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Economy Links from other news sources.

Shell Faces Lawsuit Over ‘Pollution Events’ at Cracker Plant

The Shell ethane “cracker” plant sits on 800 acres along the Ohio River.

Source for this article can be found here.

Shell Faces Lawsuit Over ‘Pollution Events’ at Cracker Plant. Shell did receive about 1.6 billion in state funds, but spent six billion dollars of their own money to build this plant that sat on  800 acres of old steel mill land.

So now seven years later the environmental kooks want to cause issues. Every time there was a pollution issue, Shell responded and fixed it. But that’s not good enough for the loons.

The plaintiffs want the court to order Shell to “take all actions necessary” to obey federal and state law, asses civil penalties of up to $117,468 per day for each violation of the Clean Air Act, assess penalties of $25,000 per day, per violation, of the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act and enjoin Shell from operating the plant unless it is compliant with the CAA and the APCA, the complaint states.

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Economy Links from other news sources. Reprints from others. Uncategorized

Who really pays to phase out diesel in California?

A big rig driver adds diesel fuel at the ARCO Travel Zone Center near the 215 Freeway in Perris on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

By 

If the United Nations passed a resolution requiring California residents, and only California residents, to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars per year in fees in order to show leadership to the rest of the world on an issue of importance, we would hope Californians’ elected representatives would raise an objection to that.

After all, the cost of “leadership” shouldn’t be borne by the people of one state, especially when the cost hits low- and middle-income families hardest.

Yet that is exactly what’s happening, except the dictate isn’t coming from the United Nations. It’s coming from California’s own state government.

California prides itself on its leadership on the issue of climate change, but perhaps officials should spend less time bragging and more time adding up what their decisions are actually costing California households.

The unanimous vote by the California Air Resources Board to impose a forced phase-out of diesel trucks is the latest example.

“Ten years from now, when we look back to this day … we can say that California has changed the world,” said Gideon Kracov, a Los Angeles-based environmental attorney who sits on the air resources board.

The price of changing the world now includes a ban on the sale of new diesel trucks in California starting in 2036 and a requirement for large trucking companies to convert their fleets to electric models by 2042.

During a seven-hour meeting ahead of the board’s vote, officials of city and county governments spoke out against CARB’s zero-emissions deadlines, calling them “impossible.”


The cost of “leadership” will put new pressure on already stressed city and county budgets. Local governments will have to replace fleets of trucks used for every government service from garbage pick-up to street repair. Charging stations will add additional costs. Who will pay for it all? Taxpayers, of course.

CARB’s mandated conversion to zero-emissions trucks will also raise the price of commercial transportation, with UPS and Amazon just two examples of companies that will incur significant additional expenses to operate in California.

Even the air board staff had to acknowledge that California’s charging infrastructure is inadequate to support all-electric truck fleets statewide. Significant upgrades will be needed, posing challenges for utility companies. Who will pay for it?

The cost of upgrading charging infrastructure on the utility side will be borne by all ratepayers. Under a new rate structure mandated by state law, customers of investor-owned utilities including Southern California Edison will pay a higher fixed charge on their monthly bills, a charge that will include the cost of infrastructure upgrades. The law requires income-based tiers for the fixed charges, in an effort to lessen the burden on lower- and middle-income households.

Another way to lessen the burden on lower- and middle-income households is to stop pretending that Californians can afford this accelerated transition to all-electric transportation.

Southern California Edison CEO Steven Powell told our editorial board recently that California by itself cannot affect the global climate, but said the state’s leadership will have an impact.

Californians deserve transparency and accountability for the cost of the measures the state is taking to provide that leadership, but state lawmakers have delegated too much authority to unelected regulators. Elected officials must do more to oversee agency decisions that will have significant consequences for consumers and taxpayers.

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Links from other news sources. Reprints from others. Un documented.

Winning. Texas Military, Troopers Turn Back Wave of Migrants at Border River Crossing.

Two hundred yards downstream from the first attempt some of the migrants tried to make their way through a second location but again were unable to climb up. Breitbart Photo

 

 

Winning. Texas Military, Troopers Turn Back Wave of Migrants at Border River Crossing. Texas National Guardsmen and Department of Public Safety troopers set up barbed wire along the northern bank of the Rio Grande creating a barrier to physically keep migrants from climbing out of the Rio Grande. Governor Greg Abbott deployed the Texas Border Force earlier this week to help stop or deter migrant crossings as part of Operation Lone Star.We have this from Breitbart.

Breitbart Texas traveled to the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where hundreds of migrants have been trying to get across the Rio Grande. At various times, migrants took to the water and waded across the river but some were forced to turn back after Texas authorities blocked dirt paths leading north from the river.

Two hundred yards downstream from the first attempt some of the migrants tried to make their way through a second location but again were unable to climb up.

 

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Elections Faked news Links from other news sources. Politics Reprints from others.

Byron Donalds has heated argument with CNN host after Trump town hall.

Byron Donalds interrupted by Anderson Cooper in heated argument after Trump town hall: Voters 'tired of y'all' GOP Rep. Byron Donalds was interrupted multiple times on CNN after he defended former President Donald Trump's appearance on the network's town hall special.CNN Photo.

Byron Donalds has heated argument with CNN host after Trump town hall: Voters ‘tired of y’all’ ‘Town halls are for the voters, not for the press or the person who is the moderator,’ Donalds told the CNN panel.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., battled with CNN commentators and hosts Anderson Cooper, Van Jones and Alyssa Farah Griffin after the network aired a live town hall with former President Donald Trump.

“Town halls are for the voters, not for the press or the person who is the moderator,” Donalds said, slamming CNN host Kaitlan Collins for imposing her own views on the public during Wednesday night’s town hall featuring Trump.

“Kaitlan spent more time interjecting her own viewpoints or her own views on the situation,” Donalds said before Cooper interrupted him.

“Those are actually facts, though,” the CNN veteran told Donalds.

TRUMP CALLS CNN’S KAITLAN COLLINS A ‘NASTY PERSON’ DURING TOWN HALL CLASH

Rep. Donalds on CNN panel

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., battled with CNN commentators and host Anderson Cooper after the network aired a live town hall with former President Donald Trump.  (Screenshot / CNN)

“Hold on,” Donalds shot back. “Are you guys now going to interject your views on me, or do I get a chance to speak?” Donalds said as Cooper continued to speak in the background.

“If you’re speaking falsely, those are facts,” Cooper told Donalds.

Donalds also criticized Collins’ focus on the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was “rigged.”

TRUMP CLAIMS RAPE ACCUSER A ‘WACK JOB’ AND VERDICT HE WAS LIABLE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE A ‘RIGGED DEAL’ AT TOWN HALL

Rep. Byron Donalds

“Voters want to talk about the border, inflation, foreign policy,” Donalds said as multiple CNN panelists asked if he believed the 2020 presidential election was legitimate. (Screenshot / CNN)

“Voters want to talk about the border, inflation, foreign policy,” Donalds said as multiple CNN panelists asked if he believed the 2020 presidential election was legitimate.

“This is what’s frustrating to a lot of people. You want me to state it the way you want me to state it,” Donalds said.

“You do acknowledge Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, correct?” Farah Griffin, a former top Trump White House aide, asked.

“Hold on… let me tell you why most voters are frankly kind of tired of y’all bringing this up,” Donalds replied, arguing that American voters were more interested in inflation and crime than on the 2020 election.

Donalds’ wife, Erika Donalds, defended him on Twitter after his appearance Wednesday on CNN.

“So proud of my husband on CNN tonight, interjecting large doses of TRUTH in the middle of their ridiculous biases and rude interruptions,” she wrote.

Trump’s town hall appearance has inflamed his opponents online, with anti-Trump Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson saying that the event was “unf—ing believable” and a “disaster of the highest f—ing degree.” Wilson also said that Trump has cemented himself as the clear frontrunner and Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential race.

The clip of Donalds arguing with the CNN panel after Trump’s town hall special has gone viral online, picking up over 1.1 million views and 18,400 likes on Twitter alone.

“The American people aren’t speaking about the 2020 election, a liable case after 25+ years, or January 6th. They are talking about the price of gas/groceries, fentanyl killing Americans 18-45, crime in the streets, & the fear of WWIII. CNN’s top issues aren’t America’s,” Donalds tweeted after his CNN appearance.

Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.

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Corruption Links from other news sources. Politics The Border Un documented.

WTF? FBI Increases Presence, Surveillance at EPCOT, Fearing Major Threat to National Security

 

This comes from  an official Walt Disney website:

U. S. Government Concerns Grow Over EPCOT’s New Offering

Why did the government feel that EPCOT might present a threat to homeland security? According to heavily redacted FBI files, the Bureau had major concerns, particularly about the China pavilion at World Showcase. As such, FBI agents closely monitored all of the delegates on World Showcase.

A World Showcase of Unforgettable Shopping at Epcot – China Pavilion | Disney Parks Blog

EPCOT’s China pavilion/Credit: Disney Parks

According to a post at MuckRock, EPCOT’s World Showcase “initially called for cultural installations from nine countries” and was “intended to be the ultimate harmonious international village, a shining example of global unity. Naturally, the FBI had a problem with it.”

While this has been going on since 1982, when Epcot opened, there seems to be an increase in their presence there. Why?

Per Muckrock:

The Tampa field office [of the Federal Bureau of Investigation] seemed concerned that any terrorist organizations operating within or around the participating nations, “Canada, France, China, Italy, Japan, UK, West Germany, Africa, and Mexico,” would converge on EPCOT.

Real good job there, FBI. You were so busy chasing and spying all those dangerous EPCOT delegates that you completely missed the 9/11 terrorists training at TWO nearby flight schools. Bravo! /s

If they are still there and have increased their presence, why? Shouldn’t they be along the Mexican border to help with the onslaught of illegal immigrants pouring across our southern border?

Oh, wait, the illegals are future Democratic voters. Carry on.

Muckrock link to FBI FOIA docs.

Article on Disneydining.com

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Economy Links from other news sources. Reprints from others. Uncategorized

Happy but getting the heck out of California.

Folks leaving California.

California lost a net of more than 114,000 residents during the last year and about 500,000 over the last three years.

So why are Californians who stayed and those who arrived during that same time among the happiest folks in America?

It might be that they are among the select who can afford to live in this state, where the median housing price of more than $700,000 puts California among the top three priciest places in the nation. Its most populous county, Los Angeles, even tops the statewide median price figure by about $100,000.

Strikingly, research indicates it’s not the most expensive places in California that are happiest. Atherton, whose people average out as America’s wealthiest, does not make the top 10 list of the happiest spots in the nation, while six other California cities are on that list, as reported by the website smartassett.com.

Those six include the happiest city, Sunnyvale, hard by the headquarters of Apple and Google in the heart of the Silicon Valley; Fremont, where most Teslas are built, ranked fourth; with the Sacramento suburb Roseville seventh, San Jose eighth, the Los Angeles bedroom suburb of Santa Clarita ninth and Irvine in Orange County rounding out the top 10.

Among the happiness measures the study used were the percentage of individuals earning more than $100,000 per year, living costs as a percentage of income, violent crime rates, life expectancy and the number of poor mental health days reported.

Sunnyvale ranked first because 62.5% of its residents earned more than $100,000 (highest in the nation) and only 5% lived below the poverty level, third lowest nationally.

No. 10 Irvine ranked high in every category, with more than 45% of residents earning more than $100,000 and living costs consuming just 38% of income. Violent crime is also very low there, at 51 incidents per 100,000 population for the last year, and citizens reporting poor mental health on just 11.3% of their days, with average life expectancy almost 83 years.


By contrast, the happiest place in Texas, the Dallas suburb of Plano, with 288,000 population (about double the size of the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance), saw about one-third of its populace earn more than $100,000 and cost of living expenses eat up 40.3% of income, even though housing prices are far lower than in Irvine.

Some might say that there’s too much emphasis on money in this study. But a 2021 University of Pennsylvania study found a direct link between happiness and income growth.

Another major factor in happiness, as shown by many studies, is marriage: The higher the percentage of married people in a locale, the happier the average person will be.

And among the top 10 happiest cities in the smartasset.com report, the majority of adults were married in all but one — Arlington, Virginia, which came in second on the overall happiness index.

Still, despite its strong showing on happiness, California has seen slightly more than 1% of its people depart for other states over the last three years. Again, the primary factor is money, if the state’s Finance Department is to be believed.


That department hangs responsibility for most of the population loss on housing prices. Prices are too high for most Americans to buy in, even if they sell off fully paid-off homes in other places.
High prices also cause many Californians to sell and move to larger, cheaper homes elsewhere, in many cases pocketing hundreds of thousands in the process. It’s hard to argue with buying larger quarters surrounded by more open space, all at lower cost.

These moves have been eased by the great workplace shift that’s occurred almost simultaneously with California’s largest-ever population losses. With vast numbers of white collar workers now able to work remotely from almost anywhere, and still keep their high-paying jobs, it’s completely expectable that some will move out of state, and some have.

But if legislative strategies designed to make housing here denser come to reality, it’s also expectable that some prices will drop and allow more people to move here and enjoy the lifestyle that makes this state dominate the list of happy places.

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There is no case for reparations Ultimately, the great evil of slavery was practiced by all inhabited continents and all races

Demonstrators gather at the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial to mark Juneteenth in Washington, DC (Getty)

The case for slavery reparations seems to be growing louder every day. This week, indigenous representatives from twelve Commonwealth countries called on King Charles to begin the process of paying reparations. The King has personally expressed sorrow for the suffering of slaves and Buckingham Palace has said that it is taking the issue of reparations “profoundly seriously.” Earlier this year, a former BBC journalist committed to sending £100,000 ($126,000) in aid to the Caribbean to atone for her own family’s historical links to the slave trade.

The voluntary role that many Africans played in the transatlantic slave trade is ignored

The central thesis of slavery reparations is that white majority countries owe money to ethnic minorities as their ancestors may have enslaved others or benefited from a slave-system economy.

There is a problem with this though: ultimately, the great evil of slavery was practiced by all inhabited continents and all races. And there will be almost no one alive today in the world who doesn’t have an ancestral link to the slave trade. This fact collapses the modern-day reparations argument.

Take the Afro-Omani slave trader Tippu Tip, who in 1895 was reported to have seven plantations and own 10,000 slaves. He was one of the largest slavers in all of East Africa.

Tip, alongside countless fellow indigenous Africans, would capture slaves in village raids or as prisoners of war, and they would be sold at the African coast to outside traders or fellow Africans within the subcontinent. Tip’s own home country Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) was, although small in size, a large trading empire. In 1859 alone, 19,000 slaves were imported there from the East African Coast.


Long before the transatlantic slave trade began, slavery was commonplace in many parts of the globe. As al-Tabari, the Muslim scholar, showed in the mid-ninth century, the Basra port at al-Ahwaz alone had about 15,000 enslaved workers. Even in New Zealand, Māori chiefs enslaved prisoners of war — occasionally going as far as eating them in tribal feasts. The further you go back in history the longer the list of slavers grows, including everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to the Shang dynasty in China.

Given that many of the nations now calling for reparations also enslaved and sold others, the reparations argument when brought to its logical conclusion would have to demand that descendants of African slavers owe reparations to those who may have been the victims of slavery.

This argument could even be applied to the white descendants of the victims of the Barbary slave trade. Though undoubtedly far smaller than the transatlantic slave trade, the Barbary trade still saw over a million Europeans captured by North African pirates in slave raids between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

So why is this devastating blow to the reparations argument often ignored? Politically, it seems that although we generally accept that slavery was universal in ancient history, we often pretend that only European powers practiced slavery from the sixteenth century onwards, when this is clearly not the case. Meanwhile, the voluntary role that many Africans played in the transatlantic slave trade is also ignored.

Generally the European powers, with the exception of Portugal, lacked the resources to delve deep into the African continent for slaves. They were instead met at the coast by willing traders looking to make a profit by selling their fellow man. Though it is undoubtedly true that the rise of the transatlantic trade encouraged the growth of African slavers, this does not excuse those who took part in the trade.

Nor did slavery end in Africa when European colonialists were removed from the continent. When the Portuguese were forced off the East African Coast in 1699 by the Imam of the Omani Empire, he himself owned about 1,700 slaves.

The same is true for colonies outside Africa. In the early 1820s, Brazil broke away from the Portuguese Empire. Despite its later anti-slavery treaties with the UK, Brazil would continue importing about 750,000 slaves between 1831-1850. In 1844 it refused to renew the Anglo-Brazilian anti-slave trade agreement. Brazil’s slave trade only effectively stopped after 1850 when the UK formed a naval blockade in its coastal waters.

During the age of abolition led by Britain, the king of Dahomey (a West African Kingdom in modern day Benin) reportedly protested to a British officer that:

“The slave trade has been the ruling principle of my people. It is the source of their glory and wealth. Their songs celebrate their victories and the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slavery.“

Some independent African nations and empires continued to allow slavery well after abolitionism in Europe. This was especially true in the eastern side of Africa where it was more difficult for the British to influence local politics and for the Royal Navy to enforce abolition.

From the 1860s onwards, Bemba chiefs in northeastern Zambia traded ivory and slaves for guns. As the supply of elephants for ivory depleted, the chiefs moved to selling even more slaves. In Barotseland, the monarch Lewanika was considered king of the Barotses, a South African ethnic group. From the beginning of his reign in 1878 until the region became a British protectorate, oral sources claim that up to a third of his subjects were slaves.

There is no question that the Euro-American trade in slaves — which began with Portugal and later included other colonial powers such as France and Britain — was huge in size. This evil should never be forgotten.

But neither should we forget that people from all parts of the world, races and religions took part in what was one of the most horrid systems in human history.

In many parts of the world today, slavery is still rife. Rather than trying to create division by blaming people for the sins of their ancestors, we should instead come together to try and solve the problems we face today.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.

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Why are employers being forced to pay off California’s defaulted loans?

This photo shows the California State Capitol building. (File photo by Anda Chu, Bay Area News Group)

California business owners received an unpleasant surprise in filing their taxes this year — the state of California has defaulted on its $18.5 billion federal unemployment insurance loans, and as a result, every employer in California is being forced to pay additional federal taxes to make up the difference until the loan is repaid in full. If you found this news baffling, you’re not alone. I did too.

Federal unemployment insurance loans were essential to helping Californians weather the COVID-19 pandemic, and in fact, most states participated in the federal loan program. As the state mandated business closures for months on end, these payments helped Californians who were out of work to put food on the table and keep the lights on. However, out of the 22 states that were forced to take federal loans during the pandemic, California is one of only four to fail to repay its loan, and it owes the largest amount of any state by far.

When states across the country received loan-free federal aid as a result of the federal government’s unprecedented emergency spending packages, most chose to use at least a portion of those funds to pay back the federal loans they’d been forced to take to support their unemployment programs. California received $15.3 billion in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds, but allocated none of it to repaying its outstanding loans.

Even more baffling is the fact that last year California declared a historic $97.5 billion budget surplus after passing a $300 billion budget in May. That budget surplus was enough money to repay the federal government loan more than five times over. Instead of making the fiscally prudent decision to pay off the debt with part of this vast surplus, California has instead allowed its loan obligations from the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund to go unfulfilled for two years in a row, triggering a provision that transfers responsibility for repaying the debt from a state government to that state’s employers.

As a result of California’s failure to repay its debt, millions of our state’s employers will be required to pay penalties to the federal government this month in the form of higher Federal Unemployment Act (FUTA) taxes. FUTA imposes a 6% gross federal unemployment tax rate on the first $7,000 paid by employers for each employee. This results in a maximum federal tax of $420 per employee per year. Typically, California employers receive a credit which reduces the tax paid per employee to only $42 per worker per year.

When a state fails to repay federal unemployment insurance loans it takes from the Federal Unemployment Trust for two or more consecutive years as California has done, the FUTA credit is reduced for that state, meaning every businesses in the state is forced to pay progressively more in FUTA taxes for each year the state remains delinquent on its loans. After five years, a different FUTA credit reduction calculation kicks in, levying an even bigger penalty on the state’s employers and its economy.

The last time California was in arrears on these Title XII loans, it took seven years to repay them, meaning that in the final year of repayment (2017), every employer in California was forced to pay an extra $147 per employee in FUTA penalties. That amounted to thousands of dollars for the average small business that could have instead been used to grow employment in our communities.

Small and large companies in California alike are already reeling from economic instability, high interest rates, and skyrocketing inflation. They’re also still struggling with supply chain fluctuations and recovering from one of the longest state-mandated COVID-19 economic shutdowns in the country. Forcing a higher tax burden on our employers as a result of California’s gross fiscal mismanagement will undermine job creation and drive prices even higher.

To add insult to injury, it is notable that better fraud enforcement by the Employment Development Department alone could have repaid the state’s federal loans.

A LexisNexis data analysis performed by the reporters at KCRA showed that California paid out at least $32.6 billion and counting in fraudulent disability and unemployment compensation during the pandemic, much higher than the department’s publicized $20 billion number. But by either statistic, the state would have had more than enough to repay its loans from the federal government if it had only administered its programs correctly.


It was the state’s own actions that shut down businesses and caused much of the resulting unemployment that California faced, and yet it is our small businesses that will once again be forced to pay the penalty for California’s mismanagement. Forcing Californians to pay higher federal taxes because of the state’s failure to either prevent rampant fraud or repay its debts in a year when the state had a multibillion-dollar budget surplus is nothing short of theft.
This baffling mismanagement of our state’s finances is totally unacceptable, and our small businesses and employers should not be forced to pay the price. I am leading eleven members of the California congressional delegation in sounding the alarm on this issue and calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature to act immediately and repay California’s outstanding federal unemployment insurance loans to prevent this burden from unfairly falling on California employers. It is the state’s duty to take fiscal responsibility for its actions. Failure to do so could jeopardize the financial stability of millions of California’s small employers.

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Blame Macron for Europe’s migrant crisis, not Meloni To have accused Italy of mishandling it could be construed as hypocrisy of the highest order.

Guilty as charged. Emmanuel Macron (Getty)

Blame Macron for Europe’s migrant crisis, not Meloni. To have accused Italy of mishandling it could be construed as hypocrisy of the highest order.

France and Germany have fallen out again after the French interior minister Gérald Darmanin accused Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni of incompetence in her handling of the migrant crisis. In response, Itay’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has canceled a meeting in Paris scheduled for Friday and he is demanding an apology from Darmanin for his “vulgar insults.” Meloni has put on hold her own visit to Paris, which was due to take place next month, according to the Italian press.

It’s not the first time the interior minister has outraged a neighbor. Twelve months ago, Darmanin was accused of wrongly laying the blame for the chaos that erupted in Paris during the Champions League final on Liverpool fans. In fact, they and the Real Madrid supporters were the victims of the lawlessness that has come to characterize the French capital in recent years. It took many weeks before Darmanin issued an apology through gritted teeth.

It’s not Meloni Darmanin should be attacking but the leader of his own country

His latest blunder is more serious, given the gravity of the situation in the Mediterranean: so far this year an estimated 40,000 migrants have crossed into Italy. This is having ramifications for France with a record number of unaccompanied minors breaching their border with Italy in March.

But instead of trying to work together to resolve the crisis, Darmanin used a radio interview on Thursday morning to attack Italy. Asked about recent comments made by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party regarding the worsening crisis on the Franco-Italian border, Darmanin retorted, “Madame Meloni, a far-right government chosen by Madame Le Pen’s friends, is incapable of solving the migration problems on which she was elected.”

Darmanin first angered Rome in November when he and Meloni had words following Italy’s refusal to allow an NGO migrant vessel to dock. France directed the ship to one of its ports, but not before the Italian prime minister criticized Darmanin’s “aggressive, incomprehensible and unjustified” reaction towards her country.

Tajani’s visit to Paris was supposed to be part of the reconciliation process, but that now lies in tatters thanks once more to Darmanin.

“The insults towards the government and Italy uttered by minister Darmanin are unacceptable,” announced Tajani in a tweet. “This is not the spirit in which common European challenges should be addressed.”

His French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, clearly embarrassed by the row, spoke subsequently to Tajani on the phone. “I told him that relations between Italy and France are based on reciprocal respect, between our two countries and their leaders,” she said. “I hope to be able to welcome him in Paris soon.”

Many commentators in France were surprised Darmanin survived the Stade de France scandal, and this latest diplomatic disaster will once again raise questions over his suitability for office. His petulant comments are perhaps an indication of the huge strain he is under, domestically and internationally. The police handling of the pension reform protests has drawn criticism from home and abroad, most recently from the United Nations. Then, last week on the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte (a French Department), Darmanian was humiliated by a local court which put a stop to his attempt to evict illegal immigrants.

To have accused Italy of mishandling a migrant crisis could therefore be construed as hypocrisy of the highest order, a point made by Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally.

“With Gérald Darmanin as minister of the interior, France is beating all immigration records,” he tweeted. “A record that disqualifies him from giving the slightest lesson in firmness to our Italian neighbors.”

As undiplomatic as Darmanin’s remarks were, they hit a nerve in Rome, where there is growing despair at the soaring numbers of migrants landing on their shores. Last month, Italy declared a six-month state of emergency. But what unfolds in southern Europe will inevitably have repercussions in France and Britain, two of the most popular destinations for those making the voyage across the Mediterranean.

France’s response to all this seems to be insults and inertia; in February, Darmanin made a great play about the tough new immigration bill that would address the crisis. It was supposed to be presented to the Senate in March; then it was pushed back to the early summer. Last week, prime minister Elisabeth Borne announced it won’t be examined until the fall at the earliest. She cited a lack of cooperation between the governing Renaissance party and the center-right Republicans as the reason for its delay; their support will be needed in parliament. In reality, the division is within Macron’s own party, many of whom are opposed to any stringent crackdown on illegal immigration.

Herein lies the bitter truth for Darmanin, one of the few ministers in Macron’s government who genuinely understands the seriousness of the migrant crisis. It’s not Meloni he should be attacking but the leader of his own country. Macron has been in office longer than most EU heads of states, and since the departure of Angela Merkel in December 2021 he has regarded himself as the Union’s senior statesman. He therefore should take the initiative in co-ordinating a robust response to the chaos in the Mediterranean.

That was the ambition outlined by Macron in one of his first major speeches as president in September 2017. In an address entitled “Initiative for Europe,” Macron stressed both the urgency of the situation and the need for co-operation.

“In the coming years, Europe will have to accept that its major challenge lies there,” he said of the migrant crisis. “So long as we leave some of our partners submerged under massive arrivals without helping them manage their borders; so long as our asylum procedures remain slow and disparate; so long as we are incapable of collectively organizing the return of migrants not eligible for asylum, we will lack both effectiveness and humanity.”

But Europe has proved incapable of accepting the challenge. The number of migrants grows, and so do the insults between member states. Instead of effectiveness and humanity there is just ineffectiveness and humbug.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.

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Links from other news sources. Politics

This is why the DOJ is doing anything and everything to stop Trump. Trump Crushing Biden and DeSantis in New WaPo/ABC News.

Crushing Biden in a MSM Poll.

This is why the DOJ is doing anything and everything to stop Trump.

Trump is crushing both Biden and DeSantis. Also DeSantis is crushing Biden. This is not me saying this, but the latest Washington Post/ ABC News Poll. Yes information coming from the MSM.

President Trump is crushing Joe Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in a new Washington Poll/ABC News poll released at midnight. Trump leads Biden in a head to head match-up 49%-42% among supporters and leaners in the general election and bests DeSantis 51%-25% in a field of six potential GOP primary candidates with the others in single digits. The poll also shows DeSantis beating Biden by a similar margin, 48%-41%.

Black and Hispanic support for Trump has increased substantially from 2020, with 27 percent of Black voters supporting Trump, compared to 12 percent in 2020. 43 percent of Hispanics support Trump compared, to 30 percent in 2020.

Black and Hispanic support for Trump has increased substantially from 2020, with 27 percent of Black voters supporting Trump, compared to 12 percent in 2020. 43 percent of Hispanics support Trump compared, to 30 percent in 2020.

And on the Economy?

https://twitter.com/IAPolls2022/status/1655070655518310401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1655070655518310401%7Ctwgr%5E4dcb8c6067d5ecfe188ec774c17a35443a1d2d11%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2023%2F05%2Ftrump-crushing-biden-and-desantis-in-new-wapo-abc-news-poll%2F