Category: Current Events

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 01DEC2023 – Biden’s Voters

photog Chemist, Current Events, Guest Contributors , , ,

 

Here is the person who will vote for Biden:
This is an old friend. A person who has worked union jobs their entire life.
They asked if I planned to retire anytime soon.
I replied that, had they asked me that in 2019 I would have told them I’d be retired now.
But since the last presidential election, my 401K is in the shitter and everything is a hell of a lot more expensive so retirement is not an option.
(I phrased it this way because I knew they were liberal.)
“Well, the market goes up and the market goes down.” was the reply.
I pointed out that this was the first time the market was down while inflation was skyrocketing.
They gave the standard talking point that inflation was down now.
I explained that the rate of inflation was down, but the prices had not come down and were substantially higher than they were 4 years ago.

They will still pull the lever for straight democrat, even though they live in a crime ridden shithole city that has been run by the democrats for over 50 years.
There are many of them.

 

 

Dah Duh, Dah Dah Dah Daaah, Duh

photog Current Events , ,

2016 was the Star Wars election where a plucky band of rebels blew up the Hillary Death Star and sent Barack Obama careening into oblivion, or was it Jeb Bush?  2020 was the Empire Strikes Back Election.  The rotting corpse of Emperor Bidentine was installed on the throne and the rebels were battered and scattered.  Now here we are for Return of the Trumpi.  To torture this metaphor a little further I’m not sure if Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy are annoying enough to be Princess Leia and Yoda.  But at least I’m sure that Chris Christie is Jabba the Hut.

Alright, enough of that.

As a reviled civic nationalist, I have been fighting a rear-guard action against the string of successful predictions of the dissident right for something like twenty years.  They’ve been right about the Bushes and right about the Republicans in general and now we’ll find out if they’re right about the finality of, “We’re not going to vote our way out of this.”  What we have in front of us is the acid test.  Joe Biden has created the perfect storm to force the populace to vote for the Republicans.  If he manages to win the 2024 election then nothing remains to dispute the truth of, “We’re not going to vote our way out of this.”

Granted, I’m already pretty sure it’s true.  But I’ve been tempted back into the game by just how awful a mess Biden has made of the country.  It’s becoming harder and harder to see the America as it was just a few short years ago.  There’s not even the pretense that this isn’t the trajectory they mean to for us to be on.  It’s just homeless encampments, unchecked urban violence and rust belt poverty as far as the eye can see.

It’s hard for me to see how anyone who isn’t either a welfare recipient or a true believer could look at what is happening to America and not say, “enough.”  So that’s why I still have any lingering doubts about the finality of the Left’s victory.  I desperately want to believe that even leftists who strive for all the progressive platitudes but live in the real world wouldn’t be horrified by the collapse of the beautiful world they once lived in and want someone to fix the zombie apocalypse that has unfolded before our eyes.  Even if that someone is Donald Trump, the very devil himself.

So, here we go again.  Another countdown to the “most important election in our lives,” another round of pathetic headlines by the New York Times and the Washington Post assuring us that Joe Biden, notwithstanding the fact that he can’t count past three, is the greatest president since Harriet Tubman and possibly a living saint.  And that his only begotten son Hunter is completely above suspicion and, by the way, possibly a good choice for president in 2028.  Oh, the pain.

Well, the only thing left for me to do is figure out who will be the Ewoks.  Maybe we are.  At this point I feel pathetic enough to fit the part.

Jim Jordan’s Weaponization of the Federal Government Investigation is Truly Depressing

photog Current Events ,

It’s much, much worse than we’ve heard.  I’ve started it at Shellenberger’s testimony and then it goes on for hours.  Obama set this in motion and the intelligence agencies have jumped on it with relish.  For this alone I’d shut down the FBI and the rest of them.  If Speaker of the House Johnson loves this country he should refuse to allow the Patriot Act to be renewed.  American Stasi.

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 30NOV2023 – What Comes Next

photog ArthurinCali, Current Events, Guest Contributors , , ,

To many Conservatives, Trump is a symptom of the overall problem of the GOP.

The schism between the established National Review/Con Inc./Open Border/Forever Wars GOP and Conservatives cannot happen soon enough. Whatever comes next cannot be worse than what is offered at this time.

Too many have lost patience with the GOP merely being the “shadow of Radicalism” and simping to the Left as mere loyal opposition.

 

JEB Haley Rides Again

photog Current Events , , ,

I have to wonder how many more elections will the Republican establishment; both politicians and rich donors, attempt to foist the hopeless anti-populist candidates that they always put forward.  It was one thing back in 2000 when we bought into George W Bush. Sure, he was the son of a former president and the governor of Texas.  And he claimed he was a born-again Christian.  How could we go wrong?  But then we got Iraq and compassionate conservatism with all that entailed.

And then we got John McCain and Mitt Romney.  That one-two punch was enough to awaken even the most complacent conservative to the reality of the Uni-Party.  These were hopeless losers who would rather let the Democrats have all the social justice victories they dreamed of as long as their favorite military equipment manufacturer received enough contracts to keep the checks rolling into their election funds.

But finally, we got to 2016 and the spectacle of JEB! Bush telling Donald Trump that illegal aliens crashing our border was an act of love that we must honor by providing them with citizenship.  This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Donald Trump buried Jeb Bush in 2016 and with him he buried the chances of lame, rollover and play dead, establishment Republicans getting a free pass to be our mostly unsuccessful presidential candidates.

However, hope springs eternal in the hearts and wallets of the Koch Brothers and other super-wealthy Republican backers and in the idiot sons of the Mayflower descendants.  But now they’ve discovered a new ploy; diversity idiots.  And so was born the horror that is Nikki Haley.  She sounds like Jeb Bush but she’s noticeably manlier.  And because of this stiffer spine she’s even more forceful in her embrace of increasing immigration and fighting wars in whatever third world countries have yet to be invaded.  She likes the Ukraine and Gaza wars.  A lot.  And given a little time I’m sure she could warm up to a Belarussian adventure and maybe one day Kazakhstan.  She truly is a wonder to behold.

So, my question is, will there ever be a point when the donors to the Republican party will stop providing hundreds of millions of dollars to Potemkin conservative candidates in the hope of covering both bets in the presidential elections?  Many people would say no, that the necessity of forcing an establishment candidate on Republican voters is critical.  After all, they’ve been doing this since Gerald Ford in 1976 and it’s worked for the most part.  Election after election we convinced ourselves that whatever empty suit they hauled up on the stage was better than Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.  Why should things change now?

But I don’t think that’s the case.  I listen to the media talking heads talking about how exciting Nikki Haley is and what a breath of fresh air she brings to the Republican race.  And it sounds so absurd that I think, “Nah, only the hopeless morons would fall for that.”  And based on her numbers it all seems about right.  At best she’s polling high single digits.  Basically, she’s got the anti-Trumpers and the truly mentally challenged (although there is a large overlap in the Venn diagram of those two subsets).  To me it seems that the establishment Republican candidates have been exposed once and for all.

What seems like the next step is the formal acknowledgement by the donors that they will either have to come to terms with the direction of the Republican party or go over to the Democrats.  I guess they could start their own party but I think they’re too lazy for that.

Now alternatively, if the powers that be in the party rig the 2024 primaries so that Donald Trump doesn’t end up as the candidate, that will change things significantly.  I think it will end the Republican party as a legitimate political home for the conservative half of the country.  And I would guess that a new party would begin to form to replace it.  Because it would be a pretty absurd situation where something like 30% of the electorate just stayed home during the election of the United States president.

But anyway, I will say I am a little disappointed that Donald Trump won’t be participating in the Republican debates.  I would love to see Trump get to knock JEB! off just one more time.

What to Do While Waiting for the Apocalypse

photog Current Events

Many people on the Right are fond of saying, “What can’t go on, won’t go on.”  And that is true.  But equally true is the law of inertia.  And an enormous body in motion has no choice but to remain in motion until all its momentum is dissipated.  So, for instance, just because a train goes off the track it doesn’t stop moving immediately.  Its forward momentum can go a very long way and do an enormous amount of damage before it comes to rest.

So, it behooves us to use our time on this runaway train called “today” to survive this train wreck as best we can.  And I guess ten different people in ten different parts of the train will decide on ten different strategies to do that.  So, someone in the front of the train might decide that the only way to survive is to jump off.  Someone in the middle might think that bracing himself in his seat is best.  And someone near the back of the train might roll himself up into a ball and get near the floor.  We all use our best judgement to maximize our own situation.  At least we tell ourselves that.

But the point is that we must react to the reality of where we are.  What we can’t do is become hypnotized by the spectacle going on around us.  Being outraged at a train derailing won’t save you from being maimed or killed by the crash.  You have to react to what’s actually happening on the ground and save the outrage for afterward.

So being enraged about the FBI and Joe Biden and the Left’s agenda might be cathartic but in the moment it does nothing to stop the FBI and Joe Biden and the Left’s agenda.  What makes sense is to keep clear of the FBI, undermine the Left’s agenda in every way that you have competence and mock Joe Biden whenever and wherever you can.

The Left was always talking about “The Resistance” while Trump was in office.  Well, that’s what we should be.  It’s our job to remind everyone around us just how lousy a job the Democrats are doing.  And it’s the easiest job in the world.  Even CNN and MSNBC admit that over 60% of the country think Joe Biden is a dishonest, inept, doddering moron who’s driving the country over a cliff.  If that’s not enough of a boost to get our message across nothing ever will be.

So, remember, the train is already off the track.  The crash will go on as long as it goes on.  Your job is to keep you and yours alive until the crash is over.  Then at that point we can start talking about rescuing the survivors from the wreckage and beginning to put our lives back together.  Until that time there’s absolutely nothing that can be done about laying blame on those responsible for the catastrophe or instituting corrections and preventions for the future.

So don’t waste your time on outrage.  And I know that’s easier said than done.  But at least don’t let outrage stop you from doing, in the moment, what needs to be done to survive and hopefully thrive in this crazy world.  Oh, and have a good Wednesday.

Guest Contributor – TomD – 28NOV2023 – Disney Woes

photog Current Events, Guest Contributors, TomD , , , ,

Tom | Flickr

TomD

 

Just read this in PJ Media (link)

Reports of Disney’s Death Are (Not?) an Exaggeration
Stephen Green | 5:11 PM on November 27, 2023

As Disney’s two-time CEO Bob Iger prepares to host the company’s annual town hall on Tuesday to provide “hints or guidance for what the next phase of ‘building’ will bring after the problem-solving phase,” it’s time to ask if Iger is able “to ‘quiet things down’ after years of culture wars.”

The first quote comes from a Hollywood Reporter item on Monday detailing the company’s Wall Street woes. Traders and managers will be watching Iger on Tuesday for “possible color, body language or even outright updates on various topics,” ranging from the company’s ongoing series of box office flops to troubles at their fabled theme parks.
The second quote is courtesy of Jonathan Turley. His Monday column — almost in time for Adam Smith’s 300th birthday — shows how Smith’s “invisible hand” has undone the company’s woke agenda. Disney is now “negatively associated with activism by a significant number of consumers,” Turley writes, and is “even reporting a decline in licensing revenue from products associated with Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story and Mickey and Friends — iconic and once-unassailable corporate images.”

“Wish” is Disney’s latest animated effort that isn’t a sequel or reboot and it opened over the long Thanksgiving weekend to middling reviews and worse box office sales. Well, not entirely not a reboot — one of the characters is the glowy Star, as in Pinocchio’s “When You Wish Upon A Star.” “Wish” looks to be another big money-loser in a yearlong series of them, including “Indiana Jones and the Whatever McGuffin,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the live-action Little Mermaid, and most recently, “The Marvels.”
The Disney+ streaming service is losing money and eyeballs. Impressions — the streaming measure of viewership — is down 14% from last year, the company says.
The worst news is that Disney’s intellectual properties — the company’s seed corn for future growth — are in terrible shape.

The good news is that $7.5 billion in cost-cutting measures have restored some sense to the company’s balance sheet. The bad news is that the maintenance-heavy Disney World and Disney Land are reportedly looking a little worse for wear. Or as Wall Street’s Jamie Lumley warned, “As the business looks to slash costs and make streaming profitable, there are sure to be concerns about cutting too deep and impacting the business going forward.”

But the company can’t cut its way to health. It needs to start selling tickets again to the kinds of movies and theme park experiences people expect when they see the Disney label.

Walt Disney and his brother Roy were jealous guardians of the Disney name and reputation. Given so many more recent changes, this seems like much longer ago than 1983, but I’m reminded of “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” It was considered a Very Big Deal at the time when Disney produced a Ray Bradbury film with such a dark mood and storyline. At the time — Walt had died and Roy was no longer involved in day-to-day operations — Disney was looking to branch out from family fare like the Herbie movies and “Pete’s Dragon.”

Results were mixed at best, and I’m being overly generous.
It took a 1984 hostile takeover attempt and a long-term recovery plan courtesy of incoming CEO Michael Eisner to restore Disney’s luster. Eisner understood Disney’s creative strength — and it wasn’t in jumping on the Star Wars bandwagon with “The Black Hole,” or another cheesy Love Bug movie.

It was in getting back to classic animation with “The Little Mermaid,” and in recognizing similar strength in the fledgling Pixar Animation Studios.

Iger can cut costs but, in the end, what he needs to do is remember what the Disney brand means — and work as furiously to restore it as Eisner did, and as Walt and Roy used to work to protect it.

Unless we see evidence of that in Tuesday’s town hall, Disney shares might be up a bit on Wall Street’s hopes but I ain’t buying.

Ain’t it Revolting

photog Current Events , , , ,

I’m back, I’m back.  I was held ransom by the forces of darkness that lay claim to my soul here in this hellish corner of New England.  Dunwich is a desolate quagmire of unspeakable infamy.  Here I must traffic in the few remaining grains of sand in my hour glass in return for worthless ducats that cannot be exchanged for anything meaningful, like a breeding group of tuataras or Komodo dragons.  Ah well.

So the news feeds are all full of various pundits on the Left, Right and middle buzzing about the latest crop of foreign right-wing parties and leaders who have broken through and made it to the mainstream.  Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Javier Milei in Argentina are the latest additions to eruptions in Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.  And other countries are threatening to continue this change.  Both France and Germany have growing right-wing parties and there is talk that in the next French presidential election Marine Le Pen may finally win.

So, does any of this indicate a turning of the tide?  Well, it seems to indicate that the ceaseless migration of third world people has finally worn out even the endless patience and tolerance of Swedes and Germans.  Maybe at last these Europeans are ready to end their invasion by people who do not share their values and refuse to assimilate their host country’s manners and identity.

Is it too late to reverse the deterioration of culture and lifestyle that these invaders have caused?  In the case of France, it might be.  There are no-go zones in and around Paris that no longer respond to police authority.  Trying to reassert sovereignty in those areas will require military action similar to what’s currently going on in Gaza.  I tend to doubt that the French are up to the challenge.

But some of the other countries where the invaders are far less entrenched may be able to claw back their homes.  A place like Hungary where they never let the problem take root can be a resource for the type of immigration program that protects the indigenous population from immigration-based suicide.  We’ll see.

Does any of this presage the same type of political change in the United States?  Actually, no.  We had our moment in 2016.  All the pressure that the citizens of this country could bring to bear was expended in the elections in 2016 and 2020.  But the administrative state in concert with the Democrats in the swing states successfully used fraudulent election practices like ballot harvesting to steal the 2020 election.  And since then, they’ve “fortified Democracy” (enshrined voter fraud) in those states to prevent the indigenous citizens of this country from electing the government they need to protect them.  At this point I’d be more than a little surprised if any honest federal elections occur anywhere that has large Democrat run cities.  The prospect of the 3 am shutdown of the polling places followed by the three days of steadily pro=Democrat returns is a little hard to watch so until I’m proven wrong, I’ll assume we won’t have the luxury of stopping illegal immigration anytime in the foreseeable future.

Nevertheless, I’m quite encouraged by the right-wing revolts going on in Europe and elsewhere around the world.  I think they indicate that there is still at least some life left in the West.  And watching these parties growing and waking up more and more of the people in these countries is at least a starting point for some kind of a reaction to the woke ideology that until now has gone completely unchecked.

Keep it coming.