JUNE's OPINIONS & BITS .

 Game show host Governor Gavin Newsom holds a lottery ball at the California Lottery Headquarters on Friday, June 4, 2021, in Sacramento, while drawing numbers for California’s new $116.5 million Vax for the Win program –

 1. Newsom's EXTENDED STAY of EMERGENCY .

California's Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying a big gamble as the loom of a recall election is around the corner .  (1)>>Gov. Newsom stunned a few reporters regarding the re- opening date of June 15th. Amid a parade of fanfare surrounding California’s vaccine lottery last Friday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed he will not lift the state of emergency when California reopens its economy on June 15. That apparently Gov. Newsom's state of emergency is not over .  On Friday Newsom was asked if he would lift the state of emergency that has given him the extraordinary powers to mandate Covid restrictions. The governor answered, “The emergency remains in effect after June 15.” That date is Newsom’s own self-declared deadline to lift most Covid restrictions. BUT REALLY ???? . It seems to me that Sly Newsom, wants the Covid "emergency " to go on forever . Asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision Newsom said on Friday, “Because we’re still in a state of emergency. This disease is still in effect. It is not taking the summer off.”  The recall election in California is to important , we just have to get rid of him .  (2)>>If we DON"T CALIFORNIA will move back into a LOCK DOWN. Not being satirical here but With new CRAZY Covid variant, that might be just the common cold , but mistaken to be Covid-19 under the Newsom regulations .   Rep. James Gallagher, a Republican who represents much of the northern Sacramento Valley, including Chico, wrote on

Twitter: The Governor loves to get BIG headlines, but then fails to deliver on his promises. The latest example of his bait & switch is when he said CA would open on June 15th. Meanwhile, his Cal/OSHA is saying something different and he refuses to call off the State of Emergency.That prompted Gallagher and fellow Republicans Kevin Kiley and Melissa Melendez to send the governor a letter on Monday telling him that, if he would not lift the state of emergency, “the legislator is considering exercising its power to do so with Assembly Concurrent Resolution 46 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 5.” The Republican legislators point out, among other things, that  (3)>>California now has extremely low Covid numbers — in fact, Newsom himself points out that the state has the lowest test positivity rate in the nation ? on a near-daily basis. Ok, so the Governor’s only interest is protecting the people, how long should he keep the state of emergency? Should it go for another year, 5 years, 20 years? Because the threat of the virus will be present for quite some time and we will never have total compliance with the vaccinations as they mentioned in the article. The problem I see is the Governor has extraordinary power during a state of emergency which allows him to take actions he would not normally have the authority to impose. As was done in the last election the Governor can change how ballots are cast and collected which may be advantageous for some. Indeed, the crisis that gripped the state just a few months ago is gone.  (4)>>PERHAPS THERE WAS NO REAL CRISIS . BUT Just like that, the main takeaway from Last Friday’s event went from “cash prizes for getting vaccinated” to “Newsom doesn’t plan to end the state of emergency.” The rapidly shifting narrative underscores the extent to which the outcome of the almost-certain recall election may depend on timing.

 2. Lifting Mask Restrictions ???

This announcement makes California, along with New Jersey and Hawaii, one of the final holdouts to revise its mask policy after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people can go without masks in most situations.   (5)>>CalOSHA’s rule for masks is really going to be problematic. What are they trying to do by creating rules that could cause people to be publicly shamed or bullied into doing something they don’t want to do or can’t do. I don’t agree with the mask mandate, but if they have to make the rules apply to everyone as in when the state reaches 75% vaccinations. Making a rule that states a company with 100 employees must require all 100 to wear masks even if only one person is not vaccinated. How will that one person feel. Also I have never seen any legislation that states after any date everyone is ordered to stop wearing masks. So using common sense if you want to wear a mask you are free to do so as long as you like.The Governor [NEWSOM] also explained that the mask mandate may not be ending in full, breaking the promise he made last month of all mask mandates ending on June 15th. Instead, he will be following new Cal/OSHA recommendations requiring masks in many workplaces until at least the end of July. He did note that the Cal/OSHA board currently has a subcommittee to study the extended mask requirements and hinted that he would likely follow what they recommend.

3. Kamala Harris & The Border Crisis .

Here is my own opinion regards to  (6)>>The Border Crisis

Is Kamala ready for serious foreign policy ?

.First of all I was a bit impressed with Kamala Harris speech in Mexico & Guatemala . But there are a lot of awkward things about it . NOW the border crisis long ignored by the Democrats is now a SERIOUS ISSUE ??? Remember that Vice President Kamala Harris received a swath of criticism Tuesday following her awkward response to questions about the ongoing border crisis. Harris was asked by NBC's Lester Holt when she would be visiting the border, a question asked since she took over management of the border crisis for the Biden administration in March. Like I said I was a bit impressed what (6.1)>>Mrs. Harris said during the Guatemala visit she bascially pointed out Harris visited  on Monday. At a press conference with Guatemala’s president, Alejandro Giammattei, the former California senator spoke about investigating corruption and human trafficking in Central America and described a future where Guatemalans could find “hope at home”.But she also had a clear message that undocumented Guatemalan migrants would not find solace at the US border under the Biden administration. “I want to be clear to folks in the region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border,” she said. “Do not come. Do not come.”  New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticized Vice-President Kamala Harris for saying undocumented migrants from Guatemala should not come to the US. So FAR AOC has not given a "answer" on how to deal with the immigrant crisis.  (7)>>BUT HYPOCRISY runs deep in the Democratic Party . For four years Donald Trump was slammed for trying the fix the border problem and deal with immigration with a border wall . It's so strange , uncanny that during the Covid Crisis so many illegals came through , many of them having tested positive for Covid . (7.1)>>While people like AOC take a rather dangerous liberal view of immigration . Open borders have been linked to crime as we have seen. BUT  Both parties are crap on immigration. I'm waiting for someone to speak some sense and mention cutting off the incentive to hire illegal labor at the source: by punishing businesses that do so.Harris delivered this “new era” immigration language — which goes against asylum law and President Joe Biden’s promise to both restore the asylum-processing system at our border and bring about long-overdue immigration reform — with as much compassion as the "I really don’t care. Do U?" jacket that former first lady Melania Trump wore on her ride to visit migrant children in a detention camp.

4. Biden -Russia-US summit.

Joe Biden can be a deal breaker with Russia,
end the new cold war 
restart , new treaties . OR WILL IT BE 
SINKING SHIP?

 Biden to Putin " What I want him to know" 

President Joe Biden on this Wednesday began his first trip abroad since taking office by hailing America’s unwavering commitment to the  (8)>>NATO alliance and warning Russia it faced “robust and meaningful” consequences if it engaged in harmful activities.Biden, speaking to about 1,000 troops and their families at a British air base, said he would deliver a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet next week after separate summits with NATO, G7 and European leaders. (9)>>"We're not seeking conflict with Russia," the Democratic president said at the start of his eight-day visit to Europe. "We want a stable and predictable relationship ... but I've been clear: The United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way if the Russian government engages in harmful activities."Asked about his aim for the foreign trip, Biden said it was “strengthening the alliance”, probably referring to both the Group of Seven powers (G7) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).That aim, he said was to “make it clear to Putin and China that Europe and the US are tight”. He said he did not know if talking to Putin about harbouring cybercriminals in Russia would produce an agreement, against a backdrop of the US facing an increasing threat from foreign ransomware attacks.   (10)>>BUT Former President Donald Trump on Thursday wished President Biden luck in his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and also encouraged him to stay awake. “Good luck to Biden in dealing with President Putin—don’t fall asleep during the meeting, and please give him my warmest regards!” Trump said in an emailed statement.Biden will meet Putin on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, after meeting Queen Elizabeth II this weekend at Windsor Castle and then attending a NATO summit in Belgium. Ambassador John Bolton, former National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, joins Andrea Mitchell ahead of President Biden's first foreign trip, which will include a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.  (11)>>Bolton says that meeting is "premature," but when asked if Donald Trump was ready when he met with Putin, Bolton says "of course not." He also discusses the "Havana-Syndrome" illness, and what might have caused it, which he says is "something the US government has to come to a conclusion on." Biden is not a “reward” for Putin but instead the most effective way to hear directly from him to understand and manage the differences between Washington and Moscow, is to go back to a situation much calmer to a open dialog between the two nations. Biden has to find a way to work with Russia . I think this crucial , This is high-stakes summit is held in Geneva next week as relations between the two nations hit new lows in the first few months of the Biden administration. Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, was recalled from Washington after Biden called Putin a murderer in March. US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan left Moscow after Russia proposed returning to Washington for consultations.Biden told a US troop hangar on Wednesday that he was in Europe to defend the concept of democracy and warned his Russian counterparts that he intended to bring up sensitive issues during their conversation. “I’m going to the G7, then to the NATO ministerial conference and then to a meeting with Mr Putin to tell him what I want to tell him,” said Biden. For this reason, the summit will be  (12)>>“a very good opportunity” to voice the concerns of both countries, Peskov said .In an interview with NBC News, Putin described Biden as a "career man" who has spent his life in politics.Though he described relations with the United States as having "deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years," Putin said he expects he can work with Biden."It is my great hope that, yes, there are some advantages, some disadvantages, but there will not be any impulse-based movements on behalf of the sitting US president," he said, according to a translation by NBC News.

5. Concluding Thoughts .

Well there you have it . Personally it's is all connected . From California politics to the Biden -Putin summit if it ever happens ? To start California Gov. Newsom extending the state of Emergency past June 15th is troubling . But the Newsom madness is starting , Gov. Gavin Newsom said this Friday that California is on the cusp of releasing an electronic system that will allow businesses to confirm that their customers have received their shots.Trying to stay away from the phrase “vaccine passport”. During a news conference held at Vista Community Clinic, after completing the second of three vaccine lottery drawings, the governor said that such a system is very much in the works when asked about verification language included in the state’s latest masking guidance released Wednesday. When the state’s tiered reopening system sunsets on Tuesday, California will adopt federal masking guidelines which state that those who remain unvaccinated must continue wearing face coverings indoors. Businesses are given three different options when interacting with unmasked customers and patrons: Just trust them when they say they’re vaccinated, “implement vaccine verification” or require everyone to wear a mask. Secondly, VP Kamala Harris contradicting her self about the border calling a post Trump hypocrisy saying " don't come" And liberals have been furious that she gave tough warnings to Central Americans not to make the journey north, even as she was acknowledging the conditions driving many to flee.The comments from Harris did not represent a change in administration policy; President Biden has said much the same thing. But for Harris to say it in the region, as she talked mostly about alleviating poverty and violence, was different — jarringly so. MEANWHILE Biden's G-7 summit to be with PUTIN is extremely important in perhaps shifting American attitudes towards Russia , to a new reset . Biden has to undue a whole policy numbers that began under Obama a decade ago, regards to mutual understanding regarding Ukraine . President Joe Biden agreed Sunday that U.S.-Russian relations are at a “low point” and said he was open to a prisoner exchange with Moscow in an effort to clamp down on cyber crimes. Biden will meet with Putin Wednesday at a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland — neutral territory for two leaders who do not want to show any deference to the other — 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

 (1)>>Gov. Newsom stunned a few reporters regarding the re- opening date of June 15th. What word does he  EVER go back on? Restrictions will still be lifted as promised. He’s just keeping the state of emergency in case of a flare-up.California has been under a state of emergency since March 4, 2020. Since then, Newsom has authorized billions of dollars in emergency spending and issued at least 47 executive orders to alter or suspend 200 state laws and regulations because of the virus, according to a resolution authored by Republican state senators. Gov. Newsom was on stage  — literally — Many were hoping  for a positive announcement. Newsom, standing in front of shimmery gold and red curtains and a Wheel of Fortune-style gizmo in the California Lottery Building in Sacramento, randomly selected the first 15 winners of a $50,000 cash prize from the state’s vaccine lottery program. Confetti rained down on the governor as he held up a supersized check emblazoned with “Vax for the Win” and “FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.”But other wise In his State of the State speech this  March, Newsom vowed that California is “not going back to normal.” Now we are seeing the mechanism he had in mind. California will remain in a state of emergency, under one-man rule, until the disease has “vanished,” a goal that may well be unattainable. (2)>>If we DON"T CALIFORNIA will move back into a LOCK DOWN. What a mess. It is apparent Gov. Newsom’s revised “plan to reopen” is designed to keep the state in lockdown forever. Because he continues to focus on the number of positive “cases,” which is 99% people who are healthy, not sick and even asymptomatic. These are not “cases.” Actual “cases” of COVID patients are in the ICU or have died from it.It will be next to impossible to reopen the state under this latest plan.If you can’t see that you’re willfully ignorant. Follow the draconian rules like California followed the law on July 4th to not fire off fireworks under penalty of arrest? The WHOLE State lit up. He’s about to raise taxes and lock us down again and you folks on the left still want this guy? Meanwhile, the latest Covid surge continues to shine a harsh light on inequality. California has seen record levels of unemployment and countless businesses have been shuttered for good, yet some sectors – notably the tech industry – have continued to rake in revenue. Economists are predicting that post-pandemic, California could see a so-called “K-shaped recovery”, where the incomes of the highest earners continue to rise just as quickly as they plummet for those who are struggling. (3)>>California now has extremely low Covid numbers — in fact, Newsom himself points out that the state has the lowest test positivity rate in the nation ? WE really have to take these numbers with a "grain" of caution . News sources point to a steady increases daily .Can we just auto-delete any news article that uses absolute numbers instead of per capita? It's so stupid. It's entirely possible to have the largest number of cases and yet the smallest positivity rate. If that's what they were trying to imply, they would have said, "Despite having 11m fewer people, Texas now tied with California for most Covid-19 cases in country" A lot of people, especially non-Americans, don't know how ridiculously massive California is compared to the other states. he most informative and least prone to misunderstanding would be to either simply state positivity rates or say "texas now ties California for cases despite having only roughly three-quarters of it's population" Simply ranking by positivity rates or a new index of cases weighted by state population would be best though, as these methods let you meaningfully compare all states regardless of population rather than just two at a time as the above proportion would do. We will not know true Covid levels for a decade and it will show areas that rebelled against mask and social distancing did much worse, and it will show that Covid levels are much larger than reported partially due to some of these states supressing tests and results for political gains. .(4)>>PERHAPS THERE WAS NO REAL CRISIS .  An article shared online has claimed to give “ultimate proof” that the novel coronavirus pandemic was planned to create a new world order. The text lists a large number of false and unsubstantiated claims as evidence of this, a selection of which will be discussed in this fact check. The article (here) was published on the blogging website TapNewsWire, with the disclaimer that: “No purported facts have been verified”. In October 2019, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security with partners, the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hosted a pandemic tabletop exercise called “Event 201”.The event simulated an outbreak of a novel zoonotic coronavirus transmitted from bats to pigs to people and that leads to a severe pandemic (here) .The exercise served to “highlight preparedness and response challenges” that would likely arise in a very severe pandemic (here) .(5)>>CalOSHA’s rule for masks is really going to be problematic. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's revised rule, adopted last week after it was initially rejected, would have allowed workers to forego masks only if every employee in a room is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. That contrasts with the state's broader plan to do away with virtually all masking and social distancing requirements for vaccinated people in concert with the latest recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of the two-hour public comment period Wednesday was filled with commenters using their 2 minutes to make a plea to the board that it retire the Emergency Temporary Standards."California is supposed to be roaring back, and a confusing, difficult regulation for employers to implement — pitting workers against each other — is really going to significantly delete that roar," said Bruce Wick from the Housing Contractors of California.A vocal opponent to completely doing away with mask regulations was a California Nurses Association representative who argued California is where it is — with high vaccination rates and low rates of infection — because of its aggressive protective measures.Requiring masks unless all are vaccinated in a workplace would "create yet another barrier to rehiring and reopening" at a time when "we need to be providing incentives to bring people back," they said. Moreover, they said requiring masks for people who are fully inoculated could lead the public to believe the vaccine isn't really effective. (6)>>The Border Crisis . The president of Guatemala says he places blame for the US’ border crisis on President Biden and the Democrats’ “lukewarm” rhetoric on illegal immigration — adding that he urged Vice President Kamala Harris during their meeting to impose harsher penalties on human smuggling.President Alejandro Giammattei made the comments in an interview Wednesday with Fox News after his summit with Harris, who visited his Central American nation as part of her first foreign visit in office.“Well, humanitarian messages were used here by the coyotes in a distorted manner because what they said over there was that they will promote family reunification,” Giammattei explained, appearing to refer to Biden’s messaging on immigration during the campaign.More than 180,000 migrants were encountered attempting to get into the U.S. via the southern border in May alone, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Wednesday -- the latest sign of a continued and unrelenting crisis at the southern border.CBP said that 180,034 migrants were encountered along the border, an increase over the 178,000 encountered in April and 173,000 were encountered in March – all representing the highest numbers in years. March saw a big increase from the 100,000 migrants encountered in February.The numbers are even more staggering compared to previous years. May 2020 saw just over 23,000 migrant encounters, with approximately 144,000 in May 2019. (6.1)>>Mrs. Harris said during the Guatemala visit. Ms. Harris’s comments came after Republicans criticized her for not yet visiting the border. Asked about the topic in an interview with NBC News, Ms. Harris said, “and I haven’t been to Europe.” She added: “I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”  “The reality is that we need to prioritize what’s happening at the border, and we have to prioritize why people are going to the border, and so let’s talk about what’s going on in the places that are causing the issue at the border,” Ms. Harris said in a press conference Tuesday during her first trip abroad in office. “I think it’s short-sighted for any of us who are in the business of problem-solving to suggest we’re only going to respond to the reaction as opposed to addressing the cause.” “Do not come,” Ms. Harris repeated during a joint press conference Monday in Guatemala, adding, “The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.”That statement itself is a little confusing, because as a senator, she sat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (in which she would have been regularly briefed on global developments) and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (which has jurisdiction over immigration, a big issue in Central America).And way back in March 2014, then-California state Attorney General Kamala Harris authored a 118-page report captioned “Gangs Beyond Borders, California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime”. That report went into detail about Mexican-based drug cartels, transnational gangs (including MS-13 and the 18th Street gang), and “the trafficking of drugs, weapons and human beings”.Given that most of the migrants claiming asylum at the Southwest border allege that they are fleeing corruption and gang violence (and that smuggling is facilitated by Mexican drug cartels), you would figure that Harris would have sufficient familiarity with the situation in Mexico and the Northern Triangle to jump right in to her new position.I hear a lot of complaining, but short on offering solutions to an issue caused by a departure of legal immigration from the last administration. What is execpted of this administration to do differently while staying within the law? What good is it going to do to have her at the border? Pandering to the base and visits to the border for a photo op is not a policy it's an attempt to build a narrative. Nor does attacking her for looking at the root cause in their home counmtry that are sendng them to our border. (7)>>BUT HYPOCRISY runs deep in the Democratic Party . Hey wasn't this exact policy the same policy Trump was enforcing? And the policy they campaigned against and ostracized him for...for years?It's almost as if everything they say is just political theater to get your votes. Who would have thunk?Some day  people will realize that Presidential administrations have less control then they think they do. It's why Obama continued many of Bush's policies, and why Trump continued a few of Obama's policies.What makes people mad is the hypocrisy and lack of accountability.Perhaps she was nervous that leaders of those countries would echo criticisms lodged by Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei. He claimed Biden’s “confusing” messages that migrant children would be welcomed by the U.S. encouraged the caravans. Or that reporters would hear comments like those delivered by Mexican President Obrador, who said that Biden had raised expectations that people would be let into the U.S. (7.1)>>While people like AOC take a rather dangerous liberal view of immigration . Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for instance, called Harris' statement "disappointing."“First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. “Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.” AS CRAZY AS THE DEMOCRATS can get on the immigration thing, like talking from both sides of the mouth , double speak California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who endorsed Harris early in her 2020 presidential bid, is taking the side of Ocasio-Cortez. Like a Comedy of Errors .Despite agreeing with Ocasio-Cortez on the issue of asylum, Newsom said he was working closely with the Biden administration on handling the surge. (8)>>NATO alliance and warning Russia it faced “robust and meaningful” consequences. Hostility towards Russia is never going to work for American interests . The US Anti-Russia ball game during the Trump and Obama eras put the US in a corner politically  . Subsequently Russia and China formed a alliance , but American leaders fail to see this . Biden has told his aides he believes Putin responds to signs of strength, something he feels is better conveyed in person rather than over the phone, according to people familiar with the conversation. He has held two phone calls with the Russian President that officials describe as direct -- but without the type of personal interaction and body language derived from an in-person meeting. Olive branch for what exactly? This is not some misunderstanding that dialog can solve. Some deterrent is needed first, then diplomacy.(9)>>"We're not seeking conflict with Russia. Phone call summary by White House:President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. They discussed a number of regional and global issues, including the intent of the United States and Russia to pursue a strategic stability dialogue on a range of arms control and emerging security issues, building on the extension of the New START Treaty. President Biden also made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to Russia’s actions, such as cyber intrusions and election interference. President Biden emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The President voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions. President Biden reaffirmed his goal of building a stable and predictable relationship with Russia consistent with U.S. interests, and proposed a summit meeting in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues facing the United States and Russia. (10)>>BUT Former President Donald Trump. Donald Trump had in my view to pursue a new rest with Russia . Had Trump managed to not jump on the sanction Russia band wagon that was being pushed by the military industrial complex mindset among the Democrats who were pushing the Russian meddling hoax , which pretty much was the main reason why both nations relations had crumbled in just four years to pre cold war levels . The collapse in relations with Russia and China has increased the dangers of war. Personally Trump may have been cozy to Putin , in a way a political way it would have been a good thing if Trump would have succeeded in reestablishing relations with Russia . It would have prevented so much that is going on right now in this world. (11)>>Bolton says that meeting is "premature,".Russian readers will also note information that confirms what they have known for some time. Chiefly, that while there is a strong consensus within the administration — and indeed within the U.S. body politic as a whole — that Russia is an adversary alongside China, Iran, and North Korea, Trump’s main obsession is with China. So his outreach to Russia, from the early days of his administration to the recent invitation to Putin to attend the G7 summit as a guest, stems from his ambition to create an anti-Beijing coalition and draw Russia into it.   (12)>>“a very good opportunity” to voice the concerns of both countries.      The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Biden will discuss “the current state and prospects for further development of Russian-American relations, issues of strategic stability” in addition to cooperation in the fight against coronavirus and regional conflicts.