Ivanpah: no such thing as a free lunch
Posted By: DVC, 5/29/2026 1:19:14 PM
So-called renewable energy has never lived up to its extravagant promise. Windmills are very expensive, hard to service, and produce power only when the wind blows, and solar only when the sun shines, [snip] And then there is the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert, an extraordinarily expensive flash-fryer for birds flying into its heat beams, and a futuristic failure. Even the Sierra Club has been forced to admit the thousands of birds and tortoises killed, and the despoiling of the desert ecosystem, are too much. And so was the cost to taxpayers:
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Ivanpah: no such thing as a free lunch
2 replies
So-called renewable energy has never lived up to its extravagant promise. Windmills are very expensive, hard to service, and produce power only when the wind blows, and solar only when the sun shines, [snip]
And then there is the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert, an extraordinarily expensive flash-fryer for birds flying into its heat beams, and a futuristic failure. Even the Sierra Club has been forced to admit the thousands of birds and tortoises killed, and the despoiling of the desert ecosystem, are too much. And so was the cost to taxpayers:
Breaking the Hindenburg Line
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Time will not diminish the glory of their deeds.”
General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I, spoke those words about America’s doughboys of the Great War. They ring as true today as they did a century ago. Yet while time has not diminished their glory, it has, tragically, diminished the memory of who they were -- these American soldiers of the “Great War” -- and what they sacrificed.
I have written 16 books [snip] Every publisher who reviewed the proposal loved the story. They passed anyway. “WWII books still sell,” they told me. “WW1 books don’t.”
We need more of this
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I must admit that I’m feeling a little reassured by some developments in the arena of law enforcement and justice. [snip] we see that Tina Peters will be released from her Colorado jail cell in June; people are being indicted for fraud involving SNAP, hospice care, and Medicare/Medicaid scams; and Jeanine Pirro will be cracking down on the parents of rioting juveniles. [snip]
Vice President J.D. Vance spoke powerfully at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, invoking Isaiah 6:8 to honor law enforcement officers who answer the call “to their last breath.” In that passage, the prophet Isaiah wrote,
As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China, many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government: their everyday cellphones.
Instead, officials entering China often travel with stripped-down "clean" devices, temporary laptops and tightly controlled communications systems designed to minimize the risk of surveillance, hacking or data collection in what U.S. officials consider one of the world’s most aggressive cyber environments.
The precautions can transform even routine tasks into logistical headaches. Messages that would normally travel instantly through encrypted apps or synced devices are instead routed through controlled channels, temporary accounts or relayed in person.
Million-dollar SNAP food stamp fraud scheme
in Walz's backyard sparks outrage: 'Cruel joke' 11 replies
in Walz's backyard sparks outrage: 'Cruel joke' 11 replies
Authorities in Minnesota have filed criminal charges against a man accused of a food stamp fraud scheme that defrauded taxpayers out of over $1 million.
Abdidwahid Mohamed, the owner of Minnesota Food Grocery LLC, allegedly used EBT cards registered to others to purchase items at Sam’s Club and Costco in 2021 before turning around and reselling them in his store, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.
Authorities in Hennepin County say they observed Mohamed making purchases and followed him back to his store with the goods. Surveillance footage and GPS data backed this up, while investigators noted that many of the EBT cardholders were either out of the country
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday announced the birth of her second child, a baby girl named Viviana.
Leavitt announced the joyous news in a post on X, sharing details about her growing family.
"On May 1st, Viviana aka "Vivi" joined our family, and our hearts instantly exploded with love," Leavitt wrote. "She is perfect and healthy, and her big brother is joyfully adjusting to life with his new baby sister."
"We are enjoying every moment in our blissful newborn bubble," she continued. "Thank you to everyone who reached out with prayers during my pregnancy - I truly felt them throughout the entire experience. God is Good."
Recently, my colleague Greg Maresca wrote an excellent description of life aboard a Navy amphibious ship with one of the two Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) currently afloat in the Persian Gulf. My last “float” was in 1978-79 with the predecessor of the 31st MEU now in the Gulf — they were then called Marine Amphibious Units (MAUs).
Life aboard ship was exactly as Greg described it. However, being peacetime, we did get some great liberty in places like Hong Kong (then British), Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan. We practiced and were ready for nearly every foreseeable contingency
A shadow has lifted over American democracy.
For generations, government-mandated racial prejudice quietly diluted the voting power of American whites, the very group that forms the overwhelming core of the Republican electorate. On April 29, the Supreme Court finally ended this systemic discrimination in its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
The decision strikes down race-based congressional maps that artificially boost minority districts at the expense of equal representation. The judgment applies to state and local districts, too. It restores a simple truth: districts must reflect population realities, not engineered outcomes designed to weaken one race’s electoral voice.
This is no minor adjustment. It is a foundational correction to 40 years of constitutional betrayal.
The cunning nature of the criminal mind
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It was about 2 A.M. on a chilly night in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. While on radio car patrol, my partner and I were notified that an anonymous caller had heard unusual sounds at a hardware store that had been closed for several hours. Since we couldn’t find a break in front, we checked the hallway of the building next door, finding a window that accessed the rear yard. I climbed onto a narrow ledge and inched my way toward the grimy-looking rear window of the store.
Once again, the left has attempted to assassinate President Trump and/or those in his Cabinet. But why do these instances of violence continue to occur?
Pretty simple: The left has abandoned reason and debate.
I came about my “worldview” over a forty- to fifty-year period by engaging smart (and some not so smart) people, and by challenging my notions on particular important subjects; economics, religion, culture, foreign affairs, and more. [snip]
I’ve found very few leftists willing to engage in deep debate on important matters, before they, like pigeons, crap on the board and knock over all the chess pieces.
Politics is often framed as a battle of ideas.
Elections. Messaging. Media narratives.
But beneath all that lies something more fundamental — and far less discussed.
Demography.
Because in the long run, it is not the loudest voices who win. It is the next generation.
And increasingly, that generation is not being raised by the political left.
[snip]
This would explain Democrats’ open borders policies, which, combined with generous welfare benefits, add millions of voters electing to continue the gravy train.
The real divide is not just race or geography.
It is fertility.
And on that front, the left is losing.
I’m wondering if at this point, we can all agree that the Covid shot was a bioweapon? Check out this data, originally from VAERS, compiled and organized by a website known as openvaers.com:
VAERS dropped the receipts on miscarriage/stillbirth reports by year… and just take a look at 2021-2022.
From basically flatline for decades to over 3,500+ reports in 2021 alone? That’s not a gentle curve - that’s a cliff.
They told pregnant women these shots were ‘safe and… pic.twitter.com/0uzFrmjX7X
— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) April 13, 2026
Sure, openvaers.com is “anti-vaccine,” but perhaps because of numbers like this?
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The June 2024 presidential debate between then-President Joe Biden (D) and then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump was inarguably one of the most consequential events in American political history, largely because it proved to the American people beyond a shadow of a doubt that the occupant of the Oval Office was unwell. As we all know, it led to Biden withdrawing from the presidential race three weeks later after essentially being forced out by his fellow Democrats. It was a reckoning of sorts for the Democrat Party, the Biden-Harris administration, and the mainstream media, all of whom played starring roles in the deliberate years-long cover-up of Biden's decline,
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is gaining a reputation for penning nonsensical solo dissents in what should otherwise be unanimous Supreme Court decisions. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that her colleagues are no longer shy about putting such incoherence in its place. The latest incident came on Thursday in the Supreme Court’s Fernandez v. United States decision, in which the 8-1 majority held that “the supposed invalidity” of a prisoner’s conviction “is not among the ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ that justify compassionate release.” (Compassionate release is a process by which convicted individuals may seek a reduced sentence or early release due
Mamdani Begins to Implement Communism
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The Communist Twelver Shi’ite mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, made a major announcement on Tuesday: he is beginning to implement the Marxist seizure of property in New York City.
He did not, of course, state that in so many words. As Marxists always do, he couched his plans in the language of social justice, claiming that he was striking out against bad landlords and providing an opportunity for all New Yorkers to live in decent, fairly-priced housing. And as is always the case with Marxist promises, Mamdani’s big announcement was an obvious and flagrant lie to cover up for his seizure of private property, not so much
Spoiler alert: Naaah. But it's certainly fun to fantasize.
Yes, John Cornyn may have been a slightly safer bet than Ken Paxton in a general election. Given the relative difference between how the two would have voted over the next six years, the gain from nominating Paxton probably doesn't justify the assumed risk of dethroning the incumbent Cornyn. It might take more money to fight for the seat in the general election, but that assumes that Democrats would have left Texas alone had Cornyn eked out a win over Paxton.
In the end, though, Texas is Texas,
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is leading in new polling on a hypothetical Democratic presidential primary as the party seeks a new path after 2024 losses. An Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday found Buttigieg at the top of the pack with 18 percent support, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at 16 percent. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) notched 11 percent support, while Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and former Vice President Kamala Harris — the party’s 2024 nominee — earned 10 percent each. Another 9 percent of survey respondents backed Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), and 18 percent
Blue States Starting to Curb ‘Free’
Healthcare to Migrants as Budgets Spin
Out of Control 17 replies
Healthcare to Migrants as Budgets Spin
Out of Control 17 replies
A host of deep blue states are quietly pulling back from their generous programs of “free” healthcare to migrants as federal dollars dry up and their budgets continue to spiral into the red. With the Trump administration beginning to close the spigot of billions in federal aid that many states lavishly spent caring for illegal migrants, sates including California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon Washington, and the District of Columbia are finding that they cannot afford to replace the chocked off federal dollars with their own state budget dollars. This reality setting in has caused state officials to begin scaling back their freebies —
Boston’s liberal mayor is promoting a transgender menstruation event at a public library — offering attendees a catered meal and free period underwear — just weeks after the city revealed a budget shortfall of nearly $50 million.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s office for LGBTQ advancement has partnered with the Massachusetts National Organisation for Women and several local pro-LGBTQ groups to host an event called Trans Period Pride on 17 June at a branch of Boston Public Library. Promoted via an Instagram post decorated in the pink and blue shades of the transgender pride flag, the event is billed as “another consciousness raising conversation around transgender experiences with menstruation.”
On Memorial Day, Minnesota Democrat officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, dumped the troops and headed to the eyesore known as ‘George Floyd Square’, an epicenter of the BLM riots, to groove along with the ‘Brass Resistance Band’ and a DJ in honor of the fallen violent criminal who had died of a drug overdose while resisting arrest.
“Today, we remember George Floyd,” Mayor Frey tweeted. “The weight of what happened is still with our city six years later – and the responsibility to keep moving forward together is too. I know we can keep building a Minneapolis that is safer, more accountable, and more worthy
Here Come da Judge!
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There’s a growing scandal in Georgia. Seems a woman federal court judge has been reprimanded for having sex in the courtroom chambers with a male police officer. The sex was duly accompanied by loud, um, sex noises within easy hearing distance of the judge’s staff.
This happened over and over. And over again. For years.
One of the judge’s discomfited clerks reported the matter, and the appellate court conducted an investigation. The judge outright lied to the appellate court investigators, and attacked the clerk who had filed the report.
Democrats are shaking their heads in disbelief at the timing of Jill Biden’s memoir and her change in tone about Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
The party would rather talk about the high cost of living and increased gas prices under President Trump, Democrats told The Post, rather than relive the debate around Joe Biden’s cognitive health.
“We need this as much as we need a hole in the head,” Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who worked in the Senate for years, said. Jill Biden’s confessional about her concerns over the former president’s health is dropping as the party fights to win control of Congress in November.
CBS News Editor-in-Chief continues draining the woke swamp at the long-compromised Sunday news program, 60 Minutes.
The Gateway Pundit has documented for years how ’60 Minutes’ repeatedly targeted conservatives and President Trump with one-sided hit pieces while giving Democrats and their allies soft-glove treatment.
The show’s credibility collapsed further after the disastrous Kamala Harris interview that triggered a major lawsuit and exposed its activist bent.
Bari Weiss, who famously walked away from The New York Times over its radical leftward lurch and cancel culture, is now applying the same standards at CBS.
There is a bizarre controversy out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where a federal judge has been reprimanded for engaging in repeated, loud sexual encounters during office hours in chambers with a police officer. (snip) Ironically, among the clues about the judge’s identity, the order mentions that the judge attended the “victory party for a District Attorney” in 2024, the night before “the judge’s summer interns’ first day.” The Georgia primary was on May 21, 2024, and the date coincides with the victory party for Fani Willis,
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Power tower is inefficient, obsolete and the government flushed $2,200,000,000 down this bird fryer.