THIS IS WHAT THE LEFT CALLS “FASCISM” NOWADAYS: New College of Florida proposes ‘Freedom Institute’ to promote free speech, civil discourse.
Archive for 2023
July 28, 2023
THE DOGS DON’T LIKE THE DOG FOOD: Why EVs Are ‘Piling Up’ at Dealerships, Despite Massive Taxpayer Subsidies.
In April, the International Energy Agency released a report in which it predicted EV sales to increase 35 percent after a record-breaking year. But economists I spoke with said such predictions were overly optimistic considering current macroeconomic conditions.
This invites important questions. Is the glut of EVs simply a product of tightened money supply?
Apparently not. As Axios noted, the 92,000 EVs currently sitting on lots is comparatively high relative to gasoline-powered cars.
“That’s a 92-day supply — roughly three months’ worth of EVs, and nearly twice the industry average,” wrote Joann Muller. “For comparison, dealers have a relatively low 54 days’ worth of gasoline-powered vehicles in inventory….”
In other words, dealerships are sitting on a lot more EVs than gasoline-powered vehicles—despite efforts to entice consumers to buy EVs with taxpayer-funded credits up to $7,500.
This is evidence that pretty much everyone—from central planners to auto manufacturers—misjudged the demand for EVs, which are not even as environmentally friendly as politicians would have you believe.
The actual plan, of course, is to force people into EVs — or better yet, into taking the bus. Or staying at home in the dark, eating bugs.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Alejandro Mayorkas Would Have Been Fired From Any Other Job by Now. “Conservatives never expect the federal government to actually be functional. Heck, most of the time I don’t even want it to be functional. The Biden administration is, for the most part, criminally dysfunctional, which nobody needs.”
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Everything’s fine, except our largest power grid just declared an emergency.
Related: Thank the green-energy cult for major blackouts this summer.
Plus: Would an occasional blackout help solve climate change?
JOHN LUCAS: “To Win Our Nation’s Wars”? Lions Led by Donkeys.
The 248-year-old institution that this country depends upon to fight and win our wars has lost its focus, which is, “to win our nation’s wars.” Preparing to do that is one of the most complex tasks on earth. There is no profession more complex, more dangerous, or more crucial to the country’s survival than the United States Army. But its focus on “woke” social solutions has diluted the necessary focus on that duty.
The Army has thousands of magnificent and highly skilled officers and enlisted men and women who perform continuously at the highest levels. Yet, as German General Erwin Rommel said of the British after he captured Tobruk, they are “lions commanded by donkeys.” Today’s donkeys are officers and civilians in the highest levels of the current administration, up to and including the Commander in Chief, Joseph R. Biden and a Secretary of the Army who wants to reduce recruiting from families with a tradition of service because she fears a “warrior caste.” Donkeys indeed. And they set the tone for all their subordinates in the Army. . . .
And make no mistake about it. The faceless officers who approved this article and the photos on the Army’s official web site did so because they know it is consistent with the wishes and intent of Joe Biden and the other donkeys running him.
He’s right, you know. (Bumped).
JOANNE JACOBS: Traumatizing math students. “There’s no evidence that ‘trauma-deformed pedagogy’ (oops, ‘informed’) helps students learn more, writes Max Eden, an American Enterprise Institute fellow, on Real Clear Education. Yet it’s cited in support of California’s controversial new math guidelines, which are full of dubious claims.”
THIS ISN’T LAW ENFORCEMENT, IT’S ELECTION INTERFERENCE, AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT: Trump charged with additional counts in special counsel’s classified records probe.
And at what point does this sort of behavior entirely delegitimize the election and the government?
GET A ROPE: WEF advisor: COVID is a model for making change.
SADLY APT:
IN THE GRAND OBAMA TRADITION OF WELL-PAID SCREWUPS: Starbucks Hired Eric Holder To Conduct a ‘Civil Rights Audit.’ The Policies He Blessed Got the Coffee Maker Sued.
GUN CONTROL ISN’T POPULAR, EXCEPT WITH ELITES AND THEIR MEDIA HANGERS-ON: WH press secretary suddenly doesn’t want to talk about Biden’s support for gun laws.
COLD WAR II: China’s Threat to Ban Critical Minerals Exports Is a Bluff.
A price shock for critical raw materials would not necessarily be a bad thing. A sharp rise in energy prices across Europe was the first tangible sign of Russia’s decision to curb gas supplies. Similarly, a full-fledged Chinese export ban on any critical raw material would send global prices for that substance spiking. In 2021, for instance, the temporary shutdown of some Chinese magnesium smelters fueled a 260 percent rise in magnesium prices, affecting the automotive, aerospace, and other sectors. However, higher prices for critical raw materials whose production is dominated by China might not have as big an impact as many fear.
For one, the monetary value of these commodities remains small. For example, the European Union’s annual import bills for critical raw materials range from $5 million in the case of beryllium (used for satellites, semiconductors, and weapons) to $4 billion for palladium (a critical component for catalytic converters), with imports for most minerals at just a few hundred million dollars. These numbers are mere rounding errors in the EU’s annual $3 trillion import bill. In other words, the issue with critical raw materials is their availability, not their price. Second, China’s domination of the sector stems from its strategy of flooding the market to depress prices—a textbook case of dumping to suppress the competition. Higher prices for critical minerals would therefore boost the competitiveness of non-Chinese producers and help them enter the market. There are precedents: After gallium prices rose in 2021, a German company announced that it would restart production.
Sanctions and embargoes rarely change behaviors. Well, they do — just generally not in the way that the people imposing them intended.
NOW LET’S DO IT IN AMERICA: UK Banks Commit to “the Principle of Non-Discrimination Based on Lawful Freedom of Expression” as to Clients.
UPDATE: Seth Barrett Tillman, The Debanking Scandal.
SOMETIMES ONE OF MY READERS GETS SO ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT A BOOK HE CONVINCES ME TO RUN A REVIEW: Zafiil: A Review.
NO, OF COURSE THERE WON’T BE AN APOLOGY, BECAUSE AN APOLOGY WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH: Will There Ever Be an Apology for Covid Overreaction?
If half of what they did came to light the only thing that would start to atone for this would be “we bought a wood chipper and called it amnesty.” So they’re going to keep not admitting they did anything wrong, and hoping they can keep riding that tiger.
SOMEWHAT OF A VICTORY: Pushback: City in Georgia forced to rescind a law that required permits for any protest.
TRIPLING A LOW NUMBER IS STILL A LOW NUMBER, BUT PEOPLE SHOULDN’T NEED TO BE TOLD NOT TO THREATEN CONGRESS-CRITTERS OUT OF SEASON: 300 Percent Increase in Threats Against Members of Congress, Capitol Police Chief Says.
SOME SEE A BUG, OTHERS THINK IT A FEATURE: Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread in New York, California.
UNEXPECTEDLY, AS SYSTEMIC WHITE POWER IS DISMANTLED THE DEMAND FOR BIPOC ENGINEERS, ACCOUNTANTS AND ACTUARIES CRATERS: California OKs Controversial Math Curriculum Promoting ‘Equity’.