Archive for 2024
December 27, 2024
DECLINE IS A CHOICE:
"Prime" rental space available in Uptown Minneapolis.
Not only will you have Urban Camping in front of your store, but there will also be no parking due to the designated bus lanes that will bring even more Urban Campers to your block.Winning. pic.twitter.com/ArYTo548UF
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) December 26, 2024
On the plus side, at least it isn’t burning.
21st CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Robot Romance Revealed: Women Will Be Having More Sex With Robots Than Men By 2025.
—The London Sun, June 30th, 2016.
If by chance women of the world actually are getting cybernetically jiggy with it en masse next year, nobody tell notorious robophobe Matthew Yglesias.
21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: Mice headsets make it easier to study brain response to virtual reality.
According to “the dominant view” of the American intelligence community, the presence of the Wuhan Virology Institute in the town where the Covid virus originated was just a big coincidence. That’s how I would paraphrase this paragraph from the Wall Street Journal “Exclusive” “Behind Closed Doors: The Spy-World Scientists Who Argued Covid Was a Lab Leak.” The Journal reports:
The dominant view within the intelligence community was clear when Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, and a couple of her senior analysts, briefed Biden and his top aides on Aug. 24. The National Intelligence Council, a body of senior intelligence officers who reported to Haines and that organized the intelligence review, had concluded with “low confidence” that Covid-19 had emerged when the virus leapt from an animal to a human. So did four intelligence agencies.
That left the FBI hanging on a limb:
At the time, the FBI was the only agency that concluded a lab leak was likely, a judgment it had rendered with ‘moderate confidence.”
* * * * * * *
Biden appears more to be in China’s pocket rather than frustrated by China’s stonewalling, but it should have been hard to miss the centrality of the WIV. Senator Tom Cotton was on the case in February 2020 (video below).
https://youtu.be/ytGIkcCh7T8
Which is why, as with their massive coverup of Biden’s mental decline, the DNC-MSM circled the wagons and lied about the likely origins of Covid. The wrong people might benefit politically from the truth:
The media called it a racist conspiracy theory strictly because it was Tom Cotton who brought it up.
No other reason, and they won't go back on it now because that makes him right, and them insane. https://t.co/3mHu17gk7c
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 26, 2024
In less enlightened days, newspapers were called “the first draft of history” until they morphed in recent years into Democratic Party propaganda tools. If that’s to be their current role, those who determine the party line might want to give more thought as to how each modified limited hangout diminishes “journalism’s” credibility over the long run.
RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Is Vivek Ramaswamy’s Unpleasant Advice What We Need to Hear? “The exhortations of Vivek Ramaswamy would have been familiar to many a 19th-century British ‘public school’ — meaning private school — boy. It would have been preached in every pulpit and rostrum. To tweet it would have been commonplace. One of the accusations against white privilege is that it ‘normalizes’ an obsession with achievement and expansion — per ardua ad astra to the classically educated — hence impelling conquest in contrast to the more communitarian, more easygoing human culture of the global South. Progressives have been trying to purge the West of this impulse ever since the end of WW2 because an unhealthy fascination with success is the foundation of white supremacy.”
TELL THEM TO STOP: Novel biomarker catches aging cells in the act.
DECOUPLING: ASML Exits, China Screwed. “Western nations have an advanced, highly interconnected semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem that China doesn’t have the technical expertise to replicate. In particular, China has nothing like ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines (AKA a ‘stepper’) necessary to build the most advanced chips with the smallest feature geometries.”
Fascinating details at the link, but this one about the lithography machines China does have stood out: “Maintenance and upgrades for these machines are now completely restricted. In other words, starting next year these state-of-the-art [not quite – LP] lithography machines could become little more than scrap. To make matters worse, even repairs for older equipment are off the table.”
SCOTT PINSKER: A Tale of Two Russian Missile Attacks: Why Trump Should Follow the Reagan Example. “The loss of life was tragic, but the aftermath was an undeniable PR victory for the West: The contrast between good and evil was obvious.”
BIDEN’S PARTING GIFTS: DOE natural gas analysis draws disbelief from Republicans, industry.
The future of U.S. liquified natural gas exports remains complicated as the incoming Trump administration will have to contend with a recent Department of Energy analysis now open for public comment.
The study offers a justification for the Biden administration’s indefinite pause on new LNG export sites back in January, claiming that increasing LNG exports would not only increase greenhouse gas and methane emissions but also inflict economic damage.
The results could hinder Trump’s plan to approve new LNG natural gas export terminals, part of his goal to reestablish American energy independence.
While the analysis admits that increasing LNG exports would generate revenue and create jobs across the natural gas supply chain, it simultaneously holds that the average American household would face 30% higher gas prices.
Without citing specific data, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the projected price increase is due to “the increasing domestic price of the natural gas itself, increases in electricity prices (natural gas being a key input in many U.S. power markets), and the increased costs for consumers from the pass-through of higher costs to U.S. manufacturers.”
The Texas Oil & Gas Association refutes this claim, citing federally-produced energy data. Other industry reports also refute Biden administration claims, The Center Square previously reported.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., condemned the rushed Biden administration study as a “politically motivated” move meant to “hamstring” the energy goals of the incoming administration.
Well, yeah.
LESS GOVERNMENT, BETTER RESULTS: Female Murder Rate Plummets in Milei’s Argentina and You’ll Never Guess Why.
WHAT TODAY’S ECONOMICS STUDENTS AREN’T LEARNING ABOUT ECONOMICS. Yeah, I know, it’s tempting to say “everything…”
LIMITED TIME DEAL: TurboTax Deluxe 2024 Tax Software, Federal & State Tax Return [PC/MAC Download]. #CommissionEarned
EXTEND THE TAX CUTS, CUT THE SPENDING, SLASH THE RED TAPE:
Trump’s economic team has a major problem on its hands.
The Fed is unable to balance inflation, rising mortgage rates & a stagnant economy. It needs to lower borrowing costs while simultaneously reducing inflation.
It can’t do both.
Rate cuts are supposed to make borrowing… https://t.co/98XlUANZGC
— Adrian Norman (@AdrianNormanDC) December 26, 2024
The Biden Cabal… Obama shadow presidency… whatever you want to call it… they really did a number on us.
THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON’S 2024 Man of the Year: Pierre Poilievre.
However Trudeau goes—resignation, no-confidence vote, American invasion of Ottawa—Poilievre is on-track to win big, with the Conservatives polling so well against the Liberals that he will almost certainly be Trudeau’s successor.
So let’s raise our beers, cook some back bacon, and salute Pierre Poilievre as the toppler of Trudeau the Terrible, a conservative who will Make Canada (Relatively) Great Again, a Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year, and the next governor of America’s soon-to-be 51st state.
Heh, indeed. Read the whole thing, eh.
DEMOCRATS. DEMOCRATS HAPPENED. Opinion: California ruled with great jobs and boom times. What happened?
HOT SHOE, BURNING DOWN THE AVENUE:
CNN: But what if it upsets Panama?@ScottJenningsKY (best retort ever): "Do I care if Panama is angry? What is Van Halen gonna com and be upset about it?…" pic.twitter.com/Tg6iuBiq9U
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) December 27, 2024
UPDATE: GOP Rep Connects Dots for CNN Host Waiting for ‘Biden Crime Family’ Proof. (Cut to Commercial!)
NEW: CNN host abruptly ends segment after her defense of Joe Biden’s crimes completely falls apart.
ABBY PHILLIP: “I’m still waiting to see the proof of Joe Biden enriching himself. I take his brother and his son, perhaps.”
REP. MIKE LAWLER: “I’ll give you the direct line. A… pic.twitter.com/MgskTTKP5O
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) December 27, 2024
THIS YOU CALL A WONDERFUL LIFE? Amazon Cuts Key Scene from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Just as We’re About to Emerge from Pottersville. “Apparently, the whole thing was over a copyright issue with that scene in the 1946 film, but it’s also worth noting in this connection that America is poised to emerge from its own Pottersville, the four years of the Biden-Harris regime.”
INSURRECTION!
Watching Trump's most fanatical opponents argue that they have the right on January 6 to reject his Electoral College victory is one of the funniest things ever. I hope it spreads.@RepRaskin has already threatened this, and @tribelaw is, of course a vocal advocate of it. https://t.co/xNLsvubb9a
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 26, 2024
There is someone being jailed for Jan 6th when they were not even in Washington DC for supposedly encouraging an insurrection. How can The Hill provoke and encourage an insurrection without consequence?
— lilredboat (@eggle33218) December 26, 2024
SUSTAINABILITY: National debt grew by $2.5 trillion in 2024; projected to rise.
As 2025 approaches, America’s fiscal health is in serious trouble with a ballooning federal debt exceeding 100% of the GDP. [It’s the publically held debt that just exceeded GDP. Total debt is nearly 25% higher than GDP. -Steve]
It’s projected to get even worse.
A year ago, the U.S. national debt amounted to more than $33.8 trillion, according to Senate Republican Joint Economic Committee data. As of Dec. 24, 2024, the debt has climbed to nearly $36.3 trillion, a $2.5 trillion increase within the past 12 months.
If the average daily rate of debt growth over the past three years continues, the gross national debt will reach $37 trillion within 5 months, $39.2 trillion in 2026, and $40.95 trillion in 2027, according to the most recent Congressional Budget Office 10-year forecast.
Economist Romina Boccia, director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, told The Center Square that the “excessively high, and growing unsustainably fast” national debt has “real implications” for the future of the country.
Boccia referenced how the high levels of debt caused by federal spending have depressed economic growth, particularly over the past four years, leading to decreases in take-home pay, job opportunities and entrepreneurship.
Spending cuts, deregulation, and growth are the only way out. Trump promised all three, and his ability to deliver will go far in determining his legacy.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems Are in Disarray — Here’s Hoping They Stay That Way. “Not only did the Dems wreck the economy, they were in full-throated denial about having done so. Their flying monkeys in the mainstream media ran interference for them, essentially telling voters who expressed concerns about the economy that they were idiots.”
DON SURBER: Primary Democrats, Too. “While history points to Democrats retaking the House in 2026, the question is will that majority be Tim Walz crazy or just Joe Manchin duplicitous?”
DEEP STATE UPDATE:
Brownstone Institute has been tracking a little-known federal agency for years. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security created after 9-11. It is called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA. It was created in 2018 out of a 2017 executive order…
— Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) December 25, 2024
More:
It was a mandate to secure American digital infrastructure against foreign attack and infiltration.
And yet during the Covid year, it assumed three huge jobs. It was the agency responsible for dividing the workforce between essential and nonessential. It led the way on censorship efforts. And it handled election security for 2020 and 2022, which, if you understand the implications of that, should make you spit out your coffee upon learning.
More than any other agency, it became the operationally relevant government during this period. It was the agency that worked through third parties and packet-switching networking to take down your Facebook group. It worked through all kinds of intermediaries to keep a lid on Twitter. It managed LinkedIn, Instagram, and most of the other mainstream platforms in a way that made you feel like your opinions were too crazy to see the light of day.
The most astonishing court document just came out. It was unearthed in the course of litigation undertaken by America First Legal. It has no redaction. It is a reverse chronicle of most of what they did from February 2020 until last year. It is 500 pages long. The version available now takes an age to download, so we shrunk it and put it on fast view so you can see the entire thing.
Tucker’s full writeup is here.
ABUSE OF POWER: Why Did the ATF Raid Baltimore Gun Rights Advocate Mark ‘Choppa’ Manley’s House? “It isn’t really clear what the feds were looking for in the raid. They spend hours tossing Manley’s home, checking gun serial numbers, and ultimately confiscating his phone. But no one was charged or arrested and no guns were confiscated. Harassment has been a hallmark of the ATF since the Biden administration launched its war on legal gun ownership not long after it took office. And the agency is, of course, refusing to comment on the case. . . . It wasn’t long ago that ATF decided that an early morning raid on the home of Bryan Malinowski was preferable to stopping him on his way to or from his place of work. Malinowski thought it was a home invasion, armed himself, and the ATF’s finest shot and killed him.”
Shut the ATF down. Of the many terrible federal law enforcement agencies, it’s arguably the worst.