Chinese Tech Support: Microsoft is using engineers in China to help maintain the Defense Department's computer systems -- with minimal supervision by U.S. personnel.
With Epstein, that's coming back to haunt him.
The U.S. Justice Department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature Trump administration policies -- such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding to Harvard University -- has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, according to a list seen by Reuters. read more
Kevin Hassett appeared to deflect questions on how the new tariff will benefit America despite the U.S. having a trade surplus with the South American country. read more
Russia's foreign minister on Saturday warned the U.S., South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. read more
(continued from #6 because of the 4k character limit ...)
Low-Energy Fridays: If renewable energy is cheaper, then why don't we use it exclusively?
www.rstreet.org
... The fundamental assertion behind many climate protests and activism is that decision-makers do not do enough. Often, the specific claim is that an apparent solution"transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy"is being sidelined or that decision-makers are under the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists.
As is often the case, this isn't the full story. An appreciation for the economic impacts of time and location can help us understand why renewable energy is not the global norm despite its low cost.
Yes, renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels"but there are caveats. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), the lifetime average per megawatt hour cost, is $23.22 for conventional solar power and $31.07 for onshore wind. (To be clear, these are the subsidized costs; the unsubsidized costs are $41.22 and $50.87 respectively.) Natural gas and coal plants, categorized as "thermal plants" because they produce electricity from heat, have a higher LCOE. Natural gas has a relatively low LCOE of $42.72, while coal's is much higher at $89.33. When comparing the LCOE of these technologies, simplistic analysis would conclude that because renewable energy is cheaper, everyone should use it. Such logic informs increasingly prevalent clean electricity mandates. However, the LCOE ignores basic economic realities that can better determine which energy resources are optimal.
The cheapest renewable energy sources"onshore wind and conventional solar"are not always available. Obviously, solar power only generates electricity when the sun is out. But when the sun is out, solar always produces essentially free electricity, whereas a gas or coal plant can generally produce power at any time but incurs a fuel cost.
The problem is that we still need electricity even when the sun isn't shining. In fact, the capacity factor"the percentage of a resource's production as a function of its size"is only 23 percent for solar and 33 percent for wind. In general, as long as fuel is available, thermal power plants can produce electricity to match demand throughout the year even if some plants aren't called on often.
This means to act as a direct substitute for fossil fuels; renewable energy requires storage technology to make electricity available when customers demand it, not just when it's convenient to produce. Battery storage costs are falling but still expensive relative to other options, and applications are limited depending on how long a battery can provide electricity before needing to recharge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates an LCOE of $36.27 for solar and battery hybrid facilities. ...
OK, probably not the most unbiased source (understatement), but you should see the picture ...
@#105 ... An article worthy of reading. ...
But more important to the topic of this thread, from #62 ...
US consumer prices pick up in June; underlying inflation still tame
www.reuters.com
...Consumer Price Index increases 0.3% in June.
Core CPI rises 0.2%; advances 2.9% on year-over-year basis.
June could mark the start of tariff-induced price rises.
U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in five months in June amid higher costs for some goods, suggesting tariffs were starting to have an impact on inflation and potentially keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until September.
Despite the pick-up in the Consumer Price Index reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday, underlying inflation remained moderate last month, with prices for new and used motor vehicles lower relative to May.
Services like airline fares as well as hotel and motel rooms were also cheaper in June. ...
Food prices rose 0.3%, matching the increase in May. Grocery store prices also advanced 0.3%, lifted by a 1.4% increase in the costs of nonalcoholic beverages and 2.2% jump in coffee prices. Fruits and vegetables cost 0.9% more while beef prices jumped 2.0%. But eggs were 7.4% cheaper as an avian flu outbreak abated. ...
Household furnishings and supplies prices shot up 1.0% after climbing 0.3% in May. Prices for appliances surged 1.9% while the cost of apparel rebounded 0.4%. Sporting goods prices accelerated 1.4% while toys vaulted 1.8%. ...
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence rose 0.3%, but the cost of hotel and motel rooms declined 3.6%. Airline fares dipped 0.1%. The costs of services excluding energy services increased 0.3% after gaining 0.2% in May. ...
Still hanging in there ...
Pam Bondi dodges questions on Epstein and Bongino amid Justice Department turmoil
apnews.com
... Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Tuesday that she has no plans to step down as she dodged questions about Jeffrey Epstein and her clash with a top FBI official, seeking to press ahead with a business-as-usual approach in the face of right-wing turmoil.
Pressed by reporters during an announcement touting drug seizures, Bondi sidestepped questions about the fallout of the Trump administration's decision not to release more records related to the wealthy financier's sex trafficking investigation. With some high profile-members of President Donald Trump's base calling for her resignation, Bondi made clear she intends to remain attorney general.
"I'm going to be here for as long as the president wants me here," Bondi said. "And I believe he's made that crystal clear."
The announcement at the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters represents an effort by Bondi to turn the page on the Epstein controversy and show that the Justice Department is forging ahead after days of mounting conservative criticism over the administration's failure to deliver long-sought government secrets about Epstein. Bondi highlighted recent operations that led to the seizure of methamphetamine and fentanyl, including drugs that were hidden in a shipment of cucumbers across the Mexican border. ...
@#23 ... he used the Steele dossier to start the Russian Hoax after his staff said it was completely false....
The Steele Dossier was a collection of raw information, nothing more, nothing less.
The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective (2018)
www.lawfaremedia.org
... The dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele remains a subject of fascination"or, depending on your perspective, scorn. Indeed, it was much discussed during former FBI Director Jim Comey's testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 7. Published almost two years ago by BuzzFeed News in January 2017, the document received significant public attention, first for its lurid details regarding Donald Trump's pre-presidential alleged sexual escapades in Russia and later for its role in forming part of the basis for the government's application for a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page.
Our interest in revisiting the compilation that has come to be called the "Steele Dossier" concerns neither of those topics, at least not directly. Rather, we returned to the document because we wondered whether information made public as a result of the Mueller investigation"and the passage of two years"has tended to buttress or diminish the crux of Steele's original reporting.
Support Lawfare
The dossier is actually a series of reports"16 in all"that total 35 pages. Written in 2016, the dossier is a collection of raw intelligence. Steele neither evaluated nor synthesized the intelligence. He neither made nor rendered bottom-line judgments. The dossier is, quite simply and by design, raw reporting, not a finished intelligence product.
In that sense, the dossier is similar to an FBI 302 form or a DEA 6 form. Both of those forms are used by special agents of the FBI and DEA, respectively, to record what they are told by witnesses during investigations. The substance of these memoranda can be true or false, but the recording of information is (or should be) accurate. In that sense, notes taken by a special agent have much in common with the notes that a journalist might take while covering a story"the substance of those notes could be true or false, depending on what the source tells the journalist, but the transcription should be accurate.
With that in mind, we thought it would be worthwhile to look back at the dossier and to assess, to the extent possible, how the substance of Steele's reporting holds up over time. ...
An article worthy of reading.
I have posted that excerpt and link to the article many times in the past, yet your current alias seems to choose to remain ignorant about the dossier. Why?
This is interesting ...
Trump was reelected with help from podcasters like Joe Rogan. Is he losing their support over Epstein and Iran?
abcnews.go.com
... President Donald Trump is facing mounting backlash from his MAGA base over his administration's handling of the Epstein files and its deepening involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict -- and the splintering is especially evident among many of the podcasters and comedians who helped propel his return to power last year.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump embraced podcasts as a key media strategy to reach audiences beyond traditional outlets, and made high-profile campaign appearances on podcasts hosted by comedians like Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz, and Theo Von.
Now, just over six months into his presidency, many of those same hosts are using their shows to publicly break with the president over campaign promises they say he's gone back on -- particularly his backing off on releasing files connected to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein and his pledge to avoid new foreign entanglements. ...
Wow, has Joe Rogan abandoned Pres Trump?
Joe Rogan: Nobody would have signed up' for Trump if they knew how he would use ICE (June 25, 2025)
www.yahoo.com
... Podcast personality Joe Rogan broke with President Donald Trump again over a new issue.
"Bro, these ICE raids are (expletive) nuts, man," Rogan said to two guests Luis J. Gomez and Big Jay Oakerson in a recent episode of his podcast published June 18. ...
@#1 ... many in the state have absorbed the arguments that Trump and his congressional allies used to sell the bill. ..
Perhaps like this?
'Working family tax cuts': Republicans look for new ways to sell the 'big, beautiful bill'
www.nbcnews.com
... For months, President Donald Trump's main message about the sweeping bill he pushed through Congress was that it was "big" and "beautiful."
Now that it's also law, the White House and its outside allies are pivoting to a more concrete, detailed description in the hopes that voters will have a clearer idea of what it means for their day-to-day lives. ...
Two Republican strategists said they are advising lawmakers to sell the act to a wider audience using different titles: the "Working Family Tax Cuts" act or possibly the "Trump Working Family Tax Cuts."
The names allude to new policies such as no taxes on tips or overtime that could save money for Black, Latino and other voters who were important parts of Trump's 2024 electoral coalition, the strategists said.
At the same time, the strategists are advising lawmakers to tout the additional money that will be going to their states for border enforcement and other priorities.
"Working families" is a phrase that polls well and gives Republicans an opening to persuade voters they'll save money under the new law, said one of the strategists, who is working on Senate races. ...
OK, this looks to be getting interesting ...
Zohran Mamdani scores prize endorsement in New York City mayoral race amid big business questionsabc7ny.com
... Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has scored a prize endorsement from the largest union for city workers.
It comes a day after Andrew Cuomo officially announced he is staying in the race as an independent.
"What use is it to go through months of contract negotiation to win those hard-earned raises only for you to go back to your rent-stabilized apartment and face an even bigger increase in your rent?" Mamdani said.
For Mamdani, there is no bigger prize than the endorsement of DC37, the city's largest municipal labor union.
"What use is it to have the greatest city in the world if New Yorkers can't afford to live here? We do not want this to become a museum where working people once lived," Mamdani said. "We want it to be a living, breathing testament of what's possible."
Affordability is the centerpiece of Mamdani's upbeat, upstart campaign. He's already endorsed by the city's teachers' union, the Hotel Trades Council, the New York State Nurses Association, SEIU 32BJ and the New York City Central Labor Council. ...
@#11 ... I saw the video of the people at the Kerr County meeting calling Biden a corrupt communist and how taking the $10,000,000 grant to buy flood monitoring equipment and a warning system was going to force them into a socialist hellscape. ...
Wow.
Found this ...
Here's what happened in Kerr County meeting now under flood scrutiny
www.nbcdfw.com
... Texans continue to ask questions about what happened before the deadly Central Texas floods. Some pinpoint a 2021 Kerr County Commissioners Court meeting where county leaders debated whether to take $10 million from the Biden administration.
What people claim online is not exactly what happened. So here's what did go on.
In November 2021, Kerr County commissioners debated whether to use the $10.1 million from the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration's priority legislation to fight COVID-19.
A video of the meeting was posted on YouTube. You can verify the video for yourself by comparing it to the meeting transcripts posted on the Kerr County website.
"That's a lot of money. That's over a million dollars, probably to Kerr County. I'm not ready to give that away," said County Judge Rob Kelly.
During the public comment period, some people showed up to ask their leaders not to take the money, fearing it would require the county to implement a vaccine mandate, a masking mandate, and take other public health measures to fight COVID-19. ...
"I am completely disagreeing with taking this money. The strings attached to the situation, we don't want it," said Ronald Campbell, one of the speakers.
"If you vote to keep Biden's money, I will hold you personally responsible and personally liable," said Shari Snyder, another speaker.
Other speakers were more colorful and insulting, calling former President Biden a "communist" and a "devil." ...
Wow.
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
- - - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
... But despite the clear need for preventive action, that is not the political mood ...
Especially in an area nick-named Flash Flood Alley.
Do You Live In Flash Flood Alley?
twri.tamu.edu
... For many Texans, the Hill Country is not just a region but a way of life: beautiful vistas of rocky hillsides, small towns with live music and quaint festivals, and, of course, hot summer days spent diving into spring-fed swimming holes or floating down iconic rivers.
Those same rivers can tell another story about the Hill Country, however. Those rivers run through Flash Flood Alley, one of the most flood-prone regions on the continent. Following the curve of the Balcones Escarpment through Texas' middle -- from Waco south to Uvalde -- Flash Flood Alley's weather and landscape distinctively work together to produce rapid flood events. ...
@#5 ... Vladimir Putin is pleased with the 50-day window Dummkopf Trumpf has given the Kremlin to continue prosecuting the war against Ukraine. The term used in the story is "breathing a sigh of relief." ...
Maenwhile, Pres Trump holds a meeting in the new White House Faith Office for religion, and jokes about Russia bombing a nursing home. Which, strangely, was greeted with laughter.
Trump Draws Big Laugh at Faith' Event -- With Crack About Putin Bombing Nursing Home
www.mediaite.com
... President Donald Trump drew a big laugh from the crowd at a White House Faith event when he told a story whose punchline was the bombing of a nursing home by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump was the headliner at what was dubbed a "White House Faith Office Luncheon" in the State Dining Room Monday, during which the president faced an appreciative crowd that even applauded when he used profanity. ...
@#8 ... On an industrial scale, you need fossil fuel generators for backup. ...
Agreed, 100%.
But then there is also the issue that the current power grid may not go to the places where solar power is generated.
The current power grid was designed for the current power plants, not future power-generating areas.
And then, throw in the huge power needs of AI data centers.
Meta is building AI data centers in tents and isn't slowing down -- Zuckerberg reveals plans for 'several multi-GW clusters,' including one called Hyperion that's almost as big as Manhattan
www.tomshardware.com
And, fwiw, GW in the above headline means gigawatts.
Where is that power going to originate?