Author Archive: Stephen Green
September 26, 2023
2023 KEEPS GETTING WEIRDER: Who Had ‘Rick Perry, Psychedelic Warrior’ on Their 2023 Bingo Card? “To the surprise of many, Rick Perry has come out for legalization of psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD.”
MDMA, used in a clinical setting, has shown real benefits in treating PTSD.
NO. NEXT QUESTION? Schools spend $20 billion a year for equity training, but does it work?
WHY NOT? WE’VE BEEN ELECTING THEM FOR YEARS: Biden EEOC Makes It Easier to Hire Individuals With Criminal Records for Government Positions.
$139 A YEAR AND THEY’RE BRINGING COMMERCIALS BACK? Amazon will bring ‘limited’ ads to Prime Video starting in early 2024. “Those in the U.S. can spend $2.99 more per month to retain an ad-free version of Prime Video, while Amazon will share pricing options for the premium tier in other markets at a later date.”
In other words, they’re holding commercial-free viewing hostage for another three bucks.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Global trade nosedives: Fastest fall since COVID.
The World Trade Monitor, an analytical tool from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, adds to this gloomy narrative with its June data showing a 2.4% contraction. The implication is evident: the world is slowing down.
Post-pandemic, economies had briefly rallied, driven by a surging demand for global goods exports. But alas, that euphoria seems short-lived.
Now, rising inflation, aggressive monetary policies in 2022, and increased domestic spending as doors reopened post-lockdowns, are causing the tide to ebb away.
Across the globe, export volumes are retracting. China’s volumes dipped by 1.5%, the Eurozone registered a 2.5% shrinkage, and the U.S. wasn’t spared either, with a decrease of 0.6%.
I keep reading about Bidenomics having so much success in reviving American manufacturing, but that’s largely government-driven malinvestment in green-energy boondoggles that are crowding out investments in profitable and innovative industries.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: The Lying ‘Hate Speech’ Censor Fascists Are Winning Hearts and Minds. “As I made my way as a young comedian in the glorious 1980s, free speech was something I honestly thought I would never have to worry about in my career.”
CHANGE: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon exec Dave Limp.
Smith is retiring effective Dec. 4 and will remain with the company until Jan. 2 for the CEO transition, according to notes to Blue Origin staff written by Smith and Bezos that were obtained by CNBC.
Limp joins Blue Origin at a key phase of the company’s multiple space projects.
Blue needs to ramp production of its BE-4 rocket engines, return its space tourism rocket New Shepard to flight, and launch its next-generation New Glenn rocket for the first time – as well as deliver on a recently-won NASA contract for a crewed lunar lander.
I’m not even being snarky here when I add, “They have to actually reach orbit, too.”
More:
In a statement to CNBC, a Blue Origin spokesperson praised Limp as “a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset” who has “extensive experience in the high-tech industry and growing highly complex organizations.”
I don’t know if Limp has the right stuff to turn Blue Origin around, but Smith is very much “old space” and not the right person to head a startup.
AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS: We’re Winning the Fight Against Child Mutilation.
HE ACCEPTED ENVELOPES STUFFED WITH $100 BILLS IN THE FIRST PLACE: Fetterman plans to return donation tied to Menendez ‘in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills,’ spokesman says.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., will return $5,000 in contributions from a political action committee tied to Sen. Bob Menendez “in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills” because of the New Jersey Democrat’s indictment on bribery charges, Fetterman’s spokesman said.
Fetterman’s campaign received $5,000 from Menendez’s leadership PAC during the 2022 election cycle, according to the nonpartisan site OpenSecrets.
The Pennsylvania senator’s spokesman told NBC News, “We are in the process of returning the money in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.”
If it feels wrong, it probably is.
THERE’S MORE THAN MEETS THE MAP: About Ukraine’s ‘Failed’ Counteroffensive…
September 25, 2023
THEY’RE FINALLY RIDDING THEMSELVES OF THOSE NASTY CAPITALISTS: Berkeley Retail Shutting Down Just Like San Francisco.
THERE ARE SO MANY PATHETIC ONES TO CHOOSE FROM: Is This the Most Pathetic Defense of Joe Biden’s Impeachable Offenses?
I HAD BEEN ASSURED THAT BLOCKCHAIN MADE THIS KIND OF THING IMPOSSIBLE: Mixin Platform Suspends Deposits, Withdrawals After $200M Security Breach.
SPACE: NASA reveals latest weapon to ‘search the heavens’ for UFOs, aliens. “We will use AI and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies… and will continue to search the heavens for habitable reality.”
I’d hoped they’d announce the launch of the NCC-1701 Enterprise but I’ll take what I can get.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: LEGO Bricks and the Dirty Truth About Recycling.
BLUE STATE BLUES: California Nursing Homes Are Becoming ‘De Facto Mental Health Centers.’
“It’s a sanitarium,” said Travell Jackson, a nurse with two decades of experience who worked at the facility in 2022. On any given day, she said, there were “patients running around, screaming, yelling, disrobing, defecating in the hallways, on themselves.”
Last year, 7 in 10 residents at Hyde Park had a serious mental illness — defined as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or psychotic disorder — according to an investigation by LAist, APM Research Lab and The California Newsroom.
Our investigation found that in 2022, hundreds of nursing homes across California — facilities that typically help people rehabilitate after surgery or provide round-the-clock care for the elderly or physically disabled — admitted and housed thousands of people with serious mental illness, often for a year or longer.
…
The consequences — documented in state records — have been horrific. Without proper supervision, residents with serious mental illness have slipped out of nursing homes and gone missing for weeks, and been released with little regard for their needs.
Read the whole thing.
CRISIS BY DESIGN: Biden Admin Lets 221K+ Migrants Fly Directly Into U.S.
While the data is still incomplete and partially redacted, it revealed “221,456 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans [approved] for ‘travel mode: air’ into still-unspecified interior U.S. ports,” CIS reported Thursday.
It is key to note that these illegal aliens are “inadmissible.” That ought to mean they aren’t allowed into the country.
Much more at the link.