Today is Friday, January 14, 2022. In the wake of the terrible fire in The Bronx that now claimed 17 lives, not 19 as originally believed, last Sunday, some lawmakers are proposing legislation to remedy the situation so this tragedy doesn’t happen again. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has said he intends to introduce legislation in Washington that would mandate automatic shutoff features on space heaters, as it was a space heater left running for several days that malfunctioned and sparked the devastating fire at the Twin Parks North West building in the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx.

This news is brought to us in an article in the Daily News by Tim Balk in “Torres: Make all heaters with automatic shutoff.” The recently installed congressman formed a coalition of officials after the city’s deadliest fire in more than three decades tore through a high-rise building in his district, killing at least 17 people, mostly of West African descent.

Other legislation that Torres plans to introduce in Washington includes plans to require self-closing apartment doors in all housing developments that receive federal funds, as this unfortunate fire site does. The congressman spoke about his touring of the location of the fearsome fire to reporters of this paper. He said, “When I toured the third floor where the fire began, it was the most horrifying scene I’d ever seen. The apartment was completely destroyed. The hallways were completely destroyed.”

Another issue the task force will consider is suggesting that heat sensors be used for those housing developments to ensure that chilly conditions do not motivate residents to resort to using space heaters.

The measures proposed by Torres and his task force would cover complexes like Twin Parks North West, the 19-story building in The Bronx where the fire raged amid five alarms.

In talking about his constituents who suffered in the fire, Torres indicated, “It’s painful to see constituents who have had the world around them collapse. My colleagues and I are committed to standing with those families on their long road to recovery.”

In the meantime, those families and individuals dispossessed by the fire are now relocated to hotels lined up by the Red Cross or to shelters, which are certainly not preferred by anyone because of their general notoriety. Even the hotels have been criticized by some of those left without an apartment because of the fire, as another article in the Daily News by Haley Brown and Larry McShane in “Survivors live in limbo: Rip hotels, quake at return to death bldg.” points out.

One of those survivors, Walter Williams, was told by management that he could return to his apartment, which he strongly criticized, saying this, “Oh, hold up. It’s too early for this. You’re trying to tell me after I stepped over dead bodies to go back? Are you people insane?”

White voiced his concerns about returning to his apartment at a press conference today, where organizers complained the surviving families driven out of the Twin Parks North West building by the raging flames and acrid smoke were contacted about relocating from local hotels to homeless shelters or back into their domiciles.

Another person critical of building management in this sad situation, Mona Davids, president of Social Impact Strategies, wondered aloud, “Why must they be told to either go to a homeless shelter, stay with a family friend, or return back to the building?” Davids echoed what White said about returning to the fire site too soon after the conflagration by indicating it’s not safe to return to the building.

Building resident Joyce Anderson, 75, balked at going to a hotel, as she said, “I didn’t go to the hotels because the hotels are horrible.” She dismissed going to a shelter as well, especially with COVID-19 raging in the city at the moment. Adding to Anderson’s anxiety over where to live during this interregnum is her current battle with bladder cancer while awaiting surgery for a growth on her leg and receiving her medication from the Red Cross.

One other resident who preferred to remain anonymous described conditions at these hotels as “subpar, with some families of a half-dozen forced to share a single room.” She acknowledged that the hotels had roaches in them. The anonymous resident also was in no hurry to return to her apartment because of the horrible memories associated with the building, having to relive terrible recollections of death and destruction. She admitted what other people are going through right now, with “People are scared. Nobody wants to relive that. People can’t even go to sleep right now, even in the hotel. It’s not enough that they want to kick us out. They just assume we’re OK.”

The continuing repercussions swirling around this story unfortunately do not favor the survivors of this awful fire as they grapple with less-than-ideal living situations postblaze. What they should receive is free psychological services as they come to terms with what they went through in Sunday’s deadly fire. So this is a suggestion that I would make for those people who have been left homeless by the destruction that befell their building. It’s going to take a long time for these people to heal after what they witnessed and experienced on that fateful Sunday.

Another story that has me seeing red is the report out of Michigan concerning – who else? – Michigan Republicans who signed fake Dumpf electoral certificates that could presently be facing federal charges for their crimes. This new twist regarding how January 6 was not just an impromptu gathering of MAGA nuts but a well-planned insurrection by Dumpf and his abominable allies should make every American cry out for accountability for all those involved.

This particular aspect of the insurrection story is covered in an online RawStory article by John Wright and is entitled “Michigan Republicans who signed fake Trump electoral certificate could face federal charges: report.”

Sixteen Republicans who submitted a certificate falsely claiming that their Golden Leader won the state’s electoral votes in 2020 are now facing a potential federal investigation. I say, “investigate away!” If this is not evidence of fraud or election tampering, I don’t know what is!

The Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel did reveal today that after a year-long probe into the matter, her office has indeed opted to refer the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

Nessel went on the Rachel Maddow show to reveal that Michigan was not the only state in which repugnican officials have submitted false slates of electors. She indicated that this seems “to be a coordinated effort between the Republican parties in various different states” and she wished that the whole kit and caboodle of them be potentially prosecuted by the feds. Nessel confirmed to Maddow that this whole shameful event was part of a much bigger conspiracy. As for what these abhorrent people might be facing in terms of prison sentences, Nessel said that forgery of a public record could fetch 14 years for some malefactor and election law forgery could result in five years behind bars.

As more and more information is revealed about the extent of Dumpf’s full treachery, the magnitude of his attempted coup d’etat becomes more and more known.

Maddow reported on this explosive news story on Wednesday and I’m first disclosing this to you now. I can’t tell you how outraged I am by the brazenness of the former president and his stormtroopers. I can’t wait until the House Select Committee holds public hearings real soon on what they have discovered since they started their investigation into the worst attack against the Capitol since the torching of the building during the War of 1812.

In fact, there was a more recent attack against the building, which I learned from watching MSNBC this evening, and that occurred in 1954 when four Puerto Rican nationalists entered the House’s visitor’s gallery armed with handguns and indiscriminately shot at House members, all the while unfurling a Puerto Rican flag. They wounded five Congressmen, including one Rep. Alvin Bentley (R-Michigan) who took a bullet to the chest.

I’m ready to call it a night. Tomorrow the weather is forecasted to be as cold as this past Tuesday. I’m still not sure if a winter storm is predicted for Sunday. I’m sure I will hear something on the news or weather stations about an imminent storm sometime this weekend. I will keep my fingers crossed that we will not get any – or very little – precipitation.

Have a good weekend anyway.

Stay safe and be well.

This is one of Ginsburg’s robes, gloves, and jabots – traditionally, lacy ruffles – that she wore during her years on the bench. Some of her collars not only reflected a feminine style, they reflected her mood, especially when she would provide a dissent in an important ruling. Ginsburg often wore a bejeweled collar that looked like armor on days she dissented. Ginsburg was known to even wear a “Pride collar” sometime in 2016 as a commitment to her championing of LGBTQ rights throughout her career.