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Blinken Meets Chinese Leaders in Shanghai and Beijing
US meets China, and the outcome is predictable.
by Dave Patterson | Apr 27, 2024
Diplomatic visits to China have not been fruitful for the Biden administration thus far. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave it the old college try again – but little has changed. Secretary Blinken visited Shanghai, China’s financial center, and Beijing, the nation’s capital, from April 24 to 26. There was no shortage of topics crucial to successful US foreign policy and national security. The relationship between the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been on shaky ground since the Biden administration took office. Meetings began in Shanghai and concluded in Beijing. But was any progress made?
Blinken Searches for Progress
Blinken’s trip was promoted at the State Department as an opportunity to build on the progress made to improve the atmosphere between the two nations during China’s President Xi Jinping’s trip to San Francisco in November of last year. One positive outcome of the San Francisco meeting between Xi and President Biden was re-establishing US-PRC military-to-military meetings. Those meetings were discontinued following China’s sending a spy balloon over the Continental US.
During the stopover in Shanghai, the US chief diplomat met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining. According to the meeting readout issued by State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller, the conversation was a “Constructive and candid exchange” centering on the US concerns about “PRC trade policies and non-market economic practices.” Blinken pointed out that the US “seeks a healthy economic competition with the PRC,” but there must be “a level playing field for US workers and firms operating in China.”
The PRC foreign ministry’s take on the issue of China’s maintaining a fair and level playing field for trade between the two nations is, of course, self-serving and predictable. “China carries out trade and economic cooperation in accordance with market principles, firmly supports the multilateral trade regime, and fully abides by WTO [World Trade Organization] rules,” the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. “We hope the US will respect the principle of fair competition, observe WTO rules too,” Wang said. When listening to the Chinese talk about such concepts as “economic cooperation” and “market principles,” understand what those words mean to them. Simply put, China establishes a trade environment where they win, you lose. If you want to do business in the PRC, your intellectual property is their intellectual property.
In Beijing, Blinken met with China’s President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong. The discussion picked up on themes similar to those covered in Shanghai. However, as the State Department Readout described:
“The Secretary pressed for continued progress in implementing the leaders’ Woodside Summit commitments on key issues, including advancing counternarcotics cooperation to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs – including fentanyl and their precursor chemicals – into the United States, enhancing military-to-military communication to avoid miscalculation and conflict, and launching talks on managing the risk and safety challenges posed by advanced forms of artificial intelligence.”
What was missing from the conversation was persuading Xi to stop the flood of military-age Chinese illegal aliens streaming across the US southern border – over 24,000 in the first seven months of FY2024 – more than all of FY2023. To his credit, Blinken did not shy away from asserting the US’s firm position that China was responsible for “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” He also reaffirmed the US one-China policy. Blinken expressed US concerns about the PRC’s aggressive naval engagements in the South China Sea and stressed the necessity of maintaining freedom of navigation in the region. The meetings closed with the standard rhetoric about the importance of keeping “open lines of communication at all times,” and the need to continue “high-level diplomacy and interaction.”
PRC Viewed the Meeting Different
The PRC readout on the meeting between Blinken and Xi had all the trappings of a charm offensive, but below the nuanced surface was the same old Chinese Communist Party (CCP) double-speak. Xi reiterated much of the boilerplate narrative he’s said before. Comments like “We live in an interdependent world and rise and fall together” give the impression the US and PRC are bosom buddies. When China catches a cold, the US sneezes.
Xi dipped into his book of wise Chinese sayings and came up with “Passengers in the same boat should help each other,” and “No progress means regress.” Who is he trying to kid? The US isn’t going to help the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) subjugate the islands belonging to the Philippines or Vietnam in the South China Sea. Nor is the US going to assist the PLAN in harassing Taiwan. “China is committed to non-alliance, and the US should not create small blocs,” Xi cautioned. In other words, the US should stop participating in NATO and dissolve multilateral relationships in the Indo-Pacific.
Those relationships keep the PRC in check. It’s never a bad thing for the US to engage enemies in dialogue, keeping in mind they are America’s top threat. China will not be persuaded to change its aggressive behavior if it perceives the US as weak or indecisive. Whether Secretary Blinken’s messages were persuasive, however, is debatable.
https://www.libertynation.com/blinken-meets-chinese-leaders-in-shanghai-and-beijing/
Washington Update From the US Oil and Gas Association - 4.26.2024
David Blackmon
Apr 27, 2024
Let the Good Times Roll
April 26, 2024
The Regulatory onslaught continues—powerplant edition
This week the Biden Administration finalized carbon dioxide regulations on new natural gas and coal-fired power plants. If courts uphold the regulation, new natural gas power plants that operate at least 40 percent of the time would need to install carbon capture systems by 2032 and existing coal plants would also need to install carbon capture systems by 2032.
Many parties are already preparing legal challenges to this regulation. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to utilize the “best system of emission reduction” that has been “adequately demonstrated.” Obama’s Clean Power Plan was struck down by the courts because it took a ridiculously expansive view the term a “system of emissions reduction” to include measures far from the power plants being regulated.
The Biden administration learned from the Obama Admin getting slapped down in court and this time states that CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) is the best system of emission reduction (along with co-firing green hydrogen). The problem for Biden’s EPA is the requirement that the emissions controls be “adequately demonstrated.”
Jeff Holmstead, the head of President Bush’s air office at EPA said recently that, “There isn’t a single commercial-scale gas-fired power plant anywhere in the U.S. — or as far as I know, anywhere in the world — that uses CCS to control its emissions,” he said. "This fact alone could make it hard for EPA to convince the courts that CCS has been adequately demonstrated."
It is hard to argue that something has been adequately demonstrated when it hasn’t been tried anywhere in the world at scale.
CCS hasn’t been adequately demonstrated for coal either, but it’s a closer call. CCS on coal plants has been tried in the United States, but it has failed repeatedly. Here are some examples:
American Electric Power Mountaineer – canceled in 2011
FutureGen 2.0 – canceled in 2015
Texas Clean Energy Project – canceled in 2016
Southern Company’s Kemper Project – canceled in 2017 so the plant could run on natural gas
Petra Nova – suspended in 2020 after three years of operation
With this history of failure, how can EPA argue to a court that the technology is adequately demonstrated? The actual demonstrations show that it is a failure.
I expect the courts will strike down this new powerplant rule, just as the courts struck down Obama’s powerplant rule and Biden’s people know this. This rule, along with the GHG regulations on cars and trucks, the new regulation banning fossil fuels in new federal buildings, and other rules are not legal.
But as we learned with student loan forgiveness, the law apparently doesn’t apply to bureaucrats trying to force change regardless of the law backed up by an Administration. That worked for Obama, and they are trying the same tactics again.
The model the Biden administration is following is the Obama Admins illegal Mercury and Air Toxics standards. That rule dramatically increased the cost of operating coal plants. After a couple of years of litigation, the rule was struck down by the Supreme Court. When asked about the regulation, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, wasn’t concerned about losing in court. She said, “Most of [the powerplants] are already in compliance, investments have been made…”
In other words, they got the result they wanted with an illegal rule because utilities moved away from coal and invested in other things.
Following the law wasn’t important for the Obama administration and it isn’t important for the Biden administration. What is important is trying to achieve their climate goals regardless of the law. These same approaches will apply to our industry. The intent is to force movement away from fossil fuel production by regulation or a protracted legal process. They fully intend to wait the industry out.
Biden’s illegal ban on fossil fuel use in new federal buildings
I noted above that Biden has a new regulation banning fossil fuel use in new federal buildings. I’ll explain why it’s illegal here. Section 433 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, requires that “[new federal] buildings shall be designed so that the fossil fuel-generated energy consumption of the buildings is reduced” by 55 percent by 2010, 90 percent by 2025, and 100 percent by 2030.
The first question people should ask about Biden’s rule is, “why did it take so long?” Why didn’t Obama promulgate a rule to comply with this requirement? They had eight years and the statutory language above was on the books the entire time. The reason, amazingly, is that the Department of Energy’s attorneys read the statutory language and couldn’t come up with a legal regulation.
The statutory language requires a reduction of “fossil fuel-generated energy consumption.” This obviously includes electricity that is generated off-site. Obama’s Department of Energy understood that the only buildings that could comply with this statutory language were buildings that would be completely off the grid because otherwise, the buildings would use electricity generated from fossil fuels. So, the Obama administration and the Trump administration after it, never implemented this statutory language.
The way the Biden administration got around this pesky statutory language is to pretend it says something different. They are pretending that Congress wrote, “on-site fossil fuel-generated energy consumption.” The problem is that “on-site” is not in the statute.
Once again, the Biden administration is not following what the law says.
EVs are struggling—Ford edition
CNN reports:
Ford’s electric vehicle unit reported that losses soared in the first quarter to $1.3 billion, or $132,000 for each of the 10,000 vehicles it sold in the first three months of the year, helping to drag down earnings for the company overall.
…
The EV unit, which Ford calls Model e, sold 10,000 vehicles in the quarter, down 20% from the number it sold a year earlier. And its revenue plunged 84% to about $100 million, which Ford attributed mostly to price cuts for EVs across the industry.
EVs are struggling—Tesla edition
While EVs are supposed to be taking over the world, Tesla is seeing its finances go the wrong direction:
Tesla reported a steeper-than-expected 55 percent plunge in profit for the first quarter but managed to avoid a major beating on Wall Street on Tuesday by declaring a flurry of bold commitments that appeared to satisfy investors: ramping up the production timeline of a more “affordable” car, doubling down on its fully autonomous “Cybercab” and outlining nearly $1 billion in cost savings from job cuts.
Analysts called Tuesday’s earnings report a “make or break moment” for the electric-vehicle maker as it continues to struggle with falling sales, stiff competition from China and uncertainty over its business outlook. Tesla’s earnings report was indeed grim: For the three months ended March 31, net income fell 55 percent from a year earlier to $1.13 billion while revenue fell 9 percent to $21.3 billion.
EVs are struggling—European edition
The EU needs to rethink its policies to make a 2035 ban on new petrol car sales feasible as electric vehicles (EVs) remain unaffordable and alternative fuel options are not credible, the EU's external auditor said, jeopardising its 2050 climate goals.
…
The EU wants to have at least 30 million zero-emission cars on European roads by 2030, or about 12% of the current car fleet. However, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) cautioned the bloc may create new economic dependencies and hurt its own industry.
As it stands, high EV production costs in Europe means the bloc will have to rely on cheap imports, mainly from China, if it sticks to the 2035 goal. China accounts for 76% of EV battery output compared with the EU that represents less than 10% of production globally.
"The EU faces a conundrum, how to meet goals without harming industrial policy and hurting consumers," Annemie Turtelboom, an ECA member, told reporters. She added that 2026 will be a key year for a policy review.
That’s the problem—how can the EU (or Biden) meet climate goals without harming industry or consumers? The EU is starting to see that it can’t achieve its climate goals without massive economic pain.
Biden declaring a climate emergency—a bad idea that refuses to go away
For the past few years, environmental activists have dreamed of Biden wielding dictatorial powers to stop oil and gas production and export merely by declaring a “climate emergency.”
The White House discussed the idea last year, and they are now discussing this idea again. Bloomberg reports on the latest discussions:
White House officials have renewed discussions about potentially declaring a national climate emergency, an unprecedented step that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development.
Top advisers to President Joe Biden have recently resumed talks about the merits of such a move, which could be used to curtail crude exports, suspend offshore drilling, and curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because a final decision has not been made.
White House advisers are divided over the idea of declaring a climate emergency, with some saying it wouldn’t provide Biden with enough newfound authority to make substantial changes, the people said. Others, however, argue such an announcement would galvanize climate-minded voters.
If Biden declares a climate emergency, the only purpose will be to appeal to “climate-minded voters.” If Team Biden believes it will help him politically, he will declare a climate emergency, regardless of the dubious legality of such actions. As Biden has shown with his writing off student loans, he has no regard for the law if something could help him electorally.
The questions Team Biden are considering are when to declare a climate emergency and what will happen to gas prices. If Biden declares a climate emergency and takes actions that increase the price at the pump, this will backfire terribly on Biden because far more people vote based on gas prices and inflation than to vote based on climate.
I could easily see Biden declaring a climate emergency in the summer if a large hurricane strikes the United States. Hurricane forecasters are predicting a very active hurricane season and if a Katrina-like storm hits the U.S., that would give Biden the opening to declare a climate emergency and take some steps to reduce CO2 emissions. The limiting factor of Biden’s actions will be what does he think he can do without driving up gasoline prices too much. This is one reason why Biden’s advisors are already talking about new releases from the SPR.
U.S. could release more SPR oil to keep gas prices low, senior White House adviser says
Biden loves using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower the price at the pump. In 2022, Biden sold 180 million barrels of oil to help the Democrats' electoral chances in November 2022. Those massive releases succeeded in blunting higher gasoline prices and helped make Biden’s economic policies look as disastrous as they are.
The White House is already taking steps to release more oil from the SPR in the runup to the presidential elections this November. John Podesta stated earlier this week , “The president did it (release oil from SPR) before ... and I think he wants to keep the price of gasoline affordable, and he will do what he can to make sure that happens.”
If gasoline prices increase during the summer, then expect to see more releases from the SPR.
Climate policies bend back towards reality
The BBC is reporting that Scotland’s energy policies are slowly bending toward reality because people aren’t willing to make the lifestyle choices necessary to achieve the goals. The BBC reports:
The Scottish government is to ditch its flagship target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.
The final goal of reaching "net-zero" by 2045 will remain, but BBC Scotland News understands the government's annual climate targets could also go.
Ministers have missed eight of the last 12 annual targets and have been told that reaching the 75% milestone by the end of the decade is unachievable.
While no one outside of Scotland cares what Scotland does with their climate and energy policies, this is an example of how reality is asserting itself with climate goals. Countries, like Scotland, set aggressive CO2 emission reduction goals based on a lack of understanding about energy. Now the incredible difficulty in meeting these goals is starting to become apparent. The BBC continues:
The new legislation required ministers to set annual targets for reducing emissions.
In a sense it was a hostage to fortune with the yearly totals heavily influenced by the winter weather which determines how much gas we use to heat up our homes.
But the trend was clear as eight out of 12 of the targets were missed.
With the closure of Scotland's last coal-fired power station at Longannet in 2016, politicians conceded that the low-hanging fruit had all been picked and any future progress would require big changes to how we live our lives.
This portion in bold italics is key. People say they want to do something about climate change, but there is no interest in making any lifestyle changes. This is the reality of climate change policies. Policies that reduce CO2 emissions work if they are not costly and do not require people to change their lives.
That is all…
https://blackmon.substack.com/p/washington-update-from-the-us-oil-e99?publication_id=712558&post_id=144069680&isFreemail=false&r=rd9j8&triedRedirect=true
NY vs. Trump: Cross examination of DA Bragg's first witness unravels important truths
Shady dealings by a tabloid do not equal crimes committed
By Gregg Jarrett
Published April 27, 2024 7:00am EDT
"Cross-examination is the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth."
Those words by legendary lawyer John Henry Wigmore in 1923 are derived from the Sixth Amendment. A defendant has the right to confront his accusers; to shine light on false statements by witnesses and dark distortions by overzealous prosecutors who hide the truth. It’s an effective method to test the veracity of evidence.
It was tested on Friday, and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg failed. But that won’t stop him in his dogged pursuit of former President Donald Trump in a legally perverse case.
Defense attorney Emil Bove vigorously cross-examined the prosecution’s first witness, David Pecker, the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer. Prosecutors sat uncomfortably, as important truths met sunlight.
Under questioning, Pecker confessed that his tabloid routinely suppressed negative stories and promoted positive ones involving candidates for political office because it was financially profitable. The witness agreed that other, more mainstream news organizations did the exact same thing. Paying for stories and sometimes killing them was commonplace at the Enquirer, he admitted, especially when celebrities were involved. It was not unique to Trump.
It may seem tawdry, but it’s not unlawful to quash stories. Nor is it illegal to pay someone for their silence.
This was something that Bragg and his team of prosecutors spent the better part of a week concealing from the jury on direct examination. The irony —and hypocrisy— is obvious. Bragg accuses Trump of suppressing information to win an election. But the D.A. suppressed vital testimony to win his case against Trump.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 21: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg accuses Trump of suppressing information to win an election. But the D.A. suppressed vital testimony to win his case against Trump.
Pecker also revealed on cross-examination that Trump did not want to buy the salacious story peddled by former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal that she once allegedly had an affair with Trump. Then-candidate Trump said that such scandals always come out.
On its own, the National Enquirer eventually doled out $150,000 to McDougal, but Pecker insisted that "cash wasn’t the primary focus of the agreement." Instead, she was hired to compose advice columns, blogs, and other articles for the tabloid.
Bear in mind that the entire McDougal saga has nothing to do with the criminal charges against Trump. He paid no money to her. Yet, prosecutors convinced Judge Juan Merchan to allow it under the theory of what’s called "similar bad acts." Translation: let’s smear Trump with irrelevant and prejudicial information. It’s the same dubious tactic that triggered this week’s reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s sex conviction.
Over four days on the witness stand, Pecker offered no direct evidence that Trump ever told him to kill stories. But even if he did, where is the crime in that? It may seem tawdry, but it’s not unlawful to quash stories. Nor is it illegal to pay someone for their silence.
Moreover, whatever money that was exchanged did not qualify as a campaign expenditure under relevant election laws, which makes a mockery of Bragg’s claim that Trump tried to influence an election by "unlawful means." That term is drawn from a state statute that is a mere misdemeanor and has no application to a federal election. But assuming for the sake of argument that it does, where is the unlawful act? There isn’t one.
Prosecutors have been shameless in tossing out incendiary words like "conspiracy" and "fraud." But as I argued in an earlier column, Trump is not charged with either. Bragg and his Assistant DAs are intentionally trying to hurl mud to fool the jury by implying otherwise. Predictably, the biased judge, Juan Merchan, is letting them get away with it.
Which brings us to the original 34 charges that Trump falsified business records, all of which are expired misdemeanors. Pecker, McDougal, and Stormy Daniels have no knowledge of the private bookkeeping. Yet, they have been at the center of Bragg’s three-ring circus during the first week. Shady dealings by a tabloid do not equal crimes committed.
It’s a clever subterfuge. Confuse the jury with jargon and create the appearance of illegality that doesn’t actually exist. It’s an unconscionable breach of ethics and a violation of a prosecutor’s principal duty to see that justice is done fairly and impartially. Sadly, too many prosecutors think their job is to gain a conviction, by hook or by crook. Bragg stands as the poster child for amoral ruthlessness.
Years ago, the FBI and prosecutors pressured Pecker. They dangled in front of him a non-prosecution agreement in exchange for his cooperation in testifying about payments to McDougal and Stormy Daniels. Out of fear and intimidation, he signed it. However, his signature on that document conceding there was a campaign violation was not a legal admission that there really was such a violation. It was simply a means to relieve the undue pressure.
Naturally, Bragg’s prosecutors misrepresented that document in front of the jury. That’s a dirty trick because any admission of wrongdoing by one person —even a faux admission like this— does not dictate the guilt of another person. It’s irrelevant and prejudicial. In a normal case, no responsible judge would permit it. But Judge Merchan is presiding over a parody of a trial.
Adversarial cross-examination, which has long been the centerpiece of our justice system, has so far proved useful for the defense in the Manhattan D.A.’s absurd case against Trump. Deceptions have been disassembled and distortions exposed.
But the question remains, can the jury wade through the ugly muck of the prosecution’s case and see the light of truth? At this early stage, it’s impossible to know.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ny-trump-cross-examination-da-braggs-witness-important-truths
Anybody notice how many hardhats are rallying around Trump in New York?
By Monica Showalter
In the midst of trials, President Trump is campaigning, for president.
That's not how his legal persecutors planned it. Their idea with their rushed and perfectly timed prosecutions has always been to keep President Trump tied up in court and unable to campaign.
But that doesn't stop President Trump. Since he can't go anywhere while the trial is on, he's campaigning where he is, in deep blue New York City, making lemonade out of a load of very sour lemons.
And the results are shocking:
Leftists go nuts when they see this, but the fact is Donald J Trump is the most loved President in our lifetime 👇
pic.twitter.com/L9TLO22yKR
— Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 26, 2024
Donald Trump meets with construction workers who broke into chants of ‘USA!’ before ‘hush money’ trial https://t.co/cVxrQfBpxt pic.twitter.com/WtgALYpW1r
— New York Post (@nypost) April 26, 2024
Donald Trump meets with construction workers who broke into chants of ‘USA!’ before ‘hush money’ trial https://t.co/cVxrQfBpxt pic.twitter.com/WtgALYpW1r
— New York Post (@nypost) April 26, 2024
NY Union Leader: We're Changing Side.
Remarkable quotes from the Liberal Mecca known as New York City
Great Video by NEWSMAX pic.twitter.com/ilLOnCoFF9
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) April 26, 2024
Look at those hardhats. Those are working people, normal voters, the kind of people the left claims to champion.
With far-left pro-Hamas protestors overrunning big campuses in New York, campuses such as Columbia University and New York University, those workers greeting Trump create a weird deja vu feeling of the Hard Hat Riots of 1970, which spontaneously emerged to everyone's surprise in the wake of the far-left lunacy engulfing, yes, Columbia University, in those years earlier. The working men were sick of it, and rallied hard around Richard Nixon. Now the same damn thing is happening in New York, this time with the same stupid protestors running circles around their university and attacking the very idea of a Liberal (in the classical sense) education, while bloodthirsty prosecutors and judges attempt to destroy Trump legally, rendering him a victim. Now he's ramming a fist down that alligator's mouth and if he takes New York in November, it will be the greatest self-own comeuppance ever seen in American politics, all completely preventable from their point of view, but put into place by their own rage.
Chris Queen at PJMedia noticed the curious make-do quality of Trump's campaign:
Trump couldn't attend the SCOTUS arguments since Judge Juan Merchan is keeping him on a tight leash in New York City, but that's not stopping him from improvising some campaign appearances. Victoria told us about it:
Trump asked for the day off from the New York City trial of the incomprehensible bookkeeping case to attend the argument but was in effect ordered to sit down and shut up by the judge, who said his court was a "very big deal" too.
So, because he couldn't go to watch the oral arguments in D.C., Trump did what came naturally: he campaigned.
Before he went into the courthouse, he stopped to talk to construction workers and onlookers on the streets of New York. He signed hats and heard the crowd shout, "We love Trump!" and "USA! USA!"
Unable to go to places like Iowa, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida or Tennessee, where many Trump voters are, he's planning to go big in New York:
While he's in the Big Apple, Trump wants to create a rally to top all rallies, as Victoria explained:
Trump said he's ironing out details for the Madison Square Garden rally, though MSG reported they have not inked a deal as of yet. It's fair to say that you shouldn't bet against him, however. Nor should you dismiss his desire to stick his finger in the eye of official New York, whose governor has told conservatives to leave and admitted that the lawsuits against him are unique to him, and players at all state, borough, and city judicial levels are arrayed against all things Trump.
Even the New York Times is noticing that the courtroom persecutions are backfiring. In an op-ed written by a former operative of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, and probable #neverTrump, he warned Democrats they were showing off Trump to voters to his best advantage:
The Manhattan courtroom will be the setting for Mr. Trump to play the role of a familiar American archetype: the wronged man seeking justice from corrupt, powerful forces. The former president is good in this role, and that’s no small thing.
Presidential campaigns pay a great deal of attention to scheduling — where, when and how many events should a candidate do on any given day. But here’s the most important element of scheduling: putting a candidate in a setting that gives them a chance to excel. ...
Mr. Trump loves big rallies. He feeds off the crowd like a vampire at a blood bank. But his act is getting a little old. ... the trial gives Mr. Trump the benefits of renewed interest from voters and the media with no burden on his team to increase campaigning or produce a newsworthy event.
I feel like I have spent half my life in campaign headquarters, staring at a map and a calendar. The map is always too large, and the calendar too short. Time is the one resource allocated to campaigns in exactly the same amounts. But there’s a dirty little secret to presidential campaigns: Where you campaign may be of little consequence. A courthouse could be as valuable as the swingiest swing district in the swingiest swing state.
Seems it's getting obvious to everyone that Trump could put even New York into play, as well as all the states he wanted to campaign in.
If that happens, it will be Democrats' own fault. The intriguing thing is, they can't stop it. They can only sit by, paralyzed by their own venom as working Americans rally around Trump. That's coverage they don't want and there's not a thing they can do about it.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/04/anybody_notice_how_many_hardhats_are_rallying_around_trump_in_new_york.html
President Trump has announced that he wants >
to hold several surprise Trump rallies in his home state of New York.
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The proposed rallies would take place in the South Bronx and Madison Square Garden, and it’s no wonder why: the people of New York love President Trump.
Not the smarmy liberals who inhabit the high-rises in downtown Manhattan, but the working-class people in New York love the former President.
As a former New Yorker, I can confirm that the guy was seen as a hometown hero for decades. It was only when he ran for President and the mainstream media engaged in a coordinated propaganda campaign against him that attitudes changed.
I wouldn’t even say they changed so much per se, anti-Trump sentiment was manufactured by the MSM and the elites.
The former President made his surprise announcement from New York City on Thursday:
🚨 Trump says he wants to hold rallies in the South Bronx and at Madison Square Garden.
pic.twitter.com/WcgeIEIoKb
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 25, 2024
Newsmax had more on the proposed rallies:
Speaking outside a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said the rally at Madison Square Garden will honor police, firefighters, and teachers.
As you can see, President Trump has received an outpouring of support from the people of New York amid the coordinated lawfare being waged against him.
New York Union Manager Bob Bartels, says that President Trump is beating Joe Biden three-to-one in a poll of 9,000 construction worker members. People are waking up. pic.twitter.com/M8F57QitRU
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 26, 2024
“USA! USA! USA!”
Patriotic chants break out as President Trump visits union workers at a construction site in New York City. pic.twitter.com/Cjh4vyziXv
— GOP (@GOP) April 25, 2024
Hundreds of union members came out to support President Trump in New York City.
“We love Trump!’” pic.twitter.com/DxkbCxNN8i
— GOP (@GOP) April 25, 2024
Little kids in Harlem to President Trump as he visits their neighborhood:
“I love you, Trump!” ♥️ pic.twitter.com/G1CLOAjHXb
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) April 16, 2024
Fox Business featured this story about working-class union members in New York voicing their support for President Trump:
“I see it on the job. Everybody’s got Trump stickers on their hard hats,” Zuto’s colleague Ronald Dioguard added.
“They just see him as a passionate president for their country.
It’s undeniable how much he cares about the country. It’s not even a question.”
Imagine if the roles were reversed!
5 Big Changes Coming to the Post Office in 2024
Before you head out to the post office, here’s what you’ll find that is new
By Donna Fuscaldo, AARP
Published January 12, 2024 / Updated April 15, 2024
(USPS service s.u.c.k.ses. I renewed my driver's license online April 5th. The temporary license said if the new one didn't arrive in 20 calendar days to contact them. On the 25th, my license had not arrived. I contacted them using the email address provided. An answer arrived in a couple of hours. The license was mailed on April 16th. Their email said to wait 1 to 3 weeks because the USPS was having delivery problems. And now they're raising prices again. I sincerely doubt the service will improve.)
Post office prices are rising this year, but USPS says it is focusing on improving on-time deliveries in 2024.
Through snow, rain, heat and gloom of night, the U.S. Postal Service has delivered mail to Americans for nearly 250 years. Although that core task remains the same, that doesn’t mean everything else stays the same in 2024.
From the price of stamps to procedures for forwarding mail, here are five things that will be different at USPS this year.
1. Stamp prices are going up
Like other businesses, the post office is passing along its increased costs to its customers. Effective Jan. 21, a first-class Forever stamp increased 2 cents to 68 cents. Across the board, prices increased about 2 percent. It plans to raise prices again on July 14, with first-class Forever stamps increasing 5 cents to 73 cents. A first-class stamp covers the cost to mail a 1-ounce letter; the cost of an additional ounce will rise from 24 cents to 28 cents.
2. ID is required for forwarding mail
Aiming to clamp down on identity theft and protect customers’ information, USPS is beefing up its procedures to verify your identity when you request a change of address. Now you must either show ID in person at your local post office or verify your identity online. A change of address request, or COA, has to be submitted 90 days before the date of your move or up to 30 days after your move.
If you are doing it in person …
Bring one of the following to your local post office:
• State issued driver’s license or nondriver’s license identification card (name and address must match the old or new address on your request)
• Uniformed Services Identification Card (requires a secondary form of identification)
• U.S. passport (requires a secondary form of identification)
Secondary forms of identification include:
• Lease, mortgage or deed of trust
• Voter or vehicle registration card
• Home or vehicle insurance policy or card
• The name and address on any secondary ID must match the old or new address on your change of address request.
If you are doing it online ...
• An email address is required for online COA submission.
• A onetime passcode or verification link will be texted to your cellphone.
• A $1.10 credit card identity verification fee will be charged to your credit card.
• The billing address on the credit card must match either the old or the new address used in the COA request. Prepaid cards and gift cards are not accepted.
• If the online verification fails, you’ll have to visit the post office.
3. Four new stamps are being released, with more to come
In a nod to iconic games, legendary coaches, influential artists and American pastimes, USPS has a series of new stamps planned for 2024 that includes:
• Dungeons & Dragons: The stamp release marks the 50th anniversary of one of America’s most famous role-playing board games. The pane of 20 stamps features 10 different designs highlighting characters, creatures and other elements of the game.
• John Wooden: Considered in many circles to be one of America’s greatest coaches, John Wooden (1910–2010) led the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins to a record-setting 10 Division I men’s basketball national championships. The stamp features a portrait of Wooden.
• Carnival nights: From roller coasters to hot dogs, carnivals are a staple of summertime fun for many Americans. Ten new stamps in a pane of 20 feature photographs capturing the energy and lights of a summer carnival at night.
• Ansel Adams: Showcasing the American landscape through photographs, Ansel Adams is among the most influential artists of the 20th century. To honor his art and contributions, USPS is releasing 16 stamps featuring some of Adams’ most famous images.
4. Mail volume will decline and losses will grow
USPS expected to lose $4.5 billion in fiscal 2023 but actually reported a net loss of $6.5 billion, thanks in part to declining mail volume, residual effects from previous pricing strategies and inflation. For 2024, USPS projects another net loss of $6.3 billion. Meanwhile, total mail and package volume is projected to be 107.2 billion pieces, down 7.7 percent year over year.
While first-class mail will be down, USPS foresees an increase in package delivery as it aggressively tries to grow its market share in that area. In the summer it launched USPS Ground Advantage, which is a cheaper way to ship packages in two to five business days across the United States.
5. Better service and speedier delivery are expected
As part of its Delivering for America plan, USPS is consolidating its 19,000 delivery centers into new, larger and more centrally located sorting and delivery centers. So far, six facilities are operational. USPS is evaluating over 100 new locations across the country this year and says the actions will enable it to expand same-day/next-day shipping and improve on-time performance. No post offices will be closed or services impacted by the shake-up.
Donna Fuscaldo is a contributing writer and editor focusing on personal finance and health. She has spent over two decades writing and covering news for several national publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investopedia and HerMoney.
https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-2024/usps-mail-updates.html
*Covid* must be Rampant @ Universities ~ All are Masked >
Yeah, sure ..
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/19/us/palestinian-protest-columbia-what-we-know/index.html
Kunstler:
CLUSTERFUCK NATION – BLOGApril 26, 2024
Emergency-O-Rama
“We’ll certainly never forget the dark days of June 6– January 6th, excuse me.” — President “Joe Biden”
The plum blossoms are ready to pop here. You can feel your blood rising. The evening sun lingers a little longer every day. Normally you’d celebrate, but not this year of roaring portents and evil juju. History doesn’t stop to catch its breath for a moment. The tiny glowing diode deep in “Joe Biden’s” brain dims a bit more each day (pause) while low men and women in high places trifle with the fate of the nation. Everyone dreads what’s coming.
Which, judging by events of the week just past, looks like a worse summer of civil chaos than 2020 was. Some entity — say, the checkbook of George and Alex Soros, maybe? — has funded the spring mustering of student mobs in support of Hamas seeking to drive wicked Israel into the choppy Mediterranean. What you’re seeing, though, is probably not what you think you are seeing in all that. The kids are mere digits in a cultural algorithm playing out as New Age dumbshow.
I doubt that three-quarters of them actually give a flying fugazy about the Palestinians, and even fewer could find Gaza on a map if you water-boarded them. They affect to be intersectional victims of the universal oppressor, but in so far as many of the rioters are girls of the Ivy League, or comparable redoubts of privilege— little blue-eyed, blonde-haired muffins raised on pony club, Hermes, and artisan granola — there must be something else going on. That something else is probably sex, which is so problematical now in any traditional frame of a man getting it on with a woman that the American birth-rate is going to zero.
How does a young woman get it on with so many collegiate men vying for gay brownie points these days, or going for the grand prize in transitioning? Why, it’s a non-starter. So, instead, you go slumming among the savages, those hairy, dumb brutes on twerk-alert, dripping testosterone — illegal aliens, student third-worlders, BLM alumni, hardcore hoodlums. They don’t know nuthin ‘bout no pony club, but they will rut like Bilberry rams until the ladies fall away crosseyed. Affecting to be a lesbian only makes the game more piquant. And if you forgot your birth control, for some reason, there’s always the abortionist.
Any time there are brownie points at stake, you know the game is actually for status, and where status is the game, fashion is the currency. Thus, the dress-up in Arab keffiyehs, the charming head-scarf denoting allyship with Hamas. Beats the heck out of those flitty N-95 masks from the 2020 Covid nights of roistering in the Seattle CHOP and trying to burn down the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in Portland.
Rioting gives young men of the toxic persuasion opportunities to flaunt their moxie in acts of derring-do, brawling with the cops, dancing on top of cars, ripping down chain-link fences, flinging gasoline bombs. So much the better for getting the ladies’ attention. Look what I can do! And the keffiyeh accessorizes well with black bloc riot garb. For the muffins, wearing it is great practice for the utopia-to-come when they must don burkas under submission to Sharia. Will Hermes put out a burka?
So far, the spring rioting has mostly been fun for the rioters. Unlike the J-6-21 “paraders,” locked up in the putrid DC jail for years pending trial, the Hamas frolickers are at near-zilch risk of any serious consequences. Few will even be suspended from school. They are doing exactly what the schools trained them up for: destroying Western Civ, one acanthus leaf at a time. According to the shadowy stage-managers behind “Joe Biden,” this will save our democracy.
That and stuffing Donald Trump in jail for the rest of his natural life. Alas, the lawfare cases cooked up toward that end appear defective to a spectacular degree. It really says something about the true authors of these beauties brought by Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, Fani Willis, and Jack Smith. I speak of the behind-the-scene blob lawfare ninjas Norm Eisen, Andrew Weissmann, Matt Colangelo, and Mary McCord, who wrote the scripts for all four of this year’s big elephant trap cases against the former president. You have to wonder how that bunch made it through their law boards. The current extravaganza in Manhattan that centers on alleged book-keeping errors in furtherance of an unstated federal offense is due to go on a few more weeks. The howling errors of both the prosecution and Judge Juan Merchan are so extravagant that the proceeding looks like it was cribbed from the pages of Lewis Carroll.
Yet, there is near unanimous sentiment that the Trump-deranged New Yawk jury will convict, no matter how much more idiotic the case turns out to be. By then, we will be verging on summer. The college campuses will be shuttered and the youth-in-revolt action will necessarily move to the regular streets. Whichever way the verdict goes in the Alvin Bragg case, epic looting and rioting will commence.
Sometime this summer, I predict, the Mar-a-Lago documents case will get tossed on something like malicious prosecution. Jack Smith’s DC case, kneecapped by SCOTUS, won’t start before the November election (or maybe ever) and ditto the Fani Willis fiasco in Atlanta. George and Alex Soros will pour millions into box lunches for the kids burning down what’s left of the cities and the demure gals of the Ivy League Left will find plenty of love in the ruins.
The two major party conventions in July (Republican) and August (Democrat) are sure to out-do the 1968 lollapalooza in Chicago (I was there) in mayhem and property damage. “Joe Biden” — really the blob behind him — will ache to declare a national emergency, perhaps even a second emergency after the recently unveiled “climate emergency” supposedly pending any day. The USA will be in an historic horror movie you could call Emergency-O-Rama. If you think the financial system, and the US economy that has become the tail on the finance dog, can survive all this, you will be disappointed. The army may have to step in and put an end to these shenanigans. Don’t think it can’t happen.
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/emergency-o-rama/
This country is under attack
From within
Do not comply
Or give in
The week in whoppers: The Squad’s Cori Bush flips reality on protests, NY Times begs for Trump’s conviction and more
By Post Editorial Board Published April 25, 2024, 6:15 p.m. ET
Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions
This tweet:
As a Ferguson activist, I know what it’s like to have agitators infiltrate our movement, manipulate the press, & fuel the suppression of dissent by public officials & law enforcement.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) April 23, 2024
We must reject these tactics to silence anti-war activists demanding divestment from genocide.
Trump is coming for your health care and Social Security.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 21, 2024
We won’t let it happen. pic.twitter.com/gbCSyILNWd
Probably, LOLOL real coin though. Texted Grandma of my little buddy Josh who collects coins, had 1940 and 1941 nickels, a bunch of wheat back pennies, and that strange quarter. I started giving him coins a while back. Am still wanting donations of older coins or foreign ones for this young man.
Bats huh?? One of your neighbor calling you out as bat shit crazy??? 🦇 😉
Good one, cap. I miss those days, too.
Hope life is going well for you.
Odd happening of the day. I went to the front door just to look out and I saw a coin on the doorstep. Weird, I was outside earlier and didn't see it. It was a 2020 American Samoa quarter, national park, got a bat or 2 on the back. Got no idea where it came from. Looked it up, guess it's real.
Quote of the day... "I can remember a time when the borders were secure, the world was at peace, gas was cheap and plentiful, groceries were affordable, mortgage interest rates were 2.5%, and the economic outlook was optimistic. I sure do miss those good old days from just over three years ago."
Two snaps and a twist! I really hope we can can the dope and get someone worth listening to again!
Democrats Need To Be Held To Account For Denying Trump’s Due Process Rights.
By Wolf Howling
Properly understood, these are acts of seditious conspiracy and treason meant to be felt throughout the United States. As such, Judge Merchan, Alvin Bragg, and all their cohorts need to be arrested and tried in the heartland of our nation. Let them face America. If convicted, they need to be punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.
Due process of law, or at least its absence, is the heart of the unconstitutional lawfare aimed at Donald Trump this week in a New York courtroom, ostensibly for hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. This is a crossing of the Rubicon moment for our Republic.
“Due process” is ancient shorthand for the sum of all the procedures the government must comply with and honor before it may take a person’s life, liberty, or property. The right to due process is over 1,000 years old in English jurisprudence. It is a right of every citizen and a duty of every government.
A year ago, I wrote about DA Bragg charging Trump with a crime, but not identifying the crime. Within the past few days, Andrew McCarthy called the prosecution a “farce” and listed its many failings. Prof. Jonathan Turley wrote that Trump is not being prosecuted for any actual crime. Prof. Jed Shugerman called the prosecution unfounded, both a “legal embarrassment” and a “historic mistake.” Matthew Whitaker said that Judge Merchan, who presides over the Manhattan kangaroo court, is hopelessly conflicted to a degree that would make Joe Biden blush.
The fundamental issues with this trial all revolve around a denial of due process. This is criminally unconstitutional, and, because it is meant to distort a free and fair presidential election President, creating an existential crisis for America.
A Brief History of Procedural Due Process
Since 1215, an ocean of blood has been spilled by men on English and American shores to vindicate individual rights. Civil wars (including the 1st and 2nd Baron’s War, the Peasants’ Revolt, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, and the American Revolution) have been fought, kings deposed, a king executed, and nations sundered to vindicate those rights. And in virtually all those conflicts, a government’s systemically denying its citizens’ due process rights was at the conflict’s heart.
The British freemen’s right to due process of law appeared first in the Magna Carta of 1215, when the tyrant King John was imprisoning men and extorting their lands and possessions. That same right to due process of law appeared in writing again as a right of all English citizens in the Petition of Right of 1628 when Charles I was imprisoning and even executing men, not for any crime, but to take their lands and estates. Due Process of law was reaffirmed as an Englishman’s right in the English Bill of Rights of 1689 after the English deposed James I for dispensing with those rights and ruling as a tyrant.
In 1761, King George III began to deny the colonists many aspects of due process of law. By 1775, George III’s refusal to honor the Americans’ rights led to the American Revolution. After the Revolution, America’s Founders wrote “due process of law” into both the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. It appears generally in the 5th Amendment and specifically as to component parts of due process in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.
Due process is at our republic’s very foundation and is indispensable to our nation’s functioning. Take away “due process of law,” and there is nothing to stop government tyranny and criminality. There is nothing to stop our own versions of history’s Mao, Stalin, Robespierre, and Charles I. We see it in the currently unstoppable Alvin Bragg, Juan Merchan, and the rogue’s gallery of others plotting lawfare to de facto overthrow our republic.
The Mechanics of Due Process of Law
Much of the U.S. Constitution is not an explanatory text. It is written in shorthand, with references to things that were well-known in law and culture when the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights were ratified. Thus, when the 5th Amendment says no one “shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,” every American understood that to mean the sum of those procedures that American and English courts followed in 1791.
It helps to think of due process of law in two prongs. The first prong is the procedures the government must follow. They are characterized by ensuring that a large number of people come to an objective agreement that a crime occurred and that the defendant committed the crime. This prong guards against any one government actor acting out of wrongful motive, whether it be avarice, vengeance, or political gain.
The second prong is the information and rights that the government must make available to the defendant to ensure he has an adequate defense against the government’s overwhelming power. This includes telling him the crimes for which he is charged, allowing him to hear the evidence against him, and allowing him to present a defense, including the right to cross-examine witnesses.
The federal and state governments all have their own laws defining procedural due process of law. They’re very similar, with some minor local variations. As a general matter, when a law-enforcement officer proposes to arrest someone, the officer must meet with a prosecutor and show the evidence. Only if the prosecutor agrees that the putative defendant violated a valid law does the prosecutor present those facts to a Grand Jury.
If the Grand Jury returns an indictment, the prosecutor refers the matter to a magistrate who reviews the charges and, if they’re legally sufficient, issues a warrant to arrest. By this point, the process has involved twenty or more people, all of whom have had a chance to see the evidence and weigh the prosecutor’s decision.
After arrest, the defendant must be brought before a court, where the exact charges are read against him in front of a neutral magistrate. The defendant then has several additional due process rights to ensure that he is treated fairly, including the right to trial by a jury of his peers.
The government must produce evidence at the trial, and it is the government, seeking to take away the defendant’s life, liberty, or property, that has the burden of proof of guilt (rather than the defendant having to prove the negative, which is his innocence). A neutral judge must preside fairly over the trial.
At trial’s end, only after the jury has heard all the facts and after watching the defendant confront his accusers, then, and only then, if the jury approves the charges based on the facts can government invade the defendant’s God-given rights to life, liberty, and property.
Donald Trump’s trial in NYC has been an obscene mockery of Due Process. It is criminally and blatantly unconstitutional:
[Per AT, McCarthy, Turley] DA Bragg charged Trump with accounting fraud (a misdemeanor) done intentionally to hide a second crime. At no point before trial did Bragg inform Trump what the second crime was that he was alleged to have committed. No one, whether in 2024 New York City, Charles I’s Star Chamber, or a televised show trial from the Soviet Union, can possibly defend against hidden crimes.
[Per McCarthy, Turley, Shugerman] It gets worse. At the trial, DA Bragg is alleging a second crime of “conspiracy” (hiding information) that was not in the indictment, and that does not apply to the alleged facts of the case.
[Per Whitaker] Judge Merchan, overseeing the trial, is not a disinterested party to these proceedings. His daughter is a Democrat fundraiser making millions of dollars thanks to this particular criminal trial.
[Per The New York Post] Judge Merchan has not merely allowed this trial to proceed under these outrageous circumstances, but he is allowing DA Bragg to spend days bringing in irrelevant evidence about Trump’s alleged affair with Karen McDougal. The law in all American jurisdictions makes this type of evidence impermissible because it invites a jury to convict for acts other than the crime charged. It is classic judicial and prosecutorial misconduct. Indeed, it was for just such acts that New York’s highest court recently vacated Harvey Weinstein’s conviction.
This case—its timing and the sum of its irregularities—has no chance of surviving an appellate review, even if a rabid progressive jury convicts Trump for being Trump. This case is designed solely to have an immediate impact on the 2024 election.
Make no mistake, this is a civil war battle, only it’s fought with a quill instead of a sword. Its existential ramifications for our nation are no less serious. What’s happening is a blatantly unlawful attempt to disenfranchise over half this nation and, by setting a precedent that sees Republicans exist below the ancient protections of due process, it threatens our nation with disunion at best.
Properly understood, these are acts of seditious conspiracy and treason meant to be felt throughout the United States. As such, Judge Merchan, Alvin Bragg, and all their cohorts need to be arrested and tried in the heartland of our nation. Let them face America. If convicted, they need to be punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/04/democrats_need_to_be_held_to_account_for_denying_trump_s_due_process_rights.html
The Climate-Alarmist Movement Has A Big PR Problem On Its Hands
David Blackmon
Apr 25, 2024
A colleague suggested that we simply change the problematic label to “Stone Age,” since that is where we are heading if the alarmists continue to get their way.
The whole “net-zero by 2050” narrative that cranked up in earnest in early 2021 has now become a public relations problem for the climate-alarm movement, according to a senior official at the United Nations.
Chris Stark, the outgoing chief executive of the UN’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), said as reported by the Guardian: “Net zero has definitely become a slogan that I feel occasionally is now unhelpful, because it’s so associated with the campaigns against it. That wasn’t something I expected.”
As seems to always be the case among the globalist sponsors of this government-subsidized rush to saddle the world with unreliable power grids and short-range electric cars, the conversation among the leaders of the movement immediately moves not to perhaps reconsidering the approach to address public concerns, but to rejiggering the narrative. Stark recommends shifting the label and the narrative to more of a focus on investment and how renewables and EVs somehow improve energy security.
“We are talking about cleaning up the economy and making it more productive – you can call that anything you like,” he said.
That would be a neat trick, inventing a narrative about benefits that don’t really exist. But it wouldn’t be the first time it’s been tried.
At last November’s COP 28 conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres floated the term “climate collapse” as a new name for what the climate alarmists have successively called “global warming,” “climate change,” “climate crisis,” and “climate emergency.” Each successive label has been replaced as its cache’ with the public has faded; and apparently the whole “climate emergency” has lost its punch, so another fright narrative must be concocted.
The trouble there, of course, is that the climate is not collapsing. But then again, it isn’t in any sort of an emergency, either, or a crisis.
The climate is always changing, though, so at least the long-abandoned “climate change” label had the ring of truth to it. Maybe let’s go back to that and try to deal with something that is at least a real thing? But, no, that would cut down on the alarm and make it harder for political leaders to enact bad “solutions” and subsidize them with debt combined with skyrocketing utility bills for average citizens.
So, as Stark says, call it anything you want, just so long as it is alarming. Stark’s boss at the UN, Guterres, used the term “global boiling” to describe the current climate situation. So, maybe we change “net-zero by 2050” to “no bubbles by 2050.” That would at least have the advantage of some semblance of consistent thought.
A colleague suggested that we simply change the problematic label to “Stone Age,” since that is where we are heading if the alarmists continue to get their way. She has a point.
The most amazing thing about Stark’s concerns is that anyone is really surprised that “net-zero by 2050” has become a problematic term. How else would officials at the UN and other governments expect the public to react to what has become the umbrella label for a set of authoritarian government actions that have destabilized power grids, caused the cost of living to rise rapidly, reduced consumer choice, and begun to rob citizens in nominally “free” countries of their individual rights?
The central problem today with this climate change narrative is that it has gone on for so long that is has become a bit of a joke with an increasingly aware and skeptical public. And the reason they’re skeptical is not due to any disbelief in science, as the alarmists invariably claim, but because they have seen nothing but bad outcomes and personal deprivations from the alleged solutions being subsidized into existence.
Stark assures us that, “the lifestyle change that goes with this is not enormous at all,” but painful results to date tell another story.
If Stark were truly thoughtful and serious about wanting to deal with the increasing unpopularity of the “net-zero by 2050” construct, he would suggest that everyone take a step back and re-evaluate the nature and effectiveness of the solutions being pushed.
By merely advocating for the concoction of yet another shift in the narrative, a troublesome lack of sincerity is laid bare.
https://blackmon.substack.com/p/the-climate-alarmist-movement-has?publication_id=712558&post_id=143986274&isFreemail=false&r=rd9j8&triedRedirect=true
Yesterday's Breitbart headline for the story was definite click bait.
It made it seem like Trump was going to buddy up with Barr.
Guess not. lol
" I thought *that* was hilarious, when I 1st read it " ..!
Not lethargic
On Truth Social, President Trump wrote, “Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for president despite the fact that I called him ‘Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy’ (New York Post!).”
He added, “Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word ‘Lethargic’ from my statement. Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!”
Whoever stole the clothes won't be able to wear the shirts because pencil-neck's collar size in petit!
Adam Schiff’s Luggage, Clothes Stolen in San Francisco
JOEL B. POLLAK 26 Apr 2024 2:1
(Good. Pencil Neck is lucky that's all that happened to him.)
U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) had his luggage stolen in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, leaving him without a suit as he addressed an audience that evening.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
Hello to the city, goodbye to your luggage. That was Senatorial candidate Adam Schiff’s rude introduction to San Francisco’s vexing reputation for car burglaries Thursday when thieves swiped the bags from his car while it sat in a downtown parking garage.
The heist meant the Democratic congressman got stuck at a fancy dinner party in his shirt sleeves and a hiking vest while everyone else sat in suits. Not quite the look the man from Burbank was aiming for as he rose to thank powerhouse attorney Joe Cotchett for his support in his bid to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate.
“I guess it’s ‘Welcome to San Francisco,’ ” Cotchett’s press agent Lee Houskeeper, who was at the dinner, remarked dryly.
Democrats are struggling to face the consequences of their own policies, as “criminal justice reform” has turned San Francisco and other California cities into havens for petty crime and smash-and-grab thefts.
At the state level, Democrats are trying to pass laws to toughen penalties for property crime — but without touching Proposition 47 of 2014, which reduced penalties for theft and other crimes.
Opponents of Proposition 47 announced last week that they have enough signatures to qualify reforms to the measure for the November 2024 ballot.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/04/26/adam-schiffs-luggage-clothes-stolen-in-san-francisco/
You mean those Constitution-respecting haters and racists?!
(sarcasm alert for anyone just passing thru)
Thanks Larry. I listened to part of it and it sure sounded like the ones with a brain were leaning our way.
Trump finds sympathy among justices for some immunity >
https://americasvoice.news/justthenews/thurule-ages-trump-finds-sympathy-among-justices-some-immunity/
What is a palindrome date
~~~ This month ~~~
(1:13)
Like no other
What are the odds
Dissident7
My Hero! ! ! 110-year-old NJ man who lives on his own and drives daily offers tips on longevity
By Allie Griffin Published April 25, 2024, 1:29 a.m. ET
A former New Jersey volunteer fire chief and great-grandfather of seven turned 110 last month — joining the rare few supercentenarian men across the globe.
Vincent Dransfield, of Little Falls, celebrated his milestone birthday on March 28 at his former engine house, Singac Volunteer Fire Company #3 — as he became the eighth-oldest reported man alive.
With women making up 90% of supercentenarians worldwide, according to the New England Centenarian Study, Dransfield is one of the few men in the group of 110-plus-year-olds and has lived a healthy life all those years with just some knee pain to complain about, according to “Today.”
He lives alone with no home aide or extra help, cooks simple food for himself, walks up and down his three-level house and drives “pretty good” daily with no issues.
Vincent Dransfield celebrates his 110 birthday on March 28 at the Singac Volunteer Fire Company #3 — as he became the eighth-oldest reported man alive.
Erica Lista/Instagram
He’s never had cancer, dementia or other major diseases and has no headaches or backaches.
But Dransfield, who was born in 1914, isn’t a health fanatic.
He smoked cigarettes for 20 years and worked his whole life from age 15 to his late 70s. He eats whatever he likes — including hamburgers, milk chocolate and Italian food, has an occasional beer, drinks coffee every day and is amused by people who run.
“He laughs at people who jog. He’s like, ‘Where are they running to?,’” his granddaughter Erica Lista told “Today.”
Dransfield — a dad of one, grandfather of three and great-grandfather of seven — credits luck, milk, and doing what he loves for his long and healthy life.
“I’ve been very, very, very lucky in my lifetime,” he said.
The New Jersey resident had to drop out of school before high school to help support his family. At 15, he began working at a dairy farm and delivered milk for the next five years while having his own unlimited supply.
“I was drinking milk and eating well because I worked on a farm. And I often go back and think they gave me a good start in life and for my bones in my body,” Dransfield said.
These days, he’s supplemented his cow milk with Ovaltine — a powder that adds flavor and vitamins.
One of the major factors that have kept him happy, sharp and healthy was spending time doing what he loved — his long career as a volunteer firefighter.
When asked by “Today” what kept him going, he answered without hesitation — “the fire department … I met so many friends.”
Dransfield — who built a career as an auto parts manager — spent 80 years with his local firehouse, including a stint as the fire chief.
His fellow firefighters became his family, especially after his wife of 54 years died in 1992.
“After my grandmother passed away, that’s really what kept him going. Every day, he would go to the fire house from 3 to 5, and all the old guys would sit there and hang out. That was like his family,” Lista told the publication.
The 110-year-old said volunteering with the engine company also helped him to get his exercise in responding to calls.
Finally, the great-grandpa said keeping a positive mindset and sharing love has helped him live past a century.
“Knowing people and loving people makes me live longer,” Dransfield said.
https://nypost.com/2024/04/25/us-news/110-year-old-nj-man-vincent-dransfield-offers-tips-on-longevity/
The Climate-Alarmist Movement Has A Big PR Problem On Its Hands
David Blackmon
Apr 25, 2024
A colleague suggested that we simply change the problematic label to “Stone Age,” since that is where we are heading if the alarmists continue to get their way.
The whole “net-zero by 2050” narrative that cranked up in earnest in early 2021 has now become a public relations problem for the climate-alarm movement, according to a senior official at the United Nations.
Chris Stark, the outgoing chief executive of the UN’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), said as reported by the Guardian: “Net zero has definitely become a slogan that I feel occasionally is now unhelpful, because it’s so associated with the campaigns against it. That wasn’t something I expected.”
As seems to always be the case among the globalist sponsors of this government-subsidized rush to saddle the world with unreliable power grids and short-range electric cars, the conversation among the leaders of the movement immediately moves not to perhaps reconsidering the approach to address public concerns, but to rejiggering the narrative. Stark recommends shifting the label and the narrative to more of a focus on investment and how renewables and EVs somehow improve energy security.
“We are talking about cleaning up the economy and making it more productive – you can call that anything you like,” he said.
That would be a neat trick, inventing a narrative about benefits that don’t really exist. But it wouldn’t be the first time it’s been tried.
At last November’s COP 28 conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres floated the term “climate collapse” as a new name for what the climate alarmists have successively called “global warming,” “climate change,” “climate crisis,” and “climate emergency.” Each successive label has been replaced as its cache’ with the public has faded; and apparently the whole “climate emergency” has lost its punch, so another fright narrative must be concocted.
The trouble there, of course, is that the climate is not collapsing. But then again, it isn’t in any sort of an emergency, either, or a crisis.
The climate is always changing, though, so at least the long-abandoned “climate change” label had the ring of truth to it. Maybe let’s go back to that and try to deal with something that is at least a real thing? But, no, that would cut down on the alarm and make it harder for political leaders to enact bad “solutions” and subsidize them with debt combined with skyrocketing utility bills for average citizens.
So, as Stark says, call it anything you want, just so long as it is alarming. Stark’s boss at the UN, Guterres, used the term “global boiling” to describe the current climate situation. So, maybe we change “net-zero by 2050” to “no bubbles by 2050.” That would at least have the advantage of some semblance of consistent thought.
A colleague suggested that we simply change the problematic label to “Stone Age,” since that is where we are heading if the alarmists continue to get their way. She has a point.
The most amazing thing about Stark’s concerns is that anyone is really surprised that “net-zero by 2050” has become a problematic term. How else would officials at the UN and other governments expect the public to react to what has become the umbrella label for a set of authoritarian government actions that have destabilized power grids, caused the cost of living to rise rapidly, reduced consumer choice, and begun to rob citizens in nominally “free” countries of their individual rights?
The central problem today with this climate change narrative is that it has gone on for so long that is has become a bit of a joke with an increasingly aware and skeptical public. And the reason they’re skeptical is not due to any disbelief in science, as the alarmists invariably claim, but because they have seen nothing but bad outcomes and personal deprivations from the alleged solutions being subsidized into existence.
Stark assures us that, “the lifestyle change that goes with this is not enormous at all,” but painful results to date tell another story.
If Stark were truly thoughtful and serious about wanting to deal with the increasing unpopularity of the “net-zero by 2050” construct, he would suggest that everyone take a step back and re-evaluate the nature and effectiveness of the solutions being pushed.
By merely advocating for the concoction of yet another shift in the narrative, a troublesome lack of sincerity is laid bare.
https://blackmon.substack.com/p/the-climate-alarmist-movement-has?publication_id=712558&post_id=143986274&isFreemail=false&r=rd9j8&triedRedirect=true
HAPPENING NOW: RSBN coverage of arguments on President Trump’s immunity case before the U.S. Supreme Court begins NOW, with opening statement from Trump attorney John Sauer
HAPPENING NOW: RSBN coverage of arguments on President Trump’s immunity case before the U.S. Supreme Court begins NOW, with opening statement from Trump attorney John Sauer pic.twitter.com/0AxcUWycx7
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) April 25, 2024
Being paranoid of the elitist power-hunger libtards is now NORMAL behavior.
That and "Kids are resilient. He'll snap right out of it!" when talking to the mother about a young child who got locked in an undertakers office in HOME ALONE!
It sure looked like an attack when it happened last night around 8:40, or so.
If it was equipment failure, enough time has elapsed that they should have been able to recover. i find it highly suspicious... but that's just paranoid me.
" That ~ was the funniest line Candy eva made, imho " ...
The damage will buff right out!
In the meantime, go out and buy and EV to save the planet. Those nasty chemical fires are a GOOD thing!
When I copied and pasted "oann.com" into the browser I got a "site not found" message.
When I search out OANN I got the same message as you.
I'm on Chrome and Windows 10.
I wonder if OANN got hacked/cyber attacked?
I don't have the TV channel on my carrier so I can't check that.
NBC Poll: In 21-Point Reversal, Trump More 'Competent' Than Biden
By James Morley III | Wednesday, 24 April 2024 07:06 PM EDT
Registered voters find former President Donald Trump more "competent" and "effective" than President Joe Biden, an increase of almost 21 points from 2020, according to a recent NBC News poll.
The findings are complete inverse of when NBC asked voters the same question four years ago according to NBC News anchor Kristen Welker. Speaking to Steve Kornacki, an analyst with NBC News, she said, "We actually polled this question in 2020. And it was basically the exact opposite. It was Biden with about a 10-point advantage over Trump."
The poll shows 47% of voters viewing Trump as more "competent" and "effective" compared to only 36% for Biden. "That was President Biden’s, the crux of his campaign pitch back in 2020," Welker noted.
Kornacki illustrated the unique match up of a former President competing against a current President in that voters have a clear perception of leadership ability. The poll also noted voters prefer Trump by 4 points over Biden when it comes handling crisis.
"Now we can measure who has the strong record as president and again, Trump outpacing Biden on that front," Kornacki said. "And again, you got to mention this one too, mental and physical health. We asked this four years ago, it was a wash. It’s now a clear liability for Joe Biden. So these are all troubling numbers for Biden."
The poll showed 45% of voters viewing Trump as having the necessary mental and physical health to perform the tasks of president, compared to only 26% for Biden.
NBC News sampled 1,000 registered voters from April 12-16 with a 3.1% margin of error.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/donald-trump-joe-biden-election/2024/04/24/id/1162314/?ns_mail_uid=110c4f27-b39e-4490-8c9e-becd156886f8&ns_mail_job=DM614580_04252024&s=acs&dkt_nbr=0101046aem1d
Quite the sleuth you are!!!
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I just tried getting to using Brave browser and got this message:
This site can’t be reached
The webpage at https://www.oann.com/ might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.
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Mornin Bull. I've visited OANN on my desktop computer many times using Chrome browser. I just tried it and got this message:
Your connection is not private
Attackers might be trying to steal your information from www.oann.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more
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