EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY (CHINA EDITION): China’s factories fall deeper into contraction, more policy support expected. “Economists upgraded their forecasts for the world’s second-largest economy after better-than-expected third quarter data, but despite a flurry of policy support measures, negative sentiment among factory managers appears to have become entrenched in the face of weak demand both at home and abroad.”

IRELAND GOES FASCIST. “Urgency to pass the anti-free speech bill increased after a Muslim immigrant stabbed three children in Dublin, and fed-up working-class Irishmen rioted.”

HOLIDAY DEAL: LHKNL Headlamp Flashlight. #CommissionEarned

I THINK PAM GELLER CALLS THEM “JEWICIDERS.” “Elon Musk is right about the Jews. Well, not all the Jews. But many of the Jewish leaders, who have repeatedly lined up behind the most noxious progressive causes, only to stand there, mouths agape as the boomerang soared right back and crashed into our faces.”

SOME “CEASE FIRE.” Hamas Claims Responsibility for Shooting at Jerusalem Bus Stop, 3 Dead.

OUT ON A LIMB: Whistleblower claims CIA analysts bribed to change position on COVID lab leak theory. “A whistleblower has come forward to claim CIA analysts who favoured the COVID-19 lab leak theory were bribed to change their position. The bribe was made to take the focus off China and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP [VIP]: Green Energy Chickens Have Come Home to Roost, Poop on Everything. “‘A highly paid senior managing director of a green energy firm thought it was going to be quick and easy to transition a [dr-evil-voice] 25 TRILLION DOLLAR [/dr-evil-voice] economy that runs mostly on oil and gas to all-electric.’ That’s the lead crazy on today’s Insanity Wrap, an entire week’s worth of the best bad news.”

RECENT EVENTS HAVE MADE ME DOUBT THE ENTIRE WATERGATE STORY: Reevaluating the Saturday Night Massacre: Recent documents suggest it’s time to challenge the narrative.

According to Haig, Nixon was coming off two huge political victories, saving Israel from the Arab’s Oct. 6 surprise attack in the Yom Kippur War and orchestrating Spiro Agnew’s Oct. 10 resignation, followed by his nomination of Gerald Ford on Oct. 12 to be his successor as vice president. Nixon’s next move, as he saw it, was to address pending Watergate issues by firing Cox as special prosecutor and moving his Watergate Special Prosecution Force back into the Department of Justice. There, while the unit would remain intact, it would report to the career head of DOJ’s criminal division, the highly respected Henry Petersen, who had impressed Nixon in their many meetings leading up to the April resignations of two top lieutenants, H.R. Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman, and the firing of his counsel, John Dean. Kennedy Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee had taken Nixon’s idea of a special supervising prosecutor on Watergate and expanded it into what became known as Cox’s Army: 100 specially recruited partisan prosecution staff of Nixon-hating Ivy Leaguers, operating totally independent of the Department of Justice, which had promised investigations into every allegation of wrongdoing lodged against the Nixon administration since its 1969 inauguration. Watergate investigations were one thing where Nixon himself had called for a renewed investigation, but investigating every aspect of his administration by a group whose top 17 attorneys had all worked in the Kennedy-Johnson Administration, was simply unacceptable.

The plan, again according to Haig, was first to fire Cox and move the prosecution unit into the DOJ, and then to announce the Stennis Compromise, which would resolve the issue over access to the nine tapes subpoenaed by the grand jury. Richardson, however, urged reversing the timing of these two initiatives, with the idea that Cox could be maneuvered into resigning — or being fired if need be — if he refused to accept the Stennis Compromise.

The compromise was the key, which sounds absurd today, except for one thing: It was virtually an exact copy of the proposal submitted by Cox on Sept. 20. Cox’s central concept was “third-party authentication.” Nixon was adamant about not turning over the tapes themselves. What about producing word-for-word verified transcripts of relevant portions of those tapes and summaries of non-relevant portions, but not the actual tapes themselves? That way, the grand jury’s demand could be satisfied, while Nixon could still claim he had maintained the confidentiality of virtually all Oval Office conversations.

Read the whole thing.

YEAH, YEAH, SOME WRITERS AND THEIR SELF PROMOTION:  My titles on sale changed yesterday. And the Christmas short story collection is still a reasonably good deal.

DON’T YOU HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS:  Crematorium worker finds 90-year-old woman alive after being pronounced dead.

IT’S NOT AS IF HIS ‘PEAK’ WAS ALL THAT HIGH:  Bill Ackman says Biden past his ‘peak,’ urges him to drop out of 2024 race.

DO BEHOLD MY EXTREMELY SHOCKED FACE:  Public-Private Censorship Group Formed Shortly After 2016 Election, Involved Military Contractors, Those With ‘Active Measures,’ ‘Psyops’ Experience.

The left really hates when they’re surprised. They’re about to learn censorship is not the way to avoid that, is my guess.

THEY ARE INDEED IGNORANT AND PROUD!  The Unhinged Among Us.

BUT THAT WOULD STOP HIS WAR ON AMERICA:  Nearly 4,000 Car Dealerships Beg Biden to Pull the Plug on ‘Unrealistic’ EV Mandates.

FOR THE TIMES THEY ARE ACHANGING:  Real pushback: Corporate America eliminating college degree requirements for new hires.

HEY, MICHIGAN, IT’S TIME TO BAN GRETCHEN WHITMER USE:  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Signs Law Essentially Banning Fossil Fuel Use by 2040.

I THINK IT’S TIME TO END THIS CHARADE:  Uncertainty about truce; thus far 110 out of 248 hostages returned.

While I understand Israel’s motives, this is only encouraging the Hamass animals to do this again and take more hostages. No more. Make them pay. Hard. Once you pay the Dane geld, you never get rid of the Dane. It’s time to make the Hamass “Dane” pay. In the only currency that counts for the atrocities committed.

THEY PROBABLY ALSO POUNCED. AS THEY SHOULD, BTW:  Republicans go off on Dick Durbin over Senate Judiciary shenanigans.

SHOULDN’T PROTECTING GAZAN CIVILIANS BE HAMAS’ RESPONSIBILITY?  Antony Blinken warns Israel: Don’t restart war without ‘civilian protection plan’.

Shouldn’t Israel tell Blinken to go blink elsewhere?

DOES SHE KNOW HER HUSBAND IS ALREADY AS GOOD AS DEAD, AND WHAT SHE DOES DOESN’T MATTER?  Israeli hostage Rimon Kirsht, who was hailed for ‘death stare,’ gave Hamas an ultimatum.

IT AIN’T AS THOUGH THE BBC SUPPORTS GREAT BRITAIN!  Hamas terrorists and the hypocrisy of the BBC.

HAMAS AIN’T BIG ON CONSISTENCY:  Hamas releases video of Yarden Bibas after claiming IDF strike killed mom, kids.

I KNOW THIS WILL SHOCK SOME OF YOU, BUT YES, BLOGGERS WILL USE OCCASIONS TO REMIND PEOPLE TO DONATE:  Working for Money.

Wait! You’re not shocked. I confess neither am I. But apparently, “Stomp, stomp, stomp” it’s cause to be so upset you’ll never read someone again.  People, uh?

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: U.S. Suicides Reached a Record High Last Year.

I’M NOT SAYING THE FBI IS BAD AT ITS JOB, BUT AN FBI AGENT JUST GOT CARJACKED.