Wednesday, November 27, 2024
The NY Tes continues its decent into irrelevance
New York Times drops a story on DEI dangers for fear of a staff revolt
A monster
Mom jailed for keeping baby hidden in drawer for years: ‘Never known daylight or fresh air’
The insufferable John Kerry
John Kerry: We Need To ‘Declare A Climate Emergency’ And ‘Get People To Behave’
Kerry demanded that the U.S. pay for Africa's energy infrastructure.
John Kerry, who served as President Joe Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate up until March of this year, said late last week that a climate emergency needed to be declared.
Kerry made the remarks on Thursday at a recent John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum as the 29th United Nations climate change conference (COP29) concluded.
“I think, personally, we’re on the brink of needing to declare a climate emergency, which is what we really have,” Kerry said. “And we need to get people to behave as if this really is a major transitional challenge to the whole planet, to everybody.”
Kerry said that it was America’s responsibility to pay for energy infrastructure in Africa because the U.S. is the world’s leading economy.
“People in Africa who don’t have electricity need to choose the right kind of electricity and we need to help them be able to afford it and do it,” he said. “We have the largest economy in the world — $24 trillion or $23 trillion economy, maybe more by now.”
Senator Kennedy on the left's arrogance
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/senator-john-kennedy-offers-response-anti-trump-hollywood/
“Here’s what I think. I think these people are goofy. They have the right to their opinion, but they’re just goofy. They hate George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head.
“They think our kids ought to be able to change genders at recess. They carry around Ziploc bags of kale to give themselves energy. To me—to each his own. To me, kale tastes like I’d rather be fat. Now, these people are entitled to their opinion, but they have an unwarranted sense of moral and intellectual superiority.
“They think they’re smarter and more virtuous than the American people. And they think we’re not real people. But we were, and we are real people.“And in this last election, we got real mad, and we sent a message, clearly, unequivocally. And my message to all my friends and my enemies in America is: Happy Thanksgiving, and stay deplorable, my friend.”
Watch the video below:
John Kennedy is a gem, and his response is right on. These liberal Hollywood types like Sharon Stone are not serious people and should not be taken seriously.
Climate cultists are as honest as Dr. Fauci...they are depressed children
Scientists Officially Declare End of ‘Climate Emergency’ During Prague Climate Conference
Climate Intelligence Group (Clintel) “calls upon the entire scientific community to cease and desist from its persecution of scientists and researchers who disagree with the current official narrative.”
Legal Insurrection readers will recall that in my post on the United Nations climate conference in Azerbaijan this week, its president boldly declared that oil and gas were a ‘gift from God’.
The eco-activists attending the event were enraged.
The climate cultists will likely be working themselves up into even more hysteria because of another climate conference that occurred mid-November in the Czech Republic city of Prague.
The Czech division of the International Climate Intelligence Group (Clintel) organized a two-day climate conference in Prague on November 12-13, 2024, where climate scientists declared that the “climate emergency” is over. The conference concluded with a communiqué drafted by the participating scientists and researchers that targeted the climate hysteria promoted by the United Nations body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
‘The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which excludes participants and published papers disagreeing with its narrative, fails to comply with its own error-reporting protocol and draws conclusions some of which are dishonest, should be forthwith dismantled.’
This declaration supports the conclusions of the major Clintel report, The Frozen Climate Views of the IPCC.
Moreover, the scientists at the conference declared that even if all nations moved straight to net zero emissions, by the 2050 target date the world would be only about 0.1 C cooler than with no emissions reduction.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Funding China must stop
Intel Awarded Nearly $8 Billion For US Chip Factories
The US Department of Commerce awarded Intel nearly $8 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program's Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. This follows the preliminary memorandum of terms signed earlier this year and comes as the Biden-Harris administration rushes to deliver billions of dollars in federal grants and loans to favored companies before President-elect Trump assumes office in early 2025.
The Commerce Department's $7.865 billion award of direct funding under CHIPS will support cutting-edge chip fabrication and advanced packaging at Intel's projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon.
Israel: News that is rarely reported
Nearly 10,000 Buildings Destroyed By Hezbollah In Israel's North: Report
When government interferes in the marketplace both the taxpayer and the customers lose
Biden Throws Struggling Rivian $6 Billion Lifeline For EV Factory
The Biden-Harris administration is rushing to spend taxpayer funds before President-elect Trump takes office. To start the week, the administration directed nearly $8 billion to Intel and now billions more to save struggling electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Energy announced it would offer a direct loan of up to $6.57 billion (including $5.975 billion of principal and $592 million of capitalized interest) to finance Rivian's EV factory in Stanton Springs North, near the City of Social Circle, Georgia. The project was shelved in early March over the urgent need to reduce costs.
Entitled to violence
Straphanger slugged by irate seatmate wrestles attacker to floor — but then fellow passengers helped HIM after he ‘turned into a little b—h’
Don't go on boats that are not safe...this boat and its mates do not meet international standards, not enough lifeboats for one!
Egypt: 4 bodies found after tourist boat capsizes in Red Sea
Four bodies have been recovered from a tourist boat that capsized in stormy seas off Egypt's Red Sea coast, according to a local governor.
Rescue teams were still searching for 13 missing people on Tuesday, one day after the sinking.
Dozens on board Red Sea boat when it capsized
Red Sea provincial governor Amr Hanafi wrote on social media that the vessel, the multi-level "Sea Story," capsized after being struck by a large wave near the Sataya Reef and sunk within seven minutes.
On board were 31 tourists and 13 crew members, of whom 28 were rescued by another tourist vessel with minor injuries.
"All of the rescued passengers are doing well," Hanafi said, adding that none had required hospital treatment.
Hanafi had previously said that four Germans and two Swiss people were on board, as well as around 20 holidaymakers from other European countries.
Germans tourists confirmed on boat
The German Foreign Office confirmed that German citizens were among the missing passengers.
The Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority had reported wave heights of 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) and wind speeds of 34 knots in the area over the weekend, leading to the closure of maritime traffic.
Local Governor Hanafi said the 34-meter-long boat had received a one-year safety certificate from the Maritime Safety Authority
Preventing child abuse...minors cannot be allowed to make life changing decisions!
Missouri Judge Upholds Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
In 2023 the state of Missouri passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors. The law restricted the use of puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries.
Transgender minors and some adults in Missouri will soon be banned from accessing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries under a bill signed Wednesday by the state’s Republican governor.
Beginning Aug. 28, Missouri health care providers won’t be able to prescribe those gender-affirming treatments for teens and children. Most adults will still have access to transgender health care under the law, but Medicaid won’t cover it.
Gender-affirming surgeries for inmates and prisoners will be outlawed.
Within weeks the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of trans teens seeking to block implementation of the new law.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the families of three transgender minors and Southampton Community Healthcare, which provides gender-affirming care. Other named plaintiffs are two of Southampton’s providers and two national LGBTQ+ organizations.
That lawsuit finally resulted in a trial which was held at the end of September. There was no jury present. The decision was left in the hands of Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter. Today Judge Carter released his decision. He upheld the state ban and ruled against the plaintiffs on all three of their arguments.
Missouri’s restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone treatment for transgender minors are constitutional and may remain in place, Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter wrote in a 74-page ruling Monday...
His ruling focuses on a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that allows lawmakers broad discretion in areas “fraught with medical and scientific uncertainty.” Carter concluded that there is “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment,” granting the state legislature authority to ban the care.
“Regarding the ethics of adolescent gender-affirming treatment, it would seem that the medical profession stands in the middle of an ethical minefield, with scant evidence to lead it out.” he wrote.
During the nine-day trial, which took place at the end of September, experts on both sides opined on the availability of scientific research on gender-affirming care. Carter notes that plaintiffs agreed that standards of care were based on scientifically low-quality evidence. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs said during trial they still felt there was enough to justify the area of treatment.
The bureaucrats are not interested in democracy...fire them all
Bureaucrats in HHS System Uncooperative with RFK Jr Transition Efforts
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/25/bureaucrats-in-hhs-system-uncooperative-with-rfk-jr-transition-efforts/
As the story is told, the unwillingness of President-Elect Trump and his transition team to comply with the rules of the bureaucracy in DC this time, has led to the Administrative State refusing to comply with any transition of power, specifically as it relates to Robert F Kennedy Jr and the healthcare transition team.
If President-Elect Trump would just adhere to the DC transition rules, then the DC bureaucrats who run the Executive Branch might be more willing to comply with requests. However, unless and until President Trump accepts the administrative state’s power over him, they are at loggerheads.
Open borders and child abuse
Migrant tot found alone at border faces uncertain future as agencies struggle to vet sponsors: ‘A stain on our nation’
The 2-year-old migrant girl who crossed the border alone Sunday with only a note is an example of a child who could fall prey to sex traffickers thanks to overextended, underfunded US agencies, officials say.
The country’s broken immigration system is notorious for allowing thousands of kids to slip through the cracks, many of whom fall into nightmarish lives of abuse and exploitation, they said.
“This is such a stain on our nation,” said an exasperated Tara Lee Rodas, a whistleblower with the federal Department of Health and Human Services, to The Post on Monday.
Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Christopher Olivarez said, “It’s very concerning when we come across any type of child that’s coming across the border alone, especially with a piece of paper, because we don’t know exactly what happens to them on their journey and where they ended up afterwards.”
Alleged Solar Energy Scandal
Exclusive — Crescent Dunes: Biden DOJ Moved on Election Night to Cover Up Alleged Solar Energy Scandal that Cost Taxpayers Hundreds of Millions
Outgoing President Joe Biden’s Justice Department moved on election night on Nov. 5 to essentially ensure the cover-up of a potentially massive green energy scandal, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
This story has tentacles back through, not just the Biden administration, but all the way back to the Obama administration, and it could be something that jeopardizes the broader green energy agenda and the future of leftist solar projects on federal lands. At least one congresswoman is already formally pressing the DOJ for answers, and more members of Congress are likely to get involved soon. It could even have major implications for the incoming administration’s energy policy.
On Nov. 5, at 5:20 p.m. ET, less than an hour before the first polls closed and when it had become clear from the exit polls that Democrat presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris was likely to lose, an attorney with the Justice Department emailed lawyers for plaintiffs in a qui tam lawsuit aimed at recouping significant losses the taxpayers allegedly incurred from a failed solar plant in Nevada. A qui tam lawsuit is when a private plaintiff sues on behalf of the U.S. Government to recoup taxpayer dollars — often alleging fraud, misuse, or theft of taxpayer dollars.
The email from the DOJ stated what plaintiffs started hearing through the grapevine as the election neared and it became clear the Harris campaign was in trouble. The email said that the DOJ intended to dismiss a lawsuit that it had previously allowed to proceed, thereby undercutting the private push to recoup significant losses for American taxpayers.
“The United States intends to intervene in this case for the purpose of dismissing the qui tam claims under 31 U.S.C. 3730(c)(2)(A),” Anthony Gill, a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division Fraud Section, emailed attorneys for CMB Export, LLC, an EB-5 visa firm that had filed the qui tam lawsuit in question. “The United States has determined that dismissal is commensurate with the public interest and that the matter does not warrant the continued expenditure of government resources. The anticipated discovery and litigation obligations associated with the continued litigation of this case will impose an undue burden on the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Justice.”
“We intend to file our motion this week,” Gill added in the email, obtained by Breitbart News. “There is not more I can add to the United States’ decision to seek dismissal under 3730(c)(2)(A), but feel free to let us know if you have any questions.”
This decision was shocking to plaintiffs because it represented a major reversal of the position the very same Biden Justice Department had previously taken. The Justice Department had, after years of inexplicable delays, previously declined to intervene in the qui tam suit per a filing on June 1, 2023 — it took the Department years to finally get to this point — and then the case was unsealed finally on Jan. 24, 2024 — eleven months ago — after a battle on that front in court. In laymen’s terms, what the Justice Department formally declining to intervene in a qui tam suit and then the suit getting unsealed by the court means is the plaintiffs in the qui tam suit can proceed with litigation against the defendants.
This story begins back during Obama’s administration, when leftists and environmentalists supercharged a crazed push towards so-called renewable energy sources. The federal government under Obama backed what was called the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project with $737 million in guaranteed loans. The plant was a $1 billion project.
Ostensibly, what Crescent Dunes was building was a 1,600-acre plant in the Nevada desert designed to use mirrors to capture sunlight to heat molten salt in a giant tower to create energy. “The plant was supposed to generate clean energy using more than 10,000 mirrors to heat molten salt in a 640-foot-high tower,” the Las Vegas Review Journal wrote in a 2020 editorial about the project’s failures. “The superheated salt would then boil water, creating steam to produce power. Making this endeavor even more exciting was that salt was supposed to be able to store heat and produce electricity after sunset.”
Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, had talked for years about making the Silver State “the Saudi Arabia of geothermal and solar energy.” This fit the bill. Reid, who has since retired and passed away, now has the Las Vegas airport named after him. While he is gone, the U.S. taxpayer is still allegedly out with what sources familiar with the details of the lawsuit say is more than $200 million, and could be as high as $700 million or even more depending on factors such as depreciation and loan guarantees.
The plant went into bankruptcy in 2020 after years of failing to return any profit, but as of 2021, it was reportedly operating again somewhat under a different ownership structure per a local news report from 8NewsNow in Nevada. That story detailed some of the problems with the technology as well.
“In addition to its struggles to turn a profit, the plant also was criticized because birds were dying in the intense heat produced by the panels. Some reports indicated that birds had burst into flames in mid-flight,” the 8NewsNow report from 2021 from a Las Vegas television station reads. “Another problem surrounded a report that workers were hospitalized after they were exposed to nitrogen dioxide — a gas emitted from the hot salt tank.”
These and other major problems with the technology and operations at the Crescent Dunes plant that significantly delayed its launch — and even took the plant offline for a year — call into question the legitimacy of cash grants, guaranteed loans, and depreciation benefits and whether American taxpayers were essentially bilked out of the cash and are now owed money.
That is what the qui tam lawsuit aimed to rectify, and that is where CMB Export, LLC comes in. CMB’s interest is, as an EB-5 visa firm, they say they are out tens of millions of dollars because of the failed project. So, they began investigating what happened and uncovered these major concerns with regard to how the Obama administration awarded these grants and other taxpayer-funded benefits, which are the basis for the qui tam lawsuit. The Biden Justice Department slow-walked it for years but finally approved the case to move forward procedurally. Everything was going smoothly until just before the election, a couple days out from Trump’s triumph over Harris, when CMB began hearing that the Biden Justice Department may reverse its support for the lawsuit.
Notice of that reversal is what formally came in those Election Night emails from the DOJ official, followed by a filing the next day in court seeking the dismissal of the qui tam case. The timing begs questions regarding why the Biden Justice Department would — from all appearances — seek to cover this up before Donald Trump would win the Presidential Election and Republicans would control both houses in Congress.
There is growing interest in Congress about getting answers from the DOJ.
Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) wrote on Monday to Attorney General Merrick Garland to demand answers about the election night reversal.
“I am writing to express my concern regarding the Department of Justice’s recent decision to intervene and dismiss the qui tam case filed by CMB Export, LLC, under the False Claims Act against Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, Cobra Energy Investment, and other associated parties,” Miller wrote to Garland in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Breitbart News. “This case, centered on allegations of significant fraud and misrepresentation regarding the Crescent Dunes Project, raises serious questions about the use of taxpayer funds and the federal government’s commitment to holding parties accountable for alleged misconduct. The timing of the Department’s decision to dismiss this case is particularly troubling. After three and a half years of investigation, during which the case was under seal, the Department chose to allow CMB Export to proceed with prosecution as of August 2023. However, on November 6, 2024—just one day after the presidential election—the Department reversed course, intervening to dismiss the case with no clear justification provided beyond vague references to ‘public interest’ and the ‘expenditure of government resources.’”
Breitbart News reached out to Congressman Miller, who gave the following exclusive comment:
On November 5th, the American people rejected the Biden administration’s radical green new deal agenda and voted for affordable energy. If this project isn’t fulfilling its commitment, the DOJ needs to fully investigate. There must be accountability and transparency for every taxpayer dollar spent by the government, and I look forward to hearing from AG Garland.
Breitbart News has also learned that other members of Congress have been made aware of the matter.
There are major implications as well for the incoming Trump administration. Of course, this matter cuts across several federal government departments — from Justice to Interior to Energy to Treasury. The Justice Department is at the center of things, so incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi, will be in position to evaluate the matter and make a decision about how to proceed. Incoming Energy Secretary Chris Wright and incoming Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will also need to look at solar and other green energy policies. Earlier this year, for example, the Biden administration’s Interior Department announced an expanded push for more solar energy projects like Crescent Dunes on federal lands.
“Officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management announced Aug. 29 they had finalized a plan to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming to its existing Western Solar Plan – an Obama-era project that expanded permitting for solar projects on federal land,” the Oregon Capital Chronicle’s Alex Baumhardt wrote in September. “When it was first implemented in 2012, it only included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.”
This expansion includes millions and millions of federal land acres across these major wide-open western states, and it will be critical how Secretaries Burgum and Wright handle all of this.
As for Treasury, incoming Secretary Scott Bessent — just announced last week as Trump’s pick to lead the important Treasury Department — will have to decide if his Department was lied to by the Energy Department when the cash grants were made during the Obama administration.
The newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to be led by businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, could also end up weighing in on the bloated bureaucracy and waste of taxpayer resources on projects such as Crescent Dunes.
Trump himself of course has promised to revitalize American energy and has regularly criticized green Leftist projects like this.
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