The state of Maine has become a breeding ground for Chinese illegal marijuana grows worth billions of dollars, according to a Border Patrol memo obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
There are 270 suspected Chinese illegal marijuana grow operations in Maine worth an estimated $4.37 billion, according to the memo.
“There are hundreds of these operations occurring throughout the state. It’s upsetting to those who live near these operations, and even those who are following Maine laws and procedures,” Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton told the DCNF.
#1
When you use banking laws to limit suspected illegal businesses from dealing with legal ones, they start to deal with each other. Always been true.
They will even deal with competitors to to move goods and services. This is sometimes know as a "gang war".
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/18/2023 8:57 Comments ||
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#2
Legitimate banks want that sweet, sweet crime gelt. They just want "qualified immunity" for handling it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 8:59 Comments ||
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#3
That’s a pretty abbreviated growing season.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 9:56 Comments ||
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[PM] As soon as it was posted on Twitter and Telegram it was gone, but reports are coming in from Project Veritas staff that they've all been fired. A source told The Post Millennial that the CFO will be replaced by George Skakel tonight. Skakel. I've heard that name before... Somewhere...
A post from Project Veritas read "SOS Hannah Giles just fired us all." And then it was gone. Only 18 people are left on staff.
Giles, who became notorious for starring in the ACORN video with founder and former CEO James O'Keefe, took over for O'Keefe after he was summarily pushed out by the board of directors. She took over as CEO only to destroy the company entirely.
"She came to all hands in April with her fat sidekick Ben Wetmore and all they did for 3 days was talk shit about James and relitigate all the terrible things he did to her/them 10-12 years ago. I knew right then her entire agenda was revenge," a source said.
On-air talent Christian Hartsock, James Lalino were both laid off after Giles told staff that a restructuring would be underway. Kalen Eriksson, Jaime Phillips, Alyssa Dehen, were also fired. The terminations were done via a Zoom call with HR, with a few of those in the New York office. Giles did not make an appearance.
"She's a lying sack of sh*t," a source told The Post Millennial. "No one respected her anyway." If only there was some way to cancel an organization's financial inertia immediately in situations like these.
#2
They imploded faster than I thought was possible I thought they would keep the skin suit available for a malevolent host. Those board members are aces.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 9:50 Comments ||
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#3
When the Broad of Directors at Prj. V. dumped O'Keefe, it was clear they were turn-coats.
#4
O'Keefe may have been an a$$hole, but he was the a$$hole that kept the wheels turning. Game over.
(Re Skakel. There's a Skip Skakel , a evidence examiner, that's frequently on Forensics Files. That's all I got.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/18/2023 19:36 Comments ||
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#5
^ You don't remember who Michael Skakel is?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 19:42 Comments ||
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#6
Golf club in a cute neighbor asshole killer Skakel?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2023 21:25 Comments ||
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#7
Michael Skakel, also aged 15 at the time, was convicted in 2002 of murdering Moxley and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. In 2013, Skakel was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge who ruled that his counsel had been inadequate, and he was released on $1.2 million bail. On December 30, 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4–3 to reinstate Skakel's conviction. The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed itself on May 4, 2018, and ordered a new trial.[2][3] On October 30, 2020, the 45th anniversary of Moxley's murder, the state of Connecticut announced it would not retry Skakel for Moxley's murder. The case attracted worldwide publicity, as Skakel is a nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, the widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 21:39 Comments ||
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#8
O'Keefe is about to release explosive under cover video of voter fraud in Georgia the 2020 interview with perpetrator.
[Breitbart] The world’s top chess federation has ruled that transgender women cannot compete in its official events for females until an assessment of gender change is made by its officials.
The decision by Lausanne, Switzerland-based federation FIDE was published on Monday and has drawn criticism from advocacy groups and supporters of transgender rights.
FIDE said it and its member federations increasingly have received recognition requests from players who identify as transgender, and that the participation of transgender women would depend on an analysis of individual cases that could take up to two years.
“Change of gender is a change that has a significant impact on a player’s status and future eligibility to tournaments, therefore it can only be made if there is a relevant proof of the change provided,” the federation said.
“In the event that the gender was changed from a male to a female the player has no right to participate in official FIDE events for women until further FIDE’s decision is made,” it said.
Holders of women’s titles who change their genders to male would see those titles “abolished,” the federation said, while holding out the possibility of a reinstatement “if the person changes the gender back to a woman.”
“If a player has changed the gender from a man into a woman, all the previous titles remain eligible,” the federation said.
It acknowledged that such questions regarding transgender players were an “evolving issue for chess” and that “further policy may need to be evolved in the future in line with research evidence.”
No one immediately responded to emails to top federation officials and calls to the federation’s headquarters in Switzerland seeking further comment.
Word of the decision comes as the federation is hosting a World Cup event in Azerbaijan where top players including No. 1-ranked Grand Master Magnus Carlsen of Norway are attending.
The federation has open competitions that allow all players to take part, as well as specialized categories, such as for women, young players and even computers.
Many sports involving intense physical activity — which chess does not — have been grappling with how to formulate policies toward transgender athletes in recent years.
The International Cycling Union has joined the governing bodies of track and field and swimming as top-tier Olympic sports addressing the issue of transgender athletes and fairness in women’s events.
Last month, the cycling federation ruled that female transgender athletes who transitioned after male puberty will no longer be able to compete in women’s races
#2
I think that this is a good move to protect biological women from interacting with dorks unnecessarily. It also will result in a champions trophy for whichever woman decides to enter.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 9:43 Comments ||
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#3
are these folks implicitly saying men are smarter than women?
Perhaps the only sporting community that has the backbone to rule for tradition.
Golly. That explains so much. [NYPOST] New research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reveals that marijuana and hallucinogen use have now reached never-before-seen levels in the US.
And it’s not just teenagers or young adults who are copping a buzz: Middle-aged adults between 35 and 50 are busting drug-use records nationwide.
"Substance use is not limited to teens and young adults, and these data help us understand how people use drugs across the lifespan," Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a news release.
Americans are traveling a variety of pathways to altered states of consciousness — from pot to psychedelics like LSD, ecstacy, peyote and psilocybin mushrooms.
But good, old-fashioned alcohol — and lots of it — remains a popular route as well, particularly among the middle-aged.
Among this older group, binge drinking climbed to its highest levels yet, reaching 29% of middle-aged people during 2022, continuing its steady climb over the past several years. I have bouts of sobriety between binges Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... overall rates of alcohol use — including daily drinking and binge drinking — have been on an overall downward trend for younger adults between 19 and 30 years old, the report reveals.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey, reality be suckin'.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/18/2023 8:51 Comments ||
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#2
This is a divide that isn't spoken about. We hear endless caterwauling about "income inequality," but the same people bemoaning that are actually pushing "mental health inequality."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 9:01 Comments ||
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#3
Great Society. Biden Society.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 9:55 Comments ||
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#4
Life is difficult and hopeless for a lot of people.
Drugs and Alcohol are the escape.
[NYPOST] "Succession" star Crystal Finn claims she was attacked by otters while swimming in northern Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,’s Feather River in July — and the bites were so serious she went to the hospital for treatment.
"I felt something on my back side and on my leg," Finn recalled to the the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... Chronicle on Wednesday. "I started looking around and yelling out and (the otters) popped up right in front of me. Then they dove down and started going at me again."
Although Finn isn’t sure why she was assaulted, she thinks it may have been a mother protecting her offspring, as she spotted three of them just moments after being bitten.
While she tried to escape to the shore, the otters "dove back down" and began to bite her again. She fought them off with her feet and took shelter on a rock.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
Then there's that sea otter hijacking surf boards... hmmm....
#6
Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests - we did. - Otter
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 21:04 Comments ||
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#9
#5 who this is
Apparently she guested on an episode or two. Had to look the show up, too (I still don't know who shot JR). Seems to be Empire, if Smolletts were Murdochs. Or Yellowstone if Duttons was dooty-dealers.
Between this summer’s arson-spread wildfires in California and Canada, and last year’s underwater volcano increasing atmospheric moisture by 5%, nothing the rest of us do will impact Earth’s climate whatsoever.
[AlAhram] Residents of one of the largest cities in Canada's far north were ordered Wednesday to flee amid warnings that raging wildfires could reach it by the weekend.
The crisis in the town of Yellowknife is the newest chapter of a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada, as flames spread quickly across the country, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate and charring large swathes of land.
More than 1,000 wildfires are currently burning across the vast country, including about 230 in the Northwest Territories, in Canada's taste of a very hot and destructive summer in much of the Northern Hemisphere.
"Unfortunately, our wildfire situation has taken another turn for the worse with a fire burning west of Yellowknife now representing a real threat to the city," Shane Thompson, the Northwest Territories' environment minister, told a news conference.
He ordered the city's nearly 20,000 residents to leave by noon Friday. There is only one highway open to the south. Commercial and military flights were also being arranged.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Ottawa would "assist however we can."
The wildfire as of late Wednesday was within 17 kilometers (11 miles) of Yellowknife, which is the regional capital.
"I want to stress that the city is not in immediate danger," Thompson said.
But he added: "Without rain, it is possible (the fire) will reach the city outskirts by the weekend."
"You put yourself and others at risk if you choose to stay later," he said.
Yellowknife declared an emergency earlier this week, which was soon expanded across the huge northern territory as firefighters were forced to pull back in some areas.
Strong winds have stoked the flames, and several towns and Indigenous communities are already under evacuation orders.
LARGEST EVER EVACUATION
In what had already been declared the Northwest Territories' largest ever evacuation, Yellowknife's evacuation now means half the population of the near-Arctic territory will soon be displaced.
On Monday, the Canadian military started airlifting residents of many smaller communities in the Northwest Territories after roads were engulfed in flames. For many, it was the second time in recent months that residents were forced to leave their homes.
Separated by several hundreds of kilometers, most of the villages in the region are difficult to evacuate by land, officials said.
Images shared on social media and on Canadian television showed an orange smokey haze over the region, large swaths of blackened forests, and melted headlights and peeled paint from the heat on those cars and trucks that made it through to safety before several roads became undrivable.
A man named Jordan Evoy told AFP this week he'd been forced to turn back after fires jumped across the highway in front of him in "the scariest moment of my life."
"Flames were jumping over my truck" and the 28-year-old said he worried its tires would melt in the heat. "The asphalt was on fire."
"The wildfires situation in the Northwest Territories continues to be critical," wildfire official Mike Westwick said Wednesday.
Thick smoke, he said, was hampering efforts to beat back the wildfires advancing on Yellowknife.
This season, megafires have spread across Canada with remarkable intensity, forcing 168,000 people to flee their homes and scorching 13.5 million hectares (33.4 million acres) -- almost twice the area of the last record of 7.3 million hectares, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Four people have died so far in this year's wildfires.
In the Northwest Territories, more than 20,000 square kilometres of forest have burned.
Meanwhile in westernmost British Columbia province, also hard hit by forest fires, a heatwave sent temperatures soaring to over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.
Temperatures, however, are not expected to top a record set in June 2021, when the mercury in Lytton hit 49.6C before the village was destroyed days later by a fire that killed two residents.
#3
A long, long way to go to safety. I would be flying north rather than driving sourth. Once you're past the tree line life becomes a bit . . . . different.
[GEO.TV] China Evergrande which is the world's most heavily indebted property developer and became the poster child for China's property crisis, Thursday filed for protection from creditors in a US bankruptcy court.
The company sought protection under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which shields non-US companies that are undergoing restructurings from creditors that hope to file lawsuits or tie up assets in the United States.
Tianji Holdings, a related company, also sought Chapter 15 protection Thursday in Manhattan bankruptcy court.
A lawyer for Evergrande did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Evergrande's filing comes amid growing fears that problems in China's property sector could spread to other parts of the country's economy as growth slows.
Since the sector's debt crisis unfolded in mid-2021, companies accounting for 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted.
The health of Country Garden, China's largest privately run developer, is also worrying investors after the company missed some interest payments this month.
Evergrande recently had $330 billion of liabilities. A late 2021 default triggered a string of defaults at other builders, resulting in thousands of unfinished homes across China.
In its filing, Evergrande said it was seeking recognition of restructuring talks currently underway in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Evergrande has said creditors may be able to vote this month on a restructuring, with possible approval by Hong Kong and British Virgin Islands courts in the first week of September. The company proposed scheduling a Chapter 15 recognition hearing for Sept. 20.
Evergrande is the world's most heavily indebted property developer and became the poster child for China's property crisis. The company’s filing on Thursday comes amid growing fears that problems in China's property sector could spread to other parts of the country's economy as growth slows.
Since the sector's debt crisis unfolded in mid-2021, companies accounting for 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted.
A late 2021 default triggered a string of defaults at other builders, resulting in thousands of unfinished homes across China.
Last month, Evergrande posted a combined $81 billion loss for 2021 and 2022, prompting investor worries about the viability of a debt restructuring plan it proposed in March.
#2
Does the above grim description of China's economic, and thus social, crisis argue for XI to act on Taiwan. Classic external distraction, Wag the Dog, Patriotic War, main enemy led by Biden is feckless and weak, US is in huge social deterioration, US/NATO hugely compromised logistically by Ukraine miasma, never going to be a better time?
#4
And yet China keeps purchasing property in the US, coincidentally near US Military facilities...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2023 12:47 Comments ||
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#5
An interesting (to me, at least) question will be the extent to which creditors of Evergrande can use the Chapter 15 proceeding to investigate Evergrande's financial dealings. For example, can a creditor ask whether any money that would otherwise be available to pay the creditor was transferred to Emperor Xi and his boys. That would be a no-brainer in a regular US Chapter 11, but Chapter 15 has some "play nice with the other guys" wrinkles to it.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/18/2023 14:13 Comments ||
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#6
^ Guessing that fine print ain't pretty...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 14:34 Comments ||
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#7
Another way to put it is: Can you take discovery from a guy who has nuclear weapons?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/18/2023 15:11 Comments ||
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#8
So, like, are the Chinese selling US Treasuries because the US is more of an adversary or do they need the dough?
They are probably not too keen on the US Fed raising interest rates, either....all that property and all that debt.
[Breitbart] John Bolton, during a recent appearance on CNN, argued that Republicans should not back former President Donald Trump in 2024, as he could be a "convicted felon" by the 2024 Republican primary convention, and it would look bad for the Republican Party.
Bolton, who is anti-Trump but served as Trump’s national security adviser, said he would ask Republican voters, "Do you really want to vote for Donald Trump even if you don’t mind voting for a convicted felon for President?"
"I think a lot more Republicans will be bothered by that. And people think the broader public is certainly going to be bothered from it and it could be catastrophic for the Republican Party," he said.
#1
He should just stick to selling us marginal fried chicken.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 9:46 Comments ||
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#2
Getting rid of the Boltons, Kagans and Nulands of the world will require abolishing their rice bowls that sustain them when not directly in disservice to to the gummint. That would be the "think tanks." Consider it to be much the same as draining ponds where mosquitoes breed...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2023 9:49 Comments ||
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#3
Some felons get convinced, others are still at large in The Swamp.
#5
Bolton is sort of a lobotomized version of G. Gordon Liddy, without the charm and redeeming values. He will propose an overthrow or an assassination but he doesn’t seem to understand people. Everyone who is siding with Trump believes that the Donald is being persecuted by people who are acting outside the law. Why would anyone, under those conditions, care about a conviction?
It is disappointing to know that Bolton was getting paid by the taxpayers to provide analysis and advice. I always suspected that he was a sociopath, but it turns out that he is also a stupid one.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/18/2023 14:45 Comments ||
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#6
Bolton's on minute 16 of his "15 minutes of fame".
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/18/2023 19:39 Comments ||
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[The Federalist] A n Air Force colonel nominated by President Joe Biden once claimed that "white colonels" are the "biggest barriers" to addressing so-called "racial injustice" in the U.S. military, according to a new report.
On Thursday, The Daily Signal’s Rob Bluey reported that Col. Benjamin Jonsson, who is "currently awaiting promotion to brigadier general," penned an article in the Air Force Times weeks after George Floyd’s death lamenting his fellow white airmen don’t go along with leftist talking points about so-called "racial injustice" in the U.S. armed forces.
"As white colonels, you and I are the biggest barriers to change if we do not personally address racial injustice in our Air Force. Defensiveness is a predictable response by white people to any discussion of racial injustice. White colonels are no exception," Jonsson wrote. "We are largely blind to institutional racism, and we take offense to any suggestion that our system advantaged us at the expense of others."
#6
Felony Stupid, but for the Austin DoD, thats and feature, not a bug. As a plus, he will not require the usual General Officer Pre-Frontal Lobotomy at the GO Charm School.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] The world’s top chess federation has ruled that 
[NYPOST] New research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reveals that marijuana and hallucinogen use have now reached never-before-seen levels in the US.
[NYPOST] "Succession" star Crystal Finn claims she was attacked by otters while swimming in northern 
