Disney Aims To Groom Your Kids: "As The Mother Of One Transgender Child And One Pansexual Child"...something something LGBTQIALMNOPXYZ++?&#

SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, "as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child," she supports having "many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories" and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. pic.twitter.com/oFRUiuu9JG

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022

"White Outrage Over Smith's Slap Is Rooted in 'Anti-Blackness'"....blah blah fucking blah...

The title is so idiotic that I didn't even try to read the undoubtedly uber-idiotic article underneath it. 

Think of how stupid you have to be to think something like this could be even vaguely plausible.

"Duke vs. North Carolina Brings Doomsday To Tobacco Road"

link

May the best team win.

And if we don't, may Kansas crush Duke in the final game.

The Abernathy Boys Go For A Ride

Just a cool story.

Newest Disney Character

 

Disney Admits That It Aims To "Queer" Your Kids

Even if you think tolerance is good--as most of us do--this is just weird and creepy as hell.

The intentional reengineering of society by brainwashing kids about sexual and borderline sexual matters should send you to red alert. Rationally explaining to adults why tolerance in this area is good is one thing. Going after kids with the explicit intention of conditioning them to accept strange modes of being cooked up in "queer studies" last Tuesday is, to say the least, not ok.

You also might want to familiarize yourself with "queer studies"...because it's not what you think it is. In fact, it's significantly worse than you think it is.

Lott: Peer-Reviewed Research Indicates 2020 Voter Fraud

I'm skeptical--but not extremely skeptical.

Carolina 69 - St. Peter's 49

And it wasn't really that close.

Congrats to St. Peter's on a great run. Just did not seem to be their day.

Ok everybody...we're now at DEFCON 1

Amy Wax Review Of Charles Murray: Facing Reality

There is basically no chance of the left actually facing these realities anytime soon. They've poured enormous resources into making sure that anyone who even mentions such facts will be ruined. Murray and Wax have survived, but both have paid heavily for their thoughtcrime.

Go Tar Heels!

Gotta say, I'm not wild about the way this is shaping up. Do we really want to be the team that knocks out St. Peters? Well, yes...but also no...

If we do win, this would, IMO, be the weakest Carolina team to make the Final Four in my time as a fan...and the long-hoped-for/dreaded tournament matchup against Duke awaits. There have been many years during which I'd be confident about such a game. This is not one of them. I don't think we match up all that well, and I think we've overachieved by quite a bit. Also, it gives Duke its only chance of avenging the loss in Cameron. 

Anyway. A friend of mine (who was a fan of Duke first but Carolina close behind) used to say that nobody on either side really wanted to see this game. I'm not sure about that--but I don't really want to see it this year.

The Yale Law School Incident

Opposition to politically incorrect speech--and free speech in general, is not "symptomatic of student culture" at Yale. It's symptomatic of the progressive left. In fact, it's a major plank in its platform. 

Forget the medicalistic, psychological explanations. This is a feature not a bug. This is the totalitarian ideology that is taking over the USA. Of course it's not politic to say so. It makes it more difficult to recruit moderate progressives to our side. But it's true.

Dan Gelernter: The Most Dangerous 2 Years in American History?: Globalists, Foreign and Domestic, Moving to Undermine Our Freedom?

Sounds insane.

Sadly, it isn't.

   It's not that Clinton and Bush are sitting around with Klaus Schwab rubbing their hands together over a globe and BWAHAHAHAing about the end of freedom and whatnot. 

   It's rather that there's a there's a tendency afoot even in the USA, even among some establishment Republicans, to undervalue freedom and the foundational values of the nation and subordinate them to other goals and projects. Of course it's much worse among Dems, who basically wish that America was some function of the contemporary European and Sout American left(s). But the other half of the Uniparty isn't helping all that much. Trump's was and still is on a better path...but was and is so nutty that he does more harm that good. At least when he was President he was implementing good policy to go along with his nutty words. Now we just get the nutty words.

   I understand what's going on, really.

David French: Ginni Thomas's Election Texts

link
Even David French is right sometimes. 
There's some crazy, crazy stuff over there among the "stop the steal"ers. It's bad in itself, and bad that Trump fanned those flames. Anti-presidential, in fact. Which is what you'd expect from an anti-presidential president.

Too bad also, however, that this undermines the real case for electoral rigging and cheating. But that's not to distract from the straightforward problem of craziness on the MAGA right. Barges off of Gitmo? I mean Jesus...  

Biden: "For God's Sake, This Man Cannot Remain In Power"

[1] I guess we all kinda agree about that.

[2] Apparently it's something world leaders are not supposed to say.

[3] I suppose it's a significant "gaffe," given how fast the administration repudiated it.

[4] Of course there's no possible way to reinterpret what he said to mean:

“The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region,” the official, who preferred to speak under condition of anonymity, said. “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”

They can't say the truth: Biden should have said that. Scratch it. Here's what he should have said instead. But that's just the way of such stuff. That's what they mean, and basically everybody knows it.

Boeing's Loyal Wingman Is Now Officially The MQ-28A Ghost Bat

Ghost Bat--cool.

Carolina 73 - UCLA 66

Hard to believe we were on the bubble until the final game of the regular season... I really did not expect this.

AJW: Racist Tacos, Woke School Board, Insanity Ensues

Denton, TX: Possibly the Greatest City Council Meeting of All Time

Make sure to watch the second guy, too:
(via Insty)

Leor Sapir: "What Lia Thomas Means": When Ethics Is Reduced To Compassion, and Compassion Becomes Unmoored From Reason and Truth

The fundamental fact of the case is that Lia Thomas is a man.

The fundamental and overarching political fact in play is that political correctness subordinates truth to progressive-left dogma.

Peter Van Buren: Brennan's Notes Constitute The Real Russiagate Smoking Gun

link

On about 1% as much evidence, the PMSM-Democrat-industrial complex used Russiagate to mesmerize a nation for three years. Many progressives still believe the tale. 

   Before the second act was even over, it became clear that it was all bullshit. Mueller's report was anticlimactic. 

   Since then, a torrent of evidence has made it clear that the Clinton campaign, Democrat operatives, and members of (at least) the FBI colluded to create the hoax to protect Hillary and distract from her illegal email follies. A scandal genuinely bigger--much, much bigger--than Watergate has unfolded right before our eyes--but remains shrouded in fog by the PMSM. The same media that frantically fanned the dim embers of Russiagate now pours water on Russiagategate. Progressives, who have been honing their powers of doxastic self-control for years--to such a state that they can even get themselves to semi-believe that some men are women--have little trouble averting their mental gaze from Act III.

   Watching this all with open eyes has been an enlightening experience.

And Now: Gasoline Stimulus Checks

facepalm

As Foretold In The Prophecy: The Babylon Bee Just Keeps Correctly Predicting The Woketard Future

link

Jeremy's Razors: To Hell With Harry's (And Gillette)

Ruy Teixeira: Somehow People Have Come To Associate The Dems With Woketarianism

How ever could that have happened? 

Totally inexplicable...

Judith Curry: A "Plan B" For Addressing Climate Change And The Energy Transition

IMO this is excellent.

David Bromwich: A Mirror on Every Wall--And a Microphone Behind Every Mirror--The Work of Belonging is Never Done

Even the Nation is starting to find the cult creepy.

"Lia" (nee Will) Thomas Is A Dude; Saying False Things Was The Precursor To These Practical Problems

The left badgered people into pretending to believe that they must call men by women's names and pronouns on demand. "Why make a big deal out of it?" they asked. "They're just words. Aren't people's feelings more important?" Answers: (1) because truth matters, (2) no they aren't; words meaning things, (3) no, they aren't. Not in most cases, anyway. Sometimes yes, though. But not in these cases.

   So no, they're not just words. They are words. But words make up sentences. And sentences are either true or false. To call Smith 'she' presupposes that Smith is female. If Smith is male, then calling him 'she' is tantamount to lying. I've never gone along with this bullshit. Those who did allow themselves to be badgered into doing so share some of the blame for this. 

   But it shouldn't have had to have practical consequences in order for it to matter. 

   And one has to wonder whether there would be any uproar at all if this had only affected men. I mean, women (white women especially, but women in general) come pretty low down in the "progressive stack." But if it were only white men who were being affected, there might be even less pushback than there actually is. What with white men being the devil and all.

   Weirdly, women are largely responsible for saddling us with this insanity. Women are much more sympathetic to the cult of Woketarianism than men are. And they're paying the higher price of the sexes--they have to share their "spaces" with mentally unbalanced men pretending to be women, they are targets of threats and violence when they push back against the madness, their sports are being undermined, and young women are the main victims of the cult--they are being brainwashed and sexually mutilated before they have any idea what's happening to them.

MSNBC Commentator: Asking Judge Jackson Questions Is Attempted Murder

So what did the Dems do to Kavanaugh? Genocide?

This guy's an idiot.

The Cult of Woketarianism Takes Over UNC School Of Public Health

link

Matt Taibbi On The Progressive Panic Over The NYT's Tepid Defense Of Free Speech

The progressive left alternates between (a) rabid attacks on non-leftist speech and (b) denying that it is against free speech.  link.

Hunter Biden's Laptop And America's Crisis Of Accountability

We may well be saddled with this incompetent, destructive administration because the media, big tech, and denizens of the deep state worked together to suppress and lie about the laptop story.

Even now, it's being downplayed, and there seems to be no real investigation of it.

Clarence Thomas Admitted To Hospital With Flu-Like Symptoms

Jesus Christ.

Not only am I worried about Justice Thomas himself, I'm worried about the fate of the nation.

Losing Thomas during the Biden administration would be a catastrophe.

Arrested For Delivering A Package; Cops Get Sued

 

NBC Alters Photo Of Lia Thomas To Make Him Look Less Male

The entire network of progressive institutions is working together to convince you that their web of lies and delusions is reality.

Babylon Bee Suspended From Twitter For Accurately Describing Rachel Levine As A Man

I mean--he's a dude.

But political correctness, not truth, is what rules on the left. 

There are many truths that the progressive left has declared unspeakable / thoughtcrime.

And this is one of them.

Asshole Cop Gets Suspended

 

Cops Pwnd, Fired, and Sued By 15-year-old

 

Is "The GOP's War On Women" Now "Pro-Rapist"?

Eh...not likely...but I don't trust the Pubs with this issue. You can't tell what's going on from this hysterical story...but it's probably worth finding something sane to read about it. 

And not to tu quoque too shamelessly, but: this doesn't really hold a candle to the left's refusal to even acknowledge any difference between women and non-women. 

How Cops Create Mayhem From A Simple Inconvenience

 

Soave: NYT Admits The Left Has A Free Speech Problem

Needless to say, the right is soooo much worse! The left is just a bit, y'know, suboptimal...

   Nutty, of course.

   But any recognition of the 300 lb....er...500? 800? How many pounds is such a gorilla--traditionally speaking--anyway? 

   The left has, of course, completely lost its mind, and is now overtly anti-free-speech. Yet even a wee acknowledgement is a step in the right direction. Soave, too, has to both-sides it ridiculously.

  Even the NTY's half-hearted acknowledgement of the problem seems to have produced more than a few unsubscriptions. Which is, of course, further testament to how unreservedly progressives have unhinged themselves from liberalism and reality.  

Rachel Levine: Babylon Bee's Man Of The Year

link

Refs Screw Carolina: Internet Outraged(?)

I guess. And it certainly was some terrible officiating. Sochan should have been ejected early on but wasn't. Baylor grabs and fouls a lot...but miraculously went ten minutes in the last half without a foul...even when they were playing even more aggressively...what are the odds of that?

   But you can find a hundred tweets to support any position you want. So I dunno.

Biden / Russia / Ukraine

I'm too ignorant about this to deserve an opinion...but, since the Russian invasion started, it's seemed to me that the Biden administration has done a credible job dealing with it.

USA Sending Switchblade Drones To Ukraine

good

Carolina 93 - Dirty, Cheating Baylor SOBs 86

Carolina had a moral obligation to win that game...which they somehow managed to do despite a near-total meltdown. That Sochan is a piece of shit, and he should have been ejected for the leg bar on Mando. But it was called flagrant 1. Sochan continued to foul, eventually shoving Manek in the back. Manek--and don't get me wrong, this was a stupid-ass overreaction--swung an elbow back and high. Flagrant 2. Ejected. That was Sochan's--and probably Baylor's--plan all along, and Manek intemperately fell for it. Sochan later put Davis in a quasi-armbar during a scramble for the ball. It was particularly gratifying to see that sonofabitch miss a crucial dunk late in the game.

   Ungodly awful officiating, too.

   Sochan + refs were so bad that all of /r/collegebasketball turned against them--even the Duke fans. And when you've lost the Duke fans against Carolina...

   tl;dr: Baylor f*cking sucks. Survive and advance.

Go Tar Heels

whoop 'em.

Another COVID Wave?

1. Maybe.

2. Stop being a bunch of p*ssies.

3. I dunno, man. My gut is more and more with 2. But 1's so noncommittal that it has to be right.

RIP TNR: The Term "Grooming" Is A "Buzzword" for "Targeting" "Trans" Kids

Remember when TNR used to be good instead of crazy?

   Admittedly, it's pretty vicious to call it "grooming"...but, also honestly:

(a) What's actually going on is horrific. Ok; it's brainwashing and mutilation, not exactly grooming. I'm not sure that helps all that much.

(b) There's a certain amount of grooming going on.

(c) "Grooming" is probably no more inaccurate than "Don't say gay." 

   The NPC at TNR wallows in euphemisms like "health care." Here's a clue: it's not health care.

   This is like the progressive left in a nutshell. They took a small point about a tiny, radically unrepresentative population and blew it up into a cultish near-worldview with which they insist on basically brainwashing every child in the nation. It's utter madness, and cannot be defended on grounds of weepy appeals to "caring." Their utter freakout about being prohibited from indoctrinating first-graders with this psychopathy tells you much of what you need to know about this. This is not a matter of helping teens with nonstandard sexual orientations navigate a sometimes-difficult social world. This is about cult indoctrination, socially-enforced, politically-motivated pseudoscience, and the sexual mutilation of children. It's not a close call. It's not a he-said, she-said situation. It's yet another instance of the progressive left having completely lost its collective mind. 

The Great Pandemic Student Loan Scam

link

The greatest scam is: allow universities to be turned into leftist reeducation camps, tell all students that they need to go to college, fund the whole scam with taxpayer dollars.

NYT Lied About Hunter Biden's Laptop; Now That Biden Is President, They Admit What Was Clear From The Beginning

Not a single one of my liberal or progressive friends has ever even mentioned the Hunter Biden laptop story in my presence. The PMSM likely changed the outcome of the election...but, hey, that's just fine. Trump's fulminating about a stolen election--outrageous! Impeach him again! Throw him in jail! TREASON!!!  The PMSM actually, in effect, stealing the election: shhh! Nothing to see here. Move along...

Dude Who Cosplays a Woman Murders and Decapitates Actual Woman; NYT--Also Insane--Plays Along

Not that it's news, but: 

In the cosmic battle between sanity and madness, the NYT has sided with madness.

Katie Herzog: How an Academic Grudge Turned Into a "#MeToo" Panic

Whelp, yet another immensely long story detailing a seemingly endless string of lies and abuses about sexual harassment against a male professor. Same old story: a litany of lies, misuse of institutional mechanisms for uncovering sexual harassment, the victim's career and life ruined, the malicious, lying perpetrators never pay the piper. In fact, in this story, some of them get big awards from the NAS...

Everything Woke Turns To Shit

Just statin' facts, as my father used to say.

The Pathetic Awfulness of the PMSM: Episode the Zillionth: Ankush Khardori on Bill Barr

LOL @ the actual, no-kidding title: 

Beware Bill Barr: His new book shows we have as much to fear from him as Donald Trump.

Now--I haven't read Barr's book. And I didn't finish the article. 

Nevertheless, I know shit when I read it.

This Khardori fellow actually tries to spin things to keep hope alive on Russiagate. Which is a sure sign you're dealing with a true believer.

I could go on. But it's not good enough to address in any detail. It's just a midwit leftist (but I repeat myself) hatchet job on Barr.

I mean: it's New York Magazine. Which was shit even with Andrew Sullivan in the lineup. Finding shit like this piece is to be expected. Finding something good like the Levitz piece I linked to earlier today is the exception. Shit like the Khardori post is the rule.

And, of course, I know that any foray into the PMSM is likely to just make things worse. In times of ordinary political disagreement, reading stuff from the other side, seems to me, is more likely to produce understanding. Times like this, however, when one side has just lost its goddamned mind...the opposite is more likely. 

But, hey, the Levitz piece was good! That's heartening. 

And, admittedly, I'm biased in favor of Barr. And it somewhat heartened me to find out last week that he stands basically where I do: Trump is a wreck, but we basically have to vote for whomever the GOP candidate is, since the progressive agenda is the biggest threat facing the nation. I independently respect Barr, and so agreeing with him is some evidence, anyway, that I haven't gone completely off the rails.

Anyway.

[And, as if I really have to tell you...and for the sake of your faith in humanity and, perhaps, even your sanity... Don't. Read. The comments.]

Eric Levitz: "The Emerging Path To Peace In Ukraine"

Informative if true.

Carolina 53 - Marquette 25 @ Halftime

I approve.

Russia "Blasting Cities," "Killing Civilians," But "No Longer Making Progress On The Ground"?

link

VDH: 10 Realities of Ukraine

Ignoring the typo in the first paragraph, I'm inclined to agree with all of these--but obviously I'm no expert.

Trump Jr.: Trump Was Right About Everything

Pretty much, yeah.

If he could have controlled himself just a bit...if he could have been even 10% less overtly Trumpy...we wouldn't be in the gigantic mess we're in today.

America's Ten Biggest COVID Mistakes

Nobody blames people for honest, reasonable errors. And we didn't know what we were dealing with at first. But it seems pretty hard to justify what were pretty obvious errors even when they were made. I guess I'd be tempted to add: lockdowns generally and overuse of ventilators. Though the former might have been briefly justified--if we'd stuck to the two-week plan or thereabouts. And the latter is unclear--it may well fall into the category of rational error. Or maybe not an error at all. I suppose we don't really know yet.

   Unfortunately, primum non nocere seems to have been abandoned pretty early on.

   OTOH: hindsight, 20/20, etc. etc.

Rufo: "The War on Innocence": Kinky Sex Camp for Kids

What the hell, man.

Miranda Devine: Why Dems' "Russian Disinformation" Claims Can't Be Taken Seriously

This.

What a train wreck. 

   The Dems have lost their collective mind about Russia, and deployed a barrage of lies, coverups and hoaxes utilizing anti-Russia hysteria to achieve domestic--mainly anti-Trump--political ends. All the while spinning all things China in the opposite direction--underplaying the threat, covering up evidence of genocide and Chinese responsibility for unleashing the Wuhan virus on the world, and generally cozying up to the totalitarian CCP. 

   Abject madness.

   Now, of course, Putin is engaged in what amounts to mass murder--not to mention the attempted destruction and subjugation of an independent state--in Ukraine. 

   There are no good guys in this picture. 

   And now, on top of this, we seem to have the right leaning overmuch toward excusing Putin. And on top of that, we have the predictable vilification of those expressing even rather moderate anti-war sentiments. Thou shalt not refuse to jump on the war-wagon with sufficient alacrity!

   There seem, from my ignorant perspective, to be no good options in Ukraine--the Ukrainian government also not exactly constituting the good guys in this picture. Though, of course, the Ukrainian people are innocent and fighting a good fight. And under these conditions it seems rather out of place to overemphasize their government's past sins. Right? Or wrong? I don't know.

   I feel like there's no practical hope of me figuring out what to think about this insane situation. Maybe no summary judgment is even possible. Well, not about what to do in Ukraine, anyway. But what to think about the domestic situation and the left's anti-Russia hysteria--that seems clear enough. Hysteria, in general, pervades the left. Hysteria about climate change, hysteria about racism (including hysteria about police violence), hysteria about "gender" and transgenderism, hysteria about Trump, hysteria about "white supremacy," hysteria about COVID...it's all hysteria all the time. In part they're just hysteriacs. But it's no accident that each of these individual hysterias happens to give apparent support to different radical planks in the left's radical platform.

Brian Stelter: Pubs Opposing Transgenderization Of 1st-3rd Graders Is Prosecuting A Culture War

When did everyone left of center completely lose their goddamned minds?

David P. Goldman: American Elites Have Squandered Our (Defensive) Technological And Manufacturing Edge Over Russia and China

I'm skeptical of this.

Much of his case turns on the hypersonic weapons differential. The main objection, as I (barely...or mis-)understand it is: the base on which our hypersonic weapons technology rests is much stronger than theirs. They've chosen to fast-track demonstration weapons, whereas we're playing a slightly longer, game: we're on track to develop much better hypersonic weapons. And a delay won't matter. As for nukes: hypersonics have no appreciable advantage over ballistic missiles. As for conventionals: their weapons don't have the capacity to deliver warheads with sufficient accuracy. Ours will. Again: just my quasi-understanding. 

   As for conventional warheads: hypersonic delivery doesn't have a ton of advantages over e.g. Tomahawks and Harpoons. I read (and posted) something this year about the panic over Russian/Chinese hypersonic anti-ship missiles. The piece argued that they weren't worth the cost/disadvantages. Harpoons fly low and merely very fast and bring the hate extremely efficiently. Hypersonics fly, well, hypersonically...but they fly high. Thus they can be detected farther out, which is key to defeating them. 

   Again: just my half-assed understanding.

   I also have some doubts about the chart showing our decreasing development budget. Or, rather: not the chart itself. But I'm under the impression that we don't have to spend as much on development as we used to because so much of it is done with computer simulations. We take amazing weapons (e.g.: B-21, NGAD) from "drawing board" (we might as well say: clay tablet) to working prototypes (as I understand it) fast and cheap now. This is even more speculative and uninformed than the other argument. Kind of a WAG on my part.

   tl;dr: I don't know, but this article doesn't move the needle for me.

   But the author seems to have strong credentials. I'm not really in an epistemic position from which to speak, honestly.

On Robert Service on "The Two Blunders That Caused The Ukraine War"

Shows my ignorance that I have to rely on second-hand, op-ed level accounts of expert opinion on this matter...but I thought it was really good.

Just one bit that seems clearly true:

The invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Service says, is not a tragedy for Ukraine alone. It’s a tragedy for Russia. “Russian people don’t deserve a ruler like Putin. They’ve not had very much luck with their rulers in the last 150 years. In fact, they’ve had appalling luck.”

Poll Says Americans Want Elementary Schools To Teach Kids About "Sexual Orientation" and "Gender Identity"

Fake news.

There is exactly no chance whatsoever that's true.

The Dems are going to be massacred in November--thank God.

Romney's Scurrilous Accusation Of Treason Against Tulsi Gabbard

People need to learn what that goddamned word means.

Mittens needs to admit error and apologize.

An Alternative to MAD: Mutually Assured Security

link

Ward Carroll: What The Invasion Of Ukraine Has Revealed About Russian Military Power

Nothing good:

It May Not Be Possible To Obtain Racial "Equity" In American Scientific Research

Not without destroying American science, anyway...which the left might just be willing to do.

Russian Mobile Crematoria: Fake News

I didn't know what to make of the story, but a friend of mine informed me that the Russian Orthodox church is anti-cremation... Which means this is likely Ukranian propaganda. Also turns out that the video being referenced is from a private company in 2013.

War On The Rocks: The Dangerous Allure of the No-Fly Zone

this is good.

Naomi Wolf: "I'm Not Brave, You're Just A Pussy"

Every now and then she hits a homerun.

Martin Gurri: The Identity Cult

I've got a few quibbles with this, but I think it's great.

The Left Is Lying About FL's So-Called "Don't Say Gay" Bill

What a surprise...

Frank Miele: The Criminal Conspiracy Against Donald Trump

This is basically right, so far as I can tell--i.e. from where I stand now. 

But--as the piece notes--the MSM is suppressing the information about genuine Democrat electoral wrongdoing. And, of course, they're aiding and abetting the anti-Trump conspiracy.

Once again: yes, Trump is a trainwreck in many ways. He's unfit for the Presidency. His actions leading up to and in response to the Capitol Riot were appalling. No argument from me on any of that. But progressives lie about him relentlessly, and have devoted all their energies to destroying a (once-upon-a-time) duly-elected president. And the Democrats colluded with intelligence services to create and propagate the Russiagate hoax to destroy him. All these things can be--and, in fact, are--true.

Bottom line: I'm on the same page as Bill Barr (so far as I can tell): Trump's a wreck, but the progressive agenda is the biggest threat currently facing the nation. As things stand, I will likely--like Barr--vote for whomever the GOP candidate is in '24. 

"Red State Attacks On Transgender Residents Are Getting More Unhinged"

Er...like outlawing the sexual mutilation of children and preventing boys from playing on girls' sports teams... Totally unhinged!

   This report claims that Idaho is trying to make it illegal to take your kids to another state in order to have them mutilated in accordance with transgender mythology...but I doubt that's the straight dope on that situation. 

   Their defense seems to be But we generally don't medically mutilate children! We usually wait until they're teenagers! Unbelievable. 

   I especially like the argument that Conservatives can't openly act on their racism and hatred of homosexuals...so they're doing this instead. Of course one might alternatively have said: Conservatives aren't racist and have accepted homosexuality. So this is probably a genuine concern for children...

   Transgender ideology is utterly false and mostly insane. It's bad enough that the left has become religiously committed to it--just one of many unmoored parts of their new worldview. But medically mutilating kids in accordance with it--utterly mad. 

   And, as usual, they lead with their carefully-crafted pomo-prog Newspeak: e.g. "gender-affirming" "care" (or treatment). Of course if they used accurate terminology, it would hurt their case. But "gender-affirming" so bends over backwards to be politically correct it's laughable. Not to mention that medical "gender" "affirmation" makes no sense at all on their view of "gender"... Well, except, of course, their view is incoherent, so...

   Here's just one passage:

What’s overlooked in the rush to criminalize gender-affirming treatments that have become accepted in the medical and counseling communities is the vulnerability of children trying to make their way through the gender labyrinth.

Ah, the "gender labyrinth"...which is a fiction of progressives' creation. Children are vulnerable--because the left is brainwashing and mutilating them. They're trying to navigate a pseudoscientific, literary creation built on outright falsehoods and specifically intended to distort reality. One misstep by immature people who barely understand even basic (actual) facts, and they can end up on a slippery slope that ends with the destruction of their lives...

"The Stench Of Spygate"

Ok, I say again:

   It became apparently pretty quickly that Russiagate was a farce. But the PMSM breathlessly and credulously reported on every absurd "development." It was conclusively--as conclusively as is possible in such matters--proven to be fiction--by an investigator who the left repeatedly told us we should trust implicitly. And a much, much, much more well-confirmed alternative explanation has existed for years (see below).

   The evidence for Russiagategate is clear it's substantial--much more so than Russiagate ever was. Durham is building his case slowly and methodically. It's very clear--in general--where this is going. And it's the biggest political scandal in American history. Much, much worse than Watergate--finally something warrants that description... And the PMSM blackout is near-total. They're dragging their heels, dissembling, ridiculing when silence is simply no longer an option. 

   This double standard is undeniable evidence that we have an enormous problem. We basically have Pravda without the Kremlin. Reasonable people on the left need to admit this. This kind of groupthink and ideological capture of our public sources of information is a catastrophe. And you should be able to recognize this even if you're a member of the same faction as the PMSM.

Widespread Ignorance and Closing The Barn Door After The Horse Has Bolted

I run into this situation all the time in my occupation: most people are ignorant of some policy or problem, they don't see a crisis looming, and then they freak out when everything blows up. Myself, emphatically, included. That's the feeling I get--I suppose everyone gets it--about Ukraine. I know almost nothing about it, and knew even less two weeks ago. That's how ignorant I was--two weeks of casual reading massively improved my understanding--to the level of merely embarrassing ignorance. Now I find myself thinking: if only, if only, if only... If only we'd taken the Russian problem more seriously...if only we'd taken legitimate Russian security concerns more seriously...if only we'd have seen Putin more clearly for what he is...  I mean, of course: some people did all these things. Romney and Rice, and lots of others tried to warn us. But most of us gave it all about two seconds thought--just enough to make fun of them. As Obama did. But zingers about the eighties wanting their foreign policy back are no substitute for...well, anything serious. Of course I also didn't take Biden and company seriously when they warned of an invasion. Or, rather: I guessed they were wrong. At least I acknowledged it as a guess. Which is something. And which was partially justified given their abject incompetence and whatnot. But still wrong, wrong, wrong. The stuff that I read and tentatively trust seem to indicate that this was all avoidable--and not just theoretically so, but actually. Now we're all in a tizzy and making pronouncements about things we, basically, don't understand at all. Fortunately we do have professionals in the State Department. Whatever their flaws, they know ten thousand times more than we do--and more than we can without years of study and practical experience. So godspeed to them.

   It's more and more obvious to me that I don't know anything about most things. I have a pretty good bullshit-detector, and can often identify the worst mistakes about lots of different things. It's something a lot of people don't seem to have. But it helps only so much. It's no substitute for careful study and long experience.

   This is kind of the Thomas Sowell point--academicians don't understand much at all outside of the narrow bounds of their specialty. That's not exactly a problem, but it becomes a problem when they think they do understand.

"The Alarmists Were Right All Along: A Moscow Journalist On Putin And The New Russian Reality"

Jesus Christ.

Reminder: I Was Wroooong About the Ukraine Invasion

 Boy was I.

I mean: I made it clear it was a WAG--so that's something.

Still: I sure was wrong.

Was The Number Of COVID Deaths Greatly Exaggerated?

Conservatives have been very sympathetic to an affirmative answer for...well, since just about the beginning of the thing. I think there's a decent chance they're right. The ascendant pomo left has a strong tendency to become hysterical--especially when there's political benefit to be had by it. Conservatives have acted similarly (see e.g. WMD hysteria). So there's some both-sides-i-ness if that's your thing.

The Return Of That Sinking Feeling...

...that I know more about economics than does the entire Democrat party...

And I guarantee you, I know f*ck-all about economics.

"Biden Is Right To Rule Out A No-Fly Zone In Ukraine"

This seems right--though what do I know?

"A Time For Conservatives To Speak Out" (About Trump on Putin/Ukraine)

link

Pizza Hut Now Publishes CRT "Training" Propaganda for Teachers

Pizza Hut.

Pizza. Fucking. Hut.

At some point, you'd think that this sort of thing would send up red flags even to the cultists.

Speaking of the Retardian: WE ONLY HAVE FOUR YEARS TO SAVE THE EARTH!!!!

Oh, wait...that was in 2009...

I mean...I don't have time to crunch the numbers right now, but I don't think that gives us much time...

And, uh...wasn't the Obamassiah supposed to hold back the rise of the oceans or some such thing...?

Emma Camp: "I Came to [UVA] Eager for Debate; I Found Self-Censorship Instead"

The totalitarian left is winning the battle for academia.

Nesrine Malik: Quite Possibly the Stupidest Newspaper Article Ever Written...Even in the Guardian: "Scared to be Woke"

Subtitle:"It's Time for Progressives to Take a Stand in the Culture Wars"

Because, you see, they've been so reasonable up until now...and their "right-wing" interlocutors have been so vicious...

How utterly locked into the cult do you have to be to write something like that?

Incidentally, it contains one of my favorite kinds of progressive sophistries:

It was a word salad into which he lazily and dispassionately (repeating this stuff really must get very boring) tossed a target list of vague and intangible concepts such as “cancel culture”, “woke psychodrama”, “obsessing over pronouns” and attempts to “decolonise mathematics”.

The terms are vague, you see?! And what with the left being so precise with its language! What a fucking idiotic objection. "Cancel culture" is no more vague than any of a thousand other ideas. And, of course, we're talking about a crackpot political faction that's addicted to terms like 'alt-right,' 'microaggression,' 'gender,' 'gender identity,' and a thousand other nonsense terms...but 'pronoun' is excessively vague?

   And really, let's take a moment to appreciate a woke leftard complaining about one of his political opponent's speeches being a "word salad"... Woketarianism is the most preposterous jumble of virtually meaningless terms since Scientology reared its ugly head...

   Anyway, the thing is actually too stupid to read. I made it only a couple of paragraphs. 

   These people are utter fucking morons. 

Note To Self

Do not ever fuck with the Ukranians.

Poland to Give Ukraine All Its MIG-29s

link

Wikipedia says Poland has 23.

Zane: Will Dems Cross The Rubicon, Bring Criminal Charges Against Trump?

Madness.

The Ukraine Crisis. Biden. Trump. Etc.

What a train wreck.

And having Biden at the helm is the farthest thing from reassuring.

Not that I'd be any more confident about Trump. Though Putin pretty clearly respected Trump more given his invasion schedule. 

Obama, Bush '43, Clinton (B, not H)... All ok I guess. Bush '41 might be best, I suppose. 

But I don't even know.

Still More "Hate Crime" Hoaxes Attempting to Frame Trump Supporters

BLM/Antifa rioters busted in Atlanta.

Starting to detect a pattern yet?

Robert Knight: Democrats' Gaslighting Of America

They've just totally lost it...but that's hardly news.

Carolina 94 - Duke 81

Holy smokes.

Ball don't lie.

A-10 and Apache Pilots...

...must get the twitchy trigger finger seein' those 40-mile-long Rooskie convoys in Ukraine...especially when they're sittin' there out of gas.

Arta Moeini: How Western Elites Exploit Ukraine

I guess this is more-or-less where I am on this at the moment. One way or another, this seems like a really good article to me.

Kasparov: This Is Already WW III

link

Biden: "Lower Costs, Not Wages"

facepalm

Russia Shells Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant???

WTF????

Chuck Todd and Progressives' Near-Total Lack of Self-Awareness

The video clip is downright surreal.  High point: "progressives don't have as effective an echo-chamber as conservatives."  LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL   They have the echoiest echo-chamber known to man. Outside of religion, anyway. Also, as you know, any electoral failure of either of our two parties is invariably due to "messaging." They're both always right...but sometimes they just can't quite get that across to those darn voters!  It's the equivalent of the bad student's insistence that he understands the material perfectly...he just can't say it clearly on paper...

WI Special Counsel: Widespread Election Fraud in WI Nursing Homes In 2020

The big lie!

Cleanest election ev-ar!

linky

Why We Need The Death Penalty

link

Neocons Pushing for War w Russia?

I dunno. Some people are. Intuitively/ignorantly: it does seem that a no-fly zone would lead pretty quickly to a NATO-Russia war. So pushing for a no-fly zone is (as the neocons used to say after 9/11) "objectively" pushing for war. Roughly: that would be the actual consequence, even if it isn't what they intend. Is it the neocons doing this? I dunno. Somebody is. Sure sounds like a neocon thing to do. But I haven't figured out a pattern yet. Is Bill Kristol pushing for it, I wonder?  

   Mistakes often put you in a precarious position in which mere chance or even smart responses can lead to disaster. We've already made the opening mistakes--I sure didn't think Russia would invade. Not that I know anything. 

   Anyway, now we're in a position such that even smart moves might not be able to avoid even worse outcomes. 

   What a train wreck.

White Supremacy--Is There Anything It *Can't* Explain?

I guess not.

Lefties Really Hate Objectivity

This is filled with straw men and other such nonsense.

SotU

I can't bear to watch.

Putin Bombards Ukrainian Civilians

That sonofabitch.

Bad Historians' Arguments Against the Possibility of Objectivity

Kinda depressing--though they undoubtedly are capable of objectivity and undoubtedly achieve it sometimes...so you might say that they're merely wrong about the philosophical metatheory. Which is not great, but it's better than, say the practitioners of the "1619 Project" we generally neither strive for nor care about nor achieve objectivity in that train wreck of a thing. Many people have heard some.

   It's common for people now to simply eschew the word 'objectivity' and its cognates, and substitute some near-synonym like 'fairness' or 'neutrality'. Which is fine. Though the bad metatheory still infects others, including their students. And it will have bad consequences for some of them.

   IMO, anyway.

   The main problem seems to be that people suddenly start using the term 'objective' in a way that's inconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the term. Ordinarily, we use it--as it should be used--in a way that admits of degrees. Smith is more objective than Jones. Physics is more objective than women's studies. Jonny Quest is usually more objective than I am. I am not objective enough to officiate a Carolina - NC State game. People can become more objective if they try...etc. When we say someone is objective about something, we seem to mean something like: he's objective enough to reliably reason well about it or make good judgements. Or: he's sufficiently objective. We're pretty likely to be perfectly objective sometimes in at least some ways--e.g. when doing certain math or logic problems. But that doesn't really matter.

   In fact, it's really weird that people suddenly become Platonists or something when discussing objectivity. My own view is that we have a pretty clear conception of objectivity as a matter of degree...but we probably don't even have a very clear conception of perfect objectivity. Middlebrow arguments against the possibility of objectivity, however, almost always presuppose that only perfect objectivity is objectivity. Which is almost certainly wrong.

Carolina 88 - Syracuse 79

In OT on senior night.

Nice work Heels.