Politics Random, Random

[Suliso]

Ponchi, how much smaller do you think the oil industry is going to be when the transition to fully electric transportation now in progress is complete? Oil will still be needed for the chemical industry, but volumes likely comparatively small.

[Togtdyalttai]

In related news, president Trump and twenty-one other 13 year old children with a history of inappropriate behaviour were suspended from twitter, facebook and instagram. In a rare instance of performing a correct action, Mark Zuckerberg stated that the latter two suspensions are for an indefinite period.

Trump's Twitter suspension was only for 12 or 24 hours and he's now back on. For example, he tweeted this morning that he won't attend Biden's inauguration.

[ti-amie]

Rick Scott is on his knees begging Tiny to go to the Inauguration.

[ti-amie]

Nancy saying it louder so the foks in the back can hear.

[ti-amie]

Jim Acosta
@Acosta
Outside lawyers are being sought for consultation by WH about prospect of last minute, rapid impeachment of Trump, we are told. So far Trump’s attorneys don’t believe there’s enough time left for him to be removed from office. But conversations underway.

[skatingfan]

White Privilege

[skatingfan]

Rep. Jim Clyburn on MSNBC right now talking about how his primary office was untouched, but his secondary office that he describes as difficult to find in the building, had rioters in the office, and his staff barricaded in the inner office while the rioters attempted to take the door.

[ti-amie]

House Democrats move rapidly toward impeaching Trump a second time

By
Mike DeBonis
Jan. 8, 2021 at 12:31 p.m. EST

A growing corps of House Democrats, furious over the invasion of the Capitol on Wednesday by a mob inspired and encouraged by President Trump, is pushing to rapidly impeach the president a second time — hoping to force Trump from office even a few days early rather than allow him to leave on his own terms.

Removing Trump by constitutional means is a tall order for the 12 days remaining in his presidency, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not made a formal determination to move forward with a second impeachment, even as she consulted Friday with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about curbing Trump’s ability to launch nuclear weapons.

Outrage over Wednesday’s events has grown to the point that it could be impossible for Pelosi to ignore, prompting a rapid vote as soon as early next week, according to interviews with House Democratic members and aides.

“We have a great sense of unity that we have a moral obligation to act,” said Rep. Daniel Kildee (Mich.), a Democratic deputy whip. “If we can shave any number of days of the threat this president represents off the calendar, we will have done public good, but there’s also another important aspect of this. . . . It would be a more accurate view of history if this president suffered the ultimate penalty for his crimes against his country, no matter how many days are removed from his tenure.”

Trump acknowledged Thursday that there will be a new administration Jan. 20 but has not shown any indication that he will resign before then.

Pelosi said Thursday that “Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment” if Vice President Pence did not act in concert with the Cabinet to remove Trump from office under the terms of the 25th Amendment. But she said she had no immediate plans to recall lawmakers to begin that process.

“If he wants to be unique and be doubly impeached, that’s kind of up to him and his Cabinet as to whether he should stay in office,” she said.

On Friday, she said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers: “If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action.” She did not specify what that action would be.

In the letter, she also described speaking to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.” She further described Trump as “unhinged” and said lawmakers “must do everything that we can” to protect the nation from him.

One key Senate Democrat, however, warned against proceeding with impeachment — saying that he preferred that Trump resign or be removed through the 25th Amendment, out of concern that an impeachment trial could hamstring the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

“We have to put our government together quickly — that’s the most important thing we should do,” said Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). “We don’t need any more political theater.”

Pelosi is expected to lead a noon conference call of House lawmakers Friday to discuss next steps. Several Democrats said Friday that an impeachment vote could come together as soon as Monday or Tuesday if the decision is made to move forward.

“Donald Trump should be impeached, convicted and removed from office immediately,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a tweet Thursday.

More than 60 House Democrats signed a letter late Thursday asking the three top House Democratic leaders to reconvene the House as soon as possible to “show the American people that Congress is continuing to meet its responsibilities in the face of extraordinary threats” and take action, including a possible impeachment.

“We are the only branch of government that is capable of governing this country and led by sane and competent people,” reads the letter, led by Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). “Going home and staying home until the eve of President Biden’s inauguration should not be an option.”

Two draft articles of impeachment have been circulated among House Democrats that cite Trump’s incitement of the mob and his delayed decision to encourage it to disperse as high crimes and misdemeanors necessitating removal.

“We just suffered the most massive, violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol in American history since the War of 1812,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), author of one of the drafts. “It is unthinkable to me that we would allow this simply to be, you know, one more unfortunate faux pas by the president. He has counseled and invited an attack on the Congress of the United States itself.”

No Republican House members have indicated that they would back impeachment. One, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), has called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump. Others have suggested that they would welcome Trump’s resignation or his removal under those circumstances.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) told “CBS This Morning” on Friday that he could “consider” any impeachment articles forwarded by the House.

“He swore an oath to the American people to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” Sasse said. “He acted against that. What he did was wicked.”

While House Democrats could impeach Trump in the House on their own, removing him would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate — meaning 17 Republicans would have to join with the 50 Democrats that will be seated once Sens.-elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are certified as the winners of last Tuesday’s Georgia runoffs.

Senate impeachment trials are governed by an intricate and lengthy set of procedures that could be difficult to waive. Trump’s first impeachment trial, which concluded in February, lasted 20 days.

Trump could still be impeached after he leaves office, most constitutional scholars say, which would have the effect of barring him from the presidency again. But there is a political barrier to proceeding with a Senate trial: the impending inauguration of Biden, and his need to rapidly confirm a Cabinet.

A lengthy impeachment trial could obstruct efforts to staff Biden’s administration and prepare to govern amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as dire circumstances abroad, including a simmering threat from Iran.

Biden has not weighed in on a possible impeachment.

The House could have other options to take action in the coming days. Raskin has written a bill to create a commission on presidential disabilities to prepare for action under the 25th Amendment, and other House Democrats have called for censure of GOP lawmakers for inciting violence.

“We need every tool in our constitutional tool kit on the table to deal with the crisis,” Raskin said. “I believe we should work on parallel tracks to defend the government and the people of the United States.”

Pelosi on Thursday did not raise the disruption a Senate trial could cause but said that impeachment represented “the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people.”

“My phone is exploding with impeach, impeach, impeach,” she said. “The president must be held accountable again.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpos ... story.html

[ti-amie]

A capitol police officer who was attacked yesterday by the terrorists has died.

Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick Dies After Suffering Injuries During U.S. Capitol Riot
By CBS Baltimore StaffJanuary 8, 2021 at 12:59 pm



WASHINGTON (AP/WJZ) — Capitol Police officer has died after he sustained injuries during the riot at the U.S. Capitol Thursday.

Officer Brian D. Sicknick, 42, passed away around 9:30 p.m. Thursday due to injuries sustained while on-duty.

According to a statement from Capitol Police, the 15-year veteran of the department was responding the the riots when he was struck in the head by insurrectionists. He returned to his office where he collapsed after suffering a stroke, according to reports. He was rushed to the hospital, but later died from his injuries.

He joined the Capitol Police Department in July 2008 and most recently served on its first responder unit.

“The entire USCP Department expresses its deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick’s family and friends on their loss, and mourns the loss of a friend and colleague.”

There was some confusion around the officer’s death Thursday after two lawmakers, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, tweeted earlier in the evening that he had died. But at the time he still remained on life support. The Capitol Police union corrected media outlets saying Sicknick had not died. But then about an hour later, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

“I’ve been advised a US Capitol Police officer has died of injuries sustained in yesterday’s assault on the Capitol. My heart goes out to the family of the officer and to all who risk their lives every day to protect and serve our communities with dignity and principle,” Phillips tweeted.

His death will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Around midnight, officers lined the streets by the Capitol to honor the fallen officer.

More than 50 Capitol and D.C. police were injured, including several who were hospitalized, Capitol Police said.

Condolences poured in for the officer’s colleagues and family.

Washington DC officials identified Thursday the four people who died at the U.S. Capitol when a mob of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the building.

Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee identified the woman shot and killed by Capitol police as 35-year-old Ashli Babbit. CBS Los Angeles reported Babbit was from San Diego, but DC Police says she’s from Huntingtown, Maryland.

Three others, who died from medical emergencies, were identified as 50-year-old Benjamin Phillips of Ringtown, Pennsylvania, 55-year-old Kevin Greeson of Athens, Alabama and 34-year-old Roseanne Boleyn of Kennesaw, Georgia.

A total of 82 people were arrested so far for the riot at the Capitol — 68 by MPD, only one of whom was from the district, while Capitol police said 14 were arrested.

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/01/ ... ed-latest/

[patrick]

Rick Scott is on his knees begging Tiny to go to the Inauguration.

Why and what do my ex governor has to gain?

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Rick Scott is on his knees begging Tiny to go to the Inauguration.

Why and what do my ex governor has to gain?

Not a clue

[JazzNU]

Nancy saying it louder so the foks in the back can hear.

The certainty that some have that Pence won't move to invoke the 25th Amendment needs to be tempered with the fact that unhinged Trump attorney Lin Wood was on Parler on Wednesday cheering the Capitol break-in and said "Get the firing squards ready. Pence goes FIRST." Emphasis his not mine. He had 190k followers then. He's got 6 million now. And he's not letting up. Why the FBI hasn't arrested him for instigating an attempted assassination of the Vice President is beyond me, but people need to stop pretending like Pence's life isn't in mortal danger already and loyalty to Instigator-in-Chief has got to be dwindling by the minute.

[ponchi101]

Ponchi, how much smaller do you think the oil industry is going to be when the transition to fully electric transportation now in progress is complete? Oil will still be needed for the chemical industry, but volumes likely comparatively small.

Zero. The oil AND GAS industry will be doing quite well in the near future, and in the medium term too.
If I may.
The idea that Solar and Wind will eventually replace O&G is not based on solid numbers. For example, to feed America's need for electricity with only wind power would need an area the size of California. This is also an idealized scenario, as it does not take into account the fact that wind needs to be located close to the areas of consumption or you lose the usual percentages due to transmission. The fact that people want wind-power but NOT close to their homes (real estate drops in value when wind farms are near) will influence future developments.
Solar and wind are also intermittent (obvious) which means that both systems need some sort of storage if we were to rely solely on them. The entire storage capacity of the world would feed us with power for 3 minutes. That's it. Tesla's powerwall stores about 13 KW/Hr. California, for example, consumes 9.6 TERAWATT/Hours. You are smart enough to see, at a glance, the huge number of powerwalls that would be needed to feed CA's requirements in a dark, quite night.
Another problem is the reluctance to use modern nuclear technology. After the Fukushima disaster, Germany decided to drop all of its nuclear power production, due to public pressure. The replacement of that energy output has been done with a little bit of solar, a bit of wind, and a lot of coal. it is the reason Europe as a whole has not been able to meet the goals set in the Paris agreement.
Gas is the "best" replacement for coal, which is still the main polluter in the world. It is still fossil fuel, but it burns way cleaner than coal (obviously). The problem with believing that a shift to electric transportation will reduce CC emissions is that your $120K Tesla S is as clean as the power plant that provides the power. The same for electric trains and massive transport systems, and all such things. Remember, oil consumption was at around 85 MM barrels/day in 2014, when the price dropped (therefore my unemployment issues). At the beginning of the C19 pandemic, we were about to break the 100MM Barrels/day mark. Sure, consumption has come down, but only because of this insane pandemic issue.
The SECOND most polluting industry, agriculture, will not change any time soon. Airlines cannot switch to electric planes not because the technology is not there (I hear that electrical planes are actually easier and safer to build, as they have far fewer parts) but because an airline cannot have a 6 hours long recharging time before that plane can fly again (and I am being generous).
The industry will be fine. We need more and more energy every day, and countries without the high tech options will always be able to pump out oil, by now a low-tech one.

The gist is that we do not use oil only to feed transportation, we use a lot of it to generate electricity. It is the reason coal refuses to go (in China, India, the EU and almost everywhere). Sure, we are oil-addicts. But it is to turn it into electricity. And at that, O&G is very, very good.
Last: it is easy for some people to say that we need to cut down on O&G and coal when you only need to flip a switch on the wall to have your lights go on. When you are in India and the government provides you with the same luxury by setting a coal-powered plant nearby, your disgust for fossil fuels goes down. Even if you and I know that it generates all the other problems.

[ti-amie]