Twilight of the Wonks
Posted By: Moritz55, 3/27/2024 10:50:01 AM
Impostor syndrome isn’t always a voice of unwarranted self-doubt that you should stifle. Sometimes, it is the voice of God telling you to stand down. If, for example, you are an academic with a track record of citation lapses, you might not be the right person to lead a famous university through a critical time. If you are a moral jellyfish whose life is founded on the “go along to get along” principle and who recognizes only the power of the almighty donor, you might not be the right person to serve on the board of an embattled college when the future of civilization is on the line.
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Gaza: Truths Behind All the Lies
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“Occupied Gaza.” Prior to October 7, there were roughly two million Arab citizens of Israel but no Jewish citizens in Gaza. Gazans in 2006 voted in Hamas to rule them. It summarily executed its Palestinian Authority rivals. Hamas cancelled all future scheduled elections. It established a dictatorship and diverted hundreds of billions of dollars in international aid to build a vast underground labyrinth of military installations. So Gaza has been occupied by Hamas, not Israel, for two decades.
“Collateral Damage.” Hamas began the war by deliberately targeting civilians. It massacred them on October 7 when it invaded Israel during a time of peace and holidays. It sent more than 7,000 rockets
Republicans have been accused of waging a "war on women" for several election cycles now. But is there any truth to this claim?
Democrats and their supporters in the media are leaning into an election-year fear-mongering campaign about Republican "bans" on reproductive rights. In their redefinition, any limitation on abortion throughout pregnancy, even in the third trimester, is a "ban." Even more disingenuous, Democrats have also accused Republicans of threatening birth control and, most recently, IVF. Welcome to the political silly season.
Joseph Lieberman, a former senator from Connecticut who became the first Jewish American to be nominated on a major party’s ticket, died Wednesday at 82. According a statement from his family, Lieberman died on Wednesday afternoon following complications from a fall.
"Former United States Senator Joseph I. Lieberman died this afternoon, March 27, 2024, in New York City due to complications from a fall," his family said in a statement. "He was 82 years old. His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed."
Twilight of the Wonks
1 reply
Impostor syndrome isn’t always a voice of unwarranted self-doubt that you should stifle. Sometimes, it is the voice of God telling you to stand down. If, for example, you are an academic with a track record of citation lapses, you might not be the right person to lead a famous university through a critical time. If you are a moral jellyfish whose life is founded on the “go along to get along” principle and who recognizes only the power of the almighty donor, you might not be the right person to serve on the board of an embattled college when the future of civilization is on the line.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration is "perplexed" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to cancel a high-level delegation’s planned visit to Washington after the U.S. decided not to veto a U.N. Security Council vote demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. Monday’s resolution, which passed 14-0, called for an immediate cease-fire during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. However, the measure does not link that demand to its call for a cease-fire.
Rather than use its veto power, the U.S. abstained from voting.
Judge's 'absurd' bond in NYC Trump case
could have been reduced to almost nothing,
says Turley 7 replies
could have been reduced to almost nothing,
says Turley 7 replies
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley reacted Monday to former President Trump's bond being slashed to $175 million in the New York City civil fraud case, calling the original $454 million amount "absurd." Turley called the bond change a needed "restraint" to the legal system in New York, warning the "political vortex" hasn't played well with voters or companies. JONATHAN TURLEY: The Court of Appeals may have felt that they can't prejudge the evidence, and so to reduce the bond further would have been heavy-handed. I actually think they could have reduced this bond to virtually nothing, because the amount set by Engoron was absurd...
If you want to know what the country thinks about President Joe Biden’s agenda, look at how they vote. Not at the ballot box. But with their feet.
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau released data on “net domestic migration.” This tracks where people are moving between counties in the country. Last year, the 10 counties that gained the most through net migration had one thing in common – they were conservative counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
At the other end of the spectrum, all 10 counties that saw the biggest negative net migration also have one thing in common – they all voted for Biden in 2020.
Will DEI End America—or America end DEI?
6 replies
At the nexus of most of America’s current crises, the diversity/equity/inclusion dogma can be found. The southern border has been destroyed because the Democratic Party wanted the poor of the southern hemisphere to be counted in the census, to vote if possible in poorly audited mail-in elections, and to build upon constituencies that demand government help. Opposition to such cynicism and the de facto destruction of enforcement of U.S. immigration law is written off as “racism,” “nativism,” and “xenophobia.”
Duty, Honor, Nothing
10 replies
My father remembers a trip with my grandfather to the U.S. Military Academy in the early 1960s to watch a baseball game. They loved the game, but what struck my grandfather, who served in the Pacific during World War II, was something else.
“Watch how they sprint on and off the field,” he said. “Every inning. The best player and the worst. Whatever the score.”
I don’t know whether the boys at West Point still sprint on and off the athletic fields. I bet they do. Their generals and the politicians, however, are running in the wrong direction.
West Point is dropping “Duty, Honor, Country” from its mission statement
In the aftermath of the George Floyd killing in the summer of 2020, a sea of middle-class white protesters in my former hometown of Denver ritualistically writhed and moaned face-down on the grass for nine minutes in a park. It’s difficult to believe in hindsight that such creepy and transparent virtue-signaling ever took place. But middle-class white liberals were in a tailspin at the time. The often contradictory codes of “woke” social etiquette had knotted their brains; they were simultaneously confused and fighting mad, and above all, they were desperate to appear to be standing on the “right side of history.” So strong was this urge as they packed
Pollster Frank Luntz recently warned that New York Attorney General Letitia James' efforts to seize former President Donald Trump's properties could devastate Democrats in the upcoming election. The ex-president recently failed to secure the $464 million appeal bond he needed in the recent New York civil fraud judgment against him. In a Monday court filing, Trump's legal team said getting the amount of money needed was a "practical impossibility under the circumstances presented."
James has threatened to seize Trump's assets and suggested that the former president should secure the entire value by selling off his real estate holdings – which his attorney Clifford S. Robert called "unconstitutional."
Why Trump is Polling Ahead of Biden
7 replies
Unlike most people in the media, Frank Luntz spends a lot of time talking to regular folks. He and Nate Silver can see the objective reality of where we are now, yet they have difficulty explaining that to people on the Left. To most of them, they’ve been fighting a war against Trump and MAGA since 2016. It’s unthinkable that anyone in America, let alone a majority, would not feel the same way.
Here is how the polls are lining up right now on Real Clear Politics:
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Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday there will be 'accountability' if an investigation finds there are specific entities or individuals responsible for the Baltimore bridge collapse.
The promise from the Transportation Secretary comes after President Joe Biden vowed the day the Francis Scott Bridge went down into the Patapsco River that the federal government would foot the bill for reconstruction.
The 1.6-mile bridge partially collapsed after a cargo shipping container vessel crashed into one of its support structures just before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
Liz Cheney Gives Warning to Supreme Court
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Former Representative Liz Cheney issued a warning to the United States Supreme Court about its handling of former President Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments into Trump's immunity claims on April 25. His legal team has argued presidential immunity should shield Trump from being charged in the Department of Justice (DOJ) case surrounding alleged attempts at thwarting the 2020 election results. The DOJ last year charged the former president with attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, culminating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as well as alleged efforts to
MSNBC host Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show “The ReidOut” that Republicans are against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs because they “can’t stand black people.”
Discussing the Baltimore bridge collapse, Reid said, “The most idiotic and racist theories had to do with their newest bogeyman, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI. A Republican congressional candidate in Florida tweeted that, ‘DEI did this.’ And a right wing blue check account that’s been boosted by Elon Musk in the past just blew straight past the dog whistling tweeting to its 267,000 followers, ‘Baltimore’s DEI mayor commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge, it’s going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.’
President Biden is jetting into New York on Thursday for a star-studded campaign fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall featuring a raft of celebrity performers and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Pop superstar Lizzo, jazzy rap goddess Queen Latifah and Broadway’s Ben Platt will perform, and the three Democratic powerhouses will sit for a conversation moderated by late-night funnyman Stephen Colbert. First Lady Jill Biden will kick off the gala event, and some donors will get legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz to snap their picture with the three presidents. The event is expected to draw thousands of big and
The New York City council is asking the state’s Supreme Court to allow illegal immigrants to vote in the city’s municipal elections.
In 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law that would have allowed 800,000 non-citizens with green cards, visas, and work permits to vote as long as they have resided in the city for at least 30 consecutive days. However, the controversial law was struck down last month by an appellate court.
For the longest time, the media played this game of pretending that it doesn’t consist entirely of a bunch of leftist activists who exist to promote their political agenda and attack those of their political opponents.
The pretense is wearing thin. And who knew that Ronna McDaniel of all people would be the breaking point? But it’s kind of like the way that the media’s attacks on dishwater liberals like McCain and Romney, portraying them as Hitler 2.0 just because they posed a threat to Obama, helped kill the media’s credibility. [SNIP] Now NBC News has officially banned Republicans, even ones like Ronna McDaniel, from working there.
Jon Stewart is facing online backlash after the comedian opined on air this week that Donald Trump’s civil real estate case for overvaluing his properties was “not victimless” — when it turns out the price of a previous home sale finds Stewart doing the exact same thing, The Post has learned. [snip] But it didn’t take long for internet sleuths to look into Stewart’s own property history, which shows an overvaluation of his New York City penthouse by a staggering 829%, records confirmed by The Post reveal.
The United States' top intelligence agency wants to ban its spies from using "biased language," including the terms "radical Islamists" and "jihadist," saying these words "are hurtful to Muslim-Americans and detrimentally impact our efforts as they bolster extremist rhetoric," according to a language guide published internally.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which is responsible for handling the country's spy apparatus, seeks to ban a range of common terms because it says they offend Muslims and foment racism against employees. In addition to terms describing Islamic terrorists, ODNI instructs employees to avoid phrases such as "blacklisted," "cakewalk," "brown bag," "grandfathered," and "sanity check."
A 3,000-acre solar farm 40 miles from Houston, Texas, was massively damaged on March 15 when huge chunks of hail fell from the sky and shattered hundreds of panels, leaving the facility running at “reduced capacity.” From the look of the pictures, it would seem that it’s operating at heavily reduced capacity. Not only does the storm highlight the fragility of so-called green energy facilities, but area residents are worried about toxic chemical leaks. Needville resident Nick Kaminski spoke with a local television affiliate:
My concern is the hail damage that came through and busted these panels – we now have some highly toxic chemicals
Engineers have blamed the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge on a design flaw that is present in tens of thousands of US bridges.
Several experts told DailyMail.com that the Maryland bridge was missing critical protection systems that would have stopped the the nearly 105,000 ton container ship from smashing into the bridge's support.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge was built in 1977 and anti-collision devices like fenders or protection cells were not introduced until the 1980s.
If It Ain’t Woke, Don’t Fix It: Biden
Urged To Use Baltimore Bridge Rebuild
For Race Reparations 26 replies
Urged To Use Baltimore Bridge Rebuild
For Race Reparations 26 replies
President Joe Biden is being pressed to use the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore as an opportunity to remedy alleged racial discrimination against blacks in the construction industry.
Biden said this week that he had told his administration officials to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the port of Baltimore and rebuild the bridge. The reconstruction efforts, however, may be complicated by demands that the project further leftwing ideas about racial justice, the treatment of immigrants, climate change, and wealth redistribution.
An op-ed in The Hill underscores that some of these demands may be irreconcilable.
The following essay is adapted from the author’s new book, Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come.
It’s hard to survey the state of our country and not conclude that something is very wrong in America. I don’t just mean with our economy or the border or rampant crime in our cities, but with our basic grasp on reality itself.
Our cultural and political elite now insist that men can become women, and vice versa, and that even children can consent to what they euphemistically call “gender-affirming care.”
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