Now in our 11th year on KPFT!

Going forward, new shows will post for Thursday at 6PM (CT) broadcast and re-run on Sundays at 1PM and Wednesdays at 11AM.

AUDIO:

POSSIBLE TOPICS:

1. Intro;
2. The Electoral College: A Discussion;
3. Missouri City adds traffic calming program;
4. Texas education board signals support for first state-developed elementary curriculum;
5. Amid rise in chronic disease, Texas lawmakers eye stricter food safety standards;
6. Trump escalates test of strength over Gaetz pick;
7. Winter Haven commissioners vote to remove fluoride from water, citing RFK Jr.;
8. Comments of Note on Threads;
9. Biden’s major missile reversal complicates potential western diplomatic thaw with Moscow;
10. Will Denmark Expose Chinese-Russian Sabotage in the Baltic?;

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. 

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) or Thursdays at 6PM on KPFT 90.1 FM-HD2, Houston’s Community Media. You can also hear the show:

1. Live online at KPFT.org (from anywhere in the world!)
2. Podcast on your phone’s Podcast App
3. Visiting Archive.KPFT.ORG

Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston at 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville at 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community Media. On this show, we discuss local, state, national, and international stories that may have slipped under your radar.

1. As much as possible, I’m still trying to do an aggravation-free show. Or at least, minimally aggravating.
2. Before plunging into the usual stories I do on this show, I’m going to do a discussion of the electoral college system of presidential elections because I think that our nation’s safety and future success depends, more than ever in our history, on what the cumulative electors choose to do when their votes are tallied in the states on December 17^th. 
   1. I have attempted to include citations and links wherever possible for both accuracy and for those who wish to do further research. Any language or quotations that I use without citations are entirely by accident.
   2. Federalist No. 68 — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   3.  James Wilson (September 14, 1742 – August 21, 1798) … was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson … was [also] a major force in drafting the United States Constitution. A leading legal theorist, he was one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to the Supreme Court of the United States. …
   4. James Wilson and Pennsylvania Gouverneur Morris proposed direct election of the president by the people … James Madison agreed that election of the president by the people at large was the best way to go about electing the president, but he knew that the less populous slave states would not be influential under such a system, and he backed the Electoral College.^[1]
   5. Regarding Hamilton’s understanding of the Electoral College: In justifying the use of the Electoral College, Hamilton focused on a few arguments dealing with the use of the Electoral College instead of direct election. First, in explaining the role of the general populace in the election of the president, Hamilton argues that the “sense of the people”, through the election of the electors to the Electoral College, should be a part of the process. The final say, however, should lie with the electors, who Hamilton notes are: “Men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.”
   6. This is reflected in [Hamilton’s] later fears about the types of people who could potentially become president. He worries that corrupted individuals could [become president], particularly those who are either more directly associated with a foreign state, or individuals who do not have the capacity to run the country.
   7. Federalist 68, probably written by Alexander Hamilton, notes that the person who will become president will have to be a person who possesses the faculties necessary to be a president, but Hamilton had concerns about the character of people elected solely by popular vote, stating that: “Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.”
   8. The electoral system attempts to create equality between states of different population sizes. It was also designed by Hamilton and the Founding Fathers to “weed out” a grossly unqualified candidate that might capture the public’s interest enough to get elected by the process, but who did not have the requisite qualities necessary for the office of President, and therefore would not be fit to become the commander in chief of the United States.
   9. The Electors were to protect the public from such a situation by themselves casting the official votes for president. Electors were to be chosen by the public, and were to be educated people who would carefully consider everything and would vote their conscience without regard to political party or state affiliation.
   10. In the Federalist No. 10, there is this: James Madison argued against “an interested and overbearing majority” and the “mischiefs of faction” in an electoral system. He defined a faction as “a number of citizens whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.“
   11. In brief, I would interpret all of the foregoing as assigning a solemn responsibility to the electors to hear the will of the electorate, but in the case of potential national danger to do what they think best for the United States as a whole, without regard to partisan obligations, even if those obligations were imposed by state law.
   12. This is where the debate over whether the electors are State officials or Federal officials comes into play.
   13. The phrase “…adverse … to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community” could be interpreted as the vital national security interests of the United States.
   14. In common parlance, the term “Faithless elector” is described in a Wikipedia article as, “a party representative who does not have faith in the election result within their region and instead votes for another person for one or both offices, or abstains from voting. … The consequences of an elector voting in a way inconsistent with their pledge vary from state to state.”
   15. I think it’s time for the Electoral College to step up. That IS what the Electoral College is for.
   16. MIKE: I’m including quite a bit of reference material in the blog post that is too long and a bit repetitive for me to read on-air. If you have further interest in this topic, I think that the links I’ve provided are a good place to begin.
   17. REFERENCE: Electoral College (United States), From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (“Although no elector is required by federal law to honor a pledge, there have been very few occasions when an elector voted contrary to a pledge.^[8][9] The Twelfth Amendment, in specifying how a president and vice president are elected, requires each elector to cast one vote for president and another vote for vice president.^[10][11]”
   18. REFERENCE: Federalist No. 10, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia — 10 addresses the question of how to guard against “factions“, or groups of citizens, with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. Madison saw factions as inevitable due to the nature of man – that is, as long as men hold differing opinions, have differing amounts of wealth, and own differing amount of property, they will continue to form alliances with people who are most similar to them, and they will sometimes work against the public interest, and infringe upon the rights of others. Thus, he questions how to guard against those dangers.^{[citation needed]} Federalist No. 10 continues a theme begun in Federalist No. 9; it is titled, “The Same Subject Continued: The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection”. The whole series is cited by scholars and jurists as an authoritative interpretation and explication of the meaning of the Constitution. Jurists have frequently read No. 10 to mean that the Founding Fathers did not intend the United States government to be partisan^{[citation needed]} and others have argued that given Madison’s clear understanding that partisanship is inevitable, he suggests that a representative republic form of government is more effective against factions than a direct democracy.^{[citation needed]} Thus, Madison saw the Constitution as forming a “happy combination” of a republic and a democracy and with “the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local and particular to the State legislatures” the power would not be centralized in a way that would make it “more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried.” The Anti-Federalists vigorously contested the notion that a republic of diverse interests could survive. The author Cato (another pseudonym, most likely that of George Clinton)^[26] summarized the Anti-Federalist position in the article Cato no. 3:
   19. REFERENCE: Additionally, in the Federalist No. 10, James Madison argued against “an interested and overbearing majority” and the “mischiefs of faction” in an electoral system. He defined a faction as “a number of citizens whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” What was then called republican government (i.e., federalism, as opposed to direct democracy), with its varied distribution of voter rights and powers, would countervail against factions. Madison further postulated in the Federalist No. 10 that the greater the population and expanse of the Republic, the more difficulty factions would face in organizing due to such issues as sectionalism.^[25]
   20. REFERENCE: COUNTER ARGUMENTS TO FEDERALIST #10 — … the Anti-Federalists appealed to both historical and theoretic evidence. On the theoretical side, they leaned heavily on the work of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. The Anti-Federalists Brutus and Cato both quoted Montesquieu on the issue of the ideal size of a republic, citing his statement in The Spirit of the Laws that: “It is natural to a republic to have only a small territory, otherwise it cannot long subsist. In a large republic there are men of large fortunes, and consequently of less moderation; there are trusts too great to be placed in any single subject; he has interest of his own; he soon begins to think that he may be happy, great and glorious, by oppressing his fellow citizens; and that he may raise himself to grandeur on the ruins of his country. In a large republic, the public good is sacrificed to a thousand views; it is subordinate to exceptions, and depends on accidents. In a small one, the interest of the public is easier perceived, better understood, and more within the reach of every citizen; abuses are of less extent, and of course are less protected.”^[32] Greece and Rome were looked to as model republics throughout this debate,^[33] and authors on both sides took Roman pseudonyms. Brutus points out that the Greek and Roman states were small, whereas the U.S. is vast. He also points out that the expansion of these republics resulted in a transition from free government to tyranny.^[34]
   21. REFERENCE: Electoral College (United States), From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   22. REFERENCE: Federalist No. 68 — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   23. REFERENCE: Federalist No. 10, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   24. REFERENCE: Cato no. 3: Counter Arguments To Federalist #10 — UCHICAGO.EDU
   25. REFERENCE: Faithless elector — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Moving on to local news, from COMMUNITYIMPACT[dot]COM — Missouri City adds traffic calming program; By Aubrey Vogel | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:50 PM Nov 19, 2024 CST/ Updated 2:49 PM Nov 19, 2024 CST. TAGS: Missouri City, Traffic Calming,
   1. A new neighborhood traffic improvement program has been added as Missouri City continues to move away from [being] a bedroom community, officials said.
   2. … At a Nov. 18 meeting, Missouri City City Council approved creating a traffic calming program to improve neighborhood safety by reducing cut-through traffic and speeds through traffic [control] measures.
   3. Qualified traffic calming measures include roundabouts, mini-roundabouts, roadway reconfiguration, speed cushions [MIKE: Which I believe are colloquially known as speed bumps], raised crosswalks, on-street parking, and half- and full-street closures, according to agenda documents. …
   4. [City Engineer Marcus Snell said,] The program allows a homeowners association or 75% of residents in a requested segment to request traffic calming measures be implemented … The four-step process includes a: Project request; Studies and ranking of projects; Review and project selection; [and a] Cost share and project packet.
   5. [Snell said that] Projects will be ranked based on [a basis of need] and available funds by studying daily traffic volumes, crashes, measured speeds, sidewalk availability, bicycle and pedestrian crossings, proximity to community destinations and visual obstructions.
   6. … The city has budgeted $100,000 to the program on an annual basis with the city covering 80% of costs for approved projects, Snell said. The remaining 20% is set to be covered by an HOA, although it can be waived at the city manager’s discretion.
   7. … Although requests will be accepted year-round, Snell said the annual project schedule will include: 31: deadline for submission of requests for project year; February-April: data collection and review;  June-July: decision;  [and in] October: design and implementation
   8. MIKE: What drew my attention to this story was a term I had never heard before: “Traffic calming”. I’ve never heard of traffic control measures being described that way. Is it a new euphemism, like “speed cushions”?
   9. MIKE: I applaud Missouri City for seeing a problem in its early stages and looking at ways to mitigate it. Personally, I hate traffic circles. I’m surprised that they don’t involve more accidents. But I understand their space-saving appeal as a compact way to manage complex traffic patterns.
4. Also from COMMUNITYIMPACT[dot]COM — Texas education board signals support for first state-developed elementary curriculum; By Hannah Norton | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:31 PM Nov 20, 2024 CST/Updated 5:31 PM Nov 20, 2024 CST. TAGS: Texas State Board of Education, state-developed textbooks, biblical references, Texas Education Agency, Bluebonnet Learning, House Bill 1605,
   1. The Texas State Board of Education [SBOE] is poised to approve new state-developed textbooks this week after an initial vote Nov. 19. Proponents of the curriculum say it would provide students with rigorous, age-appropriate content and help close achievement gaps, while critics argue frequent biblical references in the materials verge on proselytizing and could isolate students with different religious beliefs.
   2. The 15-member board gave preliminary approval to the state textbooks, known as Bluebonnet Learning, with an 8-7 vote Nov. 19. The Texas Education Agency and about two dozen other publishers had until 5 p.m. Nov. 20 to revise their proposed materials in response to concerns from board members and the public. The board will take a final vote Nov. 22.
   3. … The state-developed materials include textbooks and lesson plans for elementary school reading and language arts, kindergarten through eighth grade math, and algebra 1. They were released under House Bill 1605, a 2023 law that overhauled Texas’ public school curriculum standards.
   4. Use of any state-sanctioned materials is entirely optional, but districts that do so would receive up to $60 per student to purchase and print them. Districts currently receive about $171 per student to acquire textbooks, according to the TEA. [MIKE: So I’m guessing that the $60 is additional to that base amount? Continuing …]
   5. Schools could begin using materials approved by the SBOE during the 2025-26 academic year.
   6. … Several Texas school districts, including Temple ISD [TISD], have piloted the TEA’s elementary-level materials since 2021. TISD teachers and a district administrator traveled to Austin Nov. 18 to testify in support of the state curriculum.
   7. [Kindergarten teacher Jomeka Gray told the board,] “The curriculum is for all diverse learners, flexible for various teacher expertise and inclusive for families. I am confident that my students will continue to have positive outcomes as they move forward in their academic journey.” [MIKE: That should have been “journeys” for number agreement, but she’s a kindergarten teacher, not a grammar teacher. Moving on …]
   8. Lisa Adams, a deputy superintendent for TISD, said students on campuses that implemented the state textbooks began “outperforming their grade-level peers” within the first few months of the pilot program.
   9. “They’ve made a difference for our students and teachers in TISD, and I would ask that you put them on the [approved] list, so they would continue to be an option,” Adams said.
   10. Ahead of the preliminary vote, SBOE member Kevin Ellis, R-Lufkin, said the Bluebonnet materials would give school districts more options. …
   11. … Board member Staci Childs, D-Houston, said she thinks the state reading materials are generally high-quality, but didn’t want to support them because of the Bible stories woven throughout.
   12. [Childs said,] “I didn’t hear enough about how we can withstand an Establishment Clause claim if one is brought up — if the State Board of Education is sued or the commissioner is sued — for me to feel comfortable yet.”
   13. The Establishment Clause is a provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
   14. Parents should be able to teach their children about a religion, or none at all, without interference from their public schools, others testified.
   15. [Said Mary Lowe of Families Engaged for Effective Education, a public education advocacy group,] “I am a Christian, and I do believe that religion is a part of our culture, but our nation does not have a religion. We’re unique in that. I do not think that our school districts should imply or try to overtly impress to young, impressionable children that [Texas] does have a state religion.”
   16. Frequent references to the Bible could alienate non-Christian students, some said [on] Nov. 18, arguing that other major religions are not depicted equally.
   17. Abby Burnham, a Jewish parent, said she faced “repeated attempts to promote Christian ideologies” as a child in Texas public schools.
   18. [Said Burnham,] “I vividly remember when I expressed discomfort as a student and a teacher told me that I should just get used to it, that that is the world that I live in,” Burnham said. [She added,] “That moment stayed with me—not because it reflects the fairness or diversity I believe in, but because it made me feel like I don’t belong.”
   19. During remarks to the SBOE [on] Nov. 20, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said that while he is not a legal expert, he did not think the state textbooks would violate the Establishment Clause.
   20. [Morath told board members,] “I have not seen any Bluebonnet [material] that uses solely Christian religious references. Any assertion of that is incorrect.”
   21. The majority-Republican SBOE was split during the preliminary vote Nov. 19. Republicans Evelyn Brooks of Frisco, Patricia Hardy of Fort Worth and Pam Little of Fairview joined the board’s four Democrats in opposition to the state curriculum.
   22. Hardy said she was concerned that the state reading materials are too advanced for elementary school students and sometimes discuss “very dark subjects.” …
   23. Brooks said she voted against the state textbooks because they were an “experiment” and did not use proven teaching methods. …
   24. Board member Will Hickman, R-Houston, who voted for the materials, said he felt the Bible stories would help teach students important concepts and prepare them to enter society.
   25. [Hickman said,] “There’s a line between indoctrination or evangelism and education,” Hickman said. “In my view, these stories are on the education side and are establishing cultural literacy. There’s religious concepts like the Good Samaritan and the golden rule that all students should be exposed to.”
   26. The board will take a final vote on the Bluebonnet textbooks and over 100 other proposed instructional materials Nov. 22.
   27. MIKE: I’m not in a position to say whether these “Bluebonnet Learning” textbooks are better teaching tools or not, but the bald Christian references bother me a lot. Hickman’s comment that these religious stories are on the education side rather than the indoctrination side would carry more weight if there were a diversity of stories from various religions. Since pretty much all religions are supposed to teach admirable qualities, I’m sure they could find some if they set their minds to it.
   28. MIKE: I grew up in a predominantly Jewish and Italian neighborhood. I remember once when I was very small watching “LASSIE” with my parents, and Timmy’s family was getting ready to go to church. I remember turning to my parents and asking something to the effect of, “Why are they always going to church? Why doesn’t anyone ever go to shul?”; shul being a Jewish word for synagogue.
   29. MIKE: I don’t recall if they answered, but it took me a long time to understand that this is what inclusivity is about.
   30. MIKE: I also remember being in school when the Supreme Court removed school prayer, and how relieved I was. It had always made me uncomfortable.
   31. MIKE: Republicans on the whole may not be Christian nationalists, but by and large, they certainly seem to be Christian chauvinists. Significant fractions of Americans are not Christian. They may be Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jainist, or something else, perhaps even atheist. In fact, according to Pew Research, almost a quarter of Texans — about 23% — are not any denomination of Christian, and that quarter of our state’s population are frequently disrespected and disregarded. As is the case here.
   32. MIKE: We need a resurgence of enforcement of, and respect for, the Constitution’s First Amendment Establishment Clause. We must continually push back against those who think it’s fine to push their religious beliefs on others.
   33. MIKE: And we must stop electing folks who think their religious beliefs are the only ones that matter.
5. Also from COMMUNITYIMPACT[dot]COM — Amid rise in chronic disease, Texas lawmakers eye stricter food safety standards; By Hannah Norton | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 1:37 PM Nov 15, 2024 CST/Updated 1:37 PM Nov 15, 2024 CST. TAGS: Texas Senate Health And Human Services Committee, Public Health And Wellness, Chronic Diseases,
   1. While life expectancy has risen in recent years, Americans are “living sick longer,” public health and wellness experts told the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Nov. 13. In response to a rise in obesity and other chronic diseases, some state senators said they would consider tightening regulations on food additives to promote healthier eating.
   2. [MIKE: When I read that first line, you could have knocked me over with a feather! Texas? Considering regulating foods out of health concerns? Makes me think we have some hope of becoming California! But getting back to the story …]
   3. Roughly 40% of U.S. adults were considered obese between August 2021-August 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention That’s up from 15% in 1976, according to the National Institutes of Health.
   4. [Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said during the Nov. 13 hearing,] “I don’t think that our government has focused as much as we should on these root causes [of chronic disease]. We’re not addressing regulation of food additives and other factors that may be strongly connected to this phenomenon. Very little attention has been paid to the increasing reliance on processed diets in the U.S. or what [companies] add into their products.”
   5. In Texas, the percentage of obese adults rose from 30.9% in 2013 to 36.1% in 2021 and fell to 34.4% in 2023, per CDC data. Meanwhile, diseases like colon cancer are becoming more prevalent in younger adults, Community Impact previously reported.
   6. … Texas senators said [on] Nov. 13 [that] they were interested in tightening regulations on food additives, like chemicals and artificial dyes, to improve food safety and better inform consumers.
   7. [Said Kolkhorst, who chairs the committee,] “We’re about to start pushing here, because this is about people’s lives. We’ve got to be impacting these children that have Type 2 diabetes—their life is literally going to be altered forever because of choices. Maybe their parents didn’t know they were making bad choices, or maybe the food source is wrong.”
   8. 7 million Texans have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to the Episcopal Health Foundation, and 7.1 million others have prediabetes, which occurs when an individual has a higher-than-normal blood sugar level and is at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
   9. [Said Jason Karp, CEO of health company HumanCo,] “Despite exercising more than ever, despite having more pharmaceuticals, more treatments, more medical devices than ever, Americans are facing an existential crisis where physical health, fertility and mental health metrics have never been worse.”
   10. … Karp, who founded HumanCo after being diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases in his 20s, said the “root cause” of Americans’ health issues is “the unchecked and misguided industrialization of agriculture and food.”
   11. Karp pointed to the European Union, where certain food additives are banned or restricted. The EU banned titanium dioxide, which is used to add color to food, in 2022 over concerns that it may cause damage to DNA or chromosomes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows titanium dioxide to be used in food as long as it does not exceed 1% of the food’s weight, but does not require the additive to be listed as an ingredient.
   12. Since 2010, the EU has required products containing synthetic dyes, such as Red Dye 40, to include a warning that the food “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
   13. [Karp told state senators on Nov. 13,] “I believe Texas, as well as our entire great nation, should protect its people just as many other developed countries do. If Texas adopts a more precautionary regulatory approach with food additives, we can take a significant and absolutely necessary step in both providing safer food and lowering our health care costs.”
   14. Earlier this year, California became the first state to ban six artificial dyes from food and drinks served at public schools. The California Food Safety Act, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 28, will prohibit public schools from serving foods containing Blue Dye 1, Blue Dye 2, Green Dye 3, Red Dye 40, Yellow Dye 5, or Yellow Dye 6 beginning in late 2027.
   15. Senators said they would like to see Texas follow suit.
   16. [Said Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood,] “These known toxins that other countries and other [states] have already said, ‘No, you’re not going to poison our people over here’ — it’s time for us to step up and join in. Let’s just stop the bad stuff. We’re not going to change people’s habits overnight on how they raise their kids and what they eat and how they cook … but we can at least do the responsible thing.”
   17. … Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, filed a bill Nov. 12 that would ban seven food additives from free and reduced-price meals served in Texas public schools. [Texas] Senate Bill 314 lists brominated vegetable oil (BVO), potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), Red Dye 3, and titanium dioxide as the proposed substances to be banned. Hughes is a member of the Senate Health and Human Services committee, but was absent from the Nov. 13 hearing.
   18. Caroline Harris Davila, R-Round Rock, filed an identical bill in the Texas House.
   19. The FDA banned BVO on Aug. 2, giving companies one year to reformulate, relabel and stop selling products containing the stabilizer. Few U.S. products still use BVO, according to the FDA.
   20. … While life expectancy has risen in recent years, Americans are getting sick earlier in life, experts said [on] Nov. 13. Colon and rectal cancer are the leading cause of cancer deaths in men under age 50 and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women under age 50, according to a 2024 report by the American Cancer Society.
   21. [Karp said,] “People are living sick longer. So, I don’t think necessarily lifespan is the only variable to look at. ‘Health span’ is a new term that they’re using, which is how you feel when you’re 60 or 70 or 80.”
   22. Kolkhorst said solving issues with nutrition and health require changes across the board.
   23. “I think this goes into the pharmaceutical conversation; the training of our medical workforce, what we’re eating, the discoveries we make that give us longevity,” Kolkhorst said. “And not just, ‘Wow, I made it to 80, but I don’t recognize my name and I don’t know my daughter,’—but ‘I made it to 80 and still have a lifestyle that is valued.’ So I do think we have a long way to go, and unfortunately, the most developed country in the world is behind.”
   24. Eric Boerwinkle, dean of the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, said 80% of health outcomes are driven by “nonmedical factors,” such as access to healthy food.
   25. Both agriculture and health care need to be a part of the conversation, Boerwinkle said.
   26. “It’s important, as ​​we think about what we can do to improve the health of Texas, [to consider] how we bridge health care, and the social service providers or community organizations that are helping us with food distribution, or industry that’s helping us with food quality,” he said.
   27. MIKE: My wife has been doing scientific research in nutrition for 20 years, and I’ve been editing her papers and grants almost as long, so “healthspan” is not a new word to me. It’s a focus of both research and instruction in the Texas A&M system, as well as other Texas universities.
   28. MIKE: What does astound me is that the article I just read took place in Texas state government. I mean, when was the last time that you heard anyone in Texas compare Texas unfavorably to California or the European Union? And every State official quoted in the story was a Republican!
   29. MIKE: Maybe, someday, there’s hope for Texas.
6. From CNN — Trump escalates test of strength over Gaetz pick; Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN | CNN.COM | Published 12:00 AM EST, Tue November 19, 2024. TAGS: Donald Trump, Matt Gaetz, Attorney General’s Office, House Ethics Committee,
   1. Donald Trump is creating a show of force that will help define his new term as he tries to leverage Matt Gaetz into the attorney general’s office.
   2. The president-elect has been calling senators to press them to confirm his pick early next year, CNN reported Monday — even as counter pressure grows from GOP senators who want to see a House Ethics Committee report into Gaetz’s past conduct, including over an alleged sexual liaison with a minor that [Gaetz] has denied.
   3. The controversy took another twist when a lawyer for two women who appeared before the committee said they testified that they were paid for “sexual favors” by the Florida Republican. The attorney, Joel Leppard, also told CNN’s Erin Burnett that one of the women told the committee that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with her then-underage friend in 2017. Gaetz denies any wrongdoing and the Justice Department did not press charges after its own investigation.
   4. The Ethics Committee report has quickly become the first big crisis of the nascent second Trump administration. A small handful of Republican senators would be needed to defect in order to block Gaetz’s nomination when the party controls the Senate majority next year.
   5. House Speaker Mike Johnson is insisting ahead of a scheduled meeting of the Ethics Committee on Wednesday that the report should not be released since Gaetz, following his resignation last week, is no longer a member of Congress.
   6. The escalating drama is posing a critical question: How far will Trump go in trying to force Republican senators to back his choice — even though some have deep reservations about Gaetz’s character and qualifications for the job?
   7. North Dakota [Republican] Sen. Kevin Cramer, who wants to see the report released, addressed that exact issue on Monday and questioned the wisdom of the president-elect investing massive political capital in getting Gaetz confirmed.
   8. “You have to … determine whether or not the cost of getting them across the finish line is worth it, much less the possibility that you won’t get them across the finish line,” Cramer told CNN’s Manu Raju, while also raising concerns about Republicans cooperating with a recess appointment for Gaetz, as Trump demanded, if he cannot get enough votes.
   9. GOP senators could pay a price for a prolonged confirmation fight
   10. If Trump sticks with his pick, Republican senators feeling the MAGA movement’s pressure could be forced to defend Gaetz for weeks. That could land them in a tricky spot. Despite the threat that senators could face primaries if they break with the president-elect, votes for a compromised nominee could also haunt those seeking reelection in statewide races in 2026.
   11. Cramer is raising logical political issues. Yet Trump is such a unique figure that the normal calculations may not apply.
   12. Historically, a conventional president might see the uproar surrounding his pick, assess the shifting political sands, and quietly withdraw support — reasoning that there’s little point in damaging their precious authority before their term even starts. Such political capital might be better spent on aggressively implementing an agenda in the first 100 days than on a pick who could already be doomed.
   13. In Trump’s case, sacrificing Gaetz could also ease the way for other provocative Cabinet picks, including Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, whom Trump wants to serve as defense secretary, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic he wants to run the Health and Human Services Department. Senators might be just about ready to defy the president-elect on one selection, but a wholesale rejection of his choices would be political folly for them.
   14. But Trump is also making this about far more than Gaetz, creating a test of power that reflects his own self-confidence, the balance of power in the new Congress, and his belief that the GOP Senate should be at his service and not be a moderating force.
   15. The president-elect’s unorthodox pick of the Florida Republican – and the muscle that he’s already put into his candidacy – means that Trump may soon approach the point where it will cost him more political capital to fold on Gaetz than to keep trying to get him installed – whatever it takes.
   16. Ever since Trump shocked Capitol Hill and delighted his most committed supporters by selecting an ultra loyalist who has said the FBI should be abolished if it won’t “come to heel,” it’s been clear that this pick is different. The president-elect could have chosen just about anyone in Washington, and they would have been less controversial than Gaetz.
   17. But the Florida Republican shares the president-elect’s belief that the Justice Department has victimized Trump and needs to be purged.
   18. … Trump also appears to be trying to establish an even more significant precedent. He is putting his credibility on the line in direct opposition to GOP senators’ commitment to perform their constitutional duty of “advise and consent” over Cabinet selections.
   19. A president is generally given considerable deference over such picks. But it’s also normal for some presidential nominees to fall short. Former President Bill Clinton, for instance, considered two women for attorney general, Zoë Baird and Kimba Wood, who had to withdraw over allegations they had employed undocumented migrants as nannies.
   20. Trump’s choices, however, mean this particular showdown will go a long way to shaping the political dynamics in Washington in the coming years, while establishing a fresh test for Republicans over whether they are willing to defy the new president, who takes names when he is thwarted.
   21. If the president-elect can force Gaetz on the Justice Department despite the significant Senate concern, it will be fair to question whether the new GOP majority will oppose him on anything. And Trump, who has a history of forcing public officials to carry out his will, will increase Gaetz’s debt to him as he potentially sets about fulfilling Trump’s goals to seek retribution against his political foes.
   22. … Cramer’s comments go further than other Republicans on the Gaetz confirmation controversy. But there are signs that other GOP senators at least want more details about the allegations. Maine Sen. Susan Collins told CNN’s Raju that it would be “helpful” to see the House Ethics report.
   23. And Texas Sen. John Cornyn insisted the Senate would fulfill its constitutional responsibility. [Cornyn said,] “Whether we get the ethics report or not, the facts are going to come out one way or the other. I would think it would be in everybody’s best interest, including the president’s, not to be surprised by some information that might come out during the confirmation hearing and the background check.”
   24. Democrats argue that there is plenty of precedent for the release of an Ethics Committee report after a member has resigned, even though Johnson insists protocol requires such investigations to end once a lawmaker has left the chamber.
   25. The top Democrat on the House committee — Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, who won’t be returning to Congress next year after losing her seat — told CNN that she believed that if the full committee did meet, “There will be a unanimous democratic consensus that the report should be released.”
   26. [MIKE: The story spells“democratic” with a small “d”, but I don’t know if that’s actually what she meant. Continuing …]
   27. But Johnson, who has previously said the report is not complete and insisted he hasn’t spoken to Trump about it despite spending significant time with him, dug in on Monday night, telling CNN’s Raju that this is a “different era” and “now we live in the age of the 24-hour news cycle; now we live in the age of social media; the politics and the dynamics are very different.”
   28. CNN’s Kristen Holmes reported on Monday that the president-elect had been calling some senators directly to ask them to support Gaetz. Two sources familiar with the outreach didn’t say who the president-elect has spoken to but stressed his determination to get Gaetz in place at the Justice Department. The calls were first reported by Axios.
   29. Before unveiling a slate of highly provocative picks, including Kennedy, Hegseth and his selection for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump had called on Republicans to push ahead with recess appointments if his picks for the Cabinet stalled. The president-elect is seeking to get a fast start to his second term and appears to be hoping to bypass the normal delays in assembling his team. It’s not unusual for presidents to use such a device for contested nominees. But it would be close to unprecedented for the Senate, which will be controlled by his party, to try to use such a tactic early in the confirmation process for multiple potential Cabinet officers, especially since Democrats could block efforts to recess.
   30. And Cramer hinted that if Gaetz could not get confirmed with Republican votes, his position would be compromised. “I just think it’d be unwise to do that if he can’t get the votes of the majority party,” the North Dakota Republican said.
   31. Trump does not agree. And armed with what he considers to be a large mandate and determined to avoid the kind of constraints that frustrated him during his first term, the president-elect is showing no sign of backing down.
   32. MIKE: I expressed my concerns about Trump’s next government in my opening commentary. His cabinet picks are beyond concerning. With the possible exception of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, they’re unqualified, and, they have no competence in the type and size of the departments they’re being chosen to run. Of course, that’s probably Trump’s reason for nominating most of them in the first place.
   33. MIKE: Trump has made it clear that he wants control and fealty of the departments in the Executive branch, with the exception of the departments he wants to eliminate or destroy.
   34. MIKE: US history is at an inflection point, and our future prospects are not good.
   35. MIKE: I’m forced to paraphrase Princess Leia: “Help us, Electoral College. You’re our only hope.” But I’m not holding my breath.
7. And so it begins — Winter Haven commissioners vote to remove fluoride from water, citing RFK Jr.; by: Rachel Tucker, Georgia McCarthur | WFLA.COM (Nexstar Media Inc.) | Posted: Nov 14, 2024 / 12:35 PM EST/Updated: Nov 14, 2024 / 05:32 PM EST. TAGS: Winter Haven (Fla), US Environmental Protection Agency, Fluoride, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Public Health,
   1. The Winter Haven City Commission [in Florida] voted Tuesday to stop adding fluoride to drinking water after a lengthy public comment period where residents shared health concerns.
   2. Commissioners voted 3-2 to remove the fluoride by January 1, or on a date “as soon as reasonably practical thereafter.”
   3. The resolution cited a federal court decision that “expressed concerns regarding the effects of fluoride in public water supply.” The court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to research the effects of fluoridated water and crack down on regulating it.
   4. For many commission members and audience members, the issue at hand was government overreach.
   5. [After hinting that fluoride in the water supply and his hyperthyroidism may be correlated, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Yates said,] “The government really should not be involved in healthcare, or what goes into the bodies of citizens, Those really should be left up to the patient and the (healthcare) provider.”
   6. Yates later denied that a reported 9,000 children face significant barriers to accessing fluoride because of existing public health services. Commissioner Brad Dantzler suggested giving some of the estimated $48,000 saved by adopting the resolution to charities that can provide dental health products.
   7. Commissioner Clifton E. Dollison, who was one of the two dissenting votes, along with Mayor Nathaniel J. Birdsong, Jr., said he may be “the poster child” for the benefits of fluoridated water.
   8. [Dollison said,] “My mother had nine children. We grew up poor, lived in a project. I never saw a dentist until I was an adult. I went to the dentist, got my first checkup … he said, ‘You do not have a cavity in your head. You must have lived in a place where there was fluoride’.”
   9. Removing fluoride would be doing away with something beneficial to “those less fortunate” in the community, according to Dollison.
   10. Dantzler said, in response to correspondence with dental professionals, that city commissioners acknowledge that fluoride is beneficial for dental health, but they have concerns about what may happen when it “gets in the gut.”
   11. The commissioner cited concerns posed by 2024 Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and falsely stated that President-Elect Donald Trump named him to a high-ranking health policy position. Multiple residents repeated this during public comment. …
   12. As pointed out by Dantzler and some public commenters, the discussion echoed those during meetings in the COVID-19 pandemic.
   13. [Dantzler said,] “This is reminiscent of what happened with COVID. All four of us, with exception of Commissioner Dollison, were here during COVID and asked to make medical decisions on things that were very complicated, and we don’t completely understand.”
   14. Winter Haven resident Hannah Bush described purchasing a reverse-osmosis filter to remove perceived toxins from her family’s drinking water, but said it wasn’t enough to get rid of the fluoride. She also took issue with the chemical being used in dental health products.
   15. [Bush said,] “I can get false teeth if needed. I only have one brain.”
   16. In September, a federal judge in California ruled the environmental protection agency must strengthen regulations on fluoride in drinking water, saying levels that are too high could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children.
   17. [Dantzler said,] “Now if the EPA comes out and says it’s all fine, we will add it back in, but as it stands right now, I think we made the right decision to protect children.”
   18. Is fluoride a “toxic” chemical? Why is it added to drinking water?
   19. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
   20. Officials loweredtheir recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
   21. In August, a federal agency determined“with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
   22. A federal judge later cited that study in orderingthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
   23. MIKE: So, RFK, Jr. is already hurting children’s health and he isn’t even confirmed to HHS.
   24. MIKE: This is the first I’ve heard of that court decision or of the scientific evidence that it claims to cite. I do know that some water supplies already have fluoride naturally in the water and some don’t. It might make sense to be certain that fluoride is not added unnecessarily to water that already provides it.
   25. MIKE: I’ve also known for many years that too much fluoride isn’t healthy and can actually damage teeth and bones.
   26. MIKE: On the other hand, the US has been conducting this experiment for about 70 years, and the improvements in dental health are well documented, whereas health risks when fluoride is in the water in what has been determined to be safe amounts is still debatable.
   27. MIKE: There are so many environmental risks and food additive risks that are not on most people’s radar that it seems ridiculous that some people in some communities still get all wound up about fluoride in the water.
   28. MIKE: It’s certainly reasonable to continue investigating this question, and it might even be possible and desirable to get the same dental benefits with less fluoride in the water. But until then this action by Winter Haven City seems not only silly, but irresponsible. While any change in recommended fluoridation levels that satisfies the science denialists in Winter Haven may take years, many children and young people will pay the price later in life and for decades.
8. Meanwhile, in response to, “Trump names Linda McMahon as his pick for Education secretary”, I posted this on Threads: thinkwingradio — If these Cabinet Secretary picks were an SNL skit, they would be hilarious. As a governing cabinet, not so much. No wonder Trump wants to make recess appointments. These people are bad jokes.
   1. In other noteworthy comments on Threads:
   2. joyce_white_vance 14 hours ago — We should talk more about how abnormal it is for a special counsel’s office to be shuttered by a change in administrations. Hunter Biden’s [Special Counsel] stayed in place as did others. Jack Smith has to discontinue Trump’s cases while he’s in office but he has other defendants. Trump breaks norms & it’s ignored.
   3. MIKE: I think that Jack Smith’s presumption here is that whether or not he continues his case against Trump’s co-defendants, they’re likely to be pardoned anyway.
   4. figliuzzi 7 hours ago — Through executive order, President Biden should mandate that the FBI conduct background investigations on Trump’s picks and instruct the FBI to begin the process now. The U.S. Senate should use its power to request the same of the FBI.If senators confirm a nominee without benefit of knowing the risk they pose, then they set a precedent for never again exercising their constitutional powers.
   5. adamparkhomenko 9 hours ago — It’s really something to watch the Party whose supporters poop on the floor in the Capitol and wipe their feces on the wall tell us which bathrooms to use.
   6. baderdiedrich a day ago — I played a doctor on tv once so I’m eagerly awaiting my nomination for surgeon general.
   7. writtenbymeaghan a day ago — I’ve got $32.75 in my piggy bank. Can I be Secretary of the Treasury? Oh, and I’m Australian. But given the things being overlooked at the moment, I figure that’s no biggie.
   8. elizabetsey15 a day ago — Unfortunately, when you played a professor on TV you became too educated for the position and are now eliminated from this season of ‘The Cabinet’.
   9. doctorcdf a day ago — Trump’s appointments remind me a bit of the tale of Caligula appointing his horse Incitatus a consul of Rome (untrue, but he had 18 servants). In Trump’s case, he didn’t even appoint a thoroughbred and went for the muck in the stable. fail
   10. And Finally: hillaryclinton 22 hours ago — Democracy is in serious trouble, but it’s not dead. We all have power, and we can use it together to defend our freedoms. Take a look at the new @indivisibleteam guide for practical advice on how to fight back wherever you live. google.com/docum…[MIKE: This thread has a link to a 27-page PDF document for those who are interested.]
9. In some international news — Biden’s major missile reversal complicates potential western diplomatic thaw with Moscow; By Kayla Tausche and Kevin Liptak, CNN | CNN.COM | Published 1:08 PM EST, Tue November 19, 2024. TAGS: Ukraine, Russia, United States, G20 Summit,
   1. A major decision by the United States to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deeper inside Russian territory has complicated a potential western diplomatic thaw with Russia as dozens of world leaders gather this week.
   2. Sunday’s decision was viewed by many western leaders as a way to position Ukraine for success ahead of a change in American leadership, with the incoming president skeptical of continued US assistance.
   3. But it also complicated the diplomatic dance leaders attending the G20 summit must partake in as they navigate the complex geopolitical dynamics of the bloc.
   4. Russia “will perceive launches of long-range missiles guided by US military experts as a qualitatively new phase of war by the West,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a news conference at the summit, according to Russian state media TASS.
   5. Lavrov attended the G20 in place of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faced questions about whether he could be arrested for war crimes on international soil. Days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Brazilian authorities to arrest Putin, the Russian leader said he would skip the summit to avoid disrupting it.
   6. Amid the change in strategy – which Biden had deliberated over for months – the president and his team steered clear of Lavrov on the ground in Rio.
   7. When Biden missed a photo with other leaders on Monday, speculation abounded that he was trying to avoid being photographed with Lavrov. The White House denied that, citing a logistical snafu.
   8. Still, neither Biden nor his delegation held talks with Lavrov or his team, US officials said. …
   9. But some Western allies, sensing a sea change in the US approach to the conflict once Donald Trump takes office, appear to be weighing a shift in their own stance toward Moscow.
   10. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Putin by phone the week before the summit. In his remarks at the close of the summit, Lavrov also hailed the German government’s refusal to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine as a “responsible stance,” TASS reported.
   11. And onsite in Rio, French President Emmanuel Macron could be seen shaking the hand of Lavrov, standing in the row behind him during a “family photo” of attendees.
   12. In Rio, the pending Trump presidency shadowed nearly every discussion of the Ukraine conflict. Leaders here are acutely aware of Trump’s views toward the war, but are less certain of how that will manifest in policy once he takes office.
   13. It’s not clear, for example, whether Trump would uphold Biden’s decision on allowing Ukraine the long-range capability, a step that NATO leaders had been encouraging for months. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, questioned the decision in an interview Monday.
   14. [Said Waltz on Fox News,] “It’s another step up the escalation ladder and nobody knows where this is going,”… adding he hadn’t been given a heads up by the outgoing administration about the change in policy.
   15. Officials in Rio declined to say whether Biden had raised the issue of the missiles with Trump during their two-hour meeting in the Oval Office last week. …
   16. There had been hope among western officials of a strong statement denouncing Russia’s invasion at the conclusion of the summit. In particular, European diplomats made a late-stage push to strengthen the language following Russia’s massive drone and missile attack on Sunday, according to people familiar with the talks.
   17. Ultimately, the effort was dropped when it appeared other countries were not on board. The language in the final leaders’ statement was watered down from previous years, including broad references to “human suffering” and “negative added impacts of the war” without explicit condemnation of Russia.
   18. The Ukraine war generated only one paragraph in the final document, compared to several that were included in the final document produced by the G20 last year in New Delhi — which itself was watered down from the previous year.
   19. As the summit was concluding, it was evident that tensions between the US and Russia were only ratcheting up. Russia announced as the second day of the summit was getting underway that it would update its nuclear doctrine to consider aggression from any non-nuclear state – but with the participation of a nuclear country – a joint attack on Moscow.
   20. American officials were unsurprised to learn Moscow had updated its nuclear doctrine following Biden’s decision on long-range missiles.
   21. “Russia had been signaling its intent to update its doctrine for several weeks,” a US official said in response to the doctrine update, adding that so far the US has not observed any updates to Russia’s nuclear posture — and thus see no reason to change the US stance. …
   22. In his closing remarks, Lavrov sought to downplay the change in the fine print on its nuclear posture – shifting blame instead to the West.
   23. “The update of the military doctrine does not add anything which would be different… from the American doctrine or documents on what to do with nuclear weapons,” according to Russian state media.
   24. MIKE: I admit to being very disappointed, but not necessarily surprised, by how timid the European nations are about Ukraine and Russia in the face of a Trump presidency. After all, they are not without military resources of their own. And this major war is on their very doorstep, and it represents further dangers to each one of them down the line.
   25. MIKE: It seems that the echoes of appeasement at Munich in 1938 are still not loud enough in European capitals.
10. Meanwhile — Will Denmark Expose Chinese-Russian Sabotage in the Baltic?; The Danish Navy is circling a suspicious Chinese ship off its coast—but deterring ill-intentioned merchant vessels presents a geopolitical dilemma. By Elisabeth Braw, a columnist at Foreign Policy and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council | FOREIGNPOLICY.COM | November 20, 2024, 5:01 PM. TAGS: China, Denmark, Geopolitics, Russia, Security, Sweden, Lithuania, Finland, Baltic Sea,
    1. On the morning of Sunday, Nov. 17, an undersea cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania suddenly stopped working. Less than 24 hours later, the only cable connecting Finland and central Europe had been cut, too. Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said  on Nov. 19 that the incidents were “probably sabotage.”
    2. Indeed, this was not the first case of suspected sabotage in the Baltic Sea, with the evidence so far pointing to a Chinese merchant vessel with a Russian captain. But while Western governments may be able to identify culprits, avenging the acts is much harder than it seems.
    3. [Andrius Semeskevicius, the chief technology officer at Telia Lietuva (the Lithuanian arm of the Swedish telecoms giant Telia), told Lithuanian public television on Monday evening,] “The cable was cut on Sunday morning, at around 10. The systems immediately reported that we had lost the connection. Further investigation and clarification took place, and it turned out that it was damaged.”
    4. By then, it was clear that the damage to the communications cable, which connects Lithuania with the strategically vital Swedish Baltic Sea island of Gotland, wasn’t the result of natural ocean movements or even sloppy seafarers or fishers. By the time that Semeskevicius spoke with Lithuanian television, another undersea cable in the Baltic Sea had also been mauled.
    5. The second cable is even more important than the Swedish-Lithuanian one. The C-Lion1, which connects Finland with Germany via the southern tip of Sweden’s Baltic Sea island of Oland, is the only cable providing this connection. (C-Lion1 is owned by the Finnish state-owned firm Cinia Oy.)
    6. At one point, the two cables intersect. And in the early hours of Nov. 18, someone had arrived at the intersection point with apparent intent to harm.
    7. [Semeskevicius told Lithuanian television,] “Here we can see that the cables cross in an area of only 10 square meters—they intersect. Since both are damaged, it is clear that this was not an accidental dropping of one of the ship’s anchors, but something more serious could be going on.”
    8. He’s right. It’s extremely unlikely that the two cables were cut by accident. And almost exactly one year ago, two Baltic Sea undersea cables and one pipeline were damaged during the course of one night. Investigators from Sweden, Finland, and Estonia—in whose exclusive economic zones the damage occurred—soon established that the likely culprit was the Chinese ship called the Newnew Polar Bear, which had dragged its anchor across all three. The container ship is owned in China, flagged in Hong Kong, and had a pioneering journey from Russia to China along the Arctic Northern Sea Route under its belt.
    9. But by the time the investigators decided that they wanted to speak with its crew, it had already sailed out of the Baltic Sea, northward via the Norwegian coast, and onward to the Russian Arctic. Since then, the Chinese government has failed to respond to requests for cooperation in the investigation.
    10. This time too, the culprit appears to be a Chinese merchant vessel. Within hours after the C-Lion1 incident, investigators and hobby sleuths had identified the likely perpetrator: the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier Yi Peng 3. On Nov. 12, the ship had arrived in Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga; three days later, it left the port. Two days later the first cable was cut, and then the second.
    11. On the morning of Nov. 19, the Yi Peng 3 was sailing away from the Baltic Sea toward the Atlantic. By the afternoon, it was approaching the Danish Straits—but this time, NATO members’ naval forces were not going to let a suspicious Chinese ship get away. By early evening, as it approached Denmark’s Great Belt strait, it was clear that it was being followed by the Royal Danish Navy, which also has coast guard duties. Ships from the Swedish Navy and Coast Guard were also nearby, on the Swedish side.
    12. Later that evening, the Yi Peng 3 appeared to be leaving Danish waters and sailing north toward Sweden and Norway and onward to the Atlantic Ocean. But then it stopped. At noon today, the bulk carrier was still in the same spot, squarely between the Danish and Swedish coasts in the southern part of the Kattegat Strait.
    13. To get to the Atlantic, the ship still needs to pass through the rest of the Kattegat. At the time of writing, it remains unclear why it had stopped. Open-source intelligence sleuths report that Danish officials have detained it, though the Danish Armed Forces have said only that they’re present in the area near the ship. Will Danish and Swedish investigators (and German, Finnish, and Lithuanian ones) try to forcibly board the ship?
    14. But if Western navy and coast guard ships manage to keep the Yi Peng 3 in the Kattegat, what would they do? They could try to board the ship, yes, but what exactly would they do then?
    15. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signatories agree to protect undersea installations in their waters. But the treaty—known as the “constitution of the oceans”—doesn’t specify what coastal states should do if aggressive-minded rival countries use nonmilitary vessels to sabotage infrastructure in their waters.
    16. Indeed, the brilliant minds that negotiated the convention may not have considered the possibility of signatories using criminal activity to score geopolitical points against other countries. Investigators are pursuing a criminal case against the Yi Peng 3’s crew, but the case is about much more than criminal actions by a single ship’s crew. The Chinese government, meanwhile, has denied that anything is amiss, telling the NTB news agency that Chinese vessels obey maritime law.
    17. This is the dilemma for the Baltic Sea countries (NATO’s dominance there notwithstanding) and other Western nations: Russia, China, and other countries can use private outfits, criminals, and sundry other collaborators to harm them, and it may never be possible to establish a link between the perpetrators and the governments on whose behalf harmful acts were committed.
    18. Even if the Danish Navy boards the vessel, we’ll likely never know what conversations the Yi Peng 3’s owner, or its shipmaster, have had with the governments of Russia or China. We’ll also never know what conversations took place before a Chinese cargo vessel and a Chinese fishing boat cut the two undersea cables that connect Taiwan’s Matsu Islands with Taiwan proper in February last year.
    19. We simply know that even though the cables are easily found on navigational charts and thus should have been easy to avoid, the two vessels cut them, thus disconnecting the Matsu Island residents from the rest of the world. (And no, a Chinese merchant vessel would not sabotage undersea infrastructure on any government’s behalf without permission from Beijing.)
    20. As for the Yi Peng 3, we know only that it left Ust-Luga bound for Egypt’s Port Said and likely cut two crucial cables so badly that they stopped working. The ship’s crew did so even though the cables’ locations are precisely mapped, and even though a normal merchant crew could have been expected to be extra careful in light of the damage caused by the Newnew Polar Bear last year, if that damage was indeed an accident.
    21. We also know that Russian federal port records show the Yi Peng 3 being captained by a Russian. Given that Russia is one of the world’s top five sources of seafarers, especially officers, a Russian shipmaster is not unusual. But having a Russian shipmaster rather than, say, an Indian or Romanian, certainly makes sabotage in the Baltic Sea a bit more straightforward.
    22. After the suspected sabotage, the Yi Peng 3 sailed off toward the Atlantic even though the NATO ships were in pursuit. …
    23. Around the same time, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and Poland made similar observations: “Moscow’s escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries are also unprecedented in their variety and scale, creating significant security risks,” they said in a statement.
    24. … Considering the evidence, concluding that the incidents were an act of sabotage is common sense. That raises the question of what to do about it. After the Newnew Polar Bear damaged the cables and the pipeline, NATO similarly monitored its journey out of the Baltic Sea, along the Norwegian coast, and into Arctic waters. What would the militaries involved have done if it had stopped and allowed them to board?
    25. If they had failed to board the Newnew Polar Bear, the public in Western countries would have complained of NATO cowardice. But if they had boarded, China and Russia would have retaliated, despite claiming that they have no connection with the cargo ship. The same acute dilemma now faces the Danish authorities watching the Yi Peng 3.
    26. For the moment, NATO and its member states will continue to monitor threats to undersea infrastructure. These days, the military alliance even has a Critical Undersea Infrastructure Network. Owners and operators of cables, pipelines, and other sea-based infrastructure are anxiously monitoring, too.
    27. But the next time that saboteurs arrive—and they will—NATO’s navies will face the same painful question. The myriad pipelines, and especially communications cables, were products of our harmonious globalized age. Now they’re the new front line.
    28. MIKE: This has the making of a major international incident … Once the NATO allies figure out their response.

=====================================================

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   1. Obtain a Voter Registration Application (HarrisVotes.com)
   2. Just be registered and apply for your mail-in ballot if you may qualify.
   3. You can track your Mail Ballot Activity from our website with direct link provided here https://www.harrisvotes.com/Tracking

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