Archive for 2024
June 6, 2024
OH, NO… ANYWAY: Fani Willis Blew It: Trump Georgia Case Officially on Hold.
A BEAR INSIDE YOUR LIVING ROOM SHOULD ONLY EXIST IN THE FORM OF A RUG: Bear Killing Sparks Controversy Over Self-Defense Claims in Lake Tahoe.
FLORIDA, MAN: Florida ranked top of list for startup activity, economic health. “For its findings, WalletHub reviewed 28 key indicators of economic performance and strength across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study specifically looked at data ranging from GDP growth and the unemployment rate to startup activity and the share of jobs in high-tech industries.”
BREAKING: Seriously, Is Boeing Starliner Cursed?
Houston, Starliner has a problem. Another one. Four, actually — four failed maneuvering thrusters. After Wednesday’s oft-delayed but finally successful crewed flight test (CFT) launch, Boeing’s orbital spacecraft suffered multiple thruster issues on its way to dock with the International Space Station.
Spoiler: Starliner and its crew — mission commander Barry Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams — eventually safely docked with ISS.
Best as we know so far, here’s what happened.
Much more at the link.
READER FAVORITE: LEGO Creator Expert NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander 10266 Building Toy Set for Ages 16. #CommissionEarned
THE BATTLEFIELD IS EXPANDING: Virginia now a battleground as Trump surges — and Biden’s failures drag Dems down.
Virginia has gone blue in every presidential election since 2008.
Four years ago Trump lost the state to Joe Biden by 10 points.
Nobody considered Virginia — and its 13 electoral votes — a battleground this year.
Late last month a Roanoke College poll found Trump and Biden tied, 42% to 42%.
Biden was already looking anemic in a January poll by Virginia Commonwealth University, which had him ahead by just 3 points.
What’s happening in Virginia is that the Democrats’ coalition is cracking even as Biden’s gruesome foreign-policy record helps heal divisions within the GOP.
Trump is in a position to win “NeverTrump Republicans” — or NearlyNeverTrumpers — for the first time, while Biden is losing ground with the rural and working-class whites Democrats still need to win in places like Virginia.
That Wall Street Journal story about Biden’s good days/bad days senescence forced every news outlet to finally address the senility issue, even if it was only in the context of griping about the Wall Street Journal story. While there might not have been anything there that people didn’t at least suspect, the insider details were new — and devastating.
Whatever effect the WSJ’s report is having on Biden’s support, it’s too soon for it to show up in the polls. And almost like clockwork, Biden suffered a series of embarrassing brain freezes at the D-Day anniversary ceremony, broadcast live around the world.
Time is running short to change perceptions about Biden but, more importantly, perhaps aside from a jacked-up debate performance later this month, he’s no longer up to doing the job himself.
As always, don’t get cocky.
OLD AND BUSTED: Dead People Voting For Democrats.
The New Hotness? Dead People Winning Elections! Dead Democrat Congressman Wins Primary.
A late Democratic congressman secured his party’s nomination for another term in office on Tuesday, despite his passing six weeks ago at the age of 65.
Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey succeeded his late father in representing the Garden State’s 10th Congressional District.
He had formally submitted his candidacy for re-election prior to his untimely death from a heart attack on April 24, as reported by The Hill.
Help us Obi-Wan Torricelli, you’re our only hope!
DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT? Future-self chatbot gives users a glimpse of the life ahead of them. “A team of AI researchers with members from several institutions in the U.S. and KASIKORN Labs, in Thailand, has built an AI-based chatbot that allows users to chat with a potential version of their future selves.”
AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: ‘Throw Everything That Democracy Has At This Man:’ MSNBC Analyst Suggests Silencing Trump To ‘Protect Voters.’
The New York Times’ Mara Gay on Wednesday seemed to suggest that Judge Juan Merchan should maintain his gag order on former President Donald Trump to safeguard voters.
Trump’s gag order, imposed by Merchan, bars the former president from making public statements regarding witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff and jurors, as well as family members of the staff, district attorney or judge. Gay on “Deadline: White House” appeared to imply during a conversation about the necessity of the gag order that it protects both the jurors who convicted Trump as well as American voters.
“You have to protect jurors, you have to protect voters,” Gay said. “And if we can’t do those two things in this moment, you can’t ask people to participate in democracy or to trust the process. So, this is a moment to throw everything that democracy has at this man.”
In accordance with the prophecy:
Democrats Vow To Arrest As Many Political Opponents As It Takes To Defeat Fascism https://t.co/aUrQnbJZn3 pic.twitter.com/5ReqjNoegT
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) June 3, 2024
SHARKS GOTTA SWIM, BATS GOTTA FLY, DEMS GOTTA POUNCE: Black Man Speaks the Truth. Democrats Pounce.
FREE SPEECH VICTORY: Elon Musk’s X defeats Australia’s global takedown order of stabbing video.
THE ENEMY WITHIN:
EXCLUSIVE: The teachers union in Portland, Oregon, has created a curriculum that teaches kindergarteners that "Jewish people" are "settler-colonial" oppressors, prepares them to attend "protests," and celebrates Palestinian "martyrs."
Inside Portland's kindergarten Intifada. 🧵
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
Read the whole thread.
TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE! Awkward moment Jill Biden appears to tell Joe not to sit at D-Day ceremony, but he does anyway.
President Biden was spotted awkwardly fumbling for his seat as other dignitaries remained standing during a poignant D-Day commemoration ceremony in France on Thursday.
The 81-year-old could be seen grasping for his chair in the middle of the stage — despite his wife, first lady Jill Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron remaining upright beside him.
Yesterday, The Hill reported, “White House fires back at Wall Street Journal over Biden story” — the story headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping.” Then today’s videos drop of just another day at the office for Sundown Joe:
Biden arrives at the D-Day 80th anniversary ceremony clearly confused before shuffling like a robot.
He then appears to get confused while trying to take a seat and then freezes.
Later on, he leaves the ceremony while Macron stays and greets veterans.
There is no way Democrats… pic.twitter.com/66oSp4t4Js
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 6, 2024
DAN RATHER SAYS*, “GOOD LUCK GETTING THAT, DON!” Why CBS News’ Lesley Stahl Owes Trump a Massive Apology.
In 2020, CBS News’ Lesley Stahl interviewed then-President Trump when the Hunter Biden laptop was revealed to the world. The device was filled with sexual debauchery, drug use, and the blueprint for the Biden family influence-peddling operation that was damning for the Democrats’ hopes of retaking the White House. The liberal media and Silicon Valley knew that too, which is why they buried the story and censored The New York Post, who first reported on the laptop, from posting on their social media accounts for days.
* * * * * * * *
The attack line was predictable: the laptop was Russian disinformation. Conservative media knew it was authentic. It would take months for the rest of the establishment media to confirm what half the nation knew already. With Hunter Biden’s gun trial underway, the laptop has been made a key piece of evidence by the government. So, is Russian disinformation no longer there? Trump said Biden was engulfed in scandal when he was interviewed by Stahl, who dismissed the notion. She wouldn’t let Trump discuss the laptop, saying it couldn’t be verified. Stahl owes Trump an apology, and the media owes the rest of us the same treatment for lying. I know—we shouldn’t hold our breath. No one has apologized for the Russian collusion hoax—why should this be any different?
Video of Stahl as the perfect Democratic Party operative with a lavalier at above link. Michael Shellenberger adds that Stahl could have verified the laptop before interviewing Trump if she wanted to — but that would be doing actual journalism, instead of creating a “gotcha” moment when interviewing a Republican president running for reelection:
CBS' Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" said in October, 2020 that Hunter Biden's "laptop… can't be verified." That was false. It could be and was. And, according to the journalist who verified it, @peterschweizer, CBS and Stahl could have done so before she interviewed Trump. pic.twitter.com/SdDpZnOpSX
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 5, 2024
AT ONE POINT IT LOOKED LIKE HE SOILED HIMSELF: Biden’s Visit to Normandy Was the Awkward Mess We All Predicted It Would Be.
“DEAF ACTIVISTS” WILL CALL THIS GENOCIDE: Gene therapy restores hearing in children born deaf.
WELL, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SHE’S DOING: ‘My Mama Didn’t Raise A Fool’: John Kennedy Accuses Janet Yellen Of Giving Economy ‘Sugar High’ To Help Biden Win.
“Because of the inverted yield curve, that means that you’re gonna pay more in interest on short-term debt than say 10-year debt,” the senator said. “Now that’s a fact. You can go check the numbers of Treasuries yesterday. First, that costs taxpayers a lot more money in the interest. And number two, you’re working at cross purposes with the Federal Reserve because what you’re doing is stimulating the market. You’re pumping money into the economy and Jay Powell’s over here beavering away trying to reduce inflation. And you’re beavering away trying to increase it.”
Yellen appeared to begin to dispute Kennedy’s claims but he continued, talking over her.
“By paying an interest rate that is 100 basis points higher than you would have to pay,” he said. “And the only reason I can figure that y’all are doing that is, is to try to give the economy a sugar high five months before an election. Why else would anybody want to borrow at 5% when you can borrow at 4%?”
I’d just add that wages still haven’t caught up with Bidenflation and that despite the low unemployment rate, we still have fewer full-time jobs (and a lower labor participation rate) than we did in 2019.
For all of Yellen’s sugar high, to mix metaphors, the Biden recovery is mostly smoke and mirrors.
Last week, the BBC News website informed readers about a shocking alleged murder. A 70-year-old Brighton woman appeared in court, it reported, on suspicion of hacking her 70-year-old husband to death with a samurai sword. Local outlets, Brighton and Hove News and the Argus, also covered the story of the allegedly homicidal granny.
All of these outlets have fundamentally misled their readers. The suspect, Joanna Rowland-Stuart, is a man. His late husband, Andrew Rowland-Stuart, was also a man.
While the BBC and local journalists fell over themselves trying not to ‘misgender’ the alleged murderer, internet sleuths took the time to dig into the history of the couple and to uncover the facts. The Gender Critical Woman blog revealed that prior to his retirement, Joanna Rowland-Stuart worked as an equality and diversity manager for Sussex Learning and Skills Council in Brighton. He was active in the local trans community and appeared at events alongside the Sussex Police and the Brighton Kemptown MP, Lloyd Russell-Moyle.
For a while, former trucker Andrew Rowland-Stuart also claimed to be a woman and went by the name ‘Angie’. At the time of their marriage in 2006, the couple identified as ‘lesbians’, although Andrew appears to have subsequently desisted from his trans identity.
Looking at Joanna Rowland-Stuart’s activities in Brighton, it’s fair to say he was up to his moobs in the diversity, equity and inclusion industry.
That’s the real story.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: I Was A Happily Married Mother Of 4. Then I Met A Woman At Pilates. “I held guilt. I held blame. I had made a beautiful family, and then I’d broken it.”
FATHER’S DAY GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE: Snailax Shiatsu Neck and Shoulder Massager – Back Massager with Heat. #CommissionEarned
IFT-4 WAS THE BEST SHOW (ALMOST) ON EARTH: The Massive Starship That Could.
DON SURBER ON THE DEMOCRATS: No Man Is Above the Law — Except Us.
JIM GERAGHTY: The ‘Gayest’ Star Wars? Hollywood Creativity Falters.
The math is complicated, but the gist is that, while the Star Wars movies make a ton of money in ticket sales, they also cost a ton to make, and Disney spends a ton on marketing them, even though they have the best built-in audience imaginable. It adds up to a much thinner profit margin than the general public would expect, although Disney does make additional money through merchandising, theme parks, video games, etc.
That Forbes article notes that, over time, the Star Wars movies’ revenue has declined at the box office. In fact, we haven’t had a new Star Wars movie released in theaters since 2019, and the viewership for the television series appears to be declining over time, too. Last year I wrote that perhaps the increasingly frequent Disney+ shows were oversaturating the fanbase. Or perhaps Star Wars is best enjoyed on the big screen.
Hearing yet another cheerful declaration that the latest offering is “the gayest,” my reaction is that the modern creative class in Hollywood isn’t that creative. We keep getting told that a new character is a triumph for “representation,” and yet the overwhelming majority of those characters come and go with a yawn. Making a character gay or lesbian or trans or any other “identity” doesn’t make them inherently interesting or compelling.
In fact, I’d argue that when characters are created with “representation” in mind, they’re just about destined to be boring because they aren’t allowed to be too flawed. If, for example, you make your television series’ first and usually only gay character a kleptomaniac, someone out there will loudly complain that your series is portraying gays as kleptomaniacs. Any character who is offering “representation” must therefore be nice and safe and pleasant and unlikely to offend or bother any potential viewer. The characters become symbols, not evocations of a flesh-and-blood human being.
Geraghty’s take that “the modern creative class in Hollywood isn’t that creative” is certainly borne out by the Critical Drinker’s look at The Acolyte’s first episode. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…: