The Replacement of Hydrocarbon-powered Vehicles

The North American "War Between the States", from April 12, 1861 to  May 26, 1865, ostensibly fought to eliminate slavery from new western territories, resulted in the death of over 600,000 men and boys and billions of dollars in property destruction. The fact is that every slave in the US could have been purchased, as they, private property all, had once been, by parties interested in giving them their freedom. The death and destruction could have been avoided. That option was never explored.

A similar situation is developing now. The production and sale of internal combustion engine vehicles is scheduled to be prohibited in some jurisdictions in the future. There will still be many thousands of hydrocarbon fueled vehicles on the road after the prohibition takes effect. What of them? 

The current thinking is that these vehicles will be allowed to operate until they have reached the extent of their reliable usefulness, however that might be determined. It would also be simple for motor vehicle agencies to refuse to license banned vehicles. Another possibility would be that at some point their continued use would be forbidden and all ICE vehicles would face mandatory destruction. The schedule might resemble that of the Carter presidency when drivers could purchase gasoline only on dates that corresponded with numerals on their license plates. Owner compensation might be part of such a circumstance but that would be an overly optimistic view. The exact plan won't be broadcast.

In fact, as the years dwindle before the prohibition date, compliant citizens will cease to purchase ICE vehicles, not knowing how long they would be able to legally drive them.  Manufacturers will no longer make them. Used cars will leap in price. The change-over to EVs will be a fait accompli. No vote of the subjects will have been taken.

The Whig elites of government and their crony capitalist  partners won't be inconvenienced by this development. On the contrary, it will propel them to an economic wonderland. It won't matter that, for the ordinary person, travel will be more expensive and circumscribed. Unemployment at the most basic levels will increase. The subjects will be taxed even more to maintain the insane subsidies that enable the installation of new age power generation supposedly making the EVs practical. That's the future.  

 

  

A White Tiger Mauls Joe Biden

 

time.com

Remember back to October 3, 2003? During the performance at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Roy Horn was very seriously injured when his trained white tiger Mantacore attacked him. The Siegfried and Roy show ended that night and the 267 people in the production became unemployed.

A similar outcome will be the result of replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee in the next presidential election after the white tiger of the debate has done his damage.  The immense staff that surrounds Biden and doubtlessly influences any decisions that he's allowed to make will be out of a job, at least temporarily. Sure there'll be positions for them in various government agencies, as faculty members at coastal universities, lobbyists, corporate board members and media talking heads. But it won't be the same without the prestige of regularly walking into the White House.

 The new candidate will have his or her own circle of acolytes. Already the political class that inhabits the Maryland-Virginia tidewater are plotting their future on the candidate they think is most likely to end up next to the nuclear football. It will be interesting.   

Whig activity in New Mexico

The Escalante Power Station near Prewitt, NM pumped out voltage from 1984 until 2020 when its near-by coal supply ran out. It quickly became a candidate for alternative forms of energy production and is now going through the motions of becoming the first-of -its- kind power house to reduce natural gas to its atomic constituents and use the hydrogen to produce the heat that produces the steam that turns the turbines that generate the electricity that powers televisions sets and AV chargers.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the Whig technique of getting the taxpayer to finance the development of profitable infrastructure, in this case the Inflation Reduction Act, and federal subsidies as high as the mountains and wide as the sky. Newpoint CEO Wiley Rhodes says Escalante will need almost 80 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and that, from an economic perspective, these tax credits are vital to make the project work. 

In a free market, the project wouldn't be viable. What would be viable would be the conversion of a coal-fired power producer to a plant that would directly convert the 80 billion cubic feet of gas to electricity, like a typical power house. But that wouldn't involve giant federal subsidies and tax credits.

While Blackstone, subsidiary Tall Grass Energy and Newpoint Companies and political cheerleader Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tout the pluses of the project, the interested observers, mainly the local native Americans, are skeptical and remember the many minuses in past resource exploitation in the area and on their property.

 

brianleddyphoto.photoshelter.com

Bird Deaths In India

The Delhi government reports that the death of three peacocks, the Indian national bird, last Tuesday brings the total number of fatalities to 27 at the Palam air force station since June 4, possibly from heat stroke. It's also possible that the environment of the area, mostly covered in concrete, and lack of food and water, are also factors in the deaths. The high temperature there in the last week has been 92F.

 

 

birds-infoa2z.blogspot.com

The 155 mm Howitzer

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth recently made a tour of a new General Dynamics plant under construction in Mesquite, Texas. The $1 billion facility will be one link in a supply chain created to fill part of a void in military expendables needed by the US and Ukraine, in this case 155mm artillery shells. Ukraine fires thousands of them daily from US made M-777 howitzers toward the Russians.

The US plans to triple production of the shells to 100,000 monthly by the end of 2025. The completed casings will be shipped to places like Camden, AR, to be filled with propellant and then Army warehouses or Ukraine. The equipment in the plant is supplied by a Turkish firm and the robotics by a Chinese-owned German company.

In the case of 155mm howitzer shells, their place in the US defense picture is unclear. It seems unlikely that these weapons would actually be used in a military defense of the US mainland itself. A physical invasion of the country would be the only opportunity for their deployment. It's often said the military is always preparing to fight the previous war and in this case that seems to be true. 

Does anyone really expect that divisions of Russian or Chinese infantry and artillery will somehow arrive in the US with the equipment and munitions to subdue the country? It's possible that some future enemy could fire on the US from submersibles, aircraft or even space-based weapons but in a future kinetic war howitzers would be useless in defense. In fact, future battles are more likely to be fought on a digital battlefield, like the recent cyber-extortion of automobile sales software in the US.

The reality is that these and other weapons are needed, or thought to be, in various smaller conflicts across the globe in which the US has a perceived interest. No howitzers will be based in Tennessee or Arizona or North Dakota.

An interesting aspect of this situation is Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth herself. Particularly concerned with the role of the military in climate change, she has this to say:

  “The Army must adapt across our entire enterprise and purposefully pursue greenhouse gas mitigation strategies to reduce climate risks. If we do not take action across, across our installations, acquisition and logistics and training, our option to mitigate these risks will become more constrained with each passing year.”

No information on the new General Dynamics munitions plant in Mesquite, TX, being powered solely by non-hydrocarbon energy. 

Some of this information from the Wall Street Journal 

The Coming US Election

The campaign for the most powerful position in the free world isn't simply between a doddering old senile and a blow hard convicted felon. It's also, as it has been historically, between their factotums and deputies. Oddly, the principal candidates are never required by the media or anyone else to designate who the members of their regime would be. Announcements of appointments aren't made until after the election.

 

indianexpress.com

No mention was made during the previous campaign that the transportation boss would be former McKinsey figure and South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg.

 

apnews.com 

Rachel Levine was selected by Biden to take the post of assistant secretary for health in 2021 and confirmed by the senate.

 

alphanews.org 

Sam Brinton was the the deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy until mistakenly claiming the wrong luggage at a midwest airport.

 

crumpe.com 

Karine Jean-Pierre is the first black, openly gay White House press secretary.

 

 

jta.org 

Openly gay deputy to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Ned Price.

 

vice.com 

Shawn Skelly, retired transexual navy officer now the  Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness.

 

 

Tyler Cherry, left, and Jakob Stronko  Credit...Cassidy DuHon and Laura Scheidt NY Times

Tyler Cherry has moved up from a post at the Dept. of the Interior to one covering climate issues for the White House communications department.

On the basis of the personnel employed we have some idea of those that will have important roles in government should the current regime be retained. However, there's been no word from their opponents on who is in line for these spots should they take over. It's wrong for a political party that will fill significant posts after an election to omit mention of the most likely appointees. It's even more wrong for the media to fail to demand the names and background of these candidates for publication.   

Lithiuim Battery Factory Explodes In Flames

 

photo: dpa

At least 22 fatalities in an explosion and fire at a lithium battery factory Monday south of Seoul in South Korea.