Chinese Fentanyl

US State Department stars Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell have both been scurrying about Asia and the South Pacific lobbying the locals to allow the Yankees to assist in the interdiction of synthetic opioids that are being staged there for shipment to the US. Evidently Americans from the ghettos to Beverly Hills are so  captivated by turning themselves into zombies that the Commie Chinese can make both big profits and speed the collapse of the free world by setting up a supply chain that focuses on small Pacific island nations.

As efforts focused on previous drug scourges have proven, it seems unlikely that the demand will be unsatisfied regardless of what the US government does. In fact, other contraband casually enters the country with few problems, namely human beings. Failing to eliminate, or even alleviate, this situation doesn't bode well for the battle against opioids.

A cynic might look at the affair as just another hegemonic attempt to gain power in an area that's been ignored for decades. The US paid no attention to Tonga and the Solomons until the Chinese began putting up infrastructure in the area. Helping the locals fight climate change and rising seas is also on the agenda. Pushed into the memory hole are the atomic explosions the US detonated on Bikini atoll, Enewetok atoll and Johnston Island, 105 in all, the last occurring in 1962. 

If US authorities have investigated and confirmed the supply chain of synthetic opioids running through the Pacific islands and on to Mathew Perry's home, how about some real evidence? Maybe that is expecting too much. Legal authorities at all levels have yet to even mention, much less exert an effort to combat urban graffiti, a cancer that is a sure sign of imminent societal doom. The Chicoms are doubtlessly paying the graffiti "artists" to deface inner city properties with inane script, perhaps containing subliminal messages about the thrill of fentanyl.      

Opposition To Summit Carbon Solutions: Update

 https://ictnews.org/news/north-dakotans-call-on-state-to-deny-permits-for-carbon-capture-project

amestimes.com

There's considerable local opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions plan to gather by-product CO2 from ethanol plants across the Upper Midwest, transport it by 2000 miles of pipelines and then inject it into the ground in the vicinity of Bismarck, North Dakota, but not as much as might be expected. As with many Whig ideas, the average person is too busy with other things, like making a living in perilous times, to become an effective adversary of projects that have no chance of initiation or success without oceans of federal money, tax abatements and subsidies.

South Dakota has enacted legislation that allows the construction of the pipelines. Nebraska seems to be less enthusiastic and has some organized resistance. Minnesota plans an extensive environmental review of the project. The Iowa Utilities Board has approved the Summit Carbon Solutions application with the stipulation that additional filings be presented before a permit is issued for the 688 miles of pipeline that winds through 29 Iowa counties.

As with all things CO2, the solution may well be for a problem that doesn't actually exist. Since the atmosphere presently contains just 421 parts per million of the gas, there's much skepticism that an increase will have any discernable effect on the climate. But Summit Carbon Solutions, a company that's never built a pipeline of any kind, seeks to tap into tax rebates and subsidies by waving checks in the faces of farmers whose land the pipelines will cross and, if the grangers refuse to accept, use eminent domain to accomplish their goals. This will be an affront to even the most neo-liberal.

The South Dakota Supreme Court has decided that Summit Carbon Solutions is not a common carrier and can't use eminent domain to build its CO2 pipelines through the Jack Rabbit State. The project faces also faces issues in the other states slated for pipelines. 

  

Aussie Solar Power To Singapore

Green energy production doesn't just save the planet from climate catastrophe, as is always the case its biggest benefit is the jobs it creates. 

The now government approved Australia-Asia Power Link $19 billion project will cover 29,650 acres, or a little over 43 square miles of Australia's Northern Territory with solar panels producing 6 GW of electricity and, best of all, creating 14,300 jobs. About one third of the power will be sent by under-sea cable to Singapore, supplying up to 15% of the city-state's energy needs, and later Indonesia.

When complete the project will be the world's largest solar energy complex, use the world's largest battery and be connected by the world's longest undersea cable, 2800 miles long. And have 300 operational employees in the Northern Territory.

Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Wednesday that the project would transform Australia into a “renewable energy superpower”.

The government approval is really just in regard to environmental considerations. The next hurdle is arriving at the Final Investment Decision by 2027. In other words, financing is dependent at least in part by Indonesia and Singapore, the ultimate customers.

Inflation

People, including the people that produce media copy, don't seem to have a real grasp of what inflation actually is. They have even modified its mention by an adjective, "price" inflation, meant to somehow differentiate the concept from the destruction of the value of money. 

The current inflation, which has been consciously pursued by those in charge of such matters for years, is merely the latest example of institutionalized theft.

 

investopedia.com

The goal, as expressed by spokesmen for the US Federal Reserve Bank is, among other things, a steady inflation of 2% annually. There's no scientific or empirical evidence that this is necessarily a good thing and many theories that it's very wrong. 

The Spanish Price Revolution, in the latter part of the 16th century and much of the 17th century, caused in part by confiscation of gold from the New World and advanced techniques in mining there and in Europe, resulted in an inflation rate of 1.2% compounded annually over a 150 year period. This meant that prices went up by six times and caused many problems in Spain and elsewhere.

Be that as it may, Fed figures admit that inflation is higher than desired and that their throttle on monetary expansion must be carefully monitored through economic analysis. Their primary tool in this effort is changing interest rates or "fixing the price of money".

The amount of food that could be purchased for $20 in the US in 1913, when the Fed was established, would now cost $662.57, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists aren't too upset by this because wages and salaries have also risen dramatically.

Maybe that's why there's no thought, perhaps as an experiment, given to reversing inflation for even a short period of time, of engaging in an episode of deflation, which, according to many economists would end civilization as we know it. After all, the complexities of economics means that bank economists can't accurately predict the future and how the economy might change in the short term. In reality there is no scientific basis to the workings of central banks and the monetary system. The administrators aren't much different than astrologers or fortune tellers.

Also interesting is the fact that while higher wages in the prole workforce are always regarded as inflationary and so mentioned, other increases in exchange don't seem to get a similar evaluation. For instance, increases in common stock prices are always seen to be a good thing. No one seems to care that college tuition has risen many times that of inflation as have legal fees and medical and drug prices.

The retail price of gasoline is easy to track since it's displayed in huge numbers in front of gas stations. There are no such signs on the front doors of law offices, hospitals and college bursars.     

Central Bank Digital Currency

The digitalization of the world presents many opportunities to the current crop of entrepreneurs. The most obvious and newsworthy at the moment is "renewable energy" and AI data centers. The homme de la cul de sac doesn't know if all of this commotion is really necessary, especially since it will cost trillions of dollars to develop, implement and operate with no guaranteed benefits if it should even be successful. Digital research and engineering enables the physical exploration and perhaps exploitation of resources away from the earth itself, again something of dubious benefit to contemporary residents of that planet but with enormous expense that could instead be focused on local problems directly. The central issue of this situation is the source of funding. If it comes from private interests there can be no objection. If, on the other hand, public money, ie. taxes, treasury bills, etc., finances the efforts, "democracy" will be perverted, as it has been with US agencies like NASA, perhaps the most Whiggish operation in the country's history. 

The possibilities of the digital revolution have   understandably come to the attention of the always aware financial industry. Foremost among them for the last few years has been the promotion of central bank digital currency.

Of course, in a sense, we operate in a digital currency system now. For many people a transaction at the supermarket,  saloon or gas station doesn't involve coins or paper money. Symbols I and 0 are arranged in a language that can represent almost anything, including the payment to Ronald McDonald for a cheeseburger. While this process isn't free, it is convenient, number 2 on the Yankee list of  priorities (comfort, convenience, entertainment and safety). Companies issuing credit cards tack a fee onto the retailer's price for this, which may make it easier to order on-line than stumble down to the hardware store but when done by millions of couch potatoes adds up to major profits with literally no labor expense, what the digital service industry is all about. Since a paycheck can be deposited electronically there's no need to carry around coins or bills when a plastic card works great.

Now central banks want to do the same thing. Those promoting the idea aren't charities, they plan to derive income for enabling its adoption. There's no doubt that central bank digital currency will make life better than ever for everyone if the proles can only be convinced. It's as though electronic funds transfer isn't currently available. So what is it that they're really up to? It looks like the goal is elimination of the germ-covered bills and the coins that no body wants. Book keeping, on a national scale and individually, will be easy and keeping track of the economy will open new windows for surveillance. Welcome to 1984.       

Junk Wind Turbine Blades Are A Problem

Updating a wind farm near a small southern Minnesota community has meant the replacement of over a hundred immense fiberglass turbine blades. The no-longer functional blades remain on a rented lot in the village of Grand Meadow where they've been an eyesore and nuisance for four years, according to this story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

A convoluted story begins with Florida-based Next Era Energy, who did the blade replacements, then  a Spanish company, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, who made a deal with River Cap Ventures to recycle the blades, which didn't work out. Wind farm owner and regional power supplier Xcel Energy says it can't do anything because it doesn't own the scrap blades. Estimates for their disposal amount to a half million dollars. Public regulators have been no help in the matter.

What this incident illustrates is that renewable energy projects are far more complicated than their advocates admit and more expensive as well. 

Back in the 1940s, the Vermont Public Service Commission erected a wind turbine on Grandpa's Knob near Rutland. The first sleet storm caused it to fly to pieces and it wasn't replaced. Certainly in that era wind turbine design and the materials used to build them were in their infancy. Engineers  now know much more about the necessary designs and the available materials are more suitable. More recently, a turbine at the St. Cloud, Minnesota VA campus failed in its purpose but hung around immobile for years before being demolished at considerable expense, a huge embarrassment for those in charge. Even if a wind farm is successful, however that might be measured, it must be maintained and repaired just as hydrocarbon-fueled generators must be. Turbines will go off-line and their production must then be replaced by other sources until they are put back into action. 

More Climate Bad News

Businesses that supply the agricultural industry are having profitability issues caused by an international glut of food crops. First Archer Daniels Midland and now ag chemical supplier Bayer are missing Wall Street analysts' predictions. Equipment manufacturer John Deere is laying off workers in Iowa and Illinois. According to the USDA there were 1.89 million farms in the US in 2023, 7% less than the 2.04 million in 2017. At the same time forecast farm income will drop by 27%, about $43 billion.

Evidently, present climate trends are a factor in increases in world crop yields and subsequent problems for farmers and agricultural equipment makers. While larger crops and lower prices might be bad for the production end it should ease pressure on consumers. Unfortunately, rampant inflation continues.

 

Record Low Temperature

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - It’s not quite pumpkin spice season, but it sure felt like it on Friday.

On Friday morning, the National Weather Service reported that the temperature in Kansas City, Missouri, dropped to 54 degrees. That broke the record low of 55 degrees for an Aug. 9, set in set in 1927.

As of Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., Kansas City had reached a high of just 71 degrees. The record coldest high temperature for Aug. 9. is 73 degrees. That was accomplished in 1991, the NWS reported.

“We may wind up setting a record low and record low high temperature for the date,” the National Weather Service stated.

First Warn 5 chief meteorologist Luke Dorris said Friday’s weather is typical for Oct. 7!

Warner Brothers-Discovery To Cut 1000 Jobs

The paradigm of home entertainment has changed dramatically, according to this John Nolte piece. Technological advances make events like this inevitable and ever more frequent. 

One of the most interesting aspects of the Warner Bros./Discovery problem is not so much the changing circumstances of the business but instead those who run it. In this case that would be CEO David Zaslav, one of the highest paid executives on the planet. His contract to lead the combined operation, signed in 2021, includes an annual salary of $3 million with an annual signing bonus of $22 million and stock options with a value of $190 million.

In the past year WBD share prices have fallen from $13.16 to $8.67 today, a drop of 34%.

 

variety.com 

Maybe the share holders of WBD should be happy that this certified genius has kept the video service from becoming the modern equivalent of the Morse code telegraph and rejoice in the fact that he's willing to put in the time and effort needed for such small compensation.

In fact, maybe Zaslav would be the ideal pick to be the next Democrat candidate for US president, despite the need to take a huge pay cut, since he's already a significant donor to Dem causes. A ticket made up of Zaslav and George Clooney would be tough for the GOP to match. 

Update: As of August 6, Warner Bros. Discovery has posted a second quarter net loss of $9.9 billion or $4.07 per share and shares in the company dropped 9.2% in aftermarket trading.     

EV Charger Hogs

The issue of EV journeys being extended by long waits for access to charging stations has emerged from the possible to the inevitable, as shown here. This has been a concern from the beginning and the slow construction of charging stations hasn't seemed to improve the situation. A multi-billion dollar federal program hasn't accomplished anything either.

A 50kw public charger is supposed to be able to bring the battery charge of a Tesla Model Y from 20% to 80% in about an hour, if it's available. Due to the lack of charging facilities, waiting in line for your turn at juice replenishment must be added to the time required.

screenrant.com

This is diametrically opposed to everything the private automobile stands for and Americans expect and demand in every area of life. Speed, no waiting, no queuing, is the standard in everything from grocery shopping to hamburgers to bank transactions to funeral visitations. The idea that Yankees will happily interrupt  their trip to sit in a line and listen to Sirius radio while the offspring belted into child seats in the back scream and tear at each others hair is preposterous. Of course this assumes that there will be offspring. One balm to the situation will be the omnipresent smart phone. Stationary drivers will be able to while away the time doing business or chatting with friends and lovers as electronic potential oozes into their batteries. Small consolation, they can do that while the car is in motion.

Just the same, everything considered, it seems unlikely that impatient Americans will entirely change their attitudes toward time, their time, in order to accommodate the wishes of the electro-fixated climate anxious.  

 

  

 

100% of Minnesota's Energy To Be Carbon-Free By 2040

Or so the scientists that make up the elected government say. Part of this dream is the billion dollar upgrade of a transmission line from  Center, North Dakota to Duluth suburb, Hermantown, Minnesota. The consumers of the CO2-free power that will be carried by the government mandated new and improved system are inhabitants of one of the least densely populated areas in the country but will ultimately be required to pay the cost of the project. The date 2040 is only 15 years into the future so the action better start soon.

As usual, the Whigs tout one of the major benefits of the program, clean energy employment, not just for bureaucrats and hyper-capitalist entrepreneurs, but for the lowly blue collar dolts that will be hustling for a weekly paycheck during the construction phase and presumably able to save enough to pay their electric bill during their golden years.

 utkarshindia.in

From The Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

Running a Las Vegas casino (or several casinos) is no small feat, and the executives in charge of those operations are paid handsomely for their efforts.

Based on a review of available data filed by publicly traded companies involved with gaming, executives overseeing Las Vegas casinos are doing quite well financially. When bonuses, stock options and other forms of variable compensation are included with annual salaries, most Las Vegas casino bosses are taking home millions of dollars each year.

Here is a list of what some of the top Las Vegas casino executives earned in 2023, according to corporate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

— Robert Goldstein, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. - Base salary: $3 million; Total compensation: $21.9 million

— Thomas Reeg, CEO of Caesars Entertainment - Base salary: $2 million; Total compensation: $18.6 million

— Bill Hornbuckle, CEO of MGM Resorts International - Base salary: $2 million; Total compensation: $17 million

— Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Resorts - Base salary: $2 million; Total compensation: $16.2 million

 — Jay Snowden, CEO of Penn National Gaming - Base salary: $1.8 million; Total compensation: $15.5 million

— Keith Smith, CEO of Boyd Gaming - Base salary: $1.55 million; Total compensation: $11.4 million

— Robeson Reeves, CEO of Bally’s Corp. - Base salary: $1.1 million; Total compensation: $4.54 million

— Blake Sartini, CEO of Golden Entertainment - Base salary: $1.05 million; Total compensation: $6.1 million

— Frank Fertitta III, CEO of Red Rock Resorts - Base salary: $1 million; Total compensation: $3.5 million

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Dr. Miriam Adelson, the majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Measuring Intelligence

Measuring the intelligence of individual humans and groups of them has been a project of sociology and psychology for some years. Measurement implies a numerical scale, like shoe size. But a problem for social work and psychology is that it's very difficult to validly  enumerate intelligence in any empirical way. This leads to the conclusion that social science can't really be a science, like physics, chemistry, and engineering  which are dependent on mathematics. Using tests to determine intelligence is an attempt by social science to be a real science, based on numbers, and treat the inferiority complex that affects the social sciences and humanities.

In reality, intelligence can't be enumerated because it's a "quality", not a sum, like the color of a horse. Horses can be sorrels, bays, roans, pintos, etc. but it's not possible to describe the hue of a horse in numbers. Like humans, no horse has an identical appearance to any other horse so a description is, of necessity, somewhat general. This same goes for human intelligence.

While there's some speculation that environment determines a portion of a human's intelligence, it's generally agreed that genetics is a major factor. Genetics are likely the source of the most important qualities that shape intelligence.

What are these qualities? One of them, maybe the most important, is curiosity. Intelligent people want to know more about things, to understand them at a deeper level. They don't accept superficial explanations. Curiosity would probably be difficult to teach.

A second quality is creativity. Intelligent people look at a situation or a problem and take different approaches to its opportunities and solutions. These conditions often exist solely because no creative person has been able to analyze them in an intelligent manner. Non-creatives consider the correct response to be one that has been used in similar situations in the past. Isn't there a proverb "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"?

Another important characteristic of intelligence is patience, a quality that's in short supply in today's developed world. Intelligent people realize and accept that many things can't happen instantly. They're also willing to postpone a decision or action until knowing as much as possible about the situation. Another common proverb: "If there isn't enough time to do it right, why is there always enough time to do it over?" The hypercapitalist consumer culture, where instant access to the product is more important than it's suitability or quality, is a major selling point and ingrained in society. On-line sales of event tickets eliminate a few minutes in a queue, minutes that could be used for what?

Intelligent people are also diligent: "Prosecuted with careful attention and effort; careful; painstaking; not careless or negligent."  The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition  They understand that a careless and ill-thought approach can result in failure or even disaster.

There are other attributes that distinguish the intelligent from the stupid but these are primary. Children should be encouraged to spend more time thinking about the things around them, how to approach difficulties, the process of problem solving and making the qualities of intelligence a part of their lives and personalities. Such should be the duty of a good parent.

  

 

Environmental Advocate Paychecks

Here is a link to the financial compensation of the most important figures in the environmental movement.  Take a look at it.

Environmental Working Group

The Environmental Working Group is an organization now devoted to changing the mechanism of American agriculture in a way that will alleviate the global climate crisis that the world faces today, in this case through modifications to the 2024 Farm Bill being put together by the US Congress.

The directors of this operation include:

Brandon Beck, co-founder of Riot Games, the developers of the wildly popular League of Legends video game.

 

Natasha Beck, his wife. 

 

Ken Cook, the co-founder and president of the EWG, considered one of the most effective lobbyists in the DC legislative influence industry. Total compensation in 2022 in his role was $357,378.

Dr. Harvey Karp, CEO of Happiest Baby, Inc. and a faculty member at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. His wife, Nina, is also a director of EWG.

financeyahoo.com

Michelle Pfeiffer, actress.

 

Laura Turner Seydel, Chair of the Captain Planet Foundation, co-founder of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, board member Waterkeeper Alliance, co-founder Mothers and Others for Clean Air, board member of Project Drawdown, Patron of Nature with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Other organizations she serves include the United Nations Foundation, Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Turner Endangered Species Fund. She is a member of Atlanta Rotary and serves as the current chair of the Carter Center board of councilors and on the advisory board for the Ray C. Anderson Foundation.

 

Kim Rozenfeld, executive in charge of programming at the Apple TV streaming business.

There a number of others on the board of EWG, none of whom seem to have any real familiarity with agriculture or climate science but do have positions that enable them to influence those around them. Perhaps this is how a merit-based democratic system is supposed to work. Who needs elections when the self-appointed elites are in charge?