North Carolina – Red Wave Press https://redwave.press We need more than a red wave. We need a red tsunami. Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:00:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://redwave.press/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/cropped-Favicon-32x32.png North Carolina – Red Wave Press https://redwave.press 32 32 While FEMA Fumbles the Ball, Patriots Are Working Together to Save Countless Lives in North Carolina https://redwave.press/while-fema-fumbles-the-ball-patriots-are-working-together-to-save-countless-lives-in-north-carolina/ https://redwave.press/while-fema-fumbles-the-ball-patriots-are-working-together-to-save-countless-lives-in-north-carolina/#respond Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:00:39 +0000 https://redwave.press/while-fema-fumbles-the-ball-patriots-are-working-together-to-save-countless-lives-in-north-carolina/ (End of the American Dream)—What we are witnessing in the mountains of North Carolina says a lot about where we are as a nation.  The federal response to Hurricane Helene has been absolutely abysmal, and hardly anyone is really surprised by this because the federal government can’t seem to do anything right these days.  But the good news is that help is getting to the people that need it.

That help is being provided by teams of patriots that are working around the clock to get food, generators and supplies where they need to be.  In many cases, life-saving assistance is arriving just in time.  I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if everyone had just sat back and waited for the federal government to come riding to the rescue.

According to the New York Post, a massive rescue and supply operation that has enlisted the help of “hundreds of special operations personnel” is being run out of a Harley-Davidson dealership…

Hundreds of special operations personnel in North Carolina have formed their own homegrown rescue and supply operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene after they grew tired of waiting for the federal government to get its act together.

The Post found an all-volunteer operation being run out of a Harley-Davidson dealership with ruthless efficiency and military precision.

“Who’s FEMA?” ex-Green Beret Adam Smith derisively responded when asked about the agency’s presence on the ground since the deadly storm ravaged the rural western part of the state.

When is the last time that you saw the phrases “ruthless efficiency” and “military precision” used to describe an operation being run by the federal government?

While FEMA fumbles the ball, these men are stepping up and getting the job done. It is being reported that they have put together a fleet of 35 helicopters…

This Harley-Davidson dealership has become a forward operating base, complete with a fleet of 35 helicopters that have flown hundreds of rescue, reconnaissance and resupply sorties.

Organizers were calling the effort the “Savage Freedoms Relief Operation,” but Smith says they’ve proudly adopted an alternate moniker — “the Redneck Air Force.”

The dealership teems with current and former soldiers decked out in camo pants and army boots with handguns strapped to their chests and hips. Crop duster pilots, helicopter tour guides and special operations pilots — most of them off-duty or retired military — have answered the call from Smith and others in North Carolina’s extensive military community.

I was so encouraged to hear about what they are doing.

Of course they aren’t the only ones that have stepped up to the plate.

Dr. Phil McGraw says that Samaritan’s Purse is doing an absolutely amazing job of getting desperately needed aid to victims of the storm…

Dr. Phil McGraw praised the work that Franklin Graham’s relief organization Samaritan’s Purse is doing to help the victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

It is putting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s work to shame.

“Let me tell you, these [Samaritan’s Purse] guys don’t have meetings to fill out forms to plan a meeting to get something going. They have verbs in their sentences. They have springs in their step, and they’re out making things happen,” McGraw said.

“FEMA, all these other people are talking, thinking. No, not Samaritan’s Purse. They’re out doing things,” he added.

A video of Dr. Phil discussing what Samaritan’s Purse has been doing has been getting a lot of attention.

Over the years, Samaritan’s Purse has helped millions of people all over the globe when disaster has struck, and once again they are showing why they are so highly regarded.

Why can’t our federal government be more like Samaritan’s Purse?

According to one patriot that is involved in private relief efforts in a very remote part of North Carolina, the only government donation that has shown up in his area so far are pallets of electric chainsaws…

We are on the mountaintop in Little Switzerland collecting airlifted donations and distributing them to homes that have no power or are inaccessible. The community is self organizing incredibly well

This is the only federal government response I’ve seen so far. Almost all the pallets we have received are donations coming in from citizens and orgs.
Feds usually don’t come this far up into the mountains

This has been the government donation: pallets of electric chainsaws to communities that have no power

There are a lot of homes and communities that still don’t have power, cell service, or water. There are teams going out to these communities, and are still finding people who haven’t yet made contact since the storm.

Our little project involves receiving airlifted donations and distributing them both to the ATV teams, as well as directly to houses we can access via road.

The electric chainsaws would help if there was actually power in the region.

But for communities that have no power, electric chainsaws are essentially worthless right now.

FEMA gets a ton of funding, but I don’t know what they are doing with it.

According to the New York Times, only 1,217 FEMA employees are “available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other disasters as of Monday”…

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently stretched thin on manpower even as an incoming category 5 hurricane moves toward the U.S.

Just 1,217 FEMA workers, which is less than 10% of their personnel, were available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other disasters as of Monday, according to The New York Times.

It appears that Hurricane Milton could be one of the most destructive hurricanes in the entire history of our nation.

Will the federal response to Hurricane Milton be as pathetic as the federal response to Hurricane Helene was?

I have been watching so many videos that have absolutely horrified me.

There have even been instances where the feds appear to be doing far more harm than good.

In one case, a mysterious helicopter was actually “caught on video destroying a volunteer donation site for hurricane victims”…

An unmarked military-style helicopter was caught on video destroying a volunteer donation site for hurricane victims in Burnsville, North Carolina on Sunday.

The helicopter was seen swooping in low over the distribution staging area and performing a “rotor-wash” maneuver that used the powerful downward gust forces to blow away supplies and canopy tents.

One of the individuals who recorded the incident claimed the area was established as a “no fly no drop” zone, and claimed the “ghost” helicopter pilots wore masks, suggesting they were special forces or government contractors.

“They could clearly see the supply setup, blue tents etc and see this was NOT a clear landing zone,” they captioned in the video.

In the old days, our government could be counted on to exhibit at least a minimal level of competence.

Sadly, those days are long gone.

When everything hits the fan, don’t count on the government to save you.

During the very difficult times that are approaching, local communities will have to be united and we are all going to have to learn to work together, because there is no other option.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

]]> https://redwave.press/while-fema-fumbles-the-ball-patriots-are-working-together-to-save-countless-lives-in-north-carolina/feed/ 0 226888 Will Battleground North Carolina Voters Overcome Hurricane Helene Challenges? https://redwave.press/will-battleground-north-carolina-voters-overcome-hurricane-helene-challenges/ https://redwave.press/will-battleground-north-carolina-voters-overcome-hurricane-helene-challenges/#respond Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:03:47 +0000 https://redwave.press/will-battleground-north-carolina-voters-overcome-hurricane-helene-challenges/ The North Carolina State Board of Elections unanimously passed measures attempting to address concerns about hurricane-ravaged western counties leading up to the Nov. 5 presidential election.

With the notable exception of the more metropolitan Asheville, county seat of Buncombe County, most of the hardest-hit North Carolina counties in the path of Hurricane Helene are rural and lean Republican.

But the state election board for the fiercely contested battleground state—former President Donald Trump is neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris—has a 3-2 Democratic majority.

Harris and Trump are polling less than 1% with one another, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, and past presidential contests have been tight in the state.

The election board unanimously voted Monday to allow 13 counties most affected by the storm to make changes in election procedures, so long as there is a bipartisan majority to do so.

The process would include changing or adding voting sites and notifying voters by mail and through local media about such changes as quickly as possible. The resolution adopted by the state board allows the chairman of local election boards to appoint replacement members if someone is unable to carry out his or her duties.

“These measures were put in place to ensure the victims of Helene can vote in the upcoming election and provide election officials in the hardest-hit areas the tools they need to conduct a secure election under extraordinarily difficult conditions,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said Monday during a teleconference with reporters.

“While several of North Carolina’s neighboring states have moved to implement those lessons, North Carolina’s Gov. Cooper has been shockingly inactive, as have his allies on the state board,” he said.

The Tar Heel State has become a major battleground for the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, incumbent Republican Trump carried the state against Democratic challenger Joe Biden by just 1.3%. In 2016, Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by less than 4% of the vote.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 17. Mail-in voting began Sept. 21, after a brief delay to accommodate a court ruling to remove independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.

“We have every intention of starting early voting as scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 17, in all 100 counties,” Bell, the state election board’s executive director, said.

“While several of North Carolina’s neighboring states have moved to implement those lessons, North Carolina’s Gov. Cooper has been shockingly inactive, as have his allies on the state board,” he said.

The Tar Heel State has become a major battleground for the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, incumbent Republican Trump carried the state against Democratic challenger Joe Biden by just 1.3%. In 2016, Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by less than 4% of the vote.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 17. Mail-in voting began Sept. 21, after a brief delay to accommodate a court ruling to remove independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.

“We have every intention of starting early voting as scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 17, in all 100 counties,” Bell, the state election board’s executive director, said.

Hurricane Helene made landfall first in Florida, then swept through parts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, killing more than 220 and leaving catastrophic property damage. Of these states, North Carolina sustained the worse beating.

Cuccinelli’s Election Transparency Initiative noted one reported concern that relocated nursing home residents won’t be able to vote.

The elections watchdog group also noted that it’s still unknown which preapproved polling sites are unserviceable in the 22 counties affected by Helene. North Carolina law requires the election board to approve alternate sites.

Also, suspension of deliveries by the U.S. Postal Service in the state’s western counties disrupted mail-in voting.

Cuccinelli said Cooper and the elections board should “stop stalling and start working to ensure that those communities already devastated by Helene at least have their voice through their votes.”

Cuccinelli, also a former Virginia attorney general, specified two top North Carolina Republicans who could do this.

“To the extent Gov. Cooper refuses to make immediate adjustments, when the General Assembly convenes next week we urge swift action from House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader [Phil] Berger to maintain the integrity of the upcoming election across the western counties of North Carolina—ensuring it proceeds securely and fairly without compromising the democratic process,” Cuccinelli said.

Cooper’s office did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal by publication time.

Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, referred The Daily Signal’s request for comment to the governor’s office, but also sent an email statement from the board arguing that criticism of the state is “uninformed.”

“The State Board of Elections is committed to ensuring every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot, regardless of their circumstances following the disaster,” the board’s statement said, adding:

The affected counties and their staffs are working around the clock to guarantee their neighbors their right to vote. Criticism like this is simply uninformed. It’s also a slap in the face for the dozens of election workers, especially those who are themselves victims of the disaster, who are putting in long hours under trying circumstances to serve their voters.

The board provided increased flexibility to these 13 counties: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.

The board’s Democratic chairman is Alan Hirsch, president of the North Carolina Healthcare Quality Alliance, a nonprofit focused on rural treatment of opioid addiction and prevention as well as on mental health issues.

Hirsch has donated thousands of dollars to Democrat campaigns, including the state’s Democratic Party, then-President Barack Obama, and Cooper, the sitting governor, according to Open Secrets.

Bell has been executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections since 2019. She is listed on the board’s website as the state’s “chief elections official.”

Bell previously was the election board’s deputy director beginning in 2015. She oversees 100 county election boards.

Bell has worked in administrative roles for county and state elections since 2006. From 2011 to 2015, she directed the election board in Transylvania County, which is heavily Republican-leaning. Before that, she was a district elections technician for the state board.

In a Monday op-ed in Townhall, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican, noted that about 40,000 mail-in ballots were sent to voters in Helene-affected counties and that only 1,000 were returned.

“These hard-hit counties, which supported Donald Trump with 61% of the vote in 2020, are now grappling with slow recovery efforts, unreliable communications, and an inadequate federal response,” Blackwell wrote. “As citizens in rural, heavily Republican regions seek to participate in the democratic process, the state’s electoral integrity is on the line, especially as concerns about political maneuvering grow in the aftermath of the storm.”

Blackwell also warned against sweeping statewide changes that could undermine confidence in the Nov. 5 election.

“Expanding voting measures across the entire state, including areas that were not affected by the hurricane, could open the door to accusations of partisanship,” he wrote. “It’s important that we help the residents of these rural, counties without altering the broader electoral landscape in a way that might be seen as tipping the scales.”

Tim Kennedy contributed to this report. 

]]> https://redwave.press/will-battleground-north-carolina-voters-overcome-hurricane-helene-challenges/feed/ 0 226816 The “Modern Economy Rests on Single Road” in North Carolina Where Hurricane Helene Collapsed Bridges https://redwave.press/the-modern-economy-rests-on-single-road-in-north-carolina-where-hurricane-helene-collapsed-bridges/ https://redwave.press/the-modern-economy-rests-on-single-road-in-north-carolina-where-hurricane-helene-collapsed-bridges/#respond Tue, 01 Oct 2024 11:27:19 +0000 https://redwave.press/the-modern-economy-rests-on-single-road-in-north-carolina-where-hurricane-helene-collapsed-bridges/ (ZeroHedge)—In March, a Wharton professor who studies artificial intelligence and start-ups claimed on X, “The modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The road runs to the two mines that are the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers.”

Ethan Mollick noted at the time, “There are no alternative sources known” if supply disruptions were seen in Spruce Pines.

Fast-forward to this past weekend across the Western North Carolina area, where a major disaster continues to unfold after tropical system Helene dumped torrential rains and unleashed devastating floods that pulverized entire towns, destroyed roads, highways, and bridges, and left tens of thousands without power.

Back to Mollick. He shared with his followers a detailed list of the top miners in Spruce Pine, highlighting Sibelco North America, known for producing ultra-high-purity quartz used in refined silicon wafers.

As of Monday morning, Mollick’s worst fears could be realized as Google Traffic data shows road closures around the Sibelco mining facilities and across the entire region.

A 2018 note from Wired shows just how critical Spruce Pines area mines are for semiconductor production: “A fire in 2008 at one of the main quartz facilities in Spruce Pine for a time all but shut off the supply of high‑purity quartz to the world market, sending shivers through the industry.”

Earlier this year, Tom’s Hardware cited Mollick’s X posts, saying the Wharton professor “provides an excerpt from Conway’s Material World, which discusses the probable “end of computer chip manufacture as we know it,” should something untoward happen at Spruce Pine or in the skies above it.”

Here’s what folks on X are saying about Spruce Pines…

There has been no confirmation from the miner about any disruption. Well, not as of Monday morning.

]]> https://redwave.press/the-modern-economy-rests-on-single-road-in-north-carolina-where-hurricane-helene-collapsed-bridges/feed/ 0 226482