IT’S COME TO THIS: Jamaica May Have A Marijuana Shortage, Report Says.
P.J. O’Rourke famously wrote that “You can’t get good Chinese takeout in China and Cuban cigars are rationed in Cuba. That’s all you need to know about communism.” If you can’t get marijuana in Jamaica, its “Democratic Socialism” isn’t looking well, either.
STEPHEN MILLER: Are you ready for the climate lockdowns?
The possibility of climate lockdowns is already being floated by some of our greatest thinkers. They see a confluence of global crises as an opportunity. The perfect storm caused by COVID-19 and the resulting global economic meltdown offers a chance to take what they see as bold and dramatic action to save the planet. The Biden administration will certainly use the consequences of COVID to push through some green legislation, but just as before, it will not be enough in the eyes of progressives. There must always be more.
Mariana Mazzucato, an author and a professor in innovative economics at the University of London, raised the prospect of climate lockdowns in MarketWatch last September:
‘Under a “climate lockdown”, governments would limit private-vehicle use, ban consumption of red meat, and impose extreme energy-saving measures, while fossil-fuel companies would have to stop drilling. To avoid such a scenario, we must overhaul our economic structures and do capitalism differently.’
The idea of ‘doing capitalism differently’ is the driving rhetorical motivation behind the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset (another term for the implementation of global Marxism).
Karl Lauterbach, an MP for the German Social Democratic party wrote in Die Welt last December that ‘we need measures to deal with climate change that are similar to the restrictions on personal freedom [imposed] to combat the pandemic.’ How long before this theory makes its way into news outlets and politicians’ speeches here?
In yet another stunning “quiet part out loud” moment, a New England government official revealed the left’s endgame in fighting the climate in an online meeting he assumed would remain private. Massachusetts Undersecretary for Climate Change David Ismay participated in a meeting with the Vermont Climate Council back in January, where he admitted that when it comes to the big climate “offenders” in their region, there are no bad guys left to break. Ismay went on to say that now the only ones left to “break” are the people.
I know one thing that we found in our analysis is that 60% of our emissions come from – as I have it started to say you and me, except you guys are in Vermont – 60% of our emissions come from residential heating and passenger vehicles. Let me say that again …60% of our emissions that need to be reduced come from you, the person on your street, the senior on fixed-income. Right now there is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts, to point the finger at and turn the screws on and no break their will so they stop emitting. That’s you. We have to break your will.
If you are shocked that a public official would not only admit out loud that they happily broke the back of a job-producing industry in their state, but that they now need to break the back of the average American, you’re not alone. Ismay himself seemed surprised at the words coming out of his mouth, and in a stunning admission told attendees that he knew that was not something he could say out loud in public.
I can’t even say that publicly.
When you start to sound like a Bond supervillain, it’s time to take stock and re-prioritize.
STACY MCCAIN ON THAT TIME MAGAZINE STORY: You Can’t Say ‘Rigged.’
One of the things you learn, if you spend as many years in the news business as I have, is that the news is not random. That is to say, the question of what stories will appear on the front page of the New York Times is not merely matter of what happened the day before, because all kinds of things happen every day, and there is only so much space on the front page of a paper. Actual choices have to be made, by human beings called “editors,” to determine what’s front-page news, what gets stuck back on Page A14, and what never gets reported at all.
The process of deciding what is “news” is not random, as I say, even though some events are of such unquestioned importance that they must be at the top of the front page. If you picked up any American newspaper on Sept. 12, 2001, this was rather obvious, but such historic events are rare, and on most days the question of what goes on A1 leaves a fair amount of leeway to the editors to make their own choices. There may be one or two stories of such unquestioned importance that they must be on the front page, but when it comes to the rest — Story 3, Story 4, Story 5, etc. — the editor’s have more room to exercise discretion.
Trust me, there is often a lot internal disagreement over such things.
Read the whole thing.
AND YET, THE DEMOCRATS AND MEDIA — BUT I REPEAT MYSELF — ARE ADVOCATING JUST THIS: Americans Shouldn’t Be Treated Like ISIS Insurgents: Adopting “counterinsurgency” tactics for use against wide swaths of Americans can only make the situation worse.
Members of the political class are buying into burgeoning fantasies about a second civil war, indulging visions about sparring with parts of their own subject populations. In the wake of recent conflicts culminating in the Capitol riot, prominent figures have been extrapolating from our violent polarization to a dystopian future of insurgency within our borders. Officialdom seems dead set on fanning the sparks of existing political strife into something resembling a national house fire.
“The challenge facing us now is one of counterinsurgency,” Robert Grenier, former CIA station chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan and later director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center, insists in The New York Times. “Though one may recoil at the thought, it provides the most useful template for action.”
The danger, Grenier adds, lies in “a large, religiously conservative segment of the population, disproportionately (though not entirely) rural and culturally marginalized.” He doesn’t believe that the entire segment is violent, but it constitutes “a mass of citizens—sullen, angry and nursing their grudges—among whom the truly violent minority will be able to live undetectably, attracting new adherents to their cause.”
With this guy in charge of our efforts, no wonder we lost. Plus:
Days earlier, former CIA director John Brennan had similarly claimed that the Biden administration is focusing on “what looks very similar to insurgency movements that we’ve seen overseas,” consisting of “an unholy alliance” of “religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, Nativists, even libertarians.”
Brennan added that officialdom is “doing everything possible to root out what seems to be a very, very serious and insidious threat to our democracy and our republic.”
While neither Grenier nor Brennan are currently in government, both are well-connected and influential. Tellingly, the same day that Grenier’s Times screed appeared, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a terrorism bulletin that read like a sales brochure for the former CIA officials’ desired domestic policies.
Thuggish incompetence seems to be the order of the day. Just remember, “our democracy” is leftspeak for “our unchallenged control.”
Also:
The best way to calcify those perceptions of “domestic enemies” is for a government in the hands of one political faction to start treating its opponents as insurgents. That will inevitably entail the excesses and abuses that come with turning the security services loose not just on those who have committed crimes against others, but on whole segments of society viewed as potential threats.
“Overreactions give people an incentive to become terrorists—not only by creating grievances but also by reducing the relative risks of turning to violence,” Northeastern University’s Max Abrahms, a professor of public policy, recently cautioned in Reason. “A standard assumption in political science is that terrorists are rational actors. Many people decide against becoming terrorists because they know that the costs to them will be severe. But if the government is going to treat innocent people like terrorists anyway, then no additional risk is incurred.”
Writing before Grenier’s call for counterinsurgency efforts, Abrahms pointed out that John Brennan “did not distinguish between those who use extreme tactics and those with whom he disagrees politically. For Brennan, both are enemies worthy not only of contempt, but action or at least government scrutiny.”
Reverse the parties in this election and its aftermath, and we’d have riots in the streets everywhere — and yet if government officials talked like this, we’d be told it was fascism. But it is, regardless.
WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF FOREIGN COLLUSION? UF prof indicted over undisclosed China ties.
GOOD AND HARD: Biden Tests the Adage ‘The Customer Is Always Right.’ I support him, my restaurant has served him, but his minimum-wage proposal would put me out of business.
I am a staunch supporter of Joe Biden and voted for him to save this country. Now I ask him to save my restaurant from the good intentions of progressive policy makers.
I own Pizza By Elizabeths, just outside Wilmington. The restaurant is named after the two Elizabeths—me and my former business partner, Betty—who founded it in 1993. It features an upscale-casual menu with vintage wines. Our guests dine under French chandeliers, alongside wall decor featuring other well-known Elizabeths, from the queen to Betty Boop.
We pride ourselves on serving all Delawareans, including the president. Mr. Biden, who at times has frequented our establishment two to three times a week, has been a great and gracious customer.
Yet friends can have disagreements. The president and his team may understand Delaware politics, but I’m not sure they understand the difficulties of Delaware restaurants. How else to explain his proposal to raise the minimum wage for our servers and bartenders from $2.23 an hour to $15—an increase of more than 400%—which would be a death knell for our industry?
Why, it’s almost as if the elderly Biden, who has seemingly been around Washington even before FDR went on television to calm investors after the 1929 stock market crash (classical allusion), is a stalking horse for a far left agenda. And the above restaurant owner and her employees won’t be the only people to suffer from the “Fight for $15.” As Campus Reform warned in November: Profs conclude $15 federal minimum wage, supported by Biden, would result in 2 million lost jobs.
Related: Biden warned us that his energy policies would be job killers.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Washington State ax-throwing venues want to be able to serve alcohol.
TIME FOR UNITY AND HEALING: L.A. Times:. What do you do about the Trumpite next door? Report him to the Stasi, of course. That’s what leftists do. But this is sad:
Oh, heck no. The Trumpites next door to our pandemic getaway, who seem as devoted to the ex-president as you can get without being Q fans, just plowed our driveway without being asked and did a great job.
How am I going to resist demands for unity in the face of this act of aggressive niceness?
Of course, on some level, I realize I owe them thanks — and, man, it really looks like the guy back-dragged the driveway like a pro — but how much thanks? . . .
So here’s my response to my plowed driveway, for now. Politely, but not profusely, I’ll acknowledge the Sassian move. With a wave and a thanks, a minimal start on building back trust. I’m not ready to knock on the door with a covered dish yet.
I also can’t give my neighbors absolution; it’s not mine to give. Free driveway work, as nice as it is, is just not the same currency as justice and truth. To pretend it is would be to lie, and they probably aren’t looking for absolution anyway.
But I can offer a standing invitation to make amends. Not with a snowplow but by recognizing the truth about the Trump administration and, more important, by working for justice for all those whom the administration harmed. Only when we work shoulder to shoulder to repair the damage of the last four years will we even begin to dig out of this storm.
This is like imagining that the guy who fixed your car out in the wilderness might be a rapist because of his NRA cap — and then proudly sharing those thoughts in print.
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN! The GameStop Phenomenon Is Hardly New. Here’s How a Similar Squeeze Played Out in 1923.
Long before GameStop, there was Piggly Wiggly.
In 1923, the supermarket company—which still does business in the South and Midwest—was at the center of a short squeeze/market morality play that echoes the recent frenzy around GameStop.
As with GameStop and other “meme” companies like AMC Entertainment, Piggly Wiggly was being sold short by several big Wall Street investment firms. This aroused an unexpected popular backlash, stirred by a resentment of “city slickers” getting rich off the “yaps,” or little guys. So there was a sense of triumph when investors fought back and put the squeeze on the shorts.
“New York speculators,” crowed one newspaper, “made to pay through the nose.”
Read the whole thing.
GOODER AND HARDER: San Francisco’s Soft-On-Crime Approach Isn’t Working.
Meanwhile (as usual), the San Francisco Chronicle is covering the real stories impacting San Francisco residents: These S.F. streets are named for people who were morally suspect, or worse, by school board standards.
PRESS GANG’S STURM UND DRANG AFTER SWALWELL BANG-BANGED FANG FANG: Woe Is He! Media shed light on what Eric Swalwell had to contend with ‘after being unwittingly linked to a Chinese spy.’
As Jim Treacher likes to say, “When Republicans screw up, that’s the story. When Democrats screw up, the Republicans’ reaction is the story.”
EDITORIAL: A Dangerous Precedent: Democrats will come to regret targeting Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Just as when Harry Reid got rid of the filibuster, they think the worm will never turn.
NOW OUT FROM CHRISTOPHER NUTTALL: Fighting For The Crown (Ark Royal Book 16).
“BREAK YOUR WILL.” THAT’S HOW OUR RULING CLASS THINKS NOWADAYS. Charlie Baker climate official blasted for comments to ‘break your will’ over emissions. “The state’s $130,000-a-year undersecretary for climate change is being blasted by a fiscal watchdog for saying the administration needs to ‘break’ the will of taxpayers when it comes to heating homes and driving cars. The video shows David Ismay, Gov. Charlie Baker’s under secretary for climate change, telling Vermont climate advocates that it’s time to go after homeowners and motorists to help reduce emissions. At the end of the clip, he adds: ‘I can’t even say that publicly.'”
Nope. People might realize that environmentalists see “climate change” as an opportunity to make ordinary people’s lives worse — and that that’s not even collateral damage, but the chief goal.
DISPATCHES FROM THE MEMORY HOLE: In “Combatting the ‘Drive-By Media’ Impulse,” Jim Geraghty checks back on ten stories over the past few years that the media dangled to its readers — and then “unexpectedly” lost interest in solving, and moved on to the next blockbuster du jour. Read the whole thing.
PUTTING LIVING PEOPLE ON CURRENCY IS A MAJOR SIGN OF A BANANA REPUBLIC: Push for Oprah on $50 bill, Kamala Harris on $100, Taylor Swift on $20.
Cotton contrasted Democrat and left-wing focus on [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)] with their acceptance of and praise for figures like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
* * * * * * * *
Cotton stated, “What the Democrats proposed to do, to reach into the minority and decide who the minority party is going to put on committees is unprecedented, and if they go down that path, then mark my words, Republicans in two years, we’ll go down the same path. Should Ilhan Omar, who’s made multiple antisemitic statements, be sitting on the Foreign Relations Committee? Should Eric Swalwell, cavorting with a Chinese spy be sitting on the Intelligence Committee?”
Cotton added, “This is a very dangerous precedent that the Democratic majority in the House wants to set when they’re on the precipice of losing that majority next year. What Democrats and the liberal media want to do is to leverage a fringe of extremist statements and violence from the right against mainstream conservatives in a way that they would never do on the left.”
Cotton recalled, “Remember, it was a Bernie Sanders supporter who showed up in Alexandria, Virginia, and shot Steve Scalise, almost killed him, and tried to commit mass murder against congressional Republicans, and would have done so if it hadn’t been for the bravery and quick action of Capitol police officers who were there at that ballpark.”
As Mitch McConnell said, when Harry Reid ended the Senate filibuster for federal judge appointments, “‘I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, you’ll regret this,’ McConnell, then the minority leader, told them. ‘And you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.’”
WHY DOES JOE BIDEN HATE LATINOS? Biden Yanks Trump-Backed Hispanic Nominee to Federal Appeals Court.
DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: New website tracks where critical race theory is taught at US schools.
SUPREME COURT ENDS SOME OF NEWSOM’S WORSHIP BAN: But leaves the rest in place for now, including the ban on singing and chanting in worship services, as well as the building capacity percentage limits that are designed to enforce social distancing.
Biggest surprise in the decision is probably the fact the High Court’s newest Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative Catholic who foaming-at-the-mouth detractors predicted would use her position to force every American to attend Latin Mass daily, joined Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a middle-ground position.
STUPID CHINESE. DON’T THEY KNOW THAT IN THE WEST WE’RE DOING THAT WITH GIRLS NOW? China promotes education drive to make boys more ‘manly.’ “The overwhelming majority of Chinese reaction to the notice has been negative. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese have taken to social media to voice their anger, with many branding the government’s message sexist.”
Haha, I love to see them infected with Western decadence. They thought they were immune.
Across Europe, Covid restrictions have changed life beyond recognition. From London to Ljubljana and most places in between, people have been shut up indoors and huge economic, educational and health sacrifices have been made.
But something is starting to stir among the people of Europe. There has been a wave of protests – and, in some cases, riots – across the continent. . . .
Polls suggest that less than 50 per cent of French people support ‘strict confinement measures’, while tens of thousands joined the recent marches against both pandemic rules and the security bill. Popular resistance to restrictions on freedom has become a threat the French government can no longer ignore.
In Brussels, police arrested over 200 people at an anti-lockdown protest at the weekend. ‘We remind you that there is no authorisation to come and demonstrate this Sunday’, tweeted the city police. In the age of Covid, public protest is only permitted with the approval of the state.
To paraphrase Barack Obama, don’t think people aren’t keeping score, bro.
The heavyhandedness and ineffectual (and self-serving) response to Covid worldwide is the best argument against the establishment and in favor of liberty in my lifetime. Don’t let it pass unused.
FROM CEDAR SANDERSON: One Hungry Werewolf: And Other Monstrous Rhymes.
When you’re a werewolf, you make your own friends…
Step inside the covers and meet the monsters so creepy and so adorable that you may want to invent a new word to describe them! We like “creepydorable” but you could come up with your own.
Inside you’ll find blobs, a mad scientist, and an awful lot of bats, but we invite you to begin at the beginning, with just…
One Hungry Werewolf.
IT HAS BEEN DECREED BY THE REGIME: The Rehabilitation of Hunter Biden.
InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
