FIGHT BACK NOW, OR YOU’LL FIGHT BACK LATER, STARVED AND DISARMED:  An overview: “our democracy” is like a tram.

AND SAD PUPPIES, AND COMICS GATE, AND AND AND:  Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Cheated? How the Art World Showed Us It Was Coming.

I hated the previews, and I’ve seen this movie before.

IGNORE THE LYING STATISTICS AND UN BS. THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD HAS PROBABLY BEEN FALLING FOR A WHILE:  A Different Take On Russia.

Yes, even in Africa and Arab countries, which at any rate never had even vaguely credible counts, just a way to shake the international aid tree.  Even in the US, arguably one of more exact countries, we inflate our census count and have since at least the eighties. At this point we’re just asking women who never existed to bear children.

The population bomb is an imploder. And it’s much, much worse than overpopulation would ever be.

AMPLIFYING WHAT I’VE SAID:  Not Playing.

AND IF YOU CAN AT ALL, YOU SHOULD BE TOO:  And this is why I’m a homeschool dad.

THERE IS A VASTLY LARGER DEMAND THAN SUPPLY FOR RACIST INCIDENTS:  How a nobody made national headlines.

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE! NBC Suggests Parents Stay Away From ‘Unvaccinated Individuals’ To Protect Children From Illness That Doesn’t Have Vaccine. “Parents should ‘avoid physical interaction with unvaccinated individuals’ to keep their families safe from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to NBC News, even though there is no RSV vaccine.”

Journalists are stupid and dishonest and prone to repeating stale tropes out of laziness. And those are their good points.

JOHN HINDERAKER: About “Deniers.” “It all started with Holocaust deniers. That phrase has a clear meaning: it refers to someone who denies that the Holocaust took place. But liberals saw potential in the locution, an opportunity to disqualify their opponents without actually making an argument.”

Leftists are Constitution Deniers. And, ultimately, Reality Deniers.

THESE DAYS, A “CONSPIRACY THEORY” IS JUST TRUTH THAT’S AHEAD OF THE MEDIA NARRATIVE: In Completely Unforeseeable Twist, January 6th ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Turns out to Be True.

Heck, I’m old enough to remember when sharing the COVID-19 lab leak theory would get you banned from social media. Now even the “experts” have admitted that’s the most probable origin explanation.

It’s not just the pandemic, though. For years, conservatives proposed, after piecing together much evidence, that the FBI was somehow involved in the unrest that took place on January 6th, 2022. Yet, those calls for answers and accountability were met with condemnation. “How dare you question the impeccable reputation of the FBI,” they asserted while absconding from any critical thinking.

You can probably guess where I’m going with this. Despite well over a year of deflections and denials, it is now confirmed that no less than eight FBI agents were embedded in the Proud Boys organization during the period surrounding January 6th.

I’m sure you are totally shocked by this news. Who could have possibly guessed that Christopher Wray’s FBI, which ran an entrapment scheme involving Gretchen Whitmer prior to the 2020 election, would end up having been intimately involved in the lead-up to January 6th?

You have to admire the framing by the Times, though, pondering how much “federal investigators were able to learn from them about the violent mob attack.” Yes, I’m sure that’s a real mystery. Conversely, the FBI agents likely knew exactly what was being discussed the whole time, which would mean one of two things.

One possibility is that the Proud Boys weren’t planning an insurrection and that conservatives who have called it a spontaneous event have been right all along. That would nuke all the deranged attempts to suggest that Republicans, including Donald Trump, somehow orchestrated the entry into the Capitol Building. The other possibility is that the FBI knew a riot was going to take place and did nothing to stop it, instead letting it play out for political reasons. Wouldn’t that be something? Yet, I wouldn’t even begin to put it past them.

Both the SDS and the KKK used to say in the 1960s that the guy in your group calling for illegal activity was the FBI mole.

WOW, THAT’S A REAL POSER: Was “the most corrupt DEA agent” an anomaly or part of a pattern?

The way Irizarry tells it, dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, informants and in some cases cartel smugglers themselves were all in on the three-continent joyride known as “Team America” that chose cities for money laundering pick-ups mostly for party purposes or to coincide with Real Madrid soccer or Rafael Nadal tennis matches. That included stops along the way in VIP rooms of Caribbean strip joints, Amsterdam’s red-light district and aboard a Colombian yacht that launched with plenty of booze and more than a dozen prostitutes. …

“You can’t win an unwinnable war. DEA knows this and the agents know this,” Irizarry said. “There’s so much dope leaving Colombia. And there’s so much money. We know we’re not making a difference.”

“The drug war is a game. … It was a very fun game that we were playing.”

Sounds plausible.

MULTIPLE WEBSITES ARE CALLING THE ARIZONA GOVERNOR’S RACE FOR KATIE HOBBS: Democrat Katie Hobbs Defeats Republican Kari Lake in Arizona Governor Race.

Lake might have made it over the top if it wasn’t for this moment:

“We don’t have any McCain Republicans here do we? Well, get the the hell out!” – Kari Lake before she called McCain a loser and white nationalist Wendy Rogers a hero.
https://t.co/CSKSmVNwsU https://t.co/9CpgicLxny pic.twitter.com/T7PtGnOXUS

— Tony Cani (@tcani) November 5, 2022

OPEN THREAD: Go crazy.

NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF DAVE CHAPPELLE’S SNL MONOLOGUE:

In the early 1960s, comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested on obscenity charges for merely telling jokes some found offensive. After being handcuffed and led out of an Illinois comedy club, Bruce was later vindicated when that state’s supreme court ruled that the comedian’s routine was social commentary and thus was protected by the First Amendment.

I grew up thinking all good American liberals of a certain age aware of Bruce and his legacy probably thought the state were the bad guys in that situation and he was the hero.

I thought wrong.

Far too many people watched anti-blacklist films such as Woody Allen’s The Front as how-to guides for censoring your enemies.

AN OLD CHESTNUT OF A SPACE LAW PROBLEM: The Kármán Line: Where does space begin?

ROGER KIMBALL: The Changing Narrative Regarding Donald Trump.

DeSantis is flavor of the month. We know he has tremendous appeal in Florida.

How he might play on the national stage is unknown.

Trump has promised a “big announcement” on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Most observers don’t believe he will be advertising Joe Biden’s favorite flavor of ice cream at Trump Tower.

Most people think he will announce his candidacy for president in 2024.

How will that come over?

There are many people who assure us that Trump’s day in the sun is over, that he’s yesterday’s news.

I don’t know if they’re right.

I do remember, though, that many people in 2016 told us that Trump was impossible, that he could never win, that when he did win he could never survive.

For four years, we were told that “bombshells” had been dropped, that “walls were closing in” to hasten Trump’s eclipse.

Maybe this time it’s true.

Maybe.

I’m going to wait and see.

Exit question (and not just related to King Kong versus Godzilla fight for the top of the ticket): So, Where to Now?

WHY I’VE BEEN MISSING THESE LAST FEW DAYS: On Grief.

EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS ZERO: My New York Post column on FTX’s finances — and Uncle Sam’s.

SO WHY DO PEOPLE SEEM MORE RISK-AVERSE THEN? The Most Common Pain Relief Drug in The World Induces Risky Behavior, Study Shows. “One of the most consumed drugs in the US – and the most commonly taken analgesic worldwide – could do a lot more than simply take the edge off your headache. Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, also increases risk-taking, according to a study from 2020 that measured changes in people’s behavior when under the influence of the common over-the-counter medication. . . . The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that acetaminophen’s effects on pain reduction also extend to various psychological processes, lowering people’s receptivity to hurt feelings, experiencing reduced empathy, and even blunting cognitive functions.”

IF YOU CAN MAKE IT THERE: The red wave was real in New York and the GOP can build on it.

UPDATE: Wow:

Zeldin didn’t win, but he must be the most consequential loser in NYC gubernatorial history. In fact, the New York State flips will likely account for the GOP majority in the House.

FASTER, PLEASE: Gene editing with CRISPR technology may boost cancer treatment.

THANKS!

THEY’RE JUST NOT THAT GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO: Horrible tragedy at UVA…and clean-up at WaPo, Aisle 3. “Ever helpful to report current events as they happen and as they want them seen, the Washington Post stepped into the breach with a manipulative classic by even their low standards.”

THE TRANSGENDER ROWBACK BEGINS: NYT: “They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?/Puberty blockers can ease transgender youths’ anguish and buy time to weigh options. But concerns are growing about long-term physical effects and other consequences.”

A FACEBOOK POST REMINDS ME OF THIS CLASSIC TUNE by the Knoxville band Tumblin’ Sneakers: The Secret World of Charles Kuralt.

Based on a true story.

BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: Westinghouse 4500 Watt Super Quiet Portable Inverter Generator. #CommissionEarned