Saturday, February 27, 2021

It's best to squash their hopes early

Not the Bee: "Boston Public Schools just canceled advanced classes for high-performing students because too many of the kids who qualified were white."  

Extra - From Legal Insurrection.  

The JSF is a POS

Way back in 2003, PBS had a two-hour Nova documentary called "Battle of the X-Planes" about the competition between Lockheed Martin and Boeing in a bid for the next generation of fighter planes: the Joint Strike Fighter.  From an engineering perspective, it's a fascinating look into the progression of a project from concept to execution, and the documentary holds up well as a fight between two businesses for the largest contract in Department of Defense history.  Lockheed Martin won the bid and their X-35 became the F-35.


I've mentioned that for a while I worked on a NASA program and got so disillusioned, so fast.  NASA would send out these newsletters that talked about how they had contractors (i.e. supplying jobs) spread out over a bunch of states.  ("It'd be a shame if you voted against those jobs, Congressperson").  Building the final product seemed to be an afterthought and the scheduled slipped and slipped and slipped.  For the record, this was not the Space Launch System but I mention it because NASAWatch had the same thoughts:
This is my favorite, by far: "The editorial board complains that SLS is "years behind schedule." If it had bothered to look, it would have realized that every major launch vehicle developed by NASA and by private industry ends up running years behind schedule." So in other words, its OK for NASA to propose schedules and then let the companies walk all over them and stick out their hands to say 'more money please' since everyone overruns. Who needs schedules or budgets, right? It is just taxpayer money anyway.
The problem here is that these large government programs morph into job programs and then there's no political will to pull the plug.


Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Joe Biden's Gulag Archipelago

We all saw this story developing months ago.  Hot Air: "Crisis Looms: Surge In Unaccompanied Minors Heading To The U.S.-Mexico Border."  So, of course, these kids need to be detained while Homeland Security figures out how to process their cases.

How would the media react?  Well, last week we saw that "tent cities" had magically transformed into "soft-sided facilities."  But how could they spin the obvious cage-like properties of shipping containers used to detain these unaccompanied minors?  Could they possibly reveal their complete hypocrisy by giving Sleepy Joe a pass?

Oh, they can, and they will.  Twitchy: "To the rescue! WaPo firefighter rides in to set the record straight once and for all about Joe Biden’s ‘kids in cages’."  Ackshually, they're "migrant facilities" don't ya know.  Ace has a complete rundown of "before and after" posts here: "Gimme Shelter: Biden Now Putting Kids in Cages "Shelters," and the Media Is Gushing About It!"  They're like super-fun clubhouses!



With so much room for activities.  Why is media trust in the tank?  Truly, it's a left-wing riddle wrapped up in a New York Times enigma, chased down the street by pitchforks.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Here in Western Massachusetts

PJ Media: "'Critical Race Theory' Costs a Brave Smith College Whistleblower Her Job."  

The ongoing press embargo

New Neo: "Biden and the Big COVID Lie"
The first point – an obvious one – is that there is no serious effort by the press to call Biden on anything he does or says. If Biden knows anything at this point (and he does still know quite a few things) he knows that. Here and there you may see some mild fact-checking, but the administration knows it has a general pass ... to make whatever claim it wants.
To be fair, the Washington Post fact-checker called out Kamala Harris for the exact same lie that Biden keeps repeating.  So that's something. 

Friday, February 19, 2021

Move those goalposts

Hot Air: "Media Discovers: Presidenting In A Pandemic Is Unexpectedly Difficult."

Oh, do tell, do tell.  I was assured I only needed to wear a mask for 100 days.

"How does this keep happening?" - rake-stepping media

Axios: "Media trust hits new low."  This story reports that it's not just an American phenomenon: trust in the media is down around the world and "Mistrust of media is now a central part of many Americans' personal identity — an article of faith that they weren't argued into and can't be argued out of."

Haha, cry me a river.

The media is suddenly discovering that this Andrew Cuomo guy is a bad, bad man
It might be understandable that politicians who need to work with Cuomo didn’t want to challenge Cuomo’s behavior publicly. But where was the media while this “stuff of legend” played out? Shouldn’t they have been reporting this all along, and not just when Cuomo finally let it rip against a member of his own caucus?
The media had other priorities, obviously. They spent the last year lionizing Cuomo, hailing his leadership in the COVID-19 pandemic as a contrast to You Know Who in the White House. Cuomo spent the year getting feted by the glitterati, winning an Emmy for holding press conferences and going on tour bragging about how he beat the virus while covering up how his policies may have led to thousands of unnecessary deaths in nursing homes.

Extra - Daily Signal: "Cuomo Revelations Should Embarrass Media."  As if they were capable of embarrassment.

Also - Federalist: "Andrew Cuomo Didn’t Create The Myth Of Andrew Cuomo, Corporate Media Did" - "The myth of Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Master of Pandemics, Destroyer of Trump, Boyfriend of America didn't create itself: It was the creation of U.S. media."

Monday, February 15, 2021

This "mostly false" fact-check aged well

In August 2020, Politifact handed down their verdict on this Michael Caputo tweet:
"Does the #DemConvention know @NYGovCuomo forced nursing homes across NY to take in COVID positive patients and planted the seeds of infection that killed thousands of grandmothers and grandfathers?"
Verdict: "Mostly false."  Probably because it was complicated. 

In light of recent evidence that it was totally true, the Federalist wants to know if Politifact will amend their original judgement: "PolitiFact Stays Silent On ‘Fact-Check’ Defending Cuomo’s Deadly Nursing Home Policy." 

Assemble the social workers!

NY Post: "Soaring crime is killing NYC’s subway system."


Look at this Chicago Tribune headline: "‘Operation Safe Pump’: Chicago aldermen creating safe spaces to pump gas due to carjacking spike."  Carjacking up 135% in 2020 over 2019 numbers.

Sunday, February 14, 2021

It's complicated

The media have two hard and fast rules for covering stories.  Rule #1 is that if a story is unflattering to Republicans, that's the story; if it's unflattering to Democrats the story is "Republicans pounce!"

Rule #2 is that when "fact checkers" are called to referee, those damaging stories for Democrats are either "complicated" or "totally false."  

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Biden built the cages

Reason: "Biden Is Still Separating Families at the Border. Where Is the Media Outrage?" - "Buried in the news cycle around Biden's gesture, however, is that the updated guidance does not, in fact, stop family separations. It just tells the state to use discretion."

The Democrats and media (I repeat myself), who excoriated Trump for "tent cities," are now using the euphemism "soft-sided facilities".  Isn't that nice?

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Another lesson from Cuomo's book

New York Post exclusive: "Cuomo aide admits they hid nursing home data so feds wouldn’t find out." - "Governor Cuomo’s top aide privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 — telling them “we froze” out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors, The Post has learned." 

As noted before, the evidence was all there but the media wasn't interested in investigating Saint Andrew.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

NBC News' Chief Washington Correspondent/Anchor


What an idiot.

The new tolerance

Charles C.W. Cooke: "Our illiberal moment." - "Voltaire's apocryphal maxim “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is in the process of being turned squarely on its head. Today, a more suitable rendering might read: “I disapprove of what you say, you are exiled, goodbye.”  

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Cabin fever in the time of covid

I came across a discussion board post that was one of those "sign of the times" moments, and I wanted to share and say "I feel ya buddy."

Let me preface this by saying that I'm one of those Disney people.  I've been to Disney World nearly every other year since my kids were little and, once they got too big for rides, we've done Disney cruises.  Our last one was in November 2019, right before corona, and we had a fantastic time.  Since then, I've taken one week of vacation and that's because my boss said I had to take time or lose it.  I couldn't leave the state so we spent a week in September on Cape Cod.  It was OK, but just OK.

So I had a little chuckle at this poor soul on the Disboards DCL forum who was asked if he/she would put up with a long list of travel restrictions if it meant going on a cruise:
honestly right now, as someone who has worked straight through since March without a break, and leaves the house less than once a month, I would be ok with ALL of this. I haven't been further than 5 km from my house in months, and the only human contact I have is with my mom, who I live with. If this is what it takes to go on a cruise and to be somewhere other than my house, then so be it, when does check in open.
Haha - oh man.  I could totally put up with wearing a mask, socially-distanced activities, and even confinement to quarters at certain times.  But I wouldn't go if certain dining options were closed down such as the buffets or the premiere restaurants.  C'mon, man, you gotta eat.

Technically open

Reason: "Biden Airlifts the Goalposts on School Reopening: 1 Day a Week!" - "Administration wants to spend $200 billion hiring new teachers for closed schools that are bleeding students. What could go wrong?

Everybody knows that everything is fixed with more government spending.  

Monday, February 08, 2021

Let's talk about the GOAT

Tom Brady, man, Tom Brady.  He's the first quarterback to win both an NFC and AFC championship, first to win a Superbowl in three different decades, and the owner of this absolutely incredible statistic:


Sunday, February 07, 2021

This woman is certifiably insane

Twitchy: "Columnist conflicted after ‘Trumpist next door’ plowed her driveway without being asked (this LA Times op-ed is ‘a thing to behold’)."  

If her house burned down, she would stay in the neighbor's home...but grudgingly and without absolution.

Extra - Rod Dreher: "The Snowplow Test."  "This Heffernan column is so revealing."  It sure is.

Thursday, February 04, 2021

Wasn't even there

This is pretty funny:

Why is this even up for a vote?

Twitchy: "Senate passes amendment to prohibit stimulus checks from going to illegal aliens."

How would that even work?  You'd mail a check to a residence based on tax returns that were never filed with Social Security numbers that don't exist?

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

You're the real hero, mayor

FEE: "Local Kroger Stores Close as California ‘Hero Pay’ Ordinance Backfires - This result certainly wasn’t what local lawmakers intended, but it was actually quite predictable."

You'll never guess what happened next!  Oh, wait, yes you will.  

Monday, February 01, 2021

The Minneapolis Effect

The Volokh Conspiracy: "Explaining the Great 2020 Homicide Spike" - "While a new report released today by the Council on Criminal Justice downplays the role anti-police protests played in last year's unprecedented homicide spike, a decline in pro-active policing following the protests remains the most likely cause." 


Now it's safe to tell the truth about Cuomo

Following up on a New York Times article today titled "9 Top N.Y. Health Officials have quit as Cuomo scorns expertise" the Federalist torches the enablers in the media: "As Health Officials Resign, Cuomo Says He Doesn’t Trust The Experts - Nine top health officials in New York have resigned in recent months because Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to listen to them."
In a strange way, Cuomo himself is a victim of the media here. They don’t care about him; they never actually liked him that much. They just used him to make the other guy look bad. Now, with Cuomo having served his purpose, his sycophants in the press are happily flaming him for clicks or a good headline. I can’t feel sorry for him; his choices were his own, but one can’t help wonder if they might have been a little different had the media been honest with us and with him.

What we are learning as Trump recedes from power and the media resumes some modicum of truth-telling is just how badly they lied to us for over a year now. People have been destroyed because of it. Now as the corporate press happily flicks the halo from atop Saint Andrew’s head with their finger, the truth is coming out. It is far too late. And the people of America, not just New York, have every reason to be very, very angry about it.
And as a cherry on top, here's notable non-partisan Chris Cillizza of objective CNN with a representative headline for Saint Cuomo: "Andrew Cuomo's Covid-19 performance may have been less stellar than it seemed."

Oh.  It's praising with faint criticism.  

Extra - The Corner: "Apparently now that Donald Trump is out of office, it is safe to take a clear-eyed look at the performance of prominent Democratic officeholders and speak honestly about it."  And perhaps correct the record on Republican officeholders.  

When demand outstrips supply

Legal Insurrection: "Less Than One Percent of 1,200 Reported Racial Incidents in Last Five Years at Michigan State Were Valid."