Senator Demands Biden Scrap Creepy ‘Disinformation’ Unit; “Dissolve This Monstrosity Immediately”

<p><strong>Following news that The Department of Homeland Security’s new <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/dhs-disinformation-unit-headed-by-woman-who-said-hunter-biden-laptop-story-was-disinformation/">‘disinformation governance board’</a> will be headed by a woman who says free speech makes her ‘shudder’ and who falsely labeled the Hunter Biden laptop story disinformation, Republicans called for the body to be scrapped, labelling it a ‘monstrosity’.</strong></p> <p>Heading the opposition to what has been compared to the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984, Senator Josh Hawley wrote to DHS Secretary Mayorkas noting “I confess, I at first thought this announcement was satire.”</p> <p>“Surely no American Administration would ever use the power of Government to sit in judgement on the First Amendment speech of its own citizens,” Hawley continued.</p> <p>“Sadly,” he added, “I was mistaken. Rather than protecting our border or the American homeland, you have chosen to make policing Americans’ speech your priority. This new board is almost certainly unconstitutional and should be dissolved immediately.”</p> <p>“It can only be assumed that the sole purpose of this new Disinformation Governance Board will be to marshal the power of the federal government to censor conservative and dissenting speech,” the Senator concluded, urging “This is dangerous and un-American.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.1411042944785"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="6.1411042944785"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">The Administration that activated the FBI against parents at school board meetings now has created a government Disinformation Board to monitor all Americans’ speech. It’s a disgrace. Joe Biden & Secretary Mayorkas: dissolve this monstrosity immediately <a href="https://t.co/hSnMpREizI">pic.twitter.com/hSnMpREizI</a></p> — Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1519645712635645953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <p>House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also responded to the development, describing it as “Orwellian.”</p> <p>“Leave it to Democrats to think free speech is the problem and more government is the solution,” McCarthy told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-torches-biden-over-admins-new-orwellian-disinformation-governance-board">The Daily Wire</a>.</p> <p>“The notion that the same party that spent four years promoting the Russia collusion hoax, suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story, and equated parents to domestic terrorists believes it has the credibility to tell Americans what is true is laughable,” he added.</p> <p>Referring to Nina Jankowicz, the Congressman added that “it is telling that the person who would run Biden’s Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board is a political activist who has a long history of falling for and spreading disinformation.”</p> <p>“It is easy to imagine this person abusing the term ‘disinformation’ to suppress facts and spin away inconvenient truths about the administration’s many failures, including their failures to secure the border,” McCarthy further urged, adding “The idea that the federal government should control speech sounds uncomfortably close to the Thought Police. Biden must immediately abandon his plan to create a modern-day Ministry of Truth.”</p> <p>Representative Jim Jordan also hit out at the move, telling Mayorkas “You put out a bulletin two months ago, a big fancy bulletin here, red, white and blue. You said that misleading narratives, mis-, dis-, and mal-information, MDM, as you call it, misleading narratives undermine the trust in government. I was just wondering, when the head of the CDC, Miss Walensky, said that the vaccinated can’t get the virus, did that undermine trust in government?”</p> <p>Jordan continued, “When the highest paid official in our government, the smartest man on the planet, Dr. Fauci, when he said the virus didn’t come from a lab, did that undermine trust in government? And will that be something that this governing board will look at?”</p> <p>“How about when 51 former intel officials told us that the Hunter Biden story was–had all the earmarks of Russian misinformation? Will that be something that this governance board that you just formed, will you be looking into that?” Jordan also asked:</p> <figure>[embedded content]</figure> <p>Soon to be Twitter owner Elon Musk also responded to the creation of the disinformation unit, labelling the move “discomforting.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> Follow on Twitter: <p>———————————————————————————————————————<br /> Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a> <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong> In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>We need you to sign up for our free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support our sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Also, we urgently need your financial support <a href="https://www.subscribestar.com/paul-joseph-watson">here</a>. ———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/29/senator-demands-biden-scrap-creepy-disinformation-unit-dissolve-this-monstrosity-immediately/">https://summit.news/2022/04/29/senator-demands-biden-scrap-creepy-disinformation-unit-dissolve-this-monstrosity-immediately/</a>

revolution summit Senator Demands Biden Scrap Creepy ‘Disinformation’ Unit; “Dissolve This Monstrosity Immediately”

Following news that The Department of Homeland Security’s new ‘disinformation governance board’ will be headed by a woman who says free spe...

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The Offer is a TV show about how great movies are

<p>Midway through the pilot episode of <em>The Offer</em>, future <em>Godfather</em> producer Albert S. Ruddy (Miles Teller) is sitting in a movie theater with his girlfriend, gaping at the audience around him, who are gasping at the famously shocking concluding moments of <em>Planet of the Apes</em>. It’s 1968, and Ruddy is fresh off <em>Hogan’s Heroes</em>, the TV show he co-created. But TV bores him. He wants more. He wants the big screen.</p> <p>“It’s not just about the ending, it’s about the experience of it,” he tells his girlfriend. Waxing enthusiastic about the collective emotion of movie theaters, he concludes that you “can’t get that experience in television. You’re just sitting in your living room, looking at a fucking box.”</p> <p>Now, of course, to actually watch this scene, you have to look at that same effing box, or maybe your laptop or your phone, all visible at that moment through a thick scrim of irony. But <em>The Offer</em>, a show that’s less about how one of the greatest big-screen films in history was made than how it almost wasn’t made, seems comfortable with the contradiction. Throughout its 10-episode runtime — available, with even more irony, only on the Paramount+ streaming service — various characters trot onscreen to extol daring cinema and denigrate television and brainless movies. Legendary Paramount head of production Robert Evans (played in an absolutely virtuosic turn by Matthew Goode) gives a couple of lengthy speeches about the magic of cinema. Ruddy tells a group of FBI agents that “TV’s too limiting. You can’t do real stories on TV.”</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1651266366_7763_94259" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23423618,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bjNpQcPaKuv5x96e_fDXedjqPmY=/0x0:1200x675/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IZcRLGv9XT7fK5jVFLKdWeWuBdY=/0x0:1200x675/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J1LSEfuhmrP92HEk-Ahnjbs2w8w=/0x0:1200x675/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zfc68pWnk6tdGi-z3xlvkBm8Llc=/0x0:1200x675/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CUVJPO2ANCJ0YIIlzA1X4at-EAE=/0x0:1200x675/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zX-urqtUSJmQMUhXHgBABpS9Vzs=/0x0:1200x675/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/O9GiqKIjqcB3dIau1oTf97vGsNY=/0x0:1200x675/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-n1r9SAk76HGpKFVw0xu_N1lVOA=/0x0:1200x675/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LuqfAVSzjPHR9NOxbasGzc0j7gg=/0x0:1200x675/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1200" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jdapvC6XhqvgiBGGW2Gnsg1kBVE=/0x0:1200x675/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xtsB7xdhE56lkTBI2kpE-EWrv5w=/0x0:1200x675/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h4cogu4MqqdYeUHUEA61Imrtgb4=/0x0:1200x675/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VKRuLGydFqdThL8B3LugJTUqZP0=/0x0:1200x675/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OtErcr3lzxEYG0InZMjtuj-A2ZQ=/0x0:1200x675/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OK5z8wm9yL6DTRnhq_7ztb2ZWrQ=/0x0:1200x675/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bjdDsoWnu9qSm_TMZFxG2_vfTOc=/0x0:1200x675/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HF7oplx33Y7iB_ZZFJAGlKHR3H4=/0x0:1200x675/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_ce_W-GRtdxBW2XYDerS90L3kCY=/0x0:1200x675/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/x15mfewaUOD-VkUKppwXTmW4fvw=/0x0:1200x675/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423618/offer_envportrait_robert_0243_v2_fnl.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Matthew Goode as Paramount head of production Robert Evans in <em>The Offer.</em></span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paramount</cite></span></figure> <p>Which means it’s almost as interesting as an artifact of <em>our</em> time, when movies and TV are in flux, as it is as a story about 1970s Hollywood. I can’t imagine anyone who isn’t fascinated by Hollywood minutiae really watching <em>The Offer,</em> which isn’t to say they shouldn’t try. It’s uneven, but a handful of solid performances anchor it — Juno Temple (as Ruddy’s plucky assistant Bettye McCartt), and Dan Fogler (who makes a surprisingly good Francis Ford Coppola), and the go-for-broke Goode — with a fine showing by Teller, as Ruddy is the ostensible center of the show.</p> <p>In fact, the title credits declare that the show is based on Ruddy’s memories of making <em>The Godfather</em>, which is an uncommon credit to see. Most writing on the movie’s legendary production, from newspaper profiles to books like <em>Easy Riders, Raging Bulls</em>, has focused on Coppola’s role in driving the project forward. But while Coppola gets plenty of screen time here, it’s Ruddy who’s our main character. The pilot (perhaps the weakest of the episodes) cruises through several years inside of an hour, apparently in an attempt to explain why Ruddy got involved in the Paramount circus to begin with.</p> <p>The net effect can at times tip over into listening to an old Hollywood hand tell mildly unbelievable war stories for 10 hours, though much of what appears in <em>The Offer</em> sticks, in broad outlines, to the tales others have told. Ruddy got pulled into making <em>The Godfather</em> as a low-budget specialist at Paramount, even though his most recent picture, the 1970 Robert Redford biker flick <em>Little Fauss and Big Halsy</em>, was a bit of a flop. Paramount had acquired rights before publication to Mario Puzo’s novel <em>The Godfather</em>, but didn’t really want to make it, fearing that it would fail like so many other recent mobster films; once the book became a runaway bestseller, Evans realized they’d better do it.</p> <p>But the experience for everyone seems to have been somewhere between herding cats and cosplaying Sisyphus. Everything was a debacle. Casting Marlon Brando (considered both a legend and a has-been) and Al Pacino (considered an absolute nobody) seemed impossible. Wrangling locations — not to mention Coppola himself — was a headache. Tangling with executives at Paramount parent company Gulf and Western, irate crew members fed up with their no-name director, and the literal mafia were enough to test the patience of a saint, let alone a movie producer.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1651266366_4095_94260" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23423612,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9aRm5RXSaF6Lf8bzdvICuAflgpY=/0x0:1296x730/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Gose2jDvRY4rIEMJ0wJdzd7VTp0=/0x0:1296x730/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/W3-0yAsDren8KkFzqLoJBTTZTiA=/0x0:1296x730/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ghgv-Qkcj7zxpMDy9T8kWzfhflU=/0x0:1296x730/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YM5Ck-Qgu6uBTrSe-ruXe8q-SWw=/0x0:1296x730/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gNPnYYlgrFE8Ob9ARlne5gC53l8=/0x0:1296x730/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IqfdB2CuVda_BJbl-L7GUkqjKuY=/0x0:1296x730/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/luENqy1I18_od3atx98NtRwJVhQ=/0x0:1296x730/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fgzl9wh8pOZ7l4X7FsN71AkBfLM=/0x0:1296x730/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1296" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4IOTfH9Dw3w7vDF50x_8lOYkD2Y=/0x0:1296x730/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cBgqshkE8SG8sZPCDggNJg1Wxhg=/0x0:1296x730/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TpVvSrjlmUO7lVW1N4YjP0GhsbQ=/0x0:1296x730/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WdhYZCupTfCBkiybEyXHX-bcwqg=/0x0:1296x730/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6U5QOiuInoe7xo_8LeJOQuz1Ptc=/0x0:1296x730/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-4DtT48yBN6fFnx8Y6MiXIAVkqU=/0x0:1296x730/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tki9wMr7lomco-7Fqce7JOZiRAo=/0x0:1296x730/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xv9titFs3sUI922Up6exp5UdYuY=/0x0:1296x730/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QslHPA2zuHG0oAOi8eTzogj7msg=/0x0:1296x730/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OpaB1_foBs1aIJB-auiUt1o3BN4=/0x0:1296x730/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1296x730):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423612/The_Offer_Miles_Teller_Paramount_Publicity_H_2022.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Miles Teller and Juno Temple in <em>The Offer.</em></span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paramount</cite></span></figure> <p>Furthermore, <em>The Offer</em> paints production of <em>The</em> <em>Godfather</em> as a trying time that ultimately created a band of brothers — not without interpersonal friction, but in that everybody came to respect one another and be proud of the work they did. The reality is a bit messier. For instance, Evans and Coppola were so profoundly angry at one another by the end of the post-production process that Coppola initially tried to get them to hire Martin Scorsese to direct <em>The Godfather: Part II</em>. Years later, he was still brooding, sending a letter to Evans in the early ’80s about how angry he was that Evans had taken credit for the film’s final form. (Evans framed the letter and hung it in his bathroom.)</p> <p>Other examples like this abound, if you dig into <em>Godfather</em> history, and even a quick look at Ruddy’s own public work history shows how much personal myth-making is involved. (The show portrays him as just a computer programmer for a defense contractor who kind of stumbled into show business, but he in fact worked for Warner Bros. before he became a programmer; he left when Marlon Brando’s father hired him to produce <em>Wild Seed</em>, not when he landed <em>Hogan’s Heroes</em>, as the show suggests.)</p> <p>But, artistic license is hard to fault, especially when it’s the nitpicking details of the producer’s career. The overarching sense you get from <em>The Offer</em> is that it is remarkable that any movie is ever successful or good or, indeed, even gets made. If you see a movie that’s good, you’re watching a miracle.</p> <p>Which might be why <em>The Offer</em>’s greatest service is to remind us that <em>The Godfather</em> is, really, that good. (And so is at least one of its sequels; judge for yourself, as all three are also streaming on Paramount+.) It pushed boundaries artistically, narratively, and technically, and viewers responded, making it the biggest movie in history upon its release. Something about its story, which shifted from Puzo’s juicy potboiler to something far more insightful and allegorical about America, resonates deeply. Get lucky enough to catch it on a big screen, and it feels as exciting as it must have at the film’s premiere.</p> <p>The show knows, and doesn’t get in the way. It does that, in part, by not trying to be nearly as good as its predecessor, with its daring lighting and cinematography, its uniformly outstanding performances, and its sense of epic scale. When it does pay self-conscious homage to Coppola’s film, it’s in winking references (you’ll get a line about a cannoli in the first couple of minutes). There are several different sequences that cut violence scenes together with more domestic ones, in tribute to the famous assassination-and-baptism scene in the film. But you don’t feel the episodes’ directors stretching beyond the somewhat goofy limits of the show, and that’s probably to its credit.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1651266366_5334_94261" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23423621,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v1g17zZdfhaH2j2eGvQ1_oG8Ctk=/0x0:2000x1333/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4RsTg7u2sL6vhsKJNYNjakbSHZQ=/0x0:2000x1333/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OMlHPo6-tQxV5635pZuSUImC7p0=/0x0:2000x1333/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tsJBNhy5NlbRiG42SDx5UpZ_4kc=/0x0:2000x1333/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oKGdR1U7lbVzZdYgDdPfVZSES4g=/0x0:2000x1333/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dMu09qim_03otIpLO0-zsLQ-jMI=/0x0:2000x1333/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k_TW6NH5Ntwz0IETMN5K5Y6tBlg=/0x0:2000x1333/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9uHQRuhRUSaky-cu2Y4GdMhgZHU=/0x0:2000x1333/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ogVorRLmsAn6gfQO_deAnsQD6xM=/0x0:2000x1333/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A huge film crew in 70s garb." data-upload-width="2000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4SPtcjKK1tWLGDNC1zRhFR109nU=/0x0:2000x1333/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5EJqOYLcVbVqJurmSt1fScEPLHs=/0x0:2000x1333/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Nsry_IlCZr6rSKyjxxeinTe3WsE=/0x0:2000x1333/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-UWXV1lJqaZhI-AjwpdviUMAuu0=/0x0:2000x1333/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IOV9hgrXZmp5Qt9SLwOph3Id0-Y=/0x0:2000x1333/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zpYQPTvy7wRGrb9tvEoxAZuci1k=/0x0:2000x1333/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k0hH0j6VpcFK65wLW29Ms06v0PM=/0x0:2000x1333/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1nQpuJZSU2LKo9TopdNMJFqsXVc=/0x0:2000x1333/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WRrjoblcG1rGeLUrm7vRXLIr_so=/0x0:2000x1333/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UM-QJps-mkoHCdeco35h7BMCpzc=/0x0:2000x1333/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423621/The_Offer_First_Look_07.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">On the set of <em>The Godfather</em> ... in <em>The Offer.</em></span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paramount</cite></span></figure> <p>Yet it does seem oddly self-aware that it’s a TV show bent on promoting cinema (and, in particular, this instance of cinema). All that aforementioned ragging on TV and effusing about the magic of the movies seems purposeful, and reaches levels we usually only hear on stage at the Oscars.</p> <p>Of course, the 1970s were a different time for both film and TV. Hollywood was riding a strange fault line, existing in a brief and often-valorized pocket of time in which visionaries like Coppola and Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Altman and Warren Beatty and Paul Schrader and a host of others were running the show, making the most exciting movies. There was a lot wrong with that time — only certain sorts of white guys got to talk executives into making their films — but there was something right, too, with exciting and daring movies showing eager audiences what movies could do. “We can’t chase after what the audience wants to see,” Evans says in one triumphant scene late in the show. “We need to show it what it <em>needs</em> to see.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, TV was still largely working within formulas; storytelling innovations that we now take for granted were far off. That’s not to say it wasn’t great in its own way, or that incredible artists weren’t working in the medium. But the barrier between film and TV talents was much higher and more rigid.</p> <p>Yet we’re in a totally different media landscape now, and Paramount itself is, like every major entertainment company, trying to figure out what it is going to be. Just two months ago, the movie studio’s parent company, created in 2019 when Viacom merged with CBS, rebranded itself as Paramount Global, after its most prestigious property. Paramount+ itself was first launched in 2014 as CBS All Access and renamed in March 2021. And like every company, they’re trying to figure out the right balance between traditional TV, streaming shows, and big-screen movies that eventually migrate back over to the streaming service. Nobody knows how this will all shake out, but the jitters in Hollywood right now are at a high that rivals the jitters back in Robert Evans’s day.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1651266366_9121_94262" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23423623,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1i6JQ8oHmrm3x4su6hvaDVTMv2A=/0x0:3000x1876/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MIT4CQOuFsqOhWMxTGm0hpc8fEI=/0x0:3000x1876/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DGUj26K7FOpTCkQr0_FrS7aygMI=/0x0:3000x1876/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TIiWCZ7wH3j2UN7F25ZE5vRcWqw=/0x0:3000x1876/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Hs82w9HdjA0Coo1kqZff_srRkUc=/0x0:3000x1876/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LnLHnq72OJFh9UoKIyuqWll0cAA=/0x0:3000x1876/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eC2Q2z2bhYBPoHkvQBlqF-AYgh0=/0x0:3000x1876/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yLJ4vkzQ7W0ZYLn2eqyF2DQfh_A=/0x0:3000x1876/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J82TlIN2Ch4XbNWX1JvW0E5Syjo=/0x0:3000x1876/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R7wrjbBQNAdQms8kc6_2pS1I6AQ=/0x0:3000x1876/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wzHV1PCLxkKEdEe7YyUMdvmioWY=/0x0:3000x1876/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PFRUQgqn8wWCMLiO7x404FtMPu4=/0x0:3000x1876/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q8-ODndG3f_wn-1Vya0xeiWGKK0=/0x0:3000x1876/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xbkVSiKLf_3dG7no6qsOFWqREzI=/0x0:3000x1876/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IRCzv3HoAuDTF0iGHNzIbI8S01g=/0x0:3000x1876/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6Iv9q3qXzFwoU8l28kZnMTnYVhY=/0x0:3000x1876/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jCUw80QrplI7cvrwaKl7fSD-CSA=/0x0:3000x1876/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EOhkH_UzLPzIeefXNhCoc81dM1I=/0x0:3000x1876/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gxjJ3O4thQkoiHKsXgB2D6f2u3U=/0x0:3000x1876/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1876):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423623/theoffer_103_nw_2012_rt2_1643833833.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Matthew Goode and Miles Teller as Robert Evans and Al Ruddy in <em>The Offer</em>.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paramount</cite></span></figure> <p>Which is why diving back into its history to reinforce the brand probably makes sense. As the movie rewrites and refines bits of <em>Godfather</em> history, it spins and smooths out its film’s legend, declaring by the end that the film is widely considered “the best” movie in history. That’s debatable (if you’re speaking of Hollywood, at least, then <em>Citizen Kane</em> would like a word), though there’s no doubt it’s one of them. But as Charlie Bluhdorn (Burn Gorman), president of Gulf and Western and gadfly presence on the set, confides to Evans late in the show, he loves historical movies because they allow you to rewrite history. “Maybe that’s how we can deal with the horror,” he suggests, and while it’s not exactly horror <em>The Offer</em> rewrites, you can kind of see the point. The legend you put on screen is, eventually, more important to the average person than whatever the history books say — both a useful observation and, depending on your perspective, a terrifying one.</p> <p>And that could be why <em>The Offer</em>’s villains aren’t really the various mobsters and entertainers (cough cough Frank Sinatra) who tried to block <em>The Godfather</em>’s production a half-century ago. They’re the executives who are more interested in chasing what they already know the audience wants than taking a chance on a movie like, well, <em>The Godfather</em>.</p> <p><em>The Offer</em> serves up a legend, too. It’s the story of a time in America when movies were king, when the big screen was something to yearn for, when risk might bring reward, when the collective experience was worth breaking your budget and your heart over. That Paramount has chosen to retell that story with a little bit of finessing and artistic license in a time when big-screen movies are hurting badly, when studios are chasing what they think the audience wants to see whether they need to see it or not, feels like a poke in someone’s eye. By the end, I kind of wondered whether it was their own.</p> <p><em>The first three episodes of</em> The Offer <em>began streaming on Paramount+ on April 28. The remaining episodes will release on successive Thursdays through June 16.</em></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/23047143/offer-godfather-paramount-review">https://www.vox.com/23047143/offer-godfather-paramount-review</a>

vox The Offer is a TV show about how great movies are

Midway through the pilot episode of The Offer , future Godfather producer Albert S. Ruddy (Miles Teller) is sitting in a movie theater with...

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Arctic Sea Ice is Now Just 3% Below Its 30 Year Average

<p><strong>A group of environmental economists in Germany is demanding that huge taxes be imposed on meat products to fight climate change, with calls for beef to be 56 per cent more expensive.</strong></p> <p>Asserting that livestock is responsible for 13 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers from TU Berlin’s Chair of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources are demanding limitations on meat consumption in order to “attain greenhouse gas neutrality.”</p> <p>“Livestock farming is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, soil and water pollution, and precious forests are being cleared for pastures and food crops,” said the leader of the group, Professor Linus Mattauch.</p> <p>“Evidence suggests the environmental impacts are so large that the world can’t meet climate goals and keep vital ecosystems intact without reducing the consumption of meat – at least in Western high-income countries,” he added.</p> <p>Mattauch wants governments to “start thinking about also taxing meat to reduce its consumption,” asserting that this is the “most efficient path to preventing further strain on our planet.”</p> <p>“According to the group’s model calculations, the direct cost of livestock farming in relation to climate change is as high as $9.21 per kilogram of beef,” reports <a href="https://rmx.news/egyeb/meat-tax-up-to-56-on-beef-promoted-by-left-wing-economists-to-save-the-climate/">ReMix News</a>. “Applying this cost to the price of beef could result in beef products being as much as 56 percent more expensive. Similarly, poultry would cost 25 percent more, and lamb and pork would rise by 19 percent.”</p> <p>Such taxes will of course primarily impact the poor, who in many western countries are already suffering due to rampant food inflation.</p> <p>No doubt the solution to that will be amplifying efforts to encourage everyone to start eating bugs as an alternative and “sustainable” source of protein.</p> <p>As we previously <a href="https://summit.news/2020/12/02/world-economic-forum-encourages-plebs-to-eat-weeds-drink-sewage/">highlighted</a>, the World Economic Forum published two articles on its website which explored how people could be conditioned to get used to the idea of eating weeds, bugs and drinking sewage water in order to reduce CO2 emissions.</p> <p>In January last year, the EU officially <a href="https://summit.news/2021/01/14/eu-gives-go-ahead-for-eating-worms/">approved</a> the sale of worms as food to be consumed by humans.</p> <p>Last month, Vanderbilt University Professor Amanda Little <a href="https://summit.news/2021/12/30/vanderbilt-university-professor-argues-that-we-all-need-to-eat-bugs/">argued</a> that everyone in the world needs to start dining on insects and that the EU’s approval of them conferred a form of “dignity” to their consumption.</p> <p>One group of people who won’t be eating bugs is technocrat globalists.</p> <p>Despite insisting that everyone else reduce their living standards and ration their meat eating to save the planet, during last year’s Cop 26 summit, attendees enjoyed a menu full of animal-based dishes that were at least double the carbon footprint of the average UK meal.</p> <p>[embedded content]</p> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Follow on Twitter:</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong></p> <p>In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/"><strong>Locals</strong></a>.</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/29/arctic-sea-ice-is-now-just-3-below-its-30-year-average/">https://summit.news/2022/04/29/arctic-sea-ice-is-now-just-3-below-its-30-year-average/</a>

revolution summit Arctic Sea Ice is Now Just 3% Below Its 30 Year Average

A group of environmental economists in Germany is demanding that huge taxes be imposed on meat products to fight climate change, with calls ...

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The long-shot campaign to get big banks out of fossil fuels

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Vci6vt8hGm9pNDvaxwzaEDSjjl4=/0x0:3000x1571/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23423705/GettyImages_79159068.jpg" /></div> <p>This week, shareholders at Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs voted on resolutions recommending the companies stop any additional financing for fossil fuel projects.</p> <p>All the resolutions failed, pretty spectacularly, garnering just over 10 percent of the vote. Despite that failure, the votes were notable examples of a strategy climate activists are implementing with increasing boldness: pressuring institutions from the inside to make meaningful reforms on climate change.</p> <p>It’s one that showed some signs of success at the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22455347/exxon-board-shell-oil-news-chevron-engine-no-one">shareholder meetings of energy companies</a> last year, and is also one advocates like Kate Monahan — director of shareholder advocacy at <a href="https://www.trilliuminvest.com/">Trillium Asset Management</a>, a fund that sponsored the climate resolution at Bank of America on Tuesday — believe will eventually bear fruit more broadly.</p> <p>“I’m optimistic that we can build the vote over time,” she said. “This is a totally new type of proposal. So 11 percent, I think, is a really good base on which to build for next year.”</p> <p>The incremental approach this strategy entails can seem frustrating, considering the scientific consensus that <a href="https://www.vox.com/23009894/un-ipcc-climate-mitigation-report-ar6-summary">the world needs to stop financing</a> new fossil fuel development today. But there is reason to believe it could ultimately have an impact.</p> <p>The current shareholder push has its roots in the divestment movement, which saw climate activists building a case to a conservative audience of financial institutions, universities, and state pension funds that they should divest their investments from fossil fuel companies. After a decade and a litany of failures, powerful players relented — including <a href="https://www.vox.com/22256192/norway-oil-gas-investments-fossil-fuel">Norway’s sovereign wealth fund</a>, <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/9/10/divest-declares-victory/">Harvard University</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/nyregion/new-york-pension-fossil-fuels.html">New York state’s pension fund</a>.</p> <p>Now, the global fossil fuel divestment movement has come to represent about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/opinion/climate-change-divestment-fossil-fuels.html">$40 trillion</a> in assets. Other firms, like the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, have made <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackrock-promises-big-jump-in-climate-commitments-within-its-holdings-whats-different-this-time-11649947380">public commitments</a> to align their funds with climate targets.</p> <p>It’s that success that has <a href="https://www.iccr.org/sites/default/files/page_attachments/co-filers_on_bank_proposals12.17.21.pdf">led the groups</a> behind <a href="https://www.iccr.org/2022-climate-finance-resolutions-going-vote">this week’s resolutions</a>, like the Sierra Club Foundation and asset mangers Harrington Investments and Trillium, to apply daring pressure campaigns at annual shareholder meetings.</p> <p>The largest institutional shareholders at big banks are still clearly skeptical of this latest ask to stop new fossil fuel finance immediately. In part, that’s because the campaign hasn’t reached the same heights as the divestment movement — just yet.</p> <h3>The long road to changing the conversation around banks’ role in financing a climate crisis</h3> <p>All the banks with meetings this week (and <a href="https://www.iccr.org/sites/default/files/page_attachments/jp_morgan_chase_2022_sierra_club_foundation_.pdf">JPMorgan Chase</a> and <a href="https://www.iccr.org/sites/default/files/page_attachments/morgan_stanley_2022_sierra_club_foundation.pdf">Morgan Stanley</a>, which have shareholder votes next month), <a href="https://www.unepfi.org/net-zero-banking/">joined a coalition</a> at last fall’s climate conference in Glasgow aligning their financing with reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Despite that pledge, the same banks all still fund fossil fuel development that ensures they are not aligned with these longer-term targets.</p> <p>“Now we need to see the policies that will actually make that happen,” Loren Blackford, the investor committee chair of the Sierra Club Foundation’s board of directors, said.</p> <p>To that end, SCF’s proposal (similar to the others from this week) <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/investor-relations/financials/proxy-statements/2022/2022-proxy-statement-pdf.pdf">requested Goldman Sachs</a> commit to “proactive measures to ensure that the firm’s lending and underwritten activities do not contribute to new fossil fuel development.”</p> <p>It argued there were two problems: that Goldman Sachs’s “prominence in asserting climate leadership flies in the face of its actions, creating reputation risk from accusations of greenwashing” and that the bank is putting its long-term stability and gains at risk by pouring money into a dying industry — “knowingly loading potentially stranded assets onto its clients’ balance sheets, creating litigation risk.”</p> <p>Big banks are indeed continuing to fund fossil fuel expansion: Last year alone, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America spent a combined $137 billion on fossil fuel projects, according to a report from a coalition of environmental advocacy groups, <a href="https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf">Banking on Climate Chaos</a>. (JPMorgan Chase by itself spent over $61 billion in 2021 on fossil fuels.)</p> <p>There are a few reasons for this.</p> <p>One is that banks are deeply intertwined with fossil fuel companies even though their rhetoric suggests the opposite. The Banking on Climate Chaos <a href="https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf">report</a> found that the 60 biggest banks spent about $4.6 trillion on fossil fuel investments since the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and about $742 billion last year alone. The pandemic illustrated just how exposed banks are to volatility in the oil market. When global demand for oil plummeted in 2020, big banks like <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/04/jpmorgan-secretly-emailed-the-trump-administration-about-bailing-out-the-oil-industry/">JPMorgan</a> advocated on behalf of oil companies for federal stimulus.</p> <p>Climate advocates argue the only way to avoid similar fallout again is by limiting further investment in the sector. Bank boards disagree, so much so that they went to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to block this week’s votes. When the SEC didn’t intervene, the boards campaigned against the proposals. Goldman’s board finally said that it’s committed to the climate goals set out six years ago in Paris; however, they said, “We do not believe that placing limits on financing to producers will result in either reduction in emissions or demand for fossil fuels.”</p> <p>Another factor is current turmoil in the oil market, caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. That made any climate proposal a harder sell to major asset managers who are worried about their bottom line.</p> <p>The importance of swaying the wealthiest companies owning stock at any given meeting — particularly firms like BlackRock and Vanguard — can’t be understated either. These two asset managers backed the climate proposals at energy companies last year, ensuring their victory. And although BlackRock and Vanguard have not yet disclosed their votes from this week, it’s expected, given the final results, they didn’t support the 2022 initiatives. Getting BlackRock on board, along with pension funds and other major asset managers, will be crucial to raise the stakes for financial institutions.</p> <h3>Changing banks’ approach to fossil fuels is difficult, not necessarily impossible</h3> <p>There are a few reasons for hope though.</p> <p>One is that the play to get a giant corporation’s attention at the general shareholder meetings is not particularly new, and success doesn’t always entirely depend on getting to a majority. In 2019, for instance, environmental campaigners attempted to get Goldman Sachs to stop financing Arctic oil exploration. The company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/16/goldman-sachs-to-stop-financing-new-drilling-for-oil-in-the-arctic">responded</a> by making an initial pledge commitment not to fund drilling in the Arctic.</p> <p>Another is climate activists’ successes in <a href="https://www.vox.com/22455347/exxon-board-shell-oil-news-chevron-engine-no-one">last year’s oil company meetings</a>. Shareholders at Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Phillips 66 voted for more disclosure on climate preparation. And ExxonMobil lost three board seats to climate activist-backed candidates. In these cases, shareholders actually overrode the board’s recommendations against taking climate action.</p> <p>Finally, there has been growing momentum for more climate disclosure and commitment from companies. Corporate governance analysts at the research group The Conference Board <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/02/11/2021-proxy-season-preview-and-shareholder-voting-trends-2017-2020/">tracked</a> how the average vote for climate-related proposals grew from 24 percent in 2019 up to 32 percent in 2020 (the investor-focused nonprofit Ceres counted another 10-point jump to <a href="https://www.climateaction100.org/news/as-climate-risks-skyrocket-largest-asset-managers-vote-for-more-climate-related-shareholder-proposals-tipping-support-to-record-levels-in-2021/">41 percent</a> in 2021).</p> <p>Every year that passes is another year that the world comes up short on its climate commitments. The <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">International Energy Agency</a> and the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.vox.com/23009894/un-ipcc-climate-mitigation-report-ar6-summary">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> have all asserted that averting the worst of climate change requires the world to stop investing in new fossil fuels, immediately. So rather than play it safe, activists are going bigger and bolder with their resolutions.</p> <p>Some end in failure. But they’re also banking that someday soon, they might not.</p> <p>“It may not be a quick process,” Monahan said. “But we believe it’s important for us to try.”</p> <p><em><strong>Correction, 11 am:</strong></em> <em>A previous version of this article erroneously referred to the Sierra Club rather than the Sierra Club Foundation, the independent fiscal sponsor of the Sierra Club. It also misstated Loren Blackford’s title; she is the investor committee chair of the Sierra Club Foundation’s board of directors.</em></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/23046282/banks-climate-shareholder-votes-fossil-fuels">https://www.vox.com/23046282/banks-climate-shareholder-votes-fossil-fuels</a>

vox The long-shot campaign to get big banks out of fossil fuels

This week, shareholders at Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs voted on resolutions recommending the companies stop ...

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Rand Paul: Fauci “Is A Man That Is Against Everything That America Stands For”

<p><strong>A new study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal found that lockdowns in the UK caused around 60,000 children to suffer clinical depression.</strong></p> <p>Researchers detected a 27.1 per cent prevalence of depression amongst their sample, a number significantly higher than would have occurred without lockdowns.</p> <p>According to a report by <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/04/25/hepatitis-surge-leaves-one-child-dead-17-needing-liver-transplants/">the Telegraph</a>, the percentage equates to about 60,000 extra kids who suffered clinical depression thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.</p> <p>“After controlling for baseline scores and several school and pupil-level characteristics, depressive symptoms were higher in the COVID-19 group,” the study found.</p> <p>“These findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic increased adolescent depressive symptoms beyond what would have likely occurred under non-pandemic circumstances.”</p> <p>Figures show that 400,000 British children were referred to mental health specialists last year for things like eating disorders and self-harm.</p> <p>Once again, the study underscores how those who vehemently promoted lockdowns, while demanding voices of dissent be silenced, were on the wrong side of history.</p> <p>As we previously <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/26/outbreak-of-hepatitis-in-children-caused-by-lockdowns-that-weakened-immunity/">highlighted</a>, a shocking outbreak of hepatitis cases in children was likely caused by lockdowns and social distancing, which served to weaken immune systems, according to health experts.</p> <p>Many infants are also suffering from cognitive developmental and speech disorders due to adults wearing face coverings during the pandemic.</p> <p>According to speech therapists, mask wearing has caused a 364% increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers.</p> <p>A major study by Johns Hopkins University <a href="https://summit.news/2022/02/02/new-johns-hopkins-study-lockdowns-have-had-little-to-no-public-health-effects-and-imposed-enormous-economic-and-social-costs/">concluded</a> that global lockdowns have had a much more detrimental impact on society than they have produced any benefit, with researchers urging that they “are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="13.932307692308"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">A speech therapist says her clinic has seen a "364% increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers".</p> <p>"It's very important kids do see your face to learn, so they're watching your mouth."</p> <p>What the hell have we done?!</p> <p>End this cruel insanity. <a href="https://t.co/DN6J4yQfju">pic.twitter.com/DN6J4yQfju</a></p> <p>— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) <a href="https://twitter.com/darrengrimes_/status/1486348600393220102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2022</a></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Follow on Twitter:</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong></p> <p>In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/"><strong>Locals</strong></a>.</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/29/rand-paul-fauci-is-a-man-that-is-against-everything-that-america-stands-for/">https://summit.news/2022/04/29/rand-paul-fauci-is-a-man-that-is-against-everything-that-america-stands-for/</a>

revolution summit Rand Paul: Fauci “Is A Man That Is Against Everything That America Stands For”

A new study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal found that lockdowns in the UK caused around 60,000 children to suffer clini...

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An expert on why wars start, and how to prevent them

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tX9ZxCDOyxsqf4HffdVp6Um1erY=/0x0:5442x2849/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23420063/1240098294.jpg" /></div> <p>War is a stupid idea.</p> <p>Fighting is a bad way to resolve disagreements. If two countries want the same land, it is almost always less costly to each side to split it than to fight. The same is true if they are arguing over a shared natural resource, like oil. Fighting costs lives and money, with an incredibly uncertain payoff when the dust settles.</p> <p>And yet wars persist, both within nations and, as appallingly demonstrated by Russia’s devastation of Ukraine, between them. Why? Why do governments and private armed groups still resort to violence when it’s so often mutually destructive?</p> <p>That’s the question Chris Blattman’s new book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/636263/why-we-fight-by-christopher-blattman/"><em>Why We Fight</em></a>, seeks to answer. Blattman is an economist and political scientist at the University of Chicago, and he has studied the roots of violence in many different contexts. In academic work, Blattman and his coauthors have examined the roots of <a href="https://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2010.Consequences.RESTAT.pdf">child soldiering</a> in Uganda, the potential of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/04/15/jobs-and-jail-might-not-keep-young-men-out-of-crime-but-how-about-therapy/">cognitive behavioral therapy to prevent violence</a> in post-war Liberia, and the policy choices of <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/5nyqs/">drug gangs who govern neighborhoods</a> in Medellín, Colombia.</p> <p><em>Why We Fight</em> is an effort to summarize what he and other social scientists have learned about violent conflict, both between and within states: where it comes from; if it can be prevented; and how to stop it once it’s begun.</p> <p>Blattman and I spoke for this week’s episode of the Vox podcast <em>The Weeds</em>. A transcript, edited for length and clarity, follows. Note that our conversation occurred on April 7, so we didn’t cover the past couple weeks of developments in Ukraine. As always, there’s much more in the full podcast, so listen and follow <em>The Weeds</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weeds/id1042433083">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vdGhld2VlZHM">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1vSUO6Bg4abtjRF7fnGpT1">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/voxs-the-weeds">Stitcher</a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.</p> <h3>Dylan Matthews</h3> <p>You start from a standpoint that is kind of surprising for a book about war, which is that war usually is a bad idea, it usually isn’t in anybody’s best interests, and most conflicts are resolved peaceably. Can you explain that organizing framework and why you think that’s important?</p> <h3>Chris Blattman</h3> <p>It is kind of amazing how much attention we pay to violence. We want doctors to pay a lot of attention to sick people, but then we don’t want them to forget that most people are healthy.</p> <p>For example, two weeks into Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/12/world/asia/india-pakistan-missile.html">India accidentally lobbed a cruise missile at Pakistan</a> and nothing came of it, and we shouldn’t be surprised at that. Likewise, schoolchildren will learn about the US invasion of Afghanistan for decades, [but] very few kids will be taught about the <a href="https://time.com/5682135/haiti-military-anniversary/">US invasion of Haiti in 1994</a>, which ended before it began. Colin Powell went to the coup leader [Raoul Cédras] who ousted a democratically elected president, showed him a video of US troops loading into planes and taking off and said, “This isn’t live. This happened two hours ago,” and he sort of surrendered right there.</p> <p>All of these things are happening all the time. And they’re happening for a pretty simple reason. If you’re Pakistan [after India’s missile launch], it’s just going to be ruinous if you go to war over this, even if you think it might not have been an accident. And this military leader in Haiti … It wasn’t just that the US was strong and Haiti was weak. That was part of it, but we know that weak parties can mount insurgencies. I think he just looked at [the situation] and he said, this isn’t going to be worth it, because I can basically use whatever bargaining power I have to get some kind of deal. [The US government wound up <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-14-mn-50281-story.html">giving the coup leader over $1 million</a> to leave.]</p> <p>That’s just the normal everyday business of what happens, precisely because war is so costly. Peace has this gravitational pull, from all the costs of war. So war only happens because some other force yanked it out of that orbit, which is actually pretty hard to do.</p> <h3>Dylan Matthews</h3> <p>You list five explanations for war, which are all explanations of how bargaining breaks down and why people can’t reach agreements peaceably. Could you walk through those five?</p> <h3>Chris Blattman</h3> <p>I call them:</p> <ol> <li>Unchecked leaders</li> <li>Intangible incentives</li> <li>Misperceptions</li> <li>Uncertainty, and</li> <li>Commitment problems</li> </ol> <p>Three of them are more strategic in nature, and then two are more psychological.</p> <p>Let me just start with a couple examples that I think are the most intuitive. We live in a world with a lot of autocrats, and even if they’re not autocrats, we live in a world where leaders are not totally constrained by their people, which means they don’t have to do the thing that’s in the interest of their group. This especially matters for someone who is completely unaccountable, like a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/03/23/the-rise-of-personalist-rule/">personalized dictator</a>, which Vladimir Putin has increasingly become.</p> <p>If you’re a personalized dictator, you don’t have to consider all these costs of war. You consider some of them, but you consider a much narrower range, so you’re much more ready to use violence. Sometimes leaders, particularly dictators, have a special incentive to invade or attack that their group doesn’t share. In Liberia, maybe the warlord Charles Taylor thinks he’s going to get more diamond profits by keeping the war going. Or maybe Putin thinks that too — to keep his regime of control the war needs to keep going. That’s one example of a very powerful thing that can yank us out of that peaceful orbit.</p> <p>Another, which is related, I call intangible incentives. What if the group or a leader — or in particular the dictatorial, personalized ruler — is seeking some ethereal benefits, something they value? That gives them a strong incentive to go to war. It’s not a material incentive like diamonds or something strategic, like “I need to gain this territory in Ukraine or exterminate democracy there because it’s going to threaten me.” Rather, it’s this nationalist ideal of a unified Russia. Or, in Charles Taylor’s case, a nationalist ideal of a unified West African Republic that, by the way, he would rule. It could be personal glory, like wanting to be the next Catherine the Great. It could be the desire to exterminate a heretic, or in service of some kind of religious or ethnic ideal. If you value this thing that only war can bring you, it’s going to yank you out of the peaceful orbit.</p> <p>“Misperceptions” includes all the ways war happens by mistake. Uncertainty is about times when we don’t know the strength of our opponent, we don’t know their resolve, so it seems like the optimal choice to fight. Commitment problems are mostly cases where there’s some way we can avert our opponent from being strong in the future. It actually pays to invade now to lock in our advantage forever. That can overcome the costs of war.</p> <h3>Dylan Matthews</h3> <p>We’re having this conversation as a war in Ukraine rages. Just before the war broke out, you wrote a <a href="https://chrisblattman.com/blog/2022/02/15/when-we-focus-on-russian-aggression-and-motives-are-we-asking-the-wrong-questions/">short post</a> asking the question of why diplomacy didn’t work, why the countries hadn’t been able to come to a deal. Looking back, how do you think about that question? How do you apply some of the lessons in this book to that context?</p> <h3>Chris Blattman</h3> <p>I know exactly how to apply each of the lessons in the book. What I don’t know is which ones are correct.</p> <p>What it comes down to is you either think Putin and his cabal are being strategic, or they’re not. I always lean on this side of [strategy]; fundamentally they’re not bonkers. Certainly in week four, they’ve woken up and they’re becoming strategic.</p> <p>But at many lunch hours, I knock on the door of my colleague <a href="https://harris.uchicago.edu/directory/konstantin-sonin">Konstantin Sonin</a>, who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/masha-gessen-putin-and-his-new-years-resolutions.html">used to be the provost</a> of one of the most major universities in Moscow. He’s a game theorist, so he’s the kind of person who’s biased to think that everything is strategic, and he thinks it’s completely non-strategic. He thinks [Putin’s] inner circle has basically gone downhill in quality of thought and quality of individuals and experience, and that they’re both mass-deluded and ideological. He puts in the misperceptions and the intangible incentives, and that’s enough for him.</p> <p>I lean more towards the strategic camp. We can all understand Konstantin’s point of view because it’s what we read in the paper every day. I’m always suspicious of it because it gives those people very little agency. It denigrates them. It makes us feel superior.</p> <p>I think it comes down to Putin’s unchecked-ness: the fact that he is not responsible for the costs [of the war], and he has some private incentives, in terms of the preservation of his regime, to exterminate democracy in Ukraine. There’s uncertainty; he got bad draws and Ukraine got good draws. There’s maybe a little bit of a commitment problem, where he could see a point where [Ukraine] is more democratic, closer to the West, maybe even armed with long-range missiles by the West and thus impossible to invade, and so the window of opportunity is closing.</p> <p>I think those are really important to understanding the war. But for the record, Konstantin totally disagrees with me.</p> <h3>Dylan Matthews</h3> <p>The US is still processing <a href="https://www.vox.com/22217039/capitol-attack-trump-rally-election-biden-explained">what happened on January 6th</a> last year. On the extreme end, your colleague Barbara Walter has a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624156/how-civil-wars-start-by-barbara-f-walter/">book</a> raising the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22814025/democracy-trump-january-6-capitol-riot-election-violence">possibility of widespread political violence</a> in the US. Even if not a Liberia-style civil war, then widespread terrorism and street violence. I’m curious how you think about that question, especially because I left your book oddly hopeful about our odds of finding peace.</p> <h3>Chris Blattman</h3> <p>Barbara’s not the extreme end — there’s people who think there <em>could</em> be full-scale civil war. Barbara’s more like, “At worst this is probably going to look like the Irish troubles, and that’s not assured.” She’s definitely more pessimistic than I am. I agree with a lot of what she says. We just have very different probabilities. We can all look at the same evidence and disagree.</p> <p>Again, it comes down to these costs [of war]. These costs are very high and we have a lot of institutions that have not been politicized and are very good at internalizing these costs, and therefore will work very hard to avoid them. The thing that would push me to be as pessimistic as Barbara is if those institutions, like our military and our Supreme Court and police forces, were more split, or more unaccountable, and thus were not internalizing these costs of violence. But I actually have found those institutions to be amazingly resilient in a polarized age. I draw some optimism from that.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/4/28/23041726/chris-blattman-why-we-fight-war-peace">https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/4/28/23041726/chris-blattman-why-we-fight-war-peace</a>

vox An expert on why wars start, and how to prevent them

War is a stupid idea. Fighting is a bad way to resolve disagreements. If two countries want the same land, it is almost always less costly...

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PJW Live: Twitter Staffers Digitally Burning Documents?

<p><strong>A Russian-Australian man was told to leave a television studio after he asked a ‘rogue’ question and pointed out that there is an alternative narrative to be considered surrounding the conflict in Ukraine.</strong></p> <p>The audience member Sasha Gillies-Lekakis was speaking on a live Australian debate show when he expressed support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, angering other audience members and surprising the host of the show, Stan Grant.</p> <p>“As someone who comes from the Russian community here in Australia, I’ve been pretty outraged by the narrative depicted by our media, with Ukraine as the good guy and Russia as the bad guy,” Gillies-Lekakis said.</p> <p>“Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world that support what Putin’s doing in Ukraine, myself included,” he added before claiming that Ukraine has previously “besieged” the Russian populations in Donetsk and Luhansk, killing thousands of people.</p> <p>Other audience members heckled him and yelled ‘propaganda’ and ‘lies’, while the host Grant moved the program on.</p> <p>Around twenty minutes later Grant returned to Gillies-Lekakis and said he had ‘thought about it’ and wasn’t comfortable allowing him to stay in the studio.</p> <p>“Something has been bothering me,” Grant said, adding “people here have been talking about family who are suffering and people who are dying. Can I just say – I’m just not comfortable with you being here. Could you please leave?”</p> <p>“You can ask a question, but we cannot advocate violence. I should have asked you to leave then. It‘s been playing on my mind and, I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to leave,” the host added.</p> <p>Watch:</p> <figure>[embedded content]</figure> <p>Here is the question with the panel of guests reacting, before Grant asked Gillies-Lekakis to leave:</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure> <p>Grant later stated “we can’t have anyone who is sanctioning, supporting, violence and killing of people. So I‘m sorry for the disruption. It was not a vetted question. It was a rogue question. It’s not good.”</p> <p>In a now removed Facebook post, Gillies-Lekakis explained that he “supports Putin’s grievances regarding the breaking of the Minsk Peace Agreement by Ukraine and the ensuing loss of life, particularly in the Russian-populated areas of the Donbas”.</p> <p>He added, “My question, furthermore, sought to question why these Russian deaths were seemingly less important compared to Ukrainian casualties in our media coverage, and whether the panellists thought there was any hypocrisy in their positions as a result.”</p> <p>“This is reflected in my question as published on the Q+A website. Unfortunately, I was unable to fully finish asking my question nor clarify myself despite trying, and so believe that my words were misrepresented and incomplete,” he further wrote.</p> <p>Gillies-Lekakis further noted that his question was not ‘rogue’ and was submitted to the show’s producers beforehand, adding that he wasn’t able to ask it in full before being interrupted.</p> <p>“The only addition I made to my question when actually delivering it was my reference to the Azhov Battalion (7-8 words roughly), and some sentences were left out towards the end as I was interrupted,” he said.</p> <p>He added, “If this small change to my question amounts to it being ‘rogue’, as was claimed, once again I apologise. However, I find this difficult to reconcile with the fact that other guests were given the chance to speak at length, off-script, on the Russia-Ukraine situation.”</p> <p>He said the Q+A host was “disappointing and unprofessional” and accused the network ABC of “questionable conduct” during the night.</p> <p>“I am genuinely sorry that things took the turn they did … if my question was not appropriate for the show after being vetted and edited, I wonder why I was invited at all,” he noted, adding “I would like to say that I had no intention whatsoever of offending anyone, and so would like to sincerely apologise for any distress my comments may have caused.”</p> <p>The incident has unsurprisingly caused division on social media, with some arguing these questions and opinions must be debated, while others proclaimed to do so is to support the bombardment and murder of innocent people:</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="5.9065217391304"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="5.4521739130435"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">I don’t agree with kicking him out. It goes against freedom of speech if it doesn’t suit your narrative. I’m fully behind <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a> but having these conversations is a necessity.</p> — Kristie Soto (@KristieSoto80) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristieSoto80/status/1499348989229297666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="7.2036474164134"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="7.6838905775076"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">I don’t support war in any form. This was a low in QandA’s history. Opinions offered on QandA, have been varied over time. Some offensive. None have resulted in eviction until tonight.<br /> He was asked to comment. You didn’t like it.<br /> Shouldn’t he get to have his say in a democracy?</p> — LouiseTaylor (@LouiseTay48) <a href="https://twitter.com/LouiseTay48/status/1499341568175910914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.1087962962963"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="5.6388888888889"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">should have let this guy finish his question in full without cutting him off. Thought the idea of a QandA was to here different points of view even if you disagree with them.</p> — Byron (@Peyote_TheForce) <a href="https://twitter.com/Peyote_TheForce/status/1499330060654096385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="5.4306569343066"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="4.5255474452555"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Well done Stan for telling him to leave. He was supporting the murder of civilians and children</p> — Karen Monk (@KM12094068) <a href="https://twitter.com/KM12094068/status/1499335543192125444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.9642857142857"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="7.4285714285714"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Get absolutely f*d with this clickbait garbage. Putin invaded a peaceful Democratic neighbour that posed no threat to Russia. His forces have murdered civilians, including children. There are not 2 sides to this story. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auspol</a></p> — Brian Mitchell MP (@BrianMitchellMP) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianMitchellMP/status/1499345886517751809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="7.2051282051282"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="8.1057692307692"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IStandWithUkraine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IStandWithUkraine</a> & despise that Putin has manipulated the narrative. However, we need to allow ppl to engage in conversation so that facts can be discussed & fiction proved nonsense. To silence opposing views can be dangerous, as those ppl can use this to support their claims.</p> — kayd (@jckmac7) <a href="https://twitter.com/jckmac7/status/1499376818864140290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="7.5755102040816"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="8.5224489795918"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">When one side of the debate controls the narrative by kicking out anyone with a different opinion, then claims the other side of the debate is all just propaganda, you know there is more to the story.</p> — Lita Gillies (@LitaGillies) <a href="https://twitter.com/LitaGillies/status/1499382943629774849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="7.1626297577855"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="7.6401384083045"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">What “right” are you talking about? Australia doesn’t have a “freedom of speech” right in out constitution. This isn’t America. Plus what he was saying was extremely false. He was stating stuff as if it was fact, not just “his opinion”.</p> — Luke (@goldstein85) <a href="https://twitter.com/goldstein85/status/1499351040436891651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.0058479532164"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="5.5438596491228"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">I am 100% against what Russia is doing and I am 100% against the way qanda responded to this person’s opinion and ejected him.</p> — Rod Barnett (@salientrod) <a href="https://twitter.com/salientrod/status/1499332152798105600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="9.1223241590214"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="11.522935779817"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Stan Grant advocated for MORE war, then kicked out a Russian-Aust saying the guy advocated for violence</p> <p>All I see is that it's Stan & Olga are the ONLY people on the Panel advocating for violence</p> <p>Olga:"we don't negotiate with Russia,it's a terrorist state". Non-milit solution?</p> — Rudolphreindeer (@Rudolphreinde19) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rudolphreinde19/status/1499336302906720256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> </div> </figure> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> Follow on Twitter: <p>———————————————————————————————————————<br /> Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a> <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong> In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>We need you to sign up for our free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support our sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Also, we urgently need your financial support <a href="https://www.subscribestar.com/paul-joseph-watson">here</a>. ———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/pjw-live-twitter-staffers-digitally-burning-documents/">https://summit.news/2022/04/28/pjw-live-twitter-staffers-digitally-burning-documents/</a>

revolution summit PJW Live: Twitter Staffers Digitally Burning Documents?

A Russian-Australian man was told to leave a television studio after he asked a ‘rogue’ question and pointed out that there is an alternativ...

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Leftist Leader Admits Multiculturalism Has Failed

<p><strong>In the absence of any action by the Biden Administration, Twenty six states have formed an alliance to create a ‘border strike force’ to secure the southern border.</strong></p> <p>The move was announced Tuesday in a <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2022/04/governor-ducey-25-governors-commit-coordinated-effort-secure-united-states">press release</a> and <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/sites/default/files/american_governors_border_strike_force_brief.pdf">document</a> from the office of Arizona governor Doug Ducey, who is heading up the alliance along with Texas governor Greg Abbott.</p> <p>The pledge has been signed on to by the governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.</p> <p>Ducey commented “What we’re doing in Arizona works, but this is not just an Arizona issue, it’s a national issue. If our entire southern border isn’t secure, our nation isn’t secure.”</p> <p>The governor added that “As dangerous transnational criminal organizations continue to profit from holes in the border and fill our communities with drugs, it’s no coincidence that we’re seeing historic levels of opioid-related deaths. The American Governors’ Border Strike Force will serve as a force multiplier in the fight against criminal activity directly tied to our border.”</p> <p>The release also notes “With record breaking migration leading to an overwhelming amount of apprehensions at the southern border, law enforcement is stretched too thin to effectively combat the cartels. This leads to more drugs entering the country, more dangerous individuals avoiding arrest, and more victims of human trafficking.”</p> <p>Last month, former Obama Homeland Security head Jeh Johnson warned that unmanageable numbers of illegal immigrants will pour across the southern border when the Biden Administration lifts the Title 42 public health authority.</p> <p>The measure, which Biden <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/01/cdc-phase-out-border-restrictions-increase-crossings-expected/">intends to scrap in May</a>, has effectively served as border control, allowing federal immigration officials to swiftly return around two million illegal immigrants to their home countries over the past two years.</p> <p>Without it, it is conservatively estimated that numbers of migrants reaching the border will increase three fold to 18,000 per day.</p> <figure>[embedded content]</figure> <p>The DHS estimates that 221,000 crossed in March, and noted that there are hundreds of thousands more just waiting for restrictions to ease.</p> <p>Hidalgo County, Texas Sheriff Eddie Guerra, interviewed during a recent NBC news report said that he has been warned to expect that the border could be overrun.</p> <p>Describing how he and his deputies are preparing, Guerra said “We’re talking about deputies dressed in their riot gear with their shields and their helmets and batons to keep the crowd at bay.”</p> <p>“We’re asking them to reconsider, you know, lifting the Title 42,” Guerra further stated.</p> <p>Watch:</p> <p>Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs has also warned that numbers will be even higher than estimated, suggesting that 20,000 to 30,000 could surge the border every day.</p> <p>“Right now, the [Department of Homeland Security] number is about 8,000 people a day, illegally entering our country,” Biggs said during a podcast, adding “DHS’s number, they say it’s going to be 18,000 a day … I personally think it’s going to be 20,000 to 30,000 a day.”</p> <p>He explained, “Cartels are already advertising to put together caravans to come across … our communities are going to be overrun … last year, 800,000 people illegally snuck into the country, they were not apprehended, they were the got-aways, we don’t know who they are, where they are from, what their intentions are.”</p> <p>Regarding lifting Title 42, Biggs said “I think the rationale here is, they’re trying to get this open and bring in as many people as they can before they lose the majority … [in] the House and Senate.” </p> <p>“I think this is a political ploy, it’s meant to happen. They campaigned on an open border,” Biggs continued, warning“If you think it’s bad now, the tsunami that’s coming is going to be overwhelming.”</p> <p>Listen:</p> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> Follow on Twitter: <p>———————————————————————————————————————<br /> Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a> <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong> In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>We need you to sign up for our free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support our sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Also, we urgently need your financial support <a href="https://www.subscribestar.com/paul-joseph-watson">here</a>. ———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/leftist-leader-admits-multiculturalism-has-failed/">https://summit.news/2022/04/28/leftist-leader-admits-multiculturalism-has-failed/</a>

revolution summit Leftist Leader Admits Multiculturalism Has Failed

In the absence of any action by the Biden Administration, Twenty six states have formed an alliance to create a ‘border strike force’ to sec...

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Too Many White Men Flying Planes!

<p><strong>Former world number one tennis star Novak Djokovic has described Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players as “crazy,” saying politics shouldn’t interfere in sport.</strong></p> <p>As we <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/20/wimbledon-bans-russian-players-from-competing-in-tournament/">highlighted</a> yesterday, Wimbledon organizers confirmed that players from both countries would be barred from competing in the tournament even if they have vocally opposed the war in Ukraine.</p> <p>Players had initially been expected to be given an opportunity to perform an act of ideological subservience by denouncing Russia in order to be able to take part, but now even this won’t be enough.</p> <p>Serbian star Djokovic, who was deported earlier this year after attempting to take part in the Australian Open without having been vaccinated, condemned the announcement.</p> <p>“I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war,” he asserted, adding, “I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history.”</p> <p>“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good,” said Djokovic.</p> <p>Wimbledon organizers All England Lawn Tennis Club attempted to justify the ban by saying it would be “unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships.”</p> <p>However, both the ATP and the WTA slammed Wimbledon over the decision.</p> <p>Men’s tour organizers ATP said it was “unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game.”</p> <p>The WTA said the ban was “neither fair nor justified.”</p> <p>The ban opens up future possibilities for players to be banned from tournaments if they don’t express political support for whatever ‘current thing’ cause is popular at the time.</p> <p>As we previously <a href="https://summit.news/2022/03/22/russian-chess-player-banned-from-competing-for-expressing-wrong-political-opinion/">highlighted</a>, Russian chess prodigy Sergey Karjakin was banned from competing internationally by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) because he expressed the wrong political opinion about Ukraine.</p> <p>Ukrainian sisters and chess grandmasters Maria & Anna Muzychuk were then banned by the Lviv Chess Federation for refusing to sign an open letter demanding that all Russians and Belarusians be banned.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="8.8629737609329"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Ukrainian sisters and chess grandmasters Maria & Anna Muzychuk will be suspended and excluded from competition by Lviv Chess Federation for refusing to sign an open letter calling for the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to ban Russian & Belarusian athletes. <a href="https://t.co/VRkCvG3ntT">pic.twitter.com/VRkCvG3ntT</a></p> <p>— Danny Armstrong (@DannyWArmstrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/DannyWArmstrong/status/1512335862155120646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2022</a></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Follow on Twitter:</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong></p> <p>In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/"><strong>Locals</strong></a>.</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/too-many-white-men-flying-planes/">https://summit.news/2022/04/28/too-many-white-men-flying-planes/</a>

revolution summit Too Many White Men Flying Planes!

Former world number one tennis star Novak Djokovic has described Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players as “crazy,” saying politi...

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Time is running out for Biden’s EPA to act on climate

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zJSKZRyYib-elfza4vWcS6rUx4s=/0x0:3519x1842/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23421273/GettyImages_181753803.jpg" /></div> <p>So far, President Biden’s legacy on climate change is pretty insubstantial. There’s time to change that if he can quickly make much better use of his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).</p> <p>The president put nearly all his hopes for climate action into passing his Build Back Better legislation through Congress. That bill would have spent <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/28/22748554/biden-budget-build-back-better-democrats-child-care-taxes">$550 billion</a> on clean energy and electrified transit. It failed to garner a majority in the Senate, and due to continuing reticence about the measure on the part of more conservative <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/26/greens-push-climate-compromise-manchin-00027511">Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)</a>, it appears unlikely any slimmed-down replacement will pass.</p> <p>In an ideal world, congressional and EPA action would complement each other. Laws are more durable than EPA policy alone, while the EPA can maneuver around legislative gridlock. Congressional spending on clean energy tax incentives helps bring down implementation costs for businesses, making it easier for the EPA to implement stricter rules.</p> <p>But even without Congress, the EPA has many regulatory powers it can unilaterally use to fight climate change. The agency can rein in climate emissions from the country’s biggest polluters in the power sector, transportation, industry, and oil and gas by upgrading efficiency standards and monitoring. Biden’s EPA needs to act soon if it wants to make these rules and make them last. Every significant rules change must go through a mandatory multistep process that can take up to two years — roughly the amount of time Biden has left in his first term.</p> <p>That process requires sifting through tens of thousands of public comments and amassing enough scientific evidence to justify the regulation. The Obama EPA showed what happens when an administration gets around to finalizing these rules too late in a term; the climate rules finalized in his last two years were reversed by Trump and the courts because they were either still in draft form or not yet implemented.</p> <p>All this becomes much easier if Biden gets a second term, but given his <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">polling numbers</a>, there’s no guarantees. Addressing climate change can’t wait out another decade of policy reversals by presidents from opposing parties. So Biden’s got to get as much done as permanently as he can while Democrats still hold power.</p> <p>That’s why, 15 months into the Biden administration, the EPA is at an extremely important turning point — especially if Biden is serious about his goal of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">halving US pollution</a> from peak levels in the next eight years. The agency needs to finalize as much as possible by the end of 2022, and needs to do so carefully, allowing it to mount the strongest defense possible in conservative-tilting courts.</p> <p>If it fails to do so, the Biden administration will have squandered valuable time in the fight against climate change. In a matter of years, the world is likely to pass <a href="https://www.vox.com/23009894/un-ipcc-climate-mitigation-report-ar6-summary">1.5 degrees Celsius of warming</a>, and be well on its way to catastrophically higher levels, if steep cuts aren’t made by 2025. Even if Biden gets a second term, every moment counts — and with congressional action off the table, he needs to start making far better use of the EPA.</p> <h3>Why Biden’s climate policy has gotten off to a slow start</h3> <p>In the first hours of his presidency, Biden promised a “whole of government” approach to climate change, signing executive orders that prompted agencies to change the way they operated during the Trump era.</p> <p>After that, the White House placed most of its bets on Congress passing a massive infrastructure package along with historic climate spending. Congress did pass a historic infrastructure law, but it’s one that may wind up increasing emissions because of its investment in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/climate/highways-climate-change-traffic.html">highway expansion</a>. The climate legislation — with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/21/22892382/joe-manchin-climate-change-biden-negotiations-bbb">$550 billion</a> in tax credits for clean energy and electrification — is unlikely to ever happen.</p> <p>The executive branch is on its own. Thanks to the broad powers granted by the Clean Air Act, however, Biden has a tool for combating climate change in the EPA.</p> <p>Asked about the agency’s accomplishments, deputy assistant administrator Joe Goffman of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told Vox by email, “We’ve set the strongest climate pollution standards for cars in history by model year 2026.”</p> <p>The EPA has also finalized its initial phase-out of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-and-epa-continue-progress-cutting-super-pollutants-barring">hydrofluorocarbons</a> used in refrigerants. And it managed to meet all the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/documents/2-epa_allocations_workshop_mdis_final_3-11-21.pdf">congressionally required</a> deadlines imposed by the 2020 law the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act.</p> <p>Those are important successes. But the current list of finalized rules is pretty short compared to the list left to tackle. As David Doniger, senior strategic director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate program, put it: “We’re way in overtime with dealing with many of these problems.”</p> <p>At a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs419yYyz8k&ab_channel=SenatorSheldonWhitehouse">budget hearing</a> in early April, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Senate’s most vocal lawmaker on climate change, rattled off the number of rules the EPA has yet to finalize on climate change. They include new regulations targeting coal in the power sector, methane from oil and gas, industrial operations, and cars. He was dissatisfied with the pace of progress. “How long do you think you have?” he asked.</p> <p>Biden’s EPA administrator Michael Regan responded that the EPA had a slow start because he inherited a mess of an agency.</p> <p>“I think we have to be honest about the state the EPA found itself in when President Biden was elected,” Regan said, claiming he has “staff working nights and weekends” to play catch-up. He added, “I am damn proud of what the agency has done over the past year with the resources it has.”</p> <p>It’s true that the Trump administration rolled back more than <a href="https://grist.org/project/accountability/trump-rollbacks-biden-climate-tracker/">200 environmental regulations</a>, and EPA morale was at <a href="https://peer.org/epa-scientist-survey-yields-horrific-results/">record lows</a> in the Trump era. Over his term, the 15,000-person workforce dwindled by over a thousand. That’s equal to 1988 levels, and the agency’s workload has increased a lot since then, in part because it has been given a mandate by Congress and through Supreme Court rulings to regulate toxic chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p>Staffing is certainly a big piece of the problem, according to Doniger, who says a diminished workforce means the EPA is forced to pick and choose what gets done on deadline. At its current levels, getting one rule done by a certain deadline means borrowing staff from other programs and leaving other priorities understaffed. Moving people around was how the EPA was able to accomplish the things it has so far, Doniger said.</p> <p>The other big issue the EPA is facing is money. While the Biden administration is working down the ranks to fill political slots (some of which depend on a painfully slow Senate confirmation process), it is constrained to a limited budget for filling out the rest of the EPA’s ranks. That has made the process of filling vacancies slower than ideal.</p> <h3>Most of the EPA’s biggest rules are still works in progress</h3> <p>With fewer staff and a smaller budget than it needs (Biden’s 2023 budget request asked for a <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/epa-would-see-highest-funding-level-ever-under-biden-budget-plan">29 percent increase</a>), the EPA still promises ambitious action is on the way.</p> <p>Those promises include regulating the main sources of climate pollution, including coal-fired power plants, and burning off methane leaks in a practice called flaring from existing oil and gas producers. Many of these haven’t been officially proposed yet, meaning there’s a long road ahead for them.</p> <p>Other rules are still in draft stages, meaning they’re still months (or years) away from being finalized, and don’t go as far as climate advocates feel is needed. The EPA’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/climate/trucks-pollution-rules-epa.html">proposal for trucks</a> is expected to slash 90 percent of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide by 2031, but does far less for carbon emissions from the tailpipe; the change will likely increase the electric truck fleet to just 1.5 percent by 2027.</p> <p>Should they be implemented, all of these would be considered landmark policy. But at this stage in the climate crisis, they’re also the minimum of what’s expected from a Democratic administration to tackle the main sources of US climate pollution.</p> <p>And there’s more the EPA could and should do. Notably, it hasn’t written a methane proposal that addresses smaller oil and gas wells — lower-producing sites that <a href="https://www.edf.org/media/new-study-low-producing-oil-and-gas-wells-drive-roughly-half-well-site-methane-pollution">make up 80 percent of the nation’s wells</a>, and are responsible for making areas like New Mexico and Texas’s Permian Basin one of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/17/22933671/climate-change-methane-emissions-satellites-permian-basin">biggest sources of methane emissions</a> in the world.</p> <p>Then there’s the power sector: The most important step for tackling climate pollution includes closing the last of the nation’s 200 coal-fired power plants. But the EPA hasn’t proposed any rule yet for existing plants.</p> <p>Regan promised in the April hearing the EPA would be ready to go with a new power plant rule soon after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/23/22937517/supreme-court-epa-west-virginia-clean-power-plan-climate-change">issues a decision</a> in June expected to limit its tools for cleaning up electricity. Depending on the decision, the EPA’s ability to mandate more renewables on the grid over the next decade could be severely restricted.</p> <p>The huge amount of unfinished business that remains adds up to a bleak picture. Essentially, the Biden administration could be more talk than action if it doesn’t really accelerate work on these issues and follow through with tougher EPA policy through 2022.</p> <h3>Biden’s EPA needs to balance limited time with durability</h3> <p>In making new policy, the EPA needs to exercise a lot of caution: It’s important that the agency checks all its boxes in putting forward new regulations to ensure they aren’t just overturned by the next Republican president.</p> <p>“The Trump administration had this huge loss rate in court for its rollbacks in part because it skipped a lot of those steps and did a lot of terrible analysis,” NYU Law’s regulatory policy director Jack Lienke said.</p> <p>The Biden administration is working more thoroughly, and has endeavored to ensure science supports its policy changes. Even thorough work, however, doesn’t guarantee long-lasting climate regulation.</p> <p>From the conservative-dominated Supreme Court down to the lower courts, judges are more skeptical than ever of deferring to agency expertise, a precedent that is affecting the Biden administration’s social cost of carbon and <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/04/25/biden-administration-resumes-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public-lands-but-significantly-cuts-back-where-that-can-happen-in-colorado/">public lands’ leasing policy</a>: In February, a Louisiana federal judge (and Trump appointee) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/21/social-cost-of-carbon-biden/">banned</a> the administration from reinstating an Obama-era calculation of the social and economic costs from carbon emissions, an important metric used throughout government policymaking. The inevitable threat of lawsuits has slowed everything down even more.</p> <p>“An agency can’t seem to be doing anything too ambitious or novel,” Lienke explained. “Agencies have to do even more in terms of building up an incredibly detailed record, cataloging exactly why they have authority to do this, and why the benefits of doing it outweigh the costs. They’re up against a more hostile judiciary.”</p> <p>That leaves the Biden administration with two imperfect options: Move quickly and risk a greater chance of an upset in courts, or move slowly and leave rules more vulnerable to a possible Republican successor.</p> <p>So far, the EPA has proceeded cautiously, choosing between priorities. To tackle climate change, it needs to find ways to move not just with caution but with speed. How much forward momentum it can muster will become apparent in the next few months, but the more it can do, the better off the US will be as it attempts to make serious progress toward its climate goals.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/23036107/biden-climate-epa-regulation-power-plants-coal">https://www.vox.com/23036107/biden-climate-epa-regulation-power-plants-coal</a>

vox Time is running out for Biden’s EPA to act on climate

So far, President Biden’s legacy on climate change is pretty insubstantial. There’s time to change that if he can quickly make much better ...

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