IT’S AS IF EVERYTHING WORTHWHILE GETS RUINED BY OUR POLITICAL/MANAGERIAL CLASS: Tech’s broken promises: Streaming is now just as expensive and confusing as cable. Ubers cost as much as taxis. And the cloud is no longer cheap.
Note that regulation is why Uber/Lyft in NYC is no longer much cheaper than taxis. How about that.
VIDEO: Welcome to Smash Francisco.
OLD AND BUSTED: Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.
The New Hotness: The ‘Brrr’ Is Coming Back. “After a weird and warm winter season last year, this winter should make cold weather fans rejoice — especially those in the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern New England areas.”
“Climate is what you expect,” the wise man said, “weather is what you get.”
KEVIN DOWNEY JR’S “GUN MYTH” FACT-CHECK: Liberals Vs. Americans, Part 1.
Before we get started, I just want to apologize for the phrase “fact-check” in the headline. I abhor the phrase “fact-check” because it is frequently used by commie websites that employ each other’s articles to verify or debunk alleged “facts.” Meaning, the pinko skanks at USA Today will post “Fact-Check: Did Biden Make Millions Selling Influence to our Enemies Across the Globe? The New York Times says ‘No.’” It’s akin to Stalin saying, “If you don’t believe me, ask Beria.”
However, I will be doing a real fact-check on gun myths. Let’s get this “myth” brawl underway.
Lots of fun-filled facts at the link.
HENRY MORGENTHAU’S REVENGE: De-Industrializing Germany.
So it’s goodbye, manufacturing. No more German automobiles, among other products. Of course, the issue isn’t whether the government should subsidize energy prices on behalf of the manufacturing sector. The issue is whether the government should continue to intentionally and catastrophically drive energy prices higher.
But Ms. Schnitzer says we should resist pessimism about her country:
However, she rejected the idea that Germany is again the sick man of Europe.
She says Germany needs to “embrace change.” Unfortunately, the change she proposes is de-industrialization and a resultant sharp decline in Germans’ standard of living. I’m not sure that is a good idea. The world still remembers what happened the last time Germany suffered an economic collapse.
Yes, and one proposal for Germany’s post-war future: The Morgenthau Plan of 1944.
A plan drawn up by the US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr (b. 1891, d. 1967) which envisaged a postwar Germany as an agricultural, deindustrialized country which would be divided into a northern and a southern half, with the Rhineland, the North Sea coast, and other important strategic or industrial areas coming under international control. After initial acceptance by Roosevelt, it was quickly withdrawn as completely impractical, as such a Germany would continue to be reliant on foreign finance. The plan was used extensively by Goebbels in his Nazi propaganda to strengthen German resolve towards the end of World War II.
So, deindustrialization was too radical for even FDR, but considered a viable plan by today’s German Greens. Progress!
MODERN PROBLEMS: Microsoft took down a string of embarrassing travel articles created with ‘algorithmic techniques.’ But it says AI isn’t the problem. “Last week, Microsoft took down a string of articles published by ‘Microsoft Travel’ that included a bizarre recommendation for visitors to Ottawa to visit the Ottawa Food Bank and to ‘consider going into it on an empty stomach.'”
I take it back. AI does have a sense of humor, after all.
BUT HE’S RAKED IN THE ROYALTIES AND SPEAKING FEES: Prof. Ibram Kendi hasn’t published a new paper in 4 years.
Woke academics don’t have to do scholarship. It’s in the rules somewhere.
LET IT ALL HANG OUT: The Left Ruins Everything: Now They’re Cancelling Classic Rock. “It is the talk of the music industry; nobody can work out why such a good-natured, fun song can’t be acceptable in today’s society.”
HO HUM, THIS IS SO 2020: Robin DiAngelo to train healthcare professionals in ‘racial equity’ for Mayo Clinic.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Is Donald Trump Cocky or Just Chicken? “We already know that Trump doesn’t have any issues with his sense of self-worth. From day one, he’s been convinced that he has the nomination sewn up. And while polling has largely borne that out, is it too early to be this cocky? Shouldn’t he face his GOP competitors (or ‘colleagues’ to borrow Vivek Ramaswamy’s euphemism) head-on?”
Chris Queen is filling in for Kruiser today, who was smart enough to stay on vacation longer than I did.
DON’T MAKE YOURSELF A HOSTAGE: US citizens urged to leave Belarus immediately. ““Do not travel to Belarus due to Belarusian authorities’ continued facilitation of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, the buildup of Russian military forces in Belarus, the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the potential of civil unrest, the risk of detention, and the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Belarus.”
CLEARLY. NEXT QUESTION? Does the Washington Post have a policy against using the word ‘Democrat’ when reporting on arrested politicians?
Former College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn this month was sentenced to 5 years in prison for pornography convictions.
Former businessman and political fundraiser Tony Lazzaro this month was sentenced to 21 years in prison for sex trafficking causes.
You can read about both of these convictions in the Washington Post, which has covered these cases for months. A big difference: Not a single one of the Washington Post stories on Wojahn’s sex offenses mention his party or his political allies, and every single one of the Washington Post’s stories on Lazzaro mentions his party in the headline and the first sentence, and goes on to mention his political allies.
You can guess which party each belongs to.
It’s all explained here:
BECAUSE IT COMES FROM RED STATES AND ITS PRODUCTION ENRICHES AND EMPOWERS THEM? Why Has Biden Declared War on Natural Gas?
Completely unrelated: Why Team Biden might be purposefully grinding down the middle class.
But see: Finally, some good news on energy. A North Carolina coal-fired plant will be replaced with nuclear, not wind. So there’ll be, you know, actual power.
HMM: Airline Close Calls Happen Far More Often Than Previously Known.
I mentioned a while back that these things seem to be happening more often.
MICHAEL WALSH: What Is To Be Done? “In other words, enough already with the analysis and the talk: we know things are a mess. So what are you going to do about it? Normally, that’s a question I pose to the reader at the end of each piece.”
HOW’D HE GET HIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE? Illinois School District Fires Teacher Who Claims to Be a Satanist and Suffers From Psychosis.
HUNTER’S SWEETHEART DEAL WAS ACTUALLY PLAN B: That’s because, according to Issues & Insights, it’s damn good to be a Biden these days.
MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: Neurosis and the Curley Effect: The politics of mental health, and the mental health of politics.
LIGHTNING DEAL: Compressed Air Duster – Keyboard Cleaner for Office. #CommissionEarned
GOP DEBATE NIGHT TOMORROW WON’T BE QUITE THE SAME WITHOUT HIM:
The Trump I know would be all over these debates – he'd walk on that stage and remind us all why he's leading. He'd be a lion with those numbers and he'd make the moderator look pathetic anytime they targeted or harassed him.
This SHOULD be his wheelhouse.
I don't get this. https://t.co/evw1q0jyTe
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 21, 2023
I get it… but on the other hand:
Why is Trump debating such a bad idea?
First of all, what’s his upside? What does he get out of debating? He’s at about 50% of the GOP electorate, according to polls five months out of Iowa. That’s not great for a former prezzy, but his current lead dwarfs all his competitors, including his nearest rival and my personal choice, Alligator Ron. The fact is that he has topped out. He’s already at his peak. There’s no advantage to debating. He has nothing to gain. Absolutely no one is going to watch Trump one more time after eight years in the political spotlight, and after all these bogus witch hunt frame jobs, and say, “Well, this is a side I have never seen of Trump. I will reconsider my objections to his mean tweets and qualms about his electability and board the Trump train.”
The calculus for his competitors is different. All the other candidates, from Ron through Nikki! through Soft Tim Scott through rappin’ Vivek Ramaswamy to heavyweight Chris Christie, will be looking for A Moment. A Moment lets you break out. A Moment changes everything.
On the third hand, Trump won’t be there to stomp all over someone else’s campaign-defining moment, assuming one happens.
As usual, I’ll drunkblog the Wednesday night debate over at the mothership.
UPDATE: Fox News restricts Trump team’s access to debate ‘spin room.’ “Fox restricted access to the post-debate ‘spin room’ at Fiserv Forum to aides of candidates who are participating in the debate, according to a network memo obtained by Axios.”
That’s fair.
But: “Even if a candidate has a breakthrough moment Wednesday, Trump will dominate headlines Thursday, when he surrenders to authorities in Georgia to face charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.”
Well, there’s the stomp.
SCIENCE GROWS LESS REPRODUCIBLE BUT MORE CERTAIN: A study of language in Science articles from 1997 through 2021 raises concerns about exaggerated claims.
By coincidence (or algorithm) this appeared in my feed right next to this:
Source of the latter quote is here. Note that it predates the Covid era, since which both the exaggerated certainty, and the questionable reliability, of the science have only grown.
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