Three Things You Need to Know - September 7, 2017

Catastrophe Looms Over Miami, and It’s Not Just Hurricane Irma

Before the storm arrives, Miami already has the third worst real-estate market among major cities in the U.S. Only Cleveland and Detroit ranked lower than Miami in foreclosure rates and delinquent mortgages.

Last year, Miami had over 7,000 home foreclosures. Seven thousand. This year, the number is already over 3,600.

Irma is still bearing down on South Florida.

The Category 5 hurricane could make landfall in Miami this weekend.

The human toll is our main concern.

But, the combination of a devastating hurricane hitting a real estate market that is already in shambles would be catastrophic. Especially if there is flooding like we’ve seen in Houston.

Flooding in the Miami area is already a serious problem under normal circumstances, never mind a hurricane.

Miami recently spent $500 million to install anti-flood pumps around the city, but only 15 percent have been installed so far. Even if they were, engineers have warned that the pumps "would probably fail during a hurricane because there are no backup generators if the city loses power."

And that’s exactly what happened just last month.

A heavy rainstorm overwhelmed the pumps' capacity and caused a power outage that knocked two pump stations offline for almost an hour --- long enough to put some sections of Miami Beach under several feet of water.

Do you remember the Great Miami Storm of July 2017? No? Neither does anyone else. That was just a rainstorm. This is Irma.

Our country can only take so much. War, chaos in the streets, two major hurricanes and a housing collapse?

Catastrophe looms, and it's not just hurricane Irma.

Watershed Moment With North Korea

This is one of those moments. 

The standoff with North Korea is approaching endgame. Change --- on a level not seen since WWII --- could be taking place very soon.

The vehicle of this change comes in the form of a UN draft resolution shown to the media yesterday. The United States is seeking an oil embargo, and regardless of whether the resolution passes or fails, this conflict has reached an inflection point.

Let’s say the embargo passes. This would mark the beginning of the end for diplomacy. Japan saw this as an act of war during WWII, eventually leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kim Jong Un will either be forced to the negotiating table, or he’ll see it as the Japanese did. If war occurs, it will be catastrophic on both sides. Carnage not measured in hundreds and thousands, but hundreds of thousands.

China and Russia have already made statements hinting they’ll veto the resolution. Without the help of both countries, we’re staring at a very hard and cold truth: North Korea is now a nuclear-armed nation, and we’re stuck with accepting it.

Think of the dominoes that might fall if that happens. Would Kim Jong Un take his newly acquired nuclear deterrence out for a test drive? 

U.S. security guarantees --- in place since WWII --- would be deemed worthless. Japan would re-arm. The Philippines would turn to China.

History is full of watershed moments --- those moments that flipped everything upside down and sent the world hurtling in a new direction. We’re living one of those moments.

The Art of the Bad Deal

Trump has cut a deal with Democratic leaders to increase the debt limit and finance the government until mid-December. But, this deal isn't about Trump.

The deal proposed by Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi combined the debt ceiling increase with relief aid for Harvey victims.

We could talk about the GOP’s refusal to address runaway spending.

How unserious Washington is about restraining the deficit and debt.

Or we could look in the mirror, and ask the really hard question.

How much do conservatives actually care about this stuff?

The reason Washington has been able to kick the can down the road is that we have put up with it. Over and over again.

Our government is a reflection of who we are. And right now, as a country, we are a people who would rather talk about the personalities in a meeting about the debt ceiling, than the debt itself.

We would rather whine about our politicians and gossip about who has hurt feelings, than worry about how we have voted again and again to pass this bill onto the next generation.

Yes, this is a bad deal. But, America has turned accepting bad deals into an art form. It's time we spit ourselves out of the system.

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PHOTOS: Glenn’s rare tour reveals White House history

Image courtesy of the White House

In honor of Trump's 100th day in office, Glenn was invited to the White House for an exclusive interview with the President.

Naturally, Glenn's visit wasn't solely confined to the interview, and before long, Glenn and Trump were strolling through the majestic halls of the White House, trading interesting historical anecdotes while touring the iconic home. Glenn was blown away by the renovations that Trump and his team have made to the presidential residence and enthralled by the history that practically oozed out of the gleaming walls.

Want to join Glenn on this magical tour? Fortunately, Trump's gracious White House staff was kind enough to provide Glenn with photos of his journey through the historic residence so that he might share the experience with you.

So join Glenn for a stroll through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with the photo gallery below:

The Oval Office

Image courtesy of the White House

The Roosevelt Room

Image courtesy of the White House

The White House

Image courtesy of the White House

Media cover-up: Why Clinton deported six times more than Trump

Genaro Molina / Contributor | Getty Images

MSNBC and CNN want you to think the president is a new Hitler launching another Holocaust. But the actual deportation numbers are nowhere near what they claim.

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews, in an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta, compared Trump’s immigration policies to Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust. He claimed that Hitler didn’t bother with German law — he just hauled people off to death camps in Poland and Hungary. Apparently, that’s what Trump is doing now by deporting MS-13 gang members to El Salvador.

Symone Sanders took it a step further. The MSNBC host suggested that deporting gang-affiliated noncitizens is simply the first step toward deporting black Americans. I’ll wait while you try to do that math.

The debate is about control — weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent.

Media mouthpieces like Sanders and Matthews are just the latest examples of the left’s Pavlovian tribalism when it comes to Trump and immigration. Just say the word “Trump,” and people froth at the mouth before they even hear the sentence. While the media cries “Hitler,” the numbers say otherwise. And numbers don’t lie — the narrative does.

Numbers don’t lie

The real “deporter in chief” isn’t Trump. It was President Bill Clinton, who sent back 12.3 million people during his presidency — 11.4 million returns and nearly 900,000 formal removals. President George W. Bush, likewise, presided over 10.3 million deportations — 8.3 million returns and two million removals. Even President Barack Obama, the progressive darling, oversaw 5.5 million deportations, including more than three million formal removals.

So how does Donald Trump stack up? Between 2017 and 2021, Trump deported somewhere between 1.5 million and two million people — dramatically fewer than Obama, Bush, or Clinton. In his current term so far, Trump has deported between 100,000 and 138,000 people. Yes, that’s assertive for a first term — but it's still fewer than Biden was deporting toward the end of his presidency.

The numbers simply don’t support the hysteria.

Who's the “dictator” here? Trump is deporting fewer people, with more legal oversight, and still being compared to history’s most reviled tyrant. Apparently, sending MS-13 gang members — violent criminals — back to their country of origin is now equivalent to genocide.

It’s not about immigration

This debate stopped being about immigration a long time ago. It’s now about control — about weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent. It’s about turning Donald Trump into the villain of every story, facts be damned.

If the numbers mattered, we’d be having a very different national conversation. We’d be asking why Bill Clinton deported six times as many people as Trump and never got labeled a fascist. We’d be questioning why Barack Obama’s record-setting removals didn’t spark cries of ethnic cleansing. And we’d be wondering why Trump, whose enforcement was relatively modest by comparison, triggered lawsuits, media hysteria, and endless Nazi analogies.

But facts don’t drive this narrative. The villain does. And in this script, Trump plays the villain — even when he does far less than the so-called heroes who came before him.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Can Trump stop the blackouts that threaten America's future?

Allan Tannenbaum / Contributor | Getty Images

If America wants to remain a global leader in the coming decades, we need more energy fast.

It's no secret that Glenn is an advocate for the safe and ethical use of AI, not because he wants it, but because he knows it’s coming whether we like it or not. Our only option is to shape AI on our terms, not those of our adversaries. America has to win the AI Race if we want to maintain our stability and security, and to do that, we need more energy.

AI demands dozens—if not hundreds—of new server farms, each requiring vast amounts of electricity. The problem is, America lacks the power plants to generate the required electricity, nor do we have a power grid capable of handling the added load. We must overcome these hurdles quickly to outpace China and other foreign competitors.

Outdated Power Grid

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Our power grid is ancient, slowly buckling under the stress of our modern machines. AAI’s energy demands could collapse it without a major upgrade. The last significant overhaul occurred under FDR nearly a century ago, when he connected rural America to electricity. Since then, we’ve patched the system piecemeal, but it’s still the same grid from the 1930s. Over 70 percent of the powerlines are 30 years old or older, and circuit breakers and other vital components are in similar condition. Most people wouldn't trust a dishwasher that was 30 years old, and yet much of our grid relies on technology from the era of VHS tapes.

Upgrading the grid would prevent cascading failures, rolling blackouts, and even EMP attacks. It would also enable new AI server farms while ensuring reliable power for all.

A Need for Energy

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Stringer | Getty Images

Earlier this month, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared before Congress as part of an AI panel and claimed that by 2030, the U.S. will need to add 96 gigawatts to our national power production to meet AI-driven demand. While some experts question this figure, the message is clear: We must rapidly expand power production. But where will this energy come from?

As much as eco nuts would love to power the world with sunshine and rainbows, we need a much more reliable and significantly more efficient power source if we want to meet our electricity goals. Nuclear power—efficient, powerful, and clean—is the answer. It’s time to shed outdated fears of atomic energy and embrace the superior electricity source. Building and maintaining new nuclear plants, along with upgraded infrastructure, would create thousands of high-paying American jobs. Nuclear energy will fuel AI, boost the economy, and modernize America’s decaying infrastructure.

A Bold Step into the Future

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

This is President Trump’s chance to leave a historic mark on America, restoring our role as global leaders and innovators. Just as FDR’s power grid and plants made America the dominant force of the 20th century, Trump could upgrade our infrastructure to secure dominance in the 21st century. Visionary leadership must cut red tape and spark excitement in the industry. This is how Trump can make America great again.

POLL: Did astronomers discover PROOF of alien life?

Print Collector / Contributor | Getty Images

Are we alone in the universe?

It's no secret that Glenn keeps one eye on the cosmos, searching for any signs of ET. Late last week, a team of astronomers at the University of Cambridge made an exciting discovery that could change how we view the universe. The astronomers were monitoring a distant planet, K2-18b, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide, two atmospheric gases believed only to be generated by living organisms. The planet, which is just over two and a half times larger than Earth, orbits within the "habitable zone" of its star, meaning the presence of liquid water on its surface is possible, further supporting the possibility that life exists on this distant world.

Unfortunately, humans won't be able to visit K2-18b to see for ourselves anytime soon, as the planet is about 124 light-years from Earth. This means that even if we had rockets that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take 124 years to reach the potentially verdant planet. Even if humans made the long trek to K2-18b, they would be faced with an even more intense challenge upon arrival: Gravity. Assuming K2-18b has a similar density to Earth, its increased size would also mean it would have increased gravity, two and a half times as much gravity, to be exact. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for humans to live or explore the surface without serious technological support. But who knows, give Elon Musk and SpaceX a few years, and we might be ready to seek out new life (and maybe even new civilizations).

But Glenn wants to know what you think. Could K2-18b harbor life on its distant surface? Could alien astronomers be peering back at us from across the cosmos? Would you be willing to boldly go where no man has gone before? Let us know in the poll below:

Could there be life on K2-18b?

Could there be an alien civilization thriving on K2-18b?

Will humans develop the technology to one day explore distant worlds?

Would you sign up for a trip to an alien world?

Is K2-18b just another cold rock in space?