Zero Emissions Trucks

For John, BLUF:  California to eliminate deisel trucks by 2036, as in have them no more.  I bet this screws up the ports of debarkation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

California Approves Regulation to Phase Out Diesel Trucks by 2036

From The National Review, by Reporter Caroline Downey, 29 April 2023, 11:18 AM.

Here is the lede plus four:

California air regulators on Friday voted to ban diesel truck sales by 2036. The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the measure called Advanced Clean Fleets, which would prohibit the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and force trucks to produce zero-emissions by 2042. New commercial trucks, such as garbage trucks, delivery trucks and other medium and heavy-duty vehicles, would need to convert to electric under the rule, CNBC reported.

“The initial focus would be on high-priority fleets with vehicles that are suitable for early electrification, their subhaulers, and entities that hire them,” the website outlining the program states. “The goal of this effort is to accelerate the number of medium and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle purchases to achieve a full transition to zero-emission vehicles in California as soon as possible.”

Ending diesel truck sales in such a dramatic timeline is part of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to crackdown on pollution in the state. Critics claim the transition will be extremely costly and burdensome for the industry, which also does not yet have the infrastructure to support zero-emission trucks. Drayage trucks, which transport cargo to and from major ports, must become electric 2035, and their new sales must be zero-emissions as early as 2024.

The American Trucking Association slammed California’s adoption of the regulation, which now must be approved or rejected by the Environmental Protection Agency within the Biden administration. Given that the trucks are significantly more expensive and “charging and refueling infrastructure is nonexistent,” the cost will be passed down to the consumer, the organization argued.

Hat tip to Memeorandum.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Collapse of Prosecution

For John, BLUF:  Our judicial system works because we trust the system.  Mr George Soros seems to be taking actions that undermine that system.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Judge shreds Soros-backed prosecutor, moves to hold her in criminal contempt:  'Rudderless ship of chaos'

Here is the sub-headline:

Kimberly Gardner under fire for repeated no-shows in court as office struggles with staffing

From Fix News, by Reporter Aaron Kliegman, 29 April 2023, 12:56pm EDT.

Here is the lede plus one:

A Missouri judge on Thursday moved to hold a George Soros-bankrolled prosecutor in "indirect criminal contempt" after she and her subordinates failed to show up for multiple court dates, lambasting her office as a "rudderless ship of chaos."

Judge Michael Noble announced he will appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the contempt case against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, the city's top prosecutor, and Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Desilets after no one from Gardner's office appeared at a trial and subsequent hearing in an assault case involving the wounding of an 11-year-old girl.

"It appears that Ms. Gardner has complete indifference and a conscious disregard for the judicial process," Noble said during a hearing to address the no-shows.  "There is sufficient evidence of disdain and disrespect for the judicial process to determine that both Ms. Gardner and Mr. Desilets' conduct support a finding of indirect criminal contempt.  Furthermore, any attorney's violation of a court's order constitutes an intentional disobedience and shows a clear intent to disregard the power and authority of the judicial system process."

What is Mr George Soros thinking when he backs District Attorneys who are unwilling to prosecute low level crimes?  Has he not heard of the Broken Windows Theory?♠  Does he think that criminals just want to be free and will mature into law abiding citizens eventually?

What is it with Mr George Soros?  Was it his childhood, gowing up in occupied Hungary during WWII, that causes him to act this way?  Or, is this a low level effort to undermine our Anglo-Saxon form of Government?  In that he would not be alone amongst the Progressives.  Or is he trying to protect himself from the actions of Law Enforcement against him and his enterprises?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Loowell gets mentioned in this Wikipedia article.

Workplace Relationships

For John, BLUF:  What is acceptable behavior in the workplace, and does the workplace matter?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Whitlock: Tucker Carlson and the rise of matriarchal Marxism

From The Blaze, by Sports Reporter Jason Whitlock, 25 April 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

The matriarchy can fly the "mission accomplished" flag across America.  It toppled the man-made meritocracy that imperfectly defined American culture for 200+ years.

The fall of Tucker Carlson at Fox News symbolizes the matriarchy’s prioritizing of message over merit.  Performance could not shield Carlson from the consequence of America’s adoption of a feminized culture that levels the playing field by castrating men, reimagining traditional standards, and embracing a false reality.

The author of the piece has had his own adventures with being laid off.  And, he has experienced the internal tensions of newsrooms.

However, he raises a question worth asking.  Have we allowed catering to the sensitivites of small groups to get in the way of production, innovation and hard work?  Is merit dead, supplanted by feeling good?

As a first step I would say the workplace is no place for sexual harrassment, for the trading of sexual favors or for making people feel uncomfortable with crude jokes.  In the same way, minorities need to be absorbed into the in-group, not shunned or belittled.

That said, an organization's performance is often enhanced by a camaraderie that includes inside humor and a certain psuedo-aggressive banter.  I have especially noted this in fighter squadrons.  But, will what works in a homogeneous group work in a more diverse group, where standards for judging what is funny may be different and sensitivities brought to the group may not be easily recognized?  In my day a fighter squadron was both a place of competition and of criticism.  Every mission was debriefed, with mistakes pointed out and responsibility assigned.  Missions were opportunities for competion.  A mission to the bombing range involved a bet on every bomb dropped.  (It was accepted that "gear in the well" buys the bombs.♠)  Not a large sum, but pride and money.  In this age, how much competition and criticism is acceptable and how much tension can be relieved by humor.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  That is to say, the bet regarding bomb scores starts at the point after takeoff when the landing gear had been retracted into the landing gear wells.  After that point, mission abort, say for a maintenance problem, meant the money for the bet was forfeited, even if no bombs were dropped from that aircraft.

Defenestration?

For John, BLUF:  Tucker Carlson is gone, effective now.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Tucker Carlson Gone

From Fox, by Host Harris Faulkner.

I just heard Ms Harris Faulkner, on The Faulkner Focus, say that Talk Show Host Tucker Carlson has left Fox.  Gone immediately.  Already had his last show.

This is on the heels of the departure of Host Don Bongino.♠ 

The question is why.  Did he jump or was he pushed?  Was there some agreement in the settlement with Dominion that required certain on-air talent to depart?.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Granted, Mr Bongino left due to a pay dispute—he wanted more tha Fox wod give—but lost talent is lost talent.

Misdirection

For John, BLUF:  This is about the Hunter Biden Laptop and efforts to minimize its importance during the 2020 Presidential Election.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Hunter Biden investigation:  Ex-CIA chief says Blinken ‘triggered’ letter to discredit laptop

From The Washington Examiner, by Justice Department Reporter Jerry Dunleavy, 20 April 2023, 09:13 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

A former top CIA official who helped write and sign the infamous October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop letter baselessly claiming Russian involvement has testified a phone call with now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken “triggered” its creation.

Mike Morell, a former acting CIA director under President Barack Obama, said in a recent transcribed interview with congressional investigators that, before his Oct. 17 phone call with Blinken, he had no intention to write the Oct. 19 Hunter Biden laptop letter.  He testified “yes” and “absolutely” when asked if the call with Blinken, who was then a top adviser for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, was what “triggered that intent in you.”

Morell also testified that one of the two reasons he helped put the letter together was to help Joe Biden defeat former President Donald Trump.

These revelations came in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner that was sent to Blinken on Thursday by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

It is disturbing to think that senior members of our US Intelligence Community would concoct and sign a joint letter that implied that Russia was behind the Hunter Biden Laptop story, without the modicum of intestigation that would have revealed that it really was a thing.

This does raise a question about the FBI, and it's Trump appointed Director, Mr Christopher Wray.  Why were they silent on this, given that they had been holding the subject laptop for over a year?  Was it that they were trying to help to help Candidate Biden, as they had helped Candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016?  Or is it that Mr Wray was an Institutionalist and President Trump was an anti-Institutionalist and Mr Wray went with the Institution, just like FBI members Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

There is an indication of election interference here.  Not proven in court, but still, strong indications.

If proven, it doesn't get the Election back for Mr Trump.  The Electoral College has given us our President.  It is up to the voters to render a verdict in 2024.  That doesn't mean the small fry can't be charged and tried for election shenanigans.  But, the election outcome will not be reversed.

This does not leave our Secretary of State, Mr Anthony Blinken, in a good light.

Hat tip to the Dan Bongino.

Regards  —  Cliff

Going Mask Free

For John, BLUF:  The COVID Pandemic seems to be winding down.  On Monday,10 April, President Biden signed an act ending our three year national emergency.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Experts call for end of universal masking in hospitals, clinics

From United Press International, by Health Reporter Dennis Thompson, 19 April 2023, 12:04 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Healthcare facilities remain one of the last places left in the United States with COVID-era mask requirements still in effect.

It's time for that to end, experts say.

A prestigious collection of infection disease experts and epidemiologists say universal masking requirements in healthcare settings should be lifted, according to a commentary they published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

COVID-19 has reached the point where it should be managed in a way similar to how other respiratory viruses are handled in hospitals, doctor's offices and long-term care facilities, the editorial argues.

So, when is this change of policy coming to the Merrimack Valley?

Or is it already here, in a practical way, given the mandated use by patients of the Blue Mask of Death?♠

In my case, being "elderly", I should still wear my mask in the hospital, although now I may be free to wear a KN-95.  I wear my mask when I go up for Communion, or when I think I will be in another crowded place.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I would like to thank Mr John McDonough for the education that caused me to switch over to the KN-95 Mask for my normal usage.

Don't Ask Because We Won't Tell

For John, BLUF:  I find it disturbing that the local Nashville Police, probably guided by the FBI, is refusing to release the manefesto of the recent mass shooter.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

What Are They Hiding About the Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto? Glenn Greenwald (and Others) Want To Know

From PJ Media, by Reporter Lincoln Brown, 18 APRIL 2023, 7:37 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

A short time back, our editor-in-chief said that there had been a school shooting in Nashville, and asked if anyone would cover it.  I wrote the first story about it for PJ Media.  It wasn’t the first time I had ever written about human tragedy or cruelty.  And I have hated doing it every time.  I always feel like Judas collecting his 30 pieces of silver from someone else’s suffering.

Be that as it may, the Nashville shooting mattered, and not just because it gave the Left more talking points about the evils of gun ownership.  After all, if we are being honest, the Left can come up with talking points about the evils of gun ownership over a skeeball game.  What the Nashville murders revealed was the level of disconnect affecting the transgender movement.  As did the fact that everyone from the White House on down seemed to be less concerned with the victims and their families than with the transgender community.  Also conspicuously absent from the debate has been the incendiary language that that community has used.

Pertinent information seems to be in the manifesto written by the woman who committed the crimes.  And that manifesto has been declared off-limits, so it would appear that no one is getting access to it.  That includes journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has even enlisted the aid of lawyers to get the manifesto from the Nashville Police Department.  But the firms have decided to back out of the effort.

At the beginning of this story I wasn't much interested in the "Manafesto" and other writings, but now that the press is being stonewalled, I have a high level of interest in what is going on with the shooter and his writings.

This hiding of information in a criminal case, especially a "mass shooting", should be disturbing to all citizens.  It is the Government trying to control the narrative on a story that might not be going their collective way.

We are at the point in this story that the question is, what is being hidden from us.  What is it that the Nanny State thinks we can't handle?  I think the actions in this case set a very poor example for governments at all levels in future cases.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Dissatisfied Sometimes Move

For John, BLUF:  People who are unhappy with theeir local governments are moving to places they find more congeniel.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Great Divorce? 2.6 Million Fled Counties That Voted For Biden

From Issues and Insights, by I & I Editorial Board, 19 April 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Is the country separating itself into two distinct camps?  One increasingly leftist and the other trying desperately to cling to traditional American values?  Census data seem to show that it very well could be underway. Last week, we commented on recent population data showing that people have been fleeing urban areas, noting that these are mostly Democratically controlled, and we pointed out that people have also been moving from blue states to red.

But we wanted to go deeper and get more precise numbers.  So, we matched Census net migration data from mid-2020 through mid-2022 for all the nation’s 3,000-plus counties (or their equivalents) and compared that with how these counties voted in 2020.  Our working assumption is that the results of the incredibly divisive 2020 election would be a good barometer of the devoutly held political views in those counties.

What we found was striking: There has been a vast migration out of counties that voted for Joe Biden into those counties that voted to reelect Donald Trump.

Census data show a net internal migration of almost 2.6 million (2,584,459 to be exact) from blue counties to red since Biden was elected.  (These figures don’t count immigrants or births or deaths, just those Americans moving from one location to another.)

Here are some of the findings from their look at the data:

• More than 61% of the counties that voted for Biden in 2020 lost population, while 65% of Trump-supporting counties gained population.
• Of the 555 counties Biden won, 335 (or 61%) lost population due to internal migration, our analysis found. Of the 2,589 counties that Trump won, 1,675 (or 65%) gained population.
• Two Biden-voting counties that lost the most from net migration were Los Angeles County, which was down 363,760, and Cook County, Illinois, down 200,718. While many of the blue counties that lost population were urbanized, the exodus was widespread and nationwide, including many far more sparsely populated liberal areas.
• In contrast, the biggest loss in any red county was Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, down just 18,470, followed by Worcester County, Maryland, which is in the southern part of the state, down only 17,545.
• In 13 states that had a net loss of population, red counties nevertheless showed gains. In California, which saw a massive net outflow of 871,127 people in just the past two years, counties that backed Trump had a net gain of 8,412.  New Jersey suffered a loss of 107,749 over the past two years, but counties in the Garden State that voted for Trump gained 22,507.  Michigan lost 43,188 overall, but its red counties had a net gain of 28,091.

Does this mean there will be a shift in voting for President?  That is not obvious.  The migrants may be moving away from "Blue" problems, but they may be bringing "Blue" attitudes with them.  A friend of mine in New Hampshire last week wrote about a quiet little town that attracted people from Masschusetts, who brought with them a desire for curbs and sidewalks and traffic lights and soon taxed the locals out of the town.

On the other hand, the recent wilding in Chicago may be the kind of thing that causes residents to change their minds on law and order and to move to find it, thus changing their political orientation at least somewhat.

However, businesses closing in downtown areas may also cause some to flee from those areas.  For example, Whole Foods announced in early April that it is closig its flagship San Francisco store over employee safety concerns.

The reason this matters is the impact of geography on the elections of Presidents.  Each state automatically gets two Electors, and then more based upon popultion. As population flows out of California or New York, those states may lose Electors, while other states gain Electors.  Mr William A. Galston, writing in The Wall Street Journal, tells us "What Drives Political Polarization".  Per Mr Glston, "A new study suggests that the jobs gaps between rural and urban places is a key."

In a way, internal migration is a way for politics to work itself out.  Small groups, which can not influence their own local governments can move and help influence the overall national approach by uniting with like minded people in their new locations.

November 2032 will tell us if there is an impact on voting patterns.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Truth, Justice, and the American Way"

For John, BLUF:  Literature is a pretty big universe and I can't hope to real all the books and watch all the movies in my lifetime.  But, I am bothered when themes or characters are not just emulated, but stolen, changing the original model.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Winning the woke war

From Substack, by Journalist Don Surber, 20 March 2023.

Here is the lede plus nine:

Disney’s ABC attacked Ron DeSantis and other conservatives for using the word woke, in a piece headlined, “What does ‘woke’ mean and why are some conservatives using it? The definition of ‘woke’ changes depending on who you ask.”

The quote marks are unnecessary and the Oxford English Dictionary defines its current use as an adjective as, ahem, “Originally: well-informed, up-to-date.  Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently in stay woke (often used as an exhortation).”

But ABC insisted on bashing conservatives for using the word.

Published January 20, 2023, the piece said, “The term has since been co-opted by some Republicans as a pejorative term this midterm election cycle to signify the identity-based social justice issues that some Democrats and progressives push for, representatives from the Democrat Governors Association and Working Families Party tell ABC News.”

By co-opted, ABC means used. Apparently, conservatives are not supposed to share the same language with liberals.

The reason lefty loons hate conservatives using woke as an adjective is the backlash against woke.  The left is poisoning society with political correctness, with a poison that is worse than kryptonite because it almost killed Superman.  Making him gay and an illegal alien crippled the comic because readers want a hero, not a propagandist.

That is changing.

Breitbart reported, “The upcoming Superman movie to be directed by James Gunn is set to restore the ‘American way’ portion of Superman’s ages-old motto after DC Comics removed the patriotic segment back in 2021.

“As Breitbart News reported in October of 2021, DC Comics dumped the Man of Steel’s ‘America’ replacing it with ‘a better tomorrow’ by rewriting the original slogan — ‘truth, justice, and the American way’ — to read ‘truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.’”

Welcome back to the USA, Clark Kent.  His DC Comics is owned by Discovery as part of its purchase of CNN and the like.

I am glad to see Superman back as his orignal, 1940s, form.  A more "Woke" versiono didn't meet my needs.  I am looking forward to the new Superman movie.

That said, as a friend in San Francisco reminded me, Superman isn't a human.  He is from Krypton.  In the 1930s, when Superman was conceived, the tendency would have been for a anthropomorphic view of aliens.  Besides, the story line wouldn't work out if Clark Kent had the pointy ears of Spock. a Vulcan.

But, this raises some interesting questions.  What if Kal-El (renamed Clark Kent) had landed on a sharecropping farm in rural Alabama?  Would he still have appeared as a Caucasian or would his powers allow him to appear as a Black child?  Would he have ended up in Metropolis, or would it have been Montgomery?  What would truth, justice and the American Way have meant during that period of segregation and Jim Crow?

And, while returning Superman to his cisgender Caucasian male roots meets the needs of tens of millions of Americans, should there not be legitimate heroes for people of other races and genders?♠  There is, for example, Supergirl.  While they might, or might not, appeal to me, individually, they are a legitimate source of inspiration for those who are Hispanic, or Black or Asain or LGBT or whoever.  But, perhaps they should not be the fictional heroes of the past, reformatted.  Would that not be cultural appropriation?  Same themes, but new personalities.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Until the day when we can all celebrate other peoples' heroes.

What Really Happened?

For John, BLUF:  Officials seem to be hiding information from the Public regarding the School Shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Where’s the Manifesto?

Here is the sub-headline:

From The Epooch Times, by Writer Roger L. Simon, 7 April 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

My home city of Nashville has been in a virtual nonstop uproar since the tragic murders of six people, three of them 9-year-old children, at The Covenant School on March 27.

This has been ineffably sad for the families and friends of the victims, who are victims themselves, their grief often overwhelmed in a city, indeed a country, now so politicized that our common humanity seems some distant memory from a long ago Jimmy Stewart movie one sees only at Christmas.

Lost too in all this is any sense of what really happened that March 27 or why it happened.

Distraction reigns. The past few days have been arguably the mother of all distractions when, as reported here at The Epoch Times and virtually everywhere, riots or protests (depending on how you see them) broke out in front of and within the Tennessee State Assembly.

To cut to the chase, there is a lot of sound and fury in Nashville, but no one is telling us about the manifesto left by the shoooter at the Covenant School.

What is it that the shooter wanted us to know?  We apparently are not going to be allowed to know.

One wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that the shooter, born Audrey Hale, at the time of the shooting identified as Aiden Hale.  While the media seem to persist with the name Audrey, Wikipedia goes with Aiden.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Easter

For John, BLUF:  Good to see you at the Vigal.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

He is Risen

Yes, I am late, but betterr late than never.

My Yuongest Brother texted me at midnight, after attending his local Vigal Mass.

My Middle Brother texted me before 0800 this morning, his time.

Regards  —  Cliff