THE NEW SPACE RACE: Lander companies prepare to shoot for the moon. “The agency has issued task orders for eight missions to five companies: Astrobotic Technology, Draper, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and Masten Space Systems. Some of those companies are finally getting close to flying their missions, with launches scheduled for late this year or early next year. Another company, though, has stumbled long before taking its shot on goal.”
Archive for 2022
September 22, 2022
DO TELL: It’s Not Just Men in Power Who Use Unwanted Sexual Behavior For Gain.
It’s not even just men. I know, mind-blowing, right?
TRUST THE BIG, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. THEY’RE BIG AND PROFESSIONAL! Morgan Stanley Discarded Old Hard Drives Without Deleting Customer Data First.
IT’S COME TO THIS:
Guess she realized how absurd she was being, because she edited it… pic.twitter.com/2n4Zqgqs5e
— IrishStephen (@NDIrishFan_72) September 21, 2022
RUBIO TURNS TABLE ON JOURNOS: And I say it’s about time and in fact all politicians should feel free to challenge how journalists of all stripes are doing their work.
Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s intrepid “fact” checker, must have been salivating over his plan to “own the cons” when he retweeted Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ claim that “there’s no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks.” Abrams (D-Tinfoil Hat) claimed that a fetal heartbeat is just a Grand Plot by men to “take control of a woman’s body.”
Kessler weighed in with, “FWIW, ‘fetal heartbeat’ is a misnomer. The ultrasound picks up electrical activity generated by an embryo.”
“The so-called ‘heartbeat’ sound you hear is created by the ultrasound,” he added. “Not until 10 weeks can the opening and closing of cardiac valves be detected by a Doppler machine.”
Apparently, a memo went out on the Left this week with the new pro-abortion talking point to justify the murder of unborn children. Dr. Stacey Abrams, M.D., and Kessler wasted no time running to Twitter to shout the New Abortion Narrative.
It can’t be easy doing cleanup duty for the president of United Earth.
LISTEN, SUG: DON’T FORGET TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS*. Time to Dust Off the Old Nuclear War-Fighting Playbook?
Unpalatable as it is, the world may be forced to dust off the old Cold War-era playbooks that kept everyone’s missiles peacefully interred in their silos. Indeed, it’s vital that Western decision-makers reacquaint themselves with the lessons of the past, and soon. The present conversation around deterring or responding to a Russian use of nonconventional weapons is downright terrifying.
Some believe that NATO nations should broadcast their potential response to Russia’s use of a nuclear weapon. Sagamore Institute senior fellow Jerry Hendrix advocates the establishment of a red line, the crossing of which would trigger a Western no-fly zone over Ukraine and NATO soldiers on the ground, the sinking of Russian naval assets in the Black and Baltic seas, and the neutralization of Russian military targets outside Russia’s borders. Lacking the capacity to respond conventionally, Moscow might be forced to respond unconventionally. “To be sure, this will result in the loss of lives and the destruction of great cities,” Hendrix writes. “This is immeasurably sorrowful and regrettable, but the responsibility will not be on the West.” True enough, but that’s cold comfort.
Sam Nunn, a former lawmaker and the co-author of a program that deactivated thousands of Soviet nuclear weapons, “favors some sort of horizontal escalation” to avoid a nuclear response to a Russian attack. For example, destroying the platform that delivers a nuclear weapon. The West could also mount non-kinetic responses, including crippling cyberattacks on Russian command and control and civilian infrastructure. And the Russians must be made aware that these consequences would inevitably follow the use of an unconventional weapon.
* And don’t forget to wear your mask when you’re in the fallout shelter:
Flashback: The Unexpected Return of Duck and Cover.
(Classical allusion in headline.)
TWO BOMBINGS IN ONE NIGHT? THAT’S NORMAL NOW IN SWEDEN.
Sweden, which has a population of around 10 million, has the highest per-capita number of deadly shootings of 22 European countries. Forty-seven people have been shot dead so far this year, which, while far from American levels of gun homicide, is extreme for Europe. Other European countries have come to look at Sweden with horror.
It may be shocking for Americans to learn that in Sweden—the land of IKEA, Spotify and Greta Thunberg—all of this is going on. Perhaps the reason you don’t know about it is because of the uncomfortable reality of how we got here.
Among shooting suspects, 85 percent are first- or second-generation immigrants, according to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, as immigrant neighborhoods have become hotbeds for gang crime. National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg has described the violence as “an entirely different kind of brutality than we’ve seen before” and his deputy, Mats Löfving, says that 40 criminal clans now operate throughout the country. Spreading fear are “humiliation robberies,” targeting children and youth, in which victims are subjected to degrading treatment by assailants, such as being urinated upon. Just this week, four men were sentenced for robbing, beating and urinating on an 18-year-old, who was also filmed by his tormentors.
All of which is why, for the first time ever, crime emerged as a top priority among voters ahead of this past weekend’s general election. Swedes made their concerns plain on Sunday, when they awarded the country’s most strident anti-immigration party more than 20 percent of the vote.
The Sweden Democrats, or SD, is now the second-biggest party in parliament, and the biggest party of the right-wing bloc—gaining more votes than the more traditional center-right Moderate party. (It remains to be seen whether Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderates, can form a government with the support of SD, while sticking to his promise not to allow the party into the government coalition.)
So how did Sweden’s famously liberal electorate usher in a party with roots on the extreme right? In a word: denial.
In response to Sweden’s increasing problems with gang violence and social unrest in immigrant suburbs, the government’s strategy for many years was to deny how serious the situation had become. In the meantime, those people who noticed the problem—many of whom were working class—and spoke out about their diminished safety were accused of racism by leading politicians, the mainstream press, and the cultural elites. Only one political party did not: the SD. And in election after election, they gained more and more popular support.
As David Frum tweeted in 2018 regarding the left hurling the F-bomb at the Trump administration, “If liberals insist that enforcing borders is a job only fascists will do, then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won’t.”
See also: Orbán, Viktor.
I ACTUALLY AVOID USING GPS WHENEVER POSSIBLE FOR THIS REASON: Habitual use of GPS negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation.
READER FAVORITE: Silonn Ice Maker Countertop. #CommissionEarned
WELCOME BACK, CARTER! Tone-Deaf Fortune Mag Headline: ‘Why You Should Be Happy About Inflation.’
Just NBC Lorne Michaels nodding in agreement:
"Sure, all these dollars will cause even more inflation, but who cares?" – Jimmy Carter (Dan Akroyd), 1978
""I'm sick of this stuff … the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true!" – Joe Biden, 2022
Same energy. pic.twitter.com/o6Koe7edPr
— Louder with Crowder Dot Com (@LWCnewswire) April 5, 2022
ROGER SIMON: Keystone XL Revisited: Did Biden Give Putin the ‘WherewithOIL’ for World War III?
When the newly elected (or selected, if you prefer) president put an end to the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day, leading to an economic disaster for the United States and globally, while exacerbating the tremendous worldwide suffering instigated by a mishandled pandemic (real or imagined), it also opened the door for one Vladimir Putin.
Joe Biden presented Putin with the wherewithal—or should we say “wherewithOIL”—including the vast sums of cash therefrom, to invade Ukraine and who knows who else.
The United States, Putin concluded, would no longer be providing the world with fossil fuels, so who was there left, speaking of mothers, to take up the slack in increasingly high-priced liquid gold but Mother Russia?
Of course, Iran and Venezuela were similarly ready, willing, and able, but they didn’t have anywhere near the firepower (i.e., the world’s largest supply of nukes) that the beleaguered and possibly paranoid Putin does.
So, where are we now, besides the fact that Europe will soon be grappling with a winter that may not be nuclear but certainly will be absolutely freezing cold, possibly to death? In our case, it will just cost a small fortune to heat our homes.
Two-thirds through the month of September 2022 we have learned, via Vladimir’s defense minister, that the perpetual Russian president has ordered a “partial” mobilization of up to 300,000 reservists.
Also, Putin himself has just reminded us of his modern, updated nuclear arsenal and assured us that he’s “not bluffing” about its use.
Is he or isn’t he?
I could be a wise guy and say “only your hairdresser knows for sure,” but not even he or she knows. Maybe even Vladimir himself doesn’t know… until he does.
Fortunately though, American forces under President Biden are prepared for any potential looming conflict – or, perhaps not: Biden’s Military: Forget ‘Mom,’ ‘Dad,’ Use Woke Substitutes Instead, Air Force Cadets Told.
FACT-CHECKING THE FACT-CHECKERS: ‘Fact’ Checker Glenn Kessler Claims Fetal Heartbeat Is a ‘Misnomer,’ Instantly Regrets Getting Out of Bed Today.
JOSH BARRO: Gavin Newsom Is Gross and Embarrassing and Will Never Be President.
Dear readers,
I have a rant.
In theory, Gavin Newsom is running for re-election as governor of California. But he is also, in the least subtle way possible, trying to position himself for a presidential run.
He’s challenged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — also nominally just a candidate for re-election — to a national debate on CNN. And he’s used re-election campaign funds to put up billboards in South Carolina and six other states advertising the availability of abortion in California. And there has been a steady stream of news stories, obviously fueled by the governor’s allies, about how he stands ready to run for president as soon as the Democratic nomination becomes available.
I hate this for a few reasons.
First: The posturing is gross and cheap. The abortion billboards say “California is ready to help,” but they direct readers to a website that does little more than inform readers that abortion is legal in California and they may travel there to receive one. Gee, thanks. California does not, in fact, offer anything especially useful to women living 2,000 miles away who need abortions — if you need an abortion you can’t get in South Carolina, your likely best option is to travel to North Carolina. The billboards amount to using women in red states as a prop to burnish Newsom’s image. Similarly, proposing to debate DeSantis on CNN (about what, immigration policy neither of them controls?) does nothing to address migrant issues. It’s all about how these issues can be used to draw attention to Gavin Newsom.
Not surprisingly for a flailing governor of a failing state, Newsom has a serious case of TDS: Gavin Newsom Tells a Whopper During Discussion About Massive California Exodus. “Newsom says people are fleeing California ‘because of visa policies in the Trump administration.’ I know Newsom relishes residing in fantasyland and also enjoys the luxury of a dutifully compliant state and national press that rarely challenges him, but this is just straight-up bull. One doesn’t need to take my word for it, either. As recently as July, even the Democrat apologists at the Los Angeles Times wrote a report on why people were leaving and – shocker of shockers – the main reasons people were packing up and moving out of California in record numbers were the high cost of living including outrageously high home prices, rising violent crime including deadly smash and grabs, and out of control homelessness[.]”
How many people are leaving California? U-Haul Literally Ran Out of Trucks Leaving California.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
LAUGHING WOLF PRESENTS THE LAST TWO PARTS OF Nuclear 201: Fallout and Fair Question. “What are you going to do if things go nuclear?”
LIVE AT 4PM EASTERN: ‘Five O’Clock Somewhere’ with Kruiser, VodkaPundit, Special Guest Megan Fox.
INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Air Force Academy diversity training tells cadets to use words that ‘include all genders,’ drop ‘mom and dad.’
VDH: Martha’s Meltdown Model.
Martha’s Vineyard has been all over the news.
The tony resort community so loves aiding and comforting the undocumented immigrants who were flown in from Florida that it hugged them — for all of 48 hours.
Oddly, the Left became unhinged when red-state governors — whose states the last two years were flooded with some 3 million people who entered the country illegally — finally decided to spread welcoming chores among affluent blue-state communities.
It was a natural fit.
Most, like Washington, D.C., and New York, were on record as sanctuary city jurisdictions. In the abstract, they endorse open borders and celebrate diversity — from the serenity of thousands of miles away.
The uproar at Martha’s Vineyard prompted the Democratic hierarchy to do some explaining. Why had it not earlier objected to the federal government night flights of tens of thousands of border-crossers to red-state communities that had opposed illegal immigration?
And why be angry with governors who were only emulating that policy by flying in a mere 50 newcomers — in the light of day — to a far wealthier and liberal-minded sanctuary resort?
Read the whole thing.
KEVIN DOWNEY JR: More Americans Worried About ‘Socialist Left’ Than Big, Scary MAGA—and That’s Just the Beginning. “There are more delicious takeaways from the poll that should have Democrats shaking in their non-binary under-panties. For starters, more than half the country thinks Biden’s brain is a problem, and still more think he’s too old for the White House gig.”
DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Police warn of alligator sighting in Wisconsin park.