March 02, 2024

New York's Attorney General Makes A Fool Of The Governor

March 02, 2024/ Francis Menton

Two weeks ago, on February 16, in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York State Supreme Court issued his decision ordering Donald Trump to pay some $355 million of “disgorgement” penalties.
The issuance of Justice Engoron’s decision brought forth an immediate reaction from many quarters (including Manhattan Contrarian here).
If the AG can use a broad statute to target a politically-disfavored individual like Trump in this way, how could any person doing business in New York think they are safe from similar legal abuse?
Recognizing the problem, our lightweight Governor Kathy Hochul went on a radio talk show on February 18 in an effort to reassure the New York business community.

February 28, 2024

New York Strives For "Climate Justice"

February 28, 2024/ Francis Menton

In 2019, New York enacted a Climate Act, imposing on the citizens various legal mandates for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and net zero targets, the most immediate of which is a mandate of 70% of electricity production from zero-carbon-emissions sources by 2030. The official title of the Act is actually the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
I’ve written a lot about portions of the Act dealing with reducing carbon emissions. Those portions are completely delusional, but at least they ostensibly have something to do with protecting the world’s climate.
And then there is this “Community Protection” piece. What is that about? Try reading some of the materials coming out of our climate bureaucracies and you will learn that a second and co-equal focus of the Act is supposedly helping or protecting what they call “justice communities” living near at least some of the power plants.

February 25, 2024

February 25, 2024/ Francis Menton

Every year millions of people move from one country in the world to another with the intent to remain permanently in the destination country.
Generally such people then congregate in the destination country among others who have come from the same place of origin. In other words, they form colonies of settlers. According to the normal meanings of the words, they are “settler colonialists.”
So how should these “settler colonialists” be treated upon arrival by their destination countries?
Oddly, the political left has designated some of the settler colonialists as heroes deserving of an enthusiastic welcome replete with lavish taxpayer-funded benefits — free housing (at least temporarily), free medical care, free education for the kids, even cash handouts for food and incidentals; while other settler colonialists have been designated by the same leftists as the ultimate evil.

February 22, 2024

February 22, 2024/ Francis Menton

In a post earlier this week, daughter Jane (just returned from maternity leave) reviewed, and put in an enthusiastic plug, for the new Robert Bryce documentary series titled “Juice: Power, Politics, and the Grid.” Jane even embedded the first episode of the five-part series into the post.
Several commenters offered what seemed to me to be serious criticisms of Bryce’s work. So I thought I owed it to the readers to watch some of Bryce’s series to see who was right. Having now watched a couple of episodes, and some of the rest, I have a few thoughts.

February 20, 2024

February 20, 2024/ Francis Menton

Josef Stalin set the example for the world as the most ruthless practitioner of the art of using a thoroughly corrupt and subservient “justice system” to eliminate all political opposition.
Many, many others have since succumbed to temptation and followed Stalin’s lead. Current notable examples include the recent murder of Alexei Navalny in prison in Russia; Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who fled that country in late 2023 after his arrest was threatened by the Maduro regime; and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Imran Khan, convicted in January 2024 of “disclosing a state secret” and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Funny how the countries that engage in such practices virtually always have failed economies as well.
The United States has been remarkably free of such practices during its history. But we have seen a sudden complete reversal of that commendable history with the efforts of multiple political actors and prosecutors to use the courts to take down former President Trump.

February 19, 2024

February 19, 2024/ Jane Menton

Most of what Robert Bryce covers in his new documentary Juice won’t be news to you if you’re a regular reader of this blog. However, it is exactly the tool we need to bring everyone else into the fold.
If you read this blog, I can safely assume you already know a lot about energy and why current government policies towards energy are absurd at best and dangerous at worst. But it’s just as likely that you have several people in your life who struggle to understand your obsession with energy policy or can’t see why it’s so important, so fundamental to modern society, and on the cusp of turning into the biggest political issue of our time.
You can start with the first episode, linked here, and then send it to someone you think could be convinced.