Biden Cancels Previously Issued ANWR Oil and Gas Leases in Alaska

September 7, 2023 | Sundance |

24 hours before Joe Biden announced he was cancelling all previously issued oil and gas leases in Alaska’s ANWR region,Saudi Arabia and Russia announced oil production limits would continue. Oil prices spiked near $100/bbl and then Joe Biden amplifies the problem by cancelling previously sold oil and gas leases.

There’s no other way to look at the timing here, other thanto accept this is Joe Biden intentionally driving up the cost of domestic energy in the U.S. and creating as much pain as possible.

(Reuters) – Sept 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump’s term.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre (7.9 million-hectare) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for polar bears and caribou.

“As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” he said in a statement.

Trump’s Republican administration had issued the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) seven leases a day before Biden’s inauguration.

Environmentalists praised the decision, but it was lambasted by a Republican Senator from Alaska, where officials have sought to open up drilling in the reserve to secure jobs and revenues for the state.

The government also said it would forbid new leasing on more than 10 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a 23-million-acre area on the state’s North Slope that is the largest undisturbed public land in the United States. (read more)

WHITE HOUSE – […] Canceling all remaining oil and gas leases issued under the previous administration in the Arctic Refuge and protecting more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic will help preserve our Arctic lands and wildlife, while honoring the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on these lands since time immemorial. From day one, I have delivered on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history. But there is more to do… (link)

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/07/biden-cancels-previously-issued-oanwr-oil-and-gas-leases-in-alaska/

Ex-Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads Guilty To 31 Counts Of Evidence Tampering

John OyewaleSeptember 08, 2023

A former Leake County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty to a roughly two-year-long, 31-count charge of drug evidence tampering Tuesday.

Moore, 40, of Carthage, was arrested and charged with 31 counts of evidence tampering following a lengthy internal investigation involving multiple drug evidence submissions made to the Leake County Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement. The investigation, conducted by the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, also included an audit of the office’s evidence vault.

Moore was swiftly arrested on Oct. 31, 2022, in connection with the evidence tampering,

“Every case that he was involved in, rightfully so, was dismissed … These folks had a second chance to be able to get their life straight,” Sheriff Randy Atkinson said, 16 WAPT Newsreported.

Leake County police have since changed the drug evidence process by creating an evidence drop-off box, according to 16 WAPT News. “If you go to a bank and do a drop box, that’s what we’ve got now. It’s a drop box that they drop it into, and it’s no way of retrieving it,” Atkinson reportedly said.

Atkinson hoped that Moore’s sentencing would serve as a warning to drug offenders in the county and that nobody was above the law, per the statement.

(What about the leaders and others that knew about it?)

https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/08/sheriff-deputy-evidence-tampering/

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: What Game Is Hunter Biden Playing?

Victor Davis Hanson1/2

September 07, 2023

What shameless act or felonious activity was not evidenced on Hunter Biden’s laptop? Racist attitudes toward Asians? Soliciting prostitution? Felonious use of drugs? Photographed nudity and perverse sex? Admissions to illicit foreign shakedowns?

Hunter all but accused his own father, President Joe Biden, of also being on the foreign take: “I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family … Unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary.”

Hunter’s alleged felonies range from bribery to tax evasion. That he has not yet been prosecuted for anything is scandalous. His exemption is attributable only to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s likely weaponized directives to federal prosecutors to downgrade or forget altogether felony charges against Hunter.

So given such wild behavior, why would not Hunter tone it down, stop the global grifting, cease the reckless behavior — and quit redirecting attention to the likely illegal acts of his father, the president?

Why did not Hunter early on just settle the child support suit filed by his paramour Lunden Roberts? Why haggle over money for his own daughter?

Hunter instead outrageously claimed near poverty. That excuse was hilarious given he flies on private jets and pays nearly $16,000 a month to rent a house in tony, celebrity-ridden Malibu.

Why did Hunter ever get involved with a performance stripper in the first place after his past widely publicized liaisons with prostitutes? Why also with his own widowed sister-in-law?

Given Hunter has little or no experience or training in high-stakes international finance and investment — and thus has no market value as an investor or broker. But he was infamous for translating that nothingness into millions in lucre due solely to his ability to monetize the influence of then-Vice President Joe Biden.

So why now when under 24/7 scrutiny, would Hunter dare recreate himself as an “artist,” by blowing through straws in his mouth?

His amateurish canvasses somehow have sold for up to $500,000 a pop. Both Biden donors and gamers saw their buys of such mediocre art as gambits either to meet with or profit from his father, Joe Biden.

But would not his painting grift only bring greater prosecutorial scrutiny and greater embarrassment to the president?…

https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/07/victor-davis-hanson-hunter-joe-biden-ukraine-laptop/

>>19511624

2/2

Hunter Biden’s attorneys sought to leverage federal prosecutors into agreeing to drop their charges — by threatening to call in as a pro-Hunter witness President Joe Biden himself and thereby likely invoke a constitutional crisis!

In such a scenario, the president under oath would be forced to lie again that he had no knowledge of or involvement in Hunter’s illegal behavior. Or if he admitted the truth that he did, he would thus contradict years of his adamant denials.

Why would Hunter put his father and president in such a publicity circus?

Hunter has lost an incriminating laptop by abandoning it at a repair shop. He has forgotten his crack pipe in a rental car. His illegally registered handgun turned up in a trash dumpster near a school.

So would not the carefree Hunter insist that all the Bidens in the spotlight remain extra careful never to abandon incriminating drugs — especially in the White House.

Yet in a West Wing first, recently cocaine was found lost in an entrance vestibule. Various media outlets claimed it belonged to someone in the “Biden family orbit.”

One of two things explain the continuous reckless behavior of wayward son Hunter Biden:

One, he is either still on drugs or so suffers from past addiction that he has lost all common sense and judgment, and simply cannot control his behavior.

Or, two, Hunter is an embittered, angry son. As the Biden bagman for foreign shakedown cash, he did the dirty work and most risked the legal exposure that made all the Bidens rich.

Yet, instead of familial praise — or so the broke Hunter seems to whine on his laptop –Hunter gets no respect from those he enriched.

And now he, not they, might first go to jail.

As a result, does his continuous recklessness send a not so-subtle reminder to all the Bidens — his father the “Big Guy” especially?

That is, Hunter is not going to take the fall. He will not end up in prison for decades while the other exempt Bidens continue to enjoy their ill-gotten riches, due to Hunter’s imaginative cons.

No wonder the first family for months moved Hunter into the White House and put him on Air Force One.

Is it now, “Keep Hunter close and self-important — or else”?

https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/07/victor-davis-hanson-hunter-joe-biden-ukraine-laptop/

8 Sep, 2023

US using Ukraine to weaken EU – ex-French president

If Kiev is accepted into the bloc, Washington’s sway over Europe will increase dramatically, Nicolas Sarkozy has said

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out against Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO, arguing that the move would not bring peace to Europe and would chip away at the continent’s independence.

Speaking to France 5 TV broadcaster on Wednesday, Sarkozy reiterated his calls for a compromise between Moscow and Kiev, noting that theconflict had already claimed the lives of around half a million of people, most of whom were Ukrainian.

“But we continue because in the Boulevard Saint-Germain they are very brave in terms of sending young Ukrainians to die,” he added, referring to the street that has gained a reputation as a venue for fiery political debates among French intellectuals.

While denouncing Russia as an “aggressor” in the conflict, Sarkozy said he believed that Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the EU – which Kiev has been seeking for many years – would not lead to peace. “Because if you bring Ukraine into Europe, you strengthen American Europe as the Eastern European countries are dominated by the US,” he noted.

According to Sarkozy, while Ukraine essentially expresses America’s wishes because it is heavily reliant on Washington’s military assistance, the same is not true for relations between Washington and Paris. “France has a unique voice… and does not align itself with American interests,” he said.

While reiterating that he wants France to support Ukraine, Sarkozy said he believes that Ukraine should eventually receive security guarantees fromthe West but must remain neutraland continue toserve as a “bridge between the Slavic world of Russia and us.”

“We cannot continue to wage war by simply saying: ‘More weapons, more deaths, more resistance.’ How do you get out of this?” he asked.

He claimed that the Ukraine conflict benefits only China, which he said is gaining clout by courting its partners in the BRICS economic group, and the US, which is profiting from arms sales and higher prices for liquefied natural gas.

Last week, Sarkozy suggested that any compromise with Moscow would involve recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, a statement that triggered outrage in Kiev, with Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, calling the proposal “criminal,” and accusing Sarkozy of complicity in organizing “genocide and war.”

https://www.rt.com/news/582576-us-ukraine-eu-sarkozy/

8 Sep, 2023

Pope would ‘cheat’ Ukraine – top Zelensky aide

Mikhail Podoliak reiterated claims that the pontiff was “pro-Russian” and implied that Moscow had bribed the Vatican

Kiev will not accept mediation from Pope Francis in the conflict with Moscow, because the “pro-Russian” pontiff would betray Ukraine, a senior aide to President Vladimir Zelensky has declared.

Mikhail Podoliak renewed his critique of the Catholic leader in an interview with national media published on Friday. He previously branded thePope an “instrument of Russian propaganda”for telling Russian Catholics they should cherish their nation’s history.

“There is no sense discussing a mediator titled the Pope, when he has a pro-Russian position that is absolutely obvious to everyone by now,”Podoliak said, claiming the Vatican would “cheat Ukraine and justice” should its intercession be allowed.

The Ukrainian official alleged that contrary to the Vatican’s stated position, the Pope is “promoting war.” He suggested looking “into investments made by Russia into the Vatican Bank” for a possible explanation, referring to the financial institution formally named the Institute for the Works of Religion.

Podoliak has previously accused other foreign institutions of taking Russian bribes. The International Olympic Committee became one such target in January, after it reversed a blanket ban on Russian athletes, and said they should be allowed to compete under a neutral flag.

The remarks made by the pontiff have hurt the Catholic cause and the reputation of the Holy See, Podoliak maintained, citing a caricature that a Polish magazine published. Wprost displayed a picture of the Pope riding in his famous glass-sided car, attached to a Russian armor platform.

Zelensky’s aide described Poland as “pretty much the most Catholic nation, except the Vatican,” and argued thatPope Francis“has shown that he is no expert in politics andcontinues to reduce the influence of Catholicism in the word to zero.”

The Pope urged his Russian audience in a virtual speech last month to be proud of their country’s great history and culture. Moscow said it appreciated the sentiment, while Kiev labeled it as supporting Russia’s supposed imperial ambitions. The Vatican has refuted the Ukrainian interpretation of the speech.

(Nothing is lowest enough or outrageous for Nazis. Watch the triggered response in EU.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/582569-podoliak-pope-francis-cheater/

8 Sep, 2023

Germany delivers sobering missile update to Ukraine

Deliveries of Taurus rockets “is not something that can be done quickly,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said

Ukraine should not hope for expedited deliveries of long-range missiles from Berlin, which it has been requesting for months, as such a step should be extremely well thought-out, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in an interview on Friday.

Speaking to the Funke media group, Baerbock pointed out that the supply of Taurus missiles “is not something that can be done quickly.” As with the Leopard tanks and IRIS-T air defense systems that Germany has already sent to Ukraine, “every detail has to be worked out beforehand.”

The minister nonetheless described Kiev’s request for missiles that carry a 500-kilogram warhead and have a range of about 500 kilometers as “more than understandable,”explaining that Ukraine needs to hit Russian supply lines in the rear to make progress on the battlefield.

When asked whether Germany could reprogram its missiles to prevent Ukraine from targeting Russian territory, Baerbock said that “other partners also have similar questions and found solutions.”

While Ukraine has already received long-range missiles from the UK and France, which it has used to attack civilian infrastructure in Donbass and Crimea – Germany has so far been reluctant to join the effort. Explaining this stance, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said thatUkrainian attacks deep into Russia could trigger a major escalation, while other officials in Berlin pointed out that the US has also been unwilling to make a similar commitment.

Last month, however, Der Spiegel reported that Scholz was in talks with arms manufacturer MBDA regarding possibly modifying the Taurus to include a target-programming limitation. Around the same time, Ukrainian MP Egor Chernev claimed that key German parliamentary factions had “reached a consensus” on delivering Taurus missiles.

The German public, however, does not seem inclined to support the delivery, according to several polls. A recent ARD-DeutschlandTrend survey put support for the shipments of long-range missiles to Ukraine at just 36%, with 52% strongly opposed.

https://www.rt.com/news/582565-germany-taurus-missiles-ukraine/