{"id":202,"date":"2017-11-13T18:44:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T03:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/?p=202"},"modified":"2017-11-13T18:44:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T03:44:28","slug":"interesting-items-1113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/2017\/11\/13\/interesting-items-1113\/","title":{"rendered":"Interesting Items 11\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy \u2013<\/p>\n<p>In this issue:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Correction<\/li>\n<li>VA<\/li>\n<li>Norks<\/li>\n<li>Renewables<\/li>\n<li>Bergdahl<\/li>\n<li>Climate<\/li>\n<li>Terrorism<\/li>\n<li>Assault<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Correction. Last week, I wrote about the Immigration Diversity Lottery, which imported 2 \u2013 3 million people who really didn\u2019t want to come to the US over the last three decades.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 30% of the people invited in come from countries with known terrorism problems.\u00a0 These include Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Yemen, and Uzbekistan.\u00a0 The correction comes with the actual numbers who entered the country.\u00a0 Since 1994, there have been some 1.1 million, around 50,000 \/ year.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/5-million-immigrants-enter-under-diversity-visa-345-more-than-promised\/article\/2639722\">http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/5-million-immigrants-enter-under-diversity-visa-345-more-than-promised\/article\/2639722<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>VA. The Virginia state elections turned out to be a democrat rout of elected and wannabe Republican candidates.\u00a0 The democrat gubernatorial and LtGov candidates both won.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Post-election counts on a few close races may indeed turn that majority over to democrats.\u00a0 So, what happened?\u00a0 At this point, I can\u2019t identify the actual reason.\u00a0 OTOH, I can point out several trends which all worked against Republicans.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>First, democrats were energized. They got a turnout around 41%.\u00a0 Republican turnout was 31%.<\/li>\n<li>Second, the immigration wars imported a massive number of illegals into Northern Virginia over the last couple of decades.<\/li>\n<li>Third, Governor Terry McAuliffe gave 200,000 convicted felons the right to vote again. Perhaps a quarter of them eventually voted.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they voted for Republicans.<\/li>\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<li>Sixth, the largest issue in the state was O\u2019BamaCare and crushing increases in premiums. Neither side addressed the issue.\u00a0 It was ignored.<\/li>\n<li>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.\u00a0 The evangelicals responded with legislation to protect their interests, which allowed the media, democrats, and all the usual suspects to campaign as victims.\u00a0 The general public rejected the evangelical approach, turning Colorado blue for a decade.\u00a0 Democrats picked similar fight in Virginia over transgender rights.\u00a0 More than ten supporters of the evangelicals in the legislature were picked off in this election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, what do we do with this?\u00a0 And does it mean anything?\u00a0 To me it means the days of evangelicals fighting the culture wars via legislation are probably over.\u00a0 This does not mean they should give up.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They are demanding results.\u00a0 And if those results are not forthcoming, neither will be elections.\u00a0 Finally, I heard nothing about the Republicans using Trumpian persuasion tools.\u00a0 Perhaps Our Side needs to learn those tools.\u00a0 Otherwise, they are toast.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/11\/08\/5-takeaways-on-the-virginia-election-results\/\">http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/11\/08\/5-takeaways-on-the-virginia-election-results\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>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.\u00a0 The problem a small nation like North Korea has testing nuclear weapons is that they simply don\u2019t have enough square miles of uninhabited space to do multiple underground tests.\u00a0 The US nuclear test site of Yucca Flats in Nevada was large enough for multiple test locations.\u00a0 If you flew over it, it looked like a giant ant lion farm.\u00a0 None of the US test underground test sites were reused.\u00a0 The Norks have chosen to reuse a single test site and tunnel system multiple times.\u00a0 Each time you fire off a weapon, it fundamentally rearranges the mountains overhead and nearby.\u00a0 Over time, this newly fractured rock becomes increasingly unstable, which is apparently what happened to the new tunnel.\u00a0 This instability may explain the smaller 3.6 Richter earthquake that followed their last big test Sept. 3 which was never explained.\u00a0 Chicom and ROK scientists are worried about radiation releases should the system suffer additional collapses.\u00a0 For its part, the Norks are opining about conducting their next test of a full ICBM \u2013 nuclear warhead weapon system somewhere in the Pacific.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/2017\/10\/31\/200-feared-dead-after-tunnel-collapses-at-north-korean-nuclear-test-site-japanese-tv-claims.html\">http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/2017\/10\/31\/200-feared-dead-after-tunnel-collapses-at-north-korean-nuclear-test-site-japanese-tv-claims.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>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 \u201cclean, renewable energy.\u201d\u00a0 This 100% goal will go a long way toward driving more of their citizens (and voters) deeper into crushing poverty.\u00a0 Today, Missouri generates 96% of its electricity by fossil fuels, 1.5% hydro, and 1.5% solar \/ wind.\u00a0 Other than building a dam across the Mississippi, I don\u2019t think they will be very successful in meeting their renewables goal.\u00a0 Like Alaska Governor Bill Walker, they are asking for a \u201cplan of action\u201d by December 2018.\u00a0 They did not detail who would be allowed to play in the process of preparing that plan.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The utility charges an extra penny per kwh for the privilege.\u00a0 This increases electricity bills by 10 \u2013 20% on average.\u00a0 So far, this program is voluntary.\u00a0 Under the new proposal, it will be mandatory, along with the mandatory increases in electrical costs.\u00a0 Today, Missouri currently has relatively low electrical prices.\u00a0 St Louis so far is a bit lower.\u00a0 This mandate will initially force costs to the California and Connecticut levels around 19 cents \/ kwh.\u00a0 If they get really lucky, they will approach those of Germany and Oz, doubling CA and CN.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know that the citizens of St Louis had that much spare change.\u00a0 Virtue signaling is expensive, and always is done with Other People\u2019s Money (OPM).\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2017\/11\/06\/renewable-energy-by-royal-decree-meanwhile-the-poor-suffer\/\">https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2017\/11\/06\/renewable-energy-by-royal-decree-meanwhile-the-poor-suffer\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>Bergdahl. The presiding judge at Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl\u2019s court martial decided that he would not have to serve any additional time for desertion.\u00a0 He will be dishonorably discharged and pay a $1,000 fine.\u00a0 Rationale for this ruling was the time spent as \u201cprisoner\u201d of the Taliban and President Trump\u2019s comments on the case.\u00a0 Six of his compatriots died in the years-long search for Bergdahl.\u00a0 I think this case is a travesty, and a real example of the problem of gays in the military.\u00a0 One of the ugly little secrets of the war in Afghanistan is the problem of Afghan men taking boys as sex partners.\u00a0 The Afghans have been doing this for centuries, which may explain a lot about why it has been such a backwards cesspool for centuries.\u00a0 There are a number of stories that Bergdahl walked away to join his new boyfriend in this activity.\u00a0 I have seen at least one photo of Bergdahl with an Afghan man who was beaming broadly.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It explains why an American soldier among the Taliban wasn\u2019t tortured and killed.\u00a0 It also explains the kid gloves the trial judge is handling him with.\u00a0 Tell me again how gays in the military improved anything.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/opinion\/brinkley\/article\/Afghanistan-s-dirty-little-secret-3176762.php\">http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/opinion\/brinkley\/article\/Afghanistan-s-dirty-little-secret-3176762.php<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li>Climate. The Trump administration released the latest National Climate Assessment.\u00a0 Law requires the report.\u00a0 It was prepared by O\u2019Bama 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.\u00a0 The report affirms that climate change is almost entirely due to human action, with the seas rising by as much as 8\u2019 by the end of the century.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 For the greens, there is indeed no discussion any more.\u00a0 There is only time for action.\u00a0 The people who prepared and signed this have just self-identified for the next reorganization.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.climatedepot.com\/2017\/11\/03\/steven-koonin-a-deceptive-new-report-on-climate\/\">http:\/\/www.climatedepot.com\/2017\/11\/03\/steven-koonin-a-deceptive-new-report-on-climate\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li>Terrorism. The last great round of eco-terrorism took place with animal rights and anti-logging greens a couple of decades ago.\u00a0 Well with the installation of the Trump administration, they are back in force.\u00a0 Since Inauguration Day, there have been more than 70 credible threats against the EPA staff, mostly against new Administrator Scott Pruitt and his family.\u00a0 For their part, democrats have attacked Pruitt for beefing up his staff to provide personal security commensurate with the increased threat.\u00a0 Pruitt has received more than five times the number of threats than his predecessor, Gina McCarthy.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Someone is going to get hurt as this continues.\u00a0 Perhaps that is what the greens want.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/pjmedia.com\/trending\/a-wave-of-eco-terrorism-against-the-trump-administration\/\">https:\/\/pjmedia.com\/trending\/a-wave-of-eco-terrorism-against-the-trump-administration\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"8\">\n<li>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.\u00a0 The assault came from behind and put him the hospital with several cracked and displaced ribs.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Turns out that was not true at all.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The assailant is a registered democrat and anesthesiologist, a fan of Noam Chomsky, and posted numerous anti-Trump items on his Fakebook page.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/2017\/11\/13\/rand-paul-returns-to-the-senate-following-assault-at-his-kentucky-home\">http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/2017\/11\/13\/rand-paul-returns-to-the-senate-following-assault-at-his-kentucky-home<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>More later &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; AG<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy \u2013 In this issue: Correction VA Norks Renewables Bergdahl Climate Terrorism Assault<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interestingitems.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}