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Florida welcomed more visitors in 2021 than in any other year in recorded state history – nearly 118 million people.
Florida’s total hotel revenue also reached its highest level in state history of $17.3 billion, a 2% increase from 2019.
Last quarter, from October to December, Florida welcomed 30.9 million people, marking the second consecutive quarter that overall visitation surpassed pre-pandemic tourism/travel levels in 2019. This represents a 61.9% increase from the last quarter of 2020.
The majority, 29 million, were domestic travelers, an increase of 57% from the last quarter of 2020 and 7% increase from the last quarter of 2019.
Travelers “flocked to Florida as a refuge from lockdown policies,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said when announcing new data published by VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s tourism agency.
“In Florida, we put freedom first, and as a result people are choosing to vacation in our state from across the country and the world to escape lockdowns, including the politicians who advocated for those reckless policies and who are often spotted vacationing here,” he said. “While tourism in other states is only just beginning to recover, Florida is at the front of the pack – now we are surpassing pre-pandemic levels and setting new visitation records.”
“We are thrilled to cap off an incredible year with more record-breaking success for Florida’s tourism industry,” Dana Young, president and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA, said. “Overall visitation not only exceeded 2019’s for the second quarter in a row, but domestically reached the highest point in our state’s history. We also saw a significant rebound in international travel, including record visitation from Colombia that has made it now Florida’s No. 1 international origin market. VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing continues to drive results on behalf of Florida’s tourism economy, and we are looking forward to taking this success to new heights in 2022 and beyond.”
Approximately 1.5 million overseas visitors came to Florida in the last quarter of 2021, a 198% increase from the last quarter of 2020.
Canadian visitors reached 359,000 in the last quarter of 2021, nearly three times as many as in the previous quarter.
Total enplanements at 19 Florida airports were up 108.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 2020, with domestic enplanements up by 105.4% over the same time period. Miami had the largest number of enplaned passengers of 5.83 million, an increase of 150.5%; Orlando had 5.77 million, an increase of 114.7%. Seven airports saw an increase in enplanements compared to 2019, with Sarasota and Key West seeing the most significant growth, up 65.6% and 58.6%, respectively.
Bethany Blankley
The Center Square
The first and foremost solution, Comrade Schumer, is to replace you, Comrade Pelosi and brain dead Comrade Obiden and his handler, the Ayatollah Hussein Obama… with President Trump and any Republican who can walk and chew gum…!
What President Trump will do is exactly what he did in 2 years that Obama couldn’t do in 8 years and Obiden destroyed 8 months…that is…bring back Made In America products…make America energy independent and make America the biggest, wealthiest, most deadly, country in the world…AGAIN…........dumb ass!
Since none of your Comrades know the details, apparently… please allow me to expand the simple actions that President Trump did, without the “magic wand” the Ayatollah Obama said would be required…
First,
Enforce the existing Immigration and Naturalization Laws that you and your Comrades refuse to enforce! Simply put, “Enforce the Laws and Build the Walls”! Quit trying to destroy the Border Patrol, ICE, INS , Immigration and support them by starting with an arrest and fair trial for Mayorkas and then turn him into well done toast! Your illegal, criminal actions have allowed over 4 million, illegal, unvaccinated, good, bad, and ugly, criminals, terrorists, gang bangers, children, and drug and women smugglers into this country, so you could buy votes. The Monetary burden and dangers you and your left wing, red, commie, pinko, actions, have placed on Americans are intentional, criminal and violate every oath you and your fellow Comrades ever took to Defend, Preserver and Protect the Constitution, America and We The People!
Second,
Open the Green River Oil Reserves…GOVERNMENT OWNED… oil reserves, that Comrade Obama and Obiden …intentionally CLOSED. Restart oil drilling, fracking, and exploration… along with all the other lands that President Trump opened to oil drilling and exploration… which made us Energy independent…duh! I’m not certain but instead …I am 100% positive…that the closing of all the drilling, exploration and fracking that the Democrap New Communist Party lead by Obiden/Obama is 100% responsible for the “shortage of oil” causing Biden to beg OPEC to drill more oil…double duh! Simply put,”If you stop the farmers from growing potatoes, we will run out of potatoes”.
Third,
Reopen and continue the Keystone Pipeline as well as the other pipelines you closed and President Trump kept open. Please note… that the Second and Third actions your Party…Comrade…would/could be considered Acts of War, Espionage, Treason, Terrorism …IF…you did that to weaken America, and Aid our enemies ,to help change America to a Socialist, Communist, OR Islamic Nation…UNLESS you can point to an Amendment to the Constitution or Law that allows overthrow of our Constitutional Republic and make America a Socialist nation…you and the others are subjecting yourselves to Criminal Prosecutions. I personally cannot seem to find ANYTHING that allows your criminal actions!
On that note… please take notice that ANY tampering with the Internet to convert the US to Bitcoin/ Digital money…or interruptions to our Power Grid would …without any doubt …be Treason and don’t try to blame Trump, or any Republicans or China or N Korea, or Haiti…we ALL know what you rats are chewing on…it’s our freedoms, our Constitution, our Republic, our lives and we won’t tolerate it!
Fourth,
Pass voter ID and mail in by current, Absentee Ballot, rules and regulations only.
Fifth,
Re-impose the financial restrictions on all our enemies that Trump imposed and your team canceled. In case you and you buddies cannot find who our Nation’s Enemies are…just look at your investment portfolios, you should find, at least, the wealthiest there! Need some help…Hunter Biden in China, Ukraine, Daddy gets a cut…John Kerry in Iran and probably China, Obama and Pelosi in every Country dumb enough to deal with them!
Sixth,
STOP telling the people that the number one problem facing America is Climate Change/Global Warming or the Weather Fairy…STOP…IT’S NOT TRUE! That’s a class “A” fraud!
All the real scientists do agree on some contributing factors to The Earth’s Changes and there are many…not JUST weather! One such fact, is that there is change to the Climate…it changes daily! They also agree that here is nothing man can do to stop the daily climate change. I want you to grasp that concept because science knows what some of the contributors to Climate Change are (which is a poor description for what planet Earth endures) …and so do you! Sun spots…a big contributor to our climate and the impact on our Gravity… Sun Spots can cause changes to our forces of gravity and atmospherics temperatures, Meteor Impacts to Earth…they certainly cause changes, just ask any dinosaur…oops…their all dead from a Meteor impact… 66 million years ago!
Many Earth Quakes occur in uninhabited places on Earth but it is estimated that Minor Earth Quakes, like category 2, occur about 100 times DAILY ! In an average year, there might be 20-25 magnitude 7 earthquakes globally -- about one every 2 to 3 weeks. Is /are Earth Quakes an effect that changes the climate… “Climate Change”…hmmm…good question…ask someone who has lived in California along a fault…they would be more able to answer that one!? While you’re at it ask them if a Quake is worse than “Climate Change” (warming or cooling)…and do they think man can reduce Earth Quakes?
If you say that’s “unfair” how about this for, honesty and fairness…Al Gore and his Goreites ,based upon data from the left’s sole source for Climate Change/ Global Warming is the US financed, UNIPCC…a totally fraudulent outfit, according to NASA’s 2015 report on AntArtic ‘s Land Mass Ice cap…its bigger than ever. And the UNIPCC Global Warming model that predicted the end to Glaciers and predicted annual temperature increases…there was NEITHER, look it up!
therightsidejgarydilaura.com
J.Gary DiLaura
FBI RED Retired...Extremely Dangerous
Republican state lawmakers on Thursday said they introduced what would be the single-largest tax cut package in Florida history.
As Floridians, and all Americans, pay more for every day purchases due to surging inflation and depleted supply stemming from supply chain issues, some lawmakers are seeking to reduce the state’s tax burden.
The package, submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee, would reduce sales taxes and property taxes for some Floridians and expand several tax holidays.
If enacted, the measure would increase the property tax exemption for widows, widowers, blind and disabled persons by 10 times the current cap, and provide retroactive property tax relief for owners of Champlain Towers South Tower properties in Surfside.
“Today we introduced the single-largest sales tax cut package in the history of the state, giving Florida residents back more of their hard-earned money,” House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, said. “We’ve expanded existing tax cuts like the popular Freedom Week, Hurricane Preparedness and Back-to-School holidays, and we introduced new tax cuts to ensure that every person who resides, works and pays taxes in Florida is the beneficiary of these tax breaks.”
Introduced as PCB WMC 22-01, the wide-ranging tax cut package would expand the annual Back to School and Disaster Preparedness holidays from 10 days to two weeks and add new qualifying items. It also would retain the Freedom Week sales tax holiday introduced last year, and add a new seven-day sales tax holiday through Labor Day.
It proposes temporary sales tax cuts for purchases of baby and toddler clothes and children’s diapers, for one year, and on children’s books for three months to encourage summer reading.
Floridians purchasing ENERGY STAR refrigerators, washers, dryers and water heaters, for example, would pay less in sales tax on these items for six months; those who purchase impact-resistant windows, doors and garage doors would pay a lower tax for two years.
“More than sales taxes, our tax cut package provides property tax relief, increases the cap for the Strong Families Tax Credit and assists affordable housing projects,” state Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, Ways & Means Committee chair, said. “Every Floridian can find a way to take advantage of the provisions in our package.”
The bill would expand flexibility in the timing of the New Worlds Reading Initiative and Strong Families Tax Credit programs. It would increase the annual cap of the Strong Families Tax Credit to $10 million and provide an additional $5 million annually for the Community Contribution Tax Credit program.
By expanding the donations cap for the Community Contribution Tax Credit Program, the bill would encourage investments in affordable housing programs, according to the bill summary. It also would exempt loans from the federal government made in response to a state of emergency from the documentary stamp tax, and expand the list of overseas military deployments that qualify for the deployed service member homestead exemption.
According to the bill summary, the number of tax reductions and other tax-related modifications would directly benefit families and businesses. Homesteaders would see some relief, including widows, widowers, blind, or totally and permanently disabled, who would receive an increased exemption from ad valorem taxes from $500 to $5,000.
Proposed sales tax changes include a 14-day “disaster preparedness” holiday in May and June for specified disaster preparedness supplies for families and their pets; a seven-day “Freedom Week” tax holiday in July for specified recreational items and activities; a 14-day “back-to-school” tax holiday in July and August for certain clothing, school supplies, learning aids, puzzles and personal computers; and a seven-day tax holiday in September for tools and equipment needed in skilled trades.
Other sales tax benefits would include cutting the sales tax from 6% to 3% for the purchase of a new mobile home.
Bethany Blankley
The Center Square
We play Old Country Music,” emphasizes Don White, founder and bassist of “Just Country.” “We do songs from artists like Merle Haggard, George Jones, and George Strait. To me, new Country Music is not Country, Rock-&-Roll or even good music at all. It is something promoters make performers do because that is where the money is, as that is what teenyboppers want these days, but I will not play it. We do Old Country as that is the real Country sound!”
Don’s “Just Country” bandmate, Bob Slaughter, agrees. “We do mainly Country, along with a little Bluegrass, some Pop and Rock, with a variety of other stuff but mainly Country. With Country now, there is old Country and new Country, with new Country much more like Rock-& Roll. We mostly do traditional Country that you sadly do not hear much anymore, as that is our bag of tea! Of course, when you have a female singer as talented as Charlie, it is easy to play as broad variety of musical styles.”
Charlie is Charlie Ursitti, who joins Don and Bob in “Just Country,” along with Michael Ursitti on guitar and steel guitar, Frank Message on guitar, with drummer David Gravelin. Don plays bass and sings, with Bob on pedal steel, electric and acoustic guitars. Don started “Just Country” roughly 18 years ago: “I was in the Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres areas, getting acquainted, and decided to form a group, as I was in Country Music my entire life. I was talking to a guy and said I play just good old Country Music and needed a name for my new Florida band; he said I said it – ‘Just Country!’”
The Hills of Tennessee
Don was “born and raised in the hills of East Tennessee. I grew up in a musical family, especially on Mom’s side, with my uncles in a Country band. Mom played guitar so she was my earliest influence and why I am a guitarist. When I was 9 or 10 years old, I always wanted to go to gigs with my uncles but they could not bring a little kid with them. I played guitar until my late 20s, but our Ohio band had issues with our bassist, so I switched to that as well as singing. That band was ‘Country Music Sounds’ and we toured a lot in the 1970s including going to Vietnam, the Philippines and Wake Island.”
He relocated to Florida because of the construction business, “but no matter where I was, I played Country. Thirteen years ago, I began playing at the Fleamasters Fleamarket on Saturdays, just me and my guitar, and several guys asked if I needed other musicians and that was the start of ‘Just Country.’ Prior to the pandemic, we played several other venues, like the American Legion and VFW Posts, but now are only at the Fleamarket, so we do not do as many shows as we formerly did in the past.”
Bob is from Tennessee as well. “My earliest musical influence was my Grandmother, who played guitar, so she taught me to play when I was about 9 years old. I stuck with it and eventually worked with many well-known Country artists, including the great Bobby Helm, who was at one time the most popular Country entertainer in the nation. Everyone knows Bobby from hits like ‘Fraulein,’ ‘My Special Angel,’ and perhaps most famously, 1957’s ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ that is still a supremely popular Christmas song, so that probably remains my claim to fame! I worked the Nashville
circuit with some real talented Grand Old Opry stars for a long time and had a lot of fun! I eventually retired from General Motors and moved to Florida fulltime for the warm weather roughly 30 years ago, opening a music store in Fleamasters Fleamarket. Don and I met there, he found out about my musical background and asked if I could help out in ‘Just Country’ every now and then.”
FleaMasters is located at 4135 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Fort Myers, FL 33916
Turn Your Mood Around!
They love performing at the Fleamasters Fleamarket Music Hall. “We built that along with the owner several years ago to have a place to play,” relates Bob. “We are usually there performing free every Saturday from Noon to 2 p.m., though in February that changes to Sundays from Noon to 2 p.m. It is a nice big auditorium with a tremendous sound system that seats around 500 people, with a humongous floor for dancing. It is such a terrific venue that it hosted many Grand Old Opry stars when they toured the area.” To book “Just Country,” call Don at 239-240-6813 or Bob at 239-273-0146.
“Just Country” takes requests during their concerts. “Merle Haggard, George Jones, George Strait, and Ray Price are the most popular,” Don offers. “The people who come to hear us want Old Country, but sometimes classic Rock-&-Roll as well, like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, and we are happy to play that.” “We always take requests,” agrees Bob, “with most being #1 songs from the 1960s and 70s. For me, I love playing music from Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams and Hank Williams, Junior.”
Even after decades of making music, Don and Bob still love it! “I just like to play Old Country Music,” Don recollects, “whether up on stage or in a jam session with a group of pickers; I just love to keep playing!” Bob enjoys “performing, singing and being the Master of Ceremonies. I still get a charge out of being in front of a crowd. You hear comedians say their biggest thrill is getting a laugh; mine is still picking up a guitar and playing to please an audience. My advice to other musicians is to keep making and playing music, as music makes the world go round, and that is my theory on everything! When you are in a bad mood, play or listen to music and it will amaze you how fast it turns your mood around!”
Gary Mooney
The annual Florida Legislative Session is a 60-day window (Jan 11-March 11) where the Legislature is convened for the purpose of lawmaking. On February 4th, the Florida Senate filed Senate Bill 2508, a suspicious piece of legislation that poses a major threat to Everglades restoration and clean water progress. Most of the bill’s contents appear to be bad news for South Floridians, but our major concern is that it deprioritizes the EAA Reservoir and reduces measurable gains made in the public and transparent LOSOM process. Watch the video above for the full story and scroll down to learn more.
Click here for important video
What was suspicious about the bill? A wolf in sheep’s clothing
What are your specific concerns with the bill? More harmful discharges
Find a detailed outline of harmful provisions and line numbers here.
If implemented, SB 2508 will:
But I’ve heard it doesn’t remove funding from the EAA Reservoir. Is that accurate?
What’s the status of the SB 2508? (as of Feb 16, 2022) The fight is far from over!
The bill has not passed into law. There is still a lengthy process ahead. In its first stop, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill 16-4, despite hours of passionate protest from fishing guides, business owners, and concerned stakeholders.
On February 17th, the bill will go to the floor for a full Senate vote. If the bill passes the Senate, it will become part of the budget negotiations between the Senate and the House, where both branches have to agree on a final budget to present to the Governor. In order to prevent the bill from passing and going to the Governor, the House would have to refuse to include it in the final budget conference report. Once the budget conference is complete, the finished product (the budget) will be voted on by both chambers and sent to the Governor.
Why did the Senate Appropriations Committee say you were misinformed?
SB 2508 is just one example of decades of similar political schemes intended to secure the interests of one powerful interest group—the industrial sugar industry, or “Big Sugar.”
For over 30 years, Big Sugar has employed the largest and most powerful lobbying force in Florida’s State Capitol, working daily to secure perfect growing conditions, a taxpayer-funded irrigation and flood control system, free water, lack of oversight on pollution, and federal subsidies to produce 1.5 million tons of refined sugar each year.
To protect and advance their political interests, Big Sugar has effectively navigated the political levers behind the curtains at both state and federal levels. They have successfully lobbied to identify and elect political candidates who understand the sugar industry’s political goals and priorities and they invest millions in political contributions to ensure their interests are prioritized—interests that are rarely aligned with the rest of South Florida.
In its very essence, SB 2508 benefits the sugar industry at the expense of all others. The treatment displayed by the Senate Committee to the constituents who showed up to oppose the bill—was intended to manipulate, confuse, and ultimately neutralize their resistance.
This resistance we face is largely the economy of the past. The intent is not to vilify the sugar industry, but they are desperate to keep their control on water management, preserving an antiquated system that benefits few at the expense of many. Rather than acknowledging their contributions to the problem and actively working toward solutions, they fight it completely against the good of today’s economy.
The bill passed committee, so why should we consider this a success?
This bill could have slipped through the legislative process unnoticed, but YOU stopped this from happening. SB 2508 has not passed into law. It was approved to proceed to the next step. However, the victory lies in the movement that has been ignited! A movement of unity, massive public engagement, and passionate opposition of this harmful bill. This is how we kill the bill. The more people who speak up against SB 2508, the more public pressure we create on lawmakers to do the right thing. Together, we have the power of the people. Stay loud!
How can we stop it and what can I do to help?
Sign our petition to voice your opposition to SB 2508 and share it far and wide. Stay loud on this issue all the way to the finish line on March 11th. Educate others; share our updates on social media or create your own. Join our newsletter to stay informed on progress and action opportunities. These lawmakers are feeling the heat. They don’t like the negative media attention or the fact that thousands of people are holding them accountable on social media. Don’t let up! These are our jobs, our economy and our water.
New Yorker Michelle Go was pushed in front of a moving subway train, Sandra Shells was waiting for a bus in Los Angeles and Brianna Kupfer was working in a furniture store when their lives were taken from them.
All three victims of these random killings were women. All three suspects were homeless. And the scene of the crime was a blue state with a progressive approach to crime.
"Three women killed in random attacks by homeless men: What does it reveal about America's crime wave?" read a headline in The Independent.
Steve Berg of the National Alliance to End Homelessness criticized coverage of the three killings "committed by people who were characterized as homeless or 'appearing to be homeless.'" He pointed out that homeless individuals are more likely to be victims of violent crimes than to commit violent crimes.
"Make no mistake, stories about 'dangerous homeless people' do serious harm," Berg warned.
He's turning a blind eye to the lawlessness that bubbles up in America's tent cities.
All three suspects also had serious criminal histories.
Martial Simon, the alleged subway pusher, served time for two felony convictions and failed to meet with his parole officer twice last year, the New York Post reported.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Kerry Bell, who has been charged in Shells' murder, "is a transient, with one prior arrest in Los Angeles, but multiple prior arrests in several other states."
Fox News reported that Shawn Laval Smith, who was charged in Kupfer's killing, was free on bond for firing a gun at an occupied car in South Carolina in 2019 and, after biting a San Francisco police officer's hand during arrest last year, was charged with three felonies.
Jim Palmer, president of Orange County Rescue Mission in California, sees the state's soft-on-crime initiatives contributing to the lawlessness, as offenders "don't have a fear of going back in" to prison.
Given the high percentage of the homeless who are addicted or experience mental health issues, Palmer noted, the chaos "builds upon itself very quickly. And the bigger the camp, the better when it comes to crime."
"It such a magnet for lawlessness," Palmer offered, adding that the homeless "are more likely to become victims."
Last year, 88 homeless Angelenos were killed -- an increase of 22 people from the year before, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
Ready for more bad news? The homeless crime situation isn't what keeps prosecutors up at night in Los Angeles where, according to Los Angeles Magazine, the number of murders grew from 258 in 2019 to 397 last year.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall talked of a "reign of chaos" taking over the City of Angels. The main driver is gun violence overlapping gang violence. If there's a gun-involved crime, "I can almost guarantee that person's a gang member."
"A gun for a gang member is like a wrench for a plumber," said Siddall.
And: "In my history as a prosecutor, I don't think I've ever seen a murder committed with a legal gun."
Siddall also was reluctant to discuss homicides by homeless because there have been no studies about the homeless and violent crime.
(I wonder why.)
So, while I am concerned with high-profile crimes committed by the homeless, prosecutors like Siddall are worried about gangs, gun violence and prosecutors who won't go after felons with guns.
Siddall's boss, District Attorney George Gascon, famously co-sponsored Proposition 47, a successful ballot measure that reduced sentences for theft under $950. The law effectively downgraded gun thefts to a misdemeanor.
The pendulum has to swing back because the progressives' paradise is paradise no more.
"California is the absolute worst case for this," Palmer told me, "because we actually have ridiculous laws in place."
Debra J. Saunders
In recent months, European gas prices have risen as much as 700%, leaving millions of citizens vulnerable to a dangerously unstable grid and burdened with high electricity costs heading into this winter. Disruptions from this energy crisis have been felt by households and many industries that rely on affordable power to provide goods and services.
Until the recent escalation of Russia’s confrontation with NATO over Ukraine, the Biden administration’s solution to Europe’s energy crisis had been to implore Russia to send more gas to Europe. EU member states are already dependent on Moscow for roughly 40% of their gas supply. Initially, the White House made a deal with Germany, letting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline move forward. As part of an effort to repair relations with Germany, this decision allows Russia to tighten Putin’s grip over European energy security at the expense of our strategic partner Ukraine. Fortunately, German regulators refused to approve the pipeline, effectively delaying the certification of the project before July 2022. As part of the growing confrontation with Europe and the U.S. over Ukraine, Russia has further cut gas exports to Europe.
Thus, geopolitics and energy security in Europe is front and center of the U.S. national security interests. We need a multi-phase strategy to protect U.S. interests while supporting our European allies in their time of need. The Administration should champion liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. We are in a military face-off with Russia regarding Ukraine that worsens by the day. Moscow has upped the pressure by repeatedly using energy as an economic weapon. This signal would create certainty in the global market by providing predictability of supply while also providing geopolitical and national security benefits.
As the world’s premier energy producer, America has enormous potential to impact both national and international security. The U.S. is set to become the world’s largest LNG exporter by the end of 2022, an impressive milestone for a nation that began exporting just six years ago. Calcasieu Pass and Sabine Pass Train 6, based in Louisiana and Texas respectively, will soon come online and export LNG to many nations. Poland is an ally on the front lines of the military confrontation with Russia. It is also committed to reducing its dependence on Russian gas. Poland will soon import over a third of its gas supply from the U.S., and no longer fear that Russia will shut off its energy supply as it has done in the past. Other European nations have also signed supply contracts with U.S. producers to diversify their gas supply.
Fortunately, the U.S. is already moving in this direction. Gas has generated considerable income in 2021 for U.S. oil and gas producers. This positive trend will be necessary for a successful energy transition. Now is not the time to undermine this progress by restricting U.S. LNG exports.
Providing our allies with an alternative to Russia and Qatar strengthens U.S. national security. Notably, the price of U.S. LNG can encourage lower prices from other gas producers. From a climate point of view, less U.S. LNG on the market means higher global prices and increased global use of coal plants to produce electricity.
U.S. LNG exports influence geopolitics beyond Europe. The U.S. has recently become China’s second-largest LNG supplier. Despite geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing, China has recently committed to a significant volume of long-term supply contracts of U.S. LNG, lowering the US trade deficit with China.
Finally, U.S. LNG can reduce global carbon emissions – an important international and national security policy objective. A 2020 ICF International study examined U.S. LNG exports to Germany, China, and India and calculated the climate benefits. For these three countries, the study found that “using U.S. LNG or imported pipelined gas for electricity generation produces on average 50.5 percent lower GHG emissions than electricity from coal.” Therefore, the transition from coal to natural gas overseas provides a proven climate solution to meet energy demand while addressing the risks of climate change. Some disagree, but I believe that curtailing U.S. LNG exports would set back, not advance, the U.S.’s climate goals.
This process will not be easy: first, U.S. LNG exports may drive up domestic U.S. gas prices if supply and demand for gas do not synch carefully, depending on how energy markets respond to price changes. Second, producers, transporters, and owners of U.S. natural gas have a responsibility to develop plans for a low-carbon, clean energy future. Climate change is real. Renewable energy must play a more significant role in reducing carbon emissions. The public and shareholders alike believe the US private sector should be doing all it can to reduce carbon emissions and significantly minimize methane emissions. Fortunately, while the private sector has made progress in dealing with gas leaks, more can be done throughout the supply chain.
The U.S. is blessed with abundant natural gas and oil. Soaring energy costs for our allies require policies that support – not hinder – the safe and responsible production, transportation, and export of American natural gas.
Richard D. Kauzlarich
Real Clear Wire
With chip and semiconductor shortages expected to last through the year, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is continuing its investment in local technology initiatives to strengthen the economy and job growth and eventually offset future production delays.
Osceola County and Valencia College received nearly $10 million in funding through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to support semiconductor and other advanced technology manufacturing in the county.
The award includes $6 million to assist with developing infrastructure connecting the county’s emerging NeoCity technology district with its workforce, and $3.7 million to Valencia College to develop a new program that will train students in utilizing robotics technology for semiconductor manufacturing. The two awards are designed to help create manufacturing jobs and develop a talent pipeline to support industry growth.
NeoCity, an up-and-coming world epicenter for smart sensors, photonics and optics, has ready-made synergies with the University of Central Florida (the nation’s largest producer of aerospace engineers), and four other universities, as well as Central Florida’s large concentration of Department of Defense partners and contractors, according to its website. It’s poised to serve as a catalyst for high-tech innovation and creation, including jobs and capital investment, and is already generating marketplace momentum, and research, development and commercial- ization hubs in locally planned communities.
“Expanding domestic manufacturing capability is important for Florida and our nation,” Gov. DeSantis said. “The strategic investments we are making today will help bring microchip and semiconductor manufacturing back to our state at a time when the supply chains are more fragile than ever. Certainly, we cannot allow this important industry to become captive by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Osceola County was previously awarded $5.8 million through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for the construction of primary northern gateways and a main thoroughfare for NeoCity. The $6 million adds to the initial investment with planned improvements for the southern gateway, called NeoVation Way. The expansion includes constructing a 3,160 linear-foot, two-lane roadway with a gateway design feature, on-street parking, a multi-use path, sidewalks, landscaping, and lighting.
The $3.7 million in funding for Valencia College will address workforce development needs related to incorporating robotics technology into the manufacturing and distribution industry sectors through the Accelerated Skills Training Program in Robotics Technology. The workforce program includes a specialized semiconductor track designed to prepare future robotics technicians for the semiconductor industry and an Advanced Robotics Learning Factory involving partnerships among Central Florida businesses and the college.
“Strategic investments in emerging industry sectors, like what is happening at NeoCity, and critical industries, such as chip and semiconductor manufacturing, will continue to elevate Florida’s future economic growth,” Dane Eagle, secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said.
Any type of technology that is computerized depends on semiconductors to function. Currently, a worldwide semiconductor shortage is due to a combination of factors related to supply and demand.
During the state shutdowns last year, more people bought computers, smartphones and electronic devices that caused a rise in demand for chips to be built for the tech industry. While demand went up for chips, supply went down, as it normally would, but was also impacted by weather conditions outside of the industry’s control.
A major chip supplier in Japan had a fire, halting chip production. Texas-based Intel experienced issues related to the mid-February freeze and months later restructured its operations after announcing delays in its 7nm processers, ZDNet reported. And Tawain, one of the largest chip producers in the world, experienced a drought that impacted chip production, which requires a lot of water.
Last fall, the global consulting firm AlixPartners warned of major disruptions to the auto industry due to ongoing semiconductor shortages. Lack of chips were “just one of a multitude of extraordinary disruptions the industry is facing – including everything from resin and steel shortages to labor shortages,” Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners said.
However, some companies already began planning to invest in American manufacturing, understanding the need to shift reliance from overseas production. In November, Texas Instruments Incorporated announced it was investing $30 billion in the construction of 300-mm semiconductor wafer fabrication plants in Sherman, Texas.
"In addition to bringing billions of dollars in capital investment and thousands of new jobs to North Texas,” Texas Instrument’s historic investment “will keep Texas a national leader in semiconductor manufacturing while also strengthening the domestic semiconductor supply chain,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Bethany Blankley
The Center Square
Is the Biden administration and top military brass using illegal COVID mandates to severely compromise national defense readiness by illegally forcing the experimental COVID vaccines, thus purging military members who request medical or religious accommodations, engaging in physical punishment, hazing and shaming of unvaccinated military service members, while denying medical treatment to those with COVID, and covering up serious vaccine injuries and deaths, in egregious violations of soldiers’ religious and civil rights guaranteed under the US Constitution, read on to see what Truth for Health Foundation has learned.
“What the Biden Administration and the Department of Defense are doing to our honorable sons and daughters in the military is unconscionable,” says Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, President and CEO of Truth for Health Foundation, a non-profit public charity aimed at defending medical truth and individual medical freedom.
“Our service members are being illegally ordered to take an EUA product while being told it is “FDA-approved.” According to military sources, Comirnaty, the only FDA-approved COVID shot is not available on any U.S. military installation in the US or overseas. If service members request a religious or medical exemption, they face extra duty, public humiliation, and threats of dishonorable discharge. If they talk about it, they risk career-ending discipline. Some have been arrested for requesting a religious exemption, a Constitutional right all of our military take an oath to defend.”
In the Purging Patriots from the Military press conference, Truth for Health Foundation provides indisputable proof from military whistleblowers and their legal representatives how the US military command uses COVID to violate medical and religious rights; violate standard UCMJ regulations; conduct medical experiments on service members without informed consent. Catastrophic damage from the experimental vaccines and COVID policies has damaged military readiness and poses a serious threat to America’s national security.
Could the current DOD be so sinister as to utilize threat of international violence to absolutely force compliance of vax mandates from all our military personnel?
Find out for yourself by listening to the replay of the livestreamed event that was held at 12 NOON ET JAN 12 by LifeSiteNews. To listen to this event got to: https://www.lifesitenews.com/purging-patriots-from-the-military/ Or go to: www.TruthForHealth.org
Dr. Vliet moderates this Press Conference, which features courageous military men and women across multiple branches and ranks of our armed forces stepping up to defend the US Constitution they took an oath to defend.
Military service members provide proof of their accusations, with their attorneys --two of whom are retired military JAG attorneys -- citing specific violations of federal law and the military's own UCMJ regulations. International attorney, Todd Callender, Esq. presents the legal case for the suit against the Department of Defense to defend the Constitutional rights of service members to push the experimental vaccines.
Military whistleblowers have documented that the Department of Defense (DOD) is illegally forcing service members to take the Experimental Use Authorized COVID vaccine under career-ending threats and are systematically denying ALL religious exemptions.
Additionally, whistleblowers have confirmed that military commanders have punished unvaccinated soldiers with extra physical activities, shamed them with humiliating acts, and denied them medical treatment as a matter of “shadow” policy across several military installations in acts of coercion to get troops vaccinated.
Under the US Constitution, citizens have the right to bodily integrity. Every person, including military service members, have the right to refuse an experimental medical treatment. But the DOD is mandating vaccinations under the false pretense that the FDA has approved the COVID vaccine. The only FDA-approved vaccine, Comirnaty, is not available to be ordered on any military installation. It is illegal for the DOD to mandate an experimental drug, even though this was done in the vaccine mandate. The order was issued by the Secretary of Defense who is not authorized to issue such an order of an EUA vaccine.
Truth for Health Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity, presents their eighth public press conference doing the watchdog job the mainstream media and our military leaders refuse to do. The Foundation gives our military a platform to expose the corruption of military law and dangers to our national security when the lives of our volunteer service members are in jeopardy with dangerous, politically-driven policies pushed by DoD from the top down.
America’s sons and daughters who stepped up to defend our Constitution and our freedom are paying a high price with their own Constitutional rights trampled upon by the very top Command officers who took an Oath to defend our Constitution. If our military service members are being abused to this degree, and forced out of the military for simply requesting religious or medical exemptions to an experimental vaccine, who will stand in the gap and defend your rights?
The stories shared by our courageous military will inspire and encourage us all to stand against tyranny and protect the freedoms endowed by our Creator and enshrined in America’s founding documents. Our military members defend us. They deserve our support to defend them now against medical tyranny by their own Command.
Elizabeth Lee Vliet MD
AmericaOutLoud
1. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) AR. 71, announced that she wouldn’t seek another term. She had taken a leave of absence from the House the year before to recover from alcoholism, but denied that played a role in her decision.
2. Filemon Vela (D) TX. 58, said he won’t seek reelection after serving in the House since 2013. Vela's district had been considered a Democratic stronghold, but it has been increasingly targeted by Republicans.
3. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) TX. 86, announced that she wouldn’t seek reelection after serving in Congress since 1993.
4. Cheri Bustos (D) IL., 60, announced in April 2021 that she will retire from Congress, she only narrowly won reelection in 2020 by about 4 points. Bustos had won reelection in 2018 by nearly 25 points.
5. Tim Ryan (D) OH., 48, formally launched a campaign in April 2021 to run for the open Senate seat that will be vacated by Portman’s retirement.
6. Charlie Crist (D) FL, 65, is running to serve again as Florida governor, marking his third gubernatorial run since 2006.
7. Val Demings (D) FL, 64, launched her campaign to challenge Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in June 2021.
8. Stephanie Murphy (D) FL. 43, Murphy said she wanted to spend more time with her family.
9. Conor Lamb (D) PA. 37, is running for the open Senate seat in his state. Lamb had only narrowly defeated his GOP challenger by just over 2 points in 2020.
10. Mike Doyle (D) PA. 68, said in October 2021 that after serving in the House since 1995, "I believe the time has come to pass the torch to the next generation."
11. Ron Kind (D) WI. 58, said that he wouldn't seek reelection. He won reelection in 2020 by less than 3 poinra, he won reelection by nearly 20 points in 2018.
12. Karen Bass (D) CA. 68, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, is running for mayor of Los Angeles.
13. Jackie Speier (D) CA. 71, a co-chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, announced that she won’t seek reelection after serving in the House since 2008.
14. Alan Lowenthal (D) CA. 80, said that he wants to spend more time with family after serving in the House since 2013.
15. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) CA. is not planning to seek reelection.
16. John Yarmuth (D) KY, 74, the House Budget Committee chairman who was closely involved in Democrats’ crafting of the social spending package, he will retire after serving in the chamber since 2007.
17. David Price (D) N.C. 81, who first took office 1987, announced in October 2021 that he won't seek another term.
18. G.K. Butterfield (D) N.C. 74, has served in the House since 2004, has decided not to run for reelection.
19. Anthony Brown (D) MD 60, who has served in the House since 2017, is running for Maryland attorney general.
20. Peter Welch (D) VT. has represented the state in the House since 2007 but will be running for the Vermont seat vacated by Sen. Leahy.
21. Tom Suozzi (D) N.Y. 59, is running for New York Governor. as a “common sense Democrat.”
22. Peter DeFazio (D) OR. 74, announced that his 18th term in Congress would be his last.
23. Albio Sires (D) N.J. 70, who has served in the House since 2006, announced that he won't be seeking reelection.
24. Bobby Rush (D) IL.75-year-old former Black Panther, has served in Congress since 1993. He told the Chicago Sun-Times on Jan. 3 that he made the decision to retire after a conversation with his grandson.
25. Brenda Lawrence (D) MI. 67, announced Jan. 4 that her eighth year in Congress would be her last.
26. Ed Perlmutter (D) CO. 68, announced Jan. 10 that he will not run for reelection after serving in the House since 2007.
1. Tom Reed, (R) 50, announced that he would not run for reelection.
2. Mo Brooks (R) AL. 67, is running for the open Senate seat that Shelby is vacating. Brooks, who has served in the House since 2011.
3. Lee Zeldin (R) N.Y. 41, who has represented a Long Island-based district since 2015, announced that he would run for New York governor.
4. Jody Hice (R) GA. 61, launched a primary challenge in March 2021 to unseat Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger.
5. Mo Brooks (R) AL. 67, is running for the open Senate seat that Shelby is vacating.
6. Kevin Brady (R) TX. 66, announced in April 2021 that he wouldn’t run for reelection.
7. Steve Stivers, (R) OH. 56, resigned from the House in May 2021 to take a job leading the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
8. 7. Ted Budd (R) N.C. 50, who has served in the House since 2017, announced in April 2021 that he is running for the Senate.
9. Billy Long (R) MO.66, launched his Senate campaign in August 2021, joining a crowded field of candidates.
10. Anthony Gonzalez (R) OH.37, was one of the 10 House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
11. Adam Kinzinger (R) IL. 43, another House Republican who voted to impeach Trump.
12. Louie Gohmert (R) TX. 68, a former judge, announced in November 2021 that he is running for Texas attorney general.
13. Devin Nunes (R) CA.48, announced in December that he would step down at the end of 2021 to serve as CEO of Trump’s new media company.