Monday, January 13, 2025

Manifest destiny redux: Why settle for a summer home in NC when Greenland is just sitting there?

So what if there’s some “treaty”? 
We’re imperial America. Treaties mean nothing.



Photo by Visit Greenland on Unsplash


Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix
January 13, 2025

Florida’s simply not large enough: As part of a growing empire, we need a bigger place.

People keep coming here, especially Canadians, clogging up the aisles in Publix, ostentatiously ordering Molson beer in bars, bragging about how they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt paying for health care.

Canada owes us big time, so it’s only fair they cede their territory to us. We’ll call it “Florida North” (not “North Florida” which, as everybody knows, is weird).

Why not? Canada doesn’t do anything but sit up there being polite.

Politeness is a security risk.

Also, the Canadians have oil, which should clearly belong to us.

As the Dear Leader asserted the other day in his completely rational press conference, if the 51st-staters don’t play nice, we’ll bring them to their frostbitten knees with “economic force” and turn their so-called “provinces” into good Christian Florida counties with lousy hospitals and empty libraries.

Governor” Trudeau (what a loser) says there’s “not a snowball’s chance in hell” we’ll get Canada.

Yeah, well, in MAGAmerica, hell is full of snowballs: We call them big, beautiful tariffs.

If the tariffs don’t work, there’s always the 101st Airborne.

While we’re at it, we might as well invade Greenland.

Maybe we’ll give Denmark, a small loser country which claims Greenland is an autonomous territory of its kingdom, a bit of money for the place.
A place in Nuuk

This would be awesome for Florida, too.

Floridians used to dream of having a house in North Carolina to escape the Sunshine State’s eight months of summer, but when the U.S. gets its mitts on that big old hunk of ice in the North Atlantic, Floridians can get a place in Nuuk.


Cheap!

Besides, as a blond lady on “The Five” (obviously a distinguished historian) reminded us, back in 1867 President Harry Truman offered the Danes, a people known only for pastries, $100 million for it.

They should have taken the deal.

Now the Danes (many of whom are large dogs) are being rude and nasty, and if there’s anything the Dear Leader hates its rudeness and nastiness.


The so-called “King of Denmark” changed his coat-of arms, which used to have a tiny polar bear — the symbol of Greenland with a bunch of lions and crowns.

Now the polar bear is really big, like the king is saying “Greenland isn’t for sale.”

Au contraire, mein amigo: Everything is for sale.

Ask Elon Musk: He bought the presidency of the United States for a mere $250 million.


Don Jr. took a “day trip” to Greenland on Jan. 7, merely, you know, as a snow-loving tourist, called his father from a restaurant, and put him on speakerphone.

Anybody sitting there, innocently enjoying their seal-meat Suasaat, could hear Don Sr. hollering, “You see the people and the ships sailing around and they’re not the right ships. They’re not the ships you want to know about.”

Anyway, Greenland: The place should be grateful we want to give them the benefits of our civilization:

“Real Housewives.”

Unaffordable homeowners’ insurance.

High fructose corn syrup.

Guns.

‘Liquid invasion’

Besides, Greenland totally owes Florida for the flood damage it continues to inflict upon us.

As the never-satirical Florida columnist Frank Cerabino points out, Greenland persists in sending “giant chunks of your ice floe into the Atlantic, knowing fully that they will eventually wage a liquid invasion against the low-lying coastline of Florida.”

An act, he says, of war.

Nations have been carpet-bombed for less.

If Greenlanders keep saying “no,” the Dear Leader warns he might resort to military force.

He doesn’t like the word “no.”

It’s perfectly clear this God-favored nation needs both Canada and Greenland for “economic security,” “national security,” and to make America great — or at least way bigger — again.

As deep thinker and Manifest Destiny Dude Jesse Watters remarked on Fox, “The fact that they don’t want us to take them over makes me want to invade. I want to quench my imperialist thirst.”

If the British, the Spanish, the French, the Chinese, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Moguls, and every-damn-body else gets to colonize, we do, too.

We’re not stopping at Canada and Greenland, either: the Panama Canal is also on the list.

So what if there’s some “treaty”? We’re imperial America. Treaties mean nothing.

Ask the Indians. They thought they had treaties, too.

Jimmy Carter gave that canal away and look what happened to him?

Sure, he got the Nobel Peace Prize, but the guy never made any money.

Loser.

While we’re at it, there’ll be a little rebranding.

The Gulf of “Mexico” is now the Gulf of America. We’ll make Mexico pay for the new maps.

And how do you like the sound of “Trump International Canal”

Beautiful.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.























How fear of 'critical thinking' drives Christian nationalists’ 'rising authoritarianism': ex-evangelical


A Phoenix megachurch in 2007 (Wikimedia Commons)
ALTERNET
January 13, 2025

J. Dylan Sandifer is now a sociology professor at the University of the District of Columbia, but Sandifer didn't grow up in the U.S. capitol. Sandier was raised in East Texas and had a strict evangelical fundamentalist upbringing — and now rejects that ideology.

In a biting think piece published by The New Republic on January 13, Sandifer emphasizes that one of most troubling characteristics of far-right evangelical Christian fundamentalists is their disdain for "critical thinking." And that disdain, Sandifer warns, poses a threat to democracy itself.

"Growing up in the evangelical church in the piney woods of East Texas, the world felt circumscribed by an ever-present fear — not just of sin but of ideas that might challenge the worldview handed down to those of us in the pews," Sandifer explains. "Everything outside the Christian framework — including secular music, television, and books — was discouraged. Just as I signed multiple purity pledges throughout my preteen and teen years, promising to avoid not just sex, but even impure thoughts, we were taught to practice absolute abstinence from dangerous ideas."

The "evangelical distrust of intellectual inquiry," Sandifer observes, "has found a powerful ally in American right-wing politics" — going back to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr.'s alliance with President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.

"The rise of Jerry Falwell Sr.'s Moral Majority and its embrace by the Reagan campaign provided organizational structure to these fears, helping translate religious anxieties about intellectual corruption into political action," the sociology professor observes. "Building on the foundation laid during the Reagan Administration, figures like Pat Robertson continued to leverage this partnership in the 1990s through organizations like the Christian Coalition of America."

Sandifer adds, "They capitalized on fears of moral decline to mobilize voters and influence policy, solidifying evangelical influence within the Republican Party."

With President-elect Donald Trump's encouragement, Sandifer warns, the "alliance between evangelical Christianity and conservative politics" has "fostered a cultural paranoia that seeks to limit the range of acceptable ideas."

"In an era of rising authoritarianism and deepening social division," the sociology profess writes, "our capacity to think critically about ideas rather than fear them may well determine whether democracy survives. The question isn't whether we can protect ourselves from ideas, but whether we can develop the intellectual resources to evaluate ideas thoughtfully."

J. Dylan Sandifer's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.
Another GOP-led state teases intentions to put Ten Commandments in schools: report

Sarah K. Burris
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

"Stock Photo: Gods Ten Commandments" on Shutterstock: http://tinyurl.com/ma44s5f

South Dakota's attorney general has announced support for legislation in Louisiana that would put the Ten Commandments in schools.

Marty Jackley and 17 other attorneys general signed an amicus brief supporting the measure after an appellate court judge struck down the law, The Argus Leader reported. Louisiana became the first state in the U.S. to mandate that the document be posted in all classrooms. However, it does not require the Constitution or Bill of Rights to be posted in classrooms.

A spokesperson for Jackley said he had not reviewed the South Dakota version of the legislation.

"The Ten Commandments already are displayed in the U.S. Supreme Court and other public buildings,” Jackley said in a release. “The Ten Commandments have influenced the creation of our nation and our rule of law.

The U.S. Supreme Court will likely hear the case over the legislation. As it stands, the court is dominated by conservatives who have supported abolishing the division between the Christian church and the federal government.

The report recalled Republican Gov. Kristi Noem's attempt to mandate classrooms display "In God We Trust" in 2019.



Chinese artist cashes in on Buddha-like Trump statues


By AFP
January 13, 2025


Hong Jinshi poses next to one of his sculptures of US president-elect Donald Trump — © AFP Jade GAO

Sam DAVIES

Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China the US president-elect sits in divine contemplation.

Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of America’s divisive leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi.

The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (about $140 to $2,700) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines.

And ahead of the real estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term, they have become hot property again.

“In the days after he won the election there was a lot of interest,” said Hong, who originally designed the statues as a joke.

“Politicians are normally so boring, while (Trump) is this massive online figure who often says fantastical things,” he told AFP.

Hong, 47, estimates that he has shifted hundreds of the ceramic creations in the last few years.

They raise a smile among customers because Trump’s “personality and the shape of the statue are two opposite extremes”, he said.

Each figure comes in packaging emblazoned with a Chinese phrase that translates to “Make your company great again”, a play on Trump’s well-worn slogan for restoring American supremacy.

Copycat versions have even appeared on shopping platforms in the United States — including Amazon and Chinese-owned Temu — for up to $45.

– Little rocket man –

“It’s a good laugh to poke some fun at authority figures and famous people,” said Hong, sitting barefoot on the floor of his minimalist studio.


The porcelain sculptures of Trump in Buddha-like poses can fetch up to $2,700, depending on size. — © AFP

Hong’s loose white clothing, shaved head, and softly spoken nature bear little resemblance to the eccentric subjects of his sculpting.

He recently began designing a similarly tongue-in-cheek effigy of another American luminary: Trump backer Elon Musk, who seems set to play a major role in his administration.

The statue casts the controversial billionaire in the style of the Marvel superhero Iron Man, clad in a rippling suit of metal armour.

In Hong’s version, though, a large rocket protrudes from Musk’s groin to symbolise the SpaceX CEO’s galactic ambitions.

Despite toeing the line between homage and offence, Hong said he has a lot of admiration for Musk, whose electric-vehicle company Tesla operates a massive factory in Shanghai and enjoys robust sales in China.

“Musk’s rockets are awesome — he’s brought the price of rockets down a lot,” he told AFP.

“He has done, as an individual entrepreneur, what an entire country can’t even do.”

– Zen and the art of the deal –

Hong declined to comment on Trump’s policies towards China, a sensitive topic in the Asian nation.

But many expect relations with the United States to deteriorate further after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

On the campaign trail, Trump took a tough line on Beijing, vowing even higher tariffs on Chinese imports.

He previously imposed onerous levies during a bruising trade war in his first term — measures largely preserved by his successor Joe Biden.

Trump also angered Chinese leaders with his brash rhetoric, notably blaming Beijing for the decline of American manufacturing and calling the pathogen that causes Covid-19 the “Chinese virus”.

Yet the 78-year-old still appears to have many admirers in China.

“I still think he’s just as funny (as before)”, said Hong. “Every day there’s interesting news when he’s president.”


Artist Hong Jinshi said he first cast the Donald Trump statues as a joke. — © AFP

Despite the renewed interest, Hong no longer sells his Trump statues on Chinese sites after they removed his listings — perhaps, he said, because they were deemed insulting to Buddhists.

Still, orders keep rolling in from tourists who visit Hong’s workshop, as well as from friends and acquaintances.

“Now he’s been elected again, the sculpture has exploded in popularity once more,” Hong said.

Perhaps, he added, it was because “Trump is someone with a lot of backstory”.

'Untethered from reality': Expert says Trump policy may 'tip auto industry into recession'


Brad Reed
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

President-elect Donald Trump really could bring all of American auto manufacturers' production back to the United States -- but one expert warns it would likely come at a massive cost.

In an interview with the CBC, Dimitry Anastakis, a professor of business history at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, warned that waging a full trade war against Canada would severely disrupt the auto industry across the continent.

"It might help Americans and American producers, but the cost to getting there would be so tremendous that it would probably tip the North American industry into a recession," he said. "These are supply chains that have been developed for decades."

Anastakis then mocked Trump's claim that returning the entire car manufacturing chain to the United States would be a cost-free win for Americans.

"This talking point that [Trump] had about 'We could just build them all here,' like snapping your fingers, is completely untethered from reality because of the way that the industry has evolved over the last 60 years," he said.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, also shredded the idea that American auto companies could pull out of Canada completely without suffering big financial losses.

"Creating an us-versus-them context is a complete fabrication," he told CBC.

MAGA lawmakers round up support to 'Make Greenland Great Again': report

Erik De La Garza
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

Donald Trump Jr. visits Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Donald Trump Jr. is on a private visit to Greenland. Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

President-elect Donald Trump’s interest in buying Greenland is being embraced by Republican lawmakers and inching closer to receiving a congressional stamp of approval.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States should acquire the island for purposes of “national security and freedom,” and last week refused to rule out military action to accomplish that goal.

But as the incoming president prepares to reemerge in the White House in a matter of days with a Republican-controlled Congress waiting in the wings, his plans to take over Greenland are building support – at least among GOP allies.

As of Monday morning, 10 congressional Republicans had signed on as co-sponsors of a bill authorizing Trump to engage in discussions for the purchase of Greenland, Reuters reported.

The bill – titled “Make Greenland Great Again Act” – is being spearheaded by far-right Tennessee Reps. Andy Ogles and Diana Harshbarger, who have circulated a copy around Capitol Hill for co-sponsors.

If passed, it would allow Trump to enter into negotiations with Denmark on Jan. 20, after he is sworn into office.

"Congress hereby authorizes the President, beginning at 12:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 20, 2025, to seek to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States," according to a draft of the bill, as reported by Reuters.

"Not later than 5 calendar days after reaching an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark relating to the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees the agreement, including all related materials and annexes," it added.

Officials in both Greenland and Denmark have forcefully pushed back on Trump’s insistence involving the U.S. acquiring the island, with Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede saying last month it was “not for sale and will never be for sale.”



‘Reckless stupidity’: Pulitzer-winning columnist warns of 'chaos' over Trump’s antics

Erik De La Garza
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

Donald Trump (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that the United States will purchase Greenland and take over the Panama Canal in his next administration comes with real-world consequences, according to New York Times columnist Tom Friedman.

And his international bluster shouldn’t be taken as a joke, Friedman warned in an opinion piece published Monday, adding that “China and Russia are listening.”

“Trump’s remarks are reckless stupidity beyond belief,” Friedman wrote. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist told readers that Trump’s desire for the United States to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal has "already done more damage than people realize."

Continued threats from the incoming president to seize various lands could put the country at serious risk, and do harm to the “world order established after World War II,” Friedman wrote.

“Some may think Trump’s remarks on taking Greenland and the Panama Canal are just a joke from an attention-seeking leader with no filter,” according to the columnist. “They are not a joke. They are a prescription for chaos.”

Most troubling to Friedman is who he believes is certainly paying attention: President Xi Jinping of China and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“If the U.S. president can decide that he wants to seize Greenland and explicitly refuses to rule out the use of force to do so, that is like a giant permission slip for China to seize Taiwan, which has strong emotional, historical, linguistic and national connections to mainland China,” Friedman wrote.

Similarly, the columnist wondered how the United States could possibly tell Putin he’s violating international law by seizing the territory of another nation, as Trump openly fantasizes about taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal while refusing to rule out using military force.


Friedman concluded his piece by adding that it’s “no wonder” Putin’s press secretary said during an interview on CNBC on Thursday that Russia is “watching the rhetoric on these topics coming out of Washington with great interest.”
Top Washington Post columnist ditches paper and takes a shot at Jeff Bezos on the way out

Sarah K. Burris
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

Billionaire Jeff Bezos (Photo via Joshua Roberts for Reuters)

The Washington Post lost another long-standing writer as the newspaper has continued to shed staff after billionaire owner Jeff Bezos began injecting himself into editorial decisions.

Former conservative-turned-moderate Jennifer Rubin left the Post's opinion pages to join a new venture with legal expert and former ethics czar Norm Eisen.

According to CNN, the two will join with commentators like Harvard Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe to write for a new publication dubbed "The Contrarian," which taglines itself as “Not owned by anybody."

She has criticized Bezos and other media moguls, such as Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who Rubin said “bent the knee” to President-elect Donald Trump.

Rubin's resignation was the first post made on the new publication, which for now is on a Substack page.

"Corporate and billionaire owners of major media outlets have betrayed their audiences’ loyalty and sabotaged journalism’s sacred mission — defending, protecting and advancing democracy," she wrote. "The Washington Post’s billionaire owner and enlisted management are among the offenders. They have undercut the values central to The Post’s mission and that of all journalism: integrity, courage, and independence. I cannot justify remaining at The Post."

The column goes on to attack Bezos for donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee, and blast Facebook parent company Meta and owner Mark Zuckerberg for eliminating fact-checking on all platforms owned by the property.

“Our goal is to combat, with every fiber of our being, the authoritarian threat that we face,” Rubin told CNN.

“The voices we’ll be featuring are diverse across parties and generations,” Eisen said in a statement, “connected by the shared belief that we need an unshackled media in order to meet this moment, as we face an existential threat to American democracy.”

Read more here.
Philippine sect gathers to oppose VP Duterte impeachment


By AFP
January 13, 2025


Police said more than a million members of an influential religious sect gathered in the Philippine capital on Monday - Copyright AFP TED ALJIBE

More than a million members of an influential religious sect gathered in the Philippine capital on Monday, police said, opposing steps to unseat Vice President Sara Duterte.

Crowds wearing white shirts and carrying banners calling for unity flocked to Manila’s Quirino Grandstand for the “national rally for peace”, organised by the conservative Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ).


The powerful sect opposes moves to impeach Duterte, a former ally of President Ferdinand Marcos, in the House of Representatives.

“There are many more things which our citizens need that must be attended to. These will not be achieved if all we see taking place is conflict,” church spokesman Edwil Zabala said ahead of the rally.

Schools, government offices and major roads were closed for the event, as police estimated 1.6 million people had gathered at the grandstand.

More than 5,000 officers have been deployed, regional police spokeswoman Myrna Diploma told AFP.

Duterte is facing three impeachment cases, which accuse her of misusing millions of dollars in public funds and of plotting to have Marcos assassinated. She has denied the allegations.

Marcos’s executive secretary, Lucas Bersamin, described Monday’s rally as “part of the national conversation”.

Similar events are scheduled at a dozen locations across the country, the church’s spokesman said.

Iglesia, which is estimated to have more than two million members, carries significant weight in the Philippines because its members tend to vote as a block and it is often courted by politicians.


The sect could decide the outcome of closely contested congressional and local government posts in mid-term elections on May 12.


LA WILDFIRES UPDATES

The scramble to rescue thousands of animals as Los Angeles wildfires rage


02:06
Horses at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. © AFP

Issued on: 13/01/2025 - 
Video by: Sam BALL

As wildfires raging around Los Angeles force tens of thousands to flee their homes, activists, vets and volunteers across the region are scrambling to shelter thousands of animals that have been left homeless by the blazes, some in need of treatment after suffering injuries. At one LA equestrian center, hundreds of horses, along with donkeys, pigs and ponies, have already been taken in.

ATF hones in on new theory as to what ignited massive California wildfire: report

Daniel Hampton
January 13, 2025
RAW STORY


A firefighter works as the Palisades Fire, one of several simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County, burns in Mandeville Canyon, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu

Federal authorities were reportedly looking at a new theory as to what may have ignited one of several massive wildfires in California.

NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz spoke with MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace on Monday about the latest reporting into the California wildfires, which have left at least two dozen dead and scorched more than 38,000 acres.

Kreutz told Wallace that while wildfire investigations can take weeks or months — or even a year — to determine the exact cause of a blaze, investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, are in the Los Angeles area trying to do just that.

And they may have a lead.

"They're not ruling anything out but their line of investigation is going towards that it could be human-caused," said Kreutz. "Something that's indicating that is that there was actually a fire on New Year's Day in that exact same area where it's believed the Palisades Fire began. The thought is that maybe that fire was never fully put out and then when those winds came last week, it sort of re-ignited it. And that could potentially be what led to this fire."

Kreutz added investigators are looking into what caused that blaze, including fireworks or an encampment.

The Eaton Fire, she said, may have been a power issue, which has sparked other wildfires in the state, including the deadly Camp Fire.

Watch the clip below or at this link.


Wildfire relief tied to debt ceiling? Trump, GOP spark outrage after Mar-a-Lago meeting


Donald Trump gestures, as he attends a press conference on "Trump Will Fix It", at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., October 29, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

David Badash
January 13, 2025
ALTERNET

House Republicans, especially the California delegation, are facing sharp criticism after spending portions of the weekend with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence. They reportedly discussed ways to take the unprecedented approach of tying passage of relief funds—for the Golden State’s historic wildfire disaster—to raising the debt ceiling, as the fires continue to burn and the death toll rises to 24 people.

“Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations,” Politico reports. “Trump also discussed the wildfires Saturday night with a group of House Republicans from California, New York and New Jersey.”



According to J.D. Wolf of MeidasTouch News, the California GOP members of Congress “chose to leave the state at its most vulnerable moment,” and “have drawn criticism for abandoning their … state during the crisis, opting instead to join Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.”

“California [GOP] Representatives Jay Obernolte, Tom McClintock, Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert, Vince Fong, and Young Kim were spotted in a photo with Trump this weekend when they could have been back home seeking ways to help even if the fire isn’t in their district,” he declared. “Instead, these lawmakers have prioritized meeting with Trump over exercising leadership in their home state. Their absence sends a troubling message to their state.”

In a stern rebuke, Wolf added: “In doing so, they have not only abandoned their duty to Californians but also cast doubt on their priorities and dedication as elected officials.” He also wrote: “Californians are left wondering if these leaders will ever prioritize their needs over political maneuvering.”

One House Republican from California was “not invited,” according to Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill.

“But all the talk of unity at Mar-a-Lago this weekend only went so far – Trump did not invite David Valadao (R-Calif.), 1 of the 10 House Rs who voted to impeach after Jan. 6, to the mtg of CA, NY and NJ GOP members.”

Valadao’s presence would have made sense. Hill reports he is a caucus chief and senior appropriator.

Trump, who has a history of trying to withhold relief aid to California, has been accused of politicizing the tragedy, which Politico notes, “could become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.”

It may become even more costly.

The Associated Press reports, “firefighters are preparing for a return of dangerous winds that could again stoke the flames on Monday.”

Over the weekend, on his social media website, Trump reposted this:

View the social media post above or at this link.





'They don't deserve anything': GOP senator says CA wildfire victims shouldn't get aid

Daniel Hampton
January 13, 2025 
RAW STORY

Remains of a Tesla electric car, destroyed by the Palisades Fire are seen, at the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 13, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

A firebrand Republican senator said Monday that California wildfire victims don't deserve federal aid because they elected Gov. Gavin Newsom

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined the right-wing Newsmax network with host Chris Salcedo on Monday afternoon to talk about the fires, which have left at least two dozen dead.

"Speaking of flushing money down the toilet, California Democrats are asking the 49 other states for a bailout after Democrat policies destroyed Los Angeles in these latest wildfires," Salcedo said. "Gavin Newsom has said it's going to take billions just to rebuild California after these wildfires that have been devastating because of Democrat policies. This after California lawmakers drove insurers out of the state, leaving homeowners unprotected."

After the long wind-up, Salcedo finally asked Tuberville his question: "Why should taxpayers in your home state of Alabama and my home state of Texas continue to bail out states that continue to vote for Democrats time and time again despite their continued record of failure?"

Before allowing his guest to answer, Salcedo pointed to the earnings of Los Angeles' fire chief: $750,000, higher than the president and governor combined.

In response, Tuberville flatly rejected the idea of sending aid to wildfire victims.

"We shouldn't be. They got 40 million people in that state and they vote in these imbeciles in office and they continue to do it. And there's a very small part of them in that state that's doing it," said Tuberville.

He added that California has many Republicans who are "good people" and that he "hate[s] it for them."

"They are just overwhelmed by these inner-city, woke posses with the people that vote for them. I don't mind sending them some money, but unless they show that they're going to change their ways and get back to building dams and storing water, doing the maintenance with the brush and the trees — everything that everybody else does in the country and they don't do it — they don't deserve anything, to be honest with you unless they show us they're going to make some changes," said Tuberville.

Watch the clip below or at this link

.

'California helps fund Tuberville’s Alabama': Senator blasted over saying state doesn’t 'deserve' aid


Image via RawPixel/Creative Commons.

ALTERNET
January 14, 2025

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was blasted over his comments during an interview with the conservative news outlet, Newsmax, on Monday about California's need for government aid as fires continue to rage across LA, leaving residents homeless, and without basic necessities.

Newsmax host Chris Plante asked Tuberville, "Why should other states be bailing out California for choosing the wrong people to run their state?

The Alabama lawmaker replied, "We shouldn't be. They've got 40 million people in that state, and they've voted these imbeciles in office, and they continue to do it. If you go to California, you run into a lot of lot of Republicans — a lot of good people, and I hate it it for them. But they are just overwhelmed by these inner city, woke policies, with the people that vote for them."

He added, "And I don't mind sending them some money, but unless they show that they're gonna change their ways, and get back to building dams, and restoring water and everything everybody else does in the country, and they refuse to do it, they don't deserve anything to be honest with you unless they show us they're gonna make some changes."

Former US attorney Joyce Vance replied, "In 2020, Alabama got $2.17 for every $1 paid in fedl taxes," and included a link to the report for proof.

She added, "In 2023 the fedl govt sent over $64 billion through direct payments, contracts, grants & other forms of financial assistance to Alabama, making putting it among the most federally dependent states in the nation."

Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan added: "California helps fund Tuberville's Alabama."

Crooked Media founder and former speechwriter for ex-President Barack Obama, Jon Favreau, commented: "We've already got multiple Republicans in Congress - including the Speaker of the House - on record saying that Republican-controlled Washington will only help Republican-controlled states."

Ahmed Baba, a columnist for the Independent, added: "Trump is 100% going to withhold aid from blue states in an effort to force them to comply with parts of his agenda. And apparently a lot of Republican lawmakers will help him do it."



'It will never end': Dem condemns House speaker's desire for 'conditions' on CA fire aid

Jennifer Bowers Bahney
January 13, 2025 4:51PM ET
RAW STORY

(Philip Yabut / Shutterstock)

Florida Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz called out House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) assertion that he wants "conditions" put on federal aid to the blue state of California.

Johnson told CNN's Manu Raju on Monday, "Obviously, there's been water resource mismanagement, forest management mistakes, all sorts of problems. And it does come down to leadership. And it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects, so that's something that has to be factored in."

Johnson added, "I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That's my personal view, we'll see what the consensus 

Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, have been deeply critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) handling of the blazes that have reportedly killed 24 people and destroyed or damaged an estimated "12,000 houses, businesses, schools and other structures."

Moskowitz warned Johnson on social media that the tit-for-tat of involving politics in allocating relief aid would have dire consequences.

"This is a Mistake. If you start this, it will never end. When Dems retake the House, they will condition aid to Florida and Texas. Disaster Aid must stay non partisan. I would fight democrats should they try and do this. The Speaker can find many other ways to hold people accountable."

Politico reported Monday that a "group of House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history."

Johnson was not present at the Mar-a-Lago dinner where the debt ceiling increase was reportedly discussed, but he was asked about the possibility by Raju.

"There's some discussion about that but we'll we where it goes," Johnson answered.

Watch the clip below or at this link.


California governor spars with Musk over wildfire ‘lies’


By AFP
January 13, 2025


California is battling a spike in online misinformation about the Los Angeles wildfires - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA


Anuj CHOPRA

California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of spreading “lies” about the state’s response to deadly wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, escalating their online row over swirling misinformation.

President-elect Donald Trump and Musk — the Tesla and SpaceX owner poised to play a key role advising the incoming administration –- have stepped up criticism of the governor’s handling of the devastating blazes that have killed at least 24 people and displaced tens of thousands.

In a post on his social media platform X, Musk blamed the huge loss of homes in Los Angeles on “bad governance at a state and local level that resulted in a shortage of water.”

“(Musk) exposed by firefighters for his own lies,” Newsom posted late Sunday, alongside a video clip showing the tycoon asking a firefighter whether water availability was an issue.

The firefighter replied there was water in “several reservoirs,” and added that battling large-scale fires required supplementing the effort with water trucks.

In a separate spat over the weekend, Newsom accused Musk of “encouraging looting by lying,” after the billionaire amplified a post on X that falsely claimed the governor and his fellow Democrats had “decriminalized looting.”

“It’s illegal — as it always has been,” Newsom responded, amid concerns of a looting spree in areas where people were forced to flee the fires.

“Bad actors will be arrested and prosecuted,” he added.



– Viral, misleading videos –



Musk’s personal account on X, which has more than 212 million followers, has become increasingly influential and has often courted criticism for amplifying misinformation.

The platform — previously called Twitter, which Musk purchased in 2022 for $44 billion dollars — has seen an explosion of right-wing misinformation about the deadly wildfires, researchers say.

Even though months of dry weather and strong winds created optimal conditions for the wildfires, narratives on X have singled out the state policies such as practices to increase diversity in the Los Angeles fire force as a culprit.

One viral video debunked by the misinformation watchdog NewsGuard had falsely claimed fire department officials were desperately using women’s handbags to fight the flames because their resources had been diverted to “woke causes” and war assistance to Ukraine.

But the water-filled pouches seen in the video were actually “canvas bags,” carried by firefighters because they were easier to use to extinguish small sets of flames than having to hauling out a hose, the entertainment news site TMZ cited local officials as saying.

Wildfire misinformation was also swirling on other platforms including the Meta-owned Facebook.

Authorities recently warned of a false Facebook post urging people to travel to California to join a clean-up crew in areas affected by the wildfires.

“We would like to clarify that there is no such opportunity available,” the state’s fire protection department wrote on its website.

Meta triggered a global backlash last week after it announced it was scrapping third-party fact-checking in the United States and introducing a crowd-sourced moderation method similar to X.

Disinformation researchers have criticized Meta’s policy overhaul, which came less than two weeks before Trump takes office, warning that it risked opening the floodgates for false narratives.

Facebook currently pays to use fact checks from around 80 organizations globally on the platform, as well as on WhatsApp and Instagram. AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking scheme.

Devastating LA fires prompt 2028 Olympics debate


By AFP
January 13, 2025


Wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have sparked debate over the city's hosting of the 2028 Olympics - Copyright AFP Georges BENDRIHEM
Rob Woollard

The Los Angeles wildfire disaster has cast a shadow over preparations for the 2028 Olympics, raising questions over whether the city can deliver a safe and successful Games.

So far, none of the more than 80 venues due to stage Olympic competition in Los Angeles have been directly affected by the infernos that have left at least 24 people dead and reduced entire neighborhoods to smouldering ruins.

But experts say the ongoing disaster has underscored the challenges of staging the world’s largest sporting event in a region increasingly under threat of wildfires.

“The situation is clearly grave and given the prospect of significant climate change, you do have to wonder whether the current situation might be repeated, possibly even during the Games,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris told British daily The iPaper.

“This raises very serious questions, not least about insurance, and whether Los Angeles’ big-ticket 2028 attraction might be about to become an uninsurable mega-event.”

While the flames that razed Pacific Palisades came uncomfortably close to the Riviera Country Club — which will host 2028’s Olympic golf tournament — the overwhelming majority of venues are situated outside what would be regarded as high-risk fire zones.

Historical data, meanwhile, indicates that the chances of a similar disaster erupting during the 2028 Olympics are highly unlikely.

Prior to last week, no fire in Los Angeles County had appeared on a list of the 20 most destructive fires in California history, according to statistics provided by CalFire, the state’s fire agency.

The 2028 Olympics will also be taking place in July, a time of year when there are no Santa Ana winds, the powerful seasonal gusts widely seen as the biggest factor behind the unprecedented scale and scope of last week’s carnage.

And Los Angeles has already staged the Olympics successfully on two occasions — in 1984 and 1932.

– ‘Wake-up call’ –

Nevertheless, Dan Plumley, sports finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, said the fires would have set alarm bells ringing among Olympic organizers.

“Organising committees will have factored these events into their planning but you’re very much working on a contingency basis — how much do you reasonably budget for this and how cautious or not cautious are you going to be?” Plumley told the iPaper.

“How much risk they want to build in, we’ll have to wait and see but these fires will have acted as an enormous wake-up call.”

Pennsylvania State University professor Mark Dyerson meanwhile floated the idea of the Olympics being moved to 2024 hosts Paris if LA was unable to deliver the games.

“They could go back to Paris,” the academic told the New York Post. “It would be unfortunate, but I’m sure they have some kind of committee — the IOC is a huge bureaucracy — that allegedly looks at contingencies.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom however told NBC’s “Today” morning program that planning for the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 2026 — where eight matches take place in Los Angeles — was on track.

Newsom said the flurry of major sporting events in Los Angeles over the next few years — the city will also host the Super Bowl in 2027 — should be seen as an opportunity.

“My humble position, and it’s not just being naively optimistic, (is) that only reinforces the imperative (of) moving quickly, doing it in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation,” Newsom told NBC.

Conservative pundits however have wasted no time in demanding that Los Angeles be stripped of the Olympics.

“The Los Angeles Olympics should be cancelled,” right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk wrote on X last week.

“If you can’t fill a fire hydrant, you aren’t qualified to host the Olympics. Move them to Dallas, or Miami, so the world’s athletes can compete in a place capable of actually safely building and running something.”

Los Angeles 2028 organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Los Angeles fires deliver latest blow to embattled Hollywood



By AFP
January 13, 2025


The wildfires raging around Los Angeles have also disrupted the economy as awards shows and film production have ground to a halt. — © AFP Patrick T. Fallon
Andrew MARSZAL

As Los Angeles is gripped by wildfires that resemble a Hollywood disaster movie, the city’s vast entertainment industry is already counting the costs of yet another drastic setback that its workers can ill-afford.

Actors, crew, writers and producers have lost their homes; film and television productions have been temporarily halted; and calls are mounting for Hollywood’s award season to be canceled.

At least five people have been confirmed killed in the fires. — © AFP

It comes with Los Angeles’s entertainment sector — worth $115 billion to the region’s economy — already in dire straits, as some film and TV productions abandon the city over high costs. The Covid-19 pandemic and recent labor upheavals have also taken their toll in recent years.

“Hollywood, as everyone, was hit by the pandemic with severe consequences. The strikes, obviously, affected the industry, probably forever,” said Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor for trade magazine Variety.

“Add the fires to that, and Hollywood is just being hit over and over again.”

Stars including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal have lost their homes to the past week’s blazes.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of houses destroyed across a city that is home to 680,000 people employed in the entertainment industry or service jobs directly supporting it.

“Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Hacks” and “Fallout” are among more than a dozen Los Angeles-based TV productions that have seen their sets go dark since the fires broke out.

Parts of the city where major soundstages are located, including Burbank, were threatened by the fires, but have so far been spared.

But Film LA, which handles permissions for outdoor movie and TV shoots, warned producers working in or near evacuation zones to “expect to have your permit canceled,” and advised others that on-set safety supervisors would be in short supply.


Smoke and flames from the Palisades Fire burn toward the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California – Copyright AFP AGUSTIN PAULLIER

With dense smoke and soot cloaking the entire region, even productions hoping to film further afield are affected.

“If you’re shooting outside in Los Angeles right now, not great. The air quality is that bad,” said Malkin.

– ‘Glitz-and-glamor’ –

There is no word yet on when productions will resume. Aside from the many logistical issues, the industry must consider the optics of returning to normal while swaths of Los Angeles are aflame.

Nowhere is this issue more delicate than with Hollywood’s ongoing award season — an endless series of swanky premieres, galas and prize-giving ceremonies that is currently on hold.

Events including the Critics Choice Awards show have been delayed, and Los Angeles premieres for films like Pamela Anderson’s “The Last Showgirl” and the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” were scrapped last week.

The cancellations even extended to New York, where a premiere for hit Apple TV show “Severance” was aborted.

“The studios, the streamers, are having the right response by canceling or postponing glitz-and-glamor events,” said Malkin.

“For people to walk the red carpet, all glitzy and glamor-y, while Los Angeles is literally and figuratively burning… it would be a little disconcerting to hear people either talking about their fashion or that ‘silly story from set.'”

Even the televised announcement of this year’s Oscars nominees has been delayed.

“So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote in a message to members.

“Hacks” actress Jean Smart has advocated going a step further, and scrapping the entire season.

“With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to the victims of the fires and the firefighters,” Smart wrote on Instagram.

While few in Tinseltown are in the mood for celebrating, Malkin warned that canceling the entire season would have devastating ripple effects on hair-and-makeup artists, waiters, drivers and security staff.

“Yes, the celebrities are going to be okay, financially,” he said.

“But when you think about all the people who staff these various award shows, these are gig workers who rely on these paychecks… it would have a devastating effect.”

 

Powering the future: SeoulTech’s breakthrough in vibration energy harvesting



Researchers propose a novel design for electromagnetic induction type vibration energy harvesters, boosting efficiency and power output



Seoul National University of Science & Technology

A Novel Design for Electromagnetic Induction Type Vibration Energy Harvesters 

image: 

Researchers propose novel repulsive ring magnet pair- and yoke-based design for electromagnetic induction type vibration energy harvesters to enhance conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy.

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Credit: Prof. Dahoon Ahn from SEOULTECH, South Korea




Electromagnetic induction (EI), or the production of voltage across a conductor by varying the magnetic field or by moving the conductor through a fixed magnetic field, is one of the most traditional methods of converting other forms of energy to produce electrical energy. Consequently, its principles are widely understood, and the technology is highly mature. However, the principles of EI have not been rigorously applied so far in implementing energy conversion mechanisms on a smaller scale, such as energy harvesters that collect small amounts of energy.

Notably, the major limitation of energy harvesters is their relatively low power output compared to their size. Consequently, much research has been dedicated to increasing their power output by developing new energy conversion mechanisms, often incorporating hybrid structures that combine these mechanisms with the relatively higher power output of EI. Many studies have sought higher power output by simply choosing larger and stronger magnets and more turns of coils. However, an innovative approach is to try to optimize the topology of magnets and coils based on the principle of maximizing the magnetic flux change.

With this motivation, a team of researchers from the Republic of Korea, led by Associate Professor Dahoon Ann from the Department of Mechanical System Design Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech), focused on cylindrical EI coils and magnet cores, the most commonly used components in energy harvesters, to come up with a novel design for energy-efficient and high-power-output EI-type vibration energy harvesters (VEHs). “This can help achieve higher power output in a smaller volume. If such energy harvesters are realized, it could herald a future where all battery-powered devices use energy harvesters as their primary power source,” claims Dr. Ahn.

Their findings were made available online on September 10, 2024 and published in Volume 9, Issue 4 of the Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices on December 01, 2024.

The researchers studied the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy in cylindrical EI-VEHs with disc- or ring-shaped magnets and coils. Their simulations reveal that using a repulsive magnet pair instead of a single magnet, incorporating a yoke (a structure for guiding and concentrating magnetic flux in a desirable part of a magnetic circuit), and optimizing the position and thickness of the coil are promising strategies. These approaches modify the path of the magnetic flux so as to maximize the magnetic flux gradient at the position of the coil winding, leading to better EI-VEHs.

Specifically, a yoke enhanced the power consumption at the external load by about 5.8 times. The team also determined the points in the magnetic circuit where power generation is unfeasible as a result of zero magnetic flux gradient and observed a remarkable 5.3-fold uptick in power generation upon optimizing the coil placement.

Based on these results, the study proposes two novel designs for EI-VEHs: one with a moving coil winding and fixed disc magnets with a yoke to the housing and another based on moving ring magnets and fixed coil winding to the housing with a yoke enclosure. While the first design demonstrates high power output, it’s not structurally sound. In contrast, the second configuration has no structural limitations and can also generate power at about 85% of the first design’s level.

“The potential applications of the optimized energy harvester designs proposed by us are directly linked to those of electromagnetic induction cores. Some examples include wearable devices, switches, and wireless sensors,” concludes Dr. Ahn.

 

***

 

Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsamd.2024.100791

 

About the Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SEOULTECH)

Seoul National University of Science and Technology, commonly known as 'SEOULTECH,' is a national university located in Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in April 1910, around the time of the establishment of the Republic of Korea, SEOULTECH has grown into a large and comprehensive university with a campus size of 504,922 m2. 

It comprises 10 undergraduate schools, 35 departments, 6 graduate schools, and has an enrollment of approximately 14,595 students.

Website: https://en.seoultech.ac.kr/ 

 

About Prof. Dahoon Ahn

Prof. Dahoon Ahn is an Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical System Design Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SEOULTECH). His research interest includes high precision mechanism including magnetic levitation technology, electromagnetic actuators, and compliant motion. Before coming to SEOULTECH, from 2019 to 2021, he was an Assistant Professor at Kongju National University. From 2014 to 2019, he was a Senior Researcher at Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI). He received B.S. and Ph.D. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), in 2006 and 2013, respectively.