Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –
In this issue:
- $ for Accusers
- Iran
- WWF
- Solar
- Sturgeon
- Smelt
- Fraud
- $ for Accusers. The new game in town is dollars for accusers, with the deep pocket democrat donors providing the largest chunks of money. In a story last week, Gloria Allred’s daughter Lisa Bloom, had access to $700,000 in the month before the election to hire sexual harassment accusers (anyone else notice that to democrats the word “harass” functions as two words?) aimed at Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. $200,000 came from Clinton supporter David Brock’s American Bridge 21st Century Foundation and another $500,000 from fashion entrepreneur Susan Tompkins – Buell, another major donor to Brock’s suite of non-profits. One target requested $2 million for her story. Others likely priced themselves out of her price range, as no charges were made. Bloom claims to have returned the money minus expenses. But the technique was set, and I expect used in the Roy Moore accusations in Alabama the last couple months. Interestingly, the locals aren’t all that amused, as the home of one of the accusers was torched over the weekend. The left wants to play blood sport, they can most certainly proceed. Unfortunately, there are more than a few on our side of the divide that are willing to meet them on the field of battle and return the favor. Ran across a piece by Kurt Schlichter over the weekend written last February that attempted to gauge the overall threat to the body politic.
“I recently polled people on Twitter about what they thought of the chances of serious violence in the coming four years, and the results from 6,159 people are alarming. “Stop being a nut” got 10%; I was hoping it would get about 95%. “We’ll wise up” and find a way out of this crisis, got 13%. But “50/50 leftists may try violence” got a stunning 41%, while “It’s coming. Gear up” got a terrifying 36%.”
So, 77% of those on our side of the political fence are expecting political violence from the left. And that was only a month into Trump’s first term in office. I think that number has increased over the last year based on the actions of the left and the media over the last year. They need to be careful, as they may get what they are demanding. I don’t think they will enjoy the festivities at all should things crank up. https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2017/02/23/draft-n2289256
- Iran. Iran is in revolt again and the media, doing its level best to cover Barack O’Bama’s sorry back side, has shut down all reportage on what is going on. Unlike the Green Revolution in 2009, when O’Bama was completely silent because he wanted his nuclear deal with the Mullahs and his consigliere Valerie Jarrett was also supportive of the mullahs, President Trump and his administration came down four square behind the protesters, completely changing the dynamic. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley also gave speeches warning the mullahs against human rights violations and killing protesters. Ran across an interesting piece by John Ringo posted in Fakebook last Monday that gave some insight into what he thinks is going on. Ringo spent some time in Iran and continues to be interested in what is going on over there and why. He describes the protests this time around as bizarre, mostly based on where they are starting. Unlike the 2009 protests which were in Tehran and Ishfahan (analogous to DC & Berkeley here in the US), these are beginning in Mashad (analogous to Pittsburgh), very conservative, very deep blue-collar people. It was the blue-collar people that the mullahs bought off when they deposed the Shah in 1979 by distributing his oil loot far and wide. It is how they guaranteed their support for decades. But the mullahs have come to enjoy the finer things of life, not unlike the insiders of the Shah before 1979, and that money is no longer making its way to their blue-collar supporters, and they know it. They also know about O’Bama’s pallet loads of cash which were used to expand the mullah’s reach across the Middle East, and don’t like that a lot either, especially giving it to Arabs (Iranians are Persians). Now there is rioting in Qom, equivalent to Catholics rioting in Vatican City, and the mullahs are pulling back Iranian Revolutionary Guards from their exterior deployments and distributing them around the country to maintain order. The rules on deposing dictators changed with Gadhafi, and they are now going down fighting to the bitter end (like Assad in Syria). The Iranian mullahs will go the same way. This one is just beginning and has potential to get very, very ugly. Perhaps Trump will turn Mattis et all loose on the mullahs like they turned them loose on ISIS. https://www.facebook.com/notes/john-ringo/a-note-on-the-iran-protests/10155334568097055/
- WWF. Donald Trump as an entertainer has a long-time connection to professional wrestling, initially the WWF and then the WWE. He shared the ring with Vince McMahon and even got thumped by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin acting as a referee, before winning what was called a hair match (loser gets his head shaved in the ring) with McMahon. So, he knows the form of entertainment and how to use it. There were a number of articles making this connection during the primary campaign in early 2016, though I don’t remember hearing that connection (not a wrestling fan). Limbaugh had a guest host on last week that did talk about the connection, enough to make me look into it a bit. In pro wrestling, everything is scripted and stylized. The good guy (or gal) is called the Baby Face. They never lie, cheat, or steal, and follow all the rules. They also take a LOT of crap from the bad guy. The bad guy is called the Heel. They are the guys who bring the folding chair into the ring and use it mercilessly. In his initial foray into the WWF, Trump was the babyface, the target. To win his match, he turned into the heel and used it with gusto. This is what Trump has done both during his campaign for the nomination and the presidency, and during his first year in office. It is what his tweets are all about. Trump is the guy bringing the folding chair into the ring. And he is using it to land the first blow, while laughing at his political opposition about it, and landing blow after blow after blow. This is what fighting back for conservatives is all about. Trump was not elected because he was a Good Man. He was elected because he was the only one that Republican voters thought would roll around in the mud, the blood, and the beer with the democrats, kicking, scratching and clawing at their faces and eyes with just as much gusto as the democrats have been going after Republicans for half a century. And this is why his supporters love him. Want to beat a democrat? Go after them just as nasty and viciously as they are going after you. Hit them early. Hit them often. Hit them cheap. Hit them hard. And then laugh at them while they snivel and cry about being hit. And then hit them again and again and again. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/donald-trump
- Solar. A long time ago, German engineering used to be world class. Apparently, times have changed. Latest example comes from their move to renewables, specifically solar. In December, Germany got 10 hours of sunlight, not per day, but for the entire month (short days and lots of clouds). Germany has 40 GW of solar generation installed. It needs 80 GW / day. On a single sunny summer day, solar can power half the nation for lunch, an hour or so. On a sunny winter day, almost nothing, from 50% to less than 5%. So how much is obeisance to the Green Renewable Gods worth to you? It still gets dark and cold during the winter in the northern part of the world. Take a look as the graphs at the linked article and shake your head at the incredible waste of resources and money. http://notrickszone.com/2018/01/03/dark-days-for-german-solar-power-country-saw-only-10-hours-of-sun-in-all-of-december/
- Sturgeon. Alaska resident John Sturgeon continues his fight against the NPS over use of a hovercraft on the waters of Yukon Charley National Preserve. Federal law gives the State of Alaska control over navigable waterways throughout the state. The NPS disagrees and used their rangers to harass hunters, of which Sturgeon was one. This case went all the way to the SCOTUS which told the Ninth Circus that they screwed up their opinion finding for the illegitimate and illegal expansion of NPS ownership rights. The Ninth Circus, not to be outdone by a slap in the face, found the same way a second time, and the case is on its way back to the SCOTUS. This court fight is not cheap, costing over a million dollars in court costs so far. Apparently the Ninth Circus believes that it can simply keep bouncing the case back and forth and run Sturgeon out of money while the NPS gets their legal budget approved every year. This is a very clear state’s right issue and defines in many ways, the war that the feds are executing against citizens of states mainly in the western US. https://craigmedred.news/2018/01/04/back-to-court/
- Smelt. The Trump administration came to the aid of California farmers by allowing the Bureau of Reclamation to “maximize water deliveries” to San Juaquin Valley farmers. This would fulfill a Trump campaign promise made in Freson to reverse water restrictions imposed to protect the delta smelt, an endangered species. Doing so also tees up yet another fight with California legislators who are supported by environmentalists. A decade ago, federal biologists put in place a series of draconian rules limiting how much water can be pumped south to irrigate valley farms. The NRDC immediately accused the Trump administration of trying to kill salmon and other protected fish in the state. Cutbacks of water deliveries even after the end of the five-year long drought last year prompted the Trump administration to promise to take another look. While environmentalists are apoplectic, and the coastal elites that support them likewise, a substantial number of working Californians are quite pleased with the proposal. For Californians, it is the functional equivalent of withdrawing from the Paris Climate agreement. https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/01/trump-dumps-more-water-into-californias-farms/
- Fraud. There was much joy among the political left last week as President Trump signed another executive order shutting down the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, the so-called Voting Fraud Commission that democrats and their book lickers have fought tooth and nail since its inception. The Chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the job of the commission is being handed off to DHS, which has the tools and authority to investigate and stop voting fraud without the ongoing democrat stonewall, though to be fair the lawfare will continue unabated. But the change in responsibilities will render all ongoing cases moot, though legal bills will still have to be paid by both sides. So far, the commission revealed 938 convictions of voter fraud cases since 2000; fewer than 1 out of 100 cases filed ends up with a conviction; in Kansas alone, 127 known cases of non-citizen aliens registered to vote; and 8,471 cases of double voting were discovered in 21 states. Other than in Breitbart, this change was uniformly reported as a win for democrats. It is not. Rather, it is a move in another direction. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/01/03/exclusive-kris-kobach-voter-fraud-commission-being-handed-off-to-dhs-will-no-longer-be-stonewalled-by-dems/
More later –
– AG