What Counts as ‘Hate’?

Posted on | June 8, 2023 | No Comments

Being identified as a figure of “hate” by the Southern Poverty Law Center has long been part of my personal legend. Those of you old enough to remember when Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs was a popular conservative blogger — really, I’m not making this up — will also remember how, in September 2009, CJ pounced on me as an alleged “white supremacist,” relying on material from the SPLC.

To briefly summarize that conflict: I won, and CJ lost his mind.

Being the target of such an attempted character assassination is not an experience I’d recommend to anyone, but if you survive such an attempt, you become a hero to those who are sick and tired of the encroaching Thought Police regime that the SPLC represents. And nowadays, more and more people are becoming sick and tired:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that frequently lists mainstream conservatives alongside hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, has placed Moms for Liberty and other parental rights group on its “hate map” for being “antigovernment extremist groups.”
Florida-based Moms for Liberty was added to SPLC’s hate map along with 11 other parental rights groups, including several Virginia-based groups, according to the organization’s annual 2022 Year in Hate and Extremism report.
The inclusion of these 12 parental rights groups brings the SPLC’s total number of hate and antigovernment extremist groups to 1,225 organizations. Of those, 523 were “hate groups,” and 702 were deemed “antigovernment extremist groups,” which the parental rights groups fell under.
“Schools, especially, have been on the receiving end of ramped-up and coordinated hard-right attacks, frequently through the guise of ‘parents’ rights’ groups,” the SPLC’s report claims.
“These groups were, in part, spurred by the right-wing backlash to COVID-19 public safety measures in schools,” the report continued. “But they have grown into an anti-student inclusion movement that targets any inclusive curriculum that contains discussions of race, discrimination and LGBTQ identities.”
The SPLC claimed Moms for Liberty is at the “forefront of this mobilization,” and noted, “They can be spotted at school board meetings across the country wearing shirts and carrying signs that declare, ‘We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT.’”

It’s possible — indeed, it seems likely — that the SPLC staff are too stupid to see that they are causing the “extremism” they profess to oppose. That is to say, by continually expanding the definition of “hate” and “extremism,” and by encouraging censorship and suppression of anyone who dissents from their liberal agenda, the SPLC compels people with more or less mainstream beliefs to engage in the kind of activism practiced by Moms for Liberty. Furthermore (and, again, I think SPLC staff are too stupid to grasp this), by denoting mainstream groups as proponents of “hate,” the SPLC undermines its own credibility and causes people who are not remotely “extremist” to question the whole rationale of this type of “hate”-hunting enterprise. Like, why should we even care if someone is prejudiced against gay people or black people or Jews or whatever? So long as they are not engaged in any actual criminal behavior, or advocating violence against others, people are free to form their own opinions. This whole business of “exposing” people as holding allegedly dangerous beliefs — which is to say, acting as Thought Police — is antithetical to liberty. And I think more Americans are beginning to reject the type of Thought Police agenda that SPLC pursues.

As for the alleged “anti-government extremist” group Moms for Liberty, they seem grateful to the SPLC for the free publicity.

If @Moms4Liberty is a “hate group,” add me to the list. pic.twitter.com/kxK8PtwGso

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) June 8, 2023

“The Southern Poverty Law Center is going on offense and they’ve decided to target Moms for Liberty,” @SenTedCruz said on his podcast Wednesday. “Let me say Moms for Liberty, they are phenomenal women—they are moms who are standing up for their kids.”

— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) June 8, 2023

According to the SPLC, @Moms4Liberty is an “anti-government” hate group.

This is absurd. Parents have every right to defend themselves and protect their children from liberal indoctrination in schools.

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 7, 2023

Cofounder of Moms for Liberty Tina Descovich @TinaDescovich responds to SPLC labeling @moms4liberty as “extremists”: “It’s a bunch of nonsense.” pic.twitter.com/9lcwvNlzFC

— Human Events (@HumanEvents) June 7, 2023

Category: Progressivism

Cue the ‘Paw Patrol’ Theme Again

Posted on | June 7, 2023 | No Comments

The laughingstock of the cable news industry is once again the butt of the joke, as CNN fires their CEO Chris Licht after just a year:

CNN Chairman Chris Licht has been fired, according to sources at the network. Licht’s tumultuous, year-long tenure was marked by controversy after controversy as he tried to make the network more “middle of the road” in its outlook.
But Licht was handicapped by one, significant roadblock: he had no idea what “middle of the road” meant.
Licht didn’t necessarily want to emulate Fox News as much as he wanted to de-radicalize CNN. The pushback was enormous. His firing of long-time employees like Don Lemon — the farthest left news personality on the network — set off a mini-revolt among the hard left staffers who didn’t like the idea of CNN going soft on the enemy. And his decision to give Donald Trump a town hall platform caused left-wing heads to explode all across America.
The former producer for Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late-night show angered employees right off the bat when he made the decision to cancel CNN’s nascent streaming service, CNN+. The company took a $1.5 billion write-down, and the failure of CNN+ will likely go down as one of the most spectacular collapses in TV history. Despite a $300 million ad campaign, no more than 10,000 people were watching it at any one time.
David Zaslav, the chief executive of CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, informed CNN staff. “For a number of reasons, things didn’t work out, and that’s unfortunate,” Mr. Zaslav said, according to a recording of his remarks. “It’s really unfortunate, and ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”

“Things didn’t work out” — to put it as mildly as possible. As bad as CNN already was, somehow Licht managed to make it even worse. Did I mention they keep losing to Paw Patrol in the cable ratings?

Ace of Spades points out that liberals (including CNN staffers) are trying to pretend that Licht is to blame for CNN’s decline when, in point of fact, they’ve been more or less permanently stuck in third place (behind Fox and MSNBC) for at least 15 years. Licht was brought in to try to fix the network’s problems, and his firing is evidence that CNN’s problems are beyond repair. Better to shut it down than to keep wasting money in a futile effort to salvage a fundamentally broken institution.

Category: CNN

In The Mailbox: 06.07.23 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | June 7, 2023 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Bud Light Kerfluffle – Month Three
EBL: 6 June 1944: D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France
Twitchy: Florida Historian Claims Casey DeSantis’ Gator Jacket Is Racist, also, Antifa No Match For Pissed-Off Parents In Deep Blue Cali Fighting School Board’s Queer Agenda
Louder With Crowder: Anonymous Lia Thomas teammate from “What is a Woman” goes public with stunning new details, also, Target gets smacked with another downgrade as new details of their political agenda reveal it’s not just about “pride”
Vox Popoli: It’s Afraid, Showtime, The Rape Factories, and Omitting the Obvious

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Sodomites aren’t alone in sins against Procreation
American Conservative: The Great Carbon Capture Scam
American Greatness: J6 Defendant on Ray Epps: ‘They Are Protecting Him Like Crazy’, also, Congresswoman: FBI ‘Afraid’ Informant Could be Killed over Information He has on Biden Family
American Thinker: It’s Not Reparations Being Demanded; It’s Something Quite Different, also, D-Day, History, and Memory
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Cocaine Hippo News
Babalu Blog: Reports from Cuba: Three dissidents who called a press conference arrested in Cuba, Economic engagement with Cuba takes precedence over human rights for EU High Representative, and Cuban Prime Minister Marrero in Moscow to speed up Russian takeover of Cuba
Behind The Black: Russia to launch Luna-25 on August 11, 2023, NASA: Psyche asteroid mission now targeting October ’23 launch, Tianzhou unmanned freighter completes month-long free flight, re-docks with Tiangong-3, and The explanation as to why Democrats today are fearless in proposing insane policies
CDR Salamander: Dambusting On The Dnipro
Chicago Boyz: From Sacrificing FOR Freedom to Choosing the Sacrifice OF Freedom
Da Tech Guy: This deadly day in history, also, Under the Fedora: Felton on D-Day+79, Haiti the future of Chicago et/al, Loomer finds spare time, Stacy on coked up Elementary principal and Dallas answers Pride flag questions.
Dana Loesch: They Don’t Make Them Like This Anymore, also, RFK Jr. Isn’t Exactly A Political Ally
Don Surber: Be The Fascist They Say You Are
First Street Journal: Killadelphia: Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas begins with the truth, but then has to tell a huge lie to fit the newspaper’s requirements
Gates Of Vienna: Flying in the Culture-Enrichers, also, Passports For Deviants in the EU
The Geller Report: “Human Rights” Campaign Declares a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ People, Target Funding Woke Group That Wants Mount Rushmore Shut Down, and Norway Bans Child Sex Mutilations (Gender-Affirming Surgery), joins Finland, Sweden, and UK in Rejecting Gender Ideology
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Simulation: A Disc Galaxy Forms, Extra Deep, and I’m So Old
Hollywood In Toto: The Best Shows of 2023 (So Far), Flamin’ Hot Burns with Humor, Heart and a Dubious Narrative, Civilization in the Danger Zone Offers Bleak Peek at America’s Future, and What Is a Woman? Director Shares Film’s Biggest Strength
The Lid: Biden Corrupts U.S. Marines with Radical, Racist DEI Training Instead of Military Tactics
Legal Insurrection: Ukraine Dam Damaged, Towns and Villages Already Underwater, Human Rights Campaign Declares State of Emergency Over Treatment of LGBT Community, University of Buffalo Sued for Revoking Recognition of Young Americans for Freedom, Former Harvard Prof Cornel West Running For President, May Pose Spoiler Threat To Democrats, and DOD Cancels On-Base Drag Shows – Leftist Outrage Noticeably Missing
Nebraska Energy Observer: Robert Woodson
Outkick: ‘One Of Saddest Days In History of Professional Golf’, TCU Fans Rally To Support Indiana State, Special Olympics After NCAA Super Regional Site Switch, Donald Trump Perfectly Predicted PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger, Olivia Dunne Does The Splits In A Fashion That Would Hospitalize Most People, and Clay Travis: LIV-PGA Merger Is Monster Win For Golfers Who Left Tour, Bad Loss For Saudi-Obsessed Media
Power Line: CNN ratings update, San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’ Has Accelerated, and Angels of Omaha
Shark Tank: DeSantis Deployment of Florida LE & Military To Texas Border Is Paying Off
Shot In The Dark: Urban Progressive Privilege – This Is Today’s MNDFL, Discretion, and Mojo Nixon Nailed It
STUMP: STUMP Orientation: Death, Taxes, DataViz and Sumo!
The Political Hat: Fighting Mandatory DEI Support in California
This Ain’t Hell: Tuesday – Asked and Answered, also, Milley Receives France’s Highest End-of-Tour Medal
Transterrestrial Musings: Light Posting
Victory Girls: New CDC Choice Is Big Fan Of Mandates And Lockdowns
Volokh Conspiracy: An Un-Bearable Fourth Amendment/Property Rights Case
Watts Up With That: Coal: The Missing Link, also, NOAA proposes massively cruel offshore sonar survey
Weasel Zippers: Hakeem Jeffries Can’t Stop Gushing Over Biden, A Confused Biden Gets Handed Kansas City Chiefs Jersey, Immediately Asks, “What Am I Doing?”, FBI Refuses To Hand Over Biden Bribery Docs To House Oversight Committee, and WH “Not Gonna Comment” On Questions If Biden Will Make It Through Another Full Term
The Federalist: Abortion Facility Closes In Indiana As AG Pursues Abortionists’ Medical Licenses, Disney Proves DeSantis’ Point By Going After Military Guests, The Air Force Is Using Taxpayer Money To Fly Service Members To Branch ‘Pride’ Events, Splitting The China-Russia Axis Starts With A Negotiated Settlement In Ukraine, and Biden’s Declining Mental Acuity Is A Big Welcome Mat To Red China’s Aggression
Mark Steyn: Steyn Sues the UK Censor Ofcom

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Category: Linkagery

D-Day: ‘The Blessing of Almighty God’

Posted on | June 6, 2023 | No Comments

“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. … I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 6, 1944

The U.S. forces in Operation Overlord did not keep a day-by-day casualty count — which would have been an impossible task, given the circumstances — but research indicates “there were about 1,465 American deaths, 3,184 wounded, [and] 1,928 missing” on D-Day itself. Most of the combat deaths occurred on Omaha Beach, where the Americans had the misfortune of encountering part of the German 352nd Infantry Division, which had several well-sited machine-gun emplacements on high ground that put the beach under a deadly crossfire that pinned down the first two waves of troops that landed.

Because of the rough seas, many troops on Omaha came ashore hundreds of yards from their intended objectives. Many landing craft were swamped in the choppy surf, and the majority of the amphibious tanks assigned to Omaha sank before reaching the beach. Of the nine infantry companies in the first wave, only one (Company L, 16th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Division) landed in such a way as to enable the whole company “to operate as a unit. All the other companies were, at best, disorganized, mostly leaderless and pinned down . . . with no hope of carrying out their assault missions.” The first wave hit the beach shortly after 6 a.m., and at 7 a.m., the second wave came ashore:

The survivors of the first wave were unable to provide effective covering fire, and in places the fresh landing troops suffered casualty rates as high as those of the first wave. Failure to clear paths through the beach obstacles also added to the difficulties of the second wave. In addition, the incoming tide was beginning to hide the remaining obstacles, causing high attrition among the landing craft before they had reached the shore. As in the initial landings, difficult navigation caused disruptive mislandings, scattering the infantry and separating vital headquarters elements from their units.

For nearly an hour, which must have seemed an eternity for the GIs pinned down on Omaha, there was little progress. Finally, about 7:50 a.m., led by 29th Division assistant commander Brig. Gen. Norman “Dutch” Cota, the Americans made their first breakthrough. About 8:15, Col. George Taylor of the 16th Regimental Combat Team landed and famously declared: “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach, the dead and those who are going to die — now let’s get the hell out of here!” Taylor organized the survivors and led them inland, and by 9:30, after more than three hours of fighting, Omaha had been secured.

The best history of D-Day remains Cornelius Ryan’s The Longest Day, which was of course made into a major motion picture with an all-star cast including John Wayne as Lt. Col. Benjamin H. Vandervoort of the 82nd Airborne Division and Robert Mitchum as Norman Cota.

Category: History, Military

In The Mailbox: 06.05.23

Posted on | June 5, 2023 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: The Origins Of The Global Warming Scam
EBL: Chuck Todd Out At “Meet The Press”, Biden’s Ex Nuclear Waste Leader Sam Brinton Arrested For Another Baggage Theft, and What Am I Eating? with Zooey Deschanel
Twitchy: Michael Shellenberger’s Thread Perfectly Sums Up Why Half Of Americans Don’t Trust The FBI, also, ARGLE BARGLE RAR! Gynecologist Who Insists Dylan Mulvaney Is A Woman Gets Big Mad About Being Mocked
Louder With Crowder: Family wins $125k settlement after school punished father, daughter for criticizing males in the girl’s locker room, US women’s soccer team gets WRECKED by an older male team of retirees, NBA star launches new conservative, anti-woke urban clothing line: “We don’t have to hide”, and “Influencer ad agency” responsible for Dylan Mulvaney/Bud Light fiasco is in serious panic mode too
Vox Popoli: Diversity is Why Nothing Works Anymore, Adjusted Metrics, Four Generations of Demoralization, and Same As it Ever Was
Flappr: Progressivism Is No Substitute For Tradition|
Stoic Observations: A Firelight Mourning

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Russians do indeed Love their Children
American Conservative: Partition For Peace, also, The ‘Root Causes’ of ‘Fare Evasion’
American Greatness: The Strange Pandemic of ‘White’ Disparagement
American Thinker: Will Wokeness Be Our Demise?, also, There Are No God-Given Rights without God
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Cuba, the new desitnation for social media influencers, Nicaragua’s socialist dictator surrounding himself with Cuban ‘advisers’, and Reports from Cuba: No sanitary pads in Cuba since January because sole producer can’t afford raw materials
BattleSwarm: Entire Contents Of Hunter Biden’s Laptop Now Online, Russia: We Destroyed Ukraine’s Patriot Batteries! Satellite Images: Not So Much, and Abbott Signs Law Banning Child Genital Mutilation
Behind The Black: SpaceX launches 22 2nd generation Starlink satellites, Three astronauts return to Earth safely from China’s Tiangong-3 space station, Russian communications satellite in trouble, SpaceX successfully launches cargo Dragon to ISS, and Pushback: Court victory for volleyball student and coach father who were blacklisted for disagreeing with queer agenda
Cafe Hayek: Creative Destruction Is Not An Externality, Part 1, also, Some Adam Smith Links
CDR Salamander: Strategy, Uncertainty, & The Red China Challenge, also, When The PRC Tells You Who They Are
Da Tech Guy: Youngkin being a great governor, Let’s go Brandon: a violent start to Brandon Johnson’s Chicago mayoralty, and Defining Woke: The Four Stages of Woke: Delusional, Crazy Batshit Crazy, Fully Woke
Don Surber: Democrats Went After Kids
First Street Journal: The left want to control your thoughts by controlling your language, There’s no threat quite like an empty threat!, and What could possibly go wrong?
Gates Of Vienna: The Heroine of Antifa is Released From Jail, Reprise of Taharrush in Peschiera del Garda, Tariq Ramadan: Persona Non Grata in Nice, and Your Secret Decoder Ring
The Geller Report: Ireland Plans to Slaughter 200,000 Cows to Save Planet from ‘Global Warming’, also, Children’s Choir Singing the Star Spangled Banner Forced to Stop by Capital Police “Because It Was Considered a Demonstration”
Hogewash: A Barred Spiral Galaxy, Hate Speech, I’m Not Making This Up, You Know, and Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Hollywood In Toto: Roseanne Roasts John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, Disney’s Latest Problem? Movies Too Big for Their Own Good, Miss ‘Succession’ Already? ‘Industry’ Is the Perfect Replacement, and Why ‘Varsity Blues’ Couldn’t Be Made Today
The Lid: Supervising Detective in Bragg’s Case Against Trump Suspended For Ties to Michael Cohen, also, Victory: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz Gets ‘Child-Friendly’ Drag Show on Military Base Canceled
Legal Insurrection: U.S. Air Force Shoots Down Story that AI Drone ‘Killed its Operator’ in Simulation, Parents Protest Pride Event at Elementary School in North Hollywood, CA, The Irish Now Defending Their Iconic Cow Herds and Dairy Farms against Climate Cultists, Cal-Tech Scientists Transmit Space-Based Solar Power to Earth For First Time, and Former White House Doctor, Rep. Ronny Jackson, Says Biden Not Fit to Serve as President
Nebraska Energy Observer: Saturday – just for you, Trinity Sunday, and Be Ye Men (and Women) of Valor
Outkick: Indiana’s Starting Second Baseman Suspended For Regional Final After Getting Ejected Over Ridiculous Anti-Fun Rule, College Baseball Coach Torches Auburn AD John Cohen After Tigers Lose Their Own Regional In Just Two Games, Olivia Dunne Takes On Nashville, Sean Connery’s Granddaughter Does Some Influencing & Mount Everest Is Still Covered In Trash, Netflix To Release ‘Swamp Kings’ Documentary Following 2006-09 Florida Gators And It Should Be Incredible, and Stephen Strasburg’s Career In Jeopardy After Nerve Damage
Power Line: Sunday morning coming down, Thought for the Day: “Collective Intelligence” Is an Oxymoron, and CA Gov, AG Incensed After 16 Illegals Dropped off at Sacramento Church
Shark Tank: Soto Targeted By NRCC Again For Voting Against Energy Production
Shot In The Dark: Pronouns, also, Life Imitates The Babylon Bee
STUMP: Ranking the states by COVID age-adjusted death rates, June 2023 edition
This Ain’t Hell: What are we paying for?, Marine veteran, MMA fighter, subdues 10-foot alligator, An Afghan immigrant describes crime ridden San Francisco as worse than Afghanistan, Army musician vet Barry Newman dead at 92, and Virginia Military Institute DEI Head Quits
Transterrestrial Musings: Starliner, also, Biden’s War On The First Amendment
Victory Girls: Vivek Ramaswamy To Take The Debate Stage In GOP Primary Election, Daily Beast Aims Spittle-Flecked Rant at Casey DeSantis, and Salon: Taylor Swift’s Woke Handmaid Allyship Is Not Enough
Volokh Conspiracy: Urban Dictionary Definition Inadmissible in Trademark Case
Watts Up With That: Emails Reveal Bureaucrats censored radiation risk science fraud by cancelling whistleblowers; Huge implications for nuclear power and more, Solar Panels: The Unspoken Environmental Cost, and Climate fearmongering reaches stratospheric heights
Weasel Zippers: Biden Tells Americans He Wants To Raise Taxes, Dem Rep. Jamie Raskin: “Having A Debt Ceiling Statute Is A Threat To Us”, MSNBC Claims John Roberts “An Enemy of Black People Voting”, Texas Gov. Signs Law Banning Transgender Procedures On Kids, and California State Senate To Honor Anti-Cathoilic Drag Group
The Federalist: How SCOTUS’s Sullivan Ruling Denies Victims The Right To Defend Themselves From The Rich And Powerful, ‘Highly Credible’ Source Reveals Scandal Bigger Than Biden Bribery: FBI Election Interference, Climate-Crazed Bureaucrats’ ‘Home Of The Future’ Is Secretly A Costly Fixer-Upper, Majority Of Americans Want Corrupt FBI To Be Reformed Or ‘Shut Down’, and After Overseeing Weaponization Of Government Against Trump, James Comey Frets Trump Could Weaponize Government
Mark Steyn: Beauty, Nostalgia and Betrayal in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, Tal Bachman: Two Centuries of Rugby, Part IV, and My One and Only Love

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Category: Linkagery

Death by ‘Mommy Makeover’?

Posted on | June 5, 2023 | No Comments

Welcome once again to that recurring feature of the blog where I have to explain who a “celebrity” is, because this status has been extended to people who aren’t actually famous in the sense that word celebrity once designated. With so many shows on so many cable-TV channels (to say nothing of social media “influencers”) we seem to be approaching that moment once prophesied by Andy Warhol: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” The woman known as “Jacky Oh” (real Jacklyn Smith) at some point appeared on the hiphop comedy sketch show Wild ‘n Out, which originally aired on MTV but is now on VH1.

Probably not many of my readers have ever watched this show, as most of them are old enough to remember when MTV actually played music videos, which is ancient history to the 21st-century audience who know who Jacky Oh is. At any rate, it was while appearing on Wild ‘n Out in 2015 that Jacky Oh hooked up with Atlanta-based comedian John Whitfield, a/k/a “DC Young Fly,” who has over 1 million YouTube subscribers. The couple had three children, the youngest born last July.

Because I know my readership, I have researched the question I’m sure many of you are asking and, no, Jacky Oh isn’t one of those wannabe “cultural appropriators.” In interviews, she has explained that she’s only half-white, and growing up in Oakland, California, always identified more with her black father’s side of the family, which I’m sure Senator Bilbo would have expected (and perhaps even endorsed). However, we are not here to discuss the controversial opinions of long-dead Mississippi politicians, but rather to report the death of a 21st-century “celebrity”:

MTV star Jacky Oh had planned to have a “mommy makeover” surgery before her sudden death.
The former Wild N Out girl posed in a hospital gown with Dr Zachary Okhah as she boasted about her plans to go under the knife following the birth of her son Prince who was born last year.
“Getting ready for my mommy makeover with Dr Zach!! Stay tuned to my YouTube for the full reveal!” she wrote in her Instagram caption.
A mommy makeover typically includes any combination of a tummy tuck, breast augmentation, liposuction, and vaginal rejuvenation surgery. . . .

Without going into the details of such “rejuvenation,” what’s up with the apparently widespread belief that eternal youth can be (and should be) obtained through unnecessary surgical intervention? Isn’t there something vaguely creepy about this fetishization of youthfulness? Like, do we want middle-aged women running around boasting about having teenage vaginas? But anyway, now Jacky Oh’s dead:

Jacky Oh, born Jacklyn Smith, was staying at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Miami Downtown/Brickell where she was found unresponsive on the evening of May 31, according to a Miami Police Department incident report obtained by The Times. Police were dispatched and she was transported to Mercy Hospital where, despite resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead shortly before midnight. The case is still under investigation.

It would be an incorrect assumption — committing the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc — to suggest that Jacky Oh’s death was caused by whatever surgical “rejuvenation” she underwent in Miami. Also, you might get sued for libel for making such a suggestion:

Late Wild ‘N’Out star Jacky Oh’s plastic surgeon Dr. Zach faced previous complaints from patients over alleged botched procedures, according to a new report.
Oh died this week at age 32, a BET Media Group spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE, and her cause of death has not been made public. Since then, Page Six and other outlets report that the TV star visited Zach — real name Zachary Okhah — for a “mommy makeover” before her sudden death, as she reportedly updated fans about it in a since-deleted Instagram post.
And now, the outlet reports that the PH-1 Miami surgeon had sued multiple former patients over online reviews of his procedures in the past.
Okhah’s business PH-1 Miami did not immediately to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
According to a screenshot obtained by Hollywood Unlocked, Oh posed alongside the surgeon in a photo and teased a makeover before her death, asking fans to “stay tuned to my YouTube for the full reveal.”
In the days since, Page Six reports thay Okhah previous filed lawsuits against other clients, such as Leila Penn, who he reportedly sued for more than $30,000 in July 2021.
Penn, the publication reports, alleged that the surgeon “mutilated” her in a RealSelf review — claims that Okhah allegedly called “false.” He reportedly accused his former patient of “directly engaging with” prospective clients and encouraging them to go elsewhere, but dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice in December 2021.
Additionally, Okhah filed a lawsuit in September 2021 against Kyla Neirenburg for claiming that he doesn’t have “happy patients,” Page Six reports. She claimed his reviews on Google were “fake” and “written by their own staff or friends,” and Okhah filed a suit for $30,000, per the outlet He reportedly also had the suit dismissed without prejudice in December 2021.

Hate to keep using Latin phrases, but if a woman’s pursuit of “rejuvenation” results in her being “mutilated,” well, caveat emptor.

Far be it from me to risk a libel suit by suggesting that the late Jacky Oh died because “Doctor Zach” botched her surgery and, while dead people can’t sue for libel, I have no intent to blame Jacky for her own death, because de mortuis nihil nisi bonum, but there I go with the Latin phrases again. Pending the outcome of the investigation in Miami, we don’t know who is to blame for Jacky Oh’s untimely death. And neither Andy Warhol nor Senator Bilbo could be reached for comment.

Category: Celebrities

‘Our Recreational Drug Use Began About a Year Ago … It Increased Recently.’

Posted on | June 5, 2023 | No Comments

Michael Griffin (left) and Meghan Griffin (right)

The Understatement of the Year competition just got tougher thanks to Meghan Griffin, who offered the quote above in a statement to police after an April incident at a QFC grocery story in Redmond, Washington, where her husband was found in a state of paranoia with “visible white powder on his lips” and carrying a loaded pistol. Did I forget to mention that both of the Griffins were employed as elementary school principals?

High on cocaine with a loaded gun – that’s what Redmond police say they saw when they confronted a local elementary school principal at a QFC.
The incident has now led to two elementary school principals in the Northshore School District – husband and wife, Michael and Meghan Griffin – to be placed on administrative leave.
Michael Griffin is the principal at Sunrise Elementary, while Meghan Griffin is the principal at Moorlands Elementary.
“It gives me goosebumps to kind of think that this stuff is happening,” said Aaron Gazes, a parent of a seven-year-old at Moorlands. “You have people looking up to you, it hurts bad. Because we’re down here and we’re trusting you. But the trust is just shot,” he said.
The district’s action is in response to the QFC incident that happened on April 30th.
Police documents say Mr. Griffin was “in a paranoid state likely under the influence of cocaine”. A responding corporal said Griffin had “dilated pupils”, and “visible white powder on his lips”, and was making “delusional statements.”
Griffin also “took his pistol to QFC chambered and unsecured in his front sweatshirt pocket”.
Documents say his eyes were darting around the parking lot, that Griffin at one point yelled at a stranger before his wife intervened, pointed to “uninvolved people,” and “believed his wife was in danger possibly being trafficked”. The police narrative also said Griffin had two bags filled with valuables and documents from his home that he tried to give to the Corporal to hold.
Police say Griffin was involuntarily taken to the hospital.
The district says it put Griffin on leave May 9th after learning about the incident.
Then on May 30, the district also placed his wife, Meghan Griffin, on leave. The principal at Moorlands Elementary sent out a letter to families, saying it did so because the district “became aware of statements made by Principal Meghan Griffin in a police report.”
The district doesn’t specify the content, but KIRO7 obtained the handwritten statement Meghan Griffin gave to Redmond police.
She wrote in her opening line, “Our recreational drug use began about a year ago while on vacation. It increased recently.” She went on to detail her husband’s worsening paranoia.
“Michael and I went to see our primary care doctor on March 22, 2023. The doctor told us we needed to stop the use of cocaine and that at the next check-up, the doctor would do a full workup to check for anything else that could be causing the delusions,” Meghan Griffin wrote.
Gazes says as a parent, he hopes the Northshore School District will learn from the experience.
“I leave my kid, and I trust he’s safe for the whole day. Right now I don’t,” Gazes said. “One school is enough. Two schools? I don’t want to believe something is broken within the district. I want to think it’s a one-off and someone just made a mistake and they will do whatever it takes to make right,” he said.
He’s appalled that students were under the Griffins’ leadership, while trouble — apparently involving drugs and firearms — was unfolding behind the scenes.
“If you have a problem, get help. That’s it. Until then, you cannot be around kids,” Gazes said.
Redmond police said no criminal charges were filed, but officers did apply for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, and now Griffin’s firearms are in police custody.
“The Redmond Police Department fears that Griffin’s paranoia will only continue to increase and could cause him to end up in an altercation with an uninvolved party.
Moreover, ‘Griffin’s mental state and access to firearms are made even more concerning as he is the principal at a local elementary school,” court documents said.
The school district said it can’t comment further on the incident because it’s a personnel matter, but said it will “continue investigating and take appropriate action.”

The school district can’t comment, but I can. More than a month before police found Michael Griffin ranting delusionally at the local grocery store, they went to their doctor because he was already suffering with delusional beliefs caused by his cocaine habit. Here’s a question: How much cocaine does it take to induce paranoid psychosis? And how could two public school employees afford such an expensive addiction?

A cocaine habit is not cheap, and you’ve got to be doing it pretty heavily — like, the Eagles on tour in 1977 — to reach the point where you’re in a grocery store parking lot babbling paranoid gibberish with a pistol in your pocket. How were the Griffins able to do this much coke while functioning as elementary school principals and nobody even noticed?

In conclusion: Crazy People Are Dangerous.

Category: Crime, Education, Washington State

Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: Double-Scoop Swimsuit Edition!

Posted on | June 5, 2023 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Why are you not following @kbdabear on the Twitters? HAVE YOU THE BRAINWORMS? The man is a public benefactor, regularly posting dozens of pics in obeisance to Rule 5, and you spuds can’t be bothered to drop by and give his posts one measly like. Shame, I say! Shame! Still, you deserve an appetizer for this double-scoop Sunday, and here’s a couple of lovely ladies from his Swimsuit Sunday tweets.

By way of belated explanation, last week’s Rule 5 Sunday was preempted by an awesome dinner at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, well-known in Baltimore for their awesome seafood and world-wide for sticking it to PETA. (They have a “People Eating Tasty Animals” shirt for sale.) Vast quantities of excellent aquatic protein were consumed, and after I got back to the hotel I went straight to bed and passed out. Worth it.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.