CORN, POPPED:

Did a ny city official just admit they neglected their responsibility to neely and the public, and that Penny only had to deal with neely and suffer through a sham prosecution due to a failure of the city?

That might end up in the lawsuit…

👀

— Dave (@DaveCrocket0) December 9, 2024

More:

This blatant racial discrimination is precisely why the Trump 47 Justice Department must open a federal probe on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, lead prosecutor Dafna Yoran, and their office.

Conspiracy against rights (18 U.S.C. § 241) is a very serious federal civil-rights felony. https://t.co/kgKVia3JGd

— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) December 9, 2024

You can read Jumaane Williams’ full statement here but this bit stands out from the rest of the nonsense and deflection:

We don’t know everything that passengers saw or felt on that train car, and can’t dismiss any real or realized fears. We do know that neither Blackness nor poverty nor nuisance constitute an imminent threat. Yet this verdict tells people that the system is okay with violence against marginalized people.

But marginalized, mentally ill people that the city has left to wander the streets untreated should be free to commit violence at will.

Got it.

CHANGE: Is DEI doomed? “A second Trump administration is likely to be more motivated, better equipped and more focused on dismantling DEI initiatives on college campuses.”

NOBODY LIKES A LOSER:

Jill and Joe Biden are refusing to even look at Kamala Harris tonight 😬 pic.twitter.com/qL6jftoLsu

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 9, 2024

As far as I can tell, both Bidens avoided looking at Harris and Emhoff even when they turned in their direction.

Besides, Jill only has eyes for Donald.

Jill Biden looking at Trump the way Margaret Trudeau looked at Fidel Castro. She’s smitten pic.twitter.com/0P0n0Poz9W

— Ida Tavakoli (@IdaTavakoli) December 8, 2024

CHRIS QUEEN: A Totally Not Unbiased Look at Saturday’s Football Fairytale. “Nothing is a given in the Southeastern Conference (SEC).”

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Ohio bill would require high-demand liquor bottles to be opened when sold.

A bill introduced at the Ohio Statehouse would require high-demand liquor bottles to be opened and resealed at the time they are sold, in an attempt to combat an illegal secondary market.

Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) is a fan of bourbon and seeks out rare bottles. The state liquor agency sends out a notice when a limited supply of these highly sought-after bourbons, whiskies and other spirits such as tequila are made available for purchase at certain stores. DeMora and others wait in line for the chance to get a bottle.

“I’m just trying to look out for all the regular bourbon-lovers like myself,” DeMora said. “When I get notices of the bourbon I want, I stand in line. I’ve been successful twice. I’ve been unsuccessful a dozen times.”

The problem, DeMora said, is that people who he refers to as “flippers” quickly buy up the allocated bourbons and illegally resell them on a secondary market for significantly more than what they paid.

Here’s the real culprit, way down in the eighth graf: “In Ohio, liquor prices are fixed.”

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Biosecurity Hazard: Hundreds of Vials Containing Deadly Viruses Are Missing.

JONATHAN TURLEY: Jake Tapper and CNN Lose Major Motions in Defamation Case by Navy Veteran.

We previously discussed the defamation lawsuit brought by Navy veteran Zachary Young against CNN and anchor Jake Tapper. Young has been doing well in court and last week he won on additional major issues against CNN. In a pair of orders, the jury will be allowed to award punitive damages and his experts would be allowed to be heard by the jury on the damages in the case. It also found that the Navy veteran was not a public figure and thus is not subject to the higher standard of proof associated with that status.

The punitive damages decision is particularly interesting legally. It could prove financially onerous for the struggling network, which has plunging ratings and has reduced staff.

The court found that CNN’s “retraction” was insufficient to remove punitive damages from the table.

Developing…

HOW DO YOU SAY “BUILD THE WALL!” IN GERMAN? I Can’t Believe What Germany and Austria Just Did… er, Stopped Doing.

DISSOLVE THE PEOPLE AND ELECT ANOTHER: A Coup Against Right Wing Movements Is Underway In Europe.

In Germany the establishment is attempting to ban the increasingly successful AfD Party on the grounds that they represent a “return to fascism”. Over 100 legislators backed the resolution, though it is unclear if a vote will be taken. The AfD is the second most popular party in Germany and has recently put a candidate forward for chancellor in the upcoming February elections.

All other political parties in Germany are variations of the progressive spectrum. Leftists say that if the AfD gains any significant governmental power they will refuse to work with them, preferring to leave the German government in a state of limbo rather than accept the will of the voters. It should be noted that Germany’s coalition government is already collapsing and the country is in crisis.

In France, the increasing success of Marine Le Pen and her National Rally Party has been met with extreme derision by the progressive elites. The establishment under Emmanuel Macron engaged in political chicanery after the National Rally won the first round of the French elections. The centrists established a coalition with the radical leftists as a way to prevent the right wing from taking power. The move was technically legal, but considered by many to be an immoral effort to deny conservative French voters a voice.

The elites are also attempting to use lawfare against Le Pen, conjuring charges of misuse of EU funds with the intent to ensure she can run in the 2026 elections. As in Germany, it should be noted that the very coalition that was put in place to keep the right wing out of government has now collapsed under a no confidence vote of Prime Minister Barnier and France is currently in crisis.

What the elites eventually seem to forget is that if they don’t accept peaceful losses by democratic means, eventually, they may lose in some much worse way.

HMM: Why Did Lara Trump Resign As RNC Co-Chair?

THEY’LL CONTINUE DOUBLING DOWN ON STUPID FOR A WHILE LONGER:

Idk, maybe Democrats should try to win elections instead of cater to neurotic privileged weirdos. https://t.co/83m8xPToqh

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 8, 2024

The Democrats are a party of, by, and for neurotic privileged weirdos, and they hold too many influential positions to be easily shaken loose.

SARAH ANDERSON: Sex, Murder, and Small Town Politics: What’s Going On In Letcher County, Kentucky? “What happened on Sept. 19, 2024, not only shook things up in Letcher County, but it also potentially exposed something much more sinister. That Thursday afternoon, District Judge Kevin Mullins and County Sheriff Shawn Stines had what looked like a normal lunch together at a sports bar in the county seat of Whitesburg before meeting up at the county courthouse a few hours later. While in the judge’s chambers, the two men allegedly had an argument before Stines pulled his gun and shot Mullins several times. The incident was caught on a security camera.”

THE BIDEN CABAL/OBAMA SHADOW REGIME GOING OUT SWINGING: Biden Unbanking And Censoring Political Enemies? “The Biden Administration isn’t yet done, and still more of it’s dirty dealings are coming to light. Remember Operation Choke Point, the semi-secret program to ‘debank’ disfavored businesses like guns and weed under the Obama administration? Well say hello to Operation Choke point 2.0, where the disfavored people being unbanked are the Obama/Biden Machine’s political opponents.”

WHATEVER HAPPENS TO SYRIA NEXT, THERE WILL AT LEAST BE THIS MOMENT TO TREASURE: Syria’s Biggest Losers: Khamenei, Putin, Obama.

PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE: President Trump to propose a plan to implement paper ballots, one day voting, voter ID, and proof of citizenship for all elections during his next administration.

I’d add one more item to Trump’s impressive list: ballots not counted by midnight won’t be accepted for congressional, Senate, or presidential elections. If California wants to spend five weeks stealing the election for some Democrat assemblyman or whatever, that’s their business. But the days of them stealing congressional seats in broad daylight have got to end.

DEEP STATE MEDIA TOOL’S GOTTA BE A DEEP STATE MEDIA TOOL:

NBC is “fact checking” Trump’s interview this morning and they’re repeating the lies that crime is down.

Trump is right. Crime is not down.

Some major cities just stopped reporting it and the FBI recently quietly updated their crime statistics which was missing thousands of… pic.twitter.com/9VPjaiYA31

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 8, 2024

If the big brains at NBC News actually had brains of any size, they’d get into the business of reporting real news, real quick, to improve their credibility and value ahead of a Comcast spinoff of its network properties.

There doesn’t seem to be much danger of that, however.

KEVIN DOWNEY JR: The Marxism in Front of You That You Can’t Unsee, Volume I: Trans Insanity. “As a former liberal who had spent most of my adult life living in or near New York City, and with plenty of gay friends, I was suspicious as to how this previously unknown group of dudettes was suddenly front and center.”

MIDDLE EAST: The Lesson From Bashar Al-Assad’s Collapse.

The question now is what other countries could be vulnerable to the same dynamics that led to Assad’s fall, especially as Assad’s ouster reminds ordinary people that no dictator needs to be permanent.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one such country. Iran maintains two militaries. A conscript army that many Iranians resent and seek to avoid, it is common for Iranian farmers to delay registering their sons’ births to keep them as labor for several extra years. Protests and uprisings in Iran have become more frequent. Should Iranian Arabs rise, for example, not only might ordinary recruits resist fighting their fellow countrymen, but the impact on the Iranian oil trade that is centered in the region could mean the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—Iran’s more elite, volunteer military—would not have access to the extra cash that incentivizes loyalty. Throw “Maximum Pressure” into the mix, and President-elect Donald Trump could be the American president who witnesses the Islamic Republic’s fall.

Egypt is another. Moral among conscripts in the Egyptian military is almost as poor as the country itself. The Egyptian Army is better known as a business than a fighting force among Egyptians. This is a double-edged sword, as the military’s monopolization and distortion of the economy worsens living standards and breeds resentment. While the Muslim Brotherhood has its own arrogance and undemocratic proclivities to blame for its rapid fall from power, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi misjudges reality if he believes that the Egyptian people’s support for him is genuine rather than a calculation that he was the lesser of two evils. If the Egyptian opposition reforms and the Egyptian military continues its corruption, Egypt will face another wave of instability.

Much more at the link.

I’m curious to see if Erdogan tries to consolidate his gains in northern Syria at Russia’s expense or if there’s a profitable deal to be made with Putin to keep Russia’s air and naval bases.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: We All Might Run Out of Popcorn on Inauguration Day. “This is pure speculation, but I think a lot of world leaders might be thrilled for Trump to get back to work and begin undoing some of the damage brought about by Joe Biden’s World War III fantasy approach to diplomacy.”

GREEN NUDE EEL (EUROPEAN EDITION): No bids for Danish offshore wind farms in North Sea tender.

The Danish Energy Agency announced that no bids were submitted for the first three offshore wind farms tendered in the North Sea, with a combined capacity of 3 GW. The bidding deadline for the projects, part of Denmark’s ambitious 6 GW offshore wind expansion plan, expired on December 5, 2024.

Despite initial interest from several companies during the preliminary market dialogue, the absence of bids has prompted Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard, to call for further investigation. The Danish Energy Agency has been tasked with engaging the market to uncover the reasons behind the lack of submissions.

The tender, which offers 6 GW of offshore wind capacity with overplanting potential up to 10 GW, features innovative terms, including no subsidies, an annual concession payment, and 20% state co-ownership in each project. Sustainability and social responsibility requirements were also integrated into the tender criteria.

Co-ownership with the state, a heavy regulatory hand, and yet no takers? Maybe the Danes needed to include even stronger sustainability and social responsibility requirements.

IT FEELS LIKE REAGAN ’80 ALL OVER AGAIN: Trump’s Victory Sparks Breakthrough in Hamas Hostage Standoff.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: After critics decry Orion heat shield decision, NASA reviewer says agency is correct.

In an interview, Camarda said he knew two people on the IRT who dissented from its conclusions that NASA’s plan to fly the Orion heat shield, without modifications to address the charring problem, was acceptable. He also criticized the agency for not publicly releasing the independent report. “NASA did not post the results of the IRT,” he said. “Why wouldn’t they post the results of what the IRT said? If this isn’t raising red flags out there, I don’t know what will.”

Ars took these concerns to NASA on Friday, and the agency responded by offering an interview with Paul Hill, the review team’s chair. He strongly denied there were any dissenting views.

“Every one of our conclusions, every one of our recommendations, was unanimously agreed to by our team,” Hill said. “We went through a lot of effort, arguing sentence by sentence, to make sure the entire team agreed. To get there we definitely had some robust and energetic discussions.”

Hill did acknowledge that, at the outset of the review team’s discussions, two people were opposed to NASA’s plan to fly the heat shield as is. “There was, early on, definitely a difference of opinion with a couple of people who felt strongly that Orion’s heat shield was not good enough to fly as built,” he said.

However, Hill said the IRT was won over by the depth of NASA’s testing and the openness of agency engineers who worked with them. He singled out Luis Saucedo, a NASA engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center who led the agency’s internal char loss investigation.

“The work that was done by NASA, it was nothing short of eye-watering, it was incredible,” Hill said.

More: “When he worked at the agency, Hill played a leading role during the investigation into the cause of the loss of space shuttle Columbia, in 2003. He said he could understand if NASA officials ‘circled the wagons’ in response to the IRT’s work, but he said the agency could not have been more forthcoming. Every time the review team wanted more data or information, it was made available. Eventually, this made the entire IRT comfortable with NASA’s findings.”

Good to know but Artemis still needs a top-to-bottom review, starting with SLS.

PLEASE, STOP — THEY WON’T LET ME VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN: Trump’s Big Plan for Day One Will Really Trigger the Democrats.

DOES ANYONE IN AMERICAN POLITICS HAVE MORE FUN THAN DONALD TRUMP?

Trump just used this photo of Jill Biden glazing him to promote his cologne I’m dying pic.twitter.com/TqDa9FeYiP

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) December 8, 2024

Fun is contagious.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: She Fled from the Police with a Cop in the Backseat. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news and this week we have the world’s worst getaway, the naked carpet cleaner, and the new King of California.”