Society's Child

1.1 million gallons of oil spills from pipeline in Gulf of Mexico, reason for leak yet to be determined

The Weather Channel
Wed, 22 Nov 2023 12:04 UTC

© U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy Clean Gulf Associates via AP
In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a Clean Gulf Associates 95-foot response vessel skims crude oil approximately 4 miles southeast off South Pass Louisiana, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. A Unified Command composed of the Coast Guard, Main Pass Oil Gathering Company, LLC, and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office is coordinating measures to assess, contain and mitigate the impact of the spill.

As much as 1.1 million gallons of oil may have been discharged into the Gulf of Mexico from a pipeline system off Louisiana's southeast coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.

The affected pipeline has been shut down but authorities were still trying to determine the exact location and cause of the leak, officials said during a Coast Guard news conference. None of the oil has reached land so far, though its affect on wildlife was still being investigated. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife official said two oily pelicans were sighted off the Louisiana coast Saturday, but still appeared active and able to fly.

The oil discharge was discovered amid high winds in the Gulf, which helped some of the oil evaporate and disperse. However, sheens and patches were still visible, said Capt. Kelly Denning, the Coast Guard's New Orleans sector commander.

Comment: Sabotage? A natural disaster? Corporate neglect and irresponsibility?

3rd-largest US oil refinery forced to shut down following massive fire (August 2023)
Poland cuts off Druzhba oil pipeline branch due to unexplained leak (August 2023)
Another incident at a Pemex facility: Huge fire at oil platform injures 6 in Gulf of Mexico (July 2023)

There go those glorious EV transition plans — Australians are not buying

Jo Nova
joannenova.com
Tue, 21 Nov 2023 23:56 UTC

The thrill of EV ownership in Australia has worn off before it even started

In news that will shock no one, except the Minister for Weather himself, Labor's plan to have nine out ten new car drivers in an electric vehicle by 2030 has crashed into a mountain of apathy. The latest estimates from the Australian department in charge of guessing these things is that EVs will only be 27% of new car sales by then, not 89%. And the modeling assumes EV's will be exempt from the usual tariffs and taxes, but finds most Australians would rather pay the extra taxes and get themselves a planet-wrecking petrol-head machine anyway.

Of course, in climate maths, 27% is practically the same as 89% because EV's may not reduce emissions at all, but since the push to force them on us has nothing to do with carbon emissions, the theatrical chasm in their big plans is a major loss.

That and the dilemma of who will pay for the back up batteries to stabilize the windy wobbly national grid if car owners don't?

By 2030, after years of propaganda and coercion, electric cars are only expected to be 5% of the national fleet of small vehicles.

Rumble suffers 'major DDoS attack' after CEO pledged to join Elon Musk to fight woke censorship

Libby Emmons
The Post Millennial
Tue, 21 Nov 2023 21:08 UTC

Video streaming site Rumble came under a DDOS attack on Monday. This after pledging to "go thermonuclear as well" along with Elon Musk following a Media Matters hit piece on X.

"UPDATE: We are currently experiencing a major DDOS attack. Our engineers are investigating and we will report back here with updates," Rumble said. A DDoS attack is "a cybercrime where the attacker floods a server with internet traffic to prevent users from accessing connected online services and sites." It disables the site that is attacked.

Comment: The report on Pavlovski's pledge

Elon Musk said he would "file a thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters over a hit piece they released last week that led corporate advertisers to leave the X platform. He alleged that they manipulated their research methods to attain a desired result — that of showing ads from high-profile companies next to antisemitic content. The Babylon Bee, Timcast, and Benny Media all pledged big ad buys on the platform. Now, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski has announced his plans to "go thermonuclear as well."

"When I said the cavalry is coming, I was not joking. In the coming days, we are going thermonuclear as well. Everyone is about to witness the greatest pushback against the censorship regime. The people's support for all organizations in this mission is critical," Pavlovski said.

"Yes," Musk replied simply.

The Missouri attorney general's office is also investigating after allegations that Media Matters gamed servers to prove their hypothesis. "My team is looking into this matter," said Andrew Bailey. It was Bailey's team that brought suit against the Biden administration over censorship on social media platforms. That suit, still ongoing, resulted in a federal judge prohibiting the Biden White House from contacting social media companies altogether.

Pavlovski is no stranger to controversy. Like Musk, he has dedicated his platform to free speech. And like Musk, he has been savagely attacked for it. Rumble has been targeted by Check My Ads, a not-for-profit that claims to "cut disinformation off at the source." What they really do is shame advertisers into pulling their ads from sites that do not align with Check My Ads' progressive values.

Rumble was recently targeted by The News Movement, owned by The Recount, after Rumble backed Russell Brand in the wake of YouTube demonetizing him, pulling ads from his videos on that platform. Rumble said they would absolutely not do that — despite pressure from members of Parliament in the UK.

A little tidbit on The Recount just to show the calibre of folks they are:

Former editor of left-leaning website The Recount, Slade Sohmer, is charged on multiple counts of child pornography

Reports on Brand emerged in British media after a years-long investigation into rumors of his sexual misdeeds. Media outlets that reported on the allegations dug up by the press contacted advertisers who supported Brand's content. Those advertisers, under threat of shame or perhaps fearing boycotts, told the media they would pull their ads.

When Rumble was contacted, they declined absolutely. The News Movement then contacted advertisers who placed ads on the Rumble platform and encouraged them to pull their ads.

X has been under threat from ad boycotts since Musk bought the platform and dedicated it to free speech. Those who crave censorship, who want social media platforms to align with a progressive worldview, continue to go after X and Rumble for refusing to censor the speech of those on the platform. They demand content moderation, but over the past several years, that has meant the suppression and censorship of truth, honest reporting, and facts.

Tim Pool of Timcast comments:

Biden invokes wartime powers to funnel taxpayer dollars into crackdown on home appliances

Truth Press
Sun, 19 Nov 2023 00:00 UTC

President Biden invoked a Cold War-era law in a surprising move Friday to pour taxpayer funds into domestic manufacturing of electric heat pumps, an alternative to gas-powered residential furnaces.

In a joint announcement with the White House, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the federal government would award a "historic" $169 million for nine projects across 15 sites nationwide in an effort to accelerate electric heat pump manufacturing. The significant level of funding was made possible after Biden utilized the 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase domestic production of green energy technologies.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said:

"Getting more American-made electric heat pumps on the market will help families and businesses save money with efficient heating and cooling technology. These investments will create thousands of high-quality, good-paying manufacturing jobs and strengthen America's energy supply chain, while creating healthier indoor spaces through home-grown clean energy technologies."

John Podesta, the White House clean energy czar, added:

"Today's Defense Production Act funds for heat pump manufacturing show that President Biden is treating climate change as the crisis it is. These awards will grow domestic manufacturing, create good-paying jobs, and boost American competitiveness in industries of the future."

Comment: Biden takes over the production of heat pumps. What's his cut?

Flagship British firms set to profit amid Israel's war on Gaza

John McEvoy
Declassified UK
Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00 UTC

© Loay Ayyoub/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Effects of Israeli bombing east of Khan Younis, Southern Gaza • November 12, 2023

British energy giant BP and arms firm BAE Systems are set to profit from Israel amid its ongoing destruction of Gaza, Declassified has found.

While Israel's military has killed over 11,000 Palestinians in Gaza, its government has announced the award to BP of a lucrative contract to explore for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, arms firm BAE Systems, which manufactures key parts of the F-35 jets being used to support strikes on Gaza, has seen its share price rise in recent weeks.

A number of British Conservative MPs who rejected last week's parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza have shares in BP and BAE, which are both strongly linked to the UK government.

BP's new licences

On 29 October, Israel's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure announced that it had awarded new licences to six energy companies for offshore natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

The announcement came a week after Israel bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killing dozens of people. The camp was bombed again two days later.

One of the bids was won by a joint consortium of British energy giant BP, Azeri national oil company SOCAR, and Israeli corporation NewMed Energy.

While the bids were made earlier this year, the timing of the announcement was designed to foster investor confidence in Israel amid its brutal war on Gaza.

Comment: See also:

The ADL is leading the attack against free speech on Palestine

Amira Jarmakani
Mondoweiss
Tue, 21 Nov 2023 19:54 UTC

Columbia University's recent suspension of its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) chapters was just the latest examples of the unfolding attacks on free speech when it comes to Palestine in the United States. Among the troubling aspects of this trend is the role outside groups are playing in university actions since October 7, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has been leading the charge against SJP chapters nationally.

Despite being widely understood as a mainstream civil rights organization, the ADL has a long history of surveilling and infiltrating social justice and human rights organizations, silencing advocacy for Palestine, and particularly working to silence any and all criticism of Israel.

Students for Justice in Palestine, in particular, has been in the crosshairs of the ADL's repression campaign for at least a decade. One of the main avenues for doing so has been to equate anti-Zionism, and really any form of criticism of Israel, with antisemitism. Such conflations lay the groundwork for the ADL to make its oft-repeated claim that SJP and JVP are the "photo inverse of the extreme right" and even to implicate them in the rise of antisemitic hate crimes.

Comment: The ADL is pulling out every weapon is has because they know they're losing:

Ukraine's war on women: Untold horrors of state-sanctioned torture?

The Islander
Sun, 19 Nov 2023 19:07 UTC

In the shadows of the blaring headlines and geopolitical maneuvers lies a harrowing saga of silent suffering - the plight of Ukrainian women, a tale steeped in the horrors of state-sanctioned torture and systemic abuse. This narrative, mostly sidelined in mainstream media, reveals a disturbing pattern of violence and discrimination, now brutally magnified since NATO's provoked war with Russia. Alongside the stark realities outlined in the US State Department's 2019 Human Rights Report emerge new chilling allegations of abuse by nationalist battalions like Azov, and a surge in human trafficking that has ensnared countless women in a nightmarish web of oppression and torture.

In the chaotic wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine plunged into a dark era marked by an alarming surge in crimes against women's honour and dignity. Long before Volodymyr Zelensky's ascent to power, a sinister trend had emerged: Ukraine led the grim tally in the number of women violated by state security forces, with the police often implicated. Starkly, these perpetrators roamed free, shielded by gaps in the legal system that allowed such heinous acts to go unpunished. Despite the UN's 2013 report highlighting over 20 million Ukrainians suffering violence, and 40% of women facing sexual aggression, accountability remained nonexistent. Yet, in a twist of bitter irony, the assumption of power by Zelensky in 2019 marked a disturbing turn: the international community's already faint outcry against these brutal crimes against women seemed to mute entirely. This chilling silence served as an implicit sanction, emboldening those who perpetrate such violations with an air of invincibility.

Polycrisis: Our mutually reinforcing crises

Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:16 UTC

That's the difficulty with nonlinear, mutually reinforcing crises: our over-confidence, hubris and refusal to consider sacrifices will be our undoing.

Back in 2017 when I composed this graphic of overlapping crises, the word polycrisis was not yet in common use. Polycrisis has various definitions for example: "the simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events."

But this doesn't explain the truly dangerous dynamic in polycrisis, which is the nonlinear, mutually reinforcing potential of disparate crises to generate effects much larger than the initial causes. This definition is closer to the mark: "Many different problems happening at the same time so that they together have a very big effect."

Put another way: 1 + 1 + 1 doesn't generate an effect of 3, it generates an effect of 9.

You'll notice the crises on my graphic are internal socio-economic dynamics: state-cartel centralization, demographics, soaring debts, Imperial over-reach, technological disruption, disunity in elites and diminishing returns on financial predation. Many don't see these as crises; they're seen as factors, not as potentially catastrophic dynamics. This is the linear analysis: none of these dynamics is actually threatening to the stability of the US.

Europe is burning

Joel Kotkin
American Thinker
Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00 UTC

The only lessons the Old World offers to America these days are cautionary.

Ever since the earliest days of the Republic, American intellectuals, artists, and statesmen looked to Europe for models. Conservatives felt attracted to the continent's sense of continuity and tradition, and as the base for Christianity. More recently, progressives saw in European social democracy and globalist pacifism a role model to be embraced.

Yet today Europe seems not much of a model for much of anything outside of museums, charming cathedral towns, and terrific food. The notion that Europe represents the future, nurtured by the likes of Mitterrand advisor Jacques Attali, Jeremy Rifkind's utopian European Dream, and the American journalist T.R. Reid's 2005 The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy, seem utterly delusional.

A common theme in the early years of the millennium was that Europe was on the verge of global resurgence while America was in decline. Europe's eventual stagnation, as many conservatives point out, can be in part traced to an ever expanding high-tax welfare state that generally absorbs roughly ten more percentage points of GDP than in the U.S. But this is not the only explanation. Some of the moderately better off European economies, like Denmark and Sweden, are welfare states but manage to outperform the rest.

New York City: Cardi B turns on Democrats: "Bch, we're going to be drowning in fking rats"

Zerohedge
Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:40 UTC

Bronx-raised rapper Cardi B turned on Democrats and New York City Mayor Eric Adams for controversial budgets last week that would affect schools, libraries, firefighters, police, and much more.

Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, was once a mega supporter of the Biden administration. Now she's going through the 'angry' regret phrase as New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced 5% across-the-board budget cuts that will impact all residents. The cuts are primarily driven by the Democrat's open southern border policy that has flooded the metro area with more than 100,000 illegals.

During a live stream, which was reposted on social media, she started off with, "I'm an angry a$$ b**ch right now ... I'm an angry b**ch ... I'm about to go off right now."

"Otherwise, the same pattern will be repeated" This is built in to the system. It will continue to be repeated, until the system collapses and a...

Jamso

As local government official, I would take notice. If it isn't too late already. Those people know someone had agreed to accomodate these...

codis

What these morons are ignoring (wilfully and blindly, as usual) is that Russia will call the shots in the Ukraine now. And they will call them to...

Jamso

Maidan 2014 was a regime change false flag engineered by the CIA/MI6. Oliver Stone in his Ukraine documentaries reviews the evidence that...

Dwoods44

Here's an (almost) eye-witness account: [Link]

Jamso

Society's Child

1.1 million gallons of oil spills from pipeline in Gulf of Mexico, reason for leak yet to be determined

There go those glorious EV transition plans — Australians are not buying

Rumble suffers 'major DDoS attack' after CEO pledged to join Elon Musk to fight woke censorship

Biden invokes wartime powers to funnel taxpayer dollars into crackdown on home appliances

Flagship British firms set to profit amid Israel's war on Gaza

The ADL is leading the attack against free speech on Palestine

Ukraine's war on women: Untold horrors of state-sanctioned torture?

Polycrisis: Our mutually reinforcing crises

Europe is burning

New York City: Cardi B turns on Democrats: "Bch, we're going to be drowning in fking rats"

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