THE MOST SOCCER THING EVER! U.S., England tie World Cup match in Qatar, 0-0.
The highlight reel from the game is really something:
UPDATE: From America’s Newspaper of Record: Soccer Team Apologizes For Running Up The Score In 2-0 Blowout.
(Updated and bumped.)
JOHN NOLTE: Disney’s Big Gay, Green ‘Strange World’ Crashes at Box Office.
The predators at Disney are coming for your kids, and everyone knows it.
The Disney brand is now the equivalent of a non-descript van and a guy behind the wheel offering your kids candy.
And now, to once again point out what lying hacks the entertainment media are and just how far these hacks are willing to bend over and sell out their integrity, I give you Deadline’s anti-science excuse for Strange World’s box office disaster:
One former Disney exec once told me, “They’re very good at making the best worst case decision” and in the scenario of Strange World, that’s sending it to Disney+ by the holidays.
Ohhhhhh…. So that’s why Strange World tanked. It’s not the enviro-propaganda or the teenage homosexuality… No, no, no… Strange World tanked because it will be on Disney+ in 30 days. After all, why go to the movies when you can watch it at home in 30 days, right?
Except.
Disney did the exact same thing with Encanto last year. And I do mean the exact same thing. In 2021, Encanto was released in theaters for the Thanksgiving weekend and dropped on Disney+ in time for the Christmas holidays. Nevertheless, it opened to $41 million.
So, under the exact same conditions, why would Encanto open to $41 million and Strange World do about half that?
What we got here is a real head-scratcher.
Earlier: Disney Fired Their Woke CEO But Will Anything Change? “It was returning Bob Iger who sent Disney down its current path to Total Wokeness. Chapek was merely the guy in charge when the stuff inevitably hit the fan.”
WE’RE STILL NOT NEARLY AS CHEAP AS WE USED TO BE, THOUGH: UT College of Law praised as one of the nation’s most affordable law schools.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Oregon school board takes meetings online to hide from angry parents.
UPDATE: Eugene Volokh writes:
Glenn: I followed the links to the original source for the story, which seems to be https://www.foxnews.com/media/oregon-school-district-sparks-outrage-moves-meetings-online-parents-air-concerns-gender-ideology; and it reports:
“Many of the parents who spoke on Oct. 27 and claim their voices are being silenced also commented during the online board meeting on Nov. 17. They were provided the same speaking opportunities afforded during every board meeting and that will continue whether meetings are held in person or hosted online,” the [district’s] statement added.
This seems to contradict the HotAir piece, which says “They instead announced that all future meetings would be held ‘online,’ depriving the parents of the opportunity to be heard.” It may be that the meetings are better held in person, and perhaps that provides more opportunity for public access; but if the statement is correct, then it appears that there is opportunity for parents to be heard in the online meetings.
Hmm. Thanks for the correction!
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: US Shoppers Kick Off Holiday Season With a Muted Black Friday. “US retailers discounted heavily on Black Friday to clear out bloated inventories but customers responded with only modest traffic, leaving profitability in doubt for many chains.”
ONCE YOU SAID “700 HORSEPOWER” I WAS PRETTY DISPOSED TO BELIEVE IN ITS QUICKNESS: Another 700-hp truck arrives, and you won’t believe how quick it is.
READER FAVORITE: Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation). #CommissionEarned
BIG OPPORTUNITIES FOR MISCHIEF, THOUGH: An AI that lets cars communicate might reduce traffic jams.
I’VE SEEN THE LOCKDOWNS AND THE DAMAGE DONE: How COVID-19 school closures could affect inequalities in the decades to come.
STANFORD ACADEMIC FREEDOM CONFERENCE WAS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC–DOES THAT MAKE IT WRONG? It’s obviously not ideal, but colleges have repeatedly done nothing to ensure that speakers cannot be shouted down or, worse, literally run off of campus. (I guess they’re not up on their Frederick Douglass.) This is why we need a culture of free speech, not just laws and rules about it. There’s little advantage in being free to talk if people aren’t willing to, or even free to, listen.
THIS WOULD BE HUGE: A possible vaccine against the bacteria that cause UTIs.
DEMOCRACY DIES IN THINLY-SOURCED SMEAR ARTICLES: WaPo Drops Hit Piece on Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Over 65-Year Old Photo, Says He’s Part of a ‘Confederacy.’
The Washington Post thought it would be a good idea to celebrate the holiday weekend with a hit piece on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones featuring a photo of him aged 14 years old standing in the crowd at a 1957 racial confrontation in North Little Rock, AR. There is no indication that Jones did anything wrong or actively participated in the event, where white people were trying to stop black students from attending the local high school.
A few weeks after the above photo was taken, the higher profile “Little Rock Nine” integration effort took place at Little Rock Central High, resulting in President Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatching federal troops to escort the black students past the protesters in what is regarded as a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. The Post seems to imply that the fact that Jones lived in the area and appeared at a less-famous event means that he’s guilty by association with the racist agitators who harassed black students and used the N-word:
In a photograph taken at the scene, Jones could be seen standing a few yards from where the six Black students were being jostled and repelled with snarling racial slurs by ringleaders of the mob. At one point, a Black student named Richard Lindsey recalled, someone in the crowd put a hand on the back of his neck. A voice behind him said, “I want to see how a… [N-word] feels.” The ruffian hostility succeeded in turning away the would-be new enrollees.
Was it Jones who grabbed the black student? No. Did he jostle the black students or yell racial slurs? No. But in the Post’s world, a 14-year-old boy should have shut down the mob and put those racists in their places.
It’s from the same playbook the Post used to attack Eric Clapton last year, for disagreeing with the lockdown and get quintuple vaxxed mindset of the leftist elites; both sound a bit too close to the rhetoric of Monty Python’s resident Mafioso characters Dino and Luigi Vercotti: “Nice career you have. Shame if something were to happen to it.”
TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE! A public speaking coach should be on Biden’s wish list.
The reason Biden is not tracking higher in the polls is in large measure due to his ineffective public speaking skills which strengthens the image that he is an old man who is not as sharp as he once was. Perception is reality.
I say this as a communications professional who has helped organizational leaders deliver effective and important speeches and presentations before friendly and unfriendly audiences. The ability to communicate with polished verbal and non-verbal public speaking skills is paramount to how an audience perceives you and if you are ineffective at delivering a message, the perception is more negative than positive.
While delivering remarks before a live audience or press conference, Biden is an ineffective communicator, often exhibiting garbled and mumbled words and malaprops, nonsensical utterances and grandpa-like colloquialisms. He has delivered confusing statements on the COVID pandemic, Taiwan and even seeking re-election, forcing his staff to issue statements of clarification. Reminiscences about his days as a child and his father saying, “Joey…” only reinforces his age. He recently asked an audience whether a member of Congress, who was killed in a tragic car accident, was actually in the audience: “Jackie are you here? Where’s Jackie, ” Biden asked the stunned crowd.
Related: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China plans to build a nuclear-powered base on the moon by 2028. “China has ramped up its ambitions in space in recent years, sending probes to the moon, building its own space station and setting its sights on Mars. The plans have put it in direct competition with the US. NASA has a rover on the Red Planet and is seeking to return astronauts to the moon this decade for the first time since the Apollo program ended in the 1970s. Both China and the US are spending billions of dollars to not just put humans on the moon, but also to access resources that could foster life on the lunar surface or send spacecraft to Mars.”
MASS FORMATION PSYCHOSIS: Social influence driving teens to gender transition.
CYBER MONDAY DEAL: Legendary Whitetails Men’s Buck Camp Flannel Shirt. #CommissionEarned
ARE YOU EVEN ALLOWED TO SAY THAT? Be open to marriage while in college, Catholic mother and commentator advises.
SOME BOOKISH THOUGHTS FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: If you are of a reflective cast of thought today, you might well appreciate my latest PJ Media column, which looks at common sense, philosophy, books and The Book. With a useful bonus reference for Instapunditeers who happen also to be aspiring race-car drivers.
I REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE SAID WE SHOULD FUND HIGHER EDUCATION BECAUSE IT WOULD PROMOTE INFORMED DEBATE: University system survey reveals students and faculty hesitant to express political views on campus.
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.