Hey Hey, Ho Ho, private homeownership has got to go, says anti-American Commie UCLA professor in The Nation

California’s Fires Prove the American Dream Is Flammable

If we want to keep cities safe in the face of climate change, we need to seriously question the ideal of private homeownership:

[W]e need to do more than upgrade the powerlines or stage a public takeover of the utility companies. We need to rethink the ideologies that govern how we plan and build our homes. ... The valorizing of homeownership and property rights results not only in increased exposure to climate-change-fueled fires, but also in our inadequate responses to them. ... This is the Jeffersonian agrarian ideal, transmuted through the urban, petrochemical century. Cheap energy—both the monetary price of subsidized gasoline and the hidden costs of fossil fuels—and the idealization of individual homeownership have created the scorching landscapes we face today. Cheap energy is untenable in the face of climate emergency. And individual homeownership should be seriously questioned. ... Even with the threats of climate change and rampant fire looming, the ideals of the American dream that have been instilled for more than 150 years will be difficult to dispel. ... We need another kind of escape route—away from our ideologies of ownership and property, and toward more collective, healthy, and just cities.

Headlines you won't be reading: "Greta Thunberg takes slow boat to China to protest coal-fired power plants"

There's strife in Iran

200,000 protesting fuel tax increases of 50% designed to pay for subsidies for 18 million poor. At least 143 killed. Perhaps 4,000 arrested.

731 banks, 140 government offices, 70 gas stations set ablaze.

50 internal security forces' bases attacked.

Reuters.

Maybe the rag-headed heathen bastards should stop funding nukes, rockets and terrorism instead.

One wing of the Democrat Party wants to end the fossil fuel industry, the other wants its sons to make millions off it

Nuclear power is only too slow because the same folks predicting climate apocalypse have been trying to stop it since the 1970s

And that's why it's too expensive, but I thought no price was too high to pay to secure the future for the children, you frauds.

Gasoline price gouging in the wake of the attack on the Saudis: As if the pump nozzle here is directly connected to the tank there

Gasoline consumers continue to pay bubble-levels, $2.571/gal on average under 2.5 years of Trump, as oil company profits soar

https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-oil-companies-finished-2018-strong-despite-plunge-in-oil-prices-11549031069

New summer "Time of Use" rate coming for millions of Michigan customers of Consumers Energy in 2020 between 2pm and 7pm Monday through Friday: Penalty electricity rate rises 13.7% over summer 2019 penalty rate

The smart meter installation roll-out everywhere in recent years now affords the utility the ability to measure usage of each customer for the designated five hour period. In future customers are promised that ability also, in order to monitor their own usage hour by hour, through an online dashboard for their accounts.

Presently penalty electric rates are imposed in the summers for all use above 600 kWh without regard to time of day. Once you hit the threshold, you pay at a higher rate for the electricity. In my case that usually happens by day 20 of the month. This new way eliminates the 600 kWh threshold. Use energy during the five hour window on day one and you pay the penalty rate, period.

Some will be able to game this because they aren't home during the day anyway. For the rest of us, however, it will be a different story, shifting energy use to the mornings before 2pm and the evenings after 7pm, or to weekends, and perhaps turning off the A/C and shifting activities to the basement to beat the heat. 

US crude oil production in 2019 is at record high levels never before experienced in the post-war

all time high of 12162 BBL/D/1K in April of 2019

U.S. Oil Production Hits 12 Million Barrels a Day for First Time

US on its way to becoming a net exporter of oil, dominating global oil market and securing the dollar as global reserve currency

Note to Chris Irons: This is not bullish for gold.

The US is about to send a lot more oil into an already oversupplied world market: 

“It will be 4 million barrels a day by six or eight months. Four million barrels a day is a lot bigger than the North Sea as a whole. That crude oil is going to go everywhere. It goes to Asia, Europe, to India,” said Edward Morse, Citigroup global head of commodities research. “If the U.S. gets to 6 million barrels a day in three years, it will be hands-down the world benchmark.” ... 

“Add on the amount of petroleum products that are exported and add on the amount of natural gas that is exported. The U.S. becomes the biggest hub for energy trading in the world,” said Morse. “It has dramatic implications for the U.S. dollar.”Morse notes there are those who doubt the dollar’s future as the global reserve currency. But in a scenario where the U.S. grows into an energy powerhouse, “the dollar becomes more entrenched.”The U.S. had been the world’s dominant oil producer, prior to World War II. “This will be back to the future for the Gulf Coast,” said Daniel Yergin, IHS Markit Vice Chairman. Yergin said the U.S. would not have had the opportunity to increase production as much, were the law not changed in 2015 to allow for U.S. oil exports.

Venezuela north: 230,000 still without power in Michigan as of Monday morning and many will be until Thursday

More than 230,000 in Michigan still without power after weekend storms:

The massive outages seem to mostly be affecting DTE customers in the east side of the state as Consumers Energy is reporting only about 35,000 customers currently without power.

Latest estimates put more than 800,000 without electric power in immediate aftermath of Michigan storms

After more than 800,000 lose power across Michigan, some won’t be restored until mid-week:

At one point in the immediate aftermath of Friday night and Saturday’s storms, nearly 600,000 DTE customers lost power [in Southeast Michigan]. Consumers Energy had about 67,000 homes and businesses still without power [Sunday night], compared to the 220,000 of its customers affected overall [in West Michigan]. ... DTE officials called the multiple storms one of the worst events its crews have ever dealt with. ... Since Friday, DTE says it has receive [sic] reports of more than 2,000 downed wires.

Temperatures in Grand Rapids, MI collapsed from 85 to 71 after 1:53am Saturday July 20th as storms knocked out power to thousands in West Michigan

The Sams Club in Kentwood lost power in the early morning storm, closing down the store and gas station for the day Saturday, which is quite unusual.

Workers there were observed after 1:00pm at the rear of the building tossing no longer refrigerated and frozen foods.

Consumers Energy crews were observed near the intersection with the store attempting to restore power in the sweltering heat.

The heat index not much later soared to 108 by 2:53pm.

A second round of storms after 4:00pm Saturday crashed actual air temperatures from 89 to 74, complicating the on-going power restoration efforts.

More than 500,000 without power in Michigan a day after ‘worst storm’ of the year:

While there are outages across the state, the Southeast Side of Michigan has the highest concentration. DTE Energy this morning said 375,000 of its customers remain without electricity after what it called the “worst storm” its line workers have dealt with this year.

" ... The weather event downed 1,100 power lines, making this the worst storm our region has experienced this year and one of the largest since the March 2017 wind storm," the utility said. ...

In West Michigan and the central part of the state, Consumers Energy was reporting about 122,000 customers without power today. Great Lakes Energy added to the tally with nearly 5,000 outages, mostly in Lake, Oceana and Osceola counties. ...

While there were strong wind gusts across the Lower Peninsula on Saturday, the most damaging happened in the areas of Kent and Ottawa counties [in West Michigan], the National Weather Service said. The damaging winds that took the house apart in the Jenison area were described as a “microburst.”

Phone and internet have been down in Grand Rapids, MI for many people since 2:00 AM Saturday

Because of severe thunderstorms. NOAA gave us about 30 minutes warning in an email, while we were asleep. The weather radio never went off.

Just now got back up, despite having power and A/C the whole time.

Civilization as we know it hangs by a thread, but we simply undertook useful tasks and our customary simple entertainments instead.

Police kill rifle-toting antifa attacking Tacoma, WA, ICE facility, who left behind manifesto, but you wouldn't know it from the headline

Armed man attacking Tacoma’s ICE detention center killed in officer-involved shooting :

Police said Van Spronsen tossed lit objects at vehicles and buildings, causing one car fire, and unsuccessfully tried to ignite a propane tank. ... Deb Bartley, a friend of Van Spronsen’s for about 20 years, described him as an anarchist and anti-fascist, and she believes his attack on the detention center was intended to provoke a fatal conflict. “He was ready to end it,” Bartley said. “I think this was a suicide. But then he was able to kind of do it in a way that spoke to his political beliefs … I know he went down there knowing he was going to die.” She and other friends of Van Spronsen got letters in the mail “just saying goodbye.” He also wrote what she referred to as a manifesto, which she declined to discuss in detail but predicted would be taken by authorities.

The Seattle Times really shtruggled with the headline:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/tacoma-police-armed-man-throwing-incendiary-devices-shot-outside-ice-detention-center/

Power outage Manhattan: 42 is the answer to everything

BIG ZAPPLE New York power outage grinds Manhattan to a halt stopping subways and Broadway shows EXACTLY 42 years after 1977 blackout:

It comes exactly 42 years to the day - and very nearly to the hour - since a famous blackout plunged New York into darkness on July 13, 1977.

Meanwhile in France the yellow vests appear to be running out of gas

The yellow vests achieved some of their modest objectives already before Christmas and should have packed it in then instead of continuing all the destructive protests into 2019.

Macron was chastened, and he made concessions.

And then the Notre Dame Cathedral fire helped unify what the yellow vests were still trying to divide. Game over, but they were clueless.

Protests continue for a 31st week, but the numbers are way down. Time to hang it up.

John Solomon: Joe Biden in March 2016 pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor investigating company paying Hunter Biden, bragged about it to CFR audience in 2018

Joe Biden's 2020 Ukrainian nightmare: A closed probe is revived:

But Ukrainian officials tell me there was one crucial piece of information that Biden must have known but didn’t mention to his audience: The prosecutor he got fired was leading a wide-ranging corruption probe into the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings that employed Biden’s younger son, Hunter, as a board member.

U.S. banking records show Hunter Biden’s American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, received regular transfers into one of its accounts — usually more than $166,000 a month — from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main U.S. official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russia.

The general prosecutor’s official file for the Burisma probe — shared with me by senior Ukrainian officials — shows prosecutors identified Hunter Biden, business partner Devon Archer and their firm, Rosemont Seneca, as potential recipients of money.

Shokin told me in written answers to questions that, before he was fired as general prosecutor, he had made “specific plans” for the investigation that “included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.” ...

The timing of Hunter Biden’s and Archer’s appointment to Burisma’s board has been highlighted in the past, by The New York Times in December 2015 and in a 2016 book by conservative author Peter Schweizer. ...

According to Schweizer’s book, Vice President Biden met with Archer in April 2014 right as Archer was named to the board at Burisma. A month later, Hunter Biden was named to the board, to oversee Burisma’s legal team.

But the Ukrainian investigation and Joe Biden’s effort to fire the prosecutor overseeing it has escaped without much public debate. ...

Between April 2014 and October 2015, more than $3 million was paid out of Burisma accounts to an account linked to Biden’s and Archer’s Rosemont Seneca firm, according to the financial records placed in a federal court file in Manhattan in an unrelated case against Archer.

Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden

Tuesday, January 23, 2018:

I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine. And I remember going over, convincing our team, our leaders to—convincing that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12^th, 13^th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn’t. So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I’m not going to—or, we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.

 

Democrat Governor of MI Gretchen Whitmer lied to the voters in October 2016 when she denied she'd raise gasoline taxes by 20 cents a gallon

Yeah, she REALLY meant 45 cents, but couldn't win on that!

This weasel, similar to Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, now says Gas tax hike 'not always my plan':

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Tuesday for nearly tripling Michigan's per-gallon gas tax — and making the state home to the country's highest fuel taxes — in order to improve aging roads that she warned would only get worse without a major influx of new spending.

Whitmer's plan would increase the current 26-cents-per-gallon tax by 45 cents — going against what she said in a WOOD TV8 gubernatorial debate in October. When then-Republican nominee Bill Schuette said Whtimer wanted to increase the gas tax by 20 cents, she said that was "ridiculous" and "nonsense."

Insane new Democrat governor of Michigan wants to raise regressive gasoline tax to highest in the nation

Gov. Whitmer proposes raising gas tax by 45 cents to fund Michigan’s crumbling roads:

According to The Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on tax policy, Michigan has the sixth highest gasoline tax nationally at 44.13 cents per gallon. The governor’s proposed 45-cent increase would push Michigan into the top spot, overtaking Pennsylvania’s current high of 58.7 cents per gallon.