JOE BIDEN, REPAIRING OUR TATTERED RELATIONS AROUND THE WORLD: Argentina’s president offers Putin a ‘gateway to Latin America.’

WELL, PRETTY MUCH ALL GUN CONTROL PLANS FIT THIS DESCRIPTION: San Jose’s New Gun Owner Tax is Misplaced, Ineffective, and Unserious.

SACRAMENTO BLUES: California Tries and Fails Again to Create Government-Controlled Health Care System.

The California bill, AB 1400, would have abolished virtually all private and employer-sponsored health insurance, and would have replaced it with a state-run system promising universal coverage, including for illegal immigrants.

Among other things, the measure would have the state set and control payments for doctors and all other medical professionals and would have even restricted the ability of residents to get treatment from a doctor outside of the government program.

The bill failed in the heavily Democratic-controlled California State Assembly because Assemblyman Ash Kalra of San Jose could not even muster enough Democratic support to get a floor vote on the measure. He refused to bring the bill up for a vote, let alone even a floor fight.

Aside from opposition from “moderate” Democrats and the business community, Gov. Gavin Newsom, an outspoken supporter of the “single payer” concept, was conspicuous for his silence on the measure, further angering the bill’s supporters, notably the California Nurses Association.

Like the Terminator, they’ll be back.

CREEPY PORN LAWYER UPDATE: Michael Avenatti convicted of stealing $300K from Stormy Daniels.

Flashback: Why the media wants you to forget about Michael Avenatti.

LOCKDOWN SCIENCE: No Benefit, Many Costs. After reviewing thousands of studies, researchers at Johns Hopkins conclude that lockdowns had “little to no effect on Covid-19 mortality.”

PRIVACY: Senators Want EARN IT Bill to Scan All Online Messages. “A group of lawmakers led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have re-introduced the EARN IT Act, an incredibly unpopular bill from 2020 that was dropped in the face of overwhelming opposition. Let’s be clear: the new EARN IT Act would pave the way for a massive new surveillance system, run by private companies, that would roll back some of the most important privacy and security features in technology used by people around the globe. It’s a framework for private actors to scan every message sent online and report violations to law enforcement. And it might not stop there. The EARN IT Act could ensure that anything hosted online—backups, websites, cloud photos, and more—is scanned.”

THE BANNINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES: Disturbing: Twitter Purges Conservative Education Publication and Staff Amid Teachers’ Union Pressure Campaign.

Twitter has some serious explaining to do. On Thursday, the social media platform suspended the account of the conservative education publication Chalkboard Review. 

It also suspended the individual accounts of several staff members. In all cases, these suspensions came out of left field and Twitter provided no warning or reason for the removals, according to Chalkboard Review Executive Director Tony Kinnett. 

The publication was founded in 2020 and publishes content focused on education policy. Its articles and viewpoints often come from a conservative or libertarian point of view. Chalkboard Review has argued in favor of school choice, criticized public schools, called for transparency, highlighted outlandish examples of educators-gone-woke, and fought back against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools. 

However, Chalkboard Review also publishes counterarguments and lots of rather uncontroversial content. Indeed, the last article the account had tweeted before its suspension was ominously entitled “5 Books to Inspire Teachers.”

We still don’t know why Twitter has purged the publication and several of its personnel. It could be a mistake by the tech giant. Yet that seems far-fetched given the fact that it was not one account, but four, that were banned. What’s more, the suspensions took place hours apart throughout the day on Thursday.

Kinnett pointed out that the surprising crackdown comes amid a push from teachers’ unions and other establishment education interests to silence dissident voices critiquing them.

Abandoning the decentralized Blogosphere for the walled gardens of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was a huge mistake, particularly for conservatives. Somebody should write a book about the reasons why.

I’VE SPECULATED THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE CASE: Repeated seasonal influenza vaccines also provide kids better protection against future flu pandemics, study finds.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Clueless Newsom Shocked at California’s ‘Third World’ Conditions.

During a photo-op recently at a stretch of Union Pacific railroad tracks in Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed shock at the accumulated garbage: busted-open cargo containers, looted packages, cardboard boxes, and acres of trash. “I’m asking myself, what the hell is going on? We look like a third-world country,” he said.

Newsom vows to never leave the French Laundry again.

#RESIST: Two N.Y. Towns Mull Seceding From Erie County Over Draconian COVID Restrictions.

WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP: Group accuses Utah agency of ruining ancient dinosaur tracks. “Donnelly said that the land management’s construction equipment, which included a backhoe left on site, had driven directly over the fossil dinosaur tracks, permanently destroying as much as 30% of the site.”

STANDING UP TO CAMPUS KANGAROO COURTS: TRO Against Brown University’s Interim Suspension of Student for Alleged Sexual Assault. “[T]he facts suggest that … the Threat Assessment Team failed to demonstrate anything that would indicate they afforded the plaintiff a presumption that he was not responsible for the alleged conduct as required by contract.”

You’re not actually supposed to start with a presumption of guilt.

HUNTER BIDEN: Latest Corruption Evidence Triggers Demands For Special Counsel.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Here’s why you shouldn’t try to carjack people who are driving giant trucks (video).

GENERATORS NEED A LOT MORE SPACE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK: Winter storm bring carbon monoxide danger to homes.

WE’VE DESCENDED INTO SOME SORT OF BIZARRE HELL-WORLD IN WHICH AL SHARPTON(!) IS A VOICE OF SANITY: ‘You Cannot Normalize What They’re Doing In China:’ Al Sharpton Hits Back At Pelosi Over Olympics Warning.

FAKE NEWS: MSNBC Spreads Disinformation About Omicron and Kids.

TOP SELLER: XOUXOU Men’s Casual Belt with Prong Buckle for Men. #CommissionEarned

HMM: Smoking pot may raise risk for strokes among young adults. Seems like we’re hearing a lot about strokes in young adults lately.

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE:

I’m old enough to remember the last time Joe Biden promised us a recovery summer that never came.

VITAMIN D UPDATE: Israeli study offers strongest proof yet of vitamin D’s power to fight COVID. “Israel scientists say they have gathered the most convincing evidence to date that increased vitamin D levels can help COVID-19 patients reduce the risk of serious illness or death. Researchers from Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center say that the vitamin has such a strong impact on disease severity that they can predict how people would fare if infected based on nothing more than their ages and vitamin D levels. Lacking vitamin D significantly increases danger levels, they concluded in newly peer-reviewed research published Thursday in the journal PLOS One.”

THE GUILD PROTECTS ITS OWN: Why isn’t MSNBC covering the Jeff Zucker scandal?

On the other side of the spectrum, MSNBC did not mention the name “Jeff Zucker” once in the twenty-four hours since the announcement of his resignation, according to a SnapStream search of the network.

MSNBC is not shy when it comes to mentioning Fox News on-air and has been regularly covering Tucker Carlson, devoting entire segments to the top-rated Fox host’s influence in the Republican Party. Zucker was the CEO of NBC Universal from 2007 to 2010, the then-parent company of MSNBC.

However, MSNBC’s lack of coverage may simply be due to the fact that the Zucker story, according to their editorial calculus, has no national political implications.

Flashback: Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw Defend Dan Rather, Who Sees Effort to “Smear” Him.

Just think of the media as Democratic Party operatives with bylines, and it all makes sense.

Evergreen:

IT WAS TRUE THEN, IT’S TRUE NOW: I wrote this for The Daily Caller about three years ago, and it’s truer than ever. Who didn’t know that Whoopi “rape-rape” Goldberg is a moron? Her imbecilic take on the Holocaust just exposed her knuckleheadedness to a wider audience.

But knuckleheads have the right to speak, even if it shocks or outrages people.

(Illustration by Tom White)

WEALTH TAX: Washington State One Step Closer to Driving Out All Its Billionaires. “I won’t bore you yet again with why a wealth tax is a bad idea. Instead, let’s talk about why it’s a stupid idea.”

THERE’S A ZUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE: Inside the explosive meeting with CNN stars angry over Jeff Zucker’s resignation: Jake Tapper called Chris Cuomo a ‘terrorist,’ Jim Acosta said network would now become ‘Fox News Light’ and Kaitlan Collins unleashed fury on WarnerMedia CEO.

And the Zucker cult isn’t just confined to the CNN bullpen: It Sure Seems Like the January 6th Committee Was Colluding With Jeff Zucker.