December 2022 Archives

Bedtime approaches - I used to party.  Then I used to stay up and watch the clock tick over.

Now? Zzzzzzzzz...  Another day, another 32¢   Time to go to sleep.

It's just one of the narratives they are using to try to get us to confirm.   After all, they know so much better than we do how to run things - we should just lay back and let them do everything for us.  Life will be so much easier then.  Better for us too. Trust them.

California is showing 146K customers without power scattered over several counties.

Nevada is at 48K

Do not see anything on the news outlets...

From The Needling:

Portland Startup to Mine Artisanal Bitcoin Using Only Slide Rules and Graph Paper
A pair of Portland entrepreneurs say they’re bringing authenticity back to Bitcoin mining by eschewing purpose-built AntMiner S19 Pros in favor of hand-crafted hash made using only graph paper and slide rules.

“We feel that crypto has abandoned the early days of organic blockchain crafting when bored math geeks would mine 10 Bitcoins in an afternoon and then blow it all on IPAs and pizza later that night,” said 26-year-old Hash & Moon co-founder Cody Silas. “Today’s Bitcoin investor is savvy and looking for a hand-crafted crypto currency to launder money or pay to have someone eliminated. We are the only hyper-locally sourced, sustainable option for that.”

His co-founder Oliver Heath said their approach cuts down the giant carbon footprint of Bitcoin servers with more sustainable ways to play into fashionably legal crypto-Ponzi schemes.

More at the site.  An idea whose time has come.

Only 24 years between a bonkers crackpot theory to stone cold fact.
Makes you wonder what he is saying now

They could have said no to the deep state. Simple as that.

Unreal - from Ian Miles Chong:

Mentally ill, riding a bicycle and living in SF - talk about winning the trifecta.
To quote that great sage and philosopher B. Bunny: "What a Maroon"

Can you say tyrant?  I know you could.  From Eastern WA's Tri-City Herald:

WA state’s COVID emergency lasted 975 days. Lawmakers must fix flaw in the law
Heading into 2023, the frustration over Gov. Jay Inslee’s extended emergency powers has, for the most part, faded.

Ever since he ended the last of his COVID-19 mandates Oct. 31, most people have moved on and life has felt much like it did pre-pandemic.

But that doesn’t mean Washington state lawmakers shouldn’t tighten the language that gave the governor sole authority over people’s lives for 975 days — which was how long it took before Inslee officially lifted the emergency.

By state law the governor has the ability to take charge in times of a crisis, which is necessary during natural disasters, catastrophic power outages and other types of calamities.

It’s a wise process to have in place.

The problem is that in Washington — unlike other states across the country — there is no way to check the governor’s power after a state of emergency is declared.

He enjoyed wielding the power a little too much.  Surrounded himself with yes-men and sycophants.
He did not govern, he ruled.  Big difference.

From America's Newspaper of Record:

New Greta Thunberg Thermostat Scowls At You When You Turn The Heat Up
Google, the makers of the Nest™ thermostat that totally does not track your every movement and thought, has partnered with climate activist Greta Thunberg to make a thermostat that scowls at you when you attempt to turn the heat up.

Much more at the site - be sure to buy some for your friends...

Slow news day.  Working at the farm now.

Surf some more this evening - maybe something will catch my eye then...

Stopped subscribing to it about 20 years ago (same for Scientific American). Both magazines are worthless to me now.  Latest example from the current issue:

The article has this little gem:

The highlighted line proves my point - liberalism is a mental disorder.

Don't believe me?  Read this - from 1996 DSM-IV 301.95 Progressive Personality Disorder

Pretty close to home isn't it?

Was working in the conex boxes today.  I have some environmental monitors in each one and I checked the temperature record.   It started getting really cold on December 18th.  Internal temp went down below 20°F

The lowest recorded temp was on December 21st at 8:58AM - 5.27°F

Unusually cold - it will frequently get down to 15° for a day or two.  (Fraser River outflow - more here)
This season was colder than usual.
Not coldest ever — there is a long history of low temps — but still, unusual...

Weather has settled into the normal Pacific Northwest winter, nothing major is happening out in the "real world"

Getting a bite to eat and then heading out to the farm...

I'll have to do this when I sell the farm and the store.  Still do the correct "earth ground" but add this for a good laugh:

Actual Honest to God Science - not cherry picked data, not "finely-tuned" computer model projections.
Go outside and actually measure what you are talking about.

I will add that tools and the practical skills to use them are right up there on the list. A short list...

Bioweapon indeed - it is what they were doing in the Wuhan lab

Fact or fiction?  There is an obituary from 2017 but for someone of such education, he left very few footprints.
He did have some interesting patents - click on the titles to go to the Google Patent library:

• Remote magnetic manipulation of nervous systems
• Pulsative manipulation of nervous systems
• Method and apparatus for manipulating nervous systems
• Electromagnetic personnel interdiction control method and system
• Method and apparatus for associative memory
• Pulse variability in electric field manipulation of nervous systems
• Thermal excitation of sensory resonances
• Electric fringe field generator for manipulating nervous systems
• Magnetic excitation of sensory resonances
• Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors
• Manipulation of nervous systems by electric fields

Quite the collection of intellectual property...

These days, being a consipiricy theorist means that you are actually on to something...

From the Chief Twit:

Great news from The Washington Times:

Supreme Court revives Title 42 border policy, orders full arguments
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Biden administration to keep the Title 42 pandemic border expulsion policy up and running while the justices prepare to hear the legal challenge to the policy.

The oral argument was scheduled for February, but the move likely means Title 42 will remain in place through the early spring at least.

That gives the Biden administration another tool to use as it faces the chaos at the border, where unfathomable numbers of illegal immigrants have surged into the U.S., enticed by the Biden team’s relatively relaxed approach.

Title 42 was supposed to expire last week under a lower court ruling, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. put that on hold while he and his colleagues decided what to do about GOP-led states’ challenge to the district judge’s decision.

Good to hear - there are already policies in place for people seeking refugee status.

Slow news day today - my coffee is calling me...

Back later today - working at the farm if the ice has melted.  See how it is...

Started our Nation on its decline:
His own mental deterioration is the reason the 25th Amendment was enacted.

From David Zweig:

Threadreader has the whole thing unwound:

THE TWITTER FILES: HOW TWITTER RIGGED THE COVID DEBATE
– By censoring info that was true but inconvenient to U.S. govt. policy
– By discrediting doctors and other experts who disagreed
– By suppressing ordinary users, including some sharing the CDC’s *own data*

So far the Twitter Files have focused on evidence of Twitter’s secret blacklists; how the company functioned as a kind of subsidiary of the FBI; and how execs rewrote the platform’s rules to accommodate their own political desires.

What we have yet to cover is Covid. This reporting, for The Free Press, @TheFP, is one piece of that important story.

The United States government pressured Twitter and other social media platforms to elevate certain content and suppress other content about Covid-19.

Internal files at Twitter that I viewed while on assignment for @TheFP showed that both the Trump and Biden administrations directly pressed Twitter executives to moderate the platform’s pandemic content according to their wishes.

David writes at The Free Press - a new and independent voice in the media.

And, as they say, much much more:

From Cliff Mass comes this little bit of cheer:

Ice Storm, Heavy Rain, Cold Wave, Warm Wave, and Now A Powerful Storm Approaches
First, we had unusual cold, then a freezing-rain ice storm, then heavy rain, and then unusual warmth.

But the weather gods are not through with us
A powerful storm may develop off our coast on Tuesday.

In such circumstances during ancient days, folks would ask themselves why the gods were angry and ask their priests to intercede with an appropriate prayer or sacrifice. Today, our modern weather priests often blame such storminess on sins of carbon emission and predict doom without the proper response.

Human nature hasn't changed. But in this blog, let's stick to the science.

Developing offshore Tuesday morning. Very low pressure so strong winds.

Here we go again - wheeeeeee!!!

More information tomorrow as the system develops.

Breaking:

More at the Twitter site including documents

Working today.  Local coffee place is closed but one nearby is still open (checked) so heading out there.

Creature of habit? Meee?

Matt Taibbi again - this time, he has the whole thing unrolled on his substack account:

Twitter Files Thread: The Spies Who Loved Twitter
After weeks of “Twitter Files” reports, the FBI issued a statement Wednesday.

It didn’t refute allegations. Instead, it decried “conspiracy theorists” publishing “misinformation,” whose “sole aim” is to “discredit the agency.”

The men and woman of the FBI work every day to protect the American public... It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.

They must think us unambitious, if our “sole aim” is to discredit the FBI. After all, a whole range of government agencies discredit themselves in the #TwitterFiles. Why stop with one?

The files show the FBI acting as doorman to a vast program of social media surveillance and censorship, encompassing agencies across the federal government – from the State Department to the Pentagon to the CIA.

The operation is far bigger than the reported 80 members of the Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), which also facilitates requests from a wide array of smaller actors - from local cops to media to state government.

Much much more at the site - these releases keep getting more and more intense.  Deeper and deeper into the machinations of the deep state and those trying to take over our Nation.

Be sure to check out the 240+ comments - lots of additional information and commentary.

Looking forward to this:

And the fun continues...

From gCaptain/Reuters:

Japan Firms To Stop Insuring Ships In All Russian Waters
Three Japanese insurance companies will stop insuring ships for damage in all Russian waters due to the war in Ukraine, potentially affecting Japan’s energy imports such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.

Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co started notifying shipowners about their decision on Friday, the business daily reported.

And not just in the Black Sea (Ukraine) or the Baltic Sea (Russia's Western port cities):

Japan’s LNG imports from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project could be affected, the Nikkei said. The Sakhalin Island complex, partly owned by Gazprom GAZP.MM and Japanese companies, is vital to Japan’s energy security as it accounts for 9% of the country’s LNG imports.

Sakhalin Island has huge oil and gas reserves and is a source of hard currency for Russia. Japan has little or no oil or gas reserves and has to import most of its energy.  Some coal and they are reopening a lot of their nuke plants.

Well crap - looking forward to the appeal process:

This would be so wonderful:
From 90 Miles

We all know Dr. Fauci but who is Mullis? From InfoGalactic

Kary Banks Mullis (December 28, 1944 – August 7, 2019) was an American biochemist. In recognition of his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, he shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith and was awarded the Japan Prize in the same year. His invention became a central technique in biochemistry and molecular biology, described by The New York Times as "highly original and significant, virtually dividing biology into the two epochs of before PCR and after PCR.

So, Dr. Mullis is a Nobel Prize winning scientist and Fauci is a government administrator
A very telling video:

His autobiography Dancing Naked in the Mind Field is well worth reading.
He was one of those geniuses that come along every 10-20 years.  A treasure.

Sad but so so true...

Five minutes of righteous fury:

Don Surber has a wonderful post about cause célèbre Brittney Griner:

The lead was in Paragraph 73
Congratulations to Disney's ESPN for setting an American record in journalism by burying its lead in a news story. Assigned to cover Brittney Griner's homecoming in Waco, Texas, home of Baylor University, ESPN reporters Elizabeth Merrill and M.A. Voepel unleashed 72 paragraphs of background before getting to the actual story they were assigned.

Paragraph 73 said, "Brittney Griner's Homecoming was celebrated Monday night in front of 20 people at University Baptist Church in Waco. Baylor is on winter break, and a few of the people who were supposed to attend were sick. The church livestreamed the event."

20 people.
That's it.

In a town of 139,594 people where Griner was a big star for Baylor. She gave the school a national championship.

Only 20 people showed up.

Brings to mind the President Trump rallies selling out stadiums and the Biden rallies with maybe 60-100 people in attendance.

Griner is a legend among the chattering class but there are very few of them and a lot more of us.

Three headlines - click for story:

• “Conspiracy Theorists…Attempting to Discredit the Agency”: The FBI Attacks Critics Objecting to its Role in Twitter’s Censorship System
• Today’s blacklisted American: The FBI’s purge of conservatives forces one agent to sue
• FBI Admits It Meddles In ‘Numerous Companies,’ Not Just Twitter

The corruption was always there.  It was President Trump who opened our eyes to it.

Yikes - looks like the storm is hitting the East Coast hard.
From Power Outage:

From the Tampa Bay Times:

Florida Supreme Court OKs DeSantis request for grand jury on COVID vaccine issues
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday approved a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate alleged wrongdoing related to COVID-19 vaccines.

The Supreme Court issued an order that impaneled a grand jury for a year and appointed Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta to preside over it. Grand jury members will be drawn from five judicial circuits.

The approval came after DeSantis on Dec. 13 submitted a request that alleged “there are good and sufficient reasons to deem it to be in the public interest to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate criminal or wrongful activity in Florida relating to the development, promotion, and distribution of vaccines purported to prevent COVID-19 infection, symptoms, and transmission.”

Good - the vax was rushed to market.  When reports of negative side-effects started coming in, the medical establishment doubled-down and kept pushing the narrative.  Pushing the vaccination.  We know now that this was a power-grab, that the virus was manufactured in the Wuhan lab and that the disease was only a little worse than the generic seasonal flu.  We wrecked our economy for this.

Time for some accountability - Fauci first.

Cold morning - heading out for coffee and then to the farm to work.

Nothing much happening  "out there" 

Looks like she doesn't want to stand the heat - from Conservative Brief

Katie Hobbs Files Motion to Prevent Her From Testifying in Kari Lake Lawsuit
Lawyers for Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs filed emergency petitions with a state court this week that sought to prevent her from having to testify in an election lawsuit brought by GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

Reports noted that, on Monday, Hobbs’ attorneys filed a petition to block a subpoena forcing the declared governor-elect to testify in Lake’s lawsuit, which went to trial on Wednesday. Lake argued that, as secretary of state, one of Hobbs’ primary functions is to oversee elections.

Don't want to be put under oath and to take the stand?
What is she trying to hide.

What gets me is not that the Democrats are cheating - that is to be expected.  What gets me is that they are so bad at it.  You think they could hire some more intelligent and capable people.

Looks like some glaring issues with the recent election last November.

Kari Lake's team obtained a sample quantity of ballots and 42.5% of the ballots were printed on 20" wide paper and not on their standard 19" paper.  Feed them into a tabulating machine and instant jam or disqualification. Also, there was no legal "Chain of Custody" meaning that between their reception at the post office and their destination at the tabulating center, anyone could have added or removed any number of ballots.

Going to be an interesting trial.
I think that the election was stolen and that Kari Lake will be an excellent Governor of Arizona.

Working at the farm today and then needed to do a quick run into town.

Back for the night - see if anything happened "out there" during my absence.

Also, wishing everyone a blessed solstice.  Today is the shortest day of the year.  More the "New Year" to me than 01 January. When I was living at the farm, I used to light a bonfire.  Last couple of years have been candles and this year as well.  Next year will be a bonfire with Lisa on our mountaintop in North Carolina .

Currently at around 25% yes and 75% no.
Pure pork. From North Carolina - Rep. Dan Bishop:

Facial recognition in a public venue - a possible happy ending too...
From the New York City NBC affiliate:

Face Recognition Tech Gets Girl Scout Mom Booted From Rockettes Show — Due to Where She Works
A recent incident at Radio City Music Hall involving the mother of a Girl Scout is shedding light on the growing controversy of facial recognition, as critics claim it is being used to target perceived enemies — in this case, by one of the most famous companies in the country.

Kelly Conlon and her daughter came to New York City the weekend after Thanksgiving as part of a Girl Scout field trip to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular show. But while her daughter, other members of the Girl Scout troop and their mothers got to go enjoy the show, Conlon wasn't allowed to do so.

That's because to Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Conlon isn't just any mom. They had identified and zeroed in on her, as security guards approached her right as he got into the lobby.

And the reason for her ban?

A sign says facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and employees. Conlon says she posed no threat, but the guards still kicked her out with the explanation that they knew she was an attorney.

"They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them. And they told me I was not allowed to be there," said Conlon.

Conlon is an associate with the New Jersey based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, which for years has been involved in personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue now under the umbrella of MSG Entertainment.

"I don’t practice in New York. I’m not an attorney that works on any cases against MSG," said Conlon.

But MSG said she was banned nonetheless — along with fellow attorneys in that firm and others.

This makes my spidey senses go off the charts - they were not only scanning for criminals, they had a list of people they wanted to catch and their software was able to recognize Ms. Conlon and link her with the law firm who employs her.  This is overreach.  Extreme overreach. Intrusion into privacy.

There is a potential happy ending though:

"This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network," said Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works.

Sam Davis is one of the senior partners at Davis, Saperstein and Solomon and:

Davis is now upping the legal ante, challenging MSG’s license with the State Liquor Authority.

"The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat," said Davis. "Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over — and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information — is absolutely absurd. The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this."

Madison Square Garden is not just a theater - they have several restaurants and liquor sales is crucial to a restaurant's bottom line.  Profit margins on booze are very high; food?  not so much.  For them to lose their liquor license would be a serious economic blow.

From Lee Fang:

Threadreader unwinding here: How Twitter Quietly Aided the Pentagon’s Covert Online PsyOp Campaign

Some people are scared shitless - good...

I have had each of these in my pocket at one time or another.
From Knuckledraggin'

From The United States, Department of Justice:

Cardiac Monitoring Companies to Pay More than $44.8 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Liability Relating to Services Performed by Offshore Technicians
BioTelemetry Inc. and its subsidiary CardioNet LLC, both headquartered in Pennsylvania (collectively “BioTelemetry”), have agreed to pay $44,875,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to Medicare, TRICARE, the Veterans Health Administration, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for heart monitoring tests that were performed, in part, outside the United States, and in many cases by technicians who were not qualified to perform such tests.

The United States alleged that CardioNet improperly billed Medicare and other federal health care programs for certain cardiac monitoring services — including Holter, event monitoring, and mobile cardiovascular telemetry (MCT) tests — that were performed overseas in violation of federal law that prohibits payment for services furnished outside the United States. More specifically, the government alleged that, in 2013, CardioNet contracted with a company located in India for the provision of diagnostic and analysis services of heart monitoring data. Although BioTelemetry set up a workflow that was designed to route electrocardiogram data, including data relating to cardiac events (ECG Data) for federal healthcare beneficiaries, to a domestic independent diagnostic testing facility for review and analysis, the government alleged that BioTelemetry — with the knowledge of then senior management — diverted certain federal beneficiaries’ ECG Data to India when the domestic workflow became backlogged. BioTelemetry also allegedly sent ECG data for other federal beneficiaries directly to India for review. In 2014, over 29% of the ECG Data reviewed in connection with MCT tests, and over 78% of the ECG Data reviewed in connection with event monitoring tests, for Medicare patients were allegedly reviewed by technicians located in India. In 2015, those numbers allegedly rose to over 47% and over 88%, respectively. Although BioTelemetry began implementing technological controls in late 2015 to prevent personnel in India from accessing the domestic workflow, those controls were insufficient, and technicians in India allegedly continued to review and analyze some ECG Data for federal healthcare program beneficiaries thereafter.

Nothing like outsourcing the work to the lowest bidder.  Quality is job number 1... Yeah...  RIght...

The Snowpocalypse hit hard last night. Woke up to a good 10" and it is still coming down.

Very glad I went in to town to the coop and Costco and places - stocked up for a while.

From Weather.com:

Winter Storm Warning — From Mon 10 pm until Tue 4 pm PST
WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 12 inches.
WHERE...Cascade mountains and valleys of Whatcom and Skagit Counties, including Maple Falls, the Mount Baker Ski Area, Newhalem, Lyman, and Concrete.
WHEN...From 10 PM this evening to 4 PM PST Tuesday.
IMPACTS...Plan on very difficult travel.

Fun fun fun...

Heading in there - major snowfall due tomorrow so want to get some fresh veggies and pick up a few things.

Back in a few hours...

From Knuckledraggin'

Not that far off.  Given the recent track record, this cartoon really resonated with me:

Hunter Biden's Laptop
From Dr. Michael Shellenberger:

Here is the Threadreader unwinding:

Spectacular stuff...

This afternoon heading back from the farm:

And yes, it is as bitter cold as it looks...

A wise man.  From his Twitter account:

And here it is distilled through Threadreader:

At the G-20 Bali summit, Klaus Schwab instructed heads of government – almost all coming from the Young Global Leaders for Tomorrow program of the World Economic Forum – about the future steps to be taken in view of establishing a world government.

The president of a very powerful private organization with enormous economic means exercises undue power over world governments, obtaining their obedience from political leaders who have no popular mandate to subject their nations to the delusions of power of the elite:

This fact is of unprecedented gravity. Klaus Schwab said: “In the fourth industrial revolution the winners will take it all, so if you are a World Economic Forum first mover, you are the winners”.

More at the site - as Archbishop Viganò says:  "This goes far beyond the pandemic: it is a global coup d’état" and we must rise up against it.

The two words that any guy does NOT want to hear:  "I'm fine"

Looks like there is an epidemic of "died suddenly" going around.
From The Gateway Pundit:

Canada’s Health Director of Parliamentary Affairs Who Lead Canada’s Response Team to Covid-19 and Vaccine Rollout Dies at 35
The Director of Parliamentary Affairs at Health Canada, who oversaw the country’s response to Covid-19 and the rollout of the vaccine, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35.

Adam Exton, a long-time Liberal Party organizer, died suddenly on Friday, December 9th, according to his family.

A bit more:

His obituary stated, “During the challenging times of the pandemic, Adam was part of the leadership team that led Canada’s health response to COVID-19. He was a talented and respected campaign manager that was instrumental in helping to bring cabinet ministers and members to Queens Park and Ottawa. Adam always did and will continue to make his family extremely proud of who he was and his service to his community and country.”

800+ comments - you can guess the overall theme...

People will have to go through such a cognitive dissonance to admit that the vax is bad for them - no wonder that most of the general population still believes the narrative. Fools - they get what they deserve.

I am reminded of this wonderful Frank Zappa song: I'm The Slime  (released in 1973 - talk about being prescient)

Nothing much happening out there - heading for coffee and then to the farm.

Meeting someone who is interested in buying my travel trailer - one less thing to deal with...

Definitely watching this:

Minimal posting today - working at the farm today

Got some snow coming down and want to get a bunch of stuff done before it starts to accumulate.

More spew later this evening...

Matt Taibbi this time - talking about the FBI and it's involvement:
ThreadReader has the story de-tweeted and linked for your reading pleasure.

From The Daily Wire:

National Archives To Release Hundreds Of Emails On Hunter Biden Unless White House Intervenes
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) intends to release hundreds of emails referencing Hunter Biden and his foreign business deals unless stopped by the White House.

NARA executive Susan Donius sent a letter to the White House late last month warning that the records agency is preparing to release emails in response to an open records request unless the White House intervenes. The emails are from 2014 when President Joe Biden served as vice president to former President Barack Obama.

The letter is pretty specific - hoping that The White House ignores this and we get to peek behind the curtain a bit more.  Their reaction either way will be interesting...

Couple of things to take care of here and then to the farm for another bunch of packing.  Got a front moving through in a couple of days so need to get a bunch done before then.

When I was on my long trip yesterday, I stopped off at the US Naval Undersea Museum.  A bit of a disappointment.  From a casual visitor's perspective, it was really well presented - lots of displays and large panels with video for people of all ages and interests.  It is perfect for a casual family outing or for a group of school children.

I can see the reason for this but I was disappointed.  The last times I had been there, it was not as polished and there were a lot of other items on display. It was a presentation of cool things by geeks for geeks. A lot more interesting.  I spent some time talking with the volunteers there and they agreed with me and told me that there were a lot more items in the warehouse.  Like a LOT more items. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism for getting interested members of the general public in to see this part of the museum.  I would pay good money for that but alas, that area is off-limits to use.

I can only envision a scene like this:

This morning:

Heading out for coffee and then to work at the farm.

Got some precip moving in soon so need to get some outside work taken care of while it is still nice out.

Back later this evening...

Long long day - about ten hours behind the wheel.  I'll post more tomorrow.

Quick surf tonight and then get some sleep...

Heading over to the Olympic Penninsula tomorrow to get some things for the store.  Since I am over there anyway, I am going to visit the US Naval Undersea Museum.  Been there a couple times since it opened and want to get one more visit before I head East. Pictures will be taken.

Minimal posting tomorrow...

Nothing much there now but they have the full text of her lawsuit (70 pages):  Save Arizona Fund

Skimming it, it is very well presented and they have the facts to back up their claims.  The election was not clean - there are enough questions to really warrant invalidating the whole thing and to do it over. In person. Paper ballots. One day.  ID Required.  See what the results are then.

Democrats - they have nothing to offer We The People so they have to cheat.
It is as simple as that...

Sam Brinton is not in a happy place right now - here he is before:

And here is his booking mugshot courtesy of the Las Vegas Police:

Looks like his "love" life is going to be taking an interesting turn.
He did bring this on himself - no one else to blame...

These photos and more at The Gateway Pundit - 700+ comments

Got stuff to do today and tomorrow - minimal posting.

As celebrated in Rhode Island.  With the old ones.  H.P. Lovecraft.  Fishmen.

Poor guy is not having a good day - from the London Daily Mail:

'Depressed' Sam Bankman-Fried hugs his parents as he is DENIED bail and sent to overcrowded hellhole Bahamas jail as prosecutors say he hid $300m in Brazilian firm before collapse of FTX exchange

• • Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas last night on fraud charges
  • A judge denied him bail on Tuesday despite his pleas to be put on house arrest
  • He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections' notorious Fox Hill Prison until his next court appearance on February 8
  • SBF faces 155 years in prison if convicted of fraud and money laundering
  • Prosecutors say he used FTX as a 'personal piggy bank' to fund his lavish lifestyle
  • He also made enormous donations to the Democratic party and President Biden

The media are promoting this story - I wonder what other stories are playing out in the background.
They are using this train-wreck to distract us...

Sad to hear about his upcoming suicide:

They played fast and loose with government bailouts during the 2007 meltdown, they pay zero federal taxes (creative accounting) and have been selling off various divisions - their Medical Imaging division is now owned by the Chinese.
Now, their appliance division is too.  From American Mind:

Smart appliances are a threat to American national security
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently sounded the alarm on China, warning that the Communist nation poses a significant threat to U.S. national security. She’s right. And of all the security threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the country’s unrelenting harvesting of data is perhaps the biggest. Which brings us to Haier, a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company that is heavily invested in the U.S. market. 

Headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, Haier Group Corporation entered the U.S. market in 1999. Initially focused on manufacturing and distributing two rather niche products—compact refrigerators and electric wine cellars—as profits grew, so did Haier’s vision for the future. In June 2016, Haier made headlines when it purchased GE Appliances, an American home appliance manufacturer based in Louisville, Kentucky, for $5.4 billion. That was the point when Haier went from being a Chinese company operating in the U.S. to a dangerous Chinese company operating in the U.S.  

According to Aynne Kokas in her brilliant new book, Trafficking Data, Haier’s acquisition of GE Appliances, which now makes it “the world’s largest consumer appliance company,” “specifically targeted growth through the IoT.” For the uninitiated, IoT refers to the Internet of Things, a network of physical objects or “things” that communicate with each other via embedded sensors and software. IoT is fast becoming the central nervous system of our tech-fueled world. This year alone, IoT devices have generated global revenues of $19.5 billion, representing a 13 percent increase from 2021. In the race to connect every device to every other device, China is leading the way. 

IoT devices pose a genuine threat to users’ safety. That’s because they create numerous bridges between insecure networks and insecure devices, allowing hackers to gain control of people’s digital devices and wreak havoc. Devices can easily be hijacked, allowing bad actors to eavesdrop on unsuspecting users.  

Over the past few years Haier has created an entire line of IoT, or “smart,” appliances including smart ovens, smart microwaves, and smart refrigerators. As I have discussed elsewhere, in the world of tech, “smart” is simply a synonym for surveillance. Smart devices connect to various apps and other devices through a wireless connection, which makes them ripe for hacking. Moreover, these devices collect and create copious amounts of data which begs the question, Where is this data stored? 

Much more at the site.  This sort of spying is insidious - they can snoop on your WiFi network as well as keeping track of how much milk you have in your fridge.  Solution?  Set up Pi-Hole on your home network.  Pi-Hole was originally designed to block advertisements from being served over your network - the advertising servers to not see any "ad block" software - it looks to them like the ad was served so you don't get any annoying "Remove your ad-block to see this site" messages.

Pi-Hole can also be used to filter outgoing traffic too - your refrigerator wants to "talk" to China?  It will think that it did but the data went into a bit-bucket and nothing left your home network.

Simple to implement and it does your bit to starve the monkeys.

No AFDB for me please — not needed...

The nerve of the guy - from America's Newspaper of Record:

Christmas Canceled After Sam Brinton Steals Santa’s Sack
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Christmas 2023 has been canceled after Sam Brinton stole Santa Claus' sack. Brinton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel, was seen on security footage taking the sack from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Saturday afternoon.

"We are sorry to announce that Christmas has been canceled," said a spokesman for the Office of Santa Claus. "A magical bottomless sack of that sort is one of a kind, and we cannot get another on such short notice. What kind of sicko would steal Santa's sack?!"

Authorities say Brinton is still at large and the location of the sack remains unknown.

The good news is that he is going to be looking for another gig.  He no longer works for our Department of Energy.

Hey Sam - wanna practice for your new job?  Say this clearly and cheerfully :  "Would you like fries with that?"

Curious development - from CNBC:

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas after U.S. files criminal charges
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamian authorities Monday evening after the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian government, setting the stage for extradition and U.S. trial for the onetime crypto billionaire at the heart of the crypto exchange’s collapse.

And excellent timing as:

Before his arrest was announced, Bankman-Fried had been expected to testify virtually before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, but his attorneys told CNBC that he will not testify.

I hope the security on his prison cell is better than that for Epstein and McAffee.  It would be nice to have the information about his machinations with the Democrat Party get revealed before he suffered from an untimely Arkancide

The whole operation is a trainwreck - no oversight and what accounting was being done was being done with Quickbooks.  Fine for household finances or a small business but for managing a multi-million dollar corporation operating in several jurisdictions?  Not suitable at all.  Something like SAP would be much better.  Interesting times...

I have a serious case of bromance for the guy - he is fearless.
From InfoGalactic:

John Owen Brennan (born September 22, 1955) is an American intelligence officer who served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from March 2013 to January 2017. He served as chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, with the title Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Assistant to the President.  Previously, he advised Obama on foreign policy and intelligence issues during the 2008 election campaign and presidential transition.

And it keeps getting better and better:

A self-described communist, Brennan's 25 years with the CIA included work

You read that right (citation)

Anyway, Brennan tweeted and Elon brought the truth:

Bari Weiss releases the goods this morning:

Easy:

He is no longer useful to the narrative so they are throwing him under the bus.
From Newsweek of all places:

How Fauci Fooled America
When the pandemic hit, America needed someone to turn to for advice. The media and public naturally looked to Dr. Anthony Fauci—the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an esteemed laboratory immunologist and one of President Donald Trump's chosen COVID advisers. Unfortunately, Dr. Fauci got major epidemiology and public health questions wrong. Reality and scientific studies have now caught up with him.

He looked good on TV and was useful in promoting their attempt at a great reset (descent into fascism).
Now?  He is damaged goods so they have to make him look bad - he was never one of US 'ya know...

First, yesterday's Fauci tweet and this morning?  This:

Could not keep his mouth shut - paying the price...
From the US Department of Justice - Central District of California:

Rapper Who Boasted in Music Video About Committing COVID Fraud Sentenced to Over 6 Years in Prison on Fraud, Gun and Drug Crimes
A rapper who boasted in a YouTube music video about getting rich quickly by scamming a COVID relief program was sentenced today to 77 months in federal prison.

Fontrell Antonio Baines, 33, a.k.a. “Nuke Bizzle,” of Memphis, Tennessee, was sentenced by United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who also ordered him to pay $704,760 in restitution to the California Employment Development Department (EDD).

Today’s sentence was imposed in connection with three criminal cases. Baines pleaded guilty on July 11 to one count of mail fraud and, in a separate case, to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. He also pleaded guilty on August 30 to possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute in a case transferred from the Western District of Tennessee. Baines has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2020.

From July 2020 to September 2020, Baines unlawfully exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provisions of the CARES Act to obtain unemployment insurance money – ultimately more than $700,000 – to which he was not entitled.

Here is the video - boasting about ripping off the government
Not that smart.  Not that musical or poetic either:

Came out yesterday evening -  Dr. Michael Shellenberger:

This morning from Elon:

Looks like reality is starting to take hold again for omnivores.
Three headlines - they link to the stories:

Beyond Meat is starting to lose ground to real meat, analyst says

Expert Ratings for Beyond Meat  (hint - not doin' that well)

The Dumb Money Driving The Plant-Based Meat Boom

What gets me is that there is an incredibly rich palate of vegetarian foods out there.  Different cultures, different types of meals, different ingredients.   There is so much wonderful food to try from so many different parts of the world, why are these people trying to torture some poor vegetable mixture into pretending that it is something that it is not.

If you want a vegetarian alternative to a beef burger, you have options.  They do not taste like a beef burger, they are not a beef burger but they taste good and are highly nutritious and good for you.

About 10% of my protein intake is animal but I have never had any of the "beyond" ersatz meats.

If I want beef, I am going to buy beef.  If it is a matter of the purchase price, you are still better off with a bean patty than a beyond patty - the beyond meat products cost more than good beef from a butcher.  A medium-size 80/20 chuck beef patty will cost about $3  (6-8oz raw weight)  A bean patty of the same size is about 40¢ (starting with dry beans and making them yourself) I make a big batch at a time - they freeze really well.

Someone is not thinking too clearly - they need to leave off the crack pipe for a while.
From the London Daily Mail:

The hunted becomes the hunter: President's drug-and-hooker loving-son plots DEFAMATION suits against Fox News, Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani - and probes repairman who handed in his infamous laptop

• • Allies of Hunter Biden gathered for a private strategy session last September in where they discussed going after his accusers with defamation lawsuits
  • Hunter's attorney and friend Kevin Morris suggested at the meeting that there be lawsuits filed against Fox News, Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani
  • There was also suggestion of a probe into repairman who handed over his laptop

A team is preparing to defend Hunter Biden against an expected onslaught of investigations by House Republicans.

Allies of the president's son gathered for a private strategy session last September in California where they discussed going after Hunter's accusers and critics with defamation lawsuits, according the Washington Post.

Hunter's attorney and friend Kevin Morris suggested at the meeting the suits be filed against Fox News, Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani, along with a probe into the repairman who handed over his laptop.

Launching a countersuit like that would be predicated on the knowledge that Hunter is pure as driven snow.  The contents of the laptop would have to be entered into the record as part of the discovery process.  The emails that have leaked so far are enough to link Hunter, his dad (the Big Guy) and many others in illegal and treasonous activities. The discovery process will be fun if they actually go through with it.

Do not see anything that really catches my interest.

Try again in an hour or two - take the pups out for a walk and do some laundry.
I do live a whirlwind life...

A local historian is giving a talk about this area.  Maple Falls used to be a city of 9,000 people.  Now? About 300 with about 4,000 living in a ten mile radius in several gated communities and other small towns.  The major industries were timber, limestone (for cement) and gold (and coal) mining.  There is still timber extraction (helps to fund the public school system) and one gold mine in operation.  The coal mining has been shut down.

Should be fun - back this afternoon...

Is "she" another mediocre male athlete claiming to be a woman so as to dominate the field?  The narrative is that she is a married lesbian but some old photos have surfaced recently that tell a different story...  From Fringe Culture:

Old Photos of a Shirtless Brittney Griner Playing Basketball Seal the Deal on What Was Already One of the Most Laughable Attempts Yet to Pass Off a Biological Male as a “Woman’s” Athlete
The fact that collegiate scholarships are being taken away from actual deserving and authentic biological female athletes by narcissistic men like Brittney Griner is absolutely infuriating and impossible to come to terms with.

We already know how little the public is thought of by those who control the mean mainstream sentiment on topics like women’s sports. They actually expect us to take their word for it that an individual like Brittney Griner is an actual biological female with a vagina and estrogen pumping through “her” veins. Lol. This beast is 6 foot 9 inches tall with blatantly obvious male genetic traits yet still can barely even dunk a basketball and actually seems to have botched more public dunk attempts than she/he has ever converted.

Here are two of the many photos at the site — begs the question:

No signs of surgery if she had breast removal - the scar from that is pretty distinctive.

I bet that "her" Russian jailers had some choice words - would love to have heard...
Very descriptive language.

I love the word Schadenfreude - so perfect.  From InfoGalactic:

Schadenfreude — is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This word is taken from German and literally means "harm-joy". It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune.

From Balkan Green Energy News:

Wind farm in Germany is being dismantled to expand coal mine
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.

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.

Please note the words "government subsidies' in that last paragraph.  Since the government has very few actual sources of income (rental of federal lands, etc...), these subsidies are paid for by the taxpayers.  The wind farms are not economically viable unless We The People kick in enough to make them worth developing.  Wind and solar are not baseload - the energy is not 100% dependable and for ever megawatt of generation capacity that a wind turbine has, there is another megawatt of natural gas turbine running on hot-standby so it can take over when the wind dies. They don't tell you that when they tell you the talking points.

The line about "phase out coal" is a sop to the environmentalists.  When reality comes knocking, that proposal will be slid under a stack of other papers and lost.

As for coal - it seems popular in England too - from the Beeb:

First UK coal mine in decades approved despite climate concerns
Michael Gove has approved the first new UK coal mine in 30 years despite concern about its climate impacts among Conservative MPs and experts.

The proposed mine in Cumbria would dig up coking coal for steel production in the UK and across the world.

Critics say the mine would undermine climate targets and demand for coking coal is declining.

But supporters claim the mine, near Whitehaven, will create jobs and reduce the need to import coal.

Beats depending on the Russians for cheap energy.  Putting all their eggs in one basket.  President Trump famously tried to warn them back in September, 2018 and they smirked while he was talking.

Talk about an interesting find...  From Nashville, TN station WZTV:

Man buys 160-year-old Civil War-era live explosive for $3, thinking it was cannonball
A Civil War-era artifact recently bought by an Asheville man turned out to be a live explosive.

On Nov. 28, members of the Asheville Police Department Bomb Squad responded to a home in east Asheville in reference to an explosive device.

John Miller, who bought the 12-pound sphere, said he found it at an area scrap yard.

“I paid three dollars for it,” Miller recalled, on Dec. 2.

And it did not look a lot like a cannonball so he called:

“I knew just enough about it, that I knew I didn’t want to keep it around,” said Miller. “[The] bomb squad showed up with X-ray machine and some other police cars.”

Although the artifact looked like a cannonball, technically, it wasn’t, said Joe Silberman, APD bomb squad commander.

“It’s a 4-and-2/3-inch bursting shell, or case shot,” Silberman said.

That would have made quite the impression at his next garden party.  Hey y'all - watch this...

Back to Matt Taibbi this time:

As the spin begins...

Maple Falls is not exactly the hub of the universe but it is home to an amazing electronics repair business.
Check out Joe's Gaming & Electronics:

This is from their YouTube channel - lots of useful DIY repair videos
They also have a coffee place that is my favorite morning haunt. A good business run by good people.

Globalization and borderless free trade are the current narrative. Unfortunately, they do not work - every time they have been tried, everyone (except for a select few) wind up poorer for the experience. Hmmm...  The head of the world's largest chip maker has a few thoughts on the subject - from The Register:

TSMC founder says 'globalization is almost dead' as Asian foundry giant expands in US
Caught in the middle of an escalating trade war between the US and China, the founder of Taiwanese contract chip-making giant TSMC has stated that globalization and free trade are "almost dead" as his company expands in the US for the first time in over 20 years.

Morris Chang reportedly made the comments at Tuesday's ceremony for TSMC's advanced chip manufacturing site in Arizona, where the company plans to spend roughly $40 billion to open a 4nm fab in 2024 and a more sophisticated 3nm plant in 2026. The company said the Arizona fab plan represents "one of the largest foreign direct investments in the history of the United States."

"Twenty-seven years have passed and [the semiconductor industry] witnessed a big change in the world, a big geopolitical situation change in the world. Globalization is almost dead and free trade is almost dead. A lot of people still wish they would come back, but I don't think they will be back," said Chang, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei and other news reports.

It's one of the blunter statements offered in the semiconductor industry lately. For it to come from the founder of the world's most advanced, and second-largest, chip manufacturer, which makes silicon designed by major Western firms like Qualcomm and Nvidia, is a sober reflection on the industry's state of affairs as US chip sanctions against China create a bifurcation of supply chains.

Another idea out of the universities that failed in the real world.
When will we learn to stop listening to these credentialed idiots.
Reminds me of Vox Day's old aphorism:

In academia there is no difference between academia and the real world; in the real world there is

Nice to see them take a stand on this. From the Daily Wire:

North Carolina State Treasurer Calls For The Resignation Of BlackRock’s Larry Fink
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell called for the resignation of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink over his focus on the environmental, social, and governance movement, also known as ESG.

According to a letter sent on Friday and provided to The Daily Wire, the Tar Heel State’s public retirement system invests over $14 billion through the asset management company in a variety of passive and active funds. Folwell asserted that “ideological pressure” from Fink could lead to the use of ESG ratings against state and local governments, while initiatives related to climate change and other causes imply that the firm is not solely focused on maximizing profits.

“As keeper of the public purse, my duty is to manage our investments to ensure that the best interests of those that teach, protect and serve, as well as of our retirees, are always paramount,” Folwell wrote. “Unfortunately, Larry Fink’s pursuit of a political agenda has gotten in the way of BlackRock’s same fiduciary duty. A focus on ESG is not a focus on returns and potentially could force us to violate our own fiduciary duty.”

And it's not just NC:

The move from the state of North Carolina occurs one month after Bluebell Capital Management, a small hedge fund based in London, called for the ouster of Fink, arguing that his emphasis on ESG has “alienated clients and attracted an undesired level of negative publicity.”

Good news - we need to remember that corporations like Blackrock exist to SERVE their customers; not to use their customer's assets as some token for playing social justice games. Lrry seems to have lost sight of this and is not operating in the overall best interests of Blackrock or its shareholders.

Amateur Radio is the way to go when other forms of communication are down.  Cell phones?  Most cell towers only have three days of backup power.  Grid outage lasts longer?  No phones.  Remember, emergency situations are not a case of "IF", they are a case of "WHEN"

There is some amazing work being done with amateur radio for establishing networks of reliable communications - both voice and digital text - but it requires several different software packages to be used together and getting everything to work reliably can be a bit of a trick.  Especially if there is an emergency and communications are needed now - you can't just Google or YouTube a video on setting up the software when everything is down...

Fortunately, KT1RUN (Gaston) has been putting together a framework that incorporates these various apps.  He requires that you use a specific radio set (a common one in production for over ten years) and a specific set of hardware (simple and cheap) but the results are a thumb-drive that you plug in to your laptop, boot to the thumb-drive and you have instant and secure voice and digital communications.  You can also install the packages on the laptop if physical security is not an issue.

Check out The Tech Prepper's video channel and his EmComm Tools website - good stuff...

For people interested in Ham Radio, the process of licensing has been greatly simplified over the years. There is no requirement to learn Morse Code and the test is very simple.  The FCC publishes the test questions and the four answers to each question (only one is correct) so studying for the test is just a matter of rote memorization.  Learning the theory is good but not needed for licensing.

I have been very happy with this website:  QRZ/hamtest
You do have to register but that is for your benefit.  As you take the test online, it will keep track of where you are good and where you need more study.  The difficult questions will appear more often until you learn the answers.  The service is free.

From Arizona Central:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: Why I'm registering as an independent
There’s a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from our politics, and what political parties are offering.

I am privileged to represent Arizonans of all backgrounds and beliefs in the U.S. Senate and am honored to travel to every corner of our state, listening to your concerns and ideas.

While Arizonans don’t all agree on the issues, we are united in our values of hard work, common sense and independence.

We make our own decisions, using our own judgment and lived experiences to form our beliefs. We don’t line up to do what we’re told, automatically subscribe to whatever positions the national political parties dictate or view every issue through labels that divide us.

Each day, Arizonans wake up, work and live alongside people with different views and experiences, usually without even thinking about partisan politics.

Arizonans expect our leaders to follow that example – set aside political games, work together, make progress and then get out of the way so we can build better lives for ourselves and our families.

It’s no surprise that Washington, D.C., often fails to reflect that expectation.

A nice sentiment - let's see what her voting record shows from here on...

Now that he was busted for stealing a woman's luggage at the airport, the rest of his life is being examined.
And found wanting...  From the Post Millennial:

Notorious thieving non-binary Biden official accused of lying about ‘conversion therapy’ torture
Sam Brinton, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition and influential activist against ex-gay conversion therapy, once a shining star of LGBTQ celebrity, has found himself the subject of intense scrutiny, and not just because he happened to get caught stealing expensive luggage. In a shocking display of journalism, LGBTQ Nation headlined, Has Sam Brinton's story always been too good to be true?

The article notes support from many LGBTQ activist organization saying: "These organizations, such as the Trevor Project and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), ignored clear warning signs and incontrovertible evidence because Brinton provided these groups with a seemingly perfect ex-gay survivor story to expose horrific conversion therapy practices and ideology." The warning signs, it seems, involve clear evidence Brinton was fabricating his entire victim story all along.

Whoops...  A lot more at the site.  He had some extraordinary claims and as the good Doctor was known to say: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"  Looks like the evidence is all in his mind.  A fabrication.  Wonder how good a student he really was at MIT.

Adaptive Curmudgeon has an excellent take on it and offers this eight minute sequence from the Nicolas Cage movie Lord of War.   These are the last eight minutes of the movie but split between two excerpts:

So true. Putin is getting everything he wanted and we get a mediocre athlete who hits all the correct social justice buttons.   We really need some adults in the room.  Sooner rather than later...

This time, it is journalist Bari Weiss:

Time for another bowl of popcorn. Nothing that we did not already suspect but fun to get the background details.

From Matt Margolis writing at PJ Media:

Incoming House Oversight Committee Chair Promises Investigation Into Biden Impeachable Offense
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says that the Biden administration may have engaged in a quid pro quo with Saudi Arabia, and he appeared to suggest that this was an impeachable offense per the Democrats’ own standards.

OPEC oil production and the timing of the November mid-term elections. Not to mention the Saudi's brokering the trade.

Lots of smoke - let's hope that the Democrats start feeling the heat of the fire.

From America's Newspaper of Record:

Disinformation Down 92% As NYT Writers Go On Strike
Researchers are reporting that disinformation on Twitter, Facebook, and mainstream news sources is already down by 92% in the wake of a 24-hour writer's strike at the New York Times.

"We always wondered where all this harmful disinformation was coming from," said Darryl Ball, a researcher with the Center for Combatting Bad Things Online. "Turns out, it was all coming from those knuckleheads at the Times. Who knew?"

Several studies indicate the country has seen a sharp decrease in hate speech, foreign propaganda, and shockingly dumb hot takes since the entire writing staff walked out of the building in New York City, which experts believe could lead to an outbreak of peace and harmony across the nation.

"All this time, the threat to democracy was us all along!" said NYT Union Boss Fuggs Crullers to reporters from other news organizations not on strike. "We have begun negotiations with leadership to pay us more money to never come back to work in hopes of saving America."

At publishing time, all other news outlets around the country reported feeling "lost" as they were so used to just copying and pasting from the New York Times each morning.

Who knew...

60 Minutes did an overview of him in 2010:

And the Biden administration traded him one-for-one for a pot-head woman's basketball player who would not stand for our National Anthem?

Two headlines from Breitbart - click for story:

Brittney Griner Released in Prisoner Swap for Notorious Russian Arms Dealer Viktor Bout

Biden Leaves Marine Paul Whelan Behind in Russia in Brittney Griner Swap; Family: ‘Catastrophe’

Griner hates America, Bout hates America, Whelan loves America
Notice a trend here...  And of course, this happened after the November mid-term elections.

UPDATE:  Additional coverage from the London Daily Mail:

Saudi Crown Prince brokered deal to swap WNBA star Brittney Griner for Merchant of Death arms dealer Viktor Bout - who walked past each other on UAE airport tarmac - two days after America dropped Khashoggi lawsuit against the Saudi leader

• • WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian penal colony
  • The Biden Administration struck a deal for a prisoner swap with the Kremlin
  • The United States is returning arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia
  • President Joe Biden said Griner was 'in good spirits' while on a plane home during remarks at the White House on Thursday morning
  • American military veteran Paul Whelan remains in detention, which Biden noted
  • GOP Rep. Mike Waltz accused White House of putting 'celebrities over veterans'

Disgusting.

From CNN:

New Zealand court takes guardianship of baby after parents refuse vaccinated blood for heart surgery
A critically-ill six-month-old baby will be placed under the temporary guardianship of New Zealand’s High Court after his parents refused to allow him to undergo lifesaving heart surgery using blood from people vaccinated against Covid-19.

Handing down the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ian Gault ruled that the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, would remain under the court’s guardianship until he had recovered from the surgery.

The court also appointed two doctors as its agents to oversee issues around the operation and the administration of blood, according to court documents.

The baby has a congenital heart defect and needs urgent open-heart surgery to survive – but the operation has been delayed by his parents’ insistence that only blood from donors not vaccinated against Covid-19 be used.

Children are not at risk for Covid.  Not at all.  The push to get the vax requirement was so that a loop-hole could be activated granting the vax manufacturers freedom from any liability when the vax was distributed under Emergency Use Authorization. No medical or scientific reason to give kids the jab, only a political CYA one.

This is not unique - there is also this story from Duke University Medical Center - from National File:

Duke University Refuses Kidney Transplant To Dying Girl For Refusing COVID Vaccine

Story at the site.  These people are horrid.  To think that being on a committee — a "death panel" absolves them of the responsibility of their decisions.  Of course, if it was the child of a relative or friend...

From Reuters:

Sister of Iran's leader condemns his rule, urges Guards to disarm
A sister of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned his crackdown on nationwide protests and called on the widely-feared Revolutionary Guards to lay down their weapons, according to a letter published by her France-based son.

Iran has been gripped by unrest since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in police custody on Sept 16., and is facing a three-day general strike movement which started on Monday.

Badri Hosseini Khamenei, who lives in Iran and is the sister of Ayatollah Khamenei, criticised the clerical establishment starting from the time of the Islamic Republic's late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to her brother's rule, the letter, dated "December 2022", said.

"I think it is appropriate now to declare that I oppose my brother's actions and I express my sympathy with all mothers mourning the crimes of the Islamic Republic, from the time of Khomeini to the current era of the despotic caliphate of Ali Khamenei," she wrote in the letter which was shared on Wednesday on the Twitter account of her son, Mahmoud Moradkhani.

"Ali Khamenei's Revolutionary Guards and mercenaries should lay down their weapons as soon as possible and join the people before it is too late," the letter said.

This is tectonic.  Major shift in power.  Iran is the primary sponsor of Islamic terrorism.  Christianity used to be a very militant faith until it went through a reformation.  Islam needs to do the same thing - could this be the spark that starts it?  I have hope.

Without Iran's money and support, the whole "Palestinian" thing will dry up and blow away.  After all, they are just a creation of the 1960's KGB trying to destabilize that area and Israel specifically.  KGB recruited Yasser Arafat for the role.

Heading to the farm to pack some more boxes and get ready for the big move.

Warming up - lots of slush on the ground.  Rain in the forecast.  Good to get the snow gone - I love skiing but it's a bother when you are moving boxes and trying to keep things dry.

Back in a couple of hours...

Great news from Vanguard Investments:

An update on Vanguard’s engagement with the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM)
More than 30 million individual investors around the world have chosen to entrust Vanguard with their hard-earned savings. We have a singular goal to maximize their long-term returns and give them the best chance for investment success as they save for retirement, a child’s education, a home, or simply a more secure financial future.

Approximately 80% of our clients’ assets are invested through index funds, which provide broadly diversified access to stock and bond markets at minimal cost. Index fund managers don’t choose the securities in a fund or dictate a portfolio company’s strategy or operations. Instead, they buy and hold all securities included in the benchmark index and capture the return that the market provides. In the words of our founder, Jack Bogle, rather than searching for the needle in the haystack, buy the whole haystack. It’s an approach that has helped build wealth for tens of millions of everyday investors. Importantly, indexing relies on efficient and fair capital markets. Companies’ disclosure of material financial risks is central to that market health, which is why material risk identification and disclosure is a critical priority for Vanguard.

That is where I have my investments - not flashy but very secure and the maintenance costs are cheap.
A well-run company.  A bit more:

Climate change, and the ongoing global response, will have far-reaching economic consequences for companies, financial markets, and investors, presenting a clear example of a material and multifaceted financial risk. Vanguard has been taking steps to understand and attend to this risk to investors’ returns, including through our engagements with portfolio companies, policymakers, and broader industry efforts. As part of these efforts, and consistent with our commitment to promoting portfolio company disclosure of material financial risks, Vanguard joined the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) in 2021. Such industry initiatives can advance constructive dialogue, but sometimes they can also result in confusion about the views of individual investment firms. That has been the case in this instance, particularly regarding the applicability of net zero approaches to the broadly diversified index funds favored by many Vanguard investors. Therefore, after a considerable period of review, we have decided to withdraw from NZAM so that we can provide the clarity our investors desire about the role of index funds and about how we think about material risks, including climate-related risks—and to make clear that Vanguard speaks independently on matters of importance to our investors. This decision is part of our continuous assessment of our participation in external organizations and their ongoing alignment with Vanguard’s mission and perspectives on investing.

Emphasis on the highlighted section: Therefore, after a considerable period of review, we have decided to withdraw from NZAM

Excellent - they gave it a try for a year and did not like what they were dealing with.  Climate Change is political and not science.  I was happy with them before, now I am very happy with them and with my decision to stick with them.  They prioritize their clients and not the prevailing political narrative.

North Carolina is suffering a major power outage as someone shot up a few substations and the transformers that were damaged are not COTS products (Commercial, Of-The-Shelf) that you can buy from Grainger's or such.  Just noticed that Tennesee has about 10K customers without power just South of Nashville in Columbia.

Hope to hell this is not a trend.  Or if it is, they would visit New York or District of Columbia or some place where their activities would be more productive.

Also, I am betting that the FBI already has a not-so-bright fall-guy with three names and a large manifesto who will be taking the blame.  We will not notice that they were not bright enough to chose the targets properly or that they had an airtight alibi. They are the patsy.  The fall guy.  The FBI always gets their man...

The Moon will occult Mars tonight - around 6:30PM PST for Seattle area.
It will pass behind the moon at around 4:30 o'clock on the lunar disk.
More information and times can be found here: Shadow and Substance

Of course it would be Zelensky

Don't forget they also named Hitler in 1938 and Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942

The Japanese attack at Perl Harbor woke us up as a Nation and brought us together.  We mobilized and defeated Japan in four years.  We were asleep in 2001 when the Muslims destroyed the Twin Towers in New York.  We have still not defeated radical Islam - we are still asleep; giving money to Iran in hopes of appeasement.  We have a body of people who want to install world government (AKA Fascism - a merging of the corporation and the state).  We are still asleep.

Time to wake up - this is serious.  We need to get busy...

From Matt Taibbi who was the person releasing the Elon Musk/Hunter Biden details:

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi.nnn
THREAD: Twitter Files Supplemental
Matt Taibbi
@mtaibbi

On Friday, the first installment of the Twitter files was published here. We expected to publish more over the weekend. Many wondered why there was a delay.

We can now tell you part of the reason why. On Tuesday, Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI General Counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Vetting the first batch of "Twitter Files" -- without knowledge of new management.

The process for producing the "Twitter Files" involved delivery to two journalists (Bari Weiss and me) via a lawyer close to new management. However, after the initial batch, things became complicated.

Over the weekend, while we both dealt with obstacles to new searches, it was @BariWeiss who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask "Jim's" last name, the answer came back: "Jim Baker."

"My jaw hit the floor," says Weiss.

The first batch of files both reporters received was marked, "Spectra Baker Emails."

Baker is a controversial figure. He has been something of a Zelig of FBI controversies dating back to 2016, from the Steele Dossier to the Alfa-Server mess. He resigned in 2018 after an investigation into leaks to the press.

The news that Baker was reviewing the "Twitter files" surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to "exit" Baker Tuesday.

Has more lives than a cat.  Makes me wonder just how many other swamp has-beens are drawing a salary doing nothing in other corporations in America.  Driving costs up paying them for their "service" to the deep state...

Love the guy - he is irreverent but smart and spot on.  Hides his brains behind his folksy demeanor:

So true - from Chris Lynch:

Was worried for a little bit - now I am very reassured.
From America's Newspaper of Record:

President Informs Nation He's Doing Great Job
President Biden addressed an increasingly divided nation Tuesday morning to remind everyone that he's doing a great job.

"Look, here's the deal. I'm doing a great job," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm a hard worker. Always have been since I got my start driving mack trucks through the deep coal mines of Scranton, Pennsylvania."

The president gave his address from a replica of the Oval Office because the actual president, VP Kamala Harris, was busy signing executive orders in Biden's name, say sources. The larger set allowed for the use of a large teleprompter that Biden's failing eyesight could still make out.

"I promise you I'll always be straight with you, Jackie Chan," Biden told the American public. "Not a joke. Not sure what that word is. Pass. End of speech."

The televised address disrupted normal TV programming, but Neilsen ratings confirm viewers quickly turned off their sets once they saw the president come into view.

More at the site - good to know...

Slow news day.  Did a run into Bellingham to get some staples and take care of a few things.

Quick surf and then working at the farm tomorrow.

More at the site: Poop or Consequences

From Gateway Pundit:

Brazil Military Kills “Red Command” Cartel Leaders, Prepares Take Over
In an unusual step for the military, the Army has invaded favelas of Rio de Janeiro and killed top leaders of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) drug cartel, which supports the Communist criminal Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Observers take this to indicate the beginning of a federal military intervention. The drug gangs were the only ones to celebrate the alleged election victory by criminal Lula Oct. 30, firing automatic weapons in the air in the favelas. President Bolsonaro cracked down hard on the Brazilian drug gangs.

“The heads of drug trafficking of Morro do Juramento and Juramentinho, identified as Rodrigo Barbosa Marinho, known as Rolinha or Titio Rolinha, and Hevelton Nascimento Júnior, the “Bad Boy”, respectively, were killed during a Military Police operation in Vicente de Carvalho on Thursday (1st). Three other suspects died in the action and one, who was also injured, is imprisoned in custody in the hospital” O Dia reports.

The drug cartels are the armed wing of the Communists. Comando Vermelho controls parts of Rio de Janeiro and was formed 1979 as an alliance between cartels and Communists. If they are eliminated, the risk 0f a civil war will be significantly reduced.

Good - get the dark money out of politics and restore the rightfully elected President.
The Brazilian people voted for President Bolsonaro, they deserve his leadership.
The protests are massive but narry a peep from our Fake Media:

This is fun - more of their work here Alternative Cuts:

Take heed what is happening to the North - the idea of socialized medicine sounds very attractive to the low-information voter. Unfortunately, you run out of money and crap like this happens more and more often - from FOX News:

Canada offered assisted suicide to a Paralympian veteran who wanted a wheelchair lift installed
Canada's Veterans Affairs office offered to assist a Paralympian and veteran to commit suicide when she sought to have a wheelchair lift installed in her home, the woman told lawmakers last week.

Christine Gauthier, a 52-year-old retired corporal who competed in the 2016 Paralympics at Rio De Janeiro, testified to lawmakers that a VA official had offered — in writing — to provide her with a medically-assisted suicide kit. The case officer remains unnamed but reportedly made similar offers to at least three other veterans, according to the Independent.

"I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying," Gauthier said in a hearing before the House of Commons veterans affairs committee.

Remember death panels anyone?  Remember when that was in the 2009 news when Obamacare was being debated?

Over 1,000 comments - well worth reading.  Hit a nerve.

True this:

Says it all - the big-three Friday coverage:

No, not the political stupidity in Ukraine, the real WW-III.
They declared it outright years ago, we are still not aware of it. 
From Task & Purpose:

US Navy seizes massive shipment of ammo, explosive material in Gulf of Oman
For the second time in less than a month, the U.S. Navy intercepted a ship passing through the Gulf of Oman and seized a large shipment of illicit weapons bound for Yemen..

The Navy made the interception on Thursday, Dec. 1. Sailors with the Navy’s 5th Fleet stopped a fishing trawler in the gulf. During a flag verification boarding, they found a large cargo of munitions and chemical propellant. The sailors seized 1.1 million rounds of 7.62mm ammo, as well as an additional 25,000 12.7mm rounds. The trawler also was carrying almost 7,000 rocket fuses and more than 2,000 kilograms of a propellant used in rocket propelled grenades. The cargo totaled more than 50 tonnes.

The previous intercept:

The seizure comes less than a month after the 5th Fleet’s USS The Sullivans, alongside the U.S. Coast Guard’s USCGC John Scheuerman, intercepted a ship carrying more than 170 tons of chemicals toward Yemen.

From Iran. Remember? They are supposed to be our enemy but Obama sent them $150 Billion including a stunning $1.8 Billion in cash.

People are oblivious to the technology used to enslave them:

They made sure that the chains were nice and soft and comfortable.
From 90 Miles

Interesting and not unsuspected:

From InfoGalactic:

An ad hominem (Latin for "to the man" or "to the person"), short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attack on an argument made by attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, rather than attacking the argument directly. When used inappropriately, it is a logical fallacy in which a claim or argument is dismissed on the basis of some irrelevant fact or supposition about the author or the person being criticized. Ad hominem reasoning is not always fallacious, for example, when it relates to the credibility of statements of fact or when used in certain kinds of moral and practical reasoning.

From the New York Post:

Left-wing journos attack reporter Matt Taibbi for exposing Musk’s Twitter files
Mainstream news reporters — in lockstep with Democratic strategists — rushed to social media to smear journalist Matt Taibbi as a “sad” “fraud” as he released his bombshell report on political censorship at Twitter.

“Matt Taibbi…what sad, disgraceful downfall,” Daily Beast columnist and New York Times contributor Wajahat Ali posted. “Selling your soul for the richest white nationalist on Earth.”

On Friday, billionaire Elon Musk — who vowed to give the social media giant a free-speech overhaul when he bought it last month — released to Taibbi a shocking collection of inside correspondence proving that Democrat insiders leaned on Twitter’s censors to suppress The Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Classic Ad Hominem attack.  They have absolutely nothing to refute the information that was published so they do a personal attack against the guy who published it.  Journalism these days...  Sheesh...

Posted last night:

He also noted what I was curious about - what kind of load are the servers seeing and how are they handling it. I hope some IT person writes up a post-mortem on this.

So true:

They are covering it as well - Matt continues to update the twitter chain every few minutes. It's like eating potato chips - you can't stop at just one.

From the NY Post:

Hunter Biden laptop bombshell: Elon Musk’s Twitter drops Post censorship details
There’s nothing to “like” about this.

Elon Musk unveiled devastating internal Twitter files on Friday that showed the company responding to a request “from the Biden team” during the run-up to the 2020 election — shortly after the company cracked down on The Post’s scoops about Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop.

Musk tweeted a link to the account of independent journalist Matt Taibbi, who began posting a series of what appeared to be redacted emails from Twitter employees.

Another, dated Oct. 24, 2020, said, “An additional report from DNC,” an apparent reference to the Democratic National Committee.

One, dated Oct. 24, 2020, said, “More to review from the Biden team,” along with a list of tweets.

In response, someone wrote back, “handled these.”

Great comments at the site.

The load on Twitter's server farm must be fairly heavy - I hope some IT people do a post-mortem of this evening.  It would be interesting to see how they prepared for it.

Released by Elon, narrated by Matt Taibbi:

1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES

2. What you’re about to read is the first installment in a series, based upon thousands of internal documents obtained by sources at Twitter.

3. The “Twitter Files” tell an incredible story from inside one of the world’s largest and most influential social media platforms. It is a Frankensteinian tale of a human-built mechanism grown out the control of its designer.

4. Twitter in its conception was a brilliant tool for enabling instant mass communication, making a true real-time global conversation possible for the first time.

5. In an early conception, Twitter more than lived up to its mission statement, giving people “the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”

6. As time progressed, however, the company was slowly forced to add those barriers. Some of the first tools for controlling speech were designed to combat the likes of spam and financial fraudsters.

7. Slowly, over time, Twitter staff and executives began to find more and more uses for these tools. Outsiders began petitioning the company to manipulate speech as well: first a little, then more often, then constantly.

8. By 2020, requests from connected actors to delete tweets were routine. One executive would write to another:  “More to review from the Biden team.” The reply would come back: “Handled.”

Much more at the site.  Time for a bit bowl of popcorn - this is good...

From the United States Department of Justice - Western District of Washington:

Six charged federally in connection with drug distribution ring operating in Skagit and Whatcom Counties
Six members of a drug distribution conspiracy operating in Skagit and Whatcom counties were charged federally today with various drug and firearms crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Enoc Martinez Lopez, aka “Victor,” 27, of Marysville, Washington, was the main supplier of drugs to other co-conspirators. He is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances (including heroin and fentanyl), and distribution of fentanyl. Martinez Lopez appeared in U.S. District Court today, and has a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

The other defendants will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Seattle over the next few days.

The haul in question:

Since the beginning of the investigation and through yesterday's takedown, law enforcement has seized: 11.5 kilos of fentanyl pills, 2.8 kilos of fentanyl powder, 5.7 kilos of cocaine, 1.6 kilos of heroin and 8.7 kilos of crystal meth, more than $186,000 in cash and nine firearms.

Coming across the borders - let in by Pelosi and Schumer.

From Baseball Crank Dan McLaughlin:

Breaking for lunch - nothing much happening out there (that our minders want us to know about anyway)

Try again later this evening...

From Jazz Shaw writing at Hot Air:

Swiss look to ban use of electric cars over the winter to save energy
The European Union jumped on the electric vehicle craze well ahead of other parts of the world, particularly after the Paris climate accord. But in typical socialist fashion, they weren’t content with simply encouraging people to switch to EVs. Many European countries almost immediately started making plans to ban gas-powered cars and trucks and make EVs mandatory. Lots of Europeans wanted to get out ahead of the curve and began snapping the newer models up. But then came the start of the war in Ukraine, cutting energy supplies just as Europe was trying to wean itself off of fossil fuels. Now, in a rather embarrassing reversal, Switzerland is considering legislation that would ban people from driving electric vehicles except in urgent conditions over the winter because there simply might not be enough juice on the grid to recharge them. (From Der Spiegel. Original is in German but Google Translate can convert it for you.)

Switzerland's electricity comes mostly from hydro but they have to import too. They are concerned what could happen if the imports are not available.  Smart and careful people - independent.

From The Hill:

Defense Department fails another audit, but makes progress
The Defense Department has failed its fifth-ever audit, unable to account for more than half of its assets, but the effort is being viewed as a “teachable moment,” according to its chief financial officer.

After 1,600 auditors combed through DOD’s $3.5 trillion in assets and $3.7 trillion in liabilities, officials found that the department couldn’t account for about 61 percent of its assets, Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord told reporters on Tuesday.

McCord said the department has made progress toward a “clean” audit in the past year, but later added “we failed to get an ‘A.’”

“I would not say that we flunked. The process is important for us to do, and it is making us get better. It is not making us get better as fast as we want,” he said.

This year’s outcome was not unexpected.

Is it just me or does this not send a shiver down your spine.  We are letting all kinds of people into our Nation.  Sleeper cells included.  If our own military can not keep track of those things that go BOOM, who is to say that some of the devices do not wind up in the hands of people who wish us harm.

From FOX News:

Secret Service won’t say why they changed their position on Hunter Biden gun investigation records
The Secret Service will not say why they changed their position regarding a government watchdog's records request into Hunter Biden’s gun investigation records.

Government watchdog Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in April 2021 regarding the gun reportedly owned by Biden and disposed of in a dumpster in 2018.

The Secret Service initially told Judicial Watch that they had located records related to their inquiry, but a year later in October, after a September FOIA lawsuit by the government watchdog organization, the presidential protection agency changed its tune.

Judicial Watch was told by the Secret Service in October that the response a year prior was sent in error and they did not have records related to the request.

Whoops - what records...  Some of the government agencies need to have their budgets cut by 80% and have their main offices moved to Adak, Alaska (or maybe someplace even more remote).  They have lost sight of their founding charter.

From the Florida Department of Financial Services:

CFO JIMMY PATRONIS: FLORIDA TREASURY DIVESTING FROM BLACKROCK
Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that the Florida Treasury will begin divesting $2 billion worth of assets currently under management by BlackRock. The State Treasury will immediately have Florida’s custody bank freeze approximately $1.43 billion worth of long-term securities and remove them as the manager of approximately $600 million worth of short-term overnight investments. These taxpayer funds are invested by asset managers as part of Florida’s Treasury Investment Pool. By the beginning of 2023, the State Treasury will have divested from BlackRock’s management of all short and long-term investments and relocated investment responsibilities to other fund management entities.

CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “As Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, it’s my responsibility to get the best returns possible for taxpayers. The more effective we are in investing dollars to generate a return, the more effective we’ll be in funding priorities like schools, hospitals and roads. As major banking institutions and economists predict a recession in the coming year, and as the Fed increases interest rates to combat the inflation crisis, I need partners within the financial services industry who are as committed to the bottom line as we are – and I don’t trust BlackRock’s ability to deliver.

Much more at the site.  This is not a major hit to BlackRock financially - they are a huge entity.  But...  It is a shot across the bow and hopefully, other investors will follow.  It will be interesting to see where Florida puts its money...

From Knuckledraggin: