Articles from Diane Putnam

Saving a Democracy

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 09:36:00 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

"The state of play: Capitol Hill prepares for President Trump's second impeachment on Wednesday. If the House votes to impeach Trump, as they are expected to do, he would be the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

- According to Bloomberg's Erik Wasson, this is the first time troops have camped in the Capitol since the Civil War.

- 15,000 members of the National Guard have been mobilized ahead of Biden's inauguration, meaning that there are more troops deployed on Capitol Hill than there are in Iran or Afghanistan.

- Roll Call's Jim Saksa reports that members of the National Guard are sleeping inside the Capitol and 'don't know how long they'll be here.' " [Source: see links below]

The Capitol Visitor's Center.

"Members of the National Guard rest in the Capitol Visitors Center on Capitol Hill." Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Sources: tinyurl.com/yy9udhka and.tinyurl.com/yy5wnbee

Edit 20 Jan.: Law enforcement agencies warn that the threat level is "very high" from ultra-right and white supremacy groups.

The big face-plant

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 00:09:51 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

Ladies and gentlemen: I cannot addequately express the depth of relief of millions of Americans who have taken to the streets to celebrate the fall of this manufacturer of hate and teller of lies. There is a lot of work ahead to heal the damage he has done to my country in four years...which felt like 10. Never since our civil war have we been so divided, spoken so viciously of each other, seen so much hate toward African-Americans and Hispanic and Muslim immigrants. Under his watch, 238,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 while he has lied about the disease since it was discovered in Wuhan, even prevented the proper prevention and treatment of it.

We are also rid of the entire crime family. They'll still be around causing problems, engaged in swindling and spewing their delusional conspiracy theories, but they won't be running the country, betraying our allies or putting children in cages. Their voters are just a passionate as ever. Perhaps they'll be out for revenge, we don't know, but we will have to deal with that, too. For now, we are just rejoicing.

Goodbye and good riddance, Trump.

(The image is in dozens of financial news articles, one with the following citation: "Illustration/Getty Images, iStock.")

Fires in the Western United States

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 11:14:43 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

Can it get worse than a pandemic, record-breaking heat and a science-denying president?

Yes, it can. All of that plus raging fires over big swathes of California, Oregon and Washington. If you don't know already, I live in southern Oregon. The closest fire to me is about 15 miles (24 km) north. The wind is currently blowing it toward the NW, but that changes, of course. There are so many fires all around that thick smoke is blanketing the entire region, making it highly undesireable to go outside.

Just so I'll be even MORE nervous, my son works the fires as an employee of the US Forest Service. He's not one of those people running up mountains with shovels - that's for the younger, newer guys - thank goodness! He's in charge of "fire cache" operations. Everything necessary to fight fires is strategically stashed at supply warehouses in every National Forest. He does also have to cut fire trails in a 'dozer or drive water tankers to the fire camps. Still, the way these wind driven mega-fires are behaving I do worry.

This is, indeed a catastrophic fire season, and it has only just begun. Here is a current map of fires, west coast is the worst by far, but the entire western US is dry as a bone and also having fire outbreaks. (There is less vegetation to burn in the southwest and the plains states)

I think the yellow dots signify "hot spots" detected by the Dept. of Forestry. I don't know what all of the specific symbols signify, but the purple squares happen to match up with the fire caches in my region of Oregon. Klamath Falls is near the bottom of this map and the state line with California is below that:

Source: www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/pages/firestats.aspx

The map on the website is interactive. Clicking on symbols gives detailed information about the fire, including the acreage involved and other statistics I don't understand. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, gave a scathing press conference from a smokey forest about climate change and the change-deniers. Worth a watch on Youtube to get an idea of the political leadership in the three coastal states: www.youtube.com/watch

"This a climate damn emergency. This is real."

Gov. Gavin Newsom, California

EDIT: Corrected the governor's name, which is Newsom (no e at the end).

The hysteria of rural whites

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 04:58:18 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

If you've got the patience, you might check out this report on NBCNews.com:

"In Klamath Falls, Oregon, victory declared over antifa, which never showed up...

Towns from Washington state to Indiana have seen armed groups begin patrolling the streets after rumors spread on social media about an antifa invasion." You might find some of the reported social media rumors absurd, but that's where we are, now.

Antifa is the acronym for Anti-fascists, a loose amalgam of leftist groups, some of whom do not shy away from answering violence with violence. Here is a photo of some of my fellow Klamath Falls citizens who are "guarding" business on Main Street, with Black Lives Matter protestors - all peaceful during all nights of protest - on the other side of the street. Some have come into town from outlying areas of the county. This is an example of the seriousness of what this country faces should Trump be allowed to go full-on fascist, which he might be. It won't take much to recruit these men and hundreds of thousands more like them into a Trump Private Army. (Click photo for larger version)

Photo: Aurora Simpson

Fire and Brimstone

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 05:13:35 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

The worst summer of smoke in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The photo below (see source) shows what July and August have looked like. Some days lighter than this photo, but many, especially in August, have been as below. The low hills beyond the trees are invisible.

Photo: Herald & News today

Temperatures have been in the 90s (32-37C), adding to the feeling of suffocation. Good weather news, though, we are due to have temps in the 70s (23-26C) beginning this Friday.

A screengrab from the Inciweb map showing currently active fires encircling the Klamath Basin. K.Falls is approximately below the blue arrow. The straight horizontal line is the border between Oregon and California. To the right of the vertical line is Nevada.

The fire icon to the right of Redding, California, is the largest wildfire in that state's history. Wind is commonly southwesterly or westerly in the above area, delivering the smoke from many fires above to the broad natural basin where I live. Go to the interactive map to see all active continental US fires:

inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5968/

Does anyone know of an incident map that shows all active North Amerian fires? I've found one that shows Canadian and Mexican fires ("hot spots," technically) until you zoom out enough to see all of them: Arcgis.com tinyurl.com/y9fvbfvf Another one I looked at in the search that was titled North American Forest Fire Incident System showed a single fire - in Montana! fires.globalincidentmap.com/home.php

Cabin fever

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 01:23:34 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

There are so many fires around Oregon and California that most people are staying inside whenever possible because of the smoke. I bought a good mask over the weekend, so if I do have to go out I'll be prepared. It's also very hot (90° - 105°).

So, I've got cabin fever and I am not the only one! There are similar conditions in many places on the globe. I just saw on the news that today, Tokyo was 105°! I have been to Japan and it was more humid than anyplace I've ever been, including W. Africa. (Poor Kiiti!)

Cabin fever (Wikipedia) "...is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group ends up in an isolated or solitary location, or stuck indoors in confined quarters for an extended period. Cabin fever describes the extreme irritability and restlessness a person may feel in these situations.[1]"

UPDATE 7/24/18: Poor Greece! Horrible fires, many homes burned and about 75 deaths. Their government is asking for international help, which I hope is on the way.

Greetings, Norwegians!

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 10:06:29 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

Welcome to America! We are sure you'll enjoy your new lives here, where you can be governed by an illiterate lunatic, eat all the hamburgers and fries you want, gain 40 pounds, finally own that AR-15 you've been wanting...aw, heck, you can own several...and have the best medical care in the world as long as you can pay for it! Yay!

Today, I reached a new pinnacle of anger. I hardly know what to do with myself these days.

Petition

nobody@ipernity.com (Diane Putnam) — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 03:21:46 +0000

Diane Putnam has posted an article:

Please join the 4,996,000 people around the world who have already signed this petition! The goal is 5 million signatures. Here is the text:

"With the Muslim ban, Trump has shown that the worst fears about his Presidency are true. Add your voice to the open letter below to join the resistance — then spread it far and wide:

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Dear Mr. Trump,

This is not what greatness looks like.

The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.

Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.

As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division."

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This petition has already been reported on national news in the USA. I was reluctant to post a highly political article, but this is so important that I feel it must be done.

Portland, Oregon

San Francisco, California

Chicago Muslim-Jewish protest

New York City