QUESTIONS THE PRESS WILL DO ITS BEST TO IGNORE: Nancy Pelosi’s Recent Stock Purchase Raises Ethical and Legal Questions.

ISLAMIST CONVICTED OF BEHEADING U.S. JOURNALIST DANIEL PEARL TO GO FREE, VICTIM’S FAMILY IN ‘SHOCK:’ “Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, a decision that has left his family in ‘complete shock’, lawyers said.”

STOPPED CLOCK:

Indeed.

HMM: High blood pressure often mistaken for menopausal symptoms in women.

HOW’S THAT RETURN TO NORMALCY THING WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? Following Biden’s Lead, Schumer Plans Bypass of GOP to Enact Progressive Agenda.

ROBINHOOD HALTS BUYING OF GAMESTOP AND OTHER HOT STOCKS, INFURIATING USERS:

Robinhood also shut down buying of AMC (AMC), BlackBerry (BB), Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Express (EXPR), Koss (KOSS), Naked Brand Corp (NAKD) and Nokia (NOK). Users can only liquidate or close positions.

The GameStop stocks’ run was originally popularized by Reddit forum Wall Street Bets as a value investment.

Throughout social media, angry users reported the inability to buy the stock — only to sell. Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, who became a popular trader as the pandemic shuttered sports and fans turned to the markets, chimed in as well.

“Either @RobinhoodApp allows free trading like they say they do or they die. It’s really that simple,” Portnoy tweeted. Searches for AMC Entertainment (AMC) on the app also came up blank. (AMC, BlackBerry (BB), Nokia (NOK), and other stocks were among those that have gotten huge boosts from the Reddit forum.)

Past performance is no guarantee of future results: ‘Scumbags:’ This old tweet from Robinhood is coming back to haunt them in a big way:

More here: Robinhood halts trading of GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks as hedge funds suffer.

Robinhood has framed the decision as a way to “help our customers navigate this uncertainty” in its blog post. The Verge meanwhile noted one hedge fund suffering amid the GameStop surge was Melvin Capital Management, which another hedge fund, Citadel, has since bailed out. Citadel’s founder is Ken Griffin, who also founded Citadel Securities, a big investor in Robinhood that also works with TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab.

It’s the return of what Michael Walsh would call “the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party:”

Exit question: “So, is it over?” GameStop Shares Are Collapsing, Pelosi Says “Will Be Reviewing Issue.”

As the “Wu-Tang Financial” account tweets, “The congressional hearings on this GameStop activity gonna be even more boomer cringe than the social media ‘grillings’ where it was so clear our Great Leaders have no clue how most of society functions on the internet.”

UPDATE: It’s pretty rare for the Zodiac Killer and Evita Peron to be on the same page:

BEIJING LAUGHS AT HOW LITTLE MONEY GENERATES SUCH HUGE RETURNS: Biden’s Climate Orders Will Flip America’s National Security on Its Head.

LOVE IN A VACUUM: The Dangers of Masturbating With a Vacuum Cleaner. “Strangely enough, that instance also occurred in Italy… That might say that Italian men really enjoy their vacuum cleaners. It could also simply say that they are willing to admit it.”

Classical reference in headline:

RICHARD FERNANDEZ:

The principal menace of the Narrative keepers is not that they will actually control reality but that they will lose track of it. Records after all, are not made to tell reality where it stands but for reminding us where we are in relationship to the truth. Those would back-edit the world are not strong but weak. They can’t keep their story straight and things keep happening that shouldn’t.

Indeed.

COLORADO: Turnover hits staggering 200% in state office that ensures election integrity. “The departure is part of the ‘turnover and turmoil’ in the office of Secretary of State Jena Griswold. At least seven top aides in the office have now left in two years time, including the five senior officials who departed before the election. This legislative session, the secretary will have her third legislative liaison in as many years, John Magnino, a former official at the State Innovation Exchange, a liberal group.”

DEMS WANT BIDEN TO BE EL JEFE: Issues & Insights always wondered how Trump could be the tyrant and dictator Democrats repeatedly accused him of being even as he did everything he could to reduce the size and power of the federal Leviathan.

Now along comes Joe Biden signing Executive Orders left and right that greatly augment Leviathan. So who is the real authoritarian here?

TOO LATE: Biden’s COVID-19 Response Team: ‘We want to be a step or two ahead.’

YEP: Wall Street giants are calling foul after having been beaten at their own game by a bunch of guys on the internet. It’s hard not to cheer. “Robinhood customers took to Twitter to express their outrage surrounding the decision. Robinhood has made a name for itself through its mission to democratize investing for everyone.”

A user comments: “Robinhood canceled stock orders on #gme #amc #NOK etc…. There should be a class action lawsuit. I thought we had a free market. So Wall Street is OK with me losing hundreds of dollars, so that rich investors can’t be called out on their risks.”

When push comes to shove, the oligarchs display an astonishing solidarity.

DAMON LINKER: The left’s fake Senate majority. “If the goal of McConnell’s gambit was to preserve the filibuster, it must be judged a smashing success. That’s because by forcing the issue right up front, McConnell prompted two Democrats — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — to state forthrightly on the record that they have no intention of supporting the elimination of the filibuster, now or in the future. Not only does that mean the left’s plan is dead in the water. It also means that McConnell has already called Schumer’s bluff in advance, preventing him from using the threat of eliminating the filibuster as leverage to persuade Republicans not to use it to slow down or scuttle legislation Democrats favor.”

THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT: The Navy Reportedly Experimented With a ‘Spacetime Modification Weapon.’

According to documents obtained by The War Zone, the US Navy performed experiments on far-fetched technologies including a “spacetime modification weapon” which, researchers claimed internally, could revolutionize power and propulsion systems.

The mysterious technologies were meant to take advantage of the “Pais effect,” patented by American aerospace engineer Salvatore Cezar Pais and which could end up pushing the boundaries of conventional science — if, that is, they are ever proven to actually work.

Pais says the tech could enable a propulsion system that defies gravity, as well as even more eccentric claims. In a January 2020 correspondence with The War Zone, Pais even laid out plans for a “hybrid aerospace-underwater craft” that he claimed was able to “engineer the fabric of our reality at the most fundamental level.”

Maybe that’s what happened to 2020.

WHO KNEW? N.Y. Severely Undercounted Virus Deaths in Nursing Homes, Report Says. The state attorney general, Letitia James, said the Cuomo administration likely omitted thousands of Covid-19 deaths of nursing home residents. “The New York State attorney general accused the Cuomo administration of undercounting coronavirus-related deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, according to a report released on Thursday.”

The Gray Lady will report no news before its time. But at least their readers are finally seeing this headline. Or as Iowahawk tweets, “Subscribe to the New York Times and get last July’s news today.”

Meanwhile, another Babylon Bee prophesy comes true:

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR DAILY INSANITY WRAP: POLITICO Goes Full ‘Dr. Strangelove’ in the White House Press Room.

Insanity Wrap needs to know: What would it take to get a reporter to recognize journalism?

Answer: We have no idea, either.

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

• It’s Main Street Mom’s Basement vs Wall Street
• RobinHood pegs the ironometer
• The pen is mightier than the pocket

Bonus Sanity: Kevin Sorbo calls us out on our crazy.

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

ATTACK THE SYSTEM BEHIND THE DRONES: Drone Swarms Are Getting Too Fast For Humans To Fight, U.S. General Warns.

LIFE IN THE BIDEN YEARS: With Higher Taxes Possible, Here’s What To Do Now.

RADICAL CHIC, FISHER-PRICE DIVISION: Who’s up for an “‘End White Supremacy’ Cute Soft Plush Blanket Swaddle Wrap Receiving Blanket for Infant Or Newborn Baby Blanket?”

It goes great with the Antifa Onesie!

TO BE FAIR, I SUPPOSE THAT’S UNITY OF SOME KIND OR OTHER: To Insults Of U.S. Troops, Biden Administration Adds Forcing Female Soldiers To Shower With Men.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Pitt retaliated against medical professor for warning its race preferences were illegal: lawsuit. Make them pay.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: States Can Reject Critical Race Theory.

President Biden’s reimposition of CRT training in the federal government is shameful. But it need not be the end of the story. Now is the time for governors and state legislators to step up—and to remember that these ideas don’t withstand scrutiny. In a state legislative committee hearing, the argument for colorblindness will always carry the day. As viewed through state and local media—where journalists are more likely to see their jobs as presenting both sides of controversies, rather than advancing the cause of social justice—the case against critical race theory will win hearts and minds.

To fight this battle at the state level is to win it—and to win it is to maintain a country founded on the ideal that all men are created equal. Not to fight this battle is to lose it—and to lose it is to concede that America should be a society that judges people based on the color of their skin, not the content of their character.

Related: “Welcome to Counterweight. We are here to provide you with practical information and expert guidance to resist the imposition of the ideology that calls itself ‘Critical Social Justice’ on your day-to-day life. Our primary focus is on people who find themselves in situations where they need to push back at this ideology in their place of work, university, children’s school or elsewhere and defend their right to their own ethical frameworks for opposing prejudice and discrimination.”

DARK MONEY IS ONLY BAD WHEN REPUBLICANS SPEND IT: Schumer’s Dark Money Group Increased Election Spending by 825% in 2020 Cycle.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Indiana University refers to known terrorist as ‘social activist.’