"We can now see that the great unraveling that was World War II perhaps began with Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Without the benefit of retrospection, we cannot be certain that World War III has not begun."
Showing posts with label 2024. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2024. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2024
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 5. A Wider War.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.
John Stuart Mill
April 14, 2024.
The Middle Eastern War.
This was mentioned yesterday, but in North America we're waking up to the news that Iran, the supplier of drones to Russia, used a huge number of drones in an airborne assault on Israel yesterday which was combined with missiles.
Because that's going to serve somebody's interest?
This was retaliatory in nature, of course, but it was also monumentally stupid on the part of Iran.
Almost all the Iranian munitions were shot down. The few that got through caused minor damage. The US participated in the airborne defense.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine's defense chief warned that its battlefield situation has significantly worsened in recent days.
Mike Johnson, pick up your copy of John Stuart Mill.
April 17, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukrainian forces destroy Russian air defense systems in Crimea
The Middle Eastern War
Israel has carried out a retaliatory air strke on Iran. The details are sketchy at this time, but drones appear to be involved.
A big difference appears to be that Israel hit its targets, as opposed to Iran, which demonostrated an inability to get theirs through, although the US, UK and France helped Israel in its defense.
China v. US
A hacking campaign by China called Volt Typhoon has gained access to telecommunications, energy, water and 23 pipeline operators targeted, amongst other infrastrucure.
It should be obvious that China is preparing for war against the US, which will come over Taiwan.
April 19, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.
Massively belatedly, the House of Representatives voted 316-94 to advance military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. A final vote will come on Saturday, as this was procedural.
Isolationist are having a fit and will now take a run at removing Speaker Johnson, the latter having found his courage this week, at long last.
April 20, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.
About bloody time, and better late than never, assuming it's not too late.
Finally, Mike Johnson, who apparently prayed about the matter, found his courage.
April 22, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
In listing to This Week, I learned that a majority of GOP Congressman voted against aid to Ukraine.
Shameful.
Some of the commentary on the weekend shows suggest that Speaker Johnson may have changed his mind in part because of intelligence briefings. If that's the case, we ought to be truly fearful of Russia winning the war.
MJT tried to insert an amendment into the bill which would have required all those who voted for the bill to become Ukrainian conscripts.
Middle Eastern War
Air strikes in Razah killed 22 people.
The US is imposing sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit for ultra Orthodox Jews, most of whom do not serve in the Israeli military and who are exempted from universal male conscription that the country generally imposes.
It's difficult to see how attempting to sanction a single unit would work.
April 24, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Pro Palestinian demonstrations are causing havoc across campuses in the US as protesters.
Anti-Semitic elements in these protests have been very notable, including delusional ones such as LGBTQ supporting protesters supporting, effectively, Hamas, even though Hamas would likely put a 9mm to their heads if they were in Palestine.
Stay tuned to see if the Horst Wessel song reappears.
Russo Ukrainian War
The aid bill passed the Senate 79 to 18. Wyoming's two Senators, who normally would have voted yes, voted no, so they can bow down to the Populist Party.
Iran v. Everyone
Four Iranians were arrested for a hacking scheme aimed at Federal agencies.
April 25, 2024
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine deployed M57A1 ATACMS ballistic missiles against Russian targets in Crimea. The new missiles vastly increase Ukraine's ability to hit deep into Russian held territory.
The sudden appearance of the missiles suggest that Ukraine was supplied them prior to the recent funding bill, which was only signed into law yesterday, but withheld use of them until the bill was passed.
Russia, regarding the bill, predictably squealed like a stuck pig or like Donald Trump complaining about being on trial for his prurient interest, while it itself has used long range missiles fairly indiscriminately in Ukraine.
Pope Francis in an interview with CBS News declared that a "negotiated peace is better than a war without end", calling on warring parties in Ukraine and the Middle East to negotiate.
Of interset here, perhaps, the Vatican recently released its "Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity”, the same appearing on April 8. While I've noted it elsewhere, I suspect that Catholics in particular, or at least some Catholics, have grown so weary of documents issued by Pope Francis that they're being ignored and dreaded at this point. Indeed, many Catholics are holding their breath on what will come out of the Synod on Snyodality. Anyhow, Dignatas Infinita, which people were holding their breath on before it came out (it had been announced that something was coming out) didn't receive very much attention from the world at large and frankly from Catholics as well, as sure sign that just too darned much is being generated by this Papacy.
What notice it drew from Catholic circles tended to focus on the concept of "infinite dignity", and what that meant. I haven't followed the results of that, and there wasn't that much discussion of it to start with. The Pope, however, drew a lot of flak for his statements on transgenderism, which are perfectly in line with Catholic beliefs. We'll deal with that elsewhere.
What surprisingly didn't receive much attention was his statements on war, which were:
War
38. Another tragedy that denies human dignity, both in the past and today, is war: “War, terrorist attacks, racial or religious persecution, and many other affronts to human dignity […] ‘have become so common as to constitute a real ‘third world war’ fought piecemeal.’”[64] With its trail of destruction and suffering, war attacks human dignity in both the short and long term: “While reaffirming the inalienable right to self-defense and the responsibility to protect those whose lives are threatened, we must acknowledge that war is always a ‘defeat of humanity.’ No war is worth the tears of a mother who has seen her child mutilated or killed; no war is worth the loss of the life of even one human being, a sacred being created in the image and likeness of the Creator; no war is worth the poisoning of our common home; and no war is worth the despair of those who are forced to leave their homeland and are deprived, from one moment to the next, of their home and all the family, friendship, social and cultural ties that have been built up, sometimes over generations.”[65] All wars, by the mere fact that they contradict human dignity, are “conflicts that will not solve problems but only increase them.”[66] This point is even more critical in our time when it has become commonplace for so many innocent civilians to perish beyond the confines of a battlefield.
39. Therefore, even today, the Church cannot but make her own the words of the Pontiffs, repeating with Pope St. Paul VI: “jamais plus la guerre, jamais plus la guerre!” [“never again war, never again war!”].[67] Moreover, together with Pope St. John Paul II, the Church pleas “in the name of God and in the name of man: Do not kill! Do not prepare destruction and extermination for people! Think of your brothers and sisters who are suffering hunger and misery! Respect each one’s dignity and freedom!”[68] As much now as ever, this is the cry of the Church and of all humanity. Pope Francis underscores this by stating, “We can no longer think of war as a solution because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘just war.’ Never again war!”[69] Since humanity often falls back into the same mistakes of the past, “in order to make peace a reality, we must move away from the logic of the legitimacy of war.”[70] The intimate relationship between faith and human dignity means it would be contradictory for war to be based on religious convictions: “The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence, and war does not follow God’s path. War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself.”[71]
These statements are not really novel, but they certainly call into question the concept of a just war, while not abrogating it completely. This is interesting as well as certainly in the region itself the Ukrainian Catholic Church, if not backing the war openly, seems to be generally.
I would note here something that's widely misunderstood. Wars today, while they do feature civilian death, and Russia certainly has been indiscriminate in its use of airborne munitions on Ukraine, and Israel has been leveling parts of Gaza, is actually less destructive on civilians that it was some 80 years ago and that is the overall actual trend.
April 26, 2024
Middle Eastern War
Hamas proposed to lay down its arms if an independent Palestinian state, which we have a long dormant thread in the hopper on, were to be created.
More specifically, it proposed:
“a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions,”
Israel is unlikely to accept that, but more than that, is such a tiny rump state even viable?
Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian groups have shelled the construction area for the humanitarian pier.
Related threads:
Iron Domes and Chutzpah
Last prior edition:
Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 4. "Maybe I shall find them among the dead."
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Not a profile in courage.
From Twitter.
First:
Larry Wolfe@WYWolfe
So Barrasso and Lummis have joined the Pro Putin camp. Lummis makes the same tired argument that we can’t afford it. What is Barrasso’s excuse for abandoning his boss McConnell and instead lining up with the far right fringe of Senate crackpots?
8:51 PM · Apr 24, 2024
It is an excellent question, although probably rhetorical, as we all know why Sen. Barrasso did this, he's running to the right of himself to keep his job. The Wyoming GOP has fallen to the populists, who are not conservatives, and who are definitely isolationist without a grasp on foreign policy. We all know that. And a lot of us know that Barrasso doesn't believe a lot of the things he claims to, which makes this situation, frankly, sad, but for the fact that when Russia quits bleeding Ukraine, if Ukraine doesn't win, American and European blood will flow next.
Barrasso knows that, too.
I used to see Barrasso frequently as a passenger in airplanes. When I did, I always left him alone, even though I slightly know him, and knew his late wife a bit better. I've wanted to speak to him, however, as I frankly can't believe that he believes a lot of the things he states, and I've wanted to tell him that.
Somebody did just that, however.
Cleaned up to take out the awkward nature of Twitter:
Replying to @WYWolfe
drew@drew53430308
Was lucky enough to fly DEN-CPR with JB back in February, the VERY day they failed to move the bill. We were seated close to each other, and had to wait on the jetway in Casper for our carry-ons. So I introduce myself as “Lt Col so-and-so” and offer condolences about his wife’s passing, but then I mentioned the day’s failure, and how the rest of the week was a work session, hard to do from home…
I told him that the innocent civilians in Ukraine needed help, they needed our help to end the rapes and murders. I explained that America doesn’t abandon her allies on the battlefield. I explained that then, that very night, with a few phone calls he could fix it…
I looked him in the eye and told him he was one of the most powerful men on Earth, and that he alone could save lives, starting right then. I told him millions of innocents were counting on him, that this was his moment…
JB thanked me for my service, explained this was all JD Vance’s fault, and there was nothing he could do. Told me I didn’t understand how things work. I replied that I’d flown back enough dead and maimed kids to learn a lifetime’s worth of foreign policy.
Well, good for Lt. Col. Drew.
Postscript:
There's good reason to believe that Barrasso is fighting for his political career this election against a surprisingly strong Reid Rasner. Barrasso has had those in the electorate who were vaguely discontent with him for some time. In retrospect, a lot of that opposition came from people who believe the "Uni Party" brand of nonsense in which anything the government spends is evidence that you are a RINO, unless of course the money is spent subsidizing highways, which is good. The same people, of course, are hugely opposed to balancing the budget, although they don't realize it, as they'd have to be taxed at a fair rate, which they aren't in favor of.
Anyhow, with the strong rise of populism in the state Barrasso is in surprising trouble as he has a track records that isn't populist, but conservative. Those who didn't like him in the first place trend that way, and the overall state GOP is now on a populist warpath, the fall of Liz Cheney being evidence of that. So Barrasso is now campaigning as a populist.
The thing he might be missing is that for a long time there have been Republican moderates and true conservatives, the people that populists, who aren't real Republicans but rather are Dixiecrats, who weren't hugely fond of Barrasso either. Dr. Barrasso also knew that, which was why he was pretty careful, usually, but not always, to take carefully thought out conservative positions. Many in this same class weren't hugely satisfied with Barrasso, if not outright dissatisfied with him, and were held back from voting for a Democratic candidate only due to certain issues, such as right to life issues. Irrespective of that, in 2018, the last time he ran, Barrasso take at the pools declined from a 2012 76% to 67%, which is the same percentage that Donald Trump took in 2016. Democrat Gary Trauner took 30%.
Trauner ran for elective office several times and failed to win, but he was respected and stuck around in the public eye for a while after the 2018 election. He's not involved in politics anymore, but his race is illustrative. Barrasso had no real opposition in the primary, although some gadfly entrants did run. This time he has real opposition. Most of the old moderate Democrats became Republicans in the state long ago and by this time may be too disgusted by these recent developments to even vote in the primary, and those who do may abstain from voting in this race. That might push things over the top for Rasner, as at the end of the day, Barrasso is at least partially counting on conservatives and moderate Republicans who aren't thrilled with him right now to vote for him.
And while the winner of that race will win, whomever it is may not have the level of support that they have in the past. 30% of the electorate was voting against him already, which was worse than Cheney did in 2020 and worse than Hageman did in 2022.
Related thread:
The 2024 Election, Part XVII. Standing on their feet or crawling on their knees.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
The 2024 Election, Part XVII. Standing on their feet or crawling on their knees.
April 24, 2024
And, yes, we already have yet another edition.
First, this:
Mike Johnson, after receiving intelligence briefings on the Russia war in Ukraine and praying about it, reversed his prior position heroically. Wyoming's two Senators, who undoubtedly are not in favor of Russian winning the war in Ukraine, and who must at least suspect that voting against aid to Ukraine might mean the butchered bodies of American soldiers in Europe next year or the year thereafter, voted against it anyway.
Politicians are rarely held responsible for willfully wrong votes. Cheney was penalized by the voters for doing the right thing, but had the courage to do it anyhow. Lummis and Barrasso are doing the wrong thing so as to avoid suffering her fate. When the day comes, and if Russia prevails there's a good chance of it happening, and Russia crosses the Curzon Line, or the Balkan frontier, and the US finds itself obligated by its NATO treaty to defend Europe, assuming that Donald Trump, who hasn't upheld his oath to the Constitution, or his marital vow(s) would honor our treaty obligations, will those Wyoming politicians, who are too old to serve themselves, at least recognize that they have blood on their hands?
Probably not.
Let's look just a little bit on some of the current local races.
Senate
Lummis isn't running for reelection, but Barrasso is.
Barrasso is in political trouble as his opponent, Reid Rasner, who is from the Populist Party, is giving him a real run for the money, or so it seems. Barrasso, therefore, is running to the right of himself.
No Democrat has announced as of yet.
Wyoming House District 35
NCSD employee Christopher Dresang is running against Rep. Tony Locke, R-Casper, a Freedom Caucus member. Dresang is a Casper native who is a graduate of the Catholic school system's St. Anthony’s, and then Natrona County High School, Casper College, the University of Wyoming, and Montana State University-Bozeman. Locke, unlike many Freedom Caucus members, is actually from Wyoming and has a MS in engineering, making him all the more unusual as he's highly educated and yet apparently a populist.
Wyoming House District 56
Jerry Obermeuller, who was a really good legislator, announced last weekend he was not running for reelection and expressed the hope that a Republican (non Populist) did.
Elissa Campbell announced her run for that seat yesterday. She's a Wyoming native, unlike the numerous imports that make up the Invader wing of the Freedom Caucus, and she owns a consulting agency in Casper. She has two BA's, one in Philosophy one in Environmental Ethics from the University of Wyoming. The press interview lacked very much useful content and all we really know is that she's a mammal. Those who know her, however, feel that she'll be much like Obermeuller in outlook.
Wyoming House District 57
Another Wyoming native, and a former teacher, Julie Jarvis, is running against Jeanette Ward, an Illinois Populist who the Wyoming Education Association has been taking on, and a prominent member of the Invader wing. Ward is amongst the most extreme in every fashion of the Populist, and was an extreme school board member in her native state of Illinois. Ward has managed to keep her patrim fairly quiet, so nobody has every really looked at it much, even though her presentation alone has a fish out of war element to it. Jarvis is Wyoming Basque from Buffalo, and came out swinging against her.
This promises to be an interesting race as every Basque I've ever known was really smart and extremely feisty. Jarvis grew up, it might be noted, in a farming family. What kind of family Ward grew up in is a mystery.
Last prior edition:
The 2024 Election, Part XVI. The Compromised Morals Edition
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Comparison and Contrast, was Lex Anteinternet: Earth Day, 2024. Native to this place.
We ran this yesterday:
Lex Anteinternet: Earth Day, 2024. Native to this place.: We have become a more juvenile culture. We have become a childish "me, me, me" culture with fifteen-second attention spans. The gl...
On the same day, various Federal office holders and their lieutenants were engaged in Earth Day related activities. For example:
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Biden-Harris Administration Invests in Clean Energy and Domestic Biofuels to Strengthen American Farms and Small Businesses as Part of Investing in America Agenda
Projects Funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Will Lower Energy Costs and Expand Access to Cleaner Fueling Options
ERIE, Pa., April 23, 2024 – Today, in honor of Earth Day 2024, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is funding more than 700 clean energy projects to lower energy bills, expand access to domestic biofuels and create jobs and new market opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers. Many of the projects are funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest-ever investment in combating the climate crisis.
The projects advance President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle out and bottom up. They will create jobs and spur economic growth in rural communities by increasing competition in agricultural markets, lowering costs and build more clean energy projects.
“The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are committed to expanding access to modern clean energy systems and fueling options that strengthen the nation’s energy independence while creating good-paying jobs and saving people money,” Deputy Secretary Torres Small said. “As we celebrate Earth Day this year, we are excited to partner with hundreds more family farms and small businesses to address the impacts of climate change, grow the economy and keep rural communities throughout the country strong and resilient.”
In all, USDA is providing $238 million in funding through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP).
Rural Clean Energy Production
Torres Small announced more than $194 million in loans and grants through REAP to support projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico.
The REAP program helps agricultural producers and rural small business owners expand their use of wind, solar, geothermal and small hydropower energy and make energy efficiency improvements. These innovations help them increase their income, grow their businesses, address climate change and lower energy costs for American families.
The REAP program is part of the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy and other investment areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
These investments will cut energy costs for family farms and other businesses, increasing their resiliency and allowing them to invest back into their communities by creating new jobs and other opportunities. For example:
· In Pennsylvania, Cellar ‘54 LLC will use a $49,000 grant to buy and install a 48-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system for its winery in the Lake Erie wine region in the borough of North East. This project is expected to save the business approximately $4,500 annually and will generate more than 32,000 kilowatt hours per year.
· In New Jersey, Oishii Mega Farm NJ LLC will use a $15 million loan to convert a vacant building in Phillipsburg into an energy efficient production facility to grow Omakase and Koyo strawberries. The facility will include a high-tech indoor vertical farming operation and facilities to harvest, package, ship and distribute produce. The project will create 45 new jobs and reduce operating costs by $150,000 annually by being able to grow strawberries in a more efficient and controlled environment.
· In Tennessee, Yarbro Farms will use a $536,000 grant to install a 301.92-kilowatt ground-mounted solar array on its row crop farm in the city of Martin. The project is expected to save the family farm more than $32,000 annually. It will also save 406,900 kilowatt hours of energy per year, enough to power 34 homes.
USDA is making the REAP awards in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Puerto Rico.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested more than $2 billion through REAP to support renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements that will help rural business owners lower energy costs, generate new income, and strengthen their resiliency of operations.
USDA continues to accept REAP applications and will hold funding competitions quarterly through Sept. 30, 2024. The funding includes a dedicated portion for underutilized renewable energy technologies. For additional information, contact a local energy coordinator.
Cleaner and More Affordable Fueling Options
USDA is also awarding more than $43 million in grants through HBIIP to business owners to increase the availability of domestic biofuels in 15 states and give Americans cleaner, more affordable fuel options.
HBIIP provides grants to fueling station and distribution facility owners, including marine, rail, and home heating oil facilities, to help expand access to domestic biofuels, a clean and affordable source of energy. These investments help business owners install and upgrade infrastructure such as fuel pumps, dispensers and storage tanks. For example:
· In Pennsylvania, Clyde S. Walton Inc. will use a grant of more than $810,000 to install a 30,000-gallon biodiesel storage tank and loading equipment at its home heating oil distribution facility in Lansdale. This project is expected to increase the amount of biodiesel sold by more than 5 million gallons per year.
· In Kansas, Blue River Valley LLC will use a $3 million grant to rebuild a pair of 2-million-gallon ethanol storage tanks and other equipment at a fuel distribution facility in Potwin. This project is expected to increase the amount of ethanol sold by more than 238 million gallons per year.
· In Minnesota, Twin Cities Auto Repair & Gas LTD will use a $402,000 grant to install four E15 dispensers and two ethanol storage tanks at a fueling station in Burnsville. This project is expected to increase the amount of ethanol sold by 996,000 gallons per year.
USDA is making the HBIIP awards in California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested approximately $135 million to increase access to biofuels at fueling stations. In June 2023, USDA made $450 million available in Inflation Reduction Act funding through the HBIIP to expand the use and availability of higher-blend biofuels.
USDA continues to accept applications for funding to expand access to domestic biofuels. These grants will support the infrastructure needed to reduce out-of-pocket costs for transportation fueling and distribution facilities to install and upgrade biofuel-related infrastructure such as pumps, dispensers and storage tanks. Applications are being accepted quarterly through Sept. 30, 2024.
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America. To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery Subscriber page.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
Senators Lummis and Barrasso, in contrast, were going after a SEC regulation requiring climate disclosure information of businesses by introducing a Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Passover, 2024.
Passover for this year starts with sundown, tonight, and runs to the evening of April 30.
Orthodox Easter for this year is yet to come.
Earth Day, 2024. Native to this place.
We have become a more juvenile culture. We have become a childish "me, me, me" culture with fifteen-second attention spans. The global village that television was supposed to bring is less a village than a playground...Little attempt is made to pass on our cultural inheritance, and our moral and religious traditions are neglected except in the shallow "family values" arguments.
Wes Jackson, Becoming Native to This Place
Today is Earth Day, 2024.
In "Red State", which now means more than it used to as the Reds in the Red States are supporting the Russian effort to conquer Ukraine, and hence are aligned with what the old Reds would have wanted, it's not going to mean all that much. I don't expect there to be much in the way of civil observances.
I saw a quote by somebody whose comments I wouldn't normally consider, that being Noam Chomsky, in which he asserted that a certain class of people who are perceived (not necessarily accurately) as something beyond evil, as they're putting all of humanity in jeopardy for a "few dollars" when they already have far more than they need. That is almost certainly unfair. Rather, like so much else in human nature, mobilizing people to act contrary to their habits is just very hard. And some people will resist any concept that those habits are harmful in any fashion.
Perhaps, therefore, a bitter argument is on what people love. People will sacrifice for that, and here such sacrifices as may be needed on various issues are likely temporary ones.
Of course, a lot of that gets back to education, and in this highly polarized time in which we live, which is in part because we're hearing that changes are coming, and we don't like them, and we've been joined by people here locally recently who have a concept of the local formed by too many hours in front of the television and too few in reality. We'll have to tackle that. That'll be tough, right now, but a lot of that just involves speaking the truth.
While it has that beating a horse aspect to it, another thing we can't help but noting, and have before, is that an incredible amount of resistance to things that would help overall society are opposed by those who are lashed to their employments in nearly irrevocable ways. In this fashion, the society that's actually the one most likely to be able to preserver on changed in some fashions are localist and distributist ones. Chomsky may think that what he is noting is somehow uniquely tied to certain large industries, but in reality the entire corporate capitalist one, which of course he is no fan of, as well as socialist ones, which he is, are driven by concepts of absolute scale and growth. That's a systematic culture that's very hard to overcome and on a local scale, when people are confronted with it, they'll rarely acknowledge that their opposition is based on something that's overall contrary to what they otherwise espouse. We see that locally right now, where there are many residents opposed to a local gravel pit, who otherwise no doubt make their livings from the extractive industries.
But I'd note that this hasn't always been the case here. It was much less so before the influx of outsiders who stayed after the most recent booms. And that too gives us some hope, as the people who are of here and from here, like people of and from anywhere they're actually from, will in fact act for the place.
Related threads:
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 65th Edition. Reprehensible and Admirable.
The actions by Wyoming's GOP in regard to its Republican Governor, that is. That's reprehensible.
Here's the story:
The corpse of the GOP is really beginning to smell.
Accountability? The Wyoming GOP, solidly in the grips of Dixiecrats, isn't looking at much of the world realistically, and as House Member Jerry Obermeuller pointed out in his op ed in the Trib, the claim that it admires Wyoming's "traditionalism" is a joke. It's assaulting that traditionalism, looking more to the traditionalism of the post Reconstruction South. It's frightening.
But then there was this:
Wonders Never Cease
As Fr. Franco points out, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is suddenly acting like a responsible real conservative, just as Governor Gordon has been all along. The Wyoming GOP, which had been badly behind the curve recently, might not be noticing this, but with even populists dumping Congress and some in real election trouble, we might barely, only barely, hope that the Trump Reign of Terror may be starting to wane.
Johnson has made much of his being a religious man, which he genuinely is. He apparently prayed before ultimately taking this action, and he suddenly seems to have a spine.
Wyoming's lone Congressman, attuned to her populist base, voted against the aid. This will please the populists, who are not conservatives. Secretary of State Gray, no doubt, would state he was against the aid package if asked, but nobody will bother to ask him. He's running for Governor right now, and the State best dearly hope that a traditionalist, such as the type Obermueller mentioned, runs.
But here's the thing. Politics are fickle. If Putin wins in Ukraine and in a year or two rolls in to Poland and the Balkans, the very people today who have a Sweet Home Alabama type of view of the world will be all for the fight, which they won't be in. And nobody will remind them either, as all of the Trumpist will claim they were never for him, when that day comes.
Sadly, it appears to have a strong chance of coming.
The prophet Ezekiel famously said: if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
Things have a way of going in directions we can't predict. Maybe there's hope yet.
Last prior edition:
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 64th Edition. Things authentic and important.
Friday, April 19, 2024
RUDE.
It has been noted by a press pool reporter that when the defense is introduced to the potential jurors seated in the audience, Defendant Trump does not rise to face them like his lawyers do.
What an idiot. Setting himself up to lose through rude conduct. Everyone rises when the jurors come in, and the defendant should always directly face them. They've surely instructed him to do so.
Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part 2. The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 Edition.
Oil field, Grass Creek, Wyo, April 9, 1916
April 16, 2024
The BLM's new oil and gas leasing rules has effectuated new oil and gas leasing rules for the first time since 1988.
The new rules adjust bond amounts for the first time since 1966, increase royalty rates for the first time in over a century (leasing has only been in place for a century). Bond rates will go from $10,000 to $150,000 and state-wide bonding requirement for operators with more than from $25,000 to $500,000.
Governor Gordon criticizes oil and gas rule that raises costs to producers
CHEYENNE, Wyo. –Governor Mark Gordon is criticizing an announcement from the Department of Interior last week that will increase the costs to oil and gas companies seeking to drill on federal lands. The Governor used the following statement:
“If there was any doubt, it could not be more clear now that the Department of Interior has lost its way. Within a day of announcing its renewable energy rule designed to promote the equivalent of a modern-day gold rush of development for renewables by reducing fees and rents on federal lands by 80%, Interior issued an oil and gas rule increasing costs to Wyoming’s industry by 1400%.
America surely needs more energy, including from renewable sources. What our country does not need are policies that greatly reduce the return to our nation’s taxpayers while simultaneously increasing the impacts and burdens on states and communities. We don’t need policies that increase the costs to consumers while also reducing reliability, or rules that sharpen the threat of industrializing our open spaces and crucial wildlife habitat without recognizing the importance of balance in our energy portfolio. These policies should seem misguided to most Americans of every stripe who love our country. Instead of experience and practicality, DOI has doubled down on bias, dogma, and politics. America is suffering as a result.
It is time we get back to common-sense energy policy. I will continue to fight against federal policies that are short-sighted and antagonistic to Wyoming’s industries, our workers, and our way of life. We need to build a realistic, all-of-the-above energy strategy that correctly plans a future of reliable and dispatchable power and properly accounts for – and balances – the costs and impacts of all energy sources.”
April 19, 2024
Tensions in the Middle East have jumped the price of oil back up.
Last prior edition:
Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part I. And then the day arrived (part two).2020s, 2023, 2024, Agriculture, Alcohol, Coal, Economics, Electrical Power, Petroleum, Sheep, Solar Energy, Subsidiarity, technology, trends, Wind Power, Wyoming's boom and bust economy
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