Month: August 2022
The inconvenient truth of electric vehicles
By James Poplar
As someone who is retired and on a fixed income, I am often chided by my progressive friends for driving a truck that is twenty-five years old with close to 300,000 miles on the odometer. The typical refrain is, why are you not driving an electric vehicle (E.V.) that is environmentally friendly, vice your clunker that contributes to global warming? After all, it is “the right and responsible thing to do.”
Yes, I believe that the future of private transportation lies in electric and in other alternative (perhaps hydrogen)–powered vehicles, but for a number of reasons, the timing is not yet right to have the government mandate that I and others own an E.V.
I offer the following rationale:
First, from a national security standpoint, China made a conscious decision years ago to dominate the market in E.V. battery production and technology. This is the same country that makes no bones about surpassing the United States as the world superpower. In addition, China has an abysmal human rights record — what other country harvests the organs from its political opposition? Why would we as a nation want to put our own national security at risk in the hands of a nation determined to impose communism around the globe?
Second, currently, the materials used to manufacture E.V. batteries are typically mined in Africa by child labor under the harshest conditions imaginable. Children are typically forced to sift through piles of material in an effort to secure the scarce materials (cobalt, lithium, and nickel) required for battery production. Children as young as two years old transport, wash, and crush minerals to earn half a dollar a day. The problem of child labor used to source E.V. battery materials has been known for several years, yet we look the other way. In addition, the mining process in not environmentally friendly and in itself contributes to global warming.
Third, all E.V. batteries have a limited service life, at the end of which they must be disposed of in our landfills, as the recycling options, unlike with my petroleum-powered vehicle, are extremely limited. Millions of electric car batteries will retire in the next decade. What happens to them?
How do batteries not end up in a mountain of waste and further contaminate the environment?
Fourth, even with government subsidies, E.V.s are expensive. In rural America, the typical income is at or below the poverty level. How can the masses afford an E.V. when they can hardly afford to eat? Purchasing an E.V. or, for that matter, a newer gasoline vehicle is beyond the reach of most who live in “flyover country.”
So are we ready to fully embrace E.V.s and put our conventional vehicles out to pasture? For me, the answer is no. Please convince me that I am off base, and I will be the first in line to purchase my new “socially responsible” and “environment friendly” E.V.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/08/the_inconvenient_truth_of_electric_vehicles.html
COVID Enforcer and Climate Warrior Justin Trudeau Lands in Costa Rica on Private Jet, Unmasked with His Family as Canadians Suffer
Fired By Childline For My Child Safety Concerns. Abusive Practices Are Damaging Our Children
France: “I am here [in prison] to train myself in hate and terrorism. When I get out, I will kill many people because they are not good. I can recognise them”, Samir is acquitted
“I am here to train myself in hatred and terrorism. When I get out, I will kill many people because they are not good. I can recognise them. And children as young as one and a half, two years old, because they are innocent, before they are taken by Satan.”
Samir, who has been remanded in custody for the umpteenth possession of drugs and carrying a stabbing weapon, is heard by an officer on arrival at the detention centre. It goes without saying that the head of the prison, without waiting, reports the terrible threats that have just been made. The public prosecutor reports him to the judges for glorifying terrorism and repeated death threats.
Samir smiles broadly as he hears the President repeat his words. “I didn’t really say all that, I was just excited. I am not dangerous, my mother would tell you that.
[…]
The court can only agree: “There was no publicity and the threats are not directed against a specific person”. The defendant is acquitted. L’Indépendant
Man shot down in Leipzig, Germany – Tunisian arrested
Large-scale operation on Saturday evening at the hotspot Eisenbahnstraße in Leipzig.
According to the police, a man (32) was seriously injured by a gunshot at around 8.45 pm. He had to be taken to hospital.
“A 29-year-old, Tunisian suspect was caught and taken into custody,” a police spokesman said. According to information from the newspaper BILD, the suspected shooter had initially fled.
What exactly happened is still being investigated. Witnesses said that several people had been involved in an altercation.
Until midnight, officers secured evidence and the crime scene was cordoned off. The public prosecutor’s office declared that it would apply for the 29-year-old’s arrest.
Leipzig’s Eisenbahnstraße is considered a crime hotspot and was even declared a weapons ban zone in 2018. Since then, weapons such as pistols and knives have been banned there, and the police are allowed to carry out checks without suspicion. In February, however, the city decided to abolish the zone again soon – according to a study by the University of Leipzig, it had hardly any influence on crime.
German Intelligence Says Turkey Seeks to Influence Turkish Communities in Germany; Identifies Main Influence Organization
Germany’s domestic intelligence service recently published its annual “Constitutional Protection” report, which details Turkish influence operations in the country and identifies the Union of International Democrats (UID) as the most important Turkish influence group: According to the report:
June 2022 The activities of Turkish intelligence services and security authorities are flanked by attempts to influence communities of Turkish origin in Germany, which can also have an impact on the political decision-making process in German society as a whole. Pro-government organizations promote current Turkish policies in Germany and other European countries. The largest pro-state or pro-government interest group is the Union of International Democrats (UID). The umbrella organization, based in Cologne, was founded in 2004 as a lobbying organization for the AKP. The UID now has 15 regional associations throughout Germany, which in turn are divided into a large number of local associations with membership status. By now, it publicly displays its ties to Turkey by increasingly holding meetings with AKP officials and Turkish government members. [Translated with DeepL]
Read the full report here.
While the 2020 “Constitutional Protection” report for Hesse identified the political lobby UID and the religious umbrella organization DITIB as the leading Turkish influence organizations in Germany, the 2021 federal report contains no mention of DITIB. The Global Influence Operations Report has extensively covered the activities of both DITIB and the UID. Most recently, we reported that a series of sponsored events and social media posts suggest that the Turkish government is using both groups to spread its message on the sixth anniversary of the July 2016 attempted coup in Turkey.
The Union of International Democrats (UID; formerly known as the Union of European Turkish Democrats) describes itself as a voluntary NGO founded in 2004 that operates in several European countries. Its aims include increasing Turks’ economic, political, and social activities and “sister communities” abroad without alienating their identities and values. Its purposes also include combatting Islamophobia. German media has described the UID as a lobbying group for President Erdoğan and his AKP stand, which emphasizes Turkish values and customs. The German Office for the Protection of the Constitution monitors the UID, describing it as “nationalist” and incompatible with Germany’s free democratic order.
French PM announces appointment of ‘ambassador for LGBT + rights’
The French Prime Minister has warned: “The battle of mentalities is not yet won.” Élisabeth Borne announced on Thursday, August 4 that an “ambassador for LGBT + rights” would be appointed “before the end of the year” and that a fund of 3 million euros would be created to finance new LGBT + centers.
The head of government spoke during a visit to the LGBT + center in Orléans, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the repeal of the offense of homosexuality in France.
The ambassador for LGBT+ rights “will coordinate the action of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs for the protection against discrimination and the promotion of LGBT+ rights and will carry the voice of France,” according to Borne. This will include defending “the universal decriminalization of homosexuality and transidentity”.
The Prime Minister also praised “the exemplary work of LGBT+ associations and centers,” which are “identifiable and accessible entry points for many people who do not know where to turn”. Last year, these centers “helped nearly 6 000 people all over our country,” she insisted, stating that “anti-LGBT+ hatred continues to exclude, hurt and even sometimes kill”.
The Jean-Michel Macron-Trogneux affair
The appointment of the “ambassador” should be viewed against the backdrop of the Jean-Michel Trogneux affair which continues to occupy many conversations in the most perfect silence in the subsidized media. The investigation by Xavier Poussard and Faits & Documents, in which he demonstrated with the necessary rigor that the biography of France’s First Lady is a complete forgery, has increased the distance between the official “narrative” and these indisputable facts.
A reporter from Le Courrier des Stratèges recounted how he had organized a dinner at home and, to his great surprise, the six guests he had invited for the evening (and who did not know each other) “spontaneously talked about the details revealed by Xavier Poussard on the private life of Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron”.
His guests were “all convinced that Macron’s power is based on a logic of permanent lies”. The lie has become so institutional that France “has split into two worlds: those who govern and lie, those who obey and suffer the lie”.
Of course, lying has always been part of politics. With democracy declining however, the political lie is no longer invented for expediency but has become a veritable industry.
Macron, a fake created by billionaires looking for a puppet?
The image being cultivated of Emmanuel Macron is that of a genius. He is presented as normalien (a graduate of the very prestigious École normale supérieure), an honors graduate in philosophy, doctor of philosophy, novelist, precocious theater actor, and other nonsense. But Macron is nothing of the sort. He is neither normalien, nor an honors graduate, nor doctor of anything and he failed at the École normale supérieure.
Instead, Macron’s taste for lies and his appetite for personal grandeur raise many questions. Those who advise Macron have certainly not measured the consequences of their silence.
The real reason for appointing an “LGBTQ+ ambassador” by his embattled administration is therefore gradually taking shape: Sexual orientation has become a condition for membership in power networks.
In the absence of a clear answer to the legitimate questions of public opinion, convictions are hardening that ordinary people are being taken for fools.
https://freewestmedia.com/2022/08/07/french-pm-announces-appointment-of-ambassador-for-lgbt-rights/
Dutch Farmers Declare No Progress After First Sit Down with Govt, Vow ‘Stronger’ Actions
The Dutch farmers have characterised the first round of negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte as disappointing, with some declaring “stronger” actions will follow the meeting.
On Friday, the first round of talks were held in Utrecht between major farming organisations including LTO, which represents around 35,000 farmers, and the globalist government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his hand-picked “mediator”, former deputy prime minister Johan Remkes.
Rutte apologised to the farmers, according to public broadcaster RTV Drenthe, for causing “great confusion” over the so-called “nitrogen card”, laying out the areas that would have to cease farming activity as a result of the EU-based ‘wildlife protection’ scheme that the Dutch government has used to justify plans to cut nitrogen emissions in half by 2030.
The plan could see as much as 30 per cent of farms shut down, which some have claimed is nothing more than an attempt by the state to grab land that has been held in private ownership for generations.
Despite admitting that the map laid out by the government was inaccurate and led to “misunderstandings” amongst farmers, the globalist prime minister refused to back away from his 2030 agenda, much to the dismay of the farming organisations.
Rutte described the meeting as “an open conversation” that had displayed “a lot of emotions and great concerns”.
However, farmers were more direct in sharing their disappointment over the meeting.
Bart Kemp, a farmer from Ede, told the regional public broadcaster Omroep Gelderlan that he expects a “beautiful, positive action” to be held on Saturday, saying: “There will be tractors, and farmers who hand out products. And I expect there will also be stronger actions.”
Mark van den Oever of Farmers Defence Force said: “If I get a little taste of the mood, I think you can get ready for the hardest actions FDF has ever taken… We’re not going to dwell on that, but we’re definitely going to escalate.”
Both before and after the meeting on Friday, farmers were witnessed setting bales of hay on fire on motorways throughout the country, as well as dumping waste on highways to serve as makeshift road blockades. The protests, which have now entered their third month, have seen farmers use tractors to block off key infrastructure such as airports.
Last week, a group of farmers blocked the entrance to a paper mill to demonstrate against the apparent hypocrisy of the government’s nitrogen limits, given that the factory emits more nitrogen than any farm in the region, yet was not threatened with being shut down under the green push.
While the protests have been disruptive, they have been mostly peaceful. However, police forces have been accused of being heavy-handed in cracking down on the farmers, with a teenage boy nearly being shot by one officer last month for driving a tractor “threateningly“.
Last week, a group of officers in Almelo were filmed beating protesters with batons as they had gathered to defend a mural outside the town hall which read “no farmers, no food”.
Karl Marx, Liar and Corruptor
By Bruce Deitrick Price
Throughout the 1800s, the world’s dominant philosopher was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1830). He thought the universe was a logical machine, like a steam engine.
Hegel and his contemporaries agreed that Nature contains an underlying structure. The Hegelian dialectic was all the rage for a century. These philosophers wanted to sound scientific and mathematical. First thesis meets second thesis, producing third thesis.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) absorbed this thinking and concluded that history itself is a logical machine, like a cash register. Events do not happen randomly. There are laws — and Marx alone could explain them.
For Marx, the big predictions were about capital — i.e., money. He probably wrote a thousand pages, but his answers came down to a simple diagram. Capitalism works almost too well. Industrialists could acquire fortunes, but that is the trap. Capitalists are greedy bloodsuckers who reduce workers not just to poverty, but to starvation and desperation. Inevitably, according to Marx, workers rise up in righteous wrath, kill the industrialists, and divide the money among the workers, ushering in a communist paradise.
The problem for communism is that Marx had a flimsy theory to promote, and he could be reckless about it. Almost everything done in his name, as we’ll see, was dishonest. He hacked his own history machine.
Karl Marx laid down an important parameter from the get-go. To have a proper communist revolution, you need a successful industrial country, like the U.S., England, Germany, France and…that’s about it. Obviously, you couldn’t have a Marxian revolution in agrarian backwaters like Russia, China, and Cambodia, as you would simply divide poverty among impoverished peasants. Ergo, all the big communist revolutions were illegitimate and could not have been caused as Marx prescribed.
The next problem was that despite Marxian analysis and predictions, the capitalists were spreading the wealth. Almost any entity with excess money will invariably build parks, public housing, schools, museums, handsome municipal buildings, etc. One of the richest industrialists in American history (Andrew Carnegie) personally built 1,600+ libraries! This inevitability is captured in the phrase “trickle-down economics.” Marxists use this phrase sarcastically so maybe people won’t realize that it points to the central truth.
Here’s where the story gets really interesting. There was a lot of agitation in the 1820s and 1830s, especially in England, demanding that the government raise standards and protect workers. In fact, change was happening. Governing bodies passed new laws every year. So what did Marx and his polemical partner Friedrich Engels do?
Paul Johnson, author of the splendid book Intellectuals, devotes a chapter to illuminating how Marx and Engels complained that society was getting worse each day, even as their own evidence revealed the opposite. They had an Armageddon mindset and didn’t want to give it up. Rich swine must swing from every lamp post.
Johnson comments:
It is not always clear whether Engels’s misrepresentations are deliberate deception of the reader or self-deception. But sometimes the deceit is clearly intentional. He used evidence of bad conditions unearthed by the Factories Enquiry Commission of 1833 without telling readers that Lord Althorp’s Factory Act of 1833 has been passed, and had long been in operation, precisely to eliminate the conditions the report described.
Johnson elaborates elsewhere:
Marx cannot have been unaware of the weaknesses, indeed the dishonesty, of Engels’s book since many of them were exposed to detail as early as 1848 … in a publication with which Marx was familiar.
The Wall Street Journal calculates that communism is responsible for more than 100,000,000 deaths over the last hundred years. Communists always stress the peace on Earth that communism will give us as the state withers away. Everybody, we are promised, will get exactly what he needs. Clearly, there is a glorious revolution to push through, and the end justifies the means. Ruthless behavior might be required. Stalin mildly observed that a death may be a tragedy, but a million deaths is only a statistic. Mao chastised his followers: “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay. … A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”
My impression is that communism makes people violent because it’s such a volatile mix of religious certitude and utter amorality. Or the kind of people attracted to the free-for-all that is communism at the top seem to be vicious people at the outset — people like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and (it’s a safe bet) the leaders of today’s CCP.
Finally, there is a constant need for sophistry, propaganda, and manipulative language. These vices corrupt everything they touch, as we see now throughout our society. Marx himself was a bossy academic adventurer, rarely scientific but always insisting that he was Science. Compare Fauci.
Paul Johnson has a field day quoting what contemporaries thought of Marx:
There are many descriptions, mainly hostile, of the furious Marx in action. One close observer even wrote a poem about him: “Dark fellow from Trier in fury ranting, / His evil fist is clenched, he roars interminably, / As though ten thousand devils had him by the hair.” … Annenkov, who observed him in court, described his “thick black mane of hair, his hairy hands and crookedly buttoned frockcoat”; “he had no manners, was proud and faintly contemptuous”; his “sharp, metallic voice was well suited to the radical judgment he was continually delivering on men and things”; everything he said had a jarring tone.
Marx himself did not reject violence or even terrorism. Addressing the Prussian government in 1849, he threatened: “We are ruthless and ask no quarter from you. When our time comes we shall not disguise our terrorism.”
In the testimony about Marxist political aims and behavior, from a variety of sources, it is notable how often the word “dictator” crops up. “An unusually intelligent Prussian police agent who reported on him in London noted: ‘The dominating trait of his character is an unlimited ambition and love of power. … He is the absolute ruler of his party. … He does everything on his own and he gives orders on his own responsibility and will endure no contradiction.'”
Johnson also quotes Mikhail Bakunin: “Marx does not believe in God but he believes much in himself and makes everyone serve himself. His heart is not full of love but of bitterness and he has very little sympathy for the human race.” Now, 150 years later, that’s the malevolent Marxian DNA we are left to endure.
The Democrat party discarded most of its moderate members and should be renamed the American Communist Party. If Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson, and John F. Kennedy showed up at a conference today, they would probably not be admitted. If they were, they would feel dirty.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/karl_marx_liar_and_corruptor.html