Author Archive: Stephen Green

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Media’s War Against J.K. Rowling Will Never End. “Media outlets have been pouncing on Rowling for six years now, and the latest batch of ‘Potter’ news allowed them to revisit their grudges. For them, it’s never over until she bends the woke knee.”

PRIORITIES:

CORN, POPPED: FBI director pushes to release investigative files on Rep. Eric Swalwell. “The files stem from a decade-old counterintelligence probe into a Chinese woman, known both as Christine Fang and Fang Fang, who reportedly helped Swalwell with fundraising and placing an intern in his office during the 2014 campaign cycle.”

“WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR AGI”:

Abstract and more here.

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:

More:

He was initially reported as a civilian casualty, but the “Teachers’ Basij” organization later confirmed that he died “while on duty.” According to his mother, he was at the checkpoint with his father due to a shortage of personnel.

Earlier, Al Arabiya reported that the Islamic regime in Iran had lowered the conscription age and resumed recruiting minors into the armed forces. Teenagers have reportedly been assigned to checkpoints and patrol duties in Tehran.

The use of child soldiers is not new for the Islamic regime.

A legitimate government protects 11-year-olds. The Tehran regime uses them to save their own skins.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Reader John Steakley writes: “In other words, the Iranian regime now encourages 47th trimester abortions. How progressive!”

FAIL, BRITANNIA: NHS rations hospital referrals to cut waiting list.

The NHS is to ration hospital referrals as Labour scrambles to meet its pledge to cut waiting lists.
GPs have been ordered to consult on at least one in four referrals rather than sending them to hospital in order to reduce “unnecessary” appointments.

The quotas, the latest method the NHS is using to keep waiting lists down, will come into force on Wednesday.

But MPs and medics have raised concerns that setting an arbitrary target will delay patients from getting access to the healthcare they need.
Dr Luke Evans, shadow health minister and a former GP, told The Telegraph: “My biggest concern is about this single point of access, with a target to bounce back one in four referrals – that is bad for clinicians and it is really bad for patients.

“It is hard not to see this as a way of Wes Streeting simply controlling access to hospitals and massaging waiting lists.

“We don’t even know if the planned 1 in 4 patients bounced back to the GP are recorded. Is Labour planning on effectively rationing secondary care – it seems like it.”

Socialism always ends with rationing.

WHAT WILL DEMOCRATS DO ONCE AMERICAN TRAVELERS LEARN THAT ICE GUYS ARE PRETTY COOL, ACTUALLY?

DECLINE IS A CHOICE:

ROAD SAFETY: Foreign big rig drivers lose licenses by the thousands, but ride-shares still use illiterate drivers.

For CDLs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) can audit, set minimum standards states must follow, and enforce safety rules nationwide for commercial trucks. Rideshare & taxis are treated as local services; therefore, the federal DOT (Department of Transportation) has almost no authority over driver licensing or day-to-day operations.

Even though states print and hand out the licenses, federal law, via the FMCSA, sets the minimum qualifications every state must follow. That includes the long-standing rule that commercial drivers must “speak and read English sufficiently” to understand road signs, talk to law enforcement, and handle emergencies.

The Trump/Duffy DOT used that federal leverage to identify and remove the 17,000 unqualified big-rig drivers (many of whom got CDLs through the previous administration’s lax “self-certifying” truck schools). States still have to cooperate on enforcement, which is why Duffy said he needs “partnership” (he even noted California Governor Gavin Newsom is starting to play ball).

Only because Newsom’s eye is on 2028.

FOR A BUNCH OF SELF-STYLED SOPHISTICATES, EUROPEANS ARE PROVINCIAL TO THE POINT OF SELF-HARM IN THEIR OUTLOOK:

SPOILER: THEY ARE.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Congressional Perks: Senate spending skyrockets by more than 40% in last few years.

In 2020, the U.S. Senate office account was spending less than half a billion dollars, but that has since increased by nearly $200 million, an analysis of data provided by the American Governance Institute and other online data shows.

Overall Senate spending that includes the office accounts but also expenses for leadership, committees, security and operations was about $1.5 billion, increasing as much as 50% since 2020.

The $1.5 billion overall spending included a litany of staff positions that government watchdogs questioned, such as a chaplain who has his own chief of staff and communications director, dozens of door keepers, picture framers, telephone operators, barbers, wellness resources staff and furniture artisans.

Included in the office account spending was at least $1 million a year for private jet flights and repeated reimbursements for individual senators.

David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said senators spending on themselves is out of control after The Center Square detailed the expenses in the Senate office accounts and the history of spending.

We’d do better with Caligula’s horse.

HE’S BEEN REMARKABLY CONSISTENT:

And another, going all the way back to 1980.

THE ENEMY WITHIN:

WELL, GOOD: 4 more states will add restrictions on SNAP purchases in April. “22 states have additional restrictions in effect or in the works for grocery items deemed “non-nutritious,” like soda and candy. Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming have all moved to add new restrictions in the past month.”

MUSK NEEDS TO GET ON TOP OF THIS BEFORE X IS COMPLETELY BROKEN:

X is supposed to be a free-speech platform, not a foreign psy-op.