Author: Californiacontrarian

From the WSJ (3/5/24):

Electric Cars Emit More Soot

They have greater tire wear, the source of most particulate matter. California is trying to conceal that fact.

“[B]anning gasoline cars would do little to reduce particulate emissions, and it could even increase them,” they conclude. 

But the news gets worse for proponents of electric cars: they’re not “zero-emission” at all:

California calls electric cars “zero emissions vehicles” because they don’t have tailpipes. That is deceptive. Generating the electricity that powers those cars creates particulate pollution, and of course electric cars still use tires, which are made from petroleum. Electric cars weigh far more than gasoline-powered ones, so their tires degrade faster, as electric car buyers are learning. 

From Red State:

“California says tailpipes are the problem with fossil-fuel-powered cars, but the WSJ writers argue that tire wear from the far-heavier EVs is more contaminating:

Where do most particulate emissions attributed to cars come from? California speaks as if their primary source is the tailpipe. That was true in the past. But today most vehicle-related particulate matter comes from tire wear. Cars are heavy, and as their tires rub against the road, they degrade and release tiny, often toxic particles. According to measurements by an emission-analytics firm, in gasoline cars equipped with a particle filter, airborne tire-wear emissions are more than 400 times as great as direct exhaust particulate emissions.

But the news gets worse for proponents of electric cars: they’re not “zero-emission” at all:

California calls electric cars “zero emissions vehicles” because they don’t have tailpipes. That is deceptive. Generating the electricity that powers those cars creates particulate pollution, and of course electric cars still use tires, which are made from petroleum. Electric cars weigh far more than gasoline-powered ones, so their tires degrade faster, as electric car buyers are learning. 

So it appears that EVs are not the saviors that they are advertised to be.

I look forward to a response to this WSJ article by Biden and Newsom … but, of course, no surprise, nothing will be forthcoming!

3/5/24

For a long time I have argued that it is common sense to prove your American citizenship to vote … and here I mean to vote in any election, perhaps with the exception of class president.

Those of you who have read my opines regularly know what kind of I.D. is necessary to cast a vote in Mexico – a picture I.D. with a fingerprint. Here I am not just guessing or assuming as I have seen and examined such a Mexican voting I.D. In addition I was told that there is a serious penalty for an individual if he/she attempts to vote with a fraudulent or tampered with voting I.D.

From Townhall:

“Arizona Federal Judge Rules Voters Must Prove Their U.S. Citizenship Status In Order to Vote In Elections”

The background –

“In March 2022, a group of plaintiffs led by the Hispanic voting rights organization “Mi Familia Vota” filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, claiming that the state’s law was unconstitutional. 

The Biden Administration filed a separate complaint that was consolidated in the case.”

Of course, the Biden administration felt it necessary to chime in. After all before long the law will probably require that even a dead person will not be allowed to vote!

Arizona Judge Susan Bolton concluded:

“Considering the evidence as a whole, the court concludes that Arizona’s interests in preventing non-citizens from voting and promoting public confidence in Arizona’s elections outweigh the limited burden voters might encounter when required to provide (documentary proof of citizenship).”

FYI: No ,Judge Bolton was not appointed by President Trump. In fact she was was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona , and was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 3, 2000.

3/4/24

On Sundays I write about individuals whom we should respect because 

of a variety of different reasons. 

Valerie Johnson certainly showed impressive determination on Feb 24.

From The Epoch Times

She is a South Carolina woman who tripped on the way to a polling place on Feb. 24 and broke her hip. 911 was called, but she refused to be loaded into an ambulance unless she could cast her vote.

She is now recovering from hip surgery at an area hospital following her fall in the parking lot on the way to a polling place at the White Knoll High School in Lexington, South Carolina. She told The Epoch Times that she tripped over her own feet when she was hurrying in to vote. Ms. Johnson, who is in her 60s, said she was in a great deal of pain after she fell but was determined to vote.

“I told myself, I’m going to get there and vote. No matter if I got to crawl there,” she said.

Brian Shiel, a local security guard who was volunteering at the polling place that day, said he saw Ms. Johnson fall and called 911. “She was hurting, really hurting,” he said, adding that she had to be loaded onto a stretcher.

Mr. Shiel told The Epoch Times that he was shocked when she refused to be taken to the hospital until after she cast her vote.

Mr. Shiel said he admired Ms. Johnson’s dedication to her civic duty to vote.

“[There are] a lot of people who won’t even go out to the polls if it’s raining,” he said.

Because Ms. Johnson was lying on the ground, the curbside voting machine had to be taken down from the cart and placed on the ground. The machine is usually wheeled to a car and lifted toward the window.To qualify for curbside voting in Lexington County, you have to either be 65 years or older or unable to walk or stand.

“Ms. Johnson definitely qualified,” said Lenice Shoemaker, director of registrations and elections in Lexington County!

3/3/

Right from the git-go let me be clear … I have a lot of awareness of and sympathy for the masses of impoverished people in Central America. However, my “one brick at a time” solution to this issue is to try to make life better for these individuals … in their own country!

From Townhall: 

A billboard in Times Square went up on Thursday, 2/22/24, highlighting how the Biden administration’s failure to secure the border is affecting communities across America. The billboard reads, “Hey Joe! If cops aren’t safe because of your open borders, nobody is,” and shows video of NYPD officers getting assaulted by a group of illegal immigrants last month.”

Meanwhile closer to home from Fox News, on that same day, 2/22/24:

“In San Diego County a migrant center announced it will be forced to close its doors after running out of funds to assist the overwhelming number of asylum-seekers who have illegally crossed into the county.

The mayor of nearby El Cajon, Calif., told Fox News  that he fears the welcome center’s closure will quickly become a ‘serious problem’ for his community.

‘Over the past few months, we’ve seen 100,000 migrants come across the San Diego border,’ Mayor Bill Wells told ‘Fox and Friends First.’

‘A lot of those have been absorbed by this county shelter that used taxpayer money. They asked for $3 million and they spent over $6 million and now they say they’re out of money. So we’re going to see migrants congregating in our streets.’

‘I think it’s going to become a pretty serious problem pretty quickly.’

U .S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by Fox News reveals that nearly 140,000 illegal immigrants in total have crossed into the San Diego sector since Fiscal Year 2024 began on October 1st.

‘The Border Patrol tells us we’re going to go from about 300 drop-offs a day to maybe a thousand drop-offs a day,’ Wells said.”

My question is, “How long before San Diego starts to experience the same, and becomes as dangerous as New York City?”

3/2/24

I know what it means when a tweet goes viral, but I just learned what it means when a tweet gets “ratio-ed.”

From Jeff Childers Coffee and Covid … “a ‘ratio’ occurs when a tweet gets more comments than likes. The diligent team of crack law enforcement experts at the FBI created a massive ratio yesterday with a helpful public service advisory on shoplifting.”

Now let’s be clear. Is there shoplifting by young white women?… Yes!

However, does Organized Retail Theft (ORT) occur by groups of young white good looking women? … if it does, I am not aware of it, as I have not seen videos of ORT carried out by groups of young white women.

Here I emphasize this particular group because the FBI’s link in its tweet is to a piece is titled “What We Investigate: Organized Retail Theft.” 

In the top right corner of this referenced piece there is another partially cut off picture. I cannot be one-hundred per cent certain if the depicted shoplifter in that snapshot is a male or a female, but suffice it to say that his/her hands are white.

I would guess that we have all seen numerous videos of Organized Retail Theft (ORT) and we all are aware of which group carries out the vast majority of said ORT, and it is not young white women. 

Is the FBI attempting to gaslight us? If so, … Why?

3/1/24

On 2/28/24 I happened to be at the gym when President Biden spoke to the country on crime. Now while I could not hear what JB was saying, I could read what he was saying as there was closed captioning on the TV screen.

Amazing was the fact that Lakin Riley’s name was not mentioned. As everyone is aware this twenty-two year old was allegedly brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. That JB would not even offer condolences to the family was disgraceful. … “Have you no shame, Joe Biden?”

Consider the following headline from CV News Feed:

“Venezuela’s Violent Crime Dropped as U.S. Illegal Migration Spiked”

Continuing from CV News Feed:

“The murder rate in Venezuela was a massive crisis for the country,” political commentator Mike Cernovich recently pointed out on X. “The murder rate has sharply declined since [President] Joe Biden opened the borders. Now the [United States] gets to experience these murders and gang attacks.”

Cernovich cited a pair of articles to show the drastic decline in murders in the South American nation.

One article from 2019 referred to Venezuela’s murder rate as “soaring,” adding that it has “plunged the nation into a public health crisis.”

However, Cernovich also cited a Bloomberg piece from December 2023 acknowledging that the country’s murder rate is the “lowest since 2001.” The article also acknowledges that this comes as a record number of migrants are leaving the country.

“Venezuela’s rate of violent deaths dropped to its lowest level in more than two decades following years of massive migration as both criminals and victims fled the nation’s economic crisis,” author Andreina Itriago Acosta wrote in the article.

Still referring to that same Biden speech, although he was supposed to be speaking about “crime,” not once did he mention “illegals” and what part they play in the increasing crime rate. An honest person would at least admit that his border policies could possibly be playing a role in the increased crime, especially in our cities. However, Joe Biden, or whomever is making the decisions for him, consistently deny that he (they) bear any responsibility for any of this!

“Do you not feel any shame Joe Biden, that an innocent young woman is dead because of your border policies?”

2/29/24

How long before Joe Biden comments on the murder of Georgia college student, Laken Riley? She was found dead on 2/22/24 after she failed to return from a morning run at the University of Georgia in Augusta.

The accused is Jose Ibarra. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed on 2/23/24 that suspect Jose Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen, but a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the country in 2022 and had “previous arrests and criminal citations,” 

The University of Georgia Police Department charged Ibarra, 26, “with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said.

Just to be clear today is 2/28/24 and so far we have heard zero, zip, nada  from Biden. However, Donald Trump had plenty to say already. While JB continues to remain silent, DJT is saying what millions of Americans are thinking.

“Crooked Joe Biden’s Border INVASION is destroying our country and killing our citizens!” Trump said on Truth Social. “The horrible murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley at the University of Georgia should have NEVER happened! The monster who took her life illegally entered our Country in 2022…and then was released AGAIN by Radical Democrats in New York after injuring a CHILD!! When I am your President, we will immediately Seal the Border, Stop the Invasion, and on Day One, we will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History! May God Bless Laken Riley and her family!!! Our prayers are with you!”

On 2/26/24 a White House spokesperson released the following statement:

“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley. People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we would have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE.”

The lackluster statement — which doesn’t, in fact, include any word from President Biden himself — was quickly slammed by multiple people. In general the comments after this namby-pamby White House response were along these lines:

“No statement from Biden? Just a few cold words from a press aide. Pathetic,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said.

“I’ve heard NO APOLOGIES or remorse from @TheDemocrats about their open border policies leading to another murdered American,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said in response.

This dichotomy as far as statements go only reenforces the fact that Donald Trump is a leader and Joe Biden is a schmo!

2/28/24

For those of you not familiar with what is happening with EVs, here is the latest.

From Townhall:

“On Thursday, 2/22/24, Mercedes-Benz announced it was joining other automakers, such as Ford Motor Company, in rolling back its planned production of electric vehicles — the ones the Biden administration sought to force Americans to get regardless of whether families could afford them or the U.S. transportation system could handle the switch. 

Mercedes-Benz had previously announced an aggressive plan to turn its company into a major EV producer by 2025 but realized — just as Ford Motor Company did previously — that shunning gas-powered vehicles was not such a grand idea. 

Now, according to the company’s leadership, its at least 50 percent EV production goal has been pushed back by at least five years to 2030 due to weaker-than-anticipated consumer interest in making the transition.”

According to Fox Business, “[i]n the meantime, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius reassured investors that the company will continue to manufacture combustion engine cars and improve its technology well into the next decade” and “current plans for updates mean ‘it is almost like we will have a new lineup in 2027 that will take us well into the 2030s,’ Kaellenius said.”

“The ambitious goals of U.S. policymakers and car manufacturers have collided with reality, as most consumers still do not trust electric cars and are turned off by high prices.”

While JB can make all of the mandates about Electric Vehicles that he wishes, his mandates will not make people buy things that they do not want and cannot afford. Likewise, automobile manufacturers are in business to make a profit, and they are finally realizing what I have been saying all along … “you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink or buy an EV!

2/27/24

For years black voters have been a mainstay of Democrats. Could this foundation be crumbling?

Estimates have an increasing number of black voters voting for Donald Trump  come November.  Based on Trump’s growing support among influential blacks, I am inclined to believe that Biden’s supposed support among black voters may be crumbling.

On 2/23/24 Trump spoke at two rallies. The first at the 6,000-seat Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, about 70 miles north of Columbia S.C., and the second speaking to the Black Conservative Federation(BCF), where he underscored the importance of blacks helping him unseat Democrat President Joe Biden in the November general election.

Earlier in the day, President Trump spoke during a rally at the 6,000-seat Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), whom President Trump named to his shortlist of potential running mates, spoke on behalf of the 45th president at both locations where President Trump spoke. So did another shortlist contender, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

Mr. Donalds, who serves as BCF chairman, told the Columbia audience: “Let me tell you, Rock Hill was rockin’ … and there’s a reason why that occurred. It occurred because our country is struggling … and because we have a terrible person at the helm of our country in Joe Biden.”

From the Epoch Times:

Former President Donald Trump, with help from a chorus of prominent black voices, is trying to drown out the old “blacks-should-vote-Democrat” mantra.

The Republican frontrunner and his allies, speaking to the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) on Feb. 23, underscored the importance of blacks helping him unseat Democrat President Joe Biden in the November general election.

Diante Johnson, president of the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) told the audience that he thinks President Trump will snare an unprecedented 50 percent of the black male vote this fall, which would decimate the incumbent’s chances.

BCF Vice President Quenton Jordan told the audience that he has seen the black conservative movement expand dramatically after being told that such a movement “couldn’t exist.”

More blacks are turning conservative, he said, because they care about what he calls “the four F’s: Family, Faith, Freedom, and Finances.”

Also in attendance was Alveda King, a niece of famed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. After representing Georgia as a Democrat congresswoman, Ms. King switched to the Republican Party. President Trump says he has known her for years.

Trump also recognized others who spoke at the event, including Mr. Donalds; Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas); former NFL player Jack Brewer; and Dr. Ben Carson, his Housing and Urban Development secretary, who received the BCF Lifetime Achievement Award.

The BCF presented President Trump with the Champion for Black America Award.

As President Trump reviewed accomplishments of his presidency and discussed issues of special significance to black Americans, he went off-script more than usual. Part of the time, however, it wasn’t by choice because “the teleprompter broke.”

President Trump told the BCF audience that he is dedicated to improving life for all Americans. He says his “Make America Great Again” slogan applies to everyone, regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity.

Two takes for me from 2/23 events:

First – Trump received the Champion for Black America Award. I haven’t heard of JB receiving any award from any black organization.

Second – Trump spoke for an extended period of time without a teleprompter, while JB cannot speak coherently for even a minute without a teleprompter.

Hopefully the two events on 2/23 will be a forerunner of the crumbling of a past Democrat foundation, the black voter.

2/26/24

Sunday is a day I devote to heroes.

Because February 19th is the  anniversary of the invasion of the small South Pacific island, of Iwo Jima, I thought that it would be appropriate to recognize some of of the 70,000 who fought there.

Perhaps all of us are familiar of the iconic monument of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Iwo Jima in WWII. The 78-foot-tall granite and bronze monument in Washington, honors the Marines who fought and died at Iwo Jima. 

For those unfamiliar with what went on during the five week battle against the Japanese, the Battle for Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest ever fought by U.S. Marines. Nearly 7,000 Marines and other military personnel died in this fighting, and another 20,000 were wounded. We can honor them as well by remembering who they were and the hell they endured fighting for freedom. 

The following is a capsule summary of four Marines from the Epoch Times:

When we think of the Marines who hit the beach at Iwo Jima, the sailors and airmen who supported them, and even most of the Americans in uniform during World War II, it behooves us to remember that they were civilian soldiers, not professionals. They left behind mothers and fathers, wives and children. And most of them could never be described, as some commentators are wont to do, as boys. These young men had lived their entire adolescence during the Great Depression, had often worked as teenagers to help support their families, and were made fit and tough by that hardscrabble labor and poverty. Today’s notion of adolescence extending into the mid-20s would have been as foreign to them as the Pacific islands they invaded.

Donald Ruhl (1923–1945) grew up in Joliet, Montana, and graduated high school in 1942. From 1937 until graduation, he worked on a 400-acre ranch as a farm hand for $15 a week plus his room and board. On D-Day of the Iwo Jima landing, Ruhl killed two Japanese, one with his bayonet. The following day, he saved the life of a wounded fellow Marine by carrying him to safety. And on D-Day plus two, he threw himself onto an enemy satchel charge and died in that explosion while protecting the lives of nearby Marines. 

Texan First Lieutenant Jack Lummus (1915–1945) played baseball and football for Baylor University, left school before graduating, and was playing professional football for the New York Giants when the war came. He enlisted in the Marines, completed the then-called Officers Training School at Quantico, Virginia, commanded a platoon on Iwo Jima, and singlehandedly attacked enemy pillboxes, assaults that inspired his men to join his one-man charge. Wounded by shrapnel and a land mine, he died in a hospital just a few days after the charge.

Private First-Class Franklin Sigler (1924–1995) went straight from his New Jersey high school into the Marines, and then to Iwo Jima. There, he took command when his squad leader was wounded, launched a one-man attack and captured an enemy gun position, and fought back the Japanese who attempted to retake the post. Though he was wounded and under fire, he carried three other Marine casualties to safety. 

North Carolinian Rufus Herring (1921–1996) had command of a Landing Craft Gunboat when his ship came under attack. When Japanese mortars and artillery set his ship on fire and knocked out the conning station, killing most of the other officers, the severely wounded Herring directed operations aboard ship, including the guns returning the Japanese barrage, and brought the vessel and most of its crew to safety. Later, he became mayor of his beloved hometown of Roseboro, North Carolina. Before his death, he declined burial in Arlington Cemetery, preferring to rest in his native soil.

These are but four of the myriad of heroes who fought, bled, and died at Iwo Jima. 

2/25/24