MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Naked, Drunk ‘Migrant’ Attacks Amazon Driver but Then Things Got Weird.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
February 20, 2024
IT’S PAST TIME: Is Nikki Haley About to Drop Out?
IT’S A PITY THEY CAN’T BOTH LOSE: Krugman vs. Krugman. “The soundness of Krugman’s 2006 views on labor economics and immigration has not diminished. What has changed since, however, is the political environment. In 2024, what Krugman said 18 years ago now counts as white nationalist, nativist bigotry, and economic illiteracy.”
THAT WOULD BE “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” FOR THE DHS: R.I. Teacher Warns That DHS-Funded ‘Media Literacy’ Program Will ‘Indoctrinate Children.’
HE SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME: Biden Claims in East Palestine ‘Since Day One.’
BIDENOMICS: Plans to Expand U.S. Chip Manufacturing Are Running Into Obstacles.
The delays come as the Biden administration begins dispensing the first major awards from a $39 billion pot of money aimed at building up the U.S. semiconductor industry and reducing the nation’s dependence on technology manufactured in East Asia. On Monday, the administration said it would award $1.5 billion in grants to the chipmaker GlobalFoundries to upgrade and expand facilities in New York and Vermont that make chips for automakers and the defense industry.
But the issues that companies like TSMC face with their projects could undercut this fanfare, raising questions about the prospects of success for President Biden’s industrial policy program. The investments are expected to figure heavily in Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign over the next few months.
“Nothing has failed yet,” said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow and the director of the energy, economics and security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
“Nothing has failed yet” is quite the endorsement.
OK, NOW YOU CAN PANIC: CNN Claims That Calm, Cool Kamala Is Taking Charge.
SAUSAGE-MAKING, COLORADO STYLE: Proposal from Democratic leaders ‘completely’ exempts lawmakers from open meeting laws. “Leaders of the Colorado General Assembly, along with several Democratic members, are seeking sweeping exemptions for lawmakers from the state’s open meetings law, which contains guarantees of transparency when officials craft policies.”
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Paying the ‘Stupid Tax’: A True Tale of EV Woe.
JOANNE JACOBS: Why Joe College can’t read.
Students also lack reading stamina: They have trouble staying focused on a challenging text. In middle and high school, they read short passages to prepare for tests, but rarely whole novels, Kotsko writes. He links to Peter Greene’s lament that students’ knowledge of literature “is Cliff’s Notes deep, and they may never develop the mental muscles to work their way through a long, meaty piece of literature.”
Learning “to follow extended narratives and arguments” is a valuable life skill, Kotsko argues. Young people who can’t engage with complexity won’t be prepared for the world.
He lays blame on Common Core, teaching to the test, smartphone addiction and other factors. I’d add: The contempt for knowledge, which gives readers context, and the tendency to assign simplistic young-adult books.
“What’s happening with the current generation is not that they are simply choosing TikTok over Jane Austen,” he concludes. “They are being deprived of the ability to choose.”
Read the whole thing — which seems particularly apt this time.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: War on Women — Woke Medical Charlatans and Man Boob Milk Fantasies. “I am, of course, old enough to remember living in a world where satire and reality weren’t blurry kissing cousins. I could think and say the most absurd things and not have to worry about them maybe becoming true one day. Nowadays, anything one throws out into the universe might go through some sort of David Lynchian mind warp drug trip and end up being manifested in the real world.”
POLITICO: Biden’s brother used his name to promote a hospital chain. Then it collapsed. “For then 67-year-old Jim Biden, the third of four Biden siblings, his ties to his older brother made up much of his pitch as he pursued deals that could help Americore make money from drug rehab, lab testing and even cancer treatment.”
More:
The email, obtained by POLITICO from a person close to the company, documents one of the many ways in which Jim Biden invoked his brother’s name and clout in the course of his work with Americore, which has since gone bankrupt, wreaking havoc in rural communities in the process.
Jim Biden spoke of plans to give his brother equity in Americore, according to one former Americore executive, and install him on its board, according to a second. He also said that if Americore could find a winning business model for rural health care, his brother could promote the company in a future presidential campaign, a third former executive told POLITICO. All were granted anonymity to discuss a company mired in legal and political controversy.
In order to fund Americore’s expansion, Jim Biden offered to secure capital from investors in the Middle East, according to the emails and executives. When the expected money did not arrive, it aggravated Americore’s preexisting financial issues. The company collapsed, leaving behind unpaid bills and neglected patients.
None of this is “news” in the sense that it’s new. What’s new (and news) is the press’s willingness to dump on Joe Biden now that he looks like they can’t drag him across another finish line.
DEMOCRATS. NEXT QUESTION? From Fani’s Cash Stash to Gangland Attorneys: What’s Up With Fulton County’s Justice System?
INNOVATION: U.S. military reports 1st Houthi unmanned underwater vessel in Red Sea.
The U.S. military conducted five self-defense strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, including one against an unmanned underwater vessel, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.
Saturday’s incident marked the first observed Houthi use of an unmanned underwater vessel since attacks in the Red Sea region started in October, CENTCOM said.
The military on Saturday between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time also conducted self-defense strikes against three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles and an unmanned surface vessel. CENTCOM “determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” the military said in a news release. “These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels.”
The problem with “proportionate” responses is they allow the bad guys to determine the pace and severity of our operations, while giving them time to come up with attacks we aren’t expecting.
CRISIS BY DESIGN: From ‘Take the Money and Run’ to ‘Run and Take the Money.’
February 19, 2024
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Japan launches second flagship H3 rocket a year after inaugural flight self-destructed. “The launch further burnishes the country’s space credentials after the historic ‘pinpoint’ moon landing of Japan’s Slim spacecraft last month.”
LEFTISM AS A MENTAL DISORDER, PART 1,000,006:
Woman tells Christian man he isn't allowed in her 'gayborhood'
Can you imagine if the roles were reversed? The media would be sharing this everywhere. pic.twitter.com/f1S4ea9bya
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) February 18, 2024
Donald Sutherland would like a word.
EXPERTS ARE HAVING A BAD DAY WEEK YEAR ERA: What the Hell Do We Need Economists for When They’re THIS Wrong?
BON VOYAGE: Maggots from rotten fish in overhead bin fall on passenger aboard international Delta flight.
He and the woman called for a flight attendant, but had to wait for the takeoff process to finish. Once they did, the flight attendants opened the storage and several more maggots fell out, Schotte said.
He ended up moving to a new seat five rows back and the woman who was getting rained on by the maggots also moved.
When the flight attendants identified the bag the maggots were coming from, a male passenger claimed it as his, and it was opened.
“When the bag was opened, everyone that was still sitting around that area immediately pinched their nose, because there was clearly a bad smell coming from it,” Schotte said.
Schotte said he overheard the passenger explain that there was fish in his bag.
I have to check in my bag if it contains a single double-edge safety razor but somebody got to board with a maggot-infested fish.
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT ANALYSTS? CNN Legal Analyst Admits Joe Biden Broke the Law.
EXPERTISE ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE:
When people say “experts say” they mean a person like this https://t.co/eEydpIHjFO
— Daniel (@growing_daniel) February 16, 2024
And from the replies:
I can tell you exactly why: pic.twitter.com/f0nOqHX1Mv
— Sensurround (@ShamashAran) February 15, 2024
The personal finance expert who put her savings in a shoebox and handed it to a random stranger has an English BA from Columbia.
NEED A GOOD LAUGH ON PRESIDENTS DAY? The ‘Experts’ Rank Trump, Biden, Reagan — and It’s as Bad as You’d Expect.
DEMAND FEDERAL SUBSIDIES FOR THE PURCHASE AND MAINTENANCE OF SEMIAUTOMATIC HANDGUNS NOW:
So arm the citizens.
Got it.
Thanks. https://t.co/VMGJh7SeUF— Larry Correia (@monsterhunter45) February 16, 2024