HMM: US officials say Russia has asked China for military aid in Ukraine invasion. “Russia has asked China for military aid to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to US officials. US officials told the Financial Times that it is suspected Russia may be running out of weaponry as the war enters its third week.”
Is it true? Who knows.
KRUISER’S BRIEFING: Tom Brady Ruins Everything. “Like every bug you’ve ever had infesting your beloved household, Tom Brady decided to infest our lives again. Look I’m not here to disparage what he’s accomplished as a quarterback in the National Football League, even though I do think he would have not been nearly as successful had he played in the NFL of the 1970s. Let’s be honest here: if Brady couldn’t move the ball downfield with pass interference calls his career might have lasted three years.”
JOE BIDEN DID THAT: Uber to roll out fuel surcharge in United States with surging gas prices.
I WISH HE’D HAVE SAID “YOU’RE FIRED!” TO A LOT MORE PEOPLE THE FIRST TIME AROUND: Trump Offers a Proposal to Destroy the Deep State. “We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States. The deep state must and will be brought to heel.”
YES: Ukraine Needs Ground-Based Air Defenses Way More Than MiGs. “When it comes to fighters over SAMs, the U.S. government appears to have come to a similar conclusion. Speaking yesterday, John Kirby, the U.S. military’s top spokesperson, said that instead of the MiG-29s, the Ukrainian forces would benefit more from additional deliveries of ground-based air defense systems. While the Fulcrum became a signature weapon for the Ukrainian side early on in the conflict, and a rallying point for the country’s population, Kirby is right that transferring more of these jets would not necessarily have made the most sense from a military or a risk of escalation perspective. After all, while the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has made big claims about the aerial kills achieved by its fighters, the country’s ground-based air defense systems have certainly played a far bigger role in depriving Russia of air superiority — a surprise for many analysts, who had expected Russian aerial dominance to quickly show through. They have also limited Russia’s ability to supply close air support to its own troops, giving Ukraine an additional advantage.”
FALLOUT: Former NATO Secretary-General Says Alliance Sent ‘Wrong Signal’ In 2008. “NATO is prepared to welcome both Finland and Sweden. I would say an application from Finland and Sweden could be approved more or less overnight. And let me add to this: I think it would be in the self-interest of Finland and Sweden to join NATO right now. Because now they have a window of opportunity.”
MEGAN FOX: Biden Regret! Guess Who Misses Trump Now? “I never thought I’d hear people as nasty as Bill Maher and Trevor Noah praise Donald Trump, but that’s what’s happening.”
IF IT WEREN’T FOR BIDENOMICS, WE COULD WEATHER THESE FOREIGN STORMS A LOT BETTER: Record Food Prices Could Leap 22% More on Ukraine War, UN Warns.
NOT THE ONION: Vulva Spaceship aims to counter prevalence of phallic spacecraft. “WBF? argues that as well as being symbolically inclusive, the ship would be ‘surprisingly aerodynamic’ because the V-shape creates little drag as the craft leaves Earth’s atmosphere – proving that there is room for non-phallic shapes in space.”
TO BE FAIR, SHE’S AN IDIOT: Elizabeth Warren Says the Solution to High Gas Prices Is Higher Taxes on Oil Companies. “Leaving aside the fact that the senator has evidently never met a corporate tax she didn’t want to hike, history shows that imposing a windfall profits tax on oil is particularly shortsighted.”
EMBRACE THE HEALING POWER OF “AND”: Facebook Lefties Are Stupid or Lying: Biden Is Helping to Drive Up the Price of Oil.
SELF-IMPOSED MISERY: Russian Economy in ‘Shock’ Due to Sanctions (But So Is Ours, Without Them).
PORK’S REVENGE: Congress brings back earmarks for first time in over a decade.
Braun, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, on Thursday proposed an amendment that would cut $8 billion in earmarks out of the omnibus bill. His amendment failed 64-35. Congress puts money aside for local projects.
This is the first time Congress has had earmarks since 2011, the Indiana Republican told Just the News Editor-in-Chief John Solomon and co-host Amanda Head earlier that evening.
Braun stressed that the “even worse news” is that Congress still needs to pass $3 trillion for Medicare and Social Security.
He describes the $1.5 trillion spending bill as “2700 pages full of pork.”
“You think after all this money we spent, all of which we borrowed, that you would not need earmarks,” he said. Debt in the United States has increased quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently sits at more than $30 trillion.
Anything that can’t go on forever will stop.
FLASHBACK: Biden’s Plan To Outsource The U.S. Oil And Gas Industry.
It is not a revelation to discover that the Biden administration intends to phase out the U.S. oil and gas industry. But it is astonishing to see how quickly it is moving to accomplish this, while sending production abroad to producers in Russia and Middle Eastern nations whose commitment to reduce greenhouse gases is at best questionable.
The most recent action, revealed on August 11, was to implore OPEC and fellow traveler Russia to increase their production as demand in fast recovering economies makes up the shortfalls caused by the pandemic. Polling data in the U.S. about inflation caused in no small part by rising gasoline prices undoubtedly is a prime mover behind the administration request. These are the same producers who just a few short months ago (in early 2020) flooded declining markets in an effort to destroy the economics of U.S. shale oil production. The Biden team also has given a boost to Russian gas production by backing off on attempts to derail the Nord Stream pipeline into Germany, which increases European dependence on the heavily polluting Russian extraction industry. U.S. liquified natural gas producers had hope and reasonable expectations of building capacity to supply European absent the deal with Russia.
The Biden team got off to a fast start in its assault on U.S. and North American oil production by blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which would have contributed to jobs in the construction, refining and transportation sectors in the United States. The administration also has put any new Alaskan production on permanent hold and frozen any new exploration and development auctions in the lower 48 states and offshore.
As part of its most recent initiative, the White House also asked new Federal Trade Commission Chair Lena Khan to spring into action to “monitor industry prices, review merger and acquisitions … and investigate market manipulation and anticompetition practices…” in the U.S. oil industry. The implication of the White House directive is that the industry has nefariously raised gasoline prices above levels commensurate with crude prices.
But Putin!
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Hate Crime Hoax Criminal Smollett Gets a Slap On the Wrist. “The reason that Smollett keeps lying is that he knows that hate-crime hoaxes barely get punished. An integral part of the leftist smear campaign against conservatives is the staging of ‘hate crimes.’ It’s gotten to be so routine with the lefties that you’re pretty safe assuming that a ‘hate crime’ that’s being reported widely by the mainstream media isn’t real.”
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Stagflation Is Already Here in the Housing Market. “Though homebuilders continue to expand construction in response to elevated demand, the number of homes actually being completed has been stagnant because of persistent supply chain problems. This stagflation is a headache for homebuilders and homebuyers, but it’s a benefit for many existing homeowners — and therein lies the Fed’s predicament as it seeks to lower inflation.”
THIS WAS NEARLY ME IN MY TWENTIES: Serial Bad Driver Rep. Madison Cawthorn Faces 20 Days Behind Bars.
TREATING CANCER WITH A BANDAID: Bipartisan Support Growing for Suspending the Gas Tax.
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