July 26, 2018: Fire Threatens A Drier World - Investigators Threatened the Trump Organization

 

7/26/18: As scientists have been predicting, with the planet warming, forests will dry out. Wildfires will be a spreading problem. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that 2018 is on pace to be the fourth hottest year on record. 

 

Like burning up Delaware, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. 

If you care to look you can see danger signs round the world. Several active fires are spreading above the Arctic Circle, highly unusual at this time of year. Greece has just been swept by massive wildfires. At least 81 lives were lost. Scientists warn that a drought that grips much of Australia may be the worst in 800 years. Closer to home, blazes near Yosemite National Park have forced tourists to evacuate as smoke hangs over the valley like a shroud.

 

This summer, views like this in Yosemite NP are blanketed in gray haze.

The National Interagency Fire Center sums up a dangerous situation across the U.S., in 2018: 

Ninety large fires have burned nearly one million acres in 14 states. Large fire activity is reported in every Geographic Area, except Eastern Area, which is very unusual for July [emphasis added, here and below]. Hot and dry weather conditions in several states caused extreme fire behavior on large fires in California, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. Residents in many towns across the West have been evacuated from their homes.

 

With the fire season opening earlier, and certain to last longer, the U.S. could be in for a record burn. A million charred acres equals 1,563 square miles, equivalent to setting fire to the entire land area of Delaware. Last year, the NOAA notes, 9,781,062 acres went up in smoke and ash. That would be 15,283 square miles, equal to the land area of New Jersey and Massachusetts. 

This year may be worse.

 

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IN OTHER NEWS, the Wall Street Journal reports that Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has been served a subpoena by federal investigators. Weisselberg was mentioned on the Cohen tape as someone involved in potentially illegal payoffs during the 2016 campaign. (See: 7/25/18.) 

NBC reporter Katy Tur highlights the danger to the president in a tweet: “Former Trump org employee to me: ‘Alan [sic] knows where all financial bodies are buried within the Trump organization.” Weisselberg not only knows where the bodies are buried, he helped bury them.

January 5-6, 2020: Trump Vows Iran Will Never Have a Nuclear Weapon

 

1/6/20: Reverberations from Mr. Trump’s decision to take out Iranian General Soleimani with a drone strike continue to shake the Middle East. Crowds for his funeral in Iran are massive. The fervor for revenge is manifest. 

There can be no telling where repercussions will begin or where they will end. General Hossein Dehghani, a top Iranian military adviser, tells CNN that his country will strike back at U.S. military sites in the region. The Iranian Foreign Minister says Iran will no longer be bound by restrictions set forth in the 2015 deal. They will restart their nuclear weapons program. 

President Trump hits the caps button and tweets: “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” 

That may be true. 

Iran doesn’t have one now because the 2015 deal was working. So we’re right back where we were all along.

 

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FOR NOW, all the talk of blood and gore may be a blessing for Mr. Trump, distracting us from talk of impeachment. John Bolton, his former National Security Adviser, has said he is prepared to testify during any Senate impeachment trial. Having considered his duties as a citizen, Bolton notifies Senate Leader McConnell that he will appear as a witness if subpoenaed. (See: 1/10/20.)