September 23, 2022

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Who’s our real president? Joe Biden — or the staffers who keep walking back his comments?

OPEN THREAD: Display your erudition.

CHANGE: DoD to end procurements of geosynchronous missile-warning satellites. “Over the coming years DoD will start transitioning to a proliferated architecture of smaller satellites in lower orbits, officials said.”

PRESIDENT COMIC RELIEF: ‘She was 12, I was 30’: Biden leaves viewers stunned in teachers speech. “The audience of teachers and union members laughed and cheered at the bawdy remark. The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for clarification on what the president meant.”

SCREEN TIME: Early Puberty in Girls Surged in The Pandemic, And We May Finally Know Why.

JUST A REMINDER: I get paid based on ad revenue now, so if you wouldn’t mind whitelisting InstaPundit if you run an ad blocker that would be great. Or some people hit the PayPal donation button, which is also great.

Some people have asked how to send a donation by check; you can send those to 118 N. Peters Rd. #12-230, Knoxville TN 37923. If you do, please make it out to me, Glenn Reynolds, not to “InstaPundit.”

FROM THE EARLY HUNTERBIDENIAN PERIOD: Scientists discover earliest remnants of opium use.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY: That Is a Ring Doorbell AND He’s Happy to See You. “On this week’s Florida Man Friday, we have a stolen scooter rage incident, how not to knock on someone’s door, and you don’t even want to know how Michigan Man plays 160 degrees of Kevin Bacon.”

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Global warming may increase risk for heart failure.

MOBSTERS WITH BETTER SUITS: WEF Mafioso Threatens Climate Annihilation, Demands $2 Trillion as Protection Money.

WELL, GOOD: Implant may reduce OCD symptoms with electrical pulses.

READER FAVORITE: Merrell Men’s Moab 2 Vent Mid Hiking Boot. #CommissionEarned

RETIREES ACCOUNT FOR HALF OF ALL CAMPAIGN DONATIONS: That’s the claim of Insider’s Madison Hall, based on FEC data compiled by opensecrets.org, who points out that:

“For years, retirees supplied about $1 in every $10 that federal-level political candidates raised from those contributing more than $200. But since the 2016 election cycle, they’ve represented an ever-greater share of politicians’ campaign haul. By the 2020 election cycle, retirees accounted for more than $1 in every $5, amounting to more than $378 million.”

 

ANALYSIS: TRUE. New York Crime Victims Denied Carry Permits Should Demand Apologies, Reparations.

HOW ABOUT PAUL THE APOSTLE? If I were asked to name the top 10 most influential people in the ancient world, Jesus Christ obviously would be on top of the list. Who would be second? Neither Julius Caesar, nor Alexander the Great, not Solomon, and not his father, King David, though these, plus Aristotle, Augustine, Plato and Thucydides, would definitely be somewhere on the list.

No, my choice for second on the list of the top 10 most influential people in the ancient world would be a guy I believe has long been rather profoundly underrated, Paul the Apostle. I explain why today on HillFaith. Who would be your choices?

THE DUKE TRUSTEE PUSHING GENDER INSANITY: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed legislation that will effectively put legions of people arrested for violent crimes in his state back on the streets almost as soon as the handcuffs click.

Guess what else Pritzker is behind? If you have elementary school age kids, they may already have been influenced by this guy. The Carolina Journal’s David Larsen explains how in “The Billionaire Duke Trustee Behind The Remaking of Gender.”

EVEN IF IT WERE, I’M STILL NOT DOING IT: Is swimming in ice water good for you? Sorry to throw cold water on your wellness claims.

WELL, GOOD: Researchers identify potential gene marker for treating pancreatic cancer.

BUT HE’S A REPUBLICAN, SO IT WILL PROCEED, AT LEAST UNTIL NOVEMBER 8: WaPo: Career prosecutors tell DoJ they have no viable case against Gaetz.

COOLING THE MARK: Vox: Will the polls be wrong again this year?

DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: ‘Godzilla’ lizard found climbing on Florida home’s window.

RUSSIA MOBILIZATION BLUES: Grumpy Old Men, Grumpy Old Tanks, Grumpy Ethnic Minorities.

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Ex-smokers cut risk of dying early by adopting healthy behaviors, study says.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why ‘Gutfeld!’ Matters Even More Than Conservatives Think. “It’s clear other networks could have served up their own ‘Gutfeld!’-like show but refused to engage with Red State USA. They left money on the table and continue to do so by failing to clone the ‘Gutfeld!’ model.”

MARK JUDGE: When Sting Put on the Ring: More Wisdom From a Holy Pastor.

Dear Mark,

I watched the “Synchronicity” concert on HBO the other night. I’m sorry to have to tell you that I was disappointed in Sting, though I thought the other two guys in the band were outstanding. I am afraid that your hero was a bit burnt out, perhaps from the bizarre lifestyle that superstars can get into. Especially when they are touring. Sting looked bloated and acted sloppy. It seemed to me that for the most part he was not interested enough in his songs to try and do them with all his attention. I wonder if Sting hasn’t been slipping on the Ring lately — and you know what happens to those who try to use the Ring.

Just before sitting down to write you I listened to a few numbers from the tape you made — songs like Don McLean’s “Crossroads” and George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” — and they sent me on a train of thought — about pain. It just so happens that one of the songs Sting did well was “King of Pain.” Then there’s the piece by Don McLean — “Can you find my pain? Can you heal it?” What is this pain they are talking about, Mark? Do you know? I know a little bit about my own, and I know that everyone has it — but I know that each person’s pain is as personal as their name. And I know that it’s worse to try and cover it and hide from it than accept it.

I was very happy that you saw the movie Gandhi, and even happier that you were impressed by it. Gandhi could live as he did because deep down he had accepted the pain without protest. And he could do so because he found a Life strong enough to absorb the pain without needing to resist — and being able to live that way is what I call salvation. In case you’re wondering, I am driving at something. It’s the Eucharist.

I was fascinated that you asked me if I was still going to Mass — and because of that I can’t help mentioning it in connection with these other things. How do you think Gandhi could ever walk around the way he did and see people as he saw them and treat them as he did? For myself I am sure it was not simply because he was a very strong individual with great moral character. I am sure that is was because he was in touch with God. Like Jesus, it wasn’t just at his death that he offered the sacrifice of his life.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Gandhi wasn’t a saint, he was a lawyer. Literally. And if you look at famous statements of his, it’s obvious, like when he was asked what he thought about Western civilization and responded that it would be a good idea. This was basically a sham: Indian civilization, of course, possessed all the flaws of Western civilization in spades — it was no stranger to imperialism, mass slaughter, exploitation, slavery, etc. — but Gandhi knew how that remark would strike his Western audience, which knew little of Indian history, and used that ignorance to put the knife in. That’s what an advocate does, but I wouldn’t exactly call it saintly.

SAY ANYTHING: Newsom’s Abortion Tourism Ad Campaign Quotes Scripture.

MALARKEY: Biden: The Catholic Church approves of abortion in some cases, you know.

OH: Covid-tracking program lacked bare minimum cyber protections. “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to implement basic protections against hackers when it developed a system to track covid-19 data in 2020, according to an internal watchdog report it never made publicly available.”

LINCOLN BROWN: Reason # 190,732,584 Not To Trust the Legacy Media, Including the Associated Press. “The Associated Press covered the incident in which Shannon Brandt ran down 18-year-old Cayler Ellison in North Dakota. But as obedient lapdogs, or maybe because the organization’s reporters and editors are so compromised by propaganda and an inflated sense of self-worth, they omitted something. See if you can spot it.”

DEAL OF THE DAY: Slim Minimalist Front Pocket RFID Blocking Wallet. #CommissionEarned

RELIABLE DEFENDERS OF PRIVILEGE: Harvard student newspaper denies 82 percent liberal faculty is a problem.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TEXAS SOCIAL MEDIA ANTI-CENSORSHIP CASE. Without even reading 113 pages!

HOW CAN YOU GO ON STRIKE WHEN YOU DON’T PRODUCE ANYTHING OF VALUE? Socialist students prepare to strike for abortion access on Oct. 6.

FINALLY, SOME PROGRESS ON INSTITUTIONAL RACISM? Affirmative Action Cases Lead What Could Prove Another Momentous Supreme Court Term.

WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE, THE BIDEN DOJ? Hong Kong Man Arrested for “Sedition” While Mourning Queen.

NOW IS IT A RECESSION? Where Have All The Ships Gone? “As of Sept. 21, 2021, there were 132 cargo ships at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Dozens of container ships were anchored or adrift off the coast. As of Aug 30, 2022, that number has dwindled to only 8 ships waiting off Southern California. The end of goods backing up in ports on the west coast is a sign we are moving on. Danielle DiMartino Booth recently stated, ‘We have never seen the collapse of the magnitude that we are witnessing in imports. That is always a tail-tale sign that you are already looking through the rear-view mirror at recession.'”

EVER HEARD OF MADISON GRANT? Probably not, as he is one of the forgotten Progressive Republican leaders of the post-Civil War period in the U.S. who helped advance multiple causes, including Eugenics, “Nordic” racial purity and what is today known as “going Green” environmentalism.

Yes, environmentalism. Capital Research Center’s (CRC) Hayden Ludwig explains in an important review of a book you won’t find on the New York Times best-seller list:

“Grant, for instance, was one of the pioneers of the modern environmental movement. He loved nature and sought to use federal law to preserve America’s natural beauty and wildlife — the genesis of the national parks and many of the zoos we enjoy today. Grant practically saved the bison with help from his close friend Theodore Roosevelt. He also helped preserve Northern California’s endangered redwood trees. One tree, the ‘Madison Grant Tree,’ was even dedicated to this fierce conservationist. The tree was removed in 2021.

“But he also wanted to use government force to preserve ‘Nordic’ racial supremacy in America. Grant led the campaign to exterminate sickly infants, forcibly sterilize the ‘unfit,’ enact race-based immigration laws, and deport black Americans to Africa. As with many of his contemporaries, Grant was convinced that conservation and eugenics—the Darwinist pseudoscience of ‘beautifying’ the human race through selective breeding— ‘were two sides of the same coin.’ Saving the ‘master race’ from extinction was merely an extension of saving plants and animals.”

In other words, Madison Grant would be a far-left progressive Democrat in today’s political debates.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: MSM Fact Checkers Are Paste-Eating Idiots, Exhibit A. “In a sane world, the presumption would be that a real fact checker would possess some knowledge that could be applied to his or her craft. We’re talking about 21st-century corruptocrat media, however, so one would be wrong.”

KURT SCHLICHTER: Of Course Ron DeSantis Will Run…and He May Very Well Win.

AARON SIBARIUM:  Taking woke Starbucks to court. 

SALENA ZITO: John Fetterman’s health and heart condition still unaddressed.

MORE NEWS FROM UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK: UALR law professor files claim with state Claims Commission over Named Professorship. “Steinbuch, who joined the law school faculty in 2005, also claims Beiner unilaterally extended the Named Professorship she holds, the Nadine Baum Distinguished Professor of Law, for a fifth year. . . . Beiner extending her own named professorship beyond four years violates not only the law school’s stated rules — no new named professorships have been created recently, which is a condition for extending a Named Professorship beyond four years for the same holder — but a conflict of interest, according to Steinbuch. Also in his filing, Steinbuch said he’s being discriminated against because of his past conflicts with his superiors regarding naming a named professorship after former President Bill Clinton, as well as Steinbuch’s longstanding practice of having guest lecturers for his classes when he observes Jewish holidays.”

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: LA Times: Major Democratic donor may have stolen donation money from his injured clients.

IF WE WANT TO STOP THE IRAN BOMB: Then we need to make it clear in word and deed to the Mullahs that America supports, vocally and practically, the growing protest movement in Iran that, the Washington Free Beacon’s Matthew Continetti argues, is the key to stopping both the Islamic Revolution and Iranian terrorism.

“The malignancy of the Iranian government spreads beyond the nation’s borders, for sure. But its primary victims are the Iranian people. They are the first to suffer the economic, social, cultural, and physical costs billed to the regime. Their discontent is the clearest register of the regime’s criminality and the most visible sign of its decay,” Continetti writes.

SO THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES: Church Drops Drag Queen After Learning He Was Involved in a Plot to Shoot up a School.

ARGH … I AM SO TIRED OF THIS:  I did a post on Wednesday announcing the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ newest report, which compares the federal government’s response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas and to its response Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.  The Hill has now published a short piece on the report.  In it, The Hill states that “Hurricane Harvey killed dozens of people, but Maria killed nearly 3000.”  This is utter baloney (and that’s the nicest word I can think of for it).

As I detail in my Commissioner Statement (which is part of the report), this is an elementary error:  Wildly different methods for counting deaths were used for the two hurricanes.  Both methods are useful, but when making comparisons, apples must be compared to apples and oranges to oranges.

When Maria’s deaths were measured using the “direct death” method, the count was 64, slightly less than Harvey’s 68 (using more or less the same method).  But Puerto Rico preferred to use the “excess death” method, which looks for higher than normal death rates over the course of the six-month period following a disaster, for its official count.  That method yielded a count of 2975 for Maria.  No such study was ever done for Harvey, so we don’t know what the comparable numbers would have been.  Alas, journalists don’t bother to read (or apparently even skim) the things they write about.  And God forbid that they should make an effort to look at the dissenting opinions contained in a report.  In this case, if the journalist had looked at my Statement, she would have been saved an error.

NO ONE WOULD EVER AGAIN UNDERESTIMATE JOE’S ABILITY TO F*** THINGS UP: Next Tropical Threat Could Become Major Hurricane With Crosshairs On US Gulf Refineries. “Even though there’s a lot of uncertainty on the actual path of the disturbance over the next week, let’s say the meteorologists are right, and it does intensify into a hurricane next week and sets sights on the Gulf Coast of the US. Then this could be very problematic for major US oil/gas assets in the region and comes at a time the Biden administration has drained the SPR to decade-low levels to crush gasoline and diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections.”

WOW: At 4.4 Miles, Wyoming Team Sets New Rifle Shot World Record. “The shot was made with a custom-built rifle chambered for the .416 Barrett cartridge.” It did, however, take 69 attempts.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Dickies Men’s Loose-Fit Cargo Work Pants. #CommissionEarned

THE REAL GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA™ ISN’T REALLY CAPITALIZING ON HER INCUMBENCY: How Is Stacey Abrams Doing With Black Voters?

JOHN HINDERAKER: “I wrote earlier today about the Democrats’ unprecedented attempts to criminalize disagreement with their policies or criticism of their regime. These are more examples, from today’s news, of the suppression of conservative thought, not necessarily through criminal prosecution.”

FLASHBACK: Can more local self-rule save a collapsing, ‘late Roman’ America?

FROM M. M. COLT:  Destined: Whiskey River Magic.

#CommissionEarned

Destined: Whiskey River Magic by [M. M. Colt]

Magic on the rise, mayhem at hand…
Cursed in blood, a powerful dagger, pendant and chalice have come to light. Magic, long quiet, roils with a new purpose, simmering in the blood of a chosen few…
As a ghostwriter Remi has made a career out of avoiding her own story. Hearing the news of her estranged father‘s death only serves to convince her she’s made the right choice. But when she saves a handsome stranger’s life she’s forced onto a path that will change everything she knows about her past, and make her reevaluate everything she’s planned for her future.
Hart Hanson promised his friend two things – that he would prevent the artifact they were so close to finding from falling into the wrong hands, and that he’d keep his daughter safe. Forced to admit that he needs Remi in order to the fulfill the first promise, he’s afraid it will mean breaking the second.
Finding themselves racing through the Spanish countryside and digging through the catacombs of an ancient monastery in search of a weapon said to hold the curse of a princess, Remi and Hart each begin to have dreams that seem wrenched from history, and together discover that they cannot run from the inevitable power of the curse, nor their feelings for each other.
Can they find the dagger before her father’s killer discovers their plan? Will they be able to open their hearts and believe in the magic of the curse, their bound destiny’s, and each other?
Set in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and around the world, with a generous sprinkling of F bombs and shots of tequila to keep things fun, the Whiskey River Magic series is about determining your own fate and believing in the power of love.

IT’S ANOTHER MARIEL BOAT LIFT:  Why is Joe Biden covering for Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro?

WHEN I TALKED OF THIS 20 YEARS AGO NO ONE BELIEVED ME:  The De-Population Bomb. (VIDEO)

It’s worse than that, and it’s world wide. You have to understand that no one counts their population as well as we do, and we overestimate our population by something like 10% every census (Clinton made the fudging official.) In other countries, the censuses are more or less guesses.  And in third world countries, they’re wildly overestimated, in order to get more international aid (per capita.) Seriously. there are indications the third world started losing population earlier.

It’s all smoke and mirrors. Believe nothing. Verify everything.

 

AND HAVING MOVED EXPLODES:  The Overton Window Moveth.

I WITHDRAW CONSENT:  Conservatism Is Prohibited.

Every government rules by the consent of the governed. It’s time to resist, drag your feet and make it as heavy going for them as you can.

I’M READY TO NEVER HEAR FROM THIS CLINICAL NARCISSIST AGAIN:  Fauci Flips On Lockdown Damage And China.

ANNOYING BROADS DO STUPID STUFF:  Gutsy Part Four: THE Marriage Episode.

SOME FEDERAL JUDGES ARE STILL SANE, WHO KNEW?  Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden’s Head Start Child Care Facility Vaccine and Mask Mandates.

SO DOES EVERYTHING ELSE:  Google Searches Show People Care About the Border and Economy as Dems Focus on Abortion and Trump.

The left pursues its obsessions, regardless of what people want.

POE’S LAW STRIKES AGAIN:  Progressive or Parody? ‘Citizens For Sanity’ Martha’s Vineyard Migrant Ad.

IMAGINE THEIR OUTRAGE IF ALLEN POSED HOLDING BIDEN’S BLOODY SEVERED HEAD:  Liberals on Twitter lose it over Tim Allen post mocking Joe Biden on ‘60 Minutes’.

Comedians can only do THAT to Republican presidents.

ANALYSIS: TRUE:  Nikki Haley blasts ‘The View’ host Sunny Hostin as ‘racist’.

A WHOLE TWO NIGHTS? WOW:  Martha’s Vineyard’s St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church sheltered 50 migrants for 2 nights.

COVERING FOR CRIMINALS: Dems block release of Hunter Biden’s financial documents.

September 22, 2022

LAWS ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Feds move to drop Shelley Joseph case through agreement with Newton judge accused of releasing illegal immigrant.

Joseph was charged by the office of former U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee, of helping a twice-deported illegal immigrant evade federal immigrations officials in 2018. The case was highly publicized at the time and was a local flashpoint for the immigration debates of the past several years.

She is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting and obstruction of a federal proceeding. The motion to dismiss would need a federal judge’s approval to go into effect to drop those charges.

The feds and Joseph have signed an agreement that makes the dropping of the charges contingent on her going to the state judicial ethics committee in a month after it goes into effect.

MacGregor, who was charged with perjury, already has resigned his job and has faced discipline, so, Cunha wrote, “that the deferred prosecution agreement entered with Mr. MacGregor represents a fair and balanced resolution of this matter and is likewise in the interest of justice.”

Joseph has been suspended while still now being paid $207,855 a year.

It’s good to be a Democratic pol under a Democratic president.

OPEN THREAD: So how are we?

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Lander companies prepare to shoot for the moon. “The agency has issued task orders for eight missions to five companies: Astrobotic Technology, Draper, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and Masten Space Systems. Some of those companies are finally getting close to flying their missions, with launches scheduled for late this year or early next year. Another company, though, has stumbled long before taking its shot on goal.”

DO TELL: It’s Not Just Men in Power Who Use Unwanted Sexual Behavior For Gain.

It’s not even just men. I know, mind-blowing, right?

TRUST THE BIG, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. THEY’RE BIG AND PROFESSIONAL! Morgan Stanley Discarded Old Hard Drives Without Deleting Customer Data First.

IT’S COME TO THIS:

Comment: “Well, she’s not overcoming all stereotypes.”

RUBIO TURNS TABLE ON JOURNOS: And I say it’s about time and in fact all politicians should feel free to challenge how journalists of all stripes are doing their work.

‘FACT’ CHECKER GLENN KESSLER CLAIMS FETAL HEARTBEAT IS A ‘MISNOMER,’ INSTANTLY REGRETS GETTING OUT OF BED TODAY:

Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s intrepid “fact” checker, must have been salivating over his plan to “own the cons” when he retweeted Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ claim that “there’s no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks.” Abrams (D-Tinfoil Hat) claimed that a fetal heartbeat is just a Grand Plot by men to “take control of a woman’s body.”

Kessler weighed in with, “FWIW, ‘fetal heartbeat’ is a misnomer. The ultrasound picks up electrical activity generated by an embryo.”

“The so-called ‘heartbeat’ sound you hear is created by the ultrasound,” he added. “Not until 10 weeks can the opening and closing of cardiac valves be detected by a Doppler machine.”

Apparently, a memo went out on the Left this week with the new pro-abortion talking point to justify the murder of unborn children. Dr. Stacey Abrams, M.D., and Kessler wasted no time running to Twitter to shout the New Abortion Narrative.

It can’t be easy doing cleanup duty for the president of United Earth.

LISTEN, SUG: DON’T FORGET TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS*. Time to Dust Off the Old Nuclear War-Fighting Playbook?

Unpalatable as it is, the world may be forced to dust off the old Cold War-era playbooks that kept everyone’s missiles peacefully interred in their silos. Indeed, it’s vital that Western decision-makers reacquaint themselves with the lessons of the past, and soon. The present conversation around deterring or responding to a Russian use of nonconventional weapons is downright terrifying.

Some believe that NATO nations should broadcast their potential response to Russia’s use of a nuclear weapon. Sagamore Institute senior fellow Jerry Hendrix advocates the establishment of a red line, the crossing of which would trigger a Western no-fly zone over Ukraine and NATO soldiers on the ground, the sinking of Russian naval assets in the Black and Baltic seas, and the neutralization of Russian military targets outside Russia’s borders. Lacking the capacity to respond conventionally, Moscow might be forced to respond unconventionally. “To be sure, this will result in the loss of lives and the destruction of great cities,” Hendrix writes. “This is immeasurably sorrowful and regrettable, but the responsibility will not be on the West.” True enough, but that’s cold comfort.

Sam Nunn, a former lawmaker and the co-author of a program that deactivated thousands of Soviet nuclear weapons, “favors some sort of horizontal escalation” to avoid a nuclear response to a Russian attack. For example, destroying the platform that delivers a nuclear weapon. The West could also mount non-kinetic responses, including crippling cyberattacks on Russian command and control and civilian infrastructure. And the Russians must be made aware that these consequences would inevitably follow the use of an unconventional weapon.

* And don’t forget to wear your mask when you’re in the fallout shelter:

Flashback: The Unexpected Return of Duck and Cover.

(Classical allusion in headline.)

TWO BOMBINGS IN ONE NIGHT? THAT’S NORMAL NOW IN SWEDEN.

Sweden, which has a population of around 10 million, has the highest per-capita number of deadly shootings of 22 European countries. Forty-seven people have been shot dead so far this year, which, while far from American levels of gun homicide, is extreme for Europe. Other European countries have come to look at Sweden with horror.

It may be shocking for Americans to learn that in Sweden—the land of IKEA, Spotify and Greta Thunberg—all of this is going on. Perhaps the reason you don’t know about it is because of the uncomfortable reality of how we got here.

Among shooting suspects, 85 percent are first- or second-generation immigrants, according to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, as immigrant neighborhoods have become hotbeds for gang crime. National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg has described the violence as “an entirely different kind of brutality than we’ve seen before” and his deputy, Mats Löfving, says that 40 criminal clans now operate throughout the country. Spreading fear are “humiliation robberies,” targeting children and youth, in which victims are subjected to degrading treatment by assailants, such as being urinated upon. Just this week, four men were sentenced for robbing, beating and urinating on an 18-year-old, who was also filmed by his tormentors.

All of which is why, for the first time ever, crime emerged as a top priority among voters ahead of this past weekend’s general election. Swedes made their concerns plain on Sunday, when they awarded the country’s most strident anti-immigration party more than 20 percent of the vote.

The Sweden Democrats, or SD, is now the second-biggest party in parliament, and the biggest party of the right-wing bloc—gaining more votes than the more traditional center-right Moderate party. (It remains to be seen whether Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderates, can form a government with the support of SD, while sticking to his promise not to allow the party into the government coalition.)

So how did Sweden’s famously liberal electorate usher in a party with roots on the extreme right? In a word: denial.

In response to Sweden’s increasing problems with gang violence and social unrest in immigrant suburbs, the government’s strategy for many years was to deny how serious the situation had become. ​​In the meantime, those people who noticed the problem—many of whom were working class—and spoke out about their diminished safety were accused of racism by leading politicians, the mainstream press, and the cultural elites. Only one political party did not: the SD. And in election after election, they gained more and more popular support.

As David Frum tweeted in 2018 regarding the left hurling the F-bomb at the Trump administration, “If liberals insist that enforcing borders is a job only fascists will do, then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won’t.”

See also: Orbán, Viktor.

I ACTUALLY AVOID USING GPS WHENEVER POSSIBLE FOR THIS REASON: Habitual use of GPS negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation.

READER FAVORITE: Silonn Ice Maker Countertop. #CommissionEarned

WELCOME BACK, CARTER! Tone-Deaf Fortune Mag Headline: ‘Why You Should Be Happy About Inflation.’

Just NBC Lorne Michaels nodding in agreement:

 

 

ROGER SIMON: Keystone XL Revisited: Did Biden Give Putin the ‘WherewithOIL’ for World War III?

When the newly elected (or selected, if you prefer) president put an end to the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day, leading to an economic disaster for the United States and globally, while exacerbating the tremendous worldwide suffering instigated by a mishandled pandemic (real or imagined), it also opened the door for one Vladimir Putin.

Joe Biden presented Putin with the wherewithal—or should we say “wherewithOIL”—including the vast sums of cash therefrom, to invade Ukraine and who knows who else.

The United States, Putin concluded, would no longer be providing the world with fossil fuels, so who was there left, speaking of mothers, to take up the slack in increasingly high-priced liquid gold but Mother Russia?

Of course, Iran and Venezuela were similarly ready, willing, and able, but they didn’t have anywhere near the firepower (i.e., the world’s largest supply of nukes) that the beleaguered and possibly paranoid Putin does.

So, where are we now, besides the fact that Europe will soon be grappling with a winter that may not be nuclear but certainly will be absolutely freezing cold, possibly to death? In our case, it will just cost a small fortune to heat our homes.

Two-thirds through the month of September 2022 we have learned, via Vladimir’s defense minister, that the perpetual Russian president has ordered a “partial” mobilization of up to 300,000 reservists.

Also, Putin himself has just reminded us of his modern, updated nuclear arsenal and assured us that he’s “not bluffing” about its use.

Is he or isn’t he?

I could be a wise guy and say “only your hairdresser knows for sure,” but not even he or she knows. Maybe even Vladimir himself doesn’t know… until he does.

Fortunately though, American forces under President Biden are prepared for any potential looming conflict – or, perhaps not: Biden’s Military: Forget ‘Mom,’ ‘Dad,’ Use Woke Substitutes Instead, Air Force Cadets Told.

HMM: DOJ Claims Trump Did Not Declassify Documents. Oh, Really?

JOSH BARRO: Gavin Newsom Is Gross and Embarrassing and Will Never Be President.

Dear readers,

I have a rant.

In theory, Gavin Newsom is running for re-election as governor of California. But he is also, in the least subtle way possible, trying to position himself for a presidential run.

He’s challenged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — also nominally just a candidate for re-election — to a national debate on CNN. And he’s used re-election campaign funds to put up billboards in South Carolina and six other states advertising the availability of abortion in California. And there has been a steady stream of news stories, obviously fueled by the governor’s allies, about how he stands ready to run for president as soon as the Democratic nomination becomes available.

I hate this for a few reasons.

First: The posturing is gross and cheap. The abortion billboards say “California is ready to help,” but they direct readers to a website that does little more than inform readers that abortion is legal in California and they may travel there to receive one. Gee, thanks. California does not, in fact, offer anything especially useful to women living 2,000 miles away who need abortions — if you need an abortion you can’t get in South Carolina, your likely best option is to travel to North Carolina. The billboards amount to using women in red states as a prop to burnish Newsom’s image. Similarly, proposing to debate DeSantis on CNN (about what, immigration policy neither of them controls?) does nothing to address migrant issues. It’s all about how these issues can be used to draw attention to Gavin Newsom.

Not surprisingly for a flailing governor of a failing state, Newsom has a serious case of TDS: Gavin Newsom Tells a Whopper During Discussion About Massive California Exodus. “Newsom says people are fleeing California ‘because of visa policies in the Trump administration.’ I know Newsom relishes residing in fantasyland and also enjoys the luxury of a dutifully compliant state and national press that rarely challenges him, but this is just straight-up bull. One doesn’t need to take my word for it, either. As recently as July, even the Democrat apologists at the Los Angeles Times wrote a report on why people were leaving and – shocker of shockers – the main reasons people were packing up and moving out of California in record numbers were the high cost of living including outrageously high home prices, rising violent crime including deadly smash and grabs, and out of control homelessness[.]”

How many people are leaving California? U-Haul Literally Ran Out of Trucks Leaving California.

How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?

LAUGHING WOLF PRESENTS THE LAST TWO PARTS OF Nuclear 201: Fallout and Fair Question. “What are you going to do if things go nuclear?”

LIVE AT 4PM EASTERN: ‘Five O’Clock Somewhere’ with Kruiser, VodkaPundit, Special Guest Megan Fox.

INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Air Force Academy diversity training tells cadets to use words that ‘include all genders​,’ drop ‘mom and dad.’

VDH: Martha’s Meltdown Model.

Martha’s Vineyard has been all over the news.

The tony resort community so loves aiding and comforting the undocumented immigrants who were flown in from Florida that it hugged them — for all of 48 hours.

Oddly, the Left became unhinged when red-state governors — whose states the last two years were flooded with some 3 million people who entered the country illegally — finally decided to spread welcoming chores among affluent blue-state communities.

It was a natural fit.

Most, like Washington, D.C., and New York, were on record as sanctuary city jurisdictions. In the abstract, they endorse open borders and celebrate diversity — from the serenity of thousands of miles away.

The uproar at Martha’s Vineyard prompted the Democratic hierarchy to do some explaining. Why had it not earlier objected to the federal government night flights of tens of thousands of border-crossers to red-state communities that had opposed illegal immigration?

And why be angry with governors who were only emulating that policy by flying in a mere 50 newcomers — in the light of day — to a far wealthier and liberal-minded sanctuary resort?

Read the whole thing.

I BELIEVE IT: New studies show telemedicine is effective, doesn’t reduce access to care.

KEVIN DOWNEY JR: More Americans Worried About ‘Socialist Left’ Than Big, Scary MAGA—and That’s Just the Beginning. “There are more delicious takeaways from the poll that should have Democrats shaking in their non-binary under-panties. For starters, more than half the country thinks Biden’s brain is a problem, and still more think he’s too old for the White House gig.”

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