(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: What you need to know this Thursday – January 5, 2023

Here’s what you need to know today, Thursday – January 5, 2023.

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Today’s Cheaper Gas Is The Calm Before 2023’s Storm – With some regions of America enjoying gasoline prices below $3 a gallon after a summer that saw the national average exceed $5 for the very first time, it’s tempting to lull oneself into thinking cheap gas will last. In fact, it won’t last for very much longer at all, especially with this administration’s never-ending hostility to the fossil fuel economy that provides over 80 percent of our energy.

Now add to this the troubling warnings from European Union leaders regarding the geopolitical consequences of President Joe Biden’s green fanaticism, specifically the ill-named Inflation Reduction Act he signed in 2022, a thinly disguised environmentalist wish list that reduces global temperatures little if at all. – READ MORE

Biden Mulls A Dozen Foreign Mining Projects After Blocking Domestic Ventures –While the Biden administration continues to put America last when it comes to – well, most things, they sure are great at handing money to foreign governments.

In the latest example, the administration is considering funding 12 critical mineral mining projects overseas under the guise of fighting climate change, Axios reported Monday. – READ MORE

Major French Food Company Shuts Down 80 Per Cent of Production as Soaring Energy Costs Make Factories Uneconomical – Cofigeo, a group which owns several food companies in France, has shut down four of its eight factories over energy costs, amounting to 80 per cent of its total production.

Cofigeo owns several French food brands including William Saurin, Garbit and Raynal and Roquelaure and has announced it has shut down four of its eight French factories, affecting 800 of the company’s 1,200 workers due to soaring energy costs. – READ MORE

In 2022, Biden Increased Debt $11,374 per Worker — But for What? – President Joe Biden, working with a Democrat-controlled Congress, increased the federal debt in 2022 by approximately $11,374 per every American worker.

On Dec. 31, 2021, according to the U.S. Treasury, the federal debt was $29,617,214,856,051.75. By Dec. 30, 2022, it was $31,419,689,421,557.90. So, in calendar year 2022, the federal debt increased by $1,802,474,565,506.15. – READ MORE

All 10 of the Largest ESG Funds Suffered Double-Digit Percent Losses, 8 Underperformed S&P 500, as 2022 Drew to a Close – As 2022 drew to a close, all 10 of the largest Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds left investors suffering double-digit percentage losses in the value of their portfolios, an analysis by Bloomberg reveals.

What’s more, the report finds that eight of the ten largest ESG funds, measured by assets, performed worse than the S&P 500 – READ MORE

U.S. trucking industry could be imperiled by EPA’s latest regulation – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule Tuesday that will impose stricter nitrogen dioxide emissions standards on new heavy-duty trucks, a move that will substantially hike operating costs for truckers, experts and industry representatives told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The EPA’s rule, which is more than 80% stricter than the previous regulation, will require large trucks, delivery vans and buses manufactured after 2027 to cut nitrogen dioxide emissions by nearly 50% by 2045, according to an agency press release. The agency’s rule is intended to push truckers to phase out diesel-powered vehicles and use electric vehicles (EV) instead; however, the compliance costs associated with such rules could suffocate an industry that is not ready to transition to EVs, experts told the DCNF. – READ MORE

Biden to hike fees on LEGAL immigrants to fund ILLEGALS claiming asylum – The Biden administration will increase the costs for legal immigrants to apply for permits, visas and green cards to help mitigate the backlog of asylum cases due to record surges of illegal immigration at the southern border, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday.

The recent surge in illegal immigration has contributed to the years-long asylum backlogs, where applicants wait an average of 4.3 years nationwide to appear in court, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Under the proposed new rules, H-1B application fees for skilled workers will jump from $60 to $780, fees for non-agricultural workers will jump from $460 to $1080 and fees for green card applicants will jump from $1,140 $1,540, USCIS said. – READ MORE

Media Still Fawning Over FTX Fraudsters Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried – The Washington Post published an absurd story about Caroline Ellison, the admitted crypto fraudster who is helping federal prosecutors build a case against her former lover Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced FTX founder who remains an alleged crypto fraudster. (SBF pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies on Tuesday.)

The headline reads: “Caroline Ellison wanted to make a difference. Now she’s facing prison.” The story highlights the criminal’s élite pedigree and preternatural intellect. – READ MORE

Disgraced FTX Founder and Democrat Super Donor Sam Bankman-Fried Asks Judge to Keep the People Paying His Bail Secret – Disgraced FTX Founder and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried, who is set to plead not guilty in a New York court on Tuesday, has reportedly asked the judge to keep his bail guarantors a secret. SBF’s lawyers argued that there is “no need for public disclosure” of who is paying to keep the crypto kingpin accused of fraud out of jail.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that there is “no need for public disclosure” of the identities of two people who will help secure the disgraced FTX founder’s bail in order to protect them from potential scrutiny and harassment, according to a report by Bloomberg. – READ MORE

Could Merck’s COVID Pill Create New, More Evasive COVID-19 Variants? – The names of the COVID-19 variants are getting longer. The current version is omicron-XBB.1.5, and it is credited with a spike in hospitalizations during late December in New York City that is now moving throughout the Northeast. Coincidentally, this is the country’s most highly vaccinated and boosted region.

According to an analysis by Eric Topol, executive vice president of the Research Department of Molecular Medicine at the Scripps Institute, XBB.1.5 has mutations that lead to immune escape and possesses a distinct growth advantage against the previous dominant omicron variant, BQ.1. More great news includes a study published in Cell that shows all of the currently available monoclonal antibodies, including Evusheld, are rendered useless by the BQ and XBB lineages. Evusheld was used in immunocompromised patients to prevent infection. – READ MORE

New York Legalizes Human Composting – Well, I suppose it’s one way to boost employment numbers. If you live in New York, and you have that one family member who just refuses to get a job and leeches off friends and relatives, don’t worry: Semi-gainful employment could be in their future when the time finally comes for them to shuffle off this mortal coil. They can always nourish a rosebush or tree in someone’s yard.

Over the weekend, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed NY A00382. In a nutshell, so to speak, the bill adds “natural organic reduction” to cremation and burial as a way to dispose of human remains. How does it work? You’ll be sorry you asked, but since you did… – READ MORE