Millions of rounds of ammunition, vast quantities of body armor, and a multitude of small arms are now being sent to help Ukraine fend off Russian forces. The Biden administration has already sent Ukraine more than 600 Stinger missiles, 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems, an unmanned aerial system tracking radars; grenade launchers, 200 shotguns, 200 machine guns, and nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition, along with helicopters, patrol boats, satellite imagery and body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear.

Weapons have been pouring in from across Europe, as Belgium, Portugal, Finland, and other nations have responded to Ukrainian calls for arms and equipment. More than a dozen other NATO countries and several non-NATO European nations have started or expanded their weapons shipments to Ukraine. Even Germany broke its long-standing policy of not sending weapons to conflict zones, and as part of an initial package, Berlin announced that it would send some 1,500 rocket launchers and Stinger missiles to Ukraine.

In the Wrong Hands?

As the weapons shipments continue, there is the fear that some of those weapons might not end up in the hands of those defending Ukraine. Some experts have warned that without controls in place to track and monitor the flow of small arms, some of the weapons could end up sold on the black market and even used by the pro-Russian paramilitary groups in the breakaway regions of Eastern Ukraine.

“There is the real threat that the Ukrainian government can potentially not control all of these weapons,” Kelsey Gallagher, a researcher with Project Ploughshares, a Canadian non-government disarmament group, said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC). “They could end up anywhere.”

Canada, like other NATO nations, has stepped up efforts to provide weapons to the Ukrainian forces, and since the start of the Russian invasion, Ottawa has pledged military aid valued in the tens of millions of dollars. That has included anti-tank weapons, rockets, handguns, machine guns and caches of ammunition.

While the weapons from Canada are being provided “exclusively” to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian military, experts are warning that it is impossible to know for certain where some of the small arms could end up.

“We cannot exclude entirely the possibility that some of that weaponry will end up in the wrong hands,” explained Costanza Musu, a University of Ottawa professor specializing in international security. He added that past western weapons shipments to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya had gone missing or were misused.

A United Nations report found that in the chaos of the 2011 Libyan Civil War, some of the weapons intended for the provisional government ended up in the hands of terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and ISIS. That included automatic rifles, machine guns and even advanced surface-to-air missiles and man-portable air defense systems.

Since ordering the so-called “special military operation” into Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would welcome the donation of captured “western-made” weapons to Russian-back militant groups in Eastern Ukraine. While it isn’t clear at this point if any of western weapons have been captured, it is likely some will likely end up in the hands of the paramilitary forces, which will only add to the suffering of the civilians in Ukraine.

However, the United States and NATO remain committed to helping Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion, and on Wednesday it was announced that NATO countries will continue to deliver weapons.

Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren made the point clear, “Ukraine has the right to defend itself.”

Peter Suciu

19fortyfive.com

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If you're a woman who's been struggling to lose weight using mainstream methods, you're far from alone. Many women struggle to lose weight using calorie deficits and cardio. This is because women gain and lose weight differently than men. Thankfully, there are a few simple ways women can tackle weight loss effectively. 

Check Vitamin D Levels

Many women battle low energy. While many things can cause low energy, vitamin D deficiency is one culprit. If you don't often get outside or rarely eat dairy products, it's worth getting your vitamin D levels checked. You can boost low vitamin D levels by taking supplements, consuming dairy products, and getting outside.

Fix Your Sleep Schedule

Another cause of low energy is not getting enough sleep or having an erratic sleep schedule. Sleep deprivation can lead to daytime sleepiness, mood swings, depression, or a lowered immune system. 

Where possible, aim to create better sleeping habits. If you can, go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on the weekends. Remember, adults need at least 7 hours of sleep each night to function optimally. 

Invest in New Athletic Wear

Buying new athletic wear can be a great way to boost your confidence and help motivate you to work out. The right clothing can also make exercise easier and more comfortable. Three popular types of comfortable athletic wear include leggings, sports bras, and sneakers. Choose leggings and sports bras that fit well but aren't too tight. Purchase sneakers that feel comfortable and offer plenty of support when you're on the go. 

Set Small Goals

Setting weight loss goals can generally lead to better results because it gives something concrete to work toward. However, setting small goals can be even more effective because it creates a sense of achievement throughout the weight loss journey. This is an excellent idea if you have a lot of weight to lose or find it hard to stay motivated. 

Balance Cardio and Strength Training

Although cardio is an excellent way to shed a few pounds, balance it with strength training. Many women are afraid to lift weights because they don't want to bulk up too much. However, women don't build muscle in the same way men do. Instead, weight lifting helps tone your body and make you stronger.

If you're worried about building too much muscle, consider doing bodyweight exercises instead of weight lifting. Aim for two or three days of strength training and three or four days of cardio each week, depending on your current fitness level. Always start slowly and add extra days or increase workout intensity as your body adjusts to higher activity levels.

Use These Tips to Lose Weight as a Woman

Using the tips above can help you lose weight as a woman. Check out the Sun Bay Paper if you're looking for ideas on fun ways to get outdoors around the Gulf Coast of South Florida and boost your vitamin D. 

The new study looked at 258 rivers across the globe, including the Thames in London and the Amazon in Brazil, to measure the presence of 61 pharmaceuticals, such as carbamazepine, metformin and caffeine.

The researchers studied rivers in over half of the world's countries -- with rivers in 36 of these countries having never previously been monitored for pharmaceuticals.

The study forms part of the University of York-led Global Monitoring of Pharmaceuticals Project, which has expanded significantly over the last two years, with the new study becoming the first truly global-scale investigation of medicinal contamination in the environment.
With their latest study, the researchers found that:

* pharmaceutical pollution is contaminating water on every continent

* strong correlations between the socioeconomic status of a country and higher pollution of pharmaceuticals in its rivers (with lower-middle income nations the most polluted)

* high levels of pharmaceutical pollution was most positively associated with regions of high median age as well as high local unemployment and poverty rates

* the most polluted countries and regions of the world are the ones that have been researched the least (namely sub-saharan Africa, South America and parts of southern Asia).

* the activities most associated with the highest levels of pharmaceutical pollution included rubbish dumping along river banks, inadequate wastewater infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and the dumping of the contents of residual septic tanks into rivers.

The study revealed that a quarter of the sites contained contaminants (such as sulfamethoxazole, propranolol, ciprofloxacin and loratadine) at potentially harmful concentrations.

The researchers hope that by increasing the monitoring of pharmaceuticals in the environment, they can develop strategies to limit the effects potentially caused by the presence of pollutants.

The study included noteworthy rivers such as the Amazon, Mississippi, Thames and the Mekong. Water samples were obtained from sites spanning from a Yanomami Village in Venezuela, where modern medicines are not used, to some of the most populated cities on the planet, such as Delhi, London, New York, Lagos, Las Vegas, and Guangzhou.

Areas of political instability such as Baghdad, the Palestinian West Bank and Yaoundé in Cameroon were also included. The climates where samples were obtained varied from high altitude alpine tundra in Colorado and polar regions in Antarctica, to Tunisian deserts.

While previous studies have monitored active pharmaceuticals ingredients (APIs) in rivers, these have ignored many of the countries of the world, have typically measured only a select few contaminants, and employed different analytical methods. Cumulatively, this has made it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective.

The water sample analysis occurred at the University of York's Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry.

Co-leader of the project Dr John Wilkinson, from the Department of Environment and Geography, said: "With 127 collaborators across 86 institutions worldwide, the Global Monitoring of Pharmaceuticals Project is an excellent example of how the global scientific community can come together to tackle large-scale environmental issues.

"We've known for over two decades now that pharmaceuticals make their way into the aquatic environment where they may affect the biology of living organisms. But one of the largest problems we have faced in tackling this issue is that we have not been very representative when monitoring these contaminants, with almost all of the data focused on a select few areas in North America, Western Europe and China.

"Through our project, our knowledge of the global distribution of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment has now been considerably enhanced. This one study presents data from more countries around the world than the entire scientific community was previously aware of: 36 new countries to be precise where only 75 had ever been studied before."

The researchers suggest their approach could also be expanded in the future to include other environmental media such as sediments, soils and biota, and could allow for the development of global-scale datasets on pollution.

'' is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).

The data for specific rivers will be available in the supplemental information associated with the publication (via PNAS). It will also be published on the Global Monitoring of Pharmaceuticals Project website.

The study used 'predicted no adverse effect concentrations (PNECs)' to determine where there may be risk for adverse effects (such as toxicity). If the team measured a concentration in the environment above the PNEC, then there was potential for organisms living there to be adversly affected by the pharmaceutical. This can manifest in many ways largely dependent on what the pharmaceutical is, what organism is being exposed and at what concentration. Examples can include disrupted reproductive capabilities, altered behaviour or physiology and even changes in heart rate.

The contaminants found at potentially harmful concentrations include: propranolol, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, loratadine
University of York

Sometimes as part of a dire prediction, someone will say, “I hope I’m wrong, but…”

When I heard about a new petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear another appeal on the extent of federal jurisdiction over water – the perennial “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) issue, I did not think the nation’s highest court would agree to hear the case. That’s partly because the justices agree to hear less than one percent of the cases brought to them, and also because EPA argued that the case is not “ripe,” because the agency will soon finalize another new WOTUS rule. That argument is usually persuasive to a court that is habitually reluctant to rule on anything it doesn’t yet have to. But to almost everyone’s surprise, last week the Court granted the petition, agreeing to hear the case – Sackett v. EPA – and reconsider the issue. The court denied 129 petitions, and granted only four, including this one. That raises the possibility that the question could finally be settled.

The confusion and inconsistency resulting from two opposite federal court rulings on WOTUS is among the greatest threats to water rights during our lifetime. The dispute represents a grave danger to the historic doctrine – reinforced many times over the past century – that water belongs to, and is controlled by, the states. The exception to that fundamental principle is the Clean Water Act, which created federal authority to regulate “navigable waters of the U.S.,” meaning major rivers, bays, inter-coastal waterways, and oceans, which involve interstate commerce. The law remained clear that inland waters belong to the states, and Congress has never attempted to change that. But presidents and regulators have tried to do so, leading to the court case that began this roller-coaster of confusion and contradiction.

That now-famous 2006 case, Rapanos v. United States, produced two competing definitions of “waters of the U.S.” in a strangely muddled 4-1-4 decision – two different views of where federal jurisdiction begins and ends. Four Justices shared the plurality opinion, written by Antonin Scalia, that the law covers wetlands only if they have a continuous surface connection to a river, lake or other major waterway. A fifth, Anthony Kennedy, agreed with the ruling, but with different reasoning, and wrote his own opinion – joined by no other Justice – saying the Clean Water Act covers all wetlands with a “significant nexus” to the larger bodies of water. What is “significant nexus?” Who knows – there is no such term in the Clean Water Act.

Nevertheless, the Obama EPA relied on the lone opinion of Justice Kennedy, in creating one of the most egregious power grabs in environmental history, asserting federal jurisdiction over every stream, rill, brook, creek, rivulet, backwater, stock pond, and parking lot drain in the country. It started a legal war with many states, though none had more to lose than Colorado, in terms of water.

Colorado helped lead the legal challenge, joined by half the other states, with full support of the Democratic legislature and then-Governor Hickenlooper. A federal Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that EPA had exceeded its statutory authority and blocking it in all 26 states. A different federal court disagreed, so the rule was blocked in 26 states and implemented in 24. Then the Trump Administration repealed the rule, issuing a new one based on the original plurality Supreme Court opinion, as Colorado had demanded. It was a hard-fought and enormously important victory for the State. But then, something unheard-of in the West happened.

Confounding generations of Colorado leaders, who always viewed protecting Colorado’s water as a non-partisan duty, newly-elected State Attorney General Phil Weiser filed an exactly-opposite suit seeking reinstatement of the Obama-era interpretation – federal control over Colorado water (he lost in court). That bizarre action defied the 2016 “Colorado Water Rights Protection Act,” passed unanimously by the Democratic legislature and signed by Hickenlooper, strongly opposing federal control. The Act re-asserted the constitutional principle that waters of Colorado belong to the people of Colorado, and are administered under State law.

There are no navigable waters in Colorado involving interstate commerce. EPA’s claim of jurisdiction, despite that obvious fact, may not be new (landowners have dealt with it off-and-on for decades), but it is nevertheless contrary to law. The Supreme Court finally has a chance to make that clear.

Predictably, many organizations will file briefs and opinions in this case, including states. Which side will Colorado be on this time? Will its officials defend its water, or knuckle under to federal control?

The illusory truth effect, also known as the illusion of truth, describes how, when we hear the same false information repeated again and again, we often come to believe it is true. Troublingly, this even happens when people should know better—that is, when people initially know that the misinformation is false. This phenomenon was first identified in a 1977 study at Villanova University and Temple University.

Individual effects

When truth is assessed, people rely on whether the information is in line with their understanding or if it feels familiar. The first condition is logical, as people compare new information with what they already know to be true. Repetition makes statements easier to process relative to new, unrepeated statements, leading people to believe that the repeated conclusion is more truthful. The illusory truth effect has also been linked to hindsight bias, in which the recollection of confidence is skewed after the truth has been received.

In a 2015 study, researchers discovered that familiarity can overpower rationality and that repetitively hearing that a certain fact is wrong can affect the hearer's beliefs. Researchers attributed the illusory truth effect's impact on participants who knew the correct answer to begin with, but were persuaded to believe otherwise through the repetition of a falsehood, to "processing fluency".

The illusory truth effect plays a significant role in such fields as election campaigns, advertising, news media, and political propaganda.

Initial study

The effect was first named and defined following the results in a study from 1977 at Villanova University and Temple University where participants were asked to rate a series of trivia statements as true or false.

On three occasions, Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino presented the same group of college students with lists of sixty plausible statements, some of them true and some of them false. The second list was distributed two weeks after the first, and the third two weeks after that.

Twenty statements appeared on all three lists; the other forty items on each list were unique to that list. Participants were asked how confident they were of the truth or falsity of the statements, which concerned matters about which they were unlikely to know anything. (For example, "The first air force base was launched in New Mexico." Or "Basketball became an Olympic discipline in 1925.") Specifically, the participants were asked to grade their belief in the truth of each statement on a scale of one to seven. While the participants' confidence in the truth of the non-repeated statements remained steady, their confidence in the truth of the repeated statements increased from the first to the second and second to third sessions, with an average score for those items rising from 4.2 to 4.6 to 4.7. The conclusion made by the researchers was that repeating a statement makes it more likely to appear factual.

In 1989, Hal R. Arkes, Catherine Hackett, and Larry Boehm replicated the original study, with similar results showing that exposure to false information changes the perceived truthfulness and plausibility of that information.

The effect works because when people assess truth, they rely on whether the information agrees with their understanding or whether it feels familiar. The first condition is logical as people compare new information with what they already know to be true and consider the credibility of both sources. However, researchers discovered that familiarity can overpower rationality—so much so that repetitively hearing that a certain fact is wrong can have a paradoxical effect.

Relation to other phenomena

Processing fluency

At first, the truth effect was believed to occur only when individuals are highly uncertain about a given statement. Psychologists also assumed that "outlandish" headlines wouldn't produce this effect however, recent research shows the illusory truth effect is indeed at play with false news. This assumption was challenged by the results of a 2015 study by Lisa K. Fazio, Nadia M. Brasier, B. Keith Payne, and Elizabeth J. Marsh. Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology; the study suggested that the truth effect can influence participants who actually knew the correct answer to begin with, but who were swayed to believe otherwise through the repetition of a falsehood. For example, when participants encountered on multiple occasions the statement "A sari is the name of the short plaid skirt worn by Scots," some of them were likely to come to believe it was true, even though these same people were able to correctly answer the question "What is the name of the short pleated skirt worn by Scots?"

After replicating these results in another experiment, Fazio and her team attributed this curious phenomenon to processing fluency, the facility with which people comprehend statements. "Repetition," explained the researcher, "makes statements easier to process (i.e. fluent) relative to new statements, leading people to the (sometimes) false conclusion that they are more truthful." When an individual hears something for a second or third time, their brain responds faster to it and misattributes that fluency as a signal for truth.

Hindsight bias

In a 1997 study, Ralph Hertwig, Gerd Gigerenzer, and Ulrich Hoffrage linked the truth effect to the phenomenon known as "hindsight bias", described as a situation in which the recollection of confidence is skewed after the truth or falsity has been received. They have described the truth effect (which they call "the reiteration effect") as a subset of hindsight bias.

“Black woman” is Biden’s requirement for any candidates to succeed Justice Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. That sounds fine, and as expected. So, what’s the issue? Following is some context.

In 2003, President Bush nominated Janice Rogers Brown to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, generally considered to be the country’s second most important court. It was understood to be a preliminary step to elevating Brown to the Supreme Court. This republican nominee was Black, and a woman.

Joseph Epstein reminded us of something in his February 14 WSJ column: “The man who now promises to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court……warned in 2005 that if President Bush nominated Judge Janice Rogers Brown, ‘I can assure you that would be a very, very, very difficult fight and she probably would be filibustered……’ They opposed her because of her judicial philosophy……intensified because they especially despised the prospect of a libertarian conservative justice who was a black female.”

Then-Senators Biden and Obama repeatedly filibustered Brown’s confirmation. She was eventually seated on the D.C. court, with Biden having voted against her three times. Shortly thereafter, Brown made the short list as a possible replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Senator Biden once again declared a nomination of Brown’s would face a filibuster.

None of the other conservative “short listers” for O’Conner’s seat were threatened with a filibuster. Only this Black woman, by our current President, who now refers to filibuster as a “relic the Jim Crow era.” Samuel Alito was eventually seated. Our President’s apparent motivation is to guild his legacy, with a dedication to diversity way down his list of priorities.

Two events are now in process that many observers won’t connect as being related – a Supreme Court ruling regarding racial considerations in higher education admissions, and Biden’s SCOTUS appointment. The Court ruling will inevitably include debating the applicability of the 1978 “Bakke”reverse discrimination decision. That ruling stated: “Preferring members of any one group for no reason other than race or ethnic origin is discrimination for its own sake.”

George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley wrote as early as 2020 that Biden’s campaign pledge seemed to be against the law: “It is precisely what the Supreme Court already declared to be unconstitutional discrimination…in [Bakke], the Supreme Court found quota and affirmative action admissions policies based on race to be unconstitutional.”

Given that context, consider the President’s announcement the same day as Justice Breyer’s retirement announcement: “I will nominate…someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.” Biden was emphatic in his racial requirement. It was subject to no other contingencies. Continuing with words from the 1978 ruling, “This the Constitution forbids.”

Politicians, journalists and even cartoonists must be careful when plying their trade. They shouldn’t mislead their readers because of ignorance of important legal nuances. The problem Biden will face in this nomination has nothing to do with diversity, gender, or anything else other than the ham-handed way it is being handled makes the process unconstitutional - i.e., illegal.

South Carolina Democrat Representative Jim Clyburn, House Majority Whip and Congress’ highest’ ranking Black member, has given Biden an opportunity to tiptoe out of this unconstitutional corner. It doesn’t remove the process blunders made but may quiet much of the opposition.

Clyburn considers lack of law school diversity more concerning than race. Eight of the nine current Court justices attended either Harvard or Yale law schools, and Clyburn wants the new justice to have a non-Ivy League degree. His preferred candidate is J. Michelle Childs. And he has bipartisan support from Republican South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.

Childs, a South Carolina federal judge, is currently under consideration for the D.C. Court of appeals. She has a record of strong bipartisan support, was the first person from her family to attend college and graduated from the University of South Carolina law school. She would be a serious candidate on most bipartisan “short lists.” And she happens to be Black.

For me, that’s a smart diversity pick, a unifying pick.

www.myslantonthings.com

Steve Bakke, Fort Myers

In the past month, this column has twice addressed the unbridled propensity of federal intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without search warrants as required by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

These agencies believe that the Fourth Amendment -- which protects the individual right to privacy -- only regulates law enforcement and does not apply to domestic spying.

There is no basis in the constitutional text, history or judicial interpretations for such a limiting and toothless view of this constitutional guarantee. The courts have held that the Fourth Amendment restrains government. Period. Last week, Congress got burned when the CIA released a heavily redacted summary of its current spying in the United States.

Here is the backstory.

When the CIA was created in 1947, members of Congress who feared the establishment here of the type of domestic surveillance apparatus that the Allies had just defeated in Germany insisted that the new CIA have no role in American law enforcement and no legal ability to spy within the U.S. The legislation creating the CIA contains those limitations.

Nevertheless, we know from statements of former governors of several states that CIA agents claim to be physically present in all 50 statehouses in the United States.

The agents who have infiltrated state governments didn't arrive until after Dec. 4, 1981. That's the date that President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333, which purports to give the CIA authority to spy in America -- supposedly looking for narcotics from foreign countries -- and keep from law enforcement whatever it finds.

Stated differently, while Reagan purported to authorize the CIA to defy the limitations imposed upon it by the Constitution and by federal law, he insisted on a "wall" of separation between domestic spying and law enforcement.

So, if the CIA using unconstitutional spying discovered that a janitor in the Russian Embassy in Washington was really a KGB colonel who abused his wife in their suburban Maryland home, under E.O. 12333, it could continue to spy upon him in defiance of the Fourth Amendment and the CIA charter, but it could not reveal to Maryland prosecutors -- who can only use evidence lawfully obtained -- any evidence of his domestic violence.

All this changed 20 years later when President George W. Bush demolished Reagan's "wall" between law enforcement and domestic spying and directed the CIA and other domestic spying agencies to share the fruits of their spying with the FBI.

Thus, thanks to Reagan and Bush authorizing it, and their successors looking the other way, CIA agents have been engaging in fishing expeditions on a grand scale inside the U.S. for the past 20 years. Congress knows about this because all intelligence agencies are required by statute to report the extent of their spying secretly to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

This, of course, does not absolve the CIA of its presidentially authorized computer hacking crimes; rather, it gives Congress a false sense of security that it has a handle on what's going on.

What's going on is not CIA lawyers appearing before judges asking for surveillance warrants based upon probable cause of crime, as the Constitution requires. What's going on is CIA agents going to Big Tech and paying for access to communications used by ordinary Americans. Some Big Tech firms told the CIA to take a hike. Others took the CIA's cash and opened the spigots of their fiber optic data to the voracious federal appetite.

If the CIA went to a judge and demonstrated probable cause of crime -- for example, that a janitor in the Russian Embassy was passing defense secrets to Moscow -- surely the judge would have signed a surveillance warrant. But to the CIA, following the Constitution is too limiting.
Thus, by acquiring bulk data -- fiber optic data on hundreds of millions of Americans acquired without search warrants -- the CIA could avoid the time and trouble of demonstrating probable cause to a judge. But that time and trouble were intentionally required by the authors of the Fourth Amendment so as to keep the government off our backs.

Not to be outdone by its principal rival, the FBI soon began doing the same thing -- gathering bulk data without search warrants.

When Congress learned of this, it enacted legislation that banned the warrantless acquisition of bulk data. Apparently, Congress is naive enough to believe that the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency, their cousin with 60,000 domestic spies, actually comply with federal law.

Last week, that naivete was manifested front and center when the CIA sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee documenting the extent of its domestic acquisition of bulk data on Americans.

Two senators who should have known better claimed they were "shocked" at what they read. They read an admission of continued CIA warrantless bulk acquisition of personal data on unsuspecting and unsuspected Americans, and they saw large portions of the letter redacted so that the senators do not know the nature of the data received.

So, notwithstanding the persistent efforts of members of Congress from both parties to limit and in some cases to prohibit the warrantless acquisition of bulk data by the CIA from Americans, the practice continues, the CIA defends it and presidents look the other way.

In 1947, Congress created a monster which today is so big and so powerful and so indifferent to the Constitution and the federal laws its agents have sworn to uphold that it can boast about its lawlessness, have no fear of defying Congress and always escape the consequences of all this largely unscathed.

I suspect the CIA and its cousins get away with this because they spy on Congress and possess damning personal data on members who regularly vote to increase their secret budgets. When will we have a government whose officials are courageous enough to uphold the Constitution?

Andrew P. Napolitano

Florida welcomed more visitors in 2021 than in any other year in recorded state history – nearly 118 million people.

Florida’s total hotel revenue also reached its highest level in state history of $17.3 billion, a 2% increase from 2019.

Last quarter, from October to December, Florida welcomed 30.9 million people, marking the second consecutive quarter that overall visitation surpassed pre-pandemic tourism/travel levels in 2019. This represents a 61.9% increase from the last quarter of 2020.

The majority, 29 million, were domestic travelers, an increase of 57% from the last quarter of 2020 and 7% increase from the last quarter of 2019.

Travelers “flocked to Florida as a refuge from lockdown policies,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said when announcing new data published by VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s tourism agency.

“In Florida, we put freedom first, and as a result people are choosing to vacation in our state from across the country and the world to escape lockdowns, including the politicians who advocated for those reckless policies and who are often spotted vacationing here,” he said. “While tourism in other states is only just beginning to recover, Florida is at the front of the pack – now we are surpassing pre-pandemic levels and setting new visitation records.”

“We are thrilled to cap off an incredible year with more record-breaking success for Florida’s tourism industry,” Dana Young, president and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA, said. “Overall visitation not only exceeded 2019’s for the second quarter in a row, but domestically reached the highest point in our state’s history. We also saw a significant rebound in international travel, including record visitation from Colombia that has made it now Florida’s No. 1 international origin market. VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing continues to drive results on behalf of Florida’s tourism economy, and we are looking forward to taking this success to new heights in 2022 and beyond.”

Approximately 1.5 million overseas visitors came to Florida in the last quarter of 2021, a 198% increase from the last quarter of 2020.

Canadian visitors reached 359,000 in the last quarter of 2021, nearly three times as many as in the previous quarter.

Total enplanements at 19 Florida airports were up 108.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 2020, with domestic enplanements up by 105.4% over the same time period. Miami had the largest number of enplaned passengers of 5.83 million, an increase of 150.5%; Orlando had 5.77 million, an increase of 114.7%. Seven airports saw an increase in enplanements compared to 2019, with Sarasota and Key West seeing the most significant growth, up 65.6% and 58.6%, respectively.

Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The first and foremost solution, Comrade Schumer, is to replace you, Comrade Pelosi and brain dead Comrade Obiden and his handler, the Ayatollah Hussein Obama… with President Trump and any Republican who can walk and chew gum…!

What President Trump will do is exactly what he did in 2 years that Obama couldn’t do in 8 years and Obiden destroyed 8 months…that is…bring back Made In America products…make America energy independent and make America the biggest, wealthiest, most deadly, country in the world…AGAIN…........dumb ass!

Since none of your Comrades know the details, apparently… please allow me to expand the simple actions that President Trump did, without the “magic wand” the Ayatollah Obama said would be required…

First,

Enforce the existing Immigration and Naturalization Laws that you and your Comrades refuse to enforce! Simply put, “Enforce the Laws and Build the Walls”! Quit trying to destroy the Border Patrol, ICE, INS , Immigration and support them by starting with an arrest and fair trial for Mayorkas and then turn him into well done toast! Your illegal, criminal actions have allowed over 4 million, illegal, unvaccinated, good, bad, and ugly, criminals, terrorists, gang bangers, children, and drug and women smugglers into this country, so you could buy votes. The Monetary burden and dangers you and your left wing, red, commie, pinko, actions, have placed on Americans are intentional, criminal and violate every oath you and your fellow Comrades ever took to Defend, Preserver and Protect the Constitution, America and We The People!

Second,

Open the Green River Oil Reserves…GOVERNMENT OWNED… oil reserves, that Comrade Obama and Obiden …intentionally CLOSED. Restart oil drilling, fracking, and exploration… along with all the other lands that President Trump opened to oil drilling and exploration… which made us Energy independent…duh! I’m not certain but instead …I am 100% positive…that the closing of all the drilling, exploration and fracking that the Democrap New Communist Party lead by Obiden/Obama is 100% responsible for the “shortage of oil” causing Biden to beg OPEC to drill more oil…double duh! Simply put,”If you stop the farmers from growing potatoes, we will run out of potatoes”.

Third,

Reopen and continue the Keystone Pipeline as well as the other pipelines you closed and President Trump kept open. Please note… that the Second and Third actions your Party…Comrade…would/could be considered Acts of War, Espionage, Treason, Terrorism …IF…you did that to weaken America, and Aid our enemies ,to help change America to a Socialist, Communist, OR Islamic Nation…UNLESS you can point to an Amendment to the Constitution or Law that allows overthrow of our Constitutional Republic and make America a Socialist nation…you and the others are subjecting yourselves to Criminal Prosecutions. I personally cannot seem to find ANYTHING that allows your criminal actions!

On that note… please take notice that ANY tampering with the Internet to convert the US to Bitcoin/ Digital money…or interruptions to our Power Grid would …without any doubt …be Treason and don’t try to blame Trump, or any Republicans or China or N Korea, or Haiti…we ALL know what you rats are chewing on…it’s our freedoms, our Constitution, our Republic, our lives and we won’t tolerate it!

Fourth,

Pass voter ID and mail in by current, Absentee Ballot, rules and regulations only.

Fifth,

Re-impose the financial restrictions on all our enemies that Trump imposed and your team canceled. In case you and you buddies cannot find who our Nation’s Enemies are…just look at your investment portfolios, you should find, at least, the wealthiest there! Need some help…Hunter Biden in China, Ukraine, Daddy gets a cut…John Kerry in Iran and probably China, Obama and Pelosi in every Country dumb enough to deal with them!

Sixth,

STOP telling the people that the number one problem facing America is Climate Change/Global Warming or the Weather Fairy…STOP…IT’S NOT TRUE! That’s a class “A” fraud!

All the real scientists do agree on some contributing factors to The Earth’s Changes and there are many…not JUST weather! One such fact, is that there is change to the Climate…it changes daily! They also agree that here is nothing man can do to stop the daily climate change. I want you to grasp that concept because science knows what some of the contributors to Climate Change are (which is a poor description for what planet Earth endures) …and so do you! Sun spots…a big contributor to our climate and the impact on our Gravity… Sun Spots can cause changes to our forces of gravity and atmospherics temperatures, Meteor Impacts to Earth…they certainly cause changes, just ask any dinosaur…oops…their all dead from a Meteor impact… 66 million years ago!

Many Earth Quakes occur in uninhabited places on Earth but it is estimated that Minor Earth Quakes, like category 2, occur about 100 times DAILY ! In an average year, there might be 20-25 magnitude 7 earthquakes globally -- about one every 2 to 3 weeks. Is /are Earth Quakes an effect that changes the climate… “Climate Change”…hmmm…good question…ask someone who has lived in California along a fault…they would be more able to answer that one!? While you’re at it ask them if a Quake is worse than “Climate Change” (warming or cooling)…and do they think man can reduce Earth Quakes?

If you say that’s “unfair” how about this for, honesty and fairness…Al Gore and his Goreites ,based upon data from the left’s sole source for Climate Change/ Global Warming is the US financed, UNIPCC…a totally fraudulent outfit, according to NASA’s 2015 report on AntArtic ‘s Land Mass Ice cap…its bigger than ever. And the UNIPCC Global Warming model that predicted the end to Glaciers and predicted annual temperature increases…there was NEITHER, look it up!

therightsidejgarydilaura.com

J.Gary DiLaura
FBI RED  Retired...Extremely Dangerous