“In Norway, the sale of new electric cars has gone from 3% in 2012, to almost 80% in 2022,” Christina Bu, the secretary general for the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association told Bloomberg this week.

“I think the rest of the world must learn from this and realize that this change is going to happen,” Bu added. 

Despite those numbers, the country is finding it awfully difficult to quit fossil fuels entirely, the report says. It’s almost like petroleum, oil and gas have uses outside of sedans. Go figure.

The country has been labeled a “trailblazer” as it relates to making the switch to EVs. Norway is sacrificing $1.8 billion per year in order to try and help make the transition.

But the transition also “highlights the limitations of electric cars when it comes to curbing overall consumption of fossil fuels and achieving net-zero emissions,” the report says. More than 20% of the country’s autos are now battery powered, resulting in lower consumption of gas for the nordic country. 

But the report notes that diesel still accounted for 43% of the distance covered in the country and that heavier trucks are “still predominantly running on diesel”.

Norwegian Road Federation Director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen detailed to Bloomberg that consumption of diesel is just 10% below its 2015 peak, despite the strides battery powered vehicles have made. 

Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB, added: “If you want to drive a truck, if you want to operate a mining machine, if you want to get things done in the world economy, then you need diesel.”

And Bloomberg notes that neighboring countries have seen their oil consumption per capita fall faster than Norway, despite the country’s adoption of EVs. 

Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland commented: 

“We are surrounded by different products and systems that mean we need petroleum products, and where there isn’t an easy replacement. So we will still need oil for industrial purposes, even if we cut fossil fuel inputs into the transport sector.”

In fact, ironically, Aasland, who owns a Tesla and an Audi e-Tron, has been urging Norwegian companies to “leave no stone unturned” in searching for oil and gas reserves. 

Read Bloomberg’s full report here.

Authored by Patricia Devlin via The Epoch Times,

Britain’s biggest teaching union has advised schools to stop segregated sports and use gender-neutral uniforms to become more “trans inclusive.”

The Epoch Times has learned that controversial new guidelines from the National Education Union (NEU) also tell teachers to put an end to “boy-girl” classroom seating as it could “distress” trans or non-binary students.

The official guidance—agreed by NEU’s executive committee—has been slammed by campaigners who say it will create a “hostile and untenable environment” for pupils, parents, and teachers “who do not agree with transgender ideology.”

Among the newly published advice, the union has included its own definitions of “transphobia” and “trans.”

It states that “transphobic behaviour” can be anything a complainant “reasonably perceives” to create “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”

The NEU’s definition of “trans”—which “goes further” than the Equality Act 2010—says “trans people need not have had any medical transition to be considered trans.”

The union’s new rules have raised concerns among some of its 500,000 members that those holding gender-critical views could be left open to unfair disciplinary action, or even being kicked out of the union.

One concerned member who contacted The Epoch Times called the guidance a “dangerous mess” that not only provides “little reassurance” to gender critical voices, but also “threatens free speech.”

‘Transphobic Behaviour’

The new NEU guidelines come months after the government pledged to produce official guidance for schools on transgender issues.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a document giving a government steer on dealing with trans-identifying children would be signed off by the summer term.

Mr. Sunak’s announcement came after teaching unions complained members were navigating a “minefield” over the issues.

In March, a conservative think tank report said safeguarding principles are being routinely disregarded owing to the spread of “extreme gender ideology” in schools.

London-based Policy Exchange said that most secondary schools are failing to tell parents if their child wants to identify as another gender.

NEU—whose members staged a mass walkout from schools in England on Wednesday over pay—has now cited examples of “transphobic behaviour” which could lead to members being disciplined.

They include “intrusive questioning” and “failing to listen respectfully to trans voices including those of trans children about their choices and identity.”

Referencing members who hold gender-critical views in its newly published guidance, the union states: “Nothing in this definition is intended to contravene the protections given to all protected groups under the Equality Act 2010.

“The NEU rejects all discrimination and recognizes that holding and expressing gender critical views is protected by law under the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 9 and 10.

“This means holders of these views can express them freely, as long as they do so in a respectful manner, avoiding creating an environment which is hostile or discriminatory to trans people.”

Self Censorship

One teacher, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his union membership, said the NEU policies will put gender-critical members “in danger of expressing any gender-critical view in any situation.”

“This means that gender-critical members may be refused union representation if the school management or any offended self-defined trans person or trans ally perceives that their comments are transphobic and it results in the use of the school disciplinary procedure,” the teacher told The Epoch Times.

“It also means that the same person could be expelled from the union if the union’s complaints procedure is used against them and they are deemed to have broken the code of conduct.”

The NEU member said this means there is an “ever-present threat hanging over any gender critical member,” which will “almost certainly” lead to self-censorship.

Questioning the union’s definition of “trans,” the concerned teacher said: “This means anyone at any time in any school context could be trans and could perceive hostility, intimidation, degradation, or humiliation.

“What a dangerous mess.”

He said that NEU guidance about how to support trans children also puts teachers in “an even more precarious position.”

It tells members that “students who want to use a new name, wear new clothes or ask for a new pronoun to be used are protected under the law, regardless of whether they have, or want to have, any medical treatment.”

The document goes on to say that: “To be protected from gender reassignment discrimination, you do not need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery.

“This is because changing your physiological or other gender attributes can be an entirely personal process rather than a medical one.

“You can be at any stage or part of a stage in the transition process—from proposing to reassign your gender to undergoing a process to reassign your gender or having completed it.”

The teacher said: “This all begs the question about what are teachers to do if the parents don’t know the children are gender questioning and in the process of transitioning? The NEU guidance doesn’t seem to help once again.”

He added: “This is all highly questionable and looks like it won’t stand up to legal scrutiny, which means it should not be offered as guidance to its members.

“The sooner that the document is scrutinised by the government lawyers the better.”

Failing Schoolgirls

The Epoch Times approached the NEU with its members’ concerns, but the union did not respond.

Reacting to its guidance, Chief Executive of Christian Concern Andrea Williams—whose clients include teachers disciplined and dismissed over gender-critical views—said the union’s advice will fail pupils.

She told the Epoch Times: “The statement and guidance from Britain’s largest teaching union will create a hostile and untenable environment for any pupil, parent, or teacher that does not agree with transgender ideology.

“Expert evidence from scientists has revealed that such trans-affirming guidance has catastrophic outcomes for vulnerable and gender-distressed children.

“The statement shows that the NEU has been completely captured by transgender ideology and is pushing guidance that will cause many children short, long-term, and often irreversible harm.”

Ms. Williams referred to the recent Policy Exchange report which said a generation of children are being let down because well-established safeguarding standards are being compromised.

She added, “This guidance from the NEU encapsulates that dire warning.”

“Organisations that care about the safeguarding of our children will not support the social transition of school children.

“Teachers and fellow pupils should always refer to pupils according to their legal gender. Anything else is lying and harmful for children.”

Ms. Williams also said that the idea sports should not be segregated in schools “will only serve to disadvantage girls” and show “they are not protected or respected.”

“The last thing girls want is boys invading their private spaces and ruining their chances of winning any sports competitions,” Ms. Williams said.

“Clearly the NEU does not care about the welfare of girls in schools.”

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

Discussions at the recent SCO Summit in New Delhi now point to the inevitable: The merging of new multipolar organizations and their collective reorganization of global finance….

The 23rd summit of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), held virtually in New Delhi, represented History in the making: three BRICS (Russia, India, China), plus Pakistan and four Central Asian “stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), finally and formally, welcomed the Islamic Republic of Iran as a permanent member.

And next year will be Belarus’ turn, as confirmed by India’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Vinay Kvatra. Belarus and Mongolia took part in the 2023 summit as observers, and fiercely independent Turkmenistan, as a guest.

After years of US “maximum pressure,” Tehran may now finally get rid of the sanctions dementia and solidify its leading role in the ongoing process of Eurasia integration.

Arguably, the star of the show in New Delhi was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led his country since 1994.

Old Man Luka, unbeatable in the headline-stealing department, especially after his mediator role in the Prighozin saga, may have coined the definitive slogan of multipolarity.  Forget the western-termed “golden billion” which in fact barely reaches 100 million; embrace now the “Global Globe” – with a firm focus on the Global South.

As the clincher, Lukashenko proposed total integration of the SCO and BRICS – which in their upcoming summit in South Africa will be heading the BRICS+ way. And it goes without saying, this integration also applies to the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU).

The next step for the “Global Globe” – what the collective west dismissively qualifies as “the rest” – is to work on the complex coordination of several development banks and then the process to issue bonds linked to a new trading currency.

The main ideas and the basic template already exist. The new bonds will be a real safe heaven compared to the US dollar and US Treasuries, and will imply accelerated de-dollarization. Capital used to purchase those bonds should be used to finance trade and sustainable development, in what will be a certified, Chinese-style “win-win.”

A converging geoeconomic focus

The SCO declaration made it clear that the expanding multilateral body is “not directed against other states and international organizations.” On the contrary, it is “open to broad cooperation with them in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the SCO Charter and international law, based on consideration of mutual interests.”

The heart of the matter is of course the drive towards a fair multipolar world order – the polar opposite of the Hegemon-imposed “rules-based international order.” And the three key nodes are mutual security; trade in local currencies, and eventually, de-dollarization.

It’s quite enlightening to outline the converging focus, expressed by most leaders, during the New Delhi summit.

India’s Prime Minister Modi stated in his keynote address that the SCO will be as important as the UN. Translation: a toothless UN controlled by the Hegemon may end up being sidelined by a real “Global Globe” organization.

In parallel to Modi praising the key role of Iran in the development of the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi firmly supported SCO trade in national currencies to decisively break the US dollar’s hegemony.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, for his part, was adamant: China is all in favor to sideline the US dollar, stand firm against all forms of color revolutions, and fight against unilateral economic sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin once again stressed how “external forces have put Russia’s security at threat by unleashing hybrid war against Russia and Russians in Ukraine.”

Pragmatically, Putin expects trade within the SCO, using national currencies, to grow – 80 percent of Russia’s trade is now in rubles and yuan – plus a renewed cooperation drive in banking, digitalization, high-tech, and agriculture.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov also stressed mutual settlements in national currencies, plus a crucial move: the setting up of a SCO development bank and development fund, quite similar to the BRICS’s New Development Bank (NDB).

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, which will exercise the SCO presidency in 2024, also supported a common investment fund, plus the configuration of a network of partners of major strategic ports connected to China’s BRI as well as the Astana-based Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, linking Southeast Asia, China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Europe.

Of course all SCO members agreed that no Eurasia integration is possible without stabilizing Afghanistan – in fact linking Kabul geoeconomically with both BRI and the INSTC. But that’s another long, twisting story entirely.

Strategic connectivity rules

Now compare all that action in New Delhi with what happened in Tianjin a few days before, in late June: the World Economic Forum (WEF) event known as the “summer Davos”, held for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s critique of the new US/EU “de-risking” slogan may have been predictably sharp. What was way more intriguing was a BRI panel discussion titled “The Future of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

In a nutshell, that was some sort of “green” apotheosis. Liang Linchong, from the National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) Department of Regional Opening-Up, which is essential to promote BRI, detailed several clean energy projects, for instance, in key BRI nodes Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Africa was also prominently featured. Sekai Nzenza, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, is very much in favor of BRI projects increasing trade “and bringing the latest technology” within Africa and globally.

Beijing will revive the Belt and Road Forum later this year. There are huge expectations across the “Global Globe.”

Liang Linchong did go for a breakdown of what lies ahead: “Hard connectivity” (that means infrastructure building), “soft connectivity” (emphasis on skills, technologies and standards), and “connection of hearts,” which translates into the notorious Chinese concept of “people to people exchanges.”

So what the “Global Globe” should expect, according to Liang, is a surge of “small is beautiful” projects, very pragmatic. That ties up with the new focus by both Chinese banks and companies: Very large infrastructure projects around the world may be problematic for the time being, as China concentrates on the internal market and regimenting every front to fight the Hegemon’s multiple Hybrid Wars.

Strategic connectivity though won’t be affected.

Here is a prime example. Two crucial China industrial nodes – the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster – launched their first China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) international multimodal freight trains on the same day of the SCO summit in New Delhi.

This is classic BRI: Top connectivity, using the containerized “railway-road” multimodal system. The INSTC will be using the same system for trade between Russia, the Caspian, Iran and then by sea to India.

On the CKU, cargo reaches Xinjiang by railway, then goes on the road via the Irkeshtam border, passes through Kyrgyzstan and arrives in Uzbekistan. The whole journey saves nearly five days in transit time. The next step is to build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway: construction starts in late 2023.

BRI is making proverbial inroads in Africa. For instance, last month the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) handed over a prototype satellite co-developed with Egypt to Cairo’s Space City. Egypt is now the first African nation capable of satellite assembling, integration, and testing. Cairo hails it as a prime example of sustainable development.

That’s also the first time Beijing assembles and tests a satellite overseas. Once again, classic BRI: “Consultation, Cooperation and Shared Benefits,” as defined by CASC.

And don’t forget the new Egyptian capital: An ultra-modern satellite of Cairo built literally from scratch in the desert for $50 billion, financed by bonds and – what else – Chinese capital.

The long and winding de-dollarization road

All this frantic activity correlates with the key dossier to be treated by BRICS+: De-dollarization.

India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has confirmed there will be no new BRICS currency – for now. The emphasis is on increasing trade in national currencies.

When it comes to BRICS heavyweight Russia, the emphasis for now is to drive commodity prices higher for the benefit of the Russian ruble.

Diplomatic sources confirm that the unspoken agreement among BRICS sherpas – who this week are preparing the guidelines for BRICS+ to be discussed at the South Africa summit next month – is to hasten the fiat dollar’s meltdown: The Financing of US trade and budget deficits would become impossible at current interest rates.

The question is how to hasten it imperceptibly.

Putin’s trademark strategy is to always let the collective west embark in all sorts of strategic mistakes without direct Russian intervention. So what happens next in the battlefield in Donbass – NATO’s larger than life humiliation – will be a crucial factor in the de-dollarization front. The Chinese, for their part, worry about a collapsed dollar rebound on China’s manufacturing base.

The road map ahead suggests a new trade settlement currency first designed at the EAEU, supervised by the Eurasia Economic Commission’s head of macroeconomics Sergey Glazyev. That would lead to a wider BRICS and SCO deployment. But first the EAEU needs to get China on board. That was one of the key issues recently discussed by Glazyev, in person, in Beijing.

So the Holy Grail is a new supranational trade currency for BRICS, SCO, and EAEU. And it’s essential that its reserve status does not allow overriding power to one nation, as it happens with the US dollar.

The only practical means of tying the new trade currency to a basket of multiple commodities – not to mention a basket of national interests – would be through gold.

Imagine all that being discussed in depth by that interminable queue for BRICS membership. As it stands, at least 31 nations have entered formal applications or expressed interest in joining an upgraded BRICS+.

The interconnections are fascinating. Apart from Iran and Pakistan, the only full SCO members that are not BRICS members are four Central Asian “stans,” which already happen to be EAEU members. Iran is bound to become a member of BRICS+. No less than nine nations among SCO’s observers or dialogue partners are among BRICS applicants.

Lukashenko called it: The merging of BRICS and SCO seems virtually inevitable.

For the top twin drivers of both organizations – the Russia-China strategic partnership – this merger will represent the ultimate multilateral institution, based on real free and fair trade, capable of dwarfing both the US and the EU and extending well beyond Eurasia to the “Global Globe.”

German industry/business circles already seem to have seen the writing on the wall, as well as some of their French counterparts, which notably include France’s President Emmanuel Macron. The trend is towards an EU schism – and even more Eurasian power.

A BRICS-SCO trade bloc will make western sanctions absolutely meaningless. It will affirm total independence from the US dollar, offer an array of financial alternatives to SWIFT, and encourage close military and intel cooperation against serial black ops by the Five Eyes, part of the ongoing Hybrid Wars.

In terms of peaceful development, West Asia has shown the way. The minute Saudi Arabia sided with China and Russia – and is now a candidate to both BRICS and SCO membership – there was a new game in town.

Golden Ruble 3.0?

As it stands, there’s huge potential for a gold-backed ruble. If and when it hits the road, that will be a revival of the gold-backing in the USSR between 1944 and 1961.

Glazyev has crucially observed that Russia’s trade surplus with SCO members has allowed Russian companies to pay off external debts and replace them with borrowing in rubles.

In parallel, Russia is increasingly using the yuan for international settlements. Further on down the road, key “Global Globe” players – China, Iran, Turkey, UAE – will be interested in payment in non-sanctioned gold instead of local currencies. That will pave the way for a BRICS-SCO trade settlement currency tied to gold.

After all, nothing beats gold when it comes to fighting collective western sanctions, pricing oil, gas, food, fertilizers, metals, minerals. Glazyev already laid down the law: Russia’s got to go for Golden Ruble 3.0.

The time is fast approaching for Russia to create the perfect storm to deliver a massive blow to the US dollar. This is what’s being discussed behind the scenes at the SCO, EAEU, and some BRICS sessions, and this is what’s driving the Atlanticist elites livid.

The “imperceptible” way for Russia to make it happen is to let markets drive up the prices of nearly all Russian commodity exports. Neutrals all across the “Global Globe” will interpret it as a natural “market response” to the collective west’s cognitive dissonant geopolitical imperatives. Soaring energy and commodity prices will end up provoking a steep decline in the purchasing power of the US dollar.

So it’s no wonder that several leaders at the SCO summit were in favor to what amounts, in practice, to an expanded BRICS-SCO Central Bank. When the new BRICS-SCO-EAEU currency is finally adopted – of course it’s a long way away, perhaps in the early 2030s – it will be traded for physical gold by participating banks from SCO, BRICS, and EAU member-nations.

All of the above should be interpreted as the sketch of a possible, realistic path to real multipolarity. It has nothing to do with the yuan as reserve currency, reproducing the existing rent-extracting racket to the profit of a minuscule plutocracy – complete with a massive military apparatus specialized in bullying the “Global Globe.”

A BRICS-SCO-EAEU union will be focused on building – and expanding – the physical, non-speculative economy based on infrastructure development, industrial capability, and tech sharing. Another world-system, now more than ever, is possible.

Authored by Gabriel Nadales via RealClear Wire,

Patriotism in America continues to hover near record lows, according to Gallup’s most recent survey. While this may not be a five-alarm fire for those of us who truly love this country – after all, roughly two-thirds of Americans responded that they were either “extremely” or “very” proud to be Americans – it is certainly a cause for concern that should be addressed. As we celebrate the birth of this great country, it is worth examining potential reasons pride in America is on the decline and rehashing why America is a nation worth loving in the first place.  

Only 39% of Americans described themselves as “extremely” proud to be an American – but this statistic doesn’t tell the whole story. The partisan breakdown is fairly staggering, as only 29% of Democrats and 33% of Independents describe themselves as extremely proud, whereas 60% of Republicans said they are extremely proud. 

While there are certainly many people in the Democratic Party who do love America and its founding values, many figures on the more progressive wing of the party have come to repudiate them. Extreme pride in America has declined slightly for Republicans, but not nearly to the extent that it has for those who identify further leftward. 

Further, there is a major discrepancy in reported patriotism by age: 50% of those 55 and older report they are extremely proud, compared to only 18% of 18- to 34-year-olds. This could be because civics scores are declining, and more American professors and universities seem to believe America is a terrible place. 

Dwindling patriotism in America could be due to the increase of Americans sadly believing we are a country in decline. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Although it is fair to say America may be on the wrong track in certain respects, America has the 11th highest GDP per capita, according to the World Bank. Our system of government has been a model for countries across the world. The American flag remains a symbol of freedom and justice for those living in oppressed places like Hong Kong. 

America was built on the idea that we are all created equal. While there undoubtedly have been instances where America has fallen short of this idea – from slavery to Jim Crow to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II – the greatness of America lies in the fact that we have overcome these deficiencies and made good on the promises of the words etched in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  

America, like any country, certainly faces many challenges, such as inflation and rising crime rates. But if we remain true to the ideals and principles that made us the country we are today, I have no doubt in my mind that we can overcome them. 

The United States is the greatest country in the world due to the underlying principles of freedom and equality that have led to its success. A country that fails to recognize the pillars that have propelled it to success is destined to abandon them. In order to preserve and extend the success this country has had in the past, we cannot become complacent. We must continue to teach the core values that have made America such a special country, or we may face the decline the American people are fearing.   

While Russia’s revenues from fossil fuel exports have declined significantly since their peak in March of 2022, many countries are still importing millions of dollars a day worth of fossil fuels from Russia.

Revenue from fossil fuels exported to the EU has declined more than 90% from their peak, but in 2023 the bloc has still imported more than $18 billion of crude oil and natural gas so far.

In the following inforgraphic, Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, using data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), shows the top-importing countries of fossil fuels from Russia so far this year.

China Remains Russia’s Top Fossil Fuel Importer

China continues to be Russia’s top buyer of fossil fuels, with imports reaching $30 billion in 2023 up until June 16, 2023.

With nearly 80% of China’s fuel imports being crude oil, Russia’s average daily revenues from Chinese fossil fuel imports have declined from $210 million in 2022 to $178 million in 2023 largely due to the falling price of Russian crude oil.

Following China are EU nations collectively, which despite no longer importing coal from Russia since August of 2022, still imported $18.4 billion of fossil fuels in a 60/40 split of crude oil and natural gas respectively.

*Over the time period of Jan 1, 2023 to June 16, 2023 in U.S. dollars

After China and the EU bloc, India is the next-largest importer of Russian fossil fuels, having ramped up the amount of fossil fuels imported by more than 10x since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely due to discounted Russian oil.

Türkiye is the only other nation to have imported more than $10 billion worth of Russian fossil fuels in 2023, with every other country having imported fewer than $3 billion worth of fuels from Russia this year.

Navigating the Crude Reality of Oil Exports

Although crude oil is Russia’s chief fossil fuel export, the nation’s Urals crude traded at a $20 per barrel discount to Brent crude throughout most of 2023. While this discount has narrowed to around $16 following Russia’s announcement of further oil export cuts of 500,000 bpd (barrels per day), the price of Urals crude oil remains just 40 cents below the $60 price cap put in place by G7 and EU nations.

Alongside Russia, Saudi Arabia also announced it would extend its cut of 1 million bpd until the end of August, with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman commenting on the country’s solidarity with Russia and saying it would do “whatever is necessary” to support the oil market.

While OPEC and OPEC+ nations’ cuts are an attempt at pushing crude oil prices up, increased production from the U.S. has counteracted this. The EIA forecasts 2023 U.S. production to be 12.6 million bpd, surpassing the high in 2019 of 12.3 million bpd.

Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former President Donald Trump is in a stronger position so far in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race than he was in the 2016 presidential primary cycle, according to former Republican campaign strategist Matthew Dowd.

Mr. Dowd, who served as the chief strategist on George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, evaluated the current Republican presidential primary field during a Tuesday panel discussion on MSNBC’s “Lindsey Reiser Reports” program. Mr. Dowd’s political loyalties have shifted since serving on Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, and in 2021 he entered the race to become the Texas lieutenant governor, running a failed campaign on the Democratic ticket.

“Eight years ago, when Donald Trump first ran, Donald Trump was at 14 or 15 percent in the polls,” Mr. Dowd said. “Today he’s at 50 or 60 percent in the polls. He’s in a much more dominant position—Donald Trump—than he was in 2015 and 2016 when he still won the nomination in this process.”

Mr. Trump is the frontrunner in the RealClearPolitics Republican presidential primary polling average. With polling data across the month of June, Mr. Trump has the support of 52.4 percent of Republican primary voters across the polling average, compared to the second top Republican candidate—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—at 21.5 percent.

Mr. Dowd noted Mr. DeSantis won reelection in Florida “overwhelmingly,” securing a 19-point margin against his Democratic opponent. Yet, Mr. Dowd said, the Republican Florida governor “can’t seem to do anything when he goes out” of Florida.

NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, who was also on the MSNBC panel discussion, added that the growing field of Republican presidential candidates is also potentially helping Mr. Trump.

“I think that the Trump campaign perspective frankly, is the more the merrier,” Ms. Vitali said adding that “the more people who are trying to counter Trump, the more ways the non Trump vote gets split up.”

Mr. Dowd said the Republican presidential primary is already shaping up as though Trump is the “incumbent.”

“The problem for Ron DeSantis, I think, and anybody else running in this race, it’s really not about them, but will some external event happen? Something that was some legal cause or something else happen that gives them a window where they can actually succeed? Because without it, I don’t see how they do,” Mr. Dowd said.

Mr. Dowd’s comments about an “external event” or some “legal cause” changing the course of the race may be in reference to the fact that Mr. Trump is facing multiple criminal indictments and investigations. Mr. Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in April on allegations he falsified his business records in order to conceal an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president and leading Republican candidate was indicted again in June, this time in federal court by Special Counsel Jack Smith, on allegations he improperly retained national defense documents after his presidency and obstructed government efforts to retrieve those documents.

Trump’s Post-Indictment Polling Rise

While the indictments against Mr. Trump could pose a legal peril for the 2024 Republican frontrunner, so far they’ve correlated to a boost in Mr. Trump’s popularity among Republican primary voters.

Mr. Trump led Mr. DeSantis by around 15 points in the RCP polling average throughout the month of March. That lead began to expand in April after the Manhattan indictment.

The former president again touted a jump in his poll numbers and fundraising after the federal charges brought by Mr. Smith.

“As far as this joke of an indictment, it’s a horrible thing. It’s a horrible thing for this country,” Mr. Trump said at a June 10 rally following the federal indictment. “I mean, the only good thing about it is it’s driven my poll numbers way up. Can you believe it?”

Read more here…

Air quality levels in the Northeast and Midwest could deteriorate next week as The Weather Channel forecasts another round of Canadian wildfire smoke. This would mark the third round of toxic smoke from our neighbor to the north in a month. 

Computer models forecast a U-shaped “trough” of low pressure will develop next week in eastern Canada. That will be a welcoming sign and offer relief from scorching temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as cooler and less humid air pours in from the north. However, with the cooler air comes the possibility of wildfire smoke. 

“This U-shaped trough could also pull in at least lofted smoke from the larger fires in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia into parts of the northern US,” The Weather Channel said. 

How much smoke blankets major metros in the Northeast is still uncertain. The best way to track the progression of the smoke is through air quality sensors in major cities. 

Also, this topic might be trending on Twitter. 

Be prepared because corporate media climate alarmists will predict imminent doom for the planet if another round of wildfire smoke is unleashed. 

Recall this week. Corporate media sounded the alarm about the hottest temperatures across the world ever. After all, Pride Month was over, and ‘woke’ journos quickly defaulted back to their climate doom agenda. However, the journos cited data from the 1970s (someone needs to tell these journs the world wasn’t created five decades ago but 4.5 billion years ago). Also, there’s limited to no mention that an El Nino weather pattern has emerged. But who cares about the ‘science’ because it’s all about pushing a global warming agenda for their corporate sponsors… 

As for Canada, the Trudeau administration better get their act together and start investing in better forest management strategies rather than spending all their time on woke policies. The consequence of failed forest management strategies is toxic air for Americans.  

Authored by Julia Conley via CommonDreams.org,

“We trusted the government not to screw us,” said Edward Snowden.

“But they did. We trusted the tech companies not to take advantage of us. But they did. That is going to happen again, because that is the nature of power.”

With this week marking 10 years since whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed information to journalists about widespread government spying by United States and British agencies, the former National Security Agency contractor on Thursday joined other advocates in warning that the fight for privacy rights, while making several inroads in the past decade, has grown harder due to major changes in technology.

“If we think about what we saw in 2013 and the capabilities of governments today,” Snowden told The Guardian, “2013 seems like child’s play.”

Snowden said that the advent of commercially available surveillance products such as Ring cameras, Pegasus spyware, and facial recognition technology has posed new dangers.

As Common Dreams has reported, the home security company Ring has faced legal challenges due to security concerns and its products’ vulnerability to hacking, and has faced criticism from rights groups for partnering with more than 1,000 police departments—including some with histories of police violence—and leaving community members vulnerable to harassment or wrongful arrests.

Law enforcement agencies have also begun using facial recognition technology to identify crime suspects despite the fact that the software is known to frequently misidentify people of color—leading to the wrongful arrest and detention earlier this year of Randal Reid in Georgia, among other cases.

Last month, journalists and civil society groups called for a global moratorium on the sale and transfer of spyware like Pegasus, which has been used to target dozens of journalists in at least 10 countries.

Protecting the public from surveillance “is an ongoing process,” Snowden told The Guardian on Thursday. “And we will have to be working at it for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives and beyond.”

In 2013, Snowden revealed that the U.S. government was broadly monitoring the communications of citizens, sparking a debate over surveillance as well as sustained privacy rights campaigns from groups like Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Fight for the Future.

“Technology has grown to be enormously influential,” Snowden told The Guardian on Thursday.

Last month ahead of the anniversary of Snowden’s revelations, EFF noted that some improvements to privacy rights have been made in the past decade, including:

• The sunsetting of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which until 2020 allowed the U.S. government to conduct a dragnet surveillance program that collected billions of phone records;

• The emergence of end-to-end encryption of internet communications, which Snowden noted was “a pipe dream in 2013”;

• The end of the NSA’s bulk collection of internet metadata, including email addresses of senders and recipients; and

• Rulings in countries including South Africa and Germany against bulk data collection.

The group noted that privacy advocates are still pushing Congress to end Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the warrantless surveillance of Americans’ communications, and “to take privacy seriously,” particularly as tech companies expand spying capabilities.

“Despite calls over the last few years for federal legislation to rein in Big Tech companies, we’ve seen nothing significant in limiting tech companies’ ability to collect data… or regulate biometric surveillance, or close the backdoor that allows the government to buy personal information rather than get a warrant, much less create a new Church Committee to investigate the intelligence community’s overreaches,” wrote EFF senior policy analyst Matthew Guariglia, executive director Cindy Cohn, and assistant director Andrew Crocker.

“It’s why so many cities and states have had to take it upon themselves to ban face recognition or predictive policing, or pass laws to protect consumer privacy and stop biometric data collection without consent.”

“It’s been 10 years since the Snowden revelations,” they added, “and Congress needs to wake up and finally pass some legislation that actually protects our privacy, from companies as well as from the NSA directly.”