[J-Man]

Looks like organized crime?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/hunter-biden-laptop-whistleblower-reveals-450-gigabytes-deleted-material-will-released-soon-including-80000-never-seen-images-videos/

[stack]

The Democratic party with help from Rino's stole the election. Poopy pants Biden won NOTHING !

"While the lawsuit remains active, Fair Fight and other plaintiffs amended the complaint in December 2020 to remove many of its assertions detailing problematic voting machines."

Here's the actual complaint:
https://fairfight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Second-Amended-Complaint.pdf

[stack]

Looks like organized crime?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/hunter-biden-laptop-whistleblower-reveals-450-gigabytes-deleted-material-will-released-soon-including-80000-never-seen-images-videos/

I can't wait to see what's on the HD. However, the laptop in question was a Macbook Pro and dropped off in 2019. So let's say it was a 2019 version. Back then, you could get the 15-inch or 13-Inch models. Both with storage options of 256 or 512 GB. 450GB of recovered deleted files out of a possible 512 Gigs seems a little odd.

[Tom Bishop]

Looks like organized crime?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/hunter-biden-laptop-whistleblower-reveals-450-gigabytes-deleted-material-will-released-soon-including-80000-never-seen-images-videos/

I can't wait to see what's on the HD. However, the laptop in question was a Macbook Pro and dropped off in 2019. So let's say it was a 2019 version. Back then, you could get the 15-inch or 13-Inch models. Both with storage options of 256 or 512 GB. 450GB of recovered deleted files out of a possible 512 Gigs seems a little odd.

Actually 2019 Macbooks are configurable to multi TB.

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP794?locale=en_US

[Lord Dave]

Looks like organized crime?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/hunter-biden-laptop-whistleblower-reveals-450-gigabytes-deleted-material-will-released-soon-including-80000-never-seen-images-videos/

I can't wait to see what's on the HD. However, the laptop in question was a Macbook Pro and dropped off in 2019. So let's say it was a 2019 version. Back then, you could get the 15-inch or 13-Inch models. Both with storage options of 256 or 512 GB. 450GB of recovered deleted files out of a possible 512 Gigs seems a little odd.

The real questions are:
Why did it take so long?  Seems fishy....
How much if that data is deleted internet browsing cache?  Like say... Youtube videos?  Or porn?

[Tumeni]

450GB of recovered deleted files out of a possible 512 Gigs seems a little odd.

80,000 images seems a lot.

The machine is reported to be a 2017 Macbook Pro, according to https://securityboulevard.com/2020/10/no-thats-not-how-warrantee-expiration-works/ , not a 2019 model. 

80,000 images in 2 years - 40,000 per year, if we assume a 16-hour waking day, that's 6 new images every hour, every day, constantly, for the whole two years. Does that sound remotely probable? On a machine without a built-in camera?

 

 

[Lord Dave]

450GB of recovered deleted files out of a possible 512 Gigs seems a little odd.

80,000 images seems a lot.

The machine is reported to be a 2017 Macbook Pro, according to https://securityboulevard.com/2020/10/no-thats-not-how-warrantee-expiration-works/ , not a 2019 model. 

80,000 images in 2 years - 40,000 per year, if we assume a 16-hour waking day, that's 6 new images every hour, every day, constantly, for the whole two years. Does that sound remotely probable? On a machine without a built-in camera?

 

 

Look at your internet cache.  The number of images, gifs, icons, blank gifs, etc.... Is... Alot.

[Tumeni]

Look at your internet cache.  The number of images, gifs, icons, blank gifs, etc.... Is... Alot.

So ... it's stuff that might have been in a web page that HB might have browsed, and which got "deleted" when the internet cache was cleared?

That's the incriminating stuff? Really?

[Lord Dave]

Look at your internet cache.  The number of images, gifs, icons, blank gifs, etc.... Is... Alot.

So ... it's stuff that might have been in a web page that HB might have browsed, and which got "deleted" when the internet cache was cleared?

That's the incriminating stuff? Really?

Most likely, yeah.
It sounds like a huge number until you do it to your own pc and realize 90% of it is banners, google ads, site icons, and other little, 1kb or less graphic.

[Rushy]

Gas prices were clearly inflated and not due to any scarcity, real or manufactured. Exxon just posted record profits while assuring people it’s prices had to go up because times were so tough.

That's very much a separate issue. If it is truly artificial scarcity, then it needs to be resolved in a way that doesn't involve pissing away ~30% of the entire country's lifeline supplies. The strategic reserve is for when shit hits the fan; when we're getting nuked on one coast and invaded on the other. It's when we need to keep basic services running to prevent mass chaos. It should not be used to resolve short term discomfort.

[Tumeni]

Perhaps it would help if US vehicle owners switched to fuel-efficient vehicles, as opposed to swanning around in vanity trucks which "piss away" fuel ... ?

[crutonius]

It is true that some Americans are idiots who like big trucks with questionable utility.

However "just buy a Tesla" is not something the vast majority of Americans can afford to do.

[Rama Set]

It is true that some Americans are idiots who like big trucks with questionable utility.

However "just buy a Tesla" is not something the vast majority of Americans can afford to do.

Similarly, neither is eating the cost of inflated gas prices.

 

Gas prices were clearly inflated and not due to any scarcity, real or manufactured. Exxon just posted record profits while assuring people it’s prices had to go up because times were so tough.

That's very much a separate issue. If it is truly artificial scarcity, then it needs to be resolved in a way that doesn't involve pissing away ~30% of the entire country's lifeline supplies. The strategic reserve is for when shit hits the fan; when we're getting nuked on one coast and invaded on the other. It's when we need to keep basic services running to prevent mass chaos. It should not be used to resolve short term discomfort.

Maybe. As I understand it, the reserve is to mitigate disruptions, not necessarily disruptions caused by threats such as you propose. Don’t get me wrong, I think the economy should have done the hard work of pivoting from fossil fuels a long time ago, but this doesn’t seem to be the worst use of it. The worst use would be selling it to finance the deficit. Big yikes on that happening.

[crutonius]

Gas prices were clearly inflated and not due to any scarcity, real or manufactured. Exxon just posted record profits while assuring people it’s prices had to go up because times were so tough.

That's very much a separate issue. If it is truly artificial scarcity, then it needs to be resolved in a way that doesn't involve pissing away ~30% of the entire country's lifeline supplies. The strategic reserve is for when shit hits the fan; when we're getting nuked on one coast and invaded on the other. It's when we need to keep basic services running to prevent mass chaos. It should not be used to resolve short term discomfort.

It's an optics move and not a very good one.  I think it's predicted to bring down the price by like 10 cents a gallon.  On top of that countries like Saudi Arabia can just cut production to undo the effectiveness of this move.

[crutonius]

It is true that some Americans are idiots who like big trucks with questionable utility.

However "just buy a Tesla" is not something the vast majority of Americans can afford to do.

Similarly, neither is eating the cost of inflated gas prices.

I think you should check your math on that one.

[Rushy]

Perhaps it would help if US vehicle owners switched to fuel-efficient vehicles, as opposed to swanning around in vanity trucks which "piss away" fuel ... ?

Obviously that would help but I don't see how bringing up a separate topic is related to my point at all.

It is true that some Americans are idiots who like big trucks with questionable utility.

However "just buy a Tesla" is not something the vast majority of Americans can afford to do.

Tesla isn't the only EV/Hybrid manufacturer. Plenty of people could have made the switch a long time ago. They chose not to do so. Toyota has been making reasonably affordable hybrid vehicles that get 40+ MPG for well over a decade now and the majority of vehicles that Americans drive to work cost well over the price of a 10 year old Prius. Those same people are the ones going "oooohhh noooooo gas is toooooo expensive for meeeee noooooow" wow, that's too bad. Maybe one day they will develop the ability to think more than 10 seconds into the future.

Similarly, neither is eating the cost of inflated gas prices.

Forcing people to eat the cost of gasoline is exactly what is necessary to force them to move on to something else. Personal cost and liability is the only motivational wand for the majority of humans.

Maybe. As I understand it, the reserve is to mitigate disruptions, not necessarily disruptions caused by threats such as you propose. Don’t get me wrong, I think the economy should have done the hard work of pivoting from fossil fuels a long time ago, but this doesn’t seem to be the worst use of it. The worst use would be selling it to finance the deficit. Big yikes on that happening.

We aren't experiencing a supply disruption, merely a price rise due to inflation. That inflation was caused by poor fiscal policy implemented by Powell, Trump, and now continued by Biden. In other words, Biden is using a poor solution to a problem he helped create in the first place.

[crutonius]

Tesla isn't the only EV/Hybrid manufacturer. Plenty of people could have made the switch a long time ago. They chose not to do so. Toyota has been making reasonably affordable hybrid vehicles that get 40+ MPG for well over a decade now and the majority of vehicles that Americans drive to work cost well over the price of a 10 year old Prius. Those same people are the ones going "oooohhh noooooo gas is toooooo expensive for meeeee noooooow" wow, that's too bad. Maybe one day they will develop the ability to think more than 10 seconds into the future.

Fair enough.  But have you ever driven a Prius? 

There are worse things than ending humanity by destroying our planet through climate change.  One would be having to drive a Prius.

[stack]

The strategic reserve is for when shit hits the fan; when we're getting nuked on one coast and invaded on the other. It's when we need to keep basic services running to prevent mass chaos. It should not be used to resolve short term discomfort.

Kinda for when shit hits the fan, but not really in practice. Though I agree that it should not be used to resolve short-term discomfort. We've been selling/using the reserves for all kinds of events, not just 'shit hits the fan' scenarios, for decades:

Petroleum sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - Prior to 2015

- 1985: Test sale—1.1 million barrels (170,000 m3)
- 1990–1991: Desert Storm sale—21 million barrels (3,300,000 m3)
- 4 million barrels (640,000 m3) in October 1990 test sale[27]
- 17 million barrels (2,700,000 m3) in January 1991 presidentially ordered drawdown
- 1996–1997: 28 million barrels (4,500,000 m3) non-emergency sales for deficit reduction
- July–August 2000: 2.8 million barrels (450,000 m3) to supply the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.
- September–October 2000: 30 million barrels (4,800,000 m3) in response to a concern over low distillate levels in the northeastern U.S.
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina sale: 11 million barrels (1,700,000 m3)—Katrina shut down 95% of crude production and 88% of natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. This amounted to a quarter of total U.S. output. About 735 oil and natural gas rigs and platforms had been evacuated due to the hurricane.
- 2011 Arab Spring sale: 30 million barrels (4,800,000 m3)—non-emergency sale to offset disruptions caused by political upheaval in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East. The amount was matched by IEA countries, for a total of 60 million barrels (9,500,000 m3) released from stockpiles around the world.[28] discomfort, it often has been used that way. Not to mention that we've been selling from it for decades, which is bizarre.

Post 2015

- Another section of the Bipartisan Budget Act (Section 403), enacted in 2015, mandates SPR crude oil sales for fiscal years 2018 through 2025 on a volumetric basis, rather than on a dollar basis, as specified in Section 404. The revenues from sales authorized under section 403 will be deposited into the general fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[34]
- The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, enacted in December 2015, calls for SPR sales totaling 66 million barrels from fiscal years 2023 through 2025.[34]
- The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in December 2016, calls for the sale of 25 million barrels of SPR crude oil for fiscal years 2017 through 2019. The first portion of these sales is expected in late spring 2017.[34]
- In December 2016, the DOE announced it would begin the sale of 190 million barrels (30,000,000 m3) in January 2017.[24]
- The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, enacted in December 2017, calls for the sale of 7 million barrels over the two-year period of FY 2026 through FY 2027.[10]
- The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted in February 2018, calls for the sale of 30 million barrels over the four-year period of FY 2022 through FY 2025, 35 million barrels in FY 2026, and 35 million barrels in FY 2027.[10]
- In November 2021, the White House announced the release of 50 million barrels (7,900,000 m3) to address high gasoline prices.[35][36]
- On March 1, 2022, President Biden announced the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the reserve in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[37]
- On March 31, 2022, President Biden announced that his administration would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the reserve for the next 180 days.[38]

[Rushy]

Kinda for when shit hits the fan, but not really in practice. Though I agree that it should not be used to resolve short-term discomfort. We've been selling/using the reserves for all kinds of events, not just 'shit hits the fan' scenarios, for decades:

Petroleum sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - Prior to 2015

- 1985: Test sale—1.1 million barrels (170,000 m3)
- 1990–1991: Desert Storm sale—21 million barrels (3,300,000 m3)
- 4 million barrels (640,000 m3) in October 1990 test sale[27]
- 17 million barrels (2,700,000 m3) in January 1991 presidentially ordered drawdown
- 1996–1997: 28 million barrels (4,500,000 m3) non-emergency sales for deficit reduction
- July–August 2000: 2.8 million barrels (450,000 m3) to supply the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.
- September–October 2000: 30 million barrels (4,800,000 m3) in response to a concern over low distillate levels in the northeastern U.S.
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina sale: 11 million barrels (1,700,000 m3)—Katrina shut down 95% of crude production and 88% of natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. This amounted to a quarter of total U.S. output. About 735 oil and natural gas rigs and platforms had been evacuated due to the hurricane.
- 2011 Arab Spring sale: 30 million barrels (4,800,000 m3)—non-emergency sale to offset disruptions caused by political upheaval in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East. The amount was matched by IEA countries, for a total of 60 million barrels (9,500,000 m3) released from stockpiles around the world.[28] discomfort, it often has been used that way. Not to mention that we've been selling from it for decades, which is bizarre.

Post 2015

- Another section of the Bipartisan Budget Act (Section 403), enacted in 2015, mandates SPR crude oil sales for fiscal years 2018 through 2025 on a volumetric basis, rather than on a dollar basis, as specified in Section 404. The revenues from sales authorized under section 403 will be deposited into the general fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[34]
- The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, enacted in December 2015, calls for SPR sales totaling 66 million barrels from fiscal years 2023 through 2025.[34]
- The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in December 2016, calls for the sale of 25 million barrels of SPR crude oil for fiscal years 2017 through 2019. The first portion of these sales is expected in late spring 2017.[34]
- In December 2016, the DOE announced it would begin the sale of 190 million barrels (30,000,000 m3) in January 2017.[24]
- The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, enacted in December 2017, calls for the sale of 7 million barrels over the two-year period of FY 2026 through FY 2027.[10]
- The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted in February 2018, calls for the sale of 30 million barrels over the four-year period of FY 2022 through FY 2025, 35 million barrels in FY 2026, and 35 million barrels in FY 2027.[10]
- In November 2021, the White House announced the release of 50 million barrels (7,900,000 m3) to address high gasoline prices.[35][36]
- On March 1, 2022, President Biden announced the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the reserve in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[37]
- On March 31, 2022, President Biden announced that his administration would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the reserve for the next 180 days.[38]

A long history of stupid decisions doesn't surprise me at all.

[stack]

A long history of stupid decisions doesn't surprise me at all.

Well, that's your opinion based upon your notion that the SPR is only to be used for "when we're getting nuked on one coast and invaded on the other." And as shown, that has not been the bar that needs to be exceeded for its intended use. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, in part, was designed to "give the executive branch additional powers to respond to disruptions in energy supply".

So should we open up the reserves for the existing situation? I would prefer we don't. But an argument can be made that it's well within the parameters of use, historically and by design, and we need not be engaged in homeland fight for survival to do so.