The Other McCain.

The description of Afwerki as “leftist” might be misleading; like, you’re saying he’s the Justin Trudeau of East Africa or what? By describing him as “leftist,” you’re trying to get me to be against Afwerki, but seeing as how it’s the opponents of the dictator causing the riots, maybe I should be pro-Afwerki. Having searched my conscience for a reason to give a flying fuck about Eritrea, however, I must confess I found nothing. Instead, I’m leaning toward the conclusion that Eritreans are nothing but trouble and we should send them all back to Eritrea.

Sounds like a plan.

UPDATE: Watch: Mobs Of Violent African Migrants Riot, Attack Police In Holland

Read it.

Reality is what remains when you wake up from dreaming.

Read it.

The 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki was found unresponsive in his dorm room at the University of California Berkeley last week.

According to SFGate, freshman Marco Troper was discovered at the Clark Kerr campus in the late afternoon of Tuesday. The Berkeley Fire Department attempted to revive Marco, but he died at the scene.

Considering Wojcicki’s pernicious effect as the chief Woke Witch at YouTube, I have to regard this as Evolution in Action.

His grandmother:

“Marco was the most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being. He was just getting starting on his second semester of his freshman year at UC Berkeley majoring in math and was truly loving it. He had a strong community of friends from his dorm at Stern Hall and his fraternity Zeta Psi and was thriving academically. At home, he would tell us endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley.” 

None of which mattered a damn in the face of his fatal foolishness. Natural selection works even when people don’t want it to.

Wall Street Journal.

Anne “LaVerne” Gaither teared up when workers dismantled the hunter-green plywood and metal scaffolding that for 21 years obscured the entrance of her Harlem apartment building.
The 220-foot-long structure, known here as a sidewalk shed, was New York City’s oldest existing shed until it came down in December. It was originally built in 2002 to protect pedestrians during required repairs to the neo-Georgian facade of 409 Edgecombe Ave., a century-old landmark once home to luminaries such as W.E.B. DuBois and Thurgood Marshall.
Gaither, 93 years old, used to keep bottles of water for the workers on the wooden platform outside her second-story window. “My tears were thanks for being alive to see it come down,” she said.
A few weeks later, damage caused by a deadly fire forced the rise of a new shed.

Read it.

Truckers who support former President Donald Trump say they will refuse to drive loads to and from New York City following the $355 million verdict in Trump’s civil fraud trial.

Slouching toward a new civil war.

Matt Taibbi

The State Department is so unhappy a newspaper published details about where it’s been spending your taxes, it’s threatened to only show a congressional committee its records in camera until it gets a “better understanding of how the Committee will utilize this sensitive information.” Essentially, Tony Blinken is threatening to take his transparency ball home unless details about what censorship programs he’s sponsoring stop appearing in papers like the Washington Examiner.

Read it.

Recent years have seen a significant rise in the importance placed on anti-ship missiles, and the most prominent of these missiles has been the Naval Strike Missile (NSM)1 developed by Norwegian defense contractor Kongsburg. NSM offers a major improvement in capability over legacy missiles like Harpoon and Exocet, and while competitor missiles have begun to emerge in recent years, NSM was good enough to be adopted not only by much of NATO but also by the United States, which is famously hostile to foreign systems.

Read it.

Saturday’s New York Times featured an absurd piece of anti-Israel, pro-ceasefire propaganda, headlined “As Gaza Death Toll Mounts, Groups Urging Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Are Outmatched,” by Kate Kelly, who covers “money, policy and influence” for the paper.
Kelly set up The Friends Committee, part of “Washington’s peace lobby,” as a plucky little underdog against AIPAC, much like the left tries to make terrorist Hamas sympathetic against big bad Israel, which was the actual victim. She dutifully forwarded the group’s propaganda.
Amazingly, nowhere in her call for unilateral ceasefire, which would benefit Hamas, was mentioned the major ceasefire sticking point: The hundred or so Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

Read it.

There are three basic problems with the CIA: its objectives, methods, and unaccountability.

Its operational objectives are whatever the CIA or the President of the United States defines to be in the U.S. interest at a given time, irrespective of international law or U.S. law.

Its methods are secretive and duplicitous.

Its unaccountability means that the CIA and president run foreign policy without any public scrutiny. Congress is a doormat, a sideshow.

BBC.

Even in the dead of Canada’s winter, the embers of last year’s record-setting wildfire season remain. So-called zombie fires are burning under thick layers of snow at an unprecedented rate, raising fears about what the coming summer may bring.

Power Line.

California’s Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act requires voter approval for all new taxes passed by the legislature and two-thirds voter approval for all new special tax increases. The Act also demands clear definitions of what is a tax or a fee, along with truthful descriptions of new tax proposals. Before any tax or fee is enacted, politicians must clearly outline how the revenues would be spent, and so on.  The measure has qualified for the November 5 ballot but Gov. Gavin Newsom and former governor Jerry Brown want the state supreme court to take the Act off the ballot.

…

In runs for the presidency in 1976, 1980 and 1992, Jerry Brown came up a loser, and in 1982 Brown lost a Senate race to Republican Pete Wilson, mayor of San Diego. On the other hand, Brown did succeed in transforming the Golden State from a place people wanted to live to a place people want to leave.

Q. How can you distinguish Democrats from ordinary people?

A. They hate democracy and undercut it at every opportunity.

Read it.

If you’ve never had a Coca-Cola from McDonald’s, you’re truly missing out. But if you have had the pleasure of slurping down a Coke under the Golden Arches, then you already know the secret: Coke from McDonald’s tastes better than cola from any other fast food joint, or even soda from the bottle.

That delicious secret isn’t happenstance. It’s for very specific reasons. McDonald’s has a really smart storage tactic and brilliant drink mixing strategy that makes their Coca-Cola stand out. Read on to find out why Coca-Cola from McDonald’s simply can’t be topped.

Or you could just cut to the chase and drink Pepsi. Your choice.

Read it.

As a native son, it is hard to watch this wonderful city undermined by Johnson and radical allies in the city council. Some initiatives like reparations and state-funded grocery stores will cost money but will not impose nearly the costs of Johnson’s dismal record on crime and taxes.

However, this week saw a particularly confusing moment when, after calling the anti-crime program ShotSpotter “racist,” Johnson asked the company to extend its contract beyond the upcoming Democratic National Convention. So Johnson will put an end to this supposedly racist program but only after the Democratic luminaries (and the most violent summer months) have passed.

Newsbusters.

When the far-left protests outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices, the media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) think that’s freedom of speech in action. The Washington Post published a puff piece on a woman disturbing the peace outside Brett Kavanaugh’s home: “We’re about to get doomsday, so I’m not going to be civil to that man at all.” The Trump era made disturbing conservative dinners at restaurants a tactic that’s “not going away.”

…

Under a photo of women pouring out plastic gallon jugs with red liquid in it, the caption reads: “Hazami Barmada (left), holding her one-year-old son, Kayden, and Fatima Showkatian pour fake blood in front of a vehicle carrying Secretary of State Antony Blinken as it arrives at Blinken’s home in McLean, Virginia, Feb. 14, 2024.”

Read it.

The EU has passed a migration pact dubbed “the suicide of Europe” which could lead to the continent being flooded with as many as 75 million new migrants.

The European Parliament’s LIBE committee passed the act on Wednesday, which formalizes the distribution of migrants to member states and punishes those that refuse to take them.

Because cultural enrichment and diversity is “our greatest strength,” countries that try to maintain their national identity without being subsumed by migrants will be hit with severe financial penalties.

Read it.

For thousands of young conservatives who were born after that era ended, Peter Hitchens has served as a guide who helps us understand why we, too, dislike so much of modernity. He reminds us that it was not always this way, and that saying so matters. We cannot return to the past, he often observes, but we are always in the process of choosing the future—and thus we do not have to make the choices we are making. For that reason, despite his protestations, Hitchens’s writing does make a difference. Because while reading him, many have discovered a heritage largely abandoned before we were born—and have realized what we were missing. Now, many of us know what we like, too.

OffGuardian.

And here comes the killer. You trust. You trust that the people in the world who have the power to take care of the things you care about also care about the same things.

They don’t.

Yeah, sure, they care about their own children (maybe, but I have my doubts) they care about the water they drink, the food they eat, and the safety of the bed they sleep in under the roof of the house they live in. But they don’t care about you. Not one single iota do they care about you. In fact, they would just as soon throw you and your babies in an incinerator if it helped them achieve their own goals in the world. They don’t care.

Read it.

Recently the discussion switched to the Three Six Rule. The idea that, to be date-able, a guy must be a 6 in 3 categories:

• 6 figure income
• 6 feet tall
• 6 inch pecker

These are the important questions of our day.

If you wonder why marriage rates and birth rates are falling, this will tell you more than you really want to know.

Read it.

The following report from the Radio Maudin channel in France features the account of a young woman who had just given birth in a public hospital, and was denied a full meal by the nursing assistant who brought her food. The reason? The nursing assistant was a Muslim, and the young mother was of Tunisian descent. Therefore the halal restrictions had to be applied to the new mother. She was hungry for her ham and mashed potatoes, but she was not allowed to have them.

Read it.

In a world inundated with information, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect provides a critical lens to view our interaction with media. Coined by author Michael Crichton and named after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, this concept describes a curious paradox: the tendency of individuals to doubt news stories about subjects within their field of expertise yet readily accept the veracity of articles on topics outside their expertise. This phenomenon highlights the inconsistencies in our approach to media and poses significant questions about our perception of knowledge and credibility.

Read it.

One survey, the Elite, included only respondents with postgraduate degrees, household incomes above $150,000 and residents in a ZIP code with more than 10,000 people per square mile. Another, Ivy League graduates, included adults who attended Ivy League or other selective private colleges such as Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, or Stanford.

You probably won’t be surprised that the large majority of this Elite feels economically well off. Nor, if you’ve kept up with recent changes in party identification, will you be much surprised that 73 percent of these elites identify as Democrats and only 14 percent as Republicans.

What is surprising is the extent to which this American overclass would deprive its fellow citizens of things they have taken for granted. Half of these groups, 47 percent of Elites and 55 percent of Ivies, say the United States provides people with “too much individual freedom.”

Read it.

With the state and some local governments facing significant budget shortfalls this year, finances could become even tighter after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA, informed California officials that it will deny some pandemic-related reimbursement claims.

Read it.

President Joe Biden discarded advice to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan unless the Taliban complied with the Doha Agreement, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad told a House panel on Feb. 15.

Read it.

I once met an untenured lecturer at Yale. His pay was relatively low. He was offered a job at a mid-tier university in the midwest. I asked if he was going to accept. He said, “No way!” This other university offered him a tenure-track professorship, job security, and higher pay. Despite this, he chose to remain at Yale as a part-time lecturer in a financially precarious position. Why? He quietly explained that the name brand was just too valuable to him.

Read it.

After conspicuously not pushing gun control following the Lakewood megachurch shooting in Texas last week, likely because good guys with guns put down the shooter, CBS Mornings spent part of their Friday show morbidly cheering on how the Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooting was “helping renew” the left’s fight against gun rights with a so-called “assault weapons” ban.

“And the shooting at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade is helping renew the conversation about how to curb gun violence in America, including how to limit easy access to military-style rifles,” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil announced.

There is, of course, no evidence that a ‘military-style rifle’ was used. I suggest (in agreement with Steve Sailer) that it was some non-white juvenile gang-bangers with pistols modified to shoot automatically (the so-called ‘Glock switch’), which accounts for the high number of wounded compared to the single fatality.

Read it.

Saint Louis University should hand over $74 billion in reparations to the descendants of slaves who reportedly built the Jesuit Catholic school, an advocacy group announced recently.

The Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved group laid out their demands during a press conference last week. The $74 billion number came from economist Julianne Malveaux who apparently believes the slaves never slept.

Read it.

Read it.

In case you wondered where, oh where, all the trillions of dollars go, transgender Assistant HHS Secretary Admiral Rachel Levine is here to help.

In what some have called the ‘woke trifecta’, the white trans official took to social media today to explain that, apparently, climate-change is racist.

“Climate change is having a disproportionate effect on the physical and mental health of black communities.”

So, to be clear, climate-change is an existential threat to all of mankind, right?

Read it.

While most people’s attention is focused on the dual crisis of America’s southern border and President Biden’s apparent brain freeze, they shouldn’t forget that over the last few months, the USA’s slide into a quasi-Marxist dystopia may be shifting into high gear. I’m basing this unpleasant conclusion on the following data points.

One is California governor Gavin Newsom’s proud introduction in California of his state’s Cradle-to-Grave Data Collection System (C2C), this clone of Communist China’s notorious Social Credit Score system began operation last October. California’s Office of the Governor’s homepage proudly boasts that since its launch, the C2C system has already scooped up more than 1 billion data points on all aspects of Californians’ lives and “will provide the public, researchers, and lawmakers unprecedented insight that could improve the education and quality of life for millions of Californians.”

And, according to Governor Newsom, C2C’s pervasive system of surveillance can, “By leveraging billions of data points, California’s Cradle-to-Career data system will be a game-changer for improving the quality of life for millions of Californians and highlighting ways to improve opportunity in the classroom and access to the workforce. Through insights and innovation only made possible by this system, the Golden State is leading the nation in equitably connecting our education system to the workforce to ensure every Californian has the freedom to succeed.”

I wonder if the good governor and Xi Jinping compared notes during Newsom’s October 2023 trip to China?

OffGuardian.

In the digital age, the incessant calls to action reverberate across the virtual landscape, summoning legions of fervent warriors to wage battles against perceived evils.

This rallying cry, echoing the urgency of a multitude of crusades, permeates our online existence. Be it the casual dehumanization of entire swaths of people to the slow deterioration of language through constant decries of ‘racist’ and ‘pedo’—everything is a conflict now. A conquest. A campaign against the devil himself. We do not ‘treat’ cancer; we FIGHT IT. We do not discuss climate change; we FIGHT IT! It is not enough to ‘Not be racist’; you have FIGHT against racism! The fight against homelessness, the fight against heart disease, the fight against hate—that’s a novel one.

The internet has become a constant battlefield where zeal and fury and bold, untenable posturing are prized virtues. Amidst this cacophony, a troubling pattern emerges—the call to arms is always fueled by fear, anger, outrage and the demonization of specific, or sometimes not-so-specific, groups of human beings. It is a grand mobilization, an ever-present summons to fight against perceived devils, urging countless brave soldiers to embark on a crusade. Yet, as we heed these calls, it is essential to question the consequences of blind action and reflect on the historical echoes that warn of the perils of unchecked zeal.

Read it.

Remember the New Jersey “Switcheroo” way back in 2002, when Democrats turned a sure loss of a Senate seat into a win by swapping out their losing candidate at the last minute, overriding a state law that said it was too late in the cycle for such a switch?

Bet on Democrats to pull the same “switcheroo,” but at an even higher level – and even later than you expect – possibly at but more likely about two weeks after their convention, giving us a “September Surprise.” Joe Biden is a placeholder quelling current competition for a much better bet – Michelle Obama – just in time to turn a sure loss in 2024 into a surprise potential victory.

“Tosh!” you say. “She’s said she hates politics, she doesn’t want to run.” Ah, she made every one of those statements before she got to see Biden redefining the job and expectations for the presidency. Now she knows that when the media wants a president in place, a four-day workweek, consisting of one social obligation per day, and everything else delegated, will suffice. And that’s without a highly experienced First Gentleman.

Ammo Grrrrrl.

There is no way that we can possibly cover ALL the Orwellian lies and woke absurdities that we are forced to swallow daily AND repeat if we want to sit with the Cool Kids in the Lunchroom. Or have a job or a bank account. Most lies have been addressed by others, including Power Line. But here is my take, with an emphasis on mockery and sarcasm. Sarcasm is considered the “lowest” form of humor. No worries. I am built low to the ground. And I flat-out hate the people who inflict this tripe upon us. Since I can’t shoot them or even ADVOCATE shooting them (which I absolutely do not), the only thing left to do is mock them. Pour yourself a Morning Mocktail and let’s get started.

ZMan’s weekly podcast.  Highly recommended.

A unique feature of this age is the fact that our societies are largely controlled by what we call the media. It was not that long ago when the term “the media” did not exist as a commonly understood concept. There were newspapers, books, and pamphlets, but they were called newspapers, books, and pamphlets. The concept of “the media” is a product of the 20th century.

These days, the media is not a collection of discreet communication entities but more of a subculture that hangs over society like smog. There are thousands of people who call themselves journalists, for example, who do not work for a journal or even have full-time employment at a newspaper. They are part of the media and speak of themselves as if they are in a righteous subculture or mass movement.

That is the way to think of it. The people in this thing we call the media operate like people in a religious cult or movement. This is why there is so little diversity of opinion in the media now, compared to just a generation ago. In a holy cause, there is no tolerance for those who question the cause. The people in this thing called the media are a priestly class who see their role as moral enforcers.

Read it.

On January 24, Stanford University held a forum on combating anti-Semitism. The event, which featured Stanford president Richard Saller and provost Jenny Martinez, was meant to reassure Jewish students that the university had their back amid the wave of anti-Semitism sweeping college campuses.

“We really do want to make sure that all of the communities on campus get the respect that they deserve,” Saller told the forum. “We’re committed to equal treatment and equal protection.”

The events that transpired that night undercut that message. By the end of the evening, protesters had physically threatened Jewish students, harassed a rabbi, and told employees of the elite university that they would “find out where you live.”

Read it.

When the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by a counterterrorism researcher exposing support for terrorism in Dearborn, MI, Biden didn’t condemn the hate, he condemned the op-ed.

“Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn,” Biden tweeted.

The “small few” named in the op-ed included a pro-terrorist gathering attended by over 1,200 people (2% of the local Muslim population), the Dearborn’s Islamic Center of Detroit and the 120,000 square foot Islamic Center of America which can accommodate 2,500 Muslims and has been described as the largest mega mosque in the country. That’s far from a “small few.”

The Guardian.

Chicago will not renew its ShotSpotter contract and plans to stop using the controversial gunshot detection system later this year, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced on Tuesday.

The system, which relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and network of microphones to identify gunshots, has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse. An Associated Press investigation of the technology detailed how police and prosecutors used ShotSpotter data as evidence in charging a Chicago grandfather with murder before a judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence.

Chicago’s contract with SoundThinking, a public safety technology company that says its ShotSpotter tool is used in roughly 150 cities, expires on Friday. The city plans to wind down use of ShotSpotter technology by late September, according to city officials. Since 2018, the city has spent $49m on ShotSpotter.

“Chicago will deploy its resources on the most effective strategies and tactics proven to accelerate the current downward trend in violent crime,” the city said in a statement.

“Doing this work, in consultation with community, violence prevention organizations and law enforcement, provides a pathway to a better, stronger, safer Chicago for all.”

Young male black gang-bangers will vote for Johnson for a hundred years, per Lyndon Johnson.

Read it.

Users of London’s famous rail network will soon be forced to think of Britain’s racial, feminist, and LGBT history whenever they step on an Overground train.

The six lines that make up the Overground network—suburban rail services, not to be confused with the Underground—are “fondly” known collectively as the “Ginger Line.” But Transport for London (TfL), the local government body responsible for the city’s transport networks, chaired by Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, last August set about renaming them. Khan promised this scheme in 2021 and said it was aimed at making the network easier to navigate. The new names, unveiled this week, reveal another, far more political motive.

Read it.

A solid majority of American citizens now recognize that Biden’s many millions of alleged refugees are anything but the real deal. In all probability, some of these illegal immigrants are members of the “tired and poor” seeking a shortcut into the United States, but also include a number of spies, drug mules, human traffickers, criminals, and convicts. As for legitimate refugees, in all likelihood they represent less than 10% of the total.

Read it.

Remember when Democrats advocated for working-class Americans?

No, I don’t. They’ve never done that in my lifetime.

My maternal relatives were all Irish Catholic Democrats in decades past. They were deeply conservative in their personal lives and social views, and concurrently deeply committed to the party of John F. Kennedy and Tip O’Neill.

Those days now seem like an era of antiquity compared to the radical, even Marxist, Democratic Party of the 2020s. The Biden-Harris Democrats push secular humanist ideology while acting fully in concert with the economic ruling class of America, all at the cavalier expense of middle- and lower-income citizens.

Read it.

Jews are being beaten up in German universities. No, this isn’t 1935. And this time the globalist oligarchs that rule Germany and the rest of Western Europe have imported the legions of Mohammed to do their dirty work and teach Israel (and Jews in general) a lesson.

Judenhasse is a way of life.

Yet another reminder that Islam is an oppressive (and genocidal) totalitarian ideology, masquerading as a religion, with which no co-existence is possible.

Read it.

Teachers are suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta in federal court over policies they say force them to conceal the transgender status of young students from parents.

The lawsuit comes after the governor signed several laws in September 2023 that expanded California’s protections for LGBT individuals.

One law establishes timelines for required so-called cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff. Another law creates an advisory body to determine the needs of LGBT students. A further law requires families to demonstrate willingness to meet the needs of a child in foster care, regardless of the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. There is also a law requiring elementary and secondary schools to have gender-neutral bathrooms for students.

Read it.

Students in a Seattle English class were told that their love of reading and writing is a characteristic of “white supremacy,” in the latest Seattle Public Schools high school controversy. The lesson plan has one local father speaking out, calling it “educational malpractice.”

Washington Free Beacon.

A woman toting a rifle emblazoned with a “Palestine” sticker walked into a pro-Israel celebrity pastor’s church and opened fire, according to law enforcement officials. News outlets declared the motive a “mystery.”

Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, an immigrant from El Salvador who sometimes identified as a man, shot up Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, injuring a worshipper before security guards shot her dead, the FBI and local police said. The church is home to televangelist Joel Osteen, a vocal supporter of Israel and friend of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Police said they found anti-Semitic writings among Moreno’s belongings. Early reports also said the sticker on Moreno’s rifle said “Free Palestine,” but police later revealed the sticker said “Palestine.”

It would be easy to connect the dots and draw the obvious conclusion: The shooting was part of a worldwide eruption of anti-Semitism amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. But mainstream media have long struggled to see violence as anything other than a right-wing phenomenon.

UnHerd.

Surely the white working class is to blame? It’s obvious that those who stormed the US Congress on January 6, 2021, were the very same people Hillary Clinton described as “the basket of deplorables”. They’re obviously racist, sexist and xenophobic. Why even bother checking?

Well, because it’s not quite as straightforward as that. According to the University of Chicago, 50% of the January 6 mutineers were either business owners or white-collar workers, and only 25% had no college degree.

Again and again, white working-class Americans have been slandered and cast as deranged MAGA fans in the national press. But the reality, as I reveal in my new book, is that Donald Trump’s most hardcore supporters are far wealthier and better educated than your ordinary American. The political scientists Noam Lupu and Nicholas Carnes have convincingly argued that only 30% of Trump voters in 2016 were white and working class.

Read it.

As inflation remains stubbornly high, farmers throughout the Western world are warning that cost increases from the net zero movement will drive food prices still higher, while simultaneously putting many smaller farmers out of business.

“Let them eat bugs!”

The Spectator.

Who does Vladimir Putin want to win the presidential election this fall? Last night, the Russian president gave an unexpected answer.

In an interview on the Russian state TV channel VGTRK, Putin was asked “Who is better for us, Biden or Trump?” The smirk on journalist Pavel Zarubin’s face suggested he thought the question would be a slam dunk. And yet, to Zarubin’s visible surprise, Putin threw him a curve ball: Putin would, in fact, prefer Joe Biden.

The Spectator.

The tradwife smiles as she feeds her sourdough starter, wearing a long dress and a baby and wrangling the occasional toddler underfoot. She beams at her husband as he comes in from a long day on the ranch, or from the hedge-fund trenches. She makes salt-dough modeling clay for the little ones, whether her stove is from Lowe’s or La Cornue. The Cut describes her Instagram account as both “dangerous” and “stupid.” CNN experts lament that too many girls are turning to her as a “Band-Aid with ideological cover,” and fret about the sourdough-starter-to-White-Supremacy pipeline. Tradwives, both self-identified and smacked with admiring or hostile labels, are the latest cultural phenomenon in media crosshairs.

And no one agrees whom they’re arguing about in the first place. The term is online shorthand for “traditional wife,” which translates to a woman who performs all the tasks your grandmother once did but with access to infinite camera filters and no shag carpet. Most seem to be selling an aesthetic family ideal rather than sex, although some of the bouncing is, let’s say, a little too calculated.