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Al Gore and Other Climate Fails

We seriously need more refineries

…because we really can’t live without oil…

In the UK

The Best 270 Ammo for Hunting

The .270 Winchester, not to be confused with the 270 WSM, is used primarily for hunting, whether deer hunting or big game hunting, such as for elk.

The best 270 ammo is Hornady Superformance SST because it has enough knockdown power to suffice for most hunting situations, is very reliable, and is trusted by many hunters and shooters.

However, it’s expensive, so if you’re in the market for a 270-round that’s a little cheaper but offers similar ballistics, keep reading because we have many more options in stock at Ammo.com!

Hornady Superformance 270 Win 140 Grain SST

Hornady Superformance 270 Win ammo for sale

Shop Hornady Superformance 270 Win Ammo

Specs

  • Bullet Weight: 140gr
  • Casing Type: Brass
  • Muzzle Velocity: 3,090 fps
  • Muzzle Energy: 2,968 ft-lbs

Pros

  • Trusted brand
  • High velocity
  • High muzzle energy
  • Great all-around bullet weight

Cons

  • Expensive

Why We Chose It

Hornady Ammunition is a brand trusted by shooters and hunters for the last several decades. They produce high-quality ammunition, so you know it will fire when you pull the trigger and cleanly cycle.

The ballistics are exactly what you should expect from a middle-weight bullet. It’s fast, not the fastest, because it’s not a light bullet, and it packs more punch than the lighter bullets.

The 140-grain bullet is excellent for pronghorn, whitetail deer, and mule deer hunting. However, it’s a little bit light for elk hunting, but with a well-placed shot, it can ethically harvest an elk.

The biggest drawback is you will pay a higher price for better ammunition like Hornady Superformance 140 Grain SST, which is expected.

Honorable Mentions

The Black Hills Gold 270 Win 130 Grain TSX is worth mentioning because, despite being expensive, it has a unique bullet design that offers better performance to hunters. TSX bullet is solid copper instead of a lead core. Solid copper maintains structural integrity much better than lead, which leads to more ethical kills while hunting.

The downsides are the price, the lighter bullet, and the ballistics are not where we’d expect them to be with a lead bullet.

If you’re looking for a slightly less expensive round, the Remington 270 Win 130 Grain PSP is what you should consider. The pointed soft point helps with bullet aerodynamics compared to the traditional soft point, and the ballistics are right where we’d expect them to be for this bullet weight.

These rounds are still on the pricey side of the spectrum, but for hunting, I usually err on the side of caution and choose the more expensive rounds.

Best 270 Ammo for Elk Hunting

Federal Vital-Shok 270 Win 150 Grain Nosler Partition

Federal Vital-Shok 270 Win ammo for sale

Shop Federal Vital-Shok 270 Win Ammo

Specs

  • Bullet Weight: 150gr
  • Casing Type: Brass
  • Muzzle Velocity: 2,830 fps
  • Muzzle Energy: 2,667 ft-lbs

Pros

  • Trusted brand
  • Faster and packs more of a punch than several other 150gr bullets
  • One of the best big-game hunting bullets ever made
  • Time tested bullet

Cons

  • Expensive

Why We Chose It

Federal is one of the top ammunition manufacturers. For decades, they have made reliable ammunition for most calibers, including the 270 Win.

The 150gr Nosler Partition bullet used by Federal Premium carries enough energy to ethically harvest big game, such as elk, from a few hundred yards away.

Despite being a heavier 270 bullet, it’s fast out of the muzzle. The worst parts about these rounds are the price, and they’re loved by so many shooters they’re difficult to find at times.

If you plan to take your 270 bolt-action rifle elk hunting, grab a couple of boxes of Federal Vital-Shok to give you the best chance of bringing home some elk meat!

Honorable Mentions

For a less expensive round, check out the Sellier & Bellot 270 150 Grain SP. The ballistics don’t match up with more costly rounds, but it offers elk hunters a cheaper alternative with the same bullet weight.

The main reason they’re cheaper is the type of bullet used. It’s a soft-point bullet, which isn’t known for its spectacular ballistics.

Keeping the budget in mind, the Federal 270 Win 150 Grain SP offers slightly better ballistics than the Sellier & Bellot but at an increased price, though it’s not as expensive as the Federal Vital-Shok.

Federal also uses soft-point bullets to lower the price of this round, which are effective hunting bullets but don’t perform as well as other bullet types.

Best 270 Ammo for Deer Hunting

Winchester Deer Season XP 270 Win 130 Grain Polymer Tipped

Winchester Deer Season XP 270 Win ammo for sale

Shop Winchester Deer Season XP 270 Win Ammo

Specs

  • Bullet Weight: 130
  • Casing Type: Brass
  • Muzzle Velocity: 3,060 fps
  • Muzzle Energy: 2,702 ft-lbs

Pros

  • Winchester is the namesake of the 270
  • Crafted specifically for deer hunting
  • Fast
  • It packs a punch for a lightweight bullet

Cons

  • Less than ideal for anything larger than deer

Why We Chose It

Winchester is credited with the 270, hence the name 270 Winchester, so they better make some of the best ammo available for the .270 Win. The Winchester Deer Season XP offers hunters everything they need to fill their freezers with deer meat this season.

Deer are medium-sized game animals, so they don’t require a large bullet to harvest one ethically. However, the bullet still needs to hit hard and cause the deer to die quickly, which is where the 130-grain polymer-tipped bullets excel.

The polymer tip aids in better flight ballistics and allows for rapid expansion of the hollow point bullet.

They’re reasonably priced, so if you want to spend a day at the range with your deer hunting rounds, you won’t have to take out a second mortgage on your home.

The biggest con is since they’re only 130-grain bullets, they’re less than ideal when hunting anything larger than a mule deer. So if deer or varmint hunting is all you do, the Winchester Deer Season XP 130-Grain should be at the top of your list.

Honorable Mention

A slightly more expensive round that offers identical ballistics is the Federal 270 Win 130 Grain SP. Surprisingly, a soft-point bullet can get the same ballistics as a polymer-tipped bullet.

The main problem I’ve had with soft-point bullets is that they don’t always feed correctly, which damages the bullet, hurting the accuracy and ballistics. However, when they feed correctly, they’re excellent deer-hunting bullets.

Best Value Ammo for the .270 Winchester

Sellier & Bellot 270 150 Grain SP

Sellier & Bellot 270 Win ammo for sale

Shop Sellier & Bellot 270 Win Ammo

Specs

  • Bullet Weight: 150gr
  • Casing Type: Brass
  • Muzzle Velocity: 2,625 fps
  • Muzzle Energy: 2,296 ft-lbs

Pros

  • Inexpensive
  • Quality ammo
  • It can be used for many hunting scenarios and target shooting.

Cons

  • Less than ideal ballistics
  • The larger 150-grain bullet has a little more recoil

Why We Chose It

The Sellier & Bellot 150 Grain SP is reasonably priced, so you can take it out for a day at the range without worrying about going into debt buying ammo. Though it’s some of the cheapest ammo, it’s still reliable, so when you’re hunting, you can trust the round will go off once the trigger is pulled.

The 150gr bullet is large enough to hunt most big game animals, antelope, and decent for any varmint.

The ballistics leave something to be desired, even though it’s a heavy bullet, so it’s expected to be a little slower; the muzzle energy is also lacking, which isn’t the case with bigger bullets.

The larger bullet will also have a little more kick, so your shoulder might get sore after spending the day at the range. However, for the price, these are good rounds.

Honorable Mention

Another inexpensive round, especially when you buy it in bulk, is the Federal 270 Win 150 Grain SP. It has better ballistics than the Sellier & Bellot 150 Grain SP, but it’s also slightly more expensive.

This round also has a soft-point 150-grain bullet, so it’ll be suitable for hunting deer and elk or shooting targets at the gun range.

Which .270 Ammo is Best for You?

The best 270 rifle ammo depends on your situation. Your circumstances, rifle, and budget should all factor into which ammo is best for you.

Circumstances

How you plan to use your 270 rifle cartridges is the most significant factor in determining which ammo is best for you.

If you plan to use it for hunting, as most .270 WIn shooters do, you’ll need to know what you plan on hunting to match the bullet weight and ballistics up with the animal you’re targeting.

A 270 bullet is typically the smallest bullet diameter allowed to hunt elk, so I prefer to use the heaviest bullets available, such as 150gr+, when elk hunting. The downsides to heavier bullets are more recoil and a declining trajectory.

If that’s your concern, you might consider stepping up to a 300 Win Mag or 6.5 Creedmoor for long-range hunting situations.

When deer or pronghorn hunting, a smaller, faster bullet will suffice because they’re a much smaller animal than an elk. I prefer a 140gr bullet for these hunting situations.

A 130-grain bullet is more than capable of stopping any varmint in its tracks. It’s also nice to have increased speed when hunting varmints because most are small, quick, and easy to miss.

I primarily use my 270 to hunt, so when I take it to the range, I aim to use the same ammo I would while hunting. However, if you don’t plan to hunt with it, using the inexpensive ammo is the best option so you can get more shots for less money.

It’s important to remember whenever you switch brands or bullet weights, you need to re-sight your rifle scope.

270 hunting rifle

Rifle

My hunting rifle is picky regarding which hunting cartridge it likes to cycle. As I mentioned earlier, sometimes it doesn’t correctly cycle soft-point bullets, so I purchase a little more expensive 270 ammo to get better-quality bullets.

It’ll depend on your rifle, the brand, and bullet it likes best. You might not have any trouble cycling rounds, but you might find that you’re much more accurate with a specific round compared to others.

Budget

Finding 270 Winchester ammo for sale within your budget is critical. Rifle cartridges quickly get expensive, so it’s wise only to buy the rounds you can afford.

For most 270 Win shooters, it’s okay to pay a little more for the 270 hunting rounds because they don’t shoot them as often as their target rifles. At least, that’s how I justify it with myself and my wife!

For target shooting, unless you compete, using the cheapest ammo is typically the best choice; at least you’ll be able to shoot your rifle more than you would with expensive ammo.

How to Save Money on Ammo

If sticking to the budget is your main concern, you can take a couple of steps to help ease the burden when buying ammo.

The two best ways to save money on ammo are reloading and buying bulk. However, they both initially require a significant amount of money.

Reload

Because the 270 is a centerfire cartridge, it’s easy to reload. Most handloaders reload to save money and control all the controllable variables.

As a reloader, you can dial in the perfect ammo for your rifle to shoot better consistently. It’s excellent to reload if you plan to shoot often because you can save several cents per round, which doesn’t sound like much until you start adding it up with each trigger pull.

However, if you plan to hunt with your 270, it might not be worth the investment of time, money, and equipment to reload because factory ammo will get the job done.

So, in this case, it might be better to buy bulk 270 ammo.

Buy Bulk Ammo

Federal 270 Win ammo for sale

Shop Federal 270 Win Ammo

As with when you buy anything in bulk, ammo manufacturers are willing to offer the buyer a better discount when they purchase a large quantity of ammunition.

The size of the discount depends on how much you purchase. So if you buy 200 rounds, you won’t get as good of a deal as you would when you buy 500 rounds.

As I mentioned, the main problem is that you initially need a large sum of money to buy the ammo, but you save money in the long run, typically $0.10 or more.

You can buy in bulk and reload the spent brass if you’re dedicated to saving money. You’re essentially doubling up on your savings, so you can tell your significant other that you’re actually saving money when buying ammo.

Common 270 Bullets

When you purchase 270 ammo, you’ll notice manufacturers use different bullets, which often affects the price.

SP and PSP Bullets

Soft-point (SP) and pointed soft-point (PSP) bullets are commonly found in hunting cartridges because they’re inexpensive and are effective at ethically harvesting various animals, including big game.

Most manufacturers use a soft-point or pointed soft-point bullet, such as Remington Core-Lokt, Winchester Power Point, and Federal Fusion.

SP bullets don’t have the stopping power that hollow points have, but some states don’t allow the use of hollow points, which is why soft-point bullets are so popular among hunters.

PSP bullets often have a boat tail, which offers shooters a flatter trajectory at longer ranges than a traditional SP bullet because it is more aerodynamic.

Nosler Partition Bullets

The Nosler Partition is an exposed lead base bullet with a soft tip. This bullet has a unique design that looks like two bullets combined to create an “H” shape. Except for the tip and base, two cores in the Partition bullet are separated by the copper alloy jacket.

Many still believe it to be the greatest all-around big-game hunting bullet, even though it’s been around for a long time. However, as bullet technology has increased, the use of Nosler Partition bullets has decreased, but you will still see ammo manufacturers using these bullets.

Polymer-Tipped Bullets

Polymer-Tipped Bullets

Polymer-Tipped bullets have a pointed plastic piece covering the hollow point’s center. This plastic tip makes the bullet much more aerodynamic.

The polymer tip doesn’t interfere with the hollow points’ ability to expand on impact, which is why so many hunters prefer to use polymer-tipped bullets when they have that option.

The Nosler Ballistic Tip is also a Polymer-Tipped bullet. However, Nosler trademarked the name so other manufacturers can’t call their ammo “ballistic-tipped ammo.”

The Nosler Ballistic Tip is used on Silvertip and Nosler AccuBond bullets.

Polymer-Tipped bullets offer hunters many advantages, which means we’ll pay more for them when buying ammo, but it’s often worth it if you’re shooting farther distances. It might not be worth it, though, when shooting short ranges.

SST Bullets

The Super Shock Tip (SST) was created by Hornady and is a favorite of reloaders because of its boat tail design, making it easier to work with while reloading.

It has a polymer-tipped bullet. This tip helps in accuracy and trajectory. The flat trajectory and rapid expansion allow the bullet to take down large game animals.

This is a premium hunting bullet, so if you see ammo labeled SST, you’ll be paying a premium price, but you can also expect top-tier ballistics.

TTSX or TSX Bullets

Triple-Shock X (TSX) and Tipped Triple-Shock X are polymer-tipped bullets made by Barnes.

Commonly referred to as Barnes X bullets, the TSX is Barnes Bullets‘ premium hunting rifle ammunition and comes in most rifle calibers.

The TTSX is a redesigned version of the TSX and made improvements on better rapid expansion and the mushroom effect that splits uniformly into four “petals.”

These bullets are very similar to Hornady GMX bullets.

Parting Shots

The 270 Winchester must credit Jack O’Connor for singing its praises and making it one of the primary choices for deer hunters across the U.S.

However, the 270 could back up Jack’s claims, allowing it to remain a favorite of many. As the best 270 ammo has only gotten better since he first picked up a .270 Win, many decades ago, it’s safe to say the 270 isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

If you have a 270 hunting rifle and plan to hunt deer, I highly recommend 130gr Winchester Deer Season XP.

For elk hunting, however, you’ll need the larger bullet of Federal Vital-Shok 150 Grain to get the job done.

Written byWes Littlefield for ammo.com

4 Spooky Halloween Cocktails for Grown-ups

Halloween is upon us! So today Anders is making some sophisticated and delicious drinks for grown-ups (kids can’t have all the fun). No smoke and mirrors here – just good cocktails.

Here are four you can make at home for your upcoming costume party, or to sip on as a distraction from the ghost and ghouls outside (actually I’d suggest consulting some ghost-busting professionals if that really is the case). Of course enjoy responsibly, and enjoy the spooky season! Cheers, everyone!

For New Ocean Threats These Must Be Revived

The US Navy’s 30 year shipbuilding plan here.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard,  Marinette, WI. 

With the Navy’s eyes set on achieving a goal well above Congress’ mandated 355 manned warships, the American shipbuilding industry has a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, the industry’s current state doesn’t offer much hope for meeting those goals, let alone sustaining a modestly larger fleet.

In a 2021 report on U.S. defense supply chains, The Heritage Foundation’s Maiya Clark explained what is called a “Fragility and Criticality” assessment. That’s a tool used by the Department of Defense to identify and mitigate weaknesses in the defense industrial base.

Fragility can be understood as how likely disruption is to a certain “product or service,” while criticality indicates how difficult it would be to replace the item.

Applying that tool to U.S. Navy shipbuilding reveals that America is a far cry from its former status as a major shipbuilder.

Let’s briefly examine three metrics:

1) Foreign Dependency

Foreign sources provide the U.S. maritime industrial base with strategic materials critical to constructing vessels, such as precision machine tools, aluminum, and microelectronics. In 2020, China was the third-largest source of microelectronics for the U.S., and in 2021 was the second-largest source of aluminum for the U.S.

Regarding precision machine tools, the theme continues: In 2021, by a wide margin, China topped the charts of machine tools production. It’s concerning that America’s top strategic competitor consistently appears to have a presence in vital supply chains.

2) Too Few US Firms

Since the 1970s, 14 “defense-related shipyards” have shut down, and only one new shipyard has opened. And all the firms still in the shipbuilding sector have dwindled into an oligopoly serving virtually one customer, the U.S. Navy.  

To make matters worse, the seven shipyards constructing large and deep-draft ships are only responding to specific ship requirements of the Navy and Coast Guard. As such, shipbuilders are encouraged to service a limited market—exacerbated by the Jones Act, a 100-year-old law intended to ensure the nation has a minimum shipping capacity.

That has distorted the sector into uncompletedness and the death of American shipping. In August, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday recognized the Navy’s contribution to this slow death of American shipbuilding by not providing any shipbuilding predictability and spoke of the need to give industry a “clear aim point” of needs with a “higher degree of confidence” going forward. 

3) Too Few Merchant Marines, Shipyard Workers

Finally, a major challenge of the shipbuilding industry is attracting, training, and retaining skilled labor.

Earlier this year, a manager for a major U.S. shipbuilder emphasized that the labor shortage is the shipbuilding company’s “biggest challenge.” Often, there are not enough workers to replace those who are retiring, and the industry is failing to attract new, young employees.

The Department of Defense recognizes that problem, too. In response to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon released a report stating that the shipbuilding “industrial base today lacks the resiliency and bench strength to meet required demand” and stressed the need for long-term, prioritized workforce investments. 

The supply of mariners is inadequate, too. If a “sustained crisis” were to occur, the number of required U.S. mariners (whose average age is 46) would fall short by 15%.

For too long, the nation has tried to build the Navy needed while neglecting the fundamentals for building and sustaining it. The result is obvious: namely, too few ships and shipyards unable to meet demand.

To those familiar with Alfred Thayer Mahan’s famous maritime writing, it’s no surprise that without a vibrant competitive shipping and shipbuilding industry, the Navy withers.

To effectively compete with China, the nation needs a larger Navy, and to do so American shipping and shipbuilding must be revived. To do this, America must once again be globally competitive, achieved by leveraging novel technologies that address obvious supply chain weaknesses. Such innovation speaks to American strengths.

Getting there requires using a market bridge; that is, developing revolutionary shipping and shipbuilding to meet urgent military logistic needs with commercial utility. Examples include solving the Navy’s operational challenges with weapons reloading at seasmall modular nuclear reactors for vessel propulsion, and unmanned shipping.

Already, additive manufacturing is being embraced with the Department of Defense’s road map, as well as commercial sectors to alleviate delivery delays, reduce costs, and reduce capital investments for transportation.

And the global delivery drone services market was expected to grow from $2.37 billion in 2021 to $3.49 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $18.77 billion in 2026. These are just two of several key promising technologies, which if synchronized, can restore American global competitiveness in shipping.

What Impact Will It Have?

Returning to our roots as a maritime nation and asserting the necessary innovations to do so in the modern era will be pivotal to American security and prosperity.

If done well, fostering an American revolution in shipping can energize a lethargic industrial sector critical to the nation’s defense and sustain a wartime economy. As such, a stronger and globally competitive maritime sector serves as a deterrent against Chinese economic coercion and military adventures, which could result in a long war over Taiwan.

COMMENTARY BY Julianna Lee, a fall 2022 member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation and Brent Sadler, a senior fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at The Heritage Foundation. Reproduced with permission. Original here.

We have just 25 days of diesel supply as we head into winter

(Bloomberg) — The diesel shortage that had the White House on edge last week is spreading from the Northeast to the Southeast, prompting at least one supplier to initiate emergency protocols. 

“Because conditions are rapidly devolving” fuel supplier Mansfield Energy is now requiring a 72-hour notice for deliveries to secure fuel and freight, according to a note to customers. In areas that are tightest, fuel prices are running 30-80 cents higher than the market average, Mansfield said, adding that Tennessee is “seeing particularly acute challenges.”

“At times, carriers are having to visit multiple terminals to find supply, which delays deliveries and strains local trucking capacity,” the note said.

Diesel inventories nationwide are at lowest seasonal level ever heading into winter, and some areas in the Northeast have already started rationing fuel. The shortage is almost certain to drive up prices for the heating and trucking fuel, further straining household budgets. 

U.S. diesel fuel stocks have been on a stable decline for months, reaching the lowest level since 2008 as of October. Currently, the United States only has 25 days of diesel supply in reserve.

Bloomberg noted in its report that the Colonial Pipeline has been fully booked to carry diesel fuel and other distillates to the East Coast, which should ease the supply pressure but it will take a while, with the first deliveries expected in early November.

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs warned that the diesel shortage, which is not confined to the U.S. only but is spreading in Europe as well, will cause higher fuel prices this winter.

In the U.S., the bank said, underinvestment in refining capacity and refinery closures and operation disruptions have all contributed to the scarcity of refined oil products this year but especially diesel, Bloomberg says oilprice.com.

What’s causing the crunch?

Unlike gas and jet fuel, demand for diesel recovered at a much faster pace from the pandemic. Diesel is used for transporting goods as well as powering construction, farming and military vehicles and equipment.

In 2021, the U.S. transportation sector alone consumed 46.82 billion gallons, or 1.11 billion barrels of distillate fuel (essentially diesel fuel) — at an average of about 128 million gallons a day.

Strong domestic and international demand, shrinking domestic refining capacity and sanctions on Russian petroleum imports have kept the diesel market tight throughout the year.

New England’s stockpiles have been depleted to less than a third of its usual levels for this time of year, which is concerning since those states rely on fuel for heatingmore than other parts of the country.

The national average price of diesel as of Oct. 24 is at $5.34 a gallon — $1.63 more than last year.

What are the government’s options?

If diesel inventory continues to run down without the government intervening, the impact on transportation costs for goods could drive inflation up even further.

Deese adds that the Fed has some tools to bolster diesel supply, like the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, a one million barrel supply of ultra low sulfur distillate (diesel) that provides protection for vulnerable homes and businesses in the densely populated northeastern United States should a disruption in supplies occur.

“We have looked very carefully at being prepared to deploy as and when necessary,” he said.

Diesel demand is so high, that it’s estimated that if a million barrels of diesel were delivered from the Northeast reserves, they would be depleted in less than six hours. Things are so bad that traders are diverting Europe-bound tankers carrying diesel to the U.S. East Coast as the two regions battle for supplies amid an acute shortage and soaring prices. At least two tankers carrying 90,000 tonnes of diesel and jet fuel are heading from Europe to the U.S. East Coast, according to traders and Refinitiv ship tracking data.

LOL! Lloyd Bridges could do a perfect Brandon.

Once you see this 1993 film clip, you’ll strongly suspect that the producer/writers of this 1993 movie had a crystal ball; the resemblance of the events in the movie to today’s reality are absolutely uncanny!

AI-generated news video – Fake news is about to get serious

Chinese robot attack “dog” with machine gun dropped by drone

Watch this Chinese robot attack dog with a machine gun on its back as its dropped by a drone.

The weapon mounted to the robot dog’s back is capable of firing 650 rounds per minute. A Chinese military contractor created a video showing off its terrifying new military technology, revealing a robot attack dog that can dropped off by a drone.

The video that was initially released on the verified Weibo account of “Kestrel Defense Blood-Wing,” a page affiliated with a Chinese defense contractor, shows a drone hovering over a building and then dropping off a robot on the roof. After the drone flies away, the robot gets up on four legs and then begins to scan for targets around the building with what appears to be some sort of automatic weapons attached to its back. Currently thought to be remotely controlled, the voiceover refers to a sentient robot coming soon.

More from Kestrel Defense Blood-Wing below.

Oversight Republicans sound alarm over the Administration’s misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and suppression of American energy production 

This press release: Reiterate concerns over the Department of Energy’s misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and suppression of American energy production 

WASHINGTON – Today, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Ranking Member Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), and several Oversight Committee Republicans raised serious concerns over reports indicating President Biden intends to impose an oil and gas export ban, potentially resulting in even higher gas prices, further supply chain issues, and reduced energy security for the U.S. and allies. In a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the Republican lawmakers request all documents and information related to the Biden Administration’s potential plans to ban oil and gas exports, as well as the DOE’s role in the potential misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). 

“The Biden Administration continues to pursue policies that suppress domestic energy production and drive fuel prices higher for consumers,” wrote the Republican lawmakers. “We are concerned that the president may soon impose an oil and gas export ban that will result in even higher gas prices, supply chain issues, global market upheaval, and reduced energy security for the U.S. and our allies. While you have not confirmed a ban will be imposed, recent reports by top officials suggest Administration interest in restricting exports of refined petroleum products. Contrary to alleviating gasoline prices at the pump, an export ban on refined petroleum products will prompt additional prices hikes and supply chain bottlenecks, costing American consumers even more money.” 

On October 5, 2022, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its affiliates (OPEC+) announced their intent to cut oil production by two million barrels a day. The promise of production cutbacks amid a preexisting supply shortage will increase fuel prices, adding to the recent surges in October 2022 gasoline prices. President Biden’s effort to delay OPEC production cuts, a calculated political move ahead of U.S. elections, has failed and Russia’s ongoing push to restrict access to energy sources has now weakened America’s allies and U.S. national security.            

“While Democrats blame American companies for inflated prices, years of underinvestment due to regulatory uncertainty and hostile Democrat policies are causing undersupply,” continued the Republican lawmakers. “A ban would temporarily oversaturate domestic refineries ill-prepared to process additional levels of light sweet crude since the U.S. is currently equipped to refine principally heavy crude. In addition to potentially imposing an export ban, President Biden is further depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ahead of the midterm elections. But after President Biden emptied more of our vital stockpiles than all previous presidents combined, the SPR now sits at its lowest levels since establishment. Dipping further into the SPR to cover additional foreign fuel bans or price fluctuations is a short-sighted fix that would inadvertently exacerbate U.S. vulnerability.” 

Congress reacts to CCP-Linked Biden Associate Who Sought to Infiltrate Biden Family

Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, demanded Wednesday that FBI Director Christopher Wray turn over evidence of what it has done to investigate concerns that former Hunter Biden business assistant JiaQi “Jackie” Bao had ties to communist China before she helped facilitate  possible sales of U.S. gas interests to the Chinese company CEFC on the Biden family’s behalf.


Press Release Published: Oct 26, 2022

Comer: CCP-Linked Biden Associate Sought to Infiltrate Biden Family

Calls on Director Wray to provide information about this national security threat

WASHINGTON—As part of the investigation into the Biden family’s suspicious business dealings, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) today is calling on FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide information about a Biden family associate closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), JiaQi Bao. Bao provided Hunter Biden insight into purchasing liquified natural gas reserves in the United States to sell to China, had access to the Biden family’s financial information, liaised with CCP-affiliated agents on the Bidens’ behalf, urged Hunter to encourage his father to run for president, and supplied the Biden family campaign advice related to China. In the letter to Director Wray, Ranking Member Comer raises concerns about Communist China gaining access to the Biden family’s sensitive information and requests documents and information related to this national security threat. 

JiaQi Bao

“Documents obtained by Committee Republicans reveal Hunter Biden’s business partner and close personal associate was linked to the Communist Party of China (CCP), her employer before the Biden family. JiaQi “Jackie” Bao provided Hunter insight into purchasing liquified natural gas reserves in the United States to sell to China, had access to the Biden family’s financial information, and liaised with CCP-affiliated agents on the Bidens’ behalf. After infiltrating the Biden family, Bao urged Hunter to encourage Joe Biden to run for president months before he announced and then supplied the Biden family campaign advice related to China. Media reports and documents reviewed by Committee Republicans suggest that Bao and Hunter’s relationship extended beyond professional obligations—a common tactic employed by Chinese intelligence agents. Committee Republicans are concerned Hunter Biden may have been compromised by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and foreign intelligence services (FIS).  Due to the interconnected nature of the Biden family’s finances and business dealings, this type of access would jeopardize U.S. national security,” wrote Ranking Member Comer.

Bao received a degree at Tsinghua University, which is a recruiting hub for China’s intelligence service and has been designated a very high risk for economic espionage and links to cyber-attacks against PRC rivals. Bao then worked for the PRC’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which oversees China’s macroeconomic planning and approves any major project that receives foreign funding. Bao joined Hunter Biden as he was attempting to do business with CEFC, a Chinese energy company closely affiliated with the Chinese government. Documents obtained by Committee Republicans reveal that Bao was also working for CEFC employees linked to the CCP. Bao appeared to be effectively running the joint venture under Hunter Biden’s name and sought to remain close to the Biden family following its collapse. 

“Committee Republicans are alarmed that someone who got her start working for the PRC and tied to Chinese espionage was able to successfully infiltrate the Biden family business,” continued Ranking Member Comer. “In addition to the Chinese government through Bao, it is likely that Hunter Biden may have been compromised by other FIS agents throughout his time as an influence peddler and during his efforts to sell off American resources. Given recent revelations that a senior FBI official, Timothy Thibault, failed to investigate the Hunter Biden matter, Committee Republicans are concerned Special Agent Thibault ignored information about the role Bao played in the Biden family business and whether national security was compromised. The FBI’s lack of interest in Biden family dealings is troubling. The national security threat of an FIS gaining access to a presidential family’s sensitive information is too great to ignore.”

The letter to Director Wray can be found here

More on Oversight Republicans’ investigation into the Biden family’s suspicious business dealings can be found here

Top Republican demands FBI hand over information on Hunter’s ‘flirty’ Chinese secretary, 29, who worked for him when he partnered with the ‘spy chief of China’ – amid concern SHE had access to ‘Uncle Joe’s’ financial information

  • Bao ‘provided Hunter insight into purchasing US LNG reserves to sell to China, had access to Biden family’s financials, and liaised with CCP on Bidens’ behalf’
  • Comer cited concerns that Bao’s alleged liaising between the CCP and the Biden family threatened national security  
  • He said the committee was worried the FBI ‘ignored information’ about Bao’s role in the Biden family business
  • Comer pointed to DailyMail.com’s May 2021 report demonstrating Bao and Biden’s relationship went ‘beyond professional obligations’
  • As the committee letter notes, Bao received a degree from Tsinghua University – a recruiting hub for China’s intel service and then worked for a PRC organization

By MORGAN PHILLIPS, POLITICS REPORTER and JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM More here

The Biden family’s involvement with CEFC and Bao was highlighted in a series of stories by Just the News over the last two years. The dealings included a $5 million interest-free, forgivable loan CEFC apparently arranged for the Biden family.

Of course we love Squirrel Olympics!

It’s been a while since we checked in on Mark Rober, the former NASA engineer, and his battle with his backyard squirrels. It seems like he has abandoned the obstacle course and gone with the Squirrel Olympics, narrated by Jimmey Kimmel and Jimmy Donaldson. It’s pretty cool!

I gave up on trying to battle my squirrels… but what if they battled each other?

Remember this?

New York Supreme Court Does What’s Right For Fired Employees 

A New York judge ordered Monday that Department of Sanitation employees terminated for refusing to get vaccinated be reinstated to their full employment status, writing that the vaccination mandate for city employees was “not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance.” 

Judge Ralph J. Porzio wrote in his ruling that if the vaccine mandate was about “safety and public health, unvaccinated workers would have been placed on leave the moment the order was issued.” 

“If it was about safety and public health, the Health Commissioner would have issued city-wide mandates for vaccination for all residents,” he continued. “In a City with a nearly 80% vaccination rate, we shouldn’t be penalizing the people who showed up to work, at great risk to themselves and their families, while we were locked down.” 

Porzio’s ruling states that the Oct. 20, 2021, and Dec. 13, 2021, rulings from the commissioner of health and mental hygiene ordering that all employees get vaccinated are “arbitrary and capricious,” ordering that the petitioners be reinstated to their full employment status, and entitled to back pay in salary from date of termination. 

“Yesterday marked a historic victory for sanitation workers, all the brave NYC employees who serve the public and our representative democracy,” attorney Chad LaVeglia told The Daily Signal. “The court struck down NYC’s draconian, arbitrary, vaccine mandate on multiple constitutional and legal grounds. The thousands of city employees who were ignored now have a voice. And as the court recognized, they deserve better.” 

“The court also recognized a commonsense principle that has somehow eluded politicians like Eric Adams: Forcing one—and only one—segment of the population to get vaccinated during a worldwide outbreak is unconstitutional and arbitrary,” he added. “Sixteen sanitation workers fought back against tyranny. And won. This is a historic victory for individual rights, and the system of government mandated by the Constitution.”

A New York judge ordered Monday that Department of Sanitation employees terminated for refusing to get vaccinated be reinstated to their full employment status, writing that the vaccination mandate for city employees was “not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance.” 

Judge Ralph J. Porzio wrote in his ruling that if the vaccine mandate was about “safety and public health, unvaccinated workers would have been placed on leave the moment the order was issued.” 

“If it was about safety and public health, the Health Commissioner would have issued city-wide mandates for vaccination for all residents,” he continued. “In a City with a nearly 80% vaccination rate, we shouldn’t be penalizing the people who showed up to work, at great risk to themselves and their families, while we were locked down.” 

Porzio’s ruling states that the Oct. 20, 2021, and Dec. 13, 2021, rulings from the commissioner of health and mental hygiene ordering that all employees get vaccinated are “arbitrary and capricious,” ordering that the petitioners be reinstated to their full employment status, and entitled to back pay in salary from date of termination. 

“Yesterday marked a historic victory for sanitation workers, all the brave NYC employees who serve the public and our representative democracy,” attorney Chad LaVeglia told The Daily Signal. “The court struck down NYC’s draconian, arbitrary, vaccine mandate on multiple constitutional and legal grounds. The thousands of city employees who were ignored now have a voice. And as the court recognized, they deserve better.” 

“The court also recognized a commonsense principle that has somehow eluded politicians like Eric Adams: Forcing one—and only one—segment of the population to get vaccinated during a worldwide outbreak is unconstitutional and arbitrary,” he added. “Sixteen sanitation workers fought back against tyranny. And won. This is a historic victory for individual rights, and the system of government mandated by the Constitution.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal. According to the court filing, the Department of Sanitation employees were terminated in February 2022 for “failure to comply with vaccination requirements” after the health commissioner of the City of New York, David Chokshi, issued a vaccination mandate requiring all city employees to show “proof of at least one dose of vaccination against COVID-19” by Oct. 29. 

“On March 24, 2022, Mayor Adams enacted Executive Order No. 62, which provided blanket exemptions from the private employers’ vaccine mandate for athletes, performers, and other artists,” the ruling said. The judge highlighted the petitioners’ central argument that Adams’ order “rendered the public employee vaccination mandate arbitrary and capricious or unconstitutional.”

“Furthermore,” the judge wrote, “the Petitioners all claim, and provided laboratory documentation, that they have natural immunity to COVID-19 from prior infection(s). Respondents’ central argument is that the private employers’ exemption order and the public employee vaccination mandates were ‘created separately, and exist independently, of each other.’” 

“The city strongly disagrees with this ruling as the mandate is firmly grounded in law and is critical to New Yorkers’ public health,” a New York Law Department spokesman said on Tuesday. “We have already filed an appeal. In the meantime, the mandate remains in place as this ruling pertains solely to the individual petitioners in this case. We continue to review the court’s decision, which conflicts with numerous other rulings already upholding the mandate.”

Mary Margaret Olohan is a senior reporter for The Daily Signal. Reproduced with permission. Original here.

Why are so many cops changing profession?

The fourth annual Police officer job satisfaction survey results are in. This year the results are stunning. The majority of cops report they wish they had become firefighters. 

This year the survey was sent out to a random selection of full time sworn police officers from across the USA. As in past years officers reported dissatisfaction with pay rates, shift work and public perception of police. This year officers also one again reported getting workplace pleasure from autonomy, workplace friendships, and being paid to drive fast. 

This year for the first time in nearly twenty years, the majority of officers when asked “if you had it to do over would you still seek a career in police work” said no. Nearly 66% of respondents indicated they wish they had not become cops. 

A follow up question for persons saying they wish they sought a different career path was “if you had it to do over what other career path would you pick”. 80% of the respondents who answered this question indicated “Firefighter”. (Callthecops.com)

Two dozen officers in Boston transferred to the fire department in 2022, the Boston Herald reports, citing data provided by the city, which marks an increase from four, zero, six and one over the past four years.

“Great wages. Great working conditions. No forced overtime. A great quality of life and, arguably, greater respect,” Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association Larry Calderone told the Herald in a statement. “The officers leaving will tell you they’re sick and tired of being taken for granted and disrespected by the never ending criticism associated with the ‘defund the police’ movement.”

In Portland, OR (PORTLAND TRIBUNE), in an unprecedented situation for Portland, a racially diverse and experienced group of police officers is taking pay cuts to get away from the city, while citing poor working conditions here.

And the city’s police recruiter tasked with boosting bureau diversity isn’t looking for replacements — because that person is gone, too.

Are We Living in a Third-World Country? No, But in Some Ways It’s Worse

Do economic problems experienced by Americans, such as recurring food shortages and projected rationing of heating oil in northeastern states this winter, mean that the United States has slipped to “Third World Country” status? Not really. The U.S. remains a strong country with a highly developed and stable economic system. 

The problems we have been experiencing in recent years, however, represent a deeper, and in many respects more serious problem than being or becoming a Third World Country.

The United States is slipping into the uncharted territory of a highly developed country that is losing the basic bonds of civil society that protect it from degenerating into chaos.

The signs of this descent are everywhere, though the extreme politically partisan lenses through which many Americans view public policy hamper their ability or willingness to see it.

In no respect is this troubling phenomenon more obvious than the recurring images of individuals committing acts of senseless violence against strangers. While we regularly see also acts of robbery and rampant shoplifting, it is the images of people being pushed onto New York subway tracks or thugs beating up elderly passers by on city streets, that most starkly remind us – or should remind us – that something dark and alarming is happening in our society.

Stealing from another person or business as a means of gaining something the perpetrator could not otherwise obtain or afford, is neither a new problem nor one unique to our country or time. Organized shoplifting, or stealing to show off the perpetrator’s “chops” on social media, however, represents a newer problem – one that is far more difficult to address and correct.

Acts of violent vandalism, such as being carried out in Atlanta, Georgia against construction of a new police training facility, are becoming if not commonplace, no longer surprising. Vandalism by teenagers is one thing, but violent vandalism by organized adult groups is a far different and more dangerous phenomenon; and not something that should be condoned or accepted by a society, though some do if the actions are carried out for a socially “acceptable” cause.

Public schools, which in years past provided a structured, rules-driven environment dedicated to learning and to developing appropriate social behavior, are experiencing increased student violence. Many have morphed into laboratories for extreme social behavior, such as drag queen shows and trans-genderism displays, where the authorities appear unwilling or unable to staunch such degenerate and harmful activities.

Universities, which used to provide the next level of socialization and learning beyond high school, have themselves become breeding grounds for aberrant and intolerant behavior. Shouting down speakers or spitting on them in public, are today impliedly if not explicitly condoned by the adults supposed to be ensuring a mature and orderly environment in which civil society advances.

Lack of consequences for these and other forms of violent and anti-social behavior, exacerbates the problems. Civil libertarians have long sought to place severe restraints on legislative, law enforcement, and prosecutorial powers to stem criminal behavior as well as behavior that, while not violent, has the effect of undercutting civil authority. Those boundaries now have loosened considerably, to the degree of permitting people to pitch tents on private and public property, or to defecate and do drugs in public areas (including near schools). 

One of the primary defenses employed by society to protect against criminal behavior dismantling civil norms, are its prosecutors. Tragically, in a number of major American cities, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and others, elected prosecutors who until the recent past enforced those laws to ensure that law-abiding citizens and businesses could live and operate without fear of violence, are refusing as a matter of public policy to enforce those boundaries. The unsurprising result of such policies is more violence, more fear, and greater lasting harm to society.

Bryan Burroughs’ book, Days of Rage – America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence, describes in detail the extreme violence that took place in our country from the late 1960s through the 1970s – bombings and other violent acts committed by numerous leftist organizations such as The Weathermen, The Symbionese Liberation Army, the FALN, and others. 

America survived those years of violence because we maintained a widely understood foundation of civil norms that rejected such actions. Now, half a century later, that civil foundation has become so severely shredded that recovery from today’s widespread violence and intolerance is far less certain.

Bob Barr represented Georgia’s Seventh District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He served as the United States Attorney in Atlanta from 1986 to 1990 and was an official with the CIA in the 1970s. He now practices law in Atlanta, Georgia and serves as head of Liberty Guard.

Green New World: News agencies tell cold Americans to grab a blanket

Home heating prices are soaring this coming winter, especially in New York and the northeast, where heating oil shortages are looming before the winter has even begun.

On Oct. 13, there was a 26-day supply of home heating oil left for the northeast U.S.

By Oct. 24, it was down to a 25-day supply, the lowest since 1993, as calls to release the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve have already begun, and it’s not even November yet.

According to Energy.gov, if released the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve could boost supplies for about a week or two: “The reserve would give Northeast consumers supplemental supplies for approximately 10 days, the time required for ships to carry additional heating oil from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor.”

Amid the shortages — not merely confined to oil — the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the cost of heating American households will increase 27 percent to $2,354 this winter for heating oil, 10 percent by electricity to $1,359, 5 percent for propane to $1,668, and 28 percent for natural gas to $931. 

This is what happens when every country in the world deliberately shuts down production, as it did in 2020, not just for petroleum but all commodities and other products during the Covid economic lockdowns. Production still has not caught up to pre-Covid levels, even as demand has continued to increase.

The short-sightedness, exacerbated by green policies designed to disincentivize oil and coal production and consumption, has meant the supply crunch was not met with a production surge as inflation instead consumed household spending, and with the crisis further exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another recession is already upon the global economy. In that sense, it is also wartime rationing.

Now, news agencies have even begun promoting the rationing, for example, Fox 61 in Connecticut interviews one elderly homeowner who is already stockpiling blankets for her home.

The Columbus Dispatch’s Mark Williams tells Ohioans, “Grab a blanket: Heating costs to soar this winter.”

Anecdotally, I listened to a similar report on local WMAL in northern Virginia last week, urging listeners to get blankets because of surging home heating costs this winter.

In Europe, where home heating prices are even higher, electric blanket sales (and prices) are soaring in the UK and Germany, a craze that could easily stretch across the Atlantic.

Dressed up as noble conservation, the language is plain and clear: We don’t have enough energy to stay warm. This is what a reduced carbon economy looks like in the winter, and over the longer term, in New York, the northeast and the rest of the U.S., blankets might be little comfort in what looks like it will be a brutal transition into the Green New World.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation. Original here. Reproduced with permission.

LOL! A Day in the Life of a Twitter Employee! Elon won’t like this!

This is hilarious! Yoga studios, meditation chambers, red wine on tap? When do they do any work?

In a world full of Germans, be like Sweden: Insane policy kills 430 year old bakery – and tears down wind farm for this…

Welcome to Germany, the completely shattered formerly dominant country desperate to claw its way out of WEF control and Russian subjugation.

Traditional German family companies, in business for generations, are now being forced to close up due to energy scarcity and high prices, mostly brought on by the “Green Revolution” madness.

The latest shocking news comes from the Sinzinger bakery from Otterskirchen near Passau in Lower Bavaria.

“The traditional bakery has been baking since the 16th century – now it has to close down,” reports Pleiteticker.de here. The Sinzinger bakery was even able to survive the nasty Thirty Years’ War, Napoleon, two destructive world wars and numerous technological and economic upheavals, but not Germany’s Green Revolution and the energy shocks it has brought with it.

According to Pleiteticker.de: “In 1591, the company received its baker’s right. Now the 430-year-old family bakery must close all of its nine branches by February 2023. The reason is rising energy prices.

Germany, like the US, sits on a mountain of coal. But the WEF gets its way eventually – it hates small businesses, it hates that we’re warm from plentiful resources, it hates that we’re well fed by farmed food – and as we are seeing – what globalists epitomized by the WEF (the UN is complicit as are its components the WHO, the IMF and its war machine in the blue helmets that perpetuates wars by its continued presence.)

Tears down wind turbine to expand coal mine yet still committed to Net Zero

In another story, a wind farm in Germany is being dismantled to expand the Garzweiler lignite mine. One of eight turbines installed at the location in 2001 has already been removed. Nevertheless, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said it would phase out coal by 2030, as did RWE, the company that owns the mine.

Wind turbines near the Garzweiler open pit mine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, run by German energy giant RWE, is being removed to make way for more lignite exploitation.

The turbines were in operation since 2001, and government subsidies have expired. Energiekontor and wpd, which is also active in the Balkans, operate the wind farm.

Meanwhile, in Sweden

New Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is not heeding to the Green agenda. He promptly eliminated the entire Ministry of Climate and Environment, marking the first time in 35 years that Sweden does not have a specific climate ministry. People are crying that the world will crumble without funding bureaucrats who pretend they have the ability to alter the weather cycle with enough funding.

Klaus Schwab’s plans for Agenda 2030 are in jeopardy. “Environmental issues are going to be given a disadvantage at the same time when we have a huge challenge in Sweden when it comes to biodiversity and forestry,” stated Stockholm University professor Karin Bäckstrand. “We won’t meet the Agenda 2030 goals on biodiversity.”

Democratic leader Ebba Busch will serve as the new Minister for Energy, and 26-year-old Liberal Romina Pourmokhtari will serve as the Minister of Climate and Environment, The Nationalist Sweden Democrats do not support the goal of achieving net zero emissions. (armstrongeconomics)

The Body Does Not Like This Toxin

“The sp**ke prot*in is probably one of the most to*ic pro*eins the human body has ever seen. … If you have long C*VID, you absolutely want to avoid being v*ccin*ted.”

Dr. Paul Marik explains the dangers of a buildup of sp*ke prot*in in the body, from inflammation to autoimmune disease. Dr. Marik is one of the most highly published critical care physicians in the world. He’s a co-founder of the Front Line C*VID-19 Critical Care Alliance.

“If we had adopted, as a number of countries have done, early, widespread, early treatment, we could have controlled and ended this p*ndemic in the middle of 2020,” says Marik. “But they don’t want you to know about this. They want you to stay at home, get sick, and then go to the hospital. It’s an outrage.”

Marik’s views on the corruption of medicine, from the suppression of off-label drugs to the manipulation of safety data to the gaslighting of the v*ccine injured. “I used to think that what you read in the medical journals was the truth… We know now that that’s completely false.”

Hillary Clinton Issues Major 2024 Election Announcement

OMG, just listen to her. “Right-wing extremists!” She needs to remember who called the cessation of counting in the 2020 Presidential election? Not the conservatives – it was all in democrat controlled areas. 

Clinton appears worried about a SCOTUS decision in the case of Moore v. Harper, scheduled for release in the summer of 2023. (Actually, she refers to the court as right-wing, her favorite epithet for things she doesn’t like.) Moore v. Harper is a pending United States Supreme Court case related to the independent state legislature theory (ISL), arising from the redistricting of North Carolina’s districts following the 2020 Census.

SL theorizes that state legislatures alone are empowered by the Constitution to regulate federal elections without oversight from state courts.

The questions presented: “Whether a State’s judicial branch may nullify the regulations governing the “Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives . . . prescribed . . . by the Legislature thereof,” U.S. CONST. art. I, § 4, cl. 1, and replace them with regulations of the state courts’ own devising, based on vague state constitutional provisions purportedly vesting the state judiciary with power to prescribe whatever rules it deems appropriate to ensure a “fair” or “free” election.”

State legislative leaders filed a petition on March 17 asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. That paperwork arrived 10 days after the court had voted, 6-3, to reject an emergency petition. A successful emergency petition would have blocked the current court-ordered election map from being used for 2022 U.S. House contests.

On March 7, Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that he agreed with dissenting Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas that the court should address the issue of state courts’ role in addressing state legislatures’ decisions about redistricting.

It takes “yes” votes from four of the nine justices for the U.S. Supreme Court to agree to hear a case.

The case will pursue a legal theory called “independent state legislature doctrine,” which suggests that, under the Constitution’s election clause, “only the legislature has the power to regulate federal elections, without interference from state courts.” 

This argument is based on two clauses in the Constitution that assign to the legislature of each state the job of identifying the “Manner” of appointing presidential electors and the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections. More here at Carolina Journal.

Reproduced with permission from Americans Care. Original here.

Biden pokes the Dragon by tightening screw on Chinese access to technology

White House Image – FaceBook

The Biden administration is exploring the possibility of new export controls that would limit China’s access to some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies, according to people familiar with the situation, says the South China Morning Post.

The potential plans, which are in an early stage, are focused on the still-experimental field of quantum computing, as well as artificial intelligence software, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. Industry experts are weighing in on how to set the parameters of the restrictions on this nascent technology, they said.

The efforts, if implemented, would follow separate restrictions announced earlier this month aimed at stunting Beijing’s ability to deploy cutting-edge semiconductors in weapons and surveillance systems. This delivered a painful blow to Xi’s ambitions to rival the U.S., delivered at the very moment when the Chinese leader has reached the pinnacle of his political influence. While a show of technical and commercial force could be welcomed, everything rides on Xi’s interpretation of Biden’s willingness to see this fight through to the end.

The US has ramped up actions to stifle China’s ability to develop certain technologies that it sees as key in the competition with its top strategic rival. The sweeping regulations released earlier this month also limited how US citizens and residents participate in Chinese tech firms. The administration’s announcement of high-technology export controls to China represent a profound policy shift, a step to blunt Beijing’s sharpest tools—and a willingness to risk it alone, if necessary.

Post-stroke Fetterman – utterly confused over fracking. Is this abuse by the D-Party?

The Media lied about Fetterman’s mental capacity and slandered those who told the truth about his severe impairment from a stroke.

“I’ve always supported fracking.”

John Fetterman

That was Pennsylvania Democratic Senatorial candidate John Fetterman in his Oct. 25 debate with Republican candidate Mehmet Oz in response to a question by the debate’s moderator quoting Fetterman opposing hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas in a 2018 interview when he stated, “I don’t support fracking at all. I never have.”

Rather than simply say he changed his mind, Fetterman instead opted to attempt to convince the audience, and millions of Pennsylvanians who are paying a lot more for heating oil and natural gas than they have in years, that he had always been in favor of fracking.

Either Fetterman was lying, or he cannot remember he was a radical environmentalist his entire career even when it’s quoted to him.

In a 2016 post on Reddit, Fetterman was even more explicit, writing, “The industry is a stain on our state and natural resources,” adding, “I’m not pro-fracking and have stated that if we did things right in this state, we wouldn’t have fracking.”

The truth is, Fetterman never supported fracking and drilling in the state, a statewide industry that produced 7.53 trillion cubic feet of dry natural gas in 2021, or 21.8 percent of the nation’s output, second only to Texas’ 8.5 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But for that natural gas — if for example Pennsylvania had done what New York has done by barring fracking — and prices would be even higher in the U.S.

Ironically, gas has always been the go-to replacement for coal-powered electricity stations, with Obama administration EPA regulations incentivizing power plants to be retrofitted for natural gas, a reality even the White House’s 2021 climate strategyhighlights, stating, “Coal generation has declined rapidly, replaced by natural gas and renewables.”

Perhaps that was too complicated for Fetterman to lay out in the limited time offered in the debate, so just lie.  

Pennsylvania’s production of gas has played a large part in the replacement of coal, but so radical was Fetterman’s position on the issue — and that of other radical environmentalists — that there could not be a replacement either when it comes to transitioning away from carbon. A full 50 percent of households nationwide use natural gas to heat their homes every year. Could we really do without it?

But so many Pennsylvanians still depend on home heating oil as well, being the number three consumer in the country behind New York and Massachusetts. These states would have the greatest incentive of all to support natural gas production, especially with national pushes like Fetterman’s to stop using oil. Even if one wanted to get to a carbon-neutral energy output, leveraging U.S. gas production as a hallmark of the nation’s strategy to reduce emissions.

And yet the issue of oil and gas production has not been an easy layup for Democrats nationally like Fetterman, who serve more than one master: their constituents and the radical environmentalists in Washington, D.C. who want America to stop emitting carbon.

Maybe that’s what Fetterman meant when he also said at the debate he’s “walked that line” his whole career.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government. Original here. Reproduced with permission.

Former Bush Guy Wants to Seize Assets from Billionaire

Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum said the federal government should “have a plan ready to nationalize Starlink fast” in case Musk doesn’t want to play ball in Ukraine.

Last week reports emerged that Elon Musk was growing tired of providing free Starlink—a satellite internet system operated by SpaceX—to the Ukrainian government. (Musk had asked the Pentagon to pay towards the service, in the end he said he would keep paying himself.)

“The Starlink-Ukraine honeymoon period appears to be at an end: SpaceX reportedly wants the US to begin picking up the tab for more of its war-zone services,” reported The Register.

On October 7 Musk claimed on Twitter SpaceX had already eaten $80 million in costs for the operation, a price tag that is expected to hit $100 million by the end of the year.

“We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time,” SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote to the Pentagon in a September letter that was obtained by CNN.

That Musk no longer wanted SpaceX to pay for critical satellite services in Ukraine and was asking the Pentagon to foot the bill didn’t sit well with many, especially since Musk doesn’t appear to be a fan of the war in Ukraine, which has led to accusations that he’s a Putin stooge.

Musk this week announced that SpaceX has withdrawn its request for the Pentagon to fund Starlink in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that it has “held discussions about funding for the company’s Starlink,” suggesting that perhaps some agreement is being reached.

Some have suggested a simpler solution, however. On Monday, journalist and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum said the federal government should be laying the groundwork to seize Starlink from Musk.

“It was always unreasonable, and is becoming unwise, to expect [Musk] to provide Internet to Ukraine for free forever. Western allies should pay,” said Frum, who is currently an editor at The Atlantic and an MSNBC contributor. “And US should have a plan ready to nationalize Starlink fast if Musk cuts off Ukraine’s connection to advance his political agenda.”

Frum then shared a link to an article on the National Constitution Center, which explored Woodrow Wilson’s order nationalizing the entire US rail system during World War I.

“There’s abundant precedent for US government seizure of critical infrastructure during wars or national emergencies,” wrote Frum. “Of course, reasonable compensation must be paid, per the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.”

Frum is correct that it’s unreasonable to expect SpaceX to indefinitely provide free internet service to Ukraine. He’s also correct that there’s ample historical examples of the federal government nationalizing critical infrastructure during emergencies and wars.

Wilson did seize private railroads during World War I. He also used the Sedition Act to imprison thousands of Americans who had the temerity to use “disloyal or abusive” language about the government or the war. Wilson also drafted nearly 3 million Americans into World War I, a conflict he campaigned on staying out of.

None of these actions are just simply because the government did them previously, but they do illustrate an important lesson: many of the most egregious violations of civil liberties have occurred during wars and government-declared “emergencies.”

Wilson was hardly the only president to use a war emergency to justify blatant violations of civil liberties. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, seized newspapers, and arrested editors. Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered tens of thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II (as well as smaller numbers of Italian and German Americans). Harry Truman seized the nation’s private steel mills during a labor spat. Under George W. Bush, the CIA tortured detainees.

In every case, these actions were justified by public officials seeking to achieve a “greater good,” and it’s not hard to see how these rationalizations work, especially during wars. Winning becomes the goal, and eventually the pursuit of that end justifies virtually any means—so long as they help realize that goal.

Frum offers a case in point. He’s advocating seizing the property of a private American citizen to help win a war the United States is not even an active participant in. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Frum that the precedent he cites, unjust as it was, occurred while America was actually fighting in World War I. Furthermore, it was only done after Congress had passed the Army Appropriations Act, which gave the president war powers to take over the nation’s transportation systems.

Frum might get many things wrong on policy, but he’s a smart man (not to mention a talented writer); so I think he knows all this. His error is that he’s putting ends before means, which is a serious moral mistake.

The bottom line is Starlink belongs to Elon Musk, not the US government, which has no right to it. Plunder, even when it is “legal,” doesn’t become just when the government does it.

Jon Miltimore
Jon Miltimore

Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune.

Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times. 

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

We need a new Naval Act – Here’s why it’s urgent and necessary

A 2023 naval act, as it did in 1938, can grow the nation’s naval shipbuilding capacity for a potential war with China. It would draw attention to a national security priority while not competing directly with other military service budget needs. It would further protect shipbuilding from fluctuating and tardy budgets that have retarded needed capacity investments. A modern naval act, echoing the nation’s historic success in preparing for war in the Pacific, would galvanize meaningful action. Congress has indicated it is willing to make the needed investments—a new naval act is one way of acting on that intention.

Brent Sadler, Senior Research Fellow, Center for National Defense

As we have commented recently, China’s increasing belligerence and Russia’s flagrant violations of long-standing inter- national borders in Ukraine have shone a spotlight on America’s weak defense posture. Sadly, the nation’s first line of defense and most effective means of distant deterrence of Chinese adventurism, the U.S. Navy, has been unable to build the fleet needed to confront this rapidly changing world. America should act now to meet this threat. 

Here’s how:

Expert: China & US face ‘worst war in modern history’ 

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, a $300B+ company accounts for 92% – yep, you read that right – of global advanced semiconductor production capacity, building chips for much of the world’s tech across iPhones, military equipment, cars — you name it.

As the name suggests, TSMC is in Taiwan, which presents a geopolitical conundrum:

  • China is threatening military action to gain control over Taiwan.
  • Taiwan views its chip supremacy as a “silicon shield” — if China were to attack Taiwan, the US would have to protect it.
  • The US is now hedging its bets, committing to protect Taiwan while also pushing both TSMC and US chip companies to start manufacturing stateside. (The Hustle)

What’s being done?

Well, that depends who you ask. In July, Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, putting ~$53B toward US manufacturing. Its industrial strategy intent is to revitalize domestic manufacturing, create good-paying American jobs, strengthen American supply chains, and accelerate the industries of the future. While they were at it, the Biden Administration also blocked the sale of advanced semiconductors and equipment to Chinese firms, and restricted US companies and citizens from aiding Chinese chip development. This has seriously pissed off Chairman Xi Jinping in China who is currently working on his revenge.

Which could look like this…

Let’s face it, China will not be scared by anything Joe Biden can offer. The military is busy restructuring for diversity, not a fierce sea and land battle. China doesn’t care about semiconductors. They can make their own in a heartbeat using stolen IP from offshored companies, or have their own Huawei pivot to meet demand. They know that the US will be torn between fighting Russia and China, will probably decide to do both and consign the great democratic experiment to the trash can of history.

At the 20th Chinese Congress last week Xi had his predecessor Hu Jintao dragged out of the CCP conference during a live broadcast, so we can rest assured that Xi is done with the “softer face of Communism” and is in it to win it now. He was crowned “leader for life” of the country’s Communist Party and vowed never to renounce force to retake Taiwan.

Experts are predicting a blood bath and the “worst war in modern history” should China invade, and the US activate the “silicon shield.” Aside from deaths, we can expect a miserable time with shortages as so many items we rely upon are made or extracted offshore. Back here, we can only hope sense will prevail regarding green laws, opening factories, farmland use, fracking and gas extraction.

Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at Stanford University and a researcher at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on China’s war machine. 

“What I would say is that some sort of use of force is all but guaranteed,” she told The Sun Online.

She said Xi Jinping didn’t want any military action to be ongoing during the run-up party congress but now “the constraint has been lifted” the risks of an attack on Taiwan has increased.

Ohhh, Nancy, That’s not going to work…

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stopped by CBS’ Face the Nation over the weekend to discuss, among other things, how Democrats need to reshape the narrative around inflation; Pelosi says “change the subject.”

“When I hear people talk about inflation… we have to change that subject. Inflation is a global phenomenon,” Pelosi tells host Margaret Brennan. “The EU, the European Union, the UK, the British, have higher inflation rate than we do here… The fight is not about inflation. It’s about the cost of living.”

“If you look at what we [Democrats] have done, to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, to bring down the cost of – of energy and the rest in our legislation, you will see that that has been opposed every step of the way by the Republicans, and they have no plan for lowering the cost of living or helping with inflation,” Pelosi added.

Not sure that’s going to cut it with the embattled middle class, Nancy. We not a multimillionaire with a Pacific Heights mansion, a vineyard in Napa, and a Georgetown, DC pied-a-terre, who doesn’t care if the Nasdaq is down almost 20%, because that’s not killing her retirement fund – she’s probably shorting everything in sight and making a fortune. She won’t care that the heating bill has nearly doubled, the grocery bill is up over 30% and gas price increases are putting disposable incomes under massive pressure.

Californians Move to Texas | Episode 3: The Church

Everyone’s favorite transplants from California, Steve and Timpani, are going door to door trying to get their new Texas neighbors to vote for Beto O’Rourke. And then, plot twist, they end up in a good old-fashioned Baptist church!

ICYMI: West PA voters stun MSNBC liberal who accidentally strays out of liberal bubble

A focus group empaneled by MSNBC repeatedly corrected false statements by correspondent Elise Jordan as she tried to push left-wing narratives about the January 6 riot at the Capitol, a segment that left colleague Joe Scarborough stunned.

Canadian Police Spying on US Gun Show – White House not interested

So this is a good one. The ATF is “allegedly” working with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to spy on Americans at a gun show. However, they play the “we’re Feds we don’t have to tell you anything” card and skedaddle when the locals yet suspicious and the local sheriff runs them out of town.

Rishi Sunak is the perfect WEF puppet.

Get out of Dodge Quick card

Former British PM Boris Johnson was born in the USA but turned in his nationality when the IRS caught up to him and announced that – as with every other American – he had to pay tax on his worldwide income. The US is draconian about getting its taxes – even from non-residents. No quid pro quo for them.

Now we see that the UK prime minister has a wife who is “non-domiciled” in the United Kingdom despite living there and owning several houses, and he himself had a get out of the country Green Card, or permanent resident status, until last year when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer – responsible for very un-conservative bailouts for people and businesses.

Those Goldman Sachs investment bankers are whizz-kid globalists and they know whose palms to grease.

‘This week’s Prime Minister has sold himself as the chap who can get us out of this mess, which ought to be plausible as he is largely the chap who is responsible for getting us into this mess.’

Mark Steyn – TV personality and pundit

Did he keep the Penthouse?

Among the richest people living in the UK, Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy have a joint net worth of approximately £730 million, which make them richer than King Charles III. Their house in the US was the first property the couple purchased together. A penthouse in Santa Monica, the house is known to be valued at approximately $7.2 million dollars and offers breathtaking views of Santa Monica pier and the Pacific ocean. 

Watch 1000 years of European borders change…

This Video shows you a (rough) history of changing European borders. It’s a thousand-year time lapse map. While it includes the Soviet Union (Russia) and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) the timeline is off across several areas; e.g. the partitioning of Poland, the Habsburg monarchy, the Balkan Wars, the start of WWI, and the formation of Yugoslavia, which happened at the end of WWII recorded here as occurring in 1959. But it’s a good effort and rather interesting. It makes me wonder what Europe and the USA will look like in another thousand years!

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