Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –
In this issue:
- Correction
- VA
- Norks
- Renewables
- Bergdahl
- Climate
- Terrorism
- Assault
- Correction. Last week, I wrote about the Immigration Diversity Lottery, which imported 2 – 3 million people who really didn’t want to come to the US over the last three decades. It turns out that number was low, by perhaps half, as it did not count or include the chain migration people, family members who followed the lottery winners into the US afterwards. 30% of the people invited in come from countries with known terrorism problems. These include Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Yemen, and Uzbekistan. The correction comes with the actual numbers who entered the country. Since 1994, there have been some 1.1 million, around 50,000 / year. But they have been followed by an additional 3.8 million family members via chain migration, for a total of nearly 5 million entering the country under this program. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/5-million-immigrants-enter-under-diversity-visa-345-more-than-promised/article/2639722
- VA. The Virginia state elections turned out to be a democrat rout of elected and wannabe Republican candidates. The democrat gubernatorial and LtGov candidates both won. The State House, which had a near veto-proof majority of Republicans in one House was overturned, losing at least 12 seats, to a near even split. Post-election counts on a few close races may indeed turn that majority over to democrats. So, what happened? At this point, I can’t identify the actual reason. OTOH, I can point out several trends which all worked against Republicans.
- First, democrats were energized. They got a turnout around 41%. Republican turnout was 31%.
- Second, the immigration wars imported a massive number of illegals into Northern Virginia over the last couple of decades.
- Third, Governor Terry McAuliffe gave 200,000 convicted felons the right to vote again. Perhaps a quarter of them eventually voted. I don’t think they voted for Republicans.
- Fourth, Republican candidate for governor Ed Gillespie is a DC swamp creature (lobbyist). There is a significant portion of Trump supporters that simply will no longer vote for swamp creatures.
- Fifth, Gillespie did not embrace Trump or Trump-ism until the very end of the campaign, which ties in to the first and fourth items above.
- Sixth, the largest issue in the state was O’BamaCare and crushing increases in premiums. Neither side addressed the issue. It was ignored.
- Last, it appears that there was a version of the Colorado Project underway in VA. The Colorado Project had a number of filthy rich gays pick a public fight with in-state evangelicals. The evangelicals responded with legislation to protect their interests, which allowed the media, democrats, and all the usual suspects to campaign as victims. The general public rejected the evangelical approach, turning Colorado blue for a decade. Democrats picked similar fight in Virginia over transgender rights. More than ten supporters of the evangelicals in the legislature were picked off in this election.
So, what do we do with this? And does it mean anything? To me it means the days of evangelicals fighting the culture wars via legislation are probably over. This does not mean they should give up. Rather, it means they need to fight on different battlefields including public education, property rights, freedom of association, and similar grounds. Trump supporters are sophisticated and will no longer support me-too Republicans. They are demanding results. And if those results are not forthcoming, neither will be elections. Finally, I heard nothing about the Republicans using Trumpian persuasion tools. Perhaps Our Side needs to learn those tools. Otherwise, they are toast. http://thefederalist.com/2017/11/08/5-takeaways-on-the-virginia-election-results/
- Norks. A report out of the Mountain Kingdom of North Korea has a tunnel associated with its nuclear test site collapsing, killing up to perhaps 200 people. The problem a small nation like North Korea has testing nuclear weapons is that they simply don’t have enough square miles of uninhabited space to do multiple underground tests. The US nuclear test site of Yucca Flats in Nevada was large enough for multiple test locations. If you flew over it, it looked like a giant ant lion farm. None of the US test underground test sites were reused. The Norks have chosen to reuse a single test site and tunnel system multiple times. Each time you fire off a weapon, it fundamentally rearranges the mountains overhead and nearby. Over time, this newly fractured rock becomes increasingly unstable, which is apparently what happened to the new tunnel. This instability may explain the smaller 3.6 Richter earthquake that followed their last big test Sept. 3 which was never explained. Chicom and ROK scientists are worried about radiation releases should the system suffer additional collapses. For its part, the Norks are opining about conducting their next test of a full ICBM – nuclear warhead weapon system somewhere in the Pacific. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/10/31/200-feared-dead-after-tunnel-collapses-at-north-korean-nuclear-test-site-japanese-tv-claims.html
- Renewables. The St Louis city council having not enough to do now that the endemic inner-city problems of crime, poverty, homelessness, and single parenthood are now all solved (/sarc), passed a resolution decreeing that by 2035 the city would be powered by “clean, renewable energy.” This 100% goal will go a long way toward driving more of their citizens (and voters) deeper into crushing poverty. Today, Missouri generates 96% of its electricity by fossil fuels, 1.5% hydro, and 1.5% solar / wind. Other than building a dam across the Mississippi, I don’t think they will be very successful in meeting their renewables goal. Like Alaska Governor Bill Walker, they are asking for a “plan of action” by December 2018. They did not detail who would be allowed to play in the process of preparing that plan. As St. Louis is a metropolitan area with little undeveloped land, it is difficult to see where they will put the wind farm and solar arrays they so desperately want. The local utility has what they call a Pure Power Program that allows residents and businesses to sign up for what they call a Renewable Energy Certificate when they sign up for 100% renewable energy. The utility charges an extra penny per kwh for the privilege. This increases electricity bills by 10 – 20% on average. So far, this program is voluntary. Under the new proposal, it will be mandatory, along with the mandatory increases in electrical costs. Today, Missouri currently has relatively low electrical prices. St Louis so far is a bit lower. This mandate will initially force costs to the California and Connecticut levels around 19 cents / kwh. If they get really lucky, they will approach those of Germany and Oz, doubling CA and CN. I didn’t know that the citizens of St Louis had that much spare change. Virtue signaling is expensive, and always is done with Other People’s Money (OPM). https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/11/06/renewable-energy-by-royal-decree-meanwhile-the-poor-suffer/
- Bergdahl. The presiding judge at Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl’s court martial decided that he would not have to serve any additional time for desertion. He will be dishonorably discharged and pay a $1,000 fine. Rationale for this ruling was the time spent as “prisoner” of the Taliban and President Trump’s comments on the case. Six of his compatriots died in the years-long search for Bergdahl. I think this case is a travesty, and a real example of the problem of gays in the military. One of the ugly little secrets of the war in Afghanistan is the problem of Afghan men taking boys as sex partners. The Afghans have been doing this for centuries, which may explain a lot about why it has been such a backwards cesspool for centuries. There are a number of stories that Bergdahl walked away to join his new boyfriend in this activity. I have seen at least one photo of Bergdahl with an Afghan man who was beaming broadly. While this may very well be a photoshop product, it does fit with the story of an active duty American soldier who walked away from his unit, lived with the Taliban for years, and returned home. It explains why an American soldier among the Taliban wasn’t tortured and killed. It also explains the kid gloves the trial judge is handling him with. Tell me again how gays in the military improved anything. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/brinkley/article/Afghanistan-s-dirty-little-secret-3176762.php
- Climate. The Trump administration released the latest National Climate Assessment. Law requires the report. It was prepared by O’Bama holdovers and permanent party greens in 13 federal agencies and says everything you would expect about what they think about manmade global warming due to CO2 emissions. The report affirms that climate change is almost entirely due to human action, with the seas rising by as much as 8’ by the end of the century. The report seizes on a couple of data points in each area of concern (CO2 levels, sea level changes, temperature changes, droughts, hurricanes, floods, etc.) and refuses to put the data in context, depriving the reader of both sides of the discussion. For the greens, there is indeed no discussion any more. There is only time for action. The people who prepared and signed this have just self-identified for the next reorganization. http://www.climatedepot.com/2017/11/03/steven-koonin-a-deceptive-new-report-on-climate/
- Terrorism. The last great round of eco-terrorism took place with animal rights and anti-logging greens a couple of decades ago. Well with the installation of the Trump administration, they are back in force. Since Inauguration Day, there have been more than 70 credible threats against the EPA staff, mostly against new Administrator Scott Pruitt and his family. For their part, democrats have attacked Pruitt for beefing up his staff to provide personal security commensurate with the increased threat. Pruitt has received more than five times the number of threats than his predecessor, Gina McCarthy. Democrats and greens are happily defending the threats and violence with the notion that Pruitt is threatening the earth and those threats justify violence in response. Someone is going to get hurt as this continues. Perhaps that is what the greens want. https://pjmedia.com/trending/a-wave-of-eco-terrorism-against-the-trump-administration/
- Assault. As long as we are on the topic of threats and violence by the political left, US Senator Rand Paul was assaulted at his home in Bowling Green last weekend by a neighbor while mowing his lawn. The assault came from behind and put him the hospital with several cracked and displaced ribs. Media tried to excuse the unprovoked attack with the fraudulent claim that there was an ongoing dispute with the neighbor over lawn care and maintenance. Turns out that was not true at all. Rather, the neighbor is yet another screaming lefty who believes it ok today to assault and cause bodily harm on someone (anyone) with a political belief that does not agree with their particular worldview. The assailant is a registered democrat and anesthesiologist, a fan of Noam Chomsky, and posted numerous anti-Trump items on his Fakebook page. http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/11/13/rand-paul-returns-to-the-senate-following-assault-at-his-kentucky-home
More later –
– AG