In The Mailbox: 05.26.21

Posted on | May 26, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 05.26.21

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Roses In The Snow
EBL: Separated At Birth – Doctors Of Death
Twitchy: New Republic Looks At How White Vietnam Vets Worked To Cast Themselves As An Aggrieved Minority
Louder With Crowder: David Hogg’s Latest [Stupid] Anti-Gun Claim, also, Jordan Peterson Demolishes Sophomoric Claim “Real Marxism Has Never Been Tried” In Under 60 Seconds
Vox Popoli: Freedom Is Slavery, also, Sliding Toward Irrelevance

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Pope Francis Is Our Greatest Ally
American Conservative: Big Left Foundations Fund Biased Barely Legal Voter Programs
American Greatness: Biden’s “American Family Plan” Wants Kids In Government-Controlled Preschool
American Power: Old World Hatreds In The New World
American Thinker: The Left’s Ideology Shrivels When Exposed To The Light
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: How To Know If You’re Really Old School Miami
BattleSwarm: Report On Police “Reform” In George Floyd Square Interrupted By Drive-By Shooting, also, How Many Of Steve Adler’s Lies Can You Count In This Joe Rogan Interview?
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted Americans, also, Viasat Runs Crying To FCC, Seeks To Block Future Starlink Satellite Launches
Cafe Hayek: The Only Surprise Is That Such Realities Continue To Spark Surprise, also, Wen Will She Stop Her Fear-Mongering?
CDR Salamander: Keeping An Eye On The Long Game, Part XC, also, Bab al-Mandab & The Persistence Of Geography
Da Tech Guy: Report From Louisiana – My Last Four Days Of Working For A Living! also, The True Meaning Of Memorial Day
Don Surber: The Young Guns Misfired, also, Putin Gets Twitter To Treat His Opponents Like They Did Trump
First Street Journal: On Lying, also, Why Do The Left Always Want To Run Other Peoples’ Lives?
The Geller Report: Marjorie Taylor Greene Rips Occasional Cortex As A “Terrorist – Responsible For Attacks On Jewish People”, also, Biden Brings In Terror-Tied Islamists To Investigate The U.S. Military For “Extremism”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, X-Ray Astronomy In 3D
Hollywood In Toto: Quiet Place Part II – Shallow, Scary Sequel More Than Good Enough, also, Stephen Colbert’s Late Show Celebrates Has-Been Rocker Threatening Political Violence Against Sen. Rand Paul
The Lid: Rep. Greene Made Disgusting Holocaust Comments, But Rep. Clyburn’s Multiple Holocaust References Are Worse
Legal Insurrection: Senate Confirms Race-Baiting Quack Kristen Clarke To Lead Civil Rights At DOJ With One Republican Vote, also, Energy States Fight Back Against Bank Threats To Cut Off Oil, Gas, & Coal Companies
Nebraska Energy Observer: The Old Mill Part 7
Outkick: Matt Duffy & The Cubs Are Winning, And Management Is NOT Happy, also, Two Minor League Baseball Teams Brawl It Out
Power Line: Notes On The Chauvin Leaks, also, Burisma Revisited
Shark Tank: Nikki Fried’s Subtle Jab At Career Politician Charlie Crist
Shot In The Dark: This Ain’t No Fooling Around, also, Quick Question
The Political Hat: North Carolina Vs. Critical Race Theory
This Ain’t Hell: You’re Not A Veteran If You Deserted Boot Camp, also, Complaints Of “Lopsided” ACFT
Transterrestrial Musings: Earth’s Natural Harbor, also, Red Lines
Victory Girls: Gov. Newsom Ordered To Cough Up $$$ In Church Case
Volokh Conspiracy: Dershowitz Sues Netflix Over Its Jeffrey Epstein Documentary
Weasel Zippers: Lockheed Martin Execs Force To Undergo White Privilege Training, also, WaPo Fact Check Suddenly Decides Wuhan Flu Lab Leak Theory Credible After Previously Calling It A “Ridiculous Conspiracy Theory”
The Federalist: #BLM Activist Threatens Kansas City Police, also, How The Left’s Insane Call To “Defund The Police” Led To Murder & Mayhem
Mark Steyn: Hal-elujah! also, The Narrowing Bounds Of Discourse

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Category: Linkagery

The Vindication of President Trump

Posted on | May 26, 2021 | Comments Off on The Vindication of President Trump

Donald Trump took a well-deserved victory lap this week in an interview with Newsmax, among other things pointing out that he was an early proponent of the increasingly accepted theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology:

“I said it right at the beginning, that’s where it came from,” Trump said. “I think it was obvious to smart people that’s where it came from. I have no doubt about it. I had no doubt about it.”
He said he was criticized because people didn’t want to “say China,” even though it was “very obvious” to him it came out of Wuhan.
“I said right at the beginning it came out of Wuhan,” he said.
He added that all of the early deaths associated with the virus came out of Wuhan.
“That’s where all the deaths were also,” he said. “When we first heard about this, there were body bags, dead people laying all over Wuhan province.”
Trump had no hard feelings about being criticized for pushing his theory.
“I said it very strongly and I was criticized and now people are agreeing with me so that’s OK,” he said.

What was once dismissed as a fringe “conspiracy theory” turns out to be the most likely explanation? Gosh, what about the election?

(Hat-tip: Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit.)

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Donald Trump

In The Mailbox: 05.25.21

Posted on | May 26, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 05.25.21

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Good Guy With A Gun Stops Hate Crime
EBL: Army Of The Dead – A Review
Twitchy: Cenk Uygur’s Horrible Take Unites People On Both Sides Of The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
Louder With Crowder: Kevin Spacey (Yes, THAT Kevin Spacey) Makes Hollywood Comeback
Vox Popoli: Brer #BLM And The Briar Patch, also, Georgia Can’t Force Economic Support
Gab News: Keep Your Kids Away From Facebook

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: All My Friends Are Getting The Vaxx
American Conservative: Transforming The Military To Transform The Country
American Greatness: Florida Cuts Off $300 Pandemic Unemployment Kicker, also, Five Months After january 6 Riot, National Guard Finally Leaving DC
American Power: Gaza Conflict May Help Keep Netanyahu In Office
American Thinker: How Trump Derangement Syndrome Could Save America
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Key To Victory News
Babalu Blog: Biden Remains Silent As Leftist Terrorists Wreak Havoc In Colombia
BattleSwarm: Deroy Murdock Isn’t Having Your Critical Race Theory BS, also, Constitutional Carry Passes In Texas
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted Americans, also, Bernie Sanders Throws A Wrench Into Cantwell’s Bill Requiring Two Lunar Landers
Cafe Hayek: Beware Of Efforts To Repatriate Supply Chains
CDR Salamander: Some Damn Foolish Thing In Belarus
Da Tech Guy: I Don’t Blame Red China & Russia, I Blame U.S. Elites Who Sold Out To Them, also, Very Quick Thoughts & A Prediction Under The Fedora
Don Surber: When Jake Tapper Said An Election Was Stolen, also, Slavery Makes Electric Cars Possible
First Street Journal: Journolism & The Public’s Right To Know, also, Still Not Killadelphia
The Geller Report: Trump Reacts As NH Audit Shows Only 28% Of GOP Test Ballots Counted By Voting Machines, also, “Journalist” Paid By CNN Has $90,000 Seized; Charged With Encouraging Capitol Rioters
Hogewash: Harbingers Of Stagflation, also, Team Kimberlin Post of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: Eleven Killer Responses To Cynthia Nixon’s Pro-Shoplifting Tweet, also, Why Mark Ruffalo’s Apology For Slamming Israel Matters
The Lid: FL Gov. DeSantis Signs Anti-Social Media Censorship Bill
Legal Insurrection: Left Explodes Over 60 Minutes Piece On Young People Who Regret Transitioning, also, Embattled San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin Blames Police For Crime Crisis
Nebraska Energy Observer: Invisible Men, also, Our America
Outkick: Latest Rand Paul Death Threat Smacks Of All The Unity We Were Promised, also, The Mets Could Get Healthy – And Really Good – In June
Power Line: Yale To Alumni – Drop Dead, also, Why SCOTUS Should Hear The Harvard Case
Shark Tank: Broward Supervisor Of Elections Admits Ballot Harvesting Still Occurs
Shot In The Dark: Pork-Barrel, Almost Literally
The Political Hat: Stanford Medicine Goes Woke
This Ain’t Hell: Leaked State Dept, Memo Indicates Official Support For #BLM Agenda, also, Going Home
Victory Girls: Project Veritas Exposes Facebook’s Suppression Secrets
Volokh Conspiracy: Justice Sotomayor Erases The Word “Alien” From A Justice Marshall Decision
Weasel Zippers: States Threaten Legal Action Against Administration Over Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Push, also, Amazon Sued By DC Attorney General On Antitrust Grounds
The Federalist: Scandals Mount For NM Governor Lujan Grisham, also, Russell Brand Rips Big Media & Big Tech For Colluding To Protect Joe Biden
Mark Steyn: The Coming Of Age, Fifteen Years Late, also, Lab Leaks & Lockdown Freaks

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 05.24.21

Posted on | May 25, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 05.24.21

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Blast from the past – They done got their chompers on the oil supply again!

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Your Tax Dollars At Work – Or Not
EBL: The Flaming War Pigs Of Ancient Rome
Twitchy: Sen. Rand Paul Hammers Twitter For Doing Nothing As “C-List Celebrities” Encourage Violence Against Him & His Family
Louder With Crowder: Former NBA Star Kwame Brown Unloads On “Fake Woke” Biden Supporters – “They’re The New KKK”
Vox Popoli: Devil Mouse Is Killing The Classics, also, The Decline & Fall Of Minneapolis

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Strike Three – Aliens
American Conservative: How American Journalism Became The Mouthpiece Of The Deep State
American Greatness: Icons With Feet Of Clay, also, Why Are Democrats So Afraid Of Election Audits?
American Power: Politifact Has Egg On Its Face
American Thinker: No Race Has Ever Done More For Another Race Than White Americans Have Done For Black Americans, also, Democrat Projectionists
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Updates On Kidnapped Opposition Leader & Dissidents Imprisoned By Cuba’s Dictatorship
BattleSwarm: Inside The Kamala Harris Bubble, also, Man With Rifle Stops Shooter
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, also, Virgin Galactic Finally [After Ten Years] Makes Manned Flight From New Mexico
Cafe Hayek: I Thought The Australians Beat COVID-19
CDR Salamander: The Modernization Crunch – On Midrats
Da Tech Guy: Disagreements Under The Fedora, also, A Much Different Diversity Is Needed In Journalism Than The One Mayor Groot Is Looking For
Don Surber: Gutfeld Tops Fallon & Kimmel In The Ratings, also, West Virginia Is Literally Dying
First Street Journal: Fear Is The Mind-Killer, also, Black Lives Don’t Matter In St. Louis!
The Geller Report: NYC Principal Under Fire For Demanding Staff Support Terrorism & Jihad, also, GOP Ballots Fail To Scan In PA – Dominion Responds, and NH Audit Confirms Voting Machines Unreliable
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, Does Acme Legal Have A New Client?
Hollywood In Toto: L.A. Story Gave Us The Complete Steve Martin Experience, also, Return Of The Jedi – The Ultimate Review
The Lid: Study Of Asian Hate Crimes Blows Gaping Hole In Left’s “Racist Republicans” Narrative
Legal Insurrection: Effort To Recall Los Angeles DA George Gascon Already Underway, also, Support For #BLM Collapses Among Whites & Hispanics, Drops Among Blacks As Well
Nebraska Energy Observer: Random Observations, also, Pentecost
Outkick: Charles Barkley – “The NBA Ain’t Got The Balls To Suspend LeBron James”, also, Traditional HS Basketball Powers Form Their Own Conference
Power Line: Two Court Defeats For Biden’s Racist Policies, also, Pro-Military Democrats? Please.
Shark Tank: First In The Nation – DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Big Tech Deplatforming
Shot In The Dark: Free Fire Zone, also, The Strongly Worded Memo
STUMP: Mortality With Meep
The Political Hat: Rhode Island Vs. Critical Race Theory
This Ain’t Hell: Ft. Belvoir, USS Antietam Under Consideration For Renaming By Woke DOD Commission, also, Another Three Accounted For
Transterrestrial Musings: On The Road Again
Victory Girls: ESPN Claims Tim Tebow Is An Example Of White Privilege
Volokh Conspiracy: TX Lawyers Can Be Sued For Libel Over Press Releases About Complaints
Weasel Zippers: Former ICE Director – Occasional Cortex Is The Least Smart Congressman In The History Of Congress, also, VP Harris Wipes Her Hand On Pants After Shaking ROK President’s Hand
The Federalist: Zuckerberg Should Never Be Allowed To Touch U.S. Elections Again, also, Parents Are Outraged Over NYC Prep School’s “Pornography Training”
Mark Steyn: Traditions & Transgressions, also, When Hollywood Went Nuts – The Chase

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Category: Linkagery

From Madrid To Another Kind Of Deathworld, And Back To Kansas City

Posted on | May 24, 2021 | Comments Off on From Madrid To Another Kind Of Deathworld, And Back To Kansas City

— by Wombat-socho

This was supposed to be done this weekend, but then I saw Hearts of Iron IV was on sale for a ridiculously low price, and I spent most of the weekend trying to revive the Roman Empire as Mussolini, because that’s who you get in the tutorial. Which ties in with the first book today, Peter Kemp’s Mine Were Of Trouble, an account of his experiences with the Carlist Requetes and the Spanish Foreign Legion. That right there makes it unusual; while Orwell’s Homage To Catalonia is merely the most famous of many accounts by various folks who fought for the Spanish Republic, Kemp’s is one of the few from a volunteer on the Nationalist side. A lot of what he says corroborates A.H. Lloyd’s Long Live Death, reviewed here previously, and it’s definitely interesting how his various aristocratic connections help get him into Spain and into an officer’s billet with the Requetes and then with the Legion, but what really sold the book to me is the episode late in the war when he tries to intercede for a captured Irishman who claimed to have been conscripted into one of the International Brigades.* I’ve read quite a bit about the Spanish Civil War, but nothing brought home the savage hatred of the Nationalist officers for the foreigners who came to Spain to destroy everything they felt made Spain great in the name of Godless Communism as the lecture Kemp’s colonel delivers to him in the course of refusing to grant clemency to the prisoner – or Kemp’s discovery (via his company commander) that the colonel had sent men to see that Kemp followed his orders to execute the Irishman – and if he failed to do so, to shoot him as well as the prisoner. A rare and very interesting look at the Nationalist side, and well worth your time, even if Kemp initially comes off as Bertie Wooster without Jeeves.

Someday Larry Correia will write a book that sucks, or collaborate with someone who sucks, but today is not that day. Gun Runner is a departure from Larry’s usual bill of fare; while there are monsters aplenty on the planet Swindle (a place so lethal it would give Harry Harrison’s Pyrrans from the Deathworld series pause), the worst monsters are the humans running the place – the Warlord in particular. Former mech pilot Jackson Rook, a one-time war hero, takes a job training the Warlord to use the ultimate mecha, but winds up fighting for his life on behalf of a revolution to set the people of Swindle free. I’m leaving out a ton of stuff, but Larry and co-author John Brown do an incredible job building characters you care about and putting them through some very rough times. Very good read.

I reread a couple of classic Heinlein novels, Starman Jones and Time Enough For Love, on the way home from DC, and they were every bit as good as I remember. Starman Jones is about Max Jones, a kid scraping out a living on a backcountry farm until his stepmother remarries an oafish bully and Max decides he’d be better off elsewhere. Fortunately for Max, he’s got an ace in the hole – his astrogator uncle left his books behind after a visit years ago, and Max memorized every page. So he heads off for Earthport, hoping his uncle left him a legacy – only to have the books stolen and discovering that his uncle forgot to submit Max’s name to the astrogators’ guild, Max manages to get a crew berth aboard the starship Asgard anyway, with the unlikely help of the hobo who stole Max’s books and the reward money for returning the books. From there, Max works his way up to the bridge crew as an astrogator trainee – and finds himself the only man who can save the ship after the chief astrogator dies, the captain (possibly) commits suicide following a misjump to a hostile planet, and the remaining astrogator gets himself killed. It’s up to Max to get the Asgard back using his photographic memory, because the astrogation books are missing. It’s a Heinlein juvenile, so you know it has a happy ending, but the fun is in getting there.

As for Time Enough For Love, which is in my opinion Heinlein’s last great novel, it’s really three separate tales about Lazarus Long, oldest member of the Howard Families (last seen in Methuselah’s Children, way back in the 1940s) who is busy trying to die after a life measured in centuries, only to be rudely interrupted by his distant descendant the Secretary of the Families, who manages to convince him that there’s cool stuff he hasn’t done yet – and therefore he has a reason to live on. The second part of the book are tales of Lazarus’ adventures on a couple of frontier planets, and the third is the tale of his return to Kansas City right before the U.S. enters World War I. In between, you get the “Notebooks of Lazarus Long”, a collection of advice on various topics. Now, the book reads a lot faster if you skip the passages about sex, genetics, and math; while there’s nothing explicit/pornographic in the book, there’s a lot of talk about sex, so much so that the book gave rise to not one, but two bawdy filksongs, “Clone OF My Own”, and “The Ballad Of Lazarus Long”, the latter of which spoils the ending and the former spoils the part right before the third section. Maybe I’ll quote them in the comments. Maybe not. Anyway, after all this time, it’s still a good read, and for my money better then Friday and the rest of the junk that came after it.

*The International Brigades had been folded into the Peoples’ Army by the time of the Ebro campaign, during which this incident took place, but one can forgive Kemp and his fellow Legionaries for not caring about minor organizational details. Foreigners fighting for the Republic were assumed to belong to the International Brigades and generally shot out of hand, unlike Spanish conscripts whose surrenders were almost always accepted.

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Category: Books

Five Mass Shootings This Weekend

Posted on | May 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Five Mass Shootings This Weekend

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, N.J.:

The two people killed at a mass shooting during a party at a New Jersey home late on Saturday night have been identified by authorities.
Asia Hester, 25, and Kevin Elliott, 30, were shot and killed in what witnesses are saying was a gang-related ‘turf war’ that erupted during a house party that was held in a South Jersey suburb about an hour outside of Philadelphia.
Twelve people were wounded in the shooting. No arrests have been made.
Hester’s sister, Crystal, told the New York Post on Sunday that Asia was a ‘hardworking’ health care professional who became an A student after immigrating to the United States from her native Jamaica. . . .
A witness, 44-year-old Sunshine Carter, said there were at least 30 gunshots.
‘I was sitting on a chair talking to my daughter and a friend. We were laughing. Next thing I knew, I hear shots fired, like 20 shots,’ Carter told the Post.
‘Then it stopped, then 10, 15 more.
‘I didn’t know if they had to reload. I didn’t know if it was two shooters, one shooter.
‘I was running for my dear life.’ . . .
One of the women who attended the party said that the shooting was gang-related.
‘It’s South Side young boys vs. North Side young boys,’ said the guest.
‘This has been going on since the ’60s, and now they’re getting crazier with it.
‘They’re bringing guns.’

COLUMBUS, OHIO:

A teenage girl is dead, five other young people were wounded and two others injured in a mass shooting late Saturday night at a music party promoted on social media at the amphitheater in Bicentennial Park in Downtown Columbus.
Police and Columbus Fire medics were called at 11:51 p.m. Saturday to a reported shooting at the park along Scioto Mile and found a chaotic scene with several people wounded.
Olivia Kurtz, 16, was transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 1:06 a.m., police said. Kurtz was a student at Columbus City Schools’ Fort Hayes Arts and AcademHigh School, the district confirmed.
Three females and two males, ranging in age from 15-19, were wounded. The shooting victims were transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
A 16-year-old male transported to OSU Wexner underwent surgery and is reported in stable condition. A 15-year-old girl, two 19-year-old women and a 19-year-old man who were shot were all expected to recover from their injuries, police said.

MINNEAPOLIS:

One suspect is in custody and another is dead, after a a mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis Saturday evening, according to a Minneapolis Police Department spokesman.
Jowan Contrail Carroll, 24, is being held at Hennepin County Adult Detention Center, Minneapolis Police Department public information officer, John Elder, told ABC News. There are currently no charges against Carroll; the department has until noon on Tuesday to issue charges, but police are looking at a probable murder charge, Elder said.
Another suspect is dead, he confirmed. That suspect’s identification will not be released until the medical examiner’s office completes its investigation.
Two people are dead, including one of the suspects. Seven received non-life-threatening injuries and one remains in critical condition.
The Minneapolis Police Department said all 10 shooting victims are adults, five male and five female. The two deceased victims are males.
The shooting involved a dispute between two people who both pulled out guns and started shooting at each other, according to Elder.
The incident took place downtown along the 300 block of North 1st Avenue.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.:

A teenager is dead and 14 people are hurt after a mass shooting during an unauthorized neighborhood event in North Charleston on Saturday, according to North Charleston Police.
A 14-year-old female died of her injuries, police said. . . .
“It’s a sad day that we have to be here today to talk about another death of another young person,” North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess said during the press conference.
Burgess said suspects have not been identified and a motive is not clear, although police suspect it was multiple gunmen that fired shots.
“The individuals were angry at each other and they didn’t care who got hit,” he said. . . .
Authorities said the shooting occurred after a fight broke out near the stage of an unauthorized concert within the neighborhood.

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO:

Police are investigating a mass shooting outside a bar on Youngtown’s lower west side where three people died and at least three more were wounded just after 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
There were dozens of casings in front of the Torch Club Bar & Grill at Salt Springs Road and Elberen Street as well as a parking lot two doors down, where a house was also struck by gunfire.
There was a four-car accident across the street from the bar that came after shots rang out.
A couple of blocks east, at the corner of Salt Springs Road and Greenwood Street, there was a two-car accident where one person died and another person went to the hospital. . . .
Detectives said there was some sort of argument that broke out in the area near the Torch Club and there was “an exchange of gunfire,” that saw three killed and three others wounded. Police investigated multiple scenes earlier with dozens of casings spread out.
They’re still trying to piece together what happened.

A quick tally of the butcher’s bill: Nine dead, 44 wounded.

Don’t expect to see this on CNN. None of these shootings were perpetrated by Republican voters upset about the election results.

Category: Crime

Rule Five Sunday: She Comes From A Land Down Under

Posted on | May 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Rule Five Sunday: She Comes From A Land Down Under

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This week we take a break from all the Russian ~~collusion~~cosplay girls and go with an Australian lass, Amy Thunderbolt. Her blog is here, if you want to check out her other work on various social media. In this pic from r/cosplaygirls, she’s playing Hilda from Pokemon Black/White.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.