Archive for 2025
October 29, 2025
SHOULD STATES ELECT OR APPOINT UNIVERSITY BOARDS? Kind of like with judges, no option seems to be clearly best (at least, to me). Appointed cronies or elected hacks?
I DON’T THINK I’D FIT: Honda’s Newest Concept Is the Totally Adorable Micro EV.
BUBBLES POP: When The AI Bubble Bursts, What Happens To The Secondary Bubbles? “Companies like OpenAI may get the most ink, but a whole lot of other companies are getting boosted as well. Some of the names are even the same as the dotcom bubble: Microsoft, Oracle, AMD. Applied Material stock has gone through the roof now that I don’t own any. Cisco is just getting back to the level of their record stock highs during the dotcom era.”
Lots to chew on at the link.
GOOD AND HARD, FUN CITY: Mamdani’s mother in unearthed 2013 interview: ‘He is not an American at all.’
READER FAVORITE: 4500 Sq.Ft Most Efficient Energy Star 2025 Dehumidifier. #CommissionEarned
RUY TEIXEIRA: Big-Tent Politics Won’t Save the Democrats. As Teixeira writes, “voters know whose tent it is, even if a few heterodox guests are allowed inside:”
A recent New York Times conversation between columnist and “abundance” advocate Ezra Klein and progressive author Ta-Nehisi Coates illustrates the problem. Klein, a proponent of big-tent politics, tried to persuade Coates of its necessity. “[A] huge amount of the country, a majority of the country,” Klein said, “believes things about trans people. . . that we would see as fundamentally and morally wrong. . . . What politically. . . should our relationship with those people be?”
Coates, unsurprisingly, rejected the premise. As far as he was concerned, those people were on the other side of a moral line: “If you think it is okay to dehumanize people,” he said, “then conversation between you and me is probably not possible.”
Of course, Coates has no problem dehumanizing people himself: The Toxic World-View of Ta-Nehisi Coates.
His monstrous passage about 9/11 is a good summation of where he’s coming from. He writes of the police and firefighters who died running into the burning buildings in a forlorn effort to save all the people whose bodies were about to be obliterated into dust, “They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could — with no justification — shatter my body.”
More from Teixeira:
But the telling detail is in Klein’s own phrasing. He described dissenters from progressive orthodoxy as “fundamentally and morally wrong.” His version of the big tent, then, is that some Democrats, particularly those in conservative areas, should be permitted to adopt wrong and immoral positions for the sake of expediency. But the positions of the party on those issues will and should remain the same. You can come into the tent, but the left will still run the show.
That won’t work. Advocates of the big tent must face the facts: The party’s many unpopular and unworkable positions—on everything from energy to identity politics—have to genuinely change if Democrats hope to win back skeptical voters. Simply holding their noses and letting a few candidates deviate from orthodoxy won’t work.
Take immigration. Democrats have had little to say about Trump’s successful efforts to close the southern border, but much to say about his deportation measures, which they see as cruel and immoral. That, as Josh Barro notes, doesn’t add up to a change in party position. To win back voters’ trust, he argues, the Democrats “must acknowledge that the Biden administration’s policy of laxity was a failure,” and put forward better enforcement measures of their own. He adds: “If Democrats are only seen talking about how the government is doing too much enforcement, we’ll be seen as the anti-enforcement party, and that’s politically deadly.”
And that is precisely what’s happening. The party increasingly looks like the anti-enforcement party that doesn’t want to deport anyone. And that image means that a Democrat running in a conservative area can try to carve out a tough-on-illegal-immigration profile, but—even assuming the activists leave him or her alone—the party’s overall stance on immigration enforcement will mostly negate any benefit from the candidate’s heterodox position.
That’s because Biden administration’s “policy of laxity” wasn’t a failure, it was a strategy, and voters knew it:
● Jared Bernstein, member of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors: “One thing we learned in the 1990s was that a surefire way to reconnect the fortunes of working people at all skill levels, immigrant and native-born alike, to the growing economy is to let the job market tighten up. A tight job market pressures employers to boost wage offers to get and keep the workers they need. One equally surefire way to sort-circuit this useful dynamic is to turn on the immigrant spigot every time some group’s wages go up.”
● Trump administration senior adviser Stephen Miller in February of 2021: Biden’s Immigration Plan Would “Erase America’s Nationhood.”
● “Labour wanted mass immigration to make UK more multicultural, says former adviser. Labour threw open Britain’s borders to mass immigration to help socially engineer a ‘truly multicultural’ country, a former Government adviser has revealed.”
● Tom Cotton’s Response to Kamala Harris’ Border Failures Should Be the Default for All Republicans: “‘You know, Laura, Kamala Harris didn’t have to go all the way to Guatemala and Mexico to find the root causes of this border crisis because they’re not there,’ Cotton told Fox News host Laura Ingraham [in June of 2021]. ‘The root causes are in the White House.’ He further explained that it ‘happened on January 20th when Joe Biden took office, and he essentially opened our borders, reversing very effective policies that had our borders under control.’”
Speaking of Kamala and immigration, the Biden “Politburo’s” border stance made the Bulwark rather cross last November:
Holy crap…lol…just saying the quiet part out loud, I guess. https://t.co/PI0nLI8FHi
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 9, 2024
TOMORROW AT UTAH VALLEY U., SITE OF CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION: Greg Lukianoff, my friend, boss at FIRE, and occasional Instapunditeer, speaks on the topic of “Free Speech: An Antidote to Violence.” I’m proud that Greg and FIRE are part of this event, honoring Charlie Kirk’s legacy of engaging friend and opponent alike.
NAH, IT’LL NEVER WORK: A radical idea to improve schools: Do what works.
We know what schools need to do to improve learning, writes Mike Schmoker, the author of Results Now 2.0. He lists three practices proven to be effective:
• The faithful implementation of a clear, sequential, knowledge-rich curriculum.
• Daily engagement in liberal amounts of purposeful reading, discussion, and writing across the curriculum.
• The routine (though not exclusive) use of explicit, step by step instruction — where each lesson has a clear goal and the teacher frequently “checks for understanding” — and re-teaches when students struggle.
Schools that do these things get excellent results, Schmoker writes. Yet many teachers have been told in training and professional development sessions that knowledge is unimportant and explicit instruction is outmoded.
THEY’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, IF YOU ONLY LISTEN: Mamdani’s Own Mother Warned Us About Who He Really Is Years Ago.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Jake Tapper Just Told the Truth and Now I Need My Fainting Couch.
READER FAVORITE: ROVE R2-4K DUAL Dash Cam Front and Rear. #CommissionEarned
ALL THE VERY BEST PEOPLE ASSURED ME THIS WAS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT AN ACT OF CONGRESS, AND PROBABLY AMNESTY: Illegal border crossings in September historically low — 92% drop from high of two years ago.
SHE DON’T FEEL NO WAYS TIRED: Nancy Pelosi Chews Up Six Minutes Claiming Democrats Didn’t Move America ‘Too Far To The Left.’
“[T]here are certain people in the country who don’t want to see … women, LGBTQ people, people of color, immigrants taking their place in anything,” she said. “And that’s just the way it is. That’s their problem. That’s not America’s problem. America is this great country with this beautiful diversity.”
Pelosi also ranted about her Catholic views to claim she valued all different types of people — before appearing to attack Republicans while seeming to use a southern accent.
“You’re people of faith? You go to church on Sunday and pray in church on Sunday and prey on people the rest of the week. What is this? What is this?” she asked, laughing.
“Pelosi chuckles, but not even the moderator or Harvard student crowd seems to find it funny:”
🚨NEW: Nancy Pelosi appears to use southern accent while attacking Republicans' Christianity🚨
"You're people of faith!? You go to church on Sunday and pray in church on Sunday and prey on people the rest of the week!? What is this!?"
*Pelosi chuckles, but not even the… pic.twitter.com/Lal4wK2nYe
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) October 29, 2025
There’s no doubt that Pelosi already has the support of Zohran Mamdani, Hilaria Baldwin, Jasmine Crockett, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton, but seems little interested in growing the party’s base much beyond the code-switching far left:
COIN OF THE REALM: This Is How One Secret Service Agent Dealt With That ‘Mysterious’ Bag of Cocaine in the Biden White House.
Now, as reported by RealClearPolitics national political correspondent Susan Crabtree on Tuesday, Secret Service agents who guard the White House weren’t exactly happy campers about what several agents described as a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” cover-up (emphasis, mine):
The @SecretService Uniformed Division officers who guard the White House were so pissed off that they were forced to be part of a cocaine cover-up in 2023, as several Secret Service sources referred to it, that one officer made a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” commemorative challenge coin about the ordeal to lighten the mood and improve morale within the ranks, according to the photos below and several Secret Service sources.
The officer was punished (placed on administrative leave for an unknown amount of time) for making and distributing the unauthorized coin. The coin’s distribution took place within weeks of the USSS closing the case in 11 days. Many rank-and-file Secret Service agents and UD officers are still angry that they were forced to close the investigation in such a short time + destroy the evidence, as I previously reported. “It made us look inept,” one source told me.
Allegations persist that then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other Secret Service officials pushed to have the cocaine destroyed.
🚨🚨EXCLUSIVE AND #BREAKING — NEW INFO ON WHITE HOUSE COCAINE-GATE:
"SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL"
THESE ARE COMMEMORATIVE COINS A SECRET SERVICE OFFICER MADE IN REBELLION TO LEADERSHIP'S COCAINE "COVER-UP."
The @SecretService Uniformed Division officers who… https://t.co/0S6MkpsN7k pic.twitter.com/yVtZmJJWxc
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) October 28, 2025
Exit quote: “It was never about the cocaine. It wouldn’t have been all that surprising if the coke was indeed Hunter’s, would it? The real story here was the alleged go-to reaction of the head of the Secret Services and others to destroy the evidence — just one more example of the rot of corruption throughout the Biden presidency.”
The Secret Service played cleanup for Hunter on numerous occasions, including:
● Secret Service says it can’t find Hunter Biden travel records for 2010, 2011, or 2013.
● Sources: Secret Service inserted itself into case of Hunter Biden’s gun.
● Secret Service paying over $30K a month for Malibu home to provide security for Hunter Biden.
I VOTED SO HARD FOR THIS: DHS Deports Over Half a Million Illegals While Another 1.5 Million Self-Deport.
NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Liberal Podcaster Goes Off On ‘P*ssies’ Schumer and Jeffries and Offers ‘Kudos’ to ‘No Kings’ Protester Celebrating Charlie Kirk Death.
Liberal podcast host Jennifer Welch went off on the “Democratic establishment” and told them to “jump on board” or face the same fate as MAGA as she offered “kudos” to a protester celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk.
On the I’ve Had It podcast on Tuesday, Welch blasted Democratic leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for not being more vocally and actively supportive of New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“If you think this Zohran thing is happening just in New York, and you think people are waking up only in New York City, you’re mistaken,” Welch said.
She then cut to a clip of a conservative influencer Kaitlin Bennett speaking with a No Kings protester who didn’t seem to have a problem with the recent assassination of conservative activist Kirk.
In the clip, the protester called Kirk “horrible” and said she’s “glad” he’s not around anymore.
“He was horrible on the campuses, the college campuses, horrible person,” the protester said, then telling Bennett she’d “have to think about” whether she wants her dead too.
Earlier: The Assassination Fan Base.
Welch represents the views of the vast majority of leftists. Some are just willing to say it out loud.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 28, 2025
UPDATE:
If you had to put a face on why men have abandoned the Democratic Party and aren't coming back any time soon, this would be it. https://t.co/fSktpGxAeQ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 29, 2025
CHANGE: Tens of Thousands of White-Collar Jobs Are Disappearing as AI Starts to Bite.
A leaner new normal for employment in the U.S. is emerging. Large employers are retrenching, making deep cuts to white-collar positions and leaving fewer opportunities for experienced and new workers who had counted on well-paying office work to support families and fund retirements. Nearly two million people in the U.S. have been without a job for 27 weeks or more, according to recent federal data.
Behind the wave of white-collar layoffs, in part, is the embrace by companies of artificial intelligence, which executives hope can handle more of the work that well-compensated white-collar workers have been doing. Investors have pushed the C-suite to work more efficiently with fewer employees. Factors driving slower hiring include political uncertainty and higher costs.
Altogether, these factors are remaking what office work looks like in the U.S., leaving the managers that remain with more workers to supervise and less time to meet with them, while saddling the employees fortunate enough to have jobs with heavier workloads.
The cascade of restructurings has created a precarious feeling for managers and staff alike. It is also tightening the options for those who are looking for employment. Around 20% of Americans surveyed by WSJ-NORC this year said they were very or extremely confident that they could find a good job if they wanted to, lower than in past years.
Meanwhile, opportunities for front-line, blue-collar or specialized workers are growing.
LLMs can’t replace a skilled trade worker.
SUCCINCT CASE FOR NOT MOVING TO CALIFORNIA: Veteran conservative journalist John Merline recently moved from Virginia to the Golden State and, boy, is he paying for it!
BUT IT’S STILL FUN TO TROLL LEFTIES WITH IT: Trump says ‘it’s pretty clear’ he’s ‘not allowed to run’ for third term.
CODING BEGINS SOON: CBS News begins staff cull days after anchor announced his exit… amid ongoing rumors Gayle King’s days are numbered.
Brutal layoffs are hitting CBS News after its parent company announced a plan to axe more than 2,000 staff across the organization.
New Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss acknowledged the cuts on the network’s morning editorial call Wednesday, Semafor’s Max Tani reported.
Weiss called it a ‘enormously difficult day’ for the network, according to Tani.
David Ellison, the chairman of CBS News parent Paramount, broke the news about the companywide layoffs in a note to staff on Tuesday.
‘In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization,’ he wrote.
‘In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth.’
Flashback: Out-of-work coal miners find new work in computer industry.
—CBS News, November 18th, 2017.