Monday Overnight Open Thread (12/16/24) - Doof

Howdy Hordelings, and thanks for stopping by tonight’s ONT. Hope you are all doing well on this mid-December Monday night.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (299) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tiny Ruckus Cafe

Hedgehog tippy-tapping.

Funny bird trolls lizard. I think it's a lizard. I can't tell. The bird is covering it with dirt.

Cool panther.

Upstaging puppers.

Caddyshack moment.

Puppy attack.

Size 10 cat tries to fit into size 2 box.

Dog union meeting.

All models are attention-seekers.

That awkward moment when you flip off a driver but he pulls up beside you at a light.

Reindeer missed the North Pole Express.

First thought: This is going to make a great picture. Second thought: Oh no I'm caught in a horizontal avalanche.

Disco baby.

Does this dog remember the man who rescued it before placing it in its forever home? Signs point to "Yes."

Posted by: Ace at 07:32 PM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Quick Hits

Biden claimed that he ran a "scandal-free campaign."

Apart from some of the biggest lies in American political history, one about his mental capacity to do the job, and one about his disgusting traitor son collecting foreign bribes for the Big Guy's accounts.

Jake Schneider
@jacobkschneider

BIDEN: "We've run a campaign that's basically scandal free. That's hard to do in American politics."

(Except covering up his obvious cognitive decline, peddling his family's influence, hiding classified documents, etc etc etc)

Video of Biden nap-lying and snooze-perjuring here.

Democrat billionaire mega-donor Reid Hoffman: I'm afraid that Trump might weaponize the government against the wrong targets (such as myself).

Suddenly the weaponization of government isn't a Cheapfake, but a National Cause for Concern.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said he's worried President-elect Donald Trump will have the Internal Revenue Service subject him to an audit or have the government deny him contracts as retribution for his support for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Hoffman, whose net worth was valued by Forbes at $2.6 billion as of Monday, told "The Diary of a CEO" podcast on Monday that he is bracing for "personal and political retaliation because I tried to help Harris get elected."

"I think that there's a greater than 50% chance that there will be repercussions from a misdirection and corruption of the institutions of state to respond to my having tried to help Harris get elected," Hoffman told podcast host Steven Bartlett.

Trump allies and budget hawks are calling for the repeal of the Impoundment Control Act, which stops the president from cancelling wasteful spending.

House GOP allies of President-elect Donald Trump are pushing for him to have greater control over Congress' annual government spending process next year.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is introducing a bill on Monday that would repeal a measure that forces the president to direct the federal government to spend the full amount of money allocated by Congress every year.

Clyde told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he also plans to introduce the bill in the next Congress, when Republicans control the House, Senate and White House -- and that the issue is already being discussed in Trump's circle.

"That was certainly a topic that was brought up" with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk when they were on Capitol Hill earlier this month to discuss the Department of Government Efficiency, Clyde said.

"They're in favor of it, because how can you be efficient and not have the ability to reduce spending? You simply can't."

He also told a small group of reporters earlier this month that incoming Trump Office Of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought "is very much in favor of this."

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed during the Nixon administration and aimed at stopping the president from having unilateral say over government spending.

Currently, a president must get congressional approval to rescind any funding that has been allocated for a certain year. The funds in question can be held for up to 45 days while the request gets processed.

"I think the authority is very, very important for the president to exercise," Clyde said. "Ever since Congress introduced that act, you've seen spending literally spiraling upwards. And that's just not good for our country."

Posted by: Ace at 06:15 PM | Comments (336) | Trackbacks (Suck)

George Stephanopolous, Groomer Network ABC Forced to Pay Combined $15 Million to Trump Over "Rape" Lie

Why settle?

First, it was a defamatory lie that would be determined as such by a jury. Stephanopolous claimed Trump had been found "liable for rape" -- it wasn't rape, it was a civil tort for alleged sexual contact (which no one believes happened, including the jury who rendered this partisan verdict). Stephanopolous insisted it was "for rape" even over Nancy Mace's objection, showing he hadn't misspoken -- he was just doubling down on the lie.

Second -- they were just about to sit down for depositions, and the lying propaganda press can't answer questions under oath without either giving their true natures away or criminally perjuring themselves.

As first reported by Fox News Digital, ABC News and President-elect Donald Trump reached a $15 million settlement on Saturday after This Week host George Stephanopoulos falsely accused Trump of being found "liable for rape" in the E. Jean Carroll case.

The incident in question occurred on March 10 when Stephanopoulos was interviewing GOP Rep. Nancy Mace and asked, "You've endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?"

After Mace, a rape survivor herself, accused Stephanopoulos of trying to rape shame her, Stephanopoulos doubled down, "Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury. Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury. It's been affirmed by a judge."

Now, ABC will have to donate $15 million to the future Trump Presidential Library and add an editor's note to the March 10 article that reads, "ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC's This Week on March 10, 2024."

I saw it reported that Stephanopolous himself will pay $1 million of his own money.

The move comes as Trump and Stephanopoulos were ordered to sit down for four-hour depositions next week.

Stephanopolous is refusing to personally apologize, unfortunately. I hate that this was settled without requiring him to admit he lied.

All the other liars in the Marxist propaganda media are angry at ABC News. They're demanding that their fellow "journalists" not just lie, but maintain the lie in the face of defamation lawsuits.

Videos of that below the fold.

CNN, meanwhile, is accused of hiding relevant documents about their finances, which are important for determining the size of punitive damages in the defamation lawsuit against them. The suit concerns Jake Tapper's and his fellow CNN propagandists branding a man helping Afghans flee Afghanistan as a black marketeer and human trafficker.

CNN Accused of Misleading Court on Discloser of Financial Documents in Defamation Suit

Nicholas Fondacaro

As NewsBusters previously reported back in September, Judge William Scott Henry ordered CNN to comply with financial discovery in the $1 billion defamation suit against them and turn over documents related to net worth and cash flow, among others. The order was further supported in October when he cleared the way for CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to be subpoenaed for corroborating documents.

But despite CNN's promises to the court that those documents would be turned over, nothing of the sort has been provided; with CNN and WBD saying they don't exist. In a Friday filings exclusively obtained by NewsBusters, U.S. Navy veteran and Plaintiff Zachary Young has now accused CNN of knowingly misleading the court on the existence of the documents and the ability to comply.

And what he's now asking for could take a chunk out of Warner Bros. Discovery.

In a hearing in September, Judge Henry seemed under the impression that WBD would have access to a detailed breakdown of CNN's finances. "So, I mean, if CNN did internal modeling or predictions and set that within the umbrella for Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers happens to have a copy of it. I think Warner Brothers can produce it," he said.

In the October hearing, Judge Henry told CNN what their corporate representatives should be prepared to hand over and talk about in deposition:

The Corporative Representative shall be prepared to answer questions relating to CNN, Inc.'s relationship to any parent or subsidiary company and how those relationships impact the financial resources of CNN, Inc. and CNN Worldwide. But, the Corporate Representative is not otherwise required to answer questions relating to the financial resources of any parent or subsidiary of CNN, Inc. to the extent it does not concern monetary streams into or out of CNN, Inc. or CNN Worldwide within the corporate structure.

And yet, according to the filing exclusively obtained by NewsBusters, the documents one would expect to contain CNN's own financial information don't exist.

...

"Not only did CNN and WBD fail to provide any of this promised documents identifying assets and liabilities, but CNN's representative also failed to supply an information about the net worth number CNN provided (but disclaimed) in its interrogatory response," Freedman added.

Because of this, Young and his team were accusing CNN of misleading the court and wanted action taken against taken against them for the "discovery abuses."

First, Young was requesting that in substitution of CNN's own finances, "The Court should enter an order requiring WBD's financial statements be used to determine CNN's ability to pay, or, at a minimum, giving the jury the option to rely on them."

This comes into play heavily with the punitive damages Judge Henry had already approved of as an option if a jury found CNN liable.

Ed Morrissey reports on the NYT shrieking about all these dangerous defamation lawsuits forcing media companies to either tell the truth or pay a judgment.

Can you believe it? The law of defamation might apply to media companies?

The NYT:

The small flurry of threatened defamation lawsuits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage. Before and after the election, Mr. Trump and his allies have discussed subpoenaing news organizations, prosecuting journalists and their sources, revoking networks' broadcast licenses and eliminating funding for public radio and television.

Actual or threatened libel lawsuits are another weapon at their disposal -- and they are being deployed even before Mr. Trump moves back into the White House.

It is notoriously difficult for public figures like Mr. Trump to win defamation lawsuits. Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent -- which Mr. Trump and some of his allies want to see weakened or overturned -- plaintiffs must prove that a publisher knew a defamatory statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its accuracy.

But that high bar has not stopped a wide range of politicians, business leaders and others from threatening or filing such suits -- a strategy that often seems tailored to cause news outlets and individuals to rein in aggressive coverage of the public figures.

What does the Exalted Priesthood of Perfect Truth-Tellers have to fear from defamation lawsuits? Everything you say is 100% fact-checked and 100% accurate.

Or do you lie sometimes?

Morrissey points out that Clarence Thomas has long called for the Court to overturn the Sullivan decision, which permits media companies to lie about their targets unless their target can demonstrate a wilful disregard of the truth.

In a decision, Gorsuch also questioned the incentives created by effectively making media companies 100% immune to defamation lawsuit -- especially when they can make a lot of money by lying.

But over time the actual malice standard has evolved from a high bar to recovery into an effective immunity from liability. Statistics show that the number of defamation trials involving publications has declined dramatically over the past few decades: In the 1980s there were on average 27 per year; in 2018 there were 3. For those rare plaintiffs able to secure a favorable jury verdict, nearly one out of five today will have their awards eliminated in post-trial motions practice. And any verdict that manages to make it past all that is still likely to be reversed on appeal. Perhaps in part because this Court's jurisprudence has been understood to invite appellate courts to engage in the unusual practice of revisiting a jury's factual determinations de novo, it appears just 1 of every 10 jury awards now survives appeal.

"De novo" review is an appeals review in which they show no deference whatsoever to the previous jury verdict. What Gorsuch is complaining about is that even in the few defamation cases that reach a jury decision, and the jury rules against the leftwing propaganda media, appeals courts routinely toss out their verdicts.

The media has a huge number of ways to win. But defamed citizens must draw to an impossible inside straight to win.

The bottom line? It seems that publishing without investigation, fact-checking, or editing has become the optimal legal strategy. Under the actual malice regime as it has evolved, "ignorance is bliss."

That is, the incentives are for media to not fact-check themselves, because they can defeat a defamation lawsuit by saying, basically, "We didn't ignore the truth, because we didn't even look into what the truth was. No malice!"

Combine this legal incentive with the business incentives fostered by our new media world and the deck seems stacked against those with traditional (and expensive) journalistic standards--and in favor of those who can disseminate the most sensational information as efficiently as possible without any particular concern for truth. What started in 1964 with a decision to tolerate the occasional falsehood to ensure robust reporting by a comparative handful of print and broadcast outlets has evolved into an ironclad subsidy for the publication of falsehoods by means and on a scale previously unimaginable.

Posted by: Ace at 05:18 PM | Comments (273) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Canada's Leftwing Finance Minister; Trudeau's Only Remaining Major Ally Turns on Him; Trudea Considering Resignation As Early As This Afternoon

Trump got one scalp from the hideous autocrat Chrystia Freeland -- she terrorized the truck protesters -- and may get a second one from Fidelito zimself.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced the biggest test of his political career after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and loyal ministers, announced Monday that she was resigning from the Cabinet.

The stunning move raised questions about how much longer the prime minister of nearly 10 years can stay on in his role as his administration scrambles to deal with incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Trudeau's popularity has plummeted due to concerns about inflation and immigration.

Opposition leader Jagmeet Singh, whose party Trudeau's ruling Liberals have relied upon to stay in power, called on Trudeau to resign. The main opposition Conservatives demanded an election.

Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said that Trudeau had told her Friday that he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and that he offered her another role in the Cabinet. But she said in her resignation letter to the prime minister that the only "honest and viable path" was to leave the Cabinet.

"For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada," Freeland said.

Freeland and Trudeau disagreed about a two-month sales tax holiday and $250 Canadian ($175) checks to Canadians that were recently announced. Freeland said that Canada is dealing with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose sweeping 25% tariffs and should eschew "costly political gimmicks" it can "ill afford."

"Our country is facing a grave challenge," Freeland said in the letter. "That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war."

The resignation comes as Freeland, who chaired a Cabinet committee on U.S. relations, was set to deliver the fall economic statement and likely announce border security measures designed to help Canada avoid Trump's tariffs. The U.S. president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the numbers of migrants and drugs.

Trudeau has said that he plans on leading the Liberal Party into the next election, but some party members have said they don't want him to run for a fourth term, and Freeland's departure came as strong blow to Trudeau's administration.

Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg

JUST IN: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering resigning, according to CTV News.

Sources have reportedly told the outlet that Trudeau is "considering prorogation or resignation" and may address Parliament today.

"Sources tell CTV News that the prime minister has conveyed to cabinet that he is considering prorogation or resignation, and he's potentially planning to address Parliament this afternoon," the outlet reported.

The report comes after Canada's finance minister Chrystia Freeland suddenly announced that she was quitting.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also calling out Trudeau, saying Canada has "gotten out of control" under his leadership.

Kyle Becker
@kylenabecker

The Canadian government is in shambles.

The Liberal Party is going down in flames.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has resigned.

Justin Trudeau is on the verge of resigning.

Glorious.

Posted by: Ace at 04:16 PM | Comments (431) | Trackbacks (Suck)

"It's Just a Circus of Lies:" Democrat Megadonors Want the "Obama People" Out of the Party, Claiming They Caused the Historic Loss and Are Just "Grifters"

This is a wonderful story.

I don't know how true it is or how widespread these sentiments are, though.

Warring Democratic factions are in a 'knife fight' for control of the Party after Kamala Harris's humiliating election loss, say political insiders.

The battle lines are now drawn between West Coast liberals, Bernie Sanders-socialists and moderate technocrats in the Midwest, who insist the party has completely lost touch with the average American voter.

But first, there is one thing that all sides seemingly agree on: The current political establishment must be chased out of national politics for good.

'The people that are responsible for this s**tshow are the Obama people. They're just grifters,' a well-connected Democratic donor exclusively told Daily Mail.

He singled out Jen O'Malley Dillon, who went from Biden 2024 campaign chair to serve in the same role for Harris's camp, and David Plouffe, an ex-Obama 2008 campaign manager turned top Kamala adviser.

Deep-pocketed lefty patrons are enraged by Plouffe's post-election admission that Harris never led Trump in their internal campaign polling, despite public surveys showing her ahead.

'[Polls] came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw,' Plouffe revealed late last month on the Democrat-friendly podcast 'Pod Save America.'

'They lied to us. It's just a circus of lies,' the donor erupted, complaining that Harris' team regularly painted a much rosier picture when speaking to supporters who were signing big checks.

Particularly appalling to these critics is that Harris' campaign also managed to blow through an unprecedented $1.5 billion in donor cash over the course of 15 weeks -- and with barely anything to show for it, losing control of the White House, Senate and failing to flip the House of Representatives.

The campaign, for instance, spent nearly $1 million to light up the 366-foot-high, 516-foot-wide LED screen wrapping around The Sphere arena in Las Vegas.

The strip landmark played a 90-second Harris campaign ad for a week.

'$900,000 to put her face on The Sphere in Las Vegas! The ego!' griped Democrat mega-donor and trial attorney John Morgan last month. He describes himself as a 'Joe Biden Democrat.'

Other examples of alleged profligate spending included $2.5 million on the production costs for an Oprah Winfrey town hall event in September.

And there were purported donations totaling $500,000 paid to the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network charity (Harris was later treated to a softball interview on Sharpton's MSNBC show).

'People are pissed, and they are rightfully pissed,' fumed Democratic strategist Mike Nellis, a former senior advisor to Harris, to the Mail.

Kamala Harris has come under fire for allegedly profligate spending, including $2.5 million on an Oprah Winfrey-produced town hall and a reported $900,000 for a running weeklong ad on the Las Vegas Sphere (top)

Donors like John Morgan are seriously suspicious.

'There's a lot of whispers. There's a lot of names about who got paid this, who got paid that, and a lot of people got rich on the back of donors trying to stop Trump,' he said.

Of Harris, he concluded, 'I think this disqualifies her forever. Forever.'

'If you can't run a campaign, you can't run America... The same thing is going to follow Harris for the rest of her career. She cannot be trusted with the money.'

Update: The lamentations of the women.

Former Obama adviser Van Jones said during a recent interview that President-elect Donald Trump was smarter than himself and all of his critics.

"Guys, can we cut it out? Donald Trump is not an idiot. Let me just be very clear. Donald Trump is smarter than me, you, and all of his critics. You know how I know? Because he has the White House, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court, the popular vote," Jones said.

Jones was asked by former CNN reporter Chris Cilizza during an interview on his YouTube channel about Trump's successful presidential campaign.

"He has a massive media ecosystem bigger than the mainstream built around him, and for him, and a religious fervor in a political movement around him. And his best buddy is the richest person in the history of the world, and the most relevant Kennedy is with him," Jones added.

Jones said Trump was the most powerful person of our lifetimes and argued the Democratic Party looked like idiots.

The ex-Obama adviser, who is also a CNN commentator, has spoken out repeatedly about the election loss for Democrats in recent weeks.

The "insiders" say they still expect Kamala Harris to run for president in 2028. One said she might declare her candidacy soon after Trump is sworn into office.

Posted by: Ace at 03:17 PM | Comments (374) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Again: Five Dead In Wisconsin Christian School Shooting
Plus: Luigi Mangione Copycat Threatens to Murder Health Insurance Employee

Four innocents are dead in addition to the shooter, who is said to be a "juvenile."

Police in Madison, Wisconsin are investigating a school shooting that took place late Monday morning.

The shooting took place at Abundant Life Christian in Madison. Three people are dead, including the shooter, Madison police are now confirming.

That's now five confirmed dead, unfortunately. (Well, four innocents, one killer killed.)

Seven people are at the hospital for injuries.

It's a K through 12 school.

Posted by: Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (321) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Trump Press Conference: There'll be "Hell to Pay" if Hamas Doesn't Release Its Hostages Before My Inauguration; Republican Senators Who Aren't "Reasonable" Will Be Primaried

That clip and others below the fold.

Some other clips from his hour and fifteen minute press conference:

On the drones:

Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg

JUST IN: Donald Trump says the federal government knows exactly what the drones are up to, says "something strange" is going on.

Trump said he decided to cancel his trip to Bedminster.

"Our military knows where they took off from. If it's a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went."

"For some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is."

"Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don't want to tell the people."

He accused former pollster Ann Selzer of attempting to influence the election with her crackpot Iowa poll showing Kamala Harris ahead by 5 (IIRC).

Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg

JUST IN: Donald Trump announces he is launching a lawsuit against pollster Ann Selzer for allegedly rigging her Iowa poll to influence the 2024 election.

Trump also announced that he would be suing 60 Minutes for editing Kamala Harris' answers.

"In my opinion, it was fraud, and it was election interference. You know, she's got me right always."

"She's a very good pollster. She knows what she was doing."

He also said he's filing a lawsuit against CBS over their editing of Kamala Harris's interview.

There is no legal claim in either case, unfortunately.

He says he might look into sparing TikTok from Biden's plan to force China to sell it. He says he has a "soft spot" for TikTok because it helped him "win the youth vote by 34 points."

That's.... not accurate. He didn't win the youth vote. He lost it. But he did improve his performance with the youth vote, including a +24% gain in Michigan.

Posted by: Ace at 01:21 PM | Comments (338) | Trackbacks (Suck)

CNN "Reporter" Does World a "Vital" Service By Bringing Us a Heartwarming Story About an Assad Torturer Being Released from Prison

Hello friends!

A new week begins, filled with fresh CNN clownfartery.

CNN, the torture advocacy network.

CNN played up the release of one of Assad's top torturers as a heartwarming story.

Prisoner CNN helped free from Syrian prison was actually notorious Assad regime torturer: report

The prisoner CNN helped free from a secret facility in Syria was actually a notorious member of Bashar al-Assad's forces known to torture those who refused to pay him off, according to a shocking local fact check.

The network went viral last week with footage of the startled prisoner being led from the prison by journalist Clarissa Ward, who called it "one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed" in her 20 years of reporting.

But "independent and unbiased" fact-checkers Verify-Sy published a detailed report Sunday saying that the seemingly innocent prisoner was actually Salama Mohammad Salama -- a first lieutenant in Syrian air force intelligence with a long history of alleged war crimes.

"We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity," CNN acknowledged to The Post. "We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story."

The CNN story last week showed Ward and a camera crew, escorted by a rebel fighter, visiting a former Syrian air force intelligence headquarters in Damascus and freeing the man who was found under a blanket locked in a windowless cell.

He gave his name as Adel Ghurbal and claimed to have been arrested by government authorities three months earlier -- and said he had no idea the Assad regime had collapsed.

Verify-Sy noted, however, that he appeared "well-groomed, and physically healthy, with no visible injuries or signs of torture -- an incongruous portrayal of someone allegedly held in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days."

He also "did not flinch or blink even when gazing up at the sky" despite having said he had not seen sunlight for three months.

Verify-Sy then found that there was no record of an Adel Ghurbal in the region -- leading it to his true identity, Salama, the outlet said.

Known as "Abu Hamza," Salama worked at several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion and coercing residents into becoming informants for Assad, local residents told the fact-checkers.

He also killed civilians during the Syrian civil war in 2014 -- and allegedly detained and tortured young men on bogus charges, many of whom refused to pay bribes, Verify-Sy reported.

Vichy Jake Tapper is required to praise the Nazi media he works for at all times. He followed orders as usual.

Posted by: Ace at 12:16 PM | Comments (375) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: “Free Trade” and the Importation of Chinese Garlic Grown in Human Sewage and Processed by Slave Labor

In the weekly Food Thread here at Ace of Spades HQ blog, Mr. CBD frequently alludes to the filthy food products imported from China. I will not eat any seafood that comes from China, and I clearly need to check the provenance of the garlic I buy too.

Senator Rick Scott (R – FL) is requesting that government agencies responsible for food safety investigate China’s abhorrent agricultural practices involving garlic.

“Sen. Rick Scott to Biden Admin: Garlic Grown in Communist China Poses Major Threat to Security & Food Safety” [12/10/2024]

Senator Rick Scott sent letters to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to investigate the food safety of garlic grown in Communist China following reports that the garlic is being grown in human sewage, then bleached and harvested in abhorrent conditions often involving slave and child labor.

Why would Americans buy garlic grown in sewage and processed by child slaves rather than buy American-grown garlic? The reason, of course, is that garlic grown in sewage by slave labor is cheaper than domestic garlic, even after being shipped across the Pacific Ocean.

An obvious way to address the problem is with tariffs that take away the cost advantage of China’s sewage garlic. But tariffs are deeply offensive to the Principled Free Traders who are constantly reminding us that “tariffs are a tax on consumers.”

“Blocking the import of Chinese garlic grown in human sewage and processed with slave labor is a tax on consumers.” - Principled Free Traders https://t.co/nvQjYQhMZF

— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) December 10, 2024

Donald Trump is aggressively promoting tariffs, while those who advocate for surrender to foreign mercantilism (e.g. allowing tariff-free imports from countries that don’t reciprocate) in the name of “free trade” are desperately advocating for submission to China and the like.

David Harsanyi speaks for many Principled Free Traders in this Washington Examiner piece from a few weeks ago, “Trump’s Tariffs Would Put US Last”

Now, I realize that some of the dead-eyed partisan zombies in the GOP will just repeat whatever Trump says, but this is idiocy. For one thing, tariffs are literally a tax, as they are paid by U.S. corporations and consumers. Secondly, the difference between the price of goods today and the price added by a tariff is called “tax incidence” or “the let’s screw consumers surcharge.” Sooner or later, consumers pay every tax.

There is not even a pretense among Principled Free Traders that trade should be fair. In addition, they’ll argue that the exploitation of foreign labor not subject to American labor standards is a beautiful thing, because it reduces prices for American consumers and allows their paychecks to go further…at least for those who didn’t lose their paychecks by having their jobs offshored.

However, Trump is right about one thing: Trade isn’t fair. Americans should pray it never gets fair. I’m sure the billions of people in developing nations who work tedious menial labor jobs probably don’t find it “fair” that Americans use the savings found in trade to help build unprecedented wealth.

Interestingly, the same Principled Free Traders who rejoice about working-class Americans losing their jobs to foreign slaves, claim to also be advocating for the economic interests of those same working-class Americans they seek to put out of work. In fact, Harsanyi claims that putting a working-class American out of work is a good thing, because he will now be able to go get a “better job.”

Trade allows average working-class Americans to buy all kinds of things they could not otherwise afford because of trade. Forcing working-class Americans to make things foreigners or machines can make cheaper only undermines the creation of better jobs for them and their children.

If tariffs on Chinese garlic grown in sewage and produced by slave labor results in a “tax on consumers,” then the abolition of U.S. slavery was a “tax on consumers” buying cotton products. I am proud to state that in the trade-off of higher prices versus the perpetuation of foreign slavery, I will risk the wrath of the Principled Free Traders and oppose slavery.

*****

My latest piece has been published at The Blaze in which I take a look at the destruction wrought by Stellantis’ just-departed CEO, who less than a year ago accepted a $39MM compensation package for short term machinations that resulted in a global sales collapse and rapid degradation of the Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler brands in the United States, and similar damage to its European brands, including Fiat and Peugeot. Amidst the global revenue collapse that Carlos Tavares engineered, he remained committed to EVs and the European emission goals, despite the collapse of the EV bubble.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (321) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Portrait de Mademoiselle de Lancey
Charles Durand

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (334) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 12/16/24

Good morning kids. And so we now have "DRONE-GATE" as either the shiny new object to distract us, or is this something real and/or sinister? Even if, as some are saying it's people on the ground misidentifying ordinary fixed or rotary winged aircraft, what ought to anger and scare the shit out of us is that the regime still clinging to power until Donald Trump takes office, and the bureaucrats in the FAA, intelligence and LE agencies either have no idea what the hell is going on or know and are not forthcoming with answers. That to me is the real issue that must be addressed.

Assuming that this is no ordinary phenomenon and that there are drones flying all over our skies at night. Are these drones our own or are they being sent aloft by foreign agents and perhaps terrorist operatives. All things considered, both of those are not altogether out of the question. In just the pasts four years alone, the Obama-controlled Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants farcical puppet regime has erased our borders and sane immigration policies so that upwards of 11 million unvetted foreigners have crossed into the country, among the vast hordes of mere illiterate peasants not only murderers, rapists, human and narcotics traffickers and spetty criminals spreading out from coast to coast. But as has been confirmed potential terrorists from the Islamic world as well as a not insignificant number of military-aged males from Communist China.

More than 10,000 Special Interest Aliens were apprehended during the first two and one-half months of the new fiscal year. Special Interest Aliens come from countries with known ties to terrorism. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens posted a report on social media showing the arrest of three Syrian migrants who were arrested entering the U.S. Virgin Islands on a boat on December 5. The chief said Border Patrol agents already apprehended more than 10,000 Special Interest Aliens in Fiscal Year 2025, which began on October 1.

I've had numerous links in this report over the past couple of years already about Chi-Com agents having been caught in and near sensitive military installations and research facilities. The fact that the Red Chinese have been allowed to purchase vast tracts of land abutting these facilities and farmland for them to grow alfalfa to be used ostensibly for their own cattle industry is insanity. I can guarantee you that our government or any private individual or enterprise owns as much as a grain of sand anywhere in their territory.

Aside from land, the Red Chinese own quite a few of our politicians, sadly on both sides of the aisle (Yay bipartisanship). Much of that institutional grift and graft is going to come to an end once Donald Trump is sworn in. Or at least the attempt will be made. The rot is ugly dark and deep, with all due respect to Robert Frost.

Seems like an appropriate set-up for this next item. Which although it emerged last week really comes as no surprise yet is nontheless rage-inducing and illustrative of what Donald Trump and all of us are still up against.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the FBI issued a report last week that detailed at least 26 FBI Confidential Human Sources (CHSs) were present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

There are limitations imposed on the OIG in an investigation like this. If the office found 26, there were likely more. The OIG’s mandate is limited to interviewing current FBI employees only. If the FBI was working with Capitol police, and the Capitol police had a CHS, the OIG would not learn of or report on this because of lack of jurisdiction. The same with the CIA and other three-letter agencies. And, if agents were involved, all they had to do was retire or move to another agency to avoid investigation. The report does not detail the total number of agents that might have had information but fell out of purview.

If you look at the report, you will see in the methodology who was not interviewed. The OIG could not interview anyone that was not currently employed by the FBI. For example, the report details at least David Bowdich, Jeff Sallet, John Brown, Terry Wade, and Stephen Laycock all declined to be interviewed. A footnote reads: "One former FBI TFO declined our interview request." In another telling statement, the OIG acknowledges an inability to subpoena or compel testimony from former department employees and third-party witnesses.

In other words, the OIG only spoke to people who are with the FBI and who cooperated. The office did not speak to any third parties or former FBI employees. Nor did it speak to anyone outside the FBI that might have been working with the FBI at the time. In short, the OIG spoke to a limited number of cooperating FBI agents.

So despite the constant, deafening DRONE pun absolutely intended, over the past four years that Donald Trump led a violent riot/insurrection on 1/6/21 in an attempt to overthrow congress what we saw with our own eyes and long-suspected was that the FBI/DoJ in cahoots with Malig-Nancy Pelosi's Capitol PD staged an op to claim the aforementioned. Sadly, the only deaths were as a result of her malice aforethought in both refusing to allow Trump's request to call out the National Guard and inviting and actually escorting the peaceful protesters and rally goers into the building, resulting in the cold blooded murders of Ashli Babbitt and Roseanne Boyland.

So, we shall see if Trump can even begin to drain the swamp or if as I fear the Swamp will continue its decades-long drive to drain us of our liberty, wealth, sense of security and stability and our society.

Both the estimable Roger Kimball and Victor Davis Hanson take an upbeat tone:

Kimball:

The bottom line is that the country’s cultural confidence account has been lavishly replenished. There will, as is inevitable in this sublunary world, be disappointments ahead. But there will also be many, many successes as the aftermath of Trump’s victory solidifies first into a movement and then into a consensus. We are, as I put it early in November, “on the threshold of a political and social counter-revolution.”

VDH:

Never in U.S. history has a president-elect been welcomed as the real president before his January 20 inauguration. And never has the incumbent president so willingly surrendered his last two months in office and all but abdicated—to the relief of his nation and the rest of the world.
One reason so many are welcoming Trump’s return is the universally desperate hope that his election spelled an end to a collective madness at home and its ripples abroad during the last four years. And why not?

Well, we shall certainly see. All over the west, dissatisfaction and outright anger at what governments have been doing to the people have resulted in a wave of elections that have ousted the elitists. This has primarily though not necessarily been totally driven by the insane immigration policies of those countries that have turned or on the verge of transmogrifying western societies into Islamic republics.

The status quo disintegrated overnight — and the Syrian people breathed their first gulp of freedom in over 50 years.

How long it lasts will depend on their recently installed Islamist rulers.

The difference between Seoul and Damascus was telling. History is on the move in a specific direction. Events erupt with volcanic force from below.

The ruling elites, hierarchs and reactionaries desperately wield weakened institutions to retain their hold on society.

Sometimes, as in Romania, they gain an uneasy victory. More often, as elsewhere, they are battered and swept off by the tide.

We have broken out of a period of paralysis and are now venturing into the unknown. Nothing is given or predetermined. The flow of events, propelled by the collision between the present and the past, seemingly favors heightened democratic freedom but also a nihilistic barbarism

On Dec. 7, a reborn Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris opened its doors to the public once again after a devastating 2019 fire that nearly gutted that magnificent structure.

The mighty of the earth attended the opening ceremonies, with predictably bizarre interactions. Trump and Macron arm-wrestled for a long and awkward minute. Jill Biden appeared to make googly eyes at Trump.

Fortunately, none of that mattered. The resurrection of Notre-Dame is a triumph of the spirit. Here is an ancient monument ushered with loving care into our turbulent times. Here is a jewel of Gothic Christianity that still sparkles in the digital age.

Lest we forget that Islam is not alone in its quest to conquer and destroy the world. Even more evil arguably are those among us, the LEFT, who seek the same thing driven mostly by the madness of self-loathing, allied with venal traitors who seek to line their pockets as the world burns around them.

Anyway, a shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It's appreciated more than you can know. Have a great day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Roger Kimball: Drones may be swarming the skies, but the real buzz is America’s cultural and political counter-revolution taking flight.
  The Mystery in the Skies and the Shift on the Ground
  
• Victor Davis Hanson: The welcomed counterrevolution is one of restoration. No one knows quite what is ahead, but all know that it is at least better already than the current nightmare.
  Are the Years of Madness Ending? (Evil never rests, so wait and see - jjs)
  
• The causes of this transformation are opaque and complex. But one thing is certain: the turbulent events I have listed, like many before and others still to come, are driven by a global conflict between those who wish to cling at any cost to the old ways and those eager to move on.
  A new age of politics is upon the world — as toppled leaders lose their grip on power

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:15 AM | Comments (413) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 16 December 2024

Top Story

• A major laptop manufacturer is expected to show off an ion drive at CES. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The Frore Airjet uses a piezoelectric element to silently produce an airstream to cool whatever it is attached to. The problem is that it is not particularly power efficient - only about one fifth as effective as laptop fans, which are not themselves paragons of efficiency.
  
  The Ventiva ICE is an ionic engine. Also silent, it ionises the air molecules to attract them to a metal grate, where they are deionised but keep right on moving, creating an airflow which cools your laptop.
  
  This isn't the first time that someone has come up with this idea, though, so we're going to have to see whether they can make it work. Previous efforts have been very sensitive to dust buildup, which is enough of a problem with fans but renders ion blasters useless.
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (145) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (12/15/24) - Doof

(Photo H/T to TRex)


Howdy Hordelings, and welcome to the third week of December! Thanks for ending your weekend by stopping by this Sunday’s ONT. Hope you are able to stick around for a while and join in the conversation.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (512) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Not Quite Almost Christmas Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be mid-December? Before you know it, we'll be receiving gifts! What's on your Christmas list, guys and gals? Guns? Ammo? Guns and ammo? Please let us know in the comments what you're hoping to find under the tree!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (226) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Chocolate? Chocolate!

[Courtesy of Dru]

There's nothing quite like a box of excellent chocolates. Dark chocolate of course, because milk chocolate is for children, and I will fight you on this, so just step outside for a bit while I tell the rest of you that white chocolate is not real, has never been real, and should be banished forever.

And keep that execrable ersatz food called marzipan out of my chocolate! Who are you people who eat that crap? Sand, almond paste, and a bit of Elmer's Glue does not a confection make!

The highest and best use of dark chocolate is as a wrapping for caramel. And good caramel too! Firm, not too sweet, a bit toasty, and with a hint of vanilla.

Don't worry, I understand that there are other delicious dark chocolate concoctions, but I could happily eat a good dark chocolate caramel every day for the rest of my life and not miss anything else. Truffles and crunchy stuff are good though, so if a box of chocolates comes my way that has some of that stuff, I will smile and eat them.

So...what kind of chocolate floats your boats?

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (380) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First-World Problems...

And...the only reason that photo isn't of earlier returns is because I wrote the label on that file folder and it didn't show up well.

I am intellectually confident that nothing bad will come of shredding those papers, but I also have a sneaking suspicion that one day...far in the future...I will need them!

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (198) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Meet The New Boss...Dumber Than The Old Boss

I'm too old and jaded to assume that any branch of the federal leviathan is any good at what they are tasked with doing. I'll reserve judgement about our armed forces, because even with the catastrophe of Obama's purges and the focus on how to walk in pumps and respecting people's pronouns, there are undoubtedly many NCOs and even some officers who are expert at killing people and breaking their things, and can lead their troops to do something other than a bump and grind.

But in the main...government is bad at doing things, and the federal government, with its magical never-ending stream of funds seems to be the worst of the bunch. Yet every day it seems as though they are getting worse! The shift from minimally competent government employees that we expected even into the beginning of the 21st century has morphed into a chaotic clown show of poorly planned responses, idiotic Newspeak pronouncements from gibbering fools, and the abject failure to do even the most basic stuff.

Six Shot Missed Within 5 Feet: House Task Force Publishes Damning Report on Trump's Attempted Assassinations

The agent who noticed the suspected shooter was five feet away when he noticed the barrel of a gun. He fired six shots and struck naught. However, the Secret Service has yet to confirm the actual number of shots fired, another embarrassing failure by the elite security service to account for ammunition spent.

I won't even address the shocking failures in process and planning, and the even more shocking complacency that was perhaps intentional.

How can the United States Secret Service keep in its employment a man who missed his target from five feet away? With six rounds? How can the United States Secret Service fail to notice that at least one of their front-line employees -- a man tasked with protecting the life of a former and soon-to-be current president -- can't shoot his weapon with anything approaching competence? What sort of training and evaluation does that federal department use that is unable to sort out and reject a man who is that profoundly bad at his one job?

***
Mystery Drone Swarms Spread to Maryland

[...]an FBI official confirmed in an interagency press call on Saturday that drone sightings had spread to Maryland, but stopped short of saying they were directly connected to the original reports in New Jersey.

“There’s no confirmation that any of those [initial reports] are linked to anything that’s being observed throughout the country, or at other locations,” the official said.

“I don’t want to cause alarm and panic, but we can’t ignore the sightings that have been there, and we are concerned about those just as much as anybody else [who’s a] resident here of New Jersey,” he added.

The official said the FBI is conducting an ongoing investigation into the origin of the sightings.

If the United States federal government is so fantastically incompetent that it cannot call upon its vast resources in the armed forces, the Department of Homeland Security, the FAA, and the various other overlapping functions that it funds with our tax dollars to figure out what the hell is going on, then they obviously need to be sent packing, because they are worthless.

Well, except at butchering the English language with nonsensical blather that means nothing. At least the official is "concerned!" That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Every day that passes with more of these sightings and without a coherent and understandable response from the federal government makes normal people suspect that either the government isn't trying hard, or they are incredibly incompetent, or they are covering up something.

My money is on all three.

At the risk of being coarse, my current impression of our government is that they could f*ck up a wet dream. Can anyone point to a successful project or action by the federal government in the last four years?

And yes, they have succeeded in flooding the country with illegals, but they did it in such a hamfisted way that pretty much the entire country is pissed off and wants it to end. So what they got for their labors is a profound realignment in, and hardening of America's opinion about illegal immigration, and as a lovely bonus it probably got Donald Trump elected!

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (245) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-15-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: CBD)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, deck those halls and jingle those bells, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (257) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 15 December 2024

Top Story

• TSMC has announced performance specs for its upcoming 2nm node. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Compared with the current leading-edge 3nm process, it uses 24% less power for low-power mobile chips, and 35% less power for desktop chips. Or if you keep power the same, it runs about 15% faster.
  
  Compared to 5nm, it uses around 48% to 55% less power, and compared to 7nm (which I'm running right now), the reduction is as much as 70%.
  
  Chips will be coming off the production line in 2026.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (236) | Trackbacks (Suck)