Also on today’s menu:
Wind Turbine Breakthrough
Bad Actors Undermine Support
Committee Makes Trump’s Role Clear
Democrats Cheer Pelosi’s Hate Speech
President Joe Biden Jr. Biden signed an executive order today directing the Department of Health and Human Services to consider additional actions to further drive down prescription drug costs, including leveraging the “Innovation Center” at HHS, created by the Affordable Care Act, to test new ways of paying for Medicare services that improve the quality of care while lowering costs. The order builds on the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug pricing reforms.
Biden is traveling to Irvine, California, today and to Portland, Oregon, on October 15, to highlight how senior citizens can take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act’s cost-saving provisions as they shop for new health insurance plans. Starting on January 1, the Inflation Reduction Act will cap the price of a month’s supply of insulin at $35; there will be no out-of-pocket cost for recommended adult vaccines, including the shingles vaccine which currently costs as much as $200; and prescription drug companies that try to raise their prices faster than inflation will be required to pay Medicare a rebate. During Medicare Open Enrollment, which runs from October 15 to December 7, seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries will be able to choose drug coverage that reflects the new cost-savings.
Visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE to review the options for the coming year.
Wind Turbine Breakthroughs
Siemens Gamesa announced a breakthrough development in offshore wind turbine technology this week, saying the 14-222 DD offshore prototype has set a new world record for the most energy generated over 24 hours. The prototype delivered 359 megawatt-hours in a single day — roughly enough to power 18,000 households, or keep a Tesla Model 3 charged for over 1 million miles.
Among the reasons for such performance are the “revolutionary” blades, cast from a single, gigantic piece of recyclable resin. According to Siemens Gamesa, the 14-222 DD turbine is slated to go into production in 2024, and already has preorders from wind farms off the coasts of the United States, United Kingdom, and Taiwan.
Recently, the first utility-scale facility comprising solar, wind, and battery came online in northern Oregon. The setup reportedly can power 100,000 homes with its combined 300 megawatts of wind, 50 megawatts of solar, and 30 megawatts of battery storage.
Bad Actors Undermine Support
While climate activists are convincing more people and even industries of the need to take action to save the planet, some elements have taken actions that undermine their support. The latest example is the group that threw tins of what appears to be tomato soup over a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers at the National Gallery in London. Two people wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts opened tins and threw the contents on the glass-covered masterpiece before gluing their hands to the wall.
The Metropolitan Police arrested the pair.
Videos of Friday's incident show a protester shouting, “What is worth more? Art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?”
Committee Makes Trump’s Role Clear
The probable final hearing of the Jan. 6 panel “connected the dots” between former president Donald Trump, a cabal of right-wing allies, and disgruntled Americans who would do anything to keep Trump in power, even at the expense of the United States Constitution. In Thursday’s hearing, the panel outlined how Trump embarked on a premeditated plan to hold onto power regardless of the election results, with the insurrection on January 6, 2021, as his last chance at preventing the peaceful transfer of power.
“All of this demonstrates President Trump’s personal and substantial role in the plot to overturn the election,” said Representative Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida). “He was intimately involved. He was the central player.”
The panel voted unanimously to subpoena Trump after making its case against him, outlining how, in the months, days, and weeks before the riot, he encouraged a frenzied mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol. Close advisers and family members had repeatedly told Trump he had lost the election, and Trump himself allegedly acknowledged the defeat privately, but he would not publicly concede the election.
Democrats Cheer Pelosi’s Hate Speech
As much as liberals harp on “hate speech” and “microaggressions” by those with whom they disagree, they exhibited once again how willing they are to turn a blind eye to expressions of hatred among their own — especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A video from January 6 in which Pelosi tried to get help for those under siege at the United States Capitol while sheltered at Fort McNair demonstrated calm resolve in a crisis situation as she declared, “There has to be some way we can maintain the sense that people have that there is some security or some confidence that government can function and that you can elect the president of the United States.”
Yet in a separate part of that video, she reacts to the news that Trump intended to go to the Capitol, where presidents traditionally only go by invitation, by saying to her chief of staff, “I hope he comes, I’m gonna punch him out.… I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I’m gonna punch him out, I’m gonna go to jail, and I’m gonna be happy.”
Café Chatter
On State Addresses Report Of EZ Pass Vulnerability: I’ve had Massachusetts EZPASS for over 7 years…no problems until RECENTLY. I go through the tolls…get a GREEN LIGHT! Majority of the time, a few reds?
But I get a statement each month from Massachusetts for EZPASS. MASSACHUSETTS IS PAYING NH…NH has recently been sending me bills for tolls that they’ve collected already from Massachusetts! NH appears to be Double Dipping for NH TOLLS! And they are NOT friendly at the Nashua DMV when I had an issue on a vehicle that didn’t have EZPASS…the system didn’t mail timely and I was getting charged extra fees. Manager in Nashua office wouldn’t waive fees that the MAIN OFFICE IN CONCORD SAID TO WAIVE! There is a problem with NH TOLLS, EZ PASS & the workers in Nashua DMV not cooperative.
— Deborah Tinker Bergeron
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I wish that Pelosi did not say what she did. Democrats can't akways be expected to take the high road and it was already getting dicey. Under the curcumstances where Trump and his cohorts sent people to hurt members of Congress on that day. And, all the other things that he has said and done for the last 6 years. I give her a pass. Interestingly, it was her daughter that waa documenting that whole day. And, it was her daughters video.