IT’S PROBABLY NOTHING: Taiwan Official Leading Missile Production Found Dead in Hotel.
Author Archive: Ed Driscoll
August 6, 2022
August 5, 2022
HOW IT STARTED: New York Times Magazine Interview Whines Over America’s ‘Rabid’ ‘Obsession’ with Economic Growth.
—NewsBusters, July 19th.
She says we’re not in a recession.
Just a “vibe-cession.”
And that’s a real quote. That’s a real thing the New York Times published as noteworthy economic commentary.
We are Serious Journalists. Please pay us money and give us Prizes now!
To be fair, during a vibe-cession, plenty of funemployment should soon follow.
Related: Grammarly: Government Edition. New video from Reason TV:
THE BANNING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES: James Lindsay Permanently Banned from Twitter.
A note from Twitter at the bottom indicates that the suspension is permanent, and informs Lindsay that any new accounts made by him would also get suspended.
The tweet that got Lindsay suspended said “Ok, child sexualization specialist.” Lindsay was previously locked out from his account in July after tweeting “ok, groomer” at a Media Matters journalist. Lindsay had previously been suspended in June for tweeting “ok, groomer” at Media Matters journalist Ari Drennen. Drennen had claimed that the Daily Caller was maliciously using a photo of teens holding a Pride flag.
Believing that Drennan’s comments were an unfair juxtaposition, Lindsay responded to her tweet with the words, “ok groomer,” which resulted in a 12-hour suspension for “hateful conduct.”
The Post Millennial reached out to Lindsay for comment, to which he said: “Twitter has inconvenienced me and simultaneously confessed that they have a vested interest in protecting the sexualization of children. This also suggests the possibility of an untoward relationship between Twitter and Media Matters, which deserves investigation. I’m glad they’ve drawn so much attention to the issue, in any case. It has to stop. We must protect our children.”
In the meantime, will the last conservative-adjacent person who hasn’t banned yet by Twitter, please turn off the lights?
THIS FEDERAL AGENCY SENT BILLIONS IN TAXPAYER MONEY TO CHINESE, SAUDI COMPANIES, REPORT REVEALS: Export-Import Bank gave billions to Chinese companies.
TALCUM X UPDATE: Shaun King Threatens Reporters: ‘I Know Where You Live.’ “If King weren’t a privileged member of BLM, perhaps law enforcement would consider his stalkerish, potentially violent behavior of concern. As the media warns, white men are dangers to society.”
OLD AND BUSTED: Follow the Science!
The New Hotness? “Don’t Test, Don’t Tell.”
Senate Democrats, some of whom have decried their G.O.P. colleagues’ lenient attitude toward masking, have adopted an unofficial “Don’t Test, Don’t Tell,” protocol of late, particularly as they endeavor to pass the historic Inflation Reduction Act this weekend. One senior Senate aide told me, “They’re not going to delay it if a member has gotten Covid. Counterparts are saying they’re not going to test anymore. It’s not an official mandate but we all know we’re not letting Covid get in the way. The deal is happening. Less testing, just wear masks and get it done.” When Chuck Schumer was asked about a plan B today in case someone drops out with Covid he said: “We’re not talking about a plan B. We’re going to stay healthy.” Another source said that if you catch Covid “you can bring your ventilator and still vote…”
Why does the Covid-obsessed Democratic Party keep creating superspreader events?
I’LL TAKE HEADLINES FROM 2020, ALEX: Fueled By Two-Tiered Political Justice, The Left’s 1960s Violence Is Back.
The violent bear it away. That title of Flannery O’Connor’s 1960 novel still resonates. Some relentless atavism is at work in our culture, a monstrous irrationality that awakens what O’Connor called “the stuff of which madmen and fanatics are made.” Violence, no longer shunned, is now an accepted political tool.
The attempted assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh—preceded by U.S Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to enforce federal law against protesters at justices’ homes—exposed the fragile divide between constituted order and willed anarchy. In effect, the attorney general’s inaction acquiesced to mob intimidation and signaled a willingness to risk further lawlessness.
The descent into Third World-like threats against the judiciary did not come suddenly. The slouch toward selective law enforcement and politicized violence has a history. By whatever name we call it—wokeism nowadays—adversary culture has been loosening essential restraints for some six decades. Like the lifecycle of a parasite, the passion for repudiating established order mutates and reappears in successive stages. Today’s recurrence of the New Left virus keeps the inherited infection alive in a new generation of hosts.
When did it ever go away? Bernie Bro James T. Hodgkinson, Attempted Assassin Of Steve Scalise, Already Being Erased From History. And additional examples of leftist violence and eliminationist rhetoric at the link.
August 4, 2022
DECISION DESK HQ PROJECTS KARI LAKE IS THE WINNER OF THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR IN ARIZONA:
I’M SHOCKED — THIS IS AN ATTACK ON PRESS CREDIBILITY THAT’S ENDANGERING U.S. DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL PRESS FREEDOM: Biden Spokesman John Kirby Reprimands Reporter for Shouting Over Others in Briefing Room: ‘You Know Where We Are?’
The National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications and former State Department spokesman had it out with Simon Ateba of Today News Africa.
Ateba spoke continuously as Kirby attempted to field a question from another reporter.
“Mr. Kirby, can you verify [inaudible],” Ateba said. Others, including Kirby, spoke over one another, but Ateba continued.
“If you allow me to ask you the question,” Ateba said, but was cut off by Kirby, who asked him, “Your name is Simon, right?”
Ateba continued asking his question, which was inaudible.
“Simon. Simon. Simon. Simon, sir, I’m going to call on this man,” Kirby said as Ateba spoke unabated. “Now sir, listen now, I’ve been polite to you, but I expect a little bit of respect in return.”
Kirby asked Ateba, “You know where we are?” before he answered his own question.
“This is the White House press briefing room, and you need to be more respectful,” he said. “I am going to call on this reporter.”
Ateba quieted himself and the briefing continued.
The reporter notably disrupted former White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing.
(Classical allusion — from April of 2020 — in headline.)
FENDER REPORTEDLY LAYS OFF 300 CALIFORNIA EMPLOYEES:
According to YouTuber Dylan Mckerchie – AKA Dylan Talks Tone – a source stated that the workers making up the “entire afternoon shift” of Fender’s Corona, California factory were laid off, amounting to around 300 people – including the plant manager and assistant manager, and a number of the quality control team. This, Dylan states, reduces Fender’s production capacity by between 200-250 instruments a day.
Mckerchie states that the employees “Did not get some fluffy email or severance package” – for the most part receiving just a few days extra pay. The layoffs don’t seem to be limited to the factory floor, either, with Mckerchie the vice president of design for EVH and Charvel has been let go, alongside Brian Swerdfeger. Swerdfeger was Fender’s vice president of research and design, and the spearheaded the design of the Acoustasonic range.
Flashback: Did Everyone Buy a Guitar in Quarantine or What? Online music instrument sales rose dramatically in 2020. “We’re now selling a thousand guitars every day,” says the CEO of Sweetwater, which posted more than $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
But likely the Fenders that new players bought up during lockdown were from their beginner-oriented line Squier, some of which are surprisingly good guitars — but they’re built in places like Indonesia and China.
WAPO: HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY THAT CALLS FOR ABSTINENCE DON’T WORK TO PREVENT SPREAD OF MONKEYPOX.
Obama alumnus Andy Slavitt tweeted that sexual activity being the cause of monkeypox was a “myth.” The D.C. Health Department doesn’t seem to be interested in singling out any at-risk communities. COVID fear-spreader Eric Feigl-Ding says the fall school year will require “radically” new safety mitigations. Everyone panic!
The Washington Post reports that sex is a “major driver” of the spread of monkeypox, but notes that health officials and longtime AIDS activists say calls for abstinence don’t work.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results:
Past performance from Washington Post columnists is also no guarantee of future results:
SENATE NOW RATED A TOSS-UP AFTER MOST PRIMARIES HAVE BEEN HELD:
Even in a “red wave” election, winning the Senate is going to be an uphill battle for Republicans. Of the 35 seats up for grabs, Republicans are defending 21 of them while Democrats are defending only 14 seats, all of which are in states that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. This limits Republicans’ offensive opportunities.
Read the whole thing.
AN ERRAND BOY, SENT BY GROCERY CLERKS, TO COLLECT A BILL: The great White House replacement. Joe Biden is an errand boy, a figurehead, and he has outlived his plausibility:
“There is this sense that things are kind of out of control,” quoth Axelrod when asked about the Big Guy™, “and he’s not in command.” Right you are, Dave! My only question is: what took you so long?
Of course, Axelrod’s devastating admission was not a disinterested or impartial judgment. Nothing Obama’s main men say is that. Every word is calculated for political advantage. But the question is, whose advantage? I am not entirely sure. I am confident, though, that Axelrod’s breathtaking admission was part of the next step in resetting the political chess board. It was another stage in the emergency effort at damage control that the shadowy cadre of people who actually run the United States have been undertaking ever since the full magnitude of Joe Biden’s incompetence became manifest.
Back in March, I predicted that the Democrats were prepping to eject Biden. One sign of that, I said, was the fact that elements of the regime-propaganda secretariat — in this case the New York Times — had suddenly gone off the reservation by admitting that Hunter Biden’s “Laptop from Hell” was not “Russian disinformation” as they and all their cohort had insisted, but was, in fact, the real deal. And not just the salacious stuff about Hunter’s “private” life, but also all the possibly criminal stuff about Chinese involvement with the Bidens’ finances and, especially, Joe Biden’s personal involvement with various schemes involving millions of dollars.
It’s Roger Kimball, so read the whole thing.
DISPATCHES FROM WEIMAR AMERICA: Whoopi Goldberg Talks To God, Suggests He Supports Abortion.
TAYLOR SWIFT’S PRIVATE JET HYPOCRISY: Taylor Swift finally faces the woke mob.
It’s been four years since pop superstar Taylor Swift went full lib. After years of speculation over her political leanings (her silence on issues led some to believe she was a secret Trump supporter), Swift urged her fellow Tennessee residents to vote against the “appalling” and “terrifying” Republican Marsha Blackburn for Senate.
“I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post.
Since then, Swift has been outspoken about her pro-choice, anti-gun, and anti-Trump views. But unlike some of her fellow left-wing celebrities, Swift has somehow avoided being accused of not being woke enough. Katy Perry, a former foe of Swift and alleged subject of the song “Bad Blood,” has taken heat for cultural appropriation in her music videos. Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel apologized for past incidents of blackface. Demi Lovato was dragged for visiting Israel.
Alas, recent reports of Swift’s private jet usage finally suggest she’s not the woke hero she makes herself out to be. The digital marketing agency Yard discovered that Swift’s planes emit more CO2 in seven months than 1,184 average people would in an entire year. She apparently has two jets (how luxurious!) that took 170 trips in just 200 days this year, and the average flight time is just 80 minutes.
Yet rather than say she was sorry and promise to “educate herself” and “do better,” as the PR-crafted celebrity apologies usually go, a rep for Swift tried to pass the buck.
“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” her spokesperson said. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”
Ah, well, in that case everything is totally fine! The carbon emissions are offset, you see, by Swift’s generous lending of her private plane to her less wealthy friends. Isn’t charity great?
I don’t want to hear another word about Glenn Reynolds’ carbon footprint.
GOSH, THAT WOULD BE A SHAME: Sinema Wants Changes to Reconciliation Bill That May Torpedo the Whole Thing.