September 22, 2026

Mao Zedong Was A Monster

September 22, 2026/ Francis Menton

The 50th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong has just passed. (He died on September 9, 1976.).
I did not see large amounts of commentary about Mao on the occasion of the anniversary, but everything that I did see was either neutral or positive, with the majority being praise. And as I looked around for any commentary I could find from around the date of the anniversary, most of what I found is again praise.
How could that be? This man was a monster.
Certainly, the death toll for which Mao was responsible was a large multiple of anything ever attributed to Hitler, and also a multiple (although a smaller one) of the carnage committed by Stalin. Does any self-respecting person give effusive praise of either of those two? And if not to them, then why to Mao?

September 20, 2026

Rescission Of Carbon Emissions Standards For Power Plants: The Litigation Begins

September 20, 2026/ Francis Menton

In what may be a world record for turnaround time, the litigation has already begun over the recent rescission by EPA of its carbon emission standards for fossil-fuel fired power plants.
As reported here on September 17, on that date the EPA finalized its rescission of what were called its “Carbon Pollution Standards” for electric power plants. (EPA’s September 17 action did not rescind all of the Carbon Pollution Standards for power plants, but only those for existing power plants and major overhauls of existing plants; the standards for new plants remain in effect for now, although in its rescission action EPA gave strong hints that those will also soon be ended.). By the end of that very day, September 17, a Petition had been filed in the DC Circuit seeking review of the regulatory action. Here is a copy of the Petition. The Petitioners are the American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Clean Air Council, Clean Wisconsin, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Petition is a short two-page document that simply asks for “review” of EPA’s action, and does not say anything about the grounds for the request.

September 17, 2026

September 17, 2026/ Francis Menton

I will never understand how large numbers of seemingly intelligent people got the idea that they were going to save the world by forcing the closure of all the functional parts of the energy system of the U.S. Nor will I ever understand how enough of those people got themselves into positions of sufficient political power to put their wacko energy ideas into effect.
And yet, by the time President Joe Biden and his minions had left office in early 2025, such people, operating deep in the administrative state (and with the apparent blessing of a demented President), had managed to impose regulations that, by some time in the 2030s would have, among other things, forced the end of the manufacture and sale of all vehicles except electric vehicles, and forced the closure of all power plants using fossil fuels.
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump and his people have been actively working to rescind and eliminate this insanity. I have previously reported on many of these actions, for example here and here.
Today the EPA took another big step in removing these destructive regulations by finalizing a Rule titled “Partial Repeal of the Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units.”

September 14, 2026

September 14, 2026/ Francis Menton

The coalition of second-tier and second-rate countries calling themselves the BRICS (an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has just wound up its annual “summit,” this year held in New Delhi, India.
In the twenty years since the BRICS coalition’s founding, its membership has expanded beyond just the countries forming the acronym, with additional attendees at this year’s event including the likes of Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Of those new members, only Indonesia really has a claim for even second-rate status. Saudi Arabia and UAE are wealthy, but owe the wealth almost entirely to the good luck of oil discoveries; and the remaining three of Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran are more like fifth-rate.
Most heads of state actually attended, including Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, although Lula da Silva of Brazil skipped the conference, purportedly to participate in campaigning in Brazil’s upcoming elections.
This BRICS summit understandably generated almost no news that I have seen here in the U.S. However, one thing that did catch my eye was an opening address given on September 12 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.

September 11, 2026

September 11, 2026/ Francis Menton

The socialist creed preaches a narrative of Capitalist Oppressors, often large corporations, who somehow collaborate and conspire to keep the oppressed masses down.
I was reminded of that narrative when I recently saw a post at the website called New York YIMBY (“Yes In My Back Yard”), that provided some history of a certain office building in midtown Manhattan, 1301 Avenue of the Americas. The post, by Max Gillespie on September 7, is titled “1301 Avenue Of The Americas Fully Leased In Midtown, Manhattan.” It happens that I am very familiar with this building, since I worked right across the street from it for about 18 years.
The history of 1301 Avenue of the Americas provides a small look into the constant change and churn that are endemic among corporations in the real world.

September 08, 2026

September 08, 2026/ Francis Menton

Recently (May 2026) I did an update on the “homelessness” situation in San Francisco. The title was “The Homeless Industrial Complex Eats San Francisco For Lunch.”‍ ‍
I have taken a particular interest in “homelessness” in San Francisco ever since that city had a big referendum back in 2018 to pass a special payroll tax supposedly to solve the “homelessness” problem once and for all. The result in San Francisco, you will not be surprised to learn, was that the Homeless Industrial Complex has since swallowed up all the new funding and much more, while the number of people identified as “homeless” has only gone up, and then up some more.
But how about New York? In recent years the City hasn’t exactly been bragging about its success in this area, so data have been a little hard to come by. However, a few days ago (September 5) the New York Post had a story that gives an idea of the overall picture.