Filed under: Big Tech, Capitalism, Coronavirus, Democrat Corruption, Election 2020, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Immigration, Junk Science, Progressivism, Science/Technology, Technology | Tags: Biden's Big Plans, Climate Panic, John Kerry
Reminder: There is not a “President Elect” until the Electoral College meets on December 14. But it does look like it is going to be Joe Biden, in spite of how he managed to get there. He is moving quickly to try to establish his administration, which is not encouraging. A very significant percentage of Democrat voters had never heard of the Joe and Hunter Biden scandals, and really want the matter formally investigated. That, in itself is a fairly scary note and suggests that our negativity about our news media is not far misplaced.
Joe Biden’s first big appointment is John Kerry to be the new “Climate Czar”. His qualifications rest on his being Secretary of State in the Obama Administration, and initiating the Paris Climate Accords. Uh huh. The United States provides about 14% of worldwide CO2 emissions. U.S. and European emissions have remained steady or declined significantly. Increases have come from the developing world, China, India and Africa, as they add electricity, air-conditioning and automobiles. The move to approved wind and solar energy has accounted for about 9% of our needed electricity supplies. If you stop and think for a moment about our energy needs: manufacturing, mobility, light, heat, comfort, food, only begins to touch upon our energy requirements.
I am certainly not a climate scientist, but I do have a unique outlook on the problem. I grew up on 400 acres in the mountains of Idaho at about 4,000′. We produced our own power with a small dam, a flue and our own power plant. We put up ice in the winter for summer refrigeration, warmed things with our hot springs water, fireplaces and wood stoves. We finally got Idaho power in the late 40s. Few people would have the natural assets we did. Nevertheless, I do read the science, daily.
Other than the autistic Swedish child, there’s not much evidence of a climate crisis. We have tried wind and solar energy in many forms, and found them wanting. Nuclear plants work nicely, but since Chernobyl and Fukushima, people are scared of nuclear energy. We have successful dams in our major rivers, but they don’t produce enough energy for the country as a whole. “Fracking”, simply a new way of extracting natural gas, has made us energy independent, and no longer dependent on Arab oil. Great outcry against coal-fired or natural-gas fired power plants because of the insistence that CO2, (which is a natural fertilizer for plants and is helping to feed a hungry world), is to be blamed for global warming, which is simply a natural process of warming and cooling that has gone on for centuries and centuries.
I have been following John Kerry’s career since he was a Vietnam War protester, got drafted, and had a subsequent career in government. I do not have a favorable impression of him, and would prefer that he not be in charge of anything whatsoever. He promises to fix CO2 and Covid-19 as well because they go together somehow? Both in the air? I think its an enormous amount of sheer bunk, but that seems to be what we’re stuck with. You might get in touch with your Congressmen, and study up. Good websites linked in the sidebar.
Lots of big ideas to fix society after the dreadful years of the Bad Orange Man’s successful economy, improved black lives, Middle East Peace, and successful management of the Covid Crisis. “Warp Speed” has meant that vaccine for Covid will be available in mid-December.
Here are the ten executive orders that Joe Biden says he will sign the first day he’s in office, via CNN.
Implement the already-existing Clean Air Act, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by developing new fuel economy standards to ensure all new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be electrified, and annual improvements for heavy-duty vehicles.
Double down on liquid fuels like advanced biofuels and make agriculture a key part of the solution to the climate crisis. Reduce emissions and cut consumer costs through new standards for appliance and building efficiency.
Other than that, he intends to end “gun violence”, which essentially means banning all guns. He will improve the abortion situation, so anybody can get an abortion any time for any reason. How that fits with his Catholic faith, I’m not sure. But if your interest is in easier abortions, Biden’s your guy. Going to offer citizenship to all the illegal aliens, and invite more in.
Interestingly, 44 states voted without any allegations of skullduggery. Election went off smoothly and almost all of the votes were counted in about six hours after the polls closed. No allegations of irregularities by Republican-governed states other than Georgia.
A Big-Tech expert says that Google’s “manipulations “Shifted” at least six million votes to Joe Biden. That might suggest a call to your congressman, at least a Republican one.
Joe Biden still may nominate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to cabinet positions. The good website www.issuesinsights suggested a little “turnabout is fair play” with an article entitled “Impeach Joe Biden”. Made my day.
Filed under: Big Tech, Capitalism, Capitalism, China, Conservatism, Cuba, Democrat Corruption, Economics, Economy, Education, Election 2020, European Union, Freedom, History, Immigration, Law, Politics, Progressivism, Socialism, Taxes, The United States, Venezuela | Tags: Electoral "Irregularities", Electoral College, The President Elect
There is, as yet, no President-Elect, nor will there be until December 14, when the Electoral College meets. Al Gore historically had 37 days to challenge the election, and President Trump deserves as much, since there were so many “irregularities” in this one. “Irregularities” is simply a nice word for blatant fraud, massive cheating, and computerized switching of votes. The American people have a right to have confidence in an election.
I want to quote a bit from Paul Mirengoff, one of the attorneys at the Powerline blog. His piece was titled “Biden Deserves Worse During the Transition Than He’s Likely to Get.”
In 2016, Democrats, Obama administration officials and liberal media moved quickly to target President-elect Trump. Over 73 days, there were calls for impeachment, a resistance movement, attempts to infiltrate the Electoral College, false opposition research and FBI surveillance. . . .
Do read the whole thing, I’d forgotten a lot of it, and you probably have too. There was no interest in a peaceful transition, they just wanted to spoil everything about the new administration that they could.
They boycotted the Inauguration, 53 members of Congress refused to attend, accusing Trump of conspiring with Russia to top the election. After 3 years of investigation, there was no such evidence. They organized a resistance movement inside the administration, including the FBI.
Attorney General Barr summarized the Obama administration’s resistance to the president elect:
Immediately after President Trump won election, opponents inaugurated what they called ‘The Resistance,’ and they rallied around an explicit strategy of using every tool and maneuver available to sabotage the functioning of his Administration. Now, ‘resistance’ is the language used to describe insurgency against rule imposed by an occupying military power. It obviously connotes that the government is not legitimate. This is a very dangerous — indeed incendiary — notion to import into the politics of a democratic republic.
This is going way too far with partisanship. The United States of American is a big powerful country, and for that we are widely hated, no matter how kindly our intentions. There are some who want a one world government, want us to be a subsidiary of the more fashionable European Union, some are convinced that the world is in the final days of global warming, and if we don’t fix that right now, we’re done. The earth has been warming and cooling for millions of years, and there is no scientific evidence that it will not continue to do so. Some have the illusion that Socialism or Communism would at last make everybody equal, which is utter nonsense.
And then there is China, and we don’t know what their intentions are, but there is no indication of peaceful friendship. Their treatment of the Uyghurs is very revealing. Chinese of a different religion, millions of them in concentration camps, worked to death and the women used as prostitutes for the Chinese military. Look that up online.
If you find viewpoints troublesome, take the time to study up, so you know what you are talking about, and voting for. How much of the bureaucracy is useful, and how much is just making nice occupations and income for friends and relatives? That’s encompassed in the word bureaucracy. A lot of that obviously goes on. Presidents are just people, and governments are composed of people, and we’re a flawed species. Nobody’s perfect.
I am listening to Joe Biden’s ideas and proposals as we hear them, and I am not looking forward to a Biden administration. Forgiving all student loans? Nice for the young people who face them, but why should the taxpayers pay for their failure to pay them off. Nationalized health care? Britain has had national health care for years, and it is demonstrably not something to be desired. Making Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. into states so the Democrats can maintain control? Increasing the numbers of illegal aliens allowed in the country, because they are likely to vote Democrat? Socialism may look good from the outside, but there’s little difference between Socialism and Communism, and there is a reason why Cubans head for the United States with anything that will float. Listen to the Venezuelans. That used to be a beautiful prosperous country.
We are a most fortunate people. Our founders were aware of trying to make simple rules for a new country, with full recognition of what was wrong with the old one, what the reason was that they had given up on their old home in the search for something unknown, but better. If you do not have a copy of the Constitution, you can get a pocket-sized version for $4.95 from Amazon or the Cato Institute store. Cato has a 10 copy package for $10.00 so you can be sure that each member of your family has one. I’ve had that version in my desk drawer for years, and find that I refer to it more often than the dictionary.
Filed under: Big Tech, Capitalism, Capitalism, Coronavirus, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Election 2020, Global Warming, Junk Science, Law, Media Bias, Politics, Progressives, Progressivism, Socialism, The Constitution
He said he had a “mandate” He just seemed a little unsure about what the mandate was about. It seems to be about the climate, but polls show that people aren’t particularly worried about the climate. The Earth has warmed slightly, and there is a little increased CO2, which is plant food. Carbon dioxide is a natural fertilizer for plants, and crops around the world are growing a little more bountiful, and there are far fewer hungry people.
Joe Biden wants to ban “fracking” which is simply an easier, cleaner way of extracting natural gas. He waffles a lot, I guess because he doesn’t know what fracking is, only that it is clearly bad. Raising the price of gasoline drastically would be crippling for the economy- a jump from around $2 to over $4 would make people sit up and notice.
Since somewhere around 1988 politicians and activists have tried to sell the American people on the idea that fossil fuels are bad, and that we have access to remedies. We don’t. Wind and solar don’t work. We have pretty conclusively proved that. They simply do not and cannot produce enough energy to run a modern society. What gets transitioned is your standard of living.
You can replace coal, for example, with natural gas, but you haven’t accomplished anything. The wind does not blow all the time, and may not blow for days, and some days it may blow too hard for the turbines. The sun does not shine every day. There are clouds. Some days it rains. Nuclear power works, but since Chernobyl and Fukushima in Japan, there’s not much interest in nuclear energy. Wind turbines and solar arrays cannot be manufactured or installed without massive quantities of fossil fuels. Nothing happens in our modern world without fossil fuels, from our manufacturers to a trip to the grocery store where most of the products are produced with the use of fossil fuels, to the fleets of trucks that transport goods around the country.
Democrats claim there is no election fraud, but seven Milwaukee Wards report more presidential votes than registered voters. State voter turnout is nearly 90 percent, which is virtually impossible. The Climate Crisis and the Covid Crisis are melding. The WHO Director-General said the pandemic has given new impetus to the need to accelerate efforts to respond to climate change, which they said in 2018 was the greatest health challenge of the 21st century. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says it’s time to “Reinvent Capitalism Post-Coronavirus. But never fear, Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian has spoken with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, about building a better Tech Industry.
Enter Solyndra in the blank space over Bob Hope’s head in the sidebar. That was a massive and costly solar experiment. And as for wind farms, it costs over $35,000 to dismantle a single worn-out turbine, if I remember correctly.
My favorite voter remains the elderly gentleman who voted, who was born in 1823. There are other surprising voters, but that one takes the cake.
Filed under: Big Tech, Capitalism, Capitalism, Communism, Democrat Corruption, Economics, Election 2020, Freedom, Politics, Progressivism, The United States | Tags: After the Election, The Results., The Right to Rise
Day two, and we still have no idea about the real and actual outcome of the election, and not much indication about when we will know. All sorts of accusations going around. Ignore them. There are massive attempts to cheat, there always are. Most don’t amount to much, but some are real and troublesome. This year, even the issues are unstable as well.
Climate is a big issue. Some expect the overheating of the earth to end human civilization sometime soon, if we don’t “do something”. The “do something” is exemplified by California’s demand that everyone switch to electric cars, while their forests burn uncontrolled because they can’t practice good forest management which would involve thinning the forests (allowing some logging) and clearing brush. Climate activists don’t want anybody cutting down trees, and so you get fires. There are often not any easy answers that would please everyone.
I am a skeptic. The climate has been changing for millions of years. We have had ice ages and warm periods. The Renaissance, that great period of human flowering, took place in the most beneficent weather known to man. Ice ages carved the mountains and lakes that we currently call National Parks. I’m not sure just what created the Sahara Desert, but there it is. The current slight warming that we have experienced has meant more CO2 in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is plant food. The slight increase in CO2 has meant more bountiful crops, feeding a hungry world.
Human beings are a mess. A little knowledge, as they say, is a dangerous thing, and we have all those emotions to cope with, and the day to day difficulty of getting along with everyone else. Our sources of information are problematic, slanted, sometimes completely wrong, and we have to sort out what we can accept out of the flow of words and pictures, and try to make sense of them. Add in a major election, and passions erupt, cheating increases (there is always cheating). Somebody just got hauled off to the pokey for trying to vote more than once as his dead grandmother, and how many times is that repeated across the country? People vote in their city of residence, and also in their city of vacation home. And that doesn’t even count the deliberate cheating of the opposing party.
People want a more caring government which promises to give you more benefits, but the government has no money of its own. so it has to increase your taxes to pay for the benefits. Because you have less money to spend, the economy contracts, small businesses fail, and the cycle is repeated. They envy “the rich” who don’t have to worry about such things, and want to get rid of capitalism which creates “the rich” without understanding that if they are promising to destroy capitalism, the alternative is socialism or communism, and we have had some clear examples of that with Cubans who set out in their rowboats or rafts to try to get to America which promises them nothing but the freedom to make of themselves what they can.
The right to rise, I call it. That’s what that young black kid who walked three miles every day to get to the public library where a librarian would help him with his homework did. His 3 miles a day got him acceptance at 22 colleges, and I’ll bet when he arrived at the one he picked, he’s working hard to learn. I hope we get updates on that young man, but we’ll probably never know.
I saw a snippet of something online the other day, in which a contemporary British citizen was saying that he could not aspire to something or other because he was just a lower class person. That shocked me. But we hear that repeated in this country — “I’m just a working-class stiff.” O.K. but what do you want to be and how hard are you willing to work to get there? That is the real meaning of freedom of America.
Filed under: Big Tech, Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Conservatism, Coronavirus, Democrat Corruption, Economics, Election 2020, Freedom, Health Care, History, Media Bias, Politics, Progressivism, Socialism, The United States | Tags: Big Tech, Covid-19 Coronavirus, The Election
The days close to an election get a little wild. Everyone is panicking. at least slightly, and frightened that the opposition will possibly win, so it’s getting nasty out there. Congress has called Big Tech in before them to have a little discussion about their interference in the election which has gone far beyond what is allowed or permissible. Or if the laws don’t control what they have done, Congress may have to fix the laws, which is completely within their power. Twitter is, of course the biggest offender, but the others are not far behind.
Corporations used to understand their role, but Big Tech has been called “masters of the universe” in jest so often that they may have come to believe it, to assume that their “fact-checkers” have some validity, or that their interference is fine because all their employees agree with them anyway. Congress does not agree, and if they need to fix the laws, Congress will do just that. Corporations used to have a clear idea of their role, which was to cooperate and stay out of it.
Democrats biggest claim is that Donald Trump is somehow responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, responsible for all the deaths, and it is all clearly his fault. So There! Au contraire. Back when the Chinese virus first arrived and we first began to understand what we might be in for, Dr. Deborah Birx who was adviser to the president along with Dr. Anthony Fauci said that if we were very fortunate and very lucky, we might have only somewhere around 200,000 deaths over the course of the disease. We are at 231,000 today, so perhaps we have done pretty well, while regretting every loss.
Democrats are now preparing to impeach Amy Comey Barrett. They don’t know what for yet, but they’ll find something. Which shows not how much they dislike the immensely competent and capable new justice of the Supreme Court, but that they do not understand the purpose of the Supreme Court and view it as a partisan organization, which they must control along with everything else. Their drive for control of the economy is insatiable, so perhaps the Bidens are not the only ones prospering from their time in public office.
I’m beginning to think we should change the qualifications to run for public office which should be adjusted a little more, and require some greater understanding of American history and contemporary economics. Kamala Harris’s husband, Douglas Emhoff, remarked that his wife was going to be the President of the United States, so apparently they don’t think Joe Biden is going to make it through a full term either.
Be sure to vote, only once each, please. And take it very seriously, for it is a very serious matter.
ADDENDUM: One would think that businesses would understand that probably half of their customers would belong to the opposite party, and wouldn’t approve of being lectured to or their expressing their party line.
Filed under: Big Tech, Big Technology, Capitalism, Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Election 2020, Free Markets, Free Speech, Politics, Progressivism, Regulation, Technology, The Constitution, The United States | Tags: American Freedom, Big Tech, Censoring, Twitter
Corporate leaders used to rise through the ranks, much like the military, through gradually getting promoted to higher responsibility, if you were worthy. The first mass produced personal computers didn’t appear until 1977, and I imagine it took quite a few years before they were common. Jack Dorsey sent the first message on Twitter on March 21, 2006, and it was 2010 when they unveiled “promoted Tweets,” ads that would appear in search results as a revenue source. So there’s not a long history of learning how to behave in the American corporate world. Heretofore corporations went to great lengths to stay out of politics, partly presumably, because it was assumed that their employees would have differing allegiances and party preferences.
As Josh Hammer wrote at American Greatness this week:
The increasing brazenness with which the various Big Tech behemoths distort their search algorithms to hide conservative viewpoints, undermine conservatives through “shadow banning” and weaponize the sanctimonious and self-serving “fact-checking” cottage industry to suppress conservative voices has long been clear to those of us who, to use the parlance of the day, are “very online.”That kind of common sense is no longer the case.
The American people are becoming aware of the Big Tech efforts to control conservative viewpoints, and they are not happy. The demands for the federal government to step in and break up these companies is growing increasingly common. Facebook and Twitter ganged up against “the New York Post, founded by Alexander Hamilton, and is today the nation’s oldest continually operating daily broadsheet in galling fashion.” They broke an important story about Hunter Biden’s dealings with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and his efforts to get Burisma people in contact with the “right” people in Washington DC through his connections with his father. The Post is one of the nation’s largest daily newspapers by circulation, and no one actually seems to be denying the Post’s reporting.
The Senate prepared to subpoena Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but they hastily responded that they would be happy to be there without being subpoenaed. Our Constitution usually deals with what the government may or may not do, and only the 13th amendment deals with the private sector at all. There are quite a few of our representatives in Congress who have already spoken out on this matter, and they are well aware that they have the responsibility of dealing with threats to our liberty. Suppressing the views of one of America’s political parties in the run-up to an election isn’t going to work. If they were paying attention, they might have noticed that as a whole, America’s responsible corporate leaders were not out playing politics. There is a reason for that.
ADDENDUM: They also seem to have a major problem with their “fact=checking”. I don’t know how they have arranged it, but they might start with someone who is highly literate and widely read. The current office holders don’t know the difference between a “trusted source” and someone of the correct (in their minds) political persuasion. In short, the fact-checking is embarrassing.
I apparently misspoke. They still may be subpoenaed. That remains to be seen. It’s clear that there is a lot of anger out there at Big Tech, and they might do well to be very cooperative. Apparently many of their employees really hate Trump, so they’re stuck between the proverbial rock and…Did you ever hear, ever? of employees demanding that management conform to their political preferences? We have a lot of ignorance of history, of the Constitution, and ordinary good manners there.
American Elephants 