FMJRA 2.0: Igneous

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | 1 Comment

Apparently I am getting old enough so that I need to have checklists for things like packing up for road trips. The lack of posts these last couple of days wasn’t due to illness (thank God) but the simple fact that I managed to forget the laptop’s power cord before heading down to Las Vegas on Thursday. Normally I would have made up for that by doubling up on Friday night, but an afternoon eye exam made the return trip to Tonopah an agonizing experience. I went promptly to bed after unloading the car last night and didn’t get up until 14 hours later. Ah, well. At least you’re getting the FMJRA on time, right?
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Rule Five Sunday: The Vintage Doll
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

The Other Podcast Rides Again
EBL

Erstwhile #Resistance Spokesman Now Presumes to Lecture Republican Voters
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

FMJRA 2.0: Stratosfear
A View From The Beach
EBL

The Margin of Theft
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

How to End Your Criminal Career
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.07.20
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Judge Releases Satan-Worshipping Murder Suspect, With Predictable Result
EBL
357 Magnum

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn Will Headline Saturday’s D.C. #StopTheSteal Rally
Bacon Time
EBL
A View From The Mailbox
357 Magnum

Number Of States Joining Texas Suit Against PaGaWiMi Hits 7
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.08.20
A View From The Mailbox
EBL
357 Magnum

No More Mr. Nice Kruiser
EBL

How to Maintain Your Sanity
Dark Brightness
Forks & Hope
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.09.20
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Help the Good Canadian
The First Street Journal
EBL

Why Did the Media Suddenly Decide the Hunter Biden Scandal Is Newsworthy?
A View From The Beach
EBL

Millions Stopped Watching Fox News
EBL

Eric Swalwell’s Chinese Honey Trap
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Top linkers for the week ending December 11:

EBL (18)
A View From The Beach (10)
357 Magnum (9)
Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | Comments Off on SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

My podcast partner John Hoge says he is “not completely surprised, but disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the lawsuit filed by Texas (joined by 17 other states) which argued that changes to election procedures in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia were unconstitutional. Jonathan Adler says the decision “should also put an end to the efforts by the Trump campaign and its allies to delegitimize or otherwise challenge the election results,” and further that the result “should not have been a surprise to anyone who was paying attention,” but adds: “There remains a serious legal question about the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to extend the deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots beyond the statutory deadline.” As noted earlier this week (“How to Maintain Your Sanity”), because I am not a lawyer, I did not feel qualified to comment on all this, and worrying about it seemed a source of unnecessary stress.

Once a dispute becomes a matter for courts to decide, the law-abiding citizens of a republic are obligated to abide by the result. This is true, for example, in those cases that attract the attention of the “Black Lives Matter” movement — if a grand jury refuses to indict a police officer who shot a suspect, this is simply the rule of law in action. If you don’t like the law, you organize to pressure the legislature to change the law, rather than looting Target or burning down the courthouse.

If this legal battle is lost — and again, I am not a lawyer, so I can’t say what further remedies might be available — the political war will no doubt continue. We must not surrender to despair.

“Never take counsel of your fears,” as Stonewall Jackson said.

Oh, it’s not a coincidence I’m quoting a Confederate general. Just look at what Texas GOP chairman Allen West had to say Friday night:

“The Supreme Court, in tossing the Texas lawsuit that was joined by seventeen states and 106 US congressman, has decreed that a state can take unconstitutional actions and violate its own election law. Resulting in damaging effects on other states that abide by the law, while the guilty state suffers no consequences. This decision establishes a precedent that says states can violate the US constitution and not be held accountable. This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic. Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”

Deo vindice.

Category: Election, Supreme Court, Texas

Holiday News Down Home

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | Comments Off on Holiday News Down Home

How’s your holiday shopping coming along? I’ve been keeping up with folks down home, reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and it seems there’s been a lot of festive holiday excitement:

One man is in custody after shooting a Walmart employee who confronted him about shoplifting Friday morning in East Point, police said.
The shooting occurred just before noon when a loss prevention officer at the Cleveland Avenue store approached 24-year-old Tyler Cortez Johnson about the alleged stolen merchandise, East Point police Capt. Allyn Glover said.
“The male then pulled a gun and shot the employee before fleeing out the front door,” he said.
Channel 2 Action News reported that the shooting occurred in front of customers, some of whom ran outside after hearing the gunshot.
A second employee taking a lunch break in his car saw Johnson running through the parking lot and followed him as he called 911 with the man’s location. Officers then “flooded” the area and took him into custody, Glover said.
“(He) was actually able to follow him and gave us a general direction of where he was headed,” Glover told the news station. “We were able to apprehend the shooter with the gun within a minute or two.”
The injured employee, who was shot in the side, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Just another happy holiday. And meanwhile there’s this festive news:

A man found dead on a southwest Atlanta road last week was identified as a suspect in a 75-mile police chase through Alabama, authorities said.
Matthew William Lloyd, 46, was a passenger in a vehicle that led officers on a multicounty chase on I-20 before he jumped out, fired at officers and disappeared Nov. 29 into a wooded area, according to police in Oxford, Alabama.
Five days later, his body was discovered shot multiple times on a stretch of Kimberly Road near Melvin Drive Park. Atlanta police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding that shooting and have released no updates as of Friday.
Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge confirmed that Lloyd was their suspect, AL.com reported. Investigators were in the process of taking out warrants against him when they learned he was dead, the chief told the news site Monday.
The driver in the chase, identified by police as 41-year-old Lazarus Glover of McDonough, was taken into custody when it ended in the Oxford area. According to AL.com, he is facing multiple charges in several Alabama jurisdictions, including two counts of attempted murder out of Hueytown and a third count of attempted murder out of Birmingham, where a pursuing female officer crashed.
The chase kicked off in Hueytown, a suburb of Birmingham located along I-20. Authorities said Glover and Lloyd tried to break into an auto auction business and shot at officers who responded, AL.com reported.
Several police vehicles were struck by the gunfire, but no officers were wounded, according to the news site. Police from multiple counties joined in the pursuit, which reached speeds of 115 mph.
It ended when authorities used a spike strip, and Lloyd allegedly took off running. A massive manhunt ensued, involving SWAT and police dogs.

I’m sure Atlanta police will make it a top priority to find whoever shot Matthew Lloyd and saved taxpayers the cost of incarcerating him.

Still more cause for holiday celebrations:

A man accused of attacking a mother outside a Gwinnett County gas station and stealing her car with her and her baby inside has been captured after months on the run.
Quinton Rogers, 42, was arrested Tuesday by U.S. marshals and Gwinnett County deputies, police announced Friday.
The harrowing carjacking occurred over the summer, prompting the woman to jump from the moving vehicle with her child, investigators said previously.
Rogers was identified as the suspect in October and faces four charges in connection with the incident, including two counts of kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle and a probation violation, online jail records show.
“Rogers was identified by analyzing physical evidence obtained by detectives,” Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said in a news release. “The investigation has shown that this was a random attack and there was no prior relationship between Rogers and the victim.”
The mother, who was not identified by police, suffered minor injuries after escaping the moving car. Her baby was not injured, though its car seat was damaged.
The Aug. 18 carjacking was captured on security cameras at an Exxon gas station on Boggs Road in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett police said. Authorities said the mother stopped to eat dinner and was standing at the back of her car in the parking lot when Rogers approached her from behind.
The woman was visibly startled in the surveillance footage, Flynn said previously.
Rogers reached for what the woman thought was a gun and attacked her, she told investigators. After punching the mother in the face multiple times, Rogers told her to get in the back seat with the baby before driving away with two of the car’s doors still open, authorities said.
As he was driving, Rogers demanded money from the woman and threatened to kill her, police said. Afraid for her life, she grabbed the car seat and leapt from the moving vehicle. The car was found abandoned the next day in Duluth, according to police.
Rogers has been arrested at least nine other times in Gwinnett, records show. His previous charges include probation violation, drug possession, aggravated assault and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Glad this guy’s in jail. Hope they keep him there. Meanwhile, it won’t be a happy holiday for meth-heads in Georgia:

A drug trafficking suspect was arrested Thursday afternoon after authorities seized about $400,000 worth of methamphetamine from his Hall County home, deputies said.
The search was the result of a “short-term investigation” by several agencies, including the Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, the GBI and the Department of Homeland Security, Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said in a news release. Police said they found about 4 kilograms of crystal meth inside the Otila Drive home.
Edwin Barrera, 30, was charged with one count of trafficking methamphetamine, jail records show. He remained held at the Hall County Jail without bond Friday evening.

Four kilos of meth — yeah, that would be a wild a Christmas party. Meanwhile, a car thief is recovering from a bad mistake:

A man was shot at a northwest Atlanta gas station Friday morning during a fight over a stolen car, police said.
The shooting occurred about 7:30 a.m. at the BP at the intersection of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Bolton Road, according to investigators. Police arrived to find one man with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that another male, who was still at the scene, tracked a stolen car to the location,” Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Avery said. “The two men were involved in a confrontation over the stolen car and the confrontation escalated to gunfire.”
At least two guns were recovered from the scene, but it’s unclear who fired first or if the injured man is accused of stealing the car. The person shot was taken to the hospital and is stable, according to police.

Dude stole the wrong car, obviously. More good news from Atlanta:

A man who was on the Atlanta Police Department’s “Most Wanted List” for more than a year in connection with a fatal shooting at a convenience store was arrested Wednesday.
Eddie Laye, 35, was booked and charged with the murder of Dexter Willis on Westview Drive in November 2019, according to police.
On Wednesday around 5:20 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle run a red light while traveling east on Campbellton Road. After stopping the car, the driver immediately attempted to exit the vehicle after being told repeatedly to stay inside, according to police. Due to the odd behavior, officers decided to detain him.
Police said Laye provided several false names during questioning before he was eventually identified and booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he remains without bond.
He was wanted in the Nov. 2, 2019 shooting of Willis at Westview Grocery in the 1000 block of Westview Drive. When officers arrived on that scene, they found the victim with a gunshot wound to his chest. Willis was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.
Store surveillance video showed Willis and Laye arguing before the suspect pulled out a handgun, fired a single shot at Willis’ chest and fled the scene, according to the police report.
In addition to the murder charge, Laye is now charged with several other offenses, including driving under the influence and reckless driving.

These murder suspects really need to learn how to drive better. You get away with murder for a year, but get caught for running a red light.

Category: Crime, Georgia

Eric Swalwell’s Chinese Honey Trap

Posted on | December 11, 2020 | 2 Comments

When Chinese agent “Christine” Fang first befriended Eric Swalwell, he was just a city councilman in a suburb of Oakland, California. So how did she know to target him specifically? Swalwell challenged incumbent Rep. Pete Stark, who had Obama’s endorsement, in the 2012 Democratic primary. Out of all the local politicians in the San Francisco Bay area, why would Fang make Swalwell a target of her influence operation, unless Fang’s Chinese spymasters had some inside knowledge?

Not to get too paranoid here, but it has been reported that Fang raised money for Swalwell, and you have to wonder if Beijing’s influence was a “thumb on the scale” of that 2012 election. In other words, Fang targeted Swalwell because China knew he would beat Stark — the fix was in.

That’s just a theory, of course, but it is a reasonable inference, given what we know about Swalwell’s pro-China/anti-American agenda.

Notice what Axios pointed out about Swalwell’s district:

The Bay Area offers ideal conditions for a foreign intelligence operative aiming to identify and target ambitious local politicians with national aspirations. . . .
Some of America’s most powerful politicians got their start in Bay Area politics, and China recognizes California’s importance. The MSS has a unit dedicated solely to political intelligence and influence operations in California.
Silicon Valley is also the world’s most important center for the technology industry, making it a hotbed for Chinese economic espionage. Russian intelligence has also long targeted the Bay Area. . . .
Democrats dominate the Bay Area, from mayors to its numerous U.S. congressional districts, and anyone seeking proximity to power needs to be in their political circles.

Jonathan Swan of Axios explained why this scandal is so important:

“It shows how the Chinese Communist Party operates inside this country. It shows how they infiltrate local politics, how they identify young, in some cases soft targets, people who don’t have a lot of staff around them, who don’t have experience, who don’t actually understand the tactics of the Chinese Communist Party, and then they follow them up … In Eric Swalwell’s case, he has become a very, very powerful, important member of Congress with access to the nation’s top secrets. So it’s a very important story just to understand how China is operating … right now in this country.”

It is certainly not a coincidence that a Chinese agent targeted Swalwell who, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, was an outspoken advocate of the anti-Trump “Russian collusion” hoax.

The Democratic Party is now controlled by Communist China. Democrats are the anti-American party. They will do nothing to protect us from China, because what is bad for America is good for Democrats.

Ric Grenell warned about the danger on NewsMax:

Democrats in Congress are compromised by Chinese embeds, specifically those tied to intelligence committees like Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., according to former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell on Newsmax TV.
“They have infiltrated academia as well as politics, and something needs to be done,” Grenell told Thursday’s “Stinchfield,” making a call for both the House and Senate Intelligence committees to be investigated for China espionage in classified settings.
“This is extremely deep. This is not the only case. I can assure you, there are many members of Congress and Democrat governors and local officials who have been targeted by the Chinese and the Chinese have pushed leverage.”
The massive foreign espionage campaign influence “has picked up” amid the global coronavirus pandemic, Grenell added to host Grant Stinchfield.
“The Chinese have seen their reputation completely tank because of what the intelligence community made clear that COVID-19 started in China.
“So, we have a crisis on our hands.”

Watch the video interview:

Category: China, Democrats

Millions Stopped Watching Fox News

Posted on | December 11, 2020 | 1 Comment

The big news this week is that, for the first time, Newsmax got a bigger audience than Fox News. “Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports beat Martha MacCallum’s Fox News program in the 7 p.m. hour, bumping MacCallum down to No. 4 in cable news, behind Erin Burnett on CNN and Joy Reid on MSNBC.” The reason is simple: If you’re one of the 74 million Americans who voted for Trump, Martha MacCallum hates you.

Martha MacCallum is a liberal activist employed by a liberal organization.

Rupert Murdoch handed over control of his business to his children, who do not share their father’s conservative beliefs; quite the contrary, they all supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden this year. The ascendancy of the younger Murdochs has emboldened people like MacCallum (and Chris Wallace) who were always liberals, but spent years pretending otherwise for the sake of luring in a GOP-leaning audience.

Fox News committed suicide. Lou Aguilar writes their obituary:

Like a million loyal former viewers, I disgustedly watched Fox install disgraced Democrat hack Donna Brazile as their new liberal commentator (to back up the insufferable Juan Williams). Watched them boost the China virus doomsday panic. Watched fake objective anchor Chris Wallace transform into a rabid Trump-sniping chipmunk. Watched normally staid anchor Melissa Francis block Newt Gingrich from linking George Soros to riot-supportive blue state AGs. Watched business anchor Neil Cavuto cut off a White House press conference because he disapproved of Kayleigh McEnany’s address. Watched them call Arizona for Biden on Election Night before anyone else did, with the final count still days away. Watched them call a Democratic House expansion before the party lost many seats instead. Watched them call the election for Biden and refer to him as president-elect minus any official recognition. Watched them ridicule the Trump campaign’s perfectly valid remedial fight, with reporter Kristin Fisher openly insulting the Trump legal team’s press conference. Read the tweet by Kathryn Murdoch, wife of Fox News co-owner James Murdoch (son of Rupert), on Biden’s apparent victory, stating, “We did it.” Then, like a million former Fox News viewers, I turned off the channel, probably for good, adding to its current ratings meltdown. . . .

Read the whole thing.

It is with a certain measure of sadness that I report this suicide, and of course I’ll miss certain people I used to watch, but that’s not my fault. They have made a choice — to be loyal to a media organization that hates its own audience — and they must live with the consequences.

.@Jim_Jordan says "we never had an election where the incumbent President gets 11 million more votes and loses, that hasn't happened in 150 years." https://t.co/VlT7z8drtO pic.twitter.com/ajKXwklGoX

— Newsmax (@newsmax) December 10, 2020

Category: Fox News

Why Did the Media Suddenly Decide the Hunter Biden Scandal Is Newsworthy?

Posted on | December 10, 2020 | Comments Off on Why Did the Media Suddenly Decide the Hunter Biden Scandal Is Newsworthy?

Blazing Cat Fur:

On Wednesday, Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, admitted learning “that the US attorney’s office in Delaware had advised” his legal counsel that they were investigating his tax affairs.
Yet, this was known long before last month’s presidential election, said Fox News host Tucker Carlson, opening the latest edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, and adding his programme had already covered a criminal probe launched into Hunter’s business dealings with China in the run-up to the vote. The latter can’t be said about other media outlets, which have maintained a wall of silence on the matter so as not to hurt Joe Biden’s chances of winning the election, Carlson went on.

Joel Pollak at Breitbart:

The revelation Wednesday that Hunter Biden is under investigation for tax violations relating to his foreign business affairs confirms that the media/Big Tech censorship of stories during the election about his laptop and emails was entirely without merit.
When the New York Post reported on October 14 that Hunter Biden had introduced an official from the corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma to then-Vice President Joe Biden — contrary to the latter’s denials that he had ever spoken to his family about their businesses — Facebook announced that it would be suppressing the story, and Twitter prevented people from sharing it. Those who dared were suspended; the Post itself was locked out of its account for more than two weeks.
When the Post followed up with reporting that Hunter Biden had launched a joint venture in 2017 with the CEFC China Energy Co., and that he had reserved 10% for the “big guy,” the media deliberately ignored the story. Never mind that the intended CEO of the new company, Tony Bobulinski, corroborated the story. Never mind that Breitbart News reported independent emails that showed Hunter Biden’s associates bringing Chinese bigwigs to the Obama-Biden White House.
In the final presidential debate, Joe Biden called the story a “Russian plant,” citing a letter by 50 former intelligence officials, including some who spread the “Russia collusion” hoax. Biden lied to to America, as Big Tech and the media applauded.
Now, after the election, we are learning that the laptop is central to the case against Hunter Biden. CNN — which spiked the story in October — reported Wednesday that the tax inquiry included questions about a gift from Ye Jianming, CEFC’s founder. Fox News reported that the laptop, seized by the FBI last year, was central to the investigation against Hunter Biden.
Instead of investigating the story, Silicon Valley and the mainstream media censored it.

Well, why was this story — which was suppressed by social media as “Russian disinformation” when the New York Post published it two months ago — suddenly deemed newsworthy on Wednesday?

Two words: “Safe harbor.”

Tuesday was the deadline for states to certify their election results. Once that deadline had passed, the media deemed it acceptable to report the news it had previously suppressed. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

Category: Joe Biden, Media Bias, Scandal

Help the Good Canadian

Posted on | December 10, 2020 | 1 Comment

Years ago, I dubbed Kathy Shaidle the Only Good Canadian.

My general hatred of Canada is so well-known I’m surprised the SPLC hasn’t taken notice, but that’s the thing about hating Canadians — it’s so commonplace that even liberals don’t object to it. Anyway, some of my readers objected that Kathy was not the only good Canadian, and I’m willing to stipulate that there may be a few others like her, but none of them could possibly be as good as she is. Her blog Five Feet of Fury was a regular read back in the day, and she’s been a columnist at various outlets — including a stint at PJMedia, another at Taki’s, and most recently doing film reviews at Mark Steyn’s place. Her most famous aphorism is, “You’re not smart enough to tell me how to live.”

Well, Kathy developed ovarian cancer, which is now in a very advanced stage, and her husband who blogs at Blazing Cat Fur has got an online fundraiser to which everyone should contribute.

Category: Kathy Shaidle