Last year Disney waged political war with the state of Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis and has suffered an overwhelming defeat.  The company has officially lost control of their Reedy Creek Development – First devised as an unprecedented agreement with Disney to allow it to act unilaterally in business development within the 25,000 acre park with limited government oversight.  The decision to dissolve Reedy Creek’s original management was finalized after a landslide senate vote this week to appoint a new governing board.

Disney has stated that it does not plan to fight the state ruling in court, probably because they know it is a losing battle. The new entity, dubbed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, will be operated by a five-member board appointed by DeSantis and confirmed by the state Senate.  The move effectively gives DeSantis power over operations including collecting taxes.

Disney World is set to rely even more on its theme park revenues as its movies and streaming service continue to flounder.

The entertainment behemoth engaged in a fight with the Florida citizenry and DeSantis in early 2022 over Bill HB 1557 (The Parental Rights In Education Bill) which was signed into law last March.  The law prevents Florida public schools from targeting young children and teaching gender identity ideology or sexualized propaganda; it also requires that teachers inform parents of their lesson plans and subject matter for Grades K-3.

Florida has been leading the pack in terms of states removing far-left rhetoric from classrooms, including trans propaganda and Critical Race Theory propaganda planted in school textbooks.  The concepts, which have no basis in scientific or historic fact, have nonetheless become an epidemic in American education, with many teachers focusing almost solely on social justice ideals rather than basic academics.  State opposition is late, but better late than never.

Disney, a major corporate element of Florida’s economy, became a vocal opponent of HB 1557, calling it the “don’t say gay bill” (it’s more accurate to call it the “anti-grooming bill”).  Disney sided with leftist activists and promised to use the company’s extensive power to force a repeal of the law.  CEO Bob Chapek swore fealty to the woke movement in a speech given during an employee conference at the onset of tensions with Florida. Chapek was recently fired and replaced by a returning Bob Iger.

The problem is that the law is supported by a majority in the Florida government as well as a majority of voters.  Floridians voted overwhelmingly to keep DeSantis as governor and conservative candidates dominated in district elections last year. 

Leftists argued that HB 1557 was “unconstitutional”, but this suggests a considerable lack of understanding.  Teachers as employees of the state do not have unfettered free speech rights in the classroom and are required to teach a specific curriculum.  Ideological zealotry and sexual propaganda are not a part of that curriculum, and teachers can be punished with the loss of their jobs for ignoring those standards.

This was the norm in education for decades – Only in recent years has it been suggested that teachers paid with tax dollars are somehow immune to oversight.  Leftist educators continue to insist that their rights are being violated and that they should be able to teach whatever they want, which apparently includes sharing the sexual details of their personal lives.

Leftists also argue that the actions against Reedy Creek violate Disney’s free speech rights.  However, they fail to recognize that Disney as a company is not entitled to special treatment from Florida’s government.  Reedy Creek was a special allowance, a favor to Disney that can just as easily be taken away.  

Why Disney chose gender identity politics and sexualized lessons for kindergarten children as the hill to die on is hard to say, but with the loss of Reedy Creek they have learned a valuable lesson.  ESG-style corporate governance is now under scrutiny in conservative run states, and payback is a bitch.     

Authored by Brendan Brown via The Mises Institute,

Are asset inflation and its bellwether, the euro, really heading into a new spring following a winter marked by the now-fading scare of Fed disinflation (alternatively described as “restrictive monetary policy”)? A computer powered by artificial intelligence might well conclude so, based on reading a million websites.

Yet there are grounds for skepticism. The laboratory of financial history is replete with examples of both Indian summers of asset inflation that fade quickly (so-called bear market rallies) and alternatively of premature celebration about disinflation when in fact a new virulent inflation episode is emerging.

In considering which diagnosis is appropriate to the present global monetary condition, let’s focus on the superlong credit and business cycle that started in the aftermath of the last great recession. This cycle continuously mocks those who predict its coming end. Pessimists announcing the end of the long cycle have cried wolf too often.

Impostor downturns have been lavishly received most of all by the “stimulus makers,” whether by central banks deploying their nonconventional toolbox or by finance ministers pursuing the path of fiscal expansion. Impostors include the “great recession” starting in spring 2020 and then the “disinflation bust” of summer/autumn 2022. Some commentators warn that the true great recession is now emerging.

As of now, late winter 2022/23, it is not fanciful to ask whether there was any disinflation at all. In today’s broken-down monetary system, where “monetary policy” is made by piloting short-term interest rates and the system has no solid anchor (which must be tied to a functioning monetary base), who could be sure whether monetary conditions are tight?

Yes, we might be reasonably sure about monetary tightness if there had been a huge discontinuous interest rate adjustment, as in the famous or infamous Volcker episode of disinflation (1980–82). But when the two-year T-bill yield only rose to 4 percent last July (from below 3 percent in the spring) and is now barely higher than that (having peaked at 4.5 percent in November), it’s difficult to be remotely confident that monetary conditions have been tight.

Yes, the Fed’s so-called terminal rate (according to the “dot plots”) is some 100–150 basis points above the most recently reported quarterly personal consumption expenditures (PCE) or Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates. Under a sound money regime, however, these real rates would move around considerably without signifying monetary inflation or monetary disinflation. In our bad money system, by extension, estimated real rates and their gyrations may say little about the evolution of monetary conditions.

Ideally, when performing monetary diagnosis, we would decipher whether money supply is veering ahead or below demand. Some market monetarists assure us that monetary disinflation is now underway, based on recent sharp slowdowns or falls in broad money supply. Yet the amount of overhang from the pandemic mega–money expansion coupled with the neutering of the monetary base by quantitative easing, quantitative tightening, and the resulting interest payments on reserves makes any fine judgment impossible.

Yes, reported measures of goods and services inflation are falling, but trendspotting is not a good way forward in monetary diagnosis. Additionally, a falling reported inflation rate may in fact be symptomatic of serious monetary inflation if the “natural rhythm of prices” is downward, which is likely the case now as the supply constraints of the pandemic continue to ease and the war-related natural gas shortage diminishes.

As regards to the second key symptom of monetary inflation, asset inflation, we could say that actual experience (the rebound of beaten-down tech, buoyant high-yield credit, and bitcoin up 40 percent from its crypto-winter low) is consistent with the diagnosis of a new virulent phase—the asset inflation symptom often historically emerges well before in the form of goods and services inflation. Also, we know from history that asset inflation often forms when the central bank takes advantage of a downward rhythm of prices to pursue a policy of lower interest rates.

In making a diagnosis of monetary inflation under present circumstances, it is instructive to consider three scenarios.

• First, monetary disinflation by the Fed is still underway and will bear down on goods and services prices further, while present froth in some asset markets will fade as this continues. The monetary disinflation will prove a catalyst to an economic downturn, intensified most likely by the process of asset deflation (and related unwinding of credit excesses, including financial engineering).

• Second, monetary inflation is still in process. We enter another growth cycle upturn, with the already superlong cycle extended yet again. There are open questions as to whether this new extension will end in a more substantial monetary tightening than in the past year as well as how much further inflation damage will be done first.

• Third, monetary conditions might not be at present ostensibly “stimulatory” or “disinflationary.” However, the business cycle is turning down under the weight of endogenous factors—prominently, the accumulation of malinvestment during the past decade and the advance of monopoly capitalism. Peak valuations in credit and some real asset markets might succumb to a crash as income falls below expectations and financial engineering marvels of the past lose their wonder.

In Europe, the likelihood of monetary conditions already being disinflationary is less than in the United States—given the European Central Bank’s (ECB) long delay in raising rates from still-negative levels last year amidst a second big “fiscal expansion.” This expansion was ostensibly to subsidize personal incomes otherwise squeezed by the terms of trade losses inflicted by the Russian war. The big rebound of the euro in recent months is evidence of a prevalent view in the marketplace that in “playing catch-up,” the ECB will cause monetary conditions in Europe to become disinflationary just at a time when the Fed’s “disinflation grip” is lessening.

Even so we should note the now-high likelihood that the euro’s cumulative loss of purchasing power through the pandemic and war will be of a higher order than for the dollar. The tightening of monetary conditions in Europe came later than in the US, and it may well not be as tough. The scope for the eurozone to divorce monetary policy from ailing public finances given the evident “fragmentation risks” is limited. The fiscal theory of inflation, of which the future potential bankruptcy of governments is a factor in present inflation (due to the anticipation of eventual money printing to service the debt), has greater plausibility in the eurozone than the US.

Present escalation of the Russia-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conflagration is surely a source of rational concern for the euro’s future purchasing power. Some euro-optimists might scoff at this, confident that NATO’s military buildup in Ukraine will bolster the likelihood of a Russian defeat. Euro-pessimists by contrast are troubled by the escalation.

One of their concerns is that the mounting cost of rebuilding Ukraine is already estimated at nearly $350 billion. The US and its NATO allies will encounter great domestic political difficulties joining this effort.

In the European Union, we can imagine a heightened tension between “New Europe” (Poland, the Czech Republic, the Baltic States, and of course Ukraine) on the one hand and “Old Europe” (primarily Germany) on the other on the question of the aid needed for rebuilding Ukraine. Washington will be siding with “New Europe” as has been the case since the early 2000s. Berlin-Warsaw relations, already difficult and bitter, have no counterbalance elsewhere, especially given the virtual snapping of the Paris-Berlin axis. The willingness of the German public to continue its bankrolling of an ailing Italian government and its bank finances is questionable under these circumstances.

Yes, there is the potential for the NATO allies to “direct” seized Russian assets, including central bank reserves, toward rebuilding in Ukraine. There are weighty legal obstacles to this without Russian agreement in a peace deal—not imaginable at this stage of the conflict. In sum, the euro’s present ebullience as a cheerleader for yet another extension of a superlong business cycle and the related asset inflation could succumb to the menace of the European credit and currency crisis.

The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake soared past 28,000 killed this weekend, and many more thousands may still be buried under the rubble, as in many areas of the sprawling disaster zone, at hundreds of miles wide, rescue operations have only barely begun.

Turkish officials estimate that around 25,000 buildings either totally collapsed or were severely damaged in the earthquake, and that more already shaken buildings could potentially collapse as a result of aftershocks and tremors. 

But in a new development, “Approximately 130 people were arrested or are the target of arrest warrants issued by Turkish officials for their involvement in alleged faulty and illegal construction methods as rescue teams work to locate survivors in the wreckage of thousands of buildings downed by an earthquake nearly a week ago,” The Hill reports based on regional sources.

The arrest round-up is said to be the first major action of of the newly established “Earthquake Crimes Investigation Offices” which will investigate malfeasance which contributed to the high numbers of buildings that collapsed.

“We will follow this up meticulously until the necessary judicial process is concluded, especially for buildings that suffered heavy damage and buildings that caused deaths and injuries,” a Turkish official said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed a tough response amid public finger-pointing and outrage among victims’ families, also given the sheer scale of the massive catastrophe, which left entire cities demolished – for example the major city of Antakya in Hatay province.

Video demonstrates the first earthquake #Deprem #Turkey 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/lSjToAe6aB

— Aleph א (@no_itsmyturn) February 10, 2023

The earthquake response is sure to be a front and center issue as the Erdogan government heads into tough parliamentary and presidential elections set for May.

Now China is jumping in on the trend, apparently, as authorities in China say they have spotted and are tracking an unidentified object over waters near the port city of Qingdao.

Scant details have been given, but the claim was briefly detailed in Bloomberg on Sunday, with the publication saying authorities are preparing to down the object.

Area fisherman and boats in the port waters have been alerted and told to follow safety precautions due to the object, which is hovering at an unknown altitude.

According to the report: 

An employee at the marine development authority of Qingdao’s Jimo district said “relevant authorities” are preparing to bring down the object, the report said. The employee was not informed what the object was.

By the vague description, it could be a balloon of some type, or alternately perhaps the Chinese are attempting to hype their own “foreign threat” news story as a counter following the Pentagon shooting down the Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, which Beijing has maintained all along was just a weather research platform.

As for the now recovered balloon which was shot down over a week ago Saturday off the US east coast, it is undergoing FBI analysis. However, the undercarriage, which US officials say contained surveillance gear, has yet to be lifted from the ocean, and is said to be large – at least 30 feet across. 

And then there’s the bizarre couple of incidents over far northern parts of the American continent…

The object shot down above Alaska was an actual UFO:

“Other pilots saying that when they looked at the object they could identify no identifiable propulsion system and they did not know how it was actually staying in the air cruising at that altitude“ pic.twitter.com/k47jM99rdk

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 11, 2023

According to the latest this weekend, the US has said it shot down a third high-altitude object over northern Canada, just a day following a similar intercept of a mysterious object over far northeast Alaska. 

A peaceful protest outside a UK hotel housing asylum-seekers turned violent on Friday evening as protestors — enraged over a recording of an alleged proposition of a minor English girl by a migrant — reportedly threw bricks and set a police van on fire. 

Three people were arrested in the uproar that took place next to the Suites Hotel in the borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, near Liverpool. No serious injuries were reported. 

“For officers and police vehicles to be damaged in the course of their duty protecting the public is disgraceful,” said Assistant Chief Constable Paul White. 

The protest was sparked by a video posted this week by a 15-year-old British girl. She says it captures a self-proclaimed 25-year-old migrant propositioning her — and persisting even after she tells him she’s ten years younger. 

When the girl says, “I’m only 15,” the migrant replies, “Okay, good.” 

“That’s not good,” says the girl. “You don’t do this in this country…you go to jail if you do this.” 

This is why the Scousers have reacted tonight. A pervert migrant from the nearby hotel trying it on with a 15 year old kid a few days ago. pic.twitter.com/LwGXsmTbij

— Gaelic Nationalist ⨁ 🇮🇪 (@GN1916_) February 10, 2023

The incident was said to have taken place near the hotel where the migrant is residing at taxpayer expense. Tonight, protestors displayed a sign reading “DEPORT, NOT SUPPORT.”

Clashes outside asylum centre in Liverpool when locals protested against the non stop flood of ppl via Dover into Merseyside. The uprising is happening. #ExitUNRefugeeConvention pic.twitter.com/AaSCeyDeSf

— 🇬🇧 National Housing Party U.K. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@NHPUKOfficial) February 10, 2023

Videos circulating on social media show what appears to be hundreds of protestors who turned out to vent their anger over the mass influx of migrants, some of whom have little respect for Western morals.

Thousands of people protest outside an immigration center in Liverpool as the British government continues to spend billions providing housing and hospitality to illegal economic immigrants. pic.twitter.com/8oBJ8lTzTd

— Ben Kew 🐶 (@ben_kew) February 10, 2023

Protestors set a police van ablaze, and accused authorities of protecting “nonces” — UK slang for pedophiles. 

Video of the police van on fire.

People referring to the asylum-seekers in the hotel as “nonces”. Someone can be heard complaining about police p
“protecting the nonces”. pic.twitter.com/yPOJPuxlYQ

— Benny Hunter (@BennnyH) February 10, 2023

Additional footage from Liverpool tonight as anti immigration demonstrators take out their anger on riot police. The government created this situation which could well spread to every town and city in the country unless decisive action is taken now to stop the flow of illegals. pic.twitter.com/8E46HYebXb

— UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧 Latest Video News Updates! (@Justice_forum) February 11, 2023

According to one man reporting from the scene, police drove the van amid the throng and then abandoned it. He argues it was a deliberate provocation meant to provoke a violent backlash: 

Local man from Kirby tells it how it is tonight as local residents continue to protest the illegal migrants in the town after a 25 year old migrant made obscene comments to a local 15 year old girl pic.twitter.com/s0ymQljaZy

— Milesy (@milesy1961) February 10, 2023

The Associated Press swept the reason for the protest under the rug. Friday night’s AP report only mentioned, via a quote from a member of parliament, “an alleged incident on social media,” without giving any other information.

That MP, Labour member George Howarth, said “until the police have investigated the matter, it is too soon to jump to conclusions and the effort on the part of some to inflame the situation is emphatically wrong.”

Meanwhile, leftists were quick to brand protestors who were reacting to an alleged attempt at pedophilia as “far right”, “racist” and “fascist.” Allegations of racial slurs were made without giving specifics.  

Horrific scenes as far-right protesters gather outside a hotel for asylum seekers near Liverpool, chanting racist slurs and setting a police van on fire. https://t.co/63zAnuOQhg

— Nicola Kelly (@NicolaKelly) February 10, 2023

“Far right”?

It seems a local 15 yr old girl being targeted by an illegal that was posted on social media may have triggered last nights protest in Liverpool

It’s very telling @Care4Calais who were there & the @guardian always ignore the actions of the predators they champion🙄 pic.twitter.com/d8zoos6zNF

— LittleBoats 🇬🇧NI🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿En (@LittleBoats2020) February 11, 2023

While the UK isn’t accepting as many asylum-seekers as countries like France and Germany, there’s been a major spike in refugees landing on British beaches in small boats and dinghies via the English Channel.   

Kirkby, Liverpool
Illegal migrants have been dumped in a hotel there
Video emerged of migrant harassing girls
Tonight, a huge crowd is out protesting.
Now watch mainstream politicians & media blame the people of Kirkby – people protecting themselves, because the system won’t. pic.twitter.com/r8HHiZckMe

— Edward Hobden (@EdwardHobden) February 10, 2023

More videos on tik tok re: far right and Liverpool pic.twitter.com/NLrPqMln3x

— Sajda (@SajdaMughal) February 11, 2023

Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The number of deaths with a bladed instrument—mostly knives—in England and Wales was the highest since records began in 1946, with 282 people losing their lives between April 2021 and March 2022, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of homicides using a knife or other sharp instrument went up by 19 percent from the previous year.

The increase was driven by an 18 percent increase in the number of young men dying, with the number of male victims aged 16 to 17 years jumping from 10 to 24.

One of those teenage victims was Levi Ernest-Morrison, 17, who was stabbed to death in Sydenham, southeast London after being chased by a gang armed with knives and a machete.

Alex Sprules, 17, was jailed for life for murder and Tyreese Ulysses, 19, was jailed for 13 years for manslaughter. Ulysses’s mother, Nichola Leighton, 36, was also jailed for life for murder. The trial heard she was outraged when Ernest-Morrison and his friends banged on her front door, rang her son, and then drove him and Sprules to hunt down the group.

The figures showed 177 knife homicide victims were white—an increase of 36 compared with the previous year—and 59 were black, of whom 25 were aged 16 to 24.

The ONS said black people had higher rates of victimisation—”the average rates per million population were around four times higher for black victims than white victims or victims of other ethnicities.”

The report did not analyse the ethnicity of perpetrators, as many of the homicide cases have not yet come to court.

The ONS report pointed out knives and machetes were used in 75 percent of teenage murders compared with just 40 percent of adult homicides.

Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, an anti-knife crime charity, blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns for making young people feel more “vulnerable.”

Green said: “As we emerged from COVID restrictions and those restrictions were lifted, we were seeing more evidence of young people made more vulnerable by COVID. Gangs are particularly good at picking up on vulnerabilities, are quick to pick them up and indeed lure young people and exploit them in criminal acts. We think there could be a link there.”

Green said he had carried out education workshops in London and Nottingham and had seen a “notable difference” in interactions with young people after the pandemic.

‘Some Feel Less Secure in Their Community Spaces’

He said: “Some feel less secure in their community spaces, more worried. We know that fear is a factor … in terms of carrying a knife. It’s one of the motivations. They feel safe carrying a knife and that alleviates the fear.”

Green said there were “a range of drivers for knife crime that reach deep into our society.”

“We’ve got to not only tackle drugs and gangs, we’ve also got to tackle school exclusions, we’ve also got to tackle mental health provisions for young people,” he added.

Bruce Houlder, founder of Fighting Knife Crime London, said the rise in male teenage knife victims was “highly disturbing” and he said: “The long term failure of all governments in the last few decades to get to grips with social deprivation and the loss of hope among many young people needs to be heeded. As a nation we need to be ashamed that it has come to this.”

In March 2022 Tyler Hurley, 16, was stabbed to death with a zombie knife on a bus in Chadwell Heath, east London.

His killer, Carlton Tanueh, 18, was jailed for life for murder. The trial heard that Hurley and his friends had uploaded a music video to YouTube mocking a number of Tanueh’s friends.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “Homicides, knife, and gun crime continue to fall in the capital, bucking the national trend. However, the mayor is clear that one death is one too many and the level of violence in London remains too high.”

“That’s why he continues to take action by investing in policing, expanding neighbourhood policing teams, and investing record amounts in early prevention and support programmes for young Londoners through London’s Violence Reduction Unit as we work to build a safer London for everyone,” he added.

The ONS analysed data held by the Home Office Homicide Index, which contains detailed information about each killing recorded by police in England and Wales.

It said “kicking or hitting” accounted for 116 homicides—17 percent of the total—and “strangulation or asphyxiation” was the cause of 14 percent of murders in which women were the victims.

There were 28 homicides by shooting, seven fewer than the previous year and 30 percent lower than a decade ago.

Energy and electricity supply have become vital for nearly every European nation over the past year, as the region shifts away from its dependence on Russian fuel imports.

While many countries have been making progress in their energy transition away from fossil fuels, nearly half of European countries are still dependent on them as their primary source of electricity generation.

In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist Niccolo Conte maps out European countries by their top source of electricity generation using data from Electricity Maps and the IEA, along with a breakdown of the EU’s overall electricity generation by source in 2021.

Europe’s Electricity Generation by Energy Source

Europe has been steadily transitioning towards renewable sources of energy for their electricity generation, making considerable progress over the last decade.

In 2011, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) made up 49% of the EU’s electricity production while renewable energy sources only made up 18%. A decade later, renewable energy sources are coming close to equaling fossil fuels, with renewables making up 32% of the EU’s electricity generation compared to fossil fuels’ 36% in 2021.

The expansion of wind and solar generation have been the primary drivers in this shift towards renewables, going from only generating 8% of the EU’s electricity in 2011 all the way to 19% in 2021. While this might still seem small, the EU’s share of wind and solar electricity generation is tied for first alongside Oceania when compared to other regions around the world.

While hydropower doesn’t make up as big of a share as other sources, it’s the most common primary source of electricity generation in Europe, playing an important role in providing renewable energy.

Nuclear energy is the largest single source of electricity generation in the EU and across Europe despite its decline over the past couple of decades. Back in 2001, nuclear energy made up one-third (33%) of the EU’s electricity generation, and in the following 20 years fell down to 25%.

The Primary Electricity Sources of Europe’s Major Nations

When looking at individual nations, the majority of Europe’s largest countries have fossil fuels as their largest primary single source of electricity.

Germany remains heavily reliant on coal power, which from 2017 to 2021 generated 31% of the nation’s electricity. Despite the dependence on the carbon intensive fossil fuel, wind and solar energy generation together made up more of Germany’s electricity generation at 33% (23% for wind and 10% for solar).

France is Europe’s largest economy that primarily relies on nuclear power, with nuclear power making up more than half of the country’s electricity production.

Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands are all primarily natural gas powered when it comes to their electricity generation from 2017 to 2021. While Italy is the most reliant of the three at 42% of electricity generated by natural gas, the Netherlands (40%), and the UK (38%) aren’t too far off.

Spain is an outlier among major European nations and a success story in a transition towards renewable energy sources. While in the period from 2017-2021 the country was primarily dependent on natural gas (29%), in 2022 natural gas’ contribution to electricity generation fell to 14% as wind rose up to become the primary electricity generator with a 32% share.

Accelerating the EU’s Energy Transition

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy independence in the EU has become of utmost importance, and countries have taken the opportunity to accelerate their transition towards renewable energy sources.

A new report from Ember highlights how the transition made considerable progress in 2022, with solar and wind power (22%) overtaking natural gas (20%) in electricity generation for the first time ever.

While 2022 did see an increase in fossil fuel electricity generation for the EU, Ember is expecting it to decline in 2023 by as much as 20%. If the EU can sustain this accelerated shift away from fossil fuels, this map of primary energy sources of electricity generation could feature many more renewable and low-carbon energy sources in the near future.

Authored by John Cody via Remix News,

Two climate activists who blocked traffic in the German city of Stuttgart earlier this year missed their court date because they flew to Bali and Indonesia, for a round trip of 23,000 kilometers producing 7.9 tons of CO2 emissions.

In September 2022, Yannick S. and his girlfriend Luisa S., both members of the Last Generation activist group, blocked commuter traffic in Stuttgart. The two were cited by police, but when their court date arrived, it was revealed that neither could attend because they were on the other side of the planet on vacation.

The two climate activists are now being held up as an example of the hypocrisy of many such activists who come from wealthy families that can afford the type of backpacking trip typical of this social class. At the same time, many of these same individuals have blockaded airports, arguing that airplanes are responsible for a significant amount of CO2 emissions and are only available to the “wealthy” percentage of the population.

Both individuals were summoned to the district court in Bd Cannstatt, where the 24-year-old and his 22-year-old girlfriend were supposed to be tried. When the judge asked the other defendants in the case where the couple was, they replied they were on vacation in Thailand, with plans to then travel on to Bali.

The case prompted a spokesman for Last Generation to say that they are permitted to take a vacation as “private individuals.”

“They booked the flight as private individuals, not as climate protectors. You have to keep that separate,” he said.

Yannick S. and his girlfriend Luisa S. are not the only two climate activists who have been called out for their double standards. World leaders, academics, and CEOs who arrived at the latest World Economic Forum in Davos on a fleet of private jets were harshly ridiculed for their relentless focus on climate change despite their own personal consumption habits.

In addition, Luisa Neubauer, the spokeswoman for “Fridays for Future,” has also been accused of hypocrisy for her travels to Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Namibia, Canada, and Morocco when she was 26. The German climate activist has been nicknamed “long-distance Luisa” on social media.

Authored by William Spruance via The Brownstone Institute,

Wednesday, Congress held a hearing on Twitter’s censorship of The New York Post and its coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. While House Republicans focused on issues like shadowbanning and government collusion with Big Tech, Rep. Jamie Raskin and other Democrats advocated for increased censorship from Silicon Valley companies.  

Raskin argued that the committee would be better served focusing on “the real threats of massive Russian disinformation and white nationalist violent incitement on social media.” 

Like the Biden Administration’s usurpation of the First Amendment, Raskin’s cohort’s goal is censorship and the accompanying augmentation of state power, not challenging the veracity of opponents’ arguments or claims.

In “Shouting Covid in a Crowded Theater,” I discuss how officials in the Biden Administration use wartime rhetorical strategies to slander dissidents. In doing so, they conflate dissent with threats to public safety to censor critics. 

When discussing public health, the regime consistently uses labels of “misinformation” and “disinformation.” But the more we learn about government operations, the more it appears that these labels are references to inconvenience, not falsity. 

This strategy extends beyond the country’s COVID response. 

Wednesday morning, Seymour Hersh published “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline.” 

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 Pipelines exploded in September 2022. The Nord Stream 1 has delivered natural gas from Russia to Europe for over a decade, and Russia was developing the Nord Stream 2 at the time. Outlets like The New York Times called the explosions “a mystery.” 

The sabotage presented a major energy crisis for the United States’ European allies. Europe imports nearly 40% of its gas from Russia, and the Nord Stream 1 was responsible for delivering approximately one third of that supply. 

Now, Hersh reports that “the United States executed a covert sea operation” with Navy divers to sabotage Russia’s pipelines with explosives. 

For a less obsequious press corps, this should have been an easy story to crack. 

In the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President Biden announced his intention to act against the pipelines in the event of war. 

“If Russia invades… there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” he told reporters. “We will bring an end to it.” 

“How will you do that exactly?” a reporter asked. 

“I promise you we will be able to do it,” President Biden said with a slight smile. 

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland was equally as explicit. 

“I want to be very clear to you today,” she told reporters in January 2022.

“If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” 

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed “Anglo-Saxons” in the West for “terror attacks” on the pipelines. “Those who profit from it have done it,” Putin told the press.

President Biden chastised Putin’s accusation for “pumping out disinformation and lies.” 

“Just don’t listen to what Putin’s saying,” Biden added.

“What he’s saying we know is not true.”

White House National Security spokeswoman Adrienne Watson backed up Biden’s claim, referring to Putin’s accusation as “Russia’s disinformation.” 

Russia’s U.N. ambassador also implied that the United States had been involved in the sabotage. Richard Mills, U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., responded by calling the claims “conspiracy theories and disinformation.”

Despite the Commander and Chief’s explicit announcement that he would take action against the Nord Stream pipeline, a credulous press corps has dutifully parotted government talking points that accusations of western involvement in the sabotage are “baseless” “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “conspiracy theories.” 

This all follows a similar pattern to the informational warfare of the Covid era: an inconvenient narrative arises, the government and lemmings in the media slander it as false and dangerous, and, months later, the dispute in question turns out to be true (or at least highly plausible). 

Arguments over natural immunity, vaccine efficacy, masks, the lab leak hypothesis, school shutdowns, lockdowns, and the scientific basis of social distancing are just a few examples that followed this cycle of reporting. 

This was the same pattern as The New York Post’s coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop. Now, at hearings to investigate corruption that implicated Big Tech, intelligence officials, and the federal government, Raskin and his cohorts return to their familiar censorship ploys. 

For censors, augmentation of power, not truth, remains the chief objective. To achieve this goal, they conflate dissent with domestic terrorism.

For example, the Department of Homeland Security’s “National Terrorism Advisory Service” listed misinformation and disinformation as terrorism threats in February 2022. The memo identified these threats as efforts to “undermine public trust in government.” 

Regarding both Covid and Ukraine, the most powerful forces in the country have repeatedly lied and misled the American public. They censor critics to protect their delicate narratives of fiction, and they attack others for the public’s waning trust in government. 

Hersh’s article pierces through the hegemonic narrative; hopefully, exposing their lies and warmongering will disrupt their ploys for censorship and power. 

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

Japan’s government on Feb. 10 adopted a policy seeking to maximize the use of nuclear power in a bid to stabilize the country’s energy supply amid soaring energy costs fueled by the prolonged war in Ukraine.

The new policy marks a major turnaround from Japan’s previous policy of reducing its reliance on nuclear energy and shutting down most of its nuclear reactors in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Under the new policy, the government will set up a final disposal site for the proper disposal of radioactive waste generated during nuclear energy production. It also calls for the development of advanced reactors.

In addition, it will allow extending the lifespans of nuclear reactors beyond the current maximum of 60 years and replacing aging nuclear reactors with new ones to ensure a stable power supply.

The government also aims to issue green transformation bonds to raise 20 trillion yen ($15.789 billion) to procure funds for decarbonization projects, Kyodo News reported.

The plan includes a target of raising about 150 trillion won ($118.35 billion) in public and private investments over the next 10 years for such projects.

Japan had only allowed 10 of the 33 operable nuclear reactors to restart after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. But rising energy prices, along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and power outages during the summer and winter pushed the government to revive some nuclear plants.

The stark policy turnaround comes after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in August last year that Japan would look at developing next-generation reactors and ordered the industry ministry to set up a policy plan to widen the use of nuclear energy.

“In order to overcome our imminent crisis of a power supply crunch, we must take our utmost steps to mobilize all possible policies in the coming years and prepare for any emergency,” Kishida said.

On June 27, 2022, the government issued a warning about the tight power supply as Japan endured an extreme heat wave. It also issued an energy warning in March 2022 due to cold weather and power plant outages caused by an earthquake near Fukushima Prefecture.

South Korea’s Nuclear Energy Plan

Governments across Europe and Asia are also extending the life of their aging nuclear fleets, restarting reactors, and dusting off plans to resume projects shelved after the Fukushima disaster.

South Korea’s nuclear power reactor under construction at the time—Shin-Kori 3 and 4 called APR-1400—in Gori near the southern port of Busan, on Feb. 5, 2013. (Jun Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has reversed the previous administration’s plan to phase out nuclear energy and pledged to boost investment in the industry and revive its status as a key exporter of safe reactors.

“If the people who were pushing the nuclear phaseout had actually seen the industrial ecosystem for themselves, I doubt they could have made that decision,” he was quoted as saying by local outlet Hankyoreh.

The government said on July 5, 2022, that it will restart construction on two nuclear reactors at the Shin-Hanul nuclear plant, which had been stalled since 2017 under the previous administration, and continue to operate nuclear energy facilities that are already running.

Restarting construction reactors and exporting nuclear power are part of the South Korean Energy Ministry’s plan to achieve the nation’s policy goals of ensuring energy security and attaining “carbon-neutral goals” amid global energy supply chain pressures.

Yoon’s administration also plans to increase the contribution of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix to 30 percent or more by 2030.

Nuclear power currently makes up roughly 27 percent of the country’s energy mix. According to the World Nuclear Association, South Korea currently has 25 nuclear reactors in operation. It also constructed four nuclear reactors in Barakah, the United Arab Emirates.