“During the Biden administration’s four years, the CDC recorded a total of 527 cases. In just the first seven months of the Trump administration, there have been 1,408 cases with 176 hospitalizations and three deaths. That’s a 267 percent increase over the Biden administration’s entire toll. Instead of immediately recommending measles vaccines at the beginning of the outbreak, RFK Jr. initially advised giving vitamin A to children.
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The CDC’s manifold failures during the COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that it needs drastic reform and a return to its roots as an agency focused on fighting infectious epidemic disease. This evidently is not the sort of reform that RFK Jr. intends. Firing Monarez may not be “weaponizing public health,” but it sure looks a lot like gutting it.”
Trump continues to bully and sue to suppress the press and free speech. He knows that just to defend a lawsuit is incredibly expensive, and hopes that people just give in.
“Alexander Ledvina was convicted of violating a federal law that bars illegal drug users from owning guns. Exactly a year later, President Joe Biden, whose administration had zealously defended that law in court, pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for committing the same crime.
Ledvina, a marijuana user who was 26 when he was arrested, was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison. Hunter Biden, a middle-aged former crack user, faced up to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of illegal gun possession and two related firearm offenses. But thanks to his father’s intervention, he did not suffer any criminal punishment at all.
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Under 18 USC 922(g)(3), “an unlawful user” of “any controlled substance” who receives or possesses a firearm is committing a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.”
Hunter Biden defends himself and spits hot fire. Takes on MAGA, Democrats, Jake Tapper, and a waterfall of lies. Discusses his: drug addiction, gun charge, and late taxes.
“When it became clear that overdoses had risen dramatically in 2020, experts surmised that it had something to do with the social and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response to it—an impression confirmed by subsequent research.
A 2024 study found that “volatile drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic was common, appeared to be driven by structural vulnerability, and was associated with increased overdose risk.” Another study published the same year concluded that “policies limiting in-person activities significantly increased” drug death rates.
If pandemic-related disruption drove the 2020 overdose spike, the return to normal life seems like a plausible explanation for subsequent decreases, although the death toll was still about 14 percent higher last year than it was in 2019. Last fall, University of North Carolina drug researcher Nabarun Dasgupta and his colleagues suggested other possible factors, including wider availability of naloxone, an opioid antagonist that quickly reverses overdoses.”
“E.V. batteries carry a much heavier burden than their traditional counterparts, powering not just the car’s electronics but also the motor. Slate plans to build its truck with batteries made from nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC). NMC batteries were common for many years, but automakers are starting to switch to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Each has benefits, but overall, LFP batteries are cheaper, they charge faster and last longer, and their components are more easily sourced.
Still, Slate plans to use more expensive and less efficient NMC batteries because it’s the only way to qualify for the federal rebate.”
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“The Inflation Reduction Act established very particular sourcing requirements for the E.V. tax credits: By the end of the decade, a vehicle can only qualify for the credit if 100 percent of its battery’s components are “manufactured or assembled in North America” and 80 percent of the battery’s critical minerals are “extracted or processed in the United States or a U.S. free-trade agreement partner or recycled in North America.””
Biden ran as a relative moderate, but governed more to the left, creating inefficient policy and contributing to inflation.
Large and growing government debt reduces economic growth because that means the government is borrowing more money, which drives up interest rates, which drives down business investments and homebuilding. When borrowing from foreigners, you have to give some of your economic growth to them to repay them.
“CNN’s Jake Tapper has released a book on this subject: Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. That’s in addition to the books by Parnes, Allen, and Whipple. One can’t help but wonder, however, why it took so long to get the real story. Maybe journalists weren’t properly clued in to Biden’s decline until after the debate? That’s a bit hard to believe, though: At the very least, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s claims some months earlier that Biden appeared to be an “elderly man with a poor memory” should have set off alarm bells.”