General Election Polls (CNN)
Trump (R) 47, Biden (D) 46
Biden (D) 47, DeSantis (R) 47
Biden (D) 46, Ramaswamy (R) 45
Haley (R) 49, Biden (D) 43
Biden vs. Pence, Scott, Christie
https://prospect.org/environment/2023-09-06-energy-insufficiency-blocpower/
For years, Donna Hope has helped landlords make their buildings greener. Two years ago, she told herself, “I’m going to walk the walk.”
The boiler at her two-family property in New Rochelle, New York, had just conked out. Hope inherited the cream-yellow house from her parents, and now leases out both units. When I visited in August, pear trees in the yard were dripping with ripe fruit.
Hope has degrees in civil and environmental engineering, and has made a career helping business owners comply with environmental laws, including work in the sustainability offices of two New York City mayors. So, she figured, why not switch to electric heat pumps? She reached out to several contractors, and to BlocPower, a green loan provider that also offers engineering and project management.
For over a decade, BlocPower has received glowing press for its promise to make clean energy affordable for poor households and small businesses. It emphasizes air-source heat pumps, the focus of a growing drive to electrify buildings, as well as insulation and other repairs necessary to make the heat pumps work. The idea is to bring decarbonization to people who can’t afford to buy the equipment outright.
To customers, it advertises itself as a “turnkey” provider, offering no-money-down financing, auditing buildings, and bringing in quality contractors. To governments, it has pitched itself as able to build community trust and convince building owners to use existing decarbonization incentives, while stretching every public dollar by combining it with private capital.
BlocPower’s lease is a separate payment from a customer’s electricity bill, but the company says customers will see such high savings from more efficient power use that the lease will more than pay for itself. The commitment, then, is to save customers money, reduce local and global air pollution, and deliver returns for its investors—a win-win-win.
“I knew of BlocPower and their rise to fame,” Hope said, through mutual acquaintances with CEO Donnel Baird. She loved what she heard, and selected BlocPower as her project manager.
That’s where Hope’s troubles started. After facing a bevy of problems with the system, Hope reported her concerns to an adviser with the state energy agency, NYSERDA, and requested an inspection. Today, she told the Prospect, she is considering suing BlocPower for the retrofit they financed, which has saddled her with a 15-year lease for equipment she fears has been damaged, and a long-term relationship with a firm she distrusts. “God knows I’ve had my share of shifty contractors,” she said. “This has been one of the most egregious.”
I FIRST WROTE ABOUT BLOCPOWER IN 2021, when the company invited Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Michael Regan to tour a Bronx church it had retrofitted. In January of this year, I published a deeper dive on its business model.
On average, BlocPower says, its customers save 20 to 40 percent on their annual heating and cooling bills by switching to heat pumps. But it offers no financial guarantee, and multiple HVAC contractors told the Prospect that such high average savings are unlikely.
Long popular in the Southeast, heat pumps have recently taken off in colder states like Maine as an electric-powered replacement for burning heating oil. But in states like California and New York, where electricity is expensive and most households rely on gas, it can be tough for conversions to create value at the kitchen table. Heat pumps can also be harder to install in the older, more run-down buildings BlocPower says it targets.
Baird is forthright about the challenges of retrofitting low-income buildings, which often need structural repairs. “We hope to fix neglect WHILE making buildings green. Most times it works,” Baird recently wrote on LinkedIn. “In 5-10% of our projects the Electrification has NOT gone well.”
http://NYC Mayor Eric Adams Gripes About Mass Influx of Illegal Aliens; Says They ‘Will Destroy’ the City By Debra Heine
New York City Mayor Eric Adams predicted Wednesday that the nonstop influx of illegal aliens into the Big Apple “will destroy” the city and blamed “the madman in Texas” for busing many of them there. More than 110,000 migrants have reportedly poured into the sanctuary city in the past year.
“What happened? It started with a mad man down in Texas, decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City,” the mayor said bitterly. “One hundred ten thousand migrants. We have to feed, clothe, house, educate the children, wash their laundry sheets, give them everything they need, health care. And this team here, we stated, let’s do everything possible before we have to push it out into neighborhoods and communities.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March of 2021 to deal with the Biden regime’s manufactured border crisis. The governor announced on Tuesday that Texas has bused more than 35,000 migrants to sanctuary cities across the nation, including more than 13,300 to New York City since August 2022.
The federal government also relocates “asylum seekers” from the border to cities across the U.S., including New York City. Stopping short of calling out the Biden administration by name, Adams griped that the city has been left to fend for itself without the help of federal assistance.
“Month after month I stood up and said this is gonna come to a neighborhood near you. Well, we’re here, we’re getting no support on this national crisis, and we’re receiving no support,” he said.
“We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”
Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA) July 31, 1968
Identity politics has divided us into categories, convenient for politicians to address perceived concerns and, more dangerously, to exert control, turning us into a nation of oppressed and oppressors, so that Washington’s “progressives” can ride in as savior. Identity politics places the group above the individual, while those who think independently – outside the box – are slighted, demeaned, or cancelled. One consequence is rising distrust and hatred; a second is that the group, not the individual, defines who we are; and a third is a loss of faith in America, its history and in its accomplishments.
Issues of identity have a long history. Women’s rights date back before the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments in 1848. My paternal grandmother, a well-educated woman, was forty-five when the 19th Amendment was passed, allowing her to vote in 1920. It was in 1965, a hundred years after the civil War, that the Voting Rights Act directed the Attorney General to enforce the right of Blacks to vote. However, even as we made progress – slow as it has been – self-manufactured divisional bitterness increased.
It is important to step back, not to rest on laurels, but to gain perspective and celebrate what our nation has achieved over more than two centuries. Winston Churchill, in a back-handed compliment, is alleged to have observed: “The Americans will always do the right thing…after they have exhausted all the alternatives.” America continues to evolve, too fast for some and too slowly for others. We are best off when momentum is deliberate, when we individually, as Governor Reagan is quoted in the rubric, accept responsibility for our actions. Our country is unique in the annals of human history. It is based on the rule of law, and on the individual, his sovereignty and his uniqueness – “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” Those words have evolved over time to include more of our citizens. We have further to go, but we have come a long way. We do not want to return to a time where some groups are favored, and others excluded, as identity politics would have us do.
It is true that as social animals we seek out those with common interests, which explains why there are myriad groups devoted to such pursuits as fishing, bridge, antique cars, golf, and P.G. Wodehouse. It is why sororities and fraternities exist on college campuses, why there are different religious denominations, and why civic organizations, like Rotary, Elks, American Legion, and the Knights of Columbus, exist in communities across America. Fifty and sixty years ago, some of these organizations were restrictive, based on race, gender, and/or religion, but such restrictions lessened in the wake of the passage of civil rights legislation and as tolerance became more common. Man’s social progress has always been evolutionary. We live today in a nation more accepting and tolerant than that known to our grandparents. We have further to go, but we have been moving in the right direction.
Oslo Accord’s writing on the wall
In January 1979, President Carter facilitated the Ayatollahs’ rise to power in Iran, assuming that they would be “preoccupied with tractors, not with tanks.”
In September 1993, Prime Minister Rabin embraced the Oslo Accord, assuming that Arafat would be “preoccupied with domestic issues of the newly-established Palestinian Authority, not with terrorism.”
The architects of the 1993 Oslo Accord subordinated the 1,400-year-old violent and shifty Middle East reality to their eagerness to achieve “peace now.” They refused to read the following 72-size-font writing on the wall:
*The September 1993 Oslo Accord salvaged the PLO from the abyss – at a time when it was abandoned by the Arabs – paving the road to an unprecedent wave of terrorism.
*The Accord transferred PLO terrorist headquarters from Tunisia, Yemen and Sudan to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza, which are contiguous to the key target of Palestinian terrorism: Israeli population centers.
*The relocation of the PLO headquarters (currently, the Palestinian Authority) was openly defined by PLO leadership as a “Trojan Horse.” It expanded the potential of PLO terrorism, by facilitating direct control over the Arab population of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, significantly radicalizing the neighboring Israeli Arabs.
*The Oslo Accord provided a tailwind to the 1974 PLO’s “Phased Plan,” which determined that – irrespective of diplomatic agreements – every land ceded by the “Zionist entity” would become a springboard for ending the “1948 occupation” (pre-1967 Israel). This view of the Oslo Accord was articulated by Arafat in a September 13, 1993 statement made on Jordanian television, while the Accord was signed on the White House lawn…
*As expected, the Oslo Accord yielded a corrupt, ruthless, terrorist Palestinian Authority, and a wave of unprecedent terrorism – including thousands of missiles launched at Israeli civilians – fueled by hate education, mosque incitement, idolization of arch terrorists and generous monthly allowances to families of terrorists. The stated goal has been to traumatize Israel’s Jewish population into emigration.
Tom Friedman ignored the writing on the wall
In September 1993, Tom Friedman described the Oslo Accord as “a triumph of hope over history,” describing Arafat as a reformed-terrorist transformed into a peace-pursuing statesman. This was consistent with his reference to Arafat as a “teflon guerrilla”, “gipper” and a rock star, while serving in Lebanon as the New York Times Bureau Chief (1984-1988).
In July 2000, he posed the question: “Who is Arafat? Is he Nelson Mandela or Willie Nelson?” In fact, based on Arafat’s track record, T.F. should have asked: Who is Arafat? Is he Jack the Ripper or the Boston Strangler?
Contrary to T.F. and the architects of the Oslo Accord, Arab leaders are aware of the Palestinian inter-Arab track record of subversion, terrorism, ingratitude and treachery. Therefore, they limit their support of the proposed Palestinian state to talk, not walk.
https://victorhanson.com/what-game-is-hunter-biden-playing/
What shameless act or felonious activity was not evidenced on Hunter Biden’s laptop? Racist attitudes toward Asians? Soliciting prostitution? Felonious use of drugs? Photographed nudity and perverse sex? Admissions to illicit foreign shakedowns?
Hunter all but accused his own father President Joe Biden of also being on the foreign take: “I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family… Unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary.”
Hunter’s alleged felonies range from bribery to tax evasion. That he has not yet been prosecuted for anything is scandalous. His exemption is attributable only to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s likely weaponized directives to federal prosecutors to downgrade or forget altogether felony charges against Hunter.
So given such wild behavior, why would not Hunter tone it down, stop the global grifting, cease the reckless behavior—and quit redirecting attention to the likely illegal acts of his father, the President?
Why did not Hunter early on just settle the child support suit filed by his paramour Lundeen Roberts? Why haggle over money for his own daughter?
Hunter instead outrageously claimed near poverty. That excuse was hilarious given he flies on private jets and pays nearly $16,000 a month to rent a house in tony, celebrity-ridden Malibu.
Why did Hunter ever get involved with a performance stripper in the first place after his past widely publicized liaisons with prostitutes? Why also with his own widowed sister-in-law?
Given Hunter has little or no experience or training in high-stakes international finance and investment—and thus has no market value as an investor or broker. But he was infamous for translating that nothingness into millions in lucre due solely to his ability to monetize the influence of then Vice President Joe Biden.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/09/wokeness-has-infected-the-mayo-clinic/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=top-stories&utm_term=second
A medical institution that has done so much good over the years is putting politics before health.
In 39 years as a practicing nurse, I urged hundreds if not thousands of patients to consider seeking additional care at the Mayo Clinic. The famous medical center, based in Minnesota and with major campuses in Florida and Arizona, is widely regarded as one of the best in the country. Yet I can no longer in good conscience recommend this once-prestigious institution. The Mayo Clinic is now fully and unashamedly woke, and worse, it’s aggressively pushing its divisive agenda on the rest of health care.
The Mayo Clinic’s descent is deeply troubling because it occupies a unique place in medicine. Its website is wildly popular with patients who want information about conditions; many travel to Mayo locations for care. Hospitals and health-care groups look to it for guidance on everything from treatment protocols to human resources to a thousand other things. As a nurse, I relied on Mayo’s professional-development tools, and physicians across the country depend on Mayo’s continuing-education courses, which cover an astounding 42 topics and specialties. It also offers conferences that draw physicians from around the world. When Mayo says, “We share our knowledge globally, impact policy, and partner with others to create lasting — and much-needed — change,” it’s understating its influence on medicine.
So it matters when the Mayo Clinic pledges a staggering $100 million to the woke agenda, as it did last fall. It’s devoting this money to “eliminate racism and advance equity and inclusion . . . and to improve health equity.” Practically, this money is going to conferences, courses, and communications that are designed to shape the entire medical field around divisive and discriminatory ideology.
I participated in one such event in early August: Mayo’s two-day “RISE for Equity” event, which offered in-person and virtual attendance for continuing-education credit. It was designed for professionals including hospital administrators, hiring managers, and health-care educators, with the goal of “advancing and directing policy, programs and institutional initiatives” across the medical landscape — i.e., every part of medicine. I encountered nothing but indoctrination.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/georgia-attorney-general-indicts-61-antifa-members-on-rico-charges/
Chris Carr, the Republican attorney general of Georgia, announced on Tuesday the indictment of 61 individuals allegedly involved in Antifa efforts to prevent the construction of a police training facility outside of Atlanta.
These activists, most of whom don’t live in Georgia, are accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a U.S. federal law that allows for the criminal prosecution of organized crime. Of the 61 defendants, some faced additional charges of domestic terrorism, attempted arson, and money laundering.
Carr said in a press release his office is primarily concerned with prosecuting violent acts in the state’s case.
“As this indictment shows, looking the other way when violence occurs is not an option in Georgia,” said Carr. “If you come to our state and shoot a police officer, throw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, set fire to police vehicles, damage construction equipment, vandalize private homes and businesses, and terrorize their occupants, you can and will be held accountable.”
The indictment focuses on Defend the Atlanta Forest, an environmental group described by the attorney general’s office as an “anarchist, anti-police, and anti-business extremist organization.”
The indictment says the group’s purpose “is to occupy of parts or all of 381 forested acres in DeKalb County, Georgia,” land that is owned by the Atlanta Police Foundation and leased by the Atlanta government. By doing this, they would halt the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
The Defend the Atlanta Forest movement started organizing in 2020 following the police murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Both incidents occurred months before the training center was announced.
The Cop City Vote Coalition, which is trying to force a public vote on the public center, objected to the recent indictment. The group of organizers condemned the “blatantly authoritarian RICO charges” brought forward by Carr following his announcement.
The indictment alleged a total of 225 “overt acts” took place in the city, from July 5, 2020, up to about two weeks ago.
Instances of the reported violence during that time included throwing rocks, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at police vehicles, vandalizing private property, attacking private citizens and utility workers, and shooting state troopers. Police responded to the criminal actions by arresting protesters, and in one case, killed an Antifa member who shot at the cops.
https://nypost.com/2023/09/05/im-being-professionally-canceled-for-my-moral-stance-on-trans-butchery/
Recently, the College of Psychologists in Ontario ordered Jordan B. Peterson — a clinical psychologist, professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and best-selling author — to undergo “professional coaching.” His sin? Tweeting opinions the college deemed “unbecoming of a psychologist.” Here, Peterson explains to The Post what he said, why he was right — and why it was imperative he speak out.
I am likely to soon lose my license to practice as a clinical psychologist in my home province of Ontario, in the Canada whose historically prosaic internal politics should by all reasonable standards still be off the international radar.
Why? A variety of charges have been brought against me by the administrative board granted government mandate to protect the public from misbehavior on the part of the practitioners of my profession.
What are those charges — pertaining to attitudes and actions that have caused unproven harm to others and brought hypothetical disgrace upon the practice of psychotherapy itself — all brought forward, by the way, by individuals who were never my clients?
Two stem from criticisms I levied directly against the current leader of Canada, one Justin Trudeau, now recognized by a majority of the inhabitants of this frigid and sparsely inhabited land as the worst Prime Minister in this country’s history.
Psychologist Jordan Peterson was ordered to undergo “professional coaching” by the College of Psychologists in Ontario due to public statements that he has made.
Photo by Chris Williamson/Getty Images
The complaints against Peterson include tweets he wrote criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Elliot Page’s “gender affirmation” surgery.
Photo by Romy Arroyo Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Four were a consequence of other arguably political opinions: a judgemental comment I directed toward Trudeau’s former chief of staff, who resigned under a cloud of controversy some years ago; an ironic comment about the diverse “identity” claimed by an Ottawa city councillor whose attitude toward the Canadian Trucker Convoy raised my hackles; and the entire transcript (I kid you not) of a three-hour public discussion with podcaster Joe Rogan, where I criticized the unreliable climate and economic “models” upon which we are now predicating our increasingly tyrannical international order.
One indicated my refusal to accede to the hypocritical woke insistence that an obese cover model was in fact a fit and beautiful athlete.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/benbartee/2023/09/06/why-is-the-cdc-no-longer-collecting-adverse-events-reports-for-covid-19-shots-n1724876
For reasons unexplained, the CDC recently ceased its collection of adverse events reports via its “V-safe” reporting system regarding the COVID-19 mRNA injections deceptively marketed as “vaccines.”
Via Brownstone Institute (emphasis added):
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) V-safe website quietly stopped collecting adverse event reports with no reason or explanation…
VAERS and V-safe are mutually exclusive safety collection databases operated by the FDA and CDC, respectively. VAERS is an older way of collecting safety data where one can fill out a form online, or manually, or by calling a toll-free number, whereas V-safe is a device “app” which requires online registration. Both VAERS and V-safe collect personal information, lot numbers, dates and associated information, but V-safe was an active collection system geared towards a younger app-using demographic.
Here is what the V-safe website reads as of September 2:
Thank you for your participation.
Data collection for COVID-19 vaccines concluded on June 30, 2023.
If you have symptoms or health problems following your COVID-19 vaccination that concern you, please contact your healthcare provider.
You can also report to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
VAERS, as I have documented previously elsewhere, is notoriously unreliable as a gauge of the actual rate of adverse events. As few as 1% of adverse events from injections are reported to the system. There are several potential reasons for this deficiency:
It is a voluntary reporting system, so healthcare providers are not ethically or legally required to report incidents of adverse events among their patients. You can imagine, as many doctors/nurses work within large medical systems intertwined with the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, what kind of institutional disincentives might exist to discourage their use of VAERS.
There is no governmental oversight of complaints levied by patients to doctors and/or pharmaceutical companies to ensure that verbal patient reports ever make it into the system.
Like any government program, the VAERS system is a labyrinthine clusterf*** of bureaucratic rigmarole, and navigating it as a layperson is difficult — particularly for a patient or his/her family already distressed by a vaccine injury.
Studies have shown that, in fact, many healthcare providers themselves don’t know how to file a VAERS report.
