Archive for 2023

OF COURSE THEY DO. THE WHOLE THING WAS COOKED BETWEEN BIDEN AND RUSSIA:  U.S. Reportedly Continues Secret Negotiations With Russia.

I mean, people, for the love of heaven “we’re really mad at Russia, but they’re our negotiators with Iran.”  Yeah, sure.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Argentina signs Artemis Accords. It’s interesting that this Trump-era initiative, which was really enabled by an Obama-era statute, continues to flourish under Biden.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG:

#JOURNALISM:

THE AGE OF PLASTIC. “For Rene Guenon, the key to understanding the Ages was to keep in mind that to the ancients metals had not merely a material and quantitative value but a qualitative one, they meant something. This value as a qualitative signifier is important for understanding its value as an interpretive tool. . . . What is plastic? True plastics are synthetic materials for which the primary ingredients are polymers. They are fully the creation of humans, the rearranging of matter at the fundamental level. Plastics have existed since the dawn of the 20th century but only came into widespread popular use after the Second World War, alongside the triumph of liberalism over its sister ideology fascism. Its characteristics made it useful for the world coming into being. Plastic is cheap. It can be molded and pressed and extruded with ease by industrial processes. It can be made into any shape and size needed, and en masse. Plastic can be easily made sterile, and thus can be used for things involved with human well-being, like food packaging and medical supplies. Because of its low cost and the scale of plastic production, it can be tossed away when done with. These are its material characteristics. However, as Guenon would have perceived, there is a spiritual dimension to plastic, one so pronounced as to give its whole character to this Age. The commercial cheapness of plastic goods strips them of any significance. While in the Iliad every bronze tripod or iron ring had a colorful backstory, receiving a plastic gift is tantamount to being authorized to throw it away.”

REPLACE ADMISSIONS OFFICES WITH A LOTTERY. Pick your cut score of grades and test scores, then choose randomly among those above the line. Fair, and likely to be more diverse than educrats’ picks. The Trouble With Holistic Admissions.

The main trouble with “holistic admissions” is that it is a lie, designed to facilitate racial discrimination. Just as it was 100 years ago when it was used against Jews. “Holistic admission has a sordid history at Harvard. In 1926, Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell switched from exam-based admissions to holistic review, allegedly to limit the number of Jewish students at the college.3”

ABOUT BIDENOMICS AND REALITY: President Joe Biden insists his economic program is “working.” That’s not what most Americans think, according to the latest I&I/TIPP Poll:

“The president in recent weeks has maintained that his economic policies are ‘turning things around and ‘delivering for the American people,’ and has made other comments intended to boost support for Bidenomics. But by 51 percent to 42 percent, Americans disagree with those assessments, based on the online I&I/TIPP Poll, taken July 5-7 from 1,341 adults. The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.

“Among the majority, 33 percent said they disagreed ‘strongly,’ while just 18 percent said they disagreed ‘somewhat.’ Results were weaker for the minority opinion, with just 16 percent saying they agreed ‘strongly’ that Biden’s policies were turning things around, while 26 percent said they only ‘somewhat’ agreed.”

BIDEN’S WAR AGAINST INTERNAL COMBUSTION, CONSUMER CHOICE: You heard about the forthcoming new federal fuel standard of 58 mpg by 2032. And you know it doesn’t take a mechanical engineering degree to realize such a standard will be all but impossible to meet with a fossil-fueled vehicle.

So what’s going on? According to the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), it’s pretty much what has been suspected all along – They hate consumer freedom, so they are moving to force Americans out of their privately-owned gas-powered cars and trucks and into alternative modes of transportation:

“These draconian measures in the name of ‘efficiency’ would effectively make electric vehicles mandatory in this country by forcefully limiting Americans’ options. In the name of fighting climate change, the Biden administration is seeking to bend the American people to their will through government coercion. They don’t trust us to make our own choices, and so have decided to make our choices for us.

This isn’t speculation. We know the plan is to eradicate gas vehicles because we have obtained emails by NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson revealing a desire to do just that.” Read on.

NOT SUCH A LOSS FOR THEIR NEWER RELEASES, BUT…: Disney to Cease Releasing Physical Media in Certain Countries.

In response to a change in customer behavior toward watching movies on digital platforms like Disney+, Disney recently announced it was discontinuing its Movie Club program in Canada. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will no longer be delivering physical discs in Australia, according to Digital Bits, numerous industry, distributor, and store sources.

Just another reminder that anything you want to keep — and keep in its original form — you’d better own a hardcopy:

The problem with this shift, is that it allows media companies offering digital versions the ability to make edits and changes to the original material, sometimes subtly, sometimes, clumsily, and sometimes stealthily. Disney also happens to be one of the most egregious offenders of this, editing everything from Daryll Hannah’s bum in Splash, to removing dialogue from Academy Award winner The French Connection.

I do hope you kept your Splash DVDs.