ANDREW KLAVAN: The New York Times Is Not Hitler, But…
As their ongoing pro-Communism series reminds readers, the Gray Lady simply prefers International Socialism over National Socialism. Close enough for totalitarian government work.
Archive for 2017
October 20, 2017
FRUGALITY IN THE WHITE HOUSE: Melania Trump cuts bloated first lady payroll from Michelle Obama days.
“A MOMENT OF NICENESS:” Weird how in this actual recording by a Gold Star wife, Trump sounds like a caring, decent person.
SARAH HOYT: America Has Built the Most Comfortable Civilization in the World.
No wonder the left wants to bring it all down.
Read the whole thing.
PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE STAY PRODUCTIVE; UNPRODUCTIVE PEOPLE SLACK OFF ONCE THEY CAN: Does A Professor’s Scholarly Productivity Decline With Age? “Conventional wisdom on faculty research productivity, backed by decades of studies, says that it’s all downhill after tenure. A new paper challenges that paradigm, suggesting great variability in peak research activity among individual scientists.”
In law, at least, I think more senior people care less about placement in the top law reviews. But that makes sense, because when you’re junior and unknown, you benefit from their brand, but when you’re senior and have your own reputation that doesn’t matter much.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: VIDEO: Students love Trump’s tax plan…when told it’s Bernie’s.
Their feelings are as strong as their ignorance.
ANGELO CODEVILLA: Migration: The Straw That’s Breaking Europe’s Back.
Increasingly, we have imitated that model, assuming that the decline would be slow and graceful. But Europe’s crisis, and ours, has always been far less socio-economic than civilizational. That is why mass migration into Euro-American civilization—especially people from the Muslim world who neither share in nor sympathize with that civilization—is accelerating the crisis. Confidence in the future is being replaced by the sense that living as before will be impossible.
More and more, people have reacted by voting against the elites responsible for socio-economic management and for migration. But elites on both sides of the Atlantic have not changed course. They justify their resistance to popular sentiment by applying invidious labels to the voters who reject them. Each side’s denial of the other’s legitimacy is collapsing the socio-political legitimacy of modern democracy. This ensures that whatever changes in Euro-American civilization may take hold will include revolutionary political events.
Our irresponsible ruling class is in denial.
NIGHT VISION FOR SELF-DRIVING CARS.
VIDEO: Tucker Grills Former Obama Lackey Over Uranium One Story.. “This is your Russia story.”
TO BE FAIR, ANDREA MITCHELL IS A SAD EXCUSE: Andrea Mitchell’s Sad Excuse For Not Covering The Clinton Uranium Story.
WELL, GOOD: The Majority of US Senators Now Endorse Beer Excise Tax Reform.
A majority of U.S. Senate members now support legislation that would reduce excise taxes on all brewers and importers.
According to a press release jointly produced by six beverage lobbying groups, including the Beer Institute and the Brewers Association, 51 senators have co-sponsored Senate Bill 236, known as the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA).
The legislation, which was introduced into the Senate on January 30 by Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), also has majority support from 281 members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have backed a companion bill (H.R. 747).
“Beer is bipartisan, and I want to thank the broad coalition of Senators and House members from across the country for supporting this commonsense legislation that will provide critical tax relief to America’s brewers and beer importers,” Jim McGreevy, the CEO of the Beer Institute, which represents the interests of all brewers, importers and supply industries, said via a press release.
“I look forward to Congress taking up the bill and moving it to President Trump for his signature so that brewers and beer importers can continue to invest in their businesses to meet consumers’ demand for beer,” he added.
Beer is bipartisan.
“FULLY REDESIGNED:” 2019 Audi A7 Sportback: Here It Is.
AT AMAZON, save on Vitamins and Dietary Supplements.
FINALLY, THE LEFT’S WISH IS FULFILLED:
● Shot: Chelsea Handler wants military coup to overthrow Trump.
—Page Six, August 13th.
● Chaser: John Kelly and the Language of the Military Coup: Thursday’s White House press briefing could serve as a preview of what such a takeover would look like in this country.
—The New Yorker, today.
Since the left apparently now views Seven Days in May as a how-to guide to better government, I assume they’re viewing this as extremely good news.
MICHAEL BARONE: Democrats Yelp as Trump Upholds Constitution.
FASTER, PLEASE, ON THAT UNIVERSAL FLU VACCINE: New H7N9 bird flu strain in China has pandemic potential: study.
IT’S A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA: There’s an Awakening Against Sexual Assault, So Why Is No One Talking About Bill Clinton?
Just think of the media as Democrat operatives with bylines, and Bill’s conspicuous absence from all of these stories makes perfect sense. Not to mention this minor detail: Harvey Weinstein helped pay Bill Clinton’s legal bills during Monica era, Washington Post archive reveals.
“STINK” MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BETTER WORD: Tesla’s New Car Smell.
Jean-Louis Gassée:
My first serious doubts about Tesla didn’t stem from missed schedules, I’ve been guilty of too many of these, they’re part of tech life. What seriously worried me was a July 2016 visit to Tesla’s manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. In taking delivery of my wife’s Model S, we were treated to a group tour of the site. Everyone marveled at the robot porn, at the activity on the assembly line, at the endless stores of spare parts piled to the ceiling.
Everyone but yours truly.
I couldn’t help check off the sins against the “Toyota Bible”, prescriptions for car manufacturers that are lucidly detailed in The Machine That Changed The World (a great and, in parts, sad read). In particular, one mustn’t stockpile parts on the floor, they must be fed in small quantities at small time intervals. If a part has a problem, only a small quantity needs to be shipped back to the supplier who can inspect, correct, and quickly adjust their own production process.
As I watched Tesla’s messy, hiccuping line, with workers dashing in to fix faulty parts in place, my mind travelled back to the Honda plant I had visited years ago in Marysville, Ohio. Clean, calm, everything moved smoothly. I was so shocked by the contrast that I imprudently voiced my concern. That didn’t go over well with my fellow Tesla owners. I was a killjoy, I was calling their choice into question.
What Gassée saw in 2016 was production of either the already well-established Tesla S and X — any production hiccups on those models should have long been hammered out by then.
Needless to say, that doesn’t bode well for Elon Musk’s goal of growing Tesla from a boutique manufacturer (S and X models) to a mass manufacturer (Model 3) over just the next few months. And judging by the reaction from his fellow Tesla owners Gassée witnessed last year, the emotional fallout from a failed Model 3 is going to be epic.
Maybe Tesla’s future is in sourcing batteries to carmakers who know how to build cars.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: 5 Horror Shockers Without All That Gore.
I used to love the gore, back when the effects were all practical and made you wonder how they did that.
INSTAPUNDIT: STILL FREE! Facebook is now testing paywalls and subscriptions for Instant Articles.
Advantage: Instapundit.