Archive for 2019

OK IS NO LONGER OK, OK?:  Rolling Stone breathlessly reports on the OK sign at the Army-Navy game: Was it meant to convey a belief in white supremacy?  Or does the OK sign just mean OK?

We live in the Age of Stupid. Rock stupid.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The 4Chan trollers have scored again. I remember when “culture jamming” was a lefty thing, but the lefty culture jammers never scored at this level.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Cat Lewis: Why Universities Suck At Online Classes. “The typical Youtube success story involves months, if not years, of ‘failing’ content. Every time the creator tries something new, they are rewarded or punished for it immediately. Successful Youtube educators learn painstakingly, video by video, what works and what does not. This does not happen at universities.”

THE MEDIA’S SELF-IMPORTANT IMPOTENCE: A friend on Facebook writes:

A boomlet among talking heads and media pundits is currently tallying up all the newspapers calling for impeachment.

But among major dailies now endorsing impeachment, all except one endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. (The exception, USA Today, endorsed “not Trump” — stay brave, Gannett.)

My point: Newspapers overwhelmingly urged the country to go one direction in 2016, and it went the other way.

That’s relevant now, as it was then.

In other industries, broad distrust of your product and fleeing customers *might* lead to a little caution before swinging for the fences on very divisive topics.

Maybe it would lead to a little introspection. Even humility.

But we’re not seeing that. And while it doesn’t say much about impeachment one way or the other, it says a lot about a media class that still believes its role is to pronounce which opinions are correct.

Indeed. Related:

DEBRA SAUNDERS: THE FBI DID RUSSIA’S DIRTY WORK. “During the Russian probe hearings, House Democrats railed against the notion of a foreign government meddling in U.S. elections. The real horror is that our own law enforcement system did it for them.” Well, if you wanted to divide Americans, hurt democracy, and undermine trust in institutions, you could hardly to better than what the FBI, with help from its friends at DOJ and the CIA, did.

THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY RAN ITS FOURTH DISHONEST HIT PIECE ON TRUMP’S ANTISEMITISM EXECUTIVE ORDER SINCE WEDNESDAY: [UPDATE: I was referring to this article, but there is actually a fifth as well, that starts from this ridiculous premise: “The order is ambiguous as to whether it sees Jews as a distinct nationality or a minority race, but either interpretation aligns with Mr. Trump’s preoccupation with defining, and policing, the boundaries of identity.” For the record, as I’ve been repeating for several days, the order, which follows established Obama and Bush administration precedent, states only that Jews can be victims of discrimination motivated racism, which is hardly debatable. (Surely the author, Max Fisher, has at least heard of the Nazis?)]

OPEN THREAD: Make it magnificent.

SOCIALISM: IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL LEAVE. Veteran columnist Andrew Malcolm: California is a wondrous place. I’m leaving.

I lived in Illinois for many years, so I know one-party government well. Shortsighted Californian voters get what they elect—a loopy super-majority that lets billions in approved water bonds for reservoirs sit idle during an historic drought, so trillions of gallons of welcome rains flow to the ocean later.

But, by golly, they’re on top of the tiny shampoo bottle crisis. And forge ahead on the multi-billion dollar high-speed railroad for the countless thousands who want to get from Bakersfield to Merced quickly. And thanks to new legislation, Californians are finally free to legally reject any police officer’s plea for help.

L.A. County paid homeowners millions to tear out lawns to conserve water, apparently oblivious that every day every 600 square feet of grass produces oxygen for one person, fighting the smog the county must spend billions to ameliorate.

Then, there are taxes. California has the second highest gas tax at 61 cents, but the governor is working hard to catch up with Pennsylvania. Texas somehow survives with a 20-cent gas tax, Arizona with 19.

Seven states, soon to be eight, have no income tax, including Nevada sitting temptingly next door.

“So you’re going to Tennessee too?” said our moving truck driver, a Texan now making regular trips from California to tax-free Texas, Tennessee and Florida. The other half of his load was also destined for the Volunteer state.

Earlier: 35 percent of San Franciscans consider leaving for good, according to city survey.

Somebody really needs to fund Glenn’s Welcome Wagon idea.

DISPATCHES FROM THE NEWSPEAK DICTIONARY: Pronouns Are No Joking Matter.

The Washington Post publishes an op-ed from a woman — apparently a bona fide vajayjay-haver — griping about her pro-o-o-o-o-nouns, and how people are making fun of pronoun Nazis. Here’s the headline of the Kat Jercich piece, which is about the slowest, fattest pitch over Uncle Chuckie’s home plate that ever was thrown:

Please stop making jokes about gender pronouns when people tell you theirs
They might hurt people more than you realize.

Soon as I read that, I thought, “At some point, this dame is going to say the snickerers are accessories to murder.” And sure enough!:

It’s not appropriate for people who aren’t in danger of being fired, evicted or even murdered for their gender identity to decide that pronouns are a joking matter.

The entire column is a load of sanctimonious left-wing crap.

Read the whole thing.

 

CHANGE: Britain’s ‘Red Tory’ Future. “It appears that social media is not the real world. Indeed, contrary to the predictions I read there, the most seismic election in British history was not even close. Boris Johnson on Friday morning returned as Great Britain’s prime minister atop a landslide of voters whom the progressive Left abandoned long ago.”

Related: Ninety peers call for Baroness Tonge to issue unqualified apology for blaming Corbyn defeat on Israel. “The letter, from an ‘unprecedented’ number of former cabinet ministers, senior lawyers and leaders of industry and commerce, calls on Lady Tonge to apologise for bringing the House of Lords into disrepute over the remarks.”

WHAT IS BLUE CROSS HIDING? BlueCross sues state in attempt to block records request from legislator. “Rep. Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) made the request of Executive Director Laurie Lee and her team for all service claims from 2018 administered through the health plan on behalf of the Joint Fiscal Review Committee — who upon examination of state employee claims noticed an ‘extraordinary difference in claims paid for similar services.'”

THE LONELY LIFE OF THE GRAY LADY: Even Hermit Crabs Have Wealth Inequality.

Big, if true. (Link safe; goes to Steve Hayward of Power Line, who ponders “if the Times and the equalitarians in the academy have thought this through. Unless you think hermit crabs somehow have access to the works of Adam Smith, you can’t blame this crabbed distribution of wealth on capitalism or ‘neoliberalism.’  Indeed, this finding means there is something natural to inequality. Oops.”)