November 08, 2022

New Yorkers: If You Re-elect These Idiots, It's On You

November 08, 2022/ Francis Menton

Today is Election Day. At the federal level, all seats in the House of Representatives and one third of the Senate are up for election.
Also up for election here in New York, as in most of the states, are all state-wide elective offices, as well as all seats in both houses of the State Legislature. Currently the Democrats hold all of the state-wide elective offices (Governor/Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller), as well as super-majorities in both houses of the Legislature (106 of 150 seats in the Assembly and 43 of 63 seats in the State Senate).
Of the New York races, the only one that has been subject to extensive public polling is the race for Governor.

November 06, 2022

Understanding Biden Administration Energy Policy

November 06, 2022/ Francis Menton

Politicians have long been known for having a loose relationship with the truth. Generally, that takes the form of exaggeration or hyperbole. But the latest craze among Democrats is just making flatly contradictory statements.
In this category, it’s hard to top the performance of Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman on Saturday night, when he uttered this immortal quote:
I run on Roe v Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade. That's the choice that we have between us, in front of us.”
Video at the link if you don’t believe it. Clearly, Fetterman is not all there mentally.
But how different is that, really, from Joe Biden on energy policy?

November 02, 2022

November 02, 2022/ Francis Menton

The Supreme Court arguments in the Harvard and University of North Carolina affirmative action cases took place on Monday. I listened to some substantial portion, although it was not possible for me to listen to the whole thing (some 5 hours in total). From what I heard, I agree with most commenters that affirmative action in the form currently practiced throughout academia is not likely to survive.
Affirmative action is one of those issues on which the opinions of our intellectual elites diverge almost completely from the opinions of normal people.
In a piece on Tuesday (November 1) discussing the likely outcome of the Harvard/UNC case, the New York Times took note of the broad public opposition to affirmative action in college admissions, even extending to heavily Democratic constituencies:

October 30, 2022

October 30, 2022/ Francis Menton

Often I have referred to the situation that the UK, Germany, California and others have set themselves up for as “hitting the green energy wall.”
But now that the UK has actually gotten there and has begun to deal with the consequences, I’m not sure that “hitting the wall” is the best analogy. A better analogy might be “driving into the green energy cul-de-sac.”
After all, when you hit a wall you can probably just pick yourself up and turn around and be on your way. In the cul-de-sac you are trapped with no evident way of getting out. You might be in there for a long time.
This is where the UK finds itself today.

October 28, 2022

October 28, 2022/ Jane Menton

Four years ago, just before our son was born, my husband and I bought our first home: a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Queens.
Queens has a lot to recommend it; it is often known as the City’s “middle class” borough, with almost no slums, and an equivalent lack of notable wealth.
It is not a small area: more than 100 square miles, with a population over 2.25 million. The homeownership rate is about 45%, which is high for New York City.
In addition, it is the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S., and a place where immigrants from all over the world have sought the American dream.
Unfortunately, our politicians are working hard to put an end to that.
About a year ago I joined the board of my building.. Within my first month of joining a senior board member, one who has been on the board for many years and is about 20 years my senior, sent us all the following email:

October 25, 2022

October 25, 2022/ Francis Menton

Yesterday the Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council (CHECC) filed a corrected version of its opening brief challenging the EPA’s Endangerment Finding as to CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
The brief can be found here.
The bizarre reason for the “corrected” filing was that the clerks at the DC Circuit rejected our initial filing on the ground that we used an excessive number of acronyms. They have a rule encouraging you not to use too many acronyms, but the rule gives no clue as to how many is too many. When you use the term “greenhouse gases” thirty times, should you shorten it to “GHGs,” or write it out every time? You only find out when they bounce the brief and require you to correct it. Anyway, with any luck the linked version is now the final one.
When you take a look at the brief, you will see that we are directly and openly challenging the fake science of predicted catastrophic human-caused global warming from GHGs.