DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

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Archive for January, 2025

CNN to Lay Off Hundreds of Employees as Post-Inauguration Transformation Begins, Sources Say

23rd January 2025

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CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience, according to people familiar with the matter.

The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes.

Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people.

Get woke, go broke. Reality bites.

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Calif. City Defies Newsom, Won’t Be Migrant Sanctuary

23rd January 2025

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A California city declared it will not be a sanctuary for illegal immigrants amid President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations, dealing a blow to Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to “Trump-proof” the state from federal immigration enforcement.

The seven-member city council, all Republicans, in Huntington Beach, which is about 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles, voted Tuesday night to approve the initiative brought by Mayor Pat Burns to declare Huntington Beach a “non-sanctuary city for illegal immigration for the prevention of crime,” according to a news release.

“The intent of this resolution is to deliberately sidestep the governor’s efforts to subvert the good work of federal immigration authorities and to announce the city’s cooperation with the federal government, the Trump administration, and Border Czar Tom Homan’s work,” the council said. “This new city policy and declaration are common sense, supports our law enforcement, and advances public safety throughout the city.

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How the World Fell for ‘Romantasy’

23rd January 2025

UnHerd.

In an opening chapter of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville captures the American scene in the whaling village of New Bedford, Mass. There are “savages outright, many of whom yet carry on their bones unholy flesh”; “Green Vermonters and New Hampshire men”; lunks and hicks and “bumpkin dandies” in beaver hats and swallow-tailed coats “girdled with a sailor-belt and a sheath knife”. Polite society may have responded with horror to these sights, but Melville understood that this wild diversity, ferment and lawlessness was the essence of his country.

New Bedford has come for the publishing industry — for its “Big Five” publishers and its MFA-trained fiction writers — in the form of Romantasy, a new genre rewriting all the rules, perhaps for the better. The portmanteau term, for the uninitiated, means “any fantasy novel that has romance as the main plot or a strong side-plot”, according to Katie Cunningham, owner of Kiss & Tale books in Collingswood, NJ. The books also tend to be hashtag-friendly, include explicit sex scenes, and wildly sample from the folkloric palate of tropes and subgenres established by previous narratives: Hades and Persephone, love triangles, friends-to-enemies, shapeshifters, slavery, Greek Gods, dragons, and vampires, to name just a few.

The speculative fiction community term is ‘paranormal romance’.

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Birthright Citizenship Isn’t Real

23rd January 2025

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There is a common misconception in the United States that the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution mandates that the US government grant citizenship to anyone and everyone born within the borders of the United States.

This misconception is largely due to the fact that, for several decades, US courts and technocrats have conspired to redefine the original meaning of the amendment, and thus apply it to every child of every tourist and foreign national who happens to be born on this side of the US border.

UPDATE: Birthright Citizenship: Game On!

Claremont Institute scholars, including me, Ed Erler, Tom West, John Marini, and Michael Anton, President Trump’s incoming Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, have been contending for years—decades, really—that the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause does not provide automatic citizenship for everyone born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances. Other prominent scholars, such as the late University of Texas law Professor Lino Graglia, University of Pennsylvania Professor Rogers Smith, and Yale Law Professor Emeritus Peter Schuck, have come to the same conclusion based on their own extensive scholarly research.

 

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Thought for the Day

23rd January 2025

Speed Bump Comic Strip for January 16, 2025

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Knife Jihad in Aschaffenburg

23rd January 2025

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A culture-enricher from Afghanistan went on a stabbing rampage in a park in Bavaria today, killing two people, including a 2-year-old boy, and wounding two others, including a 2-year-old girl.

The Bavarian Interior Minister would take issue with my headline, however, since he has ruled out “Islamism”. The suspect is said to have a “psychiatric illness”. Have you ever noticed how many murderous mujahideen are said to be mentally ill? Why is it that violent criminals of the Islamic persuasion tend to be loonies?

As a matter of interest, it appears that the group of pre-schoolers targeted by the mujahid were also culture-enrichers, if the sample of stabbed 2-year-olds is representative.

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

UPDATE: Failed Afghan Asylum Seeker Held for Killing Toddler In Germany

 

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America Awakes From Its Coma

23rd January 2025

Victor Davis Hanson.

There’s been a whole change of mentality, from the trivial to the existential. We also learn these disclosures. Why now? Why now? Why did we suddenly learn from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that Joe Biden had had cognitive decline all these years, in which to point that out was blasphemy?

And now, all of a sudden, we hear we were right all along. All of you were.

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Everyone’s A Based Post-Christian Vitalist Until The Grooming Gangs Show Up

23rd January 2025

Astral Codex Ten.

Whenever I talk about charity, a type that I’ll call the “based post-Christian vitalist” shows up in the comments to tell me that I’ve got it all wrong. The moral impulse tells us to help our family, friends, and maybe village. It’s a weird misfire, analogous to an auto-immune disease, to waste brain cycles on starving children in a far-off country who you’ll never meet. You’ve been cucked by centuries of Christian propaganda. Instead of the slave morality that yokes you to loser victims who wouldn’t give you the time of day if your situations were reversed, you should cultivate a master morality that lets you love the strong people who push forward human civilization.

Sounds good to me. Think of it as evolution in action.

A younger and more naive person might think the based post-Christian vitalist and I have some irreconcilable moral difference. Moral argument can only determine which conclusions follow from certain premises. If premises are too different (for example, a intuitive feeling of compassion for others, vs. an intuitive feeling of strength and pitilessness), there’s no way to proceed.

So it was revealing to watch some of these people trip over themselves to say we should invade Britain because of its tolerance for Pakistani grooming gangs.

Some of us think of Britain as one of those ‘far-off countries’ whose starving children one will never meet. Don’t know what that does to his argument.

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Royal Navy Nuclear Submarine Surfaced Next to Russian Spy Ship to Send a Clear Message

23rd January 2025

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The United Kingdom has confirmed that one of its Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines surfaced close to the Yantar, a notorious Russian spy ship late last year, to make it clear it was being observed. The revelation came as the Royal Navy was once again closely tracking the Russian ship after it returned to British waters. According to the U.K. defense secretary, the Yantar has, in recent months, been “mapping the U.K.’s critical underwater infrastructure,” at a time when NATO, in general, is increasingly concerned about apparent sabotage to undersea cables.

The Yantar was sailing in British waters in November last year, during which time U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said it had been “detected loitering over U.K. critical undersea infrastructure.”

 

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Today in Trump Derangement Syndrome

22nd January 2025

F–k it: Release ’em all”: Why Trump embraced broad Jan. 6 pardons (Axios) Of course, Trump never actually said that, although the writer is sure that he did (or would have), and anyone who thinks that a writer for Axios will have some special insight as to Trump’s motivations is smoking somehting.

Republicans struggle to answer for Trump’s pardon of January 6 defendants just hours into his presidency (CNN) No, they don’t; maybe RINOs do. These people were subject to a political witch-hunt by a vindictive Democrat administration, and far more deserving of perdon than, say, Anthony Fauci, who assisted in destroying the U.S. economy (and possibly killed people with his lies).

The GOP’s stunning response to Trump pardoning those who assaulted police (Washington Poop) Well, I guess ‘Republicas’ (which ones?) don’t have any trouble with Trump’s pardons after all. The Poop and CNN need to talk to each other.

Trump May Come to Regret His Jan. 6 Pardons. Here’s Why. (Politico) Don’t hold your breath.

Police union that endorsed Trump blasts Jan. 6 pardons (Axios)

They assaulted cops and tried to overturn an election. What to know about Trump’s mass pardons for January 6 rioters (Marshall Cohen/CNN)  How does this differ from BLM and AntiFa rioters, except for the witch-hunt that followed?

Trump unravels US climate agenda as he promises to ‘drill, baby, drill’ (Grist)

McConnell criticizes Trump’s broad pardon of Capitol riot defendants (Burgess Everett/Semafor)  Of course he does. He’s as deeply embedded in the Deep State as Chuck Schumer.

Federal Workers Sue Trump Administration Over Schedule F Executive Order (Matt Cohen/Democracy Docket)  Of course they do.

18 states sue Trump administration over order seeking to overturn birthright citizenship (Graham Kates/CBS News)

Twenty-two States Sue to Stop Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order (New York Times)

Democratic attorneys general sue over Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship (Brian Mann/NPR)

Democratic attorneys general sue to block Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship (Lawrence Hurley/NBC News)

Senators receive affidavit containing new allegations against Pete Hegseth, who denies the claims (NBC News)  Allegations! That proves it! (The witch-hunt continues….)

Hegseth’s Former Sister-in-Law Says He Believed Women Shouldn’t Vote (Kiera Butler/Mother Jones)

Mitchell Labels Debunked Allegations Against Hegseth ‘Uncontested’

Trump terminates John Bolton’s security detail within hours of taking office (Kaitlan Collins/CNN)

As CNN Panel Complains About Trump’s J6 Pardons, Scott Jennings Reminds Them of Inconvenient Truth

Anti-Trump Jan. 20 Protests in DC Fall Flat

Eye on Disdain: The 14 Worst Moments From CBS’s Inauguration Day Coverage

Trump Makes Sweeping Pro-Free Speech Move in Executive Order on Day One  That proves he’s Hitler!

Trump starts military overhaul by ousting first female Coast Guard commandant (April Rubin/Axios)  The swine!

The Land of Greater Fools (Hamilton Nolan/How Things Work)  Apparently How Thinks Work is Orange Man Bad.

Stelter Fears Censorship Amid ‘The Inauguration Of The Oligarchs’ If Trump were an ‘oligarch’, Stelter would be in Gitmo.

AOC slams ADL for excusing Elon Musk’s ‘awkward gesture:’ ‘You’re defending a Heil Hitler salute’ (Lindsay Kornick/Fox News) AOC justifies her name ‘Occasional-Cortex’.

‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute (Kate Connolly/The Guardian)

The missing context from the Elon Musk salute (Megan McArdle/Washington Post)

Elon Musk’s salute falls flat: Why far-right trolling isn’t working this time around (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

Liberals Briefly Pause Chanting ‘Death To Israel’ To Call Elon Musk A Nazi  (Babylon Bee)

Bye-Bye Norah! The Worst of CBS’s O’Donnell

Trump Takes Down Spanish Version Of White House Website (Sanjana Karanth/HuffPost) The swine!

Hegseth Ex-Sister-in-Law Tells Senators He Was ‘Abusive’ to Second Wife (New York Times)

Pete Hegseth sister-in-law, in new signed testimony, says he raged at ex-wife (USA Today)

Alinsky 101: NBC Runs Hegseth Hit Piece Despite Ex-Wife Debunking Accusation

ABC, NBC Join CBS in Desperate New Smear Against Pete Hegseth

Hegseth Routinely Passed Out from Alcohol Abuse, Witness Says (Wall Street Journal)

Senate learns of new allegations against Hegseth (Politico)

Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleges abuse against second wife in affidavit to Senate (Associated Press)

The Media Resume Their Total War Against Pete Hegseth

Justice Dept. removes senior career officials from key positions (Washington Post)

‘Like a Trained Seal’: Navarro Attacks Black Artists at Trump Inaugural Events

Trump’s Billionaire Arbitrage (Peter Hamby/Puck)

With the stroke of a pen, Trump tries to remake America (Anne Flaherty/ABC News)

A Trump Executive Order Sets Out What Could Be a Road Map for Retribution (New York Times)  Dunh-dunh-DUNHHHHH….

Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant (Bernard Condon/Associated Press)

Bolton: ‘Disappointed’ Trump Ended Protective Detail I bet he is.

Trump finds a new way for foreign governments to pay him off: Crypto (Catherine Rampell/Washington Post)

Constitution page on White House website shows 404 error (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Democrats plot strategy for fighting Trump on funding freeze (Politico)

Trump Details Why He Revoked Bolton’s Security Clearance

Anything Else Happen on Monday? ABC’s ‘GMA’ Goes All-in Over January 6 Pardons

Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard and guts key aviation safety advisory committee (Josh Funk/Associated Press)

Trump gave pardons to hundreds of violent Jan. 6 rioters. Here’s what they did (NPR)  Looking for similar coverage of BLM and AntiFa … looking … looking … Nope.

India Set to Accept 18,000 Citizens From US to Placate Trump (Bloomberg)

Trump’s crypto grifts: billions in paper profits, millions from memecoin trading fees, and new funding from Chinese-born entrepreneur Justin Sun (Wendy Siegelman/NewsTRACS)

All Federal DEI Offices To Be Closed By Wednesday EOD, Workers Placed On Paid Leave: White House

Northern Kentucky police: Flyers urge immigrants to ‘leave now’ and ‘avoid deportation’ (Cincinnati.com)

Courage is contagious – it’s time to fight back (Indivisible Guide)

The Left Never Learns: ‘Constitutional Attorney’ Is First To Call For Trump’s Impeachment (Again)

A new Trump Tower of corruption (Popular Information)

How TikTok is burnishing Trump’s strongman image (Lisa Needham/Public Notice)

From Day 1, Trump Shows He’ll Test Limits of What He Can Get Away With (New York Times)  Much like Joe Biden.

Trump Admin Cancels Travel for Refugees Cleared to Resettle in US

NewsGuard’s Hayden Among 50 Stripped of Security Clearance

Raskin: Pardoned Jan. 6 rioters ‘a reserve army of political foot soldiers’ (Ashleigh Fields/The Hill)

Trump Immediately Shuts Down Biden-Era Website Promoting Abortion

Justice Department says it will prosecute local officials over immigration enforcement (Washington Post)

NPR’s Pathetic ‘Fact-Check’ of Byron Donalds After Trump Inauguration

Chicago Shopping Area Empties Before Trump ICE Raids

Trump rolls back bedrock civil rights measure in sweeping anti-DEI push (Axios)

U.S. border agents told to summarily deport migrants without asylum hearings under Trump edict (Camilo Montoya-Galvez/CBS News)

Trump’s Christian Nationalist Pals Trash Bishop Who Challenged Trump at Prayer Service (Peter Montgomery/People For)

NYPD to Cops: Your Job Is Not to Help ICE

How to Stop Trump in One Stupid Chart (Jonathan V. Last/The Bulwark)

Far-Right Leaders Granted Clemency by Trump Express Desire for Retribution (Alan Feuer/New York Times)  And who could blame them? Proglodytes can dish it out but they can’t take it. “Moooommmmmeeeeee! Johnny hit me back!

BRAIN ROT: NYT Claims Trump Labeling Drug Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could ‘Hurt the U.S. Economy’

Trump nukes 60 years of anti-discrimination protections for federal contractors

Federal judge says Trump’s pardons can’t erase ‘immutable’ truth of Jan. 6 (Kyle Cheney/Politico)  The Deep State has spoken.

Trump Signs Executive Order Suspending Migrant Entry at Southern Border

Trump’s return-to-office push will likely lead to talent exodus (Emily Peck/Axios)  Get real–nobody with talent works for the government.

Trump Revokes Workplace Discrimination Rules Enacted By LBJ In 1965 (Dave Jamieson/HuffPost)

Donald Trump’s No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm (Sharon Lerner/ProPublica)  Accused! That proves it!

Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog (Charlie Savage/New York Times)  Independent apparently means ‘run by Democrats’.

ICE Revives Term ‘Alien’ in Trump-Era Immigration Crackdown

 

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GOP Aims to Remove Aliens From Census Count

22nd January 2025

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Republican efforts to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from numbers used to divvy up congressional seats among states have begun anew, with four Republican state attorneys general suing to alter the once-a-decade head count even before President Donald Trump’s second term in office began Monday.

Trump joined in the battle immediately upon returning to office, signing an executive order on Monday that rescinded a Biden administration order and signaled the possibility of a push by his new administration to change the 2030 census.

Those efforts may get a boost from the GOP-controlled Congress, where Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards from North Carolina earlier this month re-introduced legislation that would put a citizenship question on the census form.

 

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Inside State-Run ‘Bias-Response Hotlines,’ Where Fellow Citizens Can Report Your ‘Offensive Joke’

22nd January 2025

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In January 2020, the top law enforcement agency in the state of Oregon launched a “Bias Response Hotline” for residents to report “offensive ‘jokes.’”
Staffed by “trauma-informed operators” and overseen by the Oregon Department of Justice, the hotline, which receives thousands of calls a year, doesn’t just solicit reports of hate crimes and hiring discrimination. It also asks for reports of “bias incidents”—cases of “non-criminal” expression that are motivated, “in part,” by prejudice or hate.
Oregonians are encouraged to report their fellow citizens for things like “creating racist images,” “mocking someone with a disability,” and “sharing offensive ‘jokes’ about someone’s identity.” One webpage affiliated with the hotline, which is available in 240 languages, even lists “imitating someone’s cultural norm” as something “we want to hear” about.
It is not entirely clear what the state does with these reports. While the hotline cannot “sanction a bias perpetrator,” according to its website, it does share “de-identified data” with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, a body that develops “public safety” plans for the state, and connects “survivors” with “resources” like counseling and rent relief.

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Vaccine-Injured Tell UK COVID Inquiry They Are “An Uncomfortable Truth”

22nd January 2025

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Covid-19 Inquiry they were forced to form their own support systems after being ignored by the authorities and made to feel like “an uncomfortable truth” of the rollout.

Kate Scott, speaking on behalf of the group Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK (VIBUK), said they felt they were “almost being pushed into the shadows” as the overwhelming official message continued to be that the jabs were ”safe and effective” in spite of their experience.

Last week’s hearing also heard from a victims’ group in Scotland which raised concerns that the vaccine had been rolled out at such speed that public safety had been sacrifice

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CNN Highlights Problems Caused by Electric Cars During L.A. Wildfires

22nd January 2025

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On Friday’s Erin Burnett OutFront, the show played a report by correspondent Natasha Chen in which she informed viewers of the difficulties caused by electric cars during the Los Angeles wildfires.

It turns out that the batteries used by electric cars have their own environmental consequences when they catch fire, creating hazardous pollution and a blaze that is much more difficult to extinguish than in gas-powered cars.

 

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Mayhem at Columbia: Pro-Hamas Students Storm Classroom, Target Jewish Students With Anti-Semitic Flyers on First Day of Spring Semester

22nd January 2025

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Anti-Israel student activists unleashed mayhem at Columbia University on Tuesday afternoon, which marked the beginning of the spring semester. Several keffiyeh-clad student activists stormed an Israeli history class and passed out anti-Semitic flyers glorifying Hamas, depicting the Star of David being crushed, and promising violence. Others vandalized the campus and called on their followers to shut down the university.
Four student activists, donning keffiyehs, marched into the class, “History of Modern Israel,” filming themselves as they recited a script, passed out propaganda, and harassed students, most of whom are Jewish, according to a student in the class.
“THE ENEMY WILL NOT SEE TOMORROW,” read one flyer, which used an upside-down triangle symbol that Hamas uses to denote Israeli targets to spell “TOMORROW.” The flyer depicts a truck full of Hamas terrorists brandishing heavy artillery, including two RPGs and machine guns.
Another flyer, with the caption “CRUSH ZIONISM,” depicted the Star of David underneath a boot. A third depicted an Israeli flag in flames with the threat to “BURN ZIONISM TO THE GROUND.”

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

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MSNBC’s Al Sharpton Uses Network to Launch Boycott of Companies That Cut DEI Programs

22nd January 2025

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Of course. Grifters gotta grift.

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Main Cause of Sunburn Is Finally Identified, and It’s Time to Rewrite the Textbooks

22nd January 2025

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Follow The Science! Until it changes….

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Bonus Thought for the Day

22nd January 2025

A.F. Branco for Jan 22, 2025

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Blue State Blues: Man Dies After Being Assaulted in Back of Ride-Hail Car in Brooklyn by Men on Street, NYPD Says

22nd January 2025

Gothamist.

A man died in Brooklyn on Tuesday evening after police say he was beaten and robbed in the back of a ride-hail car by two men who got into the car at an intersection.

Michael Shelonchik, 53, was sitting in the back of the vehicle around 6:15 p.m. at the intersection of West 5th Street and Neptune Avenue in Coney Island when the men opened the door, began assaulting him and snatched a chain off his neck, NYPD officials said on Wednesday.

The driver tried to drive away from the perpetrators but only made it a few blocks before Shelonchik lost consciousness, police said. First responders were called and took him to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died.

NYPD officials said it was still unclear whether Shelonchik knew the suspects, and police made no immediate arrests. The NYPD was investigating the case early Wednesday as a potentially suspicious death, while Shelonchik’s cause of death was being determined.

Time to leave.

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Racism: The Death Of A Concept

22nd January 2025

ZMan does a deep dive.

The concept of racism is a novelty of the twentieth century that in recent times has been treated as a timeless truth. In the last century, the best people decided that their fellow white people had been living in sin because they had not welcomed the descendants of former slaves into their lives, so they set about correcting it. What started as a project to better the material condition of black people and include them into general society, slowly transformed into a cult of leukophobia.

It is a good example of how a negative identity can both spread and slowly destroy the people who embrace it. The first “antiracists” were sober minded compared to the modern version, in that they simply wanted to address the practical problem of incorporating the black population into the American legal system. As a practical matter, the United States had two legal frameworks into the twentieth century, one for the white population and one for the black population.

The fact that this dual legal system existed in America is a great example of how practical necessity must always come before the ideal. America was born, in part, in the notion of equality before the law. It nearly tore itself apart in a civil war over this very same issue, but into the twentieth century the majority of Americans, of both races, were comfortable with a two-tier legal system. It was this gap between the ideal and reality through which antiracism entered.

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How the Media Broke the Immigration Debate

22nd January 2025

Quillette.

“Terms like ‘undocumented’ and ‘unauthorized’ can make a person’s illegal presence in the country appear to be a matter of minor paperwork,” wrote Tom Kent, the Associated Press (AP)’s deputy editor for standards and production in 2012. Kent was responding to a policy proposal to eliminate the adjective “illegal” due to its perceived pejorative nature. Six months later, Kent’s guidance was overruled. The New York Times followed suit within a month. Ten years on, after a historic surge in illegal immigration that overwhelmed federal agencies and major cities, many publishers don’t even mention legal status when discussing immigration. So, how did we get here?

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Islam Forbids Western Values

22nd January 2025

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Western values are those features vital for identifying nations as Western. Islam, with its very different laws and teachings, not only opposes them, it forbids them.

Under the name “British Values”, the UK government lists five:

Democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

These are required to be promoted in schools. Opposition to them is what, according to the Prevent programme, constitutes “extremism”.

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

 

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“I See No Terrorism”

22nd January 2025

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As you may recall, just before Christmas a Saudi psychiatrist drove his vehicle at speed through a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds more.

Now comes word that the federal Prosecutor General does not identify the incident as an act of terrorism, because… Well, just because. Maybe it’s because the perpetrator wasn’t a “neo-Nazi”.

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Thought for the Day

22nd January 2025

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Quotation of the Day

22nd January 2025

James Lileks:

It is not a usual debate on the site these days, where subreddit after subreddit is banning links to X, because Elon Musk is a Nazi. From a gesture they deduce that he favors gun confiscation, state control of the media, state direction of all industrial output, support for black-clad masked mobs that besiege government buildings and beat their opposition, and the genocide of the Jews. Eventually they will tire of the subject and go back to their favorite causes, which include gun confiscation, state control of the media, state direction of all industrial output, siupport for black-clad masked mobs that besiege government buildings and beat their opposition and support for an organization that desires the genocide of the Jews.

X, of course, is a rightwing hellsite! There’s no debate at all!

 

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Today in Trump Derangement Syndrome

21st January 2025

Infographic: Europe’s Concern Over Trump Isn’t a Global Opinion | Statista

The strangest moments from Trump’s inauguration (UK Daily Telegraph)

FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims Trump made at inaugural events (Associated Press)

Proud Boys and Oath Keepers among over 1,500 Capitol riot defendants pardoned by Trump (BBC) Biden opened the door, and Trump just cruised right through.

Trump the wrecking ball brings chaos to order, executing a parade of grievances (The Guardian)

Right-Wing Extremists Are Abuzz Over Musk’s Straight-Arm Salute (Tim Dickinson/Rolling Stone)  Clowns.

Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture (Ryan Mac/New York Times) He was waving to the crowd. Clowns.

Elon Goes Full Sieg Heil In Clarifying Moment (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)  Adolescent clowns.

Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump’s Inauguration (David Gilbert/Wired) If you hear the dog-whistle, then you’re the dog.

Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes at inauguration rally (Martin Pengelly/The Guardian)  If you hear the dog-whistle, you’re the dog.

Did He Actually Do That? – Elon Musk either had a slipped-mask moment or is supremely awkward. (Charlie Warzel/The Atlantic) The Hunt for Heretics and Sinners.

Elon Musk’s straight-armed gesture at inauguration event ignites comparisons to Nazi salute Of course it does. Morons.

Musk responds to backlash over gesture at Trump rally (George Wright/BBC)  Geez, guys, grow up.

CNN, Going for Their Next Defamation Lawsuit, Smear Elon Musk as a Nazi As they do.

Superman Under Fire After Hundreds Of Images Surface Of Him Giving Nazi Salute  Babylon Bee.

New York Times Hails Soros-Funded Group Suing DOGE Right After Trump Takes Office

DOGE Dogged With Lawsuit Moments After Trump Inauguration

Protesters Limp Through Washington as Only a Few Hundred Show Up To Resist Trump

No, Trump didn’t make $50 billion from his memecoin (Molly White/Citation Needed)

Pentagon removes new portrait of Mark Milley (Paul McLeary/Politico)

Portrait of General Milley Is Removed From Pentagon (New York Times)

Trump’s hands-off abortion stance faces political reality (Nathaniel Weixel/The Hill)

Trump did not place hand on Bible for oath of office during his inauguration (Caitlin Doornbos/New York Post)  So what?

Day One: Trump Reverses Biden Attacks on Everything From Drilling to Dishwashers

Trump Rambles About His Enemies In More On-Brand Speech After His Inaugural Address (HuffPost)

The Absurd Outrage Directed at Trump

Trump Administration Fires Immigration Court Officials as Crackdown Begins (Hamed Aleaziz/New York Times)

A Determined Trump Vows Not to Be Thwarted at Home or Abroad (David E. Sanger/New York Times)

‘I Do Not See Many People of Color’: Watch the Liberal Media Melt Down During Trump’s Inauguration 

WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (The White House)

DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (The White House)

PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP (The White House)

Trump rescinds Biden’s census order, clearing a path for reshaping election maps (Hansi Lo Wang/NPR)

Trump will pull U.S. out of Paris climate agreement (Nidhi Sharma/NBC News)

Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce (The White House)

Declaring A National Emergency At The Southern Border Of The United States (The White House)

We Watched ABC So You Didn’t Have to. Here’s Their Worst Inaugural Meltdowns

Trump repeals rule allowing transgender troops to serve in military (Jack Detsch/Politico)

ACLU sues over Trump order aimed at ending birthright citizenship (Rebecca Beitsch/The Hill)

Putting An End To Trump Derangement Syndrome

‘Partisan,’ ‘Unsparing,’ ‘Very Dark’; NBC’s Lamest Bellyaching from the Inauguration

Trump Signs Two Orders to Dismantle Equity Policies (New York Times)

The Trump executive orders that threaten democracy (Zack Beauchamp/Vox)

OF COURSE: MSNBC’s Joyless Reid Pushes Crowd Size Hoax

Holding Former Government Officials Accountable For Election Interference And Improper Disclosure Of Sensitive Governmental Information (The White House)

Can Trump really rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America? (Tiago Rogero/The Guardian)

Petty Trump Takes Down Mark Milley’s Pentagon Portrait (Julia Ornedo/The Daily Beast)  Pretty rich, coming from the Daily Beast.

As Trump Takes The Wheel, Big Corporations Extricate From DEI, Climate Programs

Coast Guard Commandant terminated over border lapses, recruitment, DEI focus: official (Landon Mion/Fox News)

The inauguration of a multi-billion dollar grift (Judd Legum/Popular Information)

The “find out” phase begins (Aaron Rupar/Public Notice)

Pritzker attacks Trump over birthright citizenship order: It’s ‘chaos’ (Shia Kapos/Politico)

TikTok, Trump and What Crony Capitalism Does to Our Economy (New York Times)

The gravity of Trump pardoning Jan. 6ers who assaulted police (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

Distorting Trump’s Language (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian) Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

Trump’s Opening Act of Contempt (New York Times)

An All-Out Assault on the Rule of Law (The Bulwark)

Trump’s executive orders already face pushback, legal challenges (Cleve R. Wootson Jr/Washington Post) My, what a surprise.

Trump Reverses Sanctions on Israelis in Day 1 Executive Order

Federal Worker Union Sues Trump Over Ending Job Protections (Courtney Rozen/Bloomberg Law) That sound you hear is pigs being kicked away from the trough.

“YOU’RE FIRED!”: Trump Boots 4 High-Profile Biden Appointees Including Mark Milley

Welcome to Trump’s Dystopian Border Fantasyland (Adrian Carrasquillo/The Bulwark)

 

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No White Men Allowed in Bally’s Chicago Casino Share Offering Promoted by City Officials

21st January 2025

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Let me think, I seem to remember that there’s a term for that sort of thing … I believe it starts with an “R”….

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Thought for the Day

21st January 2025

Let’s see … looks like the Left Coast, the Other Left Coast, and the Marxist Midwest sweep the rankings.

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Another One Bites the Dust: EV Startup Canoo Files for Bankruptcy

21st January 2025

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The EV world has gotten more and more competitive over the last few years. It’s become saturated with competition and demand is starting to hit its limits, all while at the same time major Chinese names are dominating the industry.

That’s why it’s not surprising to see another name in the space, Canoo, file for bankruptcy.

The seven-year-old electric vehicle startup has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware, announcing it will “cease operations immediately.” The company is liquidating its assets, citing failed attempts to secure foreign capital and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office, according to TechCrunch.

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Hamas Emerges From Tunnels Still Intact, Starts ‘Policing’ Gaza Again

21st January 2025

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Well, that didn’t take long.

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Despite Biden Pardon, Fauci Still Faces Legal Perils. Here They Are.

21st January 2025

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President Biden’s pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci may protect the former National Institutes of Health official from immediate criminal prosecution, but some critics say he is not completely out of legal jeopardy and that public sentiment might still condemn the man who became known during the COVID-19 pandemic as “Mr. Science.”

In the days before Biden offered the pardon to Fauci, along with other critics of Donald Trump, some experts who have followed Fauci’s career and handling of the pandemic, as well as members of the Trump transition team, reiterated their assertion that Fauci perjured himself on several occasions during the pandemic – especially regarding his agency’s links to the lab in Wuhan, China, that might have created the virus that causes COVID-19.

The pardon addresses any COVID-related offenses, and is backdated to 2014—the year a U.S. ban on so-called “gain of function” virus research took effect — research Fauci is accused of outsourcing to China.

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Former Oakland Mayor Charged in Alleged Corruption Scheme

21st January 2025

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Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three other defendants were charged by federal prosecutors in an eight-count indictment unsealed on Jan. 17 alleging the group participated in a bribery and corruption scheme that sought to benefit a company with nearly $90 million in city contracts.

And Democrats are crooked every age….

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Imagining the Drone Air Force

20th January 2025

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The side in control of the air tends to win. At a minimum, dominant air power is a massive force multiplier that allows the side wielding it to take significantly less casualties than its opponent. Aircraft can uniquely disrupt supply lines, command and control, and troop concentrations. The forces on the losing side must drastically alter their tactics to survive, limiting their ability to attack or defend.

Another feature is that air-to-air battles tend to be lopsided. It is more common to see 20:1 or 10:1 kill/loss ratios than even matches. For example, the F-15 has 104 kills and zero losses since entering service in 1976. The defining factors have been pilot quality, aircraft performance, weapon performance, and sensor capability (radar, airborne early warning aircraft, etc.).

US airpower was so dominant in the 20th century that most opponents focused on building ground-based anti-aircraft defenses. An arms race developed between these anti-aircraft missile batteries and ever more sophisticated aircraft, weapons, and tactics on the US side. Stealth to avoid detection, cruise missiles to avoid risking aircraft, and highly specialized tactics and weapons to defeat anti-aircraft batteries are an outgrowth of this competition.

Drones add a layer of complexity and prompt questions about how they fit into the traditional airpower paradigm.

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Today in Trump Derangement Syndrome

20th January 2025

Infographic: Trump Inauguration Beats Funding Record as Donors Line Up | Statista

Trump’s Inauguration Will Be First Attended by Foreign Leaders

Trump ally says first 100 days will be “shock and awe” (Robert Costa/CBS News)

Speaker Johnson: No Better Investment Than Trump’s Deportations

Federal Reserve Withdraws From Global Climate Group As Trump Set To Assume Power

Trump Barely Won the Popular Vote. Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way? (Ezra Klein/New York Times)

Trump Meets With GOP Senators as Supporters Cheer His Return on Eve of Inauguration

Make America healthy again? Let’s see if they’re serious (Rep. Chellie Pingree/The Hill)

President Trump Is a Modern-Day Winston Churchill

Trump is back. But a return of total resistance would be a bad strategy. (Yascha Mounk/The Boston Globe)

Epstein’s Cellmate Claims Feds Offered Plea Deal In Exchange For Framing Trump

$Trump, TikTok, And Trea$urie$

Trump reveals his plan to revive TikTok (Christine Mui/Politico)

Trump picks ousted Space Force officer Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier for senior Air Force post

Trump Faces Complex Foreign Policy Challenges Ahead Of Second Term

Trump to Classify Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Trump Reportedly to Launch Sweeping Deportations Day After Inauguration

Trump’s Big Agenda for First 100 Days   The mind-readers are out in force today.

Most Americans optimistic about Trump’s return to office: Poll (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

PETTY: ABC’s Mary Bruce Says Crowd Size Concerns, Not Bitter Cold, Driving Trump Inaugural Indoors

Pope Francis says Trump’s immigration raids would be a ‘disgrace’ (Joshua McElwee/Reuters)

Trump’s Cryptocurrency Surges to Become One of the World’s Most Valuable (New York Times)

Trump’s Return Nudges Economists’ Inflation Outlook Higher (Wall Street Journal)

Trump’s New Cryptocurrency Surges

Part 3: Democracy, Oligarchy, and Tyranny (Teri Kanefield)

Scores of career State Dept. diplomats resign before Trump’s inauguration (John Hudson/Washington Post)  Dread is Trump’s superpower.

Miller tells Republican leaders Trump will strip protections from career civil servants. (New York Times)

Trump Aims for Show of Strength as He Returns to Power (New York Times)

Trump Vowed to End the Ukraine War Before Taking Office. The War Rages On. (Peter Baker/New York Times)

Trump To Suspend Security Clearances For CIA Contractors Who Colluded To Discredit Hunter Biden Laptop Story

EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s Day One Executive Order on ‘Male and Female’ (Emily Yoffe/The Free Press)

MSNBC’s Dowd Compares Trump Supporters to Poor Whites Defending Slavery in the Civil War

Dozens of Senior Diplomats Resign at Trump’s Request

Trump to suspend security clearances of 51 intelligence officials who falsely implied Hunter Biden laptop was Russian fake (David Propper/New York Post)

It’s ‘Just Begun’–Trump Meme Coin Suddenly Crashes Back As Melania Coin Shock Hits Crypto (Billy Bambrough/Forbes)

‘Disgrace’: Pope Francis revives feud with Trump just before inauguration (Seb Starcevic/Politico)

The Keepers of the Flame – On this eve before we turn our once great democracy over to a cabal … (Mary L. Trump/The Good in Us)

What Will A Trump-Aligned EU Look Like?

Can Trump Be a Great President? (Jack Goldsmith/New York Times)

Trump’s honeymoon won’t last – This is a very bleak moment for the United States and the world. (Noah Berlatsky/Public Notice)

Trump is back with a big agenda, a mandate – and an axe to grind (Politico)

Playbook: Trump’s second coming (Politico)

Day 1: Trump to declare “emergency” in burst of energy orders (Axios)

Nobody knows what Trump is going to do (Matthew Yglesias/Slow Boring)

Donald Trump’s Disruption Is Back (Massimo Calabresi/Time)

Putting an End to Trump Derangement Syndrome

DOGE: Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything (Don Moynihan/Can We Still Govern?)  After all, it’s what Democrats would do.

Elon Musk’s DOGE to be sued within minutes of Trump inauguration (Jeff Stein/Washington Post)

Fight Over Truck Broker Contracts Awaits Trump’s Next Move

WashPost: Trump’s Musk-Led DOGE to Face Lawsuit

Of, For, and By the Billionaires (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian)  Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

Change No One Would Have Believed – Audacious hopes recede in the rear view mirror (Michael Podhorzer/Weekend Reading)

AOC on Skipping Inauguration: ‘I Don’t Celebrate Rapists’ (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)  Not even Bill Clinton?

DC Swamp Law Firm To Sue Elon Musk’s DOGE Minutes After Trump Inauguration

MLK’s daughter urges Americans to “stay woke” ahead of Trump return (Axios)

Everyone Who Was Supposed To Protect You From This Failed Miserably (Asawin Suebsaeng/Rolling Stone)

MSNBC’s Jon Meacham Compares Trump Inauguration To Bombing of Pearl Harbor

The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think. (Sigal Samuel/Vox)

Leftists Put Out Directive To “Wear All Black” Today For “National Day Of Mourning”

Trump Inauguration Day live updates: Trump and Vance to be sworn in; Biden issues pre-emptive pardons to family (NBC News)

This Anti-Hegseth Lie Isn’t Even Skin-Deep

NBC Seethes Before Inauguration on DEI Executive Orders, ‘Toddler’ Trump on ‘Fairness’

TIME Magazine Describes Trump’s Second Term As A “Disruption”

Mexico Is All Talk: They Have No Power To Stop Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans

Trump Is Once Again Quitting The Paris Climate Accords (Alexander C. Kaufman/HuffPost)  The swine!

Convicted Felon Sworn In as President (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)

First lawsuits against Trump admin target DOGE (Politico)

Not Having Fun: Here Were ABC’s Worst Pre-Inauguration Meltdowns, Kisses for Biden

Trump preparing sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 defendants, with commutations for violent offenders: Sources (Good Morning America)  Biden just blew the door wide open.

Lawmakers side-eye billionaire CEOs getting prime Trump inauguration seats (Emily Brooks/The Hill)

Google AI Undermines Trump’s Inauguration in Latest Act of Defiance

 

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Obama’s Shadow: The Deep State and Its Real Faces

20th January 2025

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In contemporary political discourse, the term “deep state” frequently arises as a catch-all phrase to describe the entrenched bureaucracy and unseen forces that shape U.S. governance. Washington, D.C., is often portrayed as the epicenter of this so-called deep state, where power dynamics operate independently of electoral outcomes. Some also refer to it as the “blob.”

While it is true that U.S. governance is steered by unelected and unaccountable entities, such as the military and intelligence complexes, the concept of the “deep state” can oversimplify the complexities of governance in Washington, D.C. It can also serve to deflect accountability from those most responsible for the damage inflicted on our country.

The deep state may appear to be a monolithic entity. However, it is, in reality, a complex web of human actors with genuine agency. Among these individuals, Barack Obama stands out as a pivotal figure whose influence and legacy have significantly shaped the political landscape over the past 17 years.

In this concluding piece of our series on Barack Obama, we explore his instrumental role in shaping U.S. policy, not just during his own presidency but also during Trump’s first term and the Biden presidency – sometimes referred to as Obama’s third and fourth terms – and how this unfortunate era may now be approaching its end.

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Most Democrats Think Their Party Sucks, Feel “Burned Out”: CNN Poll

20th January 2025

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With good reason.

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Supreme Court Will Consider If [sic] Maryland Parents Can Opt Children Out of Pro-LGBT Storybooks

20th January 2025

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Avoid the whole problem. Don’t send your kid to a government school.

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Joe Biden Entered the White House Pledging to Fight Antisemitism. He Leaves With It at Historic Levels.

20th January 2025

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Good intentions are not enough. Competence is a necessary component.

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Armed Hamas Terrorists Form Mob Around Ambulance Carrying First Round of Released Hostages in Likely Violation of Deal

20th January 2025

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Heavily armed Hamas terrorists and their Gazan allies paraded through the streets on Sunday, surrounding an ambulance carrying the first round of Israeli hostages released under a tenuous ceasefire deal. The public show of force served as a stark reminder that, even after a year of war, Hamas still controls the embattled Gaza Strip.

Photos showed throngs of armed Hamas fighters riding through the streets as Gazans celebrated around them. The terrorist motorcade drove all the way to the meeting point where an ambulance was set to transfer the three Israel hostages, creating a tense and unpredictable moment as the three captives were set free. Other footage posted on social media depicted Hamas supporters rallying behind the group, including a small child holding what appeared to be a handgun and sporting a Hamas headband. Though Hamas terrorists spent much of the past year hiding in tunnels and fighting in civilian clothes, they wore uniforms as the hostages were released.

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

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Quotation of the Day

20th January 2025

Curtis Yarvin:

What makes history hard is that you never know where you are. History is like pitch. Even most musicians only have relative pitch, not absolute (“perfect”) pitch. They can hear the distance between notes, but not the frequency of the notes.

Imagine if the political phenomenon we call “left” versus “right” worked like this. You would have no way to sense where you are absolutely on the leftright spectrum. You would only be able to position yourself relative to the local period around you.

No need to imagine—this is indeed how it works. Moreover, humans can hear only a narrow range of the frequency spectrum. Outside 20 to 20000 hertz, there is no sound per se. There is vibration, explosion, etc. When reading the past, our normal reflex is to process events inside the local spectrum as news, and those outside the spectrum as history. This is also a subjective distinction.

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Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Spends Final Days in Office Sending Billions to Home State, Defying Inspector General

20th January 2025

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The Department of Energy, in one of its final actions under President Joe Biden, earmarked billions of dollars in green energy loans to utility companies based in Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s home state of Michigan—defying the agency’s inspector general, who called on the Biden administration to suspend the loan program amid conflict-of-interest concerns.
Some of Granholm’s largest campaign benefactors during her Michigan gubernatorial campaign were among the companies receiving the hefty last-minute loans.
The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office announced Thursday that it awarded a staggering $22.9 billion in loan guarantees for utility companies to develop green energy projects across 12 states. More than $14 billion of that total was awarded to DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, the two companies with ties to Granholm, solely for projects in Michigan.
In addition, on Friday afternoon, the office announced a $1.3 billion loan for Michigan Potash Company to help fund a sustainable fertilizer plant in Osceola County, Michigan.
DTE Energy’s political action committee contributed more than $34,000 to Granholm’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign, according to state records. Then-DTE Energy CEO Stephen Ewing, whom Granholm appointed to serve on the state’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation Executive Committee, personally donated another $3,400 to Granholm’s campaign in 2004.

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Alabama and Mississippi will also honor Robert E. Lee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

20th January 2025

Associated Press.

The U.S. is set to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon. But in Alabama and Mississippi, Monday is also Robert E. Lee Day in honor of the Confederate general.

The two states recognize King and Lee on the third Monday in January. Their state governments created holidays more than a century ago to honor Lee and later combined the day with the federal holiday established in the 1980s to honor King.

The strange juxtaposition of honoring men from vastly different legacies has persisted for decades.

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NYC, Philly Mayors Back Off on Sanctuary City Rhetoric

20th January 2025

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The mayors of Philadelphia and New York City have positioned their cities into a posture of willingness to help the incoming Trump administration with its plan to deport illegal immigrants, a marked departure from President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office, NBC News reported Sunday.

New York Democrat Mayor Eric Adams has voiced a willingness to work with the Trump administration in the aftermath of his election victory, meeting with border czar Tom Homan last month and visiting with Trump on Friday in Florida.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and District Attorney Larry Krasner, both Democrats, have also softened their stance on the city’s status as a sanctuary city.

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Thought for the Day

20th January 2025

A Red Rebound

This map shows the percentage point change in 2024 results from 2020 in counties where votes are nearly all counted. At least 2,630 shifted more Republican and 301 turned more Democratic.

Posted in Dystopia Watch | Comments Off on Thought for the Day

Justice for Ramy

20th January 2025

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It’s a familiar situation in culturally enriched areas of Western Europe, especially the banlieues of French cities: “youths” fleeing the police on foot or in vehicles meet an untimely end, and massive violent riots ensue, spreading to multiple cities. The most famous example occurred in 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris, when two youngsters fleeing the police climbed over a wall and hid in an electrical substation, and were subsequently electrocuted. Rioting began immediately afterwards and spread to cities all over France. More than 8,000 cars were torched by the rioters. A state of emergency was declared, and lasted for more than three months.

Twenty years later we have a similar situation in Italy, albeit on a smaller scale. In this case, an Egyptian youth named Ramy Elgaml was a passenger on a scooter that failed to stop at a police roadblock last November in Milan. The Carabinieri pursued the youngsters in a vehicle, and the scooter eventually ran into a light pole, killing Ramy Elgaml instantly.

In this case, the Carabinieri may well be at fault. A judicial investigation is underway into possible unjustified pursuit, and the officers may be held liable. However, justice is not proceeding fast enough to suit those who would avenge the death of Ramy, and violent riots have broken out in various Italian cities.

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

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Today in Trump Derangement Syndrome

19th January 2025

Trump rethinking next week’s planned immigration raids, report says (Reuters)

Here’s who is skipping Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday (Washington Poop) Well, me, for one, but I suppose I’m not who they’re talking about.

Three ways Democrats are breaking with tradition before inauguration (BBC) Since when did Democrats give a shit about tradition? Other than their tradition of corruption, of course. If there’s an adolescent-tantrum way to do things, Democrats will do it.

7 Democrats who boycotted Donald Trump’s first inauguration are going this time. (Politico) Heh.

Trump’s Targets Fear ‘Retribution’ He Promised in Second Presidency (New York Times)  As if that were something that Democrats never do.

TIME Magazine Suggests Leftists Form ‘Crying Groups’ On Inauguration Day  I’d pay to see that.

What’s Trump got planned for executive orders?  I imagine he’s going to do the same thing Joe Biden did–undo as much as possible what his predecessor did.

Time for Trump-Hating Hollywood Lefties to Make Good on Vow to Leave the Country  Don’t let the door hit you in the butt….

Liberal Activists, Not Journalists, at The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times

Trump hires fed-firing mastermind (Robin Bravender/Politico)

Trump begins selling a new crypto token, in a move assailed as an ethical breach. (Eric Lipton/New York Times)

Thousands Gather in Washington to Protest Trump Inauguration  While they’re at it, they could include the law of gravity.

Democrats Now Threatening People Who Donated to Trump’s Inauguration (David Strom/HotAir)

CNN Suggests Biden Already Fixed Border & Trump Will Just Claim Credit

NYT: Trump Promised to Crack Down on Border, Migration Has Slowed  Dread is Trump’s superpower.

Ipsos Poll Finds Broad Support for Trump Administration Plans

Bill Gates: Spoke With Trump, ‘Amazing Things’ for Global Health

Exclusive: German ambassador warns of Trump plan to redefine constitutional order, document shows (Reuters)

Trump Is Packing His Cabinet With Crypto, Oil and Private Prison Profiteers (Derek Seidman/Truthout)  The swine!

As Polio Survivors Watch Kennedy Confirmation, All Eyes Are on McConnell (Sheryl Gay Stolberg/New York Times)

Correcting Progressive Errors About Why Trump Won

Fox News Prepares to Cover a Government Filled With Fox News Alumni (Michael M. Grynbaum/New York Times)

A Trump Oligarchy Is Moving to Washington, and Buying Up Prime Addresses (Elisabeth Bumiller/New York Times)  The swine!

Biden’s Legacy: Rescuing America From COVID, Then Getting Replaced By A Criminal (S.V. Date/HuffPost)

Donald Trump, crypto billionaire (Felix Salmon/Axios)

‘We’d Have Been Better Off if Trump Won in 2020’: Three Columnists Brace for the First 100 Days (New York Times)

Trump’s sudden love of TikTok shows he needs disinfo more than he hates China (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

National Guard troops worry Trump will deploy them for mass deportations (Politico)

Americans favor deporting undocumented immigrants, until they’re asked how (Axios)  Whips and cattle prods. Ask me a hard one.

Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark–And Europe (Anne Applebaum/The Atlantic)

As Trump’s allies war over immigration, Vance remains quiet (Peter Jamison/Washington Post)

America Is No Longer the Home of the Free Internet (Ethan Zuckerman/The Atlantic)

The Trump Resistance Won’t Be Putting on ‘Pussy Hats’ This Time (Charles Homans/New York Times)

‘Reactionary nihilism’: how a rightwing movement strives to end US democracy (Adam Gabbatt/The Guardian)

 

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Mexican Authorities to Seal Secret Tunnel on US Border

19th January 2025

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A clandestine tunnel discovered on the US-Mexico border allowing entry from Ciudad Juarez into the Texan city of El Paso will be sealed by Mexican authorities, an army official said Saturday, adding that its construction was under investigation.

Discovered on January 10 by US and Mexican security agencies, the tunnel measures approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) in length on the Mexican side and is equipped with lighting, ventilation and is reinforced to prevent collapses.

Hidden in a storm sewer system operating between both cities, its access is about 1.8 meters high and 1.2 meters wide (6 feet high and 4 feet wide), making for easy passage of people or contraband, said General Jose Lemus, commander of Ciudad Juarez’s military garrison, which is guarding the tunnel.

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Solar Farms Are Booming in the US and Putting Thousands of Hungry Sheep to Work

19th January 2025

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Cue ‘Sheep Will Safely Graze’ from Handel’s Messiah.

Sheepherder JR Howard accidentally found himself in the middle of Texas’ burgeoning clean energy transition. In 2021, he and his family began contracting with solar farms — sites with hundreds of thousands of solar modules — to use his sheep to eat the grass.

What was once a small business has turned into a full-scale operation with more than 8,000 sheep and 26 employees.

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.

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Tax $$ at Work: Denver Public School Axes Girls Room for ‘All Gender’ Bathroom

19th January 2025

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Time to leave.

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Iran Unveils New Underground Naval Base

19th January 2025

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“We assure the great nation of Iran that their young people are capable of coming out honorable and victorious from a battle on the seas against enemies big and small,” Salami said.

State television said the base was built at a depth of 500 meters (yards) somewhere in the Gulf and it showed tunnels with long rows of what it said were a new version of Taregh-class radar-evading speedboats which can launch cruise missiles.

Earlier this month, Iran started military exercises that are due to last two months and have already included war games in which the Revolutionary Guards defended nuclear installations in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones.

Iran, which says its ballistic missiles are an important deterrent and retaliatory force against the U.S. and Israel, has in the past unveiled several underground “missiles cities.”

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