Why can't we have an honest discussion on natural immunity?

Mises Wire: "Why "Natural Immunity" Is a Political Problem for the Regime." - "At this point, it would be embarrassing for the regime to admit what actual scientific inquiry has shown: that natural immunity is generally superior to receiving the vaccine. The regime doesn't like to be embarrassed, and neither do the countless doctors and nurses who have long toed the regime's political line. So expect more of the same." 

Two stories out of Western Massachusetts

Here in my neck of the woods, two stories have been getting national attention.  Hot Air: "Smith & Wesson bailing out of blue Massachusetts."

This battle of cultures has been going on for ages here in the People's Republic of Massachusetts and about once a year the anti-gun protesters show up outside the Springfield factory.  Last month, a billboard was put up right across the plant on I-291:

Just over Interstate 291, a billboard appears a few hundred yards from the Smith & Wesson factory of slain high school student Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was shot four times with a M&P15 rifle made by the Springfield-based factory.

“I can’t turn 21 and enjoy my first legal beer because a Florida teen was allowed to get his first legal AR-15,” the billboard reads.

Now Smith & Wesson is moving some production to Tennessee and laying off 550 workers from really well-paying jobs.

The second story is a report that Black students at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have received anonymous hate emails.  But the university is hot on the trail: "UMass Amherst enlists leading cybersecurity firm in effort to unmask sender of racist emails sent to Black student groups."

At this point, I'm 90-95% sure this is yet another hate crime hoax so if/when these cybersleuths uncover the actual perpetrator, the story will either be buried or turned into a "teachable moment" for us all.

Wait until the press hears about this

Federalist: "President Biden Governs Through Obvious, Ham-Fisted Lies - Biden’s most recently revealed Afghanistan lie is just the latest in a string of outright falsehoods and deceptions the White House is resorting to in the face of failure."

I'm trying to retire the "but Trump" trope but it was sure nice of the mainstream media to retire their Presidential Lie Count just in time for Zombie Joe Biden to take office.  Thank heaven Joey never lied about the size of the crowd at his Inauguration.  

About that House vote that's definitely happening tomorrow

Going down in flames.  The Hill: "House appears poised to pull infrastructure vote amid stubborn stalemate."  

Sad

Human Events: "Nearly 25% of College Students Say it’s Acceptable to Use Violence to Shut Down Controversial Speakers." 

Five trillion in new spending should solve this problem

CNBC: "Fed Chair Powell to warn Congress that inflation pressures could last longer than expected."

There's always a tweet

Irony can be pretty ironic.  Here's Nancy in 2018:

This didn't age well. https://t.co/lQ37iRSfQP

— Lindsey Michelle🇺🇸 Ⓜ️🅰️G🅰️ (@PoliticalLinz) September 27, 2021

Ice cream questions are acceptable

NY Post: "Joe Biden annoyed with US press asking off-topic questions, Psaki says." 

Democracy dies in dumbness

Fox News: "WaPo columnist savaged for downplaying $3.5 trillion bill and saying it will be paid for."

Prepare the popcorn

Red State: "Pelosi Backs off Monday Vote on Infrastructure, Which May Be the Death Knell of Biden's Agenda."

Briefly: Nancy Pelosi agreed to an up-or-down vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill tomorrow (9/27) and now it looks like she's going to break her word because she doesn't have the votes.  But if she doesn't hold the vote as agreed, moderate Democrats in the House claim they'll vote against anything and Kirsten Sinema (among other in the Senate) has stated she'll sink the reconciliation bill.

It's gonna be awesome.

Bounces off the crossbar for extra drama

Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens just broke the NFL record for a field goal at 66 yards.  The doink off the crossbar was (chef's kiss).

Update - Sorry, it looks like the NFL blocked this video.  You can see it here, I think.  

Norms restored

National Review: "Biden’s Shameful Attack on Border Patrol." - "After saying nary a discouraging word about the Taliban as they chased us from Afghanistan and held us to an exit deadline that meant abandoning American citizens, green-card holders, and Afghan allies behind enemy lines, Joe Biden has finally found a focus for his moral indignation — Border Patrol agents on horseback."

Unclear on the concept

First, a flashback to this headline: "US ranks last among 46 countries in trust in media, Reuters Institute report finds - Just 29% of people surveyed in the U.S. said they trust the news, compared to 45% in Canada and 54% in Brazil."

Have no fear, because the (checks notes) New York Times is on a mission to restore faith in the news.  Vanity Fair: "Crisis of Trust in the Media: Inside A.G. Sulzberger's Top Times Project"

“The media in general and The New York Times in particular have taken a lot of shots in recent years, and every poll will tell you that the media is not trusted,” one source said. “How do we, in this era of so much distrust in the media, show the rigor we use in preparing our report to sort of win people over?"

Oh, I have several ideas, but you won't like them A.G.  But do go on.

"The fact that we have a Supreme Court reporter who’s a lawyer, or that we have a medical doctor writing about COVID—we know that stuff, but how do we get that across?” The other source familiar with the project said, “It’s about ensuring that people understand how and why we do what we do.” And crucially, that this sense of understanding transcends the Upper West Side, or any other stereotypical Times constituencies. “This work, more broadly,” the source said, “will hopefully resonate with right of center people, centrists, left of center people—a lot of the work is just to ensure people understand what the Times does.”

So it looks like the plan here is an appeal to authority, with their lawyerly Supreme Court reporter, and not to consider the viewpoints of Americans in flyover country.

The last Republican candidate that the New York Times endorsed for President was Dwight Eisenhower.  A lot of Americans already understand how and why and what you do.

Extra - Remember this NYT gem from four days ago?

And this:

Remember when the ACLU defended the Constitution?

The Corner: "The ACLU’s RBG Tweet Shows Once Again That It Has Abandoned Free Speech." 

How to tell a Democrat is President

Financial Times: "Inflation is back with a vengeance — but is that a bad thing?"

Yes, inflation is the greatest gift since Obama's era of "funemployment!" 

"The Wonder Years" reboot - surprisingly good

Without getting too deep into the racial themes of 1968 Alabama, the show captured the spirit of the original with the confusion of a 12-year-old living in troubled times.

One aspect of the original "Wonder Years" that I always loved - carefully recreated here - is the strong father figure.  It seems like every other sitcom has the "silly Dad" Homer Simpson character, bum-stumbling from one crisis to another.  Dan Lauria's original dad was a hard-working, occasionally bitter man who above it all loved his family and wanted to do the right thing.  In the reboot, Dule Hill plays the cool and confident, nonplussed father, anchoring his own family.

By the way, I LOL'd when the parents suggested sending their daughter to Spelman College, a black all-female college, calling it a "win-win" proposition.  As in a "win-win" for the two parents.

Even Romney gets it

Ace: "Mitch McConnell: The GOP Will Not Vote to Raise the Debt Ceiling"

Mitt Romney, of all people, explains the thinking: If the Democrats are making all spending and taxing decisions without bipartisan give-and-take, why should Republicans have to help Democrats with this vote?

Youse guys wanna cram through historic, war-time spending?  Go ahead and cram through the debt increase, too. 

The NY Times is a parody of itself

This article is unbelievable.  What's in the water over there?  Newsbusters: "New York Times: Iran's Top Bomb-Maker Loved Persian Poetry, Drives to the Seashore."

Even for the woke NYT, this is a new low. Almost couldn't believe it was real at first.

— Archie N. 🇺🇸 (@ArchieN1966) September 19, 2021

Sinema calls the tune

Hot Air: "Sinema reportedly calls Pelosi's bluff: Pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill next week or I'll tank reconciliation."

A bit of background: some moderate Democrats in the House cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi.  She agreed to bring the infrastructure bill, that passed the Senate, up for a vote on September 27th.  She did this to buy some time to get the $3.5 trillion spending bill completed and pass the bills together.  Well, that ain't gonna happen.

If Pelosi calls for a vote on September 27th, progressive Democrats may balk and Nancy will need to depend on Republican votes to pass the infrastructure bill.  But if she tries to delay, Sinema will scotch the $3.5 trillion bill (which is probably dead anyway based on Joe Manchin's comments.)

My feeling is that Democrats will take half-a-loaf and pass infrastructure then the multi-trillion wish list will die in the Senate.

Adios, financial privacy

Reason: "Biden's Plan To Crack Down on Tax Cheating: Snooping on Everyone's Bank Accounts - The president says the IRS needs just two bits of information: all the money that goes into your bank account, and all the money that comes out." 

Doesn't anybody know how to play this game?

The Corner: "Biden’s Booster Bungle Shows a White House in Dysfunction." 

In pursuit of that fair share

Fox News: "Bill Maher calls out AOC's 'Tax the Rich' dress: 'Let's not lie' and say the rich don't pay taxes."

The top 1% pay more than the bottom 95%.  That seems like a lot.

Modern problems require modern solutions

Ace: "Lawless Biden administration changes FAA rules to block Fox from filming border chaos." 

Question: if the media refuses to cover the border crisis, does it matter that the Biden administration is preventing damning pictures? 

Never enough

Reason - "Taxing the Rich Isn't Enough to Pay for Democrats' Welfare State. They'll Need To Soak the Middle Class Too. - There simply aren't enough rich people to finance all the new spending."

Insulting allies in every hemisphere

Reuters: "France says Biden acted like Trump to sink Australia defence deal."

PARIS (Reuters) -France accused U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday of stabbing it in the back and acting like his predecessor Donald Trump after Paris was pushed aside from a historic defence export contract to supply Australia with submarines.

The United States, Britain and Australia announced they would establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific that will help Australia acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and scrap the $40 billion French-designed submarine deal.

“This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told franceinfo radio. “I am angry and bitter. This isn’t done between allies.”

Mr. Competency and Foreign Relations, pissing off allies from Perth to Paris.

Australian media pounces

This is normal.  Politico: "‘That fellow Down Under’ — Aussies cringe as Biden appears to forget PM’s name."

SYDNEY — Pal. Fellow Down Under. Hey … you.

Sure, Washington, London and Canberra have just signed a huge new defense pact. But what Australians are talking about is U.S. President Joe Biden appearing to forget their prime minister’s name.

The American media covered up for Dementia Joe but the Aussies weren't quite as forgiving:

Twitter lit up with hundreds of comments calling out Mr Biden, with social media users describing him as "hopeless" and "embarrassing". 

Hey, man, he remembered Boris Johnson's name.  You can't expect him to remember the name of two guys.

Priorities

Federalist: "Victims Demand Justice After FBI Ignored Nassar’s Serial Abuse, Sexual Assault."

Daily Wire: "The FBI Sent 15 Federal Agents To Investigate Bubba Wallace Claim While Violent Insurrections Tear The Country Apart."

Fifteen FBI agents. 

Tax those vaping Rockefellers!

Twitchy: "Tax the rich? Democrats look to cigarettes and vaping to help fund that $3.5 trillion spending bill."

So much for only taxing Americans who make more than $400,000/year.

Deploy the Bartender Defense

Fox News: "AOC hit with ethics complaint over Met Gala attendance." 

RIP Norm

This bit from Norm Macdonald always makes me laugh:

As predicted, here comes the ransom

Red State: "The Other Shoe Drops: Biden Admin Announces Millions in Aid to Afghanistan."  

"Siri, why do people think the media is full of it?"

Twitchy: "NPR: Man dies after being turned away from 43 ICUs at capacity due to COVID, according to his family."

That happened.  I was the Ivermectin.

The adults in the room shift blame like 8-year-olds

Hot Air: "Blinken: Trump left us a deadline for withdrawal on Afghanistan but not a plan."

Of course, this is false, but let's assume there's a universe where the mainstream media remembers Biden's July 8th press conference the one where he said the Taliban wouldn't take over.  Oh never mind.  Let's assume a President who wasn't hell-bent on getting out by 9/11 for his photo-op, and recognized the lack of a plan was a serious problem.

The new spin is that, although there was no plan, gosh darn it they just had to stick that deadline.  It's called leadership, people.

9/11 + 20

Massachusetts is not a federal jurisdiction

National Review: "Washington Post Legal Analysis Exhibits Confusion about How Law Works." 

Consistently inconsistent

MSN: "ACLU denounced pandemic mandates before COVID-19."  Now, ackshually, being forced to take the vaccine will "further civil liberties."

The standard joke about the ACLU now is that they've strayed so far from their core principles pretty soon they'll be finding an excuse to quarter soldiers in your home.

They said if I voted for Trump, we'd get a fascist tyrant for President...

...and they were right!

Ace: "Moderate, Centrist Dementia Patient Who Will Restore Our Precious Democratic Norms Announces He Will Impose Medical Fascism By Executive Fiat."

Red State: "Joe Biden Threatens the Unvaccinated and Announces His Unconstitutional Vaccine Mandate in Disturbing, Dictatorial Speech."

Of course, everything Joe Biden says nowadays is contradicted by something he said before.  Flashback to December 2020: "Joe Biden says he won’t mandate getting COVID-19 vaccine, wearing masks."

“No, I don’t think it should be mandatory. I wouldn’t demand it be mandatory,” Biden said of vaccines at a press conference in Delaware.

“But I would do everything in my power — just like I don’t think masks have to be made mandatory nationwide — I will do everything in my power as president of the United States to encourage people to do the right thing. And when they do it, demonstrate that it matters.”

As many have pointed out, going full tyrant on covid serves many purposes but mainly 1) diverting attention from Afghanistan and 2) setting up a scapegoat for the horrible economy.

Usually when I see power grabs like this, I check out the legal bloggers.  Here's Powerline:

I cannot imagine what the constitutional basis for such an order would be. But then, I am old-fashioned. I assume that we still have a Constitution.

And here's Legal Insurrection:

Joe Biden is a full-on fascist. He has the most divisive administration ever. His plan is not constitutional. None of it is legal.

Cato lawyer Walter Olson:

This recently updated Congressional Research Service report on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) authority & Covid notes that the agency “has rarely used this authority in the past—not since the courts struck down its ETS on asbestos in 1983.” 

I'll leave Ben Shapiro the final word: if the CDC can decree an eviction moratorium and the Department of Labor can decree a vaccination mandate, there are no limited power in the government:

Today proves once again that the administrative state is merely a giant fungible blob of authoritarianism. The CDC can issue eviction moratoria! OSHA can mandate that you force your workers to vaccinate! None of this has a shred of Congressional approval.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 9, 2021

This is just sad

Red State: "This Ridiculous 'News' Segment by CNN Explains New Reports of Cratering Ratings."

I was recently in a situation - won't get into the details - where I was forced to listen to Don Lemon's show.  My emotions went from annoyance to bemusement at the tendentious crap he was serving up and, although I hadn't watched CNN in years, it all became clear why CNN is bleeding eyeballs.

Hollywood standards

Variety: "Eva Longoria Weighs in on Time’s Up Turmoil: ‘It’s OK to Make Mistakes in the Efforts to Topple the Patriarchy’."  Haha - OMG.

The press doesn't do that

National Review: "Secretary Blinken’s Gibberish about Afghanistan." - "Secretary Blinken, quoted below from Doha on September 6, is dissembling. He is talking in gibberish and the press is not holding him to account." 

By the way, how many Americans have made it out of Afghanistan over the past week?  Why don't we have an updated number?  Insanity.

Your lyin' eyes

Spectator: "Biden’s Afghanistan Speech Fails to Fool America."

Not a hostage situation

National Review: "Taliban Reportedly Refusing to Let Planes with Americans Take Off at Northern Afghanistan Airport."

The State Department assures us this is not a hostage situation, the one everybody predicted.

Rolling Stone does another faceplant

Back in 2014, Rolling Stone published an article that was a journalistic train-wreck, leading to a full retraction and a series of lawsuits.

Proving that they've learned exactly nothing when there's a juicy narrative to push, Rolling Stone published an online article that ticked all the boxes: backward hicks in flyover country, covid panic, and rural gun culture.  And it was all a lie.  Twitchy: "NO one thought to fact-check?’ Rolling Stone, Rachel Maddow BUSTED pushing FAKE story about OK hospitals overwhelmed with horse dewormer ODs."

I read this article before the hospital in the article corrected the record and it was full of red flags, most notably that it depended almost entirely on the testimony of a single doctor.  There were no statistics, no facts from official sources, and no supporting evidence.  It took me all of 10 seconds to find this statement online:

Since May 1, Oklahoma's poison control center has received 11 reports of human exposure to ivermectin. One call was in May, three calls came in July, and six calls reported a total of seven patients in August. Most people developed only minor symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, and there have been no reported fatalities.

Eleven cases of upset tummies.  Awesome job, professional journalists.

Extra - Drew Holden has a long list of credulous lefties repeating this phony story:

It should go without saying, but inventing a narrative out of thin air simply because it confirms your priors is not going to help rebuild trust in the media.

It would’ve taken a single phone call to shoot this story down.

Why didn’t that happen?

It's truly a mystery why people keep losing faith in the media year after year after year.

LOL

Babylon Bee: "Biden’s Approval Rating Among CNN Employees Sinks To All-Time Low Of 98%."

Oh that's (D)ifferent

Daily Signal: "Why Isn’t Biden to Blame for COVID-19 Deaths?" - "Other than promising to employ his imaginary competence, Biden never informed us of how he would conduct policy any differently than Trump."  

It's the covid he said he was going to "shut down"

Red State: "Biden's Excuse for Bad Jobs Numbers Comes Back and Smacks Him Hard." 

ICYMI: "Unexpectedly, Job Creation Slows to a Trickle Amidst Lockdowns and Malaise."  

IRS scheme would pay for 1 day of spending

National Review: "Another Biden Pay-For Comes up Short"

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today published its revenue estimate for President Biden’s proposed increase in IRS funding to close the tax gap, which is the difference in the amount taxpayers owe compared with what the IRS actually collects. The CBO estimates that an $80 billion increase in IRS funding would raise an extra $200 billion over the next ten years, so it would increase revenue by $120 billion on net.

So that extra $12 billion a year will be swallowed up in a single day of federal spending.  (Actually it's closer to 12 hours of spending).  

A little sanity

Hot Air: "McConnell: We're not impeaching Biden over Afghanistan."

Basically, the argument here is that there is no "high crime or misdemeanor" in Biden's gross incompetence and, even if you believe there was, the remedy is at the ballot box. 

The Left hates free speech, a continuing series

Matt Taibbi on Substack: "NPR Trashes Free Speech. A Brief Response - In an irony only public radio could miss, "On the Media" hosts an hour on the perils of "free speech absolutism" without interviewing a defender of free speech."

Going broke

Reason: "Social Security Will Be Insolvent in 12 Years - Without policy changes, beneficiaries will receive only 78 percent of what was promised starting in 2034."

When Social Security launched in 1935, the average life expectancy for Americans was 61. That means the average person died four years before qualifying for benefits. It was imagined as a safety net for the truly needy, not a conveyor belt to transfer wealth from the younger, working population to the older, relatively wealthier retired population.

Now, the average American lives to 78, more than a decade past the age (67) when they can start collecting Social Security benefits—and 16 years beyond the eligibility age (62) for early retirees to collect partial benefits.

Every time the very reasonable proposal of raising the retirement age comes up it's met with screams of outrage, even though people are living much longer and work in the 21st century is nothing like the ditch-digging years of the mid-20th.

By the way, I recently stumbled across a very handy (and free) retirement calculator.  Adjust your expected social security benefit down by 22% for maximum accuracy.

Didn't we used to impeach Presidents for phone calls like this?

Ace: "Leaked Phone Transcript Reveals That Biden Told Former Afghan President Ghani to Lie About His Government's Success Against the Taliban."  

Jen Psaki doesn't want to talk about private conversations.