Archive for 2024
January 6, 2024
MASCOT OF THE ANOINTED REACHES EXPIRATION DATE: The tyrannical cult of Greta Thunberg.
This week Greta Thunberg turned 21. Yes, the diminutive doom-monger is a full-on grown-up now. The pint-sized predictor of End Times has passed the final threshold of adulthood. Once the world’s best-known petulant teen, never knowingly appearing in public without wearing the scowl of the self-righteous youth, Ms Thunberg has reached the full age of majority. She’s so old she could legally get pissed in America if she wants. Though that seems unlikely, given she once said she ‘would never go out drinking’: ‘I would never do anything… stupid.’ Her birthday party must have been a riot.
* * * * * * * *
What they loved about Greta is that she was so black and white. All teens are. It’s in their nature to be blind to shades of grey. To love their parents one minute, hate them the next. To flit between thinking everything is fine to fretting that MY LIFE IS OVER. Who can forget when the gold-collared superclass of Davos lapped up Greta’s stern rebuke of the old-fashioned adult belief that life is complicated. ‘You say nothing is black or white. But that is a lie. A very dangerous lie’, she said. Climate change is ‘as black or white as it gets’, she continued. ‘There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.’
No grey areas. This wasn’t just your typical climate-change hysteria, where we’re meant to believe our only choice is between a violent reduction in fossil-fuel use and the literal heat death of the planet. It was also a teenage reprimand to the entire premise of adult life, to the foundations of public life itself. Which is the understanding that things are complex. That competing interests exist. That binary moralism benefits no one. That democratic contest is preferable to autocratic, religious or, indeed, teenage diktat. I, for one, am delighted that in the years since Greta thrilled the anti-democrats of Davos with her childish moralism we have seen farmers, truckers and other workers in Europe drive a juggernaut of grey through these fantasies of black and white. These people are furious at the impact the cult of emissions cuts will have on their ability to earn a living, make food, deliver stuff. They represent the complexity that Greta and her powerful cheerleaders wish to chase from public life. A revolt of the adults, if you like, against the juvenile hectoring of the elites.
Last year, as she approached the ripe old age of 21, saw Greta exchange one apocalyptic religion for another:
Shot: Greta Thunberg deletes 2018 tweet saying world will end in 2023 after world does not end.
—The Post Millennial, March 11th.
Chaser: Greta Thunberg, milkshake duck.
It seems in Greta’s zeal to show her support for Palestinians, she accidentally included an antisemitic stuffed animal. Don’t you hate it when that happens to you? Cockburn is always embarrassed when he inadvertently includes antisemitic imagery laying around his house and it somehow finds its way into tweets supporting groups dedicated to wiping out a Jewish state. Happens to the best of us!
—Spectator World, October 20th.
(Classical reference in headline.)
LESS THAN SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Obese teens at higher risk of kidney disease as adults.
My latest, on how ubiquitous digital film and audio effects are already warping how we perceive the 20th century, over at Ed Driscoll.com.
GET IN SHAPE: Yes4All 25/55LB Single/Pair Adjustable Dumbbells Weights, 5 in 1. #CommissionEarned
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROPHECY, PART DEUX:
California Bill Prohibits Stores From Selling Toys That Don’t Actively Confuse Children’s Sexuality https://t.co/21sof5L7K3
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) February 29, 2020
Note the date above; about two weeks before everything went pear-shaped around the world.
Flash-forward to Monday:
California to fine stores that don't have a 'gender neutral' kids toy section—The new law will target retailers that sell childcare items and toys for children 12 and underhttps://t.co/uksreSohay
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) January 1, 2024
THAT DOESN’T SEEM VERY FAST: 18 Minutes to Evacuate a Burning Plane: Success Story or Cautionary Tale?
In its certification, Airbus AIR 0.23%increase; green up pointing triangle
was required to prove that its A350 aircraft can be evacuated in less than 90 seconds. In Tuesday’s collision in Japan, the last crew member escaped the aircraft after 18 minutes—but there were still no casualties.
The sizable discrepancy, for the moment, represents a puzzle for the industry: Does the safe and deliberate evacuation represent a triumph of new aircraft designs and improved procedures? Or was it a one-off, a fortunate confluence of events that doubles as a cautionary tale showing how difficult it is to quickly evacuate modern aircraft?
Aircraft safety and evacuation experts are applauding Japan Airlines’ 9201 -0.36%decrease; red down pointing triangle
cabin crew and passengers for escaping the burning wide-body plane without any loss of life before its fuselage collapsed. In doing so, they avoided what could have been one of the most deadly plane crashes in decades.
“Obviously it took a lot more than 90 seconds, but even though it did take longer, it was a very organized and a very orderly evacuation, and it was impressive,” said Anthony Brickhouse, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and director of its forensic crash lab. “This is a great case study.” . . .
“The 90 second rule is there for a reason, because that aircraft can obviously be incinerated in seconds,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, a union that represents cabin crew at several airlines. “The flight attendants appear to perform their jobs perfectly, but the question remains what was that configuration of the cabin? How close were the seats together? And who was on board?” . . . Planes have gotten bigger since such demonstrations were introduced following a 1965 crash in Salt Lake City. Passenger weight and girth have climbed in recent years, and seat spacing on many planes is tighter—developments some have argued regulators haven’t adequately considered.
I suspect that tightly-packed seating arrangements don’t help.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROPHECY, PART ONE: Amazing! Biden’s J6 Speech Was ‘Another Babylon Bee Prophecy Fulfilled.’
The Babylon Bee is more accurate in reporting than the “MSM”
— Deepa𝕏 (@realdeepakterra) January 6, 2024
DOES BILL NYE’S MATH DISPROVE THE GENESIS FLOOD? The Science Guy claims there wasn’t enough time after the Genesis Flood for the estimated 16 million species to evolve by now if the disaster occurred 4,500 years ago.
But what if, the Apologetics Press asks, Nye’s 16 million new species is way off, as a good case can be made that it is? I’m undecided on the Old Earth vs. Young Earth debate, but AP is pretty convincing that Nye’s math was off by a good bit.
WHAT WHO WANTS AND HOW THEY WILL GET IT: Dr. Bret Weinstein sits down with Tucker Carlson to explain just how enormous a fraud the COVID “vaccine” was and what the World Health Organization (WHO) is now doing as it pushes for a new global public health order that appears to be modeled on Beijing.
Be forewarned – this is an hour-long interview but it is the kind of interview that is like the book you can’t put down until you’ve read the last page. Once you engage with Weinstein’s analysis, you won’t want to stop. And yes, Tucker, has done some weird stuff in recent days but he’s performed a genuine public service by giving Weinstein a huge platform.
STRATEGYPAGE: Jim Dunnigan’s Annual Wars Update.
January 1, 2024: This is our annual summary of current war zones and an overview of where it is all heading. After this overview there is the alphabetical list of the war zones and a quick summary of how the local mayhem has been proceeding. Since we have been covering this sort of thing for over twenty years now, there are many war zones that have gone quiet. We left most of those in summary, with a note that those wars had gone dormant, and maybe extinct. History shows that dormant is more common than extinct. Forever wars, or at least multi-century ones, are an ancient tradition.
The update is long — but it is diverse and inclusive.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Harvard — Out the frying pan into the fire.
IT COULD BE A VERY LONG YEAR: Six Strategic Challenges For 2024
…Challenge No. 6: America’s Southern Front. In 2023, “flailing states” (states immersed in anarchic violence that spills over political borders or states unable to control their own borders) were challenge No. 2. America’s southern border crisis has created a hybrid war front –California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are a hybrid-war front line.
In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol apprehended 736 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) on terror watch lists along the southern and northern U.S. borders. Fact: there were 1.7 million illegal alien gotaways. If two or three out of a 1,000 gotaways are KSTs, that’s 3,000 to 5,000 violent enemies infiltrating America’s home front.
Mass terror attack on the home front? To stop it takes aggressive deterrence — by smart and courageous leaders.
My latest Creators Syndicate column. Check out the other five.
TEACH THEM HOW TO TAKE A PULSE: Ohio State health sciences program sparks controversy with mandatory ‘privilege’ assignments.
Seriously, my doc told me a few years that the younger medical and nursing school grads just rely on pulse oximiters and electronic pulse devices. But those just give you a number, by taking a manual pulse you can tell if it’s thready, bounding, or whatever and that’s a lot of useful data.
WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF BIGOTRY AND HATE? 1L Sues Rutgers Law School For Ignoring Rampant Campus Antisemitism.
Related: Shapiro: Learning From My Lived Experience With Academic Intolerance.
ACCOUNTABILITY TIME: $30 million suit filed over Jan. 6 protester Ashli Babbitt’s death.
WOEING: Alaska Air Grounds Boeing 737 Max-9 Fleet After Fuselage Blowout. “Alaska Airlines will ground its entire fleet of Boeing Co. 737 Max-9 aircraft after a fuselage section in the rear part of the brand-new jet blew out shortly after takeoff. . . . The grounding by a loyal Boeing customer marks the most severe response to an incident since the manufacturer’s entire fleet of Max aircraft was temporarily taken out of service in 2019 following two deadly crashes. The 737 Max is by far Boeing’s most popular aircraft and its biggest source of revenue, with single-aisle aircraft like the Max and the corresponding Airbus SE A320neo family used the most widely flown shorter routes.”
WHY SO MANY? Yet Another Trans Shooter.
BE PREPARED: TurboTax Deluxe 2023 Tax Software, Federal & State Tax Return. #CommissionEarned
A SYMBOLIC MOMENT for a Counter-Woke Offensive?
SEEMS LIKE DISNEY HATES ALL ITS FANS: Disney Day Drinkers Club (Yes, That Exists) Feuds With Epcot Over Trashy Mascot: Outrage erupts after ‘Binny,’ a symbol adopted by tippling superfans is moved; ‘Oh my gosh—why would they do this?’
For the last two years, Binny has reigned as the official mascot of the Disney Day Drinkers, a fan club based at the theme park. Also known as D3, the group was started by self-proclaimed Disney Adults who enjoy socializing over the signature cocktails at the various bars inside Walt Disney World.
Binny’s founding story—detailed on the trash can’s very own page on the club’s website—starts in late 2021, when some D3 members were “drinking around the world”—a common pastime at Epcot, where nation-themed pavilions line the shores of a man-made lake.
The Rose & Crown Pub at the U.K. pavilion, then operating under Covid-prevention protocols, required tipplers to go outside to imbibe. With few tables in sight, the group congregated around Binny, whose flat top made an enchanted place to set down drinks. . . .
The Disney Day Drinkers culture has ballooned to a group with more than 85,000 members registered on Facebook and at least two spinoff clubs—one for running marathons and the other for singles looking to meet their own Mickey or Minnie. At least four couples who met through the singles group have become engaged, and one is already married.
Disney Day Drinkers have their own merchandise featuring Binny.Bars around Walt Disney World, including the Yak & Yeti inside the Animal Kingdom park, offer a secret menu of cocktails to club members. “Take me to the summit,” D3 members say to the bartenders—a private password that gives access to the secret menu.
D3 members also started a tradition of visiting Binny to pay homage to a mascot who the club’s website says is “always trashed.” (The site also cautions, “Don’t trust any other trashcan.”)
The group’s Facebook page racked up hundreds of posts showing members posing with Binny. Families plastered Binny with stickers and placed knit koozies on it. The Day Drinkers’s meme-makers adapted the mascot into a famous silhouetted image of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouse’s hand, substituting Binny for Mickey.
Then, in September, the clock tolled midnight for Binny. In a move only an evil stepsister could love, Disney staffers spirited the can away from its usual spot in front of the Rose & Crown pub sign, to a new location across the street in front of the Sportsman’s Shoppe. . . . Annual passholders, many who enjoy spending hours sitting on the benches in the park’s Main Street, U.S.A. section, objected. “They couldn’t believe that we had made changes to something that was so sacred to Walt,” D’Amaro told the Journal in 2022.
I’m beginning to think that happy fans are Disney’s worst nightmare.