Spontaneous (re)combustion: Fire breaks out at a lithium battery storage facility, firefighters contain the blaze, then it sparks itself again

 Olivia Murray   "As long as lithium ion battery plants spontaneously combust and spew clouds of poisonous chemicals into the air, I don’t ever want to hear a progressive Democrat—voter, pundit, or politician—lecture me on the wildfires and “climate change” crises they swear are caused by my use of modest personal amenities.

"On a tip from Monica Showalter comes this story, from the former paradise of southern California and The San Diego Union-Tribune (SDUT):

Fire flares up again at battery storage facility in Otay Mesa

An unpredictable blaze that sparked at a battery storage facility on Wednesday in Otay Mesa picked up again Thursday night, and firefighters worked to bring the flames back under control, a Cal Fire captain said Friday.

“ 'Unpredictable blaze” my rear end. What a joke. In fact, the blaze was entirely predictable, because this was a warehouse of lithium-ion batteries, and lithium is highly flammable. That’s like saying no one could ever predict that a neighborhood meth lab might explode, or improperly stored ammonium nitrate at a fertilizer plant would also be a combustion hazard—when you’re dealing with extremely volatile compounds, there’s great risk involved, notwithstanding any propaganda that aims to diminish a particular fire hazard because there’s a “clean” energy communistic political agenda at play.

"Now, the fire at the Gateway Energy Storage Facility first broke out around four o’clock in the afternoon this past Wednesday, and as is the case with lithium ion battery fires, they don’t really extinguish—lithium ion batteries are subject to what is called “thermal runaway,” or a chain reaction type of blaze. Fighting a fire like this means cooling down the battery as much as possible until the fire appears to extinguish or is at least under control; then you simply hope it doesn’t reignite, but you can’t actually know because you don’t know how many of the cells inside the battery pack have actually burned. If all the battery cells are burned, then it doesn’t reignite; if cooling the battery during the fire-fighting process halted the chain reaction, then the battery is at a serious risk of reigniting.

"Now, Captain Mike Cornette’s crew cooled the battery storage blaze enough to get the fire to a manageable state, at which point they handed the work off to Gateway’s “mitigation team” to take over the job. However, as is obvious, the battery didn’t burn all the way, and reignited just a short time later. Here’s more, from SDUT: . . ."

Joe Biden was racist and patronizing in his speech to Morehouse grads

Joe Biden was racist and patronizing in speech to Morehouse grads (nypost.com)  . . .“And most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure?,” he said, followed by a lackluster applause.

"I don’t throw statements like this around often because I take them very seriously: Joe Biden is a racist.

"Matter of fact, he’s the worst type of racist because he pretends to be your friend while pulling you back every time you attempt to move forward.

"He’s the friend who only calls you when he wants something and is never there for you when you’re in need.

"Joe Biden only showed up at Morehouse and other meetings featuring black people recently because his polling numbers among black Americans are decreasing and he needs us again to stay in power.

"But every time he shows up and speaks to us, he can’t help himself. He’s the black cloud ready to rain on our parade, or in this case, our graduation." . . .

The Morehouse commencement speech should have featured words of wisdom to prepare these young graduates for what they might encounter and encouragement to push through life’s obstacles.

These young scholars needed inspiration, not condescension.

Instead of using the trope of how we must work in multiples times harder than white people to find the same success, he should have told them to fight for what they want in life despite any obstruction placed in their way.

But this sentiment is impossible to get from Joe Biden — because the Democratic playbook is to reassure our victimhood status, not overcome it.

 Biden goes full racialist - Silvio Canto, Jr.  

So the country needs a uniter and we got a cynical racialist divider.  We got a so-called moderate who is telling young black men and women that the country hates them because of their skin color. Hard to believe that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud of this speech!

Joe Biden's divisive, defeatist HBCU speech proves he has nothing to offer black voters (nypost.com)   "President Biden’s message for fresh-faced African-American college grads: America is racist, and black Americans are set up to fail.

"In his Sunday commencement speech at historically black Morehouse College in Atlanta, the prez vowed “to call out the poison of white supremacy,” and “to root out systemic racism.”

“ 'It’s natural to wonder if democracy . . . actually works for you,” he told the ranks of young black men; and black Americans “have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot.”

"He also threw Israel under the bus again, explicitly calling for “an immediate ceasefire” and assuring the crowd he supports “peaceful, nonviolent protest” (a fine way to describe demonstrations that have included assaults on police and destruction of property).

"The speech was divisive, defeatist and condescending — hardly the “oh, the places you’ll go!” inspiring message college grads deserve as they celebrate their accomplishments and enter adult life.

"But it was also revealing: Joe is now a one-trick pony, and that trick is pandering, hard, to the far left." . . .   

In other words, however well democracy is working, more and more black Americans are doubting that Biden is working for them. And offering them nothing but victimhood won’t turn that around.

Say farewell to the Butcher of Tehran

 

Untimely death for the Butcher of Tehran - Darlene Casella   . . ."Dr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian teaches international relations involving the Middle East at the University of Cambridge. She posited that it is interesting that there were two other helicopters travelling in the convoy and they made it back safely. There will be inevitable questions as to whether there was foul play. For conspiracy theorists and those inclined to believe that Israel was responsible, Israel immediately announced that it was not responsible for the crash.

"Whether the cause of the crash was the hand of God, the weather, or faulty equipment, there could be geopolitical consequences. Mass protests against the Iranian Shiite theocracy have boiled and bubbled for years. Could this be an optimal time for revolution?"

Actually, It Was the U.S. Who Killed Iranian President Raisi (Iran Says)  . . ."At least, that's the implication from Iran, which needed a couple of days to get its story straight and blame "Western sanctions" on the poor quality of its helicopters, which led to Raisi's untimely demise. That talking point is now floating around, thanks to friendly media outlets willing to overlook (if not actually cheer on) Iran being a country run by very bad people.

“One of the culprits behind yesterday’s tragedy is the United States, because of its sanctions that bar Iran from procuring essential aviation parts,” said Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s former foreign minister. “These will be recorded in the list of US crimes against the Iranian people.”

"Raisi's helicopter, a Bell 212, is a decades-old vehicle model that includes analog controls rather than up-to-date digital controls. Some experts have suggested that means the helicopter was unable to communicate with any air traffic control towers or call for help. That, combined with the heavy fog and incoming storm, proved to be fatal. Rather than admit that they shouldn't have been flying in such conditions or that they shouldn't have been terror-supporting rabble-rousers who deserve more sanctions than they have, Iran has instead blamed the U.S." . . . 

Rubio Gives Masterclass On Parrying Media Hacks' Election Questions

 Brianna Lyman (thefederalist.com)

Rubio showed how to respond when media partisans ask Republicans to prematurely commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

"Florida Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a masterclass Sunday on how Republicans should respond when media partisans ask them to prematurely commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked Rubio if he would “accept the 2024 election results no matter what happens.”

“No matter what happens? No! If it’s an unfair election, I think it’s going to be contested by each side,” Rubio said.

“No matter who wins, Senator? No matter who wins?” Welker asked.

“You’re asking the wrong person! The Democrats are the ones that have opposed every Republican victory since 2000. Every single one. Hillary Clinton…”

“No Democrat has refused to concede,” Welker interjected. “Hillary Clinton conceded. Senator, will you accept the election results?”

“Hillary Clinton said the election was stolen from her, and that Trump was illegitimate. Kamala Harris agreed,” Rubio said. “By the way, there are Democrats serving in Congress today who, in 2004, voted not to certify the Ohio electors because they said those machines had been tampered with. And you have Democrats now saying they won’t certify 2024 because Trump is an insurrectionist and ineligible to hold office. So you need to ask them.”

Rubio then pointed out that having “over 500 illegal dropbox locations” in Wisconsin, for example, is something that legitimately undermines confidence in elections.

Rubio’s answer was excellent because he understands the insidiousness of such a question: Republicans are being goaded to relinquish their right to question problematic election administration. Instead of being bullied into agreeing with Welker’s presuppositions, he immediately went on the offensive." . . .

Trump’s June 27 Debate Strategy In Three Easy Steps

  Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

Toon added by TD

. . ."1. Put the CNNers on the defensive from the word “go.”

Trump, with the best-known brand in America, can dispense with the customary introductory opening statement and instead establish some ground rules. Specifically, he should leverage the near-universally held expectation that the two CNN anchors will favor Biden and the certainty that the Delawarean will toss an insulting, condescending or rude utterance his way.

To wit:

“Four years ago, a so-called moderator allowed Joe Biden to get away with telling me, the sitting president of the United States, to ‘shut up’ on national television, and with personal insults like ‘clown’ and ‘racist.’ And moderators in both debates shut down exchanges about Joe’s corrupt son Hunter, which polls show might have changed the election result. 

“So will you allow outrageous behavior and insults like that, and protect him from tough questions, or play it fair? Tell us now – the American people are watching.”

Then, every time a moderator gives the remotest appearance of taking sides with or shielding Biden, revive the aforementioned Gipper line: “There you go again.” If that approach doesn’t tame the CNNers, it will set The Donald up for an “appeal” to the American public on fairness.

2. Pick the right moments to confront Biden on two points:

Senile – or Suspect? “Joe, a special counsel said you’re guilty of mishandling docs – the same crime I’m falsely charged with since I had the authority to declassify them. But he claimed you are too senile to be tried. So will you release your Department of Justice to charge you? Or are you too senile to face those to be president and must resign? There’s no other choice. Which is it? And will you release the interview transcripts?”

Rinse and repeat till he answers.

Mea Culpa – or More Canards?  “Joe, four years ago you stood on a debate stage and said the following about damning information about you on Hunter’s laptop, and I quote: ‘50 former national intelligence folks … said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant. … ‘(F)ive former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.’ Unquote.

“But that statement of 51 former officials was the real garbage. It was a hoax drummed up by your current Secretary of State, Blinken, so you knew firsthand it was a lie.

“So will you tonight on this stage apologize for misleading the American people? And how can they believe anything you say now in a debate when you told a whopper that big four years ago?”

3. Change the inevitable “Biden outperformed” narrative by extending the debate.

It is a sure thing that Biden will commit multiple gaffes and utter numerous lies, which will be glossed over with claims that he “held his own” or exceeded the low expectations set for him merely by surviving." . . .

Obama’s Radical Relationships are Cloned in the Biden Admin

  NoisyRoom.net

"Does former President Obama’s radical past tell us anything significant about President Biden’s stance on Israel today? Perhaps more importantly, does the radical alliances of Obama’s Chicago days raise a warning flag about what President Biden’s position on Israel may be in 2024, should he safely secure reelection? Many will deny it, but I believe Obama’s radical history speaks volumes about the past, present, and likely future course of Biden’s policy on Israel.

The Los Angeles Times has long refused to release a videotape in its possession of a farewell dinner, attended by Obama, for scholar and Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi. Obama spoke warmly of his friendship with Khalidi at that event. Unfortunately, the continuing mystery of that videotape has obscured the rather remarkable article that the LA Times published about the dinner — and about Obama’s broader views on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In light of the controversy over Obama’s remarks on Israel in his address yesterday on the Middle East, it is worth revisiting that 2008 article from the LA Times. More here from 2011.

"Meet Maher Bitar and as found on Wikipedia: 

Bitar worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jerusalem.[2]

. . .It gets more interesting…

"Caroline Glick noted that Bitar’s master’s thesis at Oxford University was about the so-called Palestinian “Nakba,” which is how Palestinians now refer to the displacement of 700,000 people due to a war in which Arab states tried to destroy Israel at its founding."

Justice Merchan's gagged witness goes public with what he would have told the jury and it's a doozy

 Monica Showalter - American Thinker   After Michael Cohen's disastrous testimony, it would seem that the case against President Trump over the bookkeeping entry in a hush-money payment case would be in tatters as it goes to the jury. Many legal eagles have said as much.

But the politically partisan New York justice in this case, Juan Merchan, doesn't give up that fast and clearly wants to salvage the case. He's instructing the jury to ignore the detail about the 'underlying crime' and treat the case the same way a burglary case is treated." . . .

. . ."The underlying "crime" of course is trying to influence an election. Apparently no one is allowed to influence an election, and especially not a candidate.

"The prosecutorial and judicial argument goes that since Trump did this payment and got elected, it was entirely because this hush money was paid and the election would have gone the other way if he had ignored then-lawyer Michael Cohen's bad advice to make it and instead didn't make it.

"The laws against election influence by foreign actors are suddenly being called into service in this case because hiding one's dirty personal laundry while trying to get elected is unthinkable, a felony, as the prosecution argues, as if no pol had ever done such a thing in the past. Right, John Edwards? Right, Bill Clinton? Grover Cleveland was unavailable for comment.

"What Smith demonstrates is just how valuable his testimony would have been to that jury about what the law is and how regulators enforce it, which instead has to take Michael Cohen's word for it that Trump, who didn't even know about the hush money paid according to another witness, somehow broke the law.

"Sound like a fair trial we have here? Only in a banana republic."

What if Justice Merchan has been compromised? - Patricia McCarthy   "Given what we know about what has been going on in Justice Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom, including the preposterous, over-the-top bias of this judge for the prosecution and his overt antipathy for the defendant, Donald Trump, what explains his willing destruction of his own reputation as a judge? 

Each and every legal scholar who has weighed in on the course of the trial, from Alan Dershowitz to Jonathan Turley and countless others, (with the exception of those paid by CNN and MSNBC) is gobsmacked by Merchan’s thoroughly unconstitutional rulings, gag orders, contempt charges, exclusion of practically every witness with relevant testimony for the defense, and his allowance of non-relevant witnesses like Stormy Daniels. " . . .

Not even Rachel Maddow, the odious Joy Reid or Anderson Cooper can deny that there are two, distinct systems of justice in America today.  

Award-Winning Filmmaker Oliver Stone Says Democrats are Using 'Lawfare' Against Donald Trump    . . ."The Academy Award winner blamed corruption on money in politics.

“If you’re a poor man or a middle-class man it’s very hard to run for office in the United States, unless you have money and corporate sponsors. Money controls politics in the United States. If you go to European countries, you’ll find that their elections are very mandated. The British elections are very low cost, or they used to be until recently. In France, they have election rules. And we need that in the United States. Let’s get the money out of the politics.”

 Alvin Bragg Loses CNN

Tim Scott: "Weaponization of Justice System" Against Trump "Is Something We Find Repulsive as Black Men" | Video | RealClearPolitics . . ."TOM BEVAN: I wanted to talk to you about the black vote and Donald Trump. We had a New York Times Siena poll that came out—a swing state poll—that showed Trump getting 20% among black voters in those swing states. This would be the largest share of the black vote that any Republican has gotten since Richard Nixon in 1960. So, Senator, what exactly is going on with Donald Trump? Why does he seem to have more appeal than ever among African American voters?"

Argus Hamilton's Rogue Report -

Argus Hamilton (jewishworldreview.com)    • President Biden went to Atlanta to make a commencement address at Morehouse College and to speak at a campaign rally. The city made extensive preparations for Joe's arrival. With a Biden rally being held in town, Atlanta residents were warned that traffic could be lighter than normal.

• President Biden gave a fiery speech to graduates of historically black Morehouse College in Atlanta Sunday on National Malcolm X Day honoring the civil rights activist. It went well. Democrats let out a huge sigh of relief when Joe went the entire speech without referring to Malcolm X as Melvin the Tenth.

• The Grammy Awards announced Friday a line-up of recording superstars next February to perform during the In Memoriam section that honors the departed musicians. Today was another sad day for all the music industry. This morning P Diddy was found alive in his bedroom in Los Angeles.

• The New York Post reported rumors that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are heading for a divorce. They've been appearing alone at separate events not wearing their wedding rings. You know your marriage is over in Hollywood when your wife will only allow you to see her undress on Only Fans.

• Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi was killed Sunday after his helicopter crashed as it tried to fly over a mountainous terrain in the fog. The country's civil aviation officials were quick to blame the crash on pilot error. The Ayatollah called it a huge advancement in not letting women drive.

• The Washington Post cited President Biden for repeatedly insisting in speeches that inflation was at 9% when he took office in 2021 when it was actually 1.4%. The steep rise in consumer prices has one silver lining. Thanks to inflation, you can now eat food that's been on the floor for up to 8.6 seconds.

• Bobby Kennedy threatened to sue CNN for not allowing him to participate in next month's presidential debate. Debate negotiations are still fluid between the Trump and Biden camps and the two parties. The Democrats reserve the right for Joe Biden to be played in the debate by Robert De Niro.

• Oklahoma is reported joining other Red States challenging Biden's decision to widen Title 9 to give added protection to trans-genders. Today I got a letter from the Beverly Hills Courthouse saying I was being fined $100 for driving in a bus lane. I wrote back and told them that my car identifies as a bus.

Even Obama won't speak at Harvard -

 Don Surber (substack.com)

"This year is probably a rougher year for someone to affiliate themselves with Harvard"

We now have a group of people in America who want Jews eradicated from the river to the sea. We have a name for such haters. Democrats.

"Keep it up. We’re winning. The first and most prestigious college in America now is such a pariah that even Barack Hussein Obama apparently turned down giving this year’s Class Day keynote speech, according to the Harvard Crimson.

"The student paper reported, “Harvard Struggles To Find Class Day Speaker Less Than 2 Weeks Before Ceremony.”

"The story said, “More than 10 people have declined offers to serve as the keynote speaker for Harvard College’s annual Class Day, leaving the Harvard Alumni Association scrambling to find a speaker with less than two weeks until the ceremony for undergraduate seniors.”

"That paper also said, “The candidates on the Senior Class Committee’s initial list included Harvard dropout Matt Damon, a former member of the Class of 1992, 15-time NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal, former U.S. president Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Canadian rapper Drake. Damon, O’Neal, and Drake were contacted but declined the invitation to speak.”

"Maybe they can get Harvard hero General Qasem Soleimani. Oh wait, Trump had him thumped.

"Senior Class First Marshal Fez S. Zafar told the paper, “What was explained to us was that obviously this year is probably a rougher year for someone to affiliate themselves with Harvard, especially if they don’t have an existing connection.”

Obviously.

"Harvard’s year was not as bad as the year 1,200 Israelis and foreign guests had on October 7 when Palestinian soldiers in civilian clothing surprised and attacked them. The rape and butchery shocked the nation. Some of the soldiers paraglided in.

"And unlike Harvard, their wounds were not self-inflicted. Most of them just wanted to go to a music festival for peace.

"Harvard’s response to October 7 was tolerating students who supported Hamas and the raping and killing.

"In December, the president of Harvard and a few other elitist school presidents testified before Congress just two months after October 7. The president, Claudine Gay, said well, calling for the extermination of Jews is OK because Harvard welcomes robust discussions — except for discussions about LGBT, DEI and CRT.

"Oh, Harvard fired her for embarrassing Harvard in her testimony. The excuse was she plagiarized her PhD dissertation and just about everything else she ever wrote. But Harvard kept her on staff at $800,000 a year. Call it black privilege or call it female privilege but the bottom line is nothing changed. Harvard in 2024 is as Harvard was in 1924.

"Anti-Semitic." . . . What must it be like, dealing with such a bi-polar country as America? Israel sees us as an ally in one administration, an adversary in the next. TD

Why Trump Eagerly Accepted Unfair Debate Rules

  The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

He just wants to get Biden on stage so tens of millions of voters can get an unfiltered look at the man.

"Any experienced negotiator knows that, if his opening offer is immediately accepted, he has given away too much."

"Consequently, it must have rattled President Biden’s handlers when former President Trump instantly agreed to their debate proposal, despite its extravagant demands concerning format and rules. The Biden team very likely expected Trump to balk at some of those preconditions, which would have enabled them to portray his frequently repeated offer to debate “anytime, anywhere” as an empty bluff. Instead, he gleefully exclaimed, “Let’s get ready to rumble.” Moreover, he proposed additional encounters beyond those offered by the Biden campaign.

"Tellingly, Biden’s people have declined to allow their candidate to face Trump in any other venue or on any other date than they initially proposed — CNN on June 27 and ABC on September 10. Trump has accepted two other debates, including one jointly hosted by NBC News and Telemundo. Considering Biden’s sagging support among Latino voters, his team should leap at the chance to communicate with this crucial voter bloc. Yet Biden’s campaign chair characterized Trump’s interest in this debate as a dirty trick: “No more games. No more chaos. No more debate about debates.” This suggests that the Biden campaign believes it has more to lose than to gain from participating in further debates.

"And they are probably right. This is why Trump isn’t worried about debate rules other than the one requiring his opponent to show up. It will not have been lost on the former president that Biden’s debate challenge was issued in a 14-second video riddled with jump cuts. That such a short video required so much editing doesn’t bode well for Biden’s ability to remain coherent for two hours on live television. Another reason the Biden campaign refuses to consider additional debates may well be that they are in denial about how badly they are really doing in the polls. The Wall Street Journal’s Edward Lawrence asked Democratic pollster and former Clinton advisor Doug Schoen about it and his answer was unambiguous:     

The rest of this article is behind a paywall, but you get the import of it...

‘Something he always said he wouldn’t do’: Douglas Murray lashes Biden on Israel

Sky News Australia  "Author Douglas Murray has lashed President Joe Biden for doing something which he “always said he wouldn’t do” after he told Israel the US would not provide weapons for a Rafah offensive.

"US President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to go ahead with such an operation over fears it would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. "Last week, Biden said the United States would not provide offensive weapons for a Rafah invasion, raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “'That is a very serious development because a lot of the talk … of the media cycle, particularly in the media, is performative,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “ 'But the really difficult thing here is he actually did something which he always said he wouldn’t do. “ 'He’s always held himself out as a great ally of Israel in its fight for survival … and here he is, in charge, in the White House, withholding arms.' ”

Democrat Town That Voted Overwhelmingly for Joe Biden Furious They Got What They Voted For

 Gateway Pundit: – IOTW Report   "Norfolk, Massachusetts’ 11,500 residents voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in 2020.

"Now, residents are up in arms that they are getting exactly what they voted for.

"The state announced it is refurbishing the Massachusetts Bay State Correctional Center in Norfolk, which formerly served as a minimum-security dorm-like facility. The move will alleviate the hundreds of illegals currently camped out at Boston’s Logan International Airport and provide housing for six to twelve months.

"But residents are not happy that Biden’s border crisis is coming to their backyard.

"On Wednesday, during a Select Board meeting,  around 300 residents attended the meeting to share their concerns about the influx of illegals into their town and expressed frustration that they were left in the dark about the plans.

"Residents also demanded answers on how the move would impact community services, including schools, emergency services, and the overall town budget. more" . . .