IRAN: The Train Hits Something Hard. “No longer enjoying access to massive amounts of easy money from oil exports, the Khomeinist leadership is growing daily more desperate to loosen the lasso thrown by the Trump administration. Always anxious not to lose face, it has modified aspects of its behavior, confirming the view that the Khomeinist train, which according to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had no reverse gear, would stop only if it hits something hard.”
Archive for 2020
March 8, 2020
PETITION: Petition: Keep Higher Ed Safe From Covid-19. As I say in my next USA TODAY column, if you’re in charge of an institution and expect to shut down for coronavirus sooner or later, you should probably make it sooner.
AT AMAZON, canned Boston Brown Bread. Also with raisins.
CLAUDIA ROSETT: Why Is the CDC Lowballing Numbers for the Coronavirus?
MY DAYS OF NOT TAKING KAMALA SERIOUSLY ARE COMING TO A MIDDLE: ‘What a train wreck’: Byron York drops a 50 megaton self-awareness nuke on Kamala Harris and her Biden endorsement.
BUSYBODIES AND NANNIES MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE: Overregulation is making the coronavirus outbreak even more dangerous.
WAIT, COMMIES WERE INVOLVED IN THE CREATION OF “INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY?” Women In Red: The Surprising History Of International Women’s Day. “As a proud Communist would remind you, Soviet Russia was the first country on earth to legalize abortion. Women also were also given the right to maternity leave for up to one year. Pregnancy consultation centers were built. Lenin pretty much provided everything the feminist of today demands.”
THOUGHTS ON CANCELLING SXSW: “Imagine you just lost your free boondoggle to Hawaii or London or whatever you people enjoy. It is a lot like that for us.”
Plus: “We’ve been practicing social distancing. Remembering not to shake hands takes practice, so don’t wait until your city is scouting for pauper graveyards to start doing it. Notwithstanding our first preference for Japanese-style bowing, without, of course, the silly hierarchy — we are Americans, goddamn it! — in our nerdy circles the Vulcan greeting, accompanied by ‘live long and prosper,’ seems to combine hep n’ cool irony with an actually relevant message, the sort of best wishes that are suddenly top of mind.”
Also: “The world’s economy is stopping like a car door slamming, do not believe otherwise. Why? Because nobody wants to kill their grandmother, or Willie Nelson.” That won’t last, but it’ll require careful management.
OPEN THREAD: Fill in as desired.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO HIRE SPACEX: NASA still aiming for 2024 moon landing despite SLS megarocket delays.
KATHY SHAIDLE ON TERMS OF ENDEARMENT:
Not that some of Terms of Endearment‘s most ardent fans don’t rankle a bit, too. And these are, tellingly, mostly women with cancer themselves, who give the impression that they never write about anything else.
This one calls it “my favorite movie of all time.” (Since my tumors didn’t strike my brain, I’ll stick with Psycho, thanks. Hell, it isn’t even my favorite cancer movie; give me Dark Victory any day.)
She interprets Emma’s exasperated admonition — “It’s OK to talk about the cancer!” — as a campaign slogan, as if, almost 40 years later, cancer isn’t all anybody talks about. (I call it “Big Boob,” a subsidiary of the Bourgeois Disease Complex.)
What these women often leave out are Emma’s lines just before that one:
“I want you to tell them it ain’t so tragic! People do get better.”
Her cracking voice (and nervous, gawky gestures) are that of someone trying to convince herself of this, not so much her uncomprehending friend. Emma knows very well that some people don’t.
I can’t prove that Michael Gore’s poignant, tinkly, oh-so-Eighties piano score for the movie was created in a lab, for the express purpose of forcing you to cry — but can anyone prove it wasn’t? Regardless, Emma’s death scene, and that darn music, pushed me over the edge.
Of course I cried — I cry during bits of Galaxy Quest.
My husband was in the other room and I called to him.
“I wahjj’d da sad moobee!” I blubbered at him through a Kleenex.
I got the hug I wanted, then some advice.
Read the whole thing, even if like me, Terms of Endearment isn’t really your thing at the movies or the Blu-Ray player.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: State Dept: “U.S. Citizens Should Not Travel by Cruise Ship.”
Coronavirus updates live: Millions quarantined in Italy as D.C reports first case.
Sen. Ted Cruz self-quarantines after contact with CPAC attendee who has coronavirus.
De Blasio: 13 confirmed coronavirus cases in NYC.
Coronavirus cases more than double in Massachusetts.
France bans events with over 1,000 people amid coronavirus fears.
Novel coronavirus prompts Rice University to cancel in-person classes for week.
Northern California’s largest school district closes amid coronavirus concern.
Grand Princess cruise ship expected to dock Monday after coronavirus concerns.
University of Puget Sound in Tacoma latest to turn to virtual classes because of coronavirus.
U.S. Response to Covid-19 Coronavirus Moves From Containment to Mitigation.
‘You can’t stop living’: Toronto doctor warns against becoming ‘paralyzed’ with fear over COVID-19.
US Army suspends soldier travel to and from South Korea and Italy amid mounting coronavirus concern.
Qatar Temporarily Suspends Entry for Travellers from 14 Countries.
Govt schools told to implement ‘anti-virus’ mode as new wave of Covid-19 hits Malaysia.
U.S. Hospitals Prepare For A COVID-19 Wave.
Blood donations start to dwindle as COVID-19 cases rise.
Right Next Door to China, Taiwan Has Largely Contained Covid-19, Here’s How.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS YOU CAN USE: Masturbation boosts your immune system, helping you fight off infection and illness.
Between that and the protective effect of hard liquor, I feel like a lot of y’all will do just fine.
WE WEREN’T EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Researchers find evidence of a cosmic impact that caused destruction of one of the world’s earliest human settlements. “Unlike the evidence from Pilauco, which was limited to human butchering of large animals up to but not younger than the YDB impact burn layer, Abu Hureyra shows direct evidence of the disaster on this early human settlement. An impact or an airburst must have occurred sufficiently close to send massive heat and molten glass over the entire early village, Kennett noted.”
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER LIMOUSINE LEFTIST EXPOSED: SJW crusader Carlos Maza turns out to be a super wealthy socialist.
And “unexpectedly,” NY Post Reporter Locked Out Of Twitter For Exposing Socialist YouTuber Carlos Maza As Coming From Elite Wealth.
He’s now back online – at least for the time being:
UNEXPECTEDLY: Jesse Jackson Endorses Bernie Sanders.
WHY? BECAUSE LEFTISTS ARE IN POWER AND THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO FORGET THAT, EVEN FOR A SECOND. “Why should the street be painted to remind us of who’s in a position of power?”
GREAT MOMENTS IN PROJECTION: Nasty Nancy Pelosi Says Trump Is ‘Most Dangerous Person’ In American History.
Exit quote: “‘I have real problems with this president because he doesn’t tell the truth, he doesn’t honor the Constitution, and he’s harming children,’ she said unironically as a person who doesn’t tell the truth, honor the Constitution, and harms children. ‘My whole message is about children,’ the staunch abortion advocate claimed. ‘Anybody who hurts children — I’m a lioness. Watch out.’”
HYBRIDS ARE ALL THE RAGE: First Look: Sako S20 Hybrid Rifle.