Read it.

It’s an old joke in defense circles that laser weapons are the technology of the future, and always will be. But for Pentagon planners, the dream of directed energy capabilities does, finally, seem to be transitioning to reality. In a new analysis, however, Joe Shepherd, vice president of directed energy innovation at Booz Allen Hamilton, argues that the department may be putting its money into the wrong area of study for this crucial capability.

Rapper Drakeo the Ruler fatally stabbed backstage at Los Angeles music festival

Air pollution still disproportionately harms communities of color, study says (Washington Post) Women and minorities hardest hit.

Chicago’s Ex-City Attorney Brands Mayor Lori Lightfoot A ‘Disaster’ After $2.9 Million Settlement Over Botched Police Raid  BRAAAAAAAINS!

War on racist mountains

‘No Stranger to Law Enforcement’

CNN’s Jim Acosta Celebrates Painfully White Staff in Majority Black City

The ‘Doomsday Glacier’ is in danger of collapse—potentially ominous news for cities like New Orleans, New York, and Bangkok (Forbes)

Climate change is driving supply chain shortages — and your supermarkets are not prepared (Salon)

Nuclear energy scares people. The climate crisis is giving it another chance (CNN()

See Bill Nye’s warning about ‘doomsday’ glacier (CNN) You don’t have to be a scientist – just play one on TV.

Activists rally for a healthy environment amendment. Could it pass in Arizona?

2021: when the link between the climate and biodiversity crises became clear (The Guardian)

Snowfall EVERY DAY Atop Kilimanjaro – Where Is Al Gore?

TORNADO

Bugs are evolving to eat plastic

Salon: Climate Change and Capitalism Causing Supply Chain Disruptions

Mary Trump on the real danger of Trump’s election lie (CNN)

The White House Calls Joe Manchin a Liar After He Goes on Fox to Kill Build Back Better Bill

CNN Exclusive: Jan 6 investigators believe Nov. 4 text pushing ‘strategy’ to undermine election came from Rick Perry (CNN)

Manchin says Build Back Better’s climate measures are risky. That’s not true (NPR)

The day democracy almost died (The Hill)

Kinzinger on potential Trump charges: ‘Nobody… is above the law’ (CNN) All Trump! All the time!

NY Times Cries for Innocent Congressional Dems Foiled by ‘Cult’ Republicans

CNN Cues Failed Atlanta Mayor to Bash Trump, Ignores Murder Surge

MSNBC Regular Elie Mystal Mocks Crying Taser-Mixup Cop: Very Sorry ‘I Hate Negroes So Much’

STUDY: Four Times the Nets BURIED Unhinged Leftists Bullying Manchin (and Sinema)

Trump Sues New York AG After Accusing Her Of ‘Politically Weaponized’ Investigation

Quidditch Leagues to Change Name Because JK Rowling Isn’t Woke Enough

New York Times Fires Staffer After Profane Phone Call to Gun-Rights Group

USC Under Fire Over Student’s Anti-Zionist Threats On Social Media

Biden Administration Sanctions Mail-Order Abortion. Here’s How the Move Endangers Women.

Scarborough: Angry Democrats Pushing Manchin Into Arms of GOP

Biden Racializes Health Care

Highly vaccinated countries thought they were over the worst. Denmark says the pandemic’s toughest month is just beginning. (Washington Post) Really fine ‘vaccines’ ya got there, bubba.

Danish government proposes new curbs to combat Omicron (Reuters)

Beware of these 5 early omicron symptoms, study says

NYT’s Editorial Demands Pro Sports Shutdowns, Fan Vaccinations  Everyone must toe the line!

Anthony Fauci, Political Thug

S.Africa says vaccines, prior infection help mildness of Covid cases

Italian Ambulance Driver: The Vaxed End up in ICU

Vax Fatigue Strikes Israel

Watch: Fauci Says Don’t Have Family Over At Christmas Unless They Are Vaxxed

OSHA Vaccine Mandate Heads To The Supreme Court

Fauci Says Mask Should Still Be Worn, Even If Vaccinated/Boosted Against COVID-19

Progressive Family Leaves Milk, Cookies, And Rapid COVID Test For Santa  Babylon Bee.

South African Officials Advise End To Contact-Tracing, Quarantining Because Most Don’t Experience Any Symptoms

Progressive Church Tells Young Unvaccinated Couple Stuck Out In The Cold That There’s No Room

Fauci’s War on Science: The Smoking Gun

How San Francisco Lost Its Cool and Panicked About Crime (Daily Beast)

Law prof suggests rewrites of First and Second Amendments that do not mention free press or bearing arms

Oxford University blasted for considering hiring based on ‘woke score’ of academics: report

California Union Uses Loophole To Pocket COVID Relief Funds, Labor Experts Say

Europe Certifies Crickets, Worms, And Grasshoppers As Edible Food Amid Soaring Food Prices  Socialism will do that to you.

Fraternal Order of Police Blast NFL for Supporting Defund Groups

In Stunning Blow To Democracy, Legislation Decided By Majority Of Elected Representatives  Babylon Bee.

It’s Official: Durham Is Investigating The Clinton Campaign

‘Fatal Blow’: Nets Meltdown Over Manchin ‘Killing’ Biden Agenda

Court Fight Over Dead People On Voter Lists Heats Up In Michigan

Twitter Censors APP’s Schweppe for Urging Governors to Ban Sex Change Surgery for Minors

Pentagon Cracks Down On ‘Extremism’ Within US Military

It’s Time to Stop Denying Reality About Transgender Athletes

Read it.

Cold era, lasting from early 15th to mid-19th centuries, triggered by unusually warm conditions.

New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst provides a novel answer to one of the persistent questions in historical climatology, environmental history, and the earth sciences: what caused the Little Ice Age? The answer, we now know, is a paradox: warming.

Looking forward to it.

Read it.

Over the weekend, a story has gone viral on Twitter about the Apple AirTag. Jeana Jeana recounted how she discovered an AirTag had been stuck underneath the front passenger wheel well of her car …

It’s not confirmed that the AirTag was definitely intended to be used for stalking the woman. Recently, AirTags have been reportedly associated with luxury car thefts, where criminals are apparently tagging expensive vehicles that they know they can break into — and use the AirTags to simply follow them home.

Meet The Scientists Hunting For The Next Variant Of Concern

Fudging the Numbers

Omicron forces wave of closures nationwide as Biden warns winter of ‘death’ encroaching

Rockettes cancel rest of season as New York records largest one-day Covid tally (NBC) Guess those mask mandates and lockdowns really work, huh.

Defiance of Gov. Hochul’s mask mandate grows as all of LI refuses to enforce it

OSHA vaccine mandate penalties to start Jan. 10

Finding Strength Along A Post-COVID Fury Road

Gov DeWine deploys National Guard to hospitals as COVID deaths surpass 2020

Moderna’s COVID Vaccine 4 Times More Likely To Cause Heart Inflammation Than Pfizer’s: Study

Emails Expose Fauci, Collins Collusion To ‘Smear’ Anti-Lockdown Scientists

Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Can Trigger a Winter of Lockdowns

The Great Supply Chain Collapse

Pfizer Pushes Third Vaccine Dose For Kids 5 And Under  KA-CHING!

How severe are Omicron Infections?

Senator Elizabeth Warren Tests Positive For COVID-19

The Omicron variant in Denmark

Why Don’t People “Trust The Science?” Because Scientists Are Often Caught Lying  Especially on the way to the bank.

Alabama judge who called colleagues ‘Uncle Tom’ removed from bench

Fund Science on the Basis of Scientists‘ Work, Not Their Identity

Sharpton Claims U.S. Going ‘Back To Jim Crow’

The enemies of American democracy? Big lie, big anger and big money (The Guardian) The Robert Reich doll repeats the same old messages.

Jim Jordan Is ‘a Traitor,’ Agrees Legal Expert After Gallego’s Take on 1/6 Text to Meadows (Newsweek)

Sexist Fox News Guest Whines About Women, Gays Serving in Military (Daily Beast)

Donald Trump Quote About Fifth Amendment Resurfaces as Allies Use It With Jan. 6 Panel (Newsweek) All Trump! All the time!

SNL Weekend Update’s Tina Fey and Michael Che Mock Elon Musk and Fox News Hosts’ Insurrection Texts (Daily Beast) All Narrative! All the time!

GOP Donor Warns Trump ‘Cult,’ Candidates Trying to ‘Out-MAGA Each Other’ Hurting Party (Newsweek)

Donald Trump’s ‘Bizarre’ Meeting: Cursing, Screaming, Swedish Meatballs (Newsweek) All Trump! All the time!

‘Trumpism’ Fox News Hosts Acted Differently Off Camera, Defector Jonah Goldberg Says (Newsweek)

1,300 Attorneys Demand Calif. Bar Investigate Trump Lawyer Over Effort to Overturn Election (Newsweek)

Legal organization files ethics complaint on Trump lawyer Eastman (The Hill)

Republicans are shamelessly working to subvert democracy. Are Democrats paying attention? (The Guardian) In the Narrative Media, ‘democracy’ means ‘Democrat vote fraud’.

Forbes Magazine Editors Testify in NY Case Against Trump Over Former President’s Wealth (Newsweek) All Trump! All the time!

‘It’s an American issue’: can Georgia’s candidate for secretary of state save democracy? (The Guardian) In the Narrative Media, ‘democracy’ means ‘Democrat vote fraud’.

Arrest the Climate Blasphemers!

Warmer winters can wreak as much havoc as hotter summers, say scientists (The Guardian) Havoc!

2021 brought a wave of extreme weather disasters. Scientists say worse lies ahead. (Washington Post)

Which Christmas trees are better for the environment — live or artificial? (Washington Post)

The feds have collected more than $44 billion for a permanent nuclear waste dump — here’s why we still don’t have one (CNBC)

Yes, the federal government is setting an example on climate action (The Hill)

Climate change is destabilizing the ‘doomsday glacier’ (Popular ‘Science’)

What Is ‘Disaster Capitalism’? Giant Oil Company Cashes In on Climate Crisis (Newsweek)

Is nuclear energy green? France and Germany lead opposing camps. (Washington Post)

Study: The Urban Heat Island Penalty Grows, Especially at Night

Ghana, Turkey, Armenia Going Nuclear Because of Climate Change

Read it.

The Democrats’ media adjunct of course not only joined in the campaign to pressure Manchin, it also blamed him for the Biden’s failure to achieve passage of the bill (tweet below). This is classic. The Democrat press is not only stupid, it is the cause of stupidity in others. It isn’t clear to me that Kyrsten Sinema has signed off on the shapeshifting Bummer Beyond Belief, but Manchin is one of at least 51 Senators who have found it wanting.

Read it.

Most people probably don’t know how to use secret codes on iPhone. In fact, most people probably don’t even know that the iPhone has secret codes. But it does — and we’ve tried them.

Although most of the iPhone’s features are tucked away within apps, widgets and the Control Center, there’s a whole heap of hidden treasure waiting to be uncovered via the dialer.

I had no idea these even existed.

Read it.

Of course the food in question – ‘pasta bowls’ – is easily automated. I suspect that most Chinese dishes would be equally easy to automate. Interesting, but not necessarily significant.

When robots can do a sirloin with baked potato and clam chowder, call me.

S.F. Mayor Breed declares state of emergency in the Tenderloin (SFChronicle)

An emergency brake to stop a runaway Supreme Court (The Hill)

The idea of expanding the Supreme Court to blunt its right-wing bias gains traction (LA Times)

Nothing says holiday cheer like San Francisco’s newly militarized Union Square (San Francisco Chronicle)

California’s ‘smash and grab’ robberies – what’s really going on behind the headlines? (The Guardian) Laying out the Narrative.

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot To Pump $412 Million More Into Anti-Crime Plan That Doesn’t Work  BRAAAAAAAINS!

Fine for violating Congressional Stock Act is $200

Wokeism as Applied Borderline Personality Disorder

Oldtimers: When Did You Start Locking Your Bike?

Ex-NY Times Reporter Yells About ‘Weaponized’ Court as she (of Course) Defends Abortion

Why We Shall Abolish Citizenship

From Media Bias to Outright Partisanship

Facebook Censored Chinese Whistleblower: Report

Charlamagne Tha God, Harris get into heated exchange after question about who ‘real president’ is (The Hill)

Texas to Build Permanent Border Wall ‘In a Matter of Days,’ Land Commissioner Says

As Sports Face Potential Shutdowns, Clay Travis Accuses Biden of COVID Lies.

Journos Blame Trump for Biden’s Low Approval, Claim Joe Gets ‘Worse’ Press  All Trump1 All the time!

Even CNN Isn’t Buying It: Kamala Claims She Doesn’t Think About Whether Biden Will Run in ’24

McConnell Stops Another Coup Attempt as Trump’s Grip Keeps Slipping (Daily Beast)

3 retired generals: The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection (Washington Post) Soon to bre a major motion picture.

Trump ally Straka has provided potentially significant information (Politico)

Nicholas Sandmann reaches settlement with NBC in Covington Catholic High School controversy KA-CHING!

Beware the extremist, dangerous and unconstitutional ‘constitutional sheriffs’ (Washington Post)

Trump Claims Jews Had ‘Absolute Control’ Over Congress in Antisemitic Interview (Daily Beast) All Trump! All the time!

Jay Johnston Banned From ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Over Capitol Riot (Daily Beast)

Republicans are plotting to destroy democracy from within (The Guardian) From within!

CNN analyst implores Joe Manchin to leave Democratic Party: ‘It would be better off’

Trump still texts me constantly, like a bad ex-boyfriend (Washington Post) All Trump! All the time!

The Post Is Looking For a Hit Man

As Dems Fail, Chuck Todd Laments They Don’t Play Hardball with GOP

Media Shrug at Privacy Violations of Fox Hosts Hannity, Ingraham, Kilmeade

The “Doomsday Glacier” may partially collapse. If it does, Earth’s sea level will rise by 2 feet (Salon) Looking forward to it.

Scientists warn Antarctic glacier could collapse, raise sea levels at least a foot (The Hill) Jeez, guys, make up your mind.

Deforestation making outdoor work unsafe for millions, says study (The Guardian)

Outdoor workers are losing hours due to overheating from deforestation (New Scientist)

Unprecedented die-offs, melting ice: Climate change is wreaking havoc in the Arctic and beyond (LA Times)

10 ways you can help fight the climate crisis (UNEP)

Google failing to enforce climate denial policy, study finds (The Hill)

Global Coal Power Demand On Track For Record As Green Energy Transition Crumbles

Melting glaciers may produce thousands of kilometers of new salmon habitat

From Tornadoes To Myocarditis, Here Are The 9 Worst Effects Of Climate Change  Babylon Bee.

Claim: Climate Anxiety is Destroying the Lives of Young People

The US Mountain West Could Soon Face Snowless Winters  (Wired ‘Science’)

FLASHBACK: At Christmastime, Al Roker Talked About ‘Sin’ of Not Fighting Climate Change

Study: 3% Contrarians Derailing the 97% Climate Consensus  We few, we happy few….

The East Slams the West’s Climate ‘Colonialism’

Highlights From The Comments On Kids And Climate Change  Scott Alexander.

Federal appeals court allows Biden vaccine mandate for large companies to resume

Here’s what Dr. Fauci thinks about flying and going to holiday parties as omicron spikes (CNBC)

We Know A Lot More About Omicron Now. It’s Not Good News. (BuzzFeed)

California orders statewide mask requirement starting Wednesday amid rising coronavirus cases (LA Times)

‘This Is a Whole New Animal:’ NY Reports Highest Single-Day Case Total of Pandemic (NBCNewYork)

Anti-Vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s House Party Guests Told to Get Vaccinated Before Coming (Daily Beast)

How a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19 (Boston Globe)

Peter Navarro Is Anthony Fauci’s Worst Nightmare

Growing Number Of Companies And Organizations Are Walking Back Vaccination Requirements

A Long Goodbye to Covid

Partisan Dems claim Trump intentionally undermined pandemic response

Boeing suspends vaccine mandate for U.S. employees

Ex-Pro Demands Probe Into Soccer Players Suffering Heart Problems

South Africa: Only 1.7% Hospitalised From Omicron

CNN Doctor: Wear Masks At Home And Take Tests On Christmas Morning

“The Truth Is, We Have No Idea” – CDC Data Missed Millions Of Unvaccinated Americans

Richard Easton: Shameful Attitude of a Church in Princeton, NJ

White House To Unvaxx’d: “You’re Looking At A Winter Of Severe Illness And Death”

Driving the Wrong Way on the COVID Highway?

A Tale of Two Carolinas

Covid super-immunity: one of the pandemic’s great puzzles

Jussie Smollett faced the music—when will Kim Foxx?

Kanye West’s ‘Independent’ Campaign Was Secretly Run by GOP Elites (Daily Beast)

‘Squad’ member Rep. Pressley claims student debt is ‘violence’

The malicious, historically illiterate 1619 Project keeps rolling on

‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Caught, Police Say

London Breed Flips

Read it.

In their paper, the researchers explained that most solar cells are currently silicon-based, which means that their efficiency is limited. This is what prompted them to examine the properties of barium titanate, a mixed oxide made of barium and titanium.

Read it.

A huge lie woven into Woke culture is that its underlying philosophy is progressive. It’s advertised as a falling away from sterile traditions and oppressive ways of thought, and breaking forward into a startling new way of viewing gender, race, and reality. These non-gender conforming, emotion-led activists have dismantled the walls of the blinkered morons who grew up in paternalistic families that brainwashed them into following ancient creeds. We have entered an era of radical critique that historicizes “objective truth” and reveals the sinews of power relations that were served by it.

Actually, it’s all recycled. There’s little more ancient a creed than the worship of the snake. The symbol of the tail-eating snake goes back to ancient Egypt, passing into Greece as the ouroboros and then across Europe as a gnostic and occult talisman. The idea that true knowledge is self-referential and that reality is subjectively based on each person’s sensory experience is a philosophy as old as philosophy itself. Unlike a more Aristotelean line of logic, which would say that people do perceive reality primarily through senses but that the reality we sense is objectively similar for all, modern materialism and immaterialism often shared a relativistic kind of insistence that identity of experience could not be proven. We all live in our own little realities, the self-referentialists concluded, and everything you sense is from your mind. The only thing that is true is the Spirit or spark of consciousness that injects your mind with your reality.

Read it.

Just in case you don’t have anything else to worry about.

(You might think about these.)

Read it.

A great idea – if it works.

I see it going slowly. Can it go fast? How fast? Can it go fast safely?  I will not ride in one of these until it’s been on the road in general use for at least five years with no accidents.

No private ownership, but just transportation service? Ooooookayyyyy…. I keep my car clean. The cab driver keeps his cab clean. Who keeps the Zoox clean? Who cleans up after the drunk who barfs all over the inside? Who protects female passengers from the carjacker and the rapist?

There’s many a slip ‘tween the cup and the lip….

Read it.

The fossil footprints around an ancient lake in White Sands have been known for some time, but now we have what look to be perfectly respectable C-14 dates. They’re about 22 thousand years old, close to the Last Glacial maximum (LGM) and, as such clearly predate all existing evidence of human settlement of the New World (south of the glaciers, anyhow).

There were already hints: Amerindian populations in South America, mainly in Amazonia, carry a trace of a different genetic heritage. The existing population closest to that trace are the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, between India and Burma. Other populations such as Australian Aborigines and the inhabitants of New Guinea are also close. There is reason to believe that, until a few thousand years ago, all of Southeast Asia (including the islands) was occupied by related populations, known as Australo-Melanesians.

 

Read it.

Well, that works until the people who want to remove power lines get their way, then you have to do it all over again.

None of these people have a time horizon of over a week.

Read it.

What could possibly go wrong?

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The resignation of Beverly Gage, professor of history at Yale and director of the Brady-Johnson Grand Strategy Program, is the great brouhaha of the last weekend.

You can read the specifics in this New York Times article; the short version is that Nicholas Brady, a former Treasury Secretary from the Bush senior days and one of two mega-donors funding the program, objected to an article written by a program professor condemning Trump for demagoguery. This caused him and Charles Johnson, who together endowed hundreds of millions of dollars to Yale to create and support the program, to look closer at its current curricula. Brady and Johnson did not like what they found and have been using various legal mechanisms to try and either change the way the course is taught or pull their money from the program.

Read it.

So what do they do that’s worth a billion dollars?

At the moment the company grows 75 different varieties of herbs, salads and leafy greens but the company ultimately wants to grow the entire fruit and vegetable basket and sell premium food at affordable prices to everyone.

Herbs. Salads. ‘Leafy greens’. In other words, the easy stuff. No maize. No wheat. No rice. None of the plants that most of the world depends on for sustinence. Just salad stuff. I see.

Next year, it plans to expand its portfolio with 40 new crops including mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, peas and strawberries.

Still short plants. No substantial grains. No orchard fruits. How … important.

While they have many advantages, critics of vertical farms say they struggle to turn a profit, they use too much energy and they can be expensive to run. They can also produce light pollution and other forms of pollution.

Uh, yeah. When they start growing corn and apples, let me know.

New York Times.

New York’s attorney general is investigating the death of a 29-year-old man who was badly burned when he was shot with a stun gun after dousing himself with hand sanitizer during an altercation with police officers, officials said on Thursday.

I rejoice that the Attorney General of New York State has nothing more important to do than investigate the death of a crazy person in a small town upstate.

(Think of it as evolution in action.)

Read it.

And who could blame them?

(In America, of course, those villagers would be armed and those monkeys not long for this world.)

(But that’s here, not there.)

Journalist: Facebook’s ‘Haha’ Reaction Used to Bully Online

Hard Questions Raised On Jan 6 Panel’s Legality In Meadows Contempt Vote

MSNBC Host Thinks DeSantis Wants to Codify White Supremacy by Banning CRT

The limits of corporate wokeness

The Point of CRT Is to Induce White Guilt So Whites Pay Up

Watch: MSNBC Declares DeSantis’ Anti-CRT Legislation Is “New Effort To Codify White Supremacy”

Why Hasn’t Jussie Smollett Been Charged with Perjury?

No More Crime Data on Two Real Estate Websites  ‘racial equity push’

‘Unintended Consequences’: NBC Shocked That Defund the Police Hurt Lib City

NYT Trumpets Retiring Chinese Propagandist Who Ran ‘China’s Version of Fox News’

2 California Teachers Accused of Encouraging Student’s Clandestine Gender Transition

China lists 100 topics citizens can’t include in online vids

US Commerce Dept says China has brain-control weaponry

French Anti-Mass Migration Sexually Assaulted By An African Migrant

The Year in Liberal Celebrity Freakouts

CNBC’s Cramer Declares “Government Has A Right To Force You To Obey”

Greenwald Exposes The Real Disinformation Agents

Rabbis: College Diversity Officers Promoting ‘Irrational Hatred of Jews’

Why The First ‘Summit For Democracy’ Should Be The Last

Virginia Parents Move To Recall School Board Member Who Opposed Reopening

An ‘Honor System’ for Those Without Honor

The Year in Unhinged Liberal Celebrities’ Freakouts

Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Immigration Plans From $2T Biden Bill

Abandoned: Networks Bury Biden’s Border Crisis in November as Coverage Drops to ZERO

Four Months After Withdrawal, Biden Admin Doesn’t Know Identities of Afghan Refugees Resettled in US  Why would they care?

Democrats Dump ‘Build Back Better,’ Pivot to Useless Extremism

Experts Refute Claims Linking Deadly Tornadoes To Climate Change

Were the Recent Tornadoes the Result of Global Warming?

The Phrase “No Evidence” Is a Red Flag for Bad Science Communication

France’s EDF Shutters Two Nuclear Power Plants After Cracks Found

The Great Danger of the Tiny Bark Beetle

‘The Tragi-comic Climate Doomsday Cult’ (Melanie Phillips on COP26)

Read it.

Journalists need to stop writing “stories” and start monitoring empirical consensus.

This is a bit of a rant, and it’s about a topic that I’m not an expert on, but I do feel strongly about. So, despite the forceful language, please read this knowing that there’s still a fair amount of epistemic humility behind what I’m saying and I’m definitely open to updating my opinion if an expert on journalism or public policy were to have some compelling reason for the Chestertonian fence of the structure of journalistic institutions. Comments sections are the devil’s playground so I don’t have one, but feel free to reach out and if we have a fruitful discussion I’m happy to publish it here.

One of the things that COVID has taught me is that the concept of a “story” in the news media is a relic that needs to be completely re-thought. It is not suited to the challenges of media communication today.

Any journalistic article that doesn’t start out with the facts but starts with an anecdote is not a report but a ‘story’. Feel free to ignore it.

Scott Johnson at Power Line.

We have followed the story of the FBI raid on James O’Keefe and associates of Project Veritas in a series of posts under the heading “The O’Keefe Project.” The most recent of these posts is dated November 24. The FBI conducted these raids in the style to which we became accustomed in the case of Roger Stone and appears to have followed them up with leaks to its friends at the New York Times.

The New York Times has now published its fifth story on the investigation of O’Keefe et al. in connection with their possession of the diary of Ashley Biden. The otherwise questionable authenticity of the diary can be inferred from the involvement of the FBI. It has somehow become a federal case in the Age of Biden.

ZMan’s weekly podcast revisits an old favorite. Highly recommended.

When you read the work product of the academy, the thing you see right away is much of it is nonsense busy work. These are people with no useful skills and nothing to do so they fritter away their time in a game of make believe. They imagine themselves as academic and intellectuals. Their specialty is basically a hobby of their own creation, which is an offshoot of their mentor’s hobby. You could eliminate the social science and humanities and no one outside the academy would notice.

The other thing you notice about these nonsense fields is the struggle to apply these boutique theories to anything resembling reality. Queer studies makes perfect sense within the extremely narrow scope of academic queerness. Outside of that narrow scope it makes no sense whatsoever. Much of what is produced in these pseudo-intellectual fields – that is a generous description – is a desperate attempt to apply these crackpot theories to real world situations.

The Other McCain does the reporting that American media won’t do.

In October, we told you about New York City cop Yvonne Wu, accused of shooting to death her ex-girlfriend and wounding the ex’s new girlfriend. Then in November, we told you about Pennsylvania couple Marie Snyder and Echo Butler, accused of murdering Snyder’s two young daughters. The Killer Lesbian phenomenon continues this month with news from Yorkshire, England.

…

You understand that I’m not implying that all lesbians are murderers, nor even that lesbians are more likely than heterosexual women to commit murder. My point is that media bias is such that journalists will never use the words “lesbian” and “murder” in the same story, unless a lesbian is a victim of murder. The belief that journalists must always act the part of publicity agents for the “LGBTQ community,” results in a one-sided portrayal of gay life — everything’s wonderful and everybody’s happy under the rainbow flag — which is just unrealistic. So when I get a story like this (and thanks to the regular reader who emailed me the tip), it’s my duty to give it an appropriate headline, for the sake of balance.

Read it.

I know quite a few retired people who are “comfortable,” maybe even have one or two million dollars to leave their kids after a LIFETIME of work, saving, and investing. I know ONE person who has several tens of millions of dollars. And not a one of those people has any real political power, despite being white and well-off.

Not a one of those people, even the multimillionaire, could afford to give half a BILLION dollars (pocket change for Zuckerberg) to distort the election returns. Even though I bet a forensic audit would turn up well over half of Zuckerberg’s donation was just stolen. Good. Who’s keeping track of five hundred million dollars without dipping in?

Setting aside the butcher paper over the windows at vote-counting time, and the sudden giant leap of late-breaking machine votes ONLY for Biden, and the “toilet malfunction” in Atlanta, just having half a billion dollars to do whatever is claimed they did legitimately to “get out the vote” is a horrendous amount of power wielded by one homely, expressionless dweeb. Not to worry about his half-billion, he has $134 billion MORE. There’s somebody firmly on the INSIDE of those elusive goldarned margins.

Read it.

Kevin ( “Viva la Resistance!”) Clinesmith is the convicted felon who radically altered a document in the Trump-Russia investigation to justify spying on an American citizen. At the time, Clinesmith was an assistant general counsel at the FBI.

In order to receive court approval for surveillance of Carter Page, Clinesmith took a document that said Page WAS a CIA source and altered it say Page WAS NOT a CIA source. He then submitted the fake document to the federal court to support obtaining a FISA warrant that would enable the FBI to spy not just on Page but quite possibly on the Trump campaign for which he had worked.

It is hard to imagine a more blatant fraud on the court. Perpetuating that fraud should have meant an end to Clinesmith’s legal career or at least a lengthy cessation of it.

However, fraud on the court in service of “La Resistance” to Donald Trump doesn’t bother the left-wing D.C. bar one bit. It has restored Clinesmith as a member in “good standing” of the District of Columbia Bar Association — this despite the fact that he has yet to finish serving out his probation as a convicted felon.

Read it.

After Black Lives Matter protesters last year demanded that cities “Defund the Police,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed held a press conference to announce that her city would be one of the first to do exactly that. Breed announced $120 million in cuts to the budgets of both San Francisco’s police and sheriff’s departments. A spokesperson for the police officers’ union warned the cuts “could impact our ability to respond to emergencies,” but the police chief assured the public that the cuts “will not diminish our ability to provide essential services.”

Yesterday, Breed reversed herself in dramatic fashion, announcing that she was making an emergency request to the city’s Board of Supervisors for more money for the police to support a crackdown on crime, including open air drug dealing, car break-ins, and retail theft. The plan contains much of what the California Peace Coalition, which Environmental Progress and I cofounded last spring, has been demanding, including in a series of protests by parents of homeless addicts, parents of children killed by fentanyl, and recovering addicts.

Read it.

Four people were arrested in NYC for burning and looting an Applebee’s restaurant.

Just kidding. We know that sort of thing is tolerated under the New Justice System. Heck, the Vice President of the United States contributed to a bail fund for violent rioters and that wasn’t a deal-breaker, even for people who work within the Justice System. No, the actual crime they were arrested for was protesting the city’s Vaccine Passport requirement.