Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century

For decades Victoria Falls, where southern Africa’s Zambezi river cascades down 100 metres into a gash in the earth, have drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their stunning views.

But the worst drought in a century has slowed the waterfalls to a trickle, fuelling fears that climate change could kill one of the region’s biggest tourist attractions.

While they typically slow down during the dry season, officials said this year had brought an unprecedented decline in water levels.
Zimbabwe on verge of 'manmade starvation', warns UN envoy
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“In previous years, when it gets dry, it’s not to this extent,” Dominic Nyambe, a seller of tourist handicrafts in his 30s, said outside his shop in Livingstone, on the Zambian side. “This [is] our first experience of seeing it like this.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/07/victoria-falls-dries-to-a-trickle-after-worst-drought-in-a-century

This planet is in big, big trouble.............................

FAA seeks $3.9 million fine from Boeing for defective parts on 737 NG planes

Source: Reuters

Business News
December 6, 2019 / 4:21 PM / Updated 3 hours ago

David Shepardson
3 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday it seeks to impose a $3.9 million fine on Boeing Co, alleging it failed to prevent the installation of defective parts on about 130 737 NG airplanes.

The FAA alleged that Boeing “failed to adequately oversee its suppliers to ensure they complied with the company’s quality assurance system ... Boeing knowingly submitted aircraft for final FAA airworthiness certification after determining that the parts could not be used due to a failed strength test.”

In a statement on Friday, Boeing did not admit liability but said they were aware of the FAA’s concerns.

“We are working closely with our customers to take the appropriate corrective actions,” spokesman Charles Bickers said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-fine/faa-seeks-3-9-million-fine-from-boeing-for-defective-parts-on-737-ng-planes-idUSKBN1YA2F2

Fires in the Amazon a barrier to climate change going up in smoke

GOP senator claims birth control and HIV testing is not 'actual health care'

By Dan Desai Martin -
December 6, 2019 2:57 PM



Sen. Martha McSally's campaign attacked the health care services provided by Planned Parenthood.

GOP Sen. Martha McSally's campaign is on the attack against Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state's largest sexual health organization, saying it does not provide residents with "actual health care," the Hill reported Friday.

McSally's comments came in response to Planned Parenthood's announcement that it would run ads in Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina about the Trump administration's restrictions on health care funding that limit how doctors can interact with patients. All three of the states have closely watched Senate races in 2020.

"Senator McSally is focused on providing access to actual health care for women all across Arizona, while Planned Parenthood is only focused on protecting their business model," Dylan Lefler, the Arizona Republican's campaign manager, told the Hill.

Planned Parenthood Arizona serves more than 90,000 Arizona residents, according to its website, offering a wide range of real health care services, including annual well-woman exams, birth control consultation and supplies, HIV testing, emergency contraception, and pregnancy testing. Research from the Guttmacher Institute, a group focused on reproductive health, has shown that providers serving low-income patients, including Planned Parenthood, play a vital role in the public safety net, and may be the only health care available in some areas.

https://americanindependent.com/martha-mcsally-planned-parenthood-arizona-senate-gop-republicans-health-care/

GOP tries to block 2020 Democrats from impeachment in latest stunt

This article is from yesterday and this jerk is fascist....................maybe he should re-read his allegiance to defend and protect the Constitution,
By
Josh Israel -
December 5, 2019 5:45 PM


Much of the GOP's response to Trump's Ukraine scandal has been to try to divert attention.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) is introducing a resolution demanding that the GOP-controlled Senate exclude anyone running for president from participating in Trump's increasingly likely impeachment trial. This is the latest in a series of stunts by Trump and his congressional GOP defenders aimed at distracting from Trump's conduct.

Smith's resolution urges the Senate to change its rules "to require a sitting United States Senator actively seeking election to the Presidency of the United States to recuse himself of herself" from the impeachment trial for any first-term incumbent president. Such a move would exclude Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the millions they represent from having a say on whether to remove the president for high crimes and misdemeanors.

With a Democratic House majority, the resolution is unlikely to make it to the floor — much less be adopted. But it comes on the heals of an array of other stunts and bizarre arguments made by Trump and his GOP defenders in recent weeks.



https://americanindependent.com/jason-smith-impeachment-donald-trump-senate-missouri-gop-2020-election-republicans/

November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough

Lawrence: 'Never Seen Anything Like' Pelosi Firing Back At Reporter The Last Word MSNBC

Katyal: Republicans Struggle To Defend 'Smoking Gun' In Impeachment Inquiry The Last Word MSNBC

Impeachment watch: Trump used unsecured cell phone in scheme to pressure Ukraine

By Emily Singer -
December 6, 2019 9:22 AM

Trump endangered national security while coordinating a pressure campaign against Ukraine.

Donald Trump made the protection of sensitive information a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign, attacking Hillary Clinton for using a personal email server while she served as secretary of state.

However, while in office, Trump himself is putting national security at risk by frequently talking to his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on phone lines that are vulnerable to Russian surveillance, the Washington Post reported.

One former Trump aide told the Washington Post that Trump spoke to Giuliani on phones susceptible to foreign surveillance "all the time" — and that it's possible Russia knew about Trump's attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals before many U.S. officials did. One national security expert told the Washington Post that Russia likely knows more about Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine than the American officials working on the impeachment investigation.

Given that Ukraine is at war with Russia, that could have hurt Ukraine even more — allowing them to leverage that knowledge to their own advantage in the conflict between the two nations, according to the Washington Post.

https://americanindependent.com/impeachment-donald-trump-ukraine-rudy-giuliani-russian-surveillance-phones/

November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough......................or Impeachment can't get here fast enough.....................

Explainer: How impeachment works and why Trump is unlikely to be removed

Politics
December 5, 2019 / 9:50 AM / Updated 24 minutes ago

Jan Wolfe 5 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday instructed the House Judiciary Committee to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump for pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
What happens next and why Trump is unlikely to be removed from office are both explained here.
WHY IMPEACHMENT?

The founders of the United States feared presidents abusing their powers, so they included in the Constitution a process for removing one from office.

The president, under the Constitution, can be removed from office for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

High crimes and misdemeanors have historically encompassed corruption and abuses of the public trust, as opposed to indictable violations of criminal statutes.

Former President Gerald Ford, while in Congress, famously said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment-explainer/explainer-how-impeachment-works-and-why-trump-is-unlikely-to-be-removed-idUSKBN1Y91TP?il=0

snip-

WHAT ABOUT OPENING A TRIAL AND QUICKLY ENDING IT?

"The Senate rules allow members to file, before the conclusion of the trial, motions to dismiss the charges against the president. If such a motion passes by a simple majority the impeachment proceedings effectively end.

Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial, which did not end in a conviction, lasted five weeks. Halfway through the proceedings, a Democratic senator introduced a motion to dismiss, which was voted down."

Trump files appeal at Supreme Court in financial records fight

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday filed court papers asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling directing an accounting firm to hand over his financial records to a Democratic-led congressional panel, setting up a major clash between branches of government.

Trump turned to the justices after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided on Nov. 13 that it would not revisit its October decision backing the House of Representatives Oversight Committee’s authority to subpoena the records from Mazars LLP, Trump’s longtime accounting firm.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-trump-records/trump-files-appeal-at-supreme-court-in-financial-records-fight-idUSKBN1Y9292?il=0