Despite the surge in renewable energy additions, the world is not yet on track to reach the goal of tripling renewables capacity by 2030, according to the Renewables 2024 report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday.
Global renewable capacity is expected to grow by 2.7 times by 2030, surpassing countries’ current ambitions by nearly 25%. But it still falls short of tripling, said the agency advocating for a swift move away from fossil fuels.
While climate and energy security policies have boosted the attractiveness of renewables by making them cost-competitive with fossil-fired generation, “this is not quite sufficient to reach the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity worldwide established by nearly 200 countries at the COP28 climate summit,” the IEA said.
The agency’s main case, assuming existing policies and market conditions, forecasts 5,500 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity becoming operational by 2030.
This implies that global renewable capacity additions will continue to grow every year, reaching nearly 940 GW annually by 2030 – 70% more than the record level achieved in 2023, the IEA said.
Solar PV and wind together are expected to account for 95% of all renewable capacity growth through the end of this decade due their growing economic attractiveness in almost all countries.
As a result of these trends, nearly 70 countries that collectively account for 80% of global renewable power capacity are expected to reach or surpass their current renewable ambitions for 2030.
But this would still fall short of the COP28 pledge for tripling renewables capacity.
Growth is there, but governments need to boost their efforts to integrate variable renewable sources into power systems, the IEA said, noting that the rates of curtailment of renewable electricity generation have been increasing substantially recently, and already reaching around 10% in several countries.
In a separate report last month, the IEA said that the global goal to triple renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade is still within reach, but massive investments in power grids and energy storage would be needed.
Hurricane Milton Swamps Florida, Leaves 3 Million Without Power
Hurricane Milton moved off Florida’s east coast early this AM, downgraded to a Cat. 1 storm. Milton made landfall around 2030 ET on Wednseday near Siesta Key, Florida, a barrier island next to Sarasota. The storm’s destructive winds and torrential rains sparked widespread power outages to over 3 million customers in the state.
As of 0500 ET, the National Hurricane Center said Milton’s eye was about ten miles northeast of Cape Canaveral and traversing into the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds above 85 mph, making it still a dangerous Cat. 1.
5 am EDT – Hurricane #Milton moving off the coast of east-central Florida. Still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. Here are the Key Messages. Go to https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ for details. pic.twitter.com/w14GGYpPDL
Powerful winds were recorded in Tampa, with some areas recording over 100 mph during the overnight hours after the landfall event.
As Milton raced across the central part of Florida, hurricane-force wind and flash floods sparked more than 3.25 million power outages, according to the latest data from power tracking website Poweroutage.US.
“We have an unprecedented number of our customers who are without power,” Tampa Electric President and CEO Archie Collins told CNN’s Kasie Hunt earlier this AM.
Collins said as daylight emerges, survey crews will better understand the nature of the damage to the grid.
“The eyewall did travel right across Hillsborough County, and that is a game changer,” he said, adding, “These were the strongest winds that we believe have been experienced in Hillsborough County in as long as anyone can remember. The damage out there I think is going to be significantly more than our customers have experienced in their lifetimes.”
Storm damage footage was uploaded on X:
This is the construction crane that collapsed and fell into the Tampa Bay Times building. The damage to the building is catastrophic collapsing multiply floors. The water lines broke flooding the building. #flwx#HurricaneMilton#SaintPetersburgpic.twitter.com/4gyh8HQtsF
Hurricane #Milton has cleared #Tampa and the west coast of Florida.
However, the @uscg will need to clear the port for operations before ships can be cleared to arrive. pic.twitter.com/GaW0HQRVAN
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) October 10, 2024
Forecast models show Milton’s next path.
Tropics are active.
Fox Weather pointed out, “Milton’s intensity made it the fifth-strongest cyclone on record in the Atlantic Basin, only falling short of records held by Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988) Labor Day (1935) and Rita (2005).”
Cybercab Arrives: Everything To Expect From Tonight’s Tesla Robotaxi Event
“The Most Important Tesla Event Ever”
Tesla’s much awaited Robotaxi event, “We, Robot,” is set for tomorrow, live from Warner Bros. Discovery Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The event starts at 7 p.m. on October 10 and will be livestreamed on Tesla’s social media platforms, including X and YouTube.
It’s widely rumored that the event will feature prototypes of Tesla’s upcoming autonomous vehicle, which has been spotted around the studio grounds and key locations in San Francisco and LA.
Tesla has been actively collecting Full Self-Driving (FSD) data in these areas ahead of the event, fueling speculation about new advancements like Robotaxi sanitization and wireless EV charging. As we noted weeks ago, invites were sent to winners of a shareholder raffle, with tickets arriving just days before the event.
“Join us for We, Robot — our official unveiling of the future of autonomy,” the invitation read.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives has said of the event: “We believe this is a pivotal time for Tesla as the company prepares to release its years of Robotaxi R&D shadowed behind the curtains, while Musk & Co. lay out the company’s vision for the future.”
Some enthusiasts are calling it “the most important Tesla event ever.”
The folks at NotTeslaApp expect: “Tesla to deliver a small, two-door sedan with two seats. The car is expected to have four wheels, although there was some speculation of three wheels at one point”. They write that it’ll “likely include a good amount of trunk space for luggage as well”
They write that Tesla’s Robotaxi is expected to be smaller than current models, resembling a compact version of the Model 3 with a simplified interior focused on autonomy and low-cost production. It will likely feature a single central screen like the Model 3, but with a stripped-down UI displaying key information such as ETA and fare price.
While Tesla may not reveal much about FSD hardware, the Robotaxi will probably include the upcoming Hardware 5 FSD suite or new hardware designed for redundancy and safety, essential for autonomous fleet operations.
According to Electrek, the robotaxi is rumored to be “Cybertruck-like” in design, without a steering wheel or pedals, and potentially smaller in size. A prototype was spotted testing at the Warner Bros. lot. Tesla may also showcase its latest Optimus humanoid robots with a focus on autonomous features.
Gene Munster with Deepwater Asset Management tells MarketWatch he expects “at least a robotaxi prototype, and talk of a ‘Model 2’ cheaper EV”.
“What will most likely be on display is a demonstration of the latest iteration of FSD [full self-driving] software and a demonstration of a fully autonomous ‘cybercab’ in a closed or semi-closed course,” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas wrote last month, per Yahoo Finance.
He believes the robotaxi will come from the preexisting fleet of Tesla vehicles already on the road:
While the cybercab — a vehicle envisioned as one without a steering wheel or pedals — may be the natural fit for a robotaxi, Jonas believes it is the preexisting fleet of Teslas out on the road that, when combined with FSD and Tesla’s upcoming rideshare mobility app, will allow owners of those Tesla EVs to put those vehicles on Tesla’s rideshare service. The true game changer would be unlocking the potential of those vehicles, he said.
“It is our expectation that Tesla will offer a ‘dual’ approach with respect to autonomous ridesharing: (1) the fully autonomous app-based cybercab and (2) a ‘supervised’ autonomous/FSD rideshare service. We think the latter of these may get the most attention or have the greatest room to surprise investors, at least near term,” he said.
Deutsche Bank’s Edison Yu added his expectations: “For Robotaxi Day on Oct 10th, we expect an unveiling of the ‘CyberCab’ at the venue, [and] some type of robotaxi demo … Moreover, Tesla should unveil the new lower cost vehicle slated for SOP [start of production] next year (“Model 2” or cheaper/smaller Model 3 variant).”
Expectations For Release Timeline And Final Product
Expectations for a final or near-final working product seem low. “Few observers, if any, expect a fully functioning product,” Reuters wrote.
“We believe the robotaxi event will be long on vision, and short on immediate deliverables or incremental revenue drivers,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said.
Tesla executives will need to “reinforce to consumers and investors that they continue to be innovators,” Gene Munster with Deepwater Asset Management told MarketWatch. “The bar on the robotaxi is is pretty high, but the rest of the stuff is pretty easy, they don’t need to roll a vehicle out there. They can just talk about it,” he added.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, added: “Tesla’s history is overpromise and underdeliver, so whatever timing is put on this vehicle, it’s going to be pushed back. We are still considering what promises will make it to production and what won’t”.
Longtime Tesla bull and Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas says to “keep expectations well managed” for the event.
“We think this [robotaxi fleet] is still several years away and numerous technological hurdles, safety tests, and regulatory approvals are still standing in the way,” Garrett Nelson of CFRA told Yahoo Finance.
Impact On Tesla Stock Price
As far as impact on the stock price, Elliot Johnson, chief investment officer at Evolve ETFs, which manages investments in Tesla, told Reuters: “They need to get going because this has been sort of discussed, rumored, talked about and announced in various forms for a while.”
He says nothing announced this week will have a financial impact for one to two years, the report says. Barron’s has also speculated that the event could be a “sell the news” event. Columnist Al Root wrote that “Robotaxi Day may be Elon Musk’s last chance to convince investors that Tesla still has it”.
Edison Yu has been telling his clients to be “tactically cautious” with the stock.
Reaction By Other Autonomous Driving Companies
Elsewhere in autonomous driving, Investing.com did a good job laying out what competitors and the rest of the industry may be watching.
The U.S. rideshare market, currently just 1% of total miles driven, could expand significantly with the introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs), according to Morgan Stanley. While Tesla’s technological advancements may drive faster AV adoption, the transition faces challenges in scaling and regulation.
Tesla’s potential to launch a Level 4 (L4) autonomous service could yield a 41% cost advantage over Uber and Lyft, and 21% over Waymo, thanks to its camera-based approach versus Waymo’s sensor-heavy system. Market trends in cities like Austin and Phoenix will indicate whether AVs can integrate effectively with rideshare platforms, a key concern for Uber’s hybrid model strategy.
The Swedish government is considering a law change that would ban marriages between cousins, a move primarily aimed at curbing issues such as honor oppression prevalent in migrant communities.
The proposal, which was introduced by government investigators and aligns with policies laid out in the Tidö Agreement, which facilitated the formation of the current government, would also extend to marriages between other close relatives, such as uncles and nieces.
If approved, the ban could come into effect as early as 2026.
Currently, Swedish law prohibits marriages between parents and children or full siblings, though half-siblings can marry with an exemption. Marriages between cousins are still legal, but this may soon change.
A government-appointed inquiry, which began in September last year, now recommends that cousin marriages be banned under the Marriage Code, citing both social and health concerns.
The proposed ban has significant implications for Sweden’s migrant communities, where cousin marriages are far more common. While this is defended as a cultural practice that prioritizes familial ties, government officials argue that such arranged marriages increase the risk of honor oppression, particularly for young women and girls.
By outlawing cousin marriages, they believe they can reduce the likelihood of coercion and other forms of control within family structures.
Preempting a loophole, a key element of the proposal is that cousin marriages performed abroad will also not be recognized in Sweden, regardless of the spouses’ connection to the country. This is intended to prevent couples from bypassing Swedish law by marrying abroad and then returning to Sweden.
“The recognition ban will be general and cover all cousin marriages,” the inquiry’s findings stated, as cited by the SVT broadcaster, reinforcing the aim to counteract honor-based oppression across all backgrounds.
In Norway, a similar law was enacted this past summer, with officials highlighting the increased risk of genetic disorders and health complications caused by inbreeding.
These risks include higher rates of stillbirth and infant mortality.
In addition to the ban on cousin marriages, the inquiry also suggests eliminating the current exemption that allows half-siblings to marry in certain circumstances, thus better protecting vulnerable individuals from coercion.
A final decision on the reforms is expected in the coming months which, if passed, is expected to enter into force in 2026.
How Much It Costs To Charge An EV In Europe, By Country
This chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, shows the average cost to charge an electric car for 25 minutes per 100 km at a public station in various European countries. Data is sourced from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO), as of 2024.
To account for variance between electric cars, a Tesla Model 3 was considered for this dataset.
Price information was sourced from public DC fast-charging stations.
The EAFO then calculated one average price per country.
The Cost of Charging an Electric Car in Europe
For most of Europe, charging costs vary between €5-10 per 100 km. Cheaper outliers include: Iceland (€2.9), Portugal (€3.2), and Finland (€4.6).
Country
Subregion
Cost to charge (€ / 100 KM)
🇮🇸 Iceland
Northern Europe
2.9
🇵🇹 Portugal
Southern Europe
3.2
🇫🇮 Finland
Northern Europe
4.6
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
Eastern Europe
5.5
🇭🇺 Hungary
Eastern Europe
5.8
🇸🇰 Slovakia
Eastern Europe
6.4
🇵🇱 Poland
Eastern Europe
6.7
🇪🇸 Spain
Southern Europe
7.1
🇮🇪 Ireland
Northern Europe
7.2
🇫🇷 France
Western Europe
7.3
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Eastern Europe
7.3
🇸🇪 Sweden
Northern Europe
7.7
🇬🇧 UK
Northern Europe
7.8
🇦🇹 Austria
Western Europe
7.8
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Western Europe
7.9
🇧🇪 Belgium
Western Europe
8.4
🇩🇰 Denmark
Northern Europe
8.8
🇭🇷 Croatia
Southern Europe
8.9
🇩🇪 Germany
Western Europe
8.9
🇮🇹 Italy
Southern Europe
9.1
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Western Europe
9.2
🇨🇾 Cyprus
Southern Europe
9.8
🇬🇷 Greece
Southern Europe
9.8
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
Western Europe
9.8
🇱🇹 Lithuania
Northern Europe
9.8
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
Western Europe
9.8
🇱🇻 Latvia
Northern Europe
9.8
🇲🇹 Malta
Southern Europe
9.8
🇷🇴 Romania
Eastern Europe
9.8
🇹🇷 Türkiye
Southern Europe
9.8
🇪🇪 Estonia
Northern Europe
10.0
🇸🇮 Slovenia
Southern Europe
17.0
🇳🇴 Norway
Northern Europe
18.9
Euronews reports that Iceland’s abundant renewable energy sources drive down the EV charging price.
On the other hand, in Norway and Slovenia charging costs jump to €17-19 per 100 km. Of course these values are also a reflection of sources of electricity, energy prices, and taxes within the country. In Norway, for example, prices are 25% more expensive than the EU average.
Generally speaking, countries with a higher share of renewable energy have lower prices, while countries with expensive energy imports (like Germany) have higher prices.
EV adoption has been steadily ticking up around the world. Norway leads with an 80% share of EVs in all cars sold in 2023. Of the top four countries by EV adoption, three are from Europe.
As the home to some of the world’s richest countries, Europe has the ability to set up charging infrastructure that is crucial to increasing electric car use.
In 2012, Norway’s EV adoption rate stood at 3%. At 2024, it’s closer to 90% Check out Norway’s EV Market Keeps Charging Ahead by creator Chartr to see how the tide turned.
In numerous German federal states, the prison population is made up of more than 50 percent foreigners, with the cost of these prisoners totaling €2 billion a year, according to an exclusive report from the Austrian news outlet Freilich.
Already in mid-July, German state media outlet SWR reported that for the first time, more than half of all prisoners in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg are foreigners. Currently, this figure stands at 50.8 percent. Freilich decided to look into the situation in other German states and found that five others also feature prison populations that are more than 50 percent foreign.
The state with the highest proportion of foreigners is Hamburg, which stands at 57.8 percent.
Other states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, which is Germany’s most populous state, may not reach 50 percent, but the numbers are still extremely high, at 40.4 percent. The top offenders are Turks, Poles, Syrians, Moroccans and Romanians. In Bavaria, the second-largest state by population, 51.1 percent of the prison population is foreign, which includes 4,965 non-German nationals.
It is important to note that these statistics do not include those with a migration background. For instance, there is no data differentiating between ethnic Germans and Middle Easterners born in Germany. The data only shows if the perpetrator has a German passport or not. Other nations, such as Denmark, contain exact crime data not only on foreigners but also second-generation Danish citizens with a foreign background, with that data showing that this generation has higher crime rates than the first one.
In Hesse, 51.4 percent of the prison population is made up foreigners, equaling 2,245 prisoners. The largest groups come from Algeria and Morocco, but other top groups include Turks, Romanians, and Afghans, according to the Ministry of Justice.
As of July 22, 2024, Berlin featured 2,024 foreign prisoners, representing 56.4 percent of the total number, which stands at 3,588. A spokeswoman told Freilich that the largest groups are Poles, Turks, Serbians, and Georgians.
In Bremen, the smallest federal state, the number of foreign prisoners totaled 56 percent.
Other federal states, especially those featuring a smaller share of foreigners, have lower numbers, including Lower Saxony, which has 37.6 percent of the prison population made up of foreigners, Rhineland-Palatinate with 33.9 percent; Saxony at 43.2 percent; Schleswig-Holstein at 34.6 percent, Brandenburg at 36.8 percent; Saxony-Anhalt at 21.4 percent; Saarland at 30.7 percent; and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at 22.1 percent.
Thuringia has the lowest proportion of foreign offenders, making up 15.9 percent of the population out of a total of 1,072 prisoners, although Freilich notes this information dates from older sources.
Soaring costs and calls for reform
Freilich notes that “the accommodation of prisoners places a considerable burden on public coffers and taxpayers. This is also shown by the calculations carried out as part of the research. For all federal states together, the total cost of accommodating prisoners is around €4.137 billion per year, of which around €1.815 billion is spent on foreign prisoners in the correctional facilities of the 16 federal states.”
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party says the figures reflect the failed policies of the older parties.
“Around 15 percent of people living in Germany are foreigners. However, their share of suspects, convicted persons and prisoners is disproportionately high. Once again, official figures prove that the migration policy of the old parties has completely failed,” said deputy domestic policy spokesman of the AfD parliamentary group, Martin Hess, who was also a police officer in Baden-Württemberg for 27 years.
“What we are experiencing here is a deliberate exploitation of our security by a government that is constantly proving to be a total failure.”
Hess said only a 180-degree turn in migration policy, as the AfD has been demanding for years, will improve the security situation.
“We must finally take decisive action against the escalating crime by foreigners – also for financial reasons, because every prisoner is an enormous burden on the public purse and therefore on the taxpayer,” he added. “In addition, it must become common practice to consistently deport illegal immigrants in order to prevent them from committing crimes. Because remigration is security. It is no longer acceptable for citizens to be let down by those in political positions of responsibility.”
Belated US Announcement Confirms Evacuation Of Citizens From Lebanon
The Biden administration has come under criticism for being slow to assist Americans getting out of Lebanon. Other countries began evacuation efforts well over a week ago, especially as Israel began pounding Beirut with airstrikes, and as an Israeli army ground invasion materialized.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre now says the US is working to evacuate Americans out of Lebanon, long after the war began. “Jean-Pierre said the US embassy in Beirut remains open and can help Americans who need emergency passports or other documentation,” Al Jazeera reports of the latest statement.
“The US will continue to provide aircraft as long as the Beirut airport remains open,” Jean-Pierre said. At this point the international airport has seen a lot more military transport flights sent by foreign governments to evacuate their nationals.
Currently, the only airline to continue flying in and out of the airport even as Israeli bombs fall on nearby south Beirut is Middle East Airlines, the Lebanese national carrier.
As of a few days ago, US State Department officials said that some 8,000 Americans in the country are in touch with the US Embassy, seeking some sort of assistance. Already a Lebanese-American has been killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
“Because we recognize that some flights are a little bit limited, we have organized U.S. flights, U.S.-organized flights to be able to augment commercial availability,” Rena Bitter, the assistant secretary of consular affairs at the State Department, has said.
While most Western and international airlines have suspended service to Beirut, an increasing number are also avoiding Israeli airspace.
On Wednesday the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) warned that airlines must urgently implement strict risk monitoring procedures for flights that go within Israeli airspace.
“The European Commission and European Union Aviation Safety Agency have updated the Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CZIB) for Israel issued on September 28. The revised CZIB recommends air operators to implement a stringent monitoring process and risk assessment for each flight when intending to operate within the airspace of Israel,” a notification said.
Plumes of smoke rise over Dahieh, as we prepare to leave Beirut. The area which is adjacent to the airport has been bombed this morning as planes arrive & depart @rtenewspic.twitter.com/CwP23emsrw
“The recommendation is valid until October 31 and can be reviewed earlier and adapted or withdrawn subject to the revised assessment,” it added.
It is not only the active state of war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel, but greatly adding to the danger is the risk of more direct ballistic missile launches between Iran and Israel. The Netanyahu government is sill vowing ‘precise’ and ‘deadly’ major strikes on Iranian targets – but it’s anyone’s guess when this might happen.
Austria remains in political limbo following last month’s national elections, as Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen announced that no party has been given a mandate to form a government yet.
After hosting talks with the leaders of the FPÖ, ÖVP, SPÖ, NEOS, and the Greens at the Hofburg Palace on Wednesday, Van der Bellen made it clear that he expects more clarity from the top three parties by the end of next week before any mandate is issued.
The right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), led by Herbert Kickl, emerged as the clear election winner with a record 28.8 percent of the vote, but it faces challenges in forming a government.
President Van der Bellen emphasized the unusual nature of the current political landscape, stating, “On the one hand, the FPÖ is the election winner and Kickl is claiming the chancellorship. On the other hand, no one trusts him enough to form a coalition. Who should he negotiate with?”
As is often the case across Europe, liberal parties have refused to cooperate with victorious conservative factions — a move that could see a “coalition of losers” that risks creating a serious democratic deficit.
“So far, it has been common practice to entrust the election winner with leading substantive discussions. But as you can see, the situation is anything but usual,” Van der Bellen said.
“Respect for you, the voters of all parties, dictates that we have to be safe here. Does everyone involved mean what they said? I want clarity for Austria. I ask Kickl, Nehammer, and Babler to have discussions with each other,” he added, referencing the leaders of the FPÖ, the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ).
Reports suggest current Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) may pursue a three-party coalition with the liberal NEOS and the Socialists, though it remains unclear how the SPÖ will proceed.
So much outrage (including from Vice President and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris) about the claim in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book that Donald Trump during his presidency sent some test kits to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the height of the Covid pandemic when they were scarce in the United States. And about the famed journalist’s report that the former president called Putin seven times since the former left the Oval Office in January, 2021. (See, e.g., here.)
And so little about by far the biggest outrage described in War (if true, of course – as with the above revelations): that President Biden may have pushed the United States, and the world, to within a coin flip of nuclear war in Ukraine.
Think I’m kidding? Here’s the description by CNN – which broke the news about Woodward’s book – his account of a crucial moment in U.S. policy toward Russia’s invasion. It’s worth quoting in full:
By September 2022, US intelligence reports deemed “exquisite” revealed a “deeply unnerving assessment” of Putin — that he was so desperate about battlefield losses that he might use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“Based on the alarming new intelligence reports, the White House believed there was a 50% chance Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon — a striking assessment that had skyrocketed up from 5% and then 10%, Woodward reports.
“’On all channels, get on the line with the Russians,’ Biden instructed his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. ‘Tell them what we will do in response,’ he said, according to Woodward.”
That’s the key phrase: “Tell them what we will do in response.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean that Mr. Biden had decided to use a nuclear weapon against Russia itself, or even against Russian forces inside Ukraine, or was considering such actions. Nor does it necessarily mean that the president had decided to deploy U.S. military forces in Ukraine in response.
But it’s difficult to imagine what else President Biden might have been thinking of that would deter the Russians from a step like tactical nuclear weapons use, or that would have convinced them to abandon this policy after firing one nuclear shot.
And the real outrage here – again, if Woodward has the story right – is that Mr. Biden actually was prepared to run such a catastrophic risk on behalf of a country whose fate Washington had never officially considered to be a remotely vital American security interest even at the height of the Cold War — and still hasn’t.
It’s one thing to threaten nuclear weapons use to protect a country or region that has been deemed a vital interest by U.S. leaders – like Western Europe or Japan. Or to do so when adversaries try to place nuclear weapons close to the American homeland (as was the case with the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962).
But even to contemplate Armageddon in a situation meeting absolutely none of these characteristics? How can that be viewed as anything but needlessly reckless and even suicidal?
Bob Woodward reports that at one point Biden believed there was a 50% chance of Russia using nukes over Ukraine
He chose to escalate the war anyways and lied to the American people about the risk pic.twitter.com/Ce8IMAST9w
Keep that in mind the next time you hear that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is too dangerously off his rocker to be fit for the presidency (in particular that his warnings about the current administration bringing World War III closer are nothing more than fear-mongering). And that the aforementioned Kamala Harris, when asked what she would have done differently from Mr. Biden, responded, “Not a thing that comes to mind.”
America’s Homeless Population Reaches Record High Under Biden-Harris Admin
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest report on homelessness in the United States, 653,104 Americans were homeless in 2023.
While in 2017 and 2018, growth was slow, Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports that homelessness increased more in 2019 and 2020 and finally skyrocketed in 2023 by growing 12 percent compared to the year prior and even climbing 10 percent above the 2007-2022 average.
As Covid-era protection programs expired and the cost-of-living crisis hit the country, homelessness numbers rose.
At the same time, Covid restrictions on shelter capacity ended, leading to more homeless individuals living in shelters once again.
During Covid-19, most of the increase in homeless populations had come from unhoused individuals.
In 2023, sheltered populations rose by almost 14 percent, while unhoused populations rose by less than 10 percent.
However, the share of the sheltered homeless population held steady at around 60-61 percent since the pandemic started.
Despite previous increases, the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January when the count is carried out had always stayed below Great Recession levels, which had been highest in 2007 when the data was first reported.
The 2023 number now retired that record, surpassing it by 1 percent.
