Disney's Parks Nearly Ghost-Towns on the Fourth of July

I know, I know, many don't like Disney news.

But I'm looking for something to post that isn't about Biden dropping out or not dropping out. Just as a bit of ginger between the courses of sushi.

ThatParkPlace.com:

Walt Disney World Deserted For Fourth Of July Celebrations

July 8, 2024

For decades, Walt Disney World has been a premiere location for Americans from all 50 states to celebrate the nation's founding on the Fourth of July. It's known to Disney veterans as one of the busiest days of the year, with shoulder to shoulder traffic crowding the entirety of Main Street USA.

But "the times they-are-a-changin,'" as the saying goes.

In years past, the Magic Kingdom and Epcot were hotspots of patriotic celebration, with both parks often hitting maximum occupancy and wait times for even mid-tier attractions hitting three, sometimes even four hours. The parks would be decked out in red, white, and blue, a true picture of American patriotism that would have made company founder Walt Disney swell with pride. The 360 degree fireworks spectacular was an attraction in and of itself, filling the sky with celebratory explosions in excess of 13 minutes.

But Fourth of July 2024 was a far different experience. The parks were downright empty, seeing less of a surge and more of a sprinkle of humanity meandering down a sparsely decorated Main Street for a fireworks show that was just a little over seven minutes in length.

Same day park reservations were available for all four parks, something utterly unheard of in recent years, and wait time for attractions all across Walt Disney World were actually lower than a typical summer non-holiday from years past.

At 3 p.m. on July 4th several big ticket rides throughout Walt Disney World had no wait at all. This includes Kilimanjaro Safaris in Disney's Animal Kingdom and Star Tours -- The Adventures Continue in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Expedition Everest only had a 15-minute wait time and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (arguably Disney's most popular standby queue attraction) only had a 45-minute wait. Its close neighbor Slinky Dog Dash clocked in at just 50 minutes.

by La Reina Creole
YouTube Disney expert and critic

Disney's stock price is down to $97 and change. It had been at a high of $197 and change in February 2021.

So... halved in value.

The Disney experts of WDW_Pro reported that Disney had barely bothered to decorate for our nation's birthday. Usually, they said, the whole park is decorated with red, white, and blue festoons and coquettes. This year, though, they didn't even bother dressing up all of the Main Street section of the park -- just a single courtyard.

Remember, the founder of Disney was very pro-American. Not so the communists who infiltrated themselves into the company until they dominated it from top to bottom.

Speaking of ghost towns, there are rumors -- and all rumors about Disney turn out to be true, eventually -- that they're going to change the beloved Haunted Mansion exhibition for "sensitivity" reasons.

The rumor is that Disney will replace the ghost who welcomes people to the mansion -- the "Ghost Host" -- with some... bats.

Because, you see -- that ghost has a noose round his neck. And this triggers the maniacs.

Fans are abuzz on Reddit that Disney is currently in the process of removing the hanging corpse seen in the stretching room before guests board the ride. Haunted Mansion's disembodied "Ghost Host" points out that as the room has no doors or windows, it has no way out. "Of course," he adds, "there's always my way," with lightning then illuminating a hanging corpse hanging from the ceiling.

There have been rumors that Disney will remove this effect from the attraction in order to be more sensitive and not trivialize suicide. Some guests have complained that this scene feels particularly triggering, with petitions even set up in the past.

Disney is well aware of these complaints. Back in 2021, Michele Hobbs -- who works as a producer for Walt Disney Imagineering and previously managed a refurbishment of the attraction -- told Los Angeles Times that the scene's removal has "been discussed for sure" and that "it's definitely something that we're thinking about."

On Haunted Mansion Holiday, the ceiling of the stretching room is covered with a tarp. The idea is that this tarp will remain in place all year round, and something else will be projected during this section of the ride.

Nooses have been removed from other versions of Haunted Mansion in the past. Nearly all the nooses were removed from Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris in 2023, except for the one that appears during the stretching room scene.

Disney defamed Gina Carano as an anti-semite when she warned that the Nazis had come to power first by getting neighbors to turn on neighbors. She likened that tothe modern leftwing attempt to purge noncompliant workers from the office space and noncompliant family members from the family. Disney claimed that this observation constituted denigrating people's religion and culture -- in other words, she was attacking Jews.

That was always a lie. Disney decided to fire her because a group of always-online, always-furious trans extremists demanded that she post her pronouns. She refused. Even worse, she tweaked them by annoucing her pronouns and "Beep, Boop, Bop."

But Disney couldn't admit it was purging people because nasty, unreasonable trans extremists were angry that they could not attack and defame one lone woman into not going along with their pronoun agenda. So they slandered her by claiming that she had attacked Jews.

Last week, Disney actor in good standing -- because he's an idiot leftwing extremist -- Mark Ruffalo compared the current political situation to Germany under the Nazis.

Wait, I thought that such comparisons denigrated the religion and culture of Jews...?

Apparently they don't, not when leftwing actors Mark Ruffalo and, prior to him, Pedro Pascal make the comparison.

Carano blasted Disney for their double-standards and defamations.

The leftwing NPC and dolt Ruffalo claimed that the Supreme Court ruling recognizing presidential immunity for exercise of his core constitutional powers was Just Like Nazi Germany, Again:

Carano responded to Ruffalo writing on X, "Double standards on full display. It's a constant and obvious elephant in the room in Hollywood. There is example after example, such as Mark Ruffalos below that prove this. Whom btw, I believe should have the right to express himself without getting fired, although I cringe at most all of his political posts. He is an actor, but he is a human being passionately engaging in something that he feels strongly about. It must be a nice feeling to express yourself so freely."

She added, "Not everyone in this country has that privilege without having everything that they love taken from them. Do we wonder why he has that privilege and I did not? The answers are in my case."

Carano continued, "I know people would prefer basketball players to just dribble or actors to just act, but when you're in a world where lives are being destroyed and lost, all around you, how does any human being become forced to stay silent when death by injustice surrounds them."

"Disney [and] Lucasfilm maliciously twisted the narrative of a meme I posted which was encouraging neighbors NOT to demonize their neighbors or history could repeat itself. They twisted that meme into saying that I was denigrating people off of their cultural and religious beliefs. It was suggested that I was comparing Republicans to the Jewish people in the holocaust, something that I never said or posted," she asserted.

Carano then declared, " I called no one a Nazi, I did not deny the holocaust. Read that last sentence again, I NEVER did this, yet I was smeared as an antisemite. That doesn't seem to happen to a certain group of people that choose to use these comparisons as well, why is that? The rules for thee and not for me group. So what are the rules exactly?"

"This lie was fed to you by the corrupt media based off a statement from Disney/Lucasfilm who have since doubled down on their slander towards me. Their narrative took on a life of its own while my own life and career were tossed aside," she wrote.

The media repeated and repeated this lie until it became an untruthful 'fact' to many, who aren't the best at doing their own research, who instead listen to fake news and what we've seen 'journalism' digress into, spare a very few brilliant journalists," Carano noted.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I think you're cute too.

Next, she stated, "A demoralized society becomes hungry for propaganda, willing to give up their rights and the rights of others, it causes division and drives societies into a mob mentality, picking on a group of people, turning neighbor against neighbor. It is one of the largest reasons the gates were opened for the Nazis to come into power in the first place. This way of doing things cannot be what we base condemning and destroying peoples livelihoods and careers off of."

"The media manipulates the masses so easily based on their affiliations with large corporations and powerful people who signal and encourage them who to destroy," she noted.

...

"We can have conversations where we don't agree, in fact we just might learn something from each other through more conversations. Conversation over cancellation, like I've said from the beginning," Carano concluded.

She noted that her case against Disney was continuing, though she's waiting for an Obama-appointed judge to decide if her case can go forward. The judge appeared skeptical of Disney's position that they can fire anyone based on their First Amendment rights to present a unified corporation-wide political front, despite California law specifically saying that you cannot fire people for their political activity.

But we'll see. Disney might deliver a few suitcases full of money.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:25 PM | Comments (318) | Trackbacks (Suck)

"I'm Not Going Anywhere," Dark Brandon Promises, and Demands That Democrats "End" All Chatter About Him Dropping Out of the Race

The Bee:

Top Democrat House members are continuing to call for him to withdraw.

At least four House Democratic committee leaders said on a Sunday afternoon call with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) that President Biden should end his 2024 candidacy, according to three senior House Democrats.

...

"People are upset and think he's got to step down," said one senior Democratic lawmaker, who, like others, spoke to Axios on the condition of anonymity to describe a private session.

What we're hearing: Multiple Democrats who lead House committees said on the 2 p.m. call, led by Jeffries, that Biden should drop out, one senior House Democrat told Axios.

Those Democrats: Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the ranking members of the Judiciary, House Administration, Armed Services and Veterans Affairs panels, respectively, the lawmaker said.

One of the lawmakers who described the call to Axios said those four were "among many others" who raised concerns about Biden, estimating that "at least half" voiced apprehensions.

...

Zoom in: One of the lawmakers on the call told Axios that "most of the concern addressed colleagues in swing districts and more vulnerable seats."

"It was about how to win the presidency and the Senate and the House ... there was a lot of concern [that] if we continue in this direction, we could have problems regaining a majority," they added.

But Biden has now given Democrats their marching orders: "End" all talk of Biden leaving the race. But does he have the juice to make them obey?

President Biden told congressional Democrats that it's time to "end" the pressure on him drop out via a Monday letter sent just ahead of Congress' return from its July 4 recess.

Why it matters: Lawmakers have told Axios they expect calls for Biden's withdrawal to grow once lawmakers are back in town. Biden's letter is a clear attempt to tamp down those calls before they arise, but initial reaction shows it could be stoking additional ire.

What he's saying: Biden said in the letter he has had "extensive conversations with the leadership of the party, elected officials, rank and file members and, most importantly, Democratic voters over the past 10 days or so."

"I have heard the concerns that people have ... I am not blind to them," Biden said.

But, he said, "I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024."

The president wrote that he is "firmly committed to staying in the race" and that "the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it's time for it to end."

...

What we're hearing: Biden's Monday letter is being met with mixed reaction on Capitol Hill.

One senior House Democrat, asked if they think the letter will succeed in extinguishing pressure on Biden to withdraw, told Axios: "No."

The new spin coming from Biden's people is that we must all accept the democratic results of the primary that Biden completely rigged. How can we save democracy if we don't accept democracy?

He's also now reframing himself as some kind of populist, and the real defender of the people from the machinations of "the elites."

A defiant President Biden expressed frustration Monday at Democratic "elites" who have called for him to drop out of the race, daring critics to "challenge [him]" at next month's Democratic convention in Chicago.

Why it matters: Ahead of a pivotal week to prove his skeptics wrong, Biden called into MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to reinforce a simple message: He's not going anywhere.

What they're saying: "If any of these guys don't think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce for president -- challenge me at the convention," an animated Biden told his favorite cable news program.

"It drives me nuts people are talking about this," Biden said Monday of the discourse following his debate performance.

"The bottom line here is, we're not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere," Biden said.

Politico:

President Joe Biden slammed his critics as "elites" in a live interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday, daring any challengers to run against him as he doubled down on his vow to stay in the race.

"I'm getting so frustrated by the elites -- now I'm not talking about you guys -- the elites in the party, 'Oh, they know so much more.' Any of these guys that don't think I should run, run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention," Biden told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

During the audio-only interview, Biden shot down Brzezinski's description of him as the presumptive Democratic nominee. "I'm more than the presumptive, I'm going to be the Democratic nominee," Biden said, laughing.

...

Biden is leaning heavily into a strategy he's turned to in the past: casting his critics as "elites" who aren't in step with the average Democratic voter.

One of the primary reasons Biden has been visiting stops around the country was to "make sure my instinct was right about the party still wanting me to be the nominee," he said. Biden boasted about his "large" and "enthusiastic" crowds and made a jab at criticism that he relies on a teleprompter, saying "I did it all extemporaneously."

"I'm not getting any of what I was told. I wanted to make sure I was right, that the average voter out there still wanted Joe Biden," he said. "And I'm confident they do."

...

He reiterated his belief that he is the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump in November, who he said "hasn't done a damned thing since the debate" and is "riding around in his golf cart."

Biden, who it has been shown repeatedly cannot walk for more than 20 yards, is continuing to attack Trump for riding a golf cart instead of walking the course.

You'll remember that during the debate, Populist Joe challenged Trump to a golf game, "if you carry your own bag."

Populist Joe can't even carry his own colostomy bag, am i rite or am i rite

Populist Joe -- the candidate of the elites -- is so angry at those darned elites! He might even start challenging these elites to a push-up contest!

Biden, who is said to watch "Morning Joe" every morning, called into the show to renew his pledge after a total of nine Democrat lawmakers reportedly called for his resignation.

"They're big names! But I don't care what those big names think," Biden said when asked about his opposition. "I'm getting so frustrated by the elites ... the elites in the party."

"All the data, all the data shows that the average Democrat out there voted, and 14 million of them had voted for me. Still want me to be the nominee," he said.

Wait, isn't populism the most dangerous form of politics? Isn't it akin to fascism?

Well, there is no way to force Biden out of the race. And he does have 99% of the Democrat delegates from the rigged primary, and no one can free those delegates from Biden except Biden (or the Angel of Death).

But the pressure will continue to mount.

Unless it doesn't -- if Democrats get the message that Biden will not drop out for any reason and that continuing to talk about him being unfit for office is only guaranteeing a Trump victory, maybe they will stop the public campaign to pressure him to leave the race.

Axios says those committed to dumping Biden don't plan on stopping.

We're now in uncharted, historic waters: President Biden -- backed by first lady Jill Biden and his convicted son, Hunter, who's serving as de facto gatekeeper for longtime friends -- says that nothing, besides an act of God, will persuade him to quit his re-election campaign.

But outside Biden's protective bubble, a fast-growing number of Democrats are praying for --and plotting -- a more earthly intervention. They want everyone from the Obamas to congressional leaders to beg Biden to drop out by this Friday.

Why it matters: Biden and his Democratic critics share one common passion -- the intensity, certainty and irreversibility of their positions. Both plan fierce public and private campaigns to see who buckles.

It won't be him, Biden says publicly and privately. On a Saturday call with his national campaign co-chairs, Biden sounded full-speed ahead. He vowed to spend more time talking directly to voters, whether at town halls or press conferences.

The big picture: Democratic lawmakers have gone from shock, to sadness, to madness since the debate 10 days ago. These Democrats, further deflated by Biden's high-stakes ABC interview, believe there's nothing he can do to reverse the damage -- or his aging.

"The sh*t is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns," a House Democrat told us. "People are scared about their own races. But they're also worried about the country, and about democracy."

Lawmakers were antsy enough about Biden during their Fourth of July break this past week. There'll be even greater torque when they're venting, raging and plotting in person.

"Every single person not named Biden," or paid by the president, recognizes how deep a hole he's in, said a top Democratic operative who's talking nonstop to elected officials.

David Axelrod, former President Obama's political architect, described Biden's posture in an opinion piece Saturday: "Denial. Delusion. Defiance." Axe said a growing chorus of Democrats is "fearful of an electoral disaster."

A possible sign that Biden has brought Democrats back in line: Corrupt Deep State shill Mark Warner had called for a "huddle" with Democrat Senators to discuss Biden's place in the race -- and presumably, how to move him out of that place -- but that meeting has been called off.

Senate Democrats won't meet Monday to discuss their support for President Biden continuing his re-election bid, despite an effort by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to organize such a meeting, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Warner's meeting had been seen as a potential watershed moment for Senate Democrats, who have remained largely silent on Biden's future amid calls for him to step aside.

The big picture: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) last week was reaching out to Democratic senators about meeting to discuss Biden's path forward, but that meeting was never scheduled, a person familiar with Warner's thinking told Axios.

Details of the proposed meeting leaking out made it impossible for there to be a private conversation, the source said.

Senate Democrats as a whole will meet Tuesday for a regularly scheduled caucus meeting.

Speaking of A(xel)-Rod, he's saying it's more likely that Biden "loses in a landslide" than he "wins narrowly."

I mean, yes, that's obvious, but it's so rare to hear a Democrat say something truthful, we should note it every time it happens.

"He's not winning this race," said David Axelrod, who is credited as one of the key masterminds behind Obama's two presidential victories, to CNN's "Inside Politics."

"If you just look at the data and talk to people around the country, political people around the country, it's more likely that he'll lose by a landslide than win narrowly this race," Axelrod said of Biden, 81, who was Obama's vice president.

Biden's continuing his strategy of getting angry and "so frustrated" as a way to show Democrats He fights:

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:20 PM | Comments (443) | Trackbacks (Suck)

A Doctor Specializing in the Treatment of Parkinson's Has Visited Joe Biden's White House Doctor Nine Times Since Last Year Alone

Alex Berenson at his substack, Unreported Truths:

Dr. Kevin R. Cannard, a Parkinson's disease specialist, has visited the White House at least nine times in the last year, official White House visitor logs show.

The logs show Dr. Cannard traveled to the White House residence medical clinic each time. He met either with the president's personal physician or the naval nurse who coordinates care for the president and other top officials, the logs show.

Dr. Cannard's spate of visits began on July 28, 2023 and continued at least through March 28, 2024. The most recently released logs end on April 1, so it is not clear if Dr. Cannard has been to the White House more recently.

He's a neurologist specializing in "early" Parkinson's treatment.

Maybe he was just visiting the White House because he really likes the chicken salad they serve at the commissary.

This has now been confirmed by the New York Times, which, of course, does not credit Alex Berenson for the scoop, and also gives the White House's spin on the visits.

Apparently, it's good news that a Parkinson's doctor keeps visiting the White House, to confirm and re-confirm and re-re-confirm that Biden totally does not have Parkinson's.

An expert on Parkinson's disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring, including at least once for a meeting with President Biden's physician, according to official visitor logs.

The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson's. The logs, released by the White House in response to a request from The New York Times, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year. More recent visits, if there have been any, would not be released until later under the White House's voluntary disclosure policy.

It was unclear whether Dr. Cannard was at the White House to consult specifically about the president or whether he was there as part of unrelated meetings with the White House medical team. Dr. Cannard's LinkedIn page describes him as "supporting the White House Medical Unit" for more than 12 years, which would include during the administrations of Presidents Donald J. Trump and Barack Obama.

Dr. Cannard did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The White House did not comment specifically on the purpose of his visits. "A wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat the thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds," Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (401) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Leftwing Coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Islamists Wins the Most Seats in the French Parliament, with the National Rally Coming In Third

I very erroneously told you that France's runoff system works like other runoff systems -- top two vote-getters proceed to the second round.

That's not how it works. The first round only eliminates the worst-performing candidates. Anyone who gets 12.5% of the vote advances to the next round.

This means that in many precincts, there might be three or even four candidates in the runoff.

That looked good for National Rally, who has a plurality of support but not majority support in many jurisdictions. The split vote of anti-NR forces would work to NR's advantage.

However, before the vote, the France's leftwing and Macron's allegedly "centrist" party began making deals, arranging for candidates to withdraw from the race. In one jurisdiction, the leftwing coalition called "New Popular Front" would drop out, thus leaving the candidate from Macron's party, Ensemble!, as the only opponent to the NR candidate. In other jurisdictions, the Ensemble! candidate would drop out, leaving the National Popular Front candidate alone to face National Rally.

The net result is that while National Rally gained a lot of seats, they didn't gain anything close to a majority. In fact, they came out the third-biggest party, after the communist/socialist alliance of New Popular Front and the "centrist" Ensemble!

And now the alleged "technocrat moderate centrist" Macron is forming a coalition with the leftwing extremists he pretended to oppose.

Just great news for the French.

On Sunday night, joy: French voters had, once again, kept the far right out of power.

On Monday morning, uncertainty: A hung parliament, shaky alliances and the threat of turbulent years ahead.

President Emmanuel Macron called France's snap parliamentary election to "clarify" the political situation. But after the shock second-round results, the waters are more muddied than they have been in decades.

While a surge in support for the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition foiled Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party, French politics is now more disordered than it was before the vote.

Note that Le Pen's party won a plurality of the vote -- more votes than any other party.

However, thanks to deal-making and tactical voting, her party won only the third-most seats.

Note that the formerly dominant "center-right" party, which had previously been the largest right-leaning party, only got 5% of the vote.

May the British Tories go the same way.

After the National Rally "won" the first round of voting, the left rioted.

Now, after National Rally is blocked from winning the Assembly, do the "far right extremists" now riot?

Nope! The non-extremist alliance of communists and Islamists rioted again!

They riot when they lose, they riot when they win.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:20 PM | Comments (367) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Axios: Biden's Prep for Events Includes Photographs Showing Him How to Walk to the Podium

Happy Monday! I hope everyone feels refreshed. I got a lot of sleep the past five days so I'm definitely tanned, rested, and ready.

To finish up the days of the week: Saturday comes from the Roman Titan Saturn. The Germanic tribes didn't have any analogue for Saturn, so they just kept the name.

Sunday comes from Sun Day, which was also the Roman name for it:

Old English Sunnandæg 'day of the sun', translation of Latin dies solis . Compare with Dutch zondag and German Sonntag .

I wondered what were the Germanic tribes' names for the day of the week before they adopted the Roman names (or Germanic analogues of the Roman names). I haven't been able to find that. I guess it's very possible they simply had no names for days of the week. If you ever come across that information, please send it my way.

By the way, the Roman week was originally eight days long. Weird!

On to the Daily Dose of Demented Brandon:

Brandon's prep includes photographs showing him how to get to the... only podium on the stage.

For his events, President Biden's staffers prepare a short document with large print and photos that include his precise path to a podium, according to an event template the White House sends to staffers.

Why it matters: Since the June 27 debate, some Democrats who've attended and helped set up Biden events have wondered whether his team's focus on minute details were to obscure the 81-year-old president's limitations -- rather than just a reflection of a meticulous staff.

"I staffed a simple fundraiser at a private residence, but they treated it like it was a NATO summit with his movements," according to a person who staffed a Biden event in the past 18 months.

Driving the news: Before a presidential event, the White House sends event staffers a document to emulate when preparing their own materials for the president.

One template -- a copy of which was obtained by Axios -- is short and simple, with one large picture of the event space on each page, accompanied with big text such as: "View from podium," and "View from audience."

In the five-page document, two pages are separate pictures of, "Walk to podium."

The staffer who helped with the fundraiser told Axios: "It surprised me that a seasoned political pro like the president would need detailed verbal and visual instructions on how to enter and exit a room."

A White House official told Axios: "If individuals are not accustomed to seeing advance teams work, that would be a common reaction, whoever the principal is."

Two former aides who worked with Biden during his vice presidency said that at that time his preparation documents were different, and more often relied on site diagrams.

Reality check: Organizing presidential events -- often called "advance work" -- is intensive and detail-focused for every commander-in-chief.

Presidential movements are planned down to every footstep in ways that the movements of a vice president often are not.

Advance documents also have evolved since Biden was vice president, including the increased use of smartphone photographs.

Other prominent principals in the Biden administration use similar methods for plotting his movements, sources told Axios.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios that "high levels of detail and precision are critical to presidential advance work -- regardless of who is president -- and these are basic approaches that are used by any modern advance team, including the vice president's office and agencies."

Obviously there is more leaking from the White House intended to drive Brandon out of the race.

Biden promises that "Dark Brandon" -- remember that? -- is back, baby!

In other words, he's seeking to appease angry Democrats by promising them a... fascist retribution against enemies of the party.

To save democracy, you know.

President Joe Biden is intensifying his campaign efforts, confidently declaring "Dark Brandon is back," despite facing mounting pressure from senior Democrats to step aside from the 2024 presidential race. This follows his underwhelming debate performance last month, which raised concerns about his ability to lead.

On a private call Sunday afternoon, four senior House Democrats, including Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), urged Biden to withdraw from the race. These lawmakers, all ranking members of key House committees, expressed a need for a change at the top of the Democratic ticket, sources told The Hill. This sentiment echoes that of five other Democratic lawmakers who have publicly called for Biden to step aside.

Despite this internal pressure, Biden remains steadfast. "Let me say this as clearly as I can: I'm the sitting President of the United States. I'm the nominee of the Democratic party. I'm staying in the race," Biden wrote on the social platform X on Friday.

Biden's campaign stops in Pennsylvania on Sunday were aimed at energizing his base and countering concerns about his age and vigor. Jokingly referencing the "Dark Brandon" meme, he assured supporters in Harrisburg that he is still in the fight. "Dark Brandon is coming back," he quipped, aiming to rally his supporters.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:20 PM | Comments (475) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: Federal Government to Slaughter 500,000 Barred Owls after Logging Bans Didn’t Save the “Northern” Spotted Owl

A famous lie promulgated by anti-logging activists to save a regional “subspecies” of spotted owls (the “northern spotted owl” ) has now evolved into a federally orchestrated slaughter of a different species of owls – barred owls. A compendium of falsehoods in service to the 20th Century environmental agenda has led us to this place in the 21 Century at which “greens” are now the ones fervently calling for the mass-sacrifice of raptors, whales, and other magnificent creatures in order to appease their angry climate God.

“To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species” [AP – 7/03/2024]

To save the imperiled [northern] spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their cousins.

For decades, the operational excuse for the decline in spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest was that timber companies were felling “old growth” trees, which was the only habitat that spotted owls could live in.

The barred owl plan follows decades of conflict between conservationists and timber companies, which cut down vast areas of older forests where spotted owls reside. Early efforts to save the birds culminated in logging bans in the 1990s that roiled the timber industry and its political supporters in Congress.

The old growth forests were saved! So why did spotted owl populations continue to decline? It turns out the situation had nothing to do with spotted owls preferring “old growth” trees versus younger trees, it was due to barred owls extending their North American range into the Pacific Northwest, and somewhat displacing spotted owls.

The proliferation of barred owls in recent years is undermining that earlier work, officials said. The shootings would likely begin next spring, officials said. Barred owls would be lured using megaphones to broadcast recorded owl calls, then shot with shotguns. Carcasses would be buried on site.

Lovely. What about the possibility that spotted owls might be mistaken for barred owls and shot by mistake? These two owls pictured below are a barred owl (left) and a northern spotted owl (right). On a gray day from 40 yards away, I’m sure there is no risk of misidentification of one of these birds amidst the branches, leaves, and twigs.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (505) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Le mort de Don Juan
Mario Prassinos

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (380) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 7/8/24

Good Morning Kids. So on top of a bad cold, and overpreparing for a debate, it looks as if Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants might have Parkinson's disease. And by a bad cold, I mean Alzheimer's disease or whatever form of dementia he surely seems to be afflicted with.

According to the White House visitor logs, a Parkinson's Expert made a house call, not once but multiple times. I'm sure this will give the public a sense of relief. That is if the media actually reports the story, instead of sweeping it under the rug for the past 16 years going back to when Biden served as Obama's alleged run-of-the-mill centrist beard, in which the media ran cover for Obama's anti-American Stalinist and Islamist roots.

The public opinion of the media per numerous polls over the past few years indicate it's already in the toilet and circling the bowl. As the media now attempts to do the party's bidding and throw the spin machine into reverse at ludicrous speed in an attempt to force Biden's ouster at the top of the ticket, that surely can't help its image, or will it make a difference at all?

Being beholden to the legacy media outlets for covering up their mistakes, miscalculations, maliciousness, and incompetence,
Showing total disregard, bordering on hostility, for its constituents,
Operating in the best interests of donors and moneyed institutions, not the citizenry,
and Believing that they can lie with impunity to everyone, all the time, forever, and get away with it.
Democrats now have an entire American population asking the question, “If you’ve lied about the president’s mental and physical condition all this time, what else are you lying about?”

Meanwhile, somehow in rejecting the disaster that is Macron, the French have wound up installing a hard-left/Islamist alliance into power, despite Marine LePen's populist party winning a fairly large number of seats.

I do not understand the machinations of the French electoral system, but it's open season on Jews for sure in France,

Meanwhile in Iran a supposed moderate was elected President, but as the estimable Robert Spencer reminds us

No one can even run for the presidency of Iran without Khamenei’s approval. That means that Khamenei approved Pezeshkian’s candidacy, which in turn means that Pezeshkian is a “reformist” only within an extremely narrow range. He may oversee the curbing of some of the excesses of Iran’s Sharia enforcement, but there is no chance whatsoever that he is going to discard Sharia provisions that severely restrict women’s rights and allow for spousal abuse (cf. Qur’an 4:34) and much more.

Speaking of Iran, on a lighter note: Iran Says Warship ‘Lost Its Balance’ and Capsized While in Port for Repairs

I understand the ship is named after Joe Biden.

On a personal note, shout-out to commenter Miklos. I tried sending you a thank you e-mail but it bounced back as undeliverable. So, thank you!

Good day one and all.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Victor Davis Hanson: "The more Biden avoids the media, the more the public considers him an inadequate [fake] president. Yet the more he might welcome more exposure, the more his ensuing dementia becomes apparent."
  Bidengate and the Doom Loop
  
• MIRANDA DEVINE: Democrats trying to dislodge Joe Biden will first have to combat the proxy commander in chief: Hunter Biden — and that’s easier said than done.
  Hunter’s the real point person in Joe’s White House — don’t underestimate the first son

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:03 AM | Comments (463) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 8 July 2024

Top Story

• Boeing is planning to plead guilty to criminal fraud. (CNBC)
  
  No, not for that. Not for that, either. Yes, for the two fatal 737 Max crashes, and more specifically, for the flawed flight control system that caused those crashes.
  
  Boeing will be fined $240 million and be required at least $450 million in new compliance and safety programs, as well as having government compliance officials operating directly within its facilities. This is in addition to a $240 million fine and a $2.5 billion settlement in 2021 for the crashes themselves.
  
  Much as I loathe the administrative state, the alternative looks like murder trials, sooner or later.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:37 AM | Comments (116) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (7/7/24)

*****

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

“I would like my children to be independent and feel comfortable going outside and playing and they won’t" Homeowner Robin Bach

Quote II

“VW top managers who absolutely want to drive a Porsche can also afford one privately.” Unnamed VW board member

Quote III

“I think President Biden, politically, is as dead as fried chicken. He can now quit, he can be replaced — let me just finish my thought,” Kennedy said as McEnany began to respond. “Or he can run and lose. You can’t successfully run for president of the United States when your campaign slogan is, ‘I’m only senile some of the time,’ as one commentator pointed out today.” Sen John Kennedy (R-LA)

*****

The Comments of The Week

As usual the CoW were difficult to choose, let alone narrow down to place in tonight's ONT.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:15 PM | Comments (469) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Katana Komplete 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!

As I predicted last week, it's now July. Bet you didn't see that coming! With summer in full-swing, many of you may be taking a vacation. Is that you? Are you planning a vacation and are you vacationing from the comfort of home or are you going somewhere? How about a shooting themed vacation?

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 (400) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Beef! Cheese! What lese Do We Need Except Bourbon?

That's a chuck roast, and it's a very nice looking example of an underrated and delicious beef cut. Exactly where on the carcass it is cut is a matter of some mystery to me. Sure, it's from the chuck roll subprimal, but some of them look spectacular, and some look like they were the detritus from Texas Chainsaw Massacre V.

Anyway...I had some American Wagyu in the freezer (from Washington State's Department of Animal Science), and grabbed the chuck roast because I was curious what it would look like. My plan was to roast the whole thing, but when I defrosted it the individual muscles looked spectacular, so I separated it along the fat seams, and was left with some glorious looking and tasting beef.

Obviously it was very nicely marbled, and I paid a premium for it (shipping from Pullman Washington to NJ was painful), but it is entirely possible to find excellent quality beef in your local market. Not every day. Maybe not every week or month. But if you pay a bit of attention while walking past the meat counters and displays, you will eventually see something that looks like the graphic up top...so grab it!

I grilled the various cuts, and every single one was delicious and beefy and fairly tender. But also a bit different, which is fascinating. That variety is wonderful, and was exactly what I was shooting for when I split the roast up into individual muscles.

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (346) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First-World Problems...

Getting poked with a feather quill while relaxing on the couch is pretty much like getting shot. Only it's worse because it's so unexpected.

Burn the house down? Or just throw away the couch, the cushions, and maybe the rug just to be safe.

Or...get those plastic covers for all of the cushions and pillows! Remember that weird 1970s thing where people would have plastic covers on their expensive furniture?

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (262) | Trackbacks (Suck)

It's The Same Old Story From The Republican Party: Lots Of Talk But Very Little Action

The Democrats do many things well, and one of those things is grassroots organizing. They slither their slimy tentacles everywhere, because that's how to win elections.

Republicans eye liberal bastion with polls saying Granite State is brittle for Democrats

While New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Christopher Ager told the Washington Examiner that New Hampshire is “definitely a battleground state after the debate — you can feel the momentum shifting in favor of President Trump,” Republicans have their work cut out for them. With wins in every presidential race in New Hampshire since before 9/11, Democrats hold a significant infrastructural advantage over the GOP. The Biden campaign has 14 offices across the state. The Trump campaign has only one field office.

And the Republican party has fine-tuned its ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! New Hampshire is in play, and these bumbling idiots can't manage to spend a few million bucks for the real opportunity to pick up four electoral votes?

And don't sneer at four electoral votes...I have Donald Trump at 268 firm votes! I know...math!

This isn't rocket surgery. Just open a few offices, create a GOTV system (the template exists), and get NH voters to the polls. The issues are clear, so there won't be much work involved; just the basic stuff that the Democrat party does well, and the Republicans avoid, because it isn't as much fun as going to cocktail parties.

We are our own worst enemy!

Posted by: CBD at 12:05 PM | Comments (296) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 07-07-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

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, shoot off some leftover fireworks, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (346) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 7 July 2024

Top Story

• Merle Myers did not kill himself: A former Boeing inspector says parts marked for scrap ended up being built into planes. (CNN)

  Meyers, a 30-year veteran of Boeing, described to CNN what he says was an elaborate off-the-books practice that Boeing managers at the Everett factory used to meet production deadlines, including taking damaged and improper parts from the company's scrapyard, storehouses and loading docks.

  This, if true, should result in felony convictions.

  Beginning in the early 2000s, Meyers says that for more than a decade, he estimates that about 50,000 parts "escaped" quality control and were used to build aircraft. Those parts include everything from small items like screws to more complex assemblies like wing flaps. A single Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for example, has approximately 2.3 million parts.
  
  Most of the parts that were meant to be scrapped were often painted red to signify they were unsuitable for assembly lines, Meyers said. Yet, in some cases, that didn't stop them from being put into planes being assembled, he said.

  Lots of felony convictions.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (284) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (7/6/24)

*****

The Saturday Night Joke

A Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local paper read: PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day the local paper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey. The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The Bishop fainted. He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farm for $10.

The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . . . being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery and even shorten your life.
So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and just cover your own !!!
You'll be a lot happier and live longer! (H/T Ciampino)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:17 PM | Comments (412) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 07/06/2024 [TheJamesMadison]

William Friedkin

Who is William Friedkin as an artist?

It was the question I started out with when I turned on his first narrative feature film, Good Times, the first film featuring Sonny and Cher, and I was hit with comedy and fakery and artifice. This was the introduction of William Friedkin, director of The French Connection, The Exorcist, and To Live and Die in L.A. to the movie going public. I was already having trouble predicting who he was, and his first film threw me such a curveball that it took me about a dozen movies before I really recovered my line of thinking. You see, I didn't understand what connected his best known films, and a silly, not very funny comedic vehicle for a glorified vaudeville act was a weird way to start the path towards those famous films, especially when anything you hear about his early career is his work as a documentarian.

He started his career for WGN-TV in Chicago where he rose to directing live television and documentaries. He rode that success to Hollywood where he and the singing duet had the same agent leading to his first directing job of a feature film. As a hungry young filmmaker, he took the job he could, especially when matched with a famous couple like Sonny and Cher, and he had a good time making it. He went on to make an adaptation of The Night They Raided Minsky's, a botched production that he abandoned in editing, and jumped at the opportunity to adapt Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party for the big screen, reportedly the first of his three early projects he had any actual passion for (it was released second because the editor of Minsky's spent almost a year in editing trying to fix it, delaying the release of Friedkin's second produced film).

I think the opening three kind of perfectly encapsulate his whole career, though. It was a mixture of things he signed onto just to work (the C.A.T. Squad television films, The Guardian, Deal of the Century), and projects he was passionate about (Sorcerer, Killer Joe, The French Connection). It's not a particularly unusual pattern for a film director (the whole, "One for them, one for me" pattern), but with Friedkin's output it really does seem to fall in a way that obfuscates where one begins and the other ends.

There end up being a few major threads appearing through it all as the decades went on, Friedkin never finding the kind of unalloyed success outside of the early 70s that would allow him to just make whatever he wanted for the rest of his career. The movies for him, as I see them, tend to have the stronger thematic elements that connect his work. The movies for "them" are more workmanlike with less of a clear stamp on them from Friedkin, allowing writers in particular to come out more fully.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM | Comments (222) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - July 6, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Do not adjust your interweb. This is an unapologetic Independence Day edition of the hobby thread. (Yes, we say "Independence Day" in this house - not just "July 4th.") Accordingly, a spin of the Ace of Spades wheel of hobbies has come up with a flag-waving theme.

The stars and stripes aren't a hobby per se, but we can make a hobby theme to celebrate Independence Day. Historians? Plenty of history has followed the flag in all of its forms. After all, it has waved in transit across the Delaware, above Fort McHenry and atop Mount Suribachi. Sewers and seamstresses? After all, Elizabeth Griscomare took a rough design idea and provided guidance to refine it further. You may know her more commonly as Betsy Ross. Mary Young Pickersgill made two large flags by hand for Fort McHenry. Photographers? One of the most famous photos ever taken showed a flag being hoisted at Iwo Jima. Genealogists? The flag has been draped over coffins and carefully folded and presented to descendants as a symbol of appreciation for honorable and faithful service. Musicians? The national anthem is a difficult song to sing and often requires performing live on a high profile stage in coordination with others. Military aviation? Oh yeah. Weather chasers? Florida man has you covered.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (193) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, July 6

* * *

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 03:18 PM | Comments (90) | Trackbacks (Suck)