The Stream

The Brew: Talkin’ Bravery, Bills, Bulbs and ‘The Brand’

By Al Perrotta Published on August 1, 2023 •

Al Perrotta

Welcome to August!

Let’s get pouring some fresh Brew.

Ban on Incandescent Light Bulbs Goes Into Effect

August starts with a little less freedom … at least the freedom to light your house as you see fit. Today, Joe Biden’s ban on incandescent bulbs goes into effect. Stores are no longer allowed to carry the cheaper bulbs which have served mankind so well. Manufacturers can no longer make them. However, if you already own incandescent bulbs, you can still use them.

Supporters say LED and similar energy-efficient bulbs use at least 75% less energy and can last 25 times longer. Critics talk about the unnecessary regulation burden. Also, studies suggest the blue light from LEDs can have “substantial biological impacts.” Chief among the concerns, according to The Guardian, is “its ability to suppress the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep patterns in humans and other organisms.”

Devon Archer: Joe Put on the Phone With Hunter’s Clients to Pitch “the Brand”

We have a better idea what the Bidens were selling for millions of dollars: “The Brand.” That is, the Biden name and influence. According to Chad Pergram of Fox News, former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer told Congress Monday that Joe Biden joined calls or met with foreign business interests of Hunters over 20 times, that he knows of, to sell “the brand.”

For example, Hunter was added to Burisma’s board for the value of “the brand.” Indeed, Archer testified that Hunter, along with Burisma executives, called Joe Biden to “get help” from the Vice President “regarding the Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shorkin.” Within a few months, Biden got Shorkin fired after threatening to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine.

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Democratic Rep. Dan Goodman put on a good spin after the hearing. He claimed Joe Biden never spoke business details. Instead “it was all casual niceties, the weather, what’s going on.” This after years of Biden denying talking any business with Hunter at all.

Newsflash. You don’t get the Big Guy on to talk minutiae. You get the Big Guy on to show you’re dealing with the Big Guy. And it takes a certain kind of blind to not see a connection between Burisma hiring Hunter and wanting Joe’s help getting Shorkin off their back, and … Joe getting Shorkin off their back.

But don’t believe me. Archer reportedly told Congress that Burisma would have gone under if not for “the brand.”

Here’s Pergram’s thread:

This is also an interesting tidbit:

In spring of 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden attended a business dinner with his son, Hunter, and his associates at Café Milano in DC. Elena Baturina, a Russian oligarch who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, attended the dinner.

Baturina would send $3.5 million to one of Hunter’s firms. Notes Pergram, “The Biden Administration’s public sanctions list for Russian oligarchs does not contain Baturina.” Greg Price takes a trip down scandal lane.

From our Brainwashing Kids File … Teaching Children That Death is Peachy

What did you read when you were between 6 and 12 years old? Hardy Boys? Huck Finn? Harry Potter? How about a children’s book touting assisted suicide? That’s what kids in Canada are now subject to. The book is called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Activity Book, and it’s from the Canadian Virtual Hospice.

The book nonchalantly runs kids through the process of assisted suicide, then provides “activities” to help them sort through their feelings and actions when a loved one chooses death. Lifenews.com summarizes the horror:

Once we endorse killing as an acceptable answer to human suffering, we have to train the children that killing is okay. Because they are not stupid and will know that their loved one is being terminated, and their immediate instinct will probably be that it is wrong.

What are the consequences of teaching children that death is an acceptable answer? Is this another example of the death cult spreading in the West?

Tax Money to Teach Kids Drag?

Another “gem” uncovered by the incomparable Libs of TikTok. Imagine hiking taxes to teach little kids how to dress in drag.

A group called Colors+ Youth Center in Fairview Park, Ohio — in conjunction with Drag Queen Story Hour Cleveland — is hosting a tutorial for youth on the “fundamentals of drag.” Teaching kids makeup, costume design and performance in a “safe, affirming and age appropriate way.” (Appropriate says who?)

And who is funding this “tutorial”? Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. And who funds them? Cuyahoga County residents, through a tax hike on cigarettes in 2006 and another tax hike in November 2015.

Turning to the inspirational …

Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin Practices in Pads for the 1st Time

A major milestone Monday in Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s return to the football field. The player, who suffered a horrifying cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game in the fall, practiced in pads for the first time since the incident.

“I’m processing a thousand emotions,” Hamlin admitted to reporters afterwards. “I’m not afraid to say it crosses my mind, being a little scared, here and there. My strength is rooted in my faith, and my faith is stronger than any fear.”

Country Star Craig Morgan Re-Enlists

Country great Craig Morgan is putting on the uniform again … but he ain’t putting down his guitar. Morgan, at age 59, re-enlisted in the Army — sworn into the Reserves Saturday at the Grand Ol Opry.

He’d spent 17 years in the service, 10 of them active duty. “I realized that there’s so much that I’ve missed — the friends, the feeling of the sense of accomplishment,” Morgan explained. “I realized that I’ve missed it so much and I truly believe that I still have more to give.”

Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Unbowed in the Storm

On Saturday, a ferocious line of storms moved through the Nation’s Capital, whipping the region with hurricane force winds. Yet this member of “The Old Guard” was unbowed from his duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Along The Stream

The latest “Conversations With Christians Engaged” podcast is up! Lewis Hogan, founder of UnitedCry, joins Bunni Pounds this week to discuss the power of corporate prayer meetings. It’s the latest in the series “Prayer + Intercession: How Talking to God Can Change Everything.”

Jason Jones and John Zmirak continue their conversation about Ukraine and American politics with, “Mike Pence, Tucker Carlson and the Global Elite Conspiracy to Turn Us All into Paranoid Cranks.”

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.

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