BREAKING: Biden Pardons Fauci, Milley, and J6 Committee Members.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Pretty much an admission of criminality.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
January 20, 2025
THE LEFT’S WAR ON WOMEN (CONT’D): Female inmates say they fear transgender cellmates and urge Donald Trump to overturn ‘unconstitutional policy.’
Rhonda Fleming, 58, who is a little more than halfway through a 27-year sentence for Medicare fraud, argues that she and other biological women live in constant fear of attack and stress over having to interact with and undress in front of inmates with male genitalia.
Fleming’s civil suit stated women shouldn’t be forced to share intimate spaces such as bathrooms, showers and dorms with trans women.
But the judge on the case didn’t agree, ruling against her complaint on Wednesday.
Fleming was outraged when she spoke to DailyMail.com and said: ‘What the judge did Wednesday was a farce, it was a mockery of justice. He never intended for us to have a fair trial.
‘It’s like he’s attacking the victim, telling the victim you’re in the wrong, not the victimizer.’
The inmate is hoping that Trump will change the Bureau of Prisons policy after he moves into the White House on Monday – and possibly appeal her case.
‘Trump tried to help in 2018 by changing the policy when I initially filed on this, but as soon as he was out of office, Biden overturned everything he did and brought even more men into the prison,’ she said.
It’s an open question whether Biden knew he overturned anything. It’ll be nice knowing who’s making the decisions again.
WHOEVER OR WHATEVER STARTED THE FIRES, CALIFORNIA AND L.A. POLICIES MADE THEM MUCH WORSE: ‘I Know Who Caused the Fire’: Were the L.A. Wildfires Caused by Homeless Arsonists?
January 17, 2025
IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™ — Should Trump Bail Out the Fire Caltastrophe?
WELL, GOOD: U.K. announces new inquiries into decade-old cases of child sexual grooming after pressure sparked by Elon Musk tweet. “Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced Thursday that there would be a number of new central government-backed local inquiries into years-old allegations of child grooming gangs, weeks after Elon Musk accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failings in relation to the handling of the crimes in a series of tweets. The crimes took place a decade ago when Starmer was the country’s top prosecutor.”
Still, it feels a bit like the fox investigating who raided the henhouse.
FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Sorry, WAY Wrong Number. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news and this week we have one NSFW former sheriff’s deputy, the worst wrong number to dial, and a mystery woman’s MRI gone horribly wrong.”
REAL LIFE IS JUST LIKE THE BABYLON BEE, JUST A BIT LATER: Once Again, Life Catches Up to The Bee.
COMPLEXITY: Nine Months And GM Can’t Supply A Bumper. “Now, it’s tempting to think this is yet another result of the Flu Manchu supply chain disruption. And it might be. But something else is at play here: The drive to make new cars ‘smarter’ (and thus more expensive). The Lyriq uses ‘multiple ultrasonic sensors located on your front and rear bumpers.’ The more smart components the car has, the more fragile the supply chain and the easier to break.”
BIDEN’S PARTING GIFTS: Biden Issues Thousands More Commutations in New Clemency Blitz. “It should be noted that the White House did not release the names of those receiving commutations. Something tells me that quite a few of them are indeed violent criminals.”
NARRATOR: THE MARCHES WERE NEVER ABOUT A CEASEFIRE AND WERE ALWAYS ABOUT INTIMIDATING JEWS.
We were told these marches were to bring about a cease-fire, not intimidate the Jewish community. We now have a cease-fire. The marches are carrying on regardless. https://t.co/wSxNK265ts
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) January 17, 2025
RAYMOND IBRAHIM: Putting So-Called ‘Christian’ Terrorists to the Duck Test.
Another excellent podcast from Raymond.
COLD WAR II: Chinese hackers accessed Yellen’s computer in US Treasury breach. “The hack, what the Treasury called a “major incident”, happened in December when Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the department’s computer security guardrails by compromising third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust, according to Treasury officials.”
LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST:
CNN yesterday vs CNN today: pic.twitter.com/lpFPMICzAg
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 17, 2025
Related?
Jim Acosta, one day after he gave a cringe monologue about how important he is to preserving democracy, has now been booted to the midnight-2AM block on CNN.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 17, 2025
MANDATES ARE DUMB: And Suddenly, Gavin Newsom’s Electric Car Mandate Looks Pretty Dumb to LA Fire Victims “No mocking these poor folks, America, because this Caltastrophe may have bought more time for the rest of the country to shout down the climate cultists in state houses across the country. California’s proof of concept showed that climate nirvana doesn’t protect the environment for humans.”
I’m OK with more mocking.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: Dueling Bills: Maher Slams Dems While Burr Blasts Conservatives.
Burr, once quite funny, is turning into a big disappointment — and at the end of the Woke social contagion, when it’s sure to lose him many more fans than it gains him.
HOW IT STARTED: Bezos faces a Washington Post revolt after he reportedly blocked the paper from endorsing Harris.
How it’s going: ‘Deeply alarmed’: Washington Post staff request meeting with Jeff Bezos.
Over 400 staff members at the Washington Post have sent a letter to Jeff Bezos asking for a meeting with him during a time of widespread concern about the future of the newspaper.
The letter, signed by top journalists and correspondents and sent on Tuesday evening, pleads for Bezos, who is known to rarely visit the Post’s office in Washington, to meet in person with leaders at the office.
“We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent,” the letter reads. NPR first reported the letter.
“This is about retaining our competitive edge, restoring trust that has been lost, and re-establishing a relationship with leadership based on open communication,” it continues.
The letter claims these concerns are unrelated to Bezos’ recent decision to end its endorsement of US presidential candidates, which the letter writers acknowledge as “the owner’s prerogative”.
You don’t say.
Still, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh at the WaPo staffers who are both responsible for blowing the paper’s reputation and resistant to changing their ways.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Our Long National Nightmare Is Almost Over. “We’re going to have plenty of time to celebrate on Monday, but let’s take time today to reflect on the fact that our nightmare of the Biden administration is almost over.”
HEADS, YOU LOSE; TAILS, YOU LOSE: Walgreens CEO reveals anti-theft measures of locking up products had the opposite effect.
Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Tim Wentworth conceded that locking up products in order to combat retail theft had a negative impact on stores.
During an earnings call on Friday, executives reported a 52% increase in “shrink,” or a loss of inventory that can’t be accounted for through sales. The increase in loss of inventory comes after the pharmacy giant’s efforts to crackdown on shoplifting, which Wentworth suggested may have actually backfired.
“When you lock things up… you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively,” Wentworth said.
It doesn’t seem to have slowed the shoplifting, either.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Starship Flight Test 7: Now That Was One Spectacular Failure. “Doesn’t change the likely date at which Mars becomes self-sufficient.”
THERE’S STILL PLENTY OF BIDENFLATION BAKED INTO THE SYSTEM: Mortgage Rates Shoot Up to 7%, the Highest Rate Since May. “The 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.04% in the week ending January 16. It was the fifth consecutive week of rate hikes and the highest level since May.”
THIS IS CNN: ‘Your Credibility with Me is about None’: CNN Trial Goes From Bad to Worse.
In following the defamation trial against CNN by veteran Zachary Young, we have previously (here, here, and here) marveled at how bad things were going for the network. It appears that they are getting even worse. This has been a brutal week as CNN figures, including host Jake Tapper, took the stand. If “this is CNN,” the judge (and possibly the jury) are not liking what they are seeing.The report at the heart of the case aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Nov. 11, 2021, and was shared on social media and (a different version on) CNN’s website. In the segment, Tapper told his audience ominously how CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered that “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”
Marquardt piled on in the segment, claiming that “desperate Afghans are being exploited” and need to pay “exorbitant, often impossible amounts” to flee the country. He then named Young and his company as an example of that startling claim.The evidence included messages from Marquardt that he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young mf**ker” and thought the story would be Young’s “funeral.” After promising to “nail” Young, CNN editor Matthew Philips responded: “gonna hold you to that cowboy!” Likewise, CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan described Young as “a shit.”As is often done by media, CNN allegedly gave Young only two hours to respond before the story ran. It is a typical ploy of the press to claim that they waited for a response while giving the target the smallest possible window.In this case, Young was able to respond in the short time and Marquardt messaged a colleague, “f**king Young just texted.”In the last week, Tapper was seen on video by the jury and was mocked for claiming under oath that he “doesn’t pay attention to ratings,” a claim that could make him unique as a network host. While Tapper can argue that he was referencing the following of daily numbers, critics hammered him by showing repeated clips where he discussed ratings.However, the most damaging testimony may have come from top producers who told the jurors that they opposed the modest apology given to Young on air. Since Young seemed to do well before the jury, the testimony of senior editor Fuzz Hogan, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt, CNN producer Michael Conte, CNN’s executive vice president of editorial Virginia Moseley, and CNN supervising producer Michael Callahan undermined any effort to portray the network as seeking to amend a wrong or reduce damage to Young.
From there, believe it or not, things got worse for CNN.
BLUE STATE BLUES: California Incinerated Its Insurance Market.
Other disaster-prone states, such as Florida, have major insurance problems, but the causes vary. In California, the cause is tied to our prior-approval system of insurance regulation. Wildfires exacerbate that problem. Climate change might intensify the wildfires. But the issue is California makes it inordinately difficult for insurers to price their policies accordingly. Price controls always lead to shortages. Instead of risking their financial health, insurers quietly leave.
Our controls came in 1988 when voters approved Proposition 103. It made the insurance commissioner an elected official. Elected officials have a political incentive not to raise rates for obvious reasons. It instituted a prior-approval system (similar systems exist in 12 states), whereby the commissioner must approve any rate increases. It created a Byzantine rate-review process that’s costly and time-consuming. It gave consumer attorneys (“intervenors”) standing to oppose rate hikes. It even rolled back rates.
The state can enact reforms within the Prop. 103 framework (mainly through expediting the rate-review process and allowing use of those catastrophe models), but it won’t have a healthy insurance market until it ditches price controls. To make matters worse, the state’s FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan is in deep trouble, as increasing numbers of property owners rely on this bare-bones state-created insurer of last resort. If that fails, what exactly will people do?
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