The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In The Mailbox: 02.14.23

Posted on | February 15, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Woke Hollywood & Mao’s Cultural Revolution
EBL: Michigan State Shooter Suspect Shoots Himself, also, Twitter Tweet Trainwreck
Twitchy: Soledad O’Brien Dragged For Lecturing Reporters That “Woke” Is A Racist Term, also, Ted Cruz Blisters Biden’s Nutjob Commie Appointee To FCC
Louder With Crowder:  Tom Green gets red-pilled, exposes what all this “UFO information” coming out now is distracting us from, also, Chelsea Handler Tries to Brag About Being a Childless Woman, But It’s Actually Incredibly Depressing
Vox Popoli: When Citizens Suddenly Aren’t Citizens, Chernohio, Turks Suspect US Geoweapon, Red China Calls Out Surveillance, and The Paper Americans
Bad Cattitude: Fundamental Humans Rights

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: It’s a Spiritual & a Physical War
American Conservative: Why Won’t the New York Times Say ‘Chiefs’?, State Department ‘Disinformation’?, and Church Of England Crack-Up
American Greatness: Kirby Doubles Down–Insists China’s Spy Balloons Operated During Trump Administration ‘But They Did Not Detect It’, Democrats Increasingly Voice Fears About Biden Cognitive Decline, and Two More Trains Derail in Texas and South Carolina on Monday
American Thinker: Our Little Barbarians, Balloongate – China’s Long Game, and Since When did Ukrainians Become Entitled to the State they Got?
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Shooting Irons News
Babalu Blog: Cuban dictatorship declares bankruptcy, suspends payments to all providers in tourism industry, A wave of layoffs shakes up state-owned companies in Sancti Spiritus, and AMLO awarding a medal to Cuba’s sock puppet president was bad, but what he said was worse
BattleSwarm: Gun Owners of America Join Forces With Ken Paxton To Sue ATF Over Gun Brace Regulation
Behind The Black: Red China aiming to complete 80 launches in 2023, SpaceX abandons plan to convert floating oil platforms into Starship/Superheavy landing spots, Canadian rocket startup dies because of opposition to noise produced by its engine tests, and Today’s blacklisted Americans: Religious pro-lifers prevented from viewing Bill of Rights because National Archives forbids free speech
Cafe Hayek: In Defense of Steven Koonin, Hygiene Socialism Isn’t “Authoritarian Capitalism”, and Woke Spoofs Itself
CDR Salamander: We Have a Lot of Things to Relearn
Chicago Boyz: A Surprisingly Good Article About Electricity in the MSM
Da Tech Guy: Godwin’s Law needs a revision or a successor, Too Many People Know a Guy, Don’t know much about history, and Another Soon to Be Local Story out of Michigan State or Chris Rock Nods
Dana Loesch: #OhioChernobyl Is Trending – Where Is Secretary Mayor New Mom Poot?
First Street Journal: The credentialed media really, really, really hate being held to account, also, Some of the environmentalists seem to want us to return to nineteenth century living
Gates Of Vienna: Toxic Disaster in East Palestine, Annalena is Beyond Criticism, The Heart of the Matter, and Timeline of Events in East Palestine
The Geller Report: George Soros Buys Up Tesla Stock, Boosting His Stake By 270%, also, MEDIA BLACKOUT: There Were OVER A THOUSAND Train Derailments in 2022
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Valentine Flowers, and JUICE
Hollywood In Toto:  Roseanne Barr: Cancel This! Embraces MAGA Nation, Joe Rogan Says Ex-CNN Star Brian Stelter Is ‘Basically a Prostitute’, and Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Large(r) and In Charge
The Lid: Perjurer Clapper Claims He Didn’t Say Hunter’s Laptop Was Russian Disinformation
Legal Insurrection: Study Launched to Investigate if White Paint is Racist, Nicaragua Regime Sentences Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 Years for Treason, Pro-Life Group Blamed for an Alleged ‘Anti-Gay Hate Crime’ by Black Harvard Democrat, Missouri’s AG Now Probing Whistleblower Claims about Transgender Clinic, and Dianne Feinstein Will Not Run for Reelection in 2024
Nebraska Energy Observer: My tin foil hat
Outkick: MLB’s New Bases Look Like ‘Pizza Box’, Will Lead To Increase In Steals, Says Thievery Expert Alex Cora, Belgian Goalie Arne Espeel, 25, Dies Shortly After Saving Penalty, Super Bowl’s Terrible Grass Situation Blamed On Everything From Paint To Rihanna, Former Eagles DB Chris Maragos Awarded $43.5 Million In Injury Lawsuit, and Bomani Jones Fails To Chart Again, Loses To Midnight Cornhole Re-Air
Power Line: The Daily Chart: About Those Russia Sanctions, Nikki Haley? Meh, and Clapper’s claptrap
Protein Wisdom Reborn: There’s Nothing To Be Gained From Arguing With Anarcho-Communists
Shark Tank: FL Senate Democrats Push Gun Carry Class
Shot In The Dark: Into A Void Of Their Own Creation, also, Clearly They Need One Of Those “In This House” Signs
STUMP: Taxing Tuesday: Be My Valentine, SALT Cap
This Ain’t Hell: Balloony war of words continues, Remote control of U.S. Air Force drone wingmen, and Frankie Cee is a long time contributor
Transterrestrial Musings: The Latest Starship Mystery
Victory Girls: Progressive DA Dismissed Michigan State Shooter’s Felony Gun Charge
Volokh Conspiracy: My New Seven-Monitor Office Workstation, also, FTC Chair’s Activism Prompts a Commissioner to Resign
Watts Up With That: Minnesota Democrats Vote to Freeze in the Dark by 2040, EVs Are Failing To Break Into Mass Market, and Bill Gates: “How will we solve the digital misinformation which is a factor in polarisation? We’ll have to take AI into consideration”
Weasel Zippers: Nikki Haley Announces Presidential Bid, Biden Spews Pure Gibberish, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Botches Another Crisis, Ignores Ohio Train Derailment, and DeSantis Announces Plan To End “Woke Banking” In Florida
The Federalist: The U.S. Left Has Become So Authoritarian, Even This North Korean Refugee Is Concerned, Conservative News Sites Aren’t ‘Risky,’ A ‘Disinformation Index’ To Censor Speech Is, James Clapper Can’t Stop Lying, Zuckbucks 2.0 Recipients Turn Down Money After Leftist Nonprofit Fails Transparency Test, and After Ranked-Choice Voting Rigged Their Elections, Alaska Conservatives Fight To Reclaim Democracy
Mark Steyn: Fugue for Tinhorns, The Good Guys are the Bad Guys, and The World They’re Building

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What’s Up in Ukraine Lately?

Posted on | February 14, 2023 | 1 Comment

Ukrainian troops barricade streets in Bakhmut

It’s been more than four months since I devoted any attention to the war in Ukraine, mainly because it settled down into a bloody stalemate, with relatively little movement of the front lines. Once the Russians evacuated Kherson and retreated to the south (or east) bank of the Dnieper River, that front stabilized, as the Ukrainians apparently are unwilling and/or unable to mount an offensive across the river. Meanwhile, to the northeast, the Ukrainian offensive east of Kharkiv ground to a halt in October, after driving the Russians back across the Oskil River toward Svatove and Kreminna. At the time, I had hoped that Ukraine would be able to sustain the momentum of its offensive, but once they’d captured Lyman and Kupiansk, they seemed content to hold what they’d gotten, rather than push for a further advance. And thus the situation seemed to settle down into a winter stalemate, as neither the Russians nor the Ukrainians had the wherewithal to mount any major offensives.

Meanwhile, some 35 miles south of Lyman sits the crossroads town of Bakhmut. Last fall, the Russians were about 30 miles east of Bakhmut in Popasna, but by gradual advances westward, they began closing in on Bakhmut and, last month, captured Soledar, about 10 miles northwest of Bakhmut. Russian forces also advanced south of Bakhmut, capturing Opytne. These Russian advances put the Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut in a vice, with threats to their supply lines as they fight to prevent being encircled and cut off. It has become a desperate fight:

Ukrainian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge near the eastern city of Bakhmut, in a sign they may be planning to retreat from the area, which would give Russia a significant, symbolic boost ahead of the first anniversary of the war.
Troops blew up the bridge on Monday, according to a local Donetsk region news site. Ukraine denies it intends to leave Bakhmut, despite six months of heavy fighting and reportedly dwindling stockpiles.
It appears the Kremlin is concentrating maximum force on capturing Bakhmut before the one-year anniversary of the invasion on 24 February. Ukraine and its western allies have said over the past week that Russia had already begun a new offensive across the contact line in an attempt to gain ground before new western supplies arrived in the spring.
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics,” Jens Stoltenberg, head of NATO, told reporters in Brussels on Monday. . . .
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group whose mercenaries have been fighting for months to take Bakhmut, however said the battle was far from over. “Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working,” he said, according to his press service. “We will not be celebrating in the near future,” he added. . . .
White House spokesperson John Kirby said Russian forces have made incremental progress in the last day or two in their assault on Bahkmut but it is unclear if it will fall.
Russian forces now occupy areas to the north and south of Bakhmut and have been attempting to overwhelm Ukrainian forces by ceaselessly throwing streams of infantry soldiers at the Ukrainian frontlines. . . .
The BBC, which visited the town on Sunday, reported street fighting in some areas and that ammunition stockpiles were dwindling. Capt Mykhailo from the 93rd Mechanised brigade told the BBC they had ammunition shortages of “all kinds, especially artillery rounds”, but were managing to hold their positions. . . .
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in early February that his country was determined to hold Bakhmut, calling it “Fortress Bakhmut”. But, according to the Washington Post, US officials have tried to persuade him to prioritise preparations for a counteroffensive to take back what the US considers more important territory.

This is the crux of the problem, i.e., the lack of a Ukrainian counteroffensive anywhere else in the region, which would force Russia to divert forces to defend its own positions. Ukraine has had a full year to recruit and train new troops, and one might expect that they would now have reserves that could be committed to an offensive, yet the past five months have seen no indication of such a renewed Ukrainian advance. Meanwhile the Russians, having mobilized all the cannon fodder they can grab off the streets, have been slowly building up this relentless attack on Bakhmut. What can we expect in the near future? Well, the report of the bridge west of Bakhmut being blown up certainly would seem to indicate that a Ukrainian retreat may be imminent, despite Zelenskiy’s declared intent to hold the city. But the big question is where and how soon Ukraine can launch its own counteroffensive. Until that happens, the news will be about Russia’s continued advances.



 

 

MSU Gunman Got Charge Reduced to Misdemeanor on 2019 Gun Arrest

Posted on | February 14, 2023 | 1 Comment

Anthony Dwayne McRae

Although certain Internet sleuths had, by monitoring police scanners, discovered the identity of the gunman who killed three Michigan State University students and wounded five others before committing suicide, I hadn’t followed the story of Monday night’s shooting closely. So this morning, when there was a televised press conference in Lansing about the massacre, I was still waiting for them to identify the gunman. Instead, the press conference began with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lecturing about the need to do something about guns, and continued for another 20 minutes before police finally got around to identifying the gunman as 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae. By that time, I’d figured out that the shooter probably wasn’t a Trump voter, IYKWIMAITYD.

Whenever liberals are downplaying the identity of the shooter and his motive in such a situation, intelligent people can usually guess why they’re doing this. But it turns out that there was more to be concealed:

[McRae] was arrested in Lansing and charged in June 2019 with carrying a concealed pistol without a concealed carry permit, according to Ingham County court records obtained Tuesday by The Detroit News. The initial charge was a felony that carried a potential penalty of five years in prison, according to the records.
At about 3 a.m. June 7, 2019, an officer encountered McRae in Lansing where the officer asked him if he had any weapons on him. McRae acknowledged he had a gun but he didn’t have a concealed weapons permit, according to court records. McRae also had a magazine in his right breast pocket, according to the court records. . . .
In October 2019, Ingham County prosecutors added a second charge against McRae: possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, a misdemeanor.
That same month, October 2019, McRae agreed to plead guilty to the lesser misdemeanor charge, and prosecutors dismissed the felony charge.
The Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
McRae was sentenced in November 2019 to 12 months probation. In October 2020, six additional months were added to his probation, according to court records. The addition was meant to allow him to complete the terms of the probation order, the records said.
His probation period concluded in May 2021.

This is always how it is with liberals and gun control. They’re unwilling to enforce existing laws, because they’re against putting criminals in prison, but every time there’s a mass shooting, they demand new gun-control laws, in order to punish law-abiding citizens who had nothing to do with the atrocity. So here you have a mass murderer who could have been sent to prison for five years, but was instead given a year of probation, and Gretchen Whitmer wants to seize the occasion of this tragedy to lecture us about the need to “do something,” as if the obvious solution — putting criminals in prison — were not even an option.

By the way, it appears that McRae was suffering from mental illness — his Facebook profile seemed to show a fixated interest in demonic possession — but that just proves something I’ve been saying over and over for years: Crazy People Are Dangerous.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!



 

 

In The Mailbox: 02.13.23

Posted on | February 14, 2023 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Operator-chan saves the day.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: The Cancel Mob Came For Larry Correia – And Failed
EBL: “Controlled” release of toxic chemicals in Ohio seems pretty scary to me, Dresden Bombed To Atoms, and  What are all these objects flying into the USA and Canada?
Twitchy: Laura Loomer’s Lame Attack On Casey DeSantis Fact-Checked Into Oblivion, also, How Bad Is The “Hogwarts Legacy” Backlash?
Louder With Crowder: Chris Stapleton crushes the National Anthem at the Super Bowl so hard, it drove grown men to tears, Rihanna grabs crotch, butt and sniffs hand before revealing she’s pregnant in bizarre halftime show, and  Tranny Influencer claims they’re now hot enough to, ahem, “steal a husband” after facial feminization surgery
Vox Popoli: The Popes of Sodom, More Sanctions on Red China, The Media Loses Narrative Control, Silver Lining, and Mailvox: The Thumb on the Scale
Stoic Observations: On Elon, also, Sorted
Glenn Reynolds: The Power Of Old Men

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The FBI know that TLM Catholics are the Real Deal, also,The Regime does indeed Fear the TLM
American Conservative: Among The ‘White Slags’, Sanctioning Syrians Under the Rubble, and Samantha Power & Color Revolution In Hungary
American Greatness: Bombshells, Landmines, and Nemesis, also, Buttigieg Bemoans Lack of Racial Diversity in Construction, Fails to Mention Ohio Train Disaster
American Thinker: So many people recently ‘died suddenly’ – What’s going on?, Let’s Pay Attention To The Experts Who Challenged The COVID Narrative, How the Administrative State Subverts the Constitution, and ‘Shaddup,’ the Government Said
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Cuban dictator’s daughter Mariela Castro on lecture tour in Italy, Gas explosion rocks another Havana hotel, ceiling collapses at hotel in Holguin, Cuba expects Biden to look the other way as it draws closer to Iran, Cuba’s state-run airline forced to cancel flights over ‘technical issues,’ has no cash for refunds, and Foreign Ministry vetoes presence of several priests at event with Cardinal
BattleSwarm: Cronk Conked, Haley? No. Pence? No. Pompeo? No. Sununu? No, and Peter Zeihan Thinks We Won The Great Balloon War
Behind The Black: Shortly after new Progress freighter docks with ISS, older Progress loses internal pressure, SpaceX launches 55 more Starlink satellites, Trio of colliding galaxies, Cracked ash-filled Martian terrain, and A real blacklist designed to choke ad profits from conservative and legitimate news organizations
Cafe Hayek: Hipopolorum and Lopopohirum, also, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “The sharing economy”
CDR Salamander: Sticks, Lasers, and Balloons
Chicago Boyz: Drucker’s Prescience
Da Tech Guy: Traditional Catholics and traditional terrorists, A Reminder About Those Who Call Conservatives “Nazis”, and The Bright Side of Europe, and Other Thoughts Under the Fedora
Don Surber: Lincoln Freed The Slaves, also, Latest Lies From Lefties
First Street Journal: To the left, liberal politics are far more important than Freedom of Religion, also, The utter bovine feces of ‘restorative justice’
Gates Of Vienna: The Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden, Part 14, Re-examining the Term “White Supremacy”, And Now… UFOs!, and Get Your Kid Vaxed, or Lose Your Welfare
The Geller Report: In 78 Years, Funeral Directors Who Never Had a 15 Year Old Who Died From a Heart Attack Now Have ONE A WEEK, ‘Obsessed’ Biden Quietly Waives Sanctions, Enables Iran, Russia to Resume Nuclear Work, Make BILLIONS in Profit, and ‘WE NUKED A TOWN”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, A Spiral Among Thousands, The Oldest Known Supernova, and A Note on the DoT’s Portfolio
Hollywood In Toto: Your Place or Mine – RomCom Via ChatGPT, Roseanne Barr – ‘I Cannot Let ***holes Win’, and Survey: Biden Economy Crushing Movie-Going Habits
The Lid: Biden And Israel, So Far No Good
Legal Insurrection: LGBTQ+ Student Org Hosts Transgender ‘Name Change Clinic’ at U. Toledo College of Law, Clemson University Holds Town Hall Meeting to Address ‘Controversial’ Affirmative Action Bake Sale, Prof. Jonathan Turley Hits Back At Debbie Wasserman Schultz Attempt To Discredit Him at House Hearing,23 Baltimore Schools Have Zero Students Who Can Do Math at Grade Level, and Striking Temple U. Grad Students Can’t Believe School Revoked Their Free Tuition
Nebraska Energy Observer: Saturday – just for you!, Sexagesima, and Thinking vs Doing
Outkick: MLB Permanently Installs Extra Innings Automatic Baserunner On Second, Adrian Peterson Calls Out Damar Hamlin For His Super Bowl Outfit, Eagles Wife Calls Out Chiefs Fans For ‘Embarrassing’ Super Bowl Celebration, Why Was Roger Goodell Hugging Chris Jones Like They’re Dating, ESPN’s Chris Berman Tries To Relate Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday To Two Black Quarterbacks Starting In The Super Bowl, and Jalen Hurts And Patrick Mahomes Put God First On Super Bowl Sunday
Power Line: A genius for friendship, Harvard Law Student Attacks Gay Person With Baseball Bat, and The deep meaning of “no comment”
Shark Tank: DeSantis Proposes Legislation To Fight ESG
Shot In The Dark: Say No To Extremism!, also, Nothing To See Here
STUMP: Videos – Ranking Tables for 2021 Causes of Death
The Political Hat: White People Need Not Apply
This Ain’t Hell: SOTU irks Chinese, lies about vet deaths, Car sized object shot down from Alaskan airspace, Death, PTSD, and family separation, vice ‘wokeness,’ working against recruiting, French-built Flattops in the News, and Gigage Wahya aka Joel Cameron. A banner of lies.. – Stolen Valour Canada
Transterrestrial Musings: Mask Mandates, The Russian Space Program, The Retreat From Globalism, and Lunar ISRU
Victory Girls: Chest Binders – Every School Counselor Has One, Super Bowl LVII – There Is No Black National Anthem, and CDC Warns Of Teen Girls Experiencing Violence And Hopelessness
Volokh Conspiracy: In 2023, Pierson v. Post Meets Keeble v. Hickeringill, also, White Employee Suing Seattle for DEI-Based Racial Harassment, Retaliation, and Discrimination
Watts Up With That: Censoring Inconvenient Truths, The Mass Extinction Fraud, and Climate Activists Celebrate Your Utility Bill Pain
Weasel Zippers: 162 Democrats Voted To Allow Illegal Immigrants To Vote In Elections, Obama’s Ambassador To Red China Says CCP Wanted Biden To Win In 2020, and Chuck Schumer Says Red Chinese Spy Balloon Was Acceptable Because They Would’ve Gotten Intel Anyway
The Federalist: In Super Bowl Halftime Performance, Pregnant Rihanna Proved Pro-Lifers Right, Craigslist Craig Is Dumping His Billions Into Fake News To Help Democrats Win Elections, John Fetterman Is A Danger To Himself, 3 Warning Signs The FBI Might Label You A ‘Radical Traditionalist’ Christian, Democrats’ Unconstitutional Crusade To Disbar Texas AG Ken Paxton Shows How Far They’ll Go To Win Elections, and Smeared By MSNBC For Refusing To Teach Kids To Hate Each Other, Colorado School District Hits Back
Mark Steyn: Fight Another Day: Paddy Chayefsky and The Americanization of Emily, Tal Bachman – The Appliance Rebellion Starts Here, and Magic Moments with Burt and Elvis

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Why Nick Sirianni Cried

Posted on | February 13, 2023 | 1 Comment

Many people have commented on Philadelphia Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni, who broke down in tears during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Sunday’s Super Bowl. Some interpreted Sirianni’s tears as evidence of his heartfelt patriotism, whereas I know what he was really crying about:

NO MORE FOOTBALL UNTIL SEPTEMBER!

Once the Super Bowl is over, we have to wait nearly seven months before there’s another football game, and even then, the early games are usually lame, especially in college football. Alabama kicks off its season Sept. 2 against Middle Tennessee State University, which isn’t a real team.

They don’t finalize the NFL schedule until spring, but in the meantime, pro football fans will have to endure weeks of blah blah blah from the pundits and commentators, with their “mock draft” scenarios and their wild speculations about possible trades and free agent signings, which is just annoying. Fans don’t want to hear a bunch of talk about football, we want to watch actual football. From September through January, there’s football every weekend — basically 20 weeks of it, including the college bowl games and the NFL playoffs. Fans develop a habit, a circadian rhythm of weekly football-watching — college games Saturday, pro games Sunday, then “Monday Night Football” and “Thursday Night Football” — and let me tell you, life is tough on Tuesday and Wednesday nights with no football to watch. You basically organize your life around watching football during the season, until January arrives and you become conscious that you’re slowly running out of games. The first week of the playoffs is all right — six wild-card games to watch — but then you get to the divisional round and there are only four games. The week after that, the conference championships — only two games! And then, finally, the Super Bowl, which is like Christmas, the Fourth of July, Mardi Gras and Halloween all rolled into one giant football holiday, as far as fans are concerned. And then, after that . . . NO MORE FOOTBALL!

So, yeah, we know why Nick Sirianni was crying. Also, perhaps, he had a premonition that Jalen Hurts would fumble for no reason at all, and give the Chiefs a free touchdown that, when all was said and done, would prove to be the decisive play of the game. Now the Eagles have to spend the next six months thinking about how close they came to getting that Super Bowl championship ring, a special kind of agony and, as Leslie Gore once sang, you’d cry, too, if it happened to you.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!



 

 

Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci

Posted on | February 13, 2023 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Born on this day in 1980, Christina Ricci is probably best known for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and its sequel, Addams Family Values. She’s also appeared in a wide range of more adult roles in movies and TV.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Not so dark and Gothic, but still cute.

NINETY MILES FROM TYRANNY: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1988, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule Five Constitutional Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: MAGA – A Tale Of Two Special Prosecutors, Fall, Candy, Julie Banderas Is On The Market, Horrible Histories – Queenian Rhapsody, The Remaining, Valentina Belle, and The Fall Of Carthage.

A VIEW FROM THE BEACHCassandra MartinOregon, My OregonFish Pic Friday – Amber LewisThursday TanlinesThe Mask is Off MasksWednesday WetnessForget It Jake, It’s BaltimoreTattoo TuesdayGreat Moments in #MeTooThe Monday Morning Stimulus PackagePalm Sunday and Maryland, My Maryland

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

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FMJRA 2.0: On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

Posted on | February 12, 2023 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Most live albums are a waste of time and money, but one of the awesome exceptions is the first live album by Blue Öyster Cult, which I bought before seeing them in concert with four other bands at the now-demolished Capital Center because the cover art was just that cool. I can honestly say I was following them before they were famous. As I recall, the original album lacked the title; it was just the art and the band’s name.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.


Rule 5 Sunday: Heather Lee O’Keefe
Animal Magnetism
Okrahead
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
EBL
A View From The Beach

Next Media Narrative: How Joe Biden Defeated the Evil Chinese Spy Balloon
The DaleyGator
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

Crazy People Are Dangerous: Canadian Child Actor Dopehead Matricide Edition 
The Pirate’s Cove
Okrahead
The DaleyGator
357 Magnum
EBL

B.I.T.S.
The DaleyGator
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

Brain-Damaged Democrats in the News
The DaleyGator
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

Everything Is White Supremacy: Inside America’s New Maoist ‘Struggle Sessions’ 
Okrahead
The DaleyGator
First Street Journal
357 Magnum
EBL

The Grammar and Rhetoric of Media Bias
The Political Hat
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL

We May Never Learn the Full Story’
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

FMJRA 2.0: The Machineries Of Joy
EBL
A View From The Beach

Crime Reduction in Polk County, Florida
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL

Joe Biden Versus an Army of Straw Men
Okrahead
The DaleyGator
357 Magnum
EBL

Goering’s on the phone from Freiburg
Okrahead
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 02.09.23 (Punditocalpyse Edition)
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

In The Mailbox: 02.10.23
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

Top linkers for the week ending February 10:

  1.  EBL (14)
  2. (tie) 357 Magnum & Okrahead (11)
  3.  A View From The Beach (8)
  4.  TheDaleyGator (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the links! It was a big week!

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Vince Dao Wrecks Liberals by — Wait for It — Denying Genetic Determinism

Posted on | February 12, 2023 | 3 Comments

Vince Dao is a young Christian conservative college student in Florida who has a YouTube channel. He somehow got invited onto a panel discussion by Vice in which the subject was anti-Asian bias and the “model minority” stereotype. Everybody else on the panel was some kind of woke leftist, dressed like slobs, and Dao shows up in a suit and tie and starts dishing out hard truths. Video clips went viral this week.

The points that Dao is making are basically the same points that Charles Murray made in his 1984 book Losing Ground, i.e., that long-term poverty is a behavioral problem, and that if you avoid certain behaviors like out-of-wedlock births, the chances are you won’t be poor. The statistical evidence is very clear on this subject, and it shouldn’t be controversial, but the Democratic Party is dedicated to promoting the belief that poverty is a black problem caused by white racism, and so if you point out the facts — that it is behavior, and not race, which causes poverty — Democrats will accuse you of racism.

If you watch this Vice panel discussion, what you realize is that the woke liberals have bought into what can only be described as a genetic determinist view of behavior, believing that different ethnic groups behave differently because it’s programmed into their DNA, so that criticizing harmful behaviors — school failure, drug abuse, crime, etc. — associated with poverty is considered to be a “racist” attack on black people, as if (a) all black people engage in these behaviors and (b) bad behavior is inherent to being authentically black.

Well, as an Appalachian-American, am I doomed to a life of moonshine, banjos, feuding and incest? Must I become a hillbilly stereotype, because it’s programmed into my DNA? Of course not, no more than black people are helpless to resist the cultural forces that would encourage them to engage in harmful behaviors. While it may be difficult to swim against the cultural tide — up here in the hills, surrounded by banjo-picking moonshine guzzlers — ultimately individuals are responsible for their own choices, and it is an evasion of responsibility to blame your problems on social forces beyond your control. But it is now apparently considered “progressive” to believe that people are helpless victims of their circumstances, and so when Vince Dao started arguing in favor of personal responsibility, everybody else on the panel freaked out.



 

 

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