In The Mailbox: 03.29.24 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | March 30, 2024 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.29.24 (Evening Edition)

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

The Fuehrer is not happy with this upstart.

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Democrat Disaster at Democrat Event , Good Friday Crucifixion, Lou Gossett, Jr., RIP, and Deposition of Christ
Twitchy: Kathy Griffin Still Thinks It’s About Trump, Gov. Hochul May Have Been Invited But She Sure Wasn’t Welcome At Slain NYPD Officer’s Funeral, and Republican Rep Refused To Play Pretend For Troon Democrat
Vox Popoli: Finland Played for Fools, The Wicked Conspire, and Total Tory Implosion
According To Hoyt: A Blasted And Empty Future, The Good Times, and There Comes A Time

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Convicting Julian Assange Would Mean the End of Free Speech, also, U.S. Officials Believe That ‘We’ Are at War With Russia
American Greatness: Gaza: Truths Behind All the Lies, Obama Fears Trump Win in 2024, Making Frequent Calls to Biden’s Chief of Staff, Liberal Judge Recommends Disbarment For Former Trump Election Lawyer John Eastman, and Comer Invites Joe Biden to Testify Before Oversight Committee to Explain His Past Statements About Family’s Business Schemes
American Thinker: The Third Fall of Rome, Some Men Just Want To See The World Burn, and Why Were Americans Not Informed of the Difference Between FDA-Approved and Emergency Use Authorization?
Animal Magnetism: Animal Magnetism LIVE Ep. 1 – Spring in Alaska, also, Rule Five VP Gabbard Friday
Babalu Blog: Abandoned Havana building collapsing since 2014 continues to crumble slowly, bit by bit, Putin sends 715,000 barrels of oil to his colony of Cuba, Colombia pulls diplomats out of Argentina over ‘disrespectful’ remarks made by Javier Milei, Yum! Cuban dictatorship sells spoiled sprouting chick peas to its starving citizens, and Western Union still unable to send remittances to Cuba due to lack of cooperation from dictatorship
BattleSwarm: Did Facebook Run A Man-in-The-Middle Hack Against Competitors? also, LinkSwarm For March 29
Behind The Black: SLIM survives its second lunar night, re-establishes contact, Martian waves of ridges and cracks, Japan awards development agreements with four rocket startups, Head of France’s space agency blames too many subcontractors for high cost of Ariane-6, Red China working to save classified lunar mission from launch failure, Ispace, which built the lunar lander Hakuto-R1, has raised $53 million in investment capital, and Arizona city shuts down church program that fed the hungry for the last 25 years
Cafe Hayek: Exploring the Unseen In Trade and Trade Policy
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: Gimmie that old time Science It’s good enough for me, Irony meters across the universe cried out in agony as if they were overwhelmed by a great disturbance, Voices of the 2024 Worcester Catholic Men’s Conference – Author Pia Imperial, and Divine Mercy Novena Day 1
Don Surber: Let him rip
First Street Journal: Whenever there is a truth you cannot tell, that is a truth you must tell! also, Biden Administration project to push electric vehicles is falling short
Gates Of Vienna: Interview With Edwin Wagensveld, I’ve Just Seen a Face I Can’t Forget, and The Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden, Part 18
The Geller Report: NYC Police Union INVITES TRUMP, But Tells City Council Members to Stay Away From Funeral for Officer, Accuses Them of Being Complicit in Murder, Trump’s White House Lawyer Admits to Engineering Plot To Prevent Investigating 2020 Election Fraud, Swamp Ran Deep, and President Trump speaks at the wake of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller
Hollywood In Toto: Why Netflix’s 3 Body Problem Is Causing a Commotion, The Shroud: Face to Face – A Journey from Skepticism to Faith, and Will Martin Scorsese Get Canceled (Again)?
The Lid: Church Should Be About Worship, Not Entertainment, New York City Demands Supreme Court Allow 800,000 Illegals to Vote, and Kansas and Iowa Act to Place Bans on Transgenderism
Legal Insurrection: Idaho Bans Public Colleges From Requiring Diversity Statements From Students and Staff, Canadian Judge Approves Young Woman’s Medically Assisted Suicide Plans Due to Her Autism and ADHD, Chinese Cultural Revolution Scene in New Netflix Series is Disturbing Parallel of Cancel Culture, Campus Struggle Sessions, Student Group at MIT Promotes Palestinian Terror Organization, Proposed European Climate Change Plan Flails Amid Farmer Protests, Vanderbilt U. Students Arrested and/or Suspended Following ‘Occupation’ of Chancellor’s Office, and Joe Biden is Throwing Israel and Jews Under the Bus
Nebraska Energy Observer: Another Comp, also, Scattershot Friday
Outkick: Braves Manager Kept His Family Home Thanks To ‘Hostile’ Atmosphere In Philadelphia, Kim Mulkey Declines To Further Discuss ‘Post’ Story Outside Comfort Zone Of Baton Rouge, Shaq Rips Chronically Injured Ben Simmons – ‘Man Up!’, DJ Burns Captures Hearts, Becomes Fan Favorite During NC State’s Run To Sweet 16, Shohei Ohtani Answers Questions On Interpreter, MLB Wants To Finish Investigation ‘Soon’, Too Sweet! For The First Time Since 1980, Clemson Is Headed To The Elite Eight After Massive Win Over Arizona, and WWE Superstar Chelsea Green Dresses Up As A Hooters Waitress To Celebrate Receiving A Green Card
Power Line: A word from JFK, Thoughts from the ammo line, Bontasaurus Wrecks, and The Best Climate Beatdown of the Year (So Far)
Shark Tank: GOP Vacation Rental Bill Faces Conservative Backlash
Shot In The Dark: Words. Just Words, Philatelic Equity, Some Animals Are More Equal, Show Me The Pro-Lifer & EMQ Will Show You The Crime, and A Cold Detroit
STUMP: Good Friday Thoughts – It Is Finished
The Political Hat: Quick Takes – Normalizing Euthanasia: Anti-Euthanasia Tattoos; Lessening The Worth Of A Disabled Persons Life; The Slippery Slope Ain’t No Fallacy
This Ain’t Hell: Intelligence community informed that “Jihadist” is problematic, Pali Protester’s Aromatic Argument, Chris Prentis dies, Valor Friday, Kansas lawmakers pass a bill that bans adversaries from purchasing land near military bases, Army Corps of Engineers to Baltimore Recovery, and Democrat New York City Council Member Asks Why won’t men call out attacks?
Transterrestrial Musings: Twilight Of The Wonks
Victory Girls: Nex Benedict Death Was The Suicide Of A Badly Abused Teenager, also, Democrats Now Realize The Biden-Trump Optics Were Bad
Volokh Conspiracy: Missouri Government Agency Threatening to Sue Critic for Libel, also, District Court Judgment in 303 Creative v. Elenis (the Wedding Web Site Design Case)
Watts Up With That: Officialdom Responds to Doubts That a Renewables-Based Electricity System Will Work, Wrong, Daily Mail, Climate Change Isn’t Causing a Chocolate Easter Egg Crisis, and Ford “Drastically” Cutting EV Lightning Workforce Hours
The Federalist: ‘Gender Identity’ Law Spells The End Of Religious Liberty In Minnesota, Rep. Mike Gallagher Leaves GOP, Wisconsinites In The Lurch, The RNC Is Right: -Anyone Who Can’t Recognize Flaws In 2020 Is Unfit To Help Republicans Win, As Sexual Accuser Bankrupts Trump, Biden Fundraises With Epstein Pal Bill Clinton, Georgia House Guts Bill That Would Have Given Election Board Power To Investigate Secretary Of State, ‘Bidenbucks’ Tentacles Expand As Judge Shuts Down Lawsuit, and If ‘Diversity Is Our Strength,’ Why Is Our Military So Weak?
Mark Steyn: Culling the Herd, Passing Strange, “This Will Kill That”, and The Passion Of The Christ

Amazon Warehouse Deals
The Passion of the Christ
The Centurion
Up To 25% Off Kindle E-Readers
Up To 40% Off Select Mattresses, Bedroom & Other Furniture
Up To 50% Off Amazon Essentials Mens Wear

Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 03.29.24 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | March 29, 2024 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.29.24 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

It’s time again for the Based Books Sale! Now with its own Substack! (h/t Upstream Reviews)

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Former Democrat Darling Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for Crypto-Fraud, DeSantis – Say No To Squatters, BBC Proms – Jerusalem, and Joe Lieberman, RIP
Twitchy: Coleman Hughes Drops Writer Angry At Him For Being Colorblind, Nothing To See Here Just The FBI Showing Up To Hassle Woman Over Facebook Post, and Uh Oh! California’s “Elite” Find Out They’re Not Immune To Democrat Policies
Louder With Crowder: As Ron DeSantis passes law ending “squatters rights,” NYC suggests putting up a “No Trespassing” sign instead
Vox Popoli: Archeology and the Sacred Name of God, also, And Then There Were Four
Upstream Reviews: Project Eclipse

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Red Thursday News
CDR Salamander: Diversity Thursday
Don Surber: Mutiny on the MSNBC
Michele Catalano: Update
STUMP: RIP Joe Lieberman

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Project Eclipse
Up To 21% Off Pet Foods & Treats From Amazon Brands
Up To 25% Off Mens & Womens Carhartt K87 T-Shirts
Up To 58% Off Outdoor Power, Living, & Furniture
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software W/Refund Bonus Offer

Category: Linkagery

‘A History of Domestic Violence’

Posted on | March 29, 2024 | Comments Off on ‘A History of Domestic Violence’

Jennifer Cruz was 33 years old when she was fatally shot near the Royal Inn motel on U.S. 15 north of Sumter, South Carolina. She was also 35 weeks pregnant; doctors were able to deliver her baby alive, but the infant was last reported as being in critical condition. According to the sheriff’s department, security camera video recorded at the scene shows Cruz’s estranged boyfriend ambushed her as she arrived at the motel where she had recently been staying, The ex-boyfriend fired several shots at the car Cruz was riding in, chasing the vehicle down the street.

Sheriff Anthony Dennis said “Cruz and [Troy] Wells had a history of domestic violence.” Because the suspect knew that Cruz was pregnant, the sheriff described the shooting as “callous and cold-blooded.”

Don’t expect to see this story on CNN. The only reason I know about the murder of Jennifer Cruz is that, in an idle moment, I decided to Google “suspect manhunt.” This is something I do occasionally — Google some phrase like “mass shooting” or “stabbing suspect” and see what kind of stories turn up in the search results. Our news media establishment picks and chooses which crimes deserve national coverage, and I don’t trust their judgment in such matters any more than I trust them to deliver unbiased political coverage. On an average day, there are roughly 50 homicides committed in the United States — 355 homicides a week, more than 1,500 a month — and if the only murders you know about are the ones that get national media attention, you don’t have an accurate picture of crime in America. Much of the public is therefore misinformed about crime and law enforcement, and this misunderstanding has serious political and social consequences. As voters, how can we assess public policy in regard to the criminal justice system if we don’t have the basic facts about how and why and where and when crime happens? Beyond that, in terms of public safety, how can you act to prevent crime — to avoid becoming a victim — if you aren’t fully informed about the risk factors involved? Risk is not randomly distributed in society, but rather follows certain patterns and, if you are aware of the patterns of criminal behavior, you can reduce your risk of becoming a victim of crime.

All of this is to explain the rationale behind my occasionally doing searches for phrases like “suspect manhunt,” which is how I became aware of the March 23 murder of Jennifer Cruz in South Carolina.

The good news is that the suspect Troy Wells is no longer at large. He surrendered to Sumter County authorities on Thursday, and is now in custody, charged with murder and attempted murder:

“I say this was ‘cold-blooded’ because it was premeditated. Wells lay in wait for the victims, and he knew Cruz was pregnant,” said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis.
“We believe he intended to not only kill both occupants of the car but the unborn child as well,” he added. . . .
Wells has had numerous encounters with law enforcement. His convictions include lynching, domestic violence, drug charges, larceny, traffic violations, and failure to stop for a blue light.
Sheriff Dennis added, “We believe that anyone who would commit a crime like this is a danger to the community and we are pleased that he is now in custody.”

One of the facts about crime that the media don’t tell you is that criminals seldom begin their criminal careers with murder. Which is to say, most murders are committed by people with prior criminal histories — repeat offenders, like Troy Wells — and therefore leniency toward such habitual criminals represents a menace to public safety. Speaking of patterns of behavior, local NBC affiliate WIS-TV reports:

“The baby was everything to her,” said Ashley Cannon, Cruz’s sister. “She was just so excited she was having another child.”
Cannon said Cruz had a tumultuous romantic relationship with Wells that had been going on for about year. Recently, Cruz had cut ties with him.
“They had lots of physical altercations,” Cannon said. “Not to the point where she would call the cops. She told me a few things, but she didn’t want to tell me much, because she knew I would get upset. I think she hid a lot from me, but I do know that he has been abusive to her before.”
Cannon also said Wells had threatened to kill people multiple times.

It’s a pattern of criminal behavior, you see. But this won’t be reported on CNN, and feminists — who love to lecture us about “violence against women” — haven’t mentioned this case, for some reason.

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

Category: Crime, Media Bias, South Carolina, Violence Against Women

The Cruel and Stupid Lies of the Media’s Transgender Victimhood Narrative

Posted on | March 28, 2024 | 1 Comment

For weeks, liberal media targeted Chaya Raichick (@LibsOfTikTok), wrongly blaming her for the death of Dagny “Nex” Benedict, who died after a fight at her school in Owasso, Oklahoma. The logic of this vicious smear was that (a) two years ago, Raichick called attention to a TikTok video posted by Owasso teacher Tyler Wrynn in which Wrynn declared, “If your parents don’t accept you for who you are, f–k them. I’m your parents now” and Wynn got fired; and (b) supposedly, the fight was part of transphobic bullying aimed at Benedict, who identified as “non-binary,” and (c) ergo, @LibsOfTikTok killed “Nex” Benedict.

Students of logic will say, “What? You call that a syllogism? It makes no sense at all!” Exactly my point, of course. The Left’s logic is so nonsensical — “word salad,” symptomatic of psychosis — that any attempt to formalize it as a syllogism immediately exposes it to ridicule. Which, now that I think about it, seems to be the basic idea of @LibsOfTikTok: Show the world what left-wing activists are saying amongst themselves, when they think no one else is watching, and expose the obvious absurdity. It goes without saying that people who can’t deal with basic logic also are usually not too reliable in regard to facts, and after “Nex” Benedict’s death in February, liberals couldn’t be bothered to wait for the facts to be determined. No, instead they leapt to the conclusion that Benedict had essentially been beaten to death by transphobic bullies. However, as it turned out (a) Benedict started the fight by throwing water on another girl, (b) she did not die as a result of any injury suffered in the fight, and instead (c) she committed suicide.

Even after these facts were revealed, Joe Biden still had the audacity to double down on the victimhood narrative:

In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children. pic.twitter.com/0D2tVyFx9E

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 14, 2024

Don’t even get me started on all the things wrong with this message, but suffice it to say, everything. The obsession with victimhood, and the transparent effort to imply that discrimination is to blame for this alleged “suicide crisis,” are part of a pancake stack of false assumptions surrounding transgenderism, in general, and distort the reality of what happened to “Nex” Benedict, in particular. It should not be necessary for me to say that I am against bullying, but notice how liberals (e.g., the White House staffers who wrote Biden’s “message”) seem to have no doubt that Benedict’s “non-binary” identification was the only factor involved in her being bullied, so that transphobia is the only explanation for her suicide. Hence, it’s a simple morality tale, with evil Republicans (who supposedly endorse bullying and “discrimination”) on one side, and virtuous Democrats on the other. Oh, but wait — more facts:

Now that we have the full autopsy report for Dagney (Nex) Benedict, many of the questions surrounding her overdose have been answered. The full report, released by the Chief Medical Officer and Board of Medicolegal Investigations on March 27th, 2024, confirms what the earlier Medical Examiner’s Office reported on March 13th, 2024. There were “massive” amounts of Diphenhydramine, more commonly known over the counter as Benadryl, in Dagney’s blood.
Dr. Paul Wax, the Executive Director of the American College of Toxicology, reviewed the results and confirmed she could have consumed 50 to 100 pills to reach that toxicity level. . . .
The report indicated, “The 11 pages released indicate handwritten notes ‘suggestive of self-harm’ were found in Nex’s room by family members, and that the teen has a history of ‘bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, self-harm (cutting).’”
While advocacy groups remain insistent that her distress sourced from bullying at school, Dagney did not indicate this in her last notes. . . .

(Got that? Dagny/“Nex” had a documented history of mental illness and didn’t mention bullying “in her last notes.)

On July 17th, 2019, when Dagney was 11 years old, an arrest warrant was issued for James Everette Hughes, Dagney’s father. He was arrested on July 31st, 2019, in Sebastian County, AR. The charge was for rape of a minor under the age of 14, during the time period between May 2017 and August 2017, when Dagney was nine years old. Among many witnesses was Sue Benedict, the grandmother who would adopt Dagney in 2019.
Hughes would accept a plea deal to sexual assault in the second degree on November 27th, 2019. He was sentenced to five years in prison with ten years suspended. He would be placed on the sex offender list and have no contact with his daughter. He was arrested again on January 25th, 2024, by the Little Rock Police Department for failing to comply with reporting as a sex offender, two weeks before Dagney would take her own life. . . .

You can read the whole thing, which has more details about this horrific crime. Whether there is any connection between this crime and Dagny/“Nex” subsequently identifying as “non-binary,” I will leave the reader free to speculate, but the more relevant point is that Dagny/“Nex” had serious personal problems that had nothing to do with any kind of “discrimination” that Joe Biden might wish to “work to end.” And, needless to say, those who tried to blame Benedict’s death on @LibsOfTikTok were wildly wrong. Beyond that, however, isn’t this a more or less representative case demonstrating the falsehood of the victimhood narrative that liberals have constructed around transgender identity? How many times have I called attention to how the Left compiles statistics about transgender murder victims — meaning to show a pattern of transphobic violence — when in fact nearly all these victims were killed in circumstances that had nothing to do transphobia?

The media’s habit of manufacturing bogus narratives like this — misleading the public, for reasons that are essentially about producing political propaganda for the Democratic Party — is harmful in many ways, not least of which is that it encourages misunderstanding of the issues involved. The last thing someone suffering mental health problems needs is a message that encourages self-pity by telling them they’re victims of unjust persecution. Good mental health requires a sense of personal agency, the belief that one is in charge of one’s own life. Depicting the world as controlled by menacing forces of “hate” — systematic in their oppressive power — is scarcely conducive to such an outlook. At the same time, decent people have long since become tired of being lectured constantly on controversial topics like this, and the media destroy their own credibility by producing such propaganda.

Yet there are still people who are apparently too stupid to see through this media charade, and so the world becomes more and more divided, between those who believe whatever they’re told by the media, and the rest of us, who have become skeptical of the media’s messages.

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

Category: Media Bias, The Transgender Cult

In The Mailbox: 03.27.24

Posted on | March 28, 2024 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.27.24

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: MV Dali Has Become The Conspiracy Theory Du Jour
EBL: The Empty Pockets: Typhoid Mary, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Over-Reacts to Dementia Question, and This could be a good Hallmark movie ? She made him a sandwich
Twitchy: David Hogg Gets Dragged – Again – For Bragging About The “Office Of Gun Violence Prevention”, The Atlantic “Targets” Student Who Says The Military Should Execute Joe Biden, and Baltimore Has Bigger Problems Than Just A Bridge
Louder With Crowder: Here’s what you don’t know, also, Man identifies as woman and SMASHES national women’s weightlifting competition
Vox Popoli: Police Priorities, If You Thought it was Bad Now, and The Poisoned Apple
Upstream Reviews: The Lost War
L’Ombre de L’Olivier: Alternatives To Google
Ammo.com: The Worst States To Be A Gun Owner

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: The Financial Times’ Disingenuous Sermons on Fascism
American Greatness: DeSantis Signs Property Rights Bill in Florida That Ends ‘Squatting Scam’, Floating Offshore Wind Projects Will Squander Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and Show the Video, Israel
American Thinker: The New Racism is Poisoning America
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: Instead of offering aid to building collapse victims, Cuban dictatorship sells them food at exorbitant prices, Effects of the ‘blockade’ on Cubans, Part 2, and America’s Rashida Tlaib foreign policy
BattleSwarm: Watch A Certain YouTube Video? Google Just Turned All Your Personal Info Over To The Feds
Behind The Black: Red China’s Long March 6 rocket launches remote sensing satellite, Engineers resolve issue on IXPE space telescope, Members of Texas Space Commission unveiled, Data from Perseverance suggests the delta in Jezero Crater was formed by a wide variety of different “fluvial” events, Scientists release detailed geological map of the landing site for Europe’s Franklin rover, and Part 3: The expected tantrum of madness should Biden actually lose the election
Cafe Hayek: Protectionists’ Arguments Are Invariably Weak
CDR Salamander: Our Navy’s Promise To Its Dead Remains Un-Honored
Chicago Boyz: Fever
Da Tech Guy: Voices of the 2024 Catholic Men’s Conference – Dawn of Divine Mercy Ministries
Don Surber: Never trust Dr. FDA
First Street Journal: Decades of nice, kind, and sympathetic government has turned Kensington into what it is today
Gates Of Vienna: Breaking Bad
The Geller Report: Terror Group Hamas Takes Victory Lap in Iran
Hollywood In Toto: Bill Maher Uncancels Sage Steele for ‘Club Random’ Network
The Lid: The GOP Sorely Needs Non-RINOs in Congress, such as Kelly Daughtry
Legal Insurrection: European Groups Link Moderna’s Covid Vaccine to Chronic Hives, #RIP: Sen. Joe Lieberman Has Died At Age 82, Former Navy SEAL Describes Being ‘Purged’ From Woke Law Firm, Jamaal Bowman Runs Away From Evidence That He is a Hamas Rape Denier, California’s K-12 Schools Promoting Antisemitism to Children, and Fifth Circuit Denies Texas Motion, Keeps Immigration Law Block in Place
Nebraska Energy Observer: Preachy Women and Liberty
Outkick: LA May Give Reparations For Residents Displaced By Dodger Stadium Construction, UConn’s Dan Hurley Not A Fan Of Transfer Portal Window, While Athletes ‘Change Schools Like Underwear’, Dodgers Now Spending More On Top Players Than The Orioles Franchise Is Worth, Scott Boras Had Just About The Worst Offseason You Can Possibly Have, Dodgers Manager Implies Shohei Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter Impeded Access To Superstar, Girls Soccer Team Featuring Five Trans Players Dominates Tournament, Enrage Concerned Parents, and Sydney Sweeney Is Looking Forward To Using Sex As A Weapon In ‘Barbarella’ Remake
Power Line: Invasion of the porn snatchers (UPDATED), America’s Dumbest Man? [Updated], and The Scourge of Whiteness
Protein Wisdom Reborn: The Jewish Problem
Shark Tank: Byron Donalds Calls On Gallagher To “Finish The Job” Before Leaving
Shot In The Dark: It’s Raining Walz, also, St. Louis Park Schools Seeks Word Salad Chef
STUMP: Around The Pension-O-Sphere
The Political Hat: Defending America’s Borders Begins Abroad
This Ain’t Hell: Pols and guns – update, also, Michigan homeowners offered $500 a month to house illegal aliens
Transterrestrial Musings: Baltimore, also, What Is Space For?
Victory Girls: Holy Wednesday: Church to Hold Easter Drag Service
Volokh Conspiracy: Fifth Circuit Rules Against Texas SB 4 Immigration Law
Watts Up With That: D’oh! Fire suppression makes wildfires more severe, also, Dominion Energy’s absurd reply to CFACT’s whale protection lawsuit
The Federalist: Democrats Lie About Late-Term Abortion To Make Themselves Feel Better, Jen Psaki Lies About Lying, Biden’s 2025 Budget Spends Too Much Money On All The Wrong Things, DeKalb County GOP Calls On Georgia Election Board Member To Resign Over Lobbying Conflicts, America’s Stunning Embrace Of Paganism Signals The End Of This Country As We Know It, and Leftists Bragged About ‘Fortifying’ The 2020 Election. Now They’re Flaunting Plans To Do It Again In 2024
Mark Steyn: Peaceful Transfer of Power Update!

Amazon Warehouse Deals
The Lost War
Get Ready For Spring Cleaning With Amazon Brands
Spend $50, Get $10 On Select Snack Products
Up To 25% Off Easter Essentials
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software W/Refund Bonus Offer

Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 03.26.24

Posted on | March 27, 2024 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.26.24

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: A Bridge Collapse From The 1980s With Similarities To Today
EBL: Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses in Baltimore After Cargo Ship Collision, Biden Backs Hamas, Caitlin Clark, NBC Caves – Fires Ronna McDaniel after MSNBC Freakout, and Gavin “Marie Antoinette” Newsom
Twitchy: Carol Roth Demolishes The Administration’s Lies About The Reality Of Income Tax Rates, Storm Destroys Texas Solar Panels Dashing Dreams Of Green Energy, and Transgender Lesbian Explains That “Cis” Isn’t A Slur
Louder With Crowder: Watch this woke specimen freak out on her PawPaw for watching a “sexist movie,” and his perfect response, also, Sheriff goes viral encouraging homeowners to SHOOT intruders, as “squatters rights” becomes an issue
Vox Popoli: Pride, Prejudice, and Peacocks, Minimal Gardening, Diversity or Unrestricted War? Cheese-19, and Jesus Christ is King
Upstream Reviews: YES, Child – Patrick Tomlinson(‘s wife) Finally Settles “LOLsuit” To The Tune Of $83k
Wright’s Writing Corner: Giants on the Moors
Stoic Observations: American Fiction

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Red Pill is a World Without God
American Greatness: The Cargo Ship Dali Previously Smashed Into a Dock at a Port in Belgium, Biden’s Border Blowup, and Trump Leads Battlegrounds on Economic Arguments
American Thinker: The Democrats Have Crossed the Bridge into Unabashed Nazism
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily They’ve Got It Coming News
Babalu Blog: Cuban dictatorship cancels Holy Week processions in Havana and other cities, Value of Cuban Peso keeps shrinking at an alarming rate, and Mexico’s Lopez-Obrador talking again
Baldilocks: Thieves Suck
BattleSwarm: Paxton Settles His Criminal Case
Behind The Black: Intuitive Machines Says Odysseus is dead, Orbital tug startup ExLabs plans mission to asteroid Apophis in 2028, Bursting bubbles of water gas on Mars, Report: 3D printing in space, and Part 2: A further list of upcoming Democratic Party election chaos
Cafe Hayek: Scott Atlas Talks with Steven Koonin
CDR Salamander: So, We’re Restocking The Standard Missiles We’re Expending In The Red Sea, Right?
Da Tech Guy: Five More Sports Thoughts Under the Fedora, also, Cabrini – a film about faith and persistence
Dana Loesch: On RFK Jr.’s Veep, Trump’s VP Speculation, & Drama On The Right
Don Surber: The greatest Trumpenfreude of all
Gates Of Vienna: Data Points
The Geller Report: Iconic Maryland Bridge Collapses After Cargo Vessel Steers Directly Into Bridge’s Support Column
Hollywood In Toto: Perfect Days Offers Peak Wim Wenders Storytelling, also, Studio Mocks Christians to Promote Sydney Sweeney’s Immaculate
The Lid: Look At All the Free Stuff Massachusetts Gives to Illegals, also, GOOD NEWS! Totalitarian Eco-Freaks Take An ‘L’ In This VERY Blue Stronghold
Legal Insurrection: French Senate Report: Sex Change Surgery for Minors Could be ‘Greatest Ethical Scandal in the History of Medicine’’, NBC News Drops Ronna McDaniel After Backlash, But Still Employs Jen Psaki, Biden Energy Dept. Giving $6 Billion for Projects Targeting Greenhouse Gas Emissions, More California Restaurants Slashing Jobs, Halt Hiring Ahead of Minimum Wage Hike, Activist Clergy Members in Boston Want $15 Billion in Slavery Reparations From ‘White Churches’, and Judge in Trump’s Hush Money Case Slaps Him With Gag Order
Nebraska Energy Observer: Compilation
Outkick: OutKick Honors Riley Gaines For Women’s History Month; ESPN Take Notes, Caitlin Clark’s Constant Whining Is Getting Old, ESPN Is Looking To Back Out Of Its MLB Media Rights Deal, John Calipari’s ‘Let’s Come Together’ Speech Shouldn’t Excite Kentucky Fans After Another NCAA Tourney Exit, Doesn’t Add Up: Shohei Ohtani’s Statement Still Doesn’t Answer This Question, Multiple MLB Interpreters Back Up Possible Shohei Ohtani Explanation, and Dodgers Infielder Responds To Jazz Chisholm Criticism
Power Line: Corn Pop, call your office, The Daily Chart: The U.S. Nuclear Deficit, and Remember the Nashville Six
Shark Tank: Rick Scott Calls Out Mucarsel-Powell For Supporting Communist Cuban Regime
Shot In The Dark: Journalisming 2024, She Must Be A Riot At Parties,
The Political Hat: About That Wage Gap
This Ain’t Hell: WWII Brit collaborators, also, Marine Wall-to-Wall Barracks Inspection Unofficial Results
Transterrestrial Musings: Near-Future SF, The Navy Mess, and Bluegrass Flatpicking Master Class
Victory Girls: Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Is An Economic Disaster
Volokh Conspiracy: The Holy Roman Empire, Actual Malice, and Criminal Conversation
Watts Up With That: Telegraph Compares Solar Capacity with Nuclear! also, Hailstorm in Texas destroys thousands of acres of solar farms
The Federalist: If Free Speech Doesn’t Survive Ruling Class Demagoguery Neither Will Democracy, Alabama Secretary Of State Warns Of ‘Misleading’ Voter Registration Mailer By Leftist Group, Wisconsin Voters Have A Chance To Rid Their Elections Of ‘Zuckbucks’ For Good, Kristi Noem Would Be A Disaster As Donald Trump’s Veep, Exclusive: School Board Members Accuse Wisconsin Public Schools Superintendent Of Election Meddling, NBC’s Most Insufferable, Nagging Hosts Saved Democracy By Blowing Up Ronna McDaniel’s Contract, and Investigator Who Claims To Have ‘Disproven’ 2020 Fraud Claims Isn’t Telling The Whole Story
Mark Steyn: A Massacre in Moscow

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Up To 18% Off Amazon Brands Spring Cleaning Products
Up To 25% Off Easter Essentials
Up To 44% Off Creatine, Protein & More From Optimum Nutrition
Up To 50% Off Women’s Apparel & Accessories From Amazon Essentials
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software W/Refund Bonus Offer

Category: Linkagery

Baltimore, a Reeking Hellhole of a City, Somehow Just Got Even Worse

Posted on | March 26, 2024 | 1 Comment

Whenever I’m trying to describe conditions in some poverty-stricken, violence-ridden Third World country like Haiti, my habit is to say it’s so bad, it’s worse than Baltimore, which is about as bad as it gets in America. Nothing good ever happens in Baltimore, a city crammed full of bad people, where Joe Biden got 88% of the vote in 2020.

The only thing functional about Baltimore is that it’s one of the largest seaports on the East Coast, but even that’s gone for now:

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday after a support column was hit by a large container ship that had lost power, sending vehicles and people into the Patapsco River, authorities said.
Six people remain unaccounted for, Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a mid-morning news conference. Two other people were rescued from the water.
All eight people were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time, Wiedefeld said. Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Security Board, said Tuesday afternoon that the workers were employed by local company Brawner Builders.
One of the rescued workers was unhurt. The other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged, CBS Baltimore station WJZ reported. . . .

The story goes on about this relatively trivial aspect of the destruction of a major infrastructure element before getting to this:

The ship — the Singapore-flagged Dali — was operated by charter vessel company Synergy Marine Group and was chartered by Maersk, carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, the companies said.
There were 22 crew members, including two pilots, aboard the ship, according to a statement from Synergy. All 22 crew members are Indian nationals. Synergy said it had activated its incident response team and is cooperating with state and federal officials. Homendy said that the NTSB is communicating with Singaporean officials as part of their investigation. . . .
Officials have confirmed that the ship lost power right before the collision. Moore said that the crew notified authorities of a “power issue.”
Two U.S. officials told CBS News that multiple alarms rang out on the ship, alerting pilots and crew to an issue on board. The crew ran several system tests to attempt to remedy the loss of propulsion from the motor, but the tests proved unsuccessful. At that point, the pilot alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Authority.
Roughly two minutes elapsed between when the ship’s pilot notified state authorities of an issue on board and when the bridge collapsed, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski said.
Officials said in a news conference that the call allowed officials to order a mayday and stop traffic onto the bridge. . . .

The main span of the bridge is wide enough that there was no reason the ship should have been anywhere near the support pylons, and the loss of power on the ship thus would explain why it was so far off course. The real story here is the economic damage that this catastrophe has wrought by shutting down the port:

The Francis Scott Key Bridge spans the Patapsco River, a key waterway that serves with the Port of Baltimore as a hub for East Coast shipping.
CBS News Baltimore reports that the 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually.
The Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions on I-695. Traffic was being detoured to I-95 and I-895.
All ship traffic at the port, the second-largest seaport in the mid-Atlantic region, has been halted. According to Census data, the Port of Baltimore handled more than $80 billion in imports and exports in 2023, marking a 20-year record.

Do the math — divide $80 billion by 365 — and you realize that America loses about $220 million a day in commerce for every day the port of Baltimore is inoperative. So while it’s all fine and good to wring your hands about the six missing workers who were plunged into the river by this disaster, the far more important matter is how soon the wreckage of the bridge can be cleared so as to restore cargo shipping to the port.

It will take many years to rebuild this bridge, but no time should be wasted in the immediate task of getting this shipping channel open again. In the meantime, more freight will be diverted to New York, Savannah, Jacksonville and other East Coast ports, but there is only so much cargo any port is equipped to handle, and the loss of the port at Baltimore will have serious economic consequences. But don’t worry — Secretary of Transportation Pete Bootigieg is on the job, and Joe Biden’s got another phony personal anecdote to share with America:

Biden claims to have taken the TRAIN over the Francis Scott Key bridge!
Says he has been over the bridge "many many times commuting from the state of Delaware either by train or by car."

The bridge had only four lanes of traffic and no rail lines. pic.twitter.com/sB6Odzsr7i

— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) March 26, 2024

Traveling by car from Wilmington, Delaware, to D.C., you’d probably take U.S. 301 to U.S. 50 — going nowhere near Baltimore — or else you might go straight through Baltimore on I-95, but there’s no reason why you’d detour around the south side of the city on I-695 to cross the Francis Scott Key Bridge. As for the Amtrak route through Baltimore, from the city’s Penn Station on Charles Street, it loops around to the west before heading south toward D.C., which is to say it goes nowhere near the Key Bridge. Another day, another bullshit anecdote from the senile old liar.

Shop Electronics at Amazon

Save on Groceries and Everyday Essentials

Shop Amazon Basics

Office & School Supplies

Category: Maryland