Month: October 2024

The Biden-Harris administration is facing several disasters this week.

From FEMA’s botched response in the hurricane-ravaged US Southeast to elevated WW3 risks in the Middle East, one major and ongoing crisis that went underreported this week was multiple attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial ships in the critical maritime chokepoint of the southern Red Sea.

On Wednseday we penned a note, citing intelligence firm SynMax, which specializes in maritime and energy intelligence, about two commercial vessels targeted by Houthis:

“Two ships targeted by Houthis in the RedSea yesterday—Panama-flagged CORDELIA MOON and Liberian-flagged MINOAN COURAGE—the first such attacks since September,” SynMax wrote on X. 

Fast forward to late week, the maritime news website gCaptain released footage showing one of the vessels, Panama-flagged tanker M/T Cordelia Moon, being hit by a Houthi unmanned surface vessel. 

Here’s more from the gCaptain:

The incident, which occurred on October 1, involved multiple missile strikes and a hit by an USV. The vessel was unladen and in ballast condition at the time of the attack.

According to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), the vessel was targeted while navigating the southern Red Sea, approximately 64 nautical miles from Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The attack unfolded in several stages, according to the ship’s Master:

1. At 0150 UTC, three projectiles landed near the ship’s port bow.
2. At 0253 UTC, a fourth projectile splashed 100 meters from the aft starboard quarter.
3. At 0500 UTC, the ship was struck by a USV on its port side.

The JMIC confirmed that the Cordelia Moon sustained damage but did not require assistance. All crew members are reported safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. It also assesses that vessel was likely targeted due to affiliations within the vessel’s operation structure.

The current threat assessment indicates that vessels with Israeli, United States, or United Kingdom associations are at the highest risk, but ships within company structures that have been identified as making port calls to Israel are also potential targets.

As tensions continue to rise in the Red Sea, this latest incident underscores the dangers to vessels and their crews in the region, particularly those with connections to countries perceived as adversaries by the Houthi rebels.

Dramatic footage.

For one year, Houthi rebels have launched over 80 attacks on commercial ships in the critical maritime chokepoint, sinking two ships and killing four sailors.

Maritime expert Noam Raydan, and author of The Chokepoint, noted… 

I’m also reupping another Maritime Spotlight post on Russia-linked ships that were attacked by the Houthis in the past months – with data on oil flows and weapons used against oil tankers (with @FarzinNadimi) https://t.co/kAHbetQREh#OOTT #RedSea #Houthis #Shipping

— Noam Raydan (@NoamRaydan) October 1, 2024

This chaos has sparked global supply chain snarls for the shipping industry as commercial vessels are rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. 

Even more concerning is the Biden-Harris administration’s failure of ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security in the critical chokepoint.  

Meanwhile, the clogged chokepoint is causing major supply chain disruptions at top global ports.

CNN Business’ Richard Quest pointed this out on X, “Extraordinary number of ships at Singapore.  All bunched up here because of Red Sea disruption to shipping and shifts in way things are being shipped. Fascinating. This is where commerce and geo politics come face to face.” 

Extraordinary number of ships at #singapore. All bunched up here because of Red Sea disruption to shipping and shifts in way things are being shipped. Fascinating. This is where commerce and geo politics come face to face pic.twitter.com/7sCRdW9YPk

— Richard Quest (@richardquest) October 3, 2024

In August, former Navy Seal and Blackwater founder Erik Prince issued this dire warning about what the clogged Red Sea actually means for the West: America’s “credibility and deterrence” are quickly eroding.

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Food prices—especially meat and poultry—have skyrocketed in the past four years and could be exacerbated further next year when new EPA rules for meat processors go into effect.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook for September reported that beef and veal prices had increased for six straight months, and predicted they will rise 5.2 percent overall in 2024. Poultry prices also rose, although by a smaller percentage, and are expected to rise more before year’s end.

The report traced the rise to factors including pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and the worst inflation since the 1980s.

Next year could see still higher meat and poultry prices at the grocery store, analysts say. That’s because an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal is expected to put some meat processors out of business, resulting in potential job losses and supply chain disruptions.

The EPA announced a proposed rule change governing effluent, or wastewater, limits for meat and poultry processors in January of this year, followed by public comment in the spring.

The agency’s final rule will go into effect in August 2025.

The proposal has met with opposition from dozens of  states, industry stakeholders, and policy experts, who fear it will harm the industry, the food supply, and consumers.

The proposed changes are spurred by lawsuits filed by a coalition of 13 environmental organizations. In 2019, the groups challenged the Trump administration under the Clean Water Act for not updating aging water pollution control standards for slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.

In response, the EPA pledged to strengthen its regulations, without implementing changes. In December 2022, a second lawsuit was filed, resulting in the current proposal.

The proposed rule contains three possible options for reducing wastewater discharges from slaughterhouses and poultry processors through water filtration technology.

Benefits and Drawbacks

The EPA estimates that the new rules would reduce pollutants discharged through wastewater from processing facilities by about 100 million pounds per year.

The proposed rules would establish tighter limitations for nitrogen released into the environment by large processors and, for the first time, would limit phosphorus.

The rules would apply to processors directly discharging wastewater into bodies of water, and, for the first time, would also apply to those indirectly discharging wastewater via water treatment plants.

In another first, the new rules would establish pretreatment standards for oil and grease, total suspended solids, and biochemical oxygen demand.

The EPA solicited comments on its preferred option and on two other proposals, which would apply pollutant limitations to smaller processors and tighten restrictions on wastewater pollutants.

About 850 of some 5,000 facilities would be impacted by the preferred rule changes, the agency said. Those include large facilities processing more than 50 million pounds of meat per year and more than 100 million pounds of poultry per year.

The EPA estimates that under its preferred option, at least 16 facilities will be forced to close, impacting at least 17,000 jobs. At the top end, the EPA estimates up to 53 plants could close.

Prices for beef, chicken, turkey, and pork products are expected to increase slightly while availability of meat and poultry is expected to decrease slightly, according to the agency.

In an email to The Epoch Times, EPA scientist Michael Nye called the proposed regulations “economically achievable” and flexible enough to allow processors to find “even lower-cost compliance options.”

The agency’s literature said cutting down on wastewater pollution from processors would reduce exposure to pathogens and toxins, improve aquatic habitats, and enhance recreational and tourism use of lakes and rivers.

Less pollution would combat climate issues and work to address pollution in poor and minority communities, according to the EPA.

The agency estimated the “total monetized benefits” of tightening the wastewater standards to be between about $90 million and $180 million annually.

States Push Back

A coalition of attorneys general from 27 states—led by Kansas and Arkansas—have argued that the rule change amounts to federal overreach.

Part of the rule change would regulate processors that release wastewater into treatment plants, which is unnecessary, they stated in a March letter to the EPA.

The states say that the EPA currently regulates only 171 of the meat and poultry product facilities in the United States. Those are facilities that directly discharge wastewater into bodies of water—not facilities that release it indirectly by discharging it to sewers or municipal sewage treatment plants.

By also including facilities that indirectly discharge wastewater, the regulation would expand to encompass some 3,879 facilities, according to the states. The EPA “has never before claimed such sweeping authority to regulate indirect discharges,” they stated, calling the proposed rule “not only costly but also unlawful.”

Federal statistics show that inflation remains high, they said, and shutting down meat and poultry processors would only aggravate the problem.

The attorneys general also questioned the data on which the EPA’s proposal is based.

“It appears that EPA is relying primarily on data put together by the groups that were suing them to come up with this rule,” they said.

The EPA cited plaintiff findings such as those from a 2018 Environmental Integrity Project report to support the proposed changes.

“Tyson Fresh Meats of Dakota City, Nevada, releases as much as 3,084 pounds of nitrogen per day into the Missouri River, a level approximately equal to the waste load of 132,000 people,” the agency said in technical documents citing the 2018 report.

Read the rest here…

First comes the tech boom, then comes the liberal politicians increasingly radical policies. Then comes the theft, looting and massive homeless drug problem which the city is incapable of fixing, and that ultimately destroys then the city.

Then comes the massive, invasive 20 pound rodents. 

This is the stage San Francisco sees itself at now: dealing with a massive rodent problem. 

Nearly a thousand nutria have been hunted in the Bay Area this year, but sightings show the invasive 2.5-foot-long rodents have now spread to Contra Costa County, threatening a key watershed, according to a new report from SF Gate. Wildlife officials are urging the public to report any sightings.

Krysten Kellum, spokesperson for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Matthew Slattengren, Contra Costa County agriculture commissioner, confirmed the discovery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The rodents pose a serious threat as they burrow through wetland habitats, damage crops, and can weaken levees, risking failure in a region that supplies water to cities and farms statewide.

The SF Gate report says that nutria can produce up to 200 offspring annually and consume up to 25% of their body weight daily, but destroy up to 10 times more, threatening endangered species and native plants. They also carry diseases like tuberculosis, septicemia, and parasites that can infect humans, pets, and livestock.

Since their first sighting in Merced County in 2017, over 5,000 nutria have been killed in California. Their spread into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta prompted officials to ramp up control efforts to protect the ecosystem.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira commented: “We cannot have nutria reproducing in the delta. The threat to California’s economy is too great.”

The first nutria were spotted in Contra Costa County last year, and two were captured on Aug. 15 near Dutch Slough. Their origin and how far they’ve spread remain unclear.

Krysten Kellum, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Bay Delta Region, added: “We have had additional detections of nutria on camera in that area over the last month, but with no additional captures.”

Authored by Fred Fleitz via American Greatness,

By a strange turn of fate, on October 1, 2024, the day that Iran launched the largest ballistic missile attack ever against Israel, Foreign Affairs magazine published an article by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he claimed “the Biden administration’s strategy has put the United States in a much stronger geopolitical position today than it was four years ago” and that Iran is being held in check.

A year earlier, Foreign Affairs published another tragically erroneous article by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, which said, “Although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges, the region is quieter than it has been for decades.” Six days after this article was posted, Hamas launched a sneak attack against Israel, massacring more than 1,200 people and maiming and injuring many more. In a stunning violation of journalistic ethics, Foreign Affairs allowed Sullivan to revise his article after the Hamas terrorist attack. Here is a link to the original version.

In these articles, Biden officials are trying to rewrite history by manufacturing false narratives of a successful Biden national security doctrine that they claim has enhanced U.S. and global security.

This is, of course, preposterous. Not only has there been a huge increase in global instability since Donald Trump left office in January 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has brought the world closer to World War III because of an increased chance Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, the real prospect of an Israel-Iran War, a new Russia-China-Iran-North Korea Axis, a growing chance that China will attack Taiwan, and other current and potential crises.

Several Biden allies have tried to invent a so-called Biden Doctrine since 2021. Most made fatuous claims that Biden was reversing the damage done by President Trump to the country’s alliances, deterrence, and global leadership despite clear evidence that Trump strengthened alliances and had a successful foreign policy that brought global stability and kept U.S. troops out of new wars. Others asserted that Biden “restored trust abroad for the U.S.,” a claim that many U.S. allies would dispute. Several experts, including Blinken and Sullivan, wrote that President Biden enhanced American foreign policy by strengthening the American economy. The huge advantage that Donald Trump currently has in the polls over Kamala Harris on the economy proves this isn’t true either.

In January 2024, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote an article titled, “A Biden Doctrine for the Middle East Is Forming. And It’s Big” on a supposed new Biden Middle East peace initiative to quickly end the Hamas/Israel war. Under this plan, the Biden administration would bring peace to the Middle East with a tough stand on Iran, push for recognition of a Palestinian state, and greatly scale up the U.S. security alliance with Saudi Arabia. None of these things happened. Instead, Middle East security has deteriorated in 2024 to the worst level in decades.

If there is a Biden/Harris national security doctrine, it is a doctrine of abysmal failure. There are four reasons for this.

Incompetence.

The Biden/Harris approach to U.S. national security has been dominated by profound incompetence. It was clear to the world at the start of Biden’s presidency that Joe Biden was not mentally fit to be U.S. commander-in-chief. This was obvious at a Biden-Putin summit in Geneva in June 2021, when Biden’s incoherent and doddering performance made him look weak to a huge global audience while Putin came off as competent and confident.

This was just part of many public displays of national security incoherence and confusion by this administration. This included Biden’s insults to the Saudi Crown Prince early in his administration, hostility toward the Egyptian government, mishandling of U.S. relations with China, and the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden undermined a key diplomatic mission to China by his secretary of state in 2023 by calling Chinese President Xi a dictator just after this trip. There has been little serious diplomacy between the U.S. and Russia and China. Biden has not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since February 2022 and has closed off the possibility of high-level talks with the Russian leader by calling him a war criminal and likening Putin to Hamas.

Biden’s worst foreign policy faux pas probably was when he made the bizarre statement in January 2021 that the U.S. might tolerate a “minor incursion” of Ukraine by Russia. A month later, Russia launched a massive invasion of Ukraine.

His extremely weak top national security advisers have exacerbated the effect of Biden’s mental decline on U.S. foreign policy: Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. This group does not include foreign policy geniuses like Henry Kissinger, James Baker, George Schultz, George Marshall, or Dean Acheson. It is a collection of third-string officials chosen to not outshine Biden.

Biden’s national security incompetence and mental decline have not gone unnoticed by world leaders. Russian officials frequently ridicule Biden over his mental health. The Wall Street Journal reported in October 2022 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman mocked Biden in private and “made fun of his mental acuity.”

The perception of a mentally infirm American president with an incoherent foreign policy and surrounded by a weak foreign policy team has significantly damaged American and global security.  Not only has this eroded American leadership and deterrence, Biden officials are now routinely ignored in global affairs. When Joe Biden calls for cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon or tells Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, no one takes him seriously.

Knee-jerk rejection of Trump and his foreign policy successes. 

Trump-hatred has been a significant theme of Biden’s foreign policy, especially at the start of this administration. This led to several irrational and dangerous policy decisions.

Biden officials condemned and tried to reverse most of Trump’s foreign policies, even successful ones. These include Biden’s decision in May 2021 to reverse Trump’s sanctions that shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline built to transport Russian gas to Germany. In February 2021, Biden lifted Trump’s designation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist group. The Biden administration was forced to partially reverse this decision in January 2024 after the Houthis began firing Iran-supplied missiles at Israel and ships in the Red Sea.

President Biden also ended President Trump’s diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and downgraded U.S. diplomacy with the country by naming a part-time special envoy.  This led to an increase in North Korean belligerence and the largest number of North Korean missile tests in a single year in 2022.

Other knee-jerk reversals of Trump policies include resuming funding for and rejoining the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which Trump officials cut off because of this organization’s anti-Israel bias and collaboration with and funding of Hamas. The Biden administration also rejoined the UN Educational, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which the Trump administration withdrew from due to anti-Israel bias.

In addition, the Biden administration rejoined the World Health Organization that the last administration withdrew from due to its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its refusal to hold China accountable for the origin and spread of the COVID-19 virus, and China’s control of this international organization.

Naïve globalist and far-left policies. 

Related to the Biden administration’s reversal of successful Trump administration foreign policies has been the implementation of many naïve globalist and far-left policies that have hurt American global interests.

The first and most significant of these policies was Biden’s decision to designate climate change as the top threat to U.S. national security and to concentrate American diplomacy on this issue.

President Biden also decided to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord on his first day in office. I am sure that Chinese leaders have been very pleased that most Biden administration diplomatic missions to Beijing were sent to discuss climate goals that China never intends to meet instead of more serious issues such as growing military threats from China, Chinese threats to Taiwan, Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, China’s growing nuclear arsenal, intellectual property theft by China, origins of the COVID-19 virus, etc.

President Biden and Vice President Harris have promoted the moribund two-state solution for Middle East peace and the creation of a Palestinian state over the objections of the Israeli government. They continued to press for a two-state solution even after the Hamas massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023.

The Biden/Harris administration also resumed the Obama administration’s appeasement of Iran in an attempt to negotiate a new nuclear agreement. This included refusing to enforce oil sanctions against Iran, which made the country an estimated $100 billion richer than it was when President Trump left office. In September 2023, the Biden administration agreed to pay Iran $6 billion in ransom to free five innocent Americans imprisoned in Iran. Iran has used this windfall to expand its military missile and nuclear programs. These funds also were sent to support Iran’s terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi rebels.

The Biden administration has alienated many countries by using U.S. diplomats and diplomatic facilities to promote far-left positions on social issues. This includes flying Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags at U.S. embassies and U.S. ambassadors meddling in the politics of their host nations to promote liberal views on social issues. In June 2023, the U.S. diplomatic mission to the Vatican flew an LGBTQ pride flag outside its building in Rome. According to a Heritage Foundation report, the Biden administration has used U.S. Agency for International Development funds to promote far-left gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Third World.

Biden officials have also tried to reform the United Nations to make it “fair” for the Third World by changing the membership of the U.S. Security Council and the use of the council’s Permanent Member veto.  These proposals would have weakened American power and influence in the U.N. Fortunately, they could not be implemented due to opposition from China and Russia.

Arrogance and lack of situational awareness. 

Another unfortunate characteristic of the so-called Biden/Harris national security doctrine has been instances of Biden officials ignoring the views and assumptions of other states and assuming that other states would automatically abide by or defer to the wishes of the Biden administration.

This was demonstrated by the abysmal mishandling of Russian President Putin before he ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Although Putin gave plenty of indications that he would never agree to Ukraine joining NATO and objected to Ukraine working with NATO, Biden ignored him and dangled NATO membership before Ukrainian President Zelensky. As Russia made preparations to invade Ukraine, the Biden administration threatened to respond with tough sanctions and to begin sending lethal aid to Ukraine. Although Putin probably was also motivated to invade Ukraine by the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden and his national security team miscalculated in believing Putin would defer to empty warnings from Biden not to invade and threats of new U.S. sanctions.

There have been many examples of arrogance and lack of situational awareness in the Biden administration’s Middle East policy. In addition to examples of this previously discussed, there are the weird warnings of “don’t” by Biden and Harris to Iran and its terrorist proxies not to engage in hostilities against Israel after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. This strange, incoherent one-word directive had no effect in lowering tensions in the Middle East and further undermined American deterrence in the region.

There has been similar arrogance in the Biden administration’s claims about promoting alliances. Although Biden officials deserve some credit for forming and strengthening alliances (such as AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.), most of the improvements in alliances were the work of other states in response to the Biden administration’s policy failures.

For example, NATO is stronger today in response to a war in Ukraine that the Biden administration helped cause and mostly due to the work of European NATO members.

Similarly, although President Biden helped promote a closer trilateral security relationship between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, this relationship was mainly the work of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in response to the Biden administration ignoring the Asia-Pacific region in 2021 and 2022. Kishida and Yoon devoted a lot of time to building this alliance and put their reputations on the line. Biden played a very minor role.

President Trump was right when he said the Biden/Harris national security policies are so bad that they have brought us closer to nuclear war and World War III. The American people see this in the increasingly dangerous security situations in the Middle East and the Russia/Ukraine War. When most Americans cast their votes for president this fall, they will not be fooled by a fantasy Biden/Harris national security doctrine promoted by Biden officials and their allies to explain away one of the worst foreign policy records of any U.S. administration.

Donald Trump mocked the Harris campaign for rolling out Liz Cheney and frequently boasting of its Dick Cheney endorsement during a rally in Michigan on Thursday.

Liz this week appeared by Vice President Harris’ side at a Wisconsin event, where the two also praised Dick, who will go down in history as the nation’s most notorious neocon warmonger who was a chief architect of the disastrous 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. This despite that in years prior he was absolutely reviled by the left.

Simply incredible that the Dem nominee has crowds chanting for Dick and Liz Cheney. And not only that, but lauding all Dick has done to “serve our country.” Oddly bereft of any specifics from that laudable service. I wish I could go back to 2004 and tell the DailyKos about this pic.twitter.com/C4omBlC6aI

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 4, 2024

“You may not have supported a Democrat for president before,” Harris told Ms. Cheney on Thursday, “but as you have also said, we both love our country, and we revere our democratic ideals.”

Cheney agreed, “Our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before” while charging Trump with seeking to overthrow the 2020 election results.

Former president Donald Trump’s response was characteristically hilarious. He said in an interview just before his own rally that Cheney is a “a stupid war hawk” who “wants to shoot missiles” at people—in a dig also at her dad’s blood stained legacy of constant militarism abroad.

Watch Trump blast the Cheney’s in a brief interview…

“Liz Cheney is a stupid warhawk. All she wants to do is shoot missiles at people.” — @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/cLaR5PRXTr

— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) October 4, 2024

Max Blumenthal of The Gray Zone has commented, “Imagine being one of the 2004-era progressive bloggers who blasted Cheney day after day as Darth Vader and is now propagandizing alongside the entire cast of Bush war criminals for a corporatist Kamala-led rainbow neocon regime.”

Another independent pundit, Michael Tracey, has also summarized, “It’s a pro-Trump cult of personality versus an anti-Trump coalition based on very little other than opposition to Trump’s personality cult.”

Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times,

Californians will pay more for earthquake coverage in 2025, as the California Earthquake Authority – a not-for-profit organization funded by insurance companies and managed by the state – is raising rates by an average of 6.8 percent in January.

“[The earthquake authority] is committed to making earthquake insurance as available, reliable, and affordable as possible,” the organization said on its website.

“While we work hard to keep rates affordable, state law requires our rates to be actuarially sound.”

Policies are sold through 20 member companies affiliated with the earthquake authority, and those seeking earthquake insurance must have a homeowner or renter policy with the company that offers the additional coverage.

Cited as reasons for the spike are inflation, higher construction costs, and the price of reinsurance—coverage that insurers purchase to help pay claims.

Annual rates are expected to increase by less than $10 for renters and about $70 for homeowners, but some policyholders will see higher or lower adjustments.

The changes also include a new $500 sub-limit for broken personal property—including glassware, pottery, and certain other items—at no additional cost.

Standard homeowners, renters, and condominium insurance policies do not cover damage caused by earthquakes, though they will typically cover fire damage caused by temblors.

Mortgage lenders generally do not require earthquake coverage, though most mandate homeowner policies to cover other damage.

The Golden State accounts for about 90 percent of earthquakes nationwide, and about 10 percent of Californians carry insurance to cover damage, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Some homeowners and renters avoid earthquake insurance because of policy dynamics, as most homes would not experience damage that costs more than insurance deductibles. This leaves them paying for premiums without receiving aid in the event of a disaster, according to the agency.

Approximately one million Californians have policies with the earthquake authority, representing a fraction of the state’s homeowners and renters.

The organization advised policyholders that they could be offered rate reductions of up to 25 percent if they retrofit their homes with seismic safety upgrades.

“These projects can sometimes be done in a day or two and are usually pretty inexpensive—especially when compared to the costs of rebuilding a home that has been severely damaged in an earthquake,” the authority said.

According to the organization, homes most at risk of earthquake damage include those with raised foundations, post-and-piers, built on hillsides, with living spaces built over garages, and manufactured homes that are not built with seismic safety braces.

“It’s rarely the earth that hurts people during an earthquake; it’s manmade structures,” said Charlotte Fadipe, chief communications officer.

“The good news is we can do something about that. We’re here to help Californians prepare for and recover from damaging earthquakes.”

The earthquake authority was founded after the Northridge earthquake shook the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles in January 1994. Approximately $20 billion in residential damages occurred as a result of the disaster, with about half of the total covered by insurance at the time.

The event significantly impacted the insurance market, as the industry had underestimated the financial impact of moderate to large earthquakes.

Insurance companies representing 93 percent of the state’s market restricted or stopped writing home insurance policies in response, according to the insurer, negatively affecting California’s housing market.

To stabilize the housing and insurance markets, the Legislature created the Earthquake Authority in 1996 to sell insurance through a variety of partner companies.

A spokesperson said the organization is focused on improving resiliency.

“It’s not just about the homes themselves,” said Janiele Maffei, chief mitigation officer with the Earthquake Authority. “It’s also about creating resilient systems, involving the residents, contractors, engineers, building departments—the whole ecosystem—to get Californians earthquake ready.”

In 2024, policies originated by the authority account for two-thirds of all residential earthquake coverage statewide, making it one of the largest earthquake insurers in the world.

Price increase requests are considered and approved by the state’s Department of Insurance.

The premium cost increase comes as insurance rates are on the rise across the board in California. The state is facing an insurance “availability crisis,” according to experts, with dozens of insurers having fled the market over the last two years as wildfire risks and rebuilding costs have skyrocketed since 2017.

“Consumers are hurting, businesses continue to lose coverage, wildfires are ravaging our state—and we do not have the luxury of time,” Ricardo Lara, insurance department commissioner, said in an August press release. “I am ultimately responsible for fixing this crisis, and I am moving forward to meet my commitment to complete long-needed reforms this year.”

Lara issued a bulletin calling for more complete rate review applications from insurers to expedite approval processes, and the insurance department is hiring more staff to facilitate review.

“We’ve been working closely with the Insurance Commissioner and fully support these actions … to ensure Californians have adequate access to insurance and combat market exodus that hurts consumers,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in the same press release. “These are the actions necessary to address California’s insurance crisis.”

Authored by Arjun Singh via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Edwin Robasco was a truck driver and Teamsters union member from Boston. Less than a year ago he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina—one of many retirees flocking to the warm southern state.

On a hot September day at the downtown farmers’ market, he explained why—after supporting “Kennedys, Kennedys, Kennedys” as a Democrat for years—he’s now voting for former President Donald Trump.

“You let millions of people in here. You don’t even know who they are. You don’t have a clue,” Robasco said, referring to the influx of illegal immigrants over the U.S. border, which has become Trump’s chief focus this campaign.

“I don’t know how they’re gonna pay for them. You can’t just let people in and not help take care [of them]. You got to do it,” Robasco said.

Robasco is one of many North Carolinians who spoke with The Epoch Times about how they intend to vote in November’s presidential election, and what’s driving their decisions.

With 15 electoral votes, North Carolina is crucial to win for both Trump and his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.

In 2020, Trump won the state by 1.34 percent, his narrowest margin of victory in any state that year. Both Trump and Harris have made the state a regular stop in the final stages of their campaigns.

‘The Economy and the Border’

Across dozens of interviews, the state of the economy and the border crisis were top-of-mind issues for Democratic and Republican voters. Many were concerned about large numbers of illegal immigrants coming to their communities, even as they were supportive of immigration generally.

“The big issues, right now, are the economy and the border. Those are the two major issues that people tell me about on a daily basis. They’re very concerned about our security in our country, and they are very concerned about the loss of jobs and the inflation rate,” North Carolina state Sen. W. Ted Alexander, a Republican, told The Epoch Times at a Trump rally in Mint Hill on Sept. 25.

Al Smith is a 34-year-old who owns an auto body repair shop in Greensboro, North Carolina. He cited migration as one of the reasons he’s voting for Trump this year.

“Hell yeah,” said Smith when asked if he is concerned about illegal immigrants in the area.

“What happens to the average Joe? That job where he was getting paid $14 an hour, now it has been 7, 8 bucks … that’s when it gets a little sticky,” Smith said, suggesting that illegal immigration is bringing down wages for U.S. workers in the area.

“Some of the border things [Trump says] can be a little extreme, but at the same time, just think about how many people are passing through the border,” he said.

“When you have the influx … when you get into millions and millions and millions, you know, they’re getting more money than our veterans—that’s a problem,” said Logan Prince, a business owner and Trump supporter.

Even Harris’s supporters lamented about illegal immigration, though they noted how local businesses relied upon them.

“We have concerns about borders and stuff like that,” said Camila and Lyndon White, grandparents from Randolph County, North Carolina, who are supporting Harris.

“But we … rely on our immigrant population. We have a friend who’s a brick mason, and all of his crews are immigrants. Without them, he couldn’t do what he does.”

“People think about immigration [here]. I mean, all those issues,” said Palmer McIntyre, a Harris supporter and conservationist in Greensboro.

On the economy, voters were worried about both inflation and fuel prices. Disappointment with the Biden administration’s economic performance is a big reason many are choosing to support Trump.

“I’m a small-business owner, and I’ve never had a president hurt me as much as this administration has hurt me—from fuel, fertilizers, [to] products. Everything is crazy … [because of] interest rates. I can’t get money from anywhere. Nobody’s lending money and fuel,” Prince said.

Rev. Rick Baker, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Mint Hill, North Carolina, said: “Our finances are going downhill terribly. People can’t afford those small things. I mean, especially those with lower incomes, they’re struggling. … [As] a pastor of a church, I know my people, and they’re having it harder than they’ve ever been.” He said he’s backing Trump.

Harris supporters shared these concerns. “I used to think we were upper middle class. I think we’re just middle class now,” said Camila White, who complained of high housing prices and the cost of living.

“[Prices] will continue to [go up], especially with food,” said Cheryl Bridges, a Quaker chaplain in Greensboro, regarding the cost of living. She relies on monthly Social Security payments and is concerned she won’t be able to cover her expenses.

Some of Harris’s supporters told The Epoch Times she is not being clear enough about her economic plans. So far, Harris has proposed a raft of tax credits for parents of minor children, homebuyers, and businesses as her economic proposals.

“I feel like Democrats don’t do a great job at really [communicating],” said Russell, a Harris supporter who runs a mental health services provider in Greensboro.

“You really gotta get very clear … and you gotta be really contemporary with your example

Pro-Abortion Republicans

Abortion has become a flashpoint in the election following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, with several abortion bans in conservative states provoking backlashes. In North Carolina—where the state legislature enacted a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with certain exceptions—most voters told The Epoch Times that abortion should be permissible.

“I can’t believe the Roe v. Wade changed. I can’t believe that [Trump] has the right to do that to women,” said Jill Radzcwiz of Salisbury, North Carolina, who said she is voting for Harris “mainly because of women.”

“We have two granddaughters, so I’m concerned about their reproductive rights,” said White. “I would like for [my daughter] to have the freedom to see her doctor and decide her health care needs. … A woman should decide for herself.”

Read the rest here…

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former President Donald Trump said in a new interview that he would revoke the legal status of Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, and work to deport them back to their native country.

“It has nothing to do with Haiti or anything else. It doesn’t work. You have to remove the people, and you have to bring them back to their own country,” Trump told NewsNation on Oct. 2.

“Springfield is such a beautiful place. Have you seen what’s happened to it? It’s been overrun. You can’t do that to people. They have to be removed. Absolutely, I’d revoke [the status]. I’d bring them back to their country.”

He also said he doesn’t view the protection the immigrants have as legal.

Temporary protected status was granted to Haitian immigrants in 2010 after a major earthquake in the country. The designation was extended multiple times until, under Trump, the federal government announced that the designation would be ending. Legal challenges blocked that effort and the designation has since been extended through Feb. 3, 2026, by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Temporary protected status gives immigrants from certain countries the ability to legally work and live in the United States, even if they entered illegally. Officials grant the status when they find the immigrants’ home countries have conditions that make returning there unsafe.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in June that the extension was being granted because of ongoing violence and insecurity in Haiti.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants have come to the United States in recent years—the U.S. Census Bureau says some 852,000 are living in America as of February—with at least 15,000 going to Springfield.

Some residents there have expressed frustration over the influx, saying local institutions have been slow to serve Americans because of assistance being given to immigrants. Others, such as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, say the immigrants have helped fill jobs and contribute to the state in various ways.

Trump has campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration by increasing deportations, ending some programs that the Biden administration has implemented, and strengthening barriers and staffing at the border.

The deportation effort would rely, in part, on local law enforcement who are familiar with the immigrants, he said. He said it would extend to other local communities in addition to Springfield.

Vice President Kamala Harris has said that she was heartbroken over schools and other places in Springfield closing because of threats that came into the city after officials and former officials started drawing attention to the influx of immigrants.

“The vast majority of us as Americans know we have so much more in common than what separates us. I know that. I know that regardless of someone’s background, their race, their gender, their geographic location—I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio,” she said in September during an event held by the National Association of Black Journalists. “And it’s got to stop.”

Biden used similar language in speaking to reporters, rebuffing recent allegations that the Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating residents’ cats and dogs.

Springfield’s strategic engagement manager, Karen Graves, told The Epoch Times in September that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

A police report obtained by government watchdog group Judicial Watch shows that at least one resident called to report her neighbors for allegedly stealing and chopping up her cat, and some residents have spoken in city meetings about dealing with animals going missing.

Jeff Louderback contributed to this report.

Tired of seeing unruly teens running amok and causing chaos inside of your local shopping mall? So are the residents, vendors and security at Moreno Valley Mall in California.

It is one of many malls on a list that includes New Jersey’s oldest mall, Westfield Garden State Plaza, that is implementing new rules to try and cut back on unruly and sometimes illegal behavior from teenagers. 

At Westfield Garden State Plaza, anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to KIRO Newsradio. The mall has also set up “waiting zones” for teens needing a ride after curfew, the report says.

The KIRO Newsradio report also notes that a Pittsburgh mall has implemented similar policies, where both teens and their adult chaperones face bans if a violation occurs. In Atlanta, some retailers have seen a drop in sales after enforcing such rules.

The rules are obvious consequences stemming from a spree of looting that started taking place during the ‘summer of love’ in 2020, and never really stopped. Since then, police all over the country have dealt with higher rates of theft in inner cities while liberal DAs refuse to meaningfully prosecute those breaking the law.

As a result, we have stores like CVS and Target locking up goods like toothpaste, preventing shoppers from accessing even the most basic items, and shopping malls being forced to “lock down”.

Despite the ugly reality of the situation, KIRO’s Angela Poe Russell laments the changes taking place at malls, writing: “This is happening all over the country and, to be honest, I’m grieving. I’m grieving because our teens need a safe place to go just to hang out and have fun. Remember the COVID-19 pandemic? They were locked in on screens all day. We were wishing for the days they could just go hang out at a mall in person with people.”

“When I think about some of my favorite childhood memories, they happened at the mall. It was where I had my first job. It was where I met my first real boyfriend. It was where I met the singers of my favorite band.”

The key word that you use there, Angela, is “safe” – which malls simply no longer are. In the 1980s you could go to the mall without fear of looting or assault. Sadly, those days are long gone…

Authored by Douglas French via The Mises Institute,

Sabrina Carpenter has been a star since she was 12, staring on Disney’s Girl Meets World. Now she’s a singer and, I’ve heard, she has broken records set by the Beatles. She’s recorded a catchy cover of Nancy Sinatra‘s 1965 hit “These Boots Are Made For Walking.” 

 ”I want to feel as confident as humanly possible so I can be up there and not worry about what I’m doing,” Carpenter says.

“It helps me perform better.”

She ended up donning custom Swarovski-crystal minidresses by the Ukrainian brand Frolov, a favorite of Beyoncé for her own shows. She paired the dresses with her signature white go-go boots. “The go-go boots have been there for me in hard times,” she says. The 1960’s footwear fashion statement are suddenly popular again.

To any economics student, go-go boots and the year 1965 mean Lyndon Banes Johnson’s “Guns and Butter” policy.

LBJ’s blizzard of government programs increased government spending by 42 billion gold standard dollars, or 13%. Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start only scratch the surface of LBJ’s Great Society programs that are still with us today. 

Not known as a tax-cutter, Johnson reduced income taxes, lowering the top rate from an astronomical 91% to a still absurd 70%. He reduced the corporate tax rate from 52% to 48%. According to the Tax Foundation, the cuts spurred the economy enough to benefit government by an increase of 33%. The tax take increased from $94 billion in 1961 to $153 billion in 1968.

The social programs were the butter, the Vietnam War was the guns.

America watched on televison as U.S. troops and Vietnamese were maimed. The same year Ms. Sinatra hit the charts with “Boots,” LBJ sent 100,000 troops to Vietnam. By 1968, his defense budget soared to support 500,000 troops. American casualties grew as the North Vietnamese appeared to be winning. Johnson didn’t like to lose and so he did not seek re-election.

Just as go-go boots have come back in style, and the President not running for re-election, so has guns and butter economic policy.

Joe Biden is no LBJ but his administration has passed roughly $4.5 trillion in new programs, starting with $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and so on.

This spending on top of the trillions of dollars the Great Society programs cost.

In addition to that butter, the U.S. is providing guns for two wars, in Ukraine, and Gaza. In April, Biden signed a military aid package worth $95 billion that will arm Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bill had bipartisan support with 79 senators voting yes. 

They taught us in school there is an opportunity cost to produce guns versus butter and vice versa.

But a complicit Fed and Treasury make both not only possible, but the norm. These boots never go out of style.