Random News and Notes 3 June

I have to start today’s edition with a minor correction. In yesterday’s RNN I implied the fake IDF attack story was to blame for the fire attack in Boulder. It was not. Since publication more details have come to light and the subhuman responsible had planned the attack for more than a year. Now on to the random news. . .

Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano is erupting. The ash cloud towered 30,000 feet over Sicily. At one point a pyroclastic flow chased tourists off the side of the volcano. Pyroclastic flows are a melange of hot ash, superheated steam, volcanic debris and gasses that can reach speeds between 60 and 400 mph burning nearly everything in its way.

The poster above isn’t wrong. Etna released about 10% of the total human related CO2 emissions for the year in one day. And it’s still going. I remember making this same point a few years ago when that Icelandic volcano with the 15 letter name went off and closed down air travel across Europe for weeks.

It’s a bit early to start talking about the mid-terms, but this one is too good to let pass without mention. 4 term Texas senator John Cornyn is waaaayyyy behind his main primary challenger, current Texas AG Ken Paxton. In a recent poll, the RINO was down 22 points to Paxton.

Now, this is one poll, and I did not look at the cross tabs, but it is still illustrative. Cornyn has out-raised Paxton by a lot and he has the current Senate Republican machine behind him and he’s losing and losing badly. This is one instance where I think primarying an incumbent is good. Trying to oust someone like Susan Collins in Maine for a MAGA candidate is only going to lose that seat to the Dems. The same can be said for several other R held Senate and House seats across the country. Ousting a RINO in Texas is fine, because that is a relatively safe seat. It doesn’t hurt that Paxton is very popular.

Did y’all catch Trump’s new nickname for Biden? It’s on point and funny AF.

And that leads right into the next (same?) story.

Ed Martin, a pardon attorney and head of the Department of Justice’s weaponization task force, announced he is launching an official investigation into former President Joe Biden’s pardons issued in the final days of his failed presidency.

I’m not sure where this is going to go. Presidential pardon authority is absolute. There is no process or even an ability to review pardons. Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, the clause of Constitution that authorizes pardons reads thus:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

You will note the only restriction imposed is that regarding impeachments. I know the arguments, but I am not sure – barring a smoking gun pointing to the fact Biden did not know about the pardons – that any of them hold any water.

The Rankine cycle solar energy facility at Ivanpah California is shutting down. The facility used focusing mirrors (heliostats) to concentrate sunlight on one of three towers. The resulting heating powered steam turbines and produced electricity. It also destroyed 3500 acres of pristine Mohave desert land and kills more than 60,000 birds a year.

It never came close to producing the expected amount of electricity and it produced more than twice the amount of emissions than a comparable gas burning facility. That is because the plant uses a gas boiler to keep the water in the turbine systems hot over night and during cloudy weather. The whole project cost more than $2 billion and was never even close to breaking even.