COCKINESS BE GONE: Uh Oh! Democrats’ Silver Bullet Issue Is Losing Its Power This Election.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
October 23, 2024
SUSTAINABILITY: U.S. National Debt’s Unbelievable Spike Over the Last Three Weeks. “We learn that the U.S. debt has jumped by another $473 billion in just the last three weeks.”
More:
It’s hard to see a way back from this disaster. This is six figures of debt for every American man, woman, child, and people of indeterminate gender. Everyone has a part in this. Everyone owns a piece of this debt. And the more the government soaks up debt, the more debt costs the business sector; this calamity affects the economy from top to bottom, and we just keep racking it up. The federal debt affects interest rates, affects stock market volatility, and has the potential to destabilize the entire financial system.
There are three ways out of this mess. We can repudiate the debt, which would send the global economy into a tailspin. We can inflate our way out of it, but that would take a Weimar Republic/Zimbabwe level of inflation at this point to pay off the national debt with worthless dollars.
Oh, we could grow our way out of it. But that would require a federal government that is willing to implement pro-growth policies.
But none of these tactics will work unless we stop the runaway spending.
I don’t know which way Washington will eventually use to get out from under this unsustainable debt. But I am certain Washington will wait until it’s far too late to do so in an orderly way.
WELL, GOOD: New York Supreme Court reinstates all employees fired for being unvaccinated, orders backpay. “The court found Monday that ‘being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.’ New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed earlier this year that his administration would not rehire employees who had been fired over their vaccination status.”
That admission is kind of a big deal.
UPDATE: Turns out, this is one of those older stories that sometimes resurfaces for reasons unknown — and slipped past my memory, too.
NOT CREEPY AT ALL: ‘People Will Know Whether You Vote.’
SHORTLY BEFORE I STOPPED USING IT: When Did Google Search Become Totally Useless?
Granted, these aren’t extremely pressing issues. People researched oil paints and found places to eat for decades upon decades without the assistance of the internet. What is a bigger deal is how nakedly partisan Google has become. Former President Trump has even complained about it, taking time to call CEO Sundar Pichai to point out the problem.
Naturally, his complaints were downplayed, but your Google search is supposedly tailored to your interests. As I am not suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and have written positively about him (and used Google to find info for such articles), my results should be reflective of that. Instead, I get the latest anti-Trump bromides of the day.
…
Well, that’s weird. Whereas Trump’s campaign website is pushed down the page when his name is Googled, beneath mostly negative opinion pieces, Harris’ website is right there, with the “top stories” below it. I’m sure that’s just how search engines work, with no biases programmed in whatsoever. The completely neutral algorithm just happens to display the info the campaign would prefer to be displayed first at the top of the page, with the top stories about the candidate being answers to questions people might have about her, as well as a hit piece on Bret Baier thrown in for good measure.This isn’t just about the election, though, but also about the changing nature between users — again, the product — and the online services we allow ourselves to be pimped out for. The disparities between the results for Trump and Harris simply highlight how stark the problem is.
Since Google is free, users have always been the product delivered to its paying customers: advertisers. Before Google went Woke or whatever you want to call it, the company at least treated users well enough that our treatment was equivalent to being paying customers.
But that hasn’t been true in years.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: It’s Crunch Time and Kamala Is In Modified Basement/Pander Mode. “Let’s focus on the fact that she needed to ‘prepare’ for a taped interview with NBC, the news organization that is more in-the-tank for the Democrats than any other. That’s like having a spoiled nine-year-old take a day to prepare for a trip to Baskin-Robbins. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing Harris’s dull-wittedness and lack of talent, and she keeps going out of her way to prove mean people like me right.”
PAUL TELLER: Republicans Shouldn’t Shy Away From A Spending Fight.
Clearly, the congressional appropriations process is broken, as it has been for at least two decades, where the options are most commonly take-it-or-leave-it, as a government shutdown looms large. As most political observers might predict, Congress will likely do little work on appropriations between now and December.
The excuse in October and early November will be election campaigning, and the excuses for the rest of November will be leadership elections, new Member orientation, fun receptions and, of course, the one-day Thanksgiving holiday stretched into a ten-day vacation.
Then December will suddenly be upon Congress, when Members and staff will likely throw up their hands and claim that there is no time left for anything except an omnibus, so they can “clear the decks” for whomever the next president and congressional leaders will be.
This pattern, while predictable, is not unavoidable. Congress should do all it can now to avoid pushing up against the foolish Dec. 20th deadline.
I’d much rather see the GOP put up a real fight and lose than just roll over again. Sadly, too many GOP congresscritters act as though their real constituents are inside the Beltway.
I THOUGHT WE’D REACHED PEAK ATLANTIC A WEEK AGO, BUT NO:
In case you were wondering with how much veracity you should treat Jeffrey Goldberg's latest anonymously sourced spectacle, the sister of the soldier in the story said it was false, Mark Meadows said it was false, and the owner of The Atlantic is one of Kamala's largest donors. https://t.co/Y0ua2CjVdR pic.twitter.com/LhylUwlcsw
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 22, 2024
The (very) occasional well-written, well-sourced, and interesting article aside, The Atlantic is a garbage publication.
Full details here.
I DUNNO, THAT WAS A SUPERSIZED EVENT: This Development Could Be Bigger Than Trump’s McDonald’s Visit. “Former President Donald Trump’s McDonald’s visit was an epic success, and the left was so triggered by it that I would call it a double win. But that success could be eclipsed because on Tuesday it was announced that Trump is now set to appear on Joe Rogan’s highly popular podcast on Friday.”
October 22, 2024
OF ALL THE UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY THINGS HARRIS HAS EVER SAID, THIS MIGHT BE THE FUNNIEST:
KAMALA: I was just with one of the opinion leaders in the Republican Party, Liz Cheney.
(Warmonger Liz Cheney is neither an opinion leader nor a Republican) pic.twitter.com/8rjF21wYl1
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 22, 2024
She’s flailing.
GET THEE BEHIND ME, COCKINESS:
Two weeks until Election Day! Here’s how the 2024 presidential race compares to the same point in the 2020 and 2016 elections, according to the RCP poll averages. pic.twitter.com/Cf8y2x6QTZ
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) October 22, 2024
Pollsters say they’ve found ways to correct for underestimating Trump’s support like they did in 2016 and 2020 but there’s no way to tell until the votes are counted.
OOF:
Indeed. https://t.co/LccDzv5BRE
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) October 22, 2024
But strong, empowered women or whatever.
SURE, HE WASN’T A FASCIST DURING HIS FIRST TERM BUT THIS TIME, THE DEMOCRATS MEAN IT: Democrats Must Face the Fact that the American People Don’t Believe Donald Trump Is a ‘Fascist.’
HMM: Where are Trump, Harris, JD Vance and Tim Walz campaigning today? “Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff.”
That seems like a strange priority with just two weeks left.
REGRETS? THEY’VE HAD A FEW: Is the Left Realizing That It Was Better Off With Joe Biden as Its Candidate?
SHE’S HEMORRHAGING MALE VOTERS, ISN’T SHE?
This is basically a cut and paste from her plan for Black men, except she replaced "Black" with "Latino." Totally on brand for her. At least she didn't use "Latinx." https://t.co/UVWUyZfZJ5
— Jennifer Oliver O'Connell (@asthegirlturns) October 22, 2024
On the plus side, at least this time Harris is merely plagiarizing from herself.
THE COP SOUNDS EERILY LIKE JOHN C. REILLY’S POLICE OFFICER CHARACTER IN “MAGNOLIA”:
NEW: Millionaire cyclist who went viral for harassing a man for "driving too close," nearly has a panic attack after police tell him *he* will be receiving a citation.
73-year-old cyclist Gary Peacock harassed and detained a young man for driving "too close" to him.
Dashcam… pic.twitter.com/lWSxptCJPV
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 21, 2024
You can watch the driver’s POV here.
Also, the driver’s dashcam video makes it reasonably clear he’d done nothing wrong.
CHAINSAW: Milei Shuts Down Argentina’s Tax Agency.
Argentine President Javier Milei announced plans to shut down the country’s tax collection agency, a bold step in his ongoing effort to slash government spending and bureaucracy.
On Monday, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni confirmed that the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), Argentina’s tax bureau, will “cease to exist.” It will be replaced by a newly formed agency, the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA), which will assume some of its functions.
“Throughout its existence, this agency has functioned as a political cash box and, as we all know, many Argentines have been subjected to absolutely immoral persecutions,” Adorni’s statement reads. “No State bureaucrat should be delegated the power to tell an Argentinean what to do with his property.”
Up next, Elon Musk: American Chainsaw?
SKYNET IS A DEMOCRAT: This AI Would Rather Save Moldy Leftovers Than the Life of Donald Trump.
You’re hanging out downtown and see a runaway trolley speeding down the tracks, approaching a switch. If the trolley continues on the track it’s on, it will run over and kill five people who (for whatever reason) have fallen and can’t get up. You can reach the switch and save five people but, if you do, you’ll kill the one person trapped on the alternate track.
What do you do?
That’s the trolley problem, a thought experiment in ethical dilemmas that grows ever more complex as the options change.
So what happens when you present an AI like ChatGPT with variations on the trolley problem that don’t even rise to the level of ethical dilemmas?
You get a dead Donald Trump but at least the sock and the moldy leftovers are safe.
Much more at the link, including six million dead Jews.
I MISSED THIS ON FRIDAY BUT IT’S STILL WORTH A LOOK: Apple CEO Allegedly Calls Trump to Discuss EU Fines.
According to Trump, Cook reported two major fines:
A $15 billion fine.
An additional $2 billion fine.
In March, the EU fined Apple approximately $2 billion for anticompetitive practices related to music streaming apps.
The EU also won a case requiring Apple to pay $14.4 billion in unpaid taxes to Ireland.
Trump alleges that Cook described Europe as Apple’s “enterprise,” implying that the EU is using these fines to fund its operations. In response, Trump claims to have told Cook,
“That’s a lot… But Tim, I got to get elected first, but I’m not going to let them take advantage of our companies — that won’t, you know, be happening”.
Apple hasn’t confirmed or denied any of this but the company is notoriously tight-lipped. Still, Trump is bragging that, as president, he’ll have the backs of American businesses in trade disputes despite political differences.
“Politics stops at the water’s edge” used to be how Washington operated, or at least aspired to — but somehow Trump is the radical breaker of our precious rules and norms.
BELMONT CLUB: Excellence in the Service of Mediocrity. “The problem of controlling Elon is an example of the dilemma of mediocrity controlling talent. How can Kamala Harris, who, according to Senator Ted Budd, has not connected a single person to the internet ‘using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program,’ meaningfully supervise a man whose Starlink satellite constellation had 4 million users worldwide? It would be like putting the Detroit Public Schools in charge of Albert Einstein.”
IS THIS THE IDF OR THE TRAILER FOR OCEAN’S 14?
“Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike—where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash—in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut.”
Listen to IDF Spox.… pic.twitter.com/SjMZQpKqoJ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 21, 2024
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Dear Pennsylvania: Harris 100% Supports Fracking (Unless She Doesn’t) “The Harris camp’s Climate Engagement Director (really!) Camila Thorndike tried to walk back the walk-back.”