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JULY 31,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

SOME PEOPLE THINK TOOTH FAIRIES ARE REAL – FROM FOX:    U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced two guaranteed income bills on Friday, aimed at sending $1,200 monthly checks to most Americans before the end of the decade, according to reports.  The SUPPORT Act would fund current local guaranteed income pilot programs around the country through a $2.5 billion grant program and findings for the national program would be taken between 2023 and 2027, WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reported.
Starting in 2028, the national program would send $1,200 per month for people making less than $75,000 a year or heads of household making less than $112,500 a year plus $600 for each child.  "Poverty is a choice," Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said in a statement about the bills. "For too long we have prioritized endless growth while millions are homeless, hungry or without healthcare. We as a nation have the ability to make sure everyone has their basic needs like food, housing and healthcare met."  It's pure socialism, a giant leap toward a bankrupt country.  I doubt it has any chance of passing, especially at a time of rapidly rising national debt.  We can't leave every burden to our children.

July 31, 2021       Permalink

THE NEW DEMOCRATIC STAR? – OVERNIGHT:  We're giving a great deal of attention to Eric Adams, who will, unless something goes seriously awry, be the next mayor of New York.  He will be a national figure when he takes office, and he is the exception to today's Democratic Party rule.  He's a moderate and an ex-cop, and he's black.   And he's ambitious.  From Fox: 

New York City mayoral candidate Eric Adams criticized the far-left during an appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO show, saying America "is not a socialist country."

"This is not a socialist country, let’s be clear on that," Adams, a Democrat, told Maher Friday evening. "This is a country that believes in giving people the opportunities [so] that they will be able to succeed and excel in this country."

His comments come after he said earlier this week at a campaign event that he was running against a Democratic Socialists of America "movement."

"I’m no longer running against candidates. I’m running against a movement. All across the country, the DSA socialists are mobilizing to stop Eric Adams," he told a crowd in Queens on Monday evening.

"They realize that if I’m successful, we’re going to start the process of regaining control of our cities."

He said later that the comments were not aimed at noted socialist lawmaker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, though he admitted they "gave the appearance that there was a personal attack on Alexan … Congresswoman Cortez."

"Her name was never mentioned by me," Adams said, according to the New York Post.

The former NYPD captain added on Maher’s show that he will work to "rebuild that trust" between the police and the community, following Democratic lawmakers across the country, including Ocasio-Cortez, calling for departments to be defunded in the wake of George Floyd’s death last Memorial Day.

"I am going to have the backs of my officers but they are going to have the backs of the people of this city they swore to serve and protect," he said.

COMMENT:  I believe Adams has his finger on the pulse of New York, and probably most of the country.  There is clearly a leftist movement building – he refers to it – to stop him before he disrupts the socialist gravy train. 

Watching Adams will be fun.  He is not overwhelmingly popular.  In a way, he is a kind of Donald Trump with police experience.  His words are undoubtedly shocking to the branch of the Democratic Party that worships Lenin, but I suspect Adams did quite a bit of private polling before speaking them. 

July 31, 2021       Permalink

JULY 30,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? – FROM FOX:   Vice President Kamala Harris has another big trip ahead – but it won't be a return visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.  Instead, Harris next month will travel across the Pacific, to Vietnam and Singapore, amid U.S. tensions with China.  Her goal is to "strengthen relationships and expand economic support," chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders said in a statement.  Harris will be the first sitting vice president to visit Vietnam.  The trip is also an effort to rally support against China’s growing economic ascendency, according to Reuters.  The trip comes against the domestic backdrop of the continuing crisis at the U.S. southern border. Back in March, President Biden tasked Harris with studying the root causes of the crisis.  Over subsequent weeks, Republicans and even some Democrats urged Harris to visit border towns in the U.S., in order to get a first-hand impression of how the migrant crisis was affecting those communities, but Harris resisted. Then in late June, 94 days after her appointment from Biden, Harris flew to El Paso, Texas, for a brief visit – before flying on to Los Angeles, where she owns a home.   I'm sure the people of Vietnam and Singapore can't wait.  I hope Kami knows where those countries are.

THEY FINALLY WOKE UP – FROM FOX BUSINESS:   The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Friday against Cuba's national revolutionary police and its top two officials as the U.S. looks to increase pressure on the communist government following this month's protests on the island.  The Police Nacional Revolcionaria and the agency's director and deputy director, Oscar Callejas Valcarce and Eddie Sierra Arias, were targeted in the latest sanctions announced by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The police are part of Cuba's interior ministry, which was already the subject of a blanket designation by the Trump administration back in January.  "We hear the cries of freedom coming from the island. The United States is taking concerted action to bolster the cause of the Cuban people," President Joe Biden said at the start of a White House meeting with Cuban Americans not long after Treasury announced the sanctions.  Too little, too late.  Biden won't do much because the hard left in his party is still loyal to Fidel.  But he has to throw out a token to avoid completely alienating Cuban-Americans.  I doubt if they'll be impressed.

July 30, 2021       Permalink

GREEN ENERGY?  AHEM.  OVERNIGHT:  We're being sold the line that green energy is here, or right around the corner, or on our front porch, and that we'd better buy in to prevent the world from ending on AOC's next birthday.   Apparently, not everyone with a driver's license agrees.  From Yahoo:

Roughly 20% of electric vehicle owners in California replaced their cars with gas ones, a study shows.

The main reason drivers said they made the switch was the inconvenience of charging.

The findings suggest new challenges facing the growth of the nascent electric vehicle market.

In roughly three minutes, you can fill the gas tank of a Ford Mustang and have enough range to go about 300 miles with its V8 engine.

But on a recent 200-mile trip from Boston to New York in the Mustang's electric Mach-E variant, Axios's Dan Primack said he felt "panic" as his battery level dipped below 23% while searching for a compatible charger to complete his trip.

"I was assured that this might be one of the country's easiest EV routes," Primack wrote. "Those assurances were misplaced."

For Bloomberg automotive analyst Kevin Tynan, an hour plugged into his household outlet gave the Mach-E just three miles of range.

"Overnight, we're looking at 36 miles of range," he told Insider. "Before I gave it back to Ford, because I wanted to give it back full, I drove it to the office and plugged in at the charger we have there."

Standard home outlets generally deliver 120 volts, powering what electric vehicle aficionados call "Level 1" charging, while the higher-powered specialty connections at 240 volts are known as "Level 2." By comparison, Tesla's "Superchargers," which can fully charge its cars in a little over an hour, run on 480 volts.

That difference is night and day, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Energy by University of California Davis researchers Scott Hardman and Gil Tal that surveyed Californians who purchased an electric vehicle between 2012 and 2018.

Roughly one in five plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners switched back to owning gas-powered cars, in large part because charging the batteries was a pain in the… trunk, the researchers found.
Of those who switched, over 70% lacked access to Level 2 charging at home, and slightly fewer than that lacked Level 2 connections at their workplace.

"If you don't have a Level 2, it's almost impossible," said Tynan, who has tested a wide range of makes and models of PEVs over the years for his research.

Even with the faster charging, a Chevy Bolt he tested still needed nearly six hours to top its range back up to 300 miles from nearly empty - something that takes him just minutes at the pump with his family SUV.

EVs have come a long way in recent years in terms of range, safety, comfort, and tech features, but Hardman and Tal note that very little has changed in terms of how they are recharged.

The researchers warned that this trend could make it harder to achieve electric vehicle sales targets in California and other countries, and the growth of the market overall.

COMMENT:  You know, this article is really about common sense.  For the average car buyer, buying electric is going backward, not forward.  Common sense tells us that no one will want to have a car inoperative for hours while it's being recharged.  And the cost of the car will exceed the cost of a gasoline-powered vehicle. 

Going green will not be easy, and may not even be necessary.  But don't tell that to the environmental fanatics running things.

July 30, 2021       Permalink