with a five-and-a-half-year-old Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the conservative group Judicial Watch filed seeking emails related to the deadly 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton was previously required to submit a sworn written statement about her email use, but the deposition—if it takes place—would be the first time she has had to submit to live questioning under oath on the subject.

During her four years in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, Clinton relied on a private email account and server for both her work-related and personal messages. The practice led to a storm of controversy that roiled her 2016 presidential bid and is widely viewed as contributing to her ultimate defeat by Donald Trump.

In response to press questions during the campaign and in the sworn statement, Clinton said she kept the private account and server after taking over as secretary of state in 2009 as a matter of convenience and not to avoid FOIA or other disclosure requirements. The FBI investigated, interviewed Clinton and recommended against criminal charges, but it did find dozens of messages in her account that officials said contained highly classified information.

However, Lamberth said in his ruling Monday that the FBI probe and representations by the State Department have not adequately put to rest questions about the episode and Clinton's deposition is needed to address those concerns.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/02/hillary-clinton-email-deposition-118800

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Seriously? but, but... Her e-mails? STILL?

I love Colorado’s vote by mail system! My ballot arrived today and I promptly marked Buttigieg as my candidate of choice and dropped my ballot right back in the mail. That was so easy, my Iowa friends!

I had been going back and forth over which candidate would have the best chance against twittler until a friend told me that the primary was my chance to vote my heart. Vote my heart? Well then, no problems. Mayor Pete has my heart and then some. Buttigieg for the win in 2020!

[link:https://www.npr.org/2019/09/18/761591604/bolivia-is-fighting-major-forest-fires-nearly-as-large-as-brazils?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news|

The bad news never stops these days.