CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: New York Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Body Armor Ban To Go To Trial.
Archive for 2024
November 21, 2024
NOT ONE MORE WORD FROM THE DEMS ABOUT “OUR PRECIOUS NORMS.”
Alejandro Mayorkas and Christopher Wray did not show up to provide testimony at a routine hearing today before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Their refusal to appear is a "shocking departure" from tradition, Sen. Gary Peters said in a statement. https://t.co/X3pMNcjqMy
— Axios (@axios) November 21, 2024
I’m not so sure it’s actually “shocking,” however.
BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker. #CommissionEarned
ELIZABETH SCALIA: Family and friends, the 2024 election and Thanksgiving.
SOME PARTS OF AMERICA STILL WORK — AT A BREAKNECK PACE: SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from Florida, its 7th liftoff in a week.
THE NOT-SO-FINAL COUNTDOWN: Just for Fun, Here’s Rush Limbaugh in 1992 Shredding Al Gore’s ’10 Years Left’ BS Right to His Face.
We had 10yrs to save the planet!!!!!
In 1992. https://t.co/iTkdUjPszw
— john jackson (@pvtjokerus) November 21, 2024
In 1983, Jessica Savitch previously assured me we only had ten years to save the earth — it’s turtles final countdowns all the way down.
1983. NBC News. We are all going to die by the 1990's because of climate change. 😂 pic.twitter.com/YZvG7cvc89
— MAZE (@mazemoore) October 31, 2023
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: How Linda McMahon could wrestle the teachers unions as Trump’s education chief.
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of education secretary is on a collision course with the country’s teachers unions as Republicans eye major reforms that would put more power in the hands of charter and private schools.
The second Trump administration continued taking shape on Wednesday, with World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon chosen to lead the Department of Education. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be tasked with expanding access to voucher programs and reducing the role the department plays in local schooling.
McMahon is also in the slightly awkward position of heading an agency that Trump has vowed to abolish. She has a somewhat thin resume in education, though that could be a plus as Trump stacks his Cabinet with allies committed to disrupting the way the federal government operates.
“Like most Trump picks, as surprising as they seem, she clearly has an agenda to blow up business as usual,” said Dan Bowling, who teaches labor courses at Georgia State University’s law school. “Certainly, the teachers unions are going to be in the crosshairs of McMahon or anybody who negotiates with them on behalf of the Trump administration. I think we’ll see a lot more hard bargaining.”
At a minimum, I certainly hope so.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: Democrats in Denial and Other Failures to Cope in the Second Trump Era.
“Lessons learned” is one of the most powerful weapons in a military’s arsenal — a formal process for “capturing, analyzing, and applying knowledge or insights gained from past operations, exercises, or other events.”
While it lacks the dramatic presence of an M1A3 Abrams main battle tank or the existential dread of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile, Lessons Learned allows a military organization to avoid repeating failures, to build on past successes, and — perhaps most importantly — to disseminate those lessons throughout the organization and enhance future decision-making.
If there’s a human pursuit as chaotic and prone to failure as military operations, it must be politics.
Much more at the link — VIP members asked for more long-form pieces and I’ve been happy to oblige.
PLANT-BASED EGGS AREN’T EGGS: Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs.
GOODER AND HARDER, CALIFORNIA:
We just ran payroll. The payroll taxes were 2K higher than calculated. We called the payroll company. They explained (in summary) that California has a budget shortfall, and the federal government wants money back that it lent California for UI that it "lost." They are making up…
— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) November 20, 2024
More:
Wait, what https://t.co/0tdHwu42ko pic.twitter.com/Rp4jA7Sy7y
— Mason (@webdevMason) November 21, 2024
“F*** you, pay me,” they explained.
GAETZ WITHDRAWS FROM AG NOMINATION:
GAETZ WITHDRAWING FROM A.G. https://t.co/JUNwxU4s8q
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 21, 2024
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey writes:
Gaetz might choose to serve in the next Congress, but … that would mean the Ethics Committee could re-open the probe, too. His resignation ended their jurisdiction in this session, which meant that he could possibly avoid the publication of the details of the allegations and findings. It seems more likely that Trump will find him a place in the administration that doesn’t require Senate confirmation, in an interesting West Wing position.
Meanwhile, Trump has to look for another Attorney General nominee. The man considered the most likely to get the job in the first place — Matt Whitaker — could still fill it. He served as an acting AG before Trump appointed William Barr to the position and fared well in it. He’s loyal enough to Trump that he got the nomination to be the next ambassador to NATO. That position would be easier to fill than the AG slot, and Whitaker seems more suited for the Department of Justice than State anyway.
Stay tuned.
I WOULDN’T BRAND IT LIKE GOOGLE, GOOGLE’S REP IS SLIDING: Human Cell Atlas hopes to be ‘Google Maps’ for health research.
THIS IS MORE LIKE THE JON STEWART WHO MADE ME LAUGH 20-PLUS YEARS AGO: Jon Stewart Blasts the Democrats’ ‘Audacity of Cope’ — and It’s Hilarious!
BILLIONAIRE PLEDGES TO UNDERMINE POPULARLY ELECTED PRESIDENT IN THE NAME OF SAFEGUARDING DEMOCRACY:
Some background: The New York Times and other outlets recently profiled the existence of a new Democratic governors-led Trump “resistance” group, noting its funding was unclear as it preps to coordinate state-level pushback to the incoming administration
It's called “Governors… pic.twitter.com/go0KFvSLuv
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) November 20, 2024
Read the whole thread.
APRIL SMITH: Childless Cat Ladies for Law and Order.
I am a woman living alone near Philadelphia with a cat, so I guess you could call me a “childless cat lady.” I never wanted children, so I never had any. Since I have dedicated my life to helping other people, for many years I subscribed to all of the social justice causes. That began to change when the neighborhood I live in became a hotbed of crime and leftist intolerance. . . .
I later discovered that on the neighborhood Facebook group people were extoling the act as a way to fight gentrification! The cafe is not a chain and it employs residents of the neighborhood. But that didn’t stop commenters from suggesting that smashing out their windows, gunfire, and loud groups of youth are all good ways to ward off would-be gentrifiers.
About a month ago I heard five rapid-fire gunshots across the street from my apartment. The sirens came a bit later, along with police helicopters.
All of these kinds of things make it so that I am afraid to leave my apartment at night. When I have to, I make sure I am on the phone so at least someone can call the police if I am attacked. . . .
A few months ago, there was a meme on Facebook that showed a white woman saying, “I don’t feel safe in my neighborhood,” and a man answered her, “You literally voted for this.” I now understand that my situation resembles this cartoon.
I have voted Democrat all my life. I supported soft-on-crime candidates because I didn’t want to see people go to prison and lose their chance at a better life. But now I see the ruin that we have to live with as a result of these policies. The white liberals in the suburbs do not live with the consequences of their votes. I do.
Childless cat ladies are a demographic that is very vulnerable to violence and disorder. Their very existence is predicated on a society that is reasonably safe and wealthy. Also, she should buy a gun.
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Public Support For An Assault Weapons Ban Continues To Tumble.
BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Classic Skillet, 9″. #CommissionEarned
HE ‘KILLED’ ZACHARIAH, THEN MET HIM 25 YEARS LATER: It’s usually not a good idea to give away the ending of something you are encouraging folks to watch, but this HillFaith post today is simply amazing.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: Justine Bateman Shames Clooney, Hanks, Streep and More. “They saw what Bateman saw. They could have used their clout to strike a blow against speech suppression. They had endless opportunities to do just that. Awards show podiums. Social media pages. Late-night interviews.”
BREAKING: Rob Reiner Drives Himself Bonkers Post-Election, Checks Into a ‘Facility.’
The headline says “Breaking” but it’s been a long time coming.
NOT QUICKLY ENOUGH: Will DEI Die?
With Trump’s victory and the belated realization that wokeness has pushed the normies Too Far, there’s talk that the poison of social justice will finally die a well deserved death in the name of improving Democratic Party election chances.
I remain skeptical.
With the woke retreating to Bluesky in order to further isolate themselves from #WrongThink and all those hateful, hateful facts, it seems like the woke will be clinging more bitterly to their anti-rational, low calorie religion substitute than ever before.
They’ll come back to Twitter — er, X — for two reasons. The first is that Elon Musk made it back into a fun place to be. The other is that Bluesky is so heavily censored that the busybodies who populate won’t find anything new to complain about.