Gun Free Zone

From CNN (yes, the same cesspool that had his brother do a nightly comedy routine with him last year):

Cuomo said ‘he can destroy me’: NY assemblyman alleges governor threatened him over nursing homes scandal

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pleading with lawmakers for support and even threatening political retribution against Democrats who have criticized him in an aggressive effort to contain political fallout from revelations that his administration had concealed the full extent of nursing home-related deaths during the Covid pandemic.

Describing an alleged exchange with the governor that has not been previously reported, Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim told CNN that he received a call on his cell phone from the governor last week as he was bathing his children at home.

“Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience,” Kim said. Cuomo proceeded to tell the assemblyman that “we’re in this business together and we don’t cross certain lines and he said I hadn’t seen his wrath and that he can destroy me,” according to Kim.

Kim’s wife told CNN that she had overheard parts of Kim’s phone call with Cuomo last week, and described the governor as “loud” and “angry.” She said she heard Cuomo say, “Who do you think you are?” as well as the words, “my wrath,” and that immediately after the phone call, her husband told her: “The governor threatened to destroy my life.”

Kim is not the only lawmaker to have received fierce pushback and even threats from Cuomo and his top aides since last week, according to three additional Democratic New York lawmakers. All spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity because they were afraid of retribution from the governor.

They said the administration had aggressively lobbied legislators to speak up in support of his handling of the nursing homes-related deaths, and that threats were made against those who are considering a vote to strip Cuomo of his emergency powers.

All three legislators said they were aware of outreach from the governor in which he clearly suggested or explicitly threatened political retaliation if they did not stand by him. One of them, a New York state senator who said they had not been contacted by Cuomo but heard directly from multiple colleagues whom Cuomo had reached out to, said the governor threatened those colleagues with retaliation — including warning some that he could ruin their political careers if they supported weakening Cuomo’s executive powers.

I am not a lawyer, but this sounds like something that is probably illegal.

You can imagine this call being made in an episode of the Sopranos.  Cuomo really is a mob boss of a governor.

It’s crystal clear Biden does not have Cuomo’s back, which is probably why Cuomo is coming unglued.  He’s being left to swing on his own while this scandal blows up in his face live on the same networks that kissed his ass just months ago.

I’m speculating that Cuomo might actually end up staring down the barrel of some prosecutors.

Of course, if he ended up going to prison, he would absolutely deserve it.

But that also shows you just how much of a den of vipers the Democrats are because you know they could make this go away if they wanted to.

Cuomo upstaged Biden and now he has to pay for it.

BREAKING: Joe Biden spreads direct CCP talking points when asked about Xi Jinping’s genocide of the Uyghurs https://t.co/WQrpcVpJQg

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 17, 2021

This is abetting a crime against humanity.

The President of the United States is expressing CCP talking points to justify genocide.

So I caught this last night:

I checked in several places and there is a lot of the usual moaning and fear jobs will be cut and at least one paper is already offering early retirement packages to their news people. But what brought that up?

The deal comes as the newspaper industry continues to struggle in a digital media age. Revenue has been cut in half between 2008 and 2018 because of a precipitous decline in print advertising, according to data from Pew Research. During that same time, newsroom employment declined 25%.

Sun Sentinel parent company, Tribune Publishing, sold to hedge fund Alden in deal valued at $630 million

Yes that, of course. because what passes now for journalism had nothing to with with people dumping their asses.

Also for yesterday.

That is some Pulitzer journalism right there, folks. Riveting!

The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 17, 2021

This is not science, this is religion.

All the things she wants are exactly what is causing the disaster in Texas right now, which as of yesterday was over four million people without power.

This issue is both technical and logistical.

Texas has more wind turbines and more wind-generated megawatts than any other state, which under normal circumstances isn’t a problem.

When a “once in a century” winter storm hits Texas the way this storm is hitting Texas, it does a few things:

One: Wind turbines freeze, coated with ice they lose efficiency and stop.  They may also be stopped (braked) to keep from failing from rotating under the ice load on the blades.  This reduces generation.

Two: Battery storage loses efficiency in the cold, so stored capacity is lost.

Three: Demand skyrockets as people turn on heaters.  In an interview I saw with the Governor of Texas, the demand on the grid right now for heat is as high or higher than the demand during the hottest days of the summer for A/C.

Like all catastrophic failures, this isn’t caused by one thing but several things stacking up all at once.

But wait, you say.  Texas is an oil and gas state.  It is the quintessential oil and gas state.  How are they stuck like this?

Money.  Money and environmentalists.  Federal subsidies boosted power generation for wind but not upgrades to coal and natural gas power generation systems.  It’s very hard to convince people to spend money for redundancy, so when a “once in a century” storm comes through that shuts down wind energy, the supply of power from fossil fuels is choked and can’t ramp up to meet demand.

This isn’t unique to Texas.  Germany right now is freezing their arsches off because their wind and solar are blanketed in snow.  The French, on the other hand, are splitting uranium and are exporting power.

Congressman Dan “McCain Jr.” Crenshaw actually did a half-decent job trying to explain this:

Summary:

A mix of over-subsidized wind energy and under-investment in gas power means we didn’t have enough base load energy for a massive spike in demand.

Also, Texas infrastructure isn’t designed for once-in-a-century freezes.

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 16, 2021

#1 – Frozen Wind Turbines:

West Texas had wind turbines that had to be de-iced. The little energy that power regulators planned on being supplied from wind was now gone.

We have almost 31GW of wind installed on the grid, but on Monday we couldn’t even depend on 6 GW working.

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 16, 2021

This raises the obvious question: can we ever rely on renewables to power the grid during extreme weather?

No, you need gas or nuclear.

And subsidizing investment in wind has pushed gas and nuclear out.

Now we live with the consequences.

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 16, 2021

What happened in Texas is not terribly unlike what happens in California every summer.

A sudden spike in demand and loss of some generating capacity results in a cascade failure in which the grid cannot adjust and fix itself resulting in massive power loss.

In California, it is a high demand for A/C combined with power line going down from wildfires or power lines being shut off due to the threat of fire.

In Texas, it is a high demand for heat combined with frozen wind turbines and choked fossil fuel flow.

In both cases the root cause is that renewables are not scalable – you can’t just crank up a dial and generate more power – and the focus on renewables prevented other more reliable systems from being upgraded and improved to make sure they could meet demand in case of emergencies.

Applying the Green New Deal to this situation only means more frozen wind turbines and more solar panels blanketed in snow and more loss of power when disaster strikes.

The lesson here is that any power grid needs to have 100% capacity (plus a margin of safety) based on robust systems that are less affected by extreme conditions.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s plan won’t help Texans, it will get more of them killed in the next arctic blast.

Several people sent me this article. Thank you all.

According to Bloomberg News, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has quietly begun transferring state assets back into the hands of private owners in an effort to reverse the country’s economic collapse.

“Saddled with hundreds of failed state companies in an economy barreling over a cliff, the Venezuelan government is abandoning socialist doctrine by offloading key enterprises to private investors, offering profit in exchange for a share of revenue or products,” write Caracas-based journalists Fabiola Zerpa and Nicolle Yapur.

Bloomberg: Venezuela Turns to Privatization After Being Bankrupted by Socialism

Maduro is trying (and probably will succeed) in repeat what Fidel Castro did in Cuba in the 90s. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ending to the $ 1.5 billion that the Soviet Union subsidized in the island every year, Castro found himself with having to find hard currency to buy the many items not produced in the country such as food. In a bold move, he “opened” the island to foreign business to take over the tourism and entertainment and make Cuba again a dream vacation spot. IIRC, most of the investors were from Spain and most of the tourist were Canadians and South Americans. The fellow Hispanics were attracted to the Medical Tourism  which was also advertised: The same quality medicine as the US but a a small fraction of the price. What a scam that was.

Soon enough you were looking at Audis and Ferraris driving around the Malecon next to the dilapidated vehicles form the 50s and old Soviet derelicts.  Boutiques stores were open in the “foreign section” with hotels and night clubs resurrecting the old shine with salsa music, exotic dancers and fruity drinks.

And when all was back up and running with plenty of dollars and euros coming in, Fidel kicked everybody out and kept the whole thing for the country (himself and his) creating massive losses to the dumbasses who actually believed Cuba was changing.

So what Maduro may be thinking, specially now that PedoJoe blocked the US Oil Industry and the price of crude will probably soar,  is to find some dumb investors that will rebuild the oil infrastructure, get the pumps pumping and the pipes delivering again with the promise of profit ins non-Venezuelan currency.  An when the idiots clean up the mess and get the black tea flowing again, Maduro will accuse them of whatever excuse he needs and kick them out of the country while he and his buddies go full piranha on the industry again.

Let me put it this way: Not even the Chinese are investing in Venezuela anymore, OK? So you have to be royally dumb to do so.

But somebody will, mark my words.

This is some incredible body-cam footage from a hotel in Florida:

Multiple tasers and two 40mm baton rounds and this guy didn’t budge.

There is a lesson in here somewhere about betting your life on non-lethal/less-lethal defensive weapons.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Broward County homeowner turned the tables on a would-be robber and the confrontation was caught on camera.
The suspect who was shot has been charged, and the homeowner who shot him wants other would-be bad guys to take note.
The homeowner, who did not want to reveal his identity, told Local 10 News he was alone and spotted the two men outside his home.
They split up, and one of them walks straight into the home’s carport, grabbing items that don’t belong to him, wheeling out a pricey pressure washer.
…

The suspect who was shot received help from employees at the car dealership, who called for help.
He suffered non-life-threatening injuries and has been charged with burglary.

Surveillance video captures Fort Lauderdale homeowner open fire on burglars

And before you ask, I believe it was considered a burglary which is a Forcible Felony. Add to that Disparity of Force and simply that a Law Abiding home owner should not have to deal with BS politics.

And I saw this one over Divemedic’s

ORLANDO, Fla. – Police said a suspect was shot after entering an Orlando business angry and armed with a machete, attacking two employees and forcing one of them to open fire.
Investigators said that a suspect, a man in his 30s, entered the business, appearing upset and armed with a machete. An argument ensued between the suspect and two employees of the business. The suspect then allegedly attacked them with the machete.
One of the victims reportedly discharged a firearm at the suspect, but he was still able to flee the business on foot. However, a man who matched the description of the suspect and who had a gunshot wound was later located and apprehended by officers.

Police: Suspect shot after attacking employees at Orlando business with machete

The machete wielder has been identified:

Records show 31-year-old Oraine Mitchell Grant came into the business seemingly upset with a large knife, later identified as a machete. Grant argued with a woman and a man who worked there, then went to stab the employees, investigators said. Officers said as Grant was trying to lunge at the employees, one of the workers shot him.

Office employee shoots man during machete attack, Orlando police say

I did a quick search and I got a return of somebody with the same name and same age from Brooklyn, New York and with an arrest in 2015 involving  a  woman.

Oraine P. Mitchell-Grant of Grote Street was charged Thursday night with third-degree assault, assaulting a police officer and second-degree harassment following an attack on a Grote Street woman.

Buffalo police respond to a rash of reported assaults in days before holiday

Machetes are the trendy weapon in New York City, just check YouTube. But in Florida? Every other household in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties have at least one. And people also know if you wave your machete in anger, you will get a wee bit (lot) of violence back with the blessings of the local PD and prosecutors.

Welcome to Florida.