ALEX BERENSON ON COVID: “It isn’t over until they say it’s over: So we need to make them.”

As always with bureaucrats, make doing other things more painful than doing what you want, and they’ll do what you want.

Related: “You know how I know public health authorities are lying? Their own data.”

I’M GONNA GO DOUBLE-YES ON THIS: Did the New York Times stifle lab leak debate? Were commercial relationships with China a factor?

UPDATE: Yes.

OUR SOBER, SENSIBLE, RESPONSIBLE RULING CLASS:

To be fair, most of them probably think that because they themselves are being paid by China.

OPEN THREAD: How can I measure up to anyone now, after such a thread as this?

SPACE: Biden taps Aerospace Corp.’s John Plumb to run DoD space policy.

SCIENCE!!!

More here:

.@EmeraldRobinson asked @KJP46 how the CDC is testing for the Delta variant and she completely falls apart and says it’s because “the experts” say so. pic.twitter.com/C9HKrsJGpj

— Amy Tarkanian (@MrsT106) July 30, 2021

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back: Chinese researchers have uploaded genetic sequences of coronaviruses to a scientific database more than a year after they took them offline. “On July 21, the disappearance of the sequences was brought up during a news conference in Beijing, where Chinese officials rejected claims that the pandemic started as a lab leak.”

Plus: “Dr. Bloom could not offer an explanation for the conflicting accounts, either. ‘I’m not in a position to adjudicate among them,’ he said in an interview.”

Are the new sequences the same as the ones that were there before?

UPDATE: It’s all smoke and mirrors:

ALIMONY ISN’T JUST FOR EX-WIVES ANYMORE: On July 27 a judge ordered Kelly Clarkson to pay her estranged husband Brandon Blackstock nearly $200,000 a month in spousal and child support.

JIM GERAGHTY: Now Large Groups of Vaccinated People Are Deemed Too Risky.

Is it possible people who are vaccinated will spread it to the unvaccinated? Yes, but that’s an argument for getting the shots into the remaining unvaccinated people, not an argument for banning large concerts. The vaccinated have done what they’re supposed to do; stop reimposing restrictions upon them. Stop nagging the vaccinated because you’re so angry at the unvaccinated. If the thought of going into a crowded venue like a concert or sports event strikes you as too risky, then don’t do it. But don’t try to take away the rights of other people – pardon me, other vaccinated people! — to enjoy themselves as they see fit.

* * * * * * * *

The alternative is to declare that the risk from the Delta variant is so severe that vaccinated people should not gather in groups, because of the risk that they could spread it – and that the halt upon normal life for Americans should extend beyond the current sixteen months. That is effectively declaring that the Delta variant has pushed us back to square one again, which is not an accurate assessment of public health risks.

As Jim Treacher previously wrote: The Rules Wouldn’t Keep Changing If You Peasants Just Did What You’re Told at That Particular Moment.

So now it’s my fault that the Biden administration hasn’t hit its COVID vaccination goal. It’s my fault that Biden is failing. That’s on me. I did the right thing and got vaccinated, and now he wants to punish me for it because some other people didn’t get vaccinated. I’m supposed to start wearing a mask again because somebody somewhere did a study, and some bureaucrat saw it and flew into a panic, and the president of the United States said, “Yeah, yeah, panic, let’s have some more of that!”

And this is supposed to convince unvaccinated people to change their minds, somehow? Biden thinks he’s punishing Private Pyle by making the rest of us do endless push-ups while Pyle stands there eating his donut. Except Pyle doesn’t give a $#!+, and if we throw him a blanket party tonight, we’ll go to jail.

How is this supposed to work? How is putting me back in a mask supposed to convince an unvaccinated person that he needs to get vaccinated so he still has to wear a mask?

But the DNC-MSM needs the fear porn for ratings to overcome their post-Trump slump. And President Klain’s administration needs to keep up the pressure on Americans because their ideology is built around the moral equivalent of war and “never let a crisis go to waste,” and are hanging onto the pandemic as a way to control and manipulate citizens.

And then there are the midterms next year: Without Trump, Dems and Media Dehumanize the Unvaccinated to Salvage 2022 Midterms.

There’s also plenty of kabuki involved, of course: Border authorities encountered 190,000 people illegally crossing border in June, highest in 21 years.

UPDATE:

In October of 2019, when the CCP-NBA connection was exposed for millions of Americans to see, Geraghty wrote: We’re Not Exporting Our Values to China — We’re Importing Theirs.

(Updated and bumped.)

SO TAMARA KEEL WAS TALKING about the old days when she used to do a “carry rotation,” swapping out carry guns based on mood: “If this is Tuesday, I must be carrying the Luger…”

That old post included this quote: “I don’t worry too much about the man with only one gun – he probably bought that gun for self defense, ran a box of ammo through it, tossed it in the nightstand, and forgot about it. I worry about the guy with two or three identical guns, all of them well-worn.”

I do in fact own two identical Sig P365s. One is for carry, the other is for practice. This spares the carry gun the wear, and the cleaning, that the practice gun gets. I do practice with the carry gun sometimes too, because of course, but not usually. I don’t think that makes me as dangerous as the quote above suggests, but it seems to make sense.

Recent conversation with the Insta-Wife: “Are you spending too much on guns and ammo?” Me: “No.” Her: “Okay.” Yeah, she’s a keeper.

QUICK REACTION: Watch: Quick-Thinking Driver Sprays Suspected Carjackers with Gasoline in Incredible Video.

UPDATE: Direct link to video here.

WHEN SPACE LAWFARE FAILS: Government watchdog denies protests of SpaceX’s lunar lander contract.

FUTURE PRESIDENT? Kamala Harris now ‘underwater’ as sinking popularity alarms Democrats.

THE BANNINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES: Sky News Australia Suspended from YouTube.

More here: “YouTube said Sunday it had barred Sky News Australia from uploading new content for one week, citing concerns about Covid-19 misinformation. The move comes after a review of posts uploaded by the Rupert Murdoch-owned TV channel, which has a substantial online presence.”

UPDATE:

Sky News needs to put together a special unit investigating Google, YouTube and — especially — their top executives.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Create a Diversion for Personal Defense. I always carry a White Phosphorus grenade for that purpose. What about you?

UNEXPECTEDLY: Democrats Quietly Vote to Allow Illegal Aliens to Work as Congressional Staffers.