Archive for 2020

MATT MARGOLIS: Here’s What Early Voting Numbers Are Telling Us. “Schweikart noted that despite the Democrats’ early lead in early voting, both in vote-by-mail (VBM) and in-person early voting (IPEV), they peaked around October 16 and Republicans have been catching up—big time.”

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR DAILY INSANITY WRAP: Video Proof that Trump is the Funnest POTUS Ever.

Insanity Wrap needs to know: Is it fun to stay at the M.A.G.A?

Answer: You’re damn right it is.

Before we get to the sordid details, a quick preview of today’s Wrap.

  • #BLM goes to bat for a thief, woman-beater, and thug.
  • Why there might never be a GenX president.
  • U.K. police predict Christmas party raids and riots this holiday season.

And so much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Big Tech CEOs Grilled by Senate About Free Speech and Censorship but Will Anything Change? “The three CEOs — Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Google’s Sundar Pichai — all appeared before the committee voluntarily. That’s probably because they feel largely untouchable at the moment. They’re no doubt hoping that Crazy Joe the Wonder Veep gets elected and the Democrats take over the Senate, Should that happen, the very behavior that prompted yesterday’s hearing will be rewarded by the Dems.”

‘ONLY AN ACT OF GOD COULD KEEP ME FROM VOTING FOR TRUMP:” So declares self-described “Children’s Rights Activist” Katy Faust. She didn’t vote for The Donald in 2016.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ANONYMOUS SOURCING? The Federalist’ Mollie Hemingway says all you need to know on this issue is captured in the New York Times’ handling of its “Anonymous” source, you know, the “senior administration official” who was actually just a staff guy out in the bureaucracy.

JUST IN TIME FOR THE ELECTION: A reader emails that MailChimp, a popular mass-mailing service, has just changed its terms of service. From MailChimp: “We’ve updated our language to further clarify our Rules (Section 17 of STOU), which state that Mailchimp does not allow the distribution of Content that is, in our sole discretion, materially false, inaccurate, or misleading in a way that could deceive or confuse others about important events, topics, or circumstances.” The change is effective immediately.

HMM: Spy agency ducks questions about ‘back doors’ in tech products.

These so-called back doors enable the NSA and other agencies to scan large amounts of traffic without a warrant. Agency advocates say the practice has eased collection of vital intelligence in other countries, including interception of terrorist communications.

The agency developed new rules for such practices after the Snowden leaks in order to reduce the chances of exposure and compromise, three former intelligence officials told Reuters. But aides to Senator Ron Wyden, a leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, say the NSA has stonewalled on providing even the gist of the new guidelines.

“Secret encryption back doors are a threat to national security and the safety of our families – it’s only a matter of time before foreign hackers or criminals exploit them in ways that undermine American national security,” Wyden told Reuters. “The government shouldn’t have any role in planting secret back doors in encryption technology used by Americans.”

Wyden has long been solid on digital privacy.

FORMATION TRAINING OVER CORPUS CHRISTI: Two U.S. Marine student aviators conduct a formation flight in T-6B Texan II aircraft near Corpus Christi, Texas. Photo taken Oct. 23, 2020.

DID THE ECONOMIST AID A CHINESE COMMUNIST INFLUENCE OPERATION?:

On Oct. 26, the Washington Free Beacon published a hard-hitting investigative article exposing a truly appalling and destructive example of communist China’s long-term war on free societies, in this case using influence and information as weapons.

More:

The Free Beacon’s bottom-line accusation: Chinese money bought advantageous (euphemized) treatment, if not favorable news coverage and a positive editorial attitude in a news and business journal long regarded as one of the world’s most influential — influential in terms of its editorial acumen, erudite reporting and savvy story selection. The Economist’s international subscriber base is well educated, wealthy and connected.

It appears the CCP managed to influence The Economist’s purveyors of influence and did so not in one or two instances but for eight critical years. The CCP wasn’t simply targeting The Economist. Huawei has tried to coopt media everywhere. But The Economist allegedly influences the influencers in capital cities around the planet, which gives it unique leverage.

An even bigger bottom line:

From the Chinese perspective, Hunter Biden’s alleged business deals in China would classify as an effort to influence an individual leader.

It’s my latest Creators Syndicate column.