BATTLESWARM BLOG: The State of the War Against ISIS.
It’s amazing how much more quickly things can change on the ground in the Middle East once the lawyers in the White House get out of the way.
Archive for 2017
July 15, 2017
THE WEEK: This isn’t Watergate. This isn’t treason. And there’s still no smoking gun.
The unflagging tedium of the Trump-Russia-Manafort-Guccifer 2.0-Kushner-Page-Comey-Flynn-Steele-Stone-Lavrov-Mueller-WikiLeaks-Fancy Bear-Intercept-CIA-FBI-NSA-BBC-Don Jr. saga refuses to go away. Every day there are new breathless reports, fresh for-initiates-only micro-revelations that inspire screeches of “Treason!”
But there is still no smoking gun. . . .
This is hardly the first This is it moment the media has begged us to acknowledge. Please remember that a year ago we were expected to believe that Donald Trump had committed treason by begging the Russian government to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails live on cable television, before an audience of millions. We all know that this is exactly how espionage works and that there is no way that the smiling ex-reality television show host was making a joke about the actual documented collusion between the former secretary of state’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, which marshaled their forces against an honest public servant who could arguably have beaten Trump in a general election if the primary had not been rigged.
And so it has continued, uninterrupted without so much as a hint of self-reproach or critical reflection, and so it will continue, presumably, “from day to day / To the last syllable of recorded time,” in saecula saeculorum.
Let’s find out their names. You know, in the interest of policing “collusion.”
SARAH HOYT: What Happens When the Artist Chides His Audience?
I’m writing this from my garret, watched over by two small mice, who – enviously – watch my three remaining crumbs of bread. Tomorrow I eat them, and then it’s all up in the air whether or not I have the strength to finish the novel, my magnum opus upon which I have labored unrewarded for the last twenty years.
How many of you nodded along with that thinking it made any sense?
How many of you know I’m joking, but still think that is the way it should be?
Come on, reach deep into your soul and tell me the truth. How many of you think that for a work to be authentic it must be labored over in extreme poverty for a very long time, unappreciated by anybody until, possibly sometime after the author’s death, it is declared a genius masterpiece and talked about in hushed, reverent tones for the rest of eternity?
You can tell me the truth. You’re not an idiot. It’s the culture that’s stupid.
Read the whole thing.
CAPITALISM, FOR THE WIN: Amazon Prime does more for northern food security than federal subsidies, say Iqaluit residents.
The consensus in Iqaluit seems to be that everyone with a credit card has an Amazon Prime membership. That’s because people can often find groceries cheaper online than in local stores, despite government food subsidy programs.
“Amazon Prime has done more toward elevating the standard of living of my family than any territorial or federal program. Full stop. Period,” a local principal, who declined to speak further, said on Facebook.
But the problem is, it offers insufficient opportunities for graft.
THE LONG COUNTERMARCH THROUGH THE INSTITUTIONS: Former Airline Industry Lobbyist Now Lobbying For ATC Privatization From Inside The FAA.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN “INDEPENDENT, NONPARTISAN COMMISSION” WHERE DISTRICT-DRAWING IS INVOLVED: Independent Commissions Gerrymander Just as Much as State Legislators.
IT NEEDS TO BE SPLIT UP: Victor Davis Hanson: Will California Ever Thrive Again?
SHE DIDN’T BUILD THAT: Elizabeth Warren Is Building an Impressive War Chest.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Colleges Pay Diversity Officers More Than Professors, Staff.
Top public universities pay administrators with jobs related to diversity initiatives an average of $175,088 per year, substantially more than other professors and faculty members, according to a Campus Reform investigation Wednesday.
A sheet compiling the salaries of the top diversity administrators at 43 of America’s top public universities finds that virtually all are paid at least $100,000, with some going well beyond $300,000.
The average of $175,088 per year is more than three times the average American’s salary of $44,980. The lowest salary identified by Campus Reform is $83,237, still almost twice as much as the average American salary.
A 2016 report by American Association of University Professors found that the average professor salary across ranks was $79,424.
In one example, an administrator at Rutgers University named Jorge Schement, vice chancellor of the office of diversity and inclusion, made $253,262 in 2016, while most faculty at Rutgers in 2015 made less than $50,000 a year.
I hope that Betsy DeVos will look into this wage gap. Since higher education in America — whether at public or private schools — is largely federally funded, some scrutiny on where the money goes is justified.
July 14, 2017
TRUMP CAN GIVE THEM PROBLEMS WITH A TWEET OR TWO: Colorado Democrats are unregistering and the party thinks its because of Trump’s voter commission. “Top officials in the Democratic National Committee are worried about a sudden drop in voter registrations in Colorado, concerned that President Donald Trump’s new election commission is encouraging Democrats across the country to remove themselves from the electoral grid for fear of revealing personal information to the GOP leadership.”
Bonus: It’s mostly the over-the-top Dem alarmism that encourages this.
WHY ARE DEMOCRAT-MONOPOLY INSTITUTIONS SUCH CESSPITS OF MISOGYNY? Tasteless Colbert Denigrates Kellyanne Conway as ‘Satan’s Trophy Wife.’
Earlier: Colbert calls Trump the homophobic slur, “cock holster.” As T. Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner noted back in May, “Stephen Colbert is what happens when you let politics consume you.”
AT AMAZON, deals in Amazon Instant Video.
Plus, save in Game Downloads.
STILL KINSLEY GAFFING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. “I mean seriously: what the hell? Clinton between two Bushes? Does Slick Willie not know how symbolically accurate this photo is, displaying his stature and character relative to the two men he came between in office?”
DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH: I’ve Worked with Refugees for Decades. Europe’s Afghan Crime Wave Is Mind-Boggling.
HE’S A PRETTY COOL GUY: Eric Clapton sets record for the largest salmon caught in Iceland this year.
WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, CNN? India comedy group subject to criminal process for meme insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH: I’ve Worked with Refugees for Decades. Europe’s Afghan Crime Wave Is Mind-Boggling.
MORE FAKE NEWS AT THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES: Tom Maguire: Sarah Palin Can Sue The Times For This Too.
ARIANNA, WE’RE LOST, I SAID, THOUGH I KNEW SHE WAS SLEEPING: Huffpo has come to look for America.
Plus in the comments, a link to Twitchy, for a preview of how the field trip will go:
Report: saw a truck with a gun rack.
Literally. Shaking.— Texas Guy (@Collinsdw) July 13, 2017
#HuffPoInTheHeartland
Tried to merge in traffic, driver motioned for us to go ahead. Patriarchy even on the highways.— Lizzy Lou Who???? (@_wintergirl93) July 13, 2017
That random stranger told me to have a nice day. I blew my rape whistle in their face. #HuffPoInTheHeartland
Meanwhile, in “HuffPo’s Deplorable Safari,” a contributor at Ricochet explores “What They Claim They Will Do” versus “What They Will Actually Do.”
Classical allusion in headline:
(Via Maggie’s Farm.)
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Meet The Woman Who Has Sex With Married Men In Return For Free Trips. Well, that’s not new, but now there’s a website to facilitate it.
ENJOY EVERY SANDWICH.
NOT BORN TO BE WILD: Harley-Davidson sales are struggling ‘because millennials don’t like riding motorcycles.’
Decline is a choice, America.
