Ideas About Crime

In his book, The Mechanical Bride, Folklore of Industrial Man, Marshall McLuhan writes about crime:

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"One hundred police working on a case can make a thousand mistakes before they strike on the right solution, but the criminal, working against these hundred police, cannot afford to make a single error.

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So far as human daring and courage go, this stacking of cards is a challenge. And the kids feel it as such. The criminal is the hero because he is fighting against hopeless odds. Against this kind of daredevil there is no use in talking up the mealy-mouthed righteousness of the respectable businessman. Not so far as adolescent generosity is concerned. The public heart goes with the criminal just because the official head is against him. Therefore, until some sort of moral heroism returns to the scenes of ordinary life, the kids will want to shoot it out with the cops."

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This observation from seventy-five years ago could easily be applied to the Luigi Mangione affair. Much of the nation has been engrossed in the motives involved but, as might be expected, to the consternation of the proles, the suspect was captured more quickly than they wished. The story continues in a much more uninteresting vein. 

A similar event occurred on the evening of Friday, June 17, 1994  on a 60-mile chase along California's Santa Ana Freeway (5), Artesia Freeway (91) and San Diego Freeway (405), which began at 5:56 p.m. until he reached his Brentwood home at 7:57 p.m., he being O.J. Simpson in the back seat of his white Ford Bronco. Over 95 million viewers watched this live pursuit, switching the channel from an NBA playoff game between the Knicks and Rockets.

Since it took place on a Friday after work, the saloons were full of enthusiastic witnesses to a live television broadcast of a police chase that lasted two hours. They were all cheering wildly for the celebrated gridiron star accused of killing his wife and another man. This and the following legalities made "The Juice" the most famous football star of all time and he remains so today, at least in part because of his impossible attempt at escape, if such it was.

Sadly, McLuhan was no longer with us on the evening of Simpson's adventure but it's interesting to speculate what his reaction to it might have been.

krwa.org

 

  

Cepheid Variables

And what might those be? As described in this article from the Smithsonian Magazine, they are pulsating stars in far away galaxies used to measure distances and speeds of travel. Apparently astronomers are concerned that their investigations seem to show that the universe is expanding at a speed even faster than was previously believed. 

So what? Who, except for a few cloistered academics, can possibly care about the movement of celestial bodies millions of light years away. Knowing their exact speed and direction has zero to do with anything happening or likely to happen here on earth, even if they could actually prove their measurements. Let's find out where the body of super Thoroughbred race horse Shergar ended up. Not that it's wrong to seek out answers to esoteric questions. It's just that public funding shouldn't be used to finance it. That's a role for people like Bill Gates or Juan Soto.

 

scitechdai 

The Urban Barbarian

   The aesthetic satisfaction derived from an elegant mathematical demonstration, a cosmological theory, a map of the human brain, or an ingenious chess problem, may equal that of any artistic experience--given a certain connoisseurship. But connoisseurship is equally required for the true appreciation of any but the most vulgar forms of art; and particularly for ancient, alien, and 'modern' art. However, the absurd division of our society into 'two cultures' produced the paradoxical phenomenon that the average educated person will be reluctant to admit that a work of art is beyond the level of his comprehension; but he will in the same breath and with a certain pride confess his complete ignorance of the principles which make his radio work, the forces which make the stars go round, the facts which determine the heredity of his children, and the location of his own viscera and glands.

   One of the consequences of this attitude is that he utilizes the products of science and technology in a purely possessive, exploitative manner without comprehension or feeling. His relationship to the objects of his daily use, the tap which supplies his bath, the pipes which keep him warm, the switch which  turns on the light--in a word, to the environment in which he lives, is impersonal and possessive--like the capitalist's attitude to his bank account, not the art collector's to his treasures which he cherishes because he 'understands' them, because he has a participatory relationship to them. Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because artificial is evil as such, but because of his lack of comprehension of the forces which make it work--of the principles which relate his gadgets to the forces of nature, to the universal order. It is not central heating which makes his existence 'unnatural', but his refusal to take an interest in the principles behind it. By being entirely dependent on science, yet closing his mind to it, he leads the life of an urban barbarian.

Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation, Arkana, Penguin Group, London, England, 1989, pg. 264.

 

A Recommendation From The Wizard

 The young newspaper editor L. Frank Baum, later the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, wrote in the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer on January 3, 1891:

The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth. In this lies future safety for our settlers and the soldiers who are under incompetent commands. Otherwise, we may expect future years to be as full of trouble with the redskins as those have been in the past.

Firefly Sparkle Discovered

thehindu.com

The incredibly useful $10 billion+ infrared James Webb Space Telescope, launched on Dec. 25, 2021 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana was then parked  near the second Lagrange point (L₂) of the Sun–Earth system, which is 1,500,000 km (930,000 mi) farther from the Sun than the Earth's orbit, and about four times farther than the Moon's orbit. 

A number of important discoveries in the vast reaches of space have occurred since the telescope has been put in operation but the latest is what has become known as the "Firefly Sparkle". Discovered by a team of astronomers from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA, the galaxy seems to share many of the characteristics of "our own" Milky Way, at the same stage of its presumed development 600 million years after the Big Bang.

As interesting as this might be to astronomy buffs and academics doing the research, there doesn't seem to be much use of this information to literally anyone else on earth. What we know or surmise about celestial bodies millions of light years away from earth can have no effect, positive or negative, on anyone living on this planet in the past, present or forseeable future. Ergo, how would the hyper-Whigs that have confiscated public money to finance this and similar projects justify them?

According to the Wiki on the telescope:

The James Webb Space Telescope has four key goals:

• to search for light from the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe after the Big Bang
• to study galaxy formation and evolution
• to understand star formation and planet formation
• to study planetary systems and the origins of life

 How does reaching these goals, even if possible, make life better for those who's confiscated assets were used? And how is it realistically possible to "understand star formation and the origins of life" by looking at infra-red images of a single point in time that have traveled over millions of light years.

Well, sure it would perhaps improve the life of the researchers at Wellesley College and others. Most of all it would lead to more and better paid positions at NASA. But even better yet, a huge proportion of the investment in the project would greatly improve the prospects of the stockholders, management and employees of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Ball Aerospace & Technologies and several thousand scientists, engineers, and technicians spanning 15 countries that have contributed to the build, test and integration of Webb. A total of 258 companies, government agencies, and academic institutions that participated in the pre-launch project; 142 from the United States, 104 from 12 European countries (including 21 from the U.K., 16 from France, 12 from Germany and 7 international), and 12 from Canada. Other countries as NASA partners, such as Australia, were involved in post-launch operation.(See "Institutional Partners Webb/NASA". jwst.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2 August 2023.)

While the design, construction, deployment and operation of the James Webb Space Telescope are marvels of technology, are the projects performed by it really science since there are no practical applications that can even be envisioned for its results? An innocent bystander might think that a few billion dollars devoted to this enterprise really doesn't harm anyone. If that were true the draconian IRS wouldn't be all over the schleps that fail to make tax payments. The reality is that it's one of the great Whig enterprises of all time. Public funds being directed to government cronies for ephemeral and unneeded programs wandering around the cosmos. "Science" run amok.

dhakatribune.com

Lamiya Mowla, Wellesley College

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bug-Out Bag

For some years "preppers" and survivalists have promoted the idea that wise individuals would assemble a collection of necessary items that would help insure their continued life in the event of some wide-spread and serious tragedy. These items would be kept in a backpack always close at hand so as to be immediately available when the event occurred  and the individual would find it necessary to leave his current surroundings for a safer spot. This implies that whatever the circumstances, nuclear attack, for instance, dangerous social upheaval and violence would be the aftermath.

Obviously, the issue isn't surviving a megaton blast, falling trees or a giant fissure opening in the earth. It's living through a breakdown in society, or more of a breakdown than seems to be going on presently. If that's true, "bugging out" isn't the solution. Leaving your accustomed surroundings and lugging your bag to a new, less-known location wouldn't be the best option. 

If you believe in preparing for such a disaster, it doesn't involve filling a pack sack with candy bars, bottled water, band aids and a .357. What you need to do is gather more information about your present surroundings, especially your neighbors and their capacities. Find out who among them, if any, share your concerns and discuss the most effective responses. A major calamity will mean that, at least for a time, no civil order will be enforced. You and your neighbors won't want individuals or groups wandering around your streets. Someone will need to take the lead in organizing security. In a dire and wide-spread situation no one will be going to work anyway. Determine what local spots are most secure and defensible. 

The reality is that even if only a minority buy into such a plan at first, eventually it will be necessary. Why wait until its too late? 

The Artemis Moon Mission

 

 It's been over 50 years since Americans have walked on the moon and it looks like it's going to be a few years more before it happens again. In a post-modern display of incompetence the current schedule of rocketing fragile humans to the lunar surface and back is being postponed until 2027. The ideas behind NASA's super project are here.

While those of us standing in the yard looking at a full moon on the evening of July 20, 1969 were amazed and proud that Americans had safely reached a place outside the earth's atmosphere, the novelty has worn off. It would have been nice if a large flare or strobe light had been made visible but we took their word for it.

There's really no connection between moon landings and the launching and use of satellites for communication and scientific research. People like Elon Musk, with a desire to move on to Mars are welcome to do so on their own dime but the rest of us are unlikely to enjoy any real benefits from their efforts. Of course, the Neo-Whigs enthusiastically point out the many benefits from the publicly financed space program trickle down to the consumer but those advantages could just as easily be produced more cheaply by directed research and development. There are genuine problems here on earth that need to be solved. Perhaps, since this is a "democratic" society, a vote needs to be taken to determine if the population wants vacations on Mars at some time in the distant future more than they do research on Alzheimer's disease, cancer and teen crime.   

The Future Of The IRA

The Inflation Reduction Act. That's the Orwellian moniker of legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16th, 2022. It hasn't reduced inflation.

It's actual goal was authorizing $783 billion in federal money to combat climate change. Evidently there wasn't enough money for the congressional Whigs to finance the fake efforts of their cronies, off-shore wind turbines, solar panels, direct capture CO2 pipelines and sequestration, hydrogen research and carefully orchestrated propaganda. Funds were also needed to gain the support of academia and the media to create the anxious atmosphere necessary for public acceptance. 

 greencarreports.com

A large share of the general population, if they thought about the "problem" at all, felt that the issue was an example of Marxist thinking intruding on the US capitalist system. They were wrong. The climate crisis was a great  opportunity for both existing energy providers and an entreprenurial capitalist class looking for entry level openings with huge subsidies.

The election of 2024 may have changed that. The president-elect has made known his skepticism of the climate emergency and his plan to roll back provisions of the IRA. If successful this will create financial negatives that will compromise the survival of the new entrepreneurs and disappoint the existing energy structure. Since there have already been deals and commitments based on the IRA, all of which involve big money, there will be much conversation between business moguls, their congressional allies, the relevant bureaucrats and the involved researchers. Modifying legislation once enacted is even more difficult than initially creating it because dependencies have been created. 

 

anker.com

Ultimately, the situation is an example of the failure of the democratic process and government in general that ends when all the money isn't gone but redistributed among the oligarchs. 

 

 

SPD Chancellor Olav Scholz Sneaks Off To Kyiv

According to Al Jazeera:

 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged additional military support worth $680m to Ukraine in an unannounced visit to Kyiv after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought security guarantees from NATO against steady Russian advances.

The Russian invasion itself has been a response to the Ukrainian desire to be protected by NATO. Like all things German, the US has been and remains the author of this German policy.

At the same time, the Prosecutor's General Office of Ukraine says that 100,000 soldiers have deserted since the Russian invasion in February 2022. Some Ukraine military authorities claim the number may be as high as 200,000. Apparently, many of these deserters have made their way to Germany, where they intend to stay. It's estimated that as many as 60,000 Ukrainians are living in Berlin. The status of Ukrainian refugees differs from other asylum seekers in that they are permitted to work and receive benefits such as health care and language courses.

In Austria:  Since April 21, 2023, persons who have an "Ausweis für Vertriebene" are exempt from the Alien Employment Act. This means that you have free access to the Austrian labour market and can be employed by an Austrian employer in the same way as he/she would employ an Austrian or EU citizen. In particular, the employer does not have to apply for a work permit ("Beschäftigungsbewilligung") for you.

The US has announced $725 million in military aid for Ukraine drawn from Pentagon stockpiles.

 According to the US State Department:

"Uniting for Ukraine provides a parole pathway for Ukrainian citizens forced to flee their homes as a result of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.  Individuals granted parole through Uniting for Ukraine will be able to travel to and stay in the United States for up to two years.

Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) opened for registration on April 25, 2022, and is managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As of December 2023, over 170,000 Ukrainians have been granted parole through U4U for up to two years. We refer you to DHS and the Uniting for Ukraine website for more information on the requirements and benefits of this program."

 

Racism

 

thesun.com

Evidently, racism is such a big problem that it's intruded into the decor of professional athletic attire.  

In fact, it's such a problem that it's a major topic of conversation in the mastodon media at all times. But what is racism? In reality there is only one race of humans, the human race itself. Since there doesn't seem to be any evidence of living Neanderthals or Australopithecans we'll just have to assume that those races of primates aren't around and the only race of advanced primates are humans. Thus racism on the part of humans must be directed against themselves. So much for grammatical pedantry. 

Racism is actually used to describe the disdain of  one breeding population for another on the basis of cultural factors and perhaps history. Part of being a member of a given culture is accepting its tenets and beliefs and refusing to accept conflicting ones of other cultures. A group of people held in low esteem by those nearby will have difficulty in being accepted as equals, perhaps for an extended period of time, maybe centuries or ever. 

The cultural differences are most apparent in things like food, sanitary practices, male-female relationships, religion and many other things. 

The consumption of dogs in South Korea is being legally phased out because it doesn't comply with the idea of the proper treatment of man's best friend in the West. Pork is forbidden to Muslims and Jews. Hindus in India and elsewhere revere cows and protect rather than eat them.

Westerners are outraged by child brides, a child being anyone under 16, and polygyny, men with multiple wives. Utah was refused statehood until the Mormon church forbid the practice. Oddly, parts of the West are OK with multiple wives. The Emir of Qatar has three wives and 13 children but only his senior wife has accompanied him on his trip to the UK. No one seems to be too upset.

Evidence of "racism" consists of conjecture of cultural difference by appearance. An Anglo male with three wives won't be a  victim of "racism" if the strangers around him are unaware of his harem. If they are, he'll legally be a bigamist, a criminal, not a race problem.     

James Rickards Talks About "The American System"

Published in the on-line "Daily Reckoning" on Nov. 11, James Rickards, a well-known authority on money matters, speculates on the financial implications of the US election results for investors. He talks about Trump's fixation with tariffs as an example of the "American System" but doesn't mention that this system was the product of the Whig party led by Henry Clay until it was converted to the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln that has maintained Whig theories of economics and government until this day. 

The Whigs were a different and more complex group of gangsters than those leading other governments, who simply confiscate the wealth of the citizenry. Having no income tax available the Whigs used tariffs and land sales to finance their infrastructure projects. Of course the reality is that tariffs are a tax on the general population, not those supplying the imports. The infrastructure projects, canals, roads, railroads, battleships, ICBMs, etc., were built by cronies of the Whigs. It wasn't a free market and it isn't today. 

One would think that the goal of a free market democracy would be to lower the cost of everything, from peanuts to legal billings, from housing to medical care. Isn't that what "efficiency" is all about? When someone needs the shingles on his roof replaced he probably doesn't pick the most expensive bidder to do the job. 

Getting back to Trump's theories of trade and their effect on the economy, it should be understood that the policies he favors can work both ways. While the US is now described more as a "service provider" than a manufacturer, the services that the Yankees might seek to export are also vulnerable to trade restrictions. It would be easy for some small, developing country to kick McKinzie or some other consultant out the door.

One might wonder why the Philippines, a country with a long but tortured relationship with the US and a well-educated population, much of which is fluent in English, doesn't have a more prominent place in the US economic scheme compared to Taiwan, Japan or even Viet Nam. It's because the Philippine constitution requires majority domestic ownership of business and property. Imports are heavily regulated. This fact may have worked in their favor or not.   

German Gang Signs

                                seekping.com

A translation of an article from the on-line German Apollo News.

Lower Saxony Office for the Protection of the Constitution declares: OK sign is right-wing extremist

"Number codes, memes, hand signals" - on Thursday, the Lower Saxony Office for the Protection of the Constitution published a new video on X. It warned against "seemingly harmless" symbolism, including the OK sign. Although this is unproblematic in most contexts, it is now also often shown by "right-wing extremists".

The gesture is supposed to mean "white power" and symbolize the superiority of the "white race." "At its core," the gesture is therefore "charged with xenophobia," says the moderator from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The viewers are also told the origin of the "right-wing extremist" gesture. It was invented on the 4chan platform.

In July, the authority also declared the “Pride Month” to be an anti-constitutional movement. It was “anti-democratic and violates our constitution,” they claimed at the time. The “discrimination of queer people,” “nationalism,” and “the rejection of the values ​​of liberal democracies” were “core elements of the Pride Month.” All of these claims are simply put forward – without any evidence (read more here).

In October last year, the Lower Saxony Office for the Protection of the Constitution also warned on X about the cartoon character “Pepe the Frog”. According to an explanatory video, the character, which is used for all kinds of memes, serves as a right-wing extremist code to spread ideology and hate messages ( Apollo News reported).

The Latest Federal Reserve Action

According to an Associated Press article today:

" The Fed is trying to calibrate its policies so that it doesn't cut rates too quickly and allow inflation to surge again. At the same time, it doesn't want to reduce them too slowly, which could drag down hiring and growth.

If inflation stayed too high, Fed officials could “pause” their rate cuts, the minutes said, while if the economy slowed and unemployment rose, they could reduce rates more quickly."

In other words, the vaunted Fed must wait until the results of its last interest modification are apparent before making other interest rate changes, whose results won't be immediately known until the damage is done.

Apparently, the Fed's only recourse in times of economic peril is adjusting interest rates up or down in an optimistic attempt to hold inflation as close as possible to a Goldilocks 2% over some period of time. Many experienced and accomplished economists don't feel that interest rates and inflation are connected. They believe that enpixelating more money for the government to spend on Whig projects is more likely to be the cause. It's amazing that the Fed guys can have kept this charade going for so long, well actually just 111 years.

However, if current technological progress means anything at all there could be a significant change in the near future. Eventually, maybe very soon, artificial intelligence will be providing the solutions to big problems and the very best candidate for its use is the Federal Reserve, especially since the output is based on available numbers. The US economy will be a trained seal balancing the ball of prosperity on its nose.

dailymail.co.uk   

Whig Action In Meat Processing

The USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program has delivered the last of $325 million in grants to 74 US meat packers under the American Rescue Plan.

The rural agriculture community is well-represented in a congress that knows it can't get away with ignoring the most basic human need, affordable food, while showering money on quantum computing, renewable electrical power, CO 2 sequestration, and the other components of climate anxiety, not to mention financing a meaningless war between European gangster states.

Just the same, using government grants to establish and improve sausage makers and turkey processors seems to fly in the face of capitalism and free markets. The Farmers Union Foundation in Minnesota has received $603,582 for several projects including an educational program in meat cutting at the Central Lakes College in Staples, MN. The Farmers Union also owns and operates a restaurant across the street from the chic Guthrie Theater on the bank of the Mississippi.

   

Land vs. Sea On Earth

It's been a consistent observation of the climate catastrophe cult that the warming atmosphere is melting ice caps that then raises water levels and submerges low-lying land and small island territories.

It turns out that the Dutch Deltares Research Institute has used the capabilities of the NASA and USGS Landsat satellite program, a series of nine satellites first launched in 1972, to acquire information about the entire surface of the earth. 

The results of their study, released in 2016 and published by the National Geographic, found that the area of dry land across the globe had increased by an area equivalent to that of Lake Michigan or more than 13,000 km2. While all of this wasn't due to natural forces, just the same there is now considerably more dry land on the earth's surface than there was in at least 1972. This runs counter to the fulminations of noted scientists like  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Activist Noel Brown, who warn that sea level rise is creating immense problems all over the world. The use of the most advanced scientific technology proves this to be a fiction. 

 The on-line Daily Skeptic covers the issue. 

 

wallpapersafari.com

More Carbon-Free Electricity

 https://www.stcloudlive.com/news/local/officials-celebrate-as-1-1b-sherburne-county-solar-power-plan-comes-online

 

One time assistant high school football coach and failed vice-presidential candidate Minnesota governor Tim Walz joined some prominent Xcel Energy executives Nov. 19 at the celebration of the opening of the initial phase of the $1.1 billion Sherco Solar Project near Becker, Minnesota.

 

 Trent Abrego / St. Cloud LIVE

As is normal, proponents of the project tout the number of jobs that it creates, 400 union construction jobs and 12 ongoing operations and maintenance jobs. Yes, twelve highly-paid individuals will observe the static solar panels far into the future, or at least the 35 year lifespan those panels are expected to have, as well as those temporary construction jobs, all for the paltry investment of over a billion dollars. A universal benefit will be the elimination of atmospheric CO2 release, believed by some to be the cause of the startling rise in global temperatures.

Of course none of this would be happening without the advanced Whig technique of providing $480 million in federal tax credits for the operation, as if this sum came from trees rather than the taxes paid by citizens far into the future.

According to media reports the project is even now providing reliable electrical power to thousands of Upper Midwest homes, 220 megawatts at present. Batteries to store power during cloudy days and darkness are on the way.

 

Xcel Energy 

Portions of the project cover what was once a University of Minnesota agricultural research site.  

 

Putting An End To Stabbings

Keeping track of the complete madness that permeates German politics is a full-time job that could dominate a life. Daily there are new indications of collective insanity in central Europe. Here are just a few:

   Interior Senator Iris Spanger (SPD)

1. Interior Senator Iris Spanger has arrived at a solution to the increase of stabbings in Germany, 3,482 occurring last year. In Berlin police recorded 2,650 knife attacks by the end of October. Of these 2,650 cases, 1,026 were threats - a category that traditionally accounts for the largest proportion of knife attacks. In addition, 826 robberies were committed with a knife. However, the increase in particularly serious crimes is worrying: 781 knives were used to cause dangerous and serious bodily harm, which represents a significant increase compared to the 633 cases ten years ago.She and a group of experts have concluded that this violent crime wave could be ended by suspending the driver's license of a person found guilty of six knife offenses in a 24 month period.

2. Adding together both federal and state sources Germany has spent over 266 million euros subsidizing the development of computer video games.

3. Berlin chief of police Barbara Slowik advises Jews and gays to avoid certain areas of the city due to violence from migrants.

4. German economic minister Robert Habeck filed a complaint with police that someone had called him "an idiot" on an X posting, one of 805 complaints he has made. It resulted in a dawn raid on the man's home and confiscation of his electronic devices.   

Kill Their Dogs

At Nunavik, in the most northern reaches of the Province of Quebec, RCMP, Hudson's Bay employees and others took part in a government mandated execution of over a thousand husky sled dogs owned by the Inuit from the late 1950s to the 1960s.

Of course, this is but one more example of how the invading colonialists treated their technological inferiors. In 2011 Quebec paid the former owners of their basic transportation $CD3 million but Ottawa has never put together any form of compensation for this incredible crime.

It must be kept in mind that no action of a government can legally take place without the signature of a decision maker. There is always a responsible party. Those that shot the dogs were following orders of a higher up. Who was the individual that scrawled their name on the death warrant for many hundreds of dogs thousands of miles from the supposedly civilized Canadians? This is important to know so that no high school, court house or hockey arena can ever bear their name.

 

pxhere.com 

North Dakota Public Service Commission Approves Summit CO2 Plan

A unanimous decision by the North Dakota Public Service Commission has approved the plan of Summit Carbon Solutions' $8 billion pipeline proposal that will carry liquid CO2 from 57 ethanol plants in 5 states to an area northwest of Bismarck, ND and then be injected into the ground. The total length of the pipelines would be about 2500 miles, 333 miles in North Dakota.

 

Sheri Haugen-Hoffart     ndliving.com

 

Julie Fedorchak                         kvrr.com

 

Randy Christmann          fortnightly.com

 

The above three are the North Dakota Public Service Commissioners who unanimously approved the Summit Carbon Solutions plan.

There are many questions about the construction of the pipeline complex. First of all, no one has built a liquid CO2 pipeline of this magnitude before, including Summit Carbon Solutions. No one knows if it will actually function as proposed. One of the biggest questions is using the power of eminent domain to acquire the right to cross through private property, which can't be used for the benefit of private entities.

But the primary question, the one that dominates the entire concept is: Will the incredibly expensive project meant to arrest accumulation of CO2 into the atmosphere actually have any effect on climate change? Nobody knows about that for sure, either.

Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune file photo

CChris Hill, Summit Carbon Solutions

 Once again, we're seeing Whigism at a greater extent than in even the wildest times of the robber barons. Tax pay-offs and subsidies will be distributed from government agencies to their accomplices in the board rooms of complicit corporations.   

  

Rape Prevention In Berlin

 

transportrail.canalblog.com

The Greens, part of the "Taffic Light" coalition that runs the German government, are lobbying for a remedy to sexual assaults in the Faustian capital, according to this article from Apollo News:

" The Greens in the Berlin Senate are demanding that there should be special carriages on the subway and S-Bahn just for women to protect them from sexual assault. This is reported by BZ. Originally, separate carriages were to be set up not only for women, but also for non-binary and transgender people. But then it was decided to focus on women. The Greens' transport spokeswoman, Antje Kapek, defended the focus: "I support the focus on women. They are more frequently exposed to violence and therefore have a greater need for protection." Last year, 89 percent of victims of sexual crimes were women and 90 percent of perpetrators were men.

In Berlin, the proportion of sexual crimes on public transport has increased by 260 percent in the last ten years. In 2023, there were 391 crimes. The Greens' plan calls for carriages to be exclusively for women outside of rush hour. The carriages should be either "directly behind the driver," says Kapek, or "at the end of the train if there is a second driver, as in Tokyo." In addition, specially marked zones with emergency call boxes are to be set up, and there is to be video surveillance at the stations.

The measure is based on similar regulations in Japan's capital Tokyo. In Tokyo, there are women's carriages in the evening from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and in the morning until 10 a.m. In addition to women, only wheelchair users and boys up to a maximum age of 12 are allowed in the carriages. 

Maja Weihgold, head of communications at Berlin's public transport company BVG, says: "We are working hard to ensure that all passengers reach their destination safely and with a good feeling at all times." All BVG subways have emergency call buttons that connect them to the driver. There are already emergency call boxes at all stations that connect them to the BVG security center. A police officer who is in contact with police officers on patrol also works at the BVG security center.

The Greens' demand was triggered by a rape in February, as Bild reported. 33-year-old Mohsen K. raped a 63-year-old woman on the U3 line on the last train to Krumme Lanke. The crime occurred shortly after midnight. The Iranian, who came to Germany in 2016, was transferred to a clinic for schizophrenia, as BZ reported in July.

According to the Berliner Morgenpost, the general secretary of the Berlin FDP, Peter Langer, said : "Everyone must be able to move freely in Berlin. There must be no no-go areas." He continued: "Instead of creating extra carriages, all subway carriages must be accessible. Additional security personnel must be available on site, especially in the evenings and at night." Berlin's transport senator Ute Bonde (CDU) is also critical of the Greens' proposal. She referred to the existing security structure at subway and S-Bahn stations. The requested measure contradicts "my idea of ​​a society with equal rights, regardless of my gender."

Others point out that the increase in crimes of this nature in Germany is due to the unlimited immigration from the south and east of the country.

 

 The Midget pub (Image: Andy Ffrench)

Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, about halfway between London and Gloucester, was at one time the home of MG Motors, the maker, among other models, of the MG Midget, holder of the world land speed record. The business is now owned by a Chinese firm and autos with the MG marque are produced in China. 

The pub was established in 1974 and has carried the same name since. But, in a world where disapproval can be expressed from a comfortable chair via a digital petition, a simple, uncontroversial word can be doomed to infamy. Apparently there are some, perhaps midgets themselves, that find the word demeaning and obnoxious. Why this should be is a mystery. There will always be a word needed to describe a smaller adult human. Dwarf isn't it either since a midget and dwarf are not the same. Maybe if there is in some backwater of the English-speaking world a saloon named "The Dwarf", it too will have its name changed to mollify some small group of pin heads.

This actually isn't unusual. US hockey youth levels were once designated as Mite, Squirt, Peewee, Bantam and Midget but since 2016 these divisions are now called by their ages. What was once a Peewee is an Age 11-12.

Open-wheel midget sprint cars are still a popular form of racing all over the world. Owners, drivers and spectators may not be offended but surely others object.

Neo-Whigs Celebrate In Up-State New York

American Whigs have joyfully engineered an $825 million infusion of enpixelated federal funds to establish the Albany Nano Tech complex in the upstate New York capital. Research at the location is to include the further development of  extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography, a component of advanced semiconductor technology. 

 

technostalls.com

Two other similar research and development centers are to be established in as yet to be disclosed locations. The Biden/Harris administration's 2022 Chips and Science Act is the legal structure used to enable the investment. Ostensibly, the legislation is meant to counter advances in AI technology by unfriendly nations, mostly China, but also includes a hodgepodge of other issues related to AGW, space operations and other current crises. 

This follows the successful pressure the US government has put on the Dutch government and leading chip tool manufacturer ASML of the Netherlands to cease exporting the most advanced production tools to Chinese entities.

The justification for these moves is, of course, national security. While no one really knows if artificial intelligence or large language models can even be a significant factor in a military environment and make one nation more dangerous than another, the Whigs can be counted on to explore the issue and distribute  large sums of money. 

In the dim Yankee past the ingredients of national security were made up of simple technologies like the repeating rifle, the steam ship, and mobile artillery, the tank. Now AI systems will evidently direct serious disagreements between armed adversaries. Perhaps AI will at some point be able to convince political leaders that the time is right to unleash devastating force on perceived enemies or even economic competitors. Will it be possible that AI might recommend surrender? If it does will the leaders inform the population?

Isn't it a fact that rather than fear of a Han invasion the US worries that the Chinese will conquer in an economic sense, perhaps negating the advantages of US hyper-capitalism? Is that the national security this activity is meant to insure?

A similar situation existed in the late seventeenth century between the British and the Dutch, each seeking hegemony in the colonial era. The affair was settled diplomatically by the Treaty of Breda in 1667.

 

    

Central Bank Digital Currency

 "Many individuals throughout the world have no access to bank accounts, so a CBDC would give them a way to be paid, hold their money, and pay bills. CBDCs could also decrease the maintenance a complex financial system requires, reduce cross-border transaction costs, and give people who use alternative money-transfer methods lower-cost options."

The above quote is from an Investopedia on-line article on Central Bank Digital Currency. Already adopted in vibrant commercial centers the Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria, no doubt to satisfy the demands of the locals, it's probably just a matter of time before the existing digital currency in other localities is replaced by an even better one. Of course adoption of the CBDC will give those without bank accounts the ability to be paid, hold money and pay bills that they haven't had for the last 5000 years or so. While the CBDC may reduce costs throughout the financial system there will surely be some costs. After all, the construction of the giant and complex AI data centers isn't a charity, somebody is looking to make big bucks with an immense digital filing system. The same would be the case with CBDC. 

Most important, any CBDC, as with the digital funds now in use, is completely reliant on reliable electricity. Without power an ATM, which dispenses printed fiat money, is useless. The locals will absolutely need a smart phone to participate in the economy at all but the most primitive level. Depending on the vagaries of wind or sunshine for access to one's money is another problem for which the Net Zero fanatics have yet to consider or provide a solution.

It will be interesting to see if the adoption of a CBDC in the enlightened West will be dependent on a real democratic process or the faux democracy that presently exists where important government decisions are made at the direction of elites, in this case no doubt those of Wall Street.

 

  

AdF Doesn't Like Bauhaus

Bauhaus, the architectural design school created in Germany in 1919 and for some odd reason still influential in many parts of the world, is a contentious subject in East Germany, according to Reuters. 

Bauhaus itself isn't the issue. It's those who object to boxy, ugly brutalist buildings replacing traditional structures. Those objectors are attempting to make a point that was also that of 1930's Nazis. That makes them the heirs of the Nazi culture. 

archdaily.com

Members of the Alternative for Deutschland., invariably designated in the press, both locally and internationally, as "far right wing", aren't in favor of new construction following Bauhaus ideas so they are Nazis. It's important not to continue or resurrect atavistic Nazi concepts. But current Germans and in fact people all over the world drink beer, eat sausages,  and brush their teeth just as the Hitlerites did. But they are not labelled as Nazis.

What makes the AdF neo-nazis is their refusal to accept as normal idiotic government policies. They oppose what has become unlimited immigration and government subsidies for the invaders, similar to what is occurring in the US. They also oppose involvement in the Ukraine-Russia fiasco and favor diplomacy being used to settle an issue with the potential of destroying modern civilization. The AdF finds the efforts to eliminate climate change as futile and destructive of the German economy, both for business and ordinary citizens. Apparently that makes them Nazis, at least in the eyes of their political adversaries. It's similar to what is occurring in the US where politicians label their electoral opponents as fascists or commies. It's just easier that way.       

Jake Sullivan Defends Tariffs On Chinese Imports

 

The SCMP keeps track of US China policy for us, kind of. In an article about the administration's ideas on tariffs on Chinese imports as expressed by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at an event at the Brookings Institution he informs us that  Biden’s approach on China represented a return to “a tradition” of American foreign policy based on the concept of “self-interest rightly understood”.

In 2023 the US imported, mostly from Canada and Mexico, USD 210.3 billion in automobiles from 87 countries. Manufacturers in mainland China shipped $2.5 billion in cars or about 1.2% of US imports.

 

 

Lowest Sea Level Ever Recorded

On Saturday, Oct. 12 the sea level dropped 7.9 feet below the low tide line, the lowest ever recorded at Nome, Alaska. If this sort of thing continues, no doubt due to climate change, bad things will happen in the Bering Sea, whales and walrus might starve or be eaten by polar bears. Seals will head south. Ducks and geese will get out of town for sure.

                                                photo by Anna Leotis  Nome Nugget

 

 

Haitian Rice and Firearms

Spanish English-language on-line news portal El Pais carries an opinion piece on the travails in Haiti, a place well known for unpleasant disasters for the population. This comes because rumors have been going around about Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio eating the local's pets. The article goes on to describe the verifiable problems of the country.

To begin with no mention is made of the fact that Haiti, an island country, shares the island with the Dominican Republic. Certainly through the years the Dominican Republic has had its own share of problems but nothing on the scale of Haiti. The Dominican Republic frequently gets in the news because it's a primary source of US major league baseball stars, not for overpowering social problems.

 

ar.inspiredpencil.com

The satellite photo shows two very divergent landscapes on the same island, one green and healthy, the other barren. Come to your own conclusion.

The writer makes two salient observations: 1. That the endemic violence of Haiti is caused by illegal arms importation Florida gun runners. 2. The domestic rice production of Haiti was destroyed by US President Clinton forcing them to abandon a rice tariff meant to improve the agricultural economy of Arkansas.

In regard to claim #1, arms dealing is meant to be a profitable enterprise for the dealer, who expects to make money on the transaction. In this case, from where do the funds for arms purchases come in a place noted for its poverty? Furthermore, in order for a gun of any kind to be effective ammunition is required. No ammunition is manufactured on Haiti either. It must be purchased, at a premium, from Florida gun gangsters.

Statement #2 makes the point that  a tariff on imported rice was beneficial to Haitian rice growers and its termination meant that rice was no longer grown on the island. This is a common misconception of what tariffs are meant to accomplish and the actual result. In this case, as in all other tariff situations, it raised the price of rice for consumers. Clinton's economic diplomacy meant that without the tariff rice became cheaper. Perhaps that made more funds available for arms purchases.

In any event, neither of the two issues addresses the high level of violence in Haiti. It's apparently deeper than lots of guns and cheap rice.   

 

 

Bill Clinton and Chuck Schumer Both Advocate Increased Immigration

 

juliabeverly getty images

 

Former Rhodes Scholar and US President Bill Clinton maintained in a speech at a fish fry that immigration was necessary to maintain the economic growth that makes the US such a nifty place because US women are refusing to reproduce. Oswald Spengler predicted and explained this phenomenon years ago in his classic "The Decline of the West".

As many Yankees are coming to realize, increasing amounts of immigration won't produce a dynamic US economy but instead will result in a different national entity as time goes by. Just as the invasion by Europeans eliminated the native cultures and populations in and after the dawn of the 16th century, immigration to Europe and North America will eventually mean the birth of a new culture. All the riches that were showered on the military-industrial complex to prevent the Bolsheviks from changing Texas to a warmer and more Baptist Siberia will have been wasted.

The elites of the West apparently believe that they and their maybe descendants will be insulated from such a development, the current proles just being replaced by a more exotic harmless version. The Ivy League alumni will still be the decision makers.

We regularly hear about the impending doom of Japan from a diminishing birth rate. In fact, we've been hearing about it for many years. But Japan is still around, doing odd Japanese things that are authorized or ignored by the US, who is using the island chain as an advance aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.

The concern over a falling US birth rate has nothing to do with preserving the country as a society or culture. If it did, obviously the educational system and other cultural influences would talk females out of aborting their unborn. This they have not attempted to do. So replacing the deceased isn't about continuity, or sustainability, currently a favorite word, but instead, like everything else, an issue of wealth.

The fertility rate doesn't need to drop very much before the financial mavens worry about the most serious problem, consequent declines in asset values. Most concrete assets decrease in value when the surrounding population falls, except perhaps senior living facilities. Most of the time assets are purchased with the expectation that they will either produce income or increase in value. Homes on the fruited plain aren't just places to live. The idea that they will increase in value makes them an investment, a source of funds for tuition at the senior living facility. For business, real estate is the best security for loans, as long as it increases in value.

A trip through rural America demonstrates how it works. Small towns are, for lack of population, shuttering their operations. Agriculture, the most important industry in the world, now needs a fraction of the work force it once did. The farm land prices are rising but the homes and businesses in the villages are closing up. A decline in fertility will spread this affliction everywhere if immigrants aren't allowed to replace Americans. Someone must pay the rent on the many thousands of new apartments still being built in the suburbs or the banks may be offended.      

Private Equity Goes After The Plumbers

In a top-of-the-fold, front page exposure on Oct. 14, the WSJ highlights what they believe to be a significant change in the US economic picture, private equity firms buying their way into the mechanical service and construction industries. The article fails to mention that the same occurred in a slightly different guise twenty-five years ago. In 2000 US Filter bought a number of western US mechanical contractors. They were following the lead of other consolidators who anticipated a gold rush in infrastructure development, particularly in the growing computer hardware field. This trend, interrupted by the twists and turns of the national economy has continued to this day.

The real question, if there is one, is whom this phenomenon benefits and how much? No doubt some players see that the replacement of obsolete boilers and the introduction of supposedly more efficient heat pumps to take advantage of government subsidies related to the fight against climate change are an opportunity not to be ignored. Simply taking over the family businesses that have been the focus of mechanical service until now probably isn't the ultimate aim. 

The mechanical trades are a tough business. Heavily unionized in the most lucrative areas, they require management with sharp pencils for successful bidding and experienced work crews with highly developed skills. As in many other businesses, the success of the private equity buyers will be contingent on the workers in the field more than the ownership.  

   

A New Executive Vice President For Finance And Operations At The University Of Minnesota

Gregg Goldman

 

Following approval by the Board of Regents today Gregg Goldman will be taking the financial reins of the University of Minnesota on November 11, replacing interim Senior VP Julie Tonneson who replaced Myron Franz on March 1, 2024.

There's been scant information on Goldman's career up to this point. Goldman's age hasn't been mentioned. He has made brief stops at UCLA and Hillspire LLC, the entity that keeps track of Google co-founder Eric Schmidt and wife Wendy's philanthropy and other financial interests to the tune of $20 billion. 

Where Goldman's CV becomes interesting is his tenure prior to UCLA, at the University of Arizona. Tony De Francesco also went on to UCLA. The situation in Arizona  has led to a $10 million law suit. There's a possibility that Mr. De Francesco could eventually have a position in Gopherville as well.

The romance of Mr. Goldman is more interesting yet:

 

Illegal Photography

 

 FILE - This photo shows an aerial view of Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Grayling, Mich., July 19, 2014. (AP Photo/John L. Russell, File)

In August of 2023 five Chinese students from the University of Michigan were discovered sneaking around after dark in the woods near Camp Grayling, Michigan, a national guard training site in the center of north central Michigan at the junction of Interstate Highway 75, US Rte. 127, M-72 and M-93. The students were not arrested but federal authorities have since kept tabs on them, discovering that they may have misled investigators by claiming to have made the trip from Ann Arbor to see shooting stars and later deleted photos of military equipment from their smart phones.

US authorities don't know the location of the five but intend to arrest them if possible.

A further consideration brought by the incident is that there is presently a plan to construct a battery plant only 88 miles from the base involving the presence of an entity with ties to the CCP. Michigan congressman Joe Moolenar said: 

 "This case shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant. The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state. State funding for Gotion’s plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for further spying on Camp Grayling.

For national security reasons, Governor Whitmer and the legislature must revoke state funding for Gotion immediately,” the Republican Congressman stated, linking the charges against the students to the battery plant.

The purpose of taking photos at night of a national guard camp in Michigan hasn't been speculated upon by federal authorities. Anyone else could come up with a few possibilities. First of all, is it illegal for anyone to take photos of Camp Grayling or just students from foreign countries? Are foreign students advised upon arrival in the land of the free and home of the brave that taking photos involving the military is illegal? And after the espionage mission is completed what will the spies, and their masters, do with the photos? Could they be useful in planning an attack on north central Michigan? Or could a midnight photo of Camp Grayling shed light on US National Guard training techniques that the godless Commies can adopt for their own evil purposes? Exactly how close can a Chinese be allowed to approach a US missile, howitzer, L-ATV or even enlisted infantryman? Or, did the college students concoct a plan to sell photos of the installation to the Chinese military itself?

Cigarettes Were Banned

                Thursday, June 26, 1947

 

 We are not cheerful. The American government banned the import of cigarettes. And that to a country where now for years Chesterfields are used as the standard currency.

"What do you think is the most effective way to combat the black market?" and American finance specialist asked me recently.

 "By giving us cigarettes," I replied.

 He looked at me disapprovingly. "Might a vanquished people be so addicted to intoxicants?" I interpreted his look. A hundred times I have asked myself the same question. Why do people who have never touched a cigarette before suddenly smoke? Why do they sell their food ration cards just to buy a pack of cigarettes on the black market at an incredible price? Why at a time when the monthly cigarette allotment is twelve cigarettes per person? That is per every male person. Women get only half as many. Why don't we draw the conclusions from this lack of supply and stop smoking altogether? Because we are unable to. Daily, if not hourly, fate presents us with new shocks. The shock of a night of bombs, the fear of being raped, the insecurity of life in Berlin, the whole misery of our life in the ruins---all that cannot be compensated with oatmeal. Or with grits or ersatz coffee. It is the discrepancy between the intensity of our fate and drabness of our daily life that makes us addicted to cigarettes. For a few happier moments they offer escape from an unbearable reality. This is the secret that made Chesterfields into the standard currency. And as we are condemned to cope with so much more than our strength permits, they will remain a focus of our desire.

Now the importation of tobacco has been banned. What an illusion to expect that stopping the supply will stop the demand. If only the occupying powers could show a little more compassion for personal needs. What do the sated know of the hungry? Or people who throw away half-smoked butts about those who eagerly sacrifice three and a half marks for one of those butts. On the black market or wherever they can get it.

 

Battleground Berlin, Diaries 1945-1948; Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, Paragon House Publishers, New York, 1990, pgs. 176-177. 

Sorting Out The Inflation Reduction Act

The Orwellian named Whig 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is being figured out by everyone with an interest in getting a chunk of $369 billion. The  Environmental Protection Agency's National Clean Investment Fund was established by the legislation which has channeled $6.97 billion through Climate United, a non-profit NGO, that is now putting $32 million of those taxpayer dollars into a project being done by Scenic Hill Solar to power the University of Arkansas with solar energy. The EPA is giving away so much money that they must hire outside private organizations to hit the keys that move the funds from the public purse to the private sector. The more entities in the process, the more money that can be siphoned. 

When mountains of money are available opportunists look to be involved. Instead  of battling the renewable energy industry, the hydrocarbon sector has decided to join them. Executives of the major oil companies are worried that if their ally Trump wins the next election the EPA fund will be terminated and their own industries will be negatively affected. They are investing billions in direct capture CO2 and hydrogen  projects and tax credits are a resource for them. Of course the hydrocarbon corporations aren't in favor of every part of the legislation. They oppose tax credits for electric vehicles, among other things. 

Things That Are Needed During and After a Disaster

 

What Does The Longshoreman's Strike Mean?

The east coast longshoremen are now on strike. An increase in wages of 77% over six years or an hourly wage increase from $39 to $69 dollars is their target. An agreement would also entail restrictions on port automation and benefits.

Retailers admit that if not settled quickly the work stoppage will create bottlenecks in already strained supply lines that create shortages and even if resolved in the very near future will raise prices for consumers.

When government officials wanted to create or raise tariffs on imports from certain countries the impact on consumers, higher prices, was merely a buzz in the background. The idea that higher prices on foreign products and their subsequent fall in import volume might lead to smaller demand wasn't a topic of conversation. After all the ability of domestic manufacturers to fill the gap is what the tariffs are all about. 

 

porttechnology.org

 Over 50 container ships are waiting offshore of Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. The inability to land beef imports and ship out US chicken exports will put pressure on consumers and farmers.

Saving the jobs of some US workers is more important than saving those of others. It's a good thing to restrict imports from bad people if the jobs of some Americans can be retained, a bad thing if the jobs are moving the containers full of imported stuff from ships to docks.

The income of corporate management, financial mavens, legal professionals, university administrators, professional athletes, entertainers and a host of others that don't get dirty at work but are a drag on the overall economy can't be eliminated.

A major concern of the retailing industry is the possibility that there may be a smaller number of gifts under the 2024 American Christmas tree. This wouldn't necessarily be bad for the big box stores but instead devastating for families. While the Christmas holidays were once seen as a celebration of family togetherness and religious awareness, maybe they've now become an embrace of the consumerism that makes the world  go around. The longshoremen are seen as sabotaging that development for their own benefit.

Lost in the current impasse is that the Biden/Harris regime has determined that the huge, remotely operated cranes, made in China, are a national security risk, all 200 of them, the majority of those in use in the US.