Unpacking and Bad News

I have to wonder what we were thinking when we bought this much rotini, prior to leaving for Spokane.  It must have been a really awesome sale.
 

Today all clothing is in drawers or on hangars.  We found some edible food so we have not had to leave the house today.  Note to self, shredded cheese does not survive six months in the freezer.  We had to throw all of that out.  There's a geriatric pizza that we're hoping will still be good for dinner.  One of these days the diet will have to be improved.  All counter tops are clear, and the visual chaos has been tamed.

Hungary's oil refinery in Százhalombatta, 27 kilometres from Budapest was on fire tonight. This refinery processes oil from Russia. According to Hungarian news outlets, the entire facility may temporarily shut down after the fire.  Since Ukraine bombed most of Russia's refineries, crude oil has been shipped to other countries.  A refinery in Romania processing for Russia also been bombed.  I suppose after awhile, no one will sign on to do that.  It's a lovely photo.

Two 47 appointed judges on the 9th circuit have ruled that 47 can send federalized troops to Portland.  They based this on a ruling made based on an event that occurred in 1786.  This reminds me of Alito doing away with Roe based on an English man's writing from the 1700s.  Oddly enough, Clarence Thomas recently said there is no such thing as settled law.  I guess it's only settled when they like it.

“The President federalized the militia to ensure that the law could be fully enforced ... Shays’s Rebellion … occurred during the Articles of Confederation period,” the affirming judges wrote. “General Washington feared that American republicanism might fail as the ‘mobbers’ tried ‘to shut down courts’ and attacked government officials who ‘earnestly [sought] to obey [and enforce] the laws that the people themselves had authorized.’ This episode left an indelible mark on the Founders. They designed the Constitution to provide a Union that could safeguard the lives of law-abiding Americans trying to enforce the nation’s laws the next time a Shays’s Rebellion arose.”

In her dissent, Judge Graber dispelled any such notions.

“Those rebellions shared several salient characteristics, including a large number of participants relative to the population and to available law enforcement, a wide geographic scope, evident organization and leadership, widespread use of arms, intense ferocity, and the creation of extreme difficulty restoring control by means of ordinary law enforcement,” she wrote. “What occurred in Portland differed in every dimension. As already noted, there is no evidence of organization or leadership, widespread use of arms, ferocity, or difficulty exerting control by ordinary means.”

The ninth circuit leans liberal, so when the case is heard in front of the entire circuit, this may be over turned.   The article on the subject is here.

In other terrible news, the ICE weapons budget is expanding rapidly.  They will now have access to guided missile war heads, as well as chemical weapons.  I guess they're planning on killing us all.  There is more to be read here. 

Work on the ballroom has begun.  This is what's happening at the East Wing of the White House.  When asked about it, the Historic Preservation Society said they had heard nothing from the Administration.  Some sort of review had been scheduled for September 4.  

This is today.

That's it.  That's enough for one day.