Mirror...

 

Thinker...

 

As progressives hammer Sen. Joe Manchin for opposing Democrats’ signature ethics and election reform bill, the West Virginian is busy working behind the scenes.

After writing an op-ed against the bill earlier this month, Manchin circulated a memo among his colleagues that outlines his preferred changes to a proposal his party has billed as essential to prepare for the 2022 midterms. Manchin also organized a Zoom meeting this week with civil rights groups and a handful of Republican senators to find areas of agreement.

The West Virginia senator organized his meeting after a similar conversation with leaders of national civil rights organizations one week earlier. With no change to the filibuster on the horizon, Manchin and the groups know that 10 Republican senators will be needed to support legislation that would achieve two major Democratic goals: reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and approving changes to American elections that lie at the heart of the party's massive but stalled elections bill.

In an interview, Manchin said he’d done the best he could to put together a proposal he could support.

Unexpectedly, one Senator controls the whole US Senate. Just a thought.

Reform...

 

In late May and early June 2020, looters smashed storefronts in the Bronx and Manhattan boroughs of New York City.

Many were caught on tape, some with their faces visible. Others even posted their own videos of their actions those nights on social media. Hundreds were arrested.

Since then, the NYPD says the Bronx district attorney and the courts have dismissed most of those cases — 73 in all. Eighteen cases remain open and there have been 19 convictions for mostly lesser counts like trespassing counts which carry no jail time.

 Llocal business leaders are upset as looters are not being held accountable for the destruction they caused. Until next time.

 Many are asking is this the "Criminal Justice Reform." we are promised?

  Just a thought.

Borders...

  

Kamala Harris drawing the shortest straws in the White House?" 

President Biden last week again gave the vice president a nearly impossible mission, asking her to lead the administration's battle against GOP-led voter suppression. "It's going to take a hell of a lot of work," Biden told Harris in an extreme understatement. Harris is off to an "unimpressive" start, said Noah Rothman at Commentary Magazine. Three months after Harris took on the border crisis, attempted border crossings are at a 21-year high.

With her aides reportedly "dismayed" she is now seen as the "border czar," Harris has reversed her opposition to border closures to stem the tide — but that quickly brought sharp criticism from progressives.

Harris is already unusually "unpopular" for a veep, said David Harsanyi at National Review. A recent YouGov poll showed her approval rating at 41 percent, and she's "25 points underwater among independents." A highly partisan senator from California before joining Biden's ticket, Harris has become a political liability for her boss: "Voter sentiment regarding Biden's handling of immigration dropped after he named Harris to head up the efforts.

Voting rights legislation is doomed in the 50-50 Senate unless Democrats eliminate the filibuster, which Sen. Joe Manchin refuses to do. Harris the first woman and first woman of color to be vice president already had been given the unenviable job of stemming migration at the southern border, among the most "intractable" and polarizing issues in politics. 

Harris, who went to Central America to address "root causes" of migration, actually requested both assignments, said Cleve Wootson at The Washington Post. But if Biden's "heir apparent" flops, it "could stoke disappointment in the party and diminish her standing."  Just a thought.

Nyet...

 

Emerge...

 

Covid is on the back burner, but the politicians want to continue with the free television appearances.  Just a thought.

Adams...

 

Polls suggest the left will lose out in the city arguably leading the socialist revival in the United States.

The forces driving a likely moderate outcome in the June 22 Democratic primary are varied; many are specific to New York and to this election. But the race also contains major warning signs for progressives across the country. 

If the left loses out in the city arguably leading the socialist revival in the United States, it will be, at least in part, because of dramatic infighting fueled by rigid positions on sexual and social-justice politics, as well as the generalized failure to unify behind one candidate alluded to by Ocasio-Cortez.

A poll released on Monday had Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang as the front-runners. Wiley had just 9 percent support, putting her in fifth place. 

A fresher survey released Wednesday had Wiley in second, just in front of Yang and behind Adams. Both of those polls also showed the number of people supporting three different progressive candidates is the largest bloc in the city.  

Boost...

 

 In a new study, the researchers tracked 23 late middle-aged adults with an average age of 65 and examined three specific biomarkers that are involved in learning and memory. Half were assigned to follow their typical physical activity patterns (which were less than the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week) while the other half were assigned "enhanced physical activity," or 3 sessions of weekly cardio that got progressively more challenging over the course of the study.

Both the gut microbiome and the three brain metabolites tracked showed beneficial changes in the enhanced exercise group.

Overall, the findings "support the beneficial effects of exercise training on brain function and brain health in asymptomatic individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease," Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine tells Florida Atlantic University's News Desk.

The best news of all: You need not run a marathon or bike a 100-mile century ride to score these brain benefits. Another recent study proves that walking 3 times per week can deliver a serious dose of dementia prevention. And if you're new to exercise on the whole, starting with just 10 minutes can truly make an impact in the fight to prevent or slow cognitive decline. So walking is a stellar place to start, and continue. Just a thought.

Consequences...

 

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration debated what kind of detailed information the agency would need to consider authorizing the use of coronavirus vaccines in children younger than 12.

Few advisers said it’s too soon to rush the use of vaccines in children because kids are at such low risk from the virus, 

Dr. Cody Meissner, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine, said children are at low risk of severe disease from the virus and more study is needed about safety in younger age groups.

“Before we start vaccinating millions of adolescents and children, it’s important to find out what the consequences are,” Meissner said, noting a low Covid-19 hospitalization rate among children.  

“As more people are immunized and become immune from infection, I think it’s likely that we are going to get this pandemic under pretty good control,” he said.

 Just a thought.

Question...

 

The Politicians in USA bad mouth the Russians all the time.But we need their contributions We need their help when it comes to China.

So let us stop what we do to them that they don't like and form an alliance that can help with the various problems we face and the world face.  Just a thought.