Archive for 2018
July 19, 2018
10 MOST POPULOUS CITIES SPLIT BETWEEN RED, BLUE. CAN YOU GUESS WHICH COST MOST? Here are the 10, as calculated by Truth in Accounting: Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Jose, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Phoenix.
If you live in deep-blue Chicago, your overall tax burden (including public entities like mass transit authorities and pubic schools that big cities typically don’t include in their balance sheets but which taxpayers are still responsible) is $126.360. If you live in bright red Phoenix, your overall tax burden is $11,850. Now, (assuming you aren’t rich) is the quality of life better in the blue cities or the red cities?
CALIFORNIA: Nothing makes me want to vote to break California into three states more than being told by the California Supreme Court that I can’t vote to break California into three states.
NARRATOR: YOU’LL BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. Transgender Prisoner Put in Female Jail— You Won’t Believe What Happened Next.
MODERN STASI: What To Learn From The Social Justice Warrior Who Was Eaten By His Own Mob. “Mob compliance is a vicious and deadly cycle. The only way to stop the cycle is to stop complying with the mob’s demands.”
Wilson also describes the social justice industry, which thrives on political correctness, as “a surveillance culture, a snitch culture.” This description is very apt, especially if you recall last summer’s Twitter crusade by celebrity Lena Dunham. She encouraged people to eavesdrop on others’ private conversations to report something politically incorrect to authorities.
Dunham publicly celebrated getting two American Airlines employees investigated after she reported overhearing their conversation in an airport terminal. The employees allegedly engaged in what she called “transphobic” talk. Dunham was modelling the snitch culture so her followers could do same to anyone and everyone.
American Airlines cooperated by publicly agreeing to investigate the employees based on Dunham’s manufactured complaint. As it turned out, the airline claimed it didn’t have conclusive evidence. So, as far as we know, no employees lost their jobs as a result of that particular incident. But it all paves the way for the metastasis of a snitch culture.
That’s standard procedure today for all of the corporations that now operate under the rainbow-colored flag, which is to say just about all of them. As we can see from Wilson’s experience, it’s working so well that the mob can now turn on its own with impunity.
Flashback: “We’re after power and we mean it.”
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean it… There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
Don’t be easy to deal with.
PRIORITIES: Battling an image problem, Broward schools seeks public relations exec for up to $175,000 a year.
The school district has suffered a number of public relations hits since the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, which left 17 people dead.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel has reported on how Stoneman Douglas under-reported crime on campus, how the school failed to provide adequate special education services to killer Nikolas Cruz; and how a culture of leniency has allowed unruly students to receive countless second chances.
The school district also struggled to defend its controversial PROMISE program, which offers alternatives to arrests for some misdemeanors. The district initially said Cruz was never eligible for the program, only to backtrack and said he started the program but failed to complete it for reasons no one could explain.
School Board members have complained that the district needs to be more aggressive in defending itself against negative news coverage.
Clearly, nothing more than bad PR is what ails Broward schools.
LIBRARIANS ARE GOING FAHRENHEIT 451 WITH BLINDING SPEED: Anti-Oppression Guide’ spreads to multiple college libraries. Funny how librarians are abandoning their intellectual-freedom heritage just as libraries themselves face obsolescence. Seems unwise, but somehow typical.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: We’ll Always Have Montenegro and Much, Much More. “The latest scandal is that Trump still won’t admit that RUSSIA tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which is an important admission for the media because they want to delegitimize Trump’s election. Do you notice how often the media point out in their pieces or on television that the intelligence agencies agree the RUSSIAN inteference didn’t impact the election outcome? They almost never mention this or if they do, it’s in paragraph 47.”
A C-17 TAKES OFF: The crew’s demonstrating the big transport’s ability to operate from a “short” runway.
LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND RESEARCHERS: Bacon Is Bad For Your Mental Health, Say Researchers.
MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING, BUT: RNC raises $213 million ‘fastest ever,’ 99% small donors, to spend $250 million in 2018.
ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS NOT BE CRAZY. AND THEY CAN’T EVEN DO THAT. White House Protesters Enlist Mariachi to Try to Keep Trump Awake.
MY PAPER ON STATE SECESSION MOVEMENTS REMAINS TIMELY! California Supreme Court Blocks Proposal To Split Up State From November Ballot.
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: US Congressman Calls for Ban on Crypto Buying and Mining.
Congressman Brad Sherman is no stranger to controversial statements on the subject – back in March he called cryptocurrencies “a crock” – and during the Wednesday hearing of a subcommittee for the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, he went so far as to advocate keeping Americans out of the market entirely.
“We should prohibit U.S. persons from buying or mining cryptocurrencies,” the California Democrat declared. He added that, beyond cryptocurrencies being potentially used as a form of money in the future, it can currently be used by tax evaders and rogue states seeking to bypass U.S. sanctions.
And law-abiding Americans should be punished for that why, exactly?
I DUNNO, I THINK IT’LL TURN OUT EVERYBODY: California Gas-Tax Repeal Organizers See Rallying Point for GOP Voters.
WINNING: U.S. Oil Shock: Production Hits 11 Million, Inventories Jump Unexpectedly.
The Energy Information Administration said U.S. output hit 11 million barrels per day last week, after holding at 10.9 million bpd for the prior five weeks. Just five months ago, domestic production topped 10 million bpd.
But production data from the lower 48 states appears to be getting rounded off in recent weeks, meaning actual output may be slightly below 11 million bpd.
Crude stockpiles rose by 5.8 million barrels. Gasoline supplies fell by 3.2 million barrels. Analysts polled by S&P Global expected a 3 million-barrel drop in crude stockpiles and a 1 million-barrel drop in gasoline supplies.
I get the feeling that when summer peak demand fades and refineries have a chance to catch up with crude inventories, that pump prices will fall hard and fast.
Just nobody tell Obama.
AS THE NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL’S” HERO WOULD SAY, HEIGHTEN THE CONTRADICTIONS: Pro-Israel Schumer is on the Spot Over Ocasio.
THE POLITICAL WORLD EXPLAINED: Everyone Is Smart Except Trump.
It really is quite simple. Everyone is smart except Donald J. Trump. That’s why they all are billionaires and all got elected President. Only Trump does not know what he is doing. Only Trump does not know how to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. Anderson Cooper knows how to stand up to Putin. The whole crowd at MSNBC does. All the journalists do.
They could not stand up to Matt Lauer at NBC. They could not stand up to Charlie Rose at CBS. They could not stand up to Mark Halperin at NBC. Nor up to Leon Wieseltier at the New Republic, nor Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone, nor Michael Oreskes at NPR, at the New York Times, or at the Associated Press. But — oh, wow! — can they ever stand up to Putin! Only Trump is incapable of negotiating with the Russian tyrant.
Ouch.
THAT WOULD REQUIRE TAKING NOTICE OF SOME INCONVENIENT TRUTHS: Democrats must talk tougher on Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba if they want to win Florida.