OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.
Archive for 2025
February 16, 2025
MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: What Abolishing the Income Tax Would Mean.. Plus an AI experiment.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China invites bids for lunar satellite to support crewed moon landing missions.
AVERSION TO FIRING EMPLOYEES: A Cross-Cultural Study.
THIS WOULD NOT ONLY SAVE PEOPLE MONEY, BUT ELIMINATE HUGE AMOUNTS OF HASSLE, AND GOVERNMENT CONTROL: DOGE and Military Cuts Could Enable Eliminating Individual Income Tax.
All those people complaining about DOGE as a threat to privacy — why is it okay for the government to know how much money you make and what you spend it on?
WELL, THAT’S GOTTA HURT HIM TO SAY:
ABC’s Jon Karl: Trump’s favorability is now HIGHER than it ever was in his first term.
– 63% want the government to recognize only two sexes
– 60% support deporting illegal aliens
– 60% favor expanding oil & gas productionpic.twitter.com/9fUNRCY0Yp— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 16, 2025
WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY: Marco Rubio Leaves CBS News’ Margaret Brennan Speechless After She Claimed Nazis ‘Weaponized’ Free Speech.
Brennan interrupted Rubio with the claim that Vance was “standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.” She then went on to criticize the vice president for meeting with Germany’s “far right” Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, despite the fact that he also met with leaders of other major German political parties*. There is also the fact that Europeans consider any party that doesn’t want to invite the entire world “far right.” Even more disturbing, Brennan defended the censorship by claiming it was “specifically about the right.”
Rubio not only vehemently disagreed with the CBS anchor, but countered with facts:
“I have to disagree with you,” he responded. “Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities … There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany. They were the sole and only party that governed that country, and so that’s not an accurate reflection of history.”
Rubio defended Vance’s point about the “erosion in free speech and intolerance for opposing points of view” in Europe.
When the secretary of state was finished, Brennan had nothing to say except that they were out of time. How convenient.
Whether you love or hate what is being said, if you don’t believe in their right to say it you are a totalitarian. Counter speech you dislike with facts, but don’t try to suppress it. Else you become the very thing you think you’re fighting against. It’s great to see the highest levels of American government defending THESE values in places that increasingly need it the most.
We’ve reached the moment in Mel Brooks’ The Producers when Max Bialystock asks his would-be director Roger De Bris if he’s read Springtime for Hitler, and De Bris responds, “Remarkable, remarkable! A stunning piece of work…I never knew that the Third Reich meant Germany. I mean it’s just drenched with historical goodies like that”
How little do you have to know about Nazi Germany to believe that it was a place where free speech was the problem?
The Nazis didn’t weaponize free speech, they abolished it. People were regularly sent to prisons and even concentration camps for speaking out against the regime. https://t.co/PLQkEbkDxc
— AG (@AGHamilton29) February 16, 2025
* The ghost of Walter Cronkite smiles.
UPDATE:
This is the first time I’ve heard the theory that the Holocaust wasn’t conducted with gas chambers but with free speech zones. pic.twitter.com/mpWm6UH2F4
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) February 16, 2025
BEEGE WELBORN: The Dems’ P-Word Problem And Its Historical Parallels. “I saw that and I was like, ‘I am so writing this post. This is history come to life.’”
Related:
You can have a volunteer military made up of dudes like the one on the left or the one on the right.
One will repel the other.
You have to choose. https://t.co/bsGYjiZA8r pic.twitter.com/2deus1THt3
— The Deseret Stone (@DeseretStone) February 14, 2025
BREAKING AUTOMOTIVE NEWS: The Best Floor Mats of 2025, Tested.
DIY: Paint Sprayer Tool 1000W High Power Electric Spray Paint Gun. #CommissionEarned
ABOLISH THE ATF: How a Replica Submachine Gun Landed a Sailor in Jail for 20 Years.
LIMITED TIME DEAL: REDTIGER Dash Cam Front Rear. #CommissionEarned
MGS: MACHINE-GENERATED SMUT. ChatGPT can now write erotica as OpenAI eases up on AI paternalism: ChatGPT relaxes rules on sex and “gore” generations while prohibiting illegal content. There’s not really any such thing as “illegal content” here; they mean depictions of illegal behavior. “The Model Spec outlines formalized rules for restricting or generating potentially harmful content while staying within guidelines. OpenAI has divided this kind of restricted or iffy content into three categories of declining severity: prohibited content (‘only applies to sexual content involving minors’), restricted content (‘includes informational hazards and sensitive personal data’), and sensitive content in appropriate contexts (‘includes erotica and gore’).”
CHRISTIAN TOTO: Could Emilia Pérez Be Final Nail In Oscars’ Cultural Coffin?
The first part of the scandal is less explosive but more damaging in the big picture. The Netflix musical “Emilia Pérez” earned a whopping 13 Oscar nominations last month. That’s more than some of the most beloved films of all time.
Think “The Godfather,” “Raging Bull” and “Citizen Kane.” Heck, only three films have ever earned more than 13 nominations – “All About Eve,” “La La Land” and “Titanic.”* (all had 14 nods)
The French musical follows a murderous cartel kingpin (Karla Sofía Gascón) who undergoes sex change surgery to become a nonprofit dynamo eager to start a new life.
The film hasn’t generated the kind of universal acclaim that might explain the crush of nominations. The film’s 72 percent “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score tells part of the story. That 17 percent “rotten” rating (and falling) from consumers hints at something more profound.
Why would a film with less than glowing reviews snag so many nominations? Oscar watches quickly supplied some answers. The film’s progressive spirit, from the protagonist’s (trans)formation to the feminist complaints aired by co-star Zoe Saldaña, made it catnip for voters.
* Titanic, you say? There is a possible connection:
STARSHIP IS SEXY, BUT FALCON IS STILL DELIVERING THE MAIL: SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 booster launches 21 Starlink satellites from Florida.
Home prices in Washington, DC, have plummeted since the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency began discussing layoffs.
Since Donald Trump took office, Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has fired thousands of federal workers in a push to reduce spending.
In the wake of those layoffs, droves of former federal employees have packed up their bags and put their homes on the market, causing the average listing price to sink, The Kobeissi Letter (TKL) reported.
In November, the median home in the nation’s capital was worth $699,000, according to Redfin.By February, the median home value dropped 20 percent, bringing the price down to $560,000.
TKL found there are now nearly 8,000 homes listed for sale in the Washington, DC metro area, and almost half of them have been put on the market in the last 30 days.
There has also been a surge in new listings of homes over $1 million. According to TKL, there are 525 listings worth $1 million and 44 listings worth $5 million, suggesting DOGE layoffs could affect people in high-profile jobs.
Redfin agents in Washington, DC, reported that return-to-office mandates and uncertainty for federal workers have caused a listing surge.
Time to warm up the Dacia Sandero again!
AN AMERICA MOST LEFTISTS AND JOURNALISTS — BUT I REPEAT MYSELF — DON’T KNOW:
🚨 WATCH: President Trump just did an EPIC flyover at the Daytona 500
The crowd went absolutely WILD! 🔥
It’s like one big MAGA rally!
pic.twitter.com/VujMEBZpZo— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 16, 2025
I’M NOT SURPRISED: Depression can speed onset of long-term physical illness, study says.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Smart bots: China’s sex doll makers jump on AI drive. “The firm admits improving the features has been difficult partly because experts aren’t interested in putting much effort into developing AI technology for adult products.”
Coming soon in the New York Times: “As a flesh man, can I date robot women to advance my anti-robophobia?”
Not 2020. 2025. pic.twitter.com/GNAnL2V1rN
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) February 16, 2025
READER FAVORITE: Carhartt Men’s Knit Cuffed Beanie. #CommissionEarned
WILLIAM MARSHALL: The Genius of the DOGE Exposures.. “No doubt when Musk sets his genius young elves to work applying their AI algorithms on the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department’s budget data, they will find waste so massive that it dwarfs that of USAID’s $40 billion annual outlay. But it’s a bit harder for the public to grasp the wastefulness of the government paying many times the price that it should be paying for anti-aircraft missiles, say, or ineffective vaccines. From a public relations standpoint, it’s much easier to see the lunacy of the US taxpayer shelling out $2.5 million for an electric vehicle project in Vietnam or $1.5 million to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbian workplaces.”
(Sorry, had wrong author credited. Fixed now.)
THIS IS CNN: CNN WH Correspondent Deletes Tweet Supporting CEO Killer Luigi Mangione’s Defense Fund.
From our “What could she possibly have been thinking?” file, CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins posted a tweet linking to the defense fund for accused CEO murderer Luigi Mangione.
Maybe she believed she could justify it by claiming that everyone is entitled to a defense. That may be true, but isn’t that what public defenders are for?
After a massive backlash to the idiotic post, she deleted it. Almost like it never happened.
Almost.
At his Substack, Matt Margolis adds: CNN Anchor Promotes Legal Defense Fund of Cold-Blooded Killer.
This is CNN, folks—the so-called “most trusted name in news.” Yet, out of nowhere, CNN anchor and White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins took to X to casually announce, “Luigi Mangione’s legal defense team launched a new website today,” complete with a direct link to the site. No context, no disclaimer—just a straight-up promotion for the legal fund of a man charged with assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson mere weeks before Christmas last year.
While Collins didn’t explicitly encourage her followers to donate, the implication was clear: by directing attention to the site, she was signaling support for Mangione’s cause and clearly assumed her followers would want to donate.
It probably wasn’t a bad assumption on her part. In December, the audience of NBC’s Saturday Night Live erupted in cheers at the mere mention of Luigi Mangione.
During the “Weekend Update” segment, anchor Colin Jost began discussing Mangione’s extradition to New York after his capture in Pennsylvania.
“Luigi Mangione dropped—” he started, only to be interrupted by cheers.
Jost flinched and glanced offstage, as if unsure whether he was being pranked. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.
Hot Air’s David Strom notes the connection between Mangione’s legal defense team and CNN:
Collins’ tweet was startling because, first of all, she is White House Correspondent and hence has nothing to do with covering the case; secondly, because it sure looked like a call to go to the site and perhaps donate; and third, one of Collins’ colleagues–a CNN analyst–will be a direct beneficiary because she is on the defense team.
Related: CNN Names Karen Friedman Agnifilo On-Air Legal Analyst.
—AdWeek, April 4th, 2023.
ROGER KIMBALL: J.D. Vance’s Munich Wake-Up Call: Democracy, Censorship, and the Will of the People.
Everyone agrees that Vice President J. D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday was remarkable.
I do not mean that everyone liked it.
For example, Boris Pistorius, the German Defense Minister, sniffed—or perhaps “smoldered” would be a more accurate term—that Vance’s remarks were “not acceptable.”
And then there is Bill Kristol, a sort of Greta Thunberg of the rancid former right, who thundered that Vance’s speech was “a humiliation for the U.S. and a confirmation that this administration isn’t on the side of the democracies.”
“The democracies.” What do you suppose Kristol means by that?
While you ponder that question, note that other people thought rather well of Vance’s speech. I thought it was excellent myself, but forget about my opinion. Jonathan Turley said that Vance’s speech was “perhaps the greatest single declaration uttered since ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’” It was, Turley wrote elsewhere, “truly Churchillian—no less than the famous Iron Curtain speech in which Churchill dared the West to confront the existential dangers of communism.”
How can we explain the discrepancy: the outraged Pistorius/Kristol reaction and what I will call the Kimball/Turley reaction (though many people besides me applauded Vance’s speech)?
I think it comes down to how one understands that overdetermined, familiar yet often only half-understood word “democracy.”
Kristol said that Vance’s speech showed that the Trump administration was not “on the side of the democracies.”
What do you think of that claim?
I think poorly of it because I believe that a democracy is a political arrangement in which the people are sovereign.
I suspect that Kristol and European bureaucrats of all descriptions believe that it is a form of government in which only the right people, i.e, themselves, are sovereign.
QED: Glad to See He’s Toned Down the Rhetoric: John Harwood’s Latest Hysterical Trump Tantrum is EPIC.
For every rational person raising an eyebrow at this nonsense, there are like 3 leftwing lunatics who are cheering it on. You can’t be too confident.
Another day, or really, another hour, another insane rant from a once respected journalist. All because Trump broke them. Maybe he was always this way.
Either way, it is very entertaining.
Please don’t stop, Johnny!
Don’t worry, he won’t. Flashbacks:
● Tool de Force: CNN’s John Harwood Defends Biden, Insists Inflation Pain Is a GOP ‘Charade.’
● CNBC Hack John Harwood Is Really, Really Upset That Al-Baghdadi Was Killed.
● NYT/CNBC’S John Harwood Advises Hillary Campaign, Gloats About Provoking Trump At Debate.
● CNBC’s John Harwood Has No Business Moderating A GOP Presidential Debate.
● CNBC Alters Transcript of John Harwood Question About Hillary’s Email.
● “Everyone in the [CNBC] newsroom knows [John Harwood is] extremely far left.”
● CNN’s John Harwood used to think that higher inflation was a bad thing (guess what changed).
Exit quotes:
