Archive for 2021
November 24, 2021
SONGS THAT CHANGED MUSIC: The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” (Video).
And: Waukesha suspect Darrell Brooks is a convicted sex offender.
Earlier: Waukesha killer Darrell Brooks’ enablers.
UPDATE: From Michael Rameriez:
Note that the DNC-MSM aren’t the only ones airbrushing Brooks’ apparent crime: Wikipedia users try to change Waukesha ‘parade car rampage’ entry to ‘parade incident.’
(Updated and bumped.)
HMM: Morning exposure to deep red light improves declining eyesight. “Published in Scientific Reports, the study builds on the team’s previous work, which showed daily three-minute exposure to longwave deep red light ‘switched on’ energy producing mitochondria cells in the human retina, helping boost naturally declining vision. . . . Scientists say the benefits of deep red light, highlighted by the findings, mark a breakthrough for eye health and should lead to affordable home-based eye therapies, helping the millions of people globally with naturally declining vision.”
HOW CABLE NEWS RUINED THANKSGIVING:
Edmund Burke once rebuked the French, “Your legislators seem to have taken their opinions of all professions, ranks and offices from the declamations and buffooneries of satirists.” This is our problem as well. Caricatures are supposed to be the province of comedians, who use them to simplify and spoof. And once upon a time they were, which is why the genesis of modern cable news is the aforementioned Jon Stewart. It was Stewart who pioneered the art of clipping Fox News videos out of context and milking them for attention. Now everyone else on cable is ripping off his act.
And I do mean everyone. Tune in to MSNBC right now and you very well might find Stephanie Ruhle responding to Laura Ingraham responding to Chris Cuomo responding to Sean Hannity responding to Rachel Maddow responding to Fox and Friends responding to Don Lemon responding to the ghost of Walter Winchell responding to Skeletor. It’s like a Narcissus infinity mirror. There are simply too many of these drama merchants to trace their complaints all the way on down. Which perhaps is the point: outrage rarely sprouts from deep roots.
As for poor Uncle Mortimer, the truth about him is that he isn’t a caricature. He probably has some interesting lived experience, a couple stories to tell, a sense of humor. Maybe he once met JFK. Maybe he dreams of one day selling his wood carvings on Etsy. Instead, what we get are his political opinions, the most boring thing about him. This year, let’s not turn dinner into another doomed revival of Crossfire; let’s restore that most ancient and venerable of maxims: “no politics or religion at the table.”
While I can certainly understand someone having a “pox on all your houses” opinion, there is one significant difference between the three channels; I don’t think Fox News is running too many of these segments this week: MSNBC: Thanksgiving’s About White Settlers Who Brought ‘Genocide and Violence.’
In any case, America’s Newspaper of Record strikes a sensitive, healing tone this week: Black, White Americans Join Hands Around Common Cause Of Launching Journalists Into The Sun.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM AXIOS! The Thanksgiving bouncers.
No one really wants this job, but millions of households may need their own Thanksgiving bouncer. The cover charge is a negative COVID test, done ahead of arrival or outside the front door.
Why it matters: Normalizing rapid tests is a practical way to help extended families feel a little more normal around the holiday dinner table.
● You may have relatives who aren’t vaccinated (or won’t say) — or babies or immunocompromised guests who are vulnerable to breakthrough infections.
How it works: If you’re hosting, let your guests know ahead of their arrival that you’ll be testing everyone at the door for their own safety. If you’re a guest who’s anxious about attending without testing, talk to your host now about their plans and how you can help.
● Depending on your budget, you might offer to pick up the tab for everyone’s tests, or hosts might ask guests to pay for their own.
● At-home antigen tests cost around $25 for a box of two.
● Alternatively, guests who have gotten a PCR test within a couple of days prior could bring evidence of their negative results. PCR rapid tests can be obtained same-day but are generally much more expensive.
Who on earth is going to do this? I can’t imagine even my most leftist in-laws administering COVID tests for guests who drop by for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
UPDATE: Axios isn’t alone: CBS guest suggests Thanksgiving ‘hors d’oeuvres in the garage’ while waiting for COVID rapid test results. “Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce weighed in, saying opinions like Tamour’s will keep Americans in a constant state of fear. ‘All this does is reinforce the idea that you should be afraid to even be with your own family. In your own home,’ Bruce said. ‘This is insane. Yes it’s cult-like but it really has many more features of mass hysteria.’”
(Updated and bumped.)
DAVID BROOKS, MASTER OF READING THE ROOM:
David Brooks, do you remember him?
Once again he’s back pontificating about his incredible insight into a movement he knows nothing about. A cousin of mine sent me the following link: With the following comment, “Eye Opening”. David Brooks is frightened: “The Terrifying Future of the American Right — What I saw at the National Conservatism Conference”.
Mr. Brooks attended the conference and in his own words:
When I came down to Florida for the National Conservatism Conference, I was a little concerned I’d get heckled in the hallways, or be subjected to the verbal abuse I occasionally get from Trump supporters. Judging by their rhetoric, after all, these are the fire-breathers, the hard-liners, the intellectual sharp edge of the American right.But everyone was charming! I hung around the bar watching football each night, saw old conservative friends, and met lots of new ones, and I enjoyed them all.
What were you expecting, child rapists hitting you with a skateboard, a “smurf” with blue hair and 49 piercings, confused by how many genders there are? Granted before Twitter ousted me I would Tweet you with smarmy remarks. However, if I ever had the chance to meet you in person, I would address you properly and leave it at that.
* * * * * * * *
Mr. Brooks was never a Conservative, nor will he ever be. For such an enlightened man he certainly lacks any inquisitiveness or any true observational skills, for example:
The NatCons are wrong to think there is a unified thing called “the left” that hates America. This is just the apocalyptic menace many of them had to invent in order to justify their decision to vote for Donald Trump.
I guess I must be having hallucinations when Antifa and BLM are burning the cities of Portland, Kenosha and Seattle for example. I must be nuts to think that the majority of bannings, timeouts and the like on Social Media Platforms are for those right of center. Often we hear from the Keepers of The Gate, “It was a mistake”. The Left are never caught up in the Mistake excuse.
In 1997, as a warm-up to his 2000 book Bobos in Paradise, David Brooks wrote an article on Burlington, Vermont for the Weekly Standard (remember that?) called “The Rise of the Latte Town:”
One of the striking things about Burlington is that it is relatively apolitical. The bookstores carry some titles on politics, but the current-affairs sections tend to be tucked away in the back. I saw but three political bumper stickers during the week I was there, two that read “Bernie” for the local socialist congressman, Bernie Sanders, and one, on a pickup truck on the out-skirts of town, that read “Rush.” Bulletin boards are everywhere, but most of the fliers advertise rock bands, not rallies. One of the books featured in the most fashionable of the local bookstores was called Fifty-four Ways to Help the Homeless. Only one of them is government- related — No. 52, “Write your congressperson” — while the rest are various forms of local and direct action individuals can take, such as volunteering at soup kitchens.
That denizens of that “relatively apolitical” town would quickly become very politicized just three years later, beginning with the Florida recount and the election of George W. Bush.
In September of 2011, Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal wrote, “This Sunday’s 10th anniversary commemorations will evoke some semblance of the unity then in the face of an enemy attack on U.S. soil. But make no mistake: It’s gone.” What happened?, asked Henninger: “For activist and professional Democrats, the most ignominious day in their collective political lives occurred a year earlier—the Florida presidential recount. The 2000 election ended only when the Supreme Court resolved it in favor of George Bush. Republican and independent voters moved on, but many Democrats never did; they were now being governed by an illegitimate president. The chances that any Bush policies would retain their support were minimal, with or without 9/11.”
And that was certainly the case with Burlington, VT, as well.
SOCIALIST SUNK: Centrist Dems sink Biden’s nominee for top bank regulator.
Five Democratic senators have told the White House they won’t support Saule Omarova to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, effectively killing her nomination for the powerful bank-regulator position.
* * * * * * * *
Omarova tried to salvage her candidacy during a hearing last week, where Republicans savaged her for her previous academic writings about how community banks should be regulated.
● Her nomination, reflected in an ugly hearing in which Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) questioned whether he should call the native of the former Soviet Union “professor” or “comrade,” became a proxy battle.
Headlines like this didn’t help Omarova’s case: Biden Comptroller pick Saule Omarova refuses to turn over Moscow State University thesis on Marxism.
Not to mention:
● “Omarova has endorsed radical proposals for government control and regulation of the banking sector. In a paper entitled The People’s Ledger, she argues for a ‘systematic democratization of finance’ where citizens have government bank accounts with the Federal Reserve that ‘fully replace—rather than compete with— private bank deposits.’ Omarova openly admits that her ‘proposed reform will effectively ‘end banking’ as we know it.’”
● Study: Nets Silent on Radical Biden Nominee: Praised Soviet Union, Wants to Destroy Oil, Gas.
This may be the most radical Biden nominee you’ve never heard of. On Thursday, Saule Omarova is set to face Senate hearings to head Comptroller of the Currency, a branch of the Treasury Department. Who is this woman? She appears enchanted with Soviet Russia, and “wants” to bankrupt industries. And ABC, CBS and NBC haven’t said a word about her.
The Cornell University law professor back in February appeared at a “social wealth seminar” and said this: “What I’m thinking about primarily is primarily the coal industry and the oil and gas industry. A lot of the smaller players in that industry are going to probably go bankrupt in short order. At least we want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change, right?”
But that’s only the start. Back in 2019, she praised the old USSR, a regime that murdered tens of millions of people, because they didn’t have a “gender pay gap.”
Also on Omarova’s mind: “Omarova has endorsed radical proposals for government control and regulation of the banking sector. In a paper entitled The People’s Ledger, she argues for a ‘systematic democratization of finance’ where citizens have government bank accounts with the Federal Reserve that ‘fully replace—rather than compete with— private bank deposits.’ Omarova openly admits that her ‘proposed reform will effectively ‘end banking’ as we know it.’”
● Biden Nom Saule Omarova Stole Hundreds of Dollars of Merchandise from a T.J. Maxx.
JOEL KOTKIN AND MICHAEL LIND: The Reshoring Imperative. “The Covid-19 pandemic brought tragedy and disruption to America. But it has also provided another stark warning concerning the country’s disastrous overreliance on overseas production. It has demonstrated that without a strong, self-reliant industrial base, this country’s ability to forge a healthy, prosperous future—and even its ability to defend itself against foreign enemies—will be severely compromised. The fact that the world’s largest, and theoretically most advanced, economy could not provide basic medical equipment like masks or the basic components of pharmaceuticals came as a shock, particularly as the country was forced to lean on its leading geopolitical rival, China, to address a health emergency that originated there. These developments have stirred some businesses and politicians in both parties to seek ways to encourage domestic production. Unfortunately, the response could prove too little and too late.”
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: Days after explaining Rittenhouse ban and “criminal” policy, GoFundMe allows fundraiser for Darrell Brooks, suspect in parade massacre.
DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF THE K-12 IMPLOSION AND WEIMAR AMERICA: Here’s A Picture Of The Loudoun Rapist The Superintendent Claimed Was Not ‘Gender-Fluid.’
LIVE AT 6PM EASTERN: ‘Five O’Clock Somewhere’ with Kruiser, VodkaPundit.
WHEN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION LOSES GOOGLE…: Several hundred Google employees sign manifesto against widened Covid vaccine mandate.
As Jim Treacher asks, “Who knew Google was such a hive of Trump voters?“
BIG, STUPID GOVERNMENT: ‘Strained’ hospitals? Blame government.
We keep hearing about “strain on our hospitals” sounding “alarm bells” because they are “nearing capacity” — because COVID-19. By instituting “temporary” indoor mask orders, we will “ease the burden” on hospitals.
Yes, COVID-19 hospitalizations are a contributing factor. However, things like the “elective procedures” backlog — singlehandedly created by government — are by far the biggest drivers.
Early Monday morning, my dad had a long-anticipated double-knee replacement surgery. While his recovery will be a long haul, the surgery itself went well and he will expertly tackle the physical therapy. My father is one of a growing number of Coloradans who are getting important medical treatment before the end of the year — often previously delayed by government edict.
As with numerous states last year, Colorado put the kibosh on most “elective procedures” to limit hospital visits. These weren’t just cosmetic surgeries; they included cancer screenings, cardiovascular procedures, orthopedic surgeries, and many more that help with pain, prevent long-term medical issues and improve quality of life.
Let’s be real: Unelected public health bureaucrats and Gov. Polis forced countless Coloradans to delay critical medical procedures. Now, in recent months, patients have been going in. The hospital backlog is finally being exposed.
The Law of Unintended Consequences always gets the last, bitter laugh.
THANKSGIVING AND THE EVERYDAY REBELLION: It gets closer and closer with every new outrage by the aspiring totalitarians in charge of the Democratic Party and its propaganda extensions in the Mainstream Media.
Check out my latest column over on PJ Media. The Everyday Rebellion comes next November and it will be from the courthouse, to the statehouse, to the Congress, and then in 2024 the White House. You read it here first.
NOT SATIRE, NOT PARODY: Ax-Wielding Antifa Member Attacks GOP Senator’s Office, Dems Give Him Money, FBI Returns Ax.
FEDERAL REGISTER SWAMPED BY MANDATE OPPONENTS: Proposed federal regulations are required to be published in the Federal Register in order to give the public an opportunity to express their approval. or disapproval. Most such postings are on obscure issues and so get a dozen or maybe 100 comments.
Once in a while, though, a rule is proposed that sparks a public outcry. Such is the case with His Fraudulency’s OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate on private businesses. More than 68,000 mostly negative comments were received by the Federal Register by Tuesday. By contrast, a related proposed rule that was published in July received less than 500 comments, according to Rachel Glaszer of the Heritage Foundation.
THE BEATLES: GET BACK REVIEW: Peter Jackson Just Won’t Let It Be.
They are given about three weeks at Twickenham Film Studios by Denis O’Dell, producer of “The Magic Christian,” the film in which Ringo Starr would appear opposite Peter Sellers. Both the facility and Mr. Starr have to be returned to O’Dell by month’s end, when shooting is to start on his film. The Beatles have only a vague idea of what they’re doing—there’s no concept for the TV show, no plausible venue for the performance, and the songs have yet to be written. The atmosphere isn’t quite fraught, but the schedule is crazy.
As plans collapse, the TV special is abandoned and the grandiose concert becomes the free lunchtime gig in London. Mr. Lindsay-Hogg is heard to say he doesn’t know what his film—they’ve decided to make a film—is going to be about. He can’t see it, but Mr. Jackson—with more than a half-century of hindsight, 60 hours of film and 150 of audio to draw on—can, very clearly. It’s not the story of “Let It Be.” It’s the most Beatle-maniacal epic imaginable, partly because it renders so naked the band’s creative process, and presents their personalities so deeply: Mr. McCartney is the dominant force, his patronizing attitude toward Harrison prompting the latter to quit the band for a few days midfilm; Mr. McCartney then pulls himself back, to admirable effect. Lennon, with Ms. Ono ever at his side or his feet, is not the abrasive or sarcastic character he presented in, say, “A Hard Day’s Night” but is sweet, funny, deferential to his longtime/no-longer songwriting partner (though everyone collaborates on everything). Mr. Starr is everyone’s friend. (The series’ three episodes—at 157, 173 and 138 minutes, respectively—roll out Thursday, Friday and Saturday.)
The portrait we get, of the most influential musical group of the 20th century, is not candid—they always know they’re being filmed, act up accordingly and often avoid the hard work of their own songs by defaulting to rockabilly and blues-based numbers from their youth. (Their early days playing Hamburg, West Germany, are evoked numerous times, as is their manager Brian Epstein, whose death in late 1967 left them with no “discipline,” as one Beatle says.) What a viewer might have trouble keeping in mind is that when the Beatles talk about the old days, they’re talking about only five or six years earlier.
As a lifelong Beatles obsessive (QED) I’m looking forward to Get Back’s debut tomorrow. And hopefully its being bundled on Blu-Ray, right about this time next year, with a restored version of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original Let It Be.
LINCOLN BROWN: The Left’s Vigilantes. “The ‘right-thinking’ people of the Left would never sully their hands in dealing with their enemies directly. Even if they do not explicitly encourage burning car dealerships, looting stores, attacking police stations or beating up unsuspecting people on the street, they know that their rhetoric inspires and encourages it. They know that they have an army of angry, under-educated or willfully uneducated group of people, highly vulnerable to the power of suggestion — people who will burn down a city while Leftist leaders and media mavens gather at the Kennedy Center or the Met Gala to sip champagne as their colleagues and errand-runners try to convince us that a building engulfed in flames is a sign of a peaceful protest.”