Daily Tech News 8 September 2024

Top Story

• For the sake of security, we have to stop answering the phone. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Way ahead of you there, chief.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (318) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (9/7/24)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:45 PM | Comments (572) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 09/07/2024 [TheJamesMadison]

Orson Welles

As a fan of the cinematic work of Orson Welles, I find myself in a certain precarious spot. There's been a brewing backlash against Welles, mostly centered around his most famous film, Citizen Kane, for more than fifty years. In 1962, it was the first time that the BFI Sight & Sound poll had listed Welles' freshman effort as the greatest film ever made. It held that distinction every decade through 2002 until the poll in 2012 when it was supplanted by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. For fifty years, the BFI, critics, and Welles' biggest, most vocal fans like Peter Bogdanovich heralded Citizen Kane as the accomplishment in cinema. Heck, here's William Friedkin talking about how his only film school was sitting in a theater and watching the film 8 times through in one sitting.

That's a set up for expectations gamery and overall backlash against critics.

Welles' biggest enemy has turned out to be his biggest fans. They have propped him up to such a degree that no film could ever match the expectations set before it. The general resistance to critical opinion that has developed slowly but steadily for the past several decades (just ask horror fans how critics have treated their favorite genre since the 70s), and you've got a recipe for, "The critics like it? Well, then I hate it."

And I think that's deeply unfair to Welles and his work. I come into this discussion and run through his films already a fan, having seen everything at least once before, and I know that I'm going to be hitting this resistance. So, in order to try and bridge the divide, I have to think about how I'm going to talk about Welles and his work, and I have come to this conclusion: I must resist hyperbole. I cannot speak in language that waxes poetic about how great and beautiful everything is. That will be designed to turn off people who are predisposed to resisting him just based on the metatextual fog that has surrounded him.

And I do that for one reason: I think Welles' movies are fun. They aren't art house cinema. They're not Tarkovsky or Bresson. They're closer to Hitchcock than anything else in more ways than one. It's just that Hitchcock understood mass appeal a whole lot better than Welles did.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM | Comments (217) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - Sept 7, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the horde in this little corner of the interweb. A spin of the Ace of Spades wheel of hobbies has come up with a theme of collecting for this week.

What do you collect? Is it wierd or unusual? How did you get started collecting your items of choice? Do you collect thinking that your treasures will increase in value or are economics irrelevant? Do you display your collection or pieces from your collection or are you content with owning the items? If you display, how do you display? Have you build custom shelving or displays? Does part of your collection reside in boxes, mostly unseen by human eyes? Do you track what you collect? Have you found a marvelous treasure only to find out later you already had one and forgot about it?

Do you buy in-person, on-line or both? Do you haunt auctions, garage sales, estate sales, etc.? Do you ever sell or trade or do you only acquire? Do you have a tradition of picking up a souvenir from every place you travel? Have you made plans for what will happen with your collectibles after you have breathed your last? Do you share your collection with others or is your collection a solo endeavor? Do you collect toys or legos? Do you collect decorations for a particular holiday? What collections have you seen assembled by others that were memorable, inspired respect, or were head-shakingly puzzling? What did you collect as a child? Do you still have a stash somewhere of a childhood collection? Did it stick with you or did the idea pass as you moved on to other things? Do you collect things that nobody else would value or care about?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (237) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, September 7

* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Posted by: K.T. at 03:29 PM | Comments (119) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Sept. 7

Happy Saturday! Labor Day is over. Do you feel summer leaving? The photo above, from Diana, reminds me that some flowers still survive in the garden. But our hottest day of the week has been postponed by forecasters until today. It's not the same without those hot nights, though.

*

Posted by: K.T. at 01:33 PM | Comments (57) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The "rules-based international order" vs. free speech?

The left has actually arrived at the Idi Amin position on free speech.

Carl Benjamin

Have you noticed more attacks on free speech than usual?

Noticed more press censorship than normal? More out-and-proud attacks on free speech (plus push-back)?

Yesterday in The Week in Woke, Ace included a video clip of Kamala speaking to the NAACP: "I will direct the DOJ to censor 'misinformation and hate' online". And she asserted that it was necessary to fight this fight as a "community".

A "community" backed up by the strength of the Department of Justice to keep hate and misinformation off social media!

From the comments:

The ARC of History! at September 06, 2024 06:48 PM

Matt Taibbi has been doing a study of the various disinformation "laboratories" at places like Stanford and the University of Washington, and has noted a curious thing about their "research".

The government never provides "misinformation".

All information provided by the government is correct and truthful.

Only opponents of the government provide misinformation.

*

I think the post below is about the same study by Matt Taibbi:

John Hinderaker on Liberal Know-Nothingism:

A novel aspect of our present political moment is that the more credentials a person has, the more likely he or she is to be a Democrat. This wasn’t true 50 years ago; on the contrary. But creeping credentialism has become a key feature of our culture. I think we are in the midst of a coup being carried out by people who are dumb, but have credentials, usually half-baked.

These thoughts are prompted by Matt Taibbi’s current Racket News post. I am not sure whether that link will work if you are not a Racket News subscriber. If not, you might consider signing up. Meanwhile, I will try to do justice to the post with a few excerpts.

Briefly, Taibbi has obtained documents in response to a FOIA request. His post focuses on an alleged “misinformation” expert named Michael Caulfield, of the University of Washington. Early in the covid fiasco, Caulfield wrote an email in which he ridiculed people who were trying to understand the actual lethality of the virus:

Caulfield dismissed efforts to analyze data to figure out what was happening, on the ground that most people lack credentials. (Not that he himself had any relevant expertise, by the way.) Instead, the average person–pretty much everyone–should just figure out “who [sic] to trust.” And that would be the government.

Check out the details at the link.

Of course, as to the covid epidemic, the oft-censored independent voices generally turned out to be right, and the government was wrong.

Finally, I note that Caulfield described thinking for oneself as “a lousy epistemology.” As a one-time student of epistemology, I say with confidence that no philosopher has ever advanced such a theory. The idea that one should always believe the government and follow its dictates has a name, not in epistemology but in politics. It starts with an F. That is where today’s Democratic Party lives.

Why are academia and government teaming up to teach people not to think?

*

Jay Bhattacharya

We need to make viruses more dangerous to protect you from viruses.

We need to suppress dissident scientists to preserve science.

We need to suppress free speech to preserve democracy.

* * * * *

Does the "rules-based international order" sound like a conspiracy theory?

A 16 minute excerpt from an interview with Eric Weinstein showed up in my Twitter feed this week. He is a man of the left, but interesting for a few reasons, among which are:

1. He knows J.D. Vance
2. He is Bret Weinstein's brother and a free speech advocate
3. He named the Intellectual Dark Web. Remember them?

In this excerpt, Weinstein helps explain the behavior of members of The Borg and manages to make one wonder how conspiratorial the "international rules-based order" is, without panicking. Sorry if my comments are disjointed, but the interview is kinda disjointed.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:13 AM | Comments (306) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

(Ahhhhh.......Tasty!)

*****

The first Saturday in September? Hmmmm. Where has the year gone? In brighter news I have been informed by Mr. J.J. Sefton of the following:

Hi MH

Some good news to report. My MRI came back negative, so essentially I'm cancer-free for now.............

Please give everyone my thanks for all their prayers and kind words. It helped get me this far, I'm convinced.

Fantastic news J.J. Thank you for sharing with the Prayer Revival.

*****

Before we enter the Prayer Revival there are a few housekeeping matters to take care of. (Rulz for those of you in Cornucopia)

1. This is an open thread so feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2. Even the trolls need some understanding.
3. For Heaven's sake, no jumping on the Naugahyde divan.
4. No. Running. With. Sharp. Objects.
5. Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:30 AM | Comments (459) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 7 September 2024

Top Story

• College grades have become a charade. It's time to abolish them. (MSN)
  
  The colleges? Sounds good to me.

  If everyone outside hard-core engineering, math or pre-med courses can easily get an A, the whole system loses meaning. It fails to make distinctions between different levels of achievement or to motivate students to work hard on their academic pursuits. All the while, it allows students to pretend–to themselves and to others–that they are performing exceptionally well. Worse, this system creates perverse incentives. To name but one, it actively punishes those who take risks by enrolling in truly challenging courses.

  All true, if somewhat less daring than I had hoped.
  
  The proposal is that every course be reduced to pass/fail. Which is better than the current situation, but doesn't actually fix the problem.
  
  I like my plan better.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (199) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Bric, The Brac, The Craic & All, Lets Call It An ONT

Friday night! Here's a sign I can get behind,

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (446) | Trackbacks (Suck)

TGIF Cafe

Zion National Park
Ryan Resatka

Bonhomme says he had this particular Trapper folder. Apparently Mead is selling Trapper Keepers again. You can actually get a Trapper Keeper for $17 on Amazon. This one's only $15 and it's too cool, man.

I would get one, but I think first I should do something with the three Bullet Journals I bought, and then did nothing with. Oh -- I think I started to pen in some calendars on one.

You organized people have no idea what a gift you've been given. It's like a superpower, to those who don't have it.

This reindeer is obviously racist. #DoBetter, white reindeer. #DoBetter.

Giant moonfish.

The Frame-Job.

Scared squirrel.

I don't know if this is a real TikTok Thot or a parody. What's your guess?

Annoyed cat.

Grassy hills blown by the wind. Nicer than you might think.

Mouse trolls cat.

Golden angels.

Cats trolling their injured owners. (IG)

Wingsuit guy bullseyes womp-rats at Beggar's Canyon. (IG)

Pretty wave in slow-motion. (IG)

Dogs reacting to their owners barking at them. (IG)

Korean market in a narrow alley which is also a traintrack. (IG)

Dancing baby.

Meet the kitten, greet the kitten. Both clips on IG for those boycotting.

I've had this open for a while, unsure if I've posted it before or not. It's wingsuit-to-parachute footage of a guy zooming around the Lauterbrunner Valley in Switzerland (IG).

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (227) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Week In Woke

A Minnesota "Teacher of the Year" Award Winner has just gotten another award-- an arrest for raping a 14-year-old student.

Abdul Jameel Wright was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2016. That same year, he allegedly began a sexual relationship with a then 14-year-old student that lasted nearly a year; Wright was 30 at the time.

According to a summons filed in Hennepin County District Court late last week, Wright, who is also known as "AB," has been charged with one felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a minor age 13 to 15 while in a position of authority.

The allegations against Wright, now 38, surfaced earlier this spring in a public social media post by a woman who accused Wright of "taking a little girls (sic) innocence."

Following the spread of the social media post, St. Louis Park High School sent an internal email to staff stating that a teacher had been placed on leave following allegations of "serious misconduct," and that an investigation was underway. Wright was not named by the school in the email, but was employed as a language arts teacher, according to the school's online staff directory at the time and his LinkedIn bio.

Let's make sure teachers have more "private little chats" about sex and blowjobs and anal with the children they have authority over.

Another woke corporation whose customer base largely leans right is facing a boycott over its DEI and groomer activities under pressure.

The power toolmaker Stanley Black and Decker is the latest firm to face a boycott from conservatives over its diversity-hiring policies and support for LGBTQ causes.

Consumers' Research, an advocacy group, has panned the Connecticut-based firm for picking suppliers based on their race, and funding LGBTQ lobbying in Washington.

The company, which is behind such brands as DeWalt, Black and Decker, and Stanley, joins a growing list of firms to come under pressure from conservatives over policies seen by many as 'woke.'

...

'Companies need to focus on serving their customers, not woke politicians.'

The $24 billion company did not immediately comment on the claims.

The boycott comes at a tough time for the toolmaker, which has seen its stock value sink in recent months, as it shutters plants and distribution hubs in a bid to trim $2 billion in costs and turn a profit.

...

A report from Consumers' Research highlights controversial DEI efforts at the company.

They include policies to increase business with minority suppliers by at least 10 percent by 2025, donations of $10.5 million to 'racial equity' groups, and compulsory 'equity training' sessions for bosses.

It highlights comments from the firm's diversity chief Joe Simms, who has spoken of DEI as an 'unwavering focus' for the firm and one of its 'foundational commitments.'

Executives also teamed up with the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, and took part in its 'equality index,' which ranks firms on how friendly they are to gay and transgender staff.

The report includes filings that show the company spent $280,000 on lobbying lawmakers for the Equality Act, which would 'enshrine in federal law that biological males can participate in women's sports.'

The Mail surveyed the company's website and social media channels and found repeated references to its DEI work and support for 'inclusive' workspaces and celebrations of Pride month.

...

In recent weeks, Ford, Lowe's, Coors, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, John Deere and other well-known brands have pulled the plug on their DEI work or their support for LGBTQ causes.

...

Many were pushed into action by the online anti-DEI campaigner Robby Starbuck. Others have faced legal challenges from America First Legal, a group led by former Trump administration officials.

You'll be happy to know that the the leftwing propaganda media is finally taking an interest in the takeovers of apartment buildings by the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragau.

In fact, they're reporting that the other immigrants being extorted/trafficked by Tren de Aragau say it's racist to spread these rumors that their slavers are involved in human trafficking!

Residents at an Aurora apartment complex are speaking out against the narrative that their building is being taken over by a Venezuelan gang -- saying it isn't true.

Tuesday, tenants at the Edge At Lowry apartments held a press conference to dispute claims about gangs taking over the complex ever since viral videos allegedly showing the gang, Tren de Aragua, breaking into apartments have been shared by people all over the world.

Many tenants tell Denver7 they do not believe the gang is present at the complex. They said the most significant problems they've dealt with are the uninhabitable conditions of the building they're living in, a story Denver7 covered a few weeks ago.

One tenant, who is from Venezuela, said he now feels targeted since the rumors began circulating.

Oh perfect, you found an illegal alien from Venezuela to tell us that the "rumors" about these other illegal aliens from Venezuela are all lies told by the White Man.

"I'm scared to go out. They're accusing all of us at the complex of being in gangs, and this is completely false," tenant Oscar Rojas said in Spanish. "It's completely false. There are good people here, families. There's always going to be crime everywhere."

So maybe there's a little organized crime activity here, no big deal! It didn't bother us much in Venezuela, why are you gringos making a big fuss?

I totally trust illegal aliens living in an apartment building taken over by criminal illegal alien gangs when they tell me they're totally okay with the levels of criminality they're seeing, and also, there's no criminality at all.

Oh, and by the way, a second apartment building has been taken over by Tren de Aragau.

But you know, it's a Mostly Peaceful Armed Takeover.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (269) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Dick Cheney Is Voting for Kamala Harris

I'm sure the cokehead ne'er-do-well half-tard George Bush will come toddling along shortly.

Ex-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Friday her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, will cast his ballot this year in favor of Vice President Harris.

"Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris," Cheney told The Atlantic's Mark Leibovich at the Texas Tribune Festival.

Cheney added her father "believes, and he's said publicly, that there's never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is."

Cheney's comments follow her announcement earlier this week that she is also going to vote for Harris over former President Trump, despite being a lifelong conservative.

How many times can this slug-like hag announce the same thing and get fresh media mentions every time?

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:00 PM | Comments (317) | Trackbacks (Suck)

CNN Confirms: Discord Linked to School Shooter Expressed "Frustrations with Acceptance of Transgender People," Claimed He Was "Bullied for Being Gay"

It was technically illegal for me to even speculate about his motives -- only the media is permitted by law to do that -- especially if that speculation impacted one of the "disadvantaged" (actually, "greatly advantaged") Democrat client group.

So I am wiping my brow in relief that yes, this is yet another teen filled with hate and hormones and whipped up by the left to kill normal people for the crime of being normal.

They don't say he was trans -- just that he was very, very upset about the lack of "acceptance of trans people."

Georgia school shooter Colt Gray was discovered to have had a Discord account that contained posts suggesting he was planning a mass shooting due to his grievances over the lack of trans acceptance. Gray had also researched previous school shootings, like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting carried out by Adam Lanza as well as the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in 2018.

The posts on Discord, from 2023, referenced plans for a "future mass shooting," CNN reported. "I'm committing a mass shooting," a post read, "I'm committing a mass shooting and I'm waiting a good two to three years, and I'm ready." CNN reported that the poster then shared a picture of the gun he intended to use, before continuing to discuss the post.

The reporter said that the post, attributed to Gray, was "expressing desires to target an elementary school, expressing frustrations with the treatment of transgender people."

"The account referenced Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter, and in separate posts shared a desire to target an elementary school and expressed frustration with the acceptance of transgender people," a report from CNN read.

I'm very glad that the Professionals at CNN have decided to share this Forbidden News with us, so we weren't forced to continue guessing, which we're also not allowed to do. Forbidden News is forbidden for a reason, sub-peons!

We should definitely keep covering this up and continue pretending there is absolutely no problem of mentally-ill Alphabet People engaging in mass shootings to express the hatred of normies the left instills in them.

Hey, remember when the media whipped up a mass national panic over "incels" due to a single mass shooting?

That panic continued into, and past, 2019, when the media whipped up a panic that the movie Joker might spur Dangerous Incels to commit mass shootings.

Anyone think they'll be similarly whipping up one now after multiple shootings?

Or will the victims be blamed?

Spoiler: the victims will be blamed. Bullies get what they get!

Hey media, maybe stop your endless hate-farming operations to whip up your Clients and Catspaws into seething with hatred against the out-groups?

You know -- all of the incessant, panicky shrieking that if you fail to use whatever pronouns a fucked-up teenager is using this week then you're committing "Trans Genocide" and attempting to "erase" them from "existence?"

Maybe given the precarious mental health of these fucked-up teenagers, charging them full of that kind of incendiary, eliminationist rhetoric might just tip them in acting as if their actual "existence" really is in danger of being "erased"?

Or is it only the Non-Certified Media that needs to be cautious about its rhetoric?

I am glad the father has been arrested for involuntary manslaughter for buying his fucked-up psychopathic son -- who had already been interviewed by the FBI for making terroristic threats to commit a school shooting -- the very weapon which he then used to commit the school shooting.

I'm sure we'll find out he's a hard-left liberal who kinda-sorta wanted his headcase, parental-abuse psychopath to rain bloody vengeance down on the normies.

he father of a 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was arrested Thursday and faces charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for letting his son possess a weapon, authorities said.

It's the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children's actions in school shootings. In April, Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son's deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.

Colin Gray, 54, the father of Colt Gray, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference.

"His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon," Hosey said.

In Georgia, second-degree murder means that a person has caused the death of another person while committing second-degree cruelty to children, regardless of intent. It is punishable by 10 to 30 years in prison, while malice murder and felony murder carry a minimum sentence of life. Involuntary manslaughter means that someone unintentionally caused the death of another person.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:00 PM | Comments (301) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Biden-Harris White House Is Shocked by Hamas's Brutal Execution of Hostages, and Begins to Suspect the Unthinkable -- Maybe Hamas is a Bad Actor That Actually Doesn't Want Peace at All!

Check out the Big Brains of our Elites!

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:00 PM | Comments (399) | Trackbacks (Suck)

America First Legal Sues Every County in Arizona to Force Them, as the Law Requires, to Remove All Illegal Aliens from the Voter Rolls

In case you're not on Musk's wavelength: It's a troll. He's pretending that liberals should support voter-integrity measures because of course it's Trump and the Republicans who cheat in elections. That's why Republicans always want to stop vote cheating, and Democrats fight to keep it.

Before getting to that, some more legal news: Corrupt judge Merchan, whose daughter continues fundraising off her father's efforts to jail Trump, has postponed the sentencing until after the election.

Judge Juan Merchan decided to postpone former President Trump's sentencing in New York v. Trump until after the November presidential election.

Trump's sentencing date is now scheduled for Nov. 26. The original date was set for Sept. 18.

"The public's confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion," Merchan said in a letter Friday.

I can't wait 'til Alvin Bragg, Merchan, "Tish" James, and the judge who oversaw the "business crimes" prosecution learn that political prosecutions GO BOTH WAYS. They need to be investigated by the DOJ for conspiracy to Defraud the People of the US of an election (that's the same charge the DOJ slaps Trump and J6 defendants with), and need to go to jail when -- not if -- they lie about contacts with Biden's DOJ and strategists from the Democrat Party.

I will not be one of the Soft Sisters whining that Trump must be "above it all" and "restore norms." I will be one of the people demanding that those who attempted to rig an election through lawfare experience the tender mercies of lawfare themselves.

On to the headline story:

America First Legal is suing every single county in Arizona to force them, very much against their will, to take proven illegal aliens off the voter rolls.

The Democrat Party, which is all about "protecting our precious democracy," is determined to keep illegal aliens on the rolls.

Not that they'd vote or anything! Heaven forfend! They just want their names on the voter roll as... I don't know, like an "Honorary Voter" status, maybe?

Via Twitchy:

America First Legal
@America1stLegal

/1🚨NEW LAWSUIT TO STOP ILLEGAL ALIEN VOTING

We are suing ALL 15 counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegals from their voter rolls. This follows our lawsuit against Maricopa.

Every county in AZ is flagrantly defying its duty under state law to expunge illegal voters...

See the thread for screencaps of relevant caselaw and documents. I'll be omitting all that here.

/2 On July 17, we sent letters on behalf of our clients demanding that election officials in all 15 AZ counties fulfill their legal obligations to prevent aliens from voting and warning them that if they failed to do so, we would pursue legal action on behalf of our clients.

/3 On August 6, 2024, we sued the Maricopa County Recorder on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and Yvonne Cahill, a registered voter and naturalized citizen, for brazenly refusing to comply with the law.

/4 The claims in the lawsuit were based on Arizona state laws that require county recorders to do monthly voter list maintenance to remove foreign citizens from voter rolls.

/5 Nevertheless, Maricopa County removed the case to federal court, arguing that the case also involved federal laws that, in the county's view, should be interpreted in federal court. Maricopa County is notorious for employing procedural maneuvers to delay election cases and keep them from being heard on the merits.

Here's a fun wrinkle: by removing the case to federal court, Maricopa gave America First Legal the right to sue every county in the state to compel the action to remove illegal aliens from the voter rolls.

/6 However, Maricopa County's attempts here have backfired.

Arizona state court rules only allow for one county to be sued in a case like this, whereas federal court rules allow a plaintiff to sue more than one county at a time.

/7 Now that our clients are in federal court, we added the other 14 counties in Arizona to the lawsuit to ensure that every county in the state is compelled to fulfill its statutory duties.

/8 Two federal statutes that have been in effect for nearly thirty years, 8 U.S.C. sec. 1373(c) and 8 U.S.C. sec. 1644, allow State and local officials to obtain information about the citizenship or immigration status of any individual for any lawful purpose.

/9 Yet, counties in Arizona have decided to ignore these tools and threaten the integrity of the 2024 Presidential election by failing to remove foreign nationals from their voter rolls.

We are taking action.

America First Legal's announcement is here.

Congress needs to pass -- or they think they need to pass -- a continuing budget resolution to prevent a shut-down.

Mike Johnson has agreed, but he's adding the SAVE Act, which demands voter identification in federal elections, as part of the bill.

Chuck Schumer keeps saying that Johnson can't do that, but won't say why such an obviously-necessary provision is so hateful to the Voter Fraud Left.

Oops, I guess I gave it away. Spoiler alert.

Weaselly Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his refusal to say why he opposes a House bill that would include a requirement of proof of citizenship to register to vote, which is bipartisan.

When asked whether he would support it -- and having it pointed out that five Democrat House members voted for the SAVE Act back in July -- Schumer began spamming out crap about "poison pills."

Look, Speaker Johnson should learn from the past, you can only keep the government fund[ed] in a bipartisan way. You can't have a group of Republicans, particularly led by right-wing, hard-nosed Republicans who don't even represent the whole Republican Party, put together a proposal with all kinds of poison pill legislation in it and then say, this is what has to pass. That bill may not even pass the House. I think there are some Republicans who might vote against it.

Mike Miller of RedState points out:

Um, Chuck? The House passed a nationwide proof of citizenship bill -- the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act -- with a 221-198 vote on July 10, with 216 Republicans and five Democrats voting for its passage.

Schumer again said that he would block any such bill, but continues to not say why:

It certainly has no chance in the Senate or no chance of being signed by the president. So, Speaker Johnson, look at what's going on, you can't pass a bill unless we come together on a bipartisan agreement, that's what each -- has happened each time in the past. You've tried to appease your right wing, it's failed, and you've had to come to us and negotiate. We're ready to negotiate a bipartisan deal.

Whitworth continued to push: "Some Democrats do support it, though. And what about it would not pass through the Senate?"

Again, Chuck refused to answer, further twisting himself into a an illogical pretzel, circling back to the "poison pills" excuse.

Schumer claims "if you're not a citizen, you can't vote."

But you can vote as a non-citizen, Chuck -- many do. They're not allowed to, but they do.

Because you've allowed them to.

Rick Scott declares that if the government shuts down, it's because Chuck Schumer wants illegal aliens to continue illegally voting.

You'll never, ever guess which Republican is allying himself with Chuck Schumer to block the SAVE Act from being added to the funding bill.

I'll give you a hint: He has no chin, he's paid by China, and sometimes he glitches publicly for 20 or more second straight.

While there is bipartisan agreement that there will likely need to be a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past Sept. 30, House conservatives and a Democrat-led Senate are headed for a showdown amid efforts on both sides regarding barring noncitizens from voting. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's name is being reported as being against adding the stricter voting requirement measure to the funding bill.

"McConnell staffers have urged conservatives in the Senate and the House to keep the precedent of passing clean short-term-funding bills and argued that using a potential shutdown to try to score political points is dangerous before the election, sources said," according to Axios.

"Their involvement in this latest push shows he's not taking a back seat in high-level negotiations even though he plans to step down as leader after the election," the outlet added.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:00 PM | Comments (274) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Job Creation Slows as Foreign Workers Take the Lion's Share of What Few Jobs Were Created
Plus: Appeals Courts Remove RFKJr's Name from Ballots in MI and NC!

Unrelated Update: Both Michigan's Appeals Court and North Carolina's Supreme Court have reversed lower (Hawaiian judge) rulings keeping RFKJr.'s name on the ballot. Democrats want to keep his name on the ballot because they don't want RFKJr.'s voters voting for the man RFKJr. endorsed, Trump. Republicans want him off (as RFKJr. himself demanded) so that they will.

Remember, it was RFKJr. himself who filed to remove his name from the ballot. Democrat judges said "no, you have to stay on the ballot, to help Kamala." I mean, they didn't say that last part out loud -- but that's the reason.

Nice election news for Team Trump:

@SteveLovesAmmo

BREAKING: Michigan Appeals Court just ordered that RFK Jr.'s name will be taken off the ballot!

Leading Report
@LeadingReport
BREAKING: North Carolina Court of Appeals has ordered Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s name to be taken off the general election ballot in the state.

Since I'm on Axios' site, I'll go with their spin on this.

The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate edged slightly lower to 4.2% from 4.3%, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Why it matters: A slowing labor market is a pivotal factor that will help the Federal Reserve determine the size of a highly anticipated interest rate cut later this month.

Axios casually side-steps the real "Why It Matters:" Economists worry that Biden has driven us off the cliff and this latest data point suggests we are closer to a deep recession.

But naaaah, it's just about something most people don't care about, a possible federal rate cut.

Note the Fed would only cut interest rates, especially in the face of uncontrolled inflation, if a recession were imminent.

Axios is pretending they don't know this.

The August figures came in below expectations of 161,000 job gains.

The new report also shows notable revisions for months past: The economy added just 89,000 jobs in July--25,000 fewer than initially thought.

June's gains were revised down by 61,000 to 118,000.

Surprise, surprise. Gee-- that's almost half of June's jobs that turned out to be Fake Economic News.

David Strom pounces, and then seizes, and then pounces again with a surprise Bonus Seize, upon the fact that over the past year, foreign workers made up 2,000,000+ of new hires, whereas native-born Americans lost 392,000 jobs.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:00 PM | Comments (333) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Media Which Applies No Scrutiny to Kamala Harris Wonders, "How is Kamala Harris Managing to Avoid Scrutiny?"

The Politico knock-off with the Nazi-sounding name, Axios, wonders how Kamala Harris is avoiding the scrutiny that they refuse to give her.

Bear in mind: This is the same outlet that insisted Kamala Harris was never "border czar" despite their own "reportage" calling her that in 2021.

With 60 days left in the race, and at the very moment she's presenting a different ideology than four years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris isn't getting subjected to the media scrutiny typical for a presidential nominee.

Why it matters: Harris is copying President Biden's self-protection media strategy -- duck tough interviews and limit improvisational moments.

Her circumstances are different, for sure. She entered the race just seven weeks ago, did dozens of interviews this year before Biden's exit, and plans to do more interviews and gaggles.

But with her debate with former President Trump coming up Tuesday (9pm ET), Harris has big questions to answer in two areas that go to the heart of running America:

Why did President Biden's top advisers routinely leak word they found her performance as vice president disappointing or episodically problematic?

How did her views change in five years, from liberal to centrist on health care, immigration and energy? Why should voters believe her new views are the ones she'd stick with inside the White House?

...

Nine areas in which she's shifted views or her current position is unknown:

Banning plastic straws for environmental concerns. (She's no longer for it, as Axios reported Thursday.)

A mandate for automakers to only make electric and hydrogen vehicles by 2035. (The Harris campaign won't say whether she's still for it.)

Banning fracking because of concerns over global warming and potential water contamination. (No longer favors a ban.)

A mandatory buyback program for assault weapons as part of her gun safety agenda. (She's dropped this idea.)

Decriminalizing crossing the border from a criminal offense to a civil one. (No longer supports.)

Reparations for slavery, which many progressives argued for during the 2020 primary. (Position unclear.)

Building a wall on the Southwest border, a defining Trump promise that many Democrats have fought. (Accepted it as part of the bipartisan border package that Republicans killed.)

A federal jobs guarantee that was part of her Green New Deal proposal. (No longer for it.)

Medicare for All, which Harris embraced in her first year as senator. (She's backed off this.)

What they're saying: Harris and her campaign haven't provided many details explaining her policy shifts.

...

Reality check: One of the features of her melded staff (Harris loyalists and Obama alumni, grafted onto existing Biden staffers) is that even some of her own staffers aren't sure where she stands on a range of issues.

[Trump's] running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), routinely sits for tough interviews with mainstream reporters. Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hasn't done a solo TV interview.

I saw a story a couple of weeks ago that Walz avoids interviews precisely because 1, he doesn't want to say what the Harris-Walz position is on issues, and 2, he doesn't even know what the Harris-Walz position is on issues.

Behind the scenes: As Axios' Sophia Cai has reported, Harris made a decision not to get too deep into specific policies because there wasn't time.

LOL, that must be it, Axios. Good "reporting."

...

The result is lots of down-the-middle vagueness. That's the case on the issue of whether Harris would require automakers to build only electric or hydrogen vehicles by 2035 -- a position she took during her 2020 campaign for president.

For a story this week, Axios asked her campaign about the issue for six days before getting a "no comment."

Why does Kamala Harris think she can stiff-arm a Kamala-boosting media with "no comment," wonders a Kamala-boosting media that makes excuses for her when she stiff-arms them with a "no comment"?

Bonchie from RedState comments:

Some elements of the national press are finally starting to understand that Kamala Harris is playing them for fools. Of course, admitting there's a problem is different than acting on it.

I'm not sure what's more frustrating. That Kamala Harris doesn't even have an official policy platform yet and early voting is already starting, or that the supposed news outlets are trying to play the victim in the face of that. If only there was a massive "fourth estate" with enormous, worldwide influence that could report honestly on Harris and pressure her into doing interviews and press conferences.

If you are to believe Axios' framing, they and other mainstream news sources are helpless. There's just nothing they can do. That contradiction between complaining about Harris' strategy and the press feeding into it is illustrated later in the same article.

What they're saying: Harris and her campaign haven't provided many details explaining her policy shifts.

A Harris campaign aide explained to Axios that she's no longer pushing Medicare for All because of what she learned during her four years of experience in the White House, and seeing how the Biden administration has expanded coverage through the Affordable Care Act.

Do you know what the press could do if they want to make Harris speak clearly and publicly about her policy positions? They could stop publishing anonymous sources like the one cited above. Every single time an anonymous "aide" is allowed to change a Harris position with no further details or explanation, her campaign is given every incentive to continue hiding the candidate behind a teleprompter.

Even slump-shouldered pudgebucket Chris Cillizza, who even CNN decided was too dumb and leftwing for them, has trouble believing Kamala has really changed her positions.

John Sexton:

If it were one issue it wouldn't be a big deal but as Cillizza correctly points out, she's done this on a bunch of issues: Fracking, the border wall and asylum policies, the Green New Deal, gun confiscation, Medicare for All. She has done an about face on all of them. It's a big part of her strategy to get elected.

Those, um, policy shifts are all part of a designed strategy on the part of the Harris team. This, from Axios, is telling on that front:

A big part of the Harris plan is to unapologetically change some of her more liberal positions, and claim her White House experience helped change her mind. Yes, when she was running for president in 2019, she was against fracking, for decriminalizing illegal border crossings, and for single-payer health care (Medicare for All).

So here's the obvious part. The claim that Harris has actually changed her mind because of her time as VP and that her values haven't changed is just not credible.

Given that history, I struggle to swallow the spin that her time as vice president is what explains all of these policy shifts. Especially when you consider that every single one of them is Harris moving from a position liberals love to one centrists -- and swing voters -- prefer. Like, she never learned anything during her time in the White House that made her think a more liberal solution was the right way to go?

And the explanation that she and her campaign team have settled on -- "my values have not changed" -- doesn't really fly either. If her values told her that single payer, government run healthcare was the right way to insure Americans get the best services possible, why does she no longer think that?

Yes, this is all blindingly obvious but again, how many journalists are saying it?

...

It's pretty hard to claim her opponents are all liars when there is oodles of video showing Harris herself stating her left-wing views. And the silly claim that her views have evolved, as Chris Cillizza said, just doesn't seem credible. What does seem credible is that Harris' advisers are lying because the real Kamala Harris is a fringe candidate who can't possibly win this election.

Yes, the real truth is that she does have real views, and they are the hard-left views of her Marxist professor father, and she knows she cannot win on those issues, so she's, get this, lying about them with a paper-thin lie that is only designed to hold up for 60 days.

It's infuriating that on Axios' own front page, they have another story about Kamala refusing to explain a policy shift -- and making excuses for her.

Harris campaign dodges over EV mandate walkback

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign won't say whether she supports requiring automakers to build only electric or hydrogen vehicles by 2035 -- a position she took during her 2020 campaign for president.

Why it matters: Since taking over President Biden's campaign in July, Harris has been light on policy details.

Harris' campaign has said she no longer supports many of her past progressive positions and has embraced more centrist stances on health care, immigration, gun control and fracking.
Even so, Donald Trump's campaign has focused on footage from Harris' 2020 campaign to attack her as "dangerously liberal."

Driving the news: Harris' campaign has sent contradictory signals about her position on a mandate for automakers -- a key issue in pivotal Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where many autoworkers are based.

In a lengthy "fact-check" email last week that covered several issues, a campaign spokesperson included a line saying that Harris "does not support an electric vehicle mandate" -- suggesting she changed her previous position, without elaborating.
On Aug. 28 Axios asked the Harris campaign to clarify her position, and whether she would sign or veto a bill she co-sponsored in 2019 that included such a mandate for manufacturers.
On Tuesday afternoon, Harris' campaign ultimately declined to comment.

But the important thing is: Trump lies. Trump lies when he says Biden-Harris is already pushing an EV mandate, when all they're actually doing is attempting to force people to buy EVs through "tough regulations and financial incentives:"

Trump has falsely claimed that Biden has already instituted such a mandate, but the current administration has pushed the adoption of EVs through a combination of tough regulations and financial incentives.

Do you think that Axios would agree that DeSantis hasn't "banned abortion," but merely discouraged it through "tough regulations"?

Because I don't. I think they say he's "banned abortions."

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:00 PM | Comments (364) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: A Study Shows that Blue State Refugees Are Voting Heavily Republican in Tennessee

There is a great exodus of people fleeing the taxes, crime, and other left-wing pathologies of blue states for the freedom and culture of red states. This has caused much consternation among conservatives in fast-growing red states, who fear the refugees will vote left and ruin their new states, as they did in prior waves that flipped states such as Colorado and Arizona from Republican to Democrat.

There is some great news out of an analysis of new-to-Tennessee voters casting their first ballots after registering in Tennessee – they are voting overwhelmingly Republican. In this study, first time voters from California are casting more than three times as many Republican ballots as they are Democrat ballots.

Before I discuss the specifics of the analysis, I believe it is necessary to once again discuss the difference between “colonizers” and “refugees.” The colonizers tend to be left-wing voters relocating to a red state because of their job. That is what makes Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recruitment of tech companies so distasteful. Abbott has recruited wave after wave of tech workers from California, and they generally bring their left-wing voting habits with them. It is terribly short-sighted for Texas to import anti-carbon voters who will enthusiastically kill off Texas’ petroleum and cattle industries. Refugees, by contrast, tend to be conservatives fleeing blue states. They vote Republican in their new state, making it even redder. Even better, they bring with them an appreciation for just how destructive 21st Century Democrats are when they gain power.

My growing neighborhood in a Tennessee suburb had so many Illinois license plates in 2021 and 2022 that you might have thought it was a Chicago suburb. During my “Welcome to the neighborhood” chats with them, at which time I asked what brought them to Tennessee, it became clear that pretty much all of them are refugees.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press just did an analysis of those who moved from out of state to Hamilton County, Tennessee (e.g. Chattanooga and surrounding suburbs) since January 1, 2023, totaling how many voted in this year’s Republican primaries versus how many voted in the Democrat primaries. It was a mega-landslide in favor of Republicans. (Or maybe that should be “maga-landslide.”

“Hamilton County voter data shows ‘ruby red’ Tennessee is a big draw for those leaving 'Soviet Republic' of California” [Chattanooga Times Free Press – 8/31/2024]

Among those who have moved from California to Hamilton County in recent years and registered to vote since the beginning of 2023, 75% of them participated in a Republican primary this year — either the one in March or August. (Tennesseans don't align with a political party when registering to vote. Party affiliation is determined by which party ballot they chose in the latest primary.)

The article quoted Paul Chabot of the online site Conservative Move, who observed that blue state conservatives fleeing to Tennessee are heading for the suburbs, not the major cities, because even the cities are too Democrat.

Tennessee, especially its suburbs surrounding the urban cities, Chabot said, is among the top destinations for the tens of thousands of clients his company serves each year. "The big cities — Nashville, Knoxville and others — are run largely by Democrats, but once you get out of the city limits into the suburbs where most of our clients are moving," Chabot said, "these areas are ruby red."

Below is a chart that the Times Free Press compiled from records at the Hamilton County Election Commission. It shows which primary ballot was chosen by those new voters whose previous address was in California.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (226) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Nature morte à la saucière
Francis Gruber

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (352) | Trackbacks (Suck)