The Other McCain

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

‘Mass Formation Psychosis’ and the Censorship of COVID-19 Criticism

Posted on | January 25, 2022 | Comments Off on ‘Mass Formation Psychosis’ and the Censorship of COVID-19 Criticism

In December, Dr. Robert W. Malone was banned from Twitter: “The account referenced (@RWMaloneMD) was permanently suspended for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.” Using the vague concept of “misinformation” to justify silencing critics of COVID-19 policy is part of a totalitarian project that Malone described on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. And guess what happened next?

A group of 270 scientists and doctors are pressuring Spotify to crack down on content from Joe Rogan, the most popular podcaster in the U.S. One of the group’s complaints? His interview with doctor and scientist, Dr. Robert Malone.
Rogan isn’t merely the most popular podcaster in the country — he is, by some metrics, the most popular figure across the entire media.
It was recently reported that Rogan gets an average of 11 million views per podcast episode. The podcast’s closest competitor is Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, which gets an average of 3.21 million views.
Like Rogan, Tucker Carlson is also frequently the target of censorship efforts, but these have not dented his dominating position in cable news.
The group of experts who wrote to Spotify asking them to censor their most valuable personality objected to Rogan’s interview with Dr. Robert Malone, a doctor and scientist who conducted some of the earliest research on mRNA technology, which is used in Pfizer and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines.
Dr. Malone, who objects to the use of mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines, was permanently blacklisted from Twitter.
Malone’s interview with Rogan, which was released just a few days after his ban from Twitter, was one of the podcaster’s more viral episodes.
The doctor’s contention that western societies are suffering from “mass formation psychosis,” a kind of collective hysteria brought about by shared feelings of fear and manipulation from outside authorities, proved particularly viral, with clips of Malone’s discussion of the concept viewed millions of times on social media.

It should be obvious, at this stage, that vaccines have failed to “shut down the virus,” as Joe Biden promised during the 2020 presidential campaign. If the vaccines are not effective against variants of the COVID-19 virus, what is the motive for the administration’s continued efforts to make vaccination mandatory? Good luck getting straight answers to that question. My cynical suspicion is that the attempt to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory is just a payoff for the gigantic pharmaceutical companies that are manufacturing the vaccine.

What the censors obviously fear about Dr. Malone is not “misinformation” (because anyone can look at the number of so-called “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated patients and see the problem with these vaccines), but rather that his discussion of “mass formation psychosis” is giving people a clue about how powerful institutions have been manipulating public opinion. Those engaged in that manipulation — including the executives at Twitter — don’t want the public to become aware of the propaganda techniques being used by the elites to promote their preferred narratives. And this is why this Thursday is “Everybody Blog About Mass Formation Psychosis Day.”

Simply put: They can’t de-platform everybody.




 

Category: Media Bias, Science

In The Mailbox: 01.24.22

Posted on | January 25, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.24.22

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

A friendly reminder.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Happy Belated Birthday To John Moses Browning
EBL: Civilization – The Skin Of Our Teeth, also, Joe Biden’s Economy – How Are The Markets Doing?
Twitchy: “CNN Has Received The Talking Points”, also, Neil Young Tells Spotify To Choose – Neil Or Joe Rogan
Louder With Crowder: Whoopi Goldberg Lashes Out At Bill Maher for Mask Jokes, Defends Living In Fear
Vox Popoli: Stay Out Of The Skies, Only Fools Trust Science, and Bumbling Toward War
Stoic Observations: Fingers & Toes

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Ripples Of Heroism, also, We Reject Their Science
American Conservative: The Confucian Model
American Greatness: Wokeism – A Cruel & Dangerous Cult, also, The Coming Dethronement Of Joe Biden
American Power: The Case For Ukraine, also, The Case Against Ukraine
American Thinker: Lockdowns, Masks, & Vaccines Have all Been Complete Failures, But That’s Not The Real Problem
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Biden Refuses To Confront Cuba’s Communist Dictatorship, also, Disguising Pigs In Communist Cuba
BattleSwarm: The Babylon Bee Interviews Elon Musk, also, “For The Greater Good”
Behind The Black: Astra Completes First Static Fire Dress Rehearsal, Another Study Says No Water Under Mars’ South Pole, and Today’s Blacklisted Americans
Cafe Hayek: A Gruesome Anniversary, also, The Irresponsibility Of Intellectuals
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday, also, Big Navy Vs. Recon & Strike-Capable Drones – On Midrats
Da Tech Guy: No Dough For You!, Five Quick Thoughts Under The Fedora, and Report From Louisiana – A Book Roundup
Don Surber: Reporter Whines Republican Won’t Talk To Him, Clarence Thomas Set To Kill Affirmative Action, and They Want Our Distrust
First Street Journal: The Wealthy Love Them Some Fossil Fuels! also, To Our Credentialed Media, Truth Is Racist
Gates Of Vienna: Aftermath In Afghanistan, Three More Cultural Enrichment Tales From Germany, and ISIS Recruiter Deported From Sweden
The Geller Report: DoD Vax Whistleblowers Report 500% Increase In Miscarriages, 300% Increase In Cancer, 1000% Increase In Neurological Damage
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, Stuff We Don’t Know, and Ring Shepherds
Hollywood In Toto: J6 Is Hollywood’s Attempt To Stop Trump 2.0, also, Fargo Part 2 – Franchise Offers Something Tarantino Never Could
The Lid: Staggering Majority Says U.S. Headed In Wrong Direction
Legal Insurrection: Syracuse Student From Cuba Works To “Dismantle The Socialist Deception”, Politifact Rushes To Joe Biden’s Aid After “Bull Connor” Smear Backfires, and Mind-Numbed Virtue Signaling
Nebraska Energy Observer: Random Observations – The Nick Edition, also, Third Sunday After The Epiphany
Outkick: Gritty Performances Lead To Vols Revenge Against LSU, 49ers Edge Packers 13-10, Ending Rodgers MVP Campaign, and Bengals KO Titans For First AFC Championship Since 1988
Power Line: Harvard’s Discrimination Against Asian-Americans In A Nutshell, Biden Has A Moment Of Lucidity, and Notes On The Real Economy
Shark Tank: Economic Boom In Key West Despite Lack Of Cruise Ships
Shot In The Dark: #Resist, Birthday Wishes, and Maybe He’ll Give Up Umbrella Man!
STUMP: Top Causes Of Death By Age Group, 2020 – Death Rates
The Political Hat: Canada Outlaws Telling Someone They Might Not Be Queer
This Ain’t Hell: Man Sentenced For Stealing Veteran & Social Security Benefits, Derek Hamm – The Rest of The Story, and Bonhomme Richard Arson Suspect Promotes Himself For His Article 32
Transterrestrial Musings: Gavin Newsom, Giving Up On Canada, and No, NTSB
Victory Girls: Are You Listening, Mr. Bragg? Do You Care? also, State Department Tells American Citizens To Leave Ukraine
Volokh Conspiracy: Trigger Warning For 1984 At University Of Northampton
Weasel Zippers: NBC’s Chuck Todd Says Biden “No Longer Viewed As Competent & Effective”, also, Massive Group Of 400 Illegals Seen Crossing Texas Border
The Federalist: Some Big Cities Regaining Their Senses On Law & Order, Failing At Home, Biden Prepares To Wag The Dog, and After Brutalizing Trump For Doubting Elections, Biden & Psaki Tell Americans To Doubt Elections
Mark Steyn: What Becomes A Legend Most? Finding Buffalo Bill, also, Conspiracy Or Groupthink?

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

Jimmy Baseball’s Third Ex-Wife

Posted on | January 24, 2022 | Comments Off on Jimmy Baseball’s Third Ex-Wife

Jim Edmonds spent 18 seasons in the major leagues, won four Golden Glove awards, made the All-Star roster four times and helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series championship in 2006. Edmonds, known to fans as “Jimmy Baseball,” was already twice divorced and the father of four children and had been out of the game for four years when, in 2014 at the age of 43, he made the mistake of marrying 29-year-old Meghan King. Despite her comparative youth, she already had a track record of marital failure, having divorced her first husband in 2011.

When a middle-aged millionaire marries a 20-something blonde, a bad outcome is nearly guaranteed, but a year after the Edmonds-King nuptials, Meghan joined the cast of Real Housewives of Orange County, and I must ask: Has any marriage ever survived the “Real Housewives” treatment? Of course, I’ve never watched any of those stupid shows, which air on the gay cable channel Bravo. Oh, c’mon, everybody knows Bravo is a gay channel, right? And the whole point of “Real Housewives” seems to be depicting heterosexual marriage as a farce whereby ditzy women are indulged by their wealthy clueless husbands. The indulgent cluelessness of the husbands is more or less the punchline of the joke, and I am unable to comprehend why any man would put up with this.

Perhaps someone should give Jim Edmonds a copy of Rollo Tomassi’s The Rational Male. Given what Edmonds accomplished in his baseball career — a career .284 batting average, with nearly 400 home runs and almost 1,200 RBIs — one might think he would be sufficiently concerned for his reputation that he would refuse to let his young bride involve him in this “Real Housewives” series, which is not only a near-guaranteed path to divorce, but which is also antithetical to the personal dignity of the cast members. Everyone involved in “Real Housewives” is more or less a clown, parading their expensive follies for the entertainment of a cable-TV audience. Might as well date a Kardashian.

The Wikipedia synopsis of the Edmonds-King marriage:

Edmonds married Meghan O’Toole King on October 24, 2014. … Meghan joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2015. Edmonds himself also appears on the show. On Thanksgiving Day 2016, they had a daughter. On November 27, 2017, it was announced that the couple were expecting twins boys together due June 2018. The twin boys were born on June 5, 2018. On October 25, 2019, Edmonds filed for divorce from Meghan, the day after their fifth wedding anniversary.

Details from a contemporary news account:

After attempting to reconcile following a very public cheating scandal, Meghan King Edmonds, 35, and Jim Edmonds, 49, are calling it quits.
Jim Edmonds, a former MLB star, officially filed paperwork to end the marriage Friday, Us Weekly reports. The filing came one day after their fifth wedding anniversary following a blow-up fight with Meghan.
“Meghan and Jim have been fighting,” a source told the publication. “The latest fight began when he went to a recent hockey game and she began interrogating him about who he went with.”
She reportedly also accused the former St. Louis Cardinals player of “having an affair” with their nanny.
Meghan’s distrust likely stems from Jim admittedly sending lewd text messages and photos to a woman while the reality star was pregnant.

Far be it from me to defend a philanderer, if indeed these accusations were true, but am I the only one who sees how the intrusion of a TV reality-show gig played a role in this disaster? Jim Edmonds is a Somebody, famous for his own accomplishments, whereas Megan — what had she ever accomplished, except marrying Jim Edmonds? Parlaying that connection into a “career” (if three seasons on “Real Housewives” can be considered a career) allowed her to become a Somebody, but in an entirely parasitical way. And now, having married again (and divorced again) she’s trying to extend her 15 minutes of fame:

Meghan King is taking the ultimate walk down memory lane.
The former reality star, 37, announced on Monday that she will be recapping her old episodes of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” on her recently launched YouTube channel — and Page Six has an exclusive first look.
In our clip, King reflects on her marriage to ex-husband Jim Edmonds, calling it “embarrassing.”
During a scene that aired in the Season 10 premiere, the retired baseball player appeared to ignore his then-wife as she tried to engage in a conversation.
“So rude. So embarrassing,” King says in her YouTube series, pressing her hand to her forehead.
In the episode, she also gushed over Edmonds in a confessional, “He completely respects me.”
“Denial,” she states. “I was in denial.”
Elsewhere, the mom of three — who shares daughter Aspen, 4, and twin sons Hart and Hayes, 3, with Edmonds — reacts to a younger version of herself admitting, “Oh yeah, I forgot my name is Meghan Edmonds.”
Today, King — who starred on “Orange County” as a full-time ‘wife for three consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2017 — couldn’t be happier to have reclaimed her original surname.
“Thank God it’s not [Edmonds] anymore, ugh,” she says, shaking her head.
Edmonds and King’s relationship dissolved as cheating allegations came to light. The couple finally called it quits in November 2019, after police were called over a heated argument during a custody exchange.
Their bitter divorce was finalized in May — just months before King wed President Joe Biden’s nephew, Cuffe Biden Owens, in October. (Meanwhile, Edmonds got engaged to former Playboy model Kortnie O’Conner in August, after a year and a half together.)
After splitting from Owens, 43, in December, though, King’s “RHOC” rewatch comes as she settles into another chapter as a single woman.
Discussing more than just her marital miseries with Edmonds, the lifestyle blogger says she will be spilling behind-the-scenes tea about “all of those hilarious, dramatic and sometimes cringe-inducing moments” from her time on “RHOC.”

Doesn’t that take the cake? Recycling your failed marriage — and badmouthing your ex-husband — for clicks on YouTube.

There is a word for this, and that word is trashy.

Like I said, might as well date a Kardashian . . .




 

Category: Celebrities

Good News From New York

Posted on | January 24, 2022 | Comments Off on Good News From New York

Important, because most of the news from there is bad nowadays:

The “distorted” career criminal accused of shooting two Manhattan cops, killing one and leaving the other clinging to life, died of his wounds Monday, officials said.
Lashawn McNeil, 47, had been in critical condition since being shot by a third officer after fatally gunning down Finest Jason Rivera, 22, and critically wounding NYPD cop Wilbert Mora, 27, during a domestic disturbance inside his brother’s Harlem apartment Friday.
“I hope he burns in hell,” a veteran cop said of McNeil.
Mayor Eric Adams confirmed McNeil’s death at a press conference on gun violence.
Meanwhile, Officer Mora is still clinging to life, police said.
Asked about Mora, the grim-faced mayor, a former city transit cop, called for “prayers.
“Prayers for the family, prayers for our city that we move in the right direction,” he said.
McNeil, who was hit in the head and arm by rookie Officer Sumit Sulan, had been declared brain dead after the incident, a source said.
McNeil’s mother has told The Post that her son, who grew up in Far Rockaway, was mentally ill.
“His mental state is very distorted, and that’s all I can say,” Shirley Sourzes said over the weekend
Sources added Monday that her son lived in Baltimore but that she brought him back to New York to care for his older brother, who has a brain tumor.
She spoke to The Post hours before her son died.
She said she regretted ever dialing 911 on Friday when she got into a beef with him and said she blamed herself for the tragedy that followed.
“If I knew, I never would have made the phone call,” she said. “I would never have called!
“I would like to say to Mr. and Mrs. [Rivera] that I am deeply sorry,” she added. “I know that there is not words that I can express.”
Police said the deranged gunman ambushed the cops by opening fire with an illegally modified Glock .45-caliber handgun during the incident.
The convicted felon was on probation for a 2003 drug conviction when he shot the cops, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a press conference Saturday.
McNeil also had several busts outside of the five boroughs, including a 1998 arrest for gun possession — which was later dismissed — and a 2002 Pennsylvania arrest for assaulting a police officer.
He had two other busts in Pennsylvania the following year for felony and misdemeanor drug charges, records show.
The gun used to shoot the two NYPD cops, which was stolen from Baltimore in 2017, was illegally equipped with a high-capacity magazine that holds an additional 40 rounds.

Convicted felon, on probation, with a stolen gun, killed a cop.

He’s dead now, and that’s the only good news from New York lately. Permit me to point out, in case anyone doesn’t understand, what “career criminal” means. McNeil was in his early 20s when he was busted for illegal gun possession. Four years later, he assaulted a cop, and he was convicted in 2003 for a serious enough drug charge that he was still on probation 19 years later. Despite this fact, which would have prohibited him from possessing firearms, he was armed — with a stolen gun — and why? Who needs a pistol with a 40-round magazine? A serious drug dealer, that’s who. So it would appear that McNeil has been dealing drugs his entire adult life. Is there any evidence that he ever worked an actual job, earning a living by honest means? Not that we know of.

His mother says he was mentally ill — a “very distorted” mental state — but was there any clinical diagnosis of this condition? Had he sought treatment? Or was it rather the case, as we may suspect, that he was collecting disability payments for this phantom “illness” to augment his drug-dealing revenue? Whatever the case may be, the existence of a category of “career criminals” like Lashawn McNeil is a reality that liberal politicians and media commentators refuse to acknowledge when such habitual perpetrators get killed by cops. Anyone who researches George Floyd’s criminal history realizes that he hadn’t spent any time earning an honest living; in Texas, he was engaged in more than one violent robbery, and in Minneapolis, he was attempting to pass counterfeit currency when he was arrested and died of a fentanyl overdose (which had little or nothing to do with how the cops treated him). More than a few others hailed as martyrs by the Black Lives Matter movement had similar criminal histories. It’s not “systemic racism” that’s getting these people killed; it’s their habitual involvement in criminal behavior.

Probably the mob won’t loot any stores or topple any statues to protest the death of Lashawn McNeil — shoot two cops in an ambush, and not even Ben Crump can depict you as a victim of racism — but he is in many ways typical of the category of criminals that BLM has tried to turn into civil-rights icons. Perhaps others are willing to play along with that charade, but I am too street-wise to be played for a chump.




 

Category: Crime

Rule 5 Sunday: Yvette Mimieux, RIP

Posted on | January 23, 2022 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

As if Sidney Poitier, Betty White, and Meat Loaf weren’t enough, the Grim Reaper also came for Yvette Mimieux, best known for her role as Weena in George Pal’s The Time Machine, but who I first encountered in the movie Dark of the Sun, a brutal movie set during the horrific Simba Rebellion in the Congo during the mid-1960s. Here she is with co-star Rod Taylor in a still from that movie.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1603, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Class War Friday, and the return of the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Meat Loaf, Zulu, Billions Season 6, The Escape Artist, Robert Reich Vs. Kyrsten Sinema, Dolly Parton, Brianna Kupfer RIP, Linda Ronstadt & the Eagles, Nina Simone, Pats @Bills, Hillary, and Marilyn Mosby Indicted

A View From The Beach: Hailee Steinfeld in Pink Hair and Chain Mail, Fish Pic Friday – Ashley Womack, Random Celebrity News, Passion Roulette, RIP: Yvette Mimieux -TV’s First Bellybutton, Wednesday Wetness, CDC Disowns Cloth Masks, Oyster Agreement Remains Elusive, Joe Biden, Democrat Hangover Lasts Another Day, Tanlines for Tuesday, Liberals to Aim For ‘Cooling Justice’, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Snowy Sunday?, Marcella Pushing Daisies with Anna Friel, Fish Pic Friday – Krysten Potega, Tattoo Thursday, Biden: Sorry Your House Burned Down. How About Helping Pay for Some of My Friends to Build Windmills?, Wednesday Wetness, Just One Word, Plastics!, Silver Storm, The Monday Morning Stimulus, and Palm Sunday.

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts




Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Ludwig II von Bayern

Posted on | January 23, 2022 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Ludwig II von Bayern

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Finally, back in the swing of things. My Senators went 3-2, this week, sweeping the Braves and losing two out of three to the A’s, but except for one blowout by the A’s, they were all close games. 
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.


Rule 5 Sunday: Clearing Out The Bodacious Babe Backlog
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
EBL
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

CNN: ‘Disgraced, a National Punchline’
The Pirate’s Cove

How Do Democrats Get Away With It?
EBL
357 Magnum

Can Mac Jones Win the ‘Froze Bowl’?
EBL

HOSTAGE CRISIS AT TEXAS SYNAGOGUE; UPDATE: SHOTS HEARD, HOSTAGES RELEASED, TERRORIST KILLED
Dark Brightness
EBL

 

The Mysterious Motive
EBL
357 Magnum

Nevada Cops Shoot White Guy With Diploma From Elite University
EBL
357 Magnum

White Lives Don’t Matter
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.18.22
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 01.19.22
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

A Motorcycle Thief’s Last Ride
EBL
357 Magnum

The Many Mug Shots of a Killer
First Street Journal
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.20.22
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

Oh, NOW They Tell Us: Texas Synagogue Terrorist Was Known Jew-Hater
EBL

Aspiring Rapper Update: ‘C Blue’ Accused of Shooting NYPD Officer (Accidentally)
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.21.22
EBL
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending January 21:

  1.  EBL (15)
  2.  357 Magnum (10)
  3.  (tie) A View From The Beach and Proof Positive (5)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: FMJRA Award

Can We Make Thursday ‘Everybody Blog About Mass Formation Psychosis Day’?

Posted on | January 23, 2022 | 8 Comments

Darren Beattie has a piece at Revolver talking about how the Biden administration is trying, without much success, to convince Democratic voters to let go of the COVID-19 panic narrative to which they are clinging like a toddler with a security blanket: Masks are useless, children are not at risk, schools should be open, et cetera.

All of this is just common-sense stuff that skeptics have been saying since mid-2020, but because Democrats and their media allies have devoted so much effort to portraying skeptics as villains — you’re “anti-science” if you oppose drastic measures to fight COVID-19 — the people who voted for Biden refuse to accept the message now that the administration is ready to “move on” from the panic. Beattie writes:

The Biden Administration wants its rank-and-file followers in public schools, colleges, and hospitals to calm down. Instead they remain as paranoid as ever. It is entirely possible that this will continue for all of 2022, or even longer. Covid and its variants aren’t going away. To the extent they were ever effective at all, vaccines appear to lose their potency with every new booster campaign. The virus remains as mild for most people as ever, but constant testing means that even the healthiest progressives have worked themselves into a permanent state of fear and paranoia.
This has fascinating ramifications for leftism itself. Through Mass Formation Psychosis, the ruling class left seems to have finally memed its true believers into a pattern that it can’t talk them out of. For two years, they sowed panic by promoting the cult of the mask, the cult of the lockdown, and the cult of the vaccine. Now, they can’t suppress the cults they have created. Similarly, they ignited a “racial reckoning” in 2020 and are now powerless to stop the frenzy of murder and crime that this “reckoning” unleashed in every major city.

Recall that people are trying to de-platform Joe Rogan for hosting Dr. Robert Malone, who has popularized the “Mass Formation Psychosis” theory to explain public reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well, here’s some news for you: They can’t de-platform everybody.

If all of us with access to digital platforms — bloggers, columnists, people on Twitter and Facebook, etc. — will unite behind this idea, we can defeat these censors and make it impossible for them to suppress the idea.

Therefore, I propose that this Thursday, Jan. 27, be declared “Everybody Blog About Mass Formation Psychosis Day.” The objectives:

  1. Call attention to the censorship campaign by which COVID-19 panic brigades are attempting to suppress criticism. If you look at the Google results, you’ll notice that the first page of results (which is all that most Googlers ever see) is dominated by “fact checks” and people endeavoring to “debunk” Mass Formation Psychosis as a “conspiracy theory.” This obviously reflects manipulation of the Google algorithm in an attempt to support censorship of Joe Rogan and others.
  2. Explain what “Mass Formation Theory” really means. There is nothing outlandish about the theory that Dr. Malone has outlined. When the “dominant narrative” is promoted by politicians and major media organizations — when they’re all on the same page, so to speak — most people will believe what they’re being told and react the way they’re instructed to react. The theory is a bit more complex and nuanced than can be summarized in a sentence or two, but the basic idea isn’t at all crazy or “extremist,” no matter what the self-declared “fact checkers” claim.
  3. Most critics of COVID-19 policy are not “anti-science.” This has been the problem with public reaction to the pandemic from the start. Various “experts” (including Dr. Anthony Fauci and the science/medical commentators on TV news outlets) presented themselves as having all the answers to COVID-19, and advocated restrictive policies as the One Right Way to fight the virus. Because these experts were presented as being the voices of “science,” anyone who criticized the restrictive policies was implicitly accused of being “anti-science.” This involved an appeal to a common prejudice among college-educated people, who cherish a self-image of being on the side of enlightenment, and who view themselves as engaged in a war against ignorance. To such people, it was easy to see Dr. Fauci as a heroic knight doing battle against the dragon of “anti-science.”

It does not matter, in terms of “Everybody Blog About Mass Formation Psychosis Day,” what you believe about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Malone himself is deeply skeptical of mRNA vaccines, but that’s neither here nor there in regard to the importance of the free speech issue involved. I’ve gotten the vaccine, and have suffered no side effects worse than minor soreness in the arm where I got the shot, but I’m against making the vaccine mandatory, which is what the Biden administration has been trying to do, while demonizing anyone who refuses to get vaccinated, no matter their reasons.

A young woman of my acquaintance is a liberal and a mother of two sons. Like many other women of childbearing age, she is unvaccinated — that’s one of the dirty little secrets that the COVID-19 vaccine propagandists don’t want you to know. They keep trying to pretend that it’s us old white Republican guys who are the so-called “vaccine resisters,” but it’s really more common among women under 40 and among racial minorities. Furthermore, mothers especially are angry about schools being closed, and this is causing some liberal moms to declare themselves “politically homeless” because they can see that it’s Democrats who want to keep schools closed. So this young unvaccinated mom of my acquaintance, who lives in the Land of the Free — thank you, Governor DeSantis — has already had COVID-19 and thus has natural immunity. Yet she sees Joe Biden (whom she voted for) on TV demanding that everybody must be required to get the vaccination, as if natural immunity doesn’t exist.

The plural of “anecdote” is data, as they say, and I think there must be a lot of people like her out there. Two years into this pandemic, even liberal Democrats are sick and tired of the maximum lockdown mentality, and they are the real target audience for “Everybody Blog About Mass Formation Psychosis Day.” If they can be made to see how public perception can be manipulated by politicians and the media in this specific case, perhaps they will become more skeptical to other “dominant narratives” that are promoted in the same way. Who knows? Perhaps they’ll even start questioning Keynesian economics.

EVERYBODY BLOG ABOUT
MASS FORMATION PSYCHOSIS DAY

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

Let’s make this happen.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

UPDATE II: On Twitter, this idea has already been endorsed by John Hoge, as well as Lawrence Person and Don Surber, among others.




 

Category: Science

Patriots Post Mortem: What Mac Jones Needs to Do During the Off Season

Posted on | January 22, 2022 | 1 Comment

It’s been nearly a week since the Patriots got humiliated by the Bills in last Saturday’s playoff game, and I’ve been procrastinating on doing a post mortem analysis of New England’s 2021 season. Y’all know the story — the Patriots drafted Mac Jones from Alabama, and thereby recruited me as a fan, because Roll Tide! — and one painful aspect of Mac’s rookie season was hearing commentators slag him as having a “weak arm,” unable to throw deep, a slander that made me want to do a Chris Crocker “Leave Britney alone!” video to defend my ’Bama boy.

Surely Mac himself must be aware of this “weak arm” slander, which got repeated for the umpteen-millionth time this week:

An anonymous AFC executive expressed this point while talking to Pro Football Focus’ Dough Kyed.
“He’s cerebral, but his arm is weak, which will hurt him in that division in cold-weather games,” the exec said. “Good rookie year but [he] needs a lot of things around him.”
Jones has the trust of his teammates and Bill Belichick appears to be sticking around — so, a lot of the kinks can be worked out during the offseason. But, the Patriots must find a way to put the right playmakers around Jones to make up for the lack of arm strength.

This offends me — I feel personally insulted, as I imagine most other Alabama fans do — because during his national championship season with the Crimson Tide, we saw with our own eyes that Mac Jones was equal or superior to any other college quarterback in his ability to throw deep. I’ve embedded the highlight video here before, and there’s no need to do so again. Google it. Whenever I hear this “weak arm” line, the question occurs to my mind: “Compared to who?” Which of this season’s rookie quarterbacks had more deep throws than Mac? My guess would be none of them, since Mac was indisputably the best of last year’s QB draft crop. If you want to compare him to established veterans like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Dak Prescott, that’s one thing I suppose, but to state flatly that Jones suffers from a “lack of arm strength” for which he must “make up” is just counterfactual. Leave Mac Jones alone!

It also occurs to me, however, that Mac Jones ought to be angry about this. He ought to take it as a challenge — a gauntlet flung at his feet — and make up his mind to develop The Strongest Arm in NFL History™.

BIGGER.
STRONGER.
FASTER.

Mac Jones should be hitting that weight room like Arnold Schwarzenegger preparing for the Mr. Olympia contest, with the determination to silence his detractors by becoming the most muscular quarterback ever to play professional football. His goal should be nothing less than to become a freak of superhuman strength, so that when he drops back to pass, the defense is astonished when — HULK SMASH! — he flings the ball 60 or 70 yards downfield. Certainly, the Patriots have the kind of trainers and nutrition specialists who can help Mac maximize his potential, but he himself must make up his mind to commit to achieving this goal. There are about 26 weeks between now and the last week of July, when NFL training camps open, and if Mac Jones were to dedicate those weeks to a really serious strength training regimen, the quarterback who reports for the Patriots camp in late summer will be unmistakably stronger than the one we saw last season.

For the next 26 weeks, Mac Jones ought to be working out like Rocky Balboa training for his big match with Apollo Creed — not just lifting harder in the gym than he’s ever done during his entire career, but also doing drills to improve every aspect of his game. He seems to have become good friends with his New England teammates, including tight end Hunter Henry, and there’s no reason Mac can’t get together with his buddies a few times a week to throw the football around. And maybe Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels could show up for these informal friendly get-togethers, IYKWIMAITYD.

There has been a lot of praise for Mac’s leadership qualities, and during this off season he ought to lead by example in terms of commitment to a physical conditioning program — HULK SMASH! — so that the entire team is inspired to become bigger, stronger and faster next season.

Various commentators have weighed in on what the Patriots need to do in terms of the 2022 NFL draft and acquiring free agents. Everybody seems to agree that New England needs a true No. 1 wide receiver, someone who strikes fear into opposing defenses, and the name of Alabama’s Jameson Williams has come up. Of course, adding more Alabama players to their roster (in addition to Mac, the Patriots also have Crimson Tide alumni Christian Barmore, Damien Harris and Dont’a Hightower) would be an excellent idea, but if Williams isn’t available, or if there are doubts about his recovery from an ACL injury, I like Alex Barth’s suggestion of Wan’Dale Robinson from Kentucky.

Robinson was a big reason why Kentucky had a 10-3 record this past year, upsetting No. 10 Florida (watch Wan’Dale’s 41-yard TD) in October and beating No. 15 Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, where Wan’Dale caught 10 passes for 170 yards. Various mock drafts have Robinson going in the second or even third round and, if Jameson Williams gets picked in the first round before the Patriots get their turn, why not do this: Take Kentucky offensive lineman Darian Kinnard in the first round, then get Robinson in the second round? That way you’ve got two Kentucky players and they won’t feel so homesick up in New England, and Kinnard will be motivated to block harder to protect Mac, since that will help his teammate Wan’Dale get more catches. On the other hand, there’s a lot of talk that the Patriots need to improve their defense, so it’s probable that one of their first- or second-round picks will be a linebacker or defensive back, but I still like the Kinnard-Robinson package deal from Kentucky, just like the Mac Jones/Christian Barmore package deal Belichick got from Alabama last year, then maybe make your defensive drafts in the third and fourth rounds, and add some free agents on defense.

It never seemed to me that Mac Jones was really a problem for New England in his rookie season. Their offensive line was a problem early in the season, and there were too many dropped passes by their receivers, but their defense kept them competitive until late in the season when they inexplicably fell apart. Probably it was naive of me to think the Patriots could be a Super Bowl contender in what was still a rebuilding year for the team, but they made the playoffs, which was an important step, and if they can add just two or three more pieces to their puzzle, I like their chances for next season, especially if Mac Jones will spend the next six months in HULK SMASH! mode. Make it happen.




 

Category: Football
« go back — keep looking »