John Carpenter’s cult basic Prince of Darkness turns 35

Alice Cooper in John Carpenter’s 1987 film Prince of Darkness.

Source: Shutterstock

John Carpenter is the king of Halloween. And not just because he directed Halloween.

He’s the creative force behind spooky seasonal classics like The Fog, Christine and The Thing. A lucrative new trilogy of Halloween sequels to its 1978 original has just ended with Halloween Ends, which Carpenter helped score and executive produce. He and his wife, writer-producer Sandy King Carpenter, oversee Storm King Comics, which has just turned 10 and features dozens of horror and sci-fi titles, including Halloween special releases each year.

But this year, one of Carpenter’s more obscure films, teeming with insects and metaphysical angst, Prince of Darkness has a moment and is finding a new audience.

The film’s 35th birthday was just last weekend, in the middle of peak scary movie season. Top-flight movie streaming service The Criterion Channel is featuring him as part of its Halloween schedule this month. And it’s been released three times on boutique home video company Shout Factory’s horror-centric Scream Factory label, with the latest release being an acclaimed 4K HD disc last year. (Carpenter is the most featured director at Scream Factory. “We tried to get all his films,” said marketing director and co-founder Jeff Nelson.)

That’s quite a reversal for “Prince of Darkness,” which critics panned when it was released in 1987. The New York Times critic Vincent Canby called it “surprisingly cheesy”.

The film is now considered one of Carpenter’s best and most interesting films. Phil Hoad of The Guardian called it “perhaps the director’s most underrated film”. Gizmodo’s Cheryl Eddy said it “contains one of the most disturbing depictions of evil of all time”.

The reevaluation fits well with Carpenter.

“It makes me feel good. It’s a good feeling, as opposed to a bad feeling,” he said in a recent interview with CNBC, with a wry emphasis on “good” and “bad.”

Cash and cash equivalents

“Prince of Darkness” tells the story of how Satan, in the form of a demonic green liquid, breaks out of his canister slot prison in the bowels of a Los Angeles Catholic church, brutally murdering a number of graduate students and possessing scientists. It was a modest success, grossing about $13 million on a budget of just $3 million.

At the time, Carpenter was coming off a string of major Hollywood films like Starman and Big Trouble in Little China and wanted to return to his indie roots.

“He shows how great he is when you don’t have a huge budget and you have to be creative,” said Cliff MacMillan, the other co-founder of Scream Factory.

Director John Carpenter and co-creator Sandy King sign copies of the comic book ‘Asylum’ held October 27, 2013 at the Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles, California.

Albert L. Ortega | Getty Images

Carpenter agreed to a multi-movie distribution deal with Universal Pictures and independent studio Carolco. According to Prince of Darkness script supervisor Sandy King Carpenter, the filmmaker only had to provide the studios with one-part synopses for the films.

The first project was “Prince of Darkness”. The second, 1988’s “They Live,” a grim sci-fi satire about Reagan-era politics, consumerism, and economics starring pro wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, has become a cult favorite in its own right become. (A planned third film called “Victory Out of Time” was not made.)

Due to Prince of Darkness’s tight budget, Carpenter and his crew had to use a few tricks to achieve the film’s ambitious imagery.

“This is where you innovate when you don’t have money,” Sandy King Carpenter told CNBC.

The script called for tons of bugs swarming over the characters, so that meant real bugs. Thousands of bugs, said Sandy King Carpenter. It was such a spectacle that the band Aerosmith showed up one day to watch the filming of their longtime friend Robert Grasmere’s big, disgusting insect scene, she added.

Aerosmith weren’t the only rockers who showed up to see the gnarly special effects in action. Shock rock icon Alice Cooper, whose manager Shep Gordon produced Prince of Darkness, visited the LA set to watch Carpenter and his crew film a scene in which a mirror serves as a gateway to another dimension.

Then you become innovative when you have no money.

Sandy King Carpenter

producer and writer

Next thing he knew, Cooper told CNBC, Carpenter was telling him to put on a stocking hat and appear in the film as the de facto leader of murderous demonic street people who swarm outside the church as the plot unfolds. He became one of the most prominent images in the film and its marketing, despite not having a single word of dialogue.

Carpenter also asked Cooper to repurpose one of his infamous stage show gags — using a mic stand to “skewer” someone — for a death scene that would end up featuring the rock star’s theme song for the film playing in the background.

“‘Can you put a bike through this guy’s chest?'” Cooper said, Carpenter asked him. “I said, ‘Sure, you’ve come to the right man.'”

Cooper also stayed nearby to watch the mirror scene filming, which showed how far Carpenter was willing to go to get the right shot on a tight budget.

“We needed a shot of the hand coming out of the mirror,” Carpenter said. So he and his crew dumped the mercury that served as ballast for a camera crane and used it to simulate liquid glass.

“It was very dangerous,” said the director. But Sandy King Carpenter was quick to explain that it was a fake hand, not a real one.

“We weren’t psychotic,” she said, “just a little risqué.”

Disclosure: CNBC, Universal Pictures and Peacock streaming “Halloween Ends” are part of NBCUniversal.

FDA Sees Limits to Columbia, Harvard Omicron Booster Trials

The Food and Drug Administration said two studies this week showed the new Omicron boosters weren’t much better than the old shots, too small to draw any real conclusions.

Scientists from Columbia and Harvard found in two independent studies that the new booster shots and the old omicron BA.5 shots worked essentially the same, raising doubts as to whether the vaccines will meet the Biden administration’s high expectations. Antibody responses were slightly higher with the Omicron boosters, although the studies concluded that the difference was not significant.

dr Peter Marks, head of the FDA’s vaccines division, said the studies are small and subject to limitations. Data from larger, well-controlled trials are expected in the near future, he said. Pfizer and Modern are conducting clinical studies with the new boosters and are expected to provide data later this year.

“It is important to note that even the data from these initial small studies suggest that the bivalent vaccines are generally at least as good or better than the original vaccines at eliciting an immune response, particularly to BA.4/BA.5 and other newer variants,” Marks said in a statement.

Even a modest increase in immune response could have positive public health implications, he added.

“The FDA continues to encourage eligible individuals to consider obtaining an updated vaccine to help protect against the COVID-19 variants currently circulating and the COVID-19 wave that appears to be coming,” Marks said.

Senior US health officials said the new boosters should perform better as they now match the dominant circulating strain, Omicron BA.5, for the first time since the pandemic began, as well as the original strain of Covid that emerged in China are. These are called bivalent shots.

The old shots, called monovalent, were developed against the first strain of Covid. Their effectiveness has decreased over time as the virus has mutated away from the original strain.

“Based on what we know about the immunology and science of this virus, it is expected that these new vaccines will provide better protection against infection, better protection against transmission, and sustained and better protection against serious disease,” dr Ashish Jha, head of the White House Covid task force, told reporters in September.

The Columbia and Harvard studies clearly show that the boosters work, but it’s still an open question whether they will prevent disease, particularly infections and minor illnesses, much better than the old vaccines.

“The takeaway lesson is the people who have been in high-risk groups and will benefit from booster doses as we enter this late autumn and early winter – those who are immunocompromised, who have high-risk conditions, who are older – they should be getting this booster shot,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s Independent Vaccine Advisory Committee.

But Offit said public health officials should be cautious about overselling the shots as a major upgrade.

“We have to be careful when we go before the American public and try to sell this vaccine as something significantly better when all the evidence we have so far doesn’t support it,” Offit said.

The Columbia study looked at 21 people who received the new booster shot, while the Harvard study looked at 18 people who received the new shot. Both studies are preprints, meaning they have not been peer-reviewed by others in the field.

The Columbia study found that antibody levels were about 1.2 times higher with a bivalent booster than with a fourth dose of the monovalent injections, while the Harvard study found they were 1.3 times higher. Although antibody levels were slightly higher with the bivalent booster, both studies concluded that the difference was not significant.

dr Dan Barouch, lead author of the Harvard study, acknowledged that the preprints were small but stressed that they were conducted independently and came to essentially the same conclusion, which is noteworthy.

“It is important to note that the two studies were conducted independently. They’re small studies, but there are two of them — it’s not just a coincidence,” said Barouch, whose lab played a crucial role in the development of the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine.

dr Peter Hotez, co-director of vaccine development at Texas Children’s Hospital, said the studies were conducted by two of the country’s top virology labs and the methodology is sound. Still, the results should be considered preliminary pending more data, Hotez warned.

“We have to be careful not to draw too many conclusions from this,” said Hotez, who also led a team developing an off-patent vaccine called Corbevax, which India approved for use last December.

The studies are of public interest as there is very limited human data on how the omicron BA.5 boosters are currently performing. The FDA approved the injections in September based on a clinical trial of a similar injection developed against the first version of omicron, BA.1.

Pfizer and Moderna originally developed their new boosters against BA.1, but the FDA urged the companies to switch over the summer and target BA.5 instead, as that subvariant had become dominant. As a result, Pfizer and Moderna did not have enough time to conduct pre-approval clinical trials and provide direct human data on the recordings.

The FDA also directly examined data on the BA.5 shots that came from animal testing. The agency acted urgently to get the footage out by autumn in hopes they would do a better job of staving off a Covid wave.

But new subvariants are also gaining ground in the US, most notably BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which now account for about 27% of new infections. It’s unclear how the boosters will perform against these subvariants. Health officials expect the shots to continue to provide protection as the subvariants are descended from BA.5.

Sustain with the Kardashian-Jenner household Halloween costumes

The Kardashians love to pull off a hilarious trick (remember the Todd Kraines prank?), but they also give their followers a real treat every year with their Halloween costumes.

Out of KylieJenner‘s Barbie look Khloe Kardashian‘s Cruella de Vil transformation – not to mention Kim Kardashian‘s Cher Ensemble and Kourtney kardashian‘S SUPERHERO OUTFIT – The family has donned a number of unforgettable outfits over the years. And of course there is all that and more at Kendall Jenner‘s star-studded costume birthday party.

Of course, their kids love to get in the spirit of Halloween too, and they’ve become everything from Power Rangers and the Flintstones to cute skunks and precious pumpkins. This year, Kim had her kids channeled with music icons northwest a tribute to Aaliyah, Santa West goes as Snoop Dogg, Chicago West dress as Sade Adu and psalm west to portray Eazy E.

Though not all members of the Kardashian-Jenner family have shared their 2022 costumes just yet, fans can still take a spooky trip down the Halloween memory lane. So, grab your candy and some hot cider. It’s time to keep up with the Kardashian Jenner Halloween costumes of years past.

Studies of rapes, torture and executions by Russian troops

The prosecutor for war crimes of the Kharkiv region stands with a coroner and a police officer at the site of a mass burial in a forest during the exhumation September 16, 2022 in Izium, Ukraine.

Yevhenii Zavhorodnii | Global Pictures Ukraine | News from Getty Images | Getty Images

Editor’s Note: The following article contains vivid photos of corpses and extremely vivid material with detailed accounts of executions, rapes and torture of people in Ukraine, including young children.

UNITED NATIONS – A report commissioned by the United Nations this month found that Russian forces in Ukraine have committed a series of war crimes, including summary executions, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians .

The report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Ukraine details violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in four regions occupied by Russian forces. The commission largely focused its investigations on the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

In preparing the report, the Commission conducted 191 interviews and traveled to 27 cities on five separate visits. In some cases, the commission found that Ukrainian forces committed war crimes against Russian troops, although these incidents were less frequent.

Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations that its forces have been deliberately targeting civilians since the full-scale invasion began in late February.

In one of the most disturbing examples of sexual violence, the commission describes an incident involving a 4-year-old girl:

In March 2022, two Russian soldiers broke into a house in the Kyiv region, repeatedly raped a 22-year-old woman, committed sexual violence against her husband and forced the couple to have sex in her presence.

Then one of the soldiers forced her four-year-old daughter to perform oral sex on him, which amounts to rape

The commission said the ages of victims of sexual assault ranged from 4 years to over 80 years.

“Perpetrators raped the women and girls in their homes or took them away and raped them in unoccupied homes,” the group wrote in the Oct. 18 report.

The group also wrote that spouses and family members, including children, were sometimes forced to witness crimes committed by Russian troops who “frequently appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.”

The commission described separate incidents in March involving both a middle-aged woman and an elderly woman in a village outside of Kyiv:

A 56-year-old woman told how two of the three Russian armed forces who broke into her home gang-raped her while the third looked on while she masturbated. They stole their food and money. A few weeks later, she learned that her husband had been tortured and executed in another incident.

An 83-year-old woman described how, while her village was occupied by Russian forces, she was raped by a Russian military man in her home, where her disabled husband was also present.

The commission wrote that some victims refused to be interviewed, while others considered suicide. A psychologist who spoke to the commission said that “all the victims I work with blame themselves for being discovered and raped by perpetrators.”

The report also documents that Russian forces unlawfully detained Ukrainian civilians in overcrowded makeshift facilities before conducting interrogations that included methods of torture:

The prison conditions were inhuman. According to victims, the room was so crowded that some were forced to stand or sleep on chairs for weeks. There was no light or ventilation, and the air was hot and stuffy.

Water dripped from the ceiling and walls, and there were no showers or toilets. There was very limited access to food and water and almost no access to medical care… The soldiers fired at random near the victims to frighten them.

A Ukrainian policeman examines a cell while the words of the Lord’s Prayer are written on the wall of the district police department used by Russian occupiers for torture, Balakliia, Kharkiv Region, north-eastern Ukraine.

Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy | Future Publishing | Getty Images

The report added that Russian soldiers called Ukrainian civilians “fascists” or “cattle” during interrogations.

Individuals were handcuffed, shackled, blindfolded and subjected to sustained beatings with rifle butts or batons. According to the commission, Russian forces also administered electric shocks with Tasers and carried out mock executions.

“Victims also described acts of prolonged forced nudity in front of others, which also amounted to sexual violence,” the report said.

A victim was severely beaten for two days after refusing to declare support for the Russian Federation on camera.

Another victim was forced to stand naked and shouted “Glory to Russia” while being beaten, describing the beating as “punishment for speaking Ukrainian” and “not remembering the lyrics of the Russian Federation’s anthem”.

The commission wrote that after initial detention in Ukraine, individuals were forcibly transferred to Belarus or Russia, in violation of international humanitarian law. Once civilians reached Russia, they were held in detention facilities known as filtration camps before being issued Russian identity cards. Moscow has denied these allegations.

The report also outlines incidents where victims “in civilian clothes, driving civilian cars and unarmed” were attacked and killed by Russian troops.

The left hand of an elderly man killed in a deadly Russian missile attack on a humanitarian convoy remains at the wheel of a car in Zaporizhia, southeast Ukraine.

Dmytro Smolienko | Ukrinform | Future Publishing | Getty Images

“Most incidents occurred during daylight hours, meaning the civilian appearance should have been clear to the attacker,” the commission wrote, adding that soldiers shot civilians with assault rifles or, in some cases, vehicle-mounted weapons.

The commission found that most of the summary executions took place in places where Russian forces had been stationed for a long time.

The bodies of some victims were found with their hands tied behind their backs, a clear indication that the victim was in custody and posed no threat at the time of death.

The commission’s investigations show that the causes of death of the victims corresponded to the methods used in executions: gunshot wounds to the head, blunt wounds or slit throats. In some cases, there were also signs of torture on the bodies, such as bruises, wounds, and broken bones.

Investigators carry away a body bag in a forest near Izyum in eastern Ukraine September 23, 2022, where Ukrainian investigators have uncovered more than 440 graves after the town was retaken by Russian forces, prompting new claims of war atrocities.

Sergei Bobok | AFP | Getty Images

The commission concluded in its report that during its investigations in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions it found that the Russian armed forces had committed a “series of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law”.

The group wrote that they will expand their investigation to a broader geographic region in a future report.

GM quickly suspends promoting on Twitter after Musk acquisition

DETROIT — General Motors is suspending its advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform, the company told CNBC on Friday.

The Detroit-based automaker, a rival of the Musk-led electric vehicle maker Teslasaid it “paused” advertising while assessing Twitter’s new direction. It will continue to use the platform to interact with customers but will not pay for advertising, GM added.

“We are working with Twitter to understand the platform’s direction under its new ownership. As is usual with a significant media platform change, we have temporarily suspended our paid advertising. Our interactions with customer care on Twitter continue,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Under CEO Mary Barra, the Detroit-based company was among the first automakers to announce billions of dollars in spending to better compete against Tesla in the battery electric vehicle segment.

A General Motors sign is seen during an event January 25, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. – General Motors will create 4,000 new jobs and retain 1,000 and significantly increase production capacity for battery cells and electric trucks.

Jeff Kowalski | AFP | Getty Images

A speaker for Ford engine, another of Tesla’s rivals, told CNBC that the automaker doesn’t currently advertise on Twitter and didn’t do so prior to Elon Musk’s take-private deal. They added: “We will continue to evaluate the direction of the platform under the new ownership.”

However, when presented with a screenshot of a sponsored tweet by Ford CEO Jim Farley, the spokesperson could not confirm the last time Ford or its employees may have paid for ads, including sponsored tweets, on the platform.

Ford continues to engage with its customers on Twitter.

Other car companies, including Rivian, Stellar and alphabetWaymo, which is owned by Waymo, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they plan to suspend advertising or stop using the social media platform after Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion.

Manufacturer of electric trucks Nicola said it has no plans to change anything about the platform.

Twitter’s future direction has been central to the acquisition story. Musk has said he is a “free speech absolutist” who would restore the account of former President Donald Trump, who was banned for his tweets during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Musk said Friday that he is planning a “Content Moderation Council” and will not be restoring accounts or making any major content decisions until it is called. Musk said in a statement to advertisers this week that he can’t let Twitter become a “one-size-fits-all hellscape.”

Henrik Fisker, CEO of the EV startup fisherman Inc., deleted its Twitter account earlier this year when Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s offer to buy and privatize the company. Fisker Inc. continues to use Twitter, which all major automotive brands use for customer engagement and marketing.

Musk has long boasted that Tesla doesn’t pay for traditional advertising, a price that’s added up for traditional automaker brands over the years.

Instead, Tesla rewards individuals who lead or are members of Tesla Owners Clubs and other social media influencers who promote the company’s products, stock and music on social media, particularly Twitter and YouTube, and on fan blogs.

They often get early access to Tesla products, like the company’s Full Self-Driving Beta software, and get tickets to company events where attendance is limited.

In September 2020, Tesla considered a shareholder proposal to begin strategic paid advertising to educate the public about its vehicles and charging network. Tesla’s board of directors recommended, and shareholders voted with the board, against paying for traditional advertising campaigns.

In the company’s 2021 annual report, Tesla wrote, “We have historically been able to garner significant media coverage of our company and products, and we believe we will continue to do so. Such commonplace media coverage and word of mouth are key drivers of our sales leads and have helped us generate sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs.”

Financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reported that marketing, promotional and advertising expenses were “immaterial” for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

— CNBC’s John Rosevear contributed to this report.

Lizzo claps again at a fan who asks what occurs when somebody wears a “fats swimsuit” after dressing up as Chrisean Rock

TikTok clarifies confusion with Lizzo regarding removal of her videos. The app says it promotes body positivity.

For Halloween, Lizzo decided to dress up as Chrisean Rock and she didn’t skip any details.

Lizzo posted a video in a white t-shirt and cut-off shorts with sneakers, making sure to create the illusion of a missing tooth and even a tattoo of what appears to be a man on her neck.

In response to the costume, someone mentioned what if Rock decided to wear a fat suit. Lizzo replied and said you can dress up as someone without being offensive.

I didn’t put on a “skinny suit” – you can dress up as someone without being lewd – rock lit, I’m lit, it’s all love. don’t make it weird

Shortly thereafter, Chrisean replied and said:

Awww I love that

Omicron subvariants which can be proof against key antibody remedies are rising

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two Omicron subvariants that are resistant to key antibody treatments are on the rise in the United States.

Subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now account for 27% of infections in the US, a significant increase from the previous week when they accounted for about 16% of new cases, according to CDC data released Friday.

Omicron BA.5, while still the dominant variant, is declining every week. According to the data, it now accounts for about 50% of infections in the US, up from 60% the week before.

President Joe Biden this week warned people with compromised immune systems that they were particularly at risk this winter because antibody treatments against emerging subvariants weren’t effective.

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are likely resistant to evusheld and bebtelovimab, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Evusheld is an antibody cocktail given as two injections that people aged 12 and over with moderately or severely compromised immune systems take to prevent Covid-19. Bebtelovimab is a monoclonal antibody that is taken to treat Covid after infection.

Biden urged people with weakened immune systems to consult their doctors on precautions to take. dr Ashish Jha, head of the White House Covid task force, said the US is running out of options to treat the vulnerable because Congress has not committed more money to the nation’s Covid response.

“We had hoped that as time went on as the pandemic progressed and as our fight against this virus progressed, we would expand our medicine cabinet,” Jha told reporters this week. “Due to a lack of congressional funding, this medicine cabinet has actually shrunk and that is putting vulnerable people at risk.”

It’s unclear how well the new boosters will protect against variants like BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. Jha said the boosters should offer better protection than the old vaccines because these subvariants are descended from BA.5 found in the updated vaccines.

Two independent studies from Columbia and Harvard found this week that the omicron boosters don’t fare much better than the old shots against BA.5. The Food and Drug Administration said the studies were too small to draw firm conclusions.

The CDC, FDA and the White House Covid Task Force believe the new shots will prove more effective because they are better matched to circulating variants than first-generation vaccines.

“Based on what we know about the immunology and science of this virus, these new vaccines can be expected to provide better protection against infection, better protection against transmission, and sustained and better protection against serious disease,” he said Jha told reporters in September.

Jha urged all eligible Americans to get the Omicron booster and their flu shot by Halloween so they are protected when families gather for the holiday.

That is the place followers can anticipate to see Home of the Dragon season 2

We won’t be seeing the Dance of the Dragons for quite a while.

After that epic season one finale, HBO is making sure viewers don’t expect a sequel to House of the Dragon in the new year.

“Don’t expect it in 23, but I think sometime in 24,” according to the network’s content chief Casey Bloys said Vulture on Oct. 27. “We’re just starting to put the plan together and just like last time, there are so many unknowns. It’s not meant to be timid or mysterious, but you don’t want to say it’s going to be ready by that date, and then you have to postpone it.”

In the meantime, could Game of Thrones fans see the first season of Jon Snow’s long-awaited spin-off? According to Bloys, you shouldn’t count on that, as we’ll likely catch up with Rhaenyra and Alicent again before we make our way to the Wall.

“I think next would probably be season two [of House of the Dragon]”, he said. “I’m trying not to comment too much on the development, so there’s not much to say other than when we find the story George [R.R. Martin] satisfied and we are satisfied, we will continue.”

Exxon is swimming in unprecedented windfall good points whereas Individuals endure on the pump

Exxon made $19.66 billion in profit in just three months. Good work when you can get it and not be plagued by guilt, patriotism, or concern for global democracy.

Yesterday it was Shell making headlines with huge earnings, today it’s Exxon — but Exxon far ahead of Shell and others with earnings “nearly doubling” in the third quarter.

Reuters reported:

Third-quarter net income of $19.66 billion far topped recently upgraded Wall Street forecasts as natural gas and oil prices soared…

Exxon, which led record profits among the five producers known as oil majors in the prior quarter, fared ahead of rivals Shell and TotalEnergies with third-quarter profits nearly doubling. His gains were helped by his heavily criticized decision to double down on fossil fuel use as European competitors switched to renewable energy.

Exxon raised $43 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 19% from the same period in 2008, when oil was trading at a record $140 a barrel.

Though President Biden urged oil companies to show a little patriotism by channeling rising profits into more production rather than stock buybacks, Exxon will continue its “$30 billion stock repurchase program through 2023 while increasing dividends … and this year 15.” Pay billions of dollars to shareholders.”

Republicans blame these high gas prices on President Biden—most of you already know because you actually read—that the root cause of these high prices is oil and gas companies gouging consumers. And boy, boy, rake it in while Americans get hurt.

All oil and gas companies except Samson Energy have given primarily to Republicans and Conservatives, and over time it has only gotten more extreme. (You can look up the Republicans running in your state to see the oil and gas cash flow.)

From Open Secrets:

While Republican Mehmet Oz is campaigning in Pennsylvania to defend Big Oil against Democrat John Fetterman’s proposals that they stop price gouging under the hood, it turns out that Oz has a lot of personal motivation for screwing up a lot of Pennsylvanian affiliation with Big Oil, including donations of over $200,000 for his Senate campaign.

These huge gains are said to be due to increasing demand and the underserved market. But there are things that could have eased the pain.

Empathizing with American families, President Biden said on October 19, “When the price of gas goes up, other spending will be cut. That’s why I’ve been doing everything in my power to bring gas prices down ever since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused those price increases – those prices have skyrocketed and rocked international oil markets.”

And then he did something about it: “Today, I’m announcing three critical steps my administration will be taking to lower gas prices at the pump. First, the Department of Energy will release an additional 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, extending our previously announced release through the month of December… Second, we must responsibly increase American oil production without delaying or postponing our transition to clean energy… Third, I urge oil companies to pass the savings on to consumers.”

Biden noted, “So far, American oil companies have used the windfall to buy back their own stock and passed that money on to their shareholders, not consumers.”

Yes, and it hasn’t stopped.

Not only did every Republican vote no to a Democratic bill to stop price gouging, but we, in case it wasn’t clear, President Trump pressured his friends in Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut oil production in mid-2020, because it would be good for the oil and gas industry.

“I was just speaking to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) from Saudi Arabia who was speaking to President Putin from Russia and I expect and hope that they will cut about 10 million barrels and maybe significantly more, what if it is happens, also will be GREAT for the oil and gas industry!” Trump tweeted.

The New York Times reported: “The net income of the world’s oil and natural gas producers will double in 2022 from 2021 levels to a record $4 trillion. “Today’s high fossil fuel prices have brought producers an unprecedented windfall,” the Paris-based agency said in its World Energy Outlook released this week.

Shell and Total Energies on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings that more than doubled compared to the same period last year.

These gains are said to be due to Russia’s war against Ukraine. profits. Yet somehow Republicans expect American consumers to pay more to do their bit while they greedily rake in donations from the profits on American backs.

In August, the BBC included this link in its reporting: “Last year (BP) CEO Bernard Looney described the energy market as ‘a money-making machine.'”

As a matter of fact.

It’s greed and politics. Big oil continues to make big profits and prioritize shareholders over production while Americans are hammered between the pandemic, global inflation and Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Republicans defend Big Oil like it’s the little guy in the room being attacked by mean Democrats, but the truth is obviously very different.

The Democrats aren’t asking Big Oil to stop making profits; after all, that should be their job. But companies used to work with a sense of patriotism and pride in making a contribution to our country. While now they pay as little tax as possible, while in times of great trouble and pain they mug Americans. They have become monsters who lack any moral compass, and this behavior is made possible by the greatest recipient of their greed, the Republican Party.

What does the Republican Party stand for now other than conspiracies, imprisonment, attacks on democracy and relentless oligarch takeovers?

IMG 0013

Sarah has been accredited to report on President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and to exclusively interview spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively on her first appearance at home following the then-Vice President’s first impeachment to report to President Donald Trump.

Sarah is a two-time Telly Award-winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

How United believes electrical planes will rework air journey selections

United Airlines, the country’s No. 3 airline, has a deal to purchase 30-seat electric aircraft from startup Heart Aerospace, which Heart says will launch in 2028.

Heart aerospace

One of the hardest things to figure out about reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been the issue of aviation, as most commercial aircraft are too heavy to be electrically powered with today’s technology. but United Airlines is beginning to paint a picture of how electric aircraft will be part of its future, and a key to changing the way travelers think about aviation as a choice for shorter routes.

The country’s No. 3 airline has a deal to purchase 30-seat electric aircraft from startup Heart Aerospace, which Heart says it plans to launch in 2028. In a twist, United doesn’t plan to replace large jets but to focus the new planes on regional service. The airline is also preparing to launch eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles for mass transit, e.g. B. to bring passengers from central cities to airports.

The idea isn’t so much to change the behavior of aviators as to convince small-town dwellers, who now drive for trips of 250 miles or less, to take a plane instead, according to Mike Leskinen, United’s vice president of corporate development and president of its investment arm of United Ventures, said at CNBC ESG Impact earlier this month. If it works, it will open up a new market for airlines like United, especially outside of the major metropolitan areas.

“There are absolutely a lot of hurdles to overcome, but aerospace development cycles are measured in decades and you have to start now,” Leskinen said. “We cannot continue and operate our business the way we do. It is imperative that we change it and we will change it by investing in technology.”

While electric cars and SUVs are moving toward 5% of the new car market in the US and 9% globally, few airlines have made a major effort toward electric planes. Sustainability plans are pursued by American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines hardly mention electric planes. Engineers can’t make an electric battery light enough and powerful enough to power an airplane the size of today’s jets, said Eliot Lees, vice president and aviation analyst at consulting firm ICF in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The United plan is based on the idea that less than 1% of travelers making a 250-mile trip choose to fly.

“It used to be different,” said Anders Forslund, CEO of Heart Aerospace, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, which has a contract to deliver 100 30-seat electric aircraft to United. “Go back to the 1990s, there were hundreds of small planes serving many communities that have now ceased service.”

United and Air Canada also have stakes in Heart Aerospace.

Why Travel on Small City Planes Has Been Discontinued

People in smaller towns stopped flying because jet engines made for airplanes were too expensive to profitably power those communities, Forslund said.

“It’s remarkable technology, but it’s holding us back now,” he said. “If you introduce an electric motor… you can get a lot of synergy with what’s happening in the automotive industry.

Travelers probably won’t notice much of a difference inside an electrically-powered plane, Leskinen said. And the ability to switch planes in just 30 minutes means planes can operate 10 or 11 hours a day, allowing for flexible schedules.

“That means a small town either gets a service they didn’t have or they had to drive to one [bigger] airport, or they’ll be served more frequently,” Leskinen said at the CNBC event. “That will allow the customer from this small town to get in and out of the country on the same day, whereas before you couldn’t. You can’t do that with traditional jet planes.”

And United Airlines’ board of directors predicts that within a decade these electric plans will be cheaper for the airline than traditional jet engines. “As we introduce electric aircraft, I think the cost of a 30-seat and 50-seat aircraft will be lower than a conventional aircraft as the industry develops.”

Other Airline Climate Action Plans

Efforts by most airlines to cut emissions have focused on plans to renew their existing fleets by replacing older aircraft with more efficient newer models. Additionally, airlines, including United, are focused on investing in sustainable aviation fuel startups. The US Department of Energy says sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, emit “dramatically lower” levels of carbon, but not zero, and that some SAF technologies under development could result in net negative greenhouse gas emissions.

Delta’s stated goal is to replace 10% of fuel with SAF by 2030. The company has partnered with Airbus to study hydrogen-powered aircraft, but sees SAF as its key medium-term means of reducing emissions with new technology. “We have a multi-pronged strategy of things we can do today, things we can do tomorrow, like investing in SAF and investing in the future,” Fletcher said in an interview. “Everyone must start now.”

According to its annual report on environmental, social and governance management, American also points to reducing emissions by switching to sustainable fuels. It plans to switch 10% of its fuel to SAFs by 2030, as part of a plan to reduce emissions by 45% by then and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Even SAFs aren’t really there yet as the industry scrambles to find a solution in time for 2030 due to a severe capacity shortage, he said. The industry has received an economic boost from the passage of President Biden’s climate legislation, which is believed to be key to providing the financial incentives needed to scale these new operations. The Inflation Reduction Act Congress passed in August with several provisions targeting aviation. One is a $1 per gallon blender tax credit for biofuels, incentives for faster construction of SAF plants, and longer-term initiatives to accelerate technologies like hydrogen-powered airplanes and spot carbon capture to create new green fuels should offer. said Leskinen.

“We have a portfolio pipeline at United of sustainable aviation projects that includes 177 companies and we had pencils on some of them because without this legislation the hurdles were just too high [high] to develop this technology,” he said. “There are literally dozens of companies that would not have worked that are now viable startups that you will be investing in over the coming months.”

Early versions of SAF technology will use lipids to mix it with conventional jet fuel, while Fletcher says later versions will rely on carbon capture technology that will actually make some planes’ net emissions negative.

ICF predicts that 70% of airline emissions reductions by 2050 will come from switching to SAFs, while only 10% will come from adopting electric (or hydrogen-powered) aircraft. The other 20% will likely come from planning improvements and better fuel-efficient aircraft, Lees said.

Electric planes have already slipped behind the most aggressive promises about when they could be government approved and operational, and further delays are likely, Lees said. Most likely, electric aircraft will serve small markets, hydrogen-powered aircraft will serve medium passenger numbers, and SAF-powered jet engines will serve large cities.

“Everyone is optimistic about these planes,” Lees said. “That [companies that make them] are particularly optimistic about when.”

People have been talking about “flying cars” for decades. Now they can actually happen

American, which declined to comment, has invested in London-based eVTOL company Vertical Aerospace. The company’s ESG report says the four-passenger eVTOLs it expects to deploy will be able to transport passengers between cities at up to 200 miles per hour. This alone could be a $12 billion market by 2030, said Chris Raite, an airline analyst at New York-based research firm Third Bridge Group, but regulatory hurdles and supply chain issues make predictions that the technology will be commonplace as early as 2024 unreliable.

“Our experts are very bullish but less bullish on the aggressive timeframes that are being marketed,” he said.

Just this month, Delta Air Lines invested Joby aviation. United is also investing in eVTOL: most recently, a $15 million order with Eve Air Mobility in September, including an order for 200 aircraft; and a $10 million investment in Archer Aviation and order 100 Archer eVTOLs. But United believe the impact of this technology on flying will be smaller, although it could make a trip from a major metropolitan area to a small town in the region completely carbon-free.

“eVTOL will change the way we live and work,” said Leskinen. “It doesn’t take planes out of the sky, however. It takes cars off the road. It will allow us, if you live in Manhattan, to get to the airport with a predictability of seven, seven and a half minutes Newark. If you’re flying a regional flight, maybe hop on a Heart ES-30 plane and your entire trip was carbon-free.”

How practical that is depends on both technological development and regulators, as well as the rapid expansion of eVTOL takeoff and landing sites in cities, Raite said. The goal is to make eVTOL available for roughly the cost of a premium Uber Black car ride, but that may require the development and approval of eVTOL driverless vehicles.

United's new flight path: green startups