Martin World News

It took me very little time to discover this would be a very good day to do a MWN post.  And, I get to lead it off with Green New Deal stuff, so that's a big bonus!

ITEM 1:  From an op/ed by Stuart Varney:

In New York City, the light bulbs in 23 housing projects are being changed, switching from the old incandescent bulbs to the energy saving LEDs.

You may be wondering why we are spending time discussing light bulbs. Well, here’s why: It cost $1,973 for each apartment. Repeat: $1,973. That’s because, light bulb changing must be done by unionized electricians , who make $81 in base pay and $54 in benefits, per hour. Total cost for the light bulb switch in 23 projects: $33.2 million. To change the light bulbs. These outrageous numbers are reported by The Wall Street Journal.

This editorial is not about the high cost of union labor. It’s about the Green New Deal (GND). You see the GND demands the refitting of every single building in the country for energy efficiency. If it’s nearly $2,000 per apartment to change the light bulbs, who can calculate the cost for every structure in America. And when it comes to your building, don't think you can avoid high-priced union labor: The Green New Deal demands quote: "High-quality union jobs that pay prevailing wages."


So Statista says there are 127.59 million households in the USA, at $1,973 per... that's $251.7 BILLION just to replace yer light bulbs.  How's your R rating?


ITEM 2:  Next up, Ms Ocasio-Cortez seems to think her "victory" over Amazon trying to move to the Big Apple frees up money that she can then spend elsewhere...

“If we were willing to give away $3 billion for this deal, we could invest those $3 billion in our district ourselves, if we wanted to. We could hire out more teachers. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that money, if we wanted to,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week after the technology giant announced on Thursday that it had dropped plans to build the new headquarters in America’s largest city amid pressure from politicians and activists.


Of course the problem is, that the $3 billion was in tax incentives- you know, tax breaks Amazon WOULD have gotten had they set up shop.  And why is that a problem?


On Sunday morning, de Blasio responded in the affirmative when Chuck Todd of NBC News’ “Meet the Press” asked if the tax breaks offered to Amazon weren’t “money you had over here. And it was going over there.”


The Democratic mayor said: “And that $3 billion that would go back in tax incentives was only after we were getting the jobs and getting the revenue."

“There’s no money — right,” de Blasio added.

Of course, Chuck and Bill had to be shaking their heads at the thought that this was something that had to even be brought UP in an adult conversation.

I keep telling people that her apparent lack of lucidity is just a cover for what she's REALLY planning.  It is getting harder and harder to do this with a straight face.


ITEM 3:  From the BBC:

If you wonder how an electorate can elect someone like that (Ask the Allen County Democrats about Tommy Schrader), here's a story from the Ukraine that will help shed some light...


A Ukrainian prankster thought it would be a laugh to see how many people would turn up for a fake election rally on the promise of cash, and was surprised by the scale of the response.

Oleksiy Utkin used social media to offer 1,000 hryvnyas (£28; $37) of "easy money" to anyone willing to turn out in freezing conditions for three hours in support of Serhiy Filatov's bid to become president of Ukraine.

They would get a bit more if they brought a friend, 1+1 TV reports.

But the catch was that there was no candidate Filatov.

More than 200 people turned up on Kiev's popular Andriyivskyy Uzviz street, chanting pro-Filatov slogans on cue, unaware they they were being broadcast on the internet via Mr Uktin's web camera - and equally unaware that they were not going to be paid for their trouble.

The channel's cub reporter Halyna Petryshak went among the crowd in Kiev to ask what they thought of their candidate.

"I'm for Filatov, or Frolov, or whoever he is, as long as they pay up," one person told her.

Another anonymous interviewee was more positive about the presidential hopeful. "He's a great guy!" he declared.

The crowds dispersed without incident as night fell and no money appeared, so Oleksiy Utkin decided it was time to end the Filatov campaign.


He rounded off the prank by announcing online that Serhiy Filatov had fallen down a drain and died, so the second round of rallies would be replaced by a wake.


Yes, there is a real Serihy Filatov.  No, he did not fall down a drain and die.  I wonder if Utkin will launch a write-in campaign...


ITEM 4: In the meantime, the archpriest of a little town near KC's KHL team in Niznekhamsk just got de-frocked.  Why, you ask?

Archpriest Vladimir Golovin, who had gained notoriety for his racy services, was suspended in August by the diocese in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan for several public remarks that it said “bordered on blasphemy and mockery of Christ.”

Russian Orthodox officials rebuked Golovin for openly addressing topics in his sermons including pornography, choice of lingerie and advising women to “imagine how a man performs [his] physiological functions.”

A church court found Golovin guilty and defrocked him for infractions including slander and “engaging in activities that embarrass believers,” the Chistopol Eparchy announced on its website Thursday.

Golovin was also found guilty of distorting church teachings about prayer, creating a community that opposes the church and “persistent disobedience” toward his bishop, the church court said.

But wait, there's more!  After he was first told to stop preaching ( an order he ignored), apparently he went to a service with a mob of "fans" to hear the Bishop's explanation of why he was being shut down- an explanation that also included (if I get the gist) unauthorized faith healing, using Catholic prayers in his services, and encouraging the singing of hymns by couples during sex.  He walked out on the Bishop, but his mob stayed- chased the Bishop and an assistant into the refectory and BEAT. THEM. UP.

I'm guessing that this story might not be over yet...


ITEM 5:  Here's a story that will make you long to follow Shinto:


INAZAWA, Aichi Prefecture--A raging sea of about 9,000 half-naked men struggled to touch a "lucky" man, at a "naked festival" here, hoping to protect themselves from evil spirits and disease.

Shuki Matsumoto, 27, chosen by the shrine as this year's "shin otoko” (man of god) was immediately swarmed by the frenzied men clad only in traditional "fundoshi" loincloths when he appeared on an approach to the Owari Okunitamajinja shrine, also known as Konomiya shrine.

The shin otoko's role is to take all of humanity's misfortunes onto himself, relieving those who touch him on his way up to the shrine of their burdens.

Think of how many more people you could get to altar call with "a raging sea of 9,000 half-naked men"....


ITEM 6:  This last story from Denmark I have to give you in three parts.  First the headline, and take a little time to think on this...


Are Danish men becoming less intelligent – or is it the army’s test that’s at fault?


Hmmm.  Okay, now let's tell the story, so it makes sense...


When young men are called up to do national service in the Danish forces, they have to take a test in four parts to measure their intelligence.

The test was developed by psychologist Børge Prien back in the last century and has remained more or less unchanged from 1957 until 2010, when it was digitalised.

However, men’s scores in the test have been going down every year since 1998, reports Berlingske newspaper.

Speaking to TV2, Thomas Teasdale, an associate professor with the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen, feels that although three parts of the test are still valid, “I’m a bit in two minds about the last part. It seems outdated and might have been easier for a young man in 1960 than today”.

Okay, so that makes sense, considering the battles we've had with SATs and ISTEPs and all those other tests (an old friend might not forgive me if I don't throw in our 'favorite', the NIMSQT.)  But now, let me throw in one more paragraph- with its header- to put this firmly into MWN territory:

The bright don’t breed
Michael Woodley, a British researcher into intelligence, has another theory. He reckons that the fall in intelligence levels is due to the fact that increasing numbers of less intelligent people are responsible for the majority of population growth.


Oh, you Brits sure have that way with words...