Blinken says authoritarian regimes using tech to undermine democracy

"...authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights...

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday technology should be employed to sustain democratic values in the face of efforts by authoritarian and repressive regimes to deploy technology to undermine democracy and human rights.
Like-minded governments and their people were working together to promote free and fair elections, Blinken said, noting safeguarding democracy was a collective effort.
"As authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights, we need to ensure that technology sustains and supports democratic values and norms," he said at the opening of the Summit for Democracy in South Korea.

#1 This day 1974-----Cher - Dark Lady (Official Music Video)

The Most "Non-Pretending" and Brutally Honest Video So Far This Year - The Last Refuge

This video is buckets of brutal and pragmatic honesty. So much so, that it’s actually stunningly refreshing.
"In an era where everything is seemingly constructed around false pretenses, manufactured narratives and just plain nonsense, the cold reality of truth stands as a beacon that draws attention from those who just know that things are not right. 

•  Watch this video and see a woman who is completely unafraid to state the truth without pretending.

Abused women are only "weapons" to the left.

 

U.S., like China, may end up with massive 'EV graveyards' - WND - by Richard Blakley

U.S., like China, may end up with massive 'EV graveyards' - WND - by Richard Blakley: 

In 2022, China was the world leader in "clean cars," “producing around 6 million EVs and plug-in hybrids" and accounting for "60% of the world’s current electric fleet and has the most extensive EV charging infrastructure on Earth – also built with government support."

In comparison, a December 2023 report stated that there are only about "3 million electric cars on the road in the U.S." March 2023 USA Facts reports that there were about 56,000 EV charging stations across the U.S., and President Joe Biden allocated $7.5 billion for EV chargers in his 2021 "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act."

Lansing’s $402M pension problem could become ours

City’s unfunded pension debt continues to grow, even with state help

"The city of Lansing pays pensions to 1,790 former employees, but it lacks a fully funded pension system. 

If the city fails to fully fund its pension obligations, the burden will fall upon future taxpayers, says James Hohman, budget director at the Mackinac Center.

• Lansing’s net pension liability was $402,497,602 as of June 30, 2023, according to the city’s latest annual report. 

That’s the gap between what the city owes the members of its workforce and what it has available (and expects to have available) to pay out...

• Lansing saw an increase in its unfunded liability from 2022, even with an $11 million pension grant from state taxpayers. The city had $371,959,895 in net pension liability back then...

AM Fruitcake

 

History for March 19

History for March 19 - On-This-Day.com 

William Jennings Bryan 1860 - American politician

• 1918 - The U.S. Congress approved Daylight-Saving Time.
• 1945 - Adolf Hitler issued his "Nero Decree" which ordered the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands as German forces were retreating.
• 1963 - In Costa Rica, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledged to fight Communism.
• 1977 - The last episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" aired.
• 1987 - Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned from the PTL due to a scandal involving Jessica Hahn.
• 1998 - The World Health Organization warned of tuberculosis epidemic that could kill 70 million people in next two decades.
• 2000 - Vector Data Systems conducted a simulation of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco, TX. The simulation showed that the government had not fired first.
• 2001 - California officials declared a power alert and ordered the first of two days of rolling blackouts.

Texas takes on Biden: Border battle update, key takeaways from the 'Take Our Border Back' convoy | Blaze Media

Texas takes on Biden: Border battle update, key takeaways from the 'Take Our Border Back' convoy | Blaze Media: 

Earlier this year, "Take Our Border Back," a coalition of freedom-loving Americans, formed a multi-state convoy that toured through the country, holding rallies along the journey to bring attention to the Biden administration's "wide open" border policies.

The group was relentlessly smeared by corporate media outlets who accused the concerned citizens of being "far right extremists," even claiming some participants may have ties to "militias." News outlets blasted the coalition for referring to themselves as "the army of God," warning others to stay away from the allegedly dangerous, so-called "Christian nationalists."

Despite the media's sensationalism and the group's concerns that agitators might infiltrate the convoy, the events were peaceful — exactly as its organizers had intended. After initially dominating the headlines, the convoy seemed to fade from the spotlight once it became too difficult for the media to spin the prayerful gatherings as anything menacing.

The way we were-----Isaac Hopper: The Quaker Voice Against Slavery

Why NYC's New Pizza Regulations Are 'Utter B.S.'

"Steve Forbes tears into a New York City regulation that would effectively ban coal- and wood-burning pizza ovens, calling the justification behind the new rules "preposterous" and simply a function of more clueless government meddling.

New bill redefines child abuse as objecting to abortion, sex changes

"...would also prevent medical providers from liability concerns for providing gender transition and abortion services to minors without parental consent -  TIMOTHY FRUDD

"A new bill proposed in Illinois would change the state’s definition of “abused child” to include children whose parents or guardians object to them having 

• transgender surgeries, 
• puberty blockers, 
• cross-sex hormones, and 
• abortions.

The proposed Illinois bill, labeled House Bill 4876, was introduced earlier this month by Democratic State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray...

Ah, the truth!-----Obama: "Under my plan electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket"

Climate bureaucrats giving China a free pass on its massive pollution - WND - by Around the Web

Climate bureaucrats giving China a free pass on its massive pollution - WND - by Around the Web: 

China’s annual greenhouse gas emissions have soared over the past 20 years, dwarfing those of the U.S. But according to our progressive federal bureaucrats, America’s cumulative historical emissions are the problem and Beijing now deserves a free pass.

The federal government’s climate.gov site ostensibly provides “timely and authoritative scientific data and information about climate science, adaptation, and mitigation.” This mandate apparently includes trying to guilt Americans out of questioning progressive policies while the world’s second-largest economy emits greenhouse gases at an unparalleled level. 

People Use GPS 'Jammers' to Stop Tracking of Their Cars

Opinion: Bus Lanes and Bike Paths as our Cities Crumble - Illinois Review

Opinion: Bus Lanes and Bike Paths as our Cities Crumble - Illinois Review - JOHN F. DI LEO

"Reading a campaign speech in Milwaukee this week, Joe Biden boasted of a plan to spend some $36 million on a stretch of 6th Street, just west of downtown Milwaukee. 

His speechwriter had him listing such federally funded benefits as bike lanes, newly planted trees, and bus lanes to make 6th Street a prettier place to be...
Now that the campaign cycle is fully engaged, Joe Biden is traveling throughout the country, reading speeches like this in big cities and small ones, offering the same goodies to everybody.

• There are just three problems with this approach.

1. When government plans which projects to develop, it rarely chooses as well as the private sector would. They choose things with politics in mind, no matter whether the expenditures will help or not. Encouraging bicycles in a busy downtown is dangerous...
2. Ask any resident of Milwaukee – or, heck, any resident of any American city today – and they won’t list bike lanes, bus routes, or a lack of greenery among their top twenty problems...
3. And most important for at least some of us in flyover country, none of this is any of the federal government’s business in the first place...

Lunch video-----How is Haiti, the world’s oldest independent black nation doing these days?

Noon-toon

 

Joe Biden Spikes Migration Yet Complains About Rising Rents

Joe Biden Spikes Migration Yet Complains About Rising Rents: 

President Joe Biden is complaining “rents are too high” after he deliberately imported 10 million rent-spiking legal and illegal migrants into Americans’ neighborhoods.

The sudden, election-year complaint was posted on March 14 by Politico.com, which did not mention Biden’s decision to import millions of new immigrant-renters:

2 good men!

 

Gotta see the lib's hypocrisy on short video--“bloodbath”!!!

Trump critics would never use a term like “bloodbath” Tom Elliott @tomselliott

• SUPERCUT! Trump critics would never use a term like “bloodbath”

#1 Movie this week 1987-----Lethal Weapon (1987)

Scott Adams: Levels of Awareness in politics

Level 6 - You are dead because you know too much. Also known as Epstein Level.

• Level 1 - They believe what their preferred news say and do not sample other sources. Not aware of counter arguments. Not aware their news is mostly narrative.
• Level 2 - Sample news from multiple sources but believe only their own sources are accurate. Think the other side is all narrative, but familiar with all sides of issues.
• Level 3 - Aware that ALL news is fake, at least in the sense of missing context and spin. Also known as Gell-Mann Amnesia. But still believe the experts in various fields are usually correct.
• Level 4 - Understand that NONE of our experts are reliable. Some might be right, not none can be trusted without verification. The distortion of money makes no expert credible.
• Level 5 - They see the gears of the machine, Mike Benz style. The Republic no longer looks like whatever the Founders intended. The control of powerful billionaires and intelligence professionals is now obvious.
• Level 6 - You are dead because you know too much. Also known as Epstein Level.

#1 This day 1950-----Teresa Brewer - Music Music Music