An instance of a politician making a wise decision:

Tijuana Mayor Says She’ll Live at Army Base After Threats, 7 Bodies Found in Truck
CBS News | June 13, 2023

The mayor of the Mexican border city of Tijuana said she has decided to live at an army base for her own safety, after she received threats.

Mayor Montserrat Caballero announced the decision after confirming that police had found seven dead bodies stuffed in a pickup truck on Monday.

Police said they found the pickup truck parked at a gas station in Tijuana with the doors open; on the back seat of the cab lay a body wrapped in a blanket. Hidden under tires and wooden boards were six more bodies.

“I have received threats, so I am going to live at the base,” Caballero said. Local media reported the army base is on the southern edge of Tijuana, about 5 miles from the city hall.

Caballero did not say who the threats had come from. The Tijuana city government said in a statement the threats were related to her administration’s “strong results in weapons seizures and arrest of violent suspects.”

It is well known that several drug cartels are waging turf battles in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California.

But if they get Covid, they’ll send in the military to enforce lockdowns.

Abbate-oire:

FBI Deputy Director Admits REDACTING Mention of Joe and Hunter Biden Recordings in Document Shown to Congress
Breitbart | 13 Jun 2023 | Kristina Wong

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate admitted during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday that the FBI redacted any mention of audio recordings of Joe and Hunter Biden in a document shown last week to Republican lawmakers in which an FBI informant alleged the Bidens were involved in a bribery scheme around 2015 and 2016

Under grilling from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Abbate confirmed: “What I will tell you with respect to the document, the document was redacted to protect the source.”

But, beyond the name of the source, what else was redacted? “Any mention of audio recordings of Joe and Hunter Biden.” How does that protect the source? Or, who does it protect?

Abbate also denied that the FBI was politicized.

I deny that denial. So there!

Nearly One in Three Gen Zers Want the Government To Install Surveillance Cameras in Everyone’s Homes
American Thinker | 9 Jun, 2023 | Eric Utter

Illuminating a truly sad, pathetic — and terrifying — version of Stockholm Syndrome, a new poll has found that a stunning percentage of “Gen Z” Americans support the idea of the government placing cameras in every home in order to prevent crime and abuse. What could be the downside, right?

That finding was part of a Cato Institute poll of 2,000 Americans. Americans.

The poll asked whether respondents supported “the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity.” What about invasion of privacy?

While “only” about 14 percent of Americans overall supported the idea of Uncle Sam transitioning into Peeping Tom, an incredible 29% of those under the age of 30 did. And fully 20% of those between the ages of 30 and 44 supported the idea of massive government surveillance of — and intrusion into — our formerly private homes.

“Prog Brother Should Be Watching You, Sir”

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Please remind me: their objection to having cameras currently monitoring what’s going on in classrooms is …?

The survey in question focused on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—government-sponsored alternatives to such digital money as bitcoin. CBDCs would offer the convenience of digital payments, but potentially without privacy protections, and could empower the state to control what people buy and sell.

“Interestingly, more than half (53 percent) of those who support the United States adopting a CBDC are also supportive of government surveillance cameras in homes, while only 2 percent of those who oppose a CBDC feel the same,” add Ekins and Gygi. “This suggests there may be a common consideration that is prompted by both issues. Likely, it has to do with willingness to give up privacy in hopes of greater security.”

— Why Are So Many Younger Americans OK With Big Brother Monitoring Their Homes?
Reason | 6.7.2023 | J.D. Tuccille

I won’t say “there’s a lot to unpack here” because I hate people who say “there’s a lot to unpack here.”

Biden’s Green Rules Mean Appliances Will Soon Cost More and Do Less, Experts Say
Epoch Times | June 2, 2023 | Kevin Stocklin

Consumer advocate: New Biden regulations mean ‘Everyday things that people want are going to get more expensive or disappear’

…

A pledge by the Biden administration in December 2022 to take “more than 100 actions” to impose significantly tighter environmental standards on consumer goods is now becoming reality, and consumer groups are predicting a future in which Americans pay more for products that do less, while manufacturers warn of shortages and supply chain breakdowns.

“You’re seeing, just in the last few months, new rules from the Biden administration about clothes washers, dishwashers, and other kinds of kitchen appliances, and in every case, you’re talking about a tightening of already very, very tight standards,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, told The Epoch Times.

“That will make it so that nearly the majority of the current products on the market don’t meet the standards and have to be redesigned or removed from the market,” Skinner said. “Everyday things that people actually want are going to get more expensive or disappear, and the products that will be available will be more expensive but not better. People are going to wonder why life is worse.”

Wonder no more, Democrat voters. Wonder no more.

These actions follow a familiar pattern: rumors of new directives, followed by official denials, followed by draconian diktats. For example, reports that the Consumer Product Safety Commission would ban gas stoves over alleged safety concerns sparked a public outcry in January, which was met with denials by the Commission, together with media ridicule, that any such thing was being contemplated. This was then followed by new environmental standards from the DOE that would ban the manufacturing of 50 percent of the gas stoves available on the market today.

Sigh.

Among what one industry executive called “an avalanche” of new rules are regulations that force dishwasher and washing machine manufacturers to cut water use and energy consumption by one-third. In addition, new DOE rules would effectively eliminate 98 percent of all top-loading washing machines on the market today, would mandate that the machines be larger, and remove the central agitator that increases cleaning performance.

Manufacturers say these rules would add $200 to the cost of a washing machine…

“The regulations are legally faulty because they rest on poor reasoning and shaky facts,” Skrmetti said. “This kind of bureaucratic overreach lies far outside the scope of the federal government envisioned by the Constitution.”

“The ability to buy a car that can safely transport a family of five, that’s going to be an immense cost, way beyond what people are used to today,” Skinner said. “A lot of these $50,000 electric cars are basically sedans; when Chevy comes out with an electric Suburban, I shudder to think how many batteries you’re going to need for that.”

“Electric motors, transformers, electric vehicle chargers, generators, and other critical electrical equipment all require electrical steel due to its unique properties that reduce power loss,” they wrote. “Shortages of domestic electrical steel are contributing to significant and persistent supply chain challenges across our industries.

Increasingly, the United States is being forced to turn to China to fill the gap.

In addition, Hanke cites rare-earth minerals like neodymium, dysprosium and terbium, which are necessary to produce the magnets found in wind turbines and EVs. One 3-megawatt direct-drive wind turbine contains nearly two tons of these magnets, Hanke stated in a May 4 op-ed.

“Stunningly,” he writes, “China is responsible for 90% of the production of these rare-earth magnets.” The renewables transition is giving China the strategic leverage in minerals that OPEC has in oil production.

“If the U.S. insists on pushing China around in the sphere of critical materials, China can push back, and push back hard,” Hanke said. “As Deng Xiaoping put it in 1987, ‘the Middle East has oil; China has rare earths.’”

Unless you find yourself in this guy’s situation:

Florida Cop, Pregnant Woman Arrested After Joint Beatdown of Man Dating Them Both, Police Say
Too Fab | 6/2/2023

Miami-Dade Police Officer Anna Elicia Perez found herself in handcuffs last week after she and a pregnant woman allegedly confronted and beat up a man who was dating them both, say local authorities.

The alleged incident went down at Miller’s Ale House in Palmetto Bay last Friday, after Perez, 34, and Mila Zuloaga, 35, apparently discovered their unnamed boyfriend was seeing them both. Both women reportedly thought they were in monogamous relationships with the victim, while Zuloaga is seven months pregnant and lives with him.

. . . they both confronted him at the sports bar. …

“The officer and pregnant woman intentionally struck the victim on the face and upper body with their hands multiple times,” the report continued. “The victim sustained redness to the face and a small bruise to the lower lip.”

In Other Words: Stay Out of India

Arikomban: Rampaging Killer Elephant Claims 11th Victim in India
Yahoo Singapore | 30 May 2023 | Barney Davis

A “killer” elephant has reportedly claimed its eleventh victim, an auto-rickshaw driver, after rampaging through Indian villages.

The elephant has reportedly killed 11 people and destroyed 300 houses and shops across the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in recent years.

Arikomban, translated to “rice tusker”, was named by locals can after his fondness raiding rice shops.

He has been caught several times and relocated to nature reserves but activists have fought to free him.

I don’t, but at least I know now what the contention is about. Computers writing scripts better than writers.

Hollywood Writers on Strike Will Not Rest Until AI Is Stopped
Decrypt | 6/02/23 | Jason Nelson

The rise of generative AI, the buzziest thing in the tech world today, is also on the minds of TV and film writers as they try to reach a fair and equitable agreement to end the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.

The dispute between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has entered its second month, and June gloom is setting in over Hollywood. Striking writers remain determined to have their voices heard and demands met, and one of the key sticking points is how AI tools potentially put creative jobs at risk.

“We understand it’s not something we can walk away from,” screenwriter and TV producer Josh Friedman told Decrypt on Thursday outside the historic Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles. “We’re here.”

The use of AI remains a critical factor in the WGA’s negotiations. The WGA’s proposals include regulations on the use of AI for projects covered by the union’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), or the collective bargaining agreement that covers the benefits, rights, and protections for most of the work done by members.

The union proposed a regulation that AI cannot write or rewrite literary material for such projects and can’t be used as source material, plus MBA-covered material also can’t be used to train generative AI. The AMPTP rejected the proposal.

“Our concerns are very specific,” Friedman said. The response from the AMPTP, Friedman said, was a promise to meet again once a year to discuss where the technology is at.

Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.

For instance:

Eight people injured, two critically, after building owned by Yale University collapses while construction crew was pouring concrete on second floor
Daily Mail ^ | 6/02/23 | Kamal Sultan

A Yale University building under construction in New Haven, Connecticut partially collapsed on Friday and left eight people injured with two of them in critical condition.

The collapse happened at an apartment block on Lafayette Street at around 12.30pm when crews were pouring concrete.

Part of the second floor fell into the first floor and into the basement at the building site where 36 people were working.

The comments provided an education better than Yale’s, and for free:

Engineering diversity is our strength?

Big difference between the weight and integrity of heavy wet concrete and dry hard concrete …..
never load from the middle and always use temp support

I’ve see 6 inch deflection in steel structures just pouring 4 inch floors.
HVAC guys will complain the most …..

6 inch deflection?

I used to install fuel ust’s. 2 inches would be a major issue…. Same with the guys installing shoring for the tank holes.

The structural engineer cannot control the actions of the contractor.

The inspector can.

I’ve seen a lot of concrete placed for highways, bridges, industrial buildings and institutional buildings.

Depending on the structural design, certain requirements exist like the length of the weld to tie floor joists to embeds or other steel.

I’ve seen contractors try to glue embeds in walls and use the same epoxy incorrectly for anchors that weren’t compatible.

Was the Q deck correct?

Was the pump operator in communication with the concrete crew?

Was a slump test done with the result being within spec.

I’m curious.

Maybe they forgot to calculate the factor of safety needed to withstand a heavy point load on the floor system. Or they forgot to factor in the weight of the concrete as part of the floor system.

As for contractor, I guess they forgot to toss their air vibrator in the pour to settle the concrete.

The architect only left the MEP guys 1” of slop to get in the lights + sprinkler + ductwork, so they’re probably justified in griping.

Egg up a fiberglass or frp-coated tank, your ass was in a sling. Liability was 10 million. You did it right or you didn’t do it at all.

Socialite Spared Jail After Killing Police Chief

BBC | 6/1/23

Because she did not shoot the deputy?

Oh, I think I see now why she got off:

Hartin said had she accidentally shot her friend, superintendent Henry Jemmott, after the two went on a walk by the beachfront in Belize in 2021

A Canadian socialite who killed a police chief in Belize with his own gun has reportedly been spared prison time.

Jasmine Hartin, 34, was handed a £30,000 fine and 300 hours of community service, according to local reports.

She pleaded guilty in April to the manslaughter of Henry Jemmott on 28 May 2021. He died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Hartin is the former partner of Andrew Ashcroft, the son of a prominent UK businessman Lord Michael Ashcroft.

Under the sentence handed down by the island’s high court, Hartin must pay $75,000 BZD within 12 months, or face a potential prison sentence of 12 months, according to Channel 5 Belize.

She must also рrоduсе а vіdео warning against the dangers of drunkenness and mishandling firearms, according to Breaking Belize News.

Now here’s the funny part:

At the time of Mr Jemmott’s death, Hartin and Mr Ashcroft lived in Belize with their two children.

Over the course of the investigation and criminal trial, it was revealed that Hartin and Mr Jemmott, who were known to be friends . . .

After having two kids? Ya think?

had been at a party in together on the island of Ambergris Caye on the night of his death.

Police say that the two took a stroll on the beach before ending up at a pier. At some point, Mr Jemmott handed her his gun to put aside.

She later told investigators that she had been drinking, and had fumbled with the Glock 17 after the police chief asked for it back, leading to an accidental discharge.

Police found Hartin near the pier, covered in blood and distraught. Mr Jemmott’s body was found in the water off San Pedro, Belize.

Not, for instance, off Ambergris Caye? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Hartin was charged with manslaughter by negligence, and eventually pleaded guilty in April 2023.

Under Belize’s criminal code, the maximum prison sentence for manslaughter by negligence is five years.

After she pleaded guilty, Hartin told reporters outside court: “I just want Henry’s family to have peace now and I want this whole thing to be behind all of us so we can heal.”

The VanDerSloot family was called in for assistance in counseling.

While Pelosi’s every physical move on January 6 is in the history books, her records related to January 6 are not. Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the now-defunct select committee, said Pelosi and her office were “off limits” from the investigation. Pelosi has not produced a single document, email, or call log to detail what she did in the weeks before January 6, even though her office was primarily responsible for security.

— American Greatness | 1 Jun, 2023 | Julie Kelly

CNN actually tried to blame the sandbag. The sandbag. Just as they would have if Trump had fallen.

Old, Senile Criminal Trips Again

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Be on the lookout!

Smiles a lot