MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

Please Watch and Share “Juice: Power, Politics, and The Grid” by Robert Bryce-Jane Menton

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2024-2-19-please-watch-and-share-juice-power-politics-and-the-grid-by-robert-bryce

Most of what Robert Bryce covers in his new documentary Juice won’t be news to you if you’re a regular reader of this blog. However, it is exactly the tool we need to bring everyone else into the fold.

It’s gripping, well produced, and covers a ton of ground in short, extremely digestible, 20 minute episodes. In 5 parts (so about an hour and a half total), Bryce and director/producer Tyson Culver cover: how the energy market developed; where we are now; the politics and profits driving decisions; why solar/wind energy will never work; and hope for a possible nuclear renaissance. And they do it all without ever getting too technical for the average viewer.

The first three episodes should be required viewing for everyone, in my opinion, and provide a thorough overview of the grid, the players, and the politics. The last two episodes are very focused on nuclear as our best option for reliable, carbon-free energy, which comes off as hopeful and solution oriented, but may be much further from realization than Bryce optimistically portrays.

If you read this blog, I can safely assume you already know a lot about energy and why current government policies towards energy are absurd at best and dangerous at worst. But it’s just as likely that you have several people in your life who struggle to understand your obsession with energy policy or can’t see why it’s so important, so fundamental to modern society, and on the cusp of turning into the biggest political issue of our time.

You can start with the first episode, linked here, and then send it to someone you think could be convinced.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE Comments turned off

Happy Millard Fillmore Day: Don Feder

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/feb/18/like-biden-our-country-is-suffering-from-memory-lo/

As long as the left controls education, Americans will have a meager grasp of history

Republicans should try to avoid feeling smug about the president’s memory problems.

So he thinks that the leaders of France and Germany are men who have been dead for decades. He confused the presidents of Mexico and Egypt, and he can’t quite recall the years he was vice president.

At 81, President Biden is the oldest man to serve in the Oval Office, and it shows.

But like our president, America, too, is suffering from memory loss.

On Monday, we’ll celebrate Presidents Day, which takes two real holidays and rolls them into one that’s surreal. Once upon a time, we observed the birthdays of George Washington, the man more responsible than any other for our independence, and Abraham Lincoln, who saved the Union during the Civil War.

Now we have a holiday to honor everyone who has ever held the office, including such towering figures as William Henry Harrison, James Buchanan and Jimmy Carter.

Like tearing down statues, this is part of the process of erasing our history.

A survey by the Woodrow Wilson National Foundation Fellowship showed that 37% believed Benjamin Franklin, not Thomas Edison, invented the lightbulb. In a 2017 survey, 43% of college graduates did not know that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech. And to think there are those who question the value of higher education.

This is the product of a relentless assault on teaching American history.

In his book “Toward a More Perfect Union: The Moral and Cultural Case for Teaching the Great American Story,” Timothy S. Goeglein identifies the principal culprit as Marxist historian Howard Zinn, whose “People’s History of the United States” is assigned reading for millions of high school and college students.

Zinn, coincidentally one of my professors at Boston University back in the 1960s, used history to indoctrinate. He taught that the American saga is one of genocide, exploitation and aggression. His book should be subtitled “Learn How to Hate Your Country in 729 Pages.”

MEDICINE AND HEALTH, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Truth is Coming Out

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://johnhabelesmd.substack.com/?utm_campaign=email-home&r=8t06w&utm_source=substack

These are tough times for the “great reset.” The broad and global EV market is failing, mRNA shots are in disrepute, the reality of surveillance and censorship is getting media attention, and public anger at the whole of the wild push to wreck freedom and rights is rising quickly all over the world. 

The more time has passed since lockdowns, the more clear it becomes that this was part of a much larger agenda. But here’s the problem. They are not giving up, not even close. The reason there have been no apologies is that they are not sorry. They are more determined than ever. 

The one path of resistance is the creation of new information infrastructures such as Brownstone Institute. It’s our hope to shine a light on truth, protect the rights of serious research and commentary, and use every freedom we have left to highlight genuine science, logic, and enlightenment ideals. 

In passing, our supper clubs are now selling out completely. This has to be a good sign! 

We deeply appreciate your support. Given the odds, we certainly need it! 

Here is some content since our last email:

Pfizer Never Stops Gaslighting Us By Lori Weintz. Pfizer’s cheery Super Bowl ad cannot change the fact that they never tested their BNT162b2 vaccine during clinical trials to see if it prevented transmission of Covid-19. Nor did Pfizer stop distribution when 90 days into the vaccination campaign, there had already been 1,123 vaccine-related deaths, and over 40,000 vaccine injuries.  

BOOKS Comments turned off

American Spirit or Great Awokening?Bruce D. Abramson

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bruce+d.+abramson+american+spirit+or+great+awokening&i=stripbooks&crid=3DD7VMMKA8IET&sprefix=bruce+d.+abramson+american+spirit+or+great+awokening%2Cstripbooks%2C253&ref=nb_sb_noss

Two years ago, I sat down to write a column about Wokeism as a religion. I figured that it would run longer than 800 words—likely into the 2500/3000 word range.

The material kept flowing. I shared much of it with my loyal Substack readers. (Thanks!). Then I pulled it together in book form:

American Spirit or Great Awokening?  The Battle to Restore or Destroy Our Nation (Academica Press, 2024). 

It’s a relatively short book (~50K words) and intended for a general (i.e., non-scholarly) audience. 

My basic argument is straightforward:

America is suffering from a spiritual crisis, which is the root cause of our polarized politics & culture.

Wokeism is a brilliant, new, utopian religion that has arisen to meet the unspoken and often denied spiritual needs of America’s most spiritually starved people, namely our elite.

If we wish to save the country, we’re going to have to get back in touch with America’s own spiritual roots and re-inject faith and community into our culture.

I’m eager for help with reviews & publicity.  If you’ve got any clout with folks who tell other folks what to read, please help me get in touch with them. In the meantime, please buy the book, read it, enjoy it, and recommend it!

HISTORY Comments turned off

President Abraham Lincoln’ s Magnificent Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

HISTORY Comments turned off

George Washington, Our Magnificent First President from his first Inaugural Address April 30, 1789

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

“I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Guy Sorman Martyr for Democracy Alexei Navalny embodied the values he championed.

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/alexei-navalny-martyr-for-democracy

The death of Alexei Navalny is an unequivocal revelation of the true nature of the Russian regime. Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule is a far cry from Soviet totalitarianism. Under Joseph Stalin, Navalny’s name would never have been mentioned; he would have been deported or murdered before he could ever speak out publicly. With this in mind, it’s easy to understand Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet empire, which allowed no room for freedom of expression from dissidents, and which, strangely, enjoyed a certain international ideological legitimacy through its association with Marxism. The Soviet Union not only dominated half the world but also garnered considerable support among intellectuals, artists, and political parties across the planet. Compared with the USSR, Russia now is not totalitarian but merely despotic.

Despotism is shot with a thousand holes through which public discontent about and contempt for a regime can be expressed. Totalitarianism is based on ideology and belief; despotism is grounded only in fear of the police. It relies on the violent power of men without ideology and with neither national nor international credibility. Unlike the former Soviet Union, contemporary Russia pretends to be a normal, law-abiding government, complete with courts, trials, and attorneys. Stalin didn’t bother with these trappings of democracy. Putin, however, wants the international community’s respect, so he pretends to be a part of it.

This explains the extraordinary paradox of Navalny. After he was sent to the remotest of Russian prisons, he maintained the right to an attorney; his attorney ensured his continued access to the rest of the world. His countless trials were filmed, with the recordings widely shared on social media. These were only a few examples of many other masquerades, of course, but in Putin’s mind, they gave the impression that Russia respected law and justice.

Similarly, Putin grants interviews to western media, as Stalin never did. Above all, Putin regularly invites the Russian people to vote for their government. Given that he has no opponents, these events are meaningless, but the circus allows him to claim that Russia holds democratic elections. Once again, Stalin didn’t bother organizing elections—he led a revolution. Putin, by contrast, aspires to a prominent place among world leaders. His wars waged against his neighbors, whether in Georgia or Ukraine, are also about this goal, about a desire to be acknowledged as a great leader, comparable with those in the United States or China. Yet, despite these overblown efforts, he remains economically, militarily, and ideologically dwarfed by the true world powers.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Netanyahu Declares That Israel ‘Outright Rejects’ Possibility of Palestinian Statehood after Hamas War by David Zimmerman

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/netanyahu-declares-that-israel-outright-rejects-possibility-of-palestinian-statehood-after-hamas-war/

In a new declaration, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “outright rejects” the possibility of Palestinian statehood after the Jewish state’s war with Hamas in Gaza ends.

The prime minister announced the measure at a government meeting on Sunday, as the U.N. and Biden administration continue persuading Israel to accept a two-state solution to the conflict. According to Netanyahu, Israel should resist all foreign efforts to create a Palestinian state.

“In light of the talk recently heard in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose a Palestinian state on Israel, I am bringing today a declarative decision on this issue for the approval of the government. I am sure it will be widely accepted,” Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday morning.

“Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding the permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” the declaration stated. “Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such a recognition, following the massacre of October 7, will reward the terrorism, a reward like no other, and will prevent any future peace settlement.”

While the U.S. is a close ally of Israel, President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials have repeatedly called for Netanyahu’s government to pursue a two-state solution with the Palestinian people who live in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while visiting Israel and the larger Middle East region earlier this month, proposed the idea again as part of a cease-fire deal with Hamas.

During Blinken’s visit, Hamas proposed a three-phase process in which Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza, the terrorist group’s remaining 100 hostages would be released in exchange for the freedom of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and a massive humanitarian and rebuilding effort would be provided to the embattled Palestinian territory. Netanyahu rejected the counterproposal, calling Hamas’s demands “delusional.”

“There is not a commitment – there has to be a negotiation, it’s a process, and at the moment, from what I see from Hamas, it’s not happening,” he said hours after meeting with Blinken. The prime minister added that Israel wants nothing but “complete victory” in Gaza, where he believes the conflict will end in “a matter of months.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden’s Lies on Top of Lies on Top of Lies A pathological prevaricator. Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/bidens-lies-on-top-of-lies-on-top-of-lies/

In the last week, Joe Biden had flat-out lied in the most egregious fashion in so many ways.

In his disastrous press conference of last week, he claimed that special counsel Hur’s report exonerated him. Anyone who read the findings concluded exactly the opposite.

According to Hur, Biden would have been indicted for his willfully unlawful removal of classified documents except for two reasons: one, the Department of Justice protocols apparently prohibit indicting a sitting president; and two, Biden suffers such cognitive decline that the special counsel believes a jury would more likely pity him into acquittal than convict him of what he is certainly guilty.

He lied that Hur brought up his son’s death (“How in the hell dare he raise that?”). In fact, Biden as is his serial wont, raised it, and does on a regular basis, usually deliberately and further lying that his son died while on military duty in Iraq (he died six years subsequently as a civilian in Walter Reed Hospital), and always contorting the death to enhance his own greater sense of grieving.

He lied that he notified authorities when he discovered that he unlawfully had taken out classified documents to various residencies (perhaps for over some 30 plus years during his senatorial and Vice Presidential tenures). In fact, Biden only admitted that he had apparently for decades unlawfully removed classified files in 2017, to his ghostwriter in a recorded tape, and then he hid that fact and kept quiet for five years—until his administration’s special counsel began to investigate Trump for the same thing. Note the worried ghostwriter erased the tape of Biden’s confession as soon as he learned there was an appointment of a special counsel. (Destroy evidence much?)

He lied that the files bore no classification marks. In fact, they did and do.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Fraud Allegations and Financial Fiascos: The Saga of Trump’s Legal Battles Roger Kimball

Posted By on February 19th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/02/18/fraud-allegations-and-financial-fiascos-the-saga-of-trumps-legal-battles/

Donald Trump is facing a wall of legal trouble. It’s possible that with all these darts being thrown, one will stick and he will be brought down. More likely, I think, is that he will prevail.

How do you spell “persecution?” How about “D-o-n-a-l-d T-r-u-m-p?” It sometimes seems that the entire judicial apparatus of the state has been mobilized against the man.

According to my abacus, he faces some 90 counts on four separate indictments in four states. And that doesn’t count the suits brought by the aging fantasist who claims that 30, 35 years ago—she can’t quite remember—Trump assaulted her in a dressing room in the swank department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan.  There were no witnesses. She can’t say what year the assault was supposed to have occurred, let alone what month or day.  Moreover, the entire scenario was straight out of an episode of “Law and Order,” one of her favorite television shows. She displayed a Donna Karan blazer dress that she says she was wearing when assaulted. Problem: That garment did not exist at the time. The whole case was ridiculous, and Trump said so, which is how he got caught up in a surreal defamation case and was hit with an $83.3 million fine.

$83 million of the crispest. For saying that the wackette in question was off her rocker and, not to put too fine a point on it, that she was lying. Most experts believe that Trump will not have to part with anything like $83 million, if indeed he winds up owing the accuser-in-chief anything at all, at the conclusion of his appeals.

But the case of E. Jean Carroll, for that is the name of the decrepit aspiring bimbo, is just an hors d’oeuvre or appetizer in the great Get Trump Sweepstakes.  On Friday, Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York Supreme Court found Trump guilty of fraud because he had, said the Justice, overvalued some of his real estate assets when applying for bank loans.  The banks looked over the applications, found them in order, and were pleased when Trump paid them back in full and on time.  Result?  That marvelous contingency, a victimless crime.  Nevertheless, Donald Trump is the Emmanuel Goldstein of “Our Democracy™.”  No expedient is too extreme. He must be stopped.

Indeed, Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, actually campaigned on the promise to Get Trump and shine a “bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings.”  That was six years ago.  Now Justice Engoron, part judge, part jester, has hit Trump with an eyewatering $355 million judgement and forbidden him or his evil spawn, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, from running their companies in New York for a period of three years.