AS THE REAL GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA™, SHE WOULD KNOW: Stacey Abrams Calls Sheriffs Racist for Supporting Brian Kemp.
Archive for 2022
October 31, 2022
FASTER, PLEASE: New drug elicits an antidepressant effect in mice in just two hours.
Of course, a nice sour mash bourbon can cheer me up faster than that.
DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Mountain lion captured in Los Angeles back yard after hours-long search.
BY “POLICE DISINFORMATION” THEY MEAN “CENSOR PEOPLE AND IDEAS DEEMED A THREAT TO THE REGIME,” OF COURSE: Truth Cops: Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation. “Platforms have got to get comfortable with the government.”
Uh, no.
BEEGE WELLBORN On Pelosi: We’re not falling for the ‘Right Wing Terrorist in the Tailpipe’ joke.
San Francisco Police finally had a press conference and said they’d arrived answering a “welfare check” call. Initially, they muddied the water with their phraseology about officers finding “both men holding a hammer” and most listeners interpreted that as each man had a hammer. In fact, there was only one hammer, and they each had ahold of it. The suspect, identified as David DePape and wearing only underwear, wrested the hammer from Paul Pelosi and, in front of the officers, then proceeded to inflict grievous wounds on him, including a skull fracture that required immediate surgery (please heal quickly, dude) before officers could control the situation.
To quote Les Nessman, it gets pretty strange after that.
WHY CAN’T THE BEE UNDERSTAND WRITING STRAIGHT NEWS IS BAD: Op-Ed: Citizens Being Able To Vote The Ruling Party Out Of Power Is The End Of Democracy.
But straight up reprinting editorials from the Washington Post is worse?
Come on, Bee, do better!
JIM TREACHER: How Did David DePape Get into the Pelosis’ House? “I dunno, sounds like a typical San Francisco resident to me. Blaming Republicans for this is grasping at straws. But WaPo and the NYT and the rest have gotten their marching orders, I guess. Oh, one last question: Presumably the responding officers had body cams. Showing us the footage would shut down all these conspiracy theories, wouldn’t it? Hello? Anybody?”
I BELIEVE YOU MEAN “LEADING DEMOCRATIC PARTY DONOR, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, AND NRA OPPONENT HARVEY WEINSTEIN:” ‘Dirty Dancing’ actress claims Weinstein masturbated on her breasts, face.
JOHN NOLTE: WaPo Reporter Admits Media ‘Afraid’ to Tell Truths That Anger the Left.
Here are the key parts of [Erik] Wemple’s confession:
To date, the lesson from the set-to — that publishing a senator arguing that federal troops could be deployed against rioters is unacceptable — will forever circumscribe what issues opinion sections are allowed to address. It’s also long past time to ask why more people who claim to uphold journalism and free expression — including, um, the Erik Wemple Blog — didn’t speak out then in Bennet’s defense.
It’s because we were afraid to.
…
Our criticism of the Twitter outburst comes 875 days too late. Although the hollowness of the internal uproar against Bennet was immediately apparent, we responded with an evenhanded critique of the Times’s flip-flop, not the unapologetic defense of journalism that the situation required. Our posture was one of cowardice and midcareer risk management. With that, we pile one more regret onto a controversy littered with them.
Whatever, whatever, whatever…
Here’s what matters…
Here’s what you need to remember…
On the single most important issue in journalism — defending free speech — the very people charged with defending free expression were too “afraid” of the political left to 1) tell the truth about how outrageous this was and 2) stand up for the bedrock principle of their own profession.
Now, ask yourself this…
If these cowards are too “afraid” to tell that truth and defend that principle, imagine the other truths people like Wemple and the Washington Post are “afraid” to tell.
Imagine all the other principles they are refusing to defend.
Imagine what the corporate media know about but are “afraid” to report — aka Hunter’s laptop, John Fetterman’s health, voting irregularities, Joe Biden’s senility — out of fear of the monsters they allowed into their own newsrooms.
Monsters their editors at the WaPo, the Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Atlantic asserted no control over when they were hired.
And then there’s the average DNC-MSM journalist’s fear of the social media mob: ‘It Can Ruin Your Career:’ Glenn Greenwald Explains Why Journalists Are Terrified To Question Paul Pelosi Narrative. “Greenwald went on to explain that even journalists who had questions about the prevailing narrative — on any topic — often felt as though they couldn’t say anything without risking their jobs or even their entire careers. ‘It’s so crucial to understand the dynamic dominating journalism. Few journalists have career security,’ Greenwald continued. ‘Imagine you’re a young journalist at a big media corporation. You know if you ask these questions, Twitter will explode and it can ruin your career.’”
GASLIGHT MUCH? Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ‘Conspiracy’ About Crime. “People rightly become much more concerned when some homeless felon drug addict, who’s been in and out of the system multiple times, and has just been let out without bail again, randomly stabs someone in the street, or pushes someone in front of an oncoming subway train because the voices in their head told them to.”
HMM: Next-generation AbramsX tank. “The General Dynamics Land Systems Abrams X is a main battle tank for the next generation, featuring reduced weight for improved mobility and transportability and delivering the same tactical range as the M1A2 Abrams with 50% less fuel consumption. The AbramsX’s hybrid power pack supports the U.S. Army’s climate and electrification strategies, enhances silent watch capability and even allows for some silent mobility. With a reduced crew size and AI-enabled lethality, survivability, mobility, manned/unmanned teaming (MUM-T) and autonomous capabilities, AbramsX can be a key node in lethal battlefield networks and serve as a bridge from Abrams SEPv3 and SEPv4 to a future tank.”
It’s not a Bolo, but it’s getting closer. Only I doubt it will be instilled with the character and integrity of Bolos.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Democratic Staffer Fired After Covertly Working With Chinese Embassy. “The staffer, Barbara Hamlett, allegedly reached out to other Congressional staffers and attempted to arrange meetings between them and Chinese Embassy officials for at least several months, National Review reported. Beyer quickly fired Hamlett after he learned of the allegations against her and investigated.”
Previously:
• The Spy Who Drove Her: Dianne Feinstein and Chinese Espionage.
• Swalwell affair with Chinese spy compromises US intel.
• Barbara Boxer ‘deregisters’ as foreign agent for Chinese surveillance company that targeted Uyghurs.
KURT SCHLICHTER: Everyone Is Laughing at the Ridiculous Pelosi Big Lie.
Look, it’s pretty clear that this was just one more Trump-inspired attack on Our Democracy, and to fail to accept this wholeheartedly is to be a conspiracy theorist who is blaming the victim and doing Putin’s bidding. It’s also racist.
That’s certainly one way to look at it. Perhaps a guy walking through San Francisco in his Fruit of the Looms with a hammer in his hand at 2 a.m. might not draw a lot of attention, but a lot of things don’t quite add up. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I have a few questions, some of which could be quickly answered with a House oversight committee deposing Paul Pelosi once he recovers and, just to be sure, sending a subpoena to Grindr.
An official investigation? Yes, please! This is a serious matter, we’re told. After all, the regime media and Democrats such as Ilhan Omar are out there making charges like “A far-right white nationalist tried to assassinate the Speaker of the House and almost killed her husband a year after violent insurrectionists tried to find her and kill her in the Capitol, and the Republican Party’s response is to either ignore it or belittle it.” Heck, Our Democracy is at stake, so the incoming Republican majority must get to the bottom of this alleged act of political violence.
I somehow think the Democrats will be reluctant to help, though Speaker McCarthy should not let any Democrats on the panel in the first place as payback for the 1/6 kangaroo committee. But why not investigate? These are serious charges, albeit from unserious people. Omar, a commie ingrate whose stupidity is exceeded only by her dishonesty, could not resist trying to leverage some cheap advantage from this grody scenario, but she should have passed on strategic if not moral grounds. By trying to place the blame for this on us, she triggered the Streisand Effect just when Democrats least needed to be associated with even more weird nonsense than they are already. Blaming Republicans for what appears to many people to be a sex tryst gone sour guarantees the wrongly accused – us – are going to hammer the Democrats unmercifully about it.
Exit quote:
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s space station is almost complete — how will scientists use it?
“POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY VERSUS CAMPUS AUTONOMY.” Could as easily be put this way: without campus accountability, there will not be political autonomy for campuses. You only get poltical autonomy when everyone thinks you’re doing an OK job.
THE MEDIA FEAR LOSING THEIR GATEKEEPER RIGHTS ON TWITTER:
The tipping point came during the 2020 presidential election, when Twitter froze the sharing or linking of an explosive New York Post story involving Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and a laptop. Reporter Jake Sherman had his Twitter account suspended briefly for attempting to share it. The problem was that the story was accurate. Twitter put its powerful thumb on the scale of a presidential election.
It’s notable that much of the corporate media are now so bereft at Elon Musk’s completed purchase. Reuters has even set up a live cam outside the company headquarters building in San Francisco. Are they waiting for jumpers? Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz bluntly stated, “It’s like the gates of hell opened on this site tonight,” (which made Musk’s move sound pretty cool, to be honest). NBC News’s reporter Ben Collins declared that “all the red lights are flashing here.”
Still, the absolute best thing that can happen to Twitter is that it becomes less important. Newsrooms are often glued to the platform because of how it acts as a live heartbeat of news. However, in recent years, they’ve also used it to elevate and cancel even the most randomized and powerless of users to teach them a moral lesson. Yet much of the country is not active on Twitter, even if a small number of hall monitors in the media are.
This report is angering Twitter’s self-appointed hall monitors: Twitter to start charging $20 a month for verification under new owner Elon Musk.
The company plans to raise its optional $4.99-a-month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month. However, that price is subject to change, the outlet reported, citing internal correspondence and people familiar with the matter.
Twitter will add more features, including verification, to bring its subscription up to par with the cost hike.
The billionaire plans to make verified users fork over the cash to keep their status.
Existing verified users have 90 days to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue after its launch or they’ll lose their checkmarks, according to The Verge.
The current Twitter Blue launched about a year ago and offers subscribers a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers as well as additional customization settings.
Musk has been outspoken about his desire to grow subscription numbers to account for half of Twitter’s revenue as well as his eagerness to overhaul the platform’s verification process in the months ahead of his $44 billion takeover of the company on Thursday.
The answer here is simple then, Iowahawk writes:
Roger those todgers, Elon — Twitter’s financial woes are over!
HE’S BACK ON TV? Chris Cuomo in search of new time slot amid sinking ratings. “An inside source reported to the New York Post that Cuomo is pining for a 9 p.m. time slot instead, replacing host Dan Abrams after he himself was only hired by the news network this month. The former CNN host is ‘starting to blame everyone but himself’ for the ratings, according to the Post’s source, ‘he’s blaming the network, staff that he personally hired, his lead-in, the promo department and even the press department.'”
“BASELESS ALLEGATIONS:” Ann Althouse corrects the New York Times’ fake news. “First, I have a problem with the phrase ‘baseless allegations.’ You shouldn’t add the word ‘baseless” to “allegations’ unless you have determined that the allegations are based on nothing. Has the NYT done that? Or is it simply showing its bias? . . . But this is a news story. Musk linked to something, then deleted it. I’m inclined to speculate that the reason the NYT is elevating this story is that the drunk-fight-with-a-male-prostitute story is not beyond the pale. It needs to be rendered toxic so no one will pass it around. Don’t dare say it! And that’s not going to work.”
I’ve noticed that most of what passes for “journalism” today consists of focusing on what people shouldn’t know, or if they do know it shouldn’t be allowed to talk about. Democracy dies in darkness, and journalists are the people pulling down the shades.
Or trying to: “The NYT story stirs up doubts, even as it demands that we see the drunk-fight-with-a-male-prostitute story as baseless. There’s at least the report that both men were in their underpants! And that DePape allowed Mr. Pelosi to go into the bathroom by himself.”
UPDATE: A friend comments: “We’re in such a sorry state these days regarding the left’s approach to crime, that were it not for Paul Pelosi’s name, his attacker might be free now in San Francisco, NYC, LA and many other large cities.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Meanwhile, more “journalism” from the NYT:
“PRACTICING WHAT WE PREACH.” “Those of us who believe in freedom and who defend the right of pro-Israel students to express their views must take the difficult tack of also arguing for the very same rights for those who criticize and even condemn Israel. If the principle of free speech is to survive, it has to be authentically applied to all sides.”
IT’S WHAT THEY DO: Amazon Fascists Ban Another Book That Leftists Hate. “New English Review Press announced Sunday that a book it published back in 2017, The Islam in Islamic Terrorism: The Importance of Beliefs, Ideas, and Ideology by the renowned ex-Muslim scholar Ibn Warraq, has been pulled for sale from Amazon without explanation or the possibility of appeal.”
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): A friend comments: “Looking at the news today, if Elon wants an idea of what else Twitter can do, setting up a Twitter Book Mart and selling books (including, or especially those dropped by amazon) would be a good and useful one. The actual physical distribution of books is straightforward; publicizing them is the hard part. And the one thing Twitter does really well is publicize.”
START PREPARING FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Ninja 10-in-1 XL Pro Air Fry Digital Countertop Convection Toaster Oven. #CommissionEarned
AT LEAST SHE LEFT THE BUBBLE, IF ONLY BRIEFLY: Jen Psaki Travels to Pennsylvania to Interview Voters, Doesn’t Get the Answers She Wanted.
The conversation started with the Planned Parenthood representative plugging Democrats John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, saying that they will protect “women’s health care and access to abortions.” But when asked what she actually cares about, the woman responded by talking about jobs and the cost of living, noting to Psaki that “I’m sure it’s not the answer you wanted.”
That should have been expected given polls consistently show abortion is not a top issue for the vast majority of Americans. After all, why would anyone care about the largely nebulous topic of abortion more than being able to feed the children they have? It is the peak of bubble-dwelling for Psaki to go knock on doors pushing abortion when inflation is 8.2 percent.
The former Biden official did her best to spin the commentary she received in an article she wrote post-trip, but I’m not so sure she did a good job.
I’m not getting cocky, but at this point it looks like the big-name Dems are out repeating the expected talking points to avoid a total collapse among the true believers.
JOE DID THAT: Inflation Is Scary This Halloween.