Peter Ward
@wardpeter.bsky.social
New Englander living in Rockville, Maryland, USA; promote international cooperation; abhor Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine; Слава Україні! Жыве Беларусь!
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff was reduced by ~18% between April 2024 and May 2025, records obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity show. Driven by a combination of retirements, resignations & cuts, the agency's staffing level fell from 9,957 to 8,179 people.
December 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff was reduced by ~18% between April 2024 and May 2025, records obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity show. Driven by a combination of retirements, resignations & cuts, the agency's staffing level fell from 9,957 to 8,179 people.
In the United States new car and truck prices have increased by 33% since 2020, and the average transaction price surpassed $50,000 in 2025. Longer term loans of 72 months or more are becoming common. Source: CBTNews dot com (Car Biz Today) December 23, 2025
December 23, 2025 at 7:12 PM
In the United States new car and truck prices have increased by 33% since 2020, and the average transaction price surpassed $50,000 in 2025. Longer term loans of 72 months or more are becoming common. Source: CBTNews dot com (Car Biz Today) December 23, 2025
1 in 500 Alaskans died from Covid-19 between March 2020 and May 2023. “74% of those who died and were eligible for COVID-19 vaccine had opted not to receive it”; Source: Alaska Department of Public Health, cited by Anchorage Daily News, December 19, 2025
December 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
1 in 500 Alaskans died from Covid-19 between March 2020 and May 2023. “74% of those who died and were eligible for COVID-19 vaccine had opted not to receive it”; Source: Alaska Department of Public Health, cited by Anchorage Daily News, December 19, 2025
Poll taken in the United States: 27% said they have skipped a medical check-up because of costs within the last two years, and 23% said they have skipped a prescription dose for the same reason. 46% said they could not pay for a vacation that involves air travel. Source: Politico, December 10, 2025
December 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Poll taken in the United States: 27% said they have skipped a medical check-up because of costs within the last two years, and 23% said they have skipped a prescription dose for the same reason. 46% said they could not pay for a vacation that involves air travel. Source: Politico, December 10, 2025
"America’s professional diplomats feel demoralized and ignored, with fully 98 percent saying in a new survey that workplace morale has fallen since the Trump administration took over in January." Source: The New York Times, citing a report of the American Foreign Service Association. 2 December 2025
December 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
"America’s professional diplomats feel demoralized and ignored, with fully 98 percent saying in a new survey that workplace morale has fallen since the Trump administration took over in January." Source: The New York Times, citing a report of the American Foreign Service Association. 2 December 2025
Welcome to December! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
December 4, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Welcome to December! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
AUTUMN ANALYSIS: BAD: Punkin’ chunkin’ did not feature prominently in the news this autumn; GOOD: I enjoyed eating the new Kit Kat Counts, shaped like the familiar Transylvanian count
November 15, 2025 at 4:52 AM
AUTUMN ANALYSIS: BAD: Punkin’ chunkin’ did not feature prominently in the news this autumn; GOOD: I enjoyed eating the new Kit Kat Counts, shaped like the familiar Transylvanian count
Welcome to November! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
November 1, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Welcome to November! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
Welcome to October! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
October 2, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Welcome to October! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI.
Bloomberg: "Russia remained the top supplier of nuclear reactor fuel to the U.S. last year, even after a ban on enriched uranium imports from the country became law in May, data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows."
October 1, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Bloomberg: "Russia remained the top supplier of nuclear reactor fuel to the U.S. last year, even after a ban on enriched uranium imports from the country became law in May, data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows."
Russian language term for spacecraft is “cosmic ship” космический корабль. Made me ponder English language use of “craft.” Used for aircraft, watercraft, & spacecraft, but no terrestrial equivalent. Closest is landing craft but that is referring to arriving from the water. Image by Google Gemini AI
September 22, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Russian language term for spacecraft is “cosmic ship” космический корабль. Made me ponder English language use of “craft.” Used for aircraft, watercraft, & spacecraft, but no terrestrial equivalent. Closest is landing craft but that is referring to arriving from the water. Image by Google Gemini AI
Welcome to September! My request to Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI was for "1970s Polaroid photo of people in rabbit costumes in a coastal New England town, with a sign Welcome to September." The image is from February 2024.
September 1, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Welcome to September! My request to Microsoft Bing Image Creator AI was for "1970s Polaroid photo of people in rabbit costumes in a coastal New England town, with a sign Welcome to September." The image is from February 2024.
Reuters: Exxon, the top US oil producer, has held numerous discussions w Russian state-controlled oil firm Rosneft about re-entering the Sakhalin project after receiving approval from US Office of Foreign Assets Control under the administrations of both former Pres. Joe Biden + Pres. Donald Trump.
August 27, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Reuters: Exxon, the top US oil producer, has held numerous discussions w Russian state-controlled oil firm Rosneft about re-entering the Sakhalin project after receiving approval from US Office of Foreign Assets Control under the administrations of both former Pres. Joe Biden + Pres. Donald Trump.
Home sales are falling through at the highest rate in years. More than 15% of home purchases fell through last month, the highest July rate in records dating back to 2017, according to new Redfin analysis. That’s up from 14.5% a year ago and 12% before the pandemic. Source: The Hill
August 24, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Home sales are falling through at the highest rate in years. More than 15% of home purchases fell through last month, the highest July rate in records dating back to 2017, according to new Redfin analysis. That’s up from 14.5% a year ago and 12% before the pandemic. Source: The Hill
Outrageous. U.S. company expanding its Russia business.
US oilfield services firm Weatherford Int. expands Russian unit despite new sanctions designed to curb the flow of petrodollars funding Putin's war in Ukraine @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/47DpkoS @chriscook.news
US oilfield services group expands Russian unit despite new sanctions
[FREE TO READ] Weatherford International along with other companies continue to provide critical equipment to the country
on.ft.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Outrageous. U.S. company expanding its Russia business.
Federal judge in Philadelphia orders CVS Caremark to pay $289.9M in damages + penalties after it overcharged Medicare for prescription drugs. Last month, a Manhattan federal judge ordered CVS' Omnicare unit to pay $948.8M in a separate whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraudulent billing.Source:Reuters
August 20, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Federal judge in Philadelphia orders CVS Caremark to pay $289.9M in damages + penalties after it overcharged Medicare for prescription drugs. Last month, a Manhattan federal judge ordered CVS' Omnicare unit to pay $948.8M in a separate whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraudulent billing.Source:Reuters
Reposted by Peter Ward
Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless.
Those were the words that came to mind when we watched the Alaska Summit unfold.
Those were the words that came to mind when we watched the Alaska Summit unfold.
Editorial: That meeting was sickening. Putin loved it
Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless.
Those were the words that came to mind when we watched the Alaska Summit unfold.
On our screens, a blood-soaked dictator and war criminal received a roy...
kyivindependent.com
August 16, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless.
Those were the words that came to mind when we watched the Alaska Summit unfold.
Those were the words that came to mind when we watched the Alaska Summit unfold.
$16,400 of taxpayer funds was spent on a banner of Trump and a banner of Lincoln at USDA building in Washington D.C.
Documents obtained in a FOIA request reveal how much money the USDA spent on the huge banners of Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln hanging on the agency's building at the National Mall.
What the USDA Spent on the Huge Trump and Lincoln Banners
Documents obtained by FOIA Files show the banners were printed by Timsco Graphics, a Maryland-based company. The purchase order says they were procured by the USDA ‘in conjunction with the Secretary's priority.’
bloom.bg
August 16, 2025 at 10:55 AM
$16,400 of taxpayer funds was spent on a banner of Trump and a banner of Lincoln at USDA building in Washington D.C.
I saw the movie "Weapons" (2025) in a movie theater. This is the first movie I have seen in a theater in years. I was really intrigued by the trailer. What happened to the children? I liked it. I think it needs a sequel in order to explain a few things.
August 14, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I saw the movie "Weapons" (2025) in a movie theater. This is the first movie I have seen in a theater in years. I was really intrigued by the trailer. What happened to the children? I liked it. I think it needs a sequel in order to explain a few things.
The population of Russia's Far Eastern Federal District continues to decline and at a rate three times that of Russia as a whole, 3.5 percent annually as opposed to just over one percent, says Elena Li, demographer at Eastern Center for State Planning in the Russian Far East; via Window on Eurasia
August 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
The population of Russia's Far Eastern Federal District continues to decline and at a rate three times that of Russia as a whole, 3.5 percent annually as opposed to just over one percent, says Elena Li, demographer at Eastern Center for State Planning in the Russian Far East; via Window on Eurasia
Russian occupiers in Ukraine created an online "catalogue" where Ukrainian children are offered up for adoption sorted based on physical traits like eye or hair color, the head of a Ukrainian NGO said on Aug. 6, denouncing the practice as child trafficking. Source: Kyiv Independent .com
August 7, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Russian occupiers in Ukraine created an online "catalogue" where Ukrainian children are offered up for adoption sorted based on physical traits like eye or hair color, the head of a Ukrainian NGO said on Aug. 6, denouncing the practice as child trafficking. Source: Kyiv Independent .com
Outrageous! ... Reuters: the U.S. and EU still import billions of euros worth of Russian energy and commodities. The EU continues to purchase oil, natural gas, nickel, fertilizer, iron, and steel from Russia. The U.S. continues to purchase fertilizer, uranium, plutonium, and palladium.
August 6, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Outrageous! ... Reuters: the U.S. and EU still import billions of euros worth of Russian energy and commodities. The EU continues to purchase oil, natural gas, nickel, fertilizer, iron, and steel from Russia. The U.S. continues to purchase fertilizer, uranium, plutonium, and palladium.
Welcome to August! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator
August 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Welcome to August! Image by Microsoft Bing Image Creator
Crisfield, Maryland lost out on $36 million in flood-prevention funding when FEMA canceled its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April. Canceling that one FEMA program cost the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed nearly $1B in federal funding, Chesapeake Bay Journal reported.
July 25, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Crisfield, Maryland lost out on $36 million in flood-prevention funding when FEMA canceled its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April. Canceling that one FEMA program cost the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed nearly $1B in federal funding, Chesapeake Bay Journal reported.
Trump Administration has denied Maryland’s request for $15.8 million in disaster relief funds from FEMA to pay for repairs after heavy floods in W Maryland in May. Maryland’s need met federal thresholds that typically trigger public assistance from FEMA.Still, the state’s request for aid was denied.
July 24, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Trump Administration has denied Maryland’s request for $15.8 million in disaster relief funds from FEMA to pay for repairs after heavy floods in W Maryland in May. Maryland’s need met federal thresholds that typically trigger public assistance from FEMA.Still, the state’s request for aid was denied.