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Navy's 42nd flotilla saves 7 Iranian sailors in Indian Ocean
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Navy's 42nd flotilla of warships rescued seven sailors aboard a vessel that had been adrift in the northern Indian Ocean for two weeks, a high-ranking Navy official announced.
Deputy Commander of Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi said the 42nd naval flotilla on Sunday came across a fishing vessel of the country in the Indian Ocean and saved its sailors.
He added that due to a serious damage to propulsion system of the vessel and in order to prevent a possible pirate attack, the vessel was towed by the fleet's Alvand Destroyer.
The 42nd flotilla of warships set sail for international waters on July 18 as part of regular missions to ensure security of the country's trade vessels.
The fleet, comprising Alvand destroyer and Tonb logistic warship, departed Iran's southern coasts for the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The flotilla set sail from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas after its predecessor, the 41st flotilla, returned home from a 48-day overseas mission, during which it sailed 5,130 nautical miles and escorted 46 Iranian ships and oil tankers in international waters.
In recent years, Iran's naval forces have increased their presence in international waters to secure naval routes and protect merchant vessels and oil tankers against pirates.
Indian Ocean, Iran Navy, iran navy power, Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi	August 1, 2016
Mahmoud Abbas appearance with MKO ringleader defies international norms: MP
Meeting MKO ringleader, another mistake by Abbas: Arabic newspaper


Overall rating:4.2 based on 15 ratings.
Description: In Garden Fun Game, players play a role as a farmer. Players' garden must be taken care to make it become one of the best gardens in your area. As a farmer, you grow plants, fruits and vegetables; after that you harvest crops to gain money. Firstly, players need to plow your plots by using Spade shovel. Your spade will be sharpened if you click on the grinder. Then you buy some seeds such as onion seeds. You click on onion seeds to plant them. To make your onions grow well, onions need watering and fertilizing. By the way, you can decorate your garden too.


Hello lovelies! :) I want to thank every single one of you who joined my giveaway, I really appreciate it!
I had to chose from 28 entries and I looked at every single blog, and the one that stood out the most to me was Color your life! I already contacted her, but since she is on holiday it might take her a while to reply.
OMG. I can't believe it, I am sooo happy. Lisa, I can not thank you enough your appreciation! Thank you from all my heart for your kind words about my blog, readers like you give me the power to continue with blogging. I am sending you right away an e-mail! Thank you again!


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"The Truth"
11th Jan 2023 - 1 mins
What do you do when you've been wronged?
Clare Potts
Caring for the Queen
16th Sep 2022 - 1 mins
Simon Smart recounts his conversation with the late Queen Elizabeth II's Chaplain in Scotland, John Swinton. ...
Simon Smart
The kings (and queens) of the earth
9th Sep 2022 - 1 mins
Natasha reads a psalm about monarchs and nations, and reflects on the life and death of Queen Elizabeth II. ...
Natasha Moore
7th Jun 2022 - 1 mins
Natasha Moore on how the Queen's Platinum Jubilee offered a chance to marvel at what it takes to stick at something decade after decade....

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


You can connect your iPhone 7 to your Mac or PC and sync content from your computer using iTunes and back up iPhone with iTunes.
To Connect iPhone 7 to your computer, you simply need to use the included Lightning to USB Cable. See the top of the iTunes screen on your iPhone 7 or Mac to see if syncing is in progress. Please note that some data may not get synced if you disconnect your iPhone 7 while it's syncing.


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Top Israeli Honor Eludes Goering's Brother, Who Heroically Saved Jews
Posted on February 4, 2016 in: Together|Jump To Comments
Albert, sibling of Hitler's Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering, said to have enabled hundreds to escape Nazi regime, but Yad Vashem doubts his eligibility as a Righteous Among the Nations
An upcoming BBC documentary is set to highlight the remarkable story of Albert Goering — the brother of Nazi minister and air force chief Hermann Goering — who is said to have saved hundreds of Jews and political dissidents during World War II.
However, despite the evidence pointing to Albert's efforts to enable Jewish people and others to escape the Nazis, he is not in line for nomination as a Righteous Among the Nations, the highest honor bestowed by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel's official Holocaust institute.
"There are indications that Albert Goering had a positive attitude to Jews and that he helped some people, but we do not have sufficient proof, i.e., primary sources, showing that he took extraordinary risks to save Jews from danger of deportation and death," Yad Vashem told The Times of Israel on Monday.
Reports by the Gestapo, US Army interrogation records and survivor testimonies suggest that the younger Goering risked his life to save victims of the Nazi regime by obtaining exit permits for Jews and transferring their assets out of Germany. For instance, he is said to have secured the release of his Jewish former boss Oskar Pilzer, and to have helped Pilzer and his family escape from Germany. There is evidence Albert Goering also used his family connections to help get Jewish prisoners out of concentration camps, and to prevent the Gestapo from investigating his activities.
Veteran BBC journalist Gavin Esler details Albert Goering's remarkable story in a Radio 4 program being broadcast on Wednesday, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In a preview account of his personal interest in the Goering family history published by the Daily Mail on Sunday, Esler reported a remarkable anecdote — that Albert Goering's father was Jewish, the result of an adulterous affair between his mother, Fanny, and Hermann von Epenstein, a doctor and businessman.
Fanny's husband, Heinrich, was in the German diplomatic service, where he served as the consul in Haiti and as the governor-general of the German protectorate in German South-West Africa — modern-day Namibia. Epenstein acted as guardian for the family while Heinrich was away carrying out his duties abroad.
Kesler wrote that Albert's only daughter, Elizabeth Goering Klasa, has claimed her father told her mother he was not Heinrich's son but the progeny of Epenstein, making Hermann his half-brother.
The revelation adds a twist to Albert's wartime heroics, since under the Nazis' genocidal anti-Semitic doctrine, having just one Jewish grandparent was enough to condemn a person as being intolerably Jewish.
Explaining why it was not ready to honor Albert Goering, Yad Vashem told The Times of Israel that "the title of Righteous Among the Nations is awarded by a special commission, comprised of Holocaust survivors, researchers and historians, and chaired by a retired Supreme Court justice, which operates according to a well-defined set of criteria and rules.
"Each rescue story is carefully examined to see whether it meets the criteria, the most basic of which is that a person risked his/her life to save Jews from deportation and murder. The stories must be substantiated with survivor testimony or archival documentation of the period. Only such documentation, i.e., primary sources, can provide a basis for recognition.
"Thus far, Yad Vashem has not received any documentation that may enable this case [Albert Goering's] to be presented to the commission."
Yad Vashem noted that "books or articles are works of analysis and interpretation and therefore cannot be used for the purpose of recognition as Righteous."
After the war, Albert Goering spent two years in prison while Allied authorities sorted out his story.
Adolf Hitler with Göring on balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, 16 March 1938 (Wikipedia)
Adolf Hitler with Goering on the balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, March 16, 1938 (Wikipedia)
His older brother, who led Germany's air force during the war and was the second-highest-ranking Nazi tried at Nuremberg, committed suicide in 1946, on the night before he was due to be hanged.
It has been reported that the younger Goering, burdened by his notorious family name and legacy, became depressed and alcoholic following the war. He died in 1966.
More than 26,000 people have been designated "Righteous Among the Nations," the most famous being Oskar Schindler, whose efforts to save more than 1,000 Jews were documented in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film "Schindler's List," and Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who is credited with having saved at least 20,000 Jews before mysteriously disappearing.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.


Funding for this grant is based on the Title I funding formula. Districts that receive an allocation of $30,000 or greater must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and are required to allocate at least 20% of the grant funds toward a well-rounded education, at least 20% toward supporting safe and healthy students, and a portion of funds to support the effective use of technology. If a district receives less than $30,000 in funding a comprehensive needs assessment is not required and there is not a required set-aside percentage for well-rounded and safe and healthy students, however a district must spend money on activities in at least one of the three categories. All districts are limited to using no more than 15% of the technology portion for the purchase of technology infrastructure such as devices, equipment, software and digital content.


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HomeNewsNew EMS station being built in North Bay
New EMS station being built in North Bay
Tuesday, Sep. 8th, 2015
North Bay is getting a brand new ambulance station next to Highway 17.
The new station at 1715 Seymour Street is going to replace the two existing locations on Beatty Street and Ferris Drive. The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board feels the new station will be more cost effective than operating out of two locations. It will also allow fast access to all parts of the service area from the bypass.
The Seymour station will serve a coverage area halfway to Mattawa, West Nipissing, Temagami, and Callander. Construction should be complete within a year.


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405 York Road, Leeds, LS9 6TE
Listings > 405 York Road, Leeds, LS9 6TE
On application
Contract To Let/Leasehold
Property Type Warehouse/Trade Counter
Full Address 405 York Road, Leeds, LS9 6TE
Size 4,398 sq. ft. (408.60 sq. m.)
Lease Terms & Costs
The property is located 2 miles east of Leeds city centre on the A64 York Road which leads into the A58(M) to the west, part of the inner ring road of the city. Junction 46 of the M1 lies to the south-east and is accessed via the A63.
The subject property occupies a prominent position fronting the busy arterial route of York Road (A64). The immediate area supports a variety of uses including offices, trade counters and residential.
DESCRIPTION: The premises comprise of a detached single storey trade counter / showroom / warehouse building with off road parking for 4 vehicles The premises are adjacent to Leeds Glass.
ACCOMMODATION: The property has been measured in accordance with the RICS Code of Measuring practice (6th Edition) and the approximate Gross Internal Area is as follows:
Sq. m. Sq. ft.
Warehouse 408.60 4,398
The property is located 2 miles east of Leeds city centre on the A64 York Road which leads into the A58(M) to the west, part of the inner ring road of the city. Junction 46 of the M1 lies to the south-east and is accessed via the A63. The subject property occupies a prominent position fronting the busy arterial route of York Road (A64).
The immediate area supports a variety of uses including offices, trade counters and residential.
The premises comprise of a detached single storey trade counter / showroom / warehouse building with off road parking for 4 vehicles
The premises are adjacent to Leeds Glass.
The property has been measured in accordance with the RICS Code of Measuring practice (6th Edition) and the approximate Gross Internal Area is as follows:
Leeds Road
warehouse counter
LEASE TERMS: The premises are available by way of a sub lease or assignment of the existing full repairing and insuring lease which is due to expire January 2020. Permitted use is B1, B2 and/or B8.
RENT: On application.
RATES: The accommodation has been listed in the 2017 rating list at a rateable value of £16,250. All parties must rely upon their own enquiries with regard to their liability for the payment of business rates.
To Let/LeaseholdWarehouse/Trade Counter
Unit C, Rosie Road, Trident Park, Normanton, WF6 1GX
Yorkshire and The Humber, , Warehouse/Trade Counter, On application, by Dunlop Heywood On application
0113 2458661 Seller: Dunlop Heywood Admin
9 - Five


Really happy with Elaine's work. She was patient and understanding, and very willing to kick-start the project. She did a great job, always kept me in the loop and had a fantastic turn-around time. I would recommend her no end.


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Choose You…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, Democrats, Devil, freedom, GOP, January 6 2021, McConnell, politicians, Politics, Republicans, Trump
This political party…that political party…following darkness…embracing lies…promoting hatred…endorsing the fall of humanity…selling souls for the material "things" that are nothing more than "tangible" illusions because they cannot be taken with you…nor will they follow you into the disembodied existence of what is beyond earthly manifestation…
Why follow the paths of those who are leading you away from promoting goodness and light in the world?
What you must come to realize is your path and purpose surpasses those whose mission it is…is to lead you from creating better in the world…and the lives of others…why choose evil? Why play ignorant? Why join the destroyers? You know who they are…you allow them to control you by fear and false promises…they are known as "soul eaters." We have watched and witnessed some of the most dangerous cast their nets over many…
Trump…McConnell…and every constituent and politician subscribing to and drinking their koolaid are instrumental in destroying the American ideals of real and true freedom and individual dreams of the freedom to prosper…mentally…physically…emotionally…and spiritually…
When are you going to choose…you?
Without the support of the people…political rhetoric would be cast down into oblivion.
Choose You.
Your "sheep mentality" is leading you to slaughter…
Stop being lead by those who care nothing about you…just your power to ultimately give them their agenda…
America has turned into a political party battle ground…if the GOP had not sold their "balls", and the Democrats had not bartered their "courage", 2016 through 2020, and January 6, 2021…would have never come into being!
Don't choose evil…don't choose lies…believe your ears and eyes…and choose you!
Change is progress…change away from the past guarantees humankind a place in the future to move forward…
Dealing with and endorsing life already lived…is dealing with…and endorsing the "Devil." After all the word "lived" is the "devil" spelled backwards…
Devil contains the word "evil." So does the word lived…
Going backwards is "evil."
Having lived something and choosing to go back is evil…
Living in the past only destroys the present…leaving no path to begin a future…
Leave the Devil behind….
Stop advancing evil…
Choose change…
Choose America over seedy politicians on both sides of the aisle!
Stop crucifying and abandon and ousting politicians on both sides of the aisle who have shown you up until the 2016 election…that they truly love America and not political parties, by choosing their constituents (you) and America first…everyone knows who they are…and were ousted because they were a threat to those "Devil" politicians who continue to lead many astray…for the benefit of themselves…without punishment…before tossing you under the bus…once they secure and use your power of the vote.
Or continue to watch the rise of a nation that doesn't include you…while it abruptly descends into the abyss of self-destruction….
The choice is…Yours.
Come In, August…Bring Life…Change…And Second Chances…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, Americans, Amy Coney Barrett, August, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Constitution, Democracy, Democrats, Donald Trump, Earth, freedom, GOP, Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Siema, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Neil Gorsuch, planet, politicians, Republicans, Samuel Alito Jr.
As we enter the eighth month of the year…we must come to the realization that only the "living" have the ability to change…make change…and create second chances…
Staying rooted in the Past is to wither and die.
To promote the past is to sustain the "living dead"…the "Zombies" we know too well…
Mitch McConnell..
Amy Coney Barrett…
Neil Gorsuch…
Brett M. Kavanaugh…
Samuel Alito, Jr. …
The specific individuals named are stuck in a place that history is trying to move past…they are all blatantly abusing power and public trust to the detriment of our country…and they are followed by many who are convinced that joining the "living dead" is the place to be…so they have willingly surrendered their power to create positive change for the continuity of life and the life of the planet for which we are only guardians…who cannot reciprocate the gifts of life Earth provides…How sad to utilize free-will to condemn and destroy!
Progress and Change are the only elements which will influence the present course of our nation from further division…chaos…and destruction. Until the Past is laid to rest and progress is embraced and implemented for the betterment of all…every month will be an extension of the months before with every tragedy magnified and increased in severity and continuity…becoming more entrenched in the darkness many believe we have overcome…and left behind. With politicians rehashing the Past as the perfect place to be…and those who follow…America is losing her fight for…Freedom.
When America can progress beyond her past with healing and progressive change…she will have a chance at "greatness."
When that day arrives…there will be no more Mitch McConnells…Lindsey Grahams…Donald Trumps…Clarence Thomases…Joe Manchins…Kyrsten Sinemas…Amy Coney Barretts…Neil Gorsuches…Brett M. Kavanaughs…Samuel Alito, Jrs. …No GOP members who lack the courage to tell the truth…and put country before Party…No Democrat politician on the Hill who lacks the courage to stand up to derelict Republicans and derelict Democrats who have intentionally lost their direction of purpose in serving their constituents by serving up justice as is written in the Constitution, to relieve them of the duties they swore to uphold.
Democracy is threatened by the lack of courage in politicians to thoroughly uphold the Constitution…by deliberately failing it…and creating ways to move around it. It is a true sign of weakness, along with trying to convince the country that lies are truth…and the truth is lies… Freedom and Democracy can do nothing more than crumble in such an environment.
The "party" system of government must be elevated to truly implement a government for the people by the people…
When we understand that each one of us has the ability to bring about change…second chances and the continuity of life…each month that comes and goes will reflect the realization of progress with the lifting of our voices by protecting and using our power…We the People…give derelict politicians the power…to sink America…
Time to take back that power…
August is a great month for a national "Tea Party."
America is right back where she started…
Only the enemy is not the British…
It's "fellow Americans"…
Come in, August…..
Eleven Days Into July…Once Again…Why?!
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, American Dream, Constitution, freedom, Independence Day, July 4th shooting, Republicans, Roe v. Wade
It's becoming a tradition to begin each month with a mass shooting? Independence Day gave rise to people being picked off at an Independence Day parade…
The Nation of the Gun is showing it's true colors…Red, White and Blue is giving way to streets red with blood…
Until the real issues of this country are challenged with real solutions…with people honestly the priority…we will continue to have a ringside seat to this country's demise.
Continue to buy into the lies of dissension that have been designed to keep the states divided…and wave goodbye to Democracy and any remnants of the American Dream…
Make no mistake about where this country is headed….
It is not progressing…
It is not great…greatness doesn't destroy…it uplifts…it exemplifies…
What is taking place here, day in and day out, by those who took oaths to defend the Constitution…its citizens…and the country… It is third world…
The more things change…the more they remain the same…
The more power…the more the corruption…the more the abuse…
Good and evil are functioning at an accelerated level…and in full view.
The Republicans that are yelling the loudest and blocking the functioning of the government, if it doesn't represent their viewpoint, are reversing freedoms, and have vowed to win the "War of the Confederates" by destroying progress and taking the states back to the pre-Civil War era…one way or another, they are determined to win…at any cost..and the cost is the fall of a nation…
They packed the courts with three conservative judges…who lied about overturning Roe v. Wade…taking women back to second-class citizens by reducing their privacy and rights to be in control over their own bodies…
Slavery has indoctrinated this country…emotionally…mentally…physically…and spiritually…. Government officials and corporations are the "Masters" and the citizens of America are the "Slaves."
Everyone is vying for "Freedom." And everyone…especially the "Masters," are slaves to something…
Power? Wealth? Control? Debauchery? Evil?
So elusive is independence! Non-existent is "Freedom" in the truest meaning of the word…
Until human lives hold more value than the color of one's skin..or the deepness of one's pockets in material wealth and assets…this country…and sadly, the world…is on a fast track to "Hell."
We must stop sugar-coating with illusion and delusion…and see the forest for the trees!
Blind rebellion is a Fool's Reign.
Educate yourselves about the country you live in…
Travel the country and get a good look at what is really going on around you…
Witness…firsthand.
Scrutinize and investigate the sources you rely upon….and the politicians you elect…
Don't be sheep led to slaughter by your own hand…
Understand your rights…before they become a thing of the past…
Think about the little 2-year-old toddler who lost his parents to gun violence on July 4th…which could have been avoided if this nations wasn't so ruled by the gun…the passing and enforcement of the right gun laws through the House and the Senate would have saved his parents' lives…instead he's growing up an orphan…The energy of overturning Roe v. Wade would have been better utilized on the preservation of lives now on this planet!
Monthly mass shootings are not routine…however, they will be…if we choose to turn our backs…if we don't stand up to political corruption…if you continue to believe that you can't and don't make a difference…if you continue to believe that change is beyond your reach…if you continue to believe that you are without positive purpose…
Because change and progress continue to knock on your door…
And many…refuse to answer….
Under the Guise of Democracy…What Has America Become?
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, American Dream, baby-boomers, Democracy, Democrats, fascism, Kleptocracy, Mitch McConnell, nazism, politicians, Republicans, suppression, Trump
Continuing on this subject, let's take a look at the forms of governing that function under the guise of "Democracy."
Fascism…A form of far-right, authoritarian ultra-nationalism, characterized by dictatorial powers, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.
Nazism…It is described as a form of fascism against liberal democracy and the parliamentary system…incorporating antisemitism, anti-communism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics, which is a set of beliefs and practices aimed to improve the genetic quality of a human population.
Kleptocracy…Government by those who seek chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed.
All of these are at work here in America…under the guise of democracy.
The saddest realization of this is people are courted by deception into believing that their voices will be heard…and their wants and needs will be implemented…if they elect the candidate who is the most persuasive of their chosen party in convincing their constituents of such…only delivering compromised versions of what the masses truly need to live a life of quality and promise to a life inclusive of "the American Dream."
The Trump years provided a sobering inside view into how much Fascism…Nazism and Kleptocracy has situated specific doctrines of their belief and practices into "democracy" by destroying and undermining the principles of Democracy…while exposing the real motives and desires of the Republican Party…carefully orchestrated by McConnell…who carried out Trump's agenda because it encapsulated the core of McConnell's beliefs, wants and needs to protect "White privilege and supremacy, while robbing Republican and Democratic citizens of opportunities and finances to realize their entitlements to the "American Dream." Mitch McConnell is "Old South…Old Conservative…Old Racist"… and a total threat to Change and America moving forward with the times…
Americans…"Baby-Boomers" and Generation X" have grown tired and indifferent to politicians and their empty and half-ass promises to get them into office or keep them there, so they can continue pushing their own self-interests at the expense and sacrifice of the American people… when it comes to money and power for the politicians…Republicans and Democrats which make up the American constituency become "just people" after elections…and all suffer together under the will of corrupt, self-serving politicians on both sides of the aisle…
The truth is a mind-blower and disappointing…
What has America become?
Where are we headed?
What we see is what we get…if we are not honest with ourselves and what is going on around us.
There is no greatness in a nation of division…racism…supremacy…regression…oppression…spiritual bankruptcy…immigration denial from a country populated by immigration…cultural hatred…chaos…pushing democracy by destroying and dismantling its own democracy…denying essential liberties and life sustaining elements to the citizens of its country…a country bent on destroying itself…by wiping out the best of its change and progress…condemning itself to go down in flames….
Under the Guise of Democracy…
This…is what America has become….
Salvation depends upon the collective courage to rid our country of the "poison politics" and those who spread them with such delicious brainwashing of the American public… to keep themselves in office…
Complacency will ensure our country's descend…
What has America become to you?
Be truthful in your pondering…and take a good long look at what is going on around you…
Don't fool yourself and don't fall…
Under the Guise of Democracy…..
Comments…Thoughts…and Questions…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, Americans, Chris Rock, Constitution, Democracy, freedom, G.I. Jane, GOP, Navy SEAL, peace, Putin, Republicans, Russia, Russian, the world, Will Smith
G.I. Jane was a movie about a woman rising to the occasion in a male dominated military…namely the US Navy's SEAL/C.R.T. program. The program had a standard 60% dropout rate for men…LT. Jordan O'Neill, (Demi Moore's character) was determined to prove everyone wrong about her passing the program. She succeeds… The joke made was referencing a haircut…not a condition…the movie was a testament to the spirit of women and their ability to overcome adversity and triumph against all odds…The Smiths clearly failed to rise above and made it personal…and costly…to their detriment. Violence is never the answer to displeasure…
Chris Rock emerged with gains, respectability… and as a person who rose above an unnecessarily, volatile situation…it was the bringer of the physical action who belittled himself…. excuses do not equal passage to put hands on another perpetuating physical harm or verbal abuse…Everyday we are all faced with trials of our evolutionary process to rise above that which would pull us down into the depths of self-destructive and caustic behaviors…toward ourselves, as well as others…and we choose…
Save America? Muzzle Trump and the GOP…
Will America ever live up to its name of "United States of America"? Are we headed for that great graveyard of past empires that have crashed and burned into oblivion?
Forgiving…mending…and healing the past…will lead the way to unity…along with restructuring the present political parties to really be the voice of the people…and a nation of democracy.
Staying on course with the present GOP will surely condemn the nation to ruin…their loyalties are not rooted in Democracy…The majority of the Republican party promote poisonous theories and ideals, placing their party above the Constitution…Liberty…and Freedom….as well as real service to their American constituents…on both sides of the political spectrum. They promote division and the hateful doctrines which continue to keep America divided….
We must not walk blindly into harmful principles and voting changes that will render our country a remnant of what it can be again…America, the Beautiful…
Imperialism is slavery…it has no place on American soil…Those Republican Senators that are praising Putin along with a fallen, narcissistic businessman bent on controlling a nation through a passive-aggressive GOP political party…chipping away at American democracy…places our nation nearer to an eve of destruction…
All over the world…we have witnessed that rules are only made to be broken…applicable to some, yet not to others….If we cannot contain and put a stop to the tyrants masquerading as politicians in our own country…how can a tyrant and demonic presence such as Putin be stopped? Others with Putin's agenda are just waiting in the wings to further wreak havoc and destruction upon unsuspecting populations who are only interested in living a good life in peace…with freedom.
Ukraine is fighting the good fight…they believe in Ukraine….they believe in freedom…and they are dying for that belief and dedication and loyalty…. to democracy and peace…
Those nations in the world…along with America…must stand up to peace and freedom…by fighting alongside Ukraine, in addition to sanctions…we must do more than the impossible….
We must not fool ourselves into believing that this aggression and genocide perpetrated by Putin and his Russia…is not on our doorsteps…it is…and our boots are already in it.
We are faced with the monumental task of literally healing the world…
We cannot afford to fly off the handle in pursuit of the mundane and self-absorbed…trite…chest-beating heroics…
Before life can be lived…
There must come an appreciation for it…
On every level and spectrum of life…
Is….?
Who's Soft On Crime? The GOP…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, Belarus, Constitution, Democracy, Democrats, GOP, January 6 2021, Ketanji Brown Johnson, Mitch McConnell, Putin, Republicans, Russia, Trump, United States
The "Elephants" in the room are really the problem…
They will be the straw that breaks America's back…
People are subjected to the same "wool" everywhere around the world…Just look at Ginni Thomas…Her husband is Clarence Thomas…yes, the Supreme Court Justice Thomas…she wasn't and isn't afraid to take her swipe at destroying democracy by taking an active part in the escalating of the insurrection at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Who knows what other treasonous acts this wife of a Supreme Court Justice has been involved in…Makes one wonder about the impartiality and integrity her husband exercises on the bench…
Anyone and everyone watching, reading or receiving news about the confirmation hearings of nominee, Ketanji Brown Johnson and the questions and behaviors of the Republican senators on the panel, namely, Cruz, Hawley and Graham, received a clear view of the tone that continues to divide our country…and if you were looking and listening closely, you received real insight into who is really "soft on crime."
America must not forget what was witnessed by the GOP and their defense of Master Criminal, Donald Trump. Now, who's soft on crime?
What's more, many GOP members supported and still promote the January 6th insurrection of 2021…and believe that those involved in the attempt to overthrow democracy, should not be jailed or prosecuted. Who's soft on crime?
Highly treasonous events were coddled and dismissed by the majority of the GOP, led by Mitch McConnell.
The female Supreme Justices now sitting on the high court were never subjected to such treatment received by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Johnson. Hawley, Cruz and Graham and their pack continue to show citizens and the world how entrenched the racist divide extends itself, and is the true underbelly of the GOP. Ms. Ketanji Brown Johnson is a highly educated, highly qualified individual who just happens to be Black…and Female…Yet she was subjected to such manufactured and egregiously spawned character insinuations because?!
The Republican Party needs to be dismantled to free the country of their archaic beliefs and practices which will remind them of the true core and values of democracy and bi-partisan politics. They do not endorse racist or supremacists views or practices. These views and practices negate the meaning of Equality…Liberty…Freedom…Peace…the core foundation of Democracy…along with government by and for all people…not a few…or a chosen handful….
Democrats are by no means perfect…however, they stand closer to Democracy than the GOP…
This Party division has spilled over into the population creating a steady and downward spiral that our country may never recovery from…if we, the people, don't remember that we are not on opposite sides of Liberty…Freedom…Equality…Peace…we must remember that it is the citizens who suffer the collateral damage of political mistakes and politicians…not the politicians.
If politicians can't come together for the good of the country and its citizens…then we the people must unify and show them what bipartisan really means…it is the willingness and coming together in compromise for the benefit of the many…for the benefit of all.
How is GOP politics affecting our country?
Evan Neumann from California, was charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the Capitol building. He fled to Ukraine…then crossed the border into Belarus because he worried about Ukrainian authorities watching him.
He was granted asylum by Belarus, a Russian ally, for "political prosecution." In truth, he is a fugitive from justice…a coward. Runners who avoid and will not stand up to accountability for treasonous and destructive actions have been given prime examples by the GOP and their defense of Donald Trump and his playbook promoting chaos.
Neumann committed acts of violence which included an assault on two police officers, destroying government property at the Capitol building with a metal barrier, amounting to 6 counts against him…He went on state television in Belarus saying that he found the accusations very upsetting, especially the accusations of his hitting a police officer, calling it "baseless." He also went on to say, "I do not believe that I have committed any crime." Sounds chillingly familiar…
If that were true, why run? Why not stand and produce proof of your innocence?
Because bullies and cowards always run or deny any crimes they have committed or been involved in creating…aiding or abetting. And to run to seek asylum in the country of a Russian ally? Belarus supports Russia's manufactured attack upon Ukraine, and Belarus has no extradition treaty with the US.
Neumann has become a willing, American pawn for propaganda against the United States.
Thank the GOP for being soft on crime…They supported Trump's divisiveness and attempted dismantling of democracy to the point where he weakened America in the eyes of the world and encroaching nations…Had they voted to impeach their "leader" the first time around…there never would have been a January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol building…now a stain on America.
The GOP has opened another door which gives American terrorists who revolt against our democracy to flee to countries who view America as a threat to their oppressive and archaic ideologies…becoming useful tools of propaganda for the host countries…whereby joining you to beat you…
The GOP had two opportunities to be tough on crime…and they retreated both times…abandoning their country and their duties by failing to uphold their allegiances to defend the country and the Constitution…willingly…choosing party over country…to choose your party is choosing yourself…your interests…which speaks volumes about character….
It is crystal clear that the GOP would sell America down the river…and they have…in a huge way which has cast a shadow on American politics forever…
The saddest and most sinister element left behind all their actions are those people who continue to blindly follow and support them…condemning America to a place of no return…if they refuse to save their "sight."
Don't be fooled by theatrics and sleight of hand…GOP politics contain both…Sound like Putin?
Same energy…same objective… with the cover of "party politics."
Look behind the masks…
Not the GOP…
What they conjure up and serve up to the American people continually threatens the fabric of Democracy…
And ultimately…
Peace and Freedom…Let's Ponder the Possibility…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, Constitution, freedom, GOP, imperialism, Mitch McConnell, nazi, peace, propaganda, Putin, Racism, Republicans, Russia, tyrant, Ukraine, War
As long as there are tyrants walking the earth…there will never be peace…
As long as there is oppression of populations…there will never be freedom…
Racism…Hatred…Division…Delusions of privilege through supremacy negates any possibility of peace and freedom.
Peace and freedom are just glorious words waiting to be given the full opportunity to mass materialize into permanent reality…to someday be bestowed upon every human being now present upon this planet. It is foolish to believe that real peace and freedom exists now amongst the ever-present chaos created through self-absorption and abuses of power wherever people are dwelling… The peace and freedom that is now sprinkled across the world is just a pseudo display and mocking in form of what peace and freedom should be…and what they are in literal meaning…and what they stand for in actuality.
Mass populations have been mesmerized and brainwashed into accepting their roles as domesticated cattle…allowed to graze and roam so far…until they are rounded up for slaughter…without resistance… Having become lost in a temporary plot of limited peace and freedom…manufactured as their utopia…by some flawed, insecure, maniacal group or individual, drunk with power and delusions that mount in grandiosity of belief in ruling the world and being a "leader.."
Real leaders are not feared by their citizens because they do not subjugate and control…kill…steal…create conflict…or destroy…lie…deceive…or disregard laws of civility and humanity with impunity. We have witnessed this time and time again…from "leaders" in every corner of the world…including here in America…
We are now witnessing radical Republicans and their "Nazi-fication" of America through their constant propaganda flinging and continued division fueling which has left the viability of democracy in this country weakened and still in question by the rest of the world. This deepening and continued division breeding and anti-democratic demonstrating by the GOP is what energized what is now happening in Ukraine by Putin…
He magnified America's "Achilles heel" by using his propaganda machine over social media to influence the 2016 election…out of which emerged increased racial and political division…and a control of Party power that has further ripped this country apart in the abuse and quest for power and control between two government parties who swore allegiance to a country….with the GOP revealing their true allegiance is…as…and always has been to themselves…and to bring this country back to "the land of cotton."
Meaning a few, not-of-color American "Oligarchs," who hold and abuse power by reversing change, resisting change, while exercising oppression…and brainwashing their constituents into believing they are working in their citizens best interest…when they are just strengthening their own… Same agenda…different country. "The greater the power…the more dangerous the abuse…"
Our Constitution has given those who truly believe in the democracy of this country and what it should stand for the ability to stave off those tyrants that are blatantly attempting to sabotage our government by doing everything possible, including voter suppression in the guise of "voter protection" laws now trying to sweep across the country…ignoring constitutional remedies such as impeachment of clear and present dangerous persons in every governing branch of government…
These tyrants, led by Mitch McConnell are bent on destroying democracy…He leads the GOP in the practice of division and partisan politics…Partisan politics are nothing more than dictatorial in process…democracy cannot function as it should when the will of the people are not fully represented…and really have no intention of being represented…
Peace and freedom are conditional…wherever their are tyrants…politicians…dictatorships…and any quest for power that excludes real and true representation of the people…
We are getting a glimpse into what it looks like to be a real leader in the President of Ukraine…and the unity of those who live and breathe the meaning of peace and freedom by their defense of it…the people of Ukraine…
Here in America and across the world…we stand up and protest injustice…in civil rights protests, lives have been lost…Peace and freedom come with a price…a price we must all be willing to pay…
Would you lay down your life for world peace…Freedom?
Everyone is fearful of nuclear war…including Putin.
Has he suddenly grown tired of living…is that why he invaded Ukraine? No…
Is everyone in Russia tired of living, so much so that they have turned over the plight of their lives as to living or dying, in the hands of a tyrant? No…
Putin is banking on the fact that countries are afraid of invoking a nuclear response if they do the right thing by aiding a country that he has unjustly invaded for his own personal and delusional realization of resurrecting a vision of Russian imperialism…under his rule.
He does not expect to be met with aggression as he should be… and as long as those who can stop his aggression and invasion in Ukraine remain paralyzed by the thought of nuclear retaliation on his part…he will succeed in his ruse…This is his weapon.
Anyone who repeatedly watched the capture and death of an ally…fears for his own peace and freedom…it is what inevitably happens to a tyrant…committed by his own…or committed by those who will not sacrifice their lives for the folly of the one…or by the tyrant's own hand…in defeat. Putin will not be one to take his own life…
Carefully planned aggression will be his downfall and demise.
Peace and freedom must be preserved at cost…always…in the world that we live in…Peace and freedom are fought for…and protected…and forever under watch. Ukraine cannot be denied the protection they live for…and are dying for…we must all remember…we must all defend. Peace and freedom will always be challenged and if we cannot…and do not protect it…how can we believe in it…speak on it…desire it…live it?
Ask why history is always repeating itself….because the same elements are allowed to reconfigure themselves and rise again…their roots are left behind to regenerate and grow into a plant that scatters its seeds…finds fertile soil…and produces seedlings that become more resistant with every opportunity of growth.
The "root" must be extracted completely to end regrowth…depleted soil to be replace with new, enriched soil…planted with the seeds of change and progress that yields justice…peace…and freedom to all unified humanity.
We must take back our country from the tyrants on our soil…
Peace and freedom is infused in the foundation of America…by every diverse member of her population…
These days…and the years to come…will be greatly influenced by what is done to ensure that peace and freedom aren't relegated to becoming just words that roll meaningless off the tongue…
Ponder the possibility of life without them…after tasting the sweetness of them…
Ponder it…
And ask yourself…
Can you live and survive in a country…a world…without them?
Are We So Unlike Our Enemies?
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: Afghanistan, America, Civil liberties, civil rights, Democracy, freedom, GOP, human rights, Republicans, Taliban
Are we so unlike our enemies…or those we choose to judge?
Texas passed a restrictive abortion ban after the Supreme Court declined to step in and stop the law from taking women back ages in their rights to choose what happens within their own bodies…
The GOP is really "The Taliban" operating freely within America…picking and choosing what they feel is best for American citizens without considering Civil Rights…Civil Liberties…Human Rights…Freedom…and Democracy.
It goes without saying that Republicans have no respect or sovereignty to the Constitution of the United States.
We have all stood by and bore witness to their treason and insurrectionist actions with impunity…
If we choose to blindly accept what the GOP has done in taking our country backwards in their ideologies of governing by restrictions and manipulations around democracy… limiting women's rights to choose pretending to care about babies not yet born while murdering and lynching children of people of color…as well as taking the lives of people of color…along with their efforts to overturn Roe Vs. Wade in red states and restrict voting rights in order to boost their majority power to take our country back to the dark ages of human savagery, don't we deserve to fall as Afghanistan…and other countries laid to waste because they believed in Democracy without stronger unification to protect it?
It is beyond hypocritical to defend life not yet born…when every day a person of color falls to discriminate loss of life–someone's child—just because…and someone's child falls victim to gun violence because little boys and little girls acting in the capacity of grownups in high places… want to have their "right to bear arms" regardless of the consequential and horrific loss of life that comes with uncontrolled access in the ability to obtain weapons…Yet they care about restricting a woman's right to her own body…because they want to "protect" the unborn…When they can't and refuse to protect the lives of all American citizens by breaking…bending…and completely ignoring laws that are made to protect them. Welcome to democracy in America!
While the awakening to equality has been a snail's pace in recognition…we must remember the lives continually being lost in this never ending battle for "blind" equality for all…without the stigma of racism.
Are We So Unlike Our Enemies?!
Take a good, long look around America…Then take a good, long look around the world… Are we so different? Our ways are more refined and "educated"…Like Judas and Jesus…Judas was an "educated" man…
America will fall to a menagerie of greed and prejudices…and democracy will cease to be recognized, let alone respected…if we do not weed out "The Taliban" and domestic terrorism which is alive and well and functioning in our own country…here and now…from one day to the next…within a government which once stood for something…now perceived as a "paper tiger."
Time to prove that we are not…the enemy.
Time to show "true colors."
Time to stand and protect…Freedom.
Without Freedom…
There is no Democracy…
Without Democracy….
There is no America.
We are just another…Enemy.
The Irony of American Democracy…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: America, American, American Democracy, American Dream, Brian Kemp, Democracy, Democrats, dixieland, Electoral College, equality, GOP, Joe Manchin, liberty, Racism, Republicans, voter fraud, voter suppression, white supremacy, zombies
It is a small wonder that some countries around the world block and fight for their countries not to become "victims" of Democracy as is now happening here in America…the country that pushes it…but does not fully practice it.
How can a country go out into the world and promote a system it does not totally believe in…or exclusively support?
The only two things America believes in and supports without question is "Dollars" and "Racism."
It is most unfortunate that Dollars and Racism outweigh the efforts of those who believe in the equality dream and doctrines that would support a free and unified country. American hypocrisy has laid waste to many developing nations and other countries who believed in and desire a governing system that would allow their citizens to thrive while living in freedom… A dream contrived and distorted by those in our own government fixated on a time in American history when imports of free men and women from African countries were enslaved and forced to build and cultivate a nation of "White Luxury" and self-appointed "White Supremacy." Atrocities that still haunt and exist in today's America…
These are the factions that are driving the Republican Party…along with some silent…and a few verbal Democrats, such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to revive "Ole Dixieland."
These two Democrats can exercise supporting the greater good of the citizens of this country over their going against their party to support a tool the Republicans depend on to stall and avoid bipartisan politics between the two parties; the Filibuster. It's time for a change…American politics need an overhaul and dismissal of all that is archaic and oppressive.
Also, remember that Arizona is one of the states adopting laws that support voter suppression…something Senator Sinema supports by her stance alone.
Spurred on by the persuasive lies and rhetoric continually spewed forth by Trump, the GOP (and some Democrats, in their stanch silence) have managed to undermine and change the principal constituent of Democracy: The Right to Vote.
These destroyers of Democracy have managed to change election rules and limit voting rights in 17, soon to be 18 states, in an effort to diminish Democrat turnout and ensure wins of Republican candidates. The main objective of this partisan, Republican movement is to disenfranchise voters of color, who vote as Democrats. The off-handed disguise these derelict politicians are using to defend their actions is they're "cracking down on voter fraud." Another massive lie conceived by and pushed by Trump and his followers.
The very few cases of "voter fraud" uncovered were committed by Republican voters trying to vote more than once for Trump in the 2020 Election.
There was an Iowa woman who voted twice for Trump and has pleaded guilty to election misconduct…a felony charge.
She turned in two absentee ballots before the November election last year. Believing Trump's unsubstantiated claims about the election being "rigged."
She was arrested while attempting to vote the second ballot.
Her recommended sentence by attorneys are two years of probation and community service…Care to guess what sentence a person of color would pull down for such a felony offense? American "equality" doesn't apply to people of color as we have witnessed time and time again…
14 Republican majority states have adopted and enacted laws that give partisan GOP officials more control over election oversight…extremely dangerous in controlling the outcome of elections that oppose Republican candidates because they can use any reason to overturn the election results in favor of their candidates! Democracy in action, according to them. What we are really seeing and witnessing is Authoritarianism… Dictatorship… Fascism.
Welcome to the "American Dream."
In the state of Georgia, a Republican commission now has the power to remove local election officials and they are removing Democrats of color from local boards. The Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, is a corrupt Republican… who did indeed stack his election by being the Attorney General at the time…and overseer of the votes…that delivered him the position.
In Arkansas, they have taken control from county authorities.
Republicans have introduced about 216 bills in 41 states to give legislatures more power over election officials… 24 of those 216 introduced bills have been enacted into law across 14 states where Republican politicians are in rule.
President Biden gave a speech today in Philadelphia, he shouted to Republicans, "Have you no shame?"
Shame is for those who have a conscience…Republicans have neither conscience or souls…Their allegiance is not to America…but to themselves and their agenda to destroy it…and create another oppressive, divided, unequal, authoritarian nation…where they are in control of life…liberty…and the pursuit of happiness…and dreams are no longer an ideal or hope for real Americans.
There is a limit to trying to achieve bipartisan politics with "zombies." Clearly visible to everyone witnessing Republican "politics" that they are dead…soulless zombies…the way to deal with them is to "cut off the heads of the snakes."
Beginning with reformation or elimination of the filibuster…eliminating the Electoral College…passing executive laws to override Republican state enforced voter suppression laws…and cutting off support to Republicans who endorse and continue to spread Trump's lies of division and eventual "Armageddon" to Democracy…if those who can put a stop to this "unholy war" on America do not take heed and stop these unholy Republican insurrectionists and anarchists, in the Senate, the House, and in states embracing Racism and America's sins of White Supremacy, and their inhumanity to those they considered "inferior" to European immigrants who settled here…to escape "oppression."
The Irony of America…and Democracy…
Will result in the Death of Her…
And Liberty…
And Justice…
Including the dissident GOP…
The irony…..
The 'New Normal' Is No Normal…
by alphaenlight in Daily, Food For Thought, Uncategorized Tags: Afghanistan, America, Climate Change, COVID-19, Delta variant, Democracy, Democrats, Haiti, Israel, Palestine, Politics, Racism, Republicans, Syria
We must live with the realization that the lives we once knew…will never return again.
Covid-19…Climate Change…The Rise of Racism…The Truth of Racism…has opened the door to much needed change…The 'New Normal' Is No Normal…Nothing will ever be the same again.
There are now only two choices to living…to be vigilant…or not to be at all. The avenues of exiting have been provided and are presently being exercised by chance…
The pettiness…lies…corruption and people manipulating politics will come to a devastating end for those who continue to practice such atrocious game play in the dissolution of Democracy.
There will be more casualties of countries like Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria, Israel and Palestine…There will be more disruptions and political chaos between Republicans and Democrats at the cost of the American people, as well as the further division within the country which will result in casualties beyond comprehension.
The creation of confusion revolving around Covid-19 vaccines has created a "No Normal" resolve on what should and should not be assumed…but one should assume that those who have not been vaccinated, create the biggest risk to themselves and to others in furthering the spread of the new Delta variant…yet those who have been vaccinated may or may not be affected…
Contradictions…contradictions…contradictions!
This is the answer to the 'New Normal.'
What is normal for you? Do you know? Your "normal" is "no normal." We have learned…or will soon learn that we will live each day as it comes and there is "No Normal."
Whatever presents itself in any given day will be met with whatever is necessary to meet it head on with victory as the outcome…You choose…you decide…
Do not let anyone exercise your rights in any capacity…Let your heart and your conscience be your guide. And be responsible for "your normal" whatever that may be…Just make sure that it applies to you without infringing upon the "rights and normal" of others.
Your revolution of "normal" has begun…
Your normal depends upon it….


Based on a true story, Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this well-received film. Eastwood is the broke, down-on-his-luck, Earl Stone who is offered a job that only requires him to drive. The pay is great and he keeps making deliveries—even though he comes to realize he's working as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. Reviewers called it highly watchable because of the Eastwood's interesting character and the strong storytelling. The movie also stars Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne , and Michael Peña.
Not your usual Transformer's movie, this non-Michael Bay effort brings real heart back to the franchise—earning a huge 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie is set in 1987, where teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) finds a yellow Volkswagen Beetle which is given to her on her 18th birthday. As she attempts to fix up the car, she discovers her car is really Transformer B-127 who she nicknames Bumblebee. Really, it's a coming-of-age story set in the Transformers universe which makes for a fun, family appropriate, solid movie.
All you need is two names to know what this movie is like: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. You first saw these two together in Talladega Nights, and then in Step Brothers, but this time they're the world-famous detective and sidekick. It's not original, but it is just what you expect: silly and dumb-funny.
Based on the book of the same name, this is a perfect family film. It's the tale of Bella, a rescued pup whose loving family relocates her temporarily to try and keep her safe. She misses her people though and travels more than 400 miles—a two year journey—to return home. If you're old enough to remember Homeword Bound, you get the idea. It's sweet, heartwarming, with a little adventure to boot as Bella touches lives as she travels.
Felicity Jones stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Armie Hammer plays her husband in this inspirational biopic film. The story follows Ginsburg's efforts, in the early days of her career, to bring a groundbreaking gender discrimination case before the U.S. Court of Appeals. By taking on the case of a man being treated unfairly by tax law, she began the process of undoing more than a century of discrimination against women—and starts charting her course towards the Supreme Court.
When director M. Night Shymalan brought Unbreakable to theaters in 2000, no one knew it was the start of a larger story. It wasn't until 2017's Split that, much to everyone's surprise, we discovered it's set in the same Unbreakable universe. Now the trilogy comes to its conclusion with Glass. Admittedly, reviewers didn't love it—but audiences certainly have! It's a totally different—and interesting—spin on super heroes (and villains) than you'll get at a Marvel movie.
Started April 16, rated PG. Don't scoff! This movie has an 83% critics score and a whopping 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. If your kids are fan of this universe, this one's worth watching.
Started April 16, rated PG. This didn't hit huge in the theater, but it's gotten solid praise all the way around. It's the Excalibur legend retold in modern times. It's fun, likeable, and charming.
Starts April 23, rated PG-13. This thriller's story centers on six strangers who must use their wits and find clues…or die. Nothing amazing here, but if you're a fan of suspense, it might be worth checking out.


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Category Archives: Albany
Adirondacks, Albany, AMTRAK, Awesomeness, New York State, Railroad History
Vintage private railcars are mustered at Albany-Rensselaer Train Station
September 17, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	2 Comments
Dome cars, lounges, observation and sleeper cars, many painted in the livery of their former railroads, gathered at the Rensselaer rail station Wednesday, preparing for a multi-day journey that will wind through the Adirondacks, the Southern Tier, the Berkshires and Green Mountains.
They'll end up in Burlington, Vt., for the 40th annual convention of the American Association of Private Rail Car Owners.
Before then, the owners of these cars, the oldest of which dates from 1911, will see a considerable amount of the Northeast. Hauled by two Amtrak locomotives, they'll travel to Utica and then to Thendara, back to Utica and onto Geneva, then head east to Springfield, Mass., and Rutland before arriving at Burlington.
The owners, rail enthusiasts all, can talk about the history of their individual cars. They've often spent years restoring them. Former association executive director Borden Black has just acquired a car from Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, which has ceased operation.
Dick Johnston of Phoenix travels in a dome car built in 1955 by The Budd Company, once a major U.S. railcar manufacturer, and used on the Empire Builder, which runs between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest.
Amtrak took over the route, and the equipment, in May 1971, and used it until it was replaced by newly manufactured bilevel Superliners in the late 1970s.
Coordinating a trip like this can be a challenge. Taylor Johnson, the association's vice president of transportation, had planned a stop in Saratoga Springs and a trip via Whitehall to Rutland. But when the Canadian Pacific balked at hosting the train, Vermont rail officials and the Finger Lakes Railway stepped up with an alternate routing.
The private rail car owners support the continued operation of Amtrak, and Johnson said their train "is a reflection of American history." The owners often make their cars available to passengers looking for a unique travel experience.
Some of the cars have private bedrooms, dining rooms and kitchens, as well as showers and flat-screen TVs.
The organization hopes to draw attention to plans by New York state to remove the tracks from Thendara north to Lake Placid, a move it opposes.
Robert Donnelly, the association president, said the private rail cars often are owned by groups of shareholders.
Among the cars participating in this year's convention is the Georgia 300, a platform observation car that once operated on the Crescent Limited between New York and New Orleans.
The car has been used by Jimmy Carter, George H.W. and George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and by Kerry/Edwards campaign, said another association member, LeAnne Feagin. The Obamas boarded it in Philadelphia, picking up Joe Biden and his wife in Delaware, to travel to the 2009 inauguration.
Albany Times Union
Adirondacks, Albany, Delaware & Hudson, History, Railroad History, Trains
The Delaware and Hudson in Recent Memory
August 15, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	1 Comment
We have just updated our Delaware & Hudson Railway WebSite
https://penneyandkc.wordpress.com/delaware-hudson-railway/
We have added lots of new material called "The Delaware and Hudson in Recent Memory"
See some great advertising, maps, time tables and posters of the D&H
We hope you enjoy it like we do.
2nd Ave Subway, Albany, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, New York State, Politics, Public Transit
Talk of a 2020 run for president? First Cuomo must deal with 2018
All those newspapers in New York City and it takes the Watertown Daily Times (a day-long trip from New York City) to put the current subway troubles in perspective.
Read this article…..(and Mr. Cuomo too)
They summed everything up better than I could!
2nd Ave Subway, Albany, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, New York State, Public Transit, subway
Mayor de Blasio wants to tax the "1%" to fix the Subway
August 7, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	1 Comment
The mayor of New York City wants to tax the wealthiest 1 percent to fund repairs and improvements to the beleaguered subway system.
The proposal comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both Democrats, continue to squabble over responsibility for paying for repairs to the nation's largest transit system that has seen growing delays, mechanical failures, power outages and even derailments.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota recently unveiled an emergency plan to stabilize the system. The governor offered to split the cost of the plan with the city, but the mayor refused to commit money to support it.
The mayor's tax plan is meant as a long-term solution, not a quick fix, he said. It aims to generate nearly $800 million annually with the bulk of the money going toward capital upgrades to subways and buses, and must be approved by state lawmakers. A formal announcement was expected Monday.
"Instead of searching for a quick-fix that doesn't exist, or simply forking over more and more of our tax dollars every year, we have come up with a fair way to finance immediate and long-term transit improvement," de Blasio said in a statement Sunday.
The tax would increase the top income tax rate from about 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent for married couples who make more than $1 million and individuals making more than $500,000, city officials said. It would affect about 32,000 of New Yorkers filing taxes in the city, or just less than 1 percent, officials said.
"Rather than sending the bill to working families and subway and bus riders already feeling the pressure of rising fares and bad service, we are asking the wealthiest in our city to chip in a little extra," de Blasio said.
New Yorkers already contribute to the agency through other taxes and fees. De Blasio's plan also includes funding to offer half-price fare cards for low-income riders.
The Rider's Alliance said the push to help low-income riders "has never been so urgent."
"It's time to end a system where low-income New Yorkers have to skip meals, beg for swipes or even jump turnstiles in order to get to work or school," executive director John Raskin said in a statement.
From the Utica OD
Albany, New York State, News (current), Public Transit, Trains
Gondola plans pushing forward in Albany, New York
Detailed ridership, economic impact assessment being prepared.
Just over a year after the concept was first floated to wide publicity, backers are quietly planning construction of an aerial gondola over the Hudson River between the Rensselaer Amtrak station and downtown Albany.
"We have continued our work on the project, developing plans, meeting with stakeholders and raising private investment capital," said Peter Melewski, project manager for the proposed Capital District Gondola and national director of strategic planning for McLaren Engineering Group of West Nyack, Rockland County.
A detailed ridership and economic impact assessment for the project is being prepared, he said. In addition to providing a scenic option for people arriving at the Rensselaer Amtrak station on business, a feasibility study completed last November concluded an aerial tram would have significant tourism potential. More information is expected after Labor Day, he said.
"The gondola, combined with other visitor attractions, will enhance the area as a major destination," Melewski said.
The idea, first proposed in July 2016, has received support — at least as a concept — from local officials on both sides of the river.
Since it was proposed, plans for the state to spend $15 million on a gondola at the State Fargrounds in Syracuse were announced — an idea many people have ridiculed on social media. Melewski said the projects are different, and each should be judged on its own merits.
Initial construction for the Albany project has been estimated at costing between $17 million and $20 million, with annual operating costs of about $2.4 million. These costs could potentially be offset by a mix of private funds, passenger ticket revenue, advertising and public funds, according to McLaren Engineering's November report. Melewski said the current emphasis is on trying to raise private financing. He didn't have a timeline for how quickly money might be raised.
The rail station is owned by the Capital District Transportation Authority. CDTA CEO Carm Basile said he's continued to have contact with the backers over the last year.
"They're legitimately pursuing it," Basile said Wednesday. "There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, especially in the financial area."
McLaren has identified a one-mile-long corridor between the Amtrak station and a proposed station on South Pearl Street near the Times Union Center. In a later phase, the gondola could continue to the Empire State Plaza.
The gondolas would run on cables anchored to towers on each side of the river. Such systems being used for public transportation are rare in the United States, but are found in other parts of the world.
McLaren is working with is Doppelmayr USA, the U.S. branch of Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, an Austrian-Swiss aerial gondola system maker whose projects include the gondola system built for the London Olympics.
A project scenario developed by McLaren has up to 45 gondola cabins operating 16 hours per day, with the potential to move up to 3,000 people per hour. The travel time across the river would be roughly four minutes — less time than it takes to drive between the two destinations, according to Google Maps.
Public officials including U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, and Rensselaer Mayor Daniel Dwyer have expressed support for the idea, though without making any financial commitments.
Andrew Kennedy, president of the Center for Economic Growth, a nonprofit economic development organization in Albany, said he's attended meetings with McLaren's engineering and finance teams in recent months.
"We're excited about the possibility, and from that point of view, you want to be encouraging and hopeful," Kennedy said. "Something like this, if the numbers make sense and there is limited taxpayer money involved, it would be a great thing to have, giving people another option for getting to and from the train station."
He cited the credentials of some of the other partners involved as a reason to take the gondola idea seriously.
The partners with McLaren include Doppelmayr, Capital Gondola LLC, Camoin Associates, Lemery Greisler, Urban Gondola Systems LLC, and Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors Inc. So far, all the development work has been self-funded.
The complete study is available on the McLaren website, http://www.mgmclaren.com.
Published in the Schenectady Daily Gazette
Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, swilliams@dailygazette.net or @gazettesteve on Twitter.
2nd Ave Subway, Albany, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, Politics, Public Transit, Railroad Current, Railroad History, subway, Trains
The villains (and heroes) behind the subway mess
July 23, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	2 Comments
You're likely aware subway trains are breaking down partly because parts of the signal system date back to the 1930s. The succession of bad decisions that got you stuck in that tunnel goes back nearly as long — to the 1950s, at least. The list includes politicians and other leaders long dead or, at least, long off the public stage.
In 1952, Robert Wagner Jr., then borough president, protested any attempt to raise the transit fare from 10 cents, despite acknowledging that "the transit operating deficit" — about $500 million in today's dollars — "is just about as large as the additional money we need this year for pensions for [city] employees."
Wagner became mayor in 1954. Even as budget gaps grew, Wagner gave most city employees the right to collectively bargain (transit workers were already unionized, as the subways had started out in the private sector). He also massively increased social spending.
Mayor John Lindsay, Wagner's successor, continued this strategy. That left less money for subways, which the state gradually took over from the city. The MTA spent much of the 1980s and 1990s making repairs and replacements that should've been done two decades previously.
In the early 2000s, Gov. George Pataki started piling on debt. He wanted projects like the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access. The MTA also had to keep repairing and replacing tracks, train cars and the like. Pataki didn't want to pay for it. In 1999, the MTA owed $12 billion. By 2006, it owed $23.9 billion. Pataki also restructured the MTA's debt so that the bills would come due later — today.
The MTA's biggest problem isn't money. It's that it can't do construction fast enough. But debt costs now suck up $2.6 billion in annual spending. At some point soon, the crisis won't just be on the tracks, but in the CFO's office.
During the 2008 financial crisis, the MTA said the same thing about its workers as Mayor Michael Bloomberg said about city workers: They couldn't get raises unless they paid for them through productivity increases or benefits givebacks.
A year later, under Gov. David Paterson's tenure, a supposedly neutral team of arbitrators gave the workers two years' worth of 4 percent annual raises and health care goodies, costing the MTA $300 million a year. (The MTA now has $3.2 billion in annual benefits costs.)
In spring 2009, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith cobbled together a middle-of-the-night bailout package that awarded the MTA what today amounts to $2 billion in additional annual revenue. Again, lawmakers missed an opportunity to reform labor and construction costs.
Contrary to popular belief, Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn't run the MTA. An independent board does. Yes, Cuomo names six of those board members, more than any other politician. Yet they have a legal duty to act independently. Truly independent directors would've questioned MTA managers' labor-cost strategy and operational failures long ago.
They also wouldn't sign off on major projects such as East Side Access, which will bring Long Island Rail Road trains to a station underneath Grand Central, without questioning whether it's better to focus on something else first, like subway signals.
The board at least should've held off on approving East Side Access until Long Island agreed to pay a greater share, perhaps through higher property tax revenues that'll come from better transit.
New chairman Joe Lhota, who ran the MTA five years ago, can fix this by encouraging board members to collectively assert a real strategy, rather just signing off on whatever project Cuomo feels like adding, like a $2 billion third track on the LIRR — a fine idea, but one that should wait until New York has made more progress on its aged signal system. Lhota doesn't need this job; he has a job running a hospital. He should use that independence to push back against the governor when necessary.
MTA chairpeople are supposed to serve six years, to insulate them from day-to-day politics. But Tom Prendergast, who left early this year, was the longest recent-serving chairman and executive director — and he only served four years. Now the MTA only has an interim executive director, Ronnie Hakim, and may soon see another newcomer. (Lhota isn't taking the day-to-day reins, only chairing the board.)
Hakim and her team should've considered long ago what the MTA is now thinking about: closing entire subway lines to speed up signal work. To be fair, the MTA is already planning to close the L train in two years, and the hardest work involves interlockings that control several subway lines; we can't shut them all down.
Still, whatever the MTA is doing isn't working. The authority has been reactive, not proactive, in experimenting with new ways to deal with sick passengers and frozen signals and record crowds.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, as he likes to remind us, isn't in charge of the subways. Still, he hasn't taken advantage of New York's record revenue boom — the city will take in $6.6 billion more in local taxes than it did when the mayor took office — to benefit transit.
The state plans to invest nearly $3 billion in signals over the next five years. Why not work with the MTA to see if it can get this work done more quickly? The city could do its part by better managing the streets: carving out more space for bus lanes, bike lanes, real rideshare (with four or more people in a car) and other ways for New Yorkers to get around during shutdowns.
If the MTA can do signal work more efficiently, the mayor could offer some of these record revenues to do more. The city is putting up less than 10 percent of the MTA's capital budget over five years; it can do more if Cuomo does more. Bloomberg is guilty of the same sin; while he pushed congestion pricing, he never thought strategically about the MTA and how the city could use money as leverage to fix it.
The subway has its heroes, too. Richard Ravitch, who chaired the MTA in the early '80s, convinced the business community to support the taxes it would need to make up for the neglect of the previous two decades.
Sam Schwartz, the city's former transportation commissioner, has warned about maintenance cutbacks for years — and has proposed a congestion-pricing plan to fund at least some of this work.
Long before Twitter complaints from stuck passengers, Gene Russianoff, who founded the Straphangers Campaign in 1979, made sure newspapers were armed with data on whether the trains were working well.
And finally, there's today's generation of transit reporters and bloggers. Nearly all of them are too young to remember the last transit crisis. Their interest in the trains, and their willingness to think about everything from pension costs to fare structures, can help ensure that this crisis never gets as bad as that one.
Where does that leave Cuomo? It's too early to tell if he'll be known as a hero or a villain. He's increased the MTA's debt to more than $37 billion, without saying how he'll pay for it. But his excitement over projects like the Second Avenue Subway isn't silly. We do need more subway stations.
How he handles the current crisis of delays and crowding without forcing a future generation to pick up the bill will help determine his legacy.
Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute's City Journal.
2nd Ave Subway, Albany, Long Island Railroad, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, Public Transit, subway, Trains
NYC transit upgrades are long overdue
For weeks, the newest plans for MTA capital projects, including $3 billion in funding for key improvements to subways, bridges, tunnels and commuter railroads, sat in wait.
Now, after plenty of typical Albany political posturing, those proposals are on track. State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan finally gave the last pieces of the capital plan the go-ahead on Tuesday night.
The move couldn't have come at a better time. NYC residents have faced extensive subway delays, power and signal problems, a dangerous derailment, and a host of other issues in recent months. And this summer, as Amtrak makes extensive repairs at Penn Station, the MTA is depending on its strained subway system even more, making the need for improvements all the more apparent.
So, expanding and upgrading the system are essential. The MTA's plans include $700 million to fund part of the important next phase of the Second Avenue Subway, which will extend the line into East Harlem but could ultimately cost $6 billion.
And the plan adds more funds for cashless electronic tolling at bridges and tunnels.
On top of that, the MTA's amended plan creates a new span of track on the Long Island Rail Road that will help ease reverse train commutes for NYC residents who work in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
Together, the improvements will ripple through the region, boost the economy and create the opportunity for new and better-paying jobs in the city and beyond.
And all of it is part of the MTA's larger $32.5 billion overall capital plan, which extends through 2019 and includes money for signals, subway cars and buses, along with repairs and improvements to bus depots, subway station accessibility, and more.
None of it, of course, will get done quickly enough. But it could be the start of a broader effort by state and MTA officials to think and act bigger, to recognize the extensive needs of our subways and commuter rails, and to start modernizing the public transportation system to meet the needs of its riders.
Albany, high speed rail, New York State, Public Transit, Railroad Current, Trains
2nd railroad track opens between Schenectady, Albany
Announcement comes as new design details released on train station
The second railroad track between Schenectady and Albany has been completed, eliminating what has been a major bottleneck for passenger and freight traffic in upstate New York.
The $91.2 million track covering the 17 miles between the Capital Region's two largest cities went into service June 26 after three years of construction, according to an announcement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
The long-planned track eliminates a single-track situation that had forced trains to wait for up to 20 minutes in either Schenectady or Rensselaer until an oncoming train cleared the tracks, and is seen as vital if a high-speed rail line across upstate New York is ever to be developed.
The work was arranged jointly by the state Department of Transportation and Amtrak, which has a long-term lease over the tracks between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady, which are owned by freight-hauler CSX Corp.
"The double-track project has provided improved flexibility and scheduling in the operation of Amtrak trains between Albany and Schenectady and will reduce delays in this location, which have been a bottleneck and the cause of delays for years," Amtrak spokeswoman Chelsea Kopta said. "Amtrak was proud to partner with NYSDOT on completing this project, which will enhance transportation and tourism opportunities in the Capital Region."
Cuomo's office announced completion of the track at the same as it released new design details about the plans for a new $23 million train station in downtown Schenectady, on the same site as the old station, which began to be demolished this week. The new station is expected to be completed by late 2018, under a state DOT contract.
"We are grateful to Gov. Cuomo and DOT for completing another significant infrastructure project that is beneficial to Schenectady County. The second track will eliminate delays in train service going west from Albany, making rail travel to Schenectady faster and more convenient," said Ray Gillen, chair of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority.
The governor's announcement also updated several other Capital Region rail projects, all part of an effort to improve rail service in the region:
— At the Rensselaer Amtrak station — the nation's ninth-busiest Amtrak station — a $50.5 million project that constructed a fourth passenger loading track, extended the loading platforms and upgraded signals wrapped up this spring. A $3.5 million state-funded project to rehabilitate platform elevators and replace the escalators is to be completed by fall.
— Grade crossing and signal improvements have been done south of Rensselaer, on the busy line to New York City, with a little work still remaining.
The three projects together have received $155.5 million in federal funding, nearly all of it from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The state has contributed $23.15 million, according to Cuomo's office.
Separately, New York was recently awarded $33 million by the Federal Railroad Administration to install positive train control technology between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady. Positive train control systems are designed to prevent incidents such as derailments and collisions by reducing the risks of human error. That work has yet to be scheduled.
Albany, AMTRAK, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, Trains
Select trains will use Grand Central Terminal this summer
July 6, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	1 Comment
In Amtrak's efforts to continue providing you with a safe and reliable travel experience, Amtrak® is accelerating already scheduled work to strengthen and improve operations at New York Penn Station during the summer. The Infrastructure Renewal program will advance several years of already planned work to improve conditions of tracks, switches, and other infrastructure at Penn Station into less than two months.
Along with the previously announced service adjustments, the work will require three northbound and three southbound Empire Service® trains to/from Albany to use Grand Central Terminal [NYG] instead of New York Penn Station [NYP]. This change will affect schedules on weekdays from July 10 through September 1, 2017. If you are traveling on Empire Service trains via Grand Central Terminal this summer, here are a few things to keep in mind:
I am guessing that some AMD110s will be re-equipped with under-running third-rail shoes for the service.
Adirondacks, Albany, AMTRAK, New York State, News (current), Public Transit, Railroad Current, Trains
Amtrak statewide ridership dips in NY State
June 21, 2017 penneyvanderbilt	1 Comment
On the eve of massive track repair work at Penn Station in New York City, Amtrak's upstate ridership is struggling to grow.
For passenger rail advocates such as Bruce Becker, vice president of operations for the National Association of Railroad Passengers, that's troubling.
"It is a cause for concern," Becker said. "While ridership in the Hudson Valley has grown modestly, ridership across upstate New York and on the Adirondack has dropped."
Becker cites a number of possible reasons for the decline.
"One is lower gas prices," he said. They're down about $1.25 per gallon in the Capital Region compared to the summer of 2014, according to figures from GasBuddy.com.
But Amtrak's own difficulties may also have contributed.
It had to cancel one daily train for a number of days last summer west of the Capital Region while CSX worked on the tracks.
"Last summer was not a stellar period for on-time performance," Becker added.
It has been nine years since Congress approved the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which shifted more of the cost of passenger rail operations to the states.
New York has continued to use the existing passenger cars, many of which are now 40 years old. Its specially built dual-mode locomotives that can operate on diesel or electric power have seen several breakdowns this spring, stranding hundreds of passengers.
A recommendation by some state Department of Transportation officials to replace the locomotives wasn't included in the most recent state budget.
The state,meanwhile, has a vested interest in seeing higher passenger revenues, because they reduce the amount it must pay Amtrak to operate the trains.
Nationwide, Amtrak saw record ridership last year, carrying 31.3 million passengers. But statewide, ridership fell nearly 4.7 percent to 1.7 million, according to a recent presentation to the Empire State Passengers Association.
About half of those — 855,000 — began or ended their trips at the Albany-Rensselaer train station, one of Amtrak's busiest.
Many factors can contribute to a decrease in ridership levels including gas prices, construction and service reliability and we continue to evaluate ways to mitigate these impacts and highlight Amtrak's many passenger amenities and value proposition," Amtrak spokesman Mike Tolbert said. "Amtrak ridership overall remains strong, with a record 31.3 million passengers in Fiscal Year 2016, marking the sixth consecutive year Amtrak has carried more than 30 million customers."
EDITORS NOTE: Is the upstate operation "pure" AMTRAK or dependant on the State too? How about borrowing rolling stock and dual diesel- electric locomotives from other NY State agencies (like Metro-North)?


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