- President Biden Must Resign, Or Be Impeached
President Biden Must Resign, Or Be Impeached
Authored by Stephen B. Young via RealClearPolitics,
Commentary
President Biden’s duty to the American people is to “faithfully execute” his office. As a public trustee, Biden took an oath to do what is right. He is a trustee of powers bestowed upon him by the Constitution in return for his promise to be dutiful.
Like every agent and trustee, Biden owes fiduciary duties to those who are served by his decisions. He owes them two duties: the duty of always acting with due care; and the duty of giving them his absolute loyalty, always putting their interests above his own.
A president’s failure to use due care or be loyal is ground for impeachment. Under our Constitution, impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” is not a criminal proceeding. Rather, it is a civil proceeding to discharge from office one who has failed in his or her trusteeship.
John Locke put it this way:
Who shall be judge, whether the prince or legislative act contrary to their trust? … To this I reply, The people shall be judge; for who shall be judge whether his trustee or deputy acts well, and according to the trust reposed in him, but he who deputes him, and must, by having deputed him, have still a power to discard him, when he fails in his trust? If this be reasonable in particular cases of private men, why should it be otherwise in that of the greatest moment, where the welfare of millions is concerned, and also where the evil, if not prevented, is greater, and the redress very difficult, dear, and dangerous?
More than 50 years ago, when the impeachment of Richard Nixon was under consideration in the House of Representatives, I researched the English parliamentary practice of impeaching high officers for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The lead special counsel in the impeachment proceeding, John Doar, incorporated my conclusions into the articles of impeachment of Richard Nixon in these words:
In all of this, Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore Richard M. Nixon, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
The same standard of abuse of fiduciary duties was later included in the articles of impeachment of Donald Trump:
In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
As we saw the Thursday before last, President Biden is no longer capable of acting with due care as steward of the best interest of the American people. He appeared physically and cognitively inept. His answers to simple questions were nonsensical. Even Nancy Pelosi wondered aloud, “Is this an episode or is this a condition?”
For Biden to remain in office, he will not be faithfully executing it. Rather, he will be using the powers of the office for self-serving ends, depriving the American people of a vigorous defender of our rights and privileges. If Biden does not resign immediately, he has committed an impeachable offense by causing “manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
Should Biden attempt to have his cake and eat it too, he might withdraw his candidacy for this year’s presidential election but not resign as president. If he affirms that he would not be qualified to execute the office of president in January 2025, then why is he qualified to serve in that office today? To withdraw from the presidential race but continue in office would be a violation of his duty of loyalty to the American people.
Joe Biden made a choice when he took the oath of office to serve as our president. If he can no longer be loyal or serve with due care, then he must resign his office or be impeached.
Stephen B. Young is global director of the Caux Round Table for Moral Capitalism. He was an assistant dean at the Harvard Law School and later dean and professor of law at the Hamline University School of Law.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 23:20 - These Are America's Least Common Jobs
These Are America’s Least Common Jobs
In the following graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao ranks and visualizes the least common American jobs by number of employees, as per the latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Annual surveys from business owners are used to model employment numbers and wage data for each year. Thus, these figures do not include the self-employed, owners of unincorporated firms, or household workers.
Ranked: America’s Least Common Jobs
The least commonly-held job in America is “wood patternmaker,” with only 260 employed by a business country-wide. According to the BLS, wood patternmakers “plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.”
Technological advancements have caused job declines in the industry for the last decade. It is also likely that this occupation has more self-employed individuals, explaining their low numbers.
Clock and timer technicians (not watchmakers), farm labor contractors (460), and furnace and kiln repair technicians (540) are the next three least commonly employed American workers.
Ranked fifth, prosthodontists (570) are the second-highest paid occupation ($240,750) on the uncommon jobs list.
In the same vein, pediatric surgeons are the 10th least common occupation in America, with only around 1,100 in the entire country.
NPR reports that while pediatric programs have increased in the last 10 years, the number of trained MDs going into pediatric surgery has steadily decreased. Per STAT News, close to one-third pediatric residency programs did not fill their positions in 2024.
If you liked this kind of content, check out The 20 Fastest Growing Jobs in the Next Decade which identifies where new jobs will be created next.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 22:45 - Should Alzheimer's Be Treated Before It Becomes Symptomatic? Experts Weigh In
Should Alzheimer’s Be Treated Before It Becomes Symptomatic? Experts Weigh In
Authored by Robin Seaton Jefferson via The Epoch Times,
In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a revised draft guidance to help drug companies develop medication to treat cases of early Alzheimer’s disease that “occur before the onset of overt dementia.”
One theory about Alzheimer’s is that amyloid pathology can occur decades before symptoms appear, and to stop the disease, doctors may need to address this underlying pathology well before that happens. Some say that will label people as having a disease they may never develop; others say it’s the only way to stop it in those who will come to have it.
Treat Dementia Like Heart Disease
Rudolph E. Tanzi, who has a doctorate in neurology and is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and the director of its Genetics and Aging Research Unit, said that to stop dementia and Alzheimer’s, doctors must treat it the way they currently treat heart disease.
“Just like we keep track of cholesterol and alter lifestyle and take safe drugs to lower cholesterol levels in order to avoid heart disease, we will need to do the same for Alzheimer’s disease,” Mr. Tanzi told The Epoch Times. “The FDA guidance is a step in that direction.”
The American Heart Association reports that death due to heart disease has declined by 60 percent since 1950 and that the number of people in the United States dying of a heart attack each year has dropped from one in two in the 1950s to one in 8.5 today. Mr. Tanzi said that is because doctors now treat their patients proactively for a disease that could otherwise kill them many years in the future.
As a geneticist who co-discovered three of the first Alzheimer’s disease genes, Mr. Tanzi replicated the cascades of cellular changes in Alzheimer’s in a petri dish so scientists could conduct tests as the disease developed and test drug efficacy. He said the problem is now that doctors don’t diagnose Alzheimer’s disease until the brain has already deteriorated to the point of dysfunction. Patients “need safe and affordable drugs to intervene with amyloid deposition as early as possible,” he added.
Mr. Tanzi said that although the guidance is correct to advise treating early-stage Alzheimer’s patients, scientists will still someday need to prevent the buildup of abnormal amyloid deposits as soon as they begin in the brain before damage occurs.
“This would be most important for those with early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease gene mutations, those with Down syndrome, and carriers of the APOE epsilon variant that increases risk for Alzheimer’s disease, where you know amyloid deposition is guaranteed or highly likely beginning early in life,” Mr. Tanzi added.
Is Amyloid Positivity Enough to Redefine Alzheimer’s Disease?
But there is still no solid proof that any drugs, even if they reduce amyloid, will decrease dementia fates in the future, said Dr. Eric Widera, a professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California–San Fransisco. He also questions the risks of some drugs with serious side effects, such as brain bleeding and death.
There is a trend to redefine Alzheimer’s disease based on whether someone is amyloid positive on a test, “independent of whether an individual has any symptoms of cognitive impairment, or whether they will develop them in the future,” Dr. Widera said.
He explained that while scientists do have “pretty good evidence that in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia,” two drugs, donanemab and lecanemab, “have an exceptional ability to remove amyloid.” However, he argues that this ability has only a “subtle effect” on the rate of decline in cognition.
“This is pretty clear evidence that suggests amyloid is likely not the only factor that contributes to Alzheimer’s disease progression and that we have a lot yet to learn about how to stop or reverse the disease,” he said.
The changes proposed will have effects that are “far from subtle” and will be marketed as “a new Alzheimer’s epidemic,” said Dr. Widera.
An estimated 6 million Americans aged 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s and dementia, with the majority being over age 75. “The proposed changes will move what is a feared but far from universal disease of aging, Alzheimer’s dementia, to a largely silent, asymptomatic disease affecting a much larger population, as most people with positive amyloid biomarkers have no cognitive issues,” Dr. Widera wrote in his commentary, published in February in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
What Can Be Done?
For his part, Mr. Tanzi agrees that much more must be done. “We will need blood tests that tell us not only when amyloid is already doing its damage in the brain, but also tests that can tell us when to treat so as to prevent amyloid deposition in the brain in the first place.”
Mr. Tanzi said Alzheimer’s is only “beatable” when predicted early, based on family history and genetics; detected early, based on blood biomarkers and imaging; and intervened upon early, using safe and affordable drugs.
“The approved amyloid drugs, like Leqembi [lecanemab], are not approved for prevention, but only for treatment in the mildest cases of Alzheimer’s disease. That is good to do, but still too late.” He added that lecanemab “is too costly, at over $60,000 per year, including the necessary MRIs to detect brain swelling and hemorrhage.”
He said that is one of the focuses at the McCance Center for Brain Health, where he is currently fundraising for an Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial initiative to test combinations of repurposed safe and affordable drugs and natural products to lower amyloid levels in the brain, as a safer and more affordable alternative to amyloid immunotherapy like lecanemab.
“The hope is that combinations of safe and affordable repurposed drugs can someday be used in tens of millions of Americans to prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” he added.
What Will the Guidance Do?
As a draft, the document will “serve as a focus for continued discussions” for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease, the draft states. However, when finalized, the document “will represent FDA’s current thinking regarding the selection of subjects with early [Alzheimer’s disease] for enrollment in clinical trials and the selection of endpoints for clinical trials in this population.”
With its proposed guidelines, the FDA is focusing more on amyloid. It considers the reduction of brain amyloid, found by positron emission tomography (PET scans), to be a surrogate endpoint that is “reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit” and that clinical trials showing an effect on that surrogate endpoint can be the basis for accelerated approval, including for drugs intended to treat Alzheimer’s.
According to Fierce Biotech, a company that reports on the biotech industry, the FDA isn’t going as far as to say that amyloid reduction can be considered a primary endpoint—the main result measured at the end of a study to see whether a given treatment worked—in Alzheimer’s trials. However, the agency suggests that this biomarker can serve as a surrogate endpoint—an indicator that tells if a treatment works—to predict clinical benefit.
Alzheimer’s researchers currently use both cognitive and functional measures as co-primary endpoints, resulting in a two-year or less average clinical trial duration in the symptomatic stages of the condition. But it could take longer to establish clinically meaningful treatment effects among patients with early Alzheimer’s due to limited or nonexistent cognitive and functional deficits seen early on. Plus, tools often used to measure functional impairment in patients in the later stages of Alzheimer’s may not be able to identify subtle changes in early-stage disease.
For these reasons, the FDA is considering other approaches, including endpoints based on cognitive assessments or surrogate endpoints, which may allow for shorter trial durations in the earliest stages of disease, Fierce Biotech reported.
Possibility of Overdiagnosis
In a draft document published in October 2023, the Alzheimer’s Association Workgroup suggested expanding the criteria for Alzheimer’s diagnosis and basing diagnosis on core biomarkers such as amyloid rather than clinical syndromes.
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) commented on the criteria expansion, expressing concerns that it would “place many older and multimorbid people at risk of overdiagnosis, which in turn could lead to initiation of treatments with as yet unproven clinical benefit, particularly in an asymptomatic population, and high potential for harm.”
The AGS said the document fails to pay sufficient attention to the potential impact of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis on patient identity or any social and fiscal consequences.
“The reality is that many biomarker-positive individuals never develop cognitive impairment … and most people diagnosed with dementia will die with, not of, dementia,” the AGS wrote.
“At this juncture, a cognitively normal 50-year-old would have a 1 in 10 chance of testing positive for amyloid … and then carry an [Alzheimer’s disease] diagnosis in their health records,” the organization wrote.
The AGS added that this “distracts from the broader aim of ensuring high quality health care for individuals who already have cognitive impairment or dementia.”
Citing the “potential influence of financial ties between key stakeholders who make decisions on definitions and diagnostic thresholds,” the AGS said transparency is critical, and any conflict of interest should be disclosed.
The Epoch Times contacted the FDA and the Alzheimer’s Association Workgroup but did not receive a reply.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 22:10 - Prosecutors Knew Epstein Had Sex With Underage Girls Years Before Plea Deal, "Outrageous" Transcripts Reveal
Prosecutors Knew Epstein Had Sex With Underage Girls Years Before Plea Deal, “Outrageous” Transcripts Reveal
While the entire world – or rather Democrats – are shocked to learn that Biden’s dementia is not a vast right wing conspiracy as they themselves had claimed prior to the catastrophic Trump-Biden debate, and that their eyes and ears had not in fact been deceiving them for the past three years, last week a Florida judge dropped a bombshell 150-page transcript related to a 2006 grand jury investigation of Jeffrey Epstein (readers may remember him if not his clients, none of whom it would appear are notable enough to be criminally charged), revealing that prosecutors were aware that Epstein sexually abused underage girls.
As Breanna Morello explains, the transcripts reveal that the deal between Epstein and prosecutors came two years after they learned that Epstein engaged in statutory rape of teenage girls, and resulted in minimal punishments for the billionaire human trafficker. In the end, Epstein was charged with only one count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite evidence of multiple rapes and a pattern of behavior. Thanks to this slap on the wrist which meant he would be free shortly after, Epstein went on to sexually exploit children until his “suicide” in 2019 and made hundreds of millions from child trafficking with countless billionaires and political oligarchs, ferrying them back and forth on his Lolita Express to Epstein island, where countless underage girls were raped by the true ruling class which to this day remains immune from the legal system.
“Details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,” Judge Luis Delgado wrote, adding that the transcript has (further) diminished public perception of the criminal justice system, which in recent months is best known for getting hijacked to serve Biden’s failed crusade to incarcerate Trump before the election. The filings were released after a 2024 Florida law made it legal to do so for transcripts related to Epstein.
As noted above, the 2008 charges boiled down to a count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite investigators’ knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The charge was significantly less severe than the evidence warranted, especially since investigators had knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The limited charge ignored the full extent of Epstein’s criminal activities.
The filing, which itself further unveils prosecutorial missteps that enabled Epstein’s later conduct, came years after the lenient, and delayed, sentence was criticized.
“The story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado wrote.
Florida’s Southern District Attorney, Alex Acosta, who served for a period of time as Trump former Secretary of Labor, approved a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2008, despite prosecutors’ knowledge of the rapes. Acosta eventually left the Trump administration in scandal after details emerged outlining his botched prosecution of the prolific trafficker.
Watch the full report below.
🚨JEFFREY EPSTEIN DOCUMENT DUMP🚨
I’ve just read through the entire 2008 Epstein grand jury transcripts.
The details are disturbing including the claims that Epstein raped a teenage girl a day before her 18th birthday.
Why did Alex Acosta cut Epstein this deal?
I discuss: pic.twitter.com/FRKnEoMWeC
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) July 3, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Morello’s complete analysis of the transcripts can be read here, and as a post-script, here is Elon Musk once again asking the most obvious question amid this whole farce: how come there has not been “one – just one – even *attempted* prosecution of that Epstein (Bill Gates & Reid Hoffman come to mind) client list.”
When is there not one – just one – even *attempted* prosecution of that Epstein (Bill Gates & Reid Hoffman come to mind)
client list.Either FBI does their duty or the case for an entire departmental reset or abolishment is strong. https://t.co/qLgWvyuysp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2024
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 21:35 - Bird Flu Outbreak Forces McDonald's Australia To Cut Breakfast Time
Bird Flu Outbreak Forces McDonald’s Australia To Cut Breakfast Time
Authored by Monica O’Shea via The Epoch Times,
McDonald’s Australia has cut breakfast time in Australia by 90 minutes due to an egg shortage amid an outbreak of bird flu.
The decision follows after the highly pathogenic H7 influenza infected eight farms in Victoria, two properties in New South Wales, and one in the Australian Capital Territory.
More than one million birds in the two states combined have been euthanised as part of the government’s response to bird flu, also known as avian influenza.
In a post on social media, McDonald’s explained breakfast would end at 10.30 a.m. instead of midday, due to egg supply issues.
“Like many retailers we are carefully managing supply of eggs due to the current industry challenges,” McDonald’s Australia posted to Instagram.
“To keep bringing you your breakie favourites with fresh Aussie eggs, we’ll be temporarily serving breakfast until 10.30 a.m. across Australia (usually available until midday).”
McDonald’s said it is working hard with Aussie farmers and suppliers to return to normal “as soon as possible.”
Egg Supply Disruptions
Recently, the federal government warned egg supplies in Australia have been disrupted and consumers should not buy more eggs than required.
“The national layer hen flock has been impacted by these outbreaks which is resulting in some localised disruption to egg supplies to the retail, hospitality and manufacturing sectors,” the government said.
They warned consumers could expect to see some empty shelves in the short-term, but supply was being redirected.
“Some retailers have already imposed purchasing limits which may extend across retail chains and jurisdictions, including rural and regional areas,” the federal government continued.
Supermarket giant Coles imposed egg purchase limits on Australian customers in June.
Where Has Bird Flu Been Detected?
In Victoria, the H7N3 strain was detected at seven poultry farms in the Golden Plains Shire near Meredith. A case of the H7N9 strain avian flu has also been discovered.
Meanwhile, in NSW, two outbreaks of H7N8 poultry have been found in the Hawkesbury district in northwest Sydney. This is a separate strain to Victoria.
Further, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), H7N8 bird flu was detected at a poultry farm on June 27. This farm is linked to one of the NSW properties.
The first human case of bird flu in Australia was also reported in Victoria in May, in a child who acquired the H5N1 strain overseas in India.
The current strains of avian influenza in Australia do not appear to “transmit easily between humans,” the Australian government said.
The government also reassured Australians that eggs and chicken meat are still safe to eat if cooked properly.
“They do not pose a risk and are safe to consume. Victoria has a secure supply chain including the importation of eggs from interstate, so the current outbreak has not significantly affected supplies,” said Agriculture Victoria.
Bird flu is caused by a “variety of influenza type A viruses” that usually infect birds, according to Murdoch University Professor of Viral Immunology Cassandra Berry.
“The difference lies in the number of basic amino acids at the cleave site of haemagglutinin (HA), a spike protein on the virus surface, which is cleaved by cellular proteases,” she said.
“This cleavage determination then allows the virus to infect cells of different tissues and organs in the body. So if the virus HA is more easily cleaved by proteases, it will be more pathogenic.”
Over 1.2 Million Birds Culled
The NSW government announced 240,000 birds would be culled in June after bird flu was discovered in the state.
The state activated an “emergency biosecurity incident plan” in a bid to contain the virus after bird flu was detected at the poultry egg farm.
“We started depopulating the farm, in a humane manner, following Australian Veterinary guidelines. This process will take up to 5-7 days to depopulate 240,000 birds,” Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty announced on June 20.
Later in the month, it was revealed a further 87,000 birds would be killed in NSW as part of a “depopulation process” after the second case in the state was found.
In ACT, birds have also been culled although the exact number is unclear at this stage.
More than one million birds had to be euthanised in south-western Victoria, according to Agriculture Minister Murray Watt in June.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 21:00 - These Are The Top 10 Countries Receiving US Foreign Aid
These Are The Top 10 Countries Receiving US Foreign Aid
Each year, the U.S. sends billions in foreign aid to promote global stability, national security, and its own economic interests.
To see where this money flows, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the top 10 countries receiving U.S. foreign aid in fiscal year 2022 (FY2022). These numbers represent total disbursements, which are the actual amounts paid in cash or cash equivalents by federal agencies.
All figures were sourced from https://www.foreignassistance.gov, as of May 2024. At the time of writing, full reporting for FY2023 is not yet available.
Data and Highlights
All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below. Note that the U.S. fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on Sept. 30.
Ukraine was the largest recipient of foreign aid, with $11.2 billion disbursed throughout FY2022. This was a massive increase from the $419M sent in FY2021, due to the Russian invasion which began in February 2022.
So far for FY2023 (incomplete reporting), foreign aid sent to Ukraine has reached $16.7 billion.
The second largest recipient is Israel, though unlike Ukraine, the $3.3 billion disbursed in FY2022 is consistent with previous years (around $3.3 billion every year since FY2019).
The vast majority (over 99%) of foreign aid to Israel is dedicated to “Conflict, Peace, and Security”, with disbursements being facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense.
If you enjoy graphics like these, be sure to check out Charted: How Americans Feel About Federal Government Agencies.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 20:25 - The Left’s Biden Cover-Up Explains Perfectly Why Project 2025 Is Needed
The Left’s Biden Cover-Up Explains Perfectly Why Project 2025 Is Needed
Authored by Ben Sellers via Headline USA,
Ken Cuccinelli, former Trump Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security , speaks at a media breakfast during the Heritage Foundation’s 2023 leadership summit. / PHOTO: Ben Sellers, Headline USA The implosion of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has been years in the making and highly anticipated.
Really, the biggest surprise, if any, has been how long the Left was able to milk the absurd notion that their political placeholder was a viable candidate.
As many have since noted, it speaks to the sheer toxicity that the corrupt conglomerate of corporations, information gatekeepers and partisan special-interests within the Beltway.
The Biden debate scandal and subsequent fallout effectively proved that not only has lying within the political Establishment become systemic, but it makes no difference if it is even a credible lie.
There is an almost taunting quality to putting forth something utterly implausible and challenging people to question it, knowing they lack the institutional power to hold the liars accountable.
GOING OVERBOARD
Most recognize that the current predicament is just another means to an ends—out with the old and in with the new: a candidate who must be capable of running on short notice with the existing funding sources and infrastructure needed to offset Trump’s advantage, and someone who both has the name recognition needed for a possible write-in campaign along with the perception of being a political outsider.
Nonetheless, it is somewhat satisfying to see the cockroaches scurrying away when the light switch gets flipped.
The Fools in this Learian tragedy have been the leftist media and members of Biden’s inner circle feigning shock and ignorance about the problem that everyone else has long been aware of.
Although some continue to double down, most have now pivoted to an entirely new “Big Lie” by pretending their sudden efforts to perform damage control will vindicate them.
From their half-deflated lifeboats, they point fingers at the other Biden loyalists who are going down with the ship and insist that their prior complicity was a function of fear.
Those who have spent the past three-plus years interacting with the 81-year-old president have suddenly begun sharing their stories of red-flags that now seem clear in hindsight. But they insist that if they had waged a Trump-like Resistance campaign to undermine him they would have faced severe consequences for it by becoming blacklisted rather than celebrated for their public service.
A MAGA MAKEOVER?
Ironically, their face-saving efforts only help build the case for the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which has become a boogeyman for the so-called Blue MAGA movement (a hashtag term coined by one group of leftists to attack those they see as conspiratorial and irrational).
The underlying objective of Project 2025 is to highlight key areas of reform needed within the corrupted deep state and to articulate a series of policy expert-endorsed proposals through the 880-page Mandate for Leadership in order to prevent another sabotage effort without losing any time trying to fight the bureaucracy.
“The new conservative movement that America needs is right here, right now in this room,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts said during the conservative think-tank’s 2023 leadership summit at Washington, D.C.’s National Harbor.
“No more bringing butter knives to gunfights—we’ve learned that,” Roberts continued. “The old Washington red team of free marketers, neoconservatives and evangelicals is simply not enough.”
In effect, it was intended to be an inward-looking movement to retrench the conservative movement and root out the RINOs, learning from the mistakes of the first Trump administration.
‘NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM’
Since then, unhinged and TDS-afflicted conspiracy theorists have pushed allegations that Project 2025 is Trump’s authoritarian dogwhistle in order to justify their own efforts to calcify the weaponized deep state with measures that would make it more difficult for the next administration to fire disloyal civil servants.
The propagandist Associated Press even pushed the suggestion that it was a guidebook for “revolution,” carping on some of Roberts’s rhetoric to distort the context of his statements.
Yet, as former President Donald Trump recently said in distancing himself from the initiative, it was never specifically coordinated with his campaign.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
“I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” he continued. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Once again, the truth will eventually get out.
America, you’ve been lied to again.
Project 2025 was just a think tank paper.
It wasn’t a Trump “master plan” to become a dictator.
Just like we told you. Here’s an idea: Stop listening to liars. pic.twitter.com/S8Au8K0nfU
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 5, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
‘CANDIDATE AGNOSTIC’
Having been present for the grand unveiling at the leadership summit—which featured a speech by then-candidate Ron DeSantis in its top billing (along with what would be Tucker Carlson’s last speech as a Fox News host), I can attest that the resurgence of Trump in such sweeping fashion was the last thing on the minds of many of the Heritage Foundation’s policy writers.
Indeed, it is more likely that many of them feared his candidacy might hold back the sort of grand reinvention of Republicanism that they envisaged.
When I asked, point blank, during a media breakfast with some of the Mandate‘s lead editors what would happen if Trump won and proceeded to disregard all their painstakingly crafted proposals, they struggled to find a suitable answer, with some seeming to suggest in their aghast reactions that a Trump comeback seemed unfathomable at the time.
Nonetheless, they were diplomatic at the time in their insistence that the initiative was intended to be for whoever might emerge as the favored Republican candidate.
Lead editor Paul Dans, the former chief of staff in Trump’s Office of Personnel Management, said that the book sought to be “candidate agnostic” and serve as a resource to any future leader, regardless of who prevailed.
The Mandate authors did “such a good job that you cant help but embrace [it],” Dans said. “You kind of ignore this a little bit at your peril.”
A VISION OF HIS OWN
That Trump has his own plans, of course, should surprise few—especially not the cadre of ex-staffers and advisers who contributed to the Heritage project.
It was clear from the former president’s recent disavowal that he took umbrage with the notion that anyone would prescribe to him a set of “expert” policies to follow after his hard-fought climb back to White House contention.
Moreover, it seems as if Project 2025 runs parallel, in many ways, to the efforts of his own, Trump-endorsed America First Policy Institute.
Trump assures his supporters that he has learned his own valuable lessons.
“I’ve been through it. I know the good people, I know the bad people. I know weak people and strong people,” he said last year at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. “I know the people that are losers that we don’t want, I know the people that are winners that a lot of people don’t know or understand.”
Nonetheless, the presumptive GOP nominee—whose current odds of becoming the next president are around 70% by some mainstream media estimations—should not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
If there was one weakness in Trump’s prior presidential experience, it was his misjudgment of character and investment of trust in the wrong people based on their ability to flatter him to his face while undermining him behind his back.
Thus, he should regard Project 2025 and its Mandate for Leadership as a valuable second opinion, a sort of grounding influence that he can use as the baseline for making his decisions.
PROOF IS IN THE PROTEST
Following Trump’s comments dismissing Project 2025 as “ridiculous and abysmal” one of those who came forward in an effort to ridicule him was former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele—the epitome, if ever there were one, of a traitor to conservative values and ideals.
“Since #Project2025 is designed to institutionalize Trumpism and you know nothing about it, then why do you echo some of its policy priorities during your rallies?” said the former Maryland lietenant governor, whose own efforts to seek higher office failed miserably.
Ok, let’s all play with Stupid for minute…so exactly how do you “disagree” with something you “know nothing about” or “have no idea” who is behind, saying or doing the thing you disagree with? Since #Project2025 is designed to institutionalize Trumpism and you know nothing about… pic.twitter.com/z3irzidWP6
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) July 5, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
If the same people in the permanent bureaucracy who spent the past several years laying cover for the dubious 2020 election—and the senile geriatric they installed into power as an empty-suit figurehead for the corrupt oligarchy—are devoting this much energy to trying to distort the facts about Project 2025 and misrepresent its motives, then, ipso facto, it is worth a second look.
While Trump is justified in his apprehension about any and all unsolicited advice from D.C. think-tanks and career civil servants, the indications that so many Democrats (and disloyal right-wing denizens of the Swamp) seem panicked about its proposals should be a telling indication itself that Project 2025 is hitting its mark.
As Roberts noted at the Heritage leadership summit, “The Left started this culture war; we’re gonna finish it.”
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 19:50 - Hamas Drops Key Demand, Making Gaza Ceasefire Deal Closer Than Ever
Hamas Drops Key Demand, Making Gaza Ceasefire Deal Closer Than Ever
Following months of back-and-forth as well as contradictory reports of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which has proven elusive thus far, the two sides and their mediators could actually be getting closer this weekend.
CIA director Bill Burns is set to embark on yet another trip to Doha this coming week to rejoin negotiations focused on achieving a hostage exchange and broader ceasefire, Axios is reporting.
Axios previews that “Burns is expected to hold a joint meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, the director of the Israeli Mossad and the head of the Egyptian intelligence service in an effort to push forward the deal that could lead to the release of 120 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and end nine months of war.”
Via AP The below fresh report from The Times of Israel suggests Hamas may have just dropped a major demand which had previously thwarted any progress. From the start of negotiations, Hamas leaders have conditioned peace on an Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip:
Hamas has given initial approval for a US-backed proposal for a phased truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel give an up-front commitment for a complete end to the war, a Hamas and an Egyptian official said Saturday.
At the same time, a key stumbling block appeared to be Hamas’s desire for “written guarantees” from mediators that Israel will continue to negotiate a permanent ceasefire deal once the first phase of a ceasefire goes into effect.
The Hamas representative told The Associated Press the group’s approval came after it received “verbal commitments and guarantees” from mediators that the war won’t be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent ceasefire is reached.
The report stresses that “Hamas says it dropped demand Israel vow up-front to end war, but wants mediators’ guarantees.” If true this could prove a major opening, given PM Netanyahu had long focused on this specific demand as being a non-starter, making progress in talks impossible.
If a deal is achieved, it could result in the first full ceasefire of the conflict. According to diplomatic sources involved:
The Hamas and Egyptian officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations, said Washington’s phased deal will first include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire that would see the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During these 42 days, Israeli forces would also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the pair said.
In the US, a deal would lessen intensifying pressure on the Biden White House, given it has been losing support especially among Progressives due precisely to the president’s Gaza policy.
Netanyahu is expected to travel to DC at the end of this month to address Congress, and so far media reports are saying it is ‘likely’ he will meet with President Biden. Any potential ceasefire deal would ease the pressure of such a visit, certainly from Washington’s point of view at least.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 19:15 - Amtrak Service Halted Between NYC-Boston For "Electric Power Issue"
Amtrak Service Halted Between NYC-Boston For “Electric Power Issue”
An “ongoing electric power issue” suspended train service in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and New York City on Saturday afternoon, Amtrak wrote in a press release.
“Our crews are working hard to correct the issues,” Amtrak said but did not explain the cause of the service disruption.
Amtrak noted that “this service interruption” will be in place for the “remainder of the day.”
Service Temporarily Disrupted Between New York and New Haven https://t.co/l7VYykHMHu
— Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) July 6, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
According to AP News, the disruption was caused by a malfunctioning circuit breaker, which sparked service disruption between Penn Station in New York and Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut. There was no official word if the circuit breaker problem was caused by scorching temperatures across the Northeast.
Besides the ongoing heat wave, this outage comes at the worst possible time when a record 71 million Americans are expected to be traveling this Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Last month, Amtrak’s service in and out of New York City suffered a “malfunctioning circuit breaker” that sparked travel chaos for hours across the nation’s busiest transit hub.
With frustrations over unreliable train service in the Northeast mounting, it’s time for US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to actually stand up and be a leader and do something – just something. Come on ‘Mayor Pete’ – you got this.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 18:52 - Democrats Got Their Dream Wish, Now They Have To Live With It
Democrats Got Their Dream Wish, Now They Have To Live With It
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
There is a stunning number of ironies in the Trump-Biden rematch. At the top of the list is Biden’s belief that he is the only one who could beat Trump.
Wish Granted
At a NATO conference on March 24, 2022 Biden quipped to a reporter “In the next election, I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me.”
Comedian Bill Maher Commented: “The whole rationale for Biden running has always been I’m the only guy who can beat Trump. Now I think it’s inverted. He’s the only guy who can lose to him.”
King of Student Loans
In a press conference briefing in July of 2021, then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated the Constitutional Facts on Student Loans.
“The president can’t do it,” Pelosi said, at a press briefing. “That’s not even a discussion.”
Pelosi said any student debt forgiveness would have to be carried out by Congress. Other people in her party have said otherwise.
On June 30, 2023, the SCOTUSblog reported Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden Student-Loan Forgiveness Program
But that did not stop the king of student loans. He went ahead with another unconstitutional work around, then bragged about it.
The Supreme Court Didn’t Stop Me
In a White House Briefing on February 4, 2024, Biden bragged “The Supreme Court of the United States blocked me, but they didn’t stop me.“
Immunity for Official Acts
On July 1, 2024 the Supreme Court ruled the President has immunity for official acts.
I commented, The Left is Aghast at the Correct Supreme Court Immunity Decision on Trump
In a 6-3 decision, the SC that held the President has immunity for official acts. It was not a complete victory for Trump. In fact, the Court rejected Trump’s base case.
That was my opinion but it was entirely based on the actual Supreme Court Ruling. Here are a couple of snips from the Court, subtitles mine.
Court Blasts Trump’s Base Case to Outer Space
Trump asserts a far broader immunity than the limited one the Court recognizes, contending that the indictment must be dismissed because the Impeachment Judgment Clause requires that impeachment and Senate conviction precede a President’s criminal prosecution. But the text of the Clause does not address whether and on what conduct a President may be prosecuted if he was never impeached and convicted. See Art. I, §3, cl. 7. Historical evidence likewise lends little support to Trump’s position. The Federalist Papers on which Trump relies concerned the checks available against a sitting President; they did not endorse or even consider whether the Impeachment Judgment Clause immunizes a former President from prosecution. Transforming the political process of impeachment into a necessary step in the enforcement of criminal law finds little support in the text of the Constitution or the structure of the Nation’s Government.
Trump claimed to have absolute immunity. The Court blasted that claim to outer space. Again from the ruling …
Distinguishing Official Acts From Unofficial Ones
The first step in deciding whether a former President is entitled to immunity from a particular prosecution is to distinguish his official from unofficial actions. …
Presidents cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution. On remand, the District Court must carefully analyze the indictment’s remaining allegations to determine whether they too involve conduct for which a President must be immune from prosecution. And the parties and the District Court must ensure that sufficient allegations support the indictment’s charges without such conduct.
Distinguishing official acts from unofficial ones requires a prosecutorial hearing or fact finding mission to establish what is or is not an official act and what is or is not a constitutional act.
Such hearings are standard procedure for official acts. The Court merely extended the standard procedure to the office of president.
Contrary to hyperventilation by the Left, the SC ruling does not protect the President from unofficial acts or unconstitutional acts.
Truman Example
If the President claims authority to act but in fact exercises mere “individual will” and “authority without law,” the courts may say so. Youngstown, 343 U. S., at 655 (Jackson, J., concurring). In Youngstown, for instance, we held that President Truman exceeded his constitutional authority when he seized most of the Nation’s steel mills.
On grounds of national defense, Truman tried to seize steel mills. The Court quickly told Truman no, that’s unconstitutional.
Court Synopsis
The court rejected Trump’s base case, properly cited Truman as an unconstitutional example, and specifically applied its ruling to official acts.
Importantly, official acts must be constitutional!
Truman was acting “officially”, but not “constitutionally”.
The King Moans About Kings
Following the SC Ruling, Biden gave a speech “I Dissent“
This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each — each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States.
With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed. For all — for all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do.
Given Biden’s forceful flouting of the Supreme Court not only is that dripping with irony, it’s also a blatant, purposeful lie as any careful reading of the actual ruling shows.
But that did not stop major hyperventilation from the Left including this nonsensical headline from the Huffington Post: Supreme Court Gives Joe Biden The Legal OK To Assassinate Donald Trump
Did anyone bother to read the ruling before commenting?
A Delusional Defense of Biden’s Health
There is a stunning number of ironies in the Trump-Biden rematch. At the top of the list is Biden’s belief that he is the only one who could beat Trump. Wish Granted At a NATO conference on March 24, 2022 Biden quipped to a reporter “In the next election, I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me.” Comedian Bill Maher Commented: “The whole rationale for Biden running has always been I’m the only guy who can beat Trump. Now I think it’s inverted. He’s the only guy who can lose to him.” King of Student Loans In a press conference briefing in July of 2021, then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated the Constitutional Facts on Student Loans. “The president can’t do it,” Pelosi said, at a press briefing. “That’s not even a discussion.” Pelosi said any student debt forgiveness would have to be carried out by Congress. Other people in her party have said otherwise. On June 30, 2023, the SCOTUSblog reported Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden Student-Loan Forgiveness Program But that did not stop the king of student loans. He went ahead with another unconstitutional work around, then bragged about it. The Supreme Court Didn’t Stop Me In a White House Briefing on February 4, 2024, Biden bragged “The Supreme Court of the United States blocked me, but they didn’t stop me.“ Immunity for Official Acts On July 1, 2024 the Supreme Court ruled the President has immunity for official acts. I commented, The Left is Aghast at the Correct Supreme Court Immunity Decision on Trump In a 6-3 decision, the SC that held the President has immunity for official acts. It was not a complete victory for Trump. In fact, the Court rejected Trump’s base case. That was my opinion but it was entirely based on the actual Supreme Court Ruling. Here are a couple of snips from the Court, subtitles mine. Court Blasts Trump’s Base Case to Outer Space Trump asserts a far broader immunity than the limited one the Court recognizes, contending that the indictment must be dismissed because the Impeachment Judgment Clause requires that impeachment and Senate conviction precede a President’s criminal prosecution. But the text of the Clause does not address whether and on what conduct a President may be prosecuted if he was never impeached and convicted. See Art. I, §3, cl. 7. Historical evidence likewise lends little support to Trump’s position. The Federalist Papers on which Trump relies concerned the checks available against a sitting President; they did not endorse or even consider whether the Impeachment Judgment Clause immunizes a former President from prosecution. Transforming the political process of impeachment into a necessary step in the enforcement of criminal law finds little support in the text of the Constitution or the structure of the Nation’s Government. Trump claimed to have absolute immunity. The Court blasted that claim to outer space. Again from the ruling … Distinguishing Official Acts From Unofficial Ones The first step in deciding whether a former President is entitled to immunity from a particular prosecution is to distinguish his official from unofficial actions. … Presidents cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution. On remand, the District Court must carefully analyze the indictment’s remaining allegations to determine whether they too involve conduct for which a President must be immune from prosecution. And the parties and the District Court must ensure that sufficient allegations support the indictment’s charges without such conduct. Distinguishing official acts from unofficial ones requires a prosecutorial hearing or fact finding mission to establish what is or is not an official act and what is or is not a constitutional act. Such hearings are standard procedure for official acts. The Court merely extended the standard procedure to the office of president. Contrary to hyperventilation by the Left, the SC ruling does not protect the President from unofficial acts or unconstitutional acts. Truman Example If the President claims authority to act but in fact exercises mere “individual will” and “authority without law,” the courts may say so. Youngstown, 343 U. S., at 655 (Jackson, J., concurring). In Youngstown, for instance, we held that President Truman exceeded his constitutional authority when he seized most of the Nation’s steel mills. On grounds of national defense, Truman tried to seize steel mills. The Court quickly told Truman no, that’s unconstitutional. Court Synopsis The court rejected Trump’s base case, properly cited Truman as an unconstitutional example, and specifically applied its ruling to official acts. Importantly, official acts must be constitutional! Truman was acting “officially”, but not “constitutionally”. The King Moans About Kings Following the SC Ruling, Biden gave a speech “I Dissent“ This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each — each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States. With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed. For all — for all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. Given Biden’s forceful flouting of the Supreme Court not only is that dripping with irony, it’s also a blatant, purposeful lie as any careful reading of the actual ruling shows. But that did not stop major hyperventilation from the Left including this nonsensical headline from the Huffington Post: Supreme Court Gives Joe Biden The Legal OK To Assassinate Donald Trump Did anyone bother to read the ruling before commenting? A Delusional Defense of Biden’s Health “He’s probably in better health than most of us.” What?! Nate Silver replied, “They can’t tell the truth, that their candidate is well below the threshold of someone who should be president for another 4 years, so they tell obvious lies that nobody but the dumbest partisans will buy.” In another bit of delusional madness … Biden Says ‘My Son Has Done Nothing Wrong’ On May 7, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported ‘My Son Has Done Nothing Wrong’ “My son has done nothing wrong,” the President said on MSNBC. “I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my Presidency by making me feel proud of him.” Not Confidence Inspiring The Guardian comments Joe Biden is taking advice from his son, Hunter. This does not inspire confidence. The Biden clan gathered at Camp David on Sunday and, according to multiple reports, urged him to “keep fighting”. The New York Times stated: “One of the strongest voices imploring Mr Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son, Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice.” Which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence: Hunter has poor judgment and a well-documented history of scandals. (To be clear, I am not sneering at his drug use; addicts deserve empathy. Drugs aside, his questionable business dealings and chaotic personal life make it difficult to look at Hunter and think: “Yeah, that’s a guy I should take advice from.”) Three Hunter Ironies The Hunter irony is threefold. First, the president is taking advice from someone whose motive is clearly suspect. Second, the President goes around calling Trump a convicted felon. The third irony is the New York trial was so flawed conviction is highly likely to be overturned but the Hunter felony will stand. A Travesty of Justice On May 30, Trump was convicted of a felony. Ironically, no one can precisely say what the felony is. I commented Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America A misdemeanor, on which the Statute of Limitations had run out, was used to produced 34 felony counts on committing a Federal offense for which he was not charged. They will say “No one is above the law”. Indeed. But no one should be beneath the law either. Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law, including judicial instructions. I am outraged and I don’t even care for Trump. Everyone should be outraged. The trial was unfair because there should not have been a trial at all. On Getting Their Wish So, here we are. Biden got his wish that nearly all Democrats now regret. The DNC went along, greasing the wheels for a renomination and eliminating debate despite (or was it because of) the President’s increasingly obvious senility. Judging from a recent cornucopia of posts on the New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian, etc., Democrats have a new wish, for Biden to step down. Sorry, the wish fairy only grants one political wish. It’s now up to Jill or Hunter to convince Joe to stand down. That does not look promising now. However, there’s a decent chance the President soon will not be able to walk or say anything coherent even in the newly designated prime hours of 9:00AM to 4:00PM. Yet, the longer the delay, the worse it looks. There is not a reasonable person on the planet who believe Biden can last another year, let alone four more years. Effectively, the ne battle cry is “Four More Months!” Democrats got what they deserve. Unfortunately, it’s not what the nation deserves. That’s the final irony in a sorry script fully loaded with ironies.
“He’s probably in better health than most of us.”
What?!
Nate Silver replied, “They can’t tell the truth, that their candidate is well below the threshold of someone who should be president for another 4 years, so they tell obvious lies that nobody but the dumbest partisans will buy.”
In another bit of delusional madness …
Biden Says ‘My Son Has Done Nothing Wrong’
On May 7, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported ‘My Son Has Done Nothing Wrong’
“My son has done nothing wrong,” the President said on MSNBC. “I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my Presidency by making me feel proud of him.”
Not Confidence Inspiring
The Guardian comments Joe Biden is taking advice from his son, Hunter. This does not inspire confidence.
The Biden clan gathered at Camp David on Sunday and, according to multiple reports, urged him to “keep fighting”. The New York Times stated: “One of the strongest voices imploring Mr Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son, Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice.” Which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence: Hunter has poor judgment and a well-documented history of scandals. (To be clear, I am not sneering at his drug use; addicts deserve empathy. Drugs aside, his questionable business dealings and chaotic personal life make it difficult to look at Hunter and think: “Yeah, that’s a guy I should take advice from.”)
Three Hunter Ironies
The Hunter irony is threefold. First, the president is taking advice from someone whose motive is clearly suspect.
Second, the President goes around calling Trump a convicted felon.
The third irony is the New York trial was so flawed conviction is highly likely to be overturned but the Hunter felony will stand.
A Travesty of Justice
On May 30, Trump was convicted of a felony. Ironically, no one can precisely say what the felony is.
I commented Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America
A misdemeanor, on which the Statute of Limitations had run out, was used to produced 34 felony counts on committing a Federal offense for which he was not charged.
They will say “No one is above the law”. Indeed. But no one should be beneath the law either.
Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law, including judicial instructions.
I am outraged and I don’t even care for Trump. Everyone should be outraged. The trial was unfair because there should not have been a trial at all.
On Getting Their Wish
So, here we are. Biden got his wish that nearly all Democrats now regret.
The DNC went along, greasing the wheels for a renomination and eliminating debate despite (or was it because of) the President’s increasingly obvious senility.
Judging from a recent cornucopia of posts on the New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian, etc., Democrats have a new wish, for Biden to step down.
Sorry, the wish fairy only grants one political wish.
It’s now up to Jill or Hunter to convince Joe to stand down. That does not look promising now. However, there’s a decent chance the President soon will not be able to walk or say anything coherent even in the newly designated prime hours of 9:00AM to 4:00PM.
Yet, the longer the delay, the worse it looks. There is not a reasonable person on the planet who believe Biden can last another year, let alone four more years.
Effectively, the ne battle cry is “Four More Months!”
Democrats got what they deserve. Unfortunately, it’s not what the nation deserves.
That’s the final irony in a sorry script fully loaded with ironies.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 18:40 - Over 60 Foreign Policy Experts Issue Letter Urging NATO Against Advancing Ukraine Membership
Over 60 Foreign Policy Experts Issue Letter Urging NATO Against Advancing Ukraine Membership
The United States is hosting this year’s major annual NATO Summit in Washington DC on July 9,10, and 11. Heads of state, foreign ministers, and diplomats from across Europe will be in attendance, as will of course President Joe Biden.
A big question that remains is how far the alliance will go in encouraging Ukraine’s ambitions to join. Currently the US is pushing the ambiguous language of offering Kiev a “bridge” to NATO while demanding reforms especially in the area of corruption. Zelensky is not happy, given that not even a timeline for membership appears to be on the table.
Still, there are enough hawks among Western leaders to present the possibility of launching Ukraine on an ‘irreversible’ path to membership, which many observers fear will only eventually trigger WW3 with Russia.
Days ago, and just around the corner from the summit’s start, dozens of foreign policy experts have issued a letter which sounds the alarm on the question of advancing Ukrainian membership. The group is warning that should Kiev ever be admitted, it would trigger NATO’s Article 5, and require Western states to enter a nuclear-armed conflict with Russia.
“The closer NATO comes to promising that Ukraine will join the alliance once the war ends, the greater the incentive for Russia to keep fighting the war,” the letter, signed by over 60 analysts, reads. “The challenges Russia poses can be managed without bringing Ukraine into NATO.”
The letter argues that encouraging NATO membership only plays into Putin’s narrative, and in the end ensures “turning Ukraine into the site of a prolonged showdown between the world’s two leading nuclear powers.”
At one point the group says that advancing Ukraine’s membership presents the risk of the “unraveling of NATO itself”. According to a section from the letter [emphasis ZH]:
Some claim that the act of bringing Ukraine into NATO would deter Russia from ever invading Ukraine again. That is wishful thinking. Since Russia began invading Ukraine in 2014, NATO Allies have demonstrated through their actions that they do not believe the stakes of the conflict, while significant, justify the price of war.
If Ukraine were to join NATO, Russia would have reason to doubt the credibility of NATO’s security guarantee — and would gain an opportunity to test and potentially rupture the alliance. The result could be a direct NATO-Russia war or the unraveling of NATO itself.
Below is the letter in full, followed by the list of signatories, which was first reported and posted online by Politico…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 18:05 - "Think About It Very Carefully": Author Don Winslow Posts Curious Message To Mark Warner
“Think About It Very Carefully”: Author Don Winslow Posts Curious Message To Mark Warner
Last night, President Joe Biden refused to take a cognitive or neurological test despite widespread concerns over his physical and mental decline. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed the President on his low polling and efforts of Democrats to get him to drop out of the race. He specifically mentioned the effort of Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) to organize members to pressure him to end his campaign. Biden took a not-so-subtle dig at Warner. However, it was nothing compared to a curious posting by author and Democratic activist Don Winslow, who appeared to threaten Warner on X (formerly Twitter).
When the story broke in the Washington Post, Winslow posted a curious and ominous response:
Dear @MarkWarner
Are you sure you want to go down this road?
You definitely know what I’m talking about.
Think about it very carefully.
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) July 6, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It is not clear what Winslow meant by Warner knowing what he was talking about when asking if he was “sure you want to go down this road?”
The message has caused a bit of a stir on the Hill. For the denizens of the Beltway, it sounds extortive and threatening. The suggestion is that Winslow has something on Warner.
While some have asked whether this could be viewed as a threat criminally, it is clearly not sufficient for a charge. Warner is a public figure and this comment could just be a reference to political backlash or the lack of an alternative.
His asking Warner “Are you sure you want to go down this road?” could be a reference to the political implications of the resulting chaos, including making Kamala Harris the presidential candidate. Harris is even less popular than Biden according to some polls. While some polls show her doing slightly better than Biden against Trump, other polling shows that she would do considerably worse.
However, it is the follow up of “Think about it very carefully” that has got tongues wagging in D.C.
Whatever the intended meaning, the posting shows the depth of the division on the issue. Those divisions are only likely to deepen further after the refusal to take a test to put these concerns to rest.
Notably, Biden has insisted that the public can simply observe him. However, that position stands in contradiction to the frivolous privilege claims made by the Administration to withhold the audiotape from the interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. That was an interview that the President was prepared for in advance and held in ideal conditions with staff. It is an opportunity for the public to hear him under questioning to reach the very conclusions that Biden suggested in the interview.
As for Winslow’s posting, it may just be an incautious, poorly worded message rather than extortion or blackmail. We have all made postings that we regretted.
The real issue for Democrats is how to address this looming issue without tearing the party apart. I have tried to drill down on the legal implications of swapping out the top of the ticket or the entire ticket. It is uncharted territory when it comes to the federal election laws on the use of past contributions as well as some states with restrictive rules on ballot changes.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 17:30 - Here's Where American Troops Are Stationed Overseas?
Here’s Where American Troops Are Stationed Overseas?
With a military budget bigger than most countries’ GDPs, the U.S. military manages to station troops in nearly 170 territories, on every continent in the world.
But which countries host the most troops? In the chart below, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao maps the territories where active duty American military personnel are stationed, according to March 2024 figures from the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).
ℹ️ Reserve troops and civilian personnel are also stationed overseas for support activities. They are not included on this map.
Ranked: Top 10 Territories Hosting U.S. Troops
There are nearly 170,000 active duty American troops stationed overseas.
More than half of that number are in Japan (55,000) and Germany (35,000), a holdover from World War II after the Axis powers surrendered.
Germany is now also home to the US European Command (EUCOM) headquarters in Stuttgart. It’s a key regional outpost, to help “keep the peace in Europe, parts of the Middle East, and Eurasia,” as stated by the government.
*Guam is a U.S. territory.
Meanwhile, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty revised in 1960 allowed America to establish military bases in the country, in exchange for defending Japan in the event of an attack.
South Korea also has a significant garrison, nearly 25,000 active duty personnel. This is also a legacy from the Korean War.
Tellingly, however, six of the top 10 countries hosting U.S. troops are in Europe. For the decades since the Cold War, the American military had been reducing its European footprint. However after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the buildup restarted.
Finally, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion and the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. military has increased the number of troops both in Europe and the Middle East.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 16:55 - Russia's Majority-Muslim Regions Are Paving The Way By Temporarily Banning The Niqab
Russia’s Majority-Muslim Regions Are Paving The Way By Temporarily Banning The Niqab
Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,
Russia’s majority-Muslim regions of Dagestan and Karachay-Cherkessia temporarily banned the niqab on security-related pretexts in the aftermath of last month’s terrorist attacks in Dagestan. The temporary nature of this restriction is meant to avoid violating federal law after a government document from the Cabinet seen by Kommersant in late May described a full ban as unconstitutional. That came in response to the head of the Human Rights Council calling for this shortly after late March’s Crocus terrorist attack.
It’s ironic that Russia’s majority-Orthodox Cabinet considers a full ban to be an unconstitutional violation of its citizens’ freedom of religion while at least two of its majority-Muslim regions thus far consider a temporary one to be a prudent security-related measure. This disconnect is likely due to the first’s fear of offending Russia’s growing Muslim minority, which the Grand Mufti predicted in 2019 will constitute around one-third of the population in the next 15 years, and the second’s on-the-ground reality.
The Cabinet might be acting nobly, and there’s no doubt that there’s a sizeable segment of this minority that would object to banning the niqab, but those Muslims on the front line of Russia’s domestic War on Terror in the North Caucasus understand the pragmatism behind temporary measures. At the very least, the niqab can be worn by male terrorists to disguise themselves in order to move freely among society while smuggling explosives and/or weapons, thus making this garment a security risk.
There’s also the fact that the Central Asian Republics from which the vast majority of Russia’s migrant population originates have banned the niqab to varying degrees for similar security-related reasons as well as concerns that this foreign (Arab) tradition contributes to radicalizing members of society. By letting their citizens wear it during their stay in Russia, the federal government is inadvertently undermining their policies, which in turn risks destabilizing those countries once those citizens return.
“Putin & The Patriarch Reminded Russians That Ethno-Religious Hate Speech Is Unacceptable” as part of their national unity efforts after the Crocus terrorist attack, but publicly discussing the socio-security benefits of banning the niqab doesn’t constitute such. It’s only controversial if someone associates terrorism with Islam like the Head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin recently did while lobbying for this policy and accidentally upset Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov as a result.
The latter’s region already informally banned the niqab long ago, with this being the case beyond any doubt after a group of women were scolded on local TV in late 2020 for wearing this garment in public and then forced to remove it. Chechnya, much more than any other region in Russia, understands the socio-security risks of applying a laissez-faire approach towards foreign religious traditions even if this is for well-intentioned reasons related to upholding citizens’ human rights and whatnot.
While the federal government might remain fearful of reversing its position on the alleged unconstitutionality of officially banning the niqab, Russia’s majority-Muslim regions of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Karachay-Cherkessia are paving the way through their informal and temporary bans. More regions could foreseeably follow their lead and couldn’t be accused of ethno-religious hate speech since it’s Russian Muslims themselves that are pioneering this pragmatic solution to such a sensitive issue.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 16:20 - 7 In 10 Voters Think Biden Is Too Old To Be President
7 In 10 Voters Think Biden Is Too Old To Be President
Considering that Joe Biden, who is already the oldest sitting president ever in the United States, will turn 82 in November and his designated challenger Donald Trump just turned 78, age was always going to be an issue in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
After last week’s debate, however, during which President Biden looked every bit his age, the discussion over Biden’s fitness to run a successful re-election campaign, let alone serve another four-year term has taken on a new dynamic.
As Statista’s Felix Richter reports, even among rank-and-file democrats, anxiety over Biden’s health and his re-election prospects is growing, even though the party’s leadership is trying to present a united front in support of the president.
A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College reveals how big the concerns about Biden’s age really are, showing that 74 percent of registered voters believe that he is “just too old to be an effective president”, compared to 43 percent who think the same about Donald Trump.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Even more strikingly, 62 percent of those who voted for Biden in 2020 believe he is now too old, along with 59 percent of those who identified as supporters of the Democratic Party.
That doesn’t necessarily mean people won’t vote for him though, as even 58 percent of those who would vote for Biden in 2024 tend to agree that he is too old to be an effective president, as they have similar (and other) concerns about Trump.
As Statista’s chart shows, registered voters are significantly more concerned about Biden’s age than they are about Trump’s with more than 50 percent of all respondents strongly agreeing that Biden is too old to be an effective president and another 21 percent somewhat agreeing.
When it comes to Trump’s age, just 22 percent of registered voters strongly agree that he’s too old to be a good president with another 21 percent somewhat agreeing.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 15:45 - Spot Bitcoin ETFS See Record Inflows Post-July-4th-Dip
Spot Bitcoin ETFS See Record Inflows Post-July-4th-Dip
Authored by Amaka Nwaokocha via CoinTelegraph.com,
Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a surge in inflows on July 6, following the recent U.S. Independence Day, during which Bitcoin’s price dropped below $54,000.
According to Farside monitoring, this is their largest net inflow in a month, with a remarkable $143.1 million flowing into these financial products.
Strong inflows
The Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) led the inflows with an impressive $117 million, highlighting strong investor confidence in the fund. Following FBTC, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) recorded a net inflow of $30.2 million, while the ARKB and HODL ETFs saw inflows of $11.3 million and $12.8 million, respectively.
Conversely, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) experienced a net outflow of $28.6 million, starkly contrasting the positive trend across other spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs bounced back strongly. Source: Farside Investors
Despite the recent market turbulence, the substantial inflows into these ETFs suggest that institutional investors and large-scale buyers are taking advantage of the dip to accumulate Bitcoin at lower prices.
Prime opportunity to buy Bitcoin
Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, highlighted in a post on X social platform his team’s efficiency in acquiring Bitcoin, managing to do so at a cost of less than half a basis point.
Horsley also emphasized the strong outlook for Bitcoin, suggesting that the current market conditions present a valuable buying opportunity for both new and existing investors.
“The outlook for Bitcoin has never been stronger. For many who don’t yet have exposure, this week is a chance to buy the dip,” he stated.
During the first week of July, BITB registered inflows exceeding $66 million, increasing its total Bitcoin holdings to over 38,000. Despite short-term volatility, this growth shows continued confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term potential.
Renowned Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff also offered his perspective on the resilience of Bitcoin ETF investors. Despite recent market fluctuations, Schiff observed that these investors remain committed to holding their assets, showing no signs of panic.
“So far, there’s no sign of panic. It will likely take a much larger drop in Bitcoin before they finally capitulate,” Schiff commented.
He further predicted that a significant sell-off could occur soon, potentially leading to a capitulation among Bitcoin holders.
Bitcoin fell to $55,200 on Coinbase after the collapsed Japanese crypto exchange Mt. Gox transferred 47,229 Bitcoin – worth $2.71 billion at current prices – to a new wallet address in its first major transaction since May.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 15:10 - Iran Elects Reformist President Amid Low Turnout, Young People Celebrate In Streets
Iran Elects Reformist President Amid Low Turnout, Young People Celebrate In Streets
The reformist and ‘moderate’ Masoud Pezeshkian has been elected as Iran’s new president, defeating his hardline conservative rival Saeed Jalili, after gaining 53.3% of the 30+ million votes counted.
While Jalili was seen as the status quo candidate, by and large expected to continue his predecessor’s policies, Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and member of the Iranian parliament, has vowed to seek an end to the Islamic Republic’s global isolation.
Via Reuters: Masoud Pezeshkian wins election As part of this push, the 71-year old has called for “constructive negotiations” with the West on Iran’s nuclear program, in hopes getting US-led sanctions removed or at least softened. Iran has on a monthly basis been expanding its Uranium enrichment and purity, bringing it closer to the ability to produce a nuclear weapon if it decides to do so. Israel has meanwhile threatened preemptive attack if this happens.
After years of intermittent anti-government protests, including the months-long ‘hijab protests’ which were triggered by a young woman’s death at the hands of the morality police, Dr. Pezeshkian is promising “unity and cohesion” between the government and population.
He has personally long been critical of the morality police, which boosted his popularity among younger and professional young family circles. Already young people have been seen celebrating in the streets of major cities, in hopes of a new era for Iran.
Pezeshkian’s victory is the result of a run-off after the June 28 first round election failed to result in a clear majority for either candidate. June 28 saw a historically low voter turnout of just 40% – and was a little over a month after the late President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crashed in northern Iran near the border with Azerbaijan. Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed, along with other top officials.
According to the numbers from the run-off which secured Pezeshkian’s victory:
With all ballots counted, Pezeshkian secured 16.4 million votes, while Jalili received 13.5 million votes, Press TV reports. Turnout was 30.5 million, or 49.8% of the 61 million eligible voters, according to a final update at 6:45 am local time (3:15 GMT).
Iran’s Foreign Minister announced Saturday, “The great nation of Iran once again stood proud in the test of loyalty to the holy system of the Islamic Republic and protection of our beloved Iran. Now is the season of empathy, unity and national cohesion for progress and ever-increasing authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Very quickly on the news, the leaders of China, India and Russia were among the first to congratulate Pezeshkian on his victory.
Upon the first round of voting, it became increasingly apparent that regions were choosing their candidate largely along ethnic lines…
Another voting pattern map created by @bbcpersian indicates that ultra conservative Saeed Jalili has won in Persian majority provinces. With few exceptions, non Persian voters in border provinces have overwhelmingly voted for reformist and ethnic Azerbaijani Masoud Pezeshkian. pic.twitter.com/hIn482Mkf6
— Ahmad Hashemi (@MrAhmadHashemi) July 1, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Below is a brief partial backgrounder on the newly elected Iranian president via Anadolu Agency…
* * *
A relatively low-profile political figure, Pezeshkian served as health minister in the government of Mohammad Khatami (2001-2005) and has represented the northwestern city of Tabriz in the Iranian parliament since 2008. A cardiologist by practice, Pezeshkian previously headed the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, one of the leading medical institutions in northern Iran.
His two previous unsuccessful bids for the presidency came in 2013 and 2021, respectively. In 2013, he withdrew from the presidential race in the later stages in favor of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani; in 2021, his candidacy was rejected by the Guardian Council, the country’s top vetting body.
As the only reformist candidate in the race this time around, backed by the country’s leading reformist coalition, Pezeshkian engaged in hectic campaigning in recent weeks. His campaign was bolstered by the presence of former reformist politicians and ministers, including Javad Zarif, who served as foreign minister for two terms under former President Hassan Rouhani.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 14:35 - US Mainstream Media Await New Orders Now Their Big Lie About Biden Is Rumbled
US Mainstream Media Await New Orders Now Their Big Lie About Biden Is Rumbled
Authored by Tony Morrison via DailySceptic.org,
The debacle that was President Biden’s performance at last Thursday’s Presidential debate divided America. Half were astonished to see someone with a crypt-keeper vibe who was obviously dazed and confused and whose language consisted mainly of mumbling nonsense that often trailed off into sheer incomprehensibility. The other half merely saw business as usual from Biden. Political pundits refer to this phenomenon as, in the words of Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, “one screen, two movies”.
Much of the blame for this societal dissonance lies in the unhealthy alliance of our MSM (mainstream media composed of broadcast networks and major newspapers) and the Democrat Party. Since at least the 1990s the MSM have been operating as a propaganda arm for the Democrat Party as opposed to providing “truth to power”. The MSM are gradually losing the battle for relevance in the huge flourishing of, first, cable networks and now internet-based sites, podcasts and assorted social media, but they are still powerful in their waning days. They trashed Trump merrily during his Presidency, pushed Biden over the finish line in 2020, and have carried Biden’s water since then.
And since 2020 the MSM have been carrying more water for Biden than the Ganges in monsoon season. Biden’s deterioration has been evident for some years and it became an issue in the 2020 election. Brit Hume, one of journalism’s grey eminences, posed that Biden was senile based on his manner, behaviour and actions. MSM “fact-checkers” protected the precious candidate. But Biden and his handlers took notice that they had been rumbled and used the excuse of Covid from early 2020 on to hide Biden away campaigning from his basement. MSM ignored his concerning demeanor completely and supported him for President in words that would have embarrassed George Washington.
After a most unusual election came a most unusual Presidency, where the hiding away of the most powerful man in the world continued. Appearances were controlled, press conferences limited and interviews permitted only in controlled scripted environments such as with celebrities or on late night talk shows. Biden’s deteriorating physical condition, as well as his mental decline, were covered up by his handlers in a number of ways.
This year, two events began to poke serious holes in the view that Biden is just old. Last year a Special Counsel, Robert Hur, was appointed to conduct an investigation into the finding of classified documents at Biden’s residences. He reported his findings in January. The report was not kind to Biden to say the least. He stated that Biden should not be prosecuted for the documents because a jury would not find him guilty as they would be sympathetic to the fact he was a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. NBC News dutifully provided covering fire for this by rolling out Democrat operatives to trash both Hur and the report.
Then there were the recent international events such as D-Day and the G7 meetings, where Biden was caught on camera spacing out and wandering off. The videos were shown on Fox News and went viral. The Associated Press stepped up for the covering fire and called them “cheap fakes”, following on from the White House reaction. A bemused Fox News said the videos “have not been cropped, they have not been sped up or slowed down or edited in any way”.
And then came the debate. Biden had slipped in the polls against Trump due to the response from voters to seeing a candidate pursue the Kafka-esque strategy of putting an opponent on trial. And so Biden and his handlers came up with a cunning plan – to challenge Trump to a debate in an environment they believed they could control. They set the rules, selected the moderators (CNN, who had earlier supplied the questions in advance to Hillary Clinton in a 2016 debate), had no audience that would cause Biden to lose focus, and banned any cross-talk to limit Trump’s quick repartee. Biden spent seven days at Camp David prepping for the debate as if there was nothing else going on that required his attention. It was a brilliant strategy and only one thing could ruin it – the senility of the candidate. It did.
The reaction was immediate from folks believing in Biden. Democrats and Never-Trumpers were gob-smacked. But it is fascinating how their surprise was akin to reading the last few pages of an Agatha Christie novel. Massive surprise at the unveiling of the murderer is followed by an “oh yeah” as folks think back on the clues that were there all along. These reactions showed up in polls taken over the last few days. A CBS News poll two days after the debate showed 72% of folks now believe Biden’s cognitive issues prohibit him from being President, and this includes 42% of Democrat voters.
The immediate reactions of the MSM were different. At 10:30 that night the panicked howls of the MSNBC political pundits and “experts” mourned the death of their favoured campaign, while CNN threw ashes on the coffin. The New York Times suffered a dark night of the soul, and as the dawn broke published an editorial claiming Biden should step down. These are the guys who in March this year were taking a victory lap comparing Biden to Beethoven, Wagner and Martin Scorsese after Biden angrily shouted his way through a teleprompter speech to Congress.
The assorted Democrat Party apparatchiks and elected representatives were even more on fire. The donors did not like seeing their investment go down the drain. Many wanted their money back. Incumbent Democrats facing election in November were all over the place, with the mood varying from total support to calls to step down. In a Presidential election year Biden is at the top of the ticket and so has the capability of dragging these guys over the finish line, as party regulars tend to vote the entire line. Or not, as the case may be.
The White House gamely tried damage control, saying Biden was ill with a cold or suffering from jet lag after two back-to-back trips to Europe two weeks before the debate. The usually obedient White House Press Corps did not buy it.
No word as yet from White House doctor Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who gave Biden his annual physical this year and claimed he was “fit for duty“.
As for the Biden campaign, its response came four days later on Monday night when he addressed the nation on TV. The Supreme Court had issued a ruling on Presidential immunity when carrying out constitutional duties that essentially destroyed the strategy to tie Trump up in court for bogus charges. All Biden had to do was give a stirring speech on TV about the evil Supreme Court as a dramatic riposte to the debate nightmare. Unfortunately, Biden stank up the joint once again. His speech was only four minutes long, delivered in the trademark Biden mumble. He read both his speech and his instructions (“end of quote”) off the teleprompter. And it did not help that Biden’s face was painted with orange make-up in a vain effort to look as vibrant as his opponent.
This story is going to take a while to play out as the Democrat Party is on the horns of a dilemma. Biden is still planning on running and if he (or those around him) want him to, he will. His delegates (over 90%) have to vote for him on a first ballot at the Democratic Convention in August, which makes him the Democrat nominee. Only pressure from Democrats, anxious about a thrashing in November if he heads the ticket, can change this. But try that with a cranky, senile, elderly man. Also, the $100 million campaign war chest he has raised so far can only be transferred to his VP, Kamala Harris. And Democrats, apart from those who want the first POC woman as President, do not want her as she is, unbelievably, more unpopular than Biden with the public. Raising that kind of money and formulating a nationwide campaign is unrealistic with just four months left. Whatever strategy is followed, one thing is clear – the MSM will support whatever path is chosen by the Democrat Party.
Left out of all this is the state of the country. The focus at the moment is on Biden the candidate, but it is Biden as President for the next six months that is far more worrying. The MSM and Democrat Party, however, cannot waste too much time on something as trivial as the state of the nation. Not when there is an election to win.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 14:00 - 150 Million Americans Under Weather Alerts As "Potentially Historic Heatwave" Tests Major Power Grids
150 Million Americans Under Weather Alerts As “Potentially Historic Heatwave” Tests Major Power Grids
Let’s start with the good news: The Lower 48 has reached peak summer, backed by 30 years of seasonal temperature trend data from Bloomberg.
Now for the bad news: A heat wave continues to set records across the Lower 48, with 150 million Americans under weather alert this holiday weekend.
Axios outlines the areas where the heat dome will impact the most:
-
Nearly half the U.S. population is under some type of extreme heat warning or advisory on Friday. The extreme heat in the Southeast to Mid-Atlantic is oppressive, with a strong upper-level high-pressure area, or heat dome, leading to hot and humid conditions.
-
Heat advisories and other alerts extend from New Orleans to New York City on Friday.
-
In the West, though, a near-record-strong heat dome is yielding scorchingly hot and dry conditions, and raising wildfire risks.
-
Excessive heat warnings along the West Coast stretch from Nevada and Arizona through California and northward into Oregon and Washington State.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jenn Varian told Bloomberg that Las Vegas is forecasted to hit a scorching 117F on Sunday into early next week, potentially tying the metro area’s all-time high recorded in 2005 and again in 2017.
“Confidence is increasing that this potentially historic heatwave will last several days,” the National Weather Service’s office in Portland, Oregon, wrote on X, adding temperatures will rise “into the 100s and 110s over much of California and southern Oregon.”
Here are more forecasted highs this weekend (list courtesy of Axios):
- 118°F: Forecast high in Redding, Calif., on Saturday, tying the city’s all-time high.
- 128°F: Forecast high in Death Valley, Calif., just 2-degrees shy of the hottest reliably measured temperature on Earth.
- 100°F: Forecast high on Friday in Portland, Ore., with temperatures at or above this level from Friday through Tuesday in this typically cooler city.
This all means that power grids will be under stress this weekend as high temperatures boost air conditioning demand. Bloomberg says that grids in California and Texas should be closely monitored for an elevated blackout risks.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/06/2024 – 13:25 -
Digest powered by RSS Digest
Saving...
