Following up on the previous post, Baker Hughes publishes updates on on North American rotary oil and gas rigs weekly and International counts are updated once a month. As of this report, the the U.S. has 590 rigs, down 3 from the previous report. Canadian and International rig counts are also down. Not surprisingly, gasoline prices have gone up.
New Hampshire Public Radio has this fascinating interview with Jason Riddle, who served 90 days in jail following the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Mr. Riddle, who has rejected a pardon from Trump, describes the personal circumstances that contributed to his MAGA radicalization:
"I'm a recovering alcoholic. At the time, I was not recovering. I would combine alcohol with my politics and I'd put it online too. I spent a lot of time on social media in the comments section arguing with strangers about nothing. And it just became more or less my identity. The less I had a life, the louder I was about being a Trump supporter. And instead of trying to figure out what was causing these problems, looking at myself, I blamed other people and politics. That's easy to do. And I fit right into the MAGA circle"
The interview offers a glimpse of the riot from a rioter's perspective and how he was treated as something of a celebrity in jail - by other inmates and by staff. Courage, common sense, and sober reflection seem to have turned him away from the MAGA movement.
In a recent opinion piece by professor, author and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Reich suggests the media is not sufficiently reporting on Trump's questionable mental health. Reich is not alone in his concern for Trump's mental stability.
A leading psychiatrist, Dr. Lance Dodes says the evidence for Trump's dementia is overwhelming. Former Johns Hopkins University Medical School professor and psychologist John Gartner, has said Trump is "showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia."
Trump's own father Fred suffered from dementia.
Although not a psychiatrist or psychologist, former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman advisor wrote in her book Unhinged that Trump, while in office, was suffering serious mental decline falling "from quick-thinking Apprentice host to a lonely, befuddled president who rattles around the White house with rage and confusion."
That seems to match up pretty well with Trump's current public statements and behavior.
Trump has apparently changed his mind about electric vehicles (EVs). Now, he's not talking about EV supporters needing to "rot in hell" (see previous post below). What accounts for the change of heart? Could it be that Elon Mush has endorsed Trump and, set up a super political action committee to help him called "America PAC?" Doesn't this suggest it's all about money and endorsements? Is this the way to decide what's best for our nation?
From the Business Insider article
"I'm for electric cars. I have to be because, you know, Elon endorsed me very strongly," Trump told the crowd. "So, I have no choice."
Simple as that. If you publicly support Trump and give him money, he'll change his political position give you what you want, or so it would seem based on Trump's words, "So I have no choice." Really? What else would this guy give away for money and endorsements?
According to this Forbes report, CNBC reported some potentially illegal shenanigans on the part America PAC. From the Forbes article:
"The PAC came under scrutiny after CNBC reported Friday a link on the group’s website directing supporters to register to vote for the most part doesn’t actually do so, but rather just collects information about them.
CNBC discovered if a user lists a zip code in a battleground state, the website leads them to a detailed form asking for much more personal information than if they report being in a non-competitive state—in which case they still aren’t actually registered to vote, though for some non-battleground state zip codes the PAC does lead them to an official voter registration link."
To lead voters to a web site where they think they are registering to vote but they really aren't sounds like trouble and has sparked an investigation by the Michigan's Secretary of State and Atorney General.
According to Business Insider, Donald Trump isn't happy with those who support electric cars and wishes they would "rot in hell." I wonder if Trump has any electric carts on any of his golf courses. I bet he does.
Trump's particularly harsh and baseless judgement (the Bible doesn't take a position on electric cars) would apparently apply to the Washington-Baltimore Conference of the United Methodist Church. Given that their parking lots are pretty much empty six days out of the week, they decided to install e-car charging stations at more than 600 churches!
And Trump's not just implicitly telling Methodists where to go and what to do when they get there. The Catholic Diocese of Worchester, Massachusetts is encouraging parishioners to support driving and charging e-vehicles.
Perhaps a sign of how out of touch Donald Trump is with energy and world affairs, and how poorly informed he is, generally, Pope Francis Himself has two Volkswagon ID.3 Pro Performance models and has directed the entire Vatican City State fleet to purchase electric vehicles and be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Photo credit: Aleteia.
