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[Justice Kentanji Brown-25] Jackson had earlier presented a hypothetical situation in which social media platforms were allowing a dangerous trend to circulate in which children were encouraged to jump out of windows “at increasing elevations.” She asked whether government authorities could not “encourage social media platforms to take down the information that is instigating this problem.”
Aguiñaga suggested that the government could use the “bully pulpit” to push back against the content of the information, but could not call the social media platforms to encourage them, or coerce them, to take down the information.
Jackson objected, saying that it was not enough to say that the government could post its own speech. There were situations, she suggested, in which the government could “encourage or require this kind of censorship” necessary for public safety.
To say "just fucking wow" in reaction to this, considering what we know the anti-American left are by bitter experience is a waste of breath. Remember that this is someone who, at her confirmation hearing couldn't articulate the definition of a woman.
Meh, not so much couldn't but wouldn't, as to do so would make her the instrument by which the mass forced psychosis of transsexualism would've been exposed for all to see. In fact, had Marsha Blackburn (IIRC she was the one who sort of cornered Brown 25 on this) gone just a step further, she could've twisted her into knots trying to defend the continued necessity of the 19th Amendment and really caused heads to explode, but I guess that was expecting too much even for someone who I consider one of the few GOP Senate stalwarts.
In any case, logic, reason and tradition should – should – dictate that even a plague, real or in this case as we now know, the intentionally hyped fear of a plague, does not allow the quashing of the First Amendment, even and really especially in cases where the citizenry, scientists, medical professionals and real journalists raise serious doubts as to the government's official story about all the aspects of the alleged "emergency."
The bitter irony here is that even this government's own ideologically-driven, inept bureaucracy, the CDC, which hyped and lied about the origin, cause, and dangers of the disease, ditto the effective treatments and the snake oil that was the vaccines, finally admitted that what was supposed to be a humanity-ending Andromeda strain strained only their own credibility. That is, it was merely a worse-than-usual flu, that commonly available, cheap therapeutics like ivermectin and HCQ were indeed effective, masking, lockdown social distancing and the much ballyhooed vaccines and multiple boosters were worse than useless, and that our own government in the form of mini-Mengele Fauci funded and helped the Chi-Coms create and perhaps unleash this Franken-virus.
Even more bitterly ironic is the fact that the government went after anyone and everyone who challenged their narrative to the point of stripping doctors and researchers of their licenses to practice medicine. Which is why this case has come to the Supreme Court in the first place!
[Tweeting on "X"] Federalist Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland called the government’s response “horrible” for three reasons. “1) because an emergency doesn’t trump 1st amendment,” 2) it happened with elections, 3) it happened with Hunter Biden.
Federalist Executive Editor Joy Pullmann reported last summer that “the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal agency, set up a private entity to ban and throttle election-related online speech Democrats dislike.”
“Much of the information choked by this algorithmic censorship operation is true, such as the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s laptop,” Pullmann wrote.
The federal government also sought to suppress information during the 2020 election implicating the Democrats’ presidential nominee in his son’s potentially criminal overseas business schemes. . .
. . . Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked if the government conceded whether platforms were coerced into speech censorship.
“I’m interested in your view that the context doesn’t change the First Amendment principles,” Brown said. “I understood our First Amendment jurisprudence to require heightened scrutiny of government restrictions of speech but not necessarily a total prohibition when you’re talking about a compelling interest of the government to ensure, for example, that the public has accurate information in the context of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.”
Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor and frequent Fox News legal analyst, called the question on X “chilling for free speech advocates.”
As I've been writing over the past few Morning Report editorials, it's not about speech or words per se; it's about who gets to decide what speech is acceptable, what isn't and what happens to those who violate the rules laid down by whoever the gatekeepers-du-jour happen to be. And not just about hypotheticals regarding trends "encouraging kids to jump out of windows." As an aside, this steers us into the debate about the censorship of TikTok, which is a ChiCom tool that is being used to brainwash America's youth into everything from swallowing Tide Pods to rallying in favor of slaughtering Jews in Israel and right here at home.
Like everything else, the "cure" proposed by government seems to be far worse than the problem itself, seemingly setting up Patriot Act 2, Internal Security Boogaloo. When Donald Trump and Titty-Caca AOC both agree that what's being proposed is bad, it kind of makes you sit up and take notice.
But Psaki-Psircling back to Murthy, aside from the now in-your-face, naked will to power of the anti-American Left and those who support it for fun and profit, what the government is seeking in winning this case is having the veneer of legitimacy in openly demanding that any voices contra its own be squelched.
Outrageously, the government claimed its purported right to speech would be under threat should the court side with the plaintiffs — a right it acknowledged is not constitutional but part of “democratic governance.”
It lamented it would be subjected to “sprawling audits” if the standards in the case held and it is subjected to oversight and accountability when it threatens our most basic rights.
Our ruling regime, that is, played the victim. . .
. . . Roberts, for example, questioned whether the government was monolithic, insinuating multiple agencies might have different views, diluting its coercive ability. He asked if a hypothetical “We encourage you to take it down” message from a government official constitutes coercion.
Kavanaugh alluded multiple times to the idea government frequently challenges traditional media the same way it does social-media companies — to sit on or correct stories — without it rising to the level of a First Amendment case.
Barrett seemed to question the clarity of the plaintiffs’ position altogether.
Witnessing oral arguments from inside the room, I thought Aguiñaga was put on his back foot, conceding that if the court took issue with the injunction’s terms or breadth, the plaintiffs would accept narrow tailoring but pleading it “has to say something in our favor on the merits.”
If the court does not, we can kiss what remains of our First Amendment goodbye.
Go long on smoke signals and oatmeal cans with string, I guess. But Trump said "bloodbath!"
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
Michael Walsh: "If you're looking for a point when it all went wrong with the American economy, the murder of Time Inc. at the hands of Levin & Co. is a good place to start. So RIP, Time Inc. As for Jerry Levin, he should be so lucky." What's Good for General Bullmoose . . .
"He provided no evidence of his claim, while admitting that it had nothing to do with the question he had been asked, about policy differences between the U.S. and Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas." (When Leftists are wrong and dripping with flop-sweat, they go to their strength: Jew hatred - jjs) Jake Sullivan Makes Anti-Semitic Claim Israel Interferes in American Politics
Dennis Prager: "When Jews are defenseless, they are a pariah. And when Jews defend themselves, they are, according to Mr. Schumer and the elites of the world, also a pariah. Had Mr. Schumer told the truth, he would have said this: Israel's being a pariah among the world's nations tells us much more about the world's nations than about Israel. Just as it did a mere two generations ago. Israel as "A Pariah" Among the Nations
"The Gaza mission would likely end in tears and lost lives, and it would also risk direct conflict with both Hamas and the IDF while providing very little tangible help to the 'Palestinians' ." Gaza Humanitarian Aid Port is a Terrible Idea
"Beneath Biden’s thin veneer of compassion lies a dangerous gamble that risks American lives, exacerbates regional tensions, and diverts attention from more pressing global threats." Biden's Gaza Plan is a Harebrained Disaster
"A Maryland school system knowingly used false information to discipline a Jewish teacher in response to her reporting to her principal that at a pro- ' Palestinian ' walkout — which the principal called “fantastic” — students praised Adolph Hitler and called for the death of Jews." Principal Lied To Punish Jewish Teacher Who Reported Muslim Student For Praising Hitler
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
"Witnessing oral arguments from inside the room, I thought Aguiñaga was put on his back foot, conceding that if the court took issue with the injunction’s terms or breadth, the plaintiffs would accept narrow tailoring but pleading it 'has to say something in our favor on the merits.' If the court does not, we can kiss what remains of our First Amendment goodbye." The Supreme Court Hints it May Give Away Our Free Speech Rights in Social Media Censorship Case
"The justices are set to hear oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri, a First Amendment challenge to the Biden [junta] pandemic-era censorship enterprise. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, where I am litigation counsel, represents distinguished scientists whose speech was abridged on social media platforms as a result of federal government’s action." SCOTUS Must Protect the 1st Amendment. The Biden Junta Certainly Won’t.
We can all agree that yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre is not protected speech because it poses an immediate and clear danger to public safety However, the problem with the Biden [junta's] policy is that what it deems harmful can often be subjective, making such efforts prone to overreach and censorship potentially infringing upon individuals' right to free expression. Justice Ketanji Brown "25" Jackson Has a Horrifying View of the First Amendment
Aguiñaga suggested that the government could use the “bully pulpit” to push back against the content of the information, but could not call the social media platforms to encourage them, or coerce them, to take down the information. Jackson objected, saying that it was not enough to say that the government could post its own speech. There were situations, she suggested, in which the government could “encourage or require this kind of censorship” necessary for public safety. Ketanji Brown "25" Jackson Concerned First Amendment "Hamstringing the Government"
“This year also marks the beginning of a fierce competition that may end in a ‘bloodbath’ (or as I prefer to call it, the brutal ‘knockout round) among Chinese auto makers,” Xiaopeng wrote in the employee memo. [Emphasis added] “XPeng has engaged in this cutthroat competition right from the outset, thus accumulating considerable experience. Our guts, grit and perseverance, I firmly believe, will lead us to victory.” [Emphasis added] Chinese Auto Executive: "Bloodbath" Coming for American Auto Industry
"We will get much better chatbots than Google’s ideologically programmed model—as long as AI remains relatively free of government interference and coordination." Leaving Gemini in the Dust
"Alito’s stay preserves the status quo until the court deliberates on the Justice Department’s request for emergency relief. The litigation concerning SB4’s legality continues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit." (Alito?! WTF?! - jjs) SCOTUS Blocks Texas From Securing the Border
“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes. It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.” Laken Riley’s Father Speaks Out For First Time, Accuses Biden Of Using His Daughter
"Authorities detained Jose Antonio Ibarra after Riley, a 22-year-old student at Augusta University, was found dead last month at the University of Georgia in Athens with blunt force trauma. Jose Antonio Ibarra faces charges for murder, assault, and more in connection to the killing and he is seeking a jury trial." House Republicans Expand Laken Riley Probe Seeking Immigration Details on Alleged Murderer’s Brothers
"The alleged incidents occurred at the Elim Misión Cristiana church in Maryland, where Alfaro-Lopez worked as an instructor and educational coordinator. Reports suggest that the abuse took place during prayer times, exploiting the victims’ vulnerability, the outlet reported." (El sparko del divinity, esse! - jjs) Report: Illegal Migrant Church Teacher Accused of Molesting Young Girls Was Deported Twice Before
The decision, which Roberts noted is “distinct from his pending appeal on the merits,” means [political prisoner Peter] Navarro will have to report to a Miami prison tomorrow as he was ordered to do earlier this month. Navarro asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the sentence pending the appeal of his conviction on contempt of Congress charges over defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Former Trump Official Forced to Appear at Jail After John Roberts Declines Sentence Pause
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny that we have a legal system now that is being heavily distorted by politics and you cannot look at all of these cases and see blind justice, you see the opposite. You see a justice that is being weaponized, and in many ways the Democrats fulfill the narrative of President Trump. He is now right. No matter what they thought about it at the beginning, they proved him to be right with this pile-on from Florida to Georgia, to Washington, D.C., to New York and most of the public gets it.” Jonathan Turley Says Prosecutions of Trump Prove Him ‘Right’ About Weaponization of Government
"The Left opened the presidential immunity door. Now let them deal with the results." Immunity: Not So Simple
CIVIL WAR 2.0: J-6 FBI FALSE FLAG "RIOT" & AFTERMATH, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
"Deluca has accumulated a significant social media following, as well as having served as an ambassador for Turning Point USA and as an intern for Congressmen Lee Zeldin of New York and Paul Gosar of Arizona." (Burning down a Minneapolis police station, though, is totally fine – if you're a leftist - jjs) Feds Charge MAGA Influencer Isabella De Luca for TOUCHING A TABLE on Jan 6
“Canceling business certificates is carte blanche to go after anyone for anything,” one developer told the paper. “I’m not defending Trump. But now they have another tool in their toolbox. Where does it end? It’s a little scary.” 'Escape From New York,' Starring Donald Trump – and Every Other Developer
According to reports, the “fight” (which was less a fight and more of a targeted attack), took place Friday at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Savage, a town about 20 miles south of Minneapolis. Cell phone footage of the assault shows a white boy standing with his back to a row of lockers as two much larger black kids taunt him before suddenly punching him repeatedly in the head and torso as he falls to the ground. It's not clear what preempted the assault, or why no adult intervened during the 14-second video. Another Day, Another Video of a White Student Beaten Senseless By Black Bullies
"I think getting the boot from MSNBC might have broken the poor guy, Maybe he needs a few more cats. After all, when you fall from such heights, you find yourself locked in a battle to remain relevant since most people have to Google your last name to see if it is spelled with one n or two or recall who you are. The Master of the Optical Urinalysis was back at it bright and early Monday morning, perhaps trying to trade off the weekend's 'Bloodbathgate' and remind his followers that he still knows how to use a computer. Washed Up Penis-Envy Sufferer Keith Olbermann Wishes Upon a Star for Trump’s Assassination
Two million have lost money on cryptocurrency investments, according to research firm Storm Gain. Around $27 billion has been lost in NFT and crypto scams alone, according to research from Comparitech — and some buyers have lost their life savings. But EFTs, Strobel said, show “This is a Bitcoin renaissance and it’s restoring trust in the space.” SHOT: "We’re Back!" – Inside NYC’s Bullish Crypto Party Scene, After Bitcoin Hit New All-Time $70,000 High
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM
"Auto industry economists note that the rising labor costs combined with the need for expensive EV infrastructure make electric vehicles less attractive to consumers at price points. The high costs may pressure the EPA to back down and establish more moderate emission reduction goals in the short term, though still targeting the same 2032 objectives." Biden Junta Set To Roll Out Industry Crippling Auto Emission Standards
"By hobnobbing with Indivisible Philadelphia, Casey runs the risk of undermining his image as a moderate Democrat in a tough reelection year. Casey, who took office in 2007, leads presumptive Republican nominee Dave McCormick by just 4 points in a recent Emerson poll, a narrow margin for a three-term incumbent. Former president Donald Trump beat [so-called quote-unquote "president"] Joe Biden by 4 points in the poll." Bob Casey Will Campaign With Anti-Police Group Amid Tough Reelection Fight
"Here's what needs to be said again and again: the physical requirements for being a cop are not arbitrary. It's a physically demanding job, and in this next clip, you'll see what happens when you drop the non-arbitrary physical requirements just to meet an arbitrary Diversity/Inclusion/Equity (DIE) hiring goal." Guess What It Takes to Become a Cop in Nashville Now. . .
"Many tourist burglars who’ve been arrested often entered the U.S. through a visa waiver program. Many were visiting from Chile and other South American countries." LAPD Forms Special Task Force To Combat Foreign Gangs Burglarizing Homes (For starters, get rid of that DA Gaviscon asshole, restore the sanctity of the 2A, and deport illegals - jjs)
"The Bar Licensure Task Force claims that the exam is only minimally effective in measuring competency and noted its unfair barrier to marginalized communities aspiring to practice law, according to the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts. The Task Force on Bar Licensure found that the usual bar exam unfairly stops people from underrepresented groups from entering the legal profession. The exam is not good at measuring if someone is qualified." Washington State Supreme Court Rules Bar Exam Negatively Impacts Minorities, Will No Longer Require It For Lawyers
"The study, conducted by MRC’s Free Speech America division, levels severe allegations against the Silicon Valley giant, claiming it has systematically utilized its immense technological prowess to sway electoral outcomes in favor of left-leaning candidates." Media Research Center: Google Interfered in 41 U.S. Elections Over 16 Years
"While all mainstream networks focus on Trump’s alleged negatives, these pale in comparison to those of Biden and his party." Democrats Cannot Win a Fraud-Free Election
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
"The poll finds Moreno leading the pack with 38 percent support, marking a monumental 15-point surge compared to an earlier Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll published last Wednesday. In the latest poll, State Sen. Matt Dolan (R) comes in second place with 29 percent, up 3 points from last week, followed by Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) at 12 percent. Another 21 percent of the respondents are undecided." Poll: Bernie Moreno Takes Commanding Lead in Ohio on Eve of Primary Election After Trump Rally
"With just about eight months until the 2024 election, Biden is trailing former President Donald Trump in nearly every hypothetical matchup across key swing states. The president is reportedly growing more concerned about his reelection effort and other Democrats are beginning to grow frustrated with Biden’s performance, according to several interviews conducted by NBC News." ‘He G*ddamn Well Better’: Reality Finally Setting In or Democrats That Biden Could Lose to Trump
The takeaway here is that conservatives have figured out that they have been sold a bill of goods themselves. They are tired of watching politicians depart for public offices with a pocketful of promises that will be misplaced during their first 100 days. Instead of the usual suspects, the people in Onslow County, North Carolina decided to roll the dice on a 21-year-old instead of having "the usual." Gable may have his work cut out for him, but being 21, and idealistic, he has the rare advantage of actually giving a damn. 21-Year-Old Ousts GOP Incumbent in North Carolina
"In short, the scenario is that of a western world in the grip of a strange obsession arising from a misunderstanding, whereby we are confronted with the possibility of WW III without there being any good reason for it." Ukraine’s War: Let’s Hope Trump Wins
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
"Barack Obama surprised when he turned up at Rishi Sunak’s front door on Monday, going inside the historic Downing Street residence for an hour and meeting with the Prime Minister. Former President Obama walked up to the famous black door alone but later emerged alongside the U.S. Ambassador to London Jane Hartley." Barack Obama Calls at Downing Street for Mystery Meeting
"Such agreements are meant to boost cultural and economic ties between communities in different nations, but some U.S. officials have been raising concerns about malign influence. One Indiana city — Carmel — recently withdrew its membership with the United States Heartland China Association." Indiana Approves Ban On ‘Sister City’ Agreements With Foreign Adversaries
The overwhelming number of California business owners, 86.4%, told RedBalloon that "high taxes are driving them away, and 84.9% say the anti-business government is also to blame." By comparison, 64.5% of employers in the rest of the country listed high tax rates as a reason they wanted to move and 59.4% cited "anti-business government policies" as why they wanted to get out. Hotel California: Majority of Small Business Bosses Want Out but Feel 'They Can Never Leave'
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
"The Daily Caller’s new documentary, SICK, dives into the deceitful history and shameful practices of America’s Big Medicine industry. From doctors and therapists to scientists and executives, these pill pushers all claim to be the experts. They say we should trust them when they promise to cure all our ailments." SICK: Unmasking Big Medicine | TRAILER OUT NOW
"At some point during this SpaceX launch campaign the dimwits who run Congress and the White House are going to be faced with a choice: Either recognize that it is utterly stupid to continue funding the SLS rocket, or refuse to do so and prove to everyone that they are utterly stupid." What to expect on the next few Starship/Superheavy test launches
"Though the surface here is generally smooth and featureless, as the lava is relatively young, the recent quakes suggest things are happening below ground." The vast Martian plains of lava
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
"Parental rights activists are now warning that Democrats in the Maine legislature are not giving up on their intent to strip parents of essential rights. Where LD 1735 failed, radical trans-activists hope their new bill, LD 227, will succeed." Blue State Dems Soundly Lost Debate On Radical Trans Bill — So Now They Want To Sneak It Past You (Like every other fucking thing they've done since forever - jjs)
"One site, DIY HRT Directory, shows a screen asking visitors to the site to confirm their age…by clicking a button that says 'I AM 18 OR OLDER.' Clicking the button gives users access to dozens of links selling specific hormones, which the site encourages users to pay for via Bitcoin. Because that’s not sketchy at all, right?" Inside the Silk Road of 'Do-It-Yourself' Cross-Sex Hormones
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.
Ars Technica violated Betteridge's Law (any headline phrased as a question can be answered with no) and the First Rule of the Internet (never read the comments) with a single article: Is TikTok's parent company an agent of the Chinese state? (Ars Technica)
Yes, they say, but only because if Bytedance executives refuse to comply the communists will murder their families.
Which is accurate but would read better if you elided the "but only".
Oh, and the first comment simply reads, Yes.
Now, whether the proposed legislation is a good idea is another thing entirely; the very worst legislation often comes with massive bipartisan support, because it benefits them, not you.
When I was regularly using my Mac (I have a 2015 Retina iMac which probably still works) every time I updated the operating system the mouse acceleration utility I was using would break. So I just stopped updating, because the default mouse support was unusable on a 27" screen.
14.4 breaks USB, printing, Java, many command line functions, and license key managers - which would be a big deal for professional audio users except they're probably still clinging to 10.6.
Well, Stripe certainly does, and Substack doesn't seem to have clean hands here.
Substack processes all payments via Stripe, and Stripe appears to be selectively enforcing new rules that require you to provide them with the full transaction history of your bank account.
Robert Malone (author of the piece) got a lawyer instead. Substack has so far refused to speak to him.
It has a higher specific impulse than hydrogen/oxygen while keeping itself warm on cold winter nights. Yes, it will kill you, and everyone else in the area, but who wants to live forever?
“The whole Seattle is dying is such a meme and is bullshit. As far as the racial justice movement that started at the same time, there is nothing to recover from.” Randy Saldinger Who is so blind if he sat on a pin he would be blind in both eyes.
"To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door, because they're breaking into your home to steal your car,” Toronto Police Service Constable Marco Ricciardi
Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to establish a four-day US working week.
Studies and pilot programmes have shown that four-day workweeks can increase productivity and happiness. Given Republican control of the House and a Senate split 51-49 in favour of Democrats, however, the legislation stands little chance of success.
“Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,” Sanders said on Thursday. “Today, American workers are over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago.
Ex-Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Must Report To Prison Tomorrow After Supreme Court Rejects Last-Ditch Appeal
TOPLINE Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro must report to prison Tuesday afternoon for his four-month sentence, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled on Monday, denying Navarro’s request to stay out of jail while he appeals his conviction for rejecting a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee.
Court documents describe a yearslong conspiracy, beginning in 2013, in which Schubarth and at least five other people sought to create "giant sheep hybrids" by cross-breeding different species. Their goal was to garner high prices from hunting preserves where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee.
Using biological tissue obtained from a hunter who killed a wild sheep in Kyrgyzstan belonging to the world's largest species of the animals — Marco Polo argali sheep — Schubarth procured cloned embryos of the animal from a lab, according to court documents.
The embryos were later implanted in a ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named “Montana Mountain King,” the documents show. Semen from Montana Mountain King was used to artificially impregnate other ewes to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep, including one offspring that he reached an agreement to sell to two people in Texas for $10,000, according to the documents.
Anheuser-Busch Stock Tumbles as Big Investor Dumps Bud Light Stock
Anheuser-Busch InBev fell more than 5% Thursday after Altria dumped part of its 10% stake in the beer maker at a discounted price on the tale of the continuing boycott of Bid Light.
AN AMERICAN tourist has stirred up controversy by calling one country's national carrier a "budget airline" in a travel review.
When travelers visit foreign countries without doing their research, funny faux pas can quickly ensue — just ask Autumn Gruber (@autumn_gruber).
Seems there are a couple of reasons she was traveling alone.
*****
The ONT Musical Interlude & Restlessness Emporium
Since yesterday was some Irish festivity The ONT played Irish musicians. And tonight we will look at a couple of items of music which occurred on March 17th.
On this day: March 17, 1967 - Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix Experience released 'Purple Haze' in the UK, (US release was June 19). Hendrix had read Night of Light, a 1966 novel by Philip José Farmer. In the story set on a distant planet, sunspots produced a "purplish haze" which had a disorienting effect on the inhabitants. It is thought that Hendrix took this as the idea for the songs lyrics. Via Thisdayinmusic.com
(You're welcome.)
&&&&&
Born on this day: March 17, 1967 - Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan, American musician, songwriter with alternative rock band, Smashing Pumpkins who had the 1995 US No.1 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Via Thisdayinmusic.com
*****
“Please feel free to investigate! Gently.” I'm surprised he didn't nominate himself for a Genius Award.
Naked Man, 60, Arrested For Indecent "Scenario" On Florida Beach, Cops Say
Meet Layton Paul Nauman.
The 60-year-old sound engineer went to the beach Saturday afternoon hoping to arrange a sexual encounter or “maybe just go home with someone’s phone number,” according to court records.
While such goals may be commonplace, Nauman’s unusual tactics resulted in his arrest at Blind Creek Beach, a clothing optional spot in Jensen Beach, Florida.
In response to prior complaints about lewd behavior occurring on beach pathways, a sheriff’s deputy was on foot patrol when he came upon a naked Nauman “seated in a recliner chair” with a hat over his face around 12:30 PM.
*****
Weekly commenter stats for week of 3-17-2024
Top 10 commenters:
1 [699 comments] 'Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden' [98.12 posts/day]
2 [456 comments] 'Joe Mannix (Not a cop!)'
3 [424 comments] 'jim (in Kalifornia)'
4 [386 comments] 'TheJamesMadison, raging against the bourgeois with Pasolini'
5 [363 comments] 'andycanuck (2yu8s)'
6 [334 comments] 'G'rump928(c)'
7 [308 comments] 'Skip'
8 [291 comments] 'Bulgaroctonus '
9 [291 comments] 'Preznit Joey B.'
10 [287 comments] 'Montec'
Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [282 names] 'Preznit Joey B.' [39.59 unique names/day]
2 [265 names] 'Ciampino - funny only the first time'
3 [130 names] 'Ex-resident'
4 [90 names] 'Quarter Twenty '
5 [58 names] 'Intercepted DU Transmissions brought by the Intrepid AoS Liaison'
6 [48 names] 'Cannibal Vengeance 2: The Regurgitation '
7 [47 names] 'Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden'
8 [45 names] 'pookysgirl, lost as usual'
9 [41 names] '18-1'
10 [31 names] 'Count de Monet'
Long distance correspondent Maetenloch sent the following list to me yesterday. Of course I placed it in the wrong ONT draft.
A Texas woman who was drugged and kidnapped turned the tables on her attacker by shooting her dead, she reportedly told police.
Around 12:42 p.m. on March 15, emergency crews reportedly responded to a call from a 45-year-old woman who claimed to have been drugged and kidnapped by an attacker. The alleged victim – from Montgomery – also claimed to have shot the assailant.
The deputies originally did not know the whereabouts of the alleged woman, but located her near a winery.
Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. The views expressed here this evening do not necessarily reflect those of ownership, staff, management, advertisers, commenters & Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, S.C.
You no doubt remember that James Biden's favorite method of laundering money into Joe Biden's bank accounts was to claim that the money he wired over -- which has been proven to be the proceeds his own deals with the Chinese -- was merely a "repayment" for a previous "loan" Joe Biden had given James Biden.
One of the key revelations from the interview is, that while he was in business with Hunter Biden, Schwerin did accounting work for Joe Biden at no expense. Schwerin told the committee because of his work, he had access to Joe Biden's bank accounts "through 2017."
"And then when you were compiling all of the documents for Vice President Biden, did he ever give any loans, that you can recall?" committee investigators asked, according to the transcript reviewed by Just the News.
"Not -- when I was compiling the documents, not that I recall," Schwerin answered.
And your accountant would of course know about any "loans" you'd made.
On March 1, the women's clothing line posted a series of images of its micro shorts line on the Free People Instagram account.
"We are wearing micro shorts this season. Link in bio to shop the styles," the post read.
Over the past month, several Instagram users piled on the post and the product, frequently mocking the absurd size and tightness of the short jeans.
...
The Free People website features 51 different "micro bottoms" products including pants, shorts, skirts, sets, swim bottoms, sleep and lounge, and jumpsuits and rompers. Sizes ranged from XS to XL with prices ranging from $30 to about $400.
A similar style of "short shorts" for men was popularized in 2021 following a Men's Health magazine article that predicted they would gain popularity in the summer among fitness enthusiasts.
A Bookstore in Arizona is holding a "Drag Show for Palestine" with "Daddy Satan." They state kids are allowed to attend and there may be "adult language."
A Democrat Regime Operative actually makes the argument that the wishes of their constituents should be ignored, and that the opinions of paid Regime lobbyists should be respected and heeded, because they're the real experts who know what's best for the peons.
A Republican is amazed to hear this claim announced so brazenly.
South Carolina Rep Adam Morgan Blows The Whistle On Washington
- Dark Money Entities Are Created Targeting Those Who Vote Red - Representatives Are Blatantly Being Encouraged To Ignore Their Voters - Multi-billion International Corporations Come First - Lobbyists Come First -… pic.twitter.com/D2ApBFclCt
Biden's National Security spokesman Jake Sullivan defends Chuck Schumer's (and Joe Biden's) interference in Israel's elections by asserting that Crafty Jew Manipulators are always rigging American elections.
💥 💥 Sullivan hits back at Netanyahu:
“Kind of an interesting irony, which is you have the prime minister speaking on American television about his concerns about Americans interfering in Israeli politics…
I've put this off all day, trying to think of something clever to say about it.
I couldn't think of anything clever to say. It is what it is: The "American" media is a hostile foreign psyops machine, blasting us with Tokyo Rose propaganda 24/7/365.
Trump said that if he isn't elected, Biden will permit China to build duty-free cars in Mexico and import them into the US, driving US factories out of business. A "bloodbath," he said it would be.
The gaslight media is like a heroin junkie -- everything they say has the agenda of getting you to loan them money for heroin. No matter what you're talking about, they hijack the conversation into talk about a "loan" so they can "get some resumes printed" and "get back on their feet."
And you know what they really mean is "give me money so I can go to the park and buy some heroin."
It just never stops. The media are obsessive and single-minded like drug addicts.
Trump slams "Fake News Media" for "bloodbath" lies, "They fully understood...I was...referring to imports"
Former President Donald Trump criticizes mainstream media for lying about his 'bloodbath' comment, asserting it was about Biden's policies impacting the auto industry, not violence.
Trump used the term "bloodbath" in reference to the decline of the U.S. auto industry under Biden's policies, particularly the electric car mandate.
He accused the media and Democrats of misconstruing his words, suggesting they knew he was discussing economic impacts.
Trump emphasized that his re-election would lead to a resurgence in U.S. auto manufacturing.
...
Trump argued that his remark was taken out of context, explaining that he used 'bloodbath" metaphorically to describe the adverse effects of Biden's policies on the automobile sector, including the importation practices and the electric car mandate. This, Trump suggests, is leading to a significant decline in the industry--a sentiment he claims is shared by the United Auto Workers, albeit not their leadership.
The nasty purplehair transgenders running Grandpa Rapefinger's social media accounts not only vomited out this disinformation, but they combined it with the old disinformation about Trump saying "very fine people" on both sides. They always cut out the part just before that statement when he explicitly said he wasn't talking about the neo-Nazis.
Say, wasn't it Kamala Harris who actively encouraged BLM and antifa terrorists to keep on murdering and setting businesses and homes on fire?
The irony is that everyone knows Trump's election would lead to violent rioting, and that the same people clutching pearls over the 'bloodbath' kerfuffle would describe *that* as 'mostly peaceful protest.'
-- Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) March 18, 2024
The purplehair caregivers also issued this statement in Biden's disgraceful name:
Joe Scarborough says he's going to keep pushing this disinformation because "we're not stupid."
Joe Scarborough is having an UNHINGED Meltdown because he got called out for amplifying the fake “Bloodbath” Hoax 🤣
The ugly drunk sow Hillary Clinton -- who knows a thing or two about inviting a bloodbath and then covering it up -- of course leapt to spread more disinformation.
You know what the real 'Bloodbath' is?
It's illegals invading our country and committing m*rder.
In a private meeting at the White House in January, allies of the president had just told him that his poll numbers in Michigan and Georgia had dropped over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Both are battleground states he narrowly won four years ago, and he can't afford any backsliding if he is to once again* defeat Donald Trump. He began to shout and swear, a lawmaker familiar with the meeting said.
* Citation needed
He believed he had been doing what was right, despite the political fallout, he told the group, according to the lawmaker.
Asked about the episode, Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said: "President Biden makes national security decisions based on the country's national security needs alone -- no other factor."
LOL. That's why he keeps slamming Israel and visiting Muslim enclaves in Michigan, huh?
Biden's chafing at his persistently-low poll numbers.
...
History suggests it will be tough for him to recover. Biden's 38% approval rating at this stage in the calendar is lower than that of the last three presidents who went on to lose re-election: Trump (48%), George H.W. Bush (39%) and Jimmy Carter (43%), according to Gallup survey data.
Like Obama, Biden thinks he just isn't appreciated enough by American ingrates.
Biden has long believed that he isn't getting sufficient credit for an economy that has created 15 million new jobs. Looking to reach distracted voters who may be tuning in, he told his speechwriters before the State of the Union address to tone down some of the lofty rhetoric and plainly lay out what he's done, a person familiar with speech preparations said.
Biden really wants to get out there and tell his Old Man Confabulations, but his staff of nurses and elder care experts keep stopping him:
Surrounded by protective aides who want to minimize the chances of a flub, the 81-year-old president has chafed at restraints that he sees as counter to his natural instincts as a retail politician, a third person familiar with internal discussions said.
He has felt cocooned at times and has been eager to get out more, meet voters face-to-face and take the fight directly to Trump...
Sure, sure. The man who can barely walk and who naps for 18 hours a day really wants to get out there and expend more energy.
There are signs that some within his party are also losing patience with him.
"Biden stood up in front of the whole world and said, 'I'm ready. I'm the guy who can take down Donald Trump,'" said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. "So, he goddamn well better do it. We don't have time for him to be worried about whether or not people are saying things right or the poll numbers are where they should be. I want focused energy and not defensive anger."
The media treats "go**amn" as if it's acceptable language. But they'll shriek if you correctly gender Dylan Mulvaney and Will "Lia" Thompson.
Biden has on occasion directed his ire at his tightknit senior staff. Given the successes he has had in passing consequential bills and improving the economy, Biden was irritated that his message wasn't sinking in with the broader electorate, the sources said.
LOL. Don't stroke out, dude.
At times, Biden gets suggestions that conflict with one another. Some advisers have told him he should walk faster out of concern that his gait feeds impressions that he's too old. And yet the White House is sufficiently worried about him tripping that he has taken to boarding Air Force One via a shorter staircase through the belly of the plane, forgoing the iconic image of the president waving from the main doorway high above the tarmac.
"He's probably a little mad at himself for not being more forceful with the staff," a person familiar with internal discussions said.
Oh, I hear he's plenty "forceful" with his staff, raging at them with senile impotence.
Privately, Biden questions whether he should trust his gut instincts over the guidance coming from the array of advisers tending to his political interests, this person added.
...
A consensus of Democratic officials is that Biden needs an army of surrogates to spread the word that his record has improved American lives in concrete ways. He can't carry the message alone.
Joe Biden thinks he's done such a good job as president that the man who routinely denigrated him as a "f*ck up" would totally be jelly.
President Biden doesn't speak frequently with Barack Obama -- but behind closed doors, he talks about him a lot.
Why it matters: Biden often measures himself against the man he served as vice president, current and former aides say. It's a complex relationship in which there is a rivalry -- particularly on Biden's side.
"Obama would be jealous," Biden sometimes says when speaking about a perceived accomplishment, according to two Biden aides familiar with such instances.
The competitive dynamic has informed Biden's approach to several issues -- including how he's dealt with Afghanistan, Israel and Congress.
...
Driving the news: Biden's range of feelings about Obama is apparent in the recently released transcript of Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden's handling of classified documents.
Unprompted, Biden told Hur about the wounding experience of Obama favoring Hillary Clinton over him to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.
Biden recalled that "a lot of people ... were encouraging me to run in this period, except the president .... He just thought that [Clinton] had a better shot of winning the presidency than I did."
Biden privately has told aides that he believed he could have beaten Donald Trump if he had run in 2016.
Biden speaks more often with former President Bill Clinton than Obama, the Washington Post has reported.
...
The intrigue: Many longtime Biden aides have long felt that Obama and his team did not fully appreciate Biden's experience with foreign policy, Congress and grip-and-grin politicking -- and were disrespectful.
Many strong relationships remain between Biden and Obama worlds, but there is some hostility.
One former Biden aide told Axios: "The Obama people thought Biden would suck as president. They didn't think he'd be organized enough to execute."
So that's how you see yourselves, huh? Fascinating.
Some Biden aides resent the large number of Obama veterans Biden and his top aides decided to bring into the current administration at levels above people who had worked with Biden for much longer.
"We do have too many Obama people who don't care about Joe Biden. It's about them," one former White House official told Axios.
Obama himself acknowledged in 2021 the overlap between his team and Biden's, telling The New York Times, "Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job ... 90% of the folks who were there in my administration, they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about."
This has created tension between the two camps ahead of the 2024 election -- especially when some Obama-era operatives offer advice.
...
Zoom in: At times, Biden's competitiveness with Obama has affected how he governs. He's tried to correct for what he sees as the former president's mistakes and shortcomings.
Biden was adamant about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in 2021 -- in part because he felt vindicated that Obama should have followed his advice in 2009 to largely withdraw them then.
When talking about lobbying Obama against surging troops to Afghanistan in 2009, Biden told Hur that he was trying to "quite frankly, save his ass."
Biden ordered a withdrawal from Afghanistan in his first months as president. The chaos at the end of that operation -- including the killing of 13 U.S. service members -- was the lowest moment of Biden's presidency for many in the administration.
Biden White House officials also recall there was a push to "go big" in early 2021 with their first legislative package -- the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which included COVID aid and expansions of the social safety net.
That was partly because they believed Obama hadn't gotten enough money approved for the $787 billion Recovery Act during the 2009 financial crisis.
People often respond to these figures with accusations of polling error, but this isn’t just one rogue result.
High quality, long-running surveys like this from Gallup have been showing a steepening decline in Black and Latino voters identifying as Democrats for several years. pic.twitter.com/XsYGvHS7B9
The changing image of the parties regarding class and income is also a factor.
In 2020 the richest third of voters favoured the Dems for the first time, and the Republicans improved with the poorest. The GOP now appeals to working- and middle-class voters of all ethnicities pic.twitter.com/OAgWCI92uB
The thread triggered its share of responses from the usual suspects, part of a recent pattern of poll denialism among Democrats that has crept its way into even the White House.
The Hokas are meant for "hiking," "walking" and "lifestyle" and feature a "quick-toggle lace ... designed for easy on and off," according to the product website, which also advertises "neutral" stability for wearers who want "a symmetrical bed of cushion."
The sneakers also boast a seal of approval from the American Podiatric Association as being good for foot health, a benefit which could come in handy for Biden after his recent physical revealed he suffers from a "stiffened gait."
Biden has especially struggled going up and down the steps of Air Force One, repeatedly slipping and stumbling while ascending to and descending from his official plane.
...
Politico first reported on Biden's increasing use of tennis shoes back in January, citing a source close to the president who said Biden used to "resist" wearing the casual shoes because he was concerned about not looking presidential enough -- but eventually conceded for reasons of comfort.
...
Biden participates in physical therapy to increase his "core stability" at least "four to five times a week," according to the report from his annual physical.
Psychological researchers in Finland have created an assessment to help measure an individual's commitment to principles of social justice and made some surprising findings across the Finnish population -- including a negative correlation between progressive ideals and levels of happiness.
Their findings, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, suggest other Western nations may see similar patterns among their socially conscious citizens.
Study author Oskari Lahtinen, a senior researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre at the University of Turku, remarked that the "woke" discourse has since worked its way into Finnish discourse.
...
In the end, their final Critical Social Justice Attitude Scale identified seven truisms of woke people:
"If white people have on average a higher level of income than black people, it is because of racism."
"University reading lists should include fewer white or European authors."
"Microaggressions should be challenged often and actively."
"Trans* women who compete with women in sports are not helping women's rights." (reverse scored)
"We don't need to talk more about the color of people's skin."
"A white person cannot understand how a black person feels equally well as another black person."
"A member of a privileged group can adopt features or cultural elements of a less privileged group." (reverse scored)
"The gender divide was probably most surprising to me," Lahtinen told PsyPost of Finnish attitudes. "Three out of five women view 'woke' ideas positively, but only one out of seven men."
This was especially true of women in fields such as social sciences, education, and humanities. By contrast, participants who worked in STEM were more likely to critique social justice efforts associated with being woke.
However, the most concerning finding was the relationship between mental health and agreement with the scale. Specifically, researchers found a high prevalence of anxiety and depression in people who believe the statement "If white people have on average a higher income than black people, it is because of racism." More broadly, they found that those who identified as left-wing were most likely to report lower mental well-being.
In very much related news: Based on current trends, more and more women will be single and childless every year through at least 2030, and women will continue experiencing depression and mental illness at increasing levels.
Feminism -- Marxism for Gurlz (TM) -- is viral mental illness and misery.
As you probably know, Israel is on the verge of wiping Hamas off the face of the map, if I can use Hamas' words to describe their own peril.
As Israel is about to enter Hamas' last redoubt, Rafah, and exterminate these terror-roaches once and for all, the Marxist transnationalists are in a frenzy to pressure Israel to spare Hamas and keep the terrorist government in place.
Chuck Schumer joined this frenzy last week, demanding that Israel -- an independent country, in case you didn't know -- hold snap elections so that Netanyahu can be voted out of office and Hamas saved for future use by the Marxist transnationalist Regime.
It's disgusting what he did. It's pandering. It's pandering to the anti-Israel Democratic base, the pro-Hamas vote in Michigan. It is the worst thing he could possibly have done because he's trying to divide the Jewish community. He knows there's in the American Jewish community, which is overwhelmingly liberal, he knows there's some dislike for Netanyahu. And what he's trying to do, he's trying to separate Israel and Netanyahu, which has been Biden administration policy. I wrote about this about two weeks ago, that's where they're going to distinguish. 'Well, we hate Netanyahu, but we love Israel.' Well, they're in the middle of a war, okay?
And why do they hate Netanyahu so much right now? It's because he's refusing to capitulate to the American President and the American Secretary of State who want Hamas to survive. They do. You can't read their actions any other way.
Hamas now exists only in Rafa, four battalions by all counts, which is thousands of Hamas fighters. That's where the leadership is. That's where the hostages are. And all of American policy for the last two to three weeks, maybe month, has been to try to bully Israel into not finishing off Hamas. And now Chuck Schumer steps in and picks up that cudgel and he hits Netanyahu over the head. And why is he hitting net over the head? Is because he's been too uncompromising.
I think there's going to be a huge, there is a huge backlash to this. I think what Schumer did is disgraceful. He's trying to walk it back.
Did Schumer try to walk it back? Sort of, yes, he did attempt to soften his demand for regime change in an allied nation.
Now he's saying he's not necessarily saying that there should be a regime change... just that Israel hold a snap election so that there can be a regime change, or at least a "discussion" about a regime change:
Chuck Schumer
@SenSchumer
The U.S. cannot dictate the outcome of an election.
That is for the Israeli public to decide.
As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders.
But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.
There needs to be a fresh debate about the future.
Back to William Jacobsen:
Too late, Chuck, you will not walk it back. Your legacy will be that you betrayed not just the Jewish people, but you betrayed Western civilization and your own country with these comments at a critical moment in history. Because let's face it, the people Israel is fighting in Gaza and elsewhere are enemies of the United States. They are enemies of Western civilization.
What they did on October 7th, they would do to us in a heartbeat if they could. And Chuck Schumer is fighting to prevent them from being destroyed. It's disgraceful. He will never live this down.
Audio of Jacobsen's statement at the link. He delivered this rant on the Tony Katz radio show.
As we have reported, Democrats have been throwing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the bus. They seem to be so desperate to appeal to the folks on the left in their party that they've lost the plot when it comes to Israel. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for regime change against Netanyahu. Joe Biden called it a "good" speech, that Netanyahu was hurting more than helping, and there were reports that his White House was trying to force Netanyahu out. Then, on Sunday, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also talked smack against him, claiming that he'd interfered in our elections in a bizarre attack when, indeed, it was the Obama administration that had interfered in Israeli elections against Netanyahu.
But Netanyahu had a few things to say about the situation and the Democrats in response during an interview with Pete Hegseth on "Fox and Friends."
He explained that Israel wasn't going to back off on going into Rafah and that the only thing that has made Hamas release hostages is continued military pressure. He said that they had destroyed 19 of Hamas' 24 battalions and that asking them not to go into Rafah right now (something Biden said he was against and was a "red line" for him) was like telling the allies during World War II not to go into Berlin. "That's ridiculous," Netanyahu said, saying it would allow Hamas to repeat their attacks on his country.
He said they had already effectively had a "two-state solution" with Gaza, and Hamas used that to launch the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, that to give them such a state after that attack would be the "greatest reward for terrorism in history." He also noted that they voted 99 to 9 against the imposition of a two-state solution on Israel, noting that the vast majority of the Israeli public was against it and in support of going into Rafah.
Netanyahu sort of had a little smile on his face when Hegseth brought up the question of what Schumer and Biden had said. Then, he completely took down Schumer.
I think Schumer's statements are wholly inappropriate. I think we're not a banana republic. The people of Israel will choose when they'll have elections, who they elect, and it's not something that will be foisted upon us. It's wrong to try to replace the elected leaders of a sister democracy and a staunch American ally at any time, but especially during the time of war.
Just imagine that, after 9/11, and when you're in the midst of fighting Al Qaeda, and winning. People would say, some Israeli would say, "Oh, the right thing to do is not to have new elections in America or have President Bush resign." It's inappropriate. Shouldn't have been said. It's wrong."
In fairness to Schumer and his fellow Democrats -- they did call for Bush to be impeached for being too anti-Al-Qadea.
Video of Netanyahu's appearance on Fox & Friends at the link.
This represents yet another expression of progressives' "translation" of terrorist statements, to ventriloquize progressive dream statements into the mouths of terrorists. Osama bin Ladin says he will kill the Jew and the infidel wherever he finds them; the leftwing propaganda Regime media reports "Osama bin Ladin says he will never stop fighting for a Single Payer health insurance system."
And in another disgusting example of the Marxist transnationalists saving Hamas -- Qatar offered to expel the Hamas terror leaders that they are sheltering/protecting from Israeli terror-hunters as well as any other nations who might want to bring them up on charges.
WASHINGTON -- Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani proposed expeling Hamas's leaders from Doha during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken days after the terror group's October 7 onslaught, two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.
Thani... then asked whether it was time for the US to ask Qatar to expel the Hamas's leaders, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
...
When Blinken began his own remarks, he didn't respond directly to the emir's proposal but did go on to say that he thought it would be better for Qatar to use its contacts with Hamas -- through the office it allowed the terror group to establish in Doha in 2012 at Washington's behest -- to mediate between the Gaza war parties to secure a hostage deal, the officials recalled.
No don't kick out Hamas terrorist leaders, we're desperate to continue "negotiating" with them through back-channels. It's proven so effective in the past we must not do anything to disrupt this productive working relationship with Hamas terrorists.
Illegal migrant admits terror group affiliation after crossing into U.S., "I'm going to try to make a bomb"
Sun Mar 17 2024
MXM Exclusive
Quick Hit:
A Lebanese illegal migrant captured along the U.S. southern border has admitted to being a member of Hezbollah and expressed intentions to make a bomb in New York. Basel Bassel Ebbadi was apprehended by border patrol on March 9th near El Paso, Texas, and is now facing deportation.
Key Details:
Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by border patrol on March 9th near El Paso, Texas.
Ebbadi admitted to being a member of Hezbollah, having trained with them for seven years and served as an active member for another four years.
He was placed into isolation and marked for deportation after making "terroristic threats to personnel."
Diving Deeper:
First reported by the New York Post, Basel Bassel Ebbadi, a 22-year-old Lebanese migrant, was apprehended by border patrol near El Paso, Texas, on March 9th. During his custody, Ebbadi admitted to being a member of Hezbollah, a militant group and political party based in Lebanon. He revealed that he had trained with the group for seven years and served as an active member for another four years, guarding weapons locations.
According to internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) documents and images obtained by the New York Post, Ebbadi's training focused on "jihad" and killing people "that were not Muslim."
Upon his capture, Ebbadi was found without any documents, claiming they were stolen "with a knife" while he was in Costa Rica. He also admitted to using a fake birthday and name in Sweden, Ecuador, and Panama. His initial plan was to go to New York and then move around the country.
It's unknown if he's an illegal alien or merely an alien that no real country ever would have allowed to visit.
Aderbis Segundo Pirela Pirela, a top fugitive on Interpol and Colombian National Police lists, was apprehended in New Braunfels. He faces serious charges for multiple crimes, including murder, drug trafficking, and extortion in Colombia.
Key Details:
Aderbis Segundo Pirela Pirela, listed as a most wanted fugitive by Interpol and Colombian authorities, was captured in New Braunfels.Pirela Pirela is implicated in at least four murders and faces charges in Bogota, Colombia, for homicide, drug trafficking, and extortion.
Details regarding his entry into the U.S. and his stay in New Braunfels remain unknown.
The arrest of Aderbis Segundo Pirela Pirela in New Braunfels highlights a glaring gap in the Biden administration's border security and immigration policies. The fact that a highly dangerous individual, wanted internationally for grave crimes, could enter and reside in the United States undetected poses serious questions about the effectiveness of border control and immigration vetting processes. Pirela Pirela's presence in the U.S., linked to at least four murders, drug trafficking, and extortion, underlines a critical lapse in national security measures. This incident not only exposes the vulnerabilities in monitoring and tracking individuals who pose a potential threat but also reflects a broader issue of inadequate enforcement and oversight within the current immigration system.
Further complicating the matter is the lack of transparency regarding how Pirela Pirela managed to enter the United States and the duration of his stay before being apprehended.
Wholesale inflation rose 0.6% in February, much more than expected
The producer price index, which measures pipeline costs for raw, intermediate and finished goods, jumped 0.6% on the month, double the Dow Jones estimate.
On a year-over-year basis, the headline index increased 1.6%, the biggest move since September 2023.
Two-thirds of the rise in headline PPI came from a 1.2% surge in goods prices, the biggest increase since August 2023, thanks to a 4.4% jump in energy.
Retail sales increased 0.6%, less than expected, while weekly jobless claim filings nudged lower to 209,000.
Wholesale prices accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in February, another reminder that inflation remains a troublesome issue for the U.S. economy.
This will complicate the Feds' agenda of reducing interest rates to stimulate the economy in order to rig the election for Joe Biden.
The mighty American consumer has shrugged off months, even years of recession predictions from top economists and Wall Street CEOs. Facing the hottest inflation in 40 years, and aggressive interest rate hikes meant to tame it, consumers have managed to continue spending, enabling the economy to remain on solid footing. But this week, a one-two punch of bad economic data has some experts waiting for another uppercut.
The second straight weak retail sales report, which included a downward revision of January's sales data, has sparked concerns that consumers are finally showing signs of wear and tear after powering through price increases and rising borrowing costs for roughly two years....
At the same time, producer price inflation, which tends to lead consumer price inflation, also came in above Wall Street's expectations for the second straight month on Thursday. It's another piece of data that could put investors' dreams of swift, economy-boosting interest rate cuts on hold, particularly with Fed officials being very clear that they don't plan on cutting rates until inflation is well under control. As Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial, put it: "For the data dependent Fed, this report isn't helpful."
Or for Biden.
Related: Despite President Confabulation's claims, the company did not reduce the size of Snickers bar because of corporate greed and artificial "shrinkflation."
No, the size of the Snickers bar was reduced because the company was attempting to obey Michelle Obama's "Eat Less, Move More" campaign. They tried to deliver a lower-calorie candy by making it smaller, as Michelle Obama demanded.
CNN states that the 2 to Go Snickers resealable package includes two smaller snickers bars containing 220 calories each. The move from King size to the 2 to Go package was officially announced in 2012, explaining that the new language and resealable packaging was meant to encourage consumers to share or save the second Snickers bar to eat later. The outlet stated that the confectionery company also said they planned to replace or eliminate all candy bar sizes which contained over 250 calories by the end of 2013. According to NPR, downsizing from the then standard two ounce and 280 calorie Snicker bars to a 250 calorie bar represented an 11 percent shrink.
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Reason stated that Mars' decision to only sell lower calorie portions of their products was, in part, inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, which was designed to help combat childhood obesity.
THE MORNING RANT - EV Death Pool Update: Rivian Puts Halt to Georgia Plant; Fisker Circling the Drain
—Buck Throckmorton
Governor Brian Kemp’s Parkway to Nowhere
As I’ve been documenting over the past few years, there has been no easier mark for electric vehicle hustlers than Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R). He has repeatedly thrown outrageous amounts of taxpayer money at pie-in-the-sky EV and battery ventures. He embraced the eco-communists’ vision of a world without gasoline-powered cars, and to paraphrase Nikita Khrushchev, Brian Kemp wanted Georgia to become the premier manufacturer of the electric ropes with which western civilization would be hung.
Rivian has been Gov. Kemp’s largest and most visibly bad communistpublic-private investment – a boondoggle for which he pledged $1.5 billion of Georgia taxpayer money. The state has already condemned the land, graded it, turned the land over to Rivian, and spent tens of millions of dollars on roadways for the project. Rivian is a start-up with neither a customer base, nor any historical manufacturing experience. It not only hemorrhages cash, but it suffers a gross loss of tens of thousands of dollars on every vehicle it sells. There is no pathway to profitability for it. Like a dot-com company from 25 years ago, its financial performance is measured in its cash-burn rate. Rivian already has a plant in Illinois with a manufacturing capacity of 150,000 units per year, but it can only sell about a third of that.
This announcement has been inevitable for quite some time:
The CEO of Rivian Automotive announced Thursday that the electric truck maker is pausing construction of its $5 billion manufacturing plant in Georgia to speed production and save money.
It would also save $2.25 billion in capital spending for now, Rivian said in a news release. The company has been burning through accumulated cash quickly, even as it hasn’t met production targets at its Illinois plant.
Rivian did not give a timetable for restarting work on the Georgia plant, saying in a statement: “The timing for resuming construction is expected to be later.”
I can help out here regarding the timetable for Rivian’s Georgia plant - it will never be built.
Like a degenerate gambler who has just put the deed to his house on the table because he knows his luck is about to turn around, Gov. Kemp is still confident about this awful EV gamble.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Kemp addressed the automaker's announcement for the first time, saying that Rivian's decision was "disappointing" but that the state was still optimistic about the deal. "What they've relayed to me is that there is no doubt here. We're under contract with them. The state is in a really good place," he said.
To be fair, the state is in a better place than it would have been had construction started before Rivian goes out of business. This way, there will not be any demolition required for whatever future purpose is found for this land.
Still, Kemp remained positive that construction would continue on schedule. "They can still meet the metrics that they have to under our contract obligations by 2030," Kemp said, "We honor our commitments in our state, and we're going to do that in regards to the site, and we're expecting the company to honor their commitments as well."
This last sentence (below) made me smile. Someone at the state’s highway department understands better than the Governor himself that the Rivian misadventure is now winding down.
The state also has completed most of the $50 million in roadwork that it pledged. But signs for Rivian Parkway at a new traffic signal on U.S. 278 had been removed as of last week.
I might suggest that Rivian Parkway be renamed “Governor Kemp’s Parkway to Nowhere.”
*****
Fisker Is Going Bankrupt – Again
While Rivian is the most prominent of the failing EV start-ups, it looks like Fisker is going to go out of business before Rivian does.
Fisker, which recently warned that it risked running out of cash this year, hired financial adviser FTI Consulting and the law firm Davis Polk to work on a potential filing, the people said. The car company reported last month that it had $273 million in sales last year and more than $1 billion in debt. Fisker last month issued a so-called going-concern warning that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business.
This will be Henrik Fisker’s second visit to bankruptcy court with an electric vehicle startup. He had a previous EV venture (“Fisker Automotive”) that went bankrupt in 2013, yet there was such a voracious appetite from suckersinvestors during the EV bubble, that Fisker was able to successfully fleece the EV true believers a second time. Fisker, Inc. went public in 2020 and achieved a market capitalization of $6 billion. Fisker’s 40% ownership made his shares worth $2.4 billion at the time.
As their fortune balloons, it’s no secret that the Fiskers have been living primarily in Los Angeles, where Fisker Inc. is headquartered. Since 2019, the couple has leased a house on Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills; now, records reveal they’ve opted to buy a lavish mansion in the same area.
Fortunately for the Fisker family, Henrik had the foresight to start selling Fisker stock before its price collapsed. Coincidentally enough, he sold $20 million worth of stock right about the time he was buying the $21 million mansion in Hollywood Hills. The stock he sold at $9.50 per share is now worth 15 cents per share.
If Mr. Fisker would like to make yet another EV fortune - before going bankrupt a third time - all he has to do is fly to Georgia and purr into Brian Kemp’s ear “EVs, Jobs” and Gov. Kemp will almost certainly start throwing billions of Georgia taxpayer dollars at Mr. Fisker.
In it I argue that despite the failure of the “EV transition” to date, the left and the EV evangelists are not going to back off from their quest to ban gasoline-powered cars, so we should respond in kind and put them on the defensive by implementing laws and regulations that effectively ban their precious EVs. I have a list of suggestions for red states and President Trump, which include requiring a giant warning label on the hood of every EV cautioning that foreign slaves and child labor were used to source the rare earth minerals in the car.
As to whether this conflicts with our conservative, free market principles, I point out that, “There really is no conflict at all because there is a greater principle in play – when my property, safety, or freedom are attacked, I may respond in a manner that I otherwise wouldn’t have if I had simply been left alone.”
The critical point is that we begged the left and its passionate EV fanboys to leave us and our gasoline powered cars alone. They wouldn’t.
Begging our adversaries to just leave us alone hasn’t worked. Let them beg us to leave them alone. Only then should we consider allowing them to keep their E.V.s. -- for a price.
My latest at The Pipeline: “Time to Put Team EV on Defense” argues that despite the initial failure of “the EV transition,” the left still wants to ban our gas cars. Thus we must now retaliate & make the fight about them saving their precious EVs.https://t.co/wVry9HXJ6L
*Breaking News* - Hertz’s Woke, EV-Loving CEO Just Resigned
This news just broke over the weekend, Hertz’s CEO, Stephen Scherr, has just stepped down as CEO after his destructive tenure at Hertz. He committed big to EVs and cost the company a fortune with that awful decision, before being forced to backtrack and start dumping the fleet of hated EVs, causing the company to take a $245 million hit for his virtuously inept management.
It was just one month ago I wrote the following:
With Hertz being mismanaged by a CEO who does not understand either his product or his customers, you will not be surprised to learn that Hertz stock has fallen by more than 60% in the past year, from $20 to less than $8 per share.
Stephen Scherr is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Hertz. He is focused on transforming the iconic American company into a global leader in shared mobility, electrification, and digital-first customer experience. Prior to joining Hertz in February 2022, Stephen spent nearly three decades at Goldman Sachs.
Good morning, kids. This latest bit of meshugas is so patently ridiculous, so idiotic and such obvious bullshit that it just reeks of desperation. Or am I just too sane enough and set in my ways to understand or appreciate that the general public has the collective attention span of an amoeba and ditto (more crucially) its critical thinking skills – both due to the combined dumbing down by a media that does nothing but pump out pure leftist propaganda 25/8 and the cumulative effect of at least three generations of what the American educational system has wrought – and that this gigantic lie will swamp the past three years of actual lived experience of pain, misery, angst and suffering?
Anyone reading the headlines published by a number of mainstream outlets might believe that Trump was not just predicting, but calling for, political violence if he were to lose another election.
The New York Times: Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses
The Guardian: Trump predicts ‘bloodbath’ if he loses election and claims ‘Biden beat Obama’
NBC News: Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election
Politico: Trump says country faces ‘bloodbath’ if Biden wins in November
Rolling Stone: Trump Says There Will Be a ‘Bloodbath’ and Elections Will End if He Isn’t Reelected
. . . But while those outlets and others were only too happy to share that one cherry-picked line — Trump predicts ‘bloodbath’ if he loses in November — they were equally happy to leave out the fact that at the time, he was specifically talking about the automobile industry and the economic impact of a company owned by Communist China building cars in Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs.
Here’s the full context of the “bloodbath” comment, which he said was addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping:
Those big monster car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now and you think you are going to get that — not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the car to us, no.
We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.
Grabien media founder Tom Elliott followed with a video supercut of liberal media pundits using the term “bloodbath” to describe everything from economic issues and Taylor Swift ticket snafus to midterm election results and the recent shake-up in leadership at the Republican National Committee.
As we know all too well by now, to even attempt to point out the chutzpocrisy of the Democrat-Left is pissing into the wind. That is, of course, their standard operating procedure in terms of how they function socially and politically and, via one of Saul Alinsky's infamous "Rules" what they will beat us over the head with every single chance they get, the accuracy of the charge be damned.
It's why I get so exercised about language insofar as what is and is not appropriate and more crucially who gets to be the arbiter of it. Of course, that has been the sole purview of the left since the went full tilt boogie in undermining our society since the sexual revolution, the women's movement and the complete undermining of the legitimate civil rights movement, going on 60 years. All of it aimed at seizing absolute power. And the control of language is a, if not the prime super weapon in the Democrat-Left's drive to dominate us. There are quite a few people who get irked at Trump for "shooting his mouth off."
I get irked at him for other reasons, mostly in terms of staff and past policy. But if, because of this, we're going to suddenly demand that he somehow forces himself to literally think before uttering every word at every single rally and interview going forward, then it's over. Love him or hate him, Trump's greatest asset is what some perceive as his Achilles heel: his mouth. And it's only an Achilles heel insofar as we allow the Democrat-Left to make it so. His ability to connect with an audience speaking off the cuff is something the other side cannot do. Especially the demented vegetable presidential poseur whose brain is melting by the hour and can't put two coherent sentences together even with a teleprompter, idiot cards and a media that is covering for him and covering it all up, with lesser and lesser effectiveness the closer we get to November.
Anchor Kristen Welker said, “I want to start by getting your reaction to Donald Trump’s comments about a bloodbath. Do you think those comments were appropriate?”
Cassidy said, “The general tone of the speech is why many Americans continue to wonder should President Trump should be president? That kind of rhetoric is on the edge, and maybe it doesn’t cross, maybe it does, depending on your perspective.”
He added, “He always walks up to the edge on the rhetoric, and again, that’s why people are concerned."
This was after Welker actually, and surprisingly, played the entire soundbite of Trump. It was in complete context. Even if she didn't, you'd think Cassidy would've listened to it beforehand. And yet, he's agreeing with this lying bint that what he said as voters "concerned." Why is this schmuck even appearing on Press the Meat in the first place? The only reason to do so would be to blast her and her colleagues for being the lying sacks of shit that they are. Voters indeed are concerned. Mostly about an economy on the verge of collapse, an intentional invasion of foreign peasants, criminals and terrorists, a foreign policy that is lighting the fuse on World War 3 and the persecution of anyone even slightly to the right of Che Guevara.
Isn't it amazing how both Trump and Biden see "the end of democracy" if the other wins? If Biden can say it, why not Trump?
Frankly, I don't think either man can "end democracy" or prevent a "meaningful" election in 2028. Neither do I believe that democracy is "teetering" or in any great danger. The U.S. republic has withstood far worse threats to its existence than anyone running for president in 2024.
“He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge,” the Biden campaign statement reads.
"Affection" for violence? Wow. Just wow.Biden and the left fall into Trump's briar patch every time. Don't they ever look at the polls? No one is listening to their "warnings." No one is paying attention to their predictable attacks.
They're writing and speaking for an audience already predisposed to hate Donald Trump and to fear him. They're not making any converts. They're only driving people out of the political process altogether or into the arms of Trump.
Exactly as Trump knew they would.
I am not a fan of PJ Media's Rick Moran, and his assertion that the republic will withstand anything that will be thrown at it flies in the face of the facts since Trump came down the escalator 9 years ago, if not before, and the trajectory we are on. But that said, I do think his conclusion is dead on. Like Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants' Nuremberg Rally disguised as a State of the Union Speech, all of this dreck will not move the needle in influencing "independent" voters, if such creatures even exist.
State Sen. Charlane Oliver, who represents Nashville, said the Republicans’ pro-police legislation is “rooted in racism,” and will force those in her district to “fight like hell.” The bill was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor after Memphis passed an ordinance that banned traffic stops for issues such as expired registrations, a single inoperable headlight or brake light, and loose bumpers, News Channel 3 reported.
The Memphis city council passed the ordinance following the death of Tyre Nichols, a black man, who was fatally injured during a confrontation with five black Memphis police officers on January 7, 2023, after he was pulled over.
“It is a slap in the face and you might as well stomp on the grave of Tyre Nichols,” Oliver said after the state Senate passed Taylor’s bill by a vote of 26-6. “Yes, we are emotionally charged. Why? Because it’s personal for us. Taylor made this personal the minute he introduced this legislation to target one family and one life that was lost.”
“So yeah, we gonna fight,” Oliver added. “Dr. King said that riots are the language of the unheard. You ain’t seen nothing yet. If you keep silencing us like this, what do you think our district is going to do? We have had it up here. Gloves are off. Like, we gonna fight like hell. You don’t expect us to respond when you gaslight us every single day with these bills?”
This animal with a "D" after her name gets to threaten actual, real violence in the form of "riots." You can bet your ass the propagandists are going to invoke the word "context" out the wazoo. But, as Ace always says, "Our speech is violence, but their violence is speech." More than that, Democrat Leftists are allowed to say whatever the hell they want, regardless of consequences real or imagined because they get to control the language.
Democrat strategist James Carville said during an interview over the weekend that if Democrats lose in the upcoming November elections that Israel will be to blame.
“This Gaza stuff, this is not just a problem with some snot-nosed Ivy League people,” he said. “This is a problem all across the country. And I hope the president and Blinken can get this thing calmed down because if it doesn’t get calmed down before the Democratic convention, it’s going to be a very ugly time in Chicago. I promise you that. . .
. . . And they’re gonna have to tell Bibi Netanyahu, ‘Hey, dude, we are not going to lose our election because you stand to go to jail. You have to think of something else.'”
Carville demonized Netanyahu, claiming that he showed “negligence” and that the U.S. “should be putting pressure on him every way we can to de-escalate this thing, and quickly.”
There it is folks. Carville says if Biden loses, blame the Jews. How many synagogues will burn this summer in Chicago? Only Brandon – Johnson and Joey – know for sure.
"The former Defense Intelligence Agency head, retired General Michael Flynn, said the House should immediately move to halt funding for both the CIA and FBI and start subpoenaing the January 6 Commission members to find out what they know about the CIA activities leading up to an on January 6. . . And when they get a chance, I have a couple special request questions for House members to ask the J 6 Committee: Where was Antifa that day or are you expecting us to believe this was the only riot in years they missed? Is this the same CIA that started the Russia Collusion frame up against Trump to help Hillary in the 2016 election?" What Was the CIA Doing at the January 6 Riot? (Mostly orchestrating and fomenting it - jjs)
Victor Davis Hanson: "A cynical public now expects any accused prominent leftist to remain unindicted, while any non-leftwing target will be indicted, convicted, and jailed—for the same alleged offenses." Guilty!—But Not Really Guilty?
"We’re not a banana republic. I think the only government that we should be working on and to bring down now is the tourist tyranny in Gaza, the Hamas tyranny that murdered over 1,000 Israelis, including some dozens of Americans. And is holding Americans and Israelis hostage, that’s what we should be focused on. As far as what Senator Schumer said the majority of Israelis support our government. 82% of Americans support Israel instead of Hamas.” Netanyahu: "Schemer" Schumer Calling for New Elections in Israel "Totally Inappropriate"
"Analysis shows that the Hamas 'statistics' used by Schumer and Biden to attack Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel are totally bogus." Damned Lies and Statistics
"If Mahmoud Muhammad Taha had become world famous rather than the world-infamous Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda, the Muslim world would be a very different place today." Mahmoud Taha: Sudan’s Martyr for Islamic Reform
"Ebbadi’s arrest happens at a time when more migrants on the terror watchlist are trying to enter the US illegally, raising concerns about national security, the New York Post reported. There’s been a big jump in these cases, with 172 in 2023 and 59 in just the first four months of 2024, a lot more than the 30 from 2017 to 2021." Self-Admitted Member of Hezbollah Caught Crossing Texas Border, Says He Wanted "To Make a Bomb"
"The kakistocrats that captain the Democrat Party are so lacking in principle and so filled with villainy that they are using illegal aliens as pawns in their scheme to establish unopposed, unchallengeable power." Another Democrat Scheme To Establish Absolute Political Power
"Will [Titty-Caca] AOC tour these streets? Will she gladhand residents — and prostitutes — asking for their vote? 'The neighborhoods of Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst — a once-vibrant community in northwestern Queens — has now essentially deteriorated into a large flea market with trash overflowing on street corners, leading to unsavory and unhygienic conditions,' according to Fox News. Look Whose District Has Become a Third-World Brothel and Bazaar
"Both of these new rules seem to be an about face for the welcoming policies the cities have heretofore deployed. But a closer look shows that the tough stance that these two mayors are playing up is about an inch deep." Sham Tough-on-Migrants Policies Launch in New York City and Chicago
* * * * *
"Why? Partly, it looks like a demented election strategy. Despite the massive negatives the border is generating for him in the polls, our prez plainly figures he’d pay a worse price if he alienates the screeching open-borders extremists who dominate his party’s base. Stockholm Syndrome at its ugliest. Plus, actually doing something would prove that he can — indeed, that’s he’s had the power from the start." Joe Biden Will Do Nothing on US Border Crisis, Even After Laken Riley — and His Reasons are Beyond Contempt
"According to Hobbs, Congressional inaction has shifted the responsibility for security and well-being onto working families in Arizona. The Democratic governor is also lobbying lawmakers to back the Senate border deal. The National Pulse has previously reported that the Senate legislation contains little in the way of border funding. It is primarily a guest worker program tacked on to military aid for Ukraine." Arizona’s Democrat Governor Begs Biden for $752 Million to Aid Illegal Migrants
"The rising prevalence of such incursions demonstrates a complex challenge for U.S. border and airspace security, demanding undivided attention from all relevant agencies. Gen. Guillot said the cartels’ use of drones serves to highlight the evolution and complexity of illicit activities across the border while underscoring. He told senators the U.S. would need to develop new and creative strategies to tackle the technological threat posed by cartel drones." Cartels are Using Thousands of Drones at the U.S. Border
“Ireland now is one of the top ten investors in the United States economy,” Biden said. “And our countries stand proudly for liberty and against tyranny. We stand together and oppose Russia’s brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. You can clap for that, please.” (Maybe he just wanted to know if any little girls in the audience had the clap, h8trz! - jjs) Biden Demands White House Audience "Clap" During His St. Patrick’s Day Speech
“This is very serious, because we’re at the point now of criminal referrals,” Comer added. After Bartiromo asked the chairman how many criminal referrals were in the making, Comer said there would be “multiple” criminal referrals, but he did not say how many or exactly who would be receiving them. Comer Says Biden Impeachment Inquiry Will Lead To ‘Multiple’ Criminal Referrals
Miranda Devine: "Doyle’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, alleges that James’ enthusiastic involvement in the Doyle case may be driven by 'connections with the Defendant'. . . 'This organization fraudulently inflated the value of their building to induce my client into giving them a mortgage which Tish James is now trying to help these fraudsters avoid having to repay. The theory of fraud Tish James accused the Trump Organization of engaging in is identical to the fraud she is aiding and abetting here.' . . .Parlatore points out that the Society inflated the value of its property to obtain a loan, just like Trump was accused of doing, but the difference was that Doyle could not conduct the sort of “sophisticated due diligence” that Deutsche Bank did. Therefore, unlike Trump’s lenders, Doyle didn’t know the true value of the townhouse. An even more important difference is that Trump paid back every penny he owed, but the Society never paid back Doyle." An Irish Society, an Unpaid Loan and the Hypocrisy of Letitia James
". . . the line that just struck me was that he said, ‘An odor of mendacity remains. I mean, that essentially says, your office and you as a DA have no credibility with me as a judge. And I just think that is, uh, you know, essentially says that you are lying, we know you’re lying, and we’re not gonna trust anything you say in this case from now on. That’s a big deal.” "Blistering": Former Acting AG Says Judge "Cut the Legs Out" of Georgia Trump Case
Robert Spencer: "But as a consolation prize, the prosecutor has to ditch her boy toy." Fani Gets to Stay
Clarice Feldman: "Something is seriously wrong with American law schools and disciplinary outfits which are supposed to monitor corrupt conduct of practitioners." Mendacity and Corruption in the Judiciary
Roger Kimball: "The rule of law is inoperative in the United States. With every passing day, it becomes more obvious that we live under a two-tier justice system. It is not justice, but a form of injustice." Law and Order in Flux: Crafting a New Image for Justice in America
"The likelihood of U.S. government remotely-operated brain technologies for 'anticrime operations' in America should be taken very seriously." New America: Guilty Until Further Notice
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
"Critics in the political arena and the general media were quick to wilfully manipulate Trump’s words and infer intentions on his behalf even after Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung made clear Trump had clearly been talking about the impact of offshoring on the country’s auto industry and his own plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars." Biden Campaign, Establishment Media Attack Trump with Fake Interpretation of "Bloodbath" Comments in Ohio Rally
". . . while those outlets and others were only too happy to share that one cherry-picked line — Trump predicts ‘bloodbath’ if he loses in November — they were equally happy to leave out the fact that at the time, he was specifically talking about the automobile industry and the economic impact of a company owned by Communist China building cars in Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs" Media’s Wall-To-Wall Coverage Of Trump ‘Bloodbath’ Comment Delivers Zero Context
"The heavy scrutiny follows the article’s publication on Thursday evening, and since then, key elements of it have collapsed. Now, several U.S. senators, attorneys, and other high-profile conservatives are publicly questioning if the AP has opened itself up to legal liability should Moreno move to sue the organization." Associated Press Under Fire as Senators, Lawyers Question Legal Liability After Moreno Attack Piece
"ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, China — the capital and socio-political center of the communist state. TikTok, meanwhile, is headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles, California. Students of history may remember that Singapore’s political and economic elite is comprised primarily of individuals who claim Chinese national origin — with the two Asian nations maintaining close economic relations." Here’s Who Really Runs TikTok, Despite the Lobbyist Talking Points
". . . the Biden economics team is in denial on the science. They reject the real world evidence that high tax rates deter job growth and investment, they ignore the Ireland experience and they pretend that the rich will bear all the burden of a tax that will hurt all American workers and consumers while benefiting our competitors around the globe." So-Called Quote-Unquote "president" Joe Biden’s Magical Thinking on Taxes
"[So-called quote-unquote "president"] Biden says that he’s cut the deficit by a trillion dollars. Yeah, Big Guy, and I got a bridge . . ." A Course in Biden Budgetology
"Conservatives and libertarians looking to combat rising inflation do not need to depend on the unreliable leadership of Congress." A Golden Opportunity to Fight Inflation
"If all the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion functionaries and their supporters were a corporation – DIE, Inc. – it might rival Apple’s market value." DIE Kills American Chip Manufacturing
"Written and narrated by Dr. John Constable of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, the video explores in an unusually granular way what wealth is, what energy is, and then examines the relationship between the two and how this has played out in human history." Abundant Energy Is the Key to Prosperity
Richard Fernandez: "If the reader has noticed that this looks suspiciously like Engels' program of control over nature returned in another form that is because it is. Taking the place of Stalin's gigantic public works and Mao's mad war on birds and insects are virtuous proposals to darken the sun, change the chemistry of the ocean and raise the sea floor. Only this time the goal is not to make the workers and peasants more prosperous, but on the contrary, to make them materially poorer. Does this make sense? It does if the goal is control of nature, control of man." "Environmentalist" Communists
The climate activist group Climate Defiance took responsibility for storming the stage during Chevron CEO Mike Wirth’s interview at the 2024 Catalyst Awards in Midtown, Manhattan on March 12. The group said that protesters “chased him out” of the event, where he was discussing “the role of engaged men in gender inclusivity.” (If he's going to be a stooge for leftism with this DEI poison, he deserved it - jjs) Climate protesters disrupt DEI conference to accuse Chevron CEO of "mass murder" of "indigenous women"
"California dreams of an all-renewables grid by 2045, but infrastructure is harder to build in the material world than it is in the fevered, runaway imaginations of politicians, climate activists and media-based crusaders. Hope and persistence are admirable personal traits, but mixing those with magical thinking is an amateurish way to craft public policy." Yet Again, Less Power to the People
"Amid a surge in crime in New York City, Hochul announced on Mar. 6 she would deploy 750 state National Guard troops and 250 state troopers to the city’s metro stops to enforce the law and make riders feel safer. A man was shot in the head on a subway car en route to Brooklyn amid a physical confrontation with another man on Thursday." Kathy Hochul Says Her National Guard Subway Patrol Is ‘Working’ Despite Recent Train Shooting
"Police arrested 26-year-old Andre Gordon near a residence in Trenton, New Jersey, about eight hours after he allegedly killed three people in Falls Township, a Philadelphia suburb, on Saturday morning, according to The Associated Press. Gordon is alleged to have stolen a vehicle and fled to Trenton after shooting and killing three people in Pennsylvania, and subsequently barricaded himself in the Trenton residence throughout the ensuing standoff with law enforcement personnel." Authorities Apprehend Suspect In Pennsylvania Killings After Hours-long Standoff
"Legal changes to the criminal justice system are herculean efforts, even at the state level, so it's unlikely that anything sweeping will occur in the very near future. What is interesting to think about are the millennials born between 1984 and 1999 who will one day fill capitol and congressional buildings as the dominating generation, and what their policy priorities will be. In true millennial fashion, their growing distrust of the death penalty is diametrically opposed to their shrieks for abortion on demand, so anyone invested in this issue will simply have to wait and see which way things go." Will Millennials Abolish the Death Penalty?
AMERICA AND THE WORLD IMPRISONED: CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS AND FACTS
"Rodrigo donated a portion of her concert tour ticket sales to pro-abortion groups while also handing out so-called 'Plan B; pills to fans, including at a recent concert in St. Louis, Missouri — which was the first state to effectively end abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022." Olivia Rodrigo Ends Giveaways of Morning-After Pills, Contraceptives at Concerts Following Backlash
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
"High-dollar Democratic donors collectively gave Republican Accountability PAC over $6.1 million in 2023, FEC records indicate. This constituted the bulk of the $8.1 million total Republican Accountability PAC raised in 2023. Almost all the remaining funds donated to the group in 2023, $2 million, came from Defending Democracy Together, another anti-Trump organization led by Longwell and co-founded by ex-Republican and Trump critic Bill Kristol, per FEC records." No-Shit-Sherlock Dept.: PAC Running "Republican Voters Against Trump" Campaign Primarily Funded By Major Democrat Donors
"Instead of pushing union-funded studies, the Department of Labor should be making it easier for union members and the public to access information on how unions spend members' dues," Bozzello told the Washington Free Beacon. "Accountability and transparency are what American workers need, not propaganda." The WORK Center relies on other questionable sources, including a ranking of "Best and Worst States to Work" from Oxfam, a nonprofit that has been linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of ' Palestine ' , a terrorist group. Biden Labor Department Relies on Union-Funded Think Tanks To Push Pro-Union Message
POLITICS
"Trump spoke at the swing state campaign event where he was flanked by Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, whom Trump has endorsed in Ohio’s GOP primary. Throughout his speech, Trump repeatedly hit Biden, focusing on the ongoing border crisis that has hit record levels under the [fake] president’s watch. The leading candidate in the 2024 presidential race also accused Biden of using the Department of Justice to go after his main opponent." Trump Slams Biden as "A Great Threat to Our Democracy" in Fiery Campaign Speech
"Trump's best chance this fall is to ignore the noise and prove that he is the superior candidate in terms of competence, stability, and sanity. He has the record to prove it." The Path to Victory for Trump
"Things are so bad inside the White House that, at one recent meeting where advisers informed Biden of his falling poll numbers in battleground states like Michigan and Georgia, Biden then began yelling and cursing at staffers." Report: Joe Biden Is ‘Angry and Anxious’ About Lagging Reelection Campaign
"The comments came less than a week after Trump surpassed the requisite threshold of delegates — 1,215 — to secure the Republican presidential nomination, paving the way to a 2020 rematch against [so-called quote-unquote "president"] Joe Biden in the general election." What a Shock: Backstabbing RINO Fraud Pence Says He Won’t Endorse Trump In 2024
"The narrow margin Trump won by in 2020, demographic changes in the state and the election of Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson might put North Carolina back on the map for [so-called quote-unquote "president"] Joe Biden this cycle, political scientists and state operatives told the Daily Caller News Foundation." (How? Robinson is stellar; He should help keep NC red, or what am I not seeing? - jjs) Could Dems Flip This Red State In 2024?
THE UKRAINIAN "FRONT"
“Maybe at some point—I don’t want it, I won’t take the initiative—we will have to have operations on the ground, whatever they may be, to counter the Russian forces,” Macron told newspaper Le Parisien in an interview conducted on Friday. (Maybe France should use military force to de-Islamize its own damned country, and Europe in general - jjs) Macron Repeats Threat of Western Ground Forces in Ukraine "At Some Point
"Putin has been in office as president or prime minister since 1999, and the Kremlin claimed he will win because he has the backing of a large number of people for both saving Russia from post-Soviet disarray and opposing what it views as an abrasive and unfriendly West." Putin vows to punish Ukraine for alleged attacks on presidential election voting centers
Robert Zimmerman: "Imagine if AA decided blue-eyed people can fix a plane better than brown-eyed people? We would all call that policy stupid. Yet AA’s DEI program is equally as stupid, and is likely reducing the quality of its workforce." The DEI Disaster Now Appears to be Hitting American Airlines
"While crime plagues our cities and the illegal alien invasion continues, Joe Biden and his [junta] are focused on the real issues facing the country, like the size of a Snickers bar or a bag of chips.Now, he’s cracking down on another menace to our taste buds: McDonald’s oft-broken soft serve ice cream machines. Of course, given Biden’s well-known (and perhaps dementia-induced) penchant for ice cream, it’s hard to say this is surprising." Biden to McDonald's: Fix Your Ice Cream Machines!
Altria Group, the owners of Marlboro cigarettes manufacturer Philip Morris USA, are dumping 35 million shares in AB InBev, the owners of Bud Light.“As good stewards of shareholder capital, we consistently review options to unlock the value of our ABI investment, and we believe this is an opportunistic transaction that realizes a portion of the substantial return on our long-term investment,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford. Big Tobacco Divests from Big Trans
"The fuss over President Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture was far from accidental; it revealed that he had touched on something central in the ongoing culture war." Modernism Revisited
Richard Fernandez: "As Kissinger pointed out, conquerors and prophets have always marched out of the pages of history to menace the world. The principle difference between the two is the time scale of their messages. Conquerors live the lifespan of empires, while prophets exist on the scale of civilizations. As Putin demonstrates, we still have conquerors. The trick is to understand that we, not just the voodoo Haitians, still have prophets." Monsters We Have Known
"Pope [Fiction] Francis’ recent scandal regarding blessings of gay marriages has spawned a serious regression in the Western Catholic Church’s decades-long efforts to merge with the Eastern Orthodox Church." The Eastern Church Draws the Line
HITHER & YON
"This St. Patrick’s Day and every day, let us pray for the strength and courage and faith to do mighty deeds like St. Patrick and all the great Irish and American heroes. The perfect prayer for this is that called the Lorca of St. Patrick, a prayer from a holy man to his God, asking that divine aid permeate every aspect of his life and being." St. Patrick’s Lorica and the Power of Faith
". . . have a green beer (or juice drink if you don’t imbibe alcohol) with an Irishman and a Jew (or even somebody who just likes Notre Dame football), and share the stories of Patrick and Purim together. Make the noise of a grogger and contemplate the beauty of a shamrock. And in doing so, may we all embrace the blessings of God, act right and righteously, and deepen our faith in knowing that as God has redeemed our ancestors, He will again redeem this world in our time." Happy Sr. Patrick's Day — For Jews Too!
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.
It has a 15.6" 2880x1620 120Hz OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 colour. That's very similar to the display I'm using right now and it's very, very good.
CPU is a previous-generation Ryzen 7735U - eight Zen 3 CPU cores and 12 RDNA2 graphics cores, so not quite the latest but very capable. One USB 4 port, one USB 3 C port, one USB 3 A port, HDMI, and a headphone jack. Not a huge wealth of ports but adequate.
It has a numeric keypad but it's a compact three column layout so you can just leave NumLock off and use it as a cursor pad and the Four Essential Keys. And reprogram the extra keys to your whim with PowerToys.
And it's readily available with 32GB of RAM. And it weighs 1.4kg, which is the same as my 14" laptop.
It's the "small" version of GPT-2, which has 124 million parameters, so it's small enough that Excel doesn't explode. (Unless you're running on a Mac in which case you might want a blast shield.) But being able to poke at it as a spreadsheet can help demonstrate how it works.
Modern small LLMs are typically 7 billion parameters, so Excel need not apply.
Disclaimer: Could try loading into PowerPoint though...
Sunday Overnight Open Thread(3/17/24) I'm Not Irish Edition But My K9s Are
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
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The Quotes of The Day
Quote I
“He’s easily pushed around by the woke-left lunatics who renamed his family’s baseball team. “My attitude is anybody that changes the name of the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not be a senator, should not be in government.” President Donald J. Trump Considering who Ohioans vote for Katshit, DeWine, etc. I expect the RINO to win.
Quote II
“This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. It’s an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-tac-toe, a winner. A winner,” Nancy Pelosi
Quote III
"For the last 100 years, Sam Ash Music has successfully adapted to meet the challenge of changing business conditions. As we look towards the next 100 years, the company must continue to adapt to ensure its continued success." Statement from Sam Ash Music
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The Comments of The Week
Astute. Clever. Witty. Snarky. The commenters here are the very best.
March 17, 2024, was formally declared by the Russian Federation Council as the official date for the presidential election. Following this declaration, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) unveiled the voting schedule, spanning three days from March 15 to 17.
The Russian Federation's president is elected by its citizens for a six-year term. In the 2024 elections, four candidates are vying for the presidency: Vladimir Putin as an independent candidate, Nikolai Kharitonov from the Communist Party (CPRF), Leonid Slutsky from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), and Vladislav Davankov from the New People party.
Today in “this is how Democracy™ works, Jack, no joke, you dog-faced pony soldier,” we have the virile president of the United States getting lost in the rain, rescued, and then shielded from public views by his frumpy, childless handlers (the press they are paid to control are surrogate children to them).
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Every time I enter an airport or government facility I am patted down. Thank you Bionic knee. The following is a sad state of affairs in the good old USA.
Harvard Business School professor whose research into why people cheat and act dishonestly was found by an internal probe to have cheated and acted dishonestly, according to The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper of Harvard University.
The nearly 1,300-page internal report into professor Francesca Gino found that she had adjusted data in at least four published studies so as to make the data fit the theories she was trying to prove, according to the New York Post.
“The committee concludes that Professor Gino has engaged in multiple instances of research misconduct, across all four studies at issue in these allegations,” the report read, according to the Post.
Her skin color is going against her. She's Italian-American. She's probably also straight and her preferred pronouns are she/her. But, I'm just spit ballin' here on these topics.
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Hey if I would have ever had a son, I would have named him Charlie. Instead I have 3 wonderful daughters. And no, none of them were named Charlie. I got myself a dog. Perhaps this selfish mother should have gotten a pet.
Mom Gives Triplet Girls Same Name - The One Meant For The Boy She Wanted
Expectant parents often find their baby journey to be difficult long before the child is even born. Name selection alone is a challenge in itself. A decision has to be made on whether to use a more common name or a unique one, and of course, what exactly that name is. What can be especially troubling is if a parent decides they really want a boy or a girl, going so far as to come up with a name for just that gender, only to be disappointed. That's just what happened to one mom who had her heart so set on having a son that she didn't even think of girl names. Imagine her surprise when she had not just one girl, but three of them. She didn't let that boy name go to waste though, instead, she used it for all three of her newborns.
The White House plans to officially launch an online platform in April. At first, only a couple of hundred jobs will be posted, but eventually up to 20,000 young people are expected to be hired in the program’s first year. Interested candidates can apply to the positions through the portal, and the majority of the positions are not expected to require experience.
“The American Climate Corps is a story of hope and possibilities,” said Maggie Thomas, a special assistant to the president for climate change. “There’s an incredible demand signal from young people who we see as being put on a pathway to good-paying careers.”
The craziest listings on Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is a great place to find deals. It also makes for one of the best scrolls on the internet
Once the default gateway to the internet, today Facebook has a reputation as one of the least cool places on the web — at least for America’s taste-making young people. But, as the New York Times recently pointed out, there’s one corner of the platform that keeps the under-35 crowd coming back. Buried beneath the misinformation and photos from your high school gym teacher’s new car is Facebook Marketplace. It’s a holy land for people seeking deals, an unfiltered look at the human experience, and home to some of the most unhinged, disturbing, and delightful posts on the internet.
Facebook Marketplace has replaced Craigslist as the go-to place to buy, sell, and trade used stuff. Want to pick up a $2,000 couch for $300? Marketplace can help. Trying to get a few bucks for the rice cooker gathering dust on your kitchen counter, or that old guitar you haven’t played in years? Step right in. More people are recognizing it as a great resource for frugal consumers, but the world hasn’t woken up to its potential as a hub for unfiltered online weirdness.
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The ONT Musical Interlude & Lasagna Emporium
All music tonight including the Mystery Clicks are Irish based bands and/or musicians.
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That will get their attention. And you a Genius Award.
A Touching Reunion: Delta's Heartwarming Moment With Dad
March 16, 2024
In the midst of life's trials, moments of pure joy shine like beacons of hope. Such is the case with little Delta Davis, a three-year-old battling leukemia at St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Her journey has been one of resilience, courage, and the unwavering support of her loving family.
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Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Honesty.
Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. For a transcript of tonight's ONT please send $5.00 along with a SASE envelope. This will entitle you to 17% off your next ONT transcript purchase.
Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!
Holy Flaming Green Shitballs! It's St. Patrick's Day! OK, enough celebrating. Have you been practicing your fundamentals?
Q: Weasel, when are you ever going to shut up about fundamentals?
A: Never.
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
So here is a question I'd like you to answer in the comments. How many people went to the range this past week, and what were you thinking about while you were there? I'm not talking about while you were ogling the range babes during check-in, but rather what were you concentrating and focusing on while you were in a lane and firing at a target? Hmmm?
Were you concentrating and focusing on fundamentals or were you in some sort of sleepy Zen state with your mind blank? Please tell me you were concentrating and focusing and not letting your mind float around to thoughts of puppies and kittens and range babes and how you need to change the windshield wipers on your car.
Q:Weasel, are you suggesting letting your mind wander to puppies and kittens and range babes is a bad thing?
A: No. No, Weasel are not saying that, however Weasel typically thinks of these things during work hours, not at the range when important things are being accomplished.
I have long said not to concentrate on shooting small groups, but rather concentrate on the elements of fundamental marksmanship and just allow the small groups take care of themselves. Proper stance, grip mechanics, sight alignment, and trigger squeeze/pull/compression/whatever are what I consider the four main elements of fundamentals. What you should be doing is concentrating on one of these each and every time you execute a shot. I am not kidding.
Q: Weasel, are you kidding?
A: No, no I am not.
Each and every time I am behind a gun, I am concentrting and focusing as hard as I can on one of the four elements described above. Here is a short video I made at WeaselAcres some time ago.
In the video, I am about 20 feet from the target firing in double action, and the six rounds went into about a 2 inch group. Is that a good result? It's not terrible, and at least not embarrassing. Could the group have been better? You bet. Was I praying to the range gods for a good group? No. I was simply focusing all of my brain juices on stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger mechanics. Look, I'm not the brightest fork in the shed, and if I can do it, then you can do it too. I have practiced a lot and I focus on one element of fundamentals every time I am shooting. I promise you this works people. Next time you are at the range, please incorporate this into your routine. For one set of shots, focus on one element and then for the next group move to another element. This is the one weird trick that works. Begin to master the fundamentals and you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Over the coming weeks I will try and offer some simple and very basic examples of the Four Elements as I think we should now call them.
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Guns of the Horde
Next our pal Ed L sends in an excellent essay on the Smith & Wesson Model of 1899!
Smith and Wesson Revolver, Model of 1899
Sources: "US Handguns of World War II, The Secondary Pistols and Revolvers," Charles W. Pate
"Colt .45 Service Pistols, Models of 1911 and 1911A1." Charles W. Clawson
The Spanish-American War found the US military terribly underprepared when it came to small arms. Although US regular forces were fairly well equipped with relatively modern weapons, mobilized volunteer and state "National Guard" units still had black powder weapons in their arms rooms. Colt and Springfield Armory, the two primary military arms suppliers, could not support the rapid expansion the onset of war demanded. In 1899, the US Navy turned to Smith and Wesson (S&W) for an order if 1,000 Model 1899 revolvers required to support USN expansion. The US Army followed soon thereafter with another order for 1,000 revolvers. The USN would order over a thousand more in 1902, with slight improvements from S&W.
S&W's Model 1899 is a milestone firearm for S&W in that it represents the first solid frame revolver made by S&W. Prior to the Model 1899, S&W became known for its top-break revolvers like the Model 3. But S&W saw that the top-break revolver could not take the more powerful cartridges of the era, like .45 Long Colt. These required a solid frame revolver like the Colt New Model Army.
This Model 1899 is an Army contract weapon made in 1901, as evidenced by the markings on the butt and US Army inspectors' initials on the checkered walnut grips. "J.T.T."; are the initials of then Captain John T. Thompson, who would go on to become a Brigadier General and Chief of the US Army Small Arms Division and Director of Arsenals in WWI. He's best remembered as the namesake and driving force behind the Thompson submachine gun. Thompson's initials certified final acceptance of the revolver from S&W. "K.S.M." are the initials of Kelly S. Morse, a US Army civilian serving as Captain Thompson's deputy. In addition to the grips, Morse's initials appear on the major components of the revolver, signifying acceptance of major components prior to final assembly.
Unlike the Colt New Model Army revolver, the S&W Model 1899 has "shoulders" bored in its cylinder chambers that allow it to accept the lower-powered .38 S&W cartridge, but not .38 Special or .357 Magnum. S&W had already fielded the .38 Special cartridge commercially by 1901. S&W didn't want it to get chambered into a revolver that might not accept the stresses of the higher pressures developed by the .38 Special. Although large military orders for this particular design would not come for almost forty more years, these small Army and Navy orders were enough for S&W to dub this design the "Military and Police Model", for decades. Although the Model 1899 is the first iteration of this design, features seen on this early version include the signature S&W "push forward" cylinder release and counter-clockwise rotation of the cylinder.
The Army guns were issued only to National Guard units. This revolver also includes a cross draw holster (made in 1903 at Rock Island Arsenal) worn on the right hip and a web belt with four ammo pouches. The web belt has stencils for "1A BY NY 102" and "HQ 3 NY 16." These indicate that this revolver, holster, and web belt were issued to the 1st and 3rd Artillery Batteries of the NY National Guard in its service life. Neither of these units was mobilized for the Spanish-American War.
The Army pistols were discarded after WWI because of the large influx of M1911 pistols during and shortly after the war. The USN revolvers had a more interesting service life. Retained in the USN because the USN never received its desired allocations of M1911s, Model 1899s were still on USN books at the onset of WWII. 500 of them went to Britain in June 1940. The desperate need for weapons of any kind after Pearl Harbor saw the USN issue these obsolete weapons to arm security forces, couriers, and anyone else who needed a weapon stateside. The last USN Model 1899s would not leave service until the end of WWII in 1945.
And that, gals and guys, is how it is done. A bigly Gun Thread thank you to Ed L or sending in these excellent write-ups! We have very fortunate to have this caliber (ha!) of contributions!
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GunBlue490
Here is our pal GunBlue490 with a nice presentation on the M1A.
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Scopes
Here is an interesting look at how they are made at the Burris factory
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Servicing Your Tank's Flammenwerfer
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Dismantling Your Nuclear Weapon(s)
For the ultimate DIY-er! I should have submitted this for the Hobby Thread.
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Tonite's Movie
The Creeping Terror!
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Musical Interlude
Here is Joe Bonamassa with The Ballad of John Henry. I saw 3 shows on this tour the band was en fuego!
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Gun Basics 101
No new video from the She Equips Herself gal, so let's go to the archives! This week's video is on reflections after 8 years of carrying.
Southern Draw is an Austin, TX-based cigar company founded by veterans that has carved out a solid niche for itself in the large, thriving, and competitive premium cigar market. Their signature Connecticut line is named Rose of Sharon, for the wife of founder Robert Holt. I stumbled upon a limited edition version of this line, called Desert Rose, at my local brick & mortar. The whole line has a solid reputation, and I was not disappointed. The stick I smoked was the belicoso fino, a softly box-pressed short torpedo. Beautiful blondish brown wrapper, grown in the cloudy conditions of Ecuador, with Nicaraguan and Dominican filler, beautiful precise construction. Nice easy draw, abundant smoke, and overall a wonderful mild cigar. I got some spices and a citrusy tang in addition to sweet wood notes. I would say I'm going to get a 5-pack or even more - but getting this stick may not be so easy. A limited edition that goes for $10 and up online, I was not able to find any belicoso finos in stock, though a few places had other vitolas (robusto, toro, and lonsdale). So anyone who enjoys mild but flavorful cigars should definitely try this one if they come across it in the wild.
Excellent, rhomboid! Thank you!
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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
This week's mailbag entry is from our pal Sharon (willows apprentice). Great one!
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Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
Food Thread: Thar She Blows! Fish Is Good! And So Is Beef...Don't Think I Am Getting Soft!
—CBD
There are all sorts of interesting food fish, and any good fish store will carry at least several. Sure, most people know salmon and cod and flounder and swordfish and tuna, but there are dozens of less well known fish that can be delicious. Even if they look weird! Like the Mahi Mahi in the photo. Or the Patagonian Toothfish, otherwise known as Chilean Seabass.
Mahi Mahi is mighty tasty. It is used a lot in fish tacos, but I made it a few days ago, simply sauteed and then finished with a butter and lemon pan sauce. It was delicious and easy, and it is meaty and fatty enough to be relatively easy to cook.
Chilean Seabass is a milder fish that is sort of like the piscine equivalent of chicken breast. The cook can make it taste any way he wants. But it's pushing $30/lb, so unless the preparation looks absolutely spectacular, I'm not springing for it at a restaurant, and I certainly won't buy it for home cooking when Cod is one third the price!
If you have a halfway decent fish store near you, give it a try! There are reasonably priced fish that are delicious, and while many people are intimidated by the relative difficulty of cooking fish as opposed to a big old chunk of cow, with a bit of attention it is manageable, and the payoff is a new food in the rotation.
One of the maddening, irritating and frankly stupid conceits of our modern society is the tendency of the urban elites to wax poetic about food's elevated status in our lives. Eating a proper (read: leftist, post-modern bullsh*t) diet will connect us to the real, essential world and allow us to understand ourselves and our place in nature.
And to be fair, that could be a carnivore diet, or Michal Pollan's omnivorous diet, or some lunatic bee pollen and lamb testicles diet.
The fact remains that while food is obviously important, and we should probably eat a varied diet to help maximize our health; it is at its most basic, just fuel. Eat a diet that will keep you from getting too fat and keep you from getting too thin, with enough of the essential nutrients that we need, and you're done!
Trying to elevate it to be some ridiculous talisman or, even worse, a marker of one's position in society is offensive. I know a few people who don't give a rat's ass what they eat as long as they are fueled up for the day. Hey! Good for them! It saves time at the supermarket and probably saves them money. But, it's none of my business.
Our society has become so wealthy that we have the leisure time and the excess capital to agonize over which side of the farm your pasture-raised lamb came from, or whether your buffalo mozzarella has ever seen any GMO feed. or worse, criticize others for their choices. Carnivore, Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian...who cares? As long as you don't preach to me that I am making the wrong food choices and your particular food church has the one true answer, I don't particularly care what you eat. Just don't try to make me eat the bugs or the fake meat!
[Unless it's maple syrup on French Toast, in which case we will have a problem]
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Pat LaFrieda is a meat juggernaut, with both brilliant marketing and a very good product. Obviously there are dozens of meat purveyors who can supply glorious stuff to restaurants, but he seems to have captured the branded high-end beef market. There are lots of places that proudly advertise "Pat LaFrieda Beef!"
I think that there is enough variation in quality even within discrete categories that actually looking at the chunk of cow you will be eating is probably the best way to judge. I have seen prime beef that was barely adequate, and I have seen choice beef that was glorious...wonderfully marbled and absolutely delicious.
That's why I always talk about looking at the beef, even when you aren't buying. Training your eye to see good stuff isn't difficult, and the payoff is being the guy whose invitations for a steak dinner will be over-subscribed.
Which depending on the quality of your invitees may or may not be a good thing.
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Ah...traditional foods. I love 'em. Well, at least most of them. Or some of them.
That's potato kugel, which is a traditional Eastern European Jewish dish, and because it doesn't have flour and doesn't rise, a perfect food for Passover.
Perfectly boring too. I have rarely had good ones. But that doesn't mean that potatoes and onions and eggs is a bad start. On the contrary, all I require is a good recipe, and all will be right and good and tasty at the Dildo Seder.
Except...there are lots of crappy recipes, and not very many good ones. Hell, I just found one that included zucchini...for texture! What the hell is wrong with people?
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That's for one dozen eggs, and it doesn't even come with a reach-around! Yes, it's Whole Foods, but the one near me has some competition, so it holds its prices down on staples! Even assuming the higher cost of virtue-signalling free-range, organic, non-binary hens that are massaged every day by neutered roosters, that's still a hefty amount for a dozen eggs.
I have had fresh eggs from free-range chickens, and yes, they are excellent. But that "free-range" is a carefully defined legal definition, and I will bet that you and I would have a tough time differentiating between legal "free-range" and plain old industrial farm eggs. The "organic" part is marketing nonsense, and the price is offensive.
What's the point? "F*ck you Joe Biden is the point.
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What the hell are those things? Some sort of mutant growth I found in the back of the refrigerator?
Or an idea I got while having a delicious Gin & Tonic at a hotel bar in London?
We bought a case of citrus to support the high school music program in our local high school. Or was it the crew team? Anyway, I have an abundance of the things, so I sliced one, sprinkled a bit of sugar on the slices (why? I have no idea), and popped it in the oven set on its lowest temperature for a very long time. I had also made a ciabatta recipe that was...eh...so I sliced one of them for bread crumbs and put it in the oven along with the grapefruit.
It certainly looks great as a garnish, but I think the drink also needs a bit of fresh grapefruit to intensify the flavor.
Yes...this is the daily struggle at Chez Dildo!
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[Hat Tip: Dr. No]
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Well, I had some asparagus and it was pretty good, so..., and Flap Meat...whatever the hell that is...just send it, Broccolini that isn't $6/bunch, garlic...lots of garlic!, well-marbled hanger steaks and elk chops to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
Who are those poor deluded souls who shake their Manhattans? These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.
However, I will give dispensation to those who use maple syrup on Brussels Sprouts! I tried that and it worked nicely. I still prefer Agave, but still...
And yes, I used to demand fancy bourbon, but let's face it, $1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
I found this damned thing rooting through my garbage this morning. And then it started squawking about shelves and intermittent fasting and hobo jerky.
We all know that Scheming Chuckie Schumer is a scummy prick with delusions of grandeur and an insatiable desire for self-aggrandizement. As the joke goes; the most dangerous place in D.C. is between Schumer and a camera.
Oddly, he represents a state with a huge Jewish population, so one would assume that he would be more sensitive to the safety, security, and autonomy of the Jewish homeland. And of course, he's Jewish! But his progressive politics swamp any cultural or religious loyalty, and his only loyalty is to the reflexive liberalism of most American Jews. But that liberalism is being challenged by the naked anti-Semitism and virulent hatred of Israel that has come to the fore in the wake of the October 7th pogrom and the Israeli response. Large swathes of the Democrat party base have gone public with their hate, and have expressed it violently on the street and vilely in the halls of power.
This is the Democrat party!
And they are the ones that Schumer is placating and courting with his attacks on Israel and his disgusting interference in the domestic politics of a sovereign nation with a democratically elected government.
During his speech, the New York Democrat reiterated his strong support for Israel but also heavily criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his repeated rejections of a two-state solution, saying at one point Israel’s leader has “lost his way.”
“At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government,” Schumer said, noting the United States should not try to dictate the outcome of another country’s elections.
That decision, Schumer added, is up to the Israeli public, “a public that I believe understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world.”
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. politics, also called out other Israeli officials for what he said was “extremist” rhetoric. He cited Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and its National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as examples for this. Smotrich, Schumer said, has openly called for the forced displacement of all Palestinians in the West Bank, and Ben-Gvir facilitated the “mass distributions of guns” to far-right settlers.
He is bringing the politics of division and hatred from America to Israel, via the conflation of defense of country and culture with extremism and racism.
Netanyahu was deeply disliked by many Israelis, but he is conducting the defensive war against Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north the way most Israelis want. The country was shaken to the core by the savagery of the October 7th pogrom, and is coalescing around love of country, pride in its armed forces, and a quiet and cold resolve that "Never Again" will never again be a mere catchphrase.
Every time an American politician deigns to tell Israel how to conduct itself, the country becomes more unified. If it were up to many American and world politicians, Israel would have been overrun by the 7th century savages massed on its borders, with appropriately somber statements made after the fact.
Schumer (and his fat-f*ck sidekick Jerry Nadler) is an insult to Judaism, an insult to the many Americans who are cheering Israel on in its existential fight against the barbarians, and an insult to the very concept of Western culture.
And lest we forget, those barbarians have said time and time again that we are next! "First comes little Satan, then comes Great Satan!"
LAUNCH IN ABOUT 50-60 MINUTES
SpaceX - Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-44 - LC-39A - KSC
SpaceX targets March 13 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Lift-Off is scheduled for 7:29 p.m. EDT , 23:29 UTC (00:29 CET, March 14).
Sefton's back! He and CBD discuss: Biden's vile SOTU, the Junta's intentional invasion of criminal and terrorist foreigners, Biden about to send GIs to Gaza, and potentially face off against the IDF, the situation as we head towards November, and, from J.J.: A very heartfelt thank you to all of you for your prayers and good wishes during my absence. God bless y'all!
In MSNBC interview, Joe Biden has just apologized to Laken Riley's killer for calling him "illegal." Biden then went on to say about people like Ms. Riley's killer, "They built the country." [Buck]
Don't Fire Until You See the Whites. ". . . the question really is, if [Obama's Civilian National Security Force] does come into being. . . will it be tasked with preventing another Aaron Bushnell or will it be manned by battalions full of Aaron Bushnells whose mission will be defending a 'fundamentally transformed' America from us 'bitter clingers?'" My latest essay over at Taki's Magazine. Please give a read and comment. [J.J. Sefton]
Forgotten Eighties Mystery Click Home in the darkness/Home on the highway/Home isn't my way/Home will never be I looked up this lyric that had long confused me: Time everlasting/Time to play B sides/Time ain't on my side/Time will never know Oh, time to play B-sides, not "time to play besides"
Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday at 2am (which is really late Saturday night). That's the bad one. You move the clocks ahead, and you lose an hour of sleep. Courage. We're all in this together. We'll get through this unpleasantness -- somehow.
Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD: cbd.aoshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com