Charles Lipson: Resoring Free Speech At Our Universities

Exactly right.

It's Always a Threat to Democracy When the Left Loses

Biden's an embarrassment.

YouTube Demonetizes TK News for Posting 5 Minute Video of Democrats Claiming 2016 Election Was "Hacked"/Illegitimate

Because facts don't real:

RIP Coolio

One of my absolute, all time faves:

Bari Weiss: The Great Canadian Mass Graves Hoax

Shades of the Satanic Panic.

Lysenkoism, Inflation and Self-Censorship in Economics

link

Taibbi on Snowden and The Washington Post Dabbling in Orwell

Boy was I ever wrong about Snowden. I said some really stupid things about this case. 

I still don't understand it well enough.

But here's Matt Taibbi saying some smart things about the case. (Probably behind a paywall.)

Man Wins Women's Frisbee Golf Division

Hardly news anymore, especially giving all the more profound ways in which autogynephiliacs are pushing women out of their own activities and "spaces" (though I'm sick of that use of the term). 

   And, y'know, they're men. Stop with the gyrations to avoid saying that. They're not merely "male-bodied" nor whatnot. They're men. They aren't "transwomen" nor any other kind of woman. They're men (mis)representing themselves as women. If the term "transwomen" is used at all, it should be explicitly defined so as to make it clear that it means, roughly, pseudowomen--men falsely representing themselves as women. 

   Frisbee golf doesn't matter to me. But facts do.

Hurricane --> GLOBAL WARMING

I haven't tuned into the MSM recently, but I presume there's plenty of hysteria about Ian being some sort of proof of climate change. I doubt they've gone so far around the bend as to be willing to float "white supremacy" causes hurricanes...but I have no doubt there's plenty of women and minorities hit hardest..

NYC Mayor Adams: People Do Not Respond to Incentives

Or, more specifically: NYC being a sanctuary city does not increase illegal immigration.

   Actually, he could be right about this--NYC in particular being a "sanctuary city" may not act as much of an incentive. But it undoubtedly does to some extent. The real problem, though, probably isn't NYC's policies, but Biden's. He basically said "come on in"...and that's the blue-team's attitude in brief. Because, of course, any regulations on immigration are racist, racist. 

   My own view is that we should have a running estimate of the number of illegal aliens entering the country, and should decrease legal immigration on the basis of that number. This year legal immigration would be reduced to zero and we'd still be over "budget."

   The best system, of course, is the one advocated by ordinary people--i.e. non-progressives: a generous legal immigration system together with strict laws against illegal immigration.

" " " GOP Redoubles Efforts To Tie Democrats To High Crime Rates" " "

LOLOLOL

Three sets of scare quotes required for this piece of progressive fanfic. 

RAYSIS! TRUMP! INSURRECTION! ABORTION! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Jeez. Did I used to fall for stuff like this? I do realize that the contemporary Dems are continuous with the Dems of back when I voted for them...but Clinton (B) had tamped down the Dems' pro-crime tendencies...hadn't he? 

I mean, for purposes of elections, it's good that the Democrat Party and the Democrat Party Extended, including, of course, the MSM, refuse to acknowledge that it's the Democrats who are tying Democrats to high crime rates... 

But for purposes of governing, one does hope that the Dems come to their senses...or, at least, that enough sane and liberal Dems abandon the blue ship of fools.

As usual, one thing that really stands out to me--unrepresented in ordinary discussions like this one--is that the progressive/Democrat vanguard is not just insufficiently anti-crime, it is pro-crime. The aim is the destruction of the status quo. Of course the average progressive in the street does not share that view. But the vanguard leads them along with softer versions of the view that emphasize false claims about police racism and violence, squishy claims about "mass incarceration," and other such bleeding-heart appeals. But both versions of the story lead to perdition.

So long as the middlebrow left can be got to oppose x merely by asserting that it's racist, the left is doomed to effective insanity. 

Undermining K-12 Students' Sense of Citizenship in Military Base Schools

It's long been unclear to me to what extent it's permissible to use K-12 to foster commitment to the nation. I remain torn on that question. But promoting the illiberal irrationalism of contemporary progressive racist "anti-racism"...that's right out.

Greenwald: Democrats Aim To Criminalize Opposition

I can't stress this enough: at its core, Democratic politics is about criminalizing opposition to their party and ideology.

Dissenting ideas are "disinformation" and must be censored by Big Tech. Trump voters are inherently criminal ("insurrectionists") and should be imprisoned.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 24, 2022

[Addendum: that's just one aspect of progressivism's totalitarianism. It's very clear this is happening, and I'd say this marks a movement away from soft totalitarianism toward the hard variety.] 

Climate-Change Causes Teh HATSBEEJ

Political correctness = prope-Lysenkoism.

Are We Just One Big Storm Away From Climate Lockdowns?

I basically agree with I&I--and it's a general view I now accept: things that would have been crazy conspiracy theories ten years ago can't be blithely dismissed today. Of course the theory that they are looking for an excuse to push for climate lockdowns seems crazy. But we know they're being discussed on the left, we know they trumpeted the climate benefits of the COVID lockdown, and we know they believe--or say they believe--that we're at or near a tipping point, a point of no return. Of course the left believes such insane things that we always face the question: Do they really believe it or are do they merely say it for PC cred? But I tend to think in most cases that there's no single right answer to that question, even for many individuals. Like many religious professions of faith, the beliefs are to some extent honest and to some extent expression of tribal allegiance (aka virtue signaling). Presumably a real push for climate lockdowns would flush out some mere virtue-signalers: when real practical consequences loom, when it's no longer about mere words, the left will lose some of its yes-men. But in my experience, progressives are so deeply immersed in the echo chamber that there seems no real hope of them ever busting out. 

   That's the most destructive lockdown--the partially-voluntary epistemic lockdown for which the PC left is renowned.

   We also can't trust the motives of the Democrats anymore when it comes to future possible COVID--or whatever--lockdowns...because we know they have--or say they have--other motives for wanting them.

   But at any rate: what should be treated as laughable paranoia can't be so treated anymore.

   I don't think it's going to happen.

   But I wouldn't bet very much money against it.

   

   Thing is, when half the voters either accept--or are committed to following those who accept--a wildly distorted worldview that's wildly and demonstrably wrong about a large number of issues, you can no longer rule out some crazy things that would have been unthinkable before that worldview was accepted. 

Diversity Is Our Strength, Sweden Edition

“All I want is for my kid not to get kidnapped and peed on.” 

Setting the bar pretty low there, Sven...

Alex Stein's Enthusiastic Defense of "Trans" Shop Teacher's Gigantic Prosthetic Breasts

First, they came for the "trans" shop teachers with gigantic prosthetic breasts--but I said nothing because...well...you see where I'm going with this...

Alex Stein, however...

legend.

Suzy Weiss: "Crime is a Construct: My Morning with the Park Slope Panthers"

Woketarianism is a helluva drug.

McCarthy: "John Durham's Final Act: Exposing The FBI"

link

    The MSM made sure that the obvious fabrications of Russiagate occupied the national attention for two years. Proof that it was all a Clinton-campaign dirty trick, and that the FBI was probably a willing participant...swept under the rug.

    If this were government propaganda, it would be near-Orwellian. But, as the result of a public-private propaganda partnership...what? I don't even know what to say. 

    It's yet another measure of the unhinging of the left that they can, through a combination of propaganda and willing inattention and disbelief, keep this out of their collective consciousness. 

Librarians Against Institutional Neutrality

facepalm

This is the kind of person and the kind of reasoning we're up against.

What it really comes down to is that progressivism is a soft totalitarianism. They eagerly stampede to the claim that neutrality and objectivity are impossible, and they do so because progressivism is simply opposed to neutrality and objectivity. They aim--as what passes for them as a matter of principle--to inject their cultish secular religion into every nook and cranny of society. They are antiliberal, and one thing that makes them antiliberal is their rejection of a private sphere--the personal is political. They are the political Borg. (In fact a leftist friend of mine made fun of the Borg when they were first introduced, saying (and I quote): "As if losing your individuality is the worst thing that can happen to you.") 

What progressivism aims at is progressive politics permeating every endeavor, every relationship, ever topic of conversation--everything human.

Martha's Vinyard Kicks Out The Illegals

It's all well and good until they come to your little rich-rich liberal enclave...

🤡🌎 pic.twitter.com/oQLy2DcZft

— Clown World Today 🤡🌎 (@cwt_news) September 17, 2022

Durham Uncovers Still More Russiagategate Skullduggery: Danchenko Was a Paid FBI Informant; Steele Lied to Mueller Team, They Covered It Up

As Andy McCarthy might say: ball of collusion:

We brought up Mueller back at the introduction, and here’s why. Steele relayed information to the Mueller Special Counsel about the Millian/Danchenko meetings that they knew was false. Similarly, Danchenko revealed information that Steele’s reporting was false. What did Team Mueller do with that information? They hid it from the FISA Court and from the public. Danchenko continued as a CHS throughout Mueller’s service as Special Counsel. Danchenko couldn’t be touched because of his status as CHS, thus protecting Mueller and the FBI.

So I've never been out in front of anything about Russiagate/gate...except in that we're all out front compared to progressives--the blind who will not see...

   But! I have had one somewhat interesting hypothesis that does look fairly promising (buried somewhere in a couple of old posts): I've long had a weak suspicion that Mueller's doddering and seeming fogginess and cluelessness during his testimony about the investigation was...played up a bit. By him--Mueller himself--I mean. I've long had a--again: weak--suspicion that he knew there were shady dealings in the investigation, and was CYAing. My--weak--suspicion has been that they actually found--how could they miss it?--evidence of the Russiagategate conspiracy, did an about-face, and issued a report: "Well, nothing to see here, folks..."

   I mean...no attempt whatsoever to leave some kind of stain on Trump? That's not like these people. Why weren't there more dark suggestions that maybe they hadn't quite found everything? Why no emphasis on hypotheses of nefarious dealings that had not quite been refuted with deductive certainty? That's their normal Trump-related M.O...  "Well, we're not saying he's innocent...we're just saying that we couldn't find proof that he's guilty...." Well...the reason they didn't is that they didn't want anyone else poking around in there. Because what they'd find is just the opposite of what the establishment / deep state wants: not only has Trump always been innocent, but the whole extended blue team including the FBI is guilty. They are the conspirators...

   And if/when that comes out...well...what do you call it when a multi-million-dollar, crucial investigation covers up evidence of the truth for political reasons? Is there a name for that? 

   Anyway. I have long--weakly--suspected that Mueller was laying the groundwork for a I'm-just-a-feeble-old-man defense...

   Of course all this--perhaps the biggest, most outrageous story of political dirty-dealings of my life--is all kept nice and safe outside the progressive echo chamber...where the conventional wisdom is still that Trump was and is guilty...Mueller just couldn't quite find enough evidence to bring a case...

Addendum: oh, sorry: remember how Mueller and his team had allegedly not read the Steele Dossier? The document at the very center of Russiagate? I almost forgot to mention that again... And remember now Mueller claimed to have never heard of Fusion GPS...?

DeSantis Sends Two Planeloads of Illegal Immigrants to Martha's Vinyard

It's a good idea, though I wouldn't expect immediate uptake and capitulation on the part of Martha's Vinyard. My guess is that they're rich and idle enough to absorb this and feel good about themselves for doing it. The relentlessness of the onslaught is part of what is crushing communities on the border. 

What Does the Walensky's Apology Really Mean?

As Schram notes, it seems like a CYA maneuver--just another layer of bullshit.

Leftist Batflu Hysteria in an MSNBC Nutshell

Emphasis on the 'nut'...

   They've been wrong at every turn, shrieking hysterically that we were all going to die. They're hysterical about the vax--which doesn't, as it turns out, significantly prevent infection. They're hysterical about masks--which either don't work at all or don't work to any significant degree. They still refuse to acknowledge that most of us aren't at risk of anything more than getting a flu-like illness. Notice that Choo doesn't mention that fact even once. The left wants healthy 30-year-olds to think that they're in peril. They covered up the fact that only the old, infirm, and sick are really at risk. They still only mention it when basically forced to. Lefty friends of mine love telling me about alleged young and healthy people dying from it...which..does happen...but it's always clear that they don't really know much about the medical status of these unfortunate friends of friends of friends...

   So, from sane America, I say: STFU.

   You people are crazy. You're wrong about absolutely everything. You're the ones brainwashing kids into chopping off their genitals. You're the ones destroying the economy, releasing violent criminals, turning universities into political re-education camps, promoting climate apocalypse fantasies, and fomenting racial strife. All on the basis of your crackpot, cultish religion.

   And ya know what? Even if it were true--and it probably isn't--that we're prematurely "done with" the pandemic, that would basically be your fault. You pumped it up into something it wasn't, locked people down, fanned the flames of fear and hysteria...and now you're whining because--possibly--we should still be a little bit more afraid than we actually are.

   You people are fucking insane.

Lindsey Graham's 15-Week Elective Abortion Limit Would Bring Us In Line With Europe and The Rest Of The CIvilized World

link

I don't know much about this issue and don't have nor deserve much of an opinion about it. I generally favor more libertarian positions, and would expect Europe to be more restrictive in that respect. Strange, though, that I've rarely heard these claims about Europe mentioned.

Did 94% of Key 2020 Counties Wrongly Dump Ballot Info?

Nothing so see here, citizen.

Stop noticing things and move along...

Why Do So Many Young Women Suffer From Invisible Illnesses?

link

"ESG Does Neither Much Good Nor Very Well"

link

"ESG" Is Corporate Wokeness

link

Coyne: "Another STEM Field--Particle Physics--Gets Woke"

Same bullshit arguments, different field.

Hunter's Laptop at N.Y. Mag

Just wow.

Hunter's the victim here, you see. He was having a rough time after his brother died, poor thing, and his debauchery was a reaction to that. And then his privacy was violated.

And, while Democrats have treated the story with "polite indifference," Pubs, of course, have gone nuts about it and cynically and wrongly used it to score political points--and to fundraise. 

And, though, it's undoubtedly mostly nothing, some day "someone credible" will probably want to check into it--just to make sure.

Gosh I don't know how the polite and good Democrats manage to remain so polite and good in the face of the awful onslaught by the horrible, terrible, no good Republicans.

So I guess this is what counts as dissent on the left these days...

RIP Queen Elizabeth II

Gosh, I'm surprisingly sorry to hear this.

She seemed like a really good person, and seemed to be extremely good at her strange and difficult job.

The Bizarre Script for "Jurassic Park 4"

It's like Jurassic Park meets MechaSharknado 3D...

Somebody explain to me how John Sayles got mixed up in that.

1/4 of Dem Voters Think Men Can Get Pregnant?

And 36% of white, college-educated, female Dems?

God knows.

Doesn't sound like much of a poll. But, given that the blue team shouts this nonsense from the rooftops, is trying to ensconce it in law, and sets out to "cancel" all who disagree...I guess I might have thought it would be more than that. Are 1/4 of Dems terrorizing the rest into silence?

Man, they really have lost their minds over there.

"A Deglobalizing World Will Be An Inflationary One"

IDK anything about this.

[LOL wrong link. For the record, I was sending this weak-hands link to a friend of mine who was complaining about not being able to open a bottle of syrup... In case you thought I might need such a thing!

Here's the real link.]

John Daniel Davidson: "The Transgender Movement Isn't Just Targeting Kids, It's Targeting Families"

I think this is a great point.

   (Trans)gender ideology is just one component of the postpostmodern progressive / critical social justice movement. One component of that movement--the flagship component right now--is cultural Marxism. That component has long sought to destroy / "deconstruct" / "dismantle" / re-engineer the nuclear family. (T)GI tells schools they should/must not only indoctrinate children and encourage them to adopt new "genders" and sexual orientations, but that they should/must do this behind the backs of parents and over their objections. As with the rest of the movement, they have a defense mechanism built right in; as per usual, it is built on the demonization of any with the temerity to object: parents who balk are accused of endangering the lives of their children. Comply or your child might die--or the state might take him/her/xir away from you. This is a way to shift oversight of children's lives away from the family and to the state--in fact, to one of the most fanatically leftist parts of the state, the public schools.

   I remain incredulous that the Democratic party has allied itself with this movement.

Phobe Malz Bovy: "The Origins of Woke"

...are political correctness...of course.

It's astonishing to people who lived through the PC era...or to anyone who was paying attention, anyway...or to me anyway...that there's anyone who doesn't know this. I mean--the youngsters have an excuse. I'm glad to see more and more people recognizing this. And maybe this essay will be a turning point in spreading the word. And good on the Bovy one way or another. 

   But this isn't the revelation of a previously-unknown fact. 

   I call the PC of the classic PC era 'paleo-PC,' and the PC of the current PC era 'neo-PC.'

   And: people who are old enough to have been aware in the '60s sometimes express amazement that my generation doesn't realize that paleo-PC was a further development/degeneration of ideas from the "new left"...just as I express amazement that people don't realize that woketarianism is a development/degeneration of political correctness / paleo-PC.

Never Enough: "Diversity" is Racist and You are Racist You White Racist

It's an axiom: whatever you do is racist. Even your weepy, religious devotion to "diversity" is racist. 

In fact, I almost kinda sorta agree with this in a backhanded way. I do think there's some kind of deep fear that they're racist that drives this nonsense. That's not exactly what the author seems to be saying, but it's in the vicinity. And I think that the ceaseless talk of "diversity" allows lefties to cover up unpleasant truths with happy-talk. I'd rather force people to admit that they're really advocating things like racial preferences and brainwashing.

"Affirmative Action Is Probably Dead: Now What?"

This is, IMO, and important article. Why? Because it makes an important attitude of the academic left clear: it will never concede on affirmative action and similar programs, no matter what the courts say, no matter what legislatures say, and no matter what the people say. Any effort to weaken their efforts to implement their identity-politics worldview will be skirted. They control universities, and they will never give in.

   Recall that this is how we got "diversity" and "DEI" ideology: Powell's suggestion in Bakke that "diversity" could be used to get around the democratic rejection of affirmative action. They're already putting out the call for "creative" ways around a legal ruling by SCOTUS.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics' Dubious Transgender Science"

Political correctness, i.e. prope-Lysenkoism; i.e. pseudoscientific rationalization of progressive-left identity politics.

Sex Pseudoscience and "The Alarming Ideological Capture of Our Scientific Institutions"

"Scientific" American went progressive Lysenkoist years ago. But it's still worth talking about.
   Almost forgot: the video linked on the other side of the link is--as if you won't be able to tell--utterly nuts. It claims, inter alia, that nobody thought there were two sexes until the late 19th century. Imagine someone believing such patently insane nonsense. Imagine someone believing such patently insane horseshit and being represented by a reputable popular science publication as an authority. 

   You may also be interested to know that the "two-sex system" was adopted because....racism! 

   Of course the continuum fallacy plays a big role in the sophistical pseudo-justification of this nonsense, as usual.

"So...Do You *Like* Trump?"

I don't so much agree with the "junk yard dog" point...but I do agree with the rest.

Biden Walks Back His Whole Damn Speech

I guess it's better than not walking it back...

"Hysterical Biden Demonizes Millions of Republican Voters as "Semi-Fascists," Borderline Terrorists, Threats to Democracy

Or maybe we're just tired of your bullshit, Joe.

Throw open the border, brainwash and sexually mutilate children, try to ensconce lunatic (trans)gender ideology as law, foment racial strife and demonize whitey (and "white-adjacent" groups like Jews and Asians), undermine the rule of law and use the coercive power of the state against your political opponents, wreck the economy and sink billions upon billions of dollars into the left's cultish obsession with climate apocalypticism....and then lose your shit when half the country gets mad about it all...

   Utter. F*cking. Insanity.

   Not that I'm happy with Trump and the MAGA fringe. But that's not what Joetatoe is REEEEing about. I couldn't finish watching that screed last night. But this was politics--an attempt to demonize the whole "MAGA" thing. 

   So anyway...'racist' turned out, somehow, not to be slanderous enough. So they went to 'white supremacist.' When some failed to capitulate in the face of that bullshit, I suppose they had to figure out something worse. "Semi-facist" seems to be the new moniker. Which is weird because the progressive left has routinely thrown around 'fasicst' for years. I guess Joe's handlers don't think they could quite get away with that? They've been using 'terrorist' ever since parents decided that they didn't want their kids necessarily brainwashed with gender ideology and CRT in kindergarten....

   So much for Joe as uniter. We should have known that was never really an option--he's a puppet of the hard left. They have no interest in uniting unless that means that we all toe their line. Even then they don't really want it, because they need an enemy.

   Maybe it's best to focus on a tangible goal like crushing them in the midterms. That might slap some sense into whatever remains of the Democrat center.

"Roe Was Never Enough: Black Women Voters Want Reproductive Justice"

A rare gust of honesty from the progressive left:

1. "Roe was never enough." Though we're not told what the author thinks would be enough.

2. "Reproductive justice." When the left says x justice, for any value of x, it means: the hard left, postpostmodern "critical social justice" take on what ought to be done with respect to x. Which, of course, is usually unjust--or at best not clearly just. 

   I tend to side more with the left on this issue than the right, out of a kind of default libertarianism. But we have to acknowledge that fetuses begin to become more human-like and person-like over the course of pregnancy. Which means that unrestricted freedom with respect to abortions isn't really an option.

   Or so I generally tend to think.

[***] Joe Biden

Watched the first half of us idiotic speech at Independence Hall. 

Lying sonofabitch should have been struck by lightning.

Astonishing that a president can be so very much worse than Trump.

[I still think that's all pretty much right, but I wrote in anger. I'm beyond putting up with this bullshit. Trump isn't helping, of course. But this speech was beyond the pale. This wasn't a serious attempt to condemn the fringe, nor to unite the country. This was a political speech that ought not to have been made. The blood-red backdrop with Marines standing ominously at attention in the background was...oh, hell, I don't even know what to say about that.

   You want to unite the country? Stop with the radical leftist push to re-engineer American society.]

Woke Tolkien: Everybody Hates The Rings of Power Or: I'll Wait For The Sequel, The Rings of Privilege

I don't even watch the good movies, much less the bad tv. After seeing the first couple of movies, I adopted my friend Peter's view: the visuals displace my own mental imagery. So I stopped watching them. I did finally see The Return of the King when, one Xmas break out on the ranch, my gf and my brother and I couldn't find anything to do ...but my mom had a copy of RotK. I haven't seen the Hobbit movies, and never intend to--though I'd guess they're good.

   Anyway, I won't even watch the good stuff. Much less the woke stuff.

Do You Need F-15s to Battle the Government? Or Will a Handful of Zip Ties Bring It Tumbling Down?

pic.twitter.com/7mTdSRELdB

— ArthurinCali (@ArthurinCali) September 1, 2022

Climate-Change Hysteria in a Nutshell

We had to destroy the park in order to save it.

   It's a good thing climate change is a big, fat, fake crisis. Imagine what a crime this would be if it were real. The tons of CO2 the bulldozers are going to belch into the atmosphere, the sequestration lost by cutting down mature trees... There's virtually no chance that this will ever make sense. It'll always be a big, fat loss, carbon-wise. 

   But this is the sort of thing you're voting for when fall for the blue team's eschatological bullshit.

   All that's missing here is flying the entire destroyed park to Davos, piece by piece, by private jet, and reassembling it as a monument to progressive "progress"...

"Donald Trump's Vendetta Politics"

Well, he didn't smear Chao "because her family is ethnic Chinese." That's ridiculous.

He smeared her because McConnell didn't do exactly what Trump wanted him to do. He'll use any angle of attack that comes into his orange little head. He's no racist, as has long been clear. But he is unhinged about those who oppose him--he'll say anything he can think of. He doesn't care what kind of mud he slings--he just grabs whatever kind is available.

Trump became a liability the day he lost the election. 

Dem Midterm Prospects Improve

There's some time left, but obviously this is an unwelcome development. As is so often the case, one worries that you can be outright insane and still win American elections...

   I've been worried since Dobbs--and, of course, the wave of crazy-sounding Republican legislation consequent on it...though all I've heard is the MSM reports on it, so I don't actually know what it's like. It's hard to believe that the seemingly godawful and dishonestly-named "Inflation Reduction Act" really made such a difference. Then there was the student loan boondoggle...

   Well, whatever it was, let's hope people come to their senses before November.

[TB is skeptical.]

Another Fake Racism Incident: The Duke Volleyball Case

fake