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ANOTHER CORRUPT BIDEN ADMINISTRATION BREACH OF SECURITY AND COMMON SENSE

Loose-lip

There should be no doubt that we cannot trust our government under the iron-fisted rule of the progressive communist democrats to protect America and its citizens.

Who in their right mind would demand that defense contractors hire non-citizens, even for janitorial duties?

Yet we find the corrupt Obama/Biden Administration demanding that we weaken our defenses again to favor those illegal aliens breaching our borders. 

Every two hours or so, a satellite that SpaceX built for the Department of Defense circles Earth. The exact purpose of the satellite isn’t clear: The project is confidential.

That satellite is part of Starshield, a business SpaceX unveiled publicly last week through which it will build and launch satellites that cater to the national security needs of government clients. SpaceX didn’t say much about what those satellites will do, but people familiar with the project told The Information their capabilities will include climate change research, missile tracking and surveillance. SpaceX was awarded $2.2 billion and $2.8 billion in federal contracts in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the majority of which came from NASA. <Source>

Even NASA has requirements…

Information for Non U.S. Citizens:

Other than extremely rare exceptions, you must be a U.S. citizen in order to work for NASA as a civil service employee. <Source>

SpaceX sued by corrupt Biden Administration’s Department of Justice for hiring U.S. Citizens…

DOJ-INFO-HDR

Justice Department Sues SpaceX for Discriminating Against Asylees and Refugees in Hiring

Asylees and Refugees With Relevant Information Should Contact the Justice Department

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring. The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

In job postings and public statements over several years, SpaceX wrongly claimed that under federal regulations known as “export control laws,” SpaceX could hire only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, sometimes referred to as “green card holders.”

SpaceX recruits and hires for a variety of positions, including welders, cooks, crane operators, baristas and dishwashers, as well as information technology specialists, software engineers, business analysts, rocket engineers and marketing professionals. The jobs at issue in the lawsuit are not limited to those that require advanced degrees.

Asylees and refugees are migrants to the United States who have fled persecution. To obtain their status, they undergo thorough vetting by the United States government. Under the INA, employers cannot discriminate against them in hiring, unless a law, regulation, executive order or government contract requires the employer to do so. In this instance, no law, regulation, executive order or government contract required or permitted SpaceX to engage in the widespread discrimination against asylees or refugees that the department’s investigation found, as explained in the complaint.

[OCS: This is a lie. As we have seen, the United States Government has a backlog in vetting legitimate citizens for security clearances. It is not adequately vetting asylees, many of whom have no official identification, and their nation of origin does not have adequate databases for criminals and terrorists. Likewise, we have seen numerous foreign spies inserted in government and critical infrastructure programs.]

Because SpaceX works with certain goods, software, technology and technical data (referred to here as export-controlled items), SpaceX must comply with export control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations. Under these regulations, asylees, refugees, lawful permanent residents, U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals working at U.S. companies can access export-controlled items without authorization from the U.S. government. Therefore, these laws do not require SpaceX to treat asylees and refugees differently than U.S. citizens or green card holders.

[OCS: ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT! THIS COUNTRY IS RUN FOR ITS CITIZENS, NOT THE CITIZENS OF EL SALVADOR!. PRETTY SOON THE DOJ WILL DEMAND TECHNOLOGY SHARING WITH CHINA.]

Find more information here on how employers can avoid discrimination when complying with export control requirements. <Source> <DOJ Complaint>

Under Trump: fighting Chinese espionage…

DOJ-BANNER

INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S CHINA INITIATIVE

About 80 percent of all economic espionage prosecutions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) allege conduct that would benefit the Chinese state, and there is at least some nexus to China in around 60 percent of all trade secret theft cases.

The Department of Justice’s China Initiative reflects the strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats and reinforces the President’s overall national security strategy. The Initiative was launched against the background of previous findings by the Administration concerning China’s practices. In March 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced the results of an investigation of China’s trade practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. It concluded, among other things, that a combination of China’s practices are unreasonable, including its outbound investment policies and sponsorship of unauthorized computer intrusions, and that “[a] range of tools may be appropriate to address these serious matters.”

In June 2018, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy issued a report on “How China’s Economic Aggression Threatens the Technologies and Intellectual Property of the United States and the World,” documenting “the two major strategies and various acts, policies, and practices Chinese industrial policy uses in seeking to acquire the intellectual property and technologies of the world and to capture the emerging high- technology industries that will drive future economic growth.”

In addition to identifying and prosecuting those engaged in trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage, the Initiative focuses on protecting our critical infrastructure against external threats through foreign direct investment and supply chain compromises, as well as combatting covert efforts to influence the American public and policymakers without proper transparency.

[OCS: Like unregistered foreign agents like the influence-peddling Biden Crime Family?]

The China Initiative is led by the Department’s National Security Division (NSD), which is responsible for countering nation-state threats to the United States. <Source: DOJ>

Under China-compromised Biden, spies welcome…

DOJ shuts down China-focused anti-espionage program

The China Initiative is being cast aside largely because of perceptions that it unfairly painted Chinese Americans and U.S. residents of Chinese origin as disloyal.

The Biden administration is shutting down a Justice Department program that focused on countering Chinese espionage, following stumbles in a series of criminal cases and accusations that it amounted to racial profiling.

Officials said Wednesday that the three-year-old effort, known as the China Initiative, was being cast aside largely because of perceptions that it unfairly painted Chinese Americans and U.S. residents of Chinese origin as disloyal.

“By grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric, we helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic or familial ties to China differently,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen said in remarks prepared for delivery at George Mason University in Virginia.

However, Justice’s top national security official insisted that the decision amounted to a reframing and recalibration — not an abandonment — of a muscular law enforcement response to the national security threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.

Olsen said that abandoning the organizational framework of the China Initiative should not be seen as minimizing what the Justice Department still views as determined and nefarious efforts by the Chinese government to acquire high-tech secrets by illegal means and to intimidate dissidents and critics abroad.

“The Department of Justice is going to continue to aggressively combat threats posed by the PRC government using investigations, prosecutions, the full range of tools at our disposal. I think our actions will speak for themselves,” he said.

[OCS: Notice how the DOJ never investigated the Democrat Biden crime family’s connections to China? Nor did they investigate GOP Senator Mitch McConnell' or his wife despite significant connections with China?

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the initiative on Nov. 1 2018, just a few days before former President Donald Trump ousted him. DOJ headquarters encouraged U.S. attorneys around the country to invest time and resources in building cases against espionage conducted for the Chinese government.

Some of the initiative’s most high-profile and troubled cases have involved criminal charges against professors and researchers working in the U.S. over accusations that they illegally hid their involvement in Chinese government scientific development programs known as “Thousand Talents” or by similar names.

The cases have typically involved allegations that the targets lied or omitted information on disclosure forms accompanying grant applications.

Some such cases have led to convictions and guilty pleas. Last December, a jury found the former chair of Harvard’s Chemistry Department, Charles Lieber, guilty of making false statements to federal officials as well as filing false tax returns. <Source>

Bottom line...

Once again, we cannot trust our government to do the right thing regarding national defense.

I was not aware that non-citizens and illegal aliens were a protected class.

Like the bogus actions against Trump, the DOJ targets Elon Musk because he is not censoring and canceling on X/Twitter.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

Trump-mug

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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A SAD DAY FOR AMERICA

A jumped-up progressive communist democrat, Fulton County (Georgia) District Attorney Fani T. Willis appears to have knowingly violated the constitutional rights of former President Donald J. Trump by criminalizing normal and customary political activities over which she has no authority to act.

Trump-mug-shot

This is Donald Trump's historic mugshot, the first ever taken of a former U.S. president, that was released after he was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on specious politically motivated allegations. 

President Trump is facing 13 felony counts in connection with Fani T. Willis’s investigation into Trump and his allies’ alleged efforts to lawfully challenge the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Those charges include conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, and violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Trump is one of 19 defendants charged in the case, which includes those who provided lawful legal counsel to Trump. 

Bottom line...

What can I say other than to hope the GOP captures the House, Senate, and Presidency to prosecute a conspiracy between progressive communist democrats to violate 18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Government?

Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(June 25, 1948, Ch. 645, 62 Stat. 720; Pub. L. 91–405, title II, § 204(d)(6), Sept. 22, 1970, 84 Stat. 853; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), (L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)  <Source> 

These are the same progressive communist democrats who knowingly put forth false and misleading allegations against Donald Trump in several hoaxes, all used to interfere with a presidential election or undermine a duly elected federal official. 

There is no progressive communist democrat who can legitimately point to actions taken by Donald Trump and fail to note that President Biden took the same actions before he assumed the Presidency.

There is no doubt that the government is riddled with communists and their useful idiots and that they are actively attempting to destroy the United States from within.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

Trump was also fingerprinted...

Trump-fingerprint

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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GOP DEBATE ONE: CAN VIVEK RAMASWAMY BE TRUSTED?

Debate-players

Ho hum...

There was no clear winner in the first Republican Presidential Primary Debate hosted by Fox News live from the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ron DeSantis did not stand out, and Vivek Ramaswamy came across as animated, self-important, snarky, smarmy, and spouting platitudes -- clearly out of his depth. Mike Pence was uncharacteristically frisky but to no avail.

Fox needlessly injected Trump into the mix to the delight of Chris Christie, who was roundly booed, and Asa Hutchinson.  Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum were undistinguished and almost lost control of the candidates occasionally. 

Biggest surprise...

There was no concerted attack on the second to the frontrunner, Ron DeSantis.

Best line...

In response to Ramaswamy, "Let me just address a question that is on everybody’s mind at home tonight. Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name?  An obese Chris Christy responded, "The last person in one of these debates who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama, and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur.” 

Vivek Ramaswamy was the most animated, so let's look at his negatives ...

  1. Absolutely no experience in elective political matters.

  2. Government is not a “business” enterprise and cannot be managed as a business enterprise. Unlike that of a corporate officer, the President's power is checked by Congress and the Judiciary and held to task by a hostile media with deep allegiance to the opposition, the progressive communist democrats.

  3. While intelligent, well-educated, and well-spoken, Ramaswamy appears to be another billionaire buying into a lucrative political sinecure.

  4. Ramaswamy might not be running for the Presidency, but he is increasing his name recognition for a future run or auditioning for a cabinet position.

  5. Ramaswamy looks like another Obama-style Manchurian candidate.

  6. Ramaswamy may be positioned as an “outsider,” but he is well-connected with both the Democrat and GOP establishment.

  7. Ramaswamy appears to be a Trump ally and may serve as a stalking horse for Trump to clear out the pesky opposition.

  8. Ramaswamy has already upset the foreign policy applecart.

Vivek Ramaswamy Paid to Have His Soros Fellowship and Covid-Era Role Scrubbed from Wikipedia Page

Longshot presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has accused his prospective Republican rivals of parroting him, but Ramaswamy himself has made an intentional effort to conceal his own biography, even paying a Wikipedia editor to remove potentially politically damaging details about his past from his page.

Ramaswamy’s Wikipedia page includes the warning, “this article has multiple issues,” with a note that it “contains paid contributions” and “may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia’s content policies, particularly neutral point of view.”

The source of these concerns are changes made by an editor with the screen name “Jhofferman,” who has disclosed that he was paid by Ramaswamy to make alterations to the page.

According to the article’s version history, the editor removed lines about Ramaswamy’s receipt of a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011. Paul Soros was the older brother of billionaire funder of leftist causes George Soros, who was the biggest individual political donor in the United States during the 2022 election cycle.

Also removed from the page on February 9, 2023 was Ramaswamy’s role on the state of Ohio’s Covid-19 Response Team. The editor recorded that Ramaswamy’s Covid-era work was removed from the article by the candidate’s own explicit request, while his Soros fellowship was deemed “extraneous material” by the editor.

Ramaswamy announced his candidacy for the White House a little less than two weeks after the changes to his page were made. <Source>

About that Soros Fellowship…

Ramaswamy was already millionaire when he accepted Soros award he said he needed to pay for law school

Ramaswamy reported $2.2M income during same year he accepted Soros scholarship.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was already a millionaire by the time he accepted the Soros scholarship he previously said he needed in order to pay for law school.

Ramaswamy defended himself last month for accepting a $90,000 award from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which was founded by Daisy and Paul Soros, the late older brother of liberal billionaire financier George Soros. <Source>

Fingers in the Covid payout pie?

Moderna loses bid to shift liability in COVID-19 vaccine patent case

Warminster Township, Pennsylvania-based Arbutus and Genevant — a joint venture between Arbutus and Roivant Sciences Ltd — sued Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna for patent infringement last year, seeking royalties from Moderna's multi-billion-dollar COVID vaccines.  <Source>

In 2014, Ramaswamy founded the biotechnology firm Roivant Sciences; the "Roi" in the company's name refers to return on investment. The company was incorporated in Bermuda, a tax haven, and received almost $100 million in start-up capital from QVT and other investors, including RA Capital Management, Visium Asset Management, and the hedge fund managers D. E. Shaw & Co. and Falcon Edge Capital. Roivant's strategy was to purchase patents from larger pharmaceutical companies for drugs that had not yet been successfully developed, and then bring them to the market. <Source>

A foreign affairs disaster in the making?

Ramaswamy: Cut Off Aid to Israel After 2028

The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur and self-proclaimed political "outsider," has raised eyebrows for his shifting positions on U.S. military aid to Israel, which he now says he wants to cut off in 2028.

He supports ending the military funding once the current package passed by Congress expires in 2028, arguing that the aid will be unnecessary after he successfully negotiates new peace treaties between Israel and its Arab neighbors during the first year of his presidency.

"If we’re successful, the true mark of success for the U.S., and for Israel, will be to get to a 2028 where Israel is so strongly standing on its own two feet, integrated into the economic and security infrastructure of the rest of the Middle East, that it will not require and be dependent on that same level of historical aid or commitment from the U.S.," Ramaswamy told the Free Beacon on Saturday.

Ramaswamy describes his Middle East plan as "Abraham Accords 2.0," an expansion of the historic Trump-era deals cementing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.

He said he would broker expanded agreements between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Indonesia, and believes he "can deliver that in my first year in office."

"Why is that important? That integrates Israel into the economic and security infrastructure of the rest of the Middle East, in a way that hasn’t happened because Israel has been wrongfully held hostage over a complex historical Palestine question, from being able to integrate itself," he said. "Because Israel was isolated, that required years of the U.S. having to stand for our democratic ally, including in the form of military aid to Israel." <Source>

Ramaswamy breaks from GOP orthodoxy on foreign policy, sparks pushback ahead of first debate

In his remarks at Erick Erickson's "Gathering" in Atlanta, Georgia, last week, Ramaswamy said he would discourage China from invading Taiwan only until the U.S. achieves semiconductor independence. The U.S., through legislation such as the CHIPS Act, is working to bolster its chip-making technology as a national security measure. <

Ramaswamy said he would let Russian President Vladimir Putin keep parts of Ukraine under Moscow's control in exchange for severed ties with China, telling ABC News that "the China-Russia military alliance is the single greatest military threat to the United States" and it's imperative that it be dismantled -- a take he views as a bipartisan, "pro-American policy."

"I will ensure that I'm not a wartime president by actually de-escalating. Make sure that we're in a position to pull apart that alliance, do a deal that yes, Vladimir Putin would do because he comes out of it rationally ahead of where he is now. But we come out even further ahead of where we are," he said, breaking from the opinions of Senate Republicans such as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Ramaswamy, who said he would prioritize a trip to Moscow in his first year in office, said he would make a "hard commitment" that NATO should never admit Ukraine, provided that Putin exit Russia's military partnership with China. <Source>

Over in Tuckerland...

 In a pre-taped interview with Tucker Carlson released on Twitter/X ... Ho Hum -- different day, same old shit. Trump's summary: Everyone but him is irrelevant.

The most controversial issue was the hint of the assassination of the indisputable front-runner in the Republican race. “They are savage animals. They are people that are sick. Really sick. You have great people in the Democrat Party, great people that are Democrats. But I’ve seen what they do; I’ve seen the lengths that they go to.”

As far as responding to his legal troubles, "Bullshit, it’s all bullshit.”

Bottom line…

I don’t trust Ramaswamy. Period!  Would I vote for him if he were the GOP nominee facing Biden or, more likely, California Governor Gavin Newsom? You bet. The key to holding a president in check is ensuring we have an unassailable majority in Congress and electing more conservative judges.

Let historians relitigate the elections as we clean up the swamp. That is, if we can get through the upcoming Covid emergency that demands everybody vote by mail.

The debate was a waste of time with no new information or real news value.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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HOW DOES DONALD TRUMP PLAN TO BEAT BIDEN OR WHOEVER REPLACES BIDEN?

DANGER

  • How does siphoning off Trump donor campaign contributions for legal costs, when the donors were donating to fund campaign advertising and activities, win the general election?

  • Does the free media attention, with a progressive communist democrat narrative, boost the name recognition of someone who already has near 100% name recognition?

  • How does talking endlessly about Trump convey the GOP position or demonstrate the evilness of progressive communist democrats? 

  • How many Americans are tuning out of the endless Trump repetition of his grievances?

Which matters more?

  • Defending Donald Trump from Democrat legal attacks or winning our nation back from a corrupt Obama/Biden Administration?

  • Continuing to pay exorbitant inflated amounts for food, fuel, and lodging?

Bottom line...

The problem, as I see it, is the vast majority of Americans remain clueless, believing the political climate tomorrow is going to be much the same as today.

Dithering while their Constitution and the rule of law are negotiated away by liberal elite academicians and their useful idiots -- with many people trying to fit bizarre behavior into normalcy so they can understand and live with the consequences.

Time to wake up.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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CUBA: THE DEVIL'S DIGITAL CURRENCY WORKSHOP

Fed-cbdc

As our Federal Reserve rushes to implement its freedom-killing digital currency, we have a real-time example of the havoc that will ensue in Communist Cuba, a favorite of progressive communist democrats.

As Cuba takes leap towards 'cashless' economy, entrepreneurs brace for impact

HAVANA (Reuters) - When Cuba in early August announced it was taking a major step towards electronic banking and a "cashless" society, the offices of fledgling small businesses across the communist-run country were left scrambling to figure out how to respond.

Most alarming to many budding entrepreneurs was a new 5,000 peso ($20) daily cap on cash withdrawals for businesses, one of several measures the government said were aimed at forcing Cubans to do their transactions electronically, via transfer, online payment and bank cards.

Even before the new restrictions, Cuban entrepreneurs faced what might seem insurmountable hurtles anywhere else: spotty electricity and internet, widespread fuel shortages, and no practical way to legally exchange large amounts of local currency into the dollars needed to import merchandise from abroad.

Just three days after the rules were put in place, Hernandez [Yulieta Hernandez, founder and manager of Pilares Construction] said, more bad news rolled in: Many of her suppliers, once amenable to electronic transfers, were now only accepting cash, for fear of losing access to the paper money they needed to operate - the opposite of what the law intended.

That has put businesses like Pilares Construction in a bind: The company needs cash to operate but is prohibited from extracting it in sufficient quantity from its local accounts.

"Right now the effect ... is like paralysis," Hernandez said, adding that many business owners were already freezing investments. "People are waiting to see ... if a solution is found for the problems (the rules) have created."

Cuban officials have said the new banking measures are necessary for transparency, to assure transactions are recorded and taxes are paid. <Source>

A few considerations…

This is a freedom-limiting move that an authoritarian government can exploit to track, control, reward, or punish its citizens. Unlike cash, each electronic transmission is diminished by fees until the value is entirely consumed by the “system.” Now consider the dangers of a single point of failure where the loss of electricity or communications cripples the entire system. Now imagine a kill switch that can hold the country hostage to outrageous political demands. It is worthwhile to note that one of the first acts in Castro’s revolution was to disarm the citizens of Cuba.

Dangers of Nationalized Digital Currency.

  1. Centralized Control: The primary concern associated with a nationalized digital currency is the control granted to governments and central banks operated under a central authority raising credible questions about individual financial privacy and government overreach. Relying on a central authority for the issuance and regulation of a digital currency introduces the risk of governmental abuse or mismanagement, especially if the government decides to devalue or restrict the use of the digital currency in the event of economic or political instability.

  2. Loss of Financial Privacy: Digital currency enables the government to monitor and track every financial transaction its citizens make. While the government argues this could help combat tax evasion and illegal activities, it raises concerns about mass surveillance and the erosion of personal financial privacy. Digital currencies lack the anonymity associated with physical money. Every digital transaction leaves a trace in the ledger, potentially revealing sensitive financial information. This lack of anonymity could lead to unintended consequences, such as identity theft or personal data breaches. Considering the number of leaks involving financial data coming from the government, privacy for the opposition is dead.

  3. Digital Equity: The progressive communist democrats go on and on about those unable to obtain valid identification for voter-id or the unbanked population, who may not have access to the internet or digital devices when needed, especially in rural areas. Thus, a digital system would exacerbate existing economic inequalities and result in marginalized populations being further marginalized as they are unable to participate fully in the digital economy. (Alinsky’s Rule #4 -- Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.)

  4. Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities: As we have recently seen, digital currencies are prime targets for cyberattacks and are lucrative targets for hackers and malignant state actors with catastrophic consequences, leading to the loss of funds, sensitive financial data, and state secrets.

  5. Monetary Policy Challenges: Nationalized digital currencies can complicate a country's monetary policy as central banks use interest rates and money supply adjustments to stabilize the economy. The central bank's ability to influence the money supply is compromised with digital currencies, leading to additional economic instability.

  6. International Relations: The use of a national digital currency would impact international relations as other countries refuse to adopt or use digital currency from another nation, leading to sovereignty issues, national pride, diplomatic tensions, and trade disputes.

  7. Technological Dependence: The successful implementation and operation of a digital currency system rely heavily on advanced technology infrastructure where technical glitches, outages, or system failures could disrupt the entire financial ecosystem, potentially leaving citizens without access to their funds or the ability to purchase necessary food, medicine, and critical supplies.

  8. Inadequate Regulation and Corrupt Oversight: Who can be trusted to regulate the system? As we have seen in the Obama/Biden Administration, every institution headed by a political appointee appears to have been politically or financially corrupted – with abuse of power becoming more commonplace. Without comprehensive and effective regulations, digital currencies are subject to political manipulation, fraud, scams, and illegal activities, posing risks to consumers and the broader financial system.

And there are other concerns.

Bottom line…

Digital currencies are best left to communist countries, which will be funding their own revolutionary implosion.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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BILLIONAIRE BULLIES

Morality-bloomberg

There is no doubt in my mind that certain billionaires, through their financial contributions to foundations, political campaigns, and lobbying activities, wield disproportionate influence over public policy where they may use their wealth to push for policies that align with their personal or corporate interests – often leading to policies that benefit them at the expense of the broader public.

I used to admire Michael Bloomberg as an entrepreneur who created a fortune reporting bond data to financial firms worldwide. It made him ridiculously wealthy, politically powerful, and, unfortunately, delusional. Somehow, he appears to have convinced himself that his intelligence, education, and wealth have confirmed his wisdom, moral superiority, and the right to impose his views on others. Usurping our inalienable rights and constitutional guarantees to live a life of our own devising and free from unwanted and unjustified government molestation.

It is one thing for money to magnify the reach of his voice, for that’s what free speech is all about, but it is quite another to use his wealth in a coercive manner to bring about public policies with detrimental and life-changing effects.

Besides his business accomplishments, my awareness of Michael Bloomberg was heightened by his attempt to curtail the Constitution’s Second Amendment, more colloquially known as “gun control.”

I considered this to be his first act of hubris. It is a fact, not a supposition, that criminals, crazies, and terrorists do not respect the law nor adhere to its provisions. These types will always use whatever is at hand to intimidate, murder, or maim their victims. Likewise, disarming a law-abiding populace would deprive them of their God-given right to self-defense. And the firearms to respond to mortal danger when no other means are available. A force multiplier that allows a 120-pound individual to protect themselves against a 220-pound brute or multiple assailants.

Perhaps Bloomberg fails to realize two fundamental facts: one, first responders, e.g., the police, cannot be everywhere they are needed or when they are required; and two, the police have no legal duty to protect individuals unless they are in police custody.

Likewise, Bloomberg seems blind to the slaughter in Democrat-governed cities, adversely impacting gun deaths and injuries. Why is he addressing gun control and not crime control? Why does he not note the disparate racial impact of inner-city crime?

Chicago Democrat Asks Gang Members to Refrain From Shootouts Between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

A crime-ridden, lawless Democratic city is being asked to limit shooting their guns in the streets to nighttime.

Chicago Democratic alderwoman Maria Hadden asked gang members to refrain from shootouts between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. to reduce the risk to people "not involved in high-risk activities."

An email from Rogers Park-based Native Sons, known as "The People's Ordinance," said making a deal with dangerous gang members will help keep the liberal city safe from accidental killings. <Source>

[OCS: How effing stupid is this progressive communist democrat, the first Black, queer woman elected to Chicago City Council?]

Now I find that Bloomberg is extending his wealth and influence to damage our way of life. To implement public policies that would bring about a radical change in our freedoms and standard of living…

These 14 American Cities Have A ‘Target’ Of Banning Meat, Dairy, And Private Vehicles By 2030

Fourteen major American cities are part of a globalist climate organization known as the “C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group,” which has an “ambitious target” by the year 2030 of “0 kg [of] meat consumption,” “0 kg [of] dairy consumption,” “3 new clothing items per person per year,” “0 private vehicles” owned, and “1 short-haul return flight (less than 1500 km) every 3 years per person.”

C40’s dystopian goals can be found in its “The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World” report, which was published in 2019 and reportedly reemphasized in 2023. The organization is headed and largely funded by Democrat billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Nearly 100 cities across the world make up the organization, and its American members include Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Seattle. <Source>

[OCS: All of the U.S. mayors involved are progressive communist democrats, and two of the major funders are Michael Bloomberg and George Soros, along with progressive foundations and virtue signaling companies. Note that most prominent non-corporate organizations are tax-exempt organizations deciding how to tax you to advance their agenda.]

Again, Bloomberg, intelligent as he is, does not realize a simple fact. NO public policy can alter the overwhelming forces of nature — in our lifetimes or the next hundred lifetimes. Overcoming the natural forces of the Sun’s energy output in all spectral bands, cosmic rays and cloud formation, the Earth’s position relative to the Sun, the Earth’s precessional and rotational dynamics, plate tectonics and vulcanology, the deep ocean currents, the internal dynamics of the Earth, and the most significant greenhouse gas of all” water vapor.

Is Bloomberg so blind as to ignore that science has been corrupted by politics and government funding of selective research, with few dollars spent on replication studies to affirm or falsify scientific findings? Does he not realize that no optimum temperature can optimize the ecosphere across all latitudes, from the equator to the poles?

Bottom line…

I don’t mind Bloomberg having his say any more than the debunked Malthusians had their opinions regarding population growth and human existence.

I wish that the subject would be debated openly and honestly, with proponents and opponents adhering to the scientific method, with science being divorced from supporting nonsensical and costly public policies that do little other than advance a perpetual authoritarian political elite with self-righteous members like Michael Bloomberg.

I, for one, am tired of academics, politicians, and other elites treating the American people as small children, unable to handle the truth or incapable of devising solutions to infrastructure problems. For example, we know our electrical grid infrastructure is decrepit and decaying. We can see that grid owners and operators defer capital expenditures to boost Wall Street performance. How many Americans know, or care, that most of those crucial large power transformers are custom-built in Communist China or elsewhere in Asia?

We are being screwed by billionaires whose opinions are meaningless in view of nature’s normal variability. They are either ignorant or evil – my bet is on evil.

— Steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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NATURE RESPONDS TO JOE BIDEN'S CLIMATE CLAIM

Yes, we are experiencing a hot summer, not some exceptional condition indicating a planetary emergency that demands you set aside common sense and cede control over the nation, its economy, and your life to radical communists trying to bamboozle the public and assume perpetual political power.

The claim… Biden-gw-1The desert responds…

Nature-message

What’s up with Arizona?

Arizona is the only state in the United States with four desert regions, each with its own environment, flora, and fauna. The Chihuahuan Desert in Southeast Arizona, the Mojave Desert in upper West Arizona, the massive Sonoran Desert occupying most of the Southwest and central part of Arizona, and the Great Basin Desert impacting Southern Arizona.

Like most regions on Earth, temperatures are determined by several factors, including geographical location, terrain features, and the climate patterns associated with that region.

Several factors contributing to the high temperatures in Arizona are:

  1. Latitude: Southwestern deserts are located at low latitudes, closer to the equator, where the Sun’s rays are more direct, leading to higher solar energy absorption and higher temperatures.

  2. Subtropical High Pressure: These deserts are influenced by high-pressure systems associated with descending air masses which inhibit cloud formation and precipitation. Since clouds do not mitigate or block the sun's energy, one would generally expect hot and dry conditions. Clear skies allow maximum solar radiation to reach the surface, contributing to high temperatures.

  3. Rain Shadow Effect: Southwestern deserts are often on the leeward side (rain shadow) of mountain ranges. When moist air from the Pacific Ocean encounters these mountains, it is forced to rise, cool, and release moisture as rain or snow on the windward side. When the air descends on the leeward side into the desert, it is dry and has lost most of its moisture, creating arid conditions and high temperatures.

  4. Low Humidity: Southwestern deserts feature low humidity levels where dry air heats up and cools down more rapidly than moist air, meaning the desert can heat up quickly under intense sunshine and cool down rapidly at night due to radiational cooling. The region contains little surface water, like rivers and lakes, which would normally moderate temperatures by absorbing and releasing heat more slowly.

Bottom line…

Radical environmentalists, who often conflate weather (short term) with climate (long-term), would have you believe that taxation, public policies, veganism, and other such nonsense can alter conditions in the Earth’s ecosphere.

There are no man-made forces or activities that can overcome nature’s incomprehensibly awesome forces.

To believe man can have a significant impact on climate by mitigating the natural forces of the Sun’s energy output in all spectral bands, cosmic rays and cloud formation, the Earth’s position relative to the Sun, the Earth’s precessional and rotational dynamics, plate tectonics and vulcanology, the deep ocean currents, the internal dynamics of the Earth, and the most significant greenhouse gas of all” water vapor, is batshit crazy.

Science2

About that scientific consensus...

Consensus

According to the satire site, the Babylon Bee, all deaths attributable to Hurricane Hillary will automatically be labeled suicides. 

We are so screwed.

-- Steve

“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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