If Amy Coney Barrett means what she just said, she should resign from the Supreme Court right now
Danielle Campoamor has written below an unalloyed hit-piece for the Independent. In the bad old days, the Independent was known to many conservativesas the Subservient and that is if full flower below. I have often noticed that it takes a woman to rip another woman apart and Danielle Campoamor is in that tradition
Referring to a senior conservative Senator as a "goblin" reveals her bias and she is amusing in calling Trump "shameless" for appointing judges from his side of the political aisle. Democrats don't do that? They invented it with their finding rights mentioned nowhere in the constitution (abortion) and denying ones that were (affirmative action)
And Danielle totally ignores the times Barrett has OPPOSED conservative positions -- e.g. on immigration and firearms. She IS independent.
While speaking at a lecture hosted by the University of Lousville’s McConnell Center, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett expressed faux concern over the American public’s belief that the highest court in the country has become partisan. After she was introduced by the Republican Senate Minority Leader and proud partisan goblin Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — and no, even Veep writers couldn’t have made this mess up — Barrett said justices should be “hyper-vigilant to make sure they’re not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too.” She went on to insist that “judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties” and that “to say the court’s reasoning is flawed is different from saying the court is acting in a partisan manner.”
If you can lobotimize yourself into forgetting that Barrett joined her fellow conservative judges in recently refusing to block the clearly unconstitutional 6-week abortion ban in Texas, and sidestep the rank hypocrisy oozing from the mouth of a woman who gladly accepted a nomination that went against the very promises Republicans made when they blocked then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination, perhaps you can take Barrett’s concern at face value. Maybe partisanship keeps this proud conservative judge up at night. Sure.
But if she is truly afraid of bipartisan hacks taking over the United States Supreme Court, then she should take the first step in rectifying the problem… and resign.
Barrett was nominated and later confirmed to the Supreme Court for one main reason and one main reason only: to overturn Roe v Wade. The president who nominated her, Donald Trump, said as much. During a 2016 presidential debate, Trump said “I will be appointing pro-life judges” and promised Roe v Wade would fall “automatically” after those judges were confirmed, especially if he was in a position to appoint two or three judges during his presidential tenure. And he was. Now, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Barrett herself sit on the high court, with the court’s partisanship on full display and Trump’s shameless promise fulfilled.
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Why did the Maya civilization collapse?
The Maya have lived in Central America and the Yucatán Peninsula since at least 1800 B.C. and flourished in the region for thousands of years. According to countless studies, the Maya civilization collapsed between A.D. 800 and 1000. But though the term "Maya collapse" brings up images of ruins overgrown with forests and of an ancient civilization whose cities fell and were abandoned, the reality is far more complex.
So, why did the Maya civilization collapse, and can you even call it a "collapse"?
For starters, the Maya are still here today. "It was the Maya political system that collapsed, not [their] society," Lisa Lucero, professor of anthropology and medieval studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Live Science in an email. "The over 7 million Maya living today in Central America and beyond attest to this fact."
The ancient Maya didn't have one central leader, like an emperor in ancient Rome, and were not unified into a single state. Instead, the ancient Maya civilization consisted of numerous small states, each centered around a city. While these city states shared similarities in culture and religion, they each had their own local leaders, some more powerful than others. There was no single collapse for these polities; rather, a number of Maya cities rose and fell at different times, some within that 800 to 1000 time period, and some afterward, according to scholars.
For example, while areas in southern Mesoamerica, such as Tikal in what is now Guatemala, declined in the eighth and ninth centuries due to environmental problems and political turmoil, populations rose in other areas, such as Chichén Itzá, on what is now the Mexican Yucatán Peninsula, scholars said.
"Collapse is not a term that should be universally applied to 'the' Maya, who should not be referred to as a single term either," Marilyn Masson, a professor and chair of anthropology at the University at Albany, State University of New York, told Live Science in an email. "The Maya region was large, with many polities and environments, and multiple languages were spoken in the Maya family."
When Chichén Itzá declined, largely because of a lengthy drought during the 11th century, another Yucatán Peninsula city, called Mayapán, started to thrive. "Mayapan had lords, priests, hundreds of religious hieroglyphic books, complex astronomy and a pantheon of deities," Masson said. "Much of what we know about earlier Maya religion comes from books written in Mayapan's day and from descendant populations who met and survived European contact."
While Mayapán declined prior to European contact, partly due to warfare, another Yucatán Peninsula site called Ti'ho was growing at the time Europeans arrived, Masson said.
Maya states continued to exist even after the region was ravaged by war and disease brought about by the European conquests in Central America. "We should always remember, the last Maya state, Nojpetén, fell only in 1697 — pretty recent," said Guy Middleton, a visiting fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University in the U.K.
Why did they fall?
A mix of political and environmental problems is usually blamed for the decline of Maya cities.
Drought: Analysis of speleothems, or rock structures in caves such as stalactites and stalagmites, shows that "several severe — multi-year — droughts struck between [A.D.] 800 and 930" in the southern Mesoamerica region, Lucero said. "And since the most powerful Maya kings relied on urban reservoirs to draw in farmers/subjects during the annual dry season for access to clean drinking water, decreasing rainfall meant water levels dropped, crops failed and kings lost their means of power." What's more, "the decreasing rainfall exacerbated any problems kings were having," she said.
The fact that Maya rulers often linked their own powers to deities created more political problems. The problems the Maya suffered from droughts "caused people to lose trust in their rulers, which is more than just losing trust in the government when your rulers are closely tied to deities," said Justine Shaw, an anthropology professor at the College of the Redwoods in California. The droughts, combined with political turmoil, would have also disrupted agriculture, maintenance of water storage systems and resulted in Maya rulers wasting resources on warfare, Shaw said.
Lucero noted that some Maya areas experienced deforestation, and lower water levels made it harder to trade goods. "Less rainfall likely impacted canoe trade since water levels noticeably drop each dry season — so less rain meant less canoe travel," Lucero said.
However, a "collapse" in one area could be a time of "boom" in another. The Cochuah region on the Yucatán Peninsula thrived during the Terminal Classic [800 to 930] after much of the south was depopulated due to drought and political conflict. "But it, too, eventually lost much of its occupants," Shaw said. The reasons why Cochuah boomed and collapsed are currently being investigated.
This pattern of decline in one area and growth in another continued through the time of European conflict with Maya cities. Political and environmental problems often led to the decline of one area, while another area grew possibly because they were not suffering as badly from these problems.
After the last Maya state was conquered by the Spanish in 1697, the Maya people continued on, enduring discrimination and at times revolting against Spain and the governments that came into power after Spanish colonial rule ended in 1821. "The Maya have suffered horrendously, but periodically have rebelled, unsuccessfully; they still lack adequate political representation in the countries where they live," Middleton told Live Science.
"It is really important to get the message out there that though classic Maya cities and states did collapse, and culture did transform, the Maya in no way disappeared," said Middleton, adding that "we should pay attention to the story, the state and status of the Maya descendent population in Mesoamerica now."
https://www.livescience.com/why-maya-civilization-collapsed.html
******************************************State Attorneys General Come Out Against Biden’s Vaccine Mandates
Several state attorneys general have come out against President Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates that would require companies with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine for their workers.
On Twitter, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who is currently running for Senate, shredded Biden’s vaccine mandates in a slew of tweets. Schmitt called it “historic" overreach and mentioned that he is prepared to fight back against it.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued a similar statement in response to Biden’s vaccine mandates, also describing it as “overreaching rhetoric” to “discriminate against employees based on their health status.” Schmidt is currently running for governor of Kansas on a slew of platforms surrounding “personal responsibility, individual freedoms and the Constitution,” as noted on his campaign website. “No president has the legal authority to decree a national vaccine mandate or to punish private businesses that refuse to discriminate against employees based on their health status.
President Biden yesterday scolded ‘this is not about freedom,’ but the rule of law most certainly is. If the president's overreaching rhetoric becomes federal action, then rest assured we will vigorously challenge it,” Schmidt said in his statement. “To be clear, I continue to support Kansans choosing to be vaccinated, as I have. But this important health-care decision is reserved for individual Americans not entrusted to the president and federal bureaucrats.”
Like Schmitt and Schmidt, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a short statement against Biden vaccine mandates. Rokita is also prepared to challenge the mandates, calling it “authoritarian actions by the Biden administration.”
“My team and I, along with other like-minded attorneys general, are reviewing all legal action on how to stand against these authoritarian actions by the Biden administration,” Rokita’s statement reads. “We will be prepared to file suit if Biden seeks illegal actions restricting Hoosiers' liberties.”
On Twitter, Rokita compared Biden’s decision to mandate vaccines to “dictators in a banana republic.”
Since Biden’s announcement, several lawmakers have come forward against the vaccine mandates. Like the attorneys general, many GOP governors are prepared to challenge the Biden administration on the mandates.
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Row as Yorkshire town with a 98.7% white population only features white people on new mural commemorating workers
A row has erupted on social media over a new mural dedicated to businesses amid the pandemic after it only portrayed white people.
Driffield Town Council installed the 'Wall of Fame' artwork on Middle Street North in East Riding of Yorkshire to commemorate the 'well-known personalities' in the region who have worked tirelessly through the Covid-19 crisis.
The temporary mural, which was unveiled this week, features 15 different people, who represent local shopkeepers, restaurant owners and other personalities, and all are depicted as white.
However the installation has divided opinion among locals, with some arguing the artwork lacked diversity while others said it was reflective of the region, which has a 98.7 per cent white population.
Local resident Kerrie Woodhouse-Dove wrote on Facebook that, although she liked the mural, it could have been 'a little more inclusive'.
She wrote: 'Whilst I really like the idea, it just screams welcome to out 'white town'. Obviously being a minority is even more reinforced by this which is a shame really, some thought could have gone into being a little more inclusive.'
One local wrote: 'Wow, not one person of colour or disabled person and mostly full of men. Representation matters.
'I appreciate the sentiment is celebrating the local businesses and the people behind them who have worked really hard but there are so many other ways this could have been represented in art besides just drawing a load of white people.'
While another person added: 'What a huge missed opportunity to highlight people of colour in the town as well.'
Elsewhere another person commented: 'This is good but sadly lacks the real diversity in our town, which would have really done the town and town council some good!'
However others commended the council for the mural and said it was a 'lovely piece' which 'celebrated people' in the region.
One resident said: 'I think this is a lovely piece, celebrating people who actively care and support their town. A good celebration in these Nasty Covid days.
'If you contribute and work hard you should be recognised. Brilliant job, well done.'
And another wrote: 'Fabulous and lovely to see the businesses within the high street who have chosen to give their spare time to help make this town nicer what a lovely tribute.'
Meanwhile another person added: 'Dear me, reading some comments!
'It's just a picture of people representing their businesses. who have struggled and worked hard to stay afloat, during these difficult times, so sad some of you out there want to be so negative when it's a positive that brightens up Driffield.
'Please try to understand it's representing Hard Working Businesses nothing more.'
Driffield Town Council said the panels on the mural were created to reflect 'well-known personalities who either own or work in the shops and businesses' in the area.
It went on to say the artwork was an 'attempt to boost the town not to cause negative publicity.'
In a statement, the council said: 'The people shown run businesses and shops in Middle Street North, Market Place and Middle Street South, also known as the Northern and Station Quarters.
'The town council and the steering group are working hard to support local businesses and this mural is an attempt to boost the town not to cause negative publicity.'
The latest figures show that of Driffield's 13,080 population, 12,909 people are white.
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How Much More Are You Going to Take?
This morning I saw the news that our local hospital has shut down its maternity ward, due to multiple healthcare professionals quitting — rather than being forced to get an experimental injection!
They have bills to pay, a family to support — yet they have said: enough! Kudos to these brave, principled people, some of whom have resigned from a position that they have been involved with for decades.
How about the rest of us? At what point do we say that we’re not going to take it any more?
It seems like most citizens will tolerate a loss of their rights and freedoms, if it is done gradually — like slowly turning up the temperature of a pot with a lobster in it.
Most citizens have already looked the other way about innumerable recent liberty extractions:
— like a state mandating that wind energy must provide 30% of the electricity. What happened to the free market?
— like the federal government demanding adherence to “climate change” policies. What happened to real Science?
— like universities forcing “woke” propaganda into the curriculum. What happened to critical thinking?
— like the Attorney General attempting to block forensic election audits. What happened to election integrity?
— like governments requiring that certain citizens must get an experimental injection. What happened to our body, our choice?
— etc., ad nauseam.
When is enough, enough?
Maybe it’s when we realize that there is a pattern here, and that these are not random abuses.
Maybe it’s when we realize that the direction these are taking is towards Communism.
Maybe it’s when we realize that the only power that governments, etc. have, is what we have voluntarily granted them.
Maybe it’s when we realize that by tolerating these abuses, that it's perceived as compliance and weakness — which invites more injustices.
Maybe it’s when we realize that good people are in the majority — and that working intelligently together, we can defeat these assaults on our rights.
Maybe it’s when we realize that we need to collectively and aggressively push back against these attacks on our freedoms.
Let’s start drawing some lines in the sand.
Email from John Droz jr. aaprjohn@northnet.org
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See 
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