Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

MAY 6, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE ONCE-GOLDEN STATE – OVERNIGHT:   Californians, get thee to the supermarkets and buy your Duracells.  Darkness is-a-comin'.   From Reuters:   May 6 (Reuters) - California energy officials on Friday issued a sober forecast for the state's electrical grid, saying it lacks sufficient capacity to keep the lights on this summer and beyond if heatwaves, wildfires or other extreme events take their toll.  The update from leaders from three state agencies and the office of Governor Gavin Newsom comes in response to a string of challenges with the ambitious transition away from fossil fuels, including rolling blackouts during a summer heat wave in 2020.  California has among the most aggressive climate change policies in the world, including a goal of producing all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.  In an online briefing with reporters, the officials forecast a potential shortfall of 1,700 megawatts this year, a number that could go as high as 5,000 MW if the grid is taxed by multiple challenges that reduce available power while sending demand soaring, state officials said during an online briefing with reporters.  Supply gaps along those lines could leave between 1 million and 4 million people without power.  Why, this is silly.  It's a green energy state.  Why don't they just plug the state into the green-energy machine?  I'm sure they have a very good one.  And everybody drives green-energy cars.  Plug them in too.  I don't see what's so hard about all this.  And even if the lights go out, so what?  Dark is good.  In the light you use all that carbon stuff.  Live darkly!  Oh, I feel so good about myself.

May 6, 2022     Permalink

MARK THIS COMING MONDAY – OVERNIGHT:  It will be May 9th, the day that Russia commemorates victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.  It is a major day on the Russian calendar, a day when the victory is celebrated with massive military parades and muscle flexing.

The question is:  What will Russia do on Monday, considering the combat in Ukraine?  Will it announce a new policy?  Dig in further?  Call up reserves?  Declare victory?  Use nuclear weapons?  The world will be watching, and listening.  From Fox: 

As Russian soldiers, tanks, and military vehicles carrying ballistic missiles participate in a military parade next week, Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes the display sends a "doomsday" warning to Europe and the United States, according to a report.

The World War II parade, which Russia celebrates on May 9 each year, marks the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in Europe, when allied powers defeated Nazi Germany, and is taking place when countries around the world seek to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The military display will also feature supersonic jets, Tu-160 bombers, and the Ilyushin Il-80 — known as Russia’s "doomsday" plane which carries the administration’s senior leadership in the case of a nuclear war, Reuters reported.

The "Flying Kremlin" aircraft, as it is also known, distinctly has no windows except for those in the very front of the plane and has been seen in Moscow in recent days, participating in low-altitude rehearsal flights for the Victory Day parade, Daily Mail reported.

This year will be the first time Russia includes the Soviet-era plane in the annual military demonstration since 2010, according to the report.

The theme of nuclear readiness and international deterrence will also be shown in Russia’s use of missile carriers Tu-95MS and Tu-160 "White Swan," as well as Su-57 fighter and Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, Daily Mail reported.

Russia’s military occupation of Ukraine will also be referenced in the parade as eight MiG-29SMTs intend to fly in the form of the letter "Z," which has become a symbol of Russia’s military, according to the report.

COMMENT:  Reports from Ukraine tell us that Russia is building up its forces in the east, and that major, brutal battles can be expected in the coming weeks.  Russian casualties are said to be exceptionally high.  No one is certain what Putin will do if his forces do not capture enough ground in east Ukraine to declare victory.

I'm seriously concerned that Americans are already losing interest in Ukraine.  That may change in the face of what may well be the most brutal ground combat in Europe since World War II.

I urge you to keep up with reports from Moscow all day Monday.  We may, or may not, be given the Russian view of the future.  Right now that view seems to be grim.

May 6, 2022     Permalink

MAY 5, 2022

THE PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT – OVERNIGHT:  Just think of it – a sitting Democratic president of the United States refuses to condemn a blatant assault on the Supreme Court, even while denouncing Republicans as a threat to democracy.  If it weren't so serious, you could even write a comedy about it.  From Breitbart: 

The White House on Thursday resisted asking angry pro-abortion protesters not to descend on the homes of Supreme Court Justices after a draft judicial decision on Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press.

“I don’t have an official U.S. government position on where people protest,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied when asked if the president condoned the actions of protesters sharing information on the home addresses of originalist Supreme Court justices.

The protest group Ruth Sent Us announced plans to direct protests at the homes of six Supreme court justices — three in Virginia and three in Maryland.

Using Ruth Ginsburg like that is obscene.  There is no indication that Justice Ginsburg, who expressed her own concerns about Roe, would ever condone the leak of a Supreme Court document or approve of protests designed to intimidate Supreme Court justices.

Psaki also resisted calling the actions of some protesters “extreme,” despite reported violence and vandalism by some of the angry pro-abortion protesters.

“We want it, of course, to be peaceful and certainly the president would want people’s privacy to be protected,” she said.

Psaki expressed concern that people were more concerned about the nature of the protests rather than the threat the Supreme Court posed to Roe v. Wade.

“I think we shouldn’t lose the point here,” she said.

Psaki also said the president understood why people are upset by the arguments against the Constitutional right to abortion in the leaked draft of the document.

“I think the president’s view is that there is a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country from what they saw in this leaked document,” she said.

Psaki also refused to condemn the leak of the document from the Supreme Court.
“This is not about the leak,” she said. “This is about women’s health care.”

COMMENT:  What an embarrassment.  One of the president's primary duties is to see that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed.  In refusing to condemn the outrages of the last few days, Biden is failing in that responsibility. 

And for what?  Who is he appealing to by refusing to perform his responsibilities?  Who is actually running the administration?  I've never seen anything like this presidential failure.

May 5, 2022     Permalink