Archive for 2024

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

DANIEL PENNY IS MY HERO, HE SHOULD BE YOURS TOO:  Sometimes I just have to sound off:  I was hoping that once closing statements were over every single juror would laugh in the prosecutor’s face and insist on taking Daniel Penny out for a beer.  But I’ll take the deadlock over the manslaughter charge as a partial win.  Next comes the criminally negligent homicide charge.  I’m saying a prayer that the jurors will be deadlocked on that one too.

I feel like this is America on trial.  We’re the country that is supposed to honor individuals like Penny who take action in an emergency.  Please God, give us a million more like him.

WHY THEY’RE AFRAID OF PETE HEGSETH:

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: She Fled from the Police with a Cop in the Backseat. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news and this week we have the world’s worst getaway, the naked carpet cleaner, and the new King of California.”

OBAMA CANNOT FAIL. ONLY WE CAN FAIL OBAMA:

Read the whole thing. Back in 2010 at the New Criterion, the late Kenneth Minogue warned:

My concern with democracy is highly specific. It begins in observing the remarkable fact that, while democracy means a government accountable to the electorate, our rulers now make us accountable to them. Most Western governments hate me smoking, or eating the wrong kind of food, or hunting foxes, or drinking too much, and these are merely the surface disapprovals, the ones that provoke legislation or public campaigns. We also borrow too much money for our personal pleasures, and many of us are very bad parents. Ministers of state have been known to instruct us in elementary matters, such as the importance of reading stories to our children. Again, many of us have unsound views about people of other races, cultures, or religions, and the distribution of our friends does not always correspond, as governments think that it ought, to the cultural diversity of our society. We must face up to the grim fact that the rulers we elect are losing patience with us.

In accordance with the prophecy:

THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY:

This is dangerous, Weimar-era territory we’re in.

NO STOP SIGNS IN A GUNFIGHT: When To Stop Shooting. “An untrained shooter can fire four rounds per second while an elite, trained shooter is capable of firing seven or eight accurate rounds per second. This inherent delay to stop shooting generally translates into one to four rounds fired before being capable of stopping our fingers from rapidly pressing our triggers. It simply requires time to stop shooting after finally perceiving the threat is over.”

BEATS THE HELL OUT OF MMT: El Salvador’s president is triumphant after his bet on bitcoin comes true. “The adoption of bitcoin — which has been legal tender in the Central American nation since 2021 — never quite matched the president’s enthusiasm, but the value of the government’s reported investment now stands at more than $600 million.”

NIH DESIGNEE JAY BHATTACHARYA REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING FIRE RANKINGS TO EVALUATE GRANT RECIPIENTS’ ACADEMIC FREEDOM. Whether or not FIRE’s surveys end up being considered, it’s critical that NIH grant recipients provide academic freedom so they can’t warp the results you paid for in whatever way they find politically convenient. Dr. Bhattacharya, you may remember, has plenty of reason to know the importance of scientists’ ability to follow their academic consciences.

MEH. THE S-400 ISN’T ALL THAT:

It’s looking more and more like the endgame for the Assad regime. I’m not exactly sad to see Putin humiliated but whether Assad’s downfall (if it happens) ends up making things better or worse in the region, I’d wager on worse.

REMY: Pardon My Son. New video from Reason TV: