NPR CEO AWFL Doubles Down on the Intense Regime Bias at the State Media Company;
In Past Tweets, She Declared Trump a "Racist"

Last week, an editor at NPR, who is still employed there, blasted the state media propaganda outlet for its intense partisanship and routine publication of disinformation, without later retraction or apologies.

By the way, he identifies himself as a Sarah-Lawerence-educated son of a lesbian and complete card-carrying liberal stereotype.

But even he's had his fill of NPR's insane religiosity.

I've Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust.

Uri Berliner, a veteran at the public radio institution, says the network lost its way when it started telling listeners how to think.

By Uri Berliner

April 9, 2024

...

It's true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding.

In recent years, however, that has changed. Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find something different: the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.

If you are conservative, you will read this and say, duh, it's always been this way.

But it hasn't.

Yes it has, but let's agree its gotten worse.

...

Back in 2011, although NPR's audience tilted a bit to the left, it still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty-six percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal.

By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. We weren't just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals.

An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America.

...

Like many unfortunate things, the rise of advocacy took off with Donald Trump. As in many newsrooms, his election in 2016 was greeted at NPR with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and despair. (Just to note, I eagerly voted against Trump twice but felt we were obliged to cover him fairly.) But what began as tough, straightforward coverage of a belligerent, truth-impaired president veered toward efforts to damage or topple Trump's presidency.

Persistent rumors that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia over the election became the catnip that drove reporting. At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump's most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff.

Schiff, who was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, became NPR's guiding hand, its ever-present muse. By my count, NPR hosts interviewed Schiff 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports.

But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR's coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming.

It is one thing to swing and miss on a major story. Unfortunately, it happens....

What's worse is to pretend it never happened, to move on with no mea culpas, no self-reflection. Especially when you expect high standards of transparency from public figures and institutions, but don't practice those standards yourself. That's what shatters trust and engenders cynicism about the media.

Russiagate was not NPR's only miscue.

In October 2020, the New York Post published the explosive report about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye. Here's how NPR's managing editor for news at the time explained the thinking: "We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions."

But it wasn't a pure distraction, or a product of Russian disinformation, as dozens of former and current intelligence officials suggested. The laptop did belong to Hunter Biden. Its contents revealed his connection to the corrupt world of multimillion-dollar influence peddling and its possible implications for his father.

The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR's best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren't following the laptop story because it could help Trump.

When the essential facts of the Post's reporting were confirmed and the emails verified independently about a year and a half later, we could have fessed up to our misjudgment. But, like Russia collusion, we didn't make the hard choice of transparency.

Of course, NPR -- which is always calling for the deplatforming of people who push "disinformation" -- once again went all-in on disinformation in denying even a possibility that the Wuhan covid modified bat virus was cooked up in the Wuhan covid modified bat virus laboratory.

Over the course of the pandemic, a number of investigative journalists made compelling, if not conclusive, cases for the lab leak. But at NPR, we weren't about to swivel or even tiptoe away from the insistence with which we backed the natural origin story. We didn't budge when the Energy Department--the federal agency with the most expertise about laboratories and biological research--concluded, albeit with low confidence, that a lab leak was the most likely explanation for the emergence of the virus.

Instead, we introduced our coverage of that development on February 28, 2023, by asserting confidently that "the scientific evidence overwhelmingly points to a natural origin for the virus."

When a colleague on our science desk was asked why they were so dismissive of the lab leak theory, the response was odd. The colleague compared it to the Bush administration's unfounded argument that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, apparently meaning we won't get fooled again. But these two events were not even remotely related. Again, politics were blotting out the curiosity and independence that ought to have been driving our work.

He writes that the fact that there are zero Republican editors at NPR -- it's 87 Democrats to zero Republicans -- results in zero skepticism of the left's various fake-news insertions into the media bloodstream.

By the way, media "Republicans" tend to be, at best, country club Bushies. They're not actually conservatives.

But NPR considers country-club Bushies to be too toxic to hire.

There's an unspoken consensus about the stories we should pursue and how they should be framed. It's frictionless--one story after another about instances of supposed racism, transphobia, signs of the climate apocalypse, Israel doing something bad, and the dire threat of Republican policies. It's almost like an assembly line.

The mindset prevails in choices about language. In a document called NPR Transgender Coverage Guidance--disseminated by news management--we're asked to avoid the term biological sex. (The editorial guidance was prepared with the help of a former staffer of the National Center for Transgender Equality.) The mindset animates bizarre stories--on how The Beatles and bird names are racially problematic, and others that are alarmingly divisive; justifying looting, with claims that fears about crime are racist; and suggesting that Asian Americans who oppose affirmative action have been manipulated by white conservatives.

He concludes his piece in hopes that the newly-hired CEO will be open to different perspectives and will be dogged about regaining the public trust.

The newly-hired CEO says "Fuck you, Fascist."

Now NPR CEO Katherine Maher has responded and appeared to confirm that the publicly supported media company has no intention to bring greater balance to its coverage or editorial staff.

...

Maher responded to none of these specific points in substance. Instead, she attacks Berliner as "profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning" to his colleagues by calling out the company for its political bias.

In a memo Friday, Maher told the staff that Berliner attacked not only "the quality of our editorial process and the integrity of our journalists" but "our people on the basis of who we are."

He did not attack you on "the basis of who [you] are," meaning, race or sex or sexuality. That is the constant lie of hard-left partisans: Anytime you're criticized, you ignore the criticism and attack fabricated "bad motives" of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.

In dismissing the criticism of bias, Maher adopted a spin common on law faculties where Republicans and conservatives have been largely purged. When confronted on the lack of ideological diversity, faculty often express disbelief that anyone would assume that they are biased simply because they continue to effectively bar republicans, libertarians, or conservatives.

Many also insist that there are more important forms of diversity than ideological or political perspectives. The result is the faculties today largely stretch from the left to the far left in terms of diversity.

Maher offered a similar spin while suggesting (falsely) that Berliner was somehow opposed to a diverse workplace:

"It is deeply simplistic to assert that the diversity of America can be reduced to any particular set of beliefs, and faulty reasoning to infer that identity is determinative of one's thoughts or political leanings. Each of our colleagues are here because they are excellent, accomplished professionals with an intense commitment to our work: we are stronger because of the work we do together, and we owe each other our utmost respect. We fulfill our mission best when we look and sound like the country we serve."

Apparently NPR didn't do its due diligence in researching this woman's intense partisan bias.

What am I saying -- of course they did. They were looking for intense partisan bias:

Shannon Thaler at the New York Post reassembled Maher's deleted postings including a 2018 declaration that "Donald Trump is a racist" and a variety of race-based commentary. That included a statement that appeared to excuse looting.

She is also quoted for saying that "white silence is complicity." She has described her own "hysteric white woman voice." She further stated: "I was taught to do it. I've done it. It's a disturbing recognition. While I don't recall ever using it to deliberately expose another person to immediate physical harm on my own cognizance, it's not impossible. That is whiteness."

She further stated "I grew up feeling superior (hah, how white of me) because I was from New England and my part of the country didn't have slaves, or so I'd been taught."

Matt Taibbi is hopeful. Even though NPR has rejected any criticism of Regime Radio, at least the mainstream media is giving these criticisms a fair hearing.

Just kidding, they're attacking it like starving rats in a feeding frenzy.

Berliner's piece was immediately swallowed, mangled, and regurgitated as new propaganda. CNN media writer Oliver Darcy wrote "NPR faces right-wing revolt and calls for defunding after editor claims left-wing bias," establishing the format that this was not about factual impropriety, but about a "right-wing revolt" against claimed "left-wing bias." The New York Times did much the same thing, saying "NPR is in Turmoil After It is Accused of Left-Wing Bias," adding that Berliner's piece generated "firestorm... especially among conservatives." On cue, human error-vane Jonathan Chait chimed in to insist "The Media Did Not Make Up Trump's Russia Scandal."

But this wasn't about "bias." It was about ethics, or a lack of them. But this has been going on for so long, most people have forgotten what ethics look like. Audiences have been trained to think that a station or person that doesn't make overtly political coverage decisions is just hiding its real biases, which must be either right-wing, corrupt, or both. So someone like Berliner, when he talks about feeling "obliged" to cover even Donald Trump fairly, is actually just concealing a form of unfairness, or inspiring another tribe of unfair actors. Fair equals unfair.

He recalls his own surprise at the entire media going all-in on fantastical and throughly un-evidenced claims of Trump being an actual agent of Putin, and wondering: What the hell is going on?

I'll tell you what's going on: The arrogant, narcissistic and completely incompetent Ruling Class had a mass nervous breakdown in 2016 and turned to conspiracy theories and a dark demonic religion for succor.

Related: NPR posts "gleefully" about how wonderful it will be when the Soros DA convicts Trump in a corrupt trial and strips Trump of the right to cast a vote in his own favor.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:46 PM | Comments (215) | Trackbacks (Suck)

As the Rest of the Civilized Nations Wake Up to the Horrors of "Gender Affirming Care" for Minors, Kansas' AWFL Governor Vetoes a Bill To Forbid It

The Cass Report rubbished all the fake "research" that trans zealots have been pushing to justify the mass-conversion of kids to trans perma-patients. (Why bill people for Forever Psychiatric Treatment when you can bill them for Forever Surgeries as well?)

Even the British Medical Journal, a hotbed of fashionable leftwing anti-science, is now forced to admit what has been obvious to everyone but the NPC cowards for ten years. Citations and footnotes admitted.

At the heart of Hilary Cass's review of gender identity services in the NHS is a concern for the welfare of "children and young people". Her stated ambition is to ensure that those experiencing gender dysphoria receive a high standard of care. This will be disputed, of course, by people and lobbying groups angered by her recommendations, but it is a theme running through the review. Cass, a past president of the UK's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, seeks to provide better care for children and adolescents on one of the defining issues of our age. Her conclusion is alarming for anybody who genuinely cares for child welfare: gender medicine is "built on shaky foundations".

That verdict is supported by a series of review papers published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, a journal published by BMJ and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The evidence base for interventions in gender medicine is threadbare, whichever research question you wish to consider--from social transition to hormone treatment.

The "scientists" pushing gender mutilation of children refused to cooperate with the review and hid their data.

You know: Typical "science" stuff.

The Cass review attempted to work with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) and the NHS adult gender services to "fill some of the gaps in follow-up data for the approximately 9000 young people who have been through GIDS to develop a stronger evidence base." However, despite encouragement from NHS England, "the necessary cooperation was not forthcoming." Professionals withholding data from a national inquiry seems hard to imagine, but it is what happened.

Brendan O'Neill writes that the trans-extremists are (dark) religious maniacs who brook no dissent with their strange gods' commandments.

There's a whiff of moral blackmail to these wild claims that a calm, lucid review of NHS gender services could crank up 'anti-trans hatred'. What these people are really saying is that any discussion whatsoever about trans issues is dangerous. It's clear now that they don't only fear firebrands like Posie Parker -- God bless her -- but all analysis, all questioning, all debate. That even a government-commissioned, paediatrician-led review that makes great pains to be trans-friendly has caused so much gnashing of teeth is a testament to trans activists' hives-like hypersensitivity to any idea or fact that runs counter to their dogma.

That's what really underpins the rash reaction to Cass: a cult-like instinct to defend dogma, to protect holy beliefs from the sullying dissent of outsiders. It can be tempting to view this as the behaviour of a religion rather than a progressive movement, but even religions permit some dissent on doctrine. Even the old Catholic Church would employ a 'devil's advocate' to make the case against the canonisation of a saint. If anyone in the trans lobby were to suggest employing a 'devil's advocate' to test their cultish conviction that it's good to chop off a young lesbian's breasts or to allow a rapist into a women's prison, he'd be damned as a transphobe and No Platformed from every woke gathering in Christendom. The devil of dissent gets no voice at all in the trans world.

It's always a red flag when a movement demonises dissent as blasphemy. When it's a movement whose ghoulish achievements include the mutilation of healthy young bodies, the restoration of gay shame and the decimation of women's rights, it is doubly concerning.

But the trans extremists continue holding an iron-firm grip on the Democrat Party.

The Democrat governor of Kansas Loves The Science (TM), which is another way of saying "loves extremist left-wing identity politics."

A new law that would have banned so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors has been vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly.

Senate Bill 233, which passed 27-13 in the Kansas Senate and 82-39 in the Kansas House of Representatives, would have banned prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and any surgical interventions for anyone under the age of 18 in the state of Kansas.

The bill also would have allowed parents to sue if healthcare providers did provide such treatments, restricted the use of state funds to promote gender transitioning, prohibited professional liability insurance from covering damages for healthcare providers that provide gender transition treatment to children, and would have required professional discipline against a healthcare provider who performed such treatments.

"This divisive legislation targets a small group of Kansans by placing government mandates on them and dictating to parents how to best raise and care for their children," Kelly said in a release "I do not believe that is a conservative value, and it's certainly not a Kansas value."

"To be clear, this legislation tramples parental rights."

Kelly went on to imply that "gender-affirming care" is a medical necessity before taking a shot at the legislature over education.

"The last place that I would want to be as a politician is between a parent and a child who needed medical care of any kind," she said. "And, yet, that is exactly what this legislation does.

"If the legislature paid this much attention to the other 99.8% of students, we'd have the best schools on earth."

In a release, Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita) slammed Kelly's veto of so-called 'gender-affirming care.'

"As we watch other states, nations, and organizations reverse course on these experimental procedures on children, Laura Kelly will most surely find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors," he said. "House Republicans stand ready to override her veto to protect vulnerable Kansas kids."

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (R-El Dorado) said that the "radical left controls Kelly's veto pen."

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:40 PM | Comments (320) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Soros DA Alvin Bragg's Election Interference Prosecution Begins;
Conflict-of-Interest Judge Tells Trump He Must Be In Court, Every Day, In the Height of Campaign Season, or Be Arrested

America is lost. There is no "America" left to save.

Former President Donald Trump arrives in New York City to face charges in a hush money trial, condemning the proceedings as "an outrage" and "political persecution."

Trump stated, "This is an assault on America. Nothing like this has ever happened before...This is an outrage that this case was brought. This is political persecution."

Critics of the trial argue that there is no substantial legal basis for the charges, viewing them as an excessive use of judicial power.

This case marks a significant moment as former presidents typically have not faced such legal scrutiny after their tenure, spotlighting the unusual nature of these allegations.

The daughter of the judge in this obviously-trumped-up case made works for a firm that raised $93 million fund-raising off the case.

The judge claimed there was no conflict of interest. Then he said if Trump brought up this obvious conflict of interest, he'd be held in contempt.

Democratic clients of Loren Merchan, daughter of the judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush-money trial, have raised $93 million in campaign donations, leveraging the case in their fundraising efforts. This has led to renewed calls for the judge, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, to recuse himself as Trump heads to a New York courthouse Monday for the beginning of jury selection in the case.

Loren Merchan is the president of Authentic Campaigns, a progressive political consulting firm whose top clients include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and the Senate Majority PAC.

Since the indictment of Trump, Schiff's campaign for US Senate has raised $20 million, while the Senate Majority PAC has raised $73.6 million.

Trump was ultimately gagged by Merchan's father, Justice Juan Merchan, for raising concerns of a conflict of interest--leading to widespread condemnation, including from Stormy Daniels' former attorney, Michael Avenatti who tweeted, "We can't be hypocrites when it comes to the 1st Amendment."

.

End Wokeness
@EndWokeness

New York Judge Merchan to Trump: "If you do not show up, there will be an arrest."

During peak election season, Trump will be forced to appear in court every day.

To be clear this is infinitely worse election interference than anything that the MSM accused Russia/Putin of doing in 2016.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:24 PM | Comments (420) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Biden Approved Iran's Attack on Israel, So Long As the Attack Was "Within Certain Limits"

Hey guys Trump committed treason by demanding Ukraine give up information about Hunter Biden and Burisma.

But the Democrat Party continues to conspire with an America-hating, radical Islamic terror state, and that's okay, because Michiganistan.

Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits."

Turkey, which has denounced Israel for its campaign on Gaza, said earlier on Sunday that it did not want a further escalation of tensions in the region.

The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his US and Iranian counterparts in the past week to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the Middle East was not in anyone's interest.

"Iran informed us in advance of what would happen. Possible developments also came up during the meeting with Blinken, and they (the US) conveyed to Iran through us that this reaction must be within certain limits," the source said.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, leftwing "anti-war" activists cheered an act of war... by Iran.

American Anti-War Activists Cheer for Iran's War
At a left-wing conference in Chicago, activists believe Iran is 'part of the arc of resistance because the enemies are Israel and the USA.'

By Olivia Reingold

April 14, 2024

...

But then a man stumbles to the podium, wiping sweat from his forehead. He grabs the microphone to announce that the Islamic regime of Iran has launched missiles and drones heading straight toward Israel.

"They believe that they will be in Palestinian--I don't call it Israeli--airspace between two and four a.m., which means about two to four hours from now," he says. "In addition, there are reports of drones having been fired on Israel from Yemen and Iraq."

The crowd, all wearing black N95s, erupts into applause. Someone in the back lowers their mask to send a celebratory whistle soaring throughout the room.

The man at the podium, Hatem Abudayyeh, heads the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, "a purported community group which, on information and belief, is an affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror organization based in Gaza," according to a lawsuit over the alleged relations between U.S. advocacy groups and Hamas.

"This is when this country and the world needs us because the United States is going to, quote unquote, defend the criminal Israeli state," says Abudayyeh, whose home was raided by the FBI in 2010 as part of an investigation "concerning the material support of terrorism."

"We have to assume that the United States is going to try to retaliate against Iran."

After the boos and calls of "shame" subside, Abudayyeh says it is "incumbent" upon Americans to "stop the United States from expanding this war and hitting Iran."

"We've got to be the strong, powerful anti-war movement that we are," he says, placing the microphone down and exiting the stage.

The crowd immediately began chanting, "Hands off Iran."

It's as true now as it was in 2001: They're not anti-war, they're just pro-Islamic terrorism.

Meanwhile, America's New Bunds of terror supporters continue blocking access to airports and the Biden Administration, of course, indulges this blocking of the right to travel.

Michiganistan demands it.

Anti-Israel protesters blocked major thoroughfares across the US Monday, creating traffic jams for drivers trying to reach Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Cellphone videos circulating online showed activists sitting in the middle of Interstate 190 with their arms interlocked using long tubes to prevent cars from accessing the Windy City's main airport.

Many protesters were seen sporting checkered keffiyeh scarves and brandishing signs reading "Free Palestine" and "Stop Genocide."

The stunt forced many travelers rushing to make their flights departing from Terminal 1 to grab their luggage and head to the airport on foot, as seen in videos.

Update: It's not the protesters blocking access to the airport -- it's the police. Once again, The Regime uses its exclusive control of law enforcement assets to intervene in favor of the hard left.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:22 PM | Comments (306) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Of Course: Biden Now Pressuring Israel Not to Retaliate Against IRan

All to appease the angry jihadis of Michiganistan.

Hours after Israel staved off a massive wave of Iranian missile and drone assault, President Joe Biden has reportedly told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from retaliating against the biggest aerial attack on the country by a hostile state in 30 years.

The U.S. will not support Israel in its military response against Iran, President Biden said to Prime Minister Netanyahu during a phone call on Saturday, the news website Axios reported.

According to The New York Post, President Biden also downplayed the Iranian attack comprising hundreds missiles and drones, telling Prime Minister Netanyahu that "nothing of "value" was hit in Iran's airborne attack Saturday and asserted American forces will not be participating in any offensive against Iran."

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported in the Axios:

President Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call on Saturday that the U.S. won't support any Israeli counterattack against Iran, a senior White House official told Axios." (....)

"You got a win. Take the win," Biden told Netanyahu, according to the official. (...)

The ISIS vote is now a key bloc of the Democrat Party.

Speaker Johnson is using this opportunity to push a "massive" aid bill for Israel -- and, did I mention, Ukraine? --which will include absolutely zero changes in the US border policy.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing a $95 billion supplemental package that would provide support to Israel and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian aid for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza.

The move comes after Iran launched a massive drone strike against Northern Israel, supposedly in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that eliminated seven senior Iranian military officials.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden have expressed support for the aid package, emphasizing the need for its swift passage.

Of course they support it. It's all they've ever supported.

When do we get around to passing things Republicans support, Speaker?

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:20 PM | Comments (285) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: Woke vs Woke Showdown Involving Chevron CEO; Other Green Follies

The Sustainable Organic Church of the Carbon Apocalypse is hugely annoying, especially since it is essentially now the official state church of America and the West. But when its most vocal congregants start fighting amongst themselves and accusing each other of heresy, it is rather entertaining.

Like the CEOs of most major corporations, Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth has embraced left-wing activism and imposed a divisive, sexist, and racist diversity agenda on the company. Whether he is a left-wing true believer, or simply a cultural greenwasher who believes that hating on his straight, white employees makes his carbon-based $26 million compensation package seem less offensive, I don’t know for sure. But I do know that Wirth loves to go out and promote the left-wing talking points.

Unfortunately for Wirth, while he was attending a forum about ”Harnessing the Power of Engaged Men in the Pursuit of Gender-Inclusive Workspaces” some of his co-leftists stormed the stage and verbally assaulted Wirth for not putting Chevron out of business as fast their net-zero religion demands.

Wirth’s left-wing allies chased him off the stage and accused him of being ”…not a man, he’s a sick leech, and if he’s engaged in anything it’s killing women of color.”

These left-wing radicals are on CEO Wirth’s political team. He has chosen to embrace the radical left and push their cultural-communist agenda on his employees. It is not my position to dispute the claims made against him by his political allies. If his own political friends claim he is a leech and a women-of-color killer, it’s not my place to dispute that.

BREAKING: We stormed Chevron CEO Mike Wirth's interview at a corporate diversity event. His speech was on "the role of engaged men in gender inclusivity." We chased him out because he's not a man, he's a sick leech, and if he's engaged in anything, it's "killing women of color." pic.twitter.com/4ju2c4WtIF

— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) March 12, 2024

My natural allegiance should obviously be with an oil company executive when he is faced with communist civil disobedience. But so long as Mike Wirth and other left-wing CEOs advocate for an agenda that vilifies me and sacrifices my liberty to the communists’ anti-civilizational agenda, I can only laugh when the crocodile he has embraced decides to attack him.

*****

Others who’ve had careers in the military have done a much better job than I can of covering the subject of how wokeness is undermining our military and its ability to fight and win a war. But I do understand how woefully limited and incapable almost any “green” product is compared to what it replaces. All the talk of electric fighting machines is coming from people whose only objective is eliminating petroleum products, not winning military battles.

And then there is this…

“Rodents incapacitate millions in eco-friendly military equipment in Ukraine: the unforeseen problem” [MSN – ESSA News]

Weaponry systems in Ukraine, many of which were supplied by European countries, have been rendered unworkable, not due to Russian interference, but because of damage caused by mice and other rodents. Seemingly, these creatures have developed a preference for cable insulation made of corn fiber over synthetic materials. This predilection leads to malfunctioning electrical installations, rendering the expensive equipment essentially worthless, and requiring rapid overhauling.

When munition designs are based on their compostability rather than their durability and lethality, then military defeat is inevitable.

*****

I’m not sure what is scarier right now in New York, the crime or the lithium battery fires…

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (270) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

The Adoration of the Shepherds
Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (237) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 4/15/24

Good morning, kids. It's good to be back in the blue room! No, you have not taken leave of your senses. It is indeed me, your personal envoy of gloom, doom, destruction, madness, meshugas and snark in the flesh, more or less. I'll give you a personal update at the end of the editorial but for now, let's get cracking.

Obviously, the big story is Iran's mass aerial attack on Israel yesterday via drones and missiles. By all accounts, at least from a tactical standpoint, The IDF's technological advantage clearly won the day as none of the missiles hit any targets within Israel proper nor caused any destruction or mass casualties. Ironically, the only know casualty was a little Bedouin girl who was struck and killed by debris from the intercepted Iranian missile and/or an Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile missile. No doubt, this too will be blamed on the Jews for the crime against humanity of defending themselves. As Stalin might say, and as his acolytes and cheerleaders most certainly are, the death of one Muslim is a tragedy, but the mass rape, torture and slaughter of 1,200 Jews is merely a statistic.

While we're in the mood to paraphrase famous tyrants and vintage cultural touchstones, that is butcher them, the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cups commercial comes to mind; "Hey, you got your incompetence in my ideology!" "And you got your ideology in my incompetence!" "You know, they're great together!"

On Saturday, Iran initiated a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel. Thankfully, most of them were successfully intercepted and caused minimal damage. Of course, in a stunning move, President Biden is pushing Israel not to retaliate. It's hard to imagine why Biden would do that, except when you consider that Joe Biden has been appeasing Iran since his days as Barack Obama's vice president.

With that in mind, it's also not surprising—though it's still shocking— that Joe Biden not only had prior knowledge of Iran's assault on Israel but also technically gave it the green light under certain conditions, according to a report from the Jerusalem Post.

Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits."

Turkey, which has denounced Israel for its campaign on Gaza, said earlier on Sunday that it did not want a further escalation of tensions in the region.

The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his US  Iranian counterparts in the past week to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments. 

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the Middle East was not in anyone's interest.

"Iran informed us in advance of what would happen. Possible developments also came up during the meeting with Blinken, and they (the US) conveyed to Iran through us that this reaction must be within certain limits," the source said.

. . . So, let's recap the facts here: Joe Biden told Iran's leaders not to attack Israel, but they ignored him. Then he said they could attack Israel with some restrictions, though they clearly ignored that as well. Now, Biden is telling Israel not to retaliate. In short, Biden is still appeasing Iran.

Why is Joe Biden still kowtowing to Iran and throwing Israel under the bus? I can't answer that, but I know that Israel can't listen to Biden because doing so threatens its existence.

Matt Margolis, who I thought was one of the few astute pundits at PJ Media can't seem to figure out why Biden is throwing Israel under the bus? Really? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he forgot to add the "/sarc" tag after that question. The answers are simple: First, going back decades to when Menachem Begin told then-Senator Biden to go piss up a rope when it came to the Delaware degenerate's threats to withhold aid, arms and materiel because he was angry that they didn't allow the "Palestinians" to slaughter them, Biden hates Israel. That hatred today is amplified by orders of magnitude because of his puppet master Obama's winning combination of being a Muslim and Stalinist.

Second, we have the decades-long self-hatred and Israel-hatred of Foggy Bottom which views American global diplomatic and military supremacy somehow as a threat to the peace of the world. Hence, the desire to replace Israel with Iran as the dominant power in the Middle East. And that goes hand in hand with the desire to replace America as the beacon of freedom, prosperity and human advancement with a neo-Dark Age tyranny combining the worst elements of globalism, communism and Islam that in their eyes is the absolute moral authority and "the right side of history."

Third, it's a temporary political calculus because the Kalorama Klown Komintern is freaking out over the growing possibility that Donald Trump might actually overcome the cheat factor this November and return to the Oval Office. Most shockingly is a growing fear that Michigan, the former industrial powerhouse and Mecca – pun intended – of American industrial and capitalist know-how which since 1945 devolved into a burnt out husk of squalor, decay and a growing Muslim populace that might very well turn it into an Islamic no-go zone replete with sharia law (hell bent on spreading that madness coast to coast), might very well abandon Biden come November. That is, the Muslim populace of Dearbornistan will abandon Biden, regardless of what Whitmer, Nessel and what's-her-face MI sec of state can and will do to drag his carcass across the finish line by hook or crook.

At every turn since 10/7, Biden has tried to thread the needle of "support" for the state of Israel (only to keep pro-Israel Jewish Democrats from cutting off the campaign bucks) while keeping his insane Marxist and Muslim constituencies happy by condemning and abandoning Israel. As Israel wisely and sanely ignored the calls for a cease fire, which in practical terms meant surrender to Hamas, Biden and company got caught in a pile up at the intersectionality intersection. Yet, despite increasingly anti-Israel rhetoric to actual abandonment at the UN Security Council, the the Marxist-Muslim constituents were still unimpressed and upped the ante.

So now, short of putting American boots on the ground in Gaza to help Hamas, which I thought could have been a real possibility with the construction of that port to ship "aid" in, Biden and company gave a green light to the mullahs to attack Israel. Late last week, CBD and I mused about what might happen as Israel moved in for the final assault on Hamas' last four battalions and we both agreed that Iran's proxy Hezbollah would likely attack from bases in Lebanon.

But think about it for a moment and it bears repeating: Iran actually told Biden beforehand that they were going to attack Israel. And Biden's translators – one from gibberish to English and the other from English to Farsi – told the Iranians to "keep it within certain limits."

And you don't need me to translate that but just for the record, it means "Open season on Jews with no limits!" Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants might actually have allowed a regional war in the Middle East that could well go nuclear to happen. All because he fears losing Michigan in November.

Remember, Iran directly attacked Israel, and not via proxies. That absolutely demands a response by Israel. What that will be or what countermoves after that by Iran, and God forbid Junta-controlled America and the west, will be is anyone's guess.

SEFTON UPDATE:

Well, I'm in good spirits, feeling no physical pain and my cognitive, speech and motor functions remain normal. My initial consult with the neurosurgeon will be on the 24th, so the fact that experts who read, breathe, eat and sleep MRIs day in and day out have not put me at the head of the line I take as a positive sign. For sure, I expect they'll have to do some sort of biopsy to see exactly what they're dealing with and from there, I'll have a better picture of how they will deal with it and the prognosis.

Until then, I'll be here and again, I can't express my gratitude for all your prayers and words of support. Keep the faith.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• "The whole point of Section 702 is to spy on Americans. Why would the intelligence community want to reform it?"
  FISA Reform Failed Because The Whole Point Of Section 702 Is To Spy On Americans
  
• "Democrats also have the federal government working on their side on the litigation front – and in ways extending beyond the veritable lawfare barrage the Biden Justice Department has leveled at Donald Trump."
  How Taxpayers Will Heavily Subsidize Democrat Boots on the Ground This Election
  
• "And it’s not just about the trans craze."
  How "Therapy" is Destroying American Kids

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:39 AM | Comments (425) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Israel War

UN chief calls for maximum restraint after Iran's attack on Israel

Guterres, speaking to a meeting of the UN Security Council, told member states that the UN charter bars the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state as he condemned Iran's attack on Israel and warned against further escalation.

Of course he warned against escalation. Because the paradigm of normal behavior is rejected when it comes to Israel. Only the Jewish state is bound by the insanity of the UN's unworkable rules. "Do not retaliate. Do not respond. Do not protect one's country." Because Jewish and Israeli lives are simply not worth as much according to the U.N. The mush-mouthed platitudes the U.N. spouts mean nothing, because their real agenda...the marginalization of Israel and the elevation of Iran to be the real power in the Middle East is only temporarily on hold.

Does anyone expect the insane Iran nuclear deal to be shelved permanently?

No...it will be paused while the world works feverishly to rehabilitate Iran's standing.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter]

Posted by: CBD at 06:27 AM | Comments (103) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 15 April 2024

Top Story

• Axios sees artificial intelligence coming, and is shifting its strategy. (Seattle Times) (archive site)

  In the view of Jim VandeHei, CEO of Axios, artificial intelligence will "eviscerate the weak, the ordinary, the unprepared in media."

  Which is all of them. Yes, obviously Axios, but who is there in that industry that doesn't fit at least two out of three of those categories?

  VandeHei says the only way for media companies to survive is to focus on delivering journalistic expertise, trusted content and in-person human connection.

  Stop laughing, this is serious.

  "Fast forward five to 10 years from now and we're living in this AI-dominated virtual world - who are the couple of players in the media space offering smart, sane content who are thriving?" he added. "It damn well better be us."

  Axios is a money-bleeding garbage mill, and always has been. As competition for stochastic garbage heats up and AI delivers for pennies a year what takes a six-figure salary for pompous overeducated leftists, we can only hope to see the evisceration VandeHei envisages.
  
  I wonder if bidding has opened on the hotdog concession.

  The company has also introduced a $1,000-a-year membership program around some of its journalists that will offer exclusive reporting, events and networking.
  
  "We're not prostitutes," said VandeHei. "Or if we are, we're the kind that expects you to shower first."

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:09 AM | Comments (83) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (4/14/24)

*****

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

"Israel smoked that Iranian General" Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)

Quote II

“So you have two different standards. On the one hand, the full breadth of the First Amendment is deployed when we’re talking about criticism of Jews or Israel, but criticism of other groups is assessed under a different standard.” Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Quote III

"It is deeply simplistic to assert that the diversity of America can be reduced to any particular set of beliefs, and faulty reasoning to infer that identity is determinative of one's thoughts or political leanings." NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher

*****

The Comments of The Week

Once again the Horde proves to be the best audience in the blogosphere. Thanks folks!

The following comment submitted to us by CBD. It's a great comment.

The next comment illustrates great humor. Submitted by Miley.

194 When the USC Gamecocks (the original one, founded 1804) played the nouveau USC California, I saw signs and bumperstickers-

"No Trojans can hold our Cocks"
Posted by: Miklos, does recall at April 08, 2024 11:05 PM (7KVXA)

She also had her very own pithy comment.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:00 PM | Comments (481) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Tax Day Eve Edition!

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

Holy Form 1040 Shitballs! How in the ever-loving hell did it get to be Tax Day Eve? Are you a last minute filer frantically adding receipts and filling out forms with a stubby little pencil? Just in case you're wondering, Weasel are not a fan of taxes in general and the stupid clown show we're paying for, in particular. I am perfectly capable of wasting my own money and really don't need the gummint's help in that regard, thank you very much.

Special Administrative Note
Remember to mark your calendars for the afternoon of Saturday, June 8th if you care to attend the cultural and social event of the season, the 2024 NoVAMoMe. That's right guys and gals, our pal bluebell has gently reminded me with the tip of a shiv that I need to get busy and set up the registration page, so expect an email link on the main page left sidebar to go live this coming week. Anyone who has attended this gala event will tell you it's a lot of fun! There are fabulous prizes, fabulous food, fabulous drinks, and a bigly fabulous opportunity to spend time with your fabulous online pals. An informal get together Friday evening will be held again this year, so pencil that in too!

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 (334) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Something Smells Fishy! And As Long As It Isn't My Kitchen, I'm Happy!

It's no secret that I love fried foods, and good old fashioned English Fish and Chips is high on my list of things to eat when I am feeling a bit peckish for the crunch of fried stuff! But for convenience's sake, being in London is probably the best way to get it.

Or...you know...I make it! And while the food inside is cooked quite well (yeah...I'm bragging), the crunch I expect is simply not there.

But there is a reason why people go to restaurants for deep-fried food, and it isn't just because it's a messy proposition in the home kitchen. Batters or coatings for fried foods depend on a bunch of things for them to work well. A batter for a big chicken thigh is necessarily different than the batter for fried fish or vegetables. And some people want thick and crunchy batter, while others want thin and crisp.

Oh, most of us can do a reasonable job at it, but for really great fried food, head to a restaurant, or be prepared to do a lot of practice and repaint your kitchen.

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (235) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First-World Problems...

The coolest thing on earth when I crossed international borders was the stamp. That silly stamp that the bored immigration clerk thumped down into my passport. But it was a huge deal for me, and it was a permanent reminder of the trip...good, bad or indifferent.

But now? It's all electronic. Or at least 95% of it. Facial recognition and fingerprints and retinal scans and electronic records, but no "thump" from the stamp.

That sucks.

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (132) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Watermelons vs. Traditional Progressives: Internecine Warfare At The NY Times!

There's not much better than a nasty little spat in the newsroom of the Old Gray Whore. All of those earnest little communists being pumped out by the "elite" J schools yearn to work for the NYT and transform the fourth estate into the masturbatory fantasies they had in college. Unfortunately for them, and fortunate for us, the Stalinists in charge want to continue to run it the old fashioned way...the way they learned from their KGB handlers in 1981.

New York Times Bosses Seek to Quash Rebellion in the Newsroom

It is the latest internal crisis at the Times, where management has been at odds with factions of the newsroom over union negotiations and coverage of sensitive topics like the transgender community and social justice.

Reporting about the Gaza war has been a particular flashpoint, especially over an in-depth article that found Hamas weaponized sexual violence in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Some staffers questioned the reporting behind it and alleged that the suffering of Gazans isn’t getting the same attention. Times leaders in March said they stand by the reporting.

The internal probe was meant to find out who leaked information related to a planned podcast episode about that article. But its intensity and scope suggests the Times’s leadership, after years of fights with its workforce over a variety of issues involving journalistic integrity, is sending a signal: Enough.

At least the old school commies knew how to write. The new breed can't diagram a sentence, have a fast and loose relationship with pronouns, and can't keep their contempt for America on the down-low.

Hopefully the simmering battles explode into all-out warfare and the NYT fades into irrelevance as it resembles more and more the weekly handouts from the campus communists club.

A fella can dream!

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter]

Posted by: CBD at 11:55 AM | Comments (218) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 04-14-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: Sgt. Mom - Click for larger image!)

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 (April is National Poetry Month). 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, finish up those tax returns, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (292) | Trackbacks (Suck)

EMT 14 April 2024

Happy Sunday

Posted by: krakatoa at 07:02 AM | Comments (210) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Iran's Attack Seems To Be Posturing; Israel Has So Far Handled It Effectively

Iran's Retaliatory Strikes Have Begun
[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]

Israel shoots down nearly all Iranian projectiles, Hamas rejects hostage deal

Iran missile and drone attack on Israel -- what we know so far

Iranian military leaders threaten Israel over potential response

There is a huge amount of pure guesswork going on in the media right now. But the Mullahs are quite clear that an Israeli response (which seems to have begun already) will result in a widening of the war to include American targets. Since Iran, through its proxies, has already attacked American installations in the region, this is simply reiterating their policy.

The big question is whether Iran will use ballistic missiles in addition to their slow drones, and reasonably fast cruise missiles. That will change the dynamic, since drones and cruise missiles can be shot down using a variety of weapons, but ballistic missiles are much faster and have a more difficult trajectory in which to detect and shoot down.

The Biden/Obama junta has flooded Iran with contradictory messages...releasing tens of billions of dollars to them, squawking about a nuclear deal, and then spouting drivel about protecting Israel. It is no wonder that Iran feels empowered to act...they are confident that they have powerful friends in Washington.

Adding to the mixed message is the current push by the junta to stop Israel's defensive war against Hamas. Why wouldn't Iran think that a direct attack on a sovereign country would be tolerated?

The preliminary information seems to show that The U.S. and the U.K. have attacked the Iranian drones, rather than simply providing information to Israel. That is heartening, since a coordinated and unified response from the West is vital.

The war against Islam cannot be won by Israel alone. The first step is acknowledging that there is a war, and perhaps this will awaken the West to the reality that Islam is on the march.

Sadly, "perhaps" is the operative word...

Posted by: CBD at 06:16 AM | Comments (51) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 14 April 2024

Top Story

• Google just announced at its big annual Cloud event that it is all-in on ethnically diverse Nazis. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Cloud is old hat. You don't want cloud. You want Nazis.
  
  Says Google.
  
  It's no coincidence that one of my projects at work right now is to extricate our app currently running on Google Cloud and move it to old-fashioned dedicated servers that cost one tenth as much.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (46) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (4/13/24)

*****

The Saturday Night Joke

Will I Live to see 85❓
(Here's something to think about):
After having to choose a new primary care doctor, I was curious!
After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, she said I was doing fairly well for my age. (I am north of 75).
A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking her, 'Do you think I'll live to be 85?'
She asked, 'Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer, wine or hard liquor?'
'Oh no,' I replied. 'I'm not doing drugs, either!'
Then she asked, 'Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?'
I said, 'Not much... My former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!'
'Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, boating, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?'
'No, I don't,' I said.
She asked, 'Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?'
'No,' I said.........
She looked at me and said, 'Then................................. why do you even give a shit?' (H/T Isophorone Blog)

*****

In case you missed it. The famed OJ Simpson assumed room temperature via cancer. Moar OJ humor via Norm MacDonald.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:50 PM | Comments (390) | Trackbacks (Suck)