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HERE’S THE BLAST!

Reading Time: 6 minutes 50 seconds

Ask anyone who’s been there about West Virginia. It just takes one visit to fall in love with this wild and wonderful state. I fell in love with West Virginia on my first visit and I’ve been back more than a hundred times. If I don’t end up moving there, I’ll get back there as often as possible.

— Lynn Seldon

THE CONSERVATIVE CALENDAR

Forecast from the KIVA Weather Station: Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. Very hot. High near 100F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.

Today is Sunday, June 20th, the 171st day of 2021. There are 194 days left in the year. It is West Virginia Day.

This Day in History

In 1782, Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States.

In 1837, Queen Victoria succeeded to the British throne.

In 1840, Samuel Morse received a patent for the telegraph.

In 1863, West Virginia was admitted as the 35th state.

In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell installed the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea ended with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided air battle came to be known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”

In 1945, the Secretary of State approved the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.

In 1975, Jaws was released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of its time and starting the trend of movies known as “summer blockbusters.”

This Day in Music History

In 1969, David Bowie recorded “Space Oddity” in London.

In 1978, Foreigner released the album Double Vision.

In 2004, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Paul McCartney performed his 3,000th live show.

In 2008, Jimmy Buffett announced that his Margaritaville Holdings had partnered with New York gambling company Coastal Marina to buy the Trump Marina Hotel Casino for $316 million.

Today’s Birthdays

Musician, singer, and songwriter Brian Wilson is 79. Singer Anne Murray is 76. Singer and songwriter Lionel Richie is 72. Actor John Goodman is 69. Actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse is 32.

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TOP 10 LINKS: NEWS, COMMENTARY, RESEARCH, AUDIO, AND VIDEO

1. Juneteenth celebrations kick off in Albuquerque

2. Rainbow Family gathers in New Mexico’s Carson National Forest

3. Man sues New Mexico agency to get explanation of unemployment debt

4. Georgia Secretary of State to remove 100K names from state voter rolls

5. Million-dollar lotteries fail to cut through vaccine apathy

6. Quacks in the Ivory Tower: How Conspiracy Theorizing Took Over Lockdown Science

7. A Canticle For Fauci

8. WATCH: ‘Stop Apologizing’ to Outrage Twitter, Says Bill Maher After Lin-Manuel Miranda Flap. ‘This is Why People Hate Democrats!’

9. Teachers on edge over critical race theory debate

10. Challenger crew likely survived explosion before tragic plunge to earth

MAINSTREAM U.S. NEWS BRIEFINGS

(Bolded for your attention / analyses)

‘Protected them to death’: Elder-care COVID rules under fire

Pandemic restrictions are falling away almost everywhere — except inside many of America’s nursing homes. Rules designed to protect the nation’s most vulnerable from COVID-19 are still being enforced despite widespread vaccination of residents, and plummeting infections and deaths. Frustration has set in as families around the country visit their dads this Father’s Day weekend. Family members say limited visitation, physical distancing and shutdowns make little sense at this stage of the pandemic, when the risk is relatively low. They say restrictions meant to keep older people safe are instead prolonging their isolation and accelerating their cognitive, emotional and physical decline.

Driver rams cyclists in Arizona race, critically injuring 6

SHOW LOW, Ariz. — Authorities say a driver in a pickup truck plowed into bicyclists competing in a community road race in Arizona, critically injuring several riders. Police say officers chased the driver Saturday and shot him outside a nearby hardware store. Six cyclists are in critical condition after the crash in the mountain town of Show Low, about a three-hour drive northeast of Phoenix. One was flown to a hospital near Phoenix. The 35-year-old suspect also was hospitalized in critical condition. A city spokeswoman said the suspect didn’t comply when officers tried to arrest him, but the circumstances of the shooting haven’t been released.

Las Vegas pushes land swap to balance growth, conservation

CARSON CITY — Cities in the U.S. West are preparing for considerable growth in the coming decades despite a historic drought and shrinking water supplies. From Phoenix to Boise, officials are working to ensure they have the resources, infrastructure and housing supply to meet growth projections while balancing conservation. Their efforts are constrained by the fact that some cities are surrounded by federal land. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada wants to remedy the issue around Las Vegas by strengthening protections for some public lands while selling others to commercial and residential developers. Opponents argue that approving these kinds of “swaps” isn’t sustainable, particularly in areas that rely on a shrinking water supply.

Major damage to Alabama mobile home park amid tropical storm

NEW ORLEANS — Authorities in Alabama say a suspected tornado spurred by Tropical Storm Claudette demolished or badly damaged at least 50 homes in a small town just north of the Florida border. Sheriff Heath Jackson in Escambia County said a suspected tornado “pretty much leveled” a mobile home park, toppled trees onto houses and ripped the roof off of a high school gym. There were no reports of deaths. Most of the damage was done in or near the towns of Brewton and East Brewton, about 48 miles (about 77 kilometers) north of Pensacola, Florida. Early Saturday, the storm dumped flooding rains north of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana and along the Mississippi coast.

Colorado governor signs 3 gun bills into law

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed three of six gun bills passed in the latest legislative session into law. The Denver Post reported the bills signed Saturday were all announced following a mass shooting at King Soopers in Boulder, Colorado, on March 22, when 10 people were killed. The three bills all take effect immediately. They would require an expanded background check before a person can buy a gun. They also reverse a ban that keeps local governments, such as cities and counties, from creating their own gun regulations. Local jurisdictions can only make ordinances that are stricter, not more lenient, than state law. The third bill would create the state’s first Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

MAINSTREAM GLOBAL NEWS BRIEFINGS

(Bolded for your attention / analyses)

Blaze at Moscow fireworks warehouse injures 4

MOSCOW — A warehouse holding a reported 16.5 tons of fireworks in central Moscow caught fire on Saturday, sending a huge cloud of smoke and a fusillade of explosions over the area. Three firefighters and a warehouse employee were injured and one firefighter was hospitalized. Three helicopters and a fireboat were dispatched to help put out the blaze at the warehouse, which sits 320 feet from the Moscow River near the sprawling Luzhniki sports complex. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.

Serbian state TV: Explosion again rocks munitions factory

BELGRADE — Serbian state television RTS says an explosion has rocked a munitions factory in a central town that was hit by a fire and a series of blasts earlier this month. The report says one powerful explosion was heard just before 8 p.m. Saturday, followed by a several smaller blasts. Videos from the scene showed thick smoke rising from the Sloboda factory in Cacak as local media said a detonation shook the area. Authorities have ordered an evacuation of the area around the factory. There was no immediate official statement about the incident from authorities. The previous blasts at a munition depot on June 4 forced evacuations around the factory but caused no injuries.

Rome court convicts 4 men for sexual assault, murder of teen

ROME — A court in Italy has convicted four African immigrants in the drugging, sexual assault and slaying of an Italian teen in Rome. Italian state TV and the LaPresse news agency said the court on Saturday night also sentenced two of the defendants to life imprisonment and gave lengthy sentences to the other two. Sixteen-year-old Desiree Mariottini was found dead in 2018 in an abandoned building used by drug dealers near Rome’s main train station. When arrested, the suspects were found to be lacking documents allowing them to legally reside in Italy. The case spurred calls in Italy to speed up expulsions of illegal immigrants.

Activists protest EU migration policies at Croatian border

MALJEVAC, Croatia — Dozens of human rights activists have briefly blocked Croatia’s border with Bosnia to protest European Union’s migration policies. The protesters on Saturday demanded that EU’s border agency, Frontex, be dismantled and countries end pushbacks of migrants trying to reach Western Europe. Waving banners reading “Stop deportation,” or “No human is illegal,” they parked cars at the border and shouted slogans against EU policies. No incidents were reported as Croatian police stood nearby. Croatian officers have faced allegations of violent pushbacks of migrants trying to come in from Bosnia, which they have denied. Thousands of people remain stranded in Bosnia.

An architect of European unity moves ahead on sainthood path

VATICAN CITY — A French statesman whose efforts helped pave the way for what eventually became the European Union has moved ahead on the Catholic church's path toward possible sainthood. The Vatican said Pope Francis on Saturday approved a decree declaring the “heroic virtues'' of Roberto Schuman, who, as a French foreign minister in 1950, developed a plan to promote European economic in hopes of furthering peace. Schuman died in 1963 after serving as the first president of the forerunner of the European Parliament. The decree means Schuman can be called “venerable” by Catholic faithful. It is one of several steps in a long church process that could result in sainthood.

‘ROCK OF TALK’ QUESTIONS OF THE DAY FOR OUR COMMUNITY (PLEASE ANSWER IN COMMENTS)

1. Ever thought about relocating to Las Vegas (Nevada)?

2. Aren’t hippies just the worst?

3. Best John Goodman movie?

4. Is stricter gun control in New Mexico inevitable, given the current governor and legislature?

5. Will anyone in government ever pay any kind of penalty for lockdown hysteria?

6. Does the U.S. bear any moral culpability for employing former Nazis?

7. Should voter registrations be updated for “people who move out of state” monthly, “instead of every two years”?

8. Ever been to West Virginia?

9. Is Jaws Spielberg’s best movie?

10. What would you do if you discovered that your children or grandchildren were being taught “critical race theory”?

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