Patterico's Pontifications

Hello.

Dana (5525ea) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:00 am

Here’s a Kursk update, where Kim sent his soldiers to die.

A Ukrainian General Staff source reports that Ukraine controls 800 square kilometers in the Kursk operational zone, down from 1,300 at its peak. For four months, Russia has failed to reclaim the area, suffering heavy losses and deploying North Korean troops in a desperate attempt to clear it.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:22 am

Trump’s Reign of Terror against migrants has begun….

Unaccompanied Minor’s Migrant Mom Arrested for Letting Him Walk Unaccompanied. Border Patrol Puts Her in Cruel Detention, Separated from Her Children.

Oh wait….

Georgia mother of four is facing possible jail time after her 10-year-old son walked to a nearby town less than a mile from the family by home by himself.

Brittany Patterson, 41, was taking her eldest son to a doctor’s appointment around noon on October 30 when she told her younger son, Soren, who turned 11 days later, he could either join them or stay home. She waited in the car for a few minutes, then went inside and called his name. When he didn’t come, she figured he was playing Xbox or running around outside on the family’s 16-acre property and left to run the errand with his brother.

“I had just seen him two minutes prior, so I was not in any way worried that he was missing,” Patterson told Newsweek in an interview.

“I wasn’t panicking, I wasn’t hysterical, because it’s not far from our house, and I know the area, he knows the area,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t a question in my mind whether he was capable of walking to Mineral Bluff and walking back.”

Hours later, the police arrived again. Patterson was on a business call and assumed it was a routine check-in. “As soon as I asked for a moment, they immediately asked me to step outside,” she said.

The officers handcuffed Patterson as her kids stood nearby. When she asked why she was being arrested, one officer replied that she’d been charged with “reckless endangerment.” The charge on the arrest warrant was listed as “reckless conduct.”

Yes, this is reckless parenting — even if you’re not a citizen.

lloyd (6b7efd) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:44 am

Today, Friday, Novemberm 22, is the exact 61st anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:00 am

There is really no reason for the Departments of Education, Labor or Commerce. Probably Agriculture and Energy, too. Their few useful functions could be put in a new Department of Miscellaneous.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:25 am

Yes, this is reckless parenting — even if you’re not a citizen.

Jesus wept. At 11, I rode my bike to school, to the store, wherever. I just had to be inside before nightfall. I pity today’s kids.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:30 am

One good thing about Trump’s win: It will force the EU to decide whether it’s a real country or just Airstrip One.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:32 am

Donald Trump warned Putin not to escalate. Putin immediately escalated. Trump is shown to be lapdog.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:33 am

The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.

It doesn’t have any connection to reality. It may be part of an effort to ruin the very idea of an international war crimes court.

While the details of the charges are still sealed, it seems to be based on two – maybe three – obviously invalid claims:

1) Israel is an occupying power in Gaza, and this responsible tor feeding the population. In reality, Israel is at war with the forces that control Gaza. If it were to attempt deliver food, there would be more war and more casualties.

2) Israel has a strategy of denying food. Would that it were true! Hamas might surrender peacefully.

There is no such strategy. This amounts to assigning false motives to Israeli actions.

There isn’t any general starvation because there hasn’t been enough time for starvation to hit.

And besides all that Israel has been willing to agree to any number of possible temporary ceasefires in exchange for the release of a few hostages, which would also, presumably, allow for more delivery of food and medical supplies, if Hamas could be trusted to keep their hands off of it. The only special agreement Hamas made was to allow the unhampered delivery of polio vaccine – maybe they are afraid for their own troops

The small number of emaciated children that some doctors saw earlier had lack of food predating October 7, 2023 even though it got worse.

There is no issue now with most of Gaza. The issue concerns northern Gaza (where Israel advised civilians to leave, but the enemies of Israel – and that includes many countries – want them to stay because they say they don’t want to possibly abandon Palestinian territory so they want to keep civilians, ostensibly or even in reality, unconnected with Hamas there..

Israel has placed no restriction on the total amount of aid that can be delivered for free to northern Gaza..

What has happened is that Israel, in the last month or so, has forbidden commercial trucks from delivering food to northern Gaza. This is because they were paying off Hamas or criminal gangs. They were also not allowed to carry arms to defend themselves against Hamas.

Free food aid is still allowed but this has been greatly reduced because food was stolen by Hamas or independent criminal gangs. The food trucks were planning routes and travelling fast through them to avoid food being hijacked, but this has become more difficult and, in a few cases, Israel virtually directed them into the hands of Hamas.

The number of trucks going in has gone down. Israel also says that Hamas has exaggerated the size of the civilian population remaining in northern Gaza.

By the way, nobody but nobody considers Hamas to be the legitimate government of Gaza. Even those countries that do not mark it as a terrorist group consider it basically to be a rebel faction.

Another complaint against Israel is that they rarely intervene when food aid trucks come under attack, even when present, intervening only maybe when the attackers are definitely Hamas. But that’s not a war crime. If they did intervene they’d easily be accused of something else.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:35 am

The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution om Wednesday that it dearly wanted to vote for because the other countries would not agree to a modification of the resolution so that it not only called for a ceasefire in Gaza but also the release of all the hostages.

Of course getting – maybe any – of the hostages freed is a nonstarter and the other countries knew that. Including that in the resolution would mean that the resolution could not be used as a bludgeon against Israel and then it would have no purpose.

And also where are they going with this? It’s just to shift the blame for continuing the war to the wrong party..

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:37 am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the target of the greatest case if lawfare in the world. I am speaking of proceedings in Israel.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:38 am

The Department of Miscellaneous used to be Treasury, then Interior.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:40 am

It’s “reckless parenting” for an almost 11-year old to walk to a country town of 370? Absurd.
When I was his age, I rode all over West Seattle all the time, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends, with mom saying I had to be home by supper.

Another word for “concerned citizen” is karen, for calling the cops. The only wrong thing is that the kid shoulda rode his bike.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:41 am

@6 “Jesus wept. At 11, I rode my bike to school, to the store, wherever. I just had to be inside before nightfall. I pity today’s kids.”

That wasn’t my point, but yeah I generally agree with you. I would say it’s still reckless to not know where your son is, but not worthy of arrest and not worthy of the double standard on the border and with those who defend the current administration.

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:42 am

I’m wondering how many Gazans actually starved to death because of Bibi. Not that we would get reliable numbers from Hamas, but then, the ICC wouldn’t have gotten reliable numbers either.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:43 am

@13 Way to miss the point, Paul. Riding your bike around town and being home by supper is just like sending your kid alone with a stranger across hundreds of miles illegally risking death or human trafficking. Those darn Karens!

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:48 am

Migrant Who Biden Let Enter the Country Illegally Wins the Right to Stay Forever

A 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela was convicted on Wednesday of murdering Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student whose killing has been repeatedly cited by President-elect Donald J. Trump in his push for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented people.

Ms. Riley, 22, was attacked in February while running on a trail on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. A day later, the authorities charged Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant who had entered the country illegally, in connection with the killing.

Mr. Ibarra faced numerous charges, including malice murder and aggravated assault with the intent to rape.

Judge H. Patrick Haggard of State Superior Court in Athens-Clarke County found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a four-day bench trial. Judge Haggard announced the verdict just minutes after lawyers concluded their arguments, repeating a prosecutor’s earlier statement that the “evidence was overwhelming and powerful.”

Of course, a Soros backed DA saved him from the death penalty.

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:01 am

15. I don’t think they even have any numbers. Israel is being accused of wanting them to starve. They can’t claim any actual famine because the definition of famine comes from international organizations and has been standardized to avoid declaring a famine too easily..

Now there are worse conditions in Sudan, but nobody much cares or dares to do much.

There’s more killed by bombs in Gaza but bombing by itself is not a war crime and the bad guys don’t want the precedent.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:04 am

Nevertrumpland reacts!

MSNBC blasted for ‘depraved’ article that sympathizes with Laken Riley’s migrant killer Jose Ibarra

MSNBC has faced widespread backlash after publishing an opinion piece sympathizing with the killer of Laken Riley.

Legal analyst Danny Cevallos came under fire for his take on the Georgia nursing student’s brutal murder and the trial of Jose Ibarra, 25, an illegal immigrant and member of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, published under a headline saying he ‘never stood a chance.’

Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday, as a judge found him guilty after hearing volumes of damning evidence, including Ibarra’s DNA found under Laken’s fingernails from when she fought for her life.

Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Cevallos argued that ‘for all the political controversy, the outcome of this trial was never in doubt.’

Cevallos went on to detail how Ibarra’s conviction was a certainty because of technicalities in the legal system, sparking anger from those who say he brushed over the savage murder.

The president elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr. led the backlash, tweeting in response: ‘You literally can’t make up this level of depravity.’

Trump Jr. continued: ‘These people are sick. The guy is a murderer. He’s an illegal alien that killed an innocent young woman, but MSNBC would rather go to bat for him.’

Joe Rogan also waded into the controversy, sharing an image of the article’s headline with a savage six-word response: ‘What the f*** is this s***.’

‘Laken Riley never stood a chance….’ responded another.

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:07 am

By 6, I was walking with my 8 year old sistee to school By 12, I was taking 3 subway trains to school. In-between, I spent countless days roaming with friends.

The level of infantilism projected upon children by broken adults and our corrupt government is frightening. Just like the COVID lockdowns, it’s about destroying any semblance of independence and liberty.

NJRob (071a1c) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:21 am

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:01 am

Of course, a Soros backed DA saved him from the death penalty.

And got him to come there in the first place.

She was in general soft on crime, but especially for migrants. She wanted to take immigration consequences into consideration when making plea bargains. This is the case anywhere – even in Texas – the United States Supreme Court has said lawyers must take this into account on pain of getting guilty pleas overturned on grounds of legal malpractice, but she was doing this on her own initiative in order to avoid harsher punishment than she wanted. Word spread among the members of the tren de aragua gang, and because they were more mobile than your average criminal, they collected in that Georgia county. (the same thing has happened in Aurora Colorado. Soft on crime jurisdictions attract criminals, especially those who are already mobile and have no ties keeping them where they are, and maybe prosecutions chasing them away.)

His plane trip from New York City to Georgia was voluntary. They want to blame Biden for sending him from New York to Georgia (I don’t even know who paid for it) but it was in reality their own elected DA.

I suppose they figure he should have been somehow sent outside the United States to any place that would have him and commit his crimes there instead of in Georgia. Sort of like the Catholic church and other organizations dealt in the past with sexual predators. (I am not sure anyone knew of sex crimes, if any.)

Of course even she was not going to go easy or murder, but members of that gang were not there long enough or sophisticated or experienced enough to notice, and people also gradually escalate their crimes.

She was defeated for re-election this year.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:23 am

There is really no reason for the Departments of Education, Labor or Commerce. Probably Agriculture and Energy, too. Their few useful functions could be put in a new Department of Miscellaneous.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:25 am

Or Transportation (to the states), Homeland Security (an amalgam of agencies from other departments, such as the Secret Service and the Border Patrol, Immigration, etc.), Interior (states), HUD (states), Veterans Affairs (back to an independent agency, then privatized), or HHS (ultimately privatized). Go back to the original four: State, Justice, War, (a much more accurate description), and Treasury.

Unfortunately any grand reorganization would be filibustered by the Democrats.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:36 am

The Secret Service, Border Patrol, Immigration, and FBI should become part of the Executive Office of the President, without an intervening Cabinet Secretary.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:42 am

@21.

I suppose they figure he should have been somehow sent outside the United States to any place that would have him and commit his crimes there instead of in Georgia. Sort of like the Catholic church and other organizations dealt in the past with sexual predators.

What a pathetic analogy.

Ibarra is in prison. He’s not being sent anywhere else.

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:54 am

lloyd (61689e) — 11/22/2024 @ 10:54 am I

barra is in prison. He’s not being sent anywhere else.

Now.

After he killed someone.

But send him away is what they say should have been done before. If people had reason to know (which they probably didn’t) the analogy is perfect. And shows how absurd and unsatisfactory this idea really is. The only complaint is that he was given a trip to Georgia instead of…where?

Here is his recent criminal record:

https://www.soapcentral.com/human-interest/news-jose-ibarra-past-criminal-record-record-explored-amid-laken-riley-murder-guilty-verdict

First was carrying his wife’s 5-year old son on his moped without a helmet. (He married her partially for convenience – they would be a family – but they knew each other before. After his Georgia arrest he lied to her about the crime – we presume – and wouldn’t explain why he didn’t call 911 for instance. She was not believing he did it at first)

Next was shoplifting and selling cheap items (bacon and clothing) stolen from a Walmart with his brother. It seems like by that time he was in Georgia with his brother. It was misdemeanor theft and not pursued much.

Meanwhile his child endangerment arrest was expunged but he might have left New York to avoid further problems with the police over being careful with the child. And maybe because he heard from his brother that there was a place in Georgia where you could commit crimes with impunity. Well, not just any crime it turned out.

Nothing that suggests he could be a sex offender of any kind.

Now we don’t know what crimes he might have committed without being arrested, or in Venezuela.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:34 am

Richie Torres:

Not only did Hamas wage war on Israel, causing the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, it carefully constructed a battlefield designed to maximize the loss of civilian life.

So did the rest of the world, by confining the civilian population to a battlefield.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:46 am

Just like the COVID lockdowns, it’s about destroying any semblance of independence and liberty.

To be fair, back in those days the mentally ill were confined to state institutions, vagrants were shown the city limits and pedophilia wasn’t yet a right.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:48 am

Unfortunately any grand reorganization would be filibustered by the Democrats.

There is a point where that stops working, just as filibustering judges did.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:49 am

The Secret Service, Border Patrol, Immigration, and FBI should become part of the Executive Office of the President, without an intervening Cabinet Secretary.

Immigration/Border Patrol and the FBI could become stand-alone agencies like the CIA.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:52 am

Posted on the wrong thread:

Jilted again:

First, Trump calls Putin and warns him not to escalate his war in Ukraine (a call the Russians have said is “pure fiction”), followed by a Russian missile attack on Dnipro; now this:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to rebuff the prospect of reviving his nuclear diplomacy with President-elect Donald Trump, according to his first public remarks about disarmament talks since the election.
……….
……….(S)ince Trump left office in 2021, Pyongyang has strengthened its leverage. The regime has expanded its nuclear arsenal, warded off economic collapse from Covid-19 and deepened military and economic ties with Moscow, including deploying troops for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Kim has fewer reasons to seek sanctions relief from the U.S. and has repeatedly played down the need for disarmament talks. He has grown more unwilling to disarm, rewrote his country’s nuclear doctrine to allow pre-emptive strikes and vowed to pursue a limitless expansion of North Korea’s weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also providing Kim with things that the U.S. can’t, from diplomatic cover at the United Nations Security Council to sensitive military technology.

This sets the stage for a different Kim-Trump dynamic from their first go-round. The two met face-to-face on three occasions during Trump’s first term in Singapore, Vietnam and the Korean Demilitarized Zone. They also exchanged a series of “beautiful” and “excellent” letters, as the two leaders called them. At one 2019 rally, Trump even remarked: “We fell in love.”

On the campaign trail this year, Trump suggested he could better control North Korea’s outbursts if he returned to the Oval Office. “I think he misses me,” Trump said of Kim, at July’s Republican National Convention.
………..

“I think he misses me,” Trump said of Kim……

Apparently not.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 2:15 pm

The Secret Service, Border Patrol, Immigration, and FBI should become part of the Executive Office of the President, without an intervening Cabinet Secretary.

Immigration/Border Patrol and the FBI could become stand-alone agencies like the CIA.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:52 am

Doing so would reduce the constitutional authority of the President over government agencies. Law enforcement agencies shouldn’t be allowed operate beyond the control of executive.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 2:17 pm

Unfortunately any grand reorganization would be filibustered by the Democrats.

There is a point where that stops working, just as filibustering judges did.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 11:49 am

But Mitch McConnell said that the Republicans would never repeal the filibuster.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 2:18 pm

Item 2 Its about time! No Traveling for bibi except here to the fourth reich!

asset (e8ce3f) — 11/22/2024 @ 2:18 pm

When did America become great? Depends on what you mean by great. If you adopt the common definition in world politics, militarily powerful and wealthy, I would say by the end of the Civil War. You can see some evidence of that in what happened after the war. The French withdrew from Mexico after Grant made it clear that the US did not welcome them, by sending 50,000 men down to the border. (And, most likely, approving of Sheridan secretly giving weapons to the Mexicans.)

But that wasn’t the end of our progress, as Colin McEvedy explains in his new Atlas of Recent History.

For Germany had not been the first nation to overtake Britain industrially; that had been done by the United States back in the early 1880s. Since then, further growth had taken the USA into a class of its own: by 1910 it was producing more iron and steel than Britain and Germany put together. It was also producing more coal than either, and two-thirds of the world’s supply of oil, the fuel of the future, of which neither Britain nor Germany had any at all. The New World had produced the first superpower.

(p.44)

So, by that conventional definition, the US was a great nation, at least by 1865, and a superpower at least by 1910. And we have continued to be great, ever since.

Anyone who says we are no longer great — and accepts that definition — ignores the obvious, and slanders our great nation. Unfortunately we can’t sue them. As far as I know.

(There are other definitions, and I will discuss one in a later comment, some time next week.)

Jim Miller (dcfcd9) — 11/22/2024 @ 3:59 pm

Who to believe about that phone call, the Loser said he made to Putin? It’s not an easy question, is it?

Jim Miller (dcfcd9) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:07 pm

New Trump cabinet selection:

Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:19 pm

It doesn’t feel like Trump is filling Cabinet positions. More like he is casting roles in a government-based reality TV show where appearance/media experience is the most important qualification.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:23 pm

Right attitude:

………..
“As much as I would like to believe we can negotiate with a tyrant, I suspect we may be deceiving ourselves,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum.

“Do you believe that this tyrant, if you offer him a part of a free country, do you think he’s gonna stop?” Rounds asked. “I wish I could say there’s an easy way out, there’s not.”

The impassioned comments from Rounds, which he stressed were not the position of the incoming Trump administration, still represent a starkly differing view in the Republican party from Trump’s vows to broker a peace deal with Russia within days of assuming the presidency. They also reflect a pro-Ukraine view that is widely-held in the Senate Republican caucus even if other camps in the MAGA world are pushing Trump to cut U.S. military aid to Ukraine when he takes office in January.
…………
…………“I just feel so frustrated that we have not been able to provide them all of the equipment that they need, and all of the weapons systems that they need, in order to respond to the absolute tyranny coming from Russia,” Rounds said. “I wonder why we haven’t done more more quickly than we have.”
…………
“We have to continue to support Ukraine because there’s so much at stake, and I cannot imagine that it is in the interest of the U.S. to see Putin coming out of those negotiations as a winner,” Royal Netherlands Navy Adm. Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO’s Military Committee, told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Halifax conference.
##########

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:23 pm

#37 Good point, DRJ.

Jim Miller (55f0ec) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:33 pm

How’s the Russian ruble doing these days? It takes more than a hundred of them, as I write, to equal 1 dollar.

Jim Miller (55f0ec) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:43 pm

Hi DRJ

The media will destroy any Trump appointee that can’t handle them. Its sad, but the “media” will ruthlessly, heartlessly, unfairly destroy anyone connected to Trump who cannot handle them.
So media savvy is an attribute that is tied for #1- core competency mixed with media naivety is going to equal failure
There is a large group of media who are going to make their mark, set their table as destructors. They are filing their canine teeth as we speak.

I look at a guy like Tom Homan who would absolutely be destroyed if he could not issue blunt, concise truth on demand “If I get pulled over for a DUI with my children in the car. I will be separated from my children”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1855962059269157241

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:47 pm

@DRJ37 The Real World: West Wing. MAGA Edition.

Nic (120c94) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:56 pm

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:23 pm

Funny and spot-on!

norcal (c2985f) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:58 pm

New Trump cabinet selection:

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) to be Labor Secretary.

The incredible shrinking Republican majority continues.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 4:59 pm

New/old Trump cabinet selection:

Russell Vought as OMB Director.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 5:04 pm

More Trump nominees:

Former Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon as head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as Surgeon General.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/22/2024 @ 5:07 pm

Well said Steveg.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 5:08 pm

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2024/11/22/guess-who-biden-just-awarded-the-merchant-of-death-to-n2648116

The left’s primary sacrament and what they hold above all other.

This is what voting for Democrats means.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:08 pm

Professionals need to be articulate, media savvy, and have a command of relevant subject matter. Cabinet secretaries need those qualities on steroids.

Some of Trump’s nominees have subject matter knowledge — Homan, McMahon, Bondi. Some don’t — Gaetz, Hegseth, and Rubio to an extent. (Senators think they are foreign policy experts but that doesn’t mean they are.)

But what made me think Trump is treating this as casting instead of governing is his choice for Treasury Secretary. Lutnick was the logical choice. He has been loyal and has the background for the job. But Trump chose someone who has offered strong but belated support on tariffs and looks nice. He also has strong ties to Soros. Words escape me. The only reason to let that happen is if you are casting roles, not focusing on governing goals.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:27 pm

@43 If I were Nevertrump, I’d spend less energy on cabinet picks and more energy on winning elections.

lloyd (11ece7) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:30 pm

https://nypost.com/2024/11/21/us-news/biden-admin-to-let-illegal-migrants-skip-nyc-ice-appointments/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social

Biden reopening the flood of illegal aliens before he gives up the White House.

Some people voted for this.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:32 pm

Some of Trump’s nominees have subject matter knowledge — Homan, McMahon, Bondi. Some don’t — Gaetz, Hegseth, and Rubio to an extent. (Senators think they are foreign policy experts but that doesn’t mean they are.)

But what made me think Trump is treating this as casting instead of governing is his choice for Treasury Secretary. Lutnick was the logical choice. He has been loyal and has the background for the job. But Trump chose someone who has offered strong but belated support on tariffs and looks nice. He also has strong ties to Soros. Words escape me. The only reason to let that happen is if you are casting roles, not focusing on governing goals.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:27 pm

DRJ,

I enjoy your posts, but please show me where the concept of articulate and capable cabinet secretaries applied under Biden or Obama.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I don’t see any evidence that the people nominated won’t be capable. I see the opposite by the “hair on fire” response by the left and the entrenched bureaucracy.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:34 pm

I’m not a fan of the Soros pick btw.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:35 pm

I don’t care about Biden or Obama because I did not share their goals. I share Trump’s goal to get control of immigration and I think Homan can be effective at that. Same for McMahon and school choice. I would not expect a Soros colleague to be Treasury Secretary in any Republican Administration.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:39 pm

Trump has also named a number of people this evening, including the heads of FDA, CDC, and Surgeon General. All appear well-qualified, which is encouraging.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:52 pm

FDA, CDC, and Surgeon General will work for/with RFK Jr if he becomes HHS Secretary. The common theme I see is that they are traditional medicine skeptics, especially after Covid.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:01 pm

Maybe Trump is a skeptic, maybe he isn’t. He might not even care. But that is the direction he is going with these nominations.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:04 pm

FDA, CDC, and Surgeon General will work for/with RFK Jr if he becomes HHS Secretary. The common theme I see is that they are traditional medicine skeptics, especially after Covid.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:01 pm

Please elaborate.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:11 pm

Ozempic? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not a fan.

“If we just gave good food, three meals a day, to every man, woman and child in our country, we could solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight,” he said to Greg Gutfeld on Fox News before the election. He added that the drug’s maker, Novo Nordisk, is “counting on selling it to Americans because we are so stupid and so addicted to drugs.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/health/rfk-jr-ozempic-drugs-fda.html

I think he should be working on world peace instead.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:15 pm

I would not expect a Soros colleague to be Treasury Secretary in any Republican Administration.

Soros knows a lot about money, very little about criminal justice.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:19 pm

I think he should be working on world peace instead.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:15 pm

A low-carb diet could solve most people’s problems.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:35 pm

A low-carb diet could solve most people’s problems.

The point was that his “if everyone would…” suggestion is applicable to almost every intractable problem.

Shorter: WARNING: CONTROL FREAK

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:53 pm

Rob,

I don’t know any of them, but based on the reports, the CDC nominee was a supporter of Terri Sciavos parents and her right to life against the traditional medical view on end of life decisions.

The FDA nominee opposed the traditional medical approach during Covid to mandates and masks.

Finally, the Surgeon General nominee comes from an urgent care background instead of a top tier medical institution or the military, which is the norm for that position.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:58 pm

Terri Schiavo

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 7:59 pm

I don’t need to elaborate on how RFK Jr’s medical views are not traditional, do I?

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:22 pm

@50 Never trumpers like liz cheney are outcasts neither party bases want them. The democrat party is fighting tooth and nail to keep its left base from taking over the party. Winning elections is second to that.

asset (236c64) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:34 pm

I don’t need to elaborate on how RFK Jr’s medical views are not traditional, do I?

No. You might spend some time on how uninformed they are. NEar as I can tell, his medical background stems (npi) from being a pothead and heroin addict.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/22/2024 @ 8:48 pm

@DRJ@54 School choice isn’t Fed, it’s state based. A lot of states have school choice, but sometimes it looks weird. NY city has school choices for example, but it comes with academic and aptitude testing and a bunch of bureaucracy. CA has school choice where there are online options that accept anyone (like California Virtual Academy), district and non-district charter schools, and the option to attend either district or out of district schools through a pretty simple application process.

Nic (120c94) — 11/22/2024 @ 9:07 pm

Tyt network reports spending a billion dollars + to chase republican voters did such a good job that they got 5% as opposed to biden’s 6% in 2020 and clinton’s 7% in 2016! nbc decision 2024 also had these numbers. Democrat party tells harris, biden and clinton go after republicans and ignore progressives and left media like tyt as donor class will not fund progressives and consultant class wont get their 15% cut. 10 million progressive democrats stayed home in 2024 over 2020. Republican vote similar to 2020. Most democrat turnout loss was in progressive metro areas while democrat party tried to appeal to republican suburban women. Donor class says appealing to liz cheney votes is safe and gets you $$$. Appealing to progressives is threatening to donor class. Transgender rights ok 15 dollar minimum wage appealing to working class including minorities not ok. Ignore border crisis donor class needs cheap labor.

asset (236c64) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:56 am

True, Nic, but my impression is that McMahon wants to encourage school choice at the State level and a federal tax credit for donations to fund private school scholarships.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:56 am

Here’s a cartoon all of you will enjoy. (Well, almost all.)

Jim Miller (ffff13) — 11/23/2024 @ 7:30 am

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/21/salt-typhoon-china-hack-telecom/

Worst hack in history. Massive amounts of hardware will need to be replaced. China is a public enemy and need to be dealt with accordingly.

NJRob (c26ea4) — 11/23/2024 @ 7:32 am

This is the most important election of my lifetime. We must fight the democrats or the USA is over. Only Trump’s administration of amnesty, anti-2nd amendment, Soros extremists can stop Biden Harris’s administration of the same thing.

Sorry for those who have remained extremely active on politics discussion after 2016, but it’s very pretty outside today so… go get something tasty to eat and see a dog or a musician or something cool. Just a suggestion. Also, get as healthy as you can. Think about how it got last time.

Dustin (7783f7) — 11/23/2024 @ 9:01 am

Here’s a suggestion for Hollywood: Make a movie out of this book.

More about Bok at Wikipedia.

Jim Miller (18110d) — 11/23/2024 @ 9:13 am

Worst hack in history. Massive amounts of hardware will need to be replaced. China is a public enemy and need to be dealt with accordingly.

The Office of Personnel Management hack was worse as it delivered the entire clearance application dataset — for everyone who ever had a US military clearance — to the Chinese. For TS clearances, these applications included things like sexual history, past drug use, and other things that the applicant probably did not want made public. Always handy for hostile intelligence services to know.

It was of course made easier by the decision by the OPM decision to not encrypt files, but the Chicoms had free run of the files for over a year.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 10:16 am

Dustin,

There are lots of things theat need fixing, and Kamala Harris was not going to do it (quite the contrary). Trump is not my choice, but I can at least hope that he will break things irrevocably so that the next president has to fix them.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 10:22 am

RFK Jr’s anti-science crankery doesn’t need elaboration. It’s already well documented.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:00 am

Hey Bund, so what’s the deal with all the Nazi’s? Seb Gorka, fired from the first Trump admin getting his security clearance pulled for being a…Nazi (Vitézi Rend) and having faked his credentials, has been named to work for the second admin.

You don’t even have to turn over a rock, that Nazi’s are in the open.

Way to go Bund, you’re getting what you asked for.

Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:20 am

Trump’s cabinet is pro-Trump, not so much pro-conservative.

Nothing captures the dramatic ideological transformation of the Republican Party more vividly than President-elect Trump’s proposed cabinet.

• A pro-abortion-rights Kennedy running HHS (RFK Jr.).
• A pro-union centrist running Labor (U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon).
• A former elected Democrat as director of national intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).
• A former George Soros adviser, who now promises Trumponomics will turn around the economy, running the Treasury (Scott Bessent).

Trump appointed Seb Gorka as “deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism”.

When photographs recently emerged showing Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s high-profile deputy assistant, wearing a medal associated with the Nazi collaborationist regime that ruled Hungary during World War II, the controversial security strategist was unapologetic.

“I’m a proud American now and I wear that medal now and again,” Gorka told Breitbart News.

His picks aren’t terrible, but they’re not good either.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:40 am

His picks aren’t terrible, but they’re not good either.

They’re worse than terrible, they’re the most unqualified group of sycophants possible. It doesn’t matter that a smattering are OK, RFKjr would turn all into an historic clown show, but he’s far from the only monumentally moronic pick.

I continue to note that the Bund will not directly address any qualifications, just say “whatabout…random Obama pick that is terrible”, like one terrible thing makes another stupendously terrible decision less terrible. Either stupid Hitler is supposed to be better, or stupid Hitler and his Bund don’t care about things like “national security” or “health”, what are those anyway? stupid Hitler’s first name is stupid, it’s in the name.

Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:58 am

Ozempic and Wegovy show benefits beyond weight loss, such as slowing kidney disease as well as reducing heart attacks and strokes in diabetic patients. The FDA has approved Wegovy for these conditions.

Another study showed that the drugs are potentially effective treatments for addiction.

Then there is this reported, but unstudied, side effect.

Rip Murdock (d68f12) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:09 pm

The folks who wanted Harris and demented Biden to lead the country are very concerned about Trump’s judgment.

lloyd (ce893a) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:22 pm

RIP British guitarist Vic Flick (87), who created the guitar solo for James Bond opening theme:

Flick also played on No. 1 hits for Peter and Gordon (“A World Without Love”) and Petula Clark (“Downtown”); performed on Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” and “Ringo’s Theme” (This Boy) for A Hard Day’s Night (1964); and collaborated with the likes of Jimmy Page, George Martin, Herman’s Hermits, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, Dusty Springfield and Engelbert Humperdinck.
…………..
Flick had performed with John Barry in The John Barry Seven, and when the composer was brought on to re-arrange Monty Norman’s original theme for Dr. No (1962), Flick added a “heavy sound” using a Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe guitar.

“It had an edge to it, sort of a dynamic sound,” Flick recalled in Jon Burlingame’s 2012 book, The Music of James Bond. “I overplayed it — leaned into those thick low strings with the very hard plectrum, played it slightly ahead of the beat, and it came out exciting, almost ‘attacking,’ which fit the James Bond image.”
………….
In a 2021 interview for Guitar Player magazine, Flick credited the sound of his guitar on the Bond theme to the “plectrum I used and the guitar’s strings. I placed the DeArmond pickup near the bridge. I put a crushed cigarette packet underneath it to get it nearer the strings. That helped to get that round sound. Most important, sound wise, was the Vox AC15 amplifier. I used it on tour. It wouldn’t let me down — until it fell eight feet into a music pit and disintegrated.”
…………

Rip Murdock (76c8e0) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:41 pm

Another victim of Sudden Russian Death Syndrome:

Russian ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov died on Saturday after falling from the fifth floor of a building.

The preliminary cause of death was labeled as an accident, with Russian authorities launching an investigation, according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state media outlet.
…………
In Feb. 2022, at the beginning of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, the dancer spoke out against the violence. “I am against the war in Ukraine! I am for the people, for a peaceful sky over my head! Politicians should be able to negotiate without shooting and killing civilians, for that they are given their tongue and head,” he was quoted as saying by Russian-Ukrainian former ballet dancer Alexei Ratmansky on Facebook.

“It is impossible to watch everything that is happening today without tears… I wanna dance… I want to love everyone—that’s the purpose of my life… I do not want wars, no borders.”

………… The term “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome” was born after many notable Russian figureheads who have spoken out against Putin’s reign died in puzzling ways. One of the most common causes of the deaths are window falls.
………..

Rip Murdock (76c8e0) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:52 pm

Peaceful transfer of power, part II:

Denver mayor threatens to deploy cops, 50K residents in ‘Tiananmen Square moment’ to stop Trump’s mass deportations

Denver’s mayor has vowed to shield migrants in his sanctuary city from mass deportation by using local cops and 50,000 residents “stationed at the county line” — calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment.”

“More than us having [federal agents] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston recently told the outlet Denverite — after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to undertake mass deportations of illegal migrants across the US.

Do you think that Trump will view this as an Insurrection, if not seditious conspiracy?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:17 pm

Ozempic and Wegovy show benefits beyond weight loss

They drop A1C numbers markedly, which makes them a solid treatment for Type II Diabetes, even without weight loss.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:20 pm

Seb Gorka, diva.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:28 pm

Lindsay I am not gay graham says he will get trump to crush any country like England that arrest netanyahu. Tom cottonball says trump will invade Netherlands!

asset (a90f39) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:34 pm

Trump doesn’t have to “invade” anywhere. In fact, doing the opposite (withdrawing from NATO) would have more effect.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:56 pm

The folks who wanted Harris and demented Biden to lead the country are very concerned about Trump’s judgment.

Yeah, because we were concerned about Trump’s judgement.

I continue to note that the Bund will not directly address any qualifications, just say “whatabout…random Obama pick that is terrible”, like one terrible thing makes another stupendously terrible decision less terrible. Either stupid Hitler is supposed to be better, or stupid Hitler and his Bund don’t care about things like “national security” or “health”, what are those anyway? stupid Hitler’s first name is stupid, it’s in the name.

Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:57 pm

Denver’s mayor has vowed to shield migrants in his sanctuary city from mass deportation by using local cops and 50,000 residents “stationed at the county line” — calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment.”
…………

Do you think that Trump will view this as an Insurrection, if not seditious conspiracy?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:17 pm

Rip Murdock (011000) — 11/23/2024 @ 2:25 pm

Sorry, I didn’t include my comment before it got posted.

Denver’s mayor has vowed to shield migrants in his sanctuary city from mass deportation by using local cops and 50,000 residents “stationed at the county line” — calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment.”
…………

Do you think that Trump will view this as an Insurrection, if not seditious conspiracy?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:17 pm

If the overt acts occur, Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act and prosecute the ringleaders for seditious conspiracy.

Otherwise the mayor’s bluster is free speech.

Rip Murdock (295c9d) — 11/23/2024 @ 2:38 pm

Trump’s failure to deploy Federal troops during the Portland riots during his first term have lulled his opponents into a false sense of security.

I don’t think Trump will do that again.

Rip Murdock (295c9d) — 11/23/2024 @ 2:42 pm

There are lots of things theat need fixing, and Kamala Harris was not going to do it (quite the contrary). Trump is not my choice, but I can at least hope that he will break things irrevocably so that the next president has to fix them.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 10:22 am

Yeah the president that comes after Trump breaks everything is definitely going to be a conservative reformer. We’ll definitely be glad for the 4d chess stuff one day.

Harris and Trump = the same. I never really understood the argument against it, but today, with the administration Trump is putting together, there is no argument left.

Dustin (7783f7) — 11/23/2024 @ 3:12 pm

Does anyone here believe our government is functioning properly and within the limits of the Constitution ?

NJRob (c26ea4) — 11/23/2024 @ 3:25 pm

After this ChiCom hack, Trump needs to do more than tariffs, starting with serious sanctions.

Paul Montagu (606fc3) — 11/23/2024 @ 4:39 pm

NJRob (c26ea4) — 11/23/2024 @ 3:25 pm

Does anyone here believe our government is functioning properly and within the limits of the Constitution ?

Mostly it is.

…with the possible exception of things not generally recognized as being in violation of the constitution.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:29 pm

https://x.com/matt_vanswol/status/1860132105134760121

FEMA is failing western North Carolina. What are they doing under this administration?

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:33 pm

Rip Murdock (d68f12) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:09 pm

Ozempic and Wegovy show benefits beyond weight loss

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 1:20 pm

They drop A1C numbers markedly, which makes them a solid treatment for Type II Diabetes, even without weight loss.

But it is still illegal for the manufacturer to advertise that and only some of the things Rip Murdock mentioned are legal to advertise and it too many years too much to get even to this point, and the patent holder probably paid the FDA to expedite the approval – something RFK Jr is against without even contemplating the need for something to take its place.

And the current system results in any new drug being extremely expensive. It’s mathematically impossible not to be.

By the way, they probably, therefore, like diabinese, slow down aging a bit.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:46 pm

What’s the back story on what the mayor of Denver expects, or claims to expect, the Federales might do? Raid the jail?

Now he’s backtracked a bit.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/politics/denver-mayor-mike-johnston-police-officers-block-trump-deportation/73-99dcea89-e9ad-4e11-ad1e-d3facd6e5519

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:50 pm

errata correction

99, it took many years too much to get even to this point,

When you read something new about a medical drug it’s not new at all.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/23/2024 @ 5:57 pm

If the overt acts occur, Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act and prosecute the ringleaders for seditious conspiracy.

Otherwise the mayor’s bluster is free speech.

I’m pretty sure that if the Mayor gets on the phone with other mayors and sets up plans for the insurrection, they don’t actually have to carry it out as they clearly have the ability to do so.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:10 pm

But it is still illegal for the manufacturer to advertise that

No, they can say that Ozempic is a treatment for diabetes mellitus, since it is approved for that purpose. Not Wegovy though, although it is an identical drug. Lawyers.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:13 pm

The people who run this country and its economy do not want militant organized left with their minority shock troops. Jan.6 showed they have nothing to fear from the right. So the democrat party is put in place to siphon off opposition and militancy, that is why the democrat establishment hates trump ;but fears the left base of the party. With biden, harris, clinton wing of the party discredited again as in 2016 the left is ready to take the democrat party over from the party hacks.

asset (edd919) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:15 pm

the patent holder probably paid the FDA to expedite the approval

The government requires those “user fees.”

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:17 pm

Asset,

your fixation with leftists taking up arms and terrorizing the populace is disturbing.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:26 pm

@106 I said nothing of the sort. This what the corporate establishment fear 1960’s type of militancy. The left is not going to take up arms against the democrat party they are going to take it over from the discredited democrats running the party now. BTW I enjoy your posts because unlike you I understand the consequences of what would happen if your solutions were implemented. My side needs to be goaded into action like waving the bloody shirt as they are reactionary.

asset (ab4a10) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:21 pm

Does anyone here believe our government is functioning properly and within the limits of the Constitution ?

No, that’s why such horrid picks matter.

I continue to note that the Bund will not directly address any qualifications, just say “whatabout…random Obama pick that is terrible”, like one terrible thing makes another stupendously terrible decision less terrible. Either stupid Hitler is supposed to be better, or stupid Hitler and his Bund don’t care about things like “national security” or “health”, what are those anyway? stupid Hitler’s first name is stupid, it’s in the name.

Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 11/23/2024 @ 11:53 pm

@81

Ozempic and Wegovy show benefits beyond weight loss, such as slowing kidney disease as well as reducing heart attacks and strokes in diabetic patients. The FDA has approved Wegovy for these conditions.

Another study showed that the drugs are potentially effective treatments for addiction.

Then there is this reported, but unstudied, side effect.

Rip Murdock (d68f12) — 11/23/2024 @ 12:09 pm

What’s funny is that they’re both the same drug. One’s indicated for weight loss, and the other is indicated for others. (can’t remember which is which).

whembly (003ea2) — 11/24/2024 @ 6:56 am

The dosing for Ozempic and Wegovy differs some. Wegovy is the weight-loss version and is noticeably absent from many formularies. Ozempic is on all but the most frugal plan formularies as it is extremely effective at treating diabetes.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 7:52 am

The reason that the drugs are marketed differently is due to insurers not wanting to pay for weight-loss drugs which, up to now, have been considered ineffective and mostly elective. They want to see a medical diagnosis first, like diabetes mellitus. Some insurers are reconsidering that determination.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 7:56 am

I agree with people who point out that by current measure, the least experienced and thus least qualified group of appointees in history, were the Founding Fathers.

“Cabinet secretaries are leaders who must have good relations with the president and know how to explain programs through news and podcast media, as most of Trump’s top ones do. Few have deep technical knowledge and can leave these matters to strong administrative deputies, agencies, and assistant secretaries.”

https://spectator.org/appointees-pigeons-successful-politics/

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/24/2024 @ 9:34 am

The quote is from Donald Devine- author of: Reagan’s Terrible Swift Sword: Reforming and Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/24/2024 @ 9:38 am

Solar power glut boosts California electric bills. Other states reap the benefits (paywalled)

California is now producing so much solar energy that the state must increasingly ask solar farms to stop producing to prevent overloading the electric grid. In the last 12 months, power that would have fueled 518,000 California homes for a year has been curtailed or thrown away.

* In the last 12 months, California has curtailed production of enough solar energy to power 518,000 homes for a year.
* Californians, whose electric rates are roughly twice the national average, are essentially paying for power capacity they are unable to use.
* The solar glut raises questions about the state’s plan to generate all its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.

The amount of curtailed solar power has more than doubled from 1.5 million megawatt hours in 2021, state records show, and is up eight times from levels in 2017.

The waste would have been even larger if California had not paid utilities in other states to take the excess solar energy, documents from the state’s grid operator show. That means green energy paid for by California electricity customers is sent away, lowering bills for residents of other states.

Arizona’s largest public utility reaped $69 million in savings last year by buying from the market California created to get rid of its excess solar power. The utility returned that money to its customers as a credit on their bills.

Also reaping profits are electricity traders, including banks and hedge funds.

The increasing oversupply of solar power has created a situation where energy traders can buy the excess at prices so low they become negative, said energy consultant Gary Ackerman, the former executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum. That means the solar plant is paying the traders to take it.

“This is all being underwritten by California ratepayers,” Ackerman said.

California grid officials warned in 2017 that the curtailments were a sign that the state was overbuilding renewables and “not financially sound.”

Since then the problem has grown exponentially. Once the state curtailed solar power only on sunny mild spring days when there was little need for air conditioning. Now solar farms must be shut down even on hot summer days when demand is high.

No doubt the solution is for more government intervention.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:21 am

the least experienced and thus least qualified group of appointees in history, were the Founding Fathers.

1) They were all appointed by their state legislatures

2) To a man they had more classical education and understanding of government than the guy doing the appointing now.

I would love to hear Donald Trump discourse on Hobbs and Locke, or compare his experience with Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton, Rufus King, George Mason, either Morris or even Elbridge Gerry.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:32 am

If the overt acts occur, Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act and prosecute the ringleaders for seditious conspiracy.

Otherwise the mayor’s bluster is free speech.

I’m pretty sure that if the Mayor gets on the phone with other mayors and sets up plans for the insurrection, they don’t actually have to carry it out as they clearly have the ability to do so.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/23/2024 @ 6:10 pm

That would be an overt act, but it that’s not what the mayor said he would do. It’s all just bluster.

Rip Murdock (76c8e0) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:34 am

RIP game show host Chuck Woomera (83). Woolery was the original host of Wheel of Fortune and later Love Connection.

Rip Murdock (76c8e0) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:45 am

Darn autocorrect.

Rip Murdock (76c8e0) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:47 am

KevinM

And if Trump appointed the founding fathers, the media would attack them. All you have to do is invent a new measure that is built around what they don’t have rather than what they do have. Then attack what they don’t bring to the table and dismiss or diminish what they do bring.

The media doesn’t want to see strong resolute leaders focused on driving Trump’s agenda forward.

Merrick Garland is a bright, well read appointee who outsourced all the dirty work to fools like Fani Willis and Nathan Wade. He failed to take Trump out, got badly outflanked by John Roberts. Great pedigree and credentials though.

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/24/2024 @ 11:26 am

The media doesn’t want to see strong resolute leaders focused on driving Trump’s agenda forward.

What’s the evidence that Trump’s nominees (particularly in defense, national security, and foreign affairs) are “strong resolute leaders?

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/24/2024 @ 11:42 am

The media doesn’t want to see strong resolute leaders focused on driving Trump’s agenda forward.

What’s the evidence that Trump’s nominees (particularly in defense, national security, and foreign affairs) are “strong resolute leaders”?

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/24/2024 @ 11:42 am

None of them (Hegseth, Gabbard, etc.) have managed a large organization or been responsible for policy development.

Inexperience is not a virtue when the US faces simultaneous foreign and defense challenges in Europe and Asia.

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/24/2024 @ 11:49 am

Few have deep technical knowledge and can leave these matters to strong administrative deputies, agencies, and assistant secretaries.”

That is greatbif you like the status quo and just need an articulate sakesman. If you want change, trusting the bureaucracy to handle the details sounds like a mistake to me.

DRJ (833ab5) — 11/24/2024 @ 12:01 pm

If I had to assign a label to Trump’s picks, it would be “libertarian.” No, I am not kidding. But it includes considerable lib-left as well as lib-right. It is generally not “statist.”

The immigration thing is probably the outlier here, but really it’s one of those things that has no absolute answer in libertarian space as it involves definitions and the scope of government. Not that replacing income taxes with tariffs is a long-held LP notion, and that requires national identity to function.

For right now, this is a half-baked notion with me, but I am seeing Trump operating on the statist-free axis, not on the left-right axis. Certainly “fascist” isn’t correct as he is generally not state-centric.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 12:57 pm

“Cabinet secretaries are leaders who must have good relations with the president and know how to explain programs through news and podcast media, as most of Trump’s top ones do. Few have deep technical knowledge and can leave these matters to strong administrative deputies, agencies, and assistant secretaries.”

So he’s saying we should trust the bureaucracy that these guys will heading.

“The quote is from Donald Devine- author of: Reagan’s Terrible Swift Sword: Reforming and Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy”

Hmm…

Davethulhu (ded184) — 11/24/2024 @ 1:00 pm

And if Trump appointed the founding fathers, the media would attack them.

If Trump appointed our founding fathers it would have been different men. You are missing the ENTIRE point here.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 1:01 pm

* NotE that replacing income taxes with tariffs is a long-held LP notion

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 1:02 pm

If you want change, trusting the bureaucracy to handle the details sounds like a mistake to me.

DRJ (833ab5) — 11/24/2024 @ 12:01 pm

👍

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/24/2024 @ 2:11 pm

And if Trump appointed the founding fathers, the media would attack them.

If Trump appointed our founding fathers it would have been different men. You are missing the ENTIRE point here.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 1:01 pm

If Trump appointed the “founding fathers” they would be Loyalists.

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/24/2024 @ 2:13 pm

If Laken Riley had survived and been impregnated by her rapist you’d be demanding she give birth, Lloyd.

You’re just using her as a political pawn to attack immigrants: you don’t really care. Just like you don’t care about the thousands of other US women killed by US citizens.

SamG (4e6c22) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:00 pm

To be fair, you would use the children of illegal immigrants as pawns to evade immigration law.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:17 pm

If you want change, trusting the bureaucracy to handle the details sounds like a mistake to me.

Well, trusting them to do it “right” seems like a mistake. But helter-skelter is still a “change.”

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:19 pm

It’s looking like the “peaceful transition of power” will have some speed-bumps. My only question is how many local officials are going to refuse to accept Trump as President, like the Denver mayor.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:22 pm

* The solar glut raises questions about the state’s plan to generate all its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.

Not really, as they can get batteries. Heavy, immovable, sodium-ion batteries, located near the power generating source. Months worth of storage capacity. But that’s good for power companies.

China is trying to dominate the market for these batteries,

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:56 pm

These batteries could also sop up electricity generated by homes. The only problem would be proper pricing.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:59 pm

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 10:32 am

2) To a man they had more classical education and understanding of government than the guy doing the appointing now.

Literate people had been discussing and debating theories of government since 1763. By the time the constitution was written, there was almost 25 years of this, and some experience as well.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/24/2024 @ 5:03 pm

Not really, as they can get batteries

Current Li-ion batteries have high costs and relatively low charge-discharge lifetimes. Supercapacitors might work better.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 6:01 pm

Even better is having a grid that doesn’t choke on peak power.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/24/2024 @ 6:02 pm

SamG (4e6c22) — 11/24/2024 @ 4:00 pm

Get professional help.

Not that it matters to your ilk, but I’m on record here as being pro-choice. So, don’t expect professional therapy to fix dumb.

But, it’s great that Laken Riley was spared the awful decision regarding her non-existent fetus. Everyone else overlooked this silver lining, but not you.

lloyd (3f07d8) — 11/24/2024 @ 7:13 pm

I don’t care about Biden or Obama because I did not share their goals. I share Trump’s goal to get control of immigration and I think Homan can be effective at that. Same for McMahon and school choice. I would not expect a Soros colleague to be Treasury Secretary in any Republican Administration.

DRJ (5d504b) — 11/22/2024 @ 6:39 pm

I wish you had been more open about this pre-election when it’s the argument that whembly was making as a reason to support Trump. If you want the policies to succeed, then you need the man to do so as well. It didn’t make any sense to sit out the election or to support the leftist for a conservative.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/25/2024 @ 5:56 am

Biden loses another overreach case, federal contractor minimum wage EO struck down:

It’s a day that ends in y, which means that the Biden Administration has lost another court case about executive overreach. President Biden issued an order in 2021 raising the minimum pay for workers on federal contracts to $15 an hour (soon to be $17.75). This is outside Mr. Biden’s authority, according to a 2-1 ruling this month at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Federal contracting law says the President may issue directives that he “considers necessary to carry out this subtitle.” Yet the substance of such orders still must be rooted in the statute somewhere, Judge Ryan Nelson writes in Nebraska v. Su. A broad “necessary to carry out” clause “does not give the President unrestrained authority to issue any procurement policy that he desires.”

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 7:07 am

Mitch McConnell has already scored two victories over the Loser, the choice of a new majority leader, and the rejection of Matt Gaetz. (I expect McConnell will be the Loser’s most effective Congressional opponent over the next two years.)

Jim Miller (f4dc68) — 11/25/2024 @ 8:43 am

136. I see:

https://www.machinedesign.com/automation-iiot/batteries-power-supplies/article/21831866/whats-the-difference-between-batteries-and-capacitors

They work on different principles. Batteries use chemicals capacitors store electricity itself. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of cycles and release the electricity more slowly. Maybe hey could be used in some combination, linked,

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/25/2024 @ 9:10 am

LOL!

……..
The urban-rural divide is a longtime fissure in American life, one that President-elect Donald Trump played up on the campaign trail as he railed against large Democratic-run metropolises—while also making electoral gains in many cities. Now, emboldened separatist groups see the incoming administration as uniquely friendly to red, less populous areas that feel steamrolled by left-leaning urban power centers.

“I’m so flipping excited,” said Paul Preston, founder of New California State, which has declared all the counties outside of Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Sacramento as independent and named him governor pro tempore.
……..
As for the wannabe breakaway counties, a divorce could get messy. Becoming new states would require consent of the existing legislatures—extremely unlikely in most blue states—as well as Congress, according to Article IV, section III of the U.S. Constitution. That has only happened a handful of times, including the formation of Kentucky with the consent of Virginia and the founding of Maine, which was once part of Massachusetts.

Yet when West Virginia sought statehood during the Civil War, Congress approved even without the consent of Virginia’s legislature in Richmond, which had voted to secede.

Preston thinks that could be an opening for New California. He said he plans to petition Congress for statehood based on the argument that the current California government is “a one-party communist state, and technically, they have seceded from the Union already.”
………

According to this timeline, there have been more attempts (220) to divide California than there have been statehood anniversaries (174). Under Article IV, Section III, Clause I

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

It is highly unlikely that the legislature (or the voters) would consent to splitting California, given the population distribution between the high population counties in Southern California and 41 of the 58 interior rural counties, which have populations of less than 500,000.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 10:29 am

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 10:29 am

In addition, the GDP of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco, Monterey and Sacramento Counties is measured in the billions for each county (total $2.3 trillion), while the GDP of each of the the rural counties in Northern California is measured in millions.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 10:46 am

Special Counsel Moves to Dismiss Election-Interference Charges Against Trump

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday moved to dismiss the federal election-interference case against Donald Trump, saying the prosecution couldn’t go forward after voters elected to return the former president to the White House.

In a six-page filing, Smith said the government’s abandonment of the case was dictated by the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind,” Smith’s team wrote.
………….

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 11:16 am

I haven’t seen Patterico post anything in quite a while. I hope he is doing okay.

Simon Jester (c8876d) — 11/25/2024 @ 11:27 am

Heartbreaking words of girl, two, who turned up at the border alone clutching a piece of paper

The tiny two-year-old girl from El Salvador was found at the border in Maverick County, Texas, holding on to a piece of paper with a name and phone number while telling police she was searching for her mom and dad.

The toddler, dressed in a bright pink jacket, was part of a group of over 200 illegal migrants – including a staggering 60 unaccompanied minors – who were detained on Sunday.

I hope she gets reunited with caring relatives and, unlike Democrats, I hope this abuse of children stops. Her parents should be deported, but won’t under the current administration.

Meanwhile, a U.S. citizen mom in Georgia gets arrested and faces jail time for doing something a million times less concerning.

lloyd (c0e750) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:36 pm

Alan Dershowitz’ plan to defend Israeli officials in the ICC:

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/im-putting-together-a-legal-dream-team-to-defend-israel-icc-law-a3349ae8

Before anything else, there’s lack of jurisdiction and improper prosecution

Setting aside the fact that Israel is not a party to this treaty,

…the treaty that established that court precludes it from considering cases against any country with a valid judicial system that is willing and able to investigate the alleged crimes. This concept is called “complementarity.” Israel has one of the best and most independent legal systems in the world, one that is both willing and able to investigate its own leaders. The Israeli courts have convicted and imprisoned a former prime minister, a former president and several ministers.

He could add that Netanyahu is now on trial in Israel (on very creative corruption charges)

He could further add that the ICC did not follow its own procedures – they are supposed to try to get the judicial system of the country that has primary jurisdiction to act. They had scheduled a meeting and then suddenly went ahead with their notice )Because if they had the Israeli authorities would have said they would investigate)

hey can only proceed on the assumption that the entire judicial system of the state of Israel is worthless.

They also equated Israel and Hamas. Now they had charges ready for Hamas before they had anything against Israel, but they obviously combined them to create a false equality.

And now the only Hamas person they have left is dead. hey wanted to avoid destroying the credibility of the ICC – but they destroyed it all the more in the eyes of any serious person.

As to the substance, Dershowitz writes:

We will also demonstrate that Israel’s actions in Gaza don’t violate any international law or laws of war over which the ICC has jurisdiction. Even if the inflated numbers of casualties provided by the Hamas Health Services were accurate, the proportion of civilians to combatants killed by the Israel Defense Forces would be lower than in any comparable war anywhere in the world.

I think that would mean any similar situation.

This certainly doesn’t qualify as genocide or any other war crime.

It doesn’t even on its face.

We’re left with starvation:

In addition, the efforts by Israel and the international community to send food and other provisions into Gaza have been stymied by Hamas and by gangs who have stolen the shipments.

Now they say at the ICC that Israel is responsible for fighting the gangs – and Hamas.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:39 pm

@145 Nevertrump’s epic face-plant.

lloyd (c0e750) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:41 pm

There are extenuating circumstances in the case of the girl sent to the border. I know you are happy with your Catch-22, but it won’t work. The girl was in the custody of people the mother trusted
and child endangerment is a state crime, and even if the state of Texas wanted to arrest the mother she is not in Texas..

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:46 pm

Or is she?

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:46 pm

Jack Smith was planning to close out his cases and resign before January 20. He also wants to write a report, which Merrick Garland will probably release, and he may need to end his investigations in order to write a report.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:49 pm

Congress may possibly trade splitting California for admission of DC as a state (with all the complication that would follow) but the state of California is unlikely to agree.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:51 pm

@150 Sammy, you’re ridiculous. The article states clearly she is “alone”. If she’s “in the custody of people the mother trusted” why does she need to carry around a note with her? She trusted smugglers? The excuses you’ll make for child abuse are revealing.

lloyd (c0e750) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:56 pm

Police Warn Three Other People Responsible For Laken Riley’s Death Still At Large.

lloyd (c0e750) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:56 pm

Wegovy and Ozympic changes the sensations the body feels when it encounters food. Eating less, and different is automatic.

It’s not the same as trying to stick to a diet.

They can be bought much cheaper if custom made (compounded) because compounded drugs are not regulated by the FDA, (but usually by state pharmacy regulators)

There is fear of a growing child not acquiring enough bone mass is given to young children And of anorexia.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:58 pm

Congress may possibly trade splitting California for admission of DC as a state (with all the complication that would follow) but the state of California is unlikely to agree.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:51 pm

LOL! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 1:03 pm

lloyd (c0e750) — 11/25/2024 @ 12:56 pm

@150 Sammy, you’re ridiculous. The article states clearly she is “alone”.

You really believe she was alone all the time?

If she’s “in the custody of people the mother trusted” why does she need to carry around a note with her?

Because at the border they abandoned her so that she would be taken into custody and sent to the address on the note.

She trusted smugglers?

No other people the smugglers took.

And the smugglers usually can be trusted because they depend on repeat business and all that happens is discussed in Facebook groups an the like. I suppose you’d want Facebook and similar groups to stop and make this more unsafe.

The excuses you’ll make for child abuse are revealing.

It’s a bit risky but the mother was concerned either for the welfare of the child, or for family reunification.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 1:09 pm

I’m shocked!

Attorneys for Donald Trump conducted an internal investigation into allegations that one of his top aides, Boris Epshteyn, has sought to gain financially from his influence with Trump and others in the president-elect’s orbit, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The internal investigation, which was confirmed by half a dozen sources and is not criminal in nature, has probed multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industries, sources said.

In one instance he requested as much as $100,000 per month in exchange for his services, according to sources familiar with the matter.
………..
Part of that investigation focused on claims that Epshteyn proposed that Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago. Bessent did not make payments to Epshteyn.

In at least one other instance, Epshteyn asked for payment in exchange for introductions and influence with the incoming Trump administration, according to two sources. Trump’s legal team was investigating several other similar alleged incidents, according to sources familiar with the situation.
……….
“The way I see it is it’s very much a pay-for-play,” said one person who spoke to the legal team that investigated Epshteyn. This person described a separate incident in which Epshteyn allegedly tried to request payment for questionable consulting services, offering to connect the person with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration.
……….
Sources described Epshteyn as responsible for pushing former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s name amid discussions about who Trump should pick as his attorney general. Epshteyn lobbied for Gaetz directly to Trump on a flight just hours before Gaetz was named as the pick.
……….
Epshteyn himself faces criminal charges in a case in Arizona related to efforts to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.
##########

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 1:14 pm

I haven’t seen Patterico post anything in quite a while. I hope he is doing okay.

He’s fine, just sick of this place, like me. He’s still active at the X but it looks like he’s moving over to Bluesky, where the asshole quotient is way lower.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 1:14 pm

#160

I do wonder when Patterico is going to turn off the site.

Appalled (f9905d) — 11/25/2024 @ 1:44 pm

Alan Dershowitz was on WABC radio 770 Am in New York after about 5:15 pm.

He said he coined the term “lawfare” in the 1970’s

Also that Jack Smith spent two years on the International Criminal Court.

I don’t think he can ask Canada and Ireland and those other countries to ignore the arrest warrant unless he also also asks them to tear up the treaty creating the ICC. Which is probably what Russia and China and Iran want, but it could still function as an ad hoc court, ad it could continue to do whatever good it may do – even better in fact..

The basic concept of a general permanent war crimes tribunal has proven to be bad. You can’t get away from the problem of Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

And power politics.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:43 pm

It is highly unlikely that the legislature (or the voters) would consent to splitting California, given the population distribution between the high population counties in Southern California and 41 of the 58 interior rural counties, which have populations of less than 500,000.

Let’s take that last cherry-picked factoid first:

41 of the 58 interior rural counties, which have populations of less than 500,000.

It seems like you are saying (you aren’t but that takes parsing) that those 41 counties have less than 500K people. If you had said EACH it would have been more honest. Your implication that they would comprise to few people to make a going state is, to put it kindly, not true.

Those 41 counties have 5.8 million inhabitants, which is more than the population of 28 states and all other territories and possessions. That’s not nothing. Of course 17 of those counties voted for Harris, so just because they are small does not mean they are unhappy with the wind that blows from Frisco. Nor are most of them in the interior.

Let’s look at this another (more meaningful) way. Let’s count up the population of all the (mostly non-coastal) counties that voted for Trump: 11.4 million, or more than the population of 43 US states.

If you are trying to say that the “red” counties breaking away from the coastal elites aren’t big enough to make a “real” state, then I have sad news for Georgia and 42 other states.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:51 pm

As far as what those coastal elites might do, it IS possible that they are tired of those knuckledraggers keeping them from their progressive dreams. Just think what a paradise they could make without all those folks blathering on about property rights and business needs.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:54 pm

He’s fine, just sick of this place, like me. He’s still active at the X but it looks like he’s moving over to Bluesky, where the asshole quotient is way lower.

Bluesky, the left-wing cocoon. It’s no accident they called it BLUEsky. It is sad to see Patterico make common cause with the statists and Marxists, but at least they hate Trump.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:57 pm

And really, do you think that a service that is as biased as the WaPo comment section is something to seek out? Sure the MAGA jerks can be tiring, but the Bernie Bros are no better.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:59 pm

Bluesky is where the folks who banned discussion of lab leaks and broken laptops are back in charge.

lloyd (e2d08b) — 11/25/2024 @ 3:08 pm

Bluesky has a sizable group who took bereavement leave, counseling all because Trump beat one of the worst candidates in modern history- which is saying a lot because Trump himself is in the bottom 4.

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/25/2024 @ 4:03 pm

Trump is an existential threat- so lets run Kamala Harris and show the nation how very very serious this threat is. Nation assesses threats situation as presented and picks Trump.

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/25/2024 @ 4:08 pm

Maybe Patterico should blow this place up, the way multiple commenters are insulting the owner and host of this site.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 4:56 pm

Maybe Patterico should blow this place up, the way multiple commenters are insulting the owner and host of this site.

I see insults of Bluesky. My comment was that I am disturbed by Pat’s apparent alignment with the Left. Of course, maybe that’s all hearsay.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 5:01 pm

If this site brings no joy, then it is past its expiration date. The joy I saw here last was when Patrick shared his “slice of heaven” vacation with us.
I felt honored to have been included in the retelling.

steveg (27ab6d) — 11/25/2024 @ 5:27 pm

The two best things about this site so far are, I submit, the same thing:

1) People seem almost uniformly polite

2) Almost no MAGAs

I don’t think it’s echo-chambery to not wish to discuss politics with MAGAs.

Their movement is based on lies. Why would I want to spend my time hearing those lies?

I don’t need to spend my free time debating whether the Holocaust was real or whether Trump won the 2020 election. I know the answers already. And people who “know” the opposite are invariably as rude as they are ignorant, which is considerably. What do I have to gain from hearing them out? Nothing.

Over there it is absolutely routine for someone who disagrees with me that we should fund Ukraine’s defense to tell me that I should go fight there myself. How do I “reason” with that mentality?

—Patterico, today

He’s still the same conservative I knew almost 20 years ago. What changed is this party, its con man leader, and his zealous followers.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 5:34 pm

Paul’s just doing what he’s been doing since he came here.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:12 pm

Paul,

what name did you write under 20 years ago?

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:13 pm

Let’s take that last cherry-picked factoid first:

41 of the 58 interior rural counties, which have populations of less than 500,000.

It seems like you are saying (you aren’t but that takes parsing) that those 41 counties have less than 500K people. If you had said EACH it would have been more honest. Your implication that they would comprise to few people to make a going state is, to put it kindly, not true.

Apparently it didn’t take that much parsing, since you figured out what I was saying, and I linked to a source.

Those 41 counties have 5.8 million inhabitants, which is more than the population of 28 states and all other territories and possessions.

It’s irrelevant how their population compares to other states; what matters is that the 5.8 million represents only 15% of Californians. And it’s irrelevant how the counties voted.

If you are trying to say that the “red” counties breaking away from the coastal elites aren’t big enough to make a “real” state, then I have sad news for Georgia and 42 other states.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 2:51 pm

The “red” counties are big enough to make a real state, if one that is economically weak.

Georgia has twice the population of the 41 counties (11M) but a GDP ($814B) equal to Los Angeles County ($819B); and any combination of other counties with a much smaller population, such as Orange ($269B); San Diego ($253B); Santa Clara ($332B); San Mateo ($135B), Alameda ($146B); and San Francisco ($203B) to name a few. In contrast, Siskiyou County’s GDP is $2.1B; Modoc ($473M); Trinity ($535M); Nevada ($5.2B); and Kings ($7.2B). Source

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:16 pm

Here comes the right-wing stupid…

On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!

This is the worst kind of MAGA “logic”, that Trump is is going to cut prices for Americans by raising the prices of imports by 25%.

This isn’t some minor thing. Canada is our largest trading partner, and Mexico is our 2nd largest, ahead of 3rd place China, so the tariffs will affect our economy, and not in a good way.

Trump’s proposal is stupid on stilts and inflationary. There are still 56 days for Trump to change his mind and reverse this garbage proposal. I hope he does so, but who’s going to advise him to cancel? He’s surrounded by loyalists and yes men.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:21 pm

what name did you write under 20 years ago?

Bird Dog, which I never hid. Why are you so angry about that?

And while you’re once again trying to personal attacking me and my intellectual integrity, why don’t you show everyone where I “pushed the 51 intelligence officials garbage hook, line and sinker”, and that I “took the bait because you wanted the lie to be true”.
Before you talk to me ever again, asshole, answer that question or retract and apologize you lying piece of sh-t.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:27 pm

NAFTA has an interesting history: It was proposed by Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and ratified thanks to Bill Clinton’s efforts. On the whole, it has been good for all three nations, but – to my knowledge — never popular in any of them.

Jim Miller (875947) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:48 pm

I forgot to mention that if Trump goes through with this tariff nonsense, he’s basically killing the agreement–the USMCA–that he negotiated with our two largest trading partners, the one he said was such a great deal for the whole North American continent.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:52 pm

Bird Dog on this site?

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/25/2024 @ 7:00 pm

Bird Dog on this site?

Why don’t you show everyone where I “pushed the 51 intelligence officials garbage hook, line and sinker”, and that I “took the bait because you wanted the lie to be true”.

Answer the question.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 7:13 pm

Paul/birddog, whatever, you lie so often it’s hard to pick out which is the most dishonest remark. Keep up the charade. I hope you’re getting paid for it.

I notice you avoided the question.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/25/2024 @ 7:40 pm

I notice you avoided the question.

No, you avoided mine, multiple times over, and mine came first, so answer it.

Why don’t you show everyone where I “pushed the 51 intelligence officials garbage hook, line and sinker”, and that I “took the bait because you wanted the lie to be true”.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 7:46 pm

Georgia has twice the population of the 41 counties

Your “41 counties” are a construct that does not exist. Fully a third of them (including 2 of the 4 smallest) voted for Harris, and a goodly number of them are adjacent to SF/Silicon Valley (Napa, Mendocino, Marin, Santa Cruz, Monterrey, etc).

Now, as I pointed out there are 11 million people inland in the counties that voted for Trump.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 8:17 pm

Meanwhile, Trump says he will put a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico. I don’t buy much from Canada, but most of the fruit and vegetables I get come from Mexico. Get ready for an end to year-round fruit.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/25/2024 @ 8:46 pm

I don’t think it’s echo-chambery to not wish to discuss politics with MAGAs.

Their movement is based on lies. Why would I want to spend my time hearing those lies?

Not sure the political party that sold “Joe Biden is totally fine” and “Kamala Harris ran a flawless campaign” is really in a position to claim their opposition is “a movement based on lies.”

SaveFarris (8940bf) — 11/26/2024 @ 5:20 am

Not to mention…

“The border is secure”
“Inflation is zero”
“Men can get pregnant”
“Crime is lower”
“You can’t catch COVID from a George Floyd rally”

SaveFarris (8940bf) — 11/26/2024 @ 5:26 am

And people wonder why Patterico is MIA.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 5:49 am

Reposted by Patterico.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s legal team found evidence that a top adviser asked for retainer fees from potential appointees in order to promote them for jobs in the new administration, five people briefed on the matter said on Monday.

NYT link. The top advisor is Russian-born Boris Epshteyn, under indictment in AZ as part of Trump’s Fake Elector scheme. Trump’s in-house media organ, John Solomon’s Just the News, is also reporting on it, which likely means that Boris is out of favor in the palace court and got on the wrong side of Musk.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 6:06 am

And because Patterico is MIA, extra thanks to Dana and DRJ and JVW for picking up the slack.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 6:58 am

Trump’s (tariff) proposal is stupid on stilts and inflationary. There are still 56 days for Trump to change his mind and reverse this garbage proposal. I hope he does so, but who’s going to advise him to cancel? He’s surrounded by loyalists and yes men.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/25/2024 @ 6:21 pm

While that may be true, it was the major economic plank of his campaign and certainly a major reason he won the Rust Belt and working class Democrats. Why should Trump disavow a major campaign promise-his voters expect him to deliver on his promises.

Trump has painted himself into a corner-tariffs will certainly not compel countries to end the illegal importation of drugs, including fentanyl (much of which is smuggled in by American tourists); nor will they end illegal immigration. So no matter the economic damage, he will be unable to lift them as drug smuggling and illegal immigration will continue.

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/26/2024 @ 7:01 am

Your “41 counties” are a construct that does not exist.

And yet you made a big deal about their population (which again only represents 15% of the total), which is by far not enough to win an election in favor of splitting California apart.

However the rural areas voted in the Presidential election is irrelevant; because of the high concentration of Democrats in urban areas, they will always have more representation in the state legislature. And Democrat voters continue to dominate in voter registration:

Democrats 46%
Republican 25%
No Preference: 22%
Other: 7%

Rip Murdock (deb95b) — 11/26/2024 @ 7:19 am

And yet you made a big deal about their population

To debunk your silly cherry-picked counties and your no-doubt-accidental implication that they totaled less than 500K.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:10 am

And yet you made a big deal about their population (which again only represents 15% of the total), which is by far not enough to win an election in favor of splitting California apart

You seem to think splitting CA is a partisan issue. There are lots of progressives who want state-wide rent control, but that won’t happen as long as there are conservatives to side with the moderates. Repealing Prop 13 is also desired, but that’s a hard sell with all those rednecks.

There are lots of reasons to split CA. If your argument that all those red counties leech off the economic largess of the coastal elites, then why not cast them off and reduce the burden?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:15 am

This gives me a little hope.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/academes-divorce-from-reality

Simon Jester (c8876d) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:28 am

To debunk your silly cherry-picked counties and your no-doubt-accidental implication that they totaled less than 500K.

I wrote: “…….41 of the 58 interior rural counties, which have populations of less than 500,000″, which doesn’t imply at all that they totaled less than 500K.

If your argument that all those red counties leech off the economic largess of the coastal elites, then why not cast them off and reduce the burden?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:15 am

It’s not my argument but that’s not a bad idea. 😉

My argument is that splitting California, as outlined here, is politically impossible given the smaller population and the smaller economic base of rural California. Marijuana growing only goes so far.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:52 am

Zeihan has a great recap of Trump’s picks to date.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 11:50 am

Admitting both Inner California and DC while arranging for the remaining part of the District of Columbia not to appoint any Electors would add 1 Electoral vote to the total but keep the number needed to win at 270, if the number of members of the House of Representatives stayed at 435. Temporarily, it would go to 437 like in 1960 and the number of Electoral votes needed to win to 271.

It would give Republicans about 10 extraa Electoral votes, about the same (actually a bit less) as they gain in each Census through.reapportionment (Dems gain almost as much from immigration)

It would make it slightly harder to override a Presidential veto and if the number to end a filibuster stayed at 60 (it’s 60 not 60% currently) slightly easier to end a filibuster.

It is conceivable that a deal like this could pass Congress, but much harder for California to agree on how to split and how to divide up the state debt.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/26/2024 @ 12:45 pm

It is conceivable that a deal like this could pass Congress……

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/26/2024 @ 12:45 pm

No it’s not.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/26/2024 @ 12:51 pm

It’s conceivable, not likely. But not impossible. There’d need to be another factor.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/26/2024 @ 5:09 pm

This has been bothering me for awhile, but what our Navy has been lacking is an eye for art, and now SHAZAM! John Phelan is appointed by Trump to Secretary of the Navy. Problem solved! No military experience whatsoever? Schmilitary experience.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:43 pm

The next question is…who’s a good Admiral to run the National Endowment for the Arts?

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 11:22 pm

It’s conceivable, not likely. But not impossible. There’d need to be another factor.

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/26/2024 @ 5:09 pm

It’s conceivable pigs can fly, but also not likely.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/27/2024 @ 9:19 am

This has been bothering me for awhile, but what our Navy has been lacking is an eye for art……..

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/26/2024 @ 8:43 pm

I know you’re being sarcastic, but there is a Navy combat art collection.

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/27/2024 @ 9:23 am

The ceasefire in Lebanon I think took place because Iran has almost given up. I think the Houthis also stopped and are sending soldiers to Russia. What remains in Gaza where the issue is the release of all the hostages/prisoners and who is to rule in Gaza. Maybe there will another Black Friday sale of hostages.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:08 pm

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/27/2024 @ 9:19 am

It’s conceivable pigs can fly, but also not likely.

No, it’s not conceivable. It is conceivable cars can fly. In fact they already are flying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Sq2_sK3YM

They may get bought as ambulances that can avoid traffic jams:

https://www.pal-v.com/en/press/skyangels-air-ambulance-ads-pal-v-flying-car-to-their-emergency-fleet

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:16 pm

199. errata

Temporarily, it [the number of representatives in the House of representatives] would go to 437 like in 1960 and the number of Electoral votes needed to win to 271.

No, 436. One for DC. Inner California would get some of California’s existing number of representatives. Electoral votes would go to 540 then down to 539 (assuming no
electors for the federal district would be chosen)

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:20 pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/nyregion/fluoride-water-nyc-rfk-jr.html

This article almost doesn’t mention the effect of fluoridated toothpaste (not used by all)

In 2011, the federal government recommended that water authorities lower fluoride levels to 0.7 parts per million, citing improved dental hygiene and the availability of fluoride toothpaste. By 2015 New York City had done so, according to Beth DeFalco, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Too much fluoride has long been known to not only stain teeth but also cause skeletal fluorosis, which weakens bones and causes joint pain. But a growing body of research has examined whether higher fluoride levels pose a risk to brain development. That research proved decisive in the San Francisco court ruling, which noted that pregnant women and infants were especially vulnerable.

They’ve almost stopped adding iodine to salt. Most sale says that it does not contain iodine a necessary nutrient. (and some does)

Other things added to food is folic acid to flour. High dosage vitamin pills were actually prohibited till 1998,

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:35 pm

They get sued one way or the other:

In Buffalo, a modern version of the Newburgh-Kingston experiment is playing out, though without anyone’s consent. In 2015, Buffalo stopped adding fluoride to its water when it began to upgrade equipment at a water treatment facility. But Buffalo, which had outsourced management of drinking water to a private company, provided little notice of the change to residents. Years went by without much progress on the upgrade. It was not until 2023, following a report in The Buffalo News, that many Buffalo residents learned their water had no fluoride.

Dentists have said they now see more tooth decay in children living in the city of Buffalo than expected, according to news reports. A class-action lawsuit on behalf of residents demands more than $210 million to help families pay for increased dental costs and other damages. In September, Buffalo announced it would resume fluoridating the water, after a nine-year pause.

Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:37 pm

Admitting both Inner California and DC while arranging for the remaining part of the District of Columbia not to appoint any Electors would add 1 Electoral vote to the total but keep the number needed to win at 270, if the number of members of the House of Representatives stayed at 435. Temporarily, it would go to 437 like in 1960 and the number of Electoral votes needed to win to 271.
…….
It is conceivable that a deal like this could pass Congress……..

Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 11/26/2024 @ 12:45 pm

What is the real world evidence that leads to your conclusion that this scenario is “conceivable”?

Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/27/2024 @ 12:59 pm

Here’s a fascinating discussion the Russian economy by a Russian economist, worth a full listen. Bottom line: Based on VAT receipts, Russia has been in recession the last three years, and inflation is at least 15%, not the “official” 8%.
In another sign (and not mentioned by Mr. Lipsits), the Ruble is tanking. An American penny now buys 1.13 rubles, and nothing Tuckers says about Russian supermarkets, or what Elon says, will change any of that.

This is an argument for giving Ukraine the weapons and drones they’re asking for (and lifting restrictions on them but within the rules of war), because it’ll only further degrade Putin’s economy.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/27/2024 @ 2:40 pm

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/27/2024 @ 2:40 pm

Ukraine should have been given the weapons and drones they asked for from day one.

Here we have the thug leader of the largest land area in the world, presiding over a population on track to be halved by the end of the century, seeking to gain more territory.

Yet Trump blames Zelenskyy for the war.

norcal (56d72a) — 11/27/2024 @ 3:14 pm

Michelle Steele concedes House race in CA-45. The count is now 220-215, with only CA-13 where the Democrat challenger is currently leading by 230 votes.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/27/2024 @ 4:10 pm

It’s fascinating the people who are totally apathetic to fentanyl, a literal war on the USA with a kill count far exceeding Vietnam this year, who also think we must escalate the Ukraine Russia conflict for some reason unique to this conflict.

Ukraine isn’t going to win. That’s terrible. Russia is evil, and its leader deserves the worst punishment. But it’s a big world full of things like that, and there is no good reason to escalate the conflict to the brink of nuclear war, if we have no realistic plan to win. And Trump winning means there is no way Ukraine wins. That’s dark, but it’s true.

We’re giving weapons to people who already hate us and will hate us even more, for a generation, just because the Biden administration is actively thwarting the will of the voter.

They are kinda doing the same with Lebanon and Iran.

Its time to secure our own country. The cost of Ukraine should be weighed against the lives lost in the USA. Which is the USA’s priority?

Dustin (ac33f4) — 11/27/2024 @ 4:25 pm

Why is this an either/or? You can blame Biden for ignoring the cartels, but there is not a whiff of blame for that on the Ukrainians. That’s on Biden.

Similarly, if Trump goes after the cartels and stiffs Ukraine, it’s not the fentanyl problem that caused Ukraine to lose our support.

Even Biden can walk and chew gum at the same time. He just chose not to. What will Trump choose?

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/27/2024 @ 4:30 pm

Trump could do a lot worse than LtGen Kellogg.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/27/2024 @ 6:12 pm

It’s fascinating the people who are totally apathetic to fentanyl, a literal war on the USA with a kill count far exceeding Vietnam this year

Dustin (ac33f4) — 11/27/2024 @ 4:25 pm

I’m not apathetic, but rather realistic about the futility of pursuing the War on Drugs. If drugs were legal, the people buying them wouldn’t have to worry about them being laced with fentanyl.

norcal (56d72a) — 11/27/2024 @ 10:46 pm

A blessed Thanksgiving to all.

This story is for Dustin and whembly wrt fentanyl.
My son’s high school assistant coach ran around with a sketchy crowd in his younger days but he turned his life around, married a great gal, had three kids, steady job, and was a well-liked football and wrestling coach.

But something happened, I’m not sure what, but he lost his job, both regular and coaching, and apparently went back to his old ways. Earlier this year, he survived a fentanyl overdose but Sarah didn’t make it. Wonderful woman, mother and family friend, gone forever.

Mrs. Montagu and I were completely shocked, considering what we saw and knew of them back when our oldest was in middle and high school. More sadly, they left behind a couple of boys, 18 and 20, and they’re obviously angry and bitter. Mrs. Montagu saw a note on their front door with a message that basically told everyone to stay away and not contact them.

Worse, the 13-year old daughter was picked up by CPS and put into the system. We don’t if she landed with relatives or is being fostered, but it’s all completely tragic in how the use of this substance destroyed this family. I’m pretty sure Jeremy is behind bars right now.

I’ve no idea how the fentanyl got here or where it came from, whether it was Canada or Mexico or US shipping container, a port of entry or by jumping a fence, whether it was China or someplace else, or which gang did this, whether transited by illegals or Americans or legal immigrants. Y’all get the picture. All I can say is that stopping the flow of this drug should be a high priority for law enforcement, at all levels.

So far, it looks like deaths by overdose took a serious drop this year, which is good news but shouldn’t lessen the priority of ridding fentanyl contraband.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:10 am

If drugs were legal, the people buying them wouldn’t have to worry about them being laced with fentanyl.

Why? Oregon tried to legalize these drugs and found it didn’t have the benefits promised.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:40 am

The problem though is not the drugs. If it wasn’t fentanyl, it could be heroin, meth or crack, all of which can kill and all of which are destructive of, well, everything.

The problem is the human condition where these drugs seem like the solution to one’s problems. At THAT isn’t something the government can do much about, other than not contributing to the situation (which it sometimes does).

My Thanksgiving gratitude list begins with this: It has been 36 years, 7 months and 28 days since I last used any drug and my life is immeasurably better today than it was. I’d say “would have been” but I would not have survived those years, behaving as I was.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:57 am

Just when you thought the Trumpworld news could not get any stupider:

More Oil for Fewer Migrants: Trump Is Urged to Make Deal With Venezuela

American oil executives and bond investors are urging President-elect Donald Trump to abandon his first-term policy of maximum pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and instead strike a deal: more oil for fewer migrants.

Some businessmen such as Harry Sargeant III, a billionaire GOP donor known for playing golf at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club one day and jetting off to Caracas the next, are trying to show the incoming administration what they say are the perks of negotiating with Maduro instead of seeking to dislodge him.

Last week, a shipment of Venezuelan asphalt sourced by Global Oil Terminals, part of a Florida conglomerate founded by Sargeant, landed at the Port of Palm Beach, just a few miles from Trump’s Florida residence. It was the first asphalt delivery from Venezuela to the port since Trump’s first administration imposed oil sanctions in early 2019.

“It is indisputable that the renewed flow of high-quality, low cost Venezuelan asphalt to the U.S. has been a benefit to the American taxpayer,” Harry Sargeant IV, Global Oil Terminals president and the founder’s son, said regarding the cargo of 43,000 barrels of liquid asphalt, enough to pave some 55 miles of roadway.

Says the man who makes money importing said asphalt.

Several American businessmen who traveled to Caracas earlier this year and met with Maduro and his inner circle say the Venezuelans were convinced that Trump would win the U.S. election and engage with Maduro much like he had with the leaders of North Korea and Russia.

The Venezuelans believe that by facilitating oil supply to the U.S. and accepting U.S. deportation flights that had been suspended after negotiations with the Biden administration frayed, Maduro could help fulfill Trump’s major policy objectives of deporting Venezuelan migrants, according to people familiar with the regime’s thinking.

Scores of oil investors and Western bondholders sitting on billions of dollars’ worth of defaulted Venezuelan debt traveled to Caracas earlier this year to evaluate business prospects in the event of a bilateral breakthrough.

Eager to revitalize Venezuela’s once-thriving oil industry, Maduro offered the possibility of sweetheart deals to investors who could help persuade the U.S. to end sanctions, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Some were treated to whiskey and steak at the Venezuelan capital’s exclusive country club and said they were impressed by a crime-free city and well-paved roads.

No doubt they are doing this just for the good of our country. Meh. Oil is fungible. Whether Venezuela sells to the US or sells elsewhere will not affect the price of oil. But the cost of getting chummy with a pseudo-Marxist dictator is immeasurable.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 8:09 am

Trump cut off Venezuelan oil when he was prez, rightfully, which is why we had a major uptick in Russian oil imports before Putin’s escalation.

Far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t need or have to get oil anywhere but from our own continent, fungible or not. We should treat that approach as a national security issue, IMO, so we’ll never have to rely on bad actors and tyrants to obtain this resource.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/28/2024 @ 8:31 am

I can’t argue with that, Paul, but this thing is incredibly venal.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 8:45 am

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/28/2024 @ 9:09 am

Far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t need or have to get oil anywhere but from our own continent………

Which only become more expensive under Trump’s tariffs.

Rip Murdock (fdb338) — 11/28/2024 @ 11:38 am

A Thanksgiving message from Wednesday Addams.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/28/2024 @ 1:05 pm

Governor Newsom and the CA legislature passed a law that makes an oil field in Inglewood illegal. And that’s pretty much all it does.

The oil field owner is suing the state, in a Takings claim, and should win.

Inglewood Oil Field owner sues California for ‘illegal’ terminating of operations

The owner of the Inglewood Oil Field is suing the state of California in an attempt to invalidate a state law that will require the energy company to cease production and plug all of its wells — or pay costly fines.

In a lawsuit filed this week, Sentinel Peak, the sole owner and operator of the oil field, argues that Assembly Bill 2617 is an unconstitutional statute that will impose unreasonably high penalties on the company, forcing it to halt operations.

The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, requires all low-production wells in the Inglewood Oil Field to cease operations by March 2027 and all wells to be plugged by the end of 2030. Failure to meet those deadlines will result in a monthly $10,000 penalty for every well in violation.

The law would effectively oversee the end of fossil fuel extraction in the Inglewood Oil Field, where drilling has occurred for a century. The 1,000-acre field — located in Culver City, Los Angeles’ Baldwin Hills and unincorporated Ladera Heights — has approximately 820 unplugged wells, including 420 that are actively pumping oil. Roughly 80% of these operating wells are considered low-producing, meaning they yield less than 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of gas per day.

Note that 15 barrels of oil a day is 4000 barrels a year. At $50/barrel that’s $200K/year and 420 of those wells is producing over $80 million worth of oil each year.

I understand that for the state to Take them under eminent domain would cost a bundle, but the 5th Amendment doesn’t have an “unless it costs too much” clause. The state says it’s not “taking” the property, just “regulating” its use. I expect them to lose, and I hope the court assess punitive damages.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 1:45 pm

Voting for leftism has consequences

NJRob (40681e) — 11/28/2024 @ 2:34 pm

Voting for leftism has consequences

6 million Californians voted for Trump.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 2:49 pm

Latest count of house 215 dem. 220 rep. Minus child molester gaetz and two rep. leaving for cabinet 215 to 217. Voting does have consequences!

asset (1975d1) — 11/28/2024 @ 3:13 pm

6 million Californians voted for Trump.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 2:49 pm

To no avail.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 3:26 pm

Voting for leftism has consequences

6 million Californians voted for Trump.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 2:49 pm

So what? Those voters were scattered throughout the state; in the counties that Trump flipped (Butte, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Fresno, Inyo and San Bernardino), all have (with the exception of San Bernardino) registered voter populations of less than 700,000. (The San Bernardino registered voter population is around 1.4M.)

Trump still lost by 3.2M votes, and there was nothing in the marquee state race (US Senate) that signaled anything different about the California electorate.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 3:44 pm

Far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t need or have to get oil anywhere but from our own continent, fungible or not.

As of 2022, the top five sources of oil imports are from Canada (60%); Mexico (10%); Saudi Arabia (7%); Columbia 4%); and Iraq (4%).

This is the complete opposite of 1977, when OPEC provided 85% of crude oil imports.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 4:15 pm

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 4:15 pm

According to this report, in August 2024

Canada exported more than one million barrels per day to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 80% of United States crude oil imports in August while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 92% of all U.S. crude oil imports.

The top five sources of U.S. crude oil imports for August were:

Canada (3.8 million barrels per day)
Mexico (456,000 b/d),
Venezuela (261,000 b/d),
Brazil (259,000 b/d), and
Saudi Arabia (235,000 b/d).

The remaining top ten sources, in order, were

Iraq (200,000 b/d),
Colombia (175,000 b/d),
Nigeria (147,000 b/d),
Guyana (145,000 b/d), and
Ecuador (114,000 b/d).

Total crude oil imports averaged 6.3 million b/d in August, which was a decrease of 797,000 b/d from imports during July 2024.

Reformatted for clarity.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 4:32 pm

So what? Those voters were scattered throughout the state

How many times do I have to post the map of counties, showing a monlithic split before you will admit the truth of that. You’re a mud fort sometimes.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:16 pm

How many times do I have to post the map of counties, showing a monlithic split before you will admit the truth of that. You’re a mud fort sometimes.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:16 pm

I don’t deny there’s a monolithic split, but the counties that voted for Trump lack the population and GDP to affect state elections and policy.

Rip Murdock (c49001) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:37 pm

Which is why their concerns can ignored by Sacramento with impunity.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:40 pm

How many times do I have to post the map of counties, showing a monlithic split before you will admit the truth of that. You’re a mud fort sometimes.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:16 pm

I don’t deny there’s a monolithic split, but the counties that voted for Trump lack the population and GDP to affect state elections and policy.

Rip Murdock (c49001) — 11/28/2024 @ 5:37 pm

Again, so what?

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 6:00 pm

President-Elect Trump’s Thanksgiving message to America.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:25 pm

President Biden’s Thanksgiving message.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:28 pm

but the counties that voted for Trump lack the population

11 million plus. That’s bigger than all but 6 other states.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 9:46 pm

lack the population … to affect state elections and policy.

Really? Did you see how all those progressive initiatives lost? Without those voters they all pass. When the center aligns with them, they make the difference. One of the reasons I think that the Left would want to see them gone.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 9:56 pm

@219

A blessed Thanksgiving to all.

This story is for Dustin and whembly wrt fentanyl.
My son’s high school assistant coach ran around with a sketchy crowd in his younger days but he turned his life around, married a great gal, had three kids, steady job, and was a well-liked football and wrestling coach.

But something happened, I’m not sure what, but he lost his job, both regular and coaching, and apparently went back to his old ways. Earlier this year, he survived a fentanyl overdose but Sarah didn’t make it. Wonderful woman, mother and family friend, gone forever.

Mrs. Montagu and I were completely shocked, considering what we saw and knew of them back when our oldest was in middle and high school. More sadly, they left behind a couple of boys, 18 and 20, and they’re obviously angry and bitter. Mrs. Montagu saw a note on their front door with a message that basically told everyone to stay away and not contact them.

Worse, the 13-year old daughter was picked up by CPS and put into the system. We don’t if she landed with relatives or is being fostered, but it’s all completely tragic in how the use of this substance destroyed this family. I’m pretty sure Jeremy is behind bars right now.

I’ve no idea how the fentanyl got here or where it came from, whether it was Canada or Mexico or US shipping container, a port of entry or by jumping a fence, whether it was China or someplace else, or which gang did this, whether transited by illegals or Americans or legal immigrants. Y’all get the picture. All I can say is that stopping the flow of this drug should be a high priority for law enforcement, at all levels.

So far, it looks like deaths by overdose took a serious drop this year, which is good news but shouldn’t lessen the priority of ridding fentanyl contraband.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/28/2024 @ 7:10 am

May God bless that family and guide them through these difficult times.

Absolutely Paul. We should encourage law enforcement, diplomacy and even military resources to vigorously prosecute against fentanyl contraband.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving Paul!

whembly (477db6) — 11/29/2024 @ 6:12 am

Paul, that is a heartbreaking story.

I’ve no idea how the fentanyl got here or where it came from, whether it was Canada or Mexico or US shipping container, a port of entry or by jumping a fence, whether it was China or someplace else, or which gang did this, whether transited by illegals or Americans or legal immigrants. Y’all get the picture. All I can say is that stopping the flow of this drug should be a high priority for law enforcement, at all levels.

So far, it looks like deaths by overdose took a serious drop this year, which is good news but shouldn’t lessen the priority of ridding fentanyl contraband.

Just to be clear, overdoses are way up this year. Just as we have more and more Americans not working, literally unemployed, yet the unemployment rate stat shows the lowest unemployment rate ever, this stat is a lie, specifically intended to thwart law enforcement.

I read a paper ‘Fentanyl panic goes viral’ offering push back from the left on ‘panic’ over fentanyl “complicating overdose rescue while rationalizing hyper-punitive criminal laws, wasteful expenditures, and proposals to curtail vital access to pain pharmacotherapy.” There’s an agenda to make it much harder to demonstrate how many Americans are being killed by this crap. The goal is to reduce policing expenses, get rid of the most powerful criminal penalties the left calls ‘hyper-punitive’ (20 years prison minimum if it’s proven you sold fentanyl that killed someone), and to make sure people can be prescribed these drugs legitimately (which I think is actually a big of the problem).

If you read NC’s overdose stats, a couple of years ago they started offering a disclaimer. Just because someone is dead with fentanyl in their system doesn’t mean they qualify as a fentanyl overdose. And lo and behold, the stat Paul’s citing, the one in the NYT, shows NC had a 44% drop in these overdoses, yet a lot of states showed about the same increase as the previous year. Why? What did North Carolina do that’s so amazing? They don’t know. The lefty argument is it’s because of ‘don’t do drugs alone’ and ‘use test strip’ campaigns, which I find ridiculous.

It’s a problem in most of the country for a lot of reasons. Most states do not require fentanyl testing at admission. A lot of overdoses require intubation, which often involves the hospital prescribing fentanyl. That means you have autopsies showing inconclusive causes of death, in the context of an agenda to put a positive spin on this crisis.

We saw something similar with crime stats. The worst crime locales stopped reporting most of their crimes, and the headline was very dishonest, that crime is way down.

The fact remains even with obviously BS stats, this stuff kills more Americans every year than the Vietnam war killed. Is it 100k like they think or 140k like I think?

Either way, I agree with Whembly and Paul. We must fight those who ship this stuff here. We must fight those who mule it over the border. We must fight those who press the pills on either side of the border. We must fight those who use new analogues of fentanyl like nitazines. It’s warfare against our families. It is extremely serious.

I also think we need to take a hard look at government stats parroted by NYT and other far left publications, and why populism/distrust of The Man and his data and stats and claims has become such a viable political strategy.

This hits close to home for me. In my opinion anyone who actually works around overdoses claiming the problem is getting better would be laughed out of the room, but of course that’s the power of anecdote. We are in an age where anecdote is as reliable as ‘science.’ Otherwise, unemployment is not a problem, overdoses are under control, Chicago and New York are very safe.

I suppose it’s also possible that the surge in ODs in the past few years purged a lot of people and has declined but that doesn’t really make sense. Why is one state down 44% and states nearby up 2%? The wonderful record of the successful state would need to show some damn powerful strategies to copy, right? So what are they? Oh… it’s that they don’t think it’s an OD just because there’s a lethal dose? Oh.

Dustin (634cfc) — 11/29/2024 @ 8:55 am

The CDC reported a decline in overdoses in 2023, Dustin, which is better but still ain’t good, because the levels are still higher than in prior years.

Paul Montagu (ceba6c) — 11/29/2024 @ 10:15 am

but the counties that voted for Trump lack the population

11 million plus. That’s bigger than all but 6 other states.

Kevin M (a9545f) — 11/28/2024 @ 9:46 pm

So what? That’s still just 1/3 of California’s population.

Rip Murdock (dd5d29) — 11/29/2024 @ 10:31 am

11/22/2024

Weekend Open Thread

247 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

Leave a Reply

Favorite Sites

Links

Patterico Sells Out