THEY’RE ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: New species of Jurassic pterosaur discovered on the Isle of Skye.
Archive for 2024
February 6, 2024
HOW NOT TO SAVE A DROWNING NETWORK: CNN Tied Its Fortunes to Jim Acosta, and Now They’re Both Sinking. “Acosta made his name showboating in the White House Briefing Room against Donald Trump but his fortunes — just like CNN’s — diminished once he didn’t have Trump to kick around anymore. Acosta, for all his unseemly rants, was just one more well-coiffed cog in CNN’s 24/7/365 version of Oceania’s daily Two Minutes Hate.”
CALIFORNIA’S NEXT FREEDOM TO LOSE: SPEEDING.
In California, a state famous for protecting the freedom to do hard drugs in public and live beneath overpasses or in public parks, State Senator Scott Wiener has proposed a set of bills aimed at reducing traffic-related deaths. The Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets package (SAFER) would include mandatory speed governor devices that would halt vehicles from driving 10mph over the speed limit.
What makes studying philosophy so challenging is that the examples of good and evil, right and wrong, are often so dramatic that it feels abstract to the point of being useless. But as I was looking over my child’s work and seeing this news about California car regulations, I recognized this as an approachable example of why choice matters in a free society.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Wiener reasoned his bill by saying, “There’s no reason why people should routinely be allowed to drive more than ten miles per hour above the speed limit.”
As with gas stoves, some elites will be great-grandfathered in when it comes to the proposed law: Biden Says He Got up to 130 Mph in His Corvette: ‘Secret Service Doesn’t Like Riding with Me Very Much’ (video).
IF DRUGS MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO BE SLIM, WILL SKINNINESS LOSE ITS CACHET? Durable Weight Loss Follows Just a Few Injections of Novel Drug.
SUPER-SIZE THAT INFLATION! McDonald’s CEO promises ‘affordability’ amid backlash over $18 Big Mac combos, $6 hash browns.
McDonald’s CEO admitted the burger giant’s sales have taken a hit as jacked-up menu prices have turned off core customers — and signaled the chain plans to focus on “affordability” this year.
The Chicago-based fast-food behemoth — which has lately taken heat over a Big Mac combo meal priced at nearly $18 — said its global same-store sales in the latest quarter had grown just 3.4%, falling short of the 4.7% growth Wall Street had expected.
The lackluster quarter — which the company also blamed on conflict in the Middle East that has slammed franchisees overseas — sent McDonald’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange tumbling nearly 4%, to $285.97, at Monday’s close.
“I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability,” McDonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski said on a Monday earnings call with analysts.
In particular, low income customers making less than $45,000 per year have largely stopped ordering from McDonald’s. Pummeled by inflation, they’re eating at home more frequently as grocery prices come down, Kempczinski admitted.
Kempczinski’s predecessor Steve Easterbrook said in 2015 that he wanted to transform the corporation into a ‘modern, progressive burger company.’ Based on their out-of-control prices, and dwindling middle class base, mission accomplished!
Fortunately though, as America’s Newspaper of Record reports: McDonald’s Now Offering 36-Month, 0% Interest Financing On All Value Meals.
SIX MONTHS LATER, MORE QUESTIONS (AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES) THAN ANSWERS: What the Hell Is Going on in Maui After That Devastating Wildfire?
THIS IS A BIG F**KING DEAL: Biden Calls Netanyahu a ‘Bad F**king Guy.’ “Current and former Biden aides who have witnessed and been on the receiving end of such outbursts” say that he tends to scream abuse (Axios calls them “admonitions”) on the order of ‘G** d***it, how the f**k don’t you know this?!,’ ‘Don’t f**king bullsh*t me!’ and ‘Get the f**k out of here!’”
UPDATE (From Ed): This leak (if it actually happened) is likely aimed at propping up Joe’s far left, anti-Israeli base. Recall in 2014 when Obama stenographer Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic was handed the similar story that “anonymous White House officials called the prime minister of Israel ‘chickenshit,’” which surely played equally well with Obama-Biden voters.
By the way, a juxtaposition (not by me) from back in the day for comparison:
(Updated and bumped.)
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BIDENFLATION: McDonald’s CEO promises ‘affordability’ amid backlash over $18 Big Mac combos, $6 hash browns.
Mcdonald’s occasionally has to rejigger menus and pricing to appease angry customers — but I can’t recall them ever doing so when the economy was doing well.
“SMART DIPLOMACY:”
If Congress can’t muster the ability to renew these Compacts, Washington will jeopardize its own military posture in the Indo-Pacific. We’ll also imperil our credibility.
An entirely avoidable case of self-sabotage. Or at least, it should be. https://t.co/sktf2CZfnG
— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) February 5, 2024
China will take advantage, and may already be.
MSNBC’S MICHAEL STEELE SHAMES DEAN PHILLIPS FOR RUNNING: ‘What The Hell You Doing?’
Former RNC chairman Michael Steele awarded Democrat presidential candidate Dean Phillips a forum on their new show The Weekend on Sunday after Phillips drew two percent in the South Carolina primary. But this is MSDNC, so it was mostly so he could shame him into getting out of the race and stop “prolonging” anti-Biden narratives.
As if the Republicans will knock it off if Phillips gets out? MSNBC proudly put out the tweet of the shaming:
WATCH: @MichaelSteele asks @RepDeanPhillips “What the hell are you doing?” pic.twitter.com/1pXSABAP82
— The Weekend on MSNBC (@TheWeekendMSNBC) February 4, 2024
Since the days of Richard Nixon, a prominent RINO who only supports Democrats could make a very good living as a television pundit in the DNC-MSM. but you’ve got to at least pretend to still be a Republican. Steele forgets that from time to time.
MARK JUDGE: Remember those corny anti-communist movies from the 1950s? They were right. “Starting in the 1960s with the rise of the New Left, it became sport for cool people and liberals to mock movies such as I Was a Communist for the FBI or My Son John. The excesses of Sen. Joe McCarthy had made red hunting suspect, even shameful. Yet McCarthy was more often right than wrong. There were communists in the government, and in Hollywood, who wanted to destroy America. In 2024, however, with the far Left not only alive after the collapse of the Soviet Union but thriving in Washington, these films from the 1950s seem prescient — and deadly serious rather than goofy.”
WEIRD HOW RON DESANTIS, WHO NEVER BANNED ANY BOOKS, GETS THE HEAT FOR THIS WHILE BIDEN GETS A PASS: The Biden White House Literally Tried to Ban Books.
DECK CHAIRS REARRANGED: CNN Makes Drastic Cut As Ratings Slump Takes Its Toll.
“CNN This Morning” hosts Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly will reportedly take on a new role at the network, though it’s unclear what that role would be. Kasie Hunt, who currently hosts the morning show beginning at 5:00 a.m., will move into hosting a shorter version of “CNN This Morning” that will run from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., according to Mediaite. Page Six is also reporting that the morning show will be sent to the chopping block.
* * * * * * * *
The changes, which are expected to be announced in an internal memo Monday, also mean the team that currently produces “CNN This Morning” in New York will be disbanded, Mediaite reported. CNN CEO Mark Thompson reportedly said employees are encouraged “to apply for the many new open roles that we are making available this week in Atlanta and Washington, DC, along with a number of other open roles in New York in other programming blocks.”
Related: Coal miners become computer coders.
—Headline, CNN.com, April 22nd, 2016.
EVEN GOLDFISH: Outrageous ‘Pet Tax’ Bill Introduced in Colorado House By Democrats Raises Concerns.
Colorado House Bill 24-1163 aims to impose a tax of up to $8.50 on every pet in the state, including invertebrates, with the tax being payable annually.
Not only does this bill require pet owners to register their pets with the state, but it also mandates the assignment of a “designated caregiver” for each pet. Failure to name a caregiver would result in an annual cost of $25 per pet.
There is no limit or cap on the taxation, meaning that pet owners could potentially face exorbitant costs. This tax would be in addition to any local taxes, such as dog licenses, further burdening pet owners.
The absurdity of this proposal becomes evident when considering the implications for pet owners with a larger number of pets.
For instance, someone with 100 aquarium fish could end up paying $850 every year. And if they fail to register a designated caregiver, the cost for those 100 fish would skyrocket to $2,500 annually. Similarly, owning ten pet reptiles could result in an annual tax of $85 to $250.
Failing to register one’s pets could lead to penalties of up to $100 per animal, which could quickly escalate into thousands of dollars for unsuspecting pet owners.
Plus: “The only animals exempted from this tax are ‘livestock,’ including cows, horses, sheep, and others raised for food or fiber production.”
Well, there’s a perverse incentive I’d rather not think about.
HEATHER MAC DONALD: The Decadence of Identity Politics. Gender studies comes to policing.
NEWS FROM THE NCLA: NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Uphold Injunction Against Government Social Media Censorship. “The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a brief for the respondents in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Murthy v. Missouri, urging the Justices to uphold a historic preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The injunction would bar officials from the White House, CDC, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Surgeon General’s office from coercing or significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. Representing individual plaintiffs Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines, NCLA eagerly anticipates presenting oral arguments to the Supreme Court on March 18, joining the Attorneys General of Louisiana and Missouri in defense of Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
Reminder/disclosure: I’m on the advisory board of the NCLA.
HOW IT STARTED: Dennis Miller in the 1990s:
How it’s going: Apple’s Vision Pro buyers upset to discover that VR porn doesn’t work: ‘$3,500 chastity belt.’
—The New York Post, yesterday.
Related: “Of course I am absolutely dying to try the Apple Vision,” James Lileks writes in his latest Bleat. “I am afraid of only one thing, and that’s being unwise enough to buy one. You know, on the Apple Card, payments stretching into the future for years until it’s paid off, and they release the cheaper one I really want.”
YES: Merit-based hiring needed to improve ‘diversity of thought’ at UMich: higher ed groups. Merit would certainly produce more diversity.