THOUGHTS ON BRITAIN’S CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC STAGNATION:

There have been many pieces written on UK’s economic stagnation and people have identified a bunch of material reasons for it: from an ageing population, to limited housing supply. But if you believe at all in the power of the zeitgeist, I’m here to offer another (complementary) diagnosis for what is happening now. The spirit of stagnation is in the air.

When I first arrived in Oxford, I was surprised by how many of my (well off) colleagues’ parents were retired in their 50s. There is much less of the hunger for success seen in young Americans: it seems the dream here is in many ways to retreat to a cozy life in your middle age, living off some property investments.

The stiff upper lip is a British characteristic that served the nation well in WWII. But in peacetime the stiff upper lip is more like a bridle or halter. In fact, the genius of the British ruling class in the postwar era was to take various instruments of social control — the NHS, the BBC, uncomplaining suffering, etc. — and turn them into emblems of national pride.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: A fraying coalition: Black, Hispanic, young voters abandon Biden as election year begins.

ASKING (AND ANSWERING) THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Where Is Biden’s ‘Gender-Fluid’ Thieving Ex-Nuclear Waste Chief Today?

BRYAN CAPLAN: Resolve to be a Nonconformist. “Stop worrying about what’s popular. Stop worrying about what strangers think. Live your life the way you think best.”

Let me add that — as we saw during the Covid madness — nonconformists help protect freedom by raising the cost of enforcing conformity. And they provide that particular benefit, even when they’re wrong about the particular issue. Though things being as they are, they’re often right.

THIS PROBABLY CONTAINS DAVID DRAKE’S LAST PUBLISHED SHORT STORY, AS WELL AS ONE BY MY FRIEND MARTIN SHOEMAKER AND LARRY CORREIA, BRAD TORGERSEN, MIKE WILLIAMSON AND OTHERS:  Weird World War: China.

When the United States and China clash, the world will never be the same, especially when forces beyond reality threaten to intervene.

What if the United States went to war with the People’s Republic of China? How would these rivals fight for supremacy on land, sea, air, and across the stochastic streams of time? What wonder weapons would be unleashed? What horrors would emerge from the eradiated sludge of the South China Sea? What heroes would rise and forever change the course of history? Tread into the deepest and darkest dimensions of the multiverse, gaze through a kaleidoscope of fractured realities, and bear witness to the disturbing visions of World War III from today’s greatest minds in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Stories by: Larry Correia, Steve Diamond, David Drake, Nick Mamatas, Brian Trent, Martin L. Shoemaker, Blaine L. Pardoe, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Julian Michael Carver, D.J. Butler, David J. West, Sean Patrick Hazlett, Deborah A. Wolf, Stephen Lawson, Erica L. Satifka, Rob McMonigal, Brenda Clough, Kevin Ikenberry, Brad R. Torgersen, T.C. McCarthy, Nadia Bulkin, Freddy Costello, and Michael Z. Williamson.

At the publisher’s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

THE MOUSE IS IN TROUBLE:  South Carolina Kicks Disney Right in the Teeth, Pulls Its State Funds.

THEN LEAVE!  ‘Death to America, Death to Israel’: Anti-Israel NYC Protesters Cheer for Houthis in Yemen.

Send them to Yemen. Or Gaza. Or anywhere else they’d be happy and leave us alone.

‘FACES’? THE VERDICT IS IN THEY’RE JUST SQUABBLING OVER TERMS OF THE APPEAL:  Trump faces $250M penalty, ban from doing business in NY when judge issues verdict this month.

LET EVERY SHITHOLER IN, TURN COUNTRY INTO SHITHOLE:  Portland Facing Shigella Outbreak, Generally Found in Third-World Countries.

YES, BUT CAN IT COME OUT BEFORE ALL THE COMPUTERS COMMIT SUICIDE?  Bill Clinton to be unmasked as ‘Doe 36’ and identified more than 50 times in Jeffrey Epstein doc dump.

NONSENSE – HE’S PROTECTED BY VITAMIN ‘D’ AFTER HIS NAME:  Sen. Fetterman thought news about depression treatment would end political career.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST:  Israel kills Hamas commander who helped lead Oct. 7 attacks.

NEW YORK SO BAD, THE NEW YORK BARD IS LEAVING:  Billy Joel hilariously reveals why he’s selling $49 million Long Island mansion.

JUST AS SHARP AS EVER HE WAS:  Biden has to be reminded by Jill that ice cream is his favorite food during rare interview.

WHEREIN A BOOK GETS REVIEWED:  TCW Christmas reads: The Covid tyranny.

THE WIDENING GYRE:  A beginners’ guide to Covid, Part 7: Flu deaths v Covid-19 deaths in 2020.

UNFORTUNATELY I DID NOT HAVE THE TIME TO BE BRIEF: Cross My Palm With Silver.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the New Year.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese satellite internet mission rounds off record year for global launches.

AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABLOOOP: Decades Ago a Huge Noise Roared in The Ocean. For Years It Was a Mystery.

IS THIS REALLY A NEW CHALLENGE, OR EVIDENCE THAT COVID WASN’T ONE? The Rise of “Long Flu” – A New Health Challenge Similar to Long COVID. Long-term sequelae of flu aren’t new. I lost much of my sense of smell for years after having flu at age 12.

Plus, note this about the overhyped lethality of Covid: “During the overall 18-month study period, patients who had COVID-19 faced a 50% higher risk of death than those with seasonal influenza.” So the “it’s a bad flu” argument appears to have carried the day.

RISE OF THE MACHINES: “We are ~3 years away from the ChatGPT moment for physical AI agents.”

NOTHING WILL. The ‘wealth transfer’ from boomers won’t save Gen X and millennials.

JUSTICE: “If you, like me, think that the January 6th defendants have often been overcharged for merely entering the Capitol building, then you should be watching this case. The Supreme Court has just granted cert to an appeal by Joseph Fischer, who was charged with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and thus faces a severe sentence. The charges are based on a law passed in the early aughts (2002). Those charges are based solely on his trespass and not on any violence or destruction.”

GREAT MOMENTS IN GASLIGHTING:

Shot: Biden is reluctant to accept his “old age,” aides say.

Current and former aides say Biden is extraordinarily energetic for his age. But his repeated insistence that he feels so young can draw eye rolls: Some current and former aides believe Biden doesn’t realize how old he can come across.

• In conversations with aides and friends, Biden frequently says some version of: “I feel so much younger than my age.”
• Managing Biden’s schedule and energy has become crucial to his re-election campaign, given widespread voter concerns about his ability to do the job until January 2029, when he’ll be 86.

Zoom in: Current and former Biden aides say he often pushes to do more travel and events than they think he should.

• Biden pushing up against his limits sometimes creates a cycle in which he wears himself out, then appears fatigued during public events — which can increase concerns about his age, even when he’s taking on a rigorous schedule.
• “He is his own worst enemy when it comes to his schedule,” a former Biden aide said.

Jill Biden and her team are deeply involved in the president’s day-to-day schedule.

• She often works to get him as much rest as possible, and to improve his diet.

—Axios, December 19th.

Chaser: Biden spent 37% of 2023 at a getaway spot — in Delaware, at posh vacation sites or Camp David.

Biden — who historically rode Amtrak to get out of DC when he was a senator — outpaces all recent presidents in terms of days away from Washington. George H.W. Bush was his closest competitor, spending 36% of his presidency at a getaway spot, according to calculations.

Former President Donald Trump, who liked to spend time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was out of town 26% of his time in the White House.

* * * * * * * *

Biden then went to St. Croix again to finish off 2023, staying for free with his “friends,” the Nevilles. The first family stayed at the resort for six days free of charge.

Their free stay is valued at over $6,000, according to the rental listing on VRBO.

The multiple free vacations during Biden’s presidency have raised questions from ethicists after he failed to disclose the trips on his annual financial forms. The gifts have been compared to the trips taken by conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow, sojourns which drew ire from Democrats.

—The New York Post, yesterday.