It’s Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022…but before we begin, this cartoon from our old pal Breeze got us thinking:
Do those who cast ballots for Biden regret their choice, at least a significant majority of them? Our answer, if our sister is any indication, is a resounding NO, or at least they’ll never admit to having made a most egregious error.
“How many times have you heard – I bet everybody knows somebody somewhere along the line – that in an intimate relationship, what happened was the guy takes a revealing picture of his naked friend, or whatever, in a compromising position, and then literally sends blackmails or mortifies that person – sends it out, put it online.”
…Roy Wally offers the perfect response:
Now, here’s The Gouge!
First up, in a must-read commentary which deserves inclusion in full courtesy of Jeff Foutch and the Manhattan Contrarian, Francis Menton records…
As you undoubtedly know, back in January 2021 newly-inaugurated President Biden ordered the entire federal bureaucracy into full-battle mode in the crusade to suppress production and use of fossil fuels, aka “carbon emissions” (or maybe “climate pollution”). From Biden’s January 27, 2021 Executive Order (“Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”):
It is the policy of my Administration to organize and deploy the full capacity of its agencies to combat the climate crisis to implement a Government-wide approach that reduces climate pollution in every sector of the economy. . . .
And thus we have every federal agency, under orders from the boss(More importantly, a boss with who they agree politically!), whether or not its statutory mission has anything to do with “climate,” diligently devising schemes to outdo the other agencies in the fossil fuel suppression game. It’s not just EPA scheming to force closure of perfectly good power plants, but also Interior imposing a “moratorium” on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and offshore; and FERC putting out new standards of review to make it impossible for any new gas pipeline to get approved; and the Department of Energy imposing costly new efficiency standards on mobil homes; and even the Federal Reserve promising to make life difficult for banks that lend to fossil fuel producers; and the SEC imposing new and costly “climate” disclosure requirements on issuers; and on and on.
And now, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, add the goal for both the U.S. and Europe of rapidly reducing purchases of oil and gas from Russia.Surely then the government-wide war against fossil fuels must at least be put on hold or slowed for some period.
If you think that, you are not thinking like a true-believing climate crusader. On March 14, with the recent energy price spike reaching crisis levels, Biden gave a speech to a DNC fundraiser in Washington where he doubled down on his fossil-fuel-suppression promises. Actually, it was worse than that. Biden, in his usual eloquent way, promised to end “fossil fuel dependency” by aggressive build-out of so-called “renewables.” From the official White House transcript of the event:
Imagine where we’d be right now if, in fact, Europe was in fact energy- free of fossil fuels and was — we were in a situation where — (coughs) — excuse me — where — where we — it was all renewables. It’d be a different world. And — and so, we have to get off the dependency on fossil fuels . . . . I mean, literally, not figuratively — meaning both here [U.S.] and there [Europe]. And the dependence of Europe on fossil fuels is — way exceeds any dependence we have. And so, it’s not an immediate solution to the crisis, but it’s all about the future if we were to change the fossil fuel dependency.
So Biden — who appears to be completely unaware that the intermittent renewables cannot replace fossil fuels without massive amounts of battery or other storage that are totally unaffordable and don’t even exist as a technological matter — keeps the government-wide fossil fuel suppression campaign going at full tilt.
If wind and solar don’t work without fossil fuel backup, and we are to have an intentionally-imposed shortage of the fossil fuels courtesy of government orders, what is the result? We have come to the place where a government command economy always leads: obviously, you must rein in your comfortable lifestyle, peasant. Yesterday the UN’s International Energy Agency came out with its “10 Point Plan to Cut Oil Use.” The key message is that only by your reducing your excessive consumption can we “pave the way” to putting oil use on “a more sustainable path”:
In the face of the emerging global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IEA’s 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use proposes 10 actions that can be taken to reduce oil demand with immediate impact – and provides recommendations for how those actions can help pave the way to putting oil demand onto a more sustainable path in the longer term.
The UN geniuses think that they have come up with ways that almost effortlessly can reduce oil consumption by some 2.7 million barrels per day. (Since oil consumption is currently running about 97 million barrels/day worldwide, this would come to less than a 3% reduction.). So what exactly do they have in mind? It’s a medley of great ideas from the good socialists. Here is a sample:
Reduce speed limits on highways by at least 10 km/h. Your time has no value in the coming utopia.
Work from home up to three days a week where possible. Note that this will be by government order, rather than by your choice.
Car-free Sundays in cities. Did you think you were going to take your kids to the zoo on Sunday? Think again.
Make the use of public transport cheaper and incentivise micro-mobility, walking and cycling. It’s bicycles for you in January from now on. Remember, it’s to save the planet!
Alternate private car access to roads in large cities. This is one of my favorites. “Alternative access” means that use of roads by private cars will be restricted “to those with even number-plates some weekdays and to those with odd-numbered plates on other weekdays.” Do you have a deadline you need to meet by the 15th? Too bad, you cannot use your car that day.
It goes on and on from there.All items on the list constitute serious reductions in your freedoms, and to save a big 3% of oil use. Oh, and by the way these reductions are only to come from the 47 million barrels/day of oil usage (out of the total of 97 million) that occur in the “advanced economies.” After all, we wouldn’t want the likes of China to have to contribute to the sacrifice.
And if you want someone to go one better than even the UN in the category of insufferable condescension toward ordinary people, try Bloomberg. Over at Bloomberg CityLab on March 15, they have a big piece calling on the federal government at this time of energy shortage to go all in on promoting electric bicycles:
Every time an e-bike or e-cargo bike is used lieu of a car, society receives a cascade of benefits. Greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically lower, even if the car being replaced is electric. A two-wheeler consumes little street space and poses a negligible safety risk to other road users. And even with the motor providing some of the muscle, the cyclist will receive a surprisingly good workout.
You will recognize Mike Bloomberg as one of the true world champions of travel by private jet. From the Daily Caller, February 5, 2021:
Bloomberg . . . took nearly 1,700 trips in private jets over a four year period from August 2016 to August 2020, a Business Insider analysis claimed. Those 1700 trips are responsible for emitting at least 10,000 metric tons of CO2, Business Insider reported. To put the level of those emissions in perspective, a standard car emits about 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year. . . .
But just think, you can reduce your car’s 4.6 metric tons of CO2 emissions down to maybe 2 metric tons by switching over to an electric bike under government coercion. It’s the least you can do “for the planet.” Mike will keep his fleet of private jets, thank you.
And Michael Bloomberg, a man who would deny you your 2nd Amendment right to defend your family with firearms while constantly protected by an armed security team, is nothing if not one of your betters.
“While elected Republicans continue to hammer the Biden administration for impairing domestic energy production, state-level regulations, laws, and attitudes have come under less scrutiny, even as they’ve played a demonstrable role in producing and compounding the problem at hand.
President Joe Biden promised during his campaign that he would allow “no more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends, number one.” And since taking office, his administration has implemented policies, oftentimes under the radar, that have made life more difficult for the domestic oil and gas industry and led to increased foreign — including Russian — imports.
In many ways, he’s been following in the footsteps of blue-state Democrats, whose policies began undermining domestic energy production long before Russian president Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine, ramping up pressure on already strained global markets.
The Golden State stands out as perhaps the most glaring example of this phenomenon.
“California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change,” said California governor Jerry Brown upon signing the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act in 2018. His successor, Gavin Newsom, has taken this commitment to new extremes.
According to Rock Zierman, president of the California Independent Petroleum Association, California could, with its own supply, replace the entirety of the Russian crude oil it imports “by double . . . if we just got back to where we were when Gavin Newsom started his deliberate effort to shut us down.”
Zierman says that through actions official and unofficial, the Newsom administration has made the state more reliant on foreign oil and contributed to rising prices in the energy sector. When Newsom took office in 2019, the average price per gallon in the state was $3.23; as of this February, it stood at $4.66. California has seen similar upticks in the amount of foreign oil it’s brought to its shores. In 2018, the state imported around 5 million barrels of Russian crude oil. By 2021, that number had more than tripled, per the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. The Biden administration has since cut off Russian oil imports due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and it’s unclear how California will make up the resulting shortfall…”
Why, from…
…of course! Which is the solution to the otherwise insoluble problems posed by each and every utterly unworkable policy and program Progressives promote.
Here’s the juice: California, which sits atop a literal sea of black gold, has the highest gas prices of any state, including Hawaii, whose only source is supplied by sea. It’s not a shortage of oil which is driving fuel prices, but the deliberate actions of those determined to destroy free market Capitalism and freedom itself.
Next, courtesy of American Greatness via Fielding Cocke, Roger Kimball suggests…
“I sense a disturbance in the force. In fact, I’ve been feeling the tremors for a while. Back in January, I wrote a column for American Greatness called “The Coming Dethronement of Joe Biden.” In it, I noted that Biden’s appalling performance as president would sooner or later—and probably sooner, given the ostentatious nature of his multifaceted failure—lead to his removal as president.
…Why do you suppose that the New York Times has decided, finally, at this late date, to acknowledge that the story that the New York Post broke about Hunter’s laptop was true? The Times, like the rest of the fake news establishment, like virtually all of social media, buried the story, screaming loudly that of course it wasn’t true, of course it was Russian disinformation, mediated somehow by that consummate Putin puppet, Donald Trump. Fifty-one “intelligence experts,” remember, signed an open letter denouncing the story and pronouncing anathema upon Donald Trump. Presented with evidence that they were wrong, every one of that disgusting crew—John Brennan, James Clapper, and the rest of the anti-Trump deep state coven—refused to apologize.
Many people seem to think that the reason that the story of Hunter’s laptop—which is just as much about Joe Biden’s perfidy as it is about Hunter’s perversion—has emerged now is because it can no longer do any serious damage. The election is over, Biden won—at least, he was declared the winner, which is not quite the same thing, although it does mean that he gets to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
But I wonder if there isn’t something else going on. The news is full not only of stories about the New York Times fessing up, sort of, about the contents of Hunter’s laptop, but also of stories about how Hunter is likely to be indicted for tax fraud. In one sense, that is not news. I wrote about itat the end of 2020 when Hunter announced, sotto voce, that he had been informed that he was being investigated by the tax authorities. But in another sense, I suspect, that news, like the revelation from the New York Times that, what do you know, all that stuff about Hunter’s laptop was on the level, like Joe Biden’s bizarre suggestion a couple of days ago that “everybody knows somebody” who has taken nude pictures of some lover and then used them to “blackmail” the person—all that has a different valence now that the Biden Administration is seriously underwater and there are no lifelines in evidence.
The issue is never the issue. I suspect that Joe Biden is being prepped for ejection. Exactly how it will happen I do not yet know. But he is on the threshold, or possibly has even passed the threshold, where he could appear to govern. His minders understand this.They must be the ones to replace him, otherwise they themselves risk being replaced, which would be intolerable. As I say, it’s not entirely clear yet how the defenestration will take place. Obviously, Kamala will have to be dealt with first, and she will be. Look for some ground softening stories such as the Times just served up about the laptop. They won’t be long in coming.“
Here’s the juice: Biden and Harris…
…make Lloyd and Harry…
…look like…
Moving on, we offer an octet of items guaranteed to pique the interest of inquiring Conservative minds:
…buys an awful lot of loyalty, but only as long as the supply lasts.
(2). Speaking of Mad Vlad, photos of 46* biking in Rehoboth Beach at the same time Zelenskyy was warning the world of a potential “third world war must surely have the Russian dictator quaking in his valenki. Then again…
(4). Best of the Web informs us the once-Golden State is once again introducing America to an unenviable first, as “Crime Tourism” is now a thing in California. KABC-TV’s Sid Garcia reports from Los Angeles:
“Law enforcement agencies call it “crime tourism” — groups of thieves from South America traveling to California to burglarize homes…They’re able to easily obtain tourist visas to travel to California by applying online. Once they have a visa they land at LAX and start their crime spree.”
Couple that with Soros-sponsored D.A.’s who side with the criminals over law-abiding citizens and you’ve got one helluva problem which is rapidly growing worse.
…not only was someone actually paid to prepare them, but this blithering idiot willingly repeated them. Can she truly still not have grasped how comical she comes across?!?
Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:
Then there’s these from Ed Hickey…
…Breeze Gould…
…and the lovely Shannon…
…along with this instant classic from Balls Cotton:
Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with yet another titillating tale torn from the pages of The Crime Blotter, and proof positive no good deed goes unpunished, as FOX informs us there’ll be…
“…The shooting occurred near Fall Creek Landing Number 2 at Lake Keowee shortly after 2 p.m. last Tuesday, according to Fox Carolina. Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, was killed by an unnamed 74-year-old man.
Morgan and a woman were in distress, having fallen off their Jet Ski into the lake, Oconee County sheriff’s officials said earlier. The two had no life jackets and the Jet Ski was circling. The 74-year-old man and his wife on a pontoon boat drove over to help fish the pair out of the lake, the sheriff’s office said. The couple on the boat told authorities Morgan became agitated once he got on board and started assaulting them.
Investigators were told he may have wanted to get back on the Jet Ski. They also believe there may have been an argument between Morgan and the woman he was with before they fell into the water. Sheriff Mike Crenshaw told The Journal of Seneca that Morgan may have been intoxicated.
The woman who was with Morgan pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation, the sheriff’s office has said. The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again, and the man shot him after a second encounter, saying he feared for his and his wife’s lives. Authorities have declined to name the couple…”
While Dean Wormer so sagely suggested to Flounder…
…we’d suggest the following also holds true:
Magoo
Video of the Day
Mark Levin: He’s not always right, but he’s rarely wrong!
Tales of The Darkside
The late, great Christopher Hitchens predicts the nature true nature of Mad Vlad, Dubya’s incredibly naive assessment to the contrary notwithstanding.
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