CYBER MONDAY DEAL: Piscifun Fishing Tackle Backpack with 4 Trays. #CommissionEarned

THEY LIED. Report: Scientists at Center of ‘Lab Leak’ Concerns Misled Congress. “A sprawling final report by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic provokes questions over whether some in the scientific community – including EcoHealth Alliance, the American nonprofit that collaborated on novel coronavirus discovery and engineering research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and its president Peter Daszak – could face criminal charges stemming from the COVID-19 tragedy.”

Trump’s FBI and DOJ will be busy.

THAT’S NO SKIN OFF JOE’S NOSE: Hunter’s Creditor Speaks Out on No-Consequences Pardon. “They say crime doesn’t pay, and in the case of Hunter Biden, one could certainly say that the criminal doesn’t pay. A man to whom Hunter reportedly owes over $300,000 is not exactly thrilled at Hunter‘s blanket pardon from his senile father.”

GUN CONTROL GROUPS ALWAYS PREDICT BLOOD IN THE STREETS WHEN GUN CONTROLS ARE REMOVED, BUT IT NEVER HAPPENS: “Yet something funny happened after 2022. Instead of the proverbial ‘blood in the streets’ that was predicted, the national homicide rate dropped. This happened everywhere; in the antigun states forced to issue carry permits for the first time, in pro-gun states like Ohio and Florida which went further and adopted ‘constitutional carry’ (meaning no permit is required to carry a gun if you can legally own one), and even in individual cities like Philadelphia that began issuing permits more liberally as a result of the litigation.”

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China launches first Long March 12 from new commercial spaceport in boost for country’s lunar plans.

China launched its first Long March 12 rocket Saturday, marking an advance in its crewed moon plans and the debut of a new spaceport that will boost the country’s access to space.

The two-stage, 62-meter-tall Long March 12 lifted off at 9:25 a.m. Eastern (1425 UTC) Nov. 30 from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. The rocket climbed into the night sky above the coastal spaceport, with amateur live streams from the area capturing the event.

The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), the rocket’s maker, declared launch success within an hour of liftoff. SAST announced the previously undisclosed payloads on the flight to be the experimental “Satellite Internet Technology Test Satellite” and “Technology Test Satellite-3”. No details of the spacecraft were provided.

The kerosene-fueled Long March 12 is China’s first 3.8-meter-diameter launch vehicle. It can carry a payload of 12,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO), and 6,000 kg to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), according to SAST. The new rocket could play a role in the construction of China’s planned LEO megaconstellations.

Without reusable rockets, those megaconstellations could prove a huge cash sink.

HIGHER-ED REFORM SUGGESTIONS FOR THE AGE OF TRUMP 2.0. Some very good ones here from Richard Vedder.

(ALMOST) NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW: Here’s How Pardoning Hunter Biden Was Really About Protecting Joe.

CYBER MONDAY DEAL: 2024 Flying Orb Ball Toy, Galaxy Ball Cosmic Globe Boomerang. #CommissionEarned

HMM: Why is Xi Jinping’s China purging its senior military leaders?

“Xi appears to be chronically distrustful of his most prominent military officials,” Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP.

Reports of Dong’s fall suggested “the rot in China’s military remains even deeper than previously suspected”, Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society, told AFP.

The crackdown has come as China has increased military pressure on Taiwan and repeatedly pushed up against its neighbours over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

But analysts say graft in the military may be raising worries that the army isn’t up to the job.

Something Xi is looking to fix?

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The Japanese War Party purged the military of war-skeptics before launching World War II. They chose. . . poorly.

THE NORTH POLE’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

I HAD A COUPLE OF DANGEROUS HONEYS IN COLLEGE: Dangerous College Honey Sex Trend Alarms Health Experts. “In the FDA notice, it said lab analysis revealed that Royal Honey VIP packets contained tadalafil, which is an ingredient in an ‘FDA-approved prescription drug for erectile dysfunction.’ It apparently isn’t disclosed on any packaging or promotion of the supplement.”

CYBER MONDAY DEAL: Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds. #CommissionEarned

THAT WAS THE QUADRENNIAL THAT WAS:

“No one is above the law.” Some exceptions do apply, however:

No one is Above the Law. Except for the Biden Family.pic.twitter.com/s6oD5Jny3S

— AJ Huber (@Huberton) December 2, 2024

And: a corporate media supercut: Obviously Biden would never pardon Hunter:

“This week, of course, Hunter Biden was found guilty, & Joe Biden has very clearly said he would not pardon his son, he would not commute his sentence. How stark is this difference? I mean, how can Republicans keep making this argument now that Joe Biden has really put it out… https://t.co/VD6NUDNXgx

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 2, 2024

Roger Kimball adds that the Hunter Biden pardon has silver linings:

There are two silver linings in this abominable episode, however. One is that the stench of legal favoritism will cling to the Democrats for years to come. Critics have been complaining that they have run a two-tier justice system for years. Joe Biden just demonstrated that in the most egregious fashion.

The second bright spot includes victims of the Democrats’ two-tier system of justice, the January 6 hostages who are rotting as political prisoners in Merrick Garland’s DC gulag. Donald Trump has spoken frequently about the possibility of pardoning unfairly incarcerated pawns. Biden’s outrageous abuse of his authority makes that much more likely. I hope the executive order is teed-up for January 20 at 12:01.

And there’s a third: the corruption of the DNC-MSM was exposed for all to see, as Ed Morrissey writes: “In every step and in every way, the Protection Racket Media served as Biden’s wingman. They dutifully regurgitated his spin as established fact, and when that didn’t work, they made Republicans the story rather than Biden. That instinct carried through even to last night, as Politico and other news outlets focused on Republican reactions rather than report that Joe had just issued a 10-year free pass to the chief bagman for Biden Inc. Even [Politico’s Alexander Burns’] caustic response deflects from that and onto the coming administration’s attempts to root out politicization and weaponization in federal law enforcement.”

LOOKS A LITTLE INSURRECTION-Y TO ME: Dem Staffer Caught Trying to Smuggle Ammo Cache Into Cannon House Office Building.

I BELIEVE YOU MEAN, “HAS FAILED.” Nate Silver: The expert class is failing, and so is Biden’s presidency.

Welcome to the party, pal. Flashback: The Suicide of Expertise. I’d just add that Nate’s “Indigo Blob” exists in all Western nations, and it’s equally terrible — if not worse — elsewhere.

SUPPLY AND POPULAR DEMAND: Weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound strain budgets amid skyrocketing copays.

BIDEN’S TWO-TIERED JUSTICE:

🚨Hunter Biden – Commits 3 serious felonies ⚠️

0 YEARS IN PRISON

Meanwhile…

🚨 Tina Peters – Tries to expose election fraud ⚠️

9 YEARS IN PRISON

🚨 Daniel Penny – Saves train passengers from thug ⚠️

FACING MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES

🚨 Bevelyn Williams – Stands up to baby…

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) December 2, 2024

No reason for Trump not to pardon the Jan. 6 “offenders” on January 20.

JIM GERAGHTY: The Biden Crime Family Gets Away with It.

This was predictable, and predicted, because no matter how many times Joe Biden looked you in the eye or television camera and gave you his “word as a Biden,” the overwhelming majority of us knew it was — to use one of the president’s terms — “malarkey.” To be a Biden is to be above the law, and that’s been clear for a long time.

You know whose life got a lot easier late last night after news of the Hunter Biden pardon broke? Trump’s choice to be the next FBI director, Kash Patel. Because Senate Democrats are going to argue that the country can’t have partisan politics and personal loyalties and connections to the president mucking around in the justice system. And Senate Republicans are just going to laugh.

Hey, look at the bright side, you probably didn’t stick your neck out arguing, “People who insist Biden will pardon Hunter after specifically ruling it out are telling on themselves. . . . They can’t imagine someone acting on principle and keeping his word.”

And thus Team Biden comes full circle:

THERE ARE 1,440 MINUTES IN A DAY, THAT’S 1.44 MINUTES PER MAN. A porn star will attempt to have sex with 1,000 men in one day — and it’s sparking health concerns from doctors.

TRUE, AND SENATORS NEED TO HEAR FROM CONSTITUENTS:

The four most important confirmations (Hegseth, Patel, Gabbard, RFK) are the four toughest confirmations and that’s because the GOP senate sees its job not as reformers of a corrupt system but as protecting The System from reform.

The GOP senate is the hidden enemy.

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) December 1, 2024

NEW JAAAAAAG DESIGN LEAKED: Jaguar’s ‘Barbie pink’ electric car leaked online. Images appearing to show the concept vehicle draw comparisons with Thunderbirds and Pink Panther.

Jaguar’s controversial new concept electric car has been leaked online – showing the vehicle in Barbie pink.

Images appearing to show the new model have been posted on X by Autocar magazine showing the sleek, low-slung vehicle with a long bonnet and wide grille.

The car, which will be officially unveiled at Miami Art Week tonight, is shown in bold pink and metallic blue.

The hot pink vehicle has drawn comparisons with the FAB 1 car driven by Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds and the Barbie car. Others have suggested that Jaguar should be renamed Pink Panther in light of the overhaul.

My immediate take is that the new Jag is hideous — it looks like someone mated Elon Musk’s Cybertruck with the 1990s-era Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile:

When Jag’s new ad campaign dropped, many people speculated as to who the heretofore unseen new car would be aimed at — and now we know. Remember the “Ambiguously Gay Duo” from the 1996-2011-era of Saturday Night Live? Gentlemen of the crime fighting world, your new “bold pink” electric steed awaits!

Exit quote:

Related: Periodic Roundup of the EV Follies. “A fool and his money are soon parted, and there are a lot of credentialed fools who bought into the EV hype.”

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Just How Stupid Do They Think We Are? “Few believed Biden… but many tried to get you to believe him.”

HMM: Study finds widespread use of unregulated molecular urine tests in older adults. “Although urine culture is the traditional test for UTI, multiplex panels produce faster results, are more analytically sensitive, and can simultaneously detect multiple pathogens and some antibiotic-resistance genes. While the Food and Drug Administration has approved multiplex molecular syndromic panels for bloodstream, respiratory, and other types of infections, it has not approved any such test for UTI diagnosis. However, the panels exist as laboratory-developed tests, and they can be used in labs certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988.”

CHANGE: Costco to stop selling books year-round at most stores starting in January.

Membership warehouse chain Costco is axing most of its book sections, ending year-round sales of books at most of its over 600 U.S. locations starting in January.

The first rumblings of the move came last summer when the retailer told publishers that books would be stocked during only the holiday season from September to December starting in 2025, unnamed publishing executives told The New York Times.

Stores in some markets, like Alaska and Hawaii, had already stopped book sales.

It seems like a shame but, except for the occasional coffee-table book or prepper guide, I can’t remember the last title I purchased that wasn’t an ebook.

AS IF CANADA WOULD TAKE THEM: Top NY Dem ridiculed for floating secession to Canada over Trump return: ‘Lead the way’. “On X, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley posted an image of CSA Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendering at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, at the end of the Civil War.”

Also a Democrat.