NOT-SO-SOFT BIGOTRY: The Tribalist Left. When will the “antiracists” start rooting out the bigots in their own ranks?
Archive for 2021
April 26, 2021
BAD NEWS FOR LAW STUDENTS: NALP: Law Firms Cut Associate Hiring By Nearly 50% In 2020 Due To COVID-19.
‘BRUTAL:’ New York wouldn’t have lost a House seat if the Census had counted only 89 more people.
And yet, also in the news today: “Governors have become frustrated because President Joe Biden has not attended a single weekly COVID briefing. Vice President Kamala Harris has only attended one so far. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, of all people, has taken charge of the briefings.”
A FRIEND OF MINE COMMENTED THAT HE FINDS THE SINGING HOOD ORNAMENT IN THAT ALLSTATE “DUET” COMMERCIAL CREEPY. I agree, and we’re not alone:
And is it unsettling that the hood ornament belts out a line about how the guy driving the car has “got the brawn,” while she’s “got the brains?” A little. Cognizant machines are one thing, but we’ve all seen enough sci-fi to know what happens when technology gets a big head about stuff. At best, we’re looking at a dark reimagining of Knight Rider where KITT sees his driver as a meaty, physical means to his machiavellian ends. At worst, this all-too-literal smart car is well on its way to recognizing that it should be the one pulling the strings. Judgment Day can’t be far behind. It’s a good thing safe drivers are saving $700 on car insurance annually with Allstate, since that money will go a long way toward stocking up on freeze-dried food and barrels of drinking water. Was it worth it, Allstate? Were the good hands you’ve been going on about for decades always destined to be the cold, mechanical mitts of a T-800?
The song is “Opportunities” by the Pet Shop Boys, and I love that the writers intended it to be a lefty critique of the Reagan/Thatcher era only to see people going around unironically singing “let’s make lots of money!” Like Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” sometimes the art isn’t received as the artist intended.
WHY ARE LEFTY-DOMINATED INSTITUTIONS SUCH CESSPITS OF RACISM? Politico: Most of the Kids Going Back to School Are White, and That’s a Problem.
(Link safe; goes to Jim Treacher’s latest column.)
HOW’S THAT WELCOME WAGON PROGRAM COMING ALONG? Census: TX Gains 2 House Seats, CA, NY Lose One As US Political Map Is Redrawn.
IMMIGRATION DETENTION: Not sure why the Left spends so much of its energies opposing privately owned and operated immigration detention facilities, as but NPR notes, they’re still at it. Part of it is apparently inspired by labor unions. They get a better deal from the feds.
The private facilities I’ve inspected on behalf of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights were nicer than the government-owned facilities. The astonished look on the faces of my Progressive colleagues when we toured a private facility near San Antonio was priceless.
THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINE OF ACADEMY AWARDS VIEWERSHIP IN RECENT YEARS IS A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA; BUT PERHAPS THERE IS A KEY: Oscar Ratings Crater, Hit Another Record Low.
Related: Ace of Spades writes: #OscarsSoWoke: Academy Awards Broadcast Plummets to 9.8 Million Viewers, Half of Last Year’s Show, and One Quarter of the Ratings from Seven Years Ago.
When you break up with someone — or break up with an industry, or a hobby — at first you’re angry about the alienating direction the industry or hobby is taking, and you complain about it.
The more intensely you complain, however, the more you show that you still care.
At some point, you stop complaining.
That doesn’t mean you’ve accepted the industry turning woke.
That means that you now don’t even care that it’s turned woke — it’s out of your life, and you care about it as much as the person you broke up with four break-ups ago.
Read the whole thing.
MUSK SAYS “A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WILL PROBABLY DIE” GETTING TO MARS; BUNCH OF NINNIES ON EARTH UPSET. There is absolutely no way to make a trip to Mars, or living on Mars, “safe,” at least at the beginning. Exploration never has been safe – but it’s still worth it. I’d guess that proportionally, far fewer people will die exploring the Final Frontier than any frontier on Earth. (And before you ask, yes, I’d go to Mars if they’d let me!)
LASERS TO LUNAR ARKS: Cryopreservation Heats Up.
I HAD MISSED THIS SAVAGERY FROM THE BEE: In Closing Argument, Prosecutor Tearfully Addresses Each Juror By Name, Phone Number, And Street Address.
Like much of the Bee’s satire, it’s sadly on-point.
MAKE ROOM, MAKE ROOM: Biggest space station crowd in decade after SpaceX arrival.
CAPITALISM, THE UNKNOWN IDEAL: President Biden’s Capital Gains Tax Hike Would Hurt Small Business Investment, Economists Warn.
IN THE WORDS OF L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP: “After 40 it’s just patch, patch, patch.” Now with a new spin.
THIS IS CNN: ‘LOL. Perfect!’ Thread on CNN’s new WH national security reporter Natasha Bertrand speaks volumes.
The Steele Dossier, Hunter’s laptop being “Russian disinfo,” the Russian bounties story — Bertrand has promulgated them all.
COVID ONE YEAR AGO: Actual headline (still up) at The Week — Georgia’s Experiment in Human Sacrifice. 
LATEST ON THE EFFORT TO FIRE PROFESSOR TOM SMITH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: “Law Professor May Be Fired After Personal Blog Post Criticized Chinese Government.” It does make you wonder if USD has some financial reason to come down hard on criticism of the Chinese government.
SOD OFF, SWAMPY SENIOR: Does Biden’s Climate Agenda Mean ‘Red Meat Passports’ Are Coming?
When Bill Gates says “you can get used to the taste” of fungus-based beef substitutes, the proper reply is, “No, you can get used to the taste.”
SHE’S RIGHT, YOU KNOW: Tulsi Gabbard Slams ‘Divisive’ Racialization: ‘We are all children of God.’
GET WOKE…Oscars viewership was down over 50% off last year’s numbers, which were the worst ever.
Related: Oscars 2021 tortured viewers for more than three unbearable hours.
Or perhaps, “tortured its viewer” might be the better headline. Meanwhile, according to Raw Story yesterday, pouncing Republicans are the real (raw) story: Far-right media poised to distort Oscars’ struggles into a culture war win tonight.
As Jim Treacher likes to say, “When Republicans screw up, that’s the story. When Democrats screw up, the Republicans’ reaction is the story.”
BEN RHODES SMILES: Iran’s foreign minister says John Kerry told him about Israeli covert operations in Syria.
UPDATE: John Kerry: America’s failfather.
I dunno — Kerry drank the radical chic Kool-Aid deeply in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and views his goal as undermining America (and later Israel) as much as possible, and getting extremely wealthy while doing so. From that perspective, he’s been wildly successful.