Archive for 2020
September 29, 2020
KURDISTAN: China Expands Its Economic and Political Influence in Northern Iraq. “The region is also an attraction point for the People’s Republic of China and Chinese state-owned and -controlled companies. Chinese companies that operate in the oil and petroleum, infrastructure, construction, engineering, telecommunications and cement-production industries have been investing heavily in the region, undertaking multimillion-dollar projects and signing lucrative contracts with the government in Erbil (the de facto capital) and local Kurdish enterprises since the KRG’s re-establishment in 2005.”
I BLAME THE PATRIARCHY: LGBT people may get more migraines, research suggests.
Spoiler: So do the researchers, though with the inevitable caveat that “more research will be needed.”
WELL, THEY’VE CERTAINLY BOUGHT A LOT OF PRESS, POLITICIANS, AND BUREAUCRATS: Ai Weiwei: ‘Too late’ to curb China’s global influence.
ENDORSED: The President Has an ‘Internet Kill Switch.’ A Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Wants to Change That. Rand Paul and Tulsi Gabbard Team up to Unplug the President’s ‘Internet Kill Switch,’
WHY THE “WOKE” IDEOLOGY HAS SO MUCH POWER IN CORPORATE AMERICA: How we bend the knee to our HR overlords: Our managerial class is asserting itself, drunk with its own power.
Clerks have always wielded a lot of power unti the swords come out. It’s almost enough to make me rethink my position on dueling.
MIGHT AS WELL TAKE A GAP YEAR, OR STAY HOME: RealClearInvestigations: On Campus, Freedom’s Just Another Word for Before Covid.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Second Project Veritas Video Sheds Light on Ilhan Omar Cash-for-Ballots Scheme.
STAYING SHARP: Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) fire a .50-caliber machine gun during a crew served weapons shoot aboard dock landing ship USS Germantown. This second photo (from 2009) shows sailors in a fifty caliber live fire exercise. Here is an excellent background article from 2015 on the Ma Deuce (the fifty cal’s nickname). “The M2 has lasted so long because it proved to be the most reliable and durable machine-gun of any caliber ever produced.” Finally, here’s a recent article on a possible Ma Deuce successor. We’ve heard that before. The fifty cal is the tank commander’s weapon. My old M60A1 had the M85 version of the Ma Deuce.
VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR DAILY INSANITY WRAP: Dianne Feinstein Goes Full Mask Hypocrite, Plus Feminist Song Remakes.
Insanity Wrap needs to know: Why is it OK for Dianne Feinstein not to wear her mask when she wants to require you to wear one?
Answer: Shut up, prole.
Before we get to the sordid details, a quick preview of today’s Wrap.
- Mail-in ballot madness in Brookyln.
- Leftwing violence is your fault, righies.
- What the hell kind of North Carolina politician doesn’t know the first thing — literally, the first thing — about barbeque?
And so much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.
IT’S COME TO THIS: USA Today is “Fact Checking” the Babylon Bee. Fact check: Satirical claim that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Ginsburg’s death.
The headline of an article published by satire website The Babylon Bee is a nod to the contentious history between the Trump administration and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The Babylon Bee is “the world’s best satire site,” according to its website.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of metastatic pancreatic cancer Sept. 18, is actually “alive,” the article suggests, because the 9th Circuit overturned her death.
“In a close decision, the judges on the court have ruled RBG’s death unconstitutional and will block Trump from nominating a replacement,” the article says.
* * * * * * * *
Our rating: Satire
We rate this claim SATIRE, based on our research. A satirical article about the 9th Circuit “overturning” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has no basis in fact. It is true that the 9th Circuit has ruled against many Trump-era policies.
Tautologically speaking, it’s a very safe bet that a Website that bills itself as “satire” is cranking out satiric articles, so thanks USA Today, for confirming that. Can’t wait for the newspaper to also confirm that the 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove is satire as well, since planet Earth, at least as of time of publication, is still here, unlike what the satiric movie satirically depicted using strong doses of satire.
PARANOIA STRIKES DEEP: Professor launches ‘Fascism Watch’ to spy on Trump supporters who are ‘planning an insurrection.’ Besides, it’s not Trump supporters who have been planning — and executing — an insurrection. But then the left always accuses its enemies of what it is already doing.
IT’S OBVIOUS THAT JOE WOULD BE A PUPPET PRESIDENT, AND IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS WHOSE PUPPET HE WOULD BE: The Weak Leading the Woke: What We Ask About When We Ask About Joe.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Fall 2020 Undergraduate Enrollment Down 2.5%, Graduate Enrollment Up 3.9%.
MATT WELCH: The Media’s Nervous Breakdown Over Race.
There is an asymmetry of approach between anti-liberals—of both left and right—and their increasingly alarmed critics. While the latter camp tends to treat controversies and individuals on a case-by-case basis, the former is forever trying to herd people into binary categories. In the words of bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi, “You’re either racist or antiracist; there’s no such thing as ‘not racist.'”
Demagogues gonna demagogue, race hustlers gonna race hustle.
RANKED: THE TOP COLLEGES FOR FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS, ACCORDING TO STUDENTS: Glenn beat me to this (BTW, Tennessee is #11 overall, Go Vols), which is unforgivable since I helped put them together, but this is a HUGE DEAL. 20,000 students surveyed on 55 campuses, with statistically significant samples on all of them. For 17 years people have asked me “so really, where should I send my kid if I care about free speech on campus?” Finally, there’s an objective answer! The top 5:
1. The University of Chicago (no surprise there!)
2. Kansas State University (the sleeper hit)
3. Texas A&M University (ranked best by conservatives, not so well for liberals)
4. University of California, Los Angeles (this one surprised me; I guess I credit Eugene Volokh)
5. Arizona State University (these guys have been getting serious about free speech for a while now)
Bottom 5 shameful dungeon of disgrace:
51. Syracuse University (this is the college I have always told people to avoid if they like free speech)
52. Dartmouth College (alums have cult-like devotion to this school, which is not returned by the administration)
53. Louisiana State University (threw out a female prof for using occasional profanity with grad students, ludicrously calling it “sexual harassment.” Stay far away.)
54. University of Texas – Austin (dedicated to messing with Texas for decades now)
55. DePauw University (ranked #52 by liberals and #55 by conservatives, has somehow created an equal-opportunity nightmare of censorship in rural Indiana)
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE, REDISTRIBUTION CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST EDITION: UNC grad students call for administrators’ salaries to be ‘redistributed.’
