January 22, 2024
Film Threat: Animators Blow the Whistle on the Racist, Anti-White Hell Of DEIsney Studios
Woke Transgender Healthy-At-Any-Size Sports Illustrated Fires Either a "Significant" Portion of Its Staffs, or All of Them
Woke Transgender Healthy-At-Any-Size Sports Illustrated Fires Either a "Significant" Portion of Its Staffs, or All of Them
After Film Threat's Alan Ng posted a review of Wish -- which has made only $67 million domestically, after an entire month in theaters -- calling it "the worst animated film in Disney's history," Disney animators, both current and escaped, contacted him to share their experiences in DEIsney. All white men are being driven out, and those who aren't fired are made uncomfortable enough that they either retire or leave to work for computer game companies or the like.
The first article about the reports of Disney's animators, fleeing a regime in which it is common to hear coworkers announce "Pale and male is stale," is here. It's about the first moves towards moving out the Old White Men to replace them with DEIsney diversity hires. The first move was getting rid of Pixar legend John Lasseter -- for allegedly hugging women and similar "abuses" that sound, at worse, to be annoyances that could be taken care of with an HR meeting and a boot in his ass.Though we have no details regarding what happened to John during this time, other high-profile Disney firings included lengthy "struggle sessions" and high-pressure sensitivity training that I will highlight in future reports.... It became apparent within the walls of Disney that anyone supporting Lasseter must immediately go into protection mode by keeping their questions and opinions to themselves. The office culture at the House of Mouse changed drastically overnight. Sources observed that the mood was grim, going from bad to worse. The warm family environment would never return. Regarding Lasseter's innocence or guilt, our sources did not outright believe or not believe the accusation against Lasseter, but they had questions. Questions that they knew would never be answered. Alternately, many felt that an activist faction within the company was growing and conspiring to remove Lasseter, and his inappropriate behavior was the perfect weapon to use against him. Now, it was a matter of how to frame these stories for maximum effect.The DEI brigades barely bother hiding it -- allegations against White Men are just made to move "Pale Males" out of jobs, so that the DEI crowd (mostly white leftwing women, most of the time) can take them. DEIsney then set out to... erase John Lasseter, a man who had made them more of a billion dollars, from the DEIsney record books.
So now it appeared the pieces were in place with certain executives wanting to oust Lasseter and a growing faction within the rank-and-file pressing forward with a stack of allegations against him that to this day goes unprosecuted and unproven. With pressure from the top and bottom, in June 2018, Lasseter announced that he would leave the company at the end of the year. One source told us that during an all-hands meeting, once the announcement was made, a female employee raised her hand and asked, "Can we have a woman run this place now?"
Now Film Threat has released their second exposee on DEIsney. This is about the culture of fear that now reigns in the animation departments. Because the DEI enforcement officers want it that way.
The message was clear -- John Lasseter left the Walt Disney Company an utter and total disgrace. Disney Legend...forget it. In fact, moves have been made within the halls of Disney to remove his legacy as if he never existed. Anything that reminded the rank-and-file of Lasseter was removed from plain sight. Are Hawaiian shirts even allowed to be worn on campus anymore? Or heaven forbid, you should utter the phrase, "When John was here..." Publicly, it's not much better. I recently mentioned John's name to a Disney-fanatic friend, and their instant retort was, "he's a bad man." The worst part of the entire experience was the leadership vacuum created by John's absence. Our sources describe life at Disney afterward as hostile--to say the least--and this hostility spread to all of Disney's business units and brands. Cast Members felt like they were constantly walking on eggshells. The mere act of casting doubt or asking questions about the allegations was met with hostility. You became a marked person, subjected to mind-numbing HR meetings and forced sensitivity training. It gets worse. ... Though he was never officially charged with formal harassment claims or indictment, and we have very little evidence one way or the other, our sources point to the talent who eventually defected from Disney and followed Lasseter to Skydance Animation as an indicator of the veracity of allegations laid against him.
This was Lasseter's last film, so they began changing wholesale to erase his paternity of it. They also began firing the people producing it, Briggs and Wellins, because they "didn't fit the correct demographic."
If there was ever a time to radically change Disney from the inside, that time was now. With Lasseter out of the way, he was replaced at Disney Animation by Jennifer Lee and Pete Docter at Pixar... Still, in the case of Disney Animation, radical changes needed to be made in the racial and gender makeup of its leadership and creative process. This change began with Raya and the Last Dragon.
Rumor has it that Lee was gunning for Briggs and Wellins by foisting impossible tasks on them to either get them fired or, better yet, force them to quit. Being the veteran talent that they were, the traps didn't work. Briggs was demoted to "co-director," and Wellins was given a Disney+ series to direct. ... From here, Raya and the Last Dragon turned from being a traditional Disney animated production to slowly transforming into Disney's first DEI test case. Step one was to load the entire project with female South Asian animators and talent from within the company, then female Asian animators, then female POC animators, and the rest. But that wasn't enough. Rather than pull in other artists from within, a major recruitment push was made to hire more women from outside the company to reach a 50/50 male/female balance for equity's sake. ...More at the link. Ng concludes:
Sources tell us that with Raya and the Last Dragon, the goal wasn't to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion into the existing community of Disney animators but to replace it with a radicalized group of female activists completely. [One] source also told us that once she expressed concerns about the mission of WiA, she found herself blacklisted from the industry (a prevalent story we've heard) and felt that WiA and similar organizations had become the gatekeepers for women to enter animation. It's not enough as an animator to be a talented female person of color; you have to be "WiA-Approved" and toe the line. Another example of this new activist culture is the formation of a segregated women's committee that meets regularly to pitch ideas, network, vent, look at storyroom strategies, listen to guest speakers, and empower each other to take on leadership roles. Many of these sessions are sponsored by WiA and strictly for "female-identifying and non-binary people." Can you imagine going into a creative meeting knowing that half the room has already made all the decisions beforehand? These meetings are literal war rooms as so-called creative sessions are now considered battlefields. Now, imagine if you disagreed with one of their ideas. Shots fired! I'm sure there's a large bag of "ists" nearby to hurl your way.
The next update, he says, will be about the culture of fear extending to even DEIsney cast members. (That is, people wearing Mickey Mouse suits at the parks.) And speaking of woke animation: Amazon decided to make a child-friendly cartoon portraying Satan as the hero and God the villain of the War in Heaven.
The mission of DEI is not equality...it's revenge. The final outcome is a complete takeover...a reset...of the entertainment industry as a whole.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:29 PM | Comments (287) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Book: Joe Biden Decided to Run in 2024 Because He Knows Kamala Harris Is Incompetent and Unpopular
One thready heartbeat from the presidency.
Kamala Harris's 'refusal to be a team player' put her at odds with Joe Biden and First Lady Jill during her 'disastrous and comical first years as vice president', new book claims Washington journalist Charlie Spiering lifts the lid on the ill-matched president and second-in-command, in Amateur Hour: Kamala Harris in the White House 'Harris barely suppressed her impatience and disdain for the president despite reading platitudes from the teleprompter,' the author writes The book also describes how Harris is known for tormenting staffers with 'soul-destroying criticism' and openly dropping her favorite cuss word, 'motherf***er' By Karen Ruiz For Dailymail.com As Kamala Harris hits the 2024 presidential campaign trail in hopes of securing a second term alongside Joe Biden, a new tell-all lifts the lid on the pair's now frosty relationship and how the president and First Lady Jill can't stand nor trust the VP, four years after their historic victory. In his new book, Amateur Hour: Kamala Harris in the White House, published on Tuesday, veteran Washington journalist Charlie Spiering lifts the lid on the tension between the ill-matched pair, largely thanks to Harris's 'refusal to be a team player.'She wants to be a team player, but no one will Position Her For Success.
The article discusses more of the book, including Kamala Harris' penchant for Word Tossed Salads. Videos below the fold. Meanwhile, gossip columnist Cindy Adams says that Michelle Obama has begun calling big Democrat donors, telling them she'll be joining the 2024 race.
Contending that America's historic first black female second in command is just 'a brain stroke away from the presidency,' he claims the 'real reason' Biden decided to run for a second term is because 'Kamala is not up to the job,' and the Bidens don't want to see her replace him. Biden's actual first choice for his running mate in 2020, was Gretchen Whitmer, 52, the then-recently elected governor of Michigan, while the first lady 'fought against choosing Harris in favor of Susan Rice,' a top Barack Obama confidante and national security adviser in his administration, according to the book.
But Obama, 'pushed Kamala', and Biden went along despite her embarrassing criticism of him as a virtual racist in the 2020 presidential debates when she, too, was briefly running for president. Biden chose Kamala because he promised the nation he would choose a black woman as his running mate. Whitmer is white. Obama, America's first black president, has been one of the perceived hidden powers behind Harris's amazing rise from virtual political obscurity in California to the White House. In his very timely, forensic examination of Kamala's turbulent political and private life, Spiering explores what is not reported in the mainstream media: That one of the 'most popular games' among democrat powers in the so-called Swamp of the capital these days is 'How do you fix Kamala Harris?'
... According to Spiering, Democrats have abandoned the notion that Harris could take over for Biden in 2024 because 'she lacked' one of the most basic political skills -- simply 'answering questions...her inability to communicate sparked a crisis-of-confidence in the Democratic Party.'
Biden won't debate. Can't. Our codger-in-chief can't even read the prewritten script in front of him fast enough to pronounce the words. So, forget him -- which most of us already have. Coming back now -- Obama. Not him. HER! We've heard this drumbeat for a while. Now it's louder. Plans are to grab Michelle for the Democratic presidency choice. Making the music is Barack the orchestra leader. Michelle says she's "terrified" Trump will win. No casual burp. Was programmed. She's sent a survey to Dem biggies asking their feelings about her candidacy. Obama's quietly angling for Joe to go. He's weaseled up to this for a few weeks. Mouths aren't talking. But mouths are knowing. Over one year ago, summer of 2022, she was in NYC meeting several big hedge CEOs, and said, "I am running, and I am asking for your support."
The Obamas are now nudging to force SloMo Joe to go. Drop out. It's like who else is there?
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (349) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hamas Rejects a Two-State Solution, Insisting That Israel Must Be Purged of All Jewish Taint
Once again, leftists and Uniparty members refuse to listen to what America's enemies are saying, preferring to substitute their own agenda instead.
From MEMRI. Note that the Hamas representative explicitly says that now that the West has embraced the "from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free (of all Jews)" chant, it's time for Hamas to step up and deliver."I believe that the dream and the hope for Palestine from the River to the Sea and from the north to the south has been renewed. This has also become a slogan chanted in the U.S. and in Western capital cities, by the American and Western public," he said. "Palestine is free from the River to the Sea--that's the slogan of the American students and the [students] in European capital cities. "The Palestinian consensus--or almost a consensus--is that we will not give up on our right to Palestinian in its entirety, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea and from Rosh Hanikra to Eilat or the Gulf of Aqaba," he continued.Ed Morrissey notes that Hamas has long held this position, though they're especially emboldened about it now that the the pro-terrorist West is echoing their demands for a Judenrein Middle East. Netanyahu has also rejected the Biden/Blinken/Obama faction of well-credentialed delusionaries, and their insistence that Israel support a terror state committed to wiping them off the map of the earth -- and raping their women.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected the idea of creating a Palestinian state. His comments came hours after a phone call with US President Joe Biden after which the US leader indicated Mr Netanyahu may still accept the idea. Mr Netanyahu's remarks appeared to deepen a public divide with the US. The US believes a Palestinian state alongside Israel - known as a "two-state solution" - is vital for long-term stability. But the White House acknowledged this week the US and Israeli governments "clearly see things differently". Speaking to reporters after the two leaders held a call for the first time in almost a month, Mr Biden insisted a two-state solution was still possible with Mr Netanyahu in office. "There are a number of types of two-state solutions. There's a number of countries that are members of the UN that... don't have their own militaries," he said. But on Saturday Mr Netanyahu doubled down on his position, which he has held for much of his political career and repeated earlier this week. A statement released by his office read: "In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty." Also on Saturday, in a post on X - formerly Twitter - he said Israel must retain "security control over the entire area west of [River] Jordan", an area which also encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank territory.Anthony Blinken babbled about his delusionary plan for a "two-state solution" at -- of course! -- the WEF Nazi-Marxism Fusion Conference in Davos.
Blinken unveiled his grand plan for Middle East peace: a Palestinian state. Yes, that's right: Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis, many in unimaginably gruesome ways, with Palestinian civilians gleefully cheering them on, and Blinken wants them to end up being the ones who emerge the winners from this present conflict. A Palestinian state would seem to be the last thing any sane person would recommend now after we have seen Gaza become a jihad terror statelet, but Blinken has not bothered to let the experience of history, much less the power of common sense, revise his preconceived notions. As far as he is concerned, the Palestinians are violent because they lack self-determination. Giving them self-determination (you know, like when they elected Hamas in Gaza) will therefore fix the problem. Never mind that they've turned down numerous quite generous offers to give them a state. Remember: the facts don't matter in Washington. Nor do they matter in Davos. And so Blinken said Wednesday that Israel could only attain "genuine security" if it allowed the Palestinians another base for jihad attacks in addition to Gaza, that is, a Palestinian state. He even had the audacity to present this tired, multiply failed, ill-conceived "solution" as a daring new idea that the Israelis needed to have the imagination and courage to seize upon.Israel's president Isaac Herzog, "a center-left moderate" (Netanyahu is PM, not president) ripped into Blinken at the Nazi-Marxist Fusion Conference. From the Times of Israel:
"The problem is getting from here to there," he explained, "and of course, it requires very difficult, challenging decisions. It requires a mindset that is open to that perspective.
"If you ask an average Israeli now about his or her mental state, nobody in his right mind is willing now to think about what will be the solution of the peace agreements," he said in an interview on the WEF main stage, "because everybody wants to know: Can we be promised real safety in the future?" After the unprecedented slaughter in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7, "every Israeli wants to know that he will not be attacked in the same way from north or south or east," Herzog said. ... "Israel lost trust in the peace processes because they see that terror is glorified by our neighbors," said Herzog.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (263) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Fani Willis Seeks to Quash Subpoena in Divorce Matter;
She Argues to Judge, "Before I Met Mr. Darris 'Sweetdick' Honeycum, My Sad Cooter Was Dry as Gold-Bond Foot Powder and Had Gone from a Snizz to a Snooze to a Snuzz"
She Argues to Judge, "Before I Met Mr. Darris 'Sweetdick' Honeycum, My Sad Cooter Was Dry as Gold-Bond Foot Powder and Had Gone from a Snizz to a Snooze to a Snuzz"
The latter quote is more implied than explicit.
But boy oh boy, Fani does not want to have to give answers under oath. She is, however, willing to make vague accusations of racism in front of a black church. If it please Your Honor.A Georgia judge is hearing arguments Monday over whether to enforce a subpoena issued to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as part of her top prosecutor's divorce case, which she received amid allegations that she and the prosecutor were involved in an improper relationship while prosecuting the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Willis, who is not present in courtroom, is seeking to quash the subpoena she received from the wife of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, in order to avoid her deposition in the case, which is set for Tuesday. At the start of the hearing, the judge -- at the request of Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney for Roman who first filed the motion containing the allegations -- ordered the divorce case between Wade and his wife be unsealed and made public. The ruling came over the objections of Wade's attorney, who argued that the "current status" of the case "clearly shows the harm that is done to these parties." ... Willis claimed in a court filing last week that being deposed in the case would be "outside the scope of discovery" in the divorce matter and that it amounts to "attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation." "The sought after deposition of District Attorney Willis is not relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action and should not be permitted," the filing from Willis's attorney said.Like me, Viva Frei wonders how it can be that Fani Willis can claim in a motion that she has "no information" about how the Wade marriage ended, and yet offer, in that very same motion, intimate details about the Wade marriage like it being "irretrievably broke" due to the alleged affair Mrs. Wade had with Mr. Wade's friend. How does a person with no admitted involvement with Mr. Wade come into possession of such intimate and salacious details about his marriage? Curious! More on that unsealing of divorce records, via Jack Straw. Apparently, he's staying the subpoena to Fani Cootersauce, to hear from Darrius "Sweetdick" Honeycum, Esq., first.
... Wade's wife has asked the judge in her divorce case to enforce the subpoena in order to "determine details" surrounding Wade and Willis' relationship. Her filing included credit card records that appear to show Wade paid for multiple trips to Miami and San Francisco for him and Willis during the election probe. In her filing seeking to quash the subpoena, Willis claims that she "cannot provide unique personal knowledge" on matters relevant to the divorce because the marriage is ending on the grounds that it was "irretrievably broken."
A Cobb County judge on Monday unsealed the divorce records of a top prosecutor in Fulton County's election interference probe, allowing the public to sift through personal information that could involve his boss and alleged romantic partner, District Attorney Fani Willis. Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson also placed a temporary stay on a subpoena from the estranged wife of special prosecutor Nathan Wade. She was seeking to depose Willis this week. Thompson said Nathan Wade should first be deposed before he determines whether Willis possesses unique personal information that would require her to be questioned under oath by attorneys for Joycelyn Wade. An evidentiary hearing in the divorce case is set for Jan. 31.A judge also wants to interrogate the Power Bottom Couple about possible improprieties in using public funds for pubic ends, and allegations of them comingling their junk.
"The judge overseeing the election interference case against former president Donald Trump in Georgia has reportedly scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 to examine recent allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her lead prosecutor 'engaged in an improper relationship and mishandled public money,'" reports Nicole Bennett at WSB Radio. The Washington Post has a more detailed report explaining that Judge Scott McAfee has ordered Willis to respond in writing to the allegations by Feb. 2, and he has called a hearing about the accusations and scheduled it for Feb. 15. ... "Willis has declined to address the accusations directly so far," reports the Washington Post's Amy Gardner and Holly Bailey. "McAfee's order appears to be forcing her to do so in televised court proceedings, a development that could at the least be embarrassing for the district attorney and at worst derail the investigation completely."Yes that would be "the worst."
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:30 PM | Comments (411) | Trackbacks (Suck)
An NGO to Fly Illegal Aliens Into America Is Founded By Former "American" Presidents Clinton, Obama, and George W. Bush
It's taking me a little bit to come out of weekend mode. I'm having trouble figuring out which stories to cover. It seems pointless to cover big stories that broke yesterday, like DeSantis dropping out, abut there's not a lot of stuff that's happened since.
Three of the five former Presidents of the United States have started a new non-governmental organization (NGO) with the explicit purpose of chartering flights to import illegal aliens into the United States. As reported by Just The News, the NGO Miles4Migrants, founded by former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, is teaming up with two other organizations, American Express Global Business Travel and Welcome.US, to expand upon a previous effort that focused solely on Afghan refugees following the disastrous withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in 2021. Welcome.US was originally launched for the purpose of bringing in at least 85,000 Afghan refugees, and also has ties to the far-left billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Foundation. The new coalition between Welcome.US, Miles4Migrants, and American Express Global Business Travel will seek to raise money to import illegals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ukraine.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:15 PM | Comments (600) | Trackbacks (Suck)
THE MORNING RANT: Was the EV Charging Nightmare in Chicago the “Exploding Pinto” Moment for the Electric Vehicle Transition; plus Other Bad News for EVs
*****
As CBD and JJ Sefton have kindly mentioned on these pages, I have been extended the opportunity to share my passion regarding electric vehicles and related topics at The Pipeline (the-pipeline.org), which is run by Michael Walsh, a friend to the Ace of Spades HQ blog, and a periodic guest on the Cut Jib Newsletter podcast (which can be accessed on the sidebar.)
My first column was published this past week: “Electric Vehicles: Running on Empty”
In it I wrote the following:
*****
I usually try to space a little more time between my periodic roundups of EV stories, but the EV industry is imploding so fast that I’m already falling behind. Here are some other stories that have recently broken:
"Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent," Tyler Beard, who had been trying to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook, Illinois Tesla supercharging station since Sunday afternoon, told the news outlet. "And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday." Beard and several other Tesla owners were trying to charge their cars amid long lines and abandoned cars at other Tesla charging stations in the Chicago area, the news station reported. "This is crazy. It’s a disaster. Seriously," said Tesla owner Chalis Mizelle. Mizelle said she abandoned her car and got a ride from a friend after hers would not charge.The hassles of maintaining a charge are so ubiquitous that even the simple act of parking a “fueled up” vehicle at the airport and expecting it to be available to drive when you return is not applicable to electric vehicles.
Kevin Sumrak told the Fox station that he landed Sunday night at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and found his Tesla dead and unable to start. He was forced to hire a flatbed tow truck to haul the vehicle to a working charging station.As Mark Twain is alleged to have said, “There is nothing to be learned from the second kick from a mule.” A great many EV owners have received a very painful “first kick,” and this lesson will likely cause a significant number of them to forego the desire to ever again experience the exclusive eco-virtue of trying to charge a dead EV in winter.
This past year was the year that “the EV transition” stalled. The coming year of 2024 will be a year for legacy auto manufacturers to address the financial reality that their EV investments are an unrecoverable sunk cost. Their survival and future profitability will require them to re-focus on being profitable manufacturers of ICE vehicles (which include “hybrids”I wrote that piece before the story broke about the total breakdown in the ability to charge EVs in Chicago during winter. 2023 was a year in which it became evident that the mass market of automobile consumers had rejected electric vehicles, and that there would not be an “EV transition.” After the Chicago incident, 2024 is now shaping up as the year in which consumer rejection of EVs turns to outright consumer revulsion. Don’t be surprised if 2020s-era electric vehicles are someday remembered as fondly as 1970s-era Ford Pintos.rather than being failed mass-market EV manufacturers, a niche for which there is no “mass market.”
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (558) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread
The Return to the Fold
Anton Mauve
The Return to the Fold
Anton Mauve
Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (370) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 1/22/24
While much of the political world rejoiced in DeSantis’s decision to unify the party and back Trump in the primary race to focus on defeating [spurious fraud "president"] Biden in November, many of DeSantis’s online influencers are having a much more difficult time letting bygones be bygones. “It’s ‘Governor Ron DeSantis’ now, is it?” Jenna Ellis sarcastically asked in reaction to a statement from the Trump campaign on DeSantis’s exit from the race and subsequent endorsement of Trump. “No more Rob DeSanctimonious? We’re all just supposed to forget? They think so. I don’t. The audacity here to use the line, ‘It’s time to choose wisely,'” she said. “Instead of trying genuinely to recruit DeSantis supporters, the Trump Camp takes a parting shot at @bobvanderplaats and evangelicals who wanted to be post-Trump,” she asserted. “It was all just a psyop. And you all still trust anything that Trump promises?!” she proclaimed in another post.I thought in order to be considered an "influencer" you have to actually influence people in a positive manner. How'd that work out for you, Jenna Ellis? Pfft. If their results matched the hype, DeSantis would be the one with the massive double-digit lead going into New Hampshire after a double-digit win in Iowa. Look, I get it, and in all fairness, I was a Cruz booster eight short (long) years ago and absolutely hated the "Lyin' Ted" swipe. It was what it was and it is what it is. I voted for Trump just to protect us from Hilary and then four years later I voted FOR Trump period. In any case, when you realize that these schmucks have zero influence on anyone, their puerile tantrums are micturating into the 600mph eye of Jupiter. I like and respect Ron DeSantis. More importantly I admire Ron DeSantis for his record as governor. He's done more in his tenure to preserve and grow Florida as a sanctuary (pun intended) and a haven for freedom-loving Americans escaping the insanity of blue-state anti-America than arguably any other red state governor. That he won the statehouse by a very narrow margin and in doing so, prevented crack-addicted Marxist Andrew Gillum from completely wrecking the state earns my gratitude. In fact, Florida's formerly heavily Democrat-influenced election machine gave us fits every election cycle and victory was never a sure thing. That seems to be a thing of the past, in no small part thanks to DeSantis' presence in Tallahsee. Need I remind you of Al Gore and his hanging chakras, er, chads? DeSantis is going places and hopefully he'll be the one in '28. An unknown MAGA superstar on the horizon who captures the imagination, or the descent into total dictatorship after '24 notwithstanding. As for Trump, he is who he is, warts and all. If you don't get that by now, you're never going to get it. His "style" and his "personality" are irrelevant, and those who attempt to make that the issue are fools or disingenuous in their real opposition to him. That said, those who have issues with his missteps and fiascos based strictly on policy, most egregiously his hiring practices and his record on the lockdowns, should not be dismissed. And I count myself in that category, and was indeed wavering on my complete support of him as the candidate to be the standard bearer. Most likely, the appeal of Trump centers on two things: the abject destruction that Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants has unleashed on the nation and his state-sanctioned persecutions via several kangaroo court trials with the cherry on the parfait of the attempts to remove him from state ballots. All of those things are interrelated and more and more people get it. For better or worse, Trump is seen as a martyr. With every new charge and accusation hurled at him came a significant rise in his polling. I don't think Ron DeSantis or anyone ever had a chance against that. The fact of the matter is, Trump is indeed a political martyr and before long he will either be imprisoned or assassinated. And that will be the bitter end. Ditto if he manages to actually beat the odds and the Democrat cheat machine in the swing states and win re-re-election, because the Left, after equating him with "literally Hitler" who will take away our freedoms and throw people into concentration camps (like Merrick Garland has actually done, ironically) will unleash a wave of terror that will make the 2020 Summer of Floyd look like Disco Night at Comiskey Park (or Kaminski Field, pace Obama the Dog-Eating Boy). All of that said, I still think Trump's worst enemy is himself. Mercifully, the scuttlebutt of his supposedly courting Nikki Haley as his running mate have been exploded. Mostly by Trump himself who ripped her a new one the other day. But was there any substance to the initial rumors? His son Don Jr. a couple of weeks back supposedly told him to drop her like radioactive waste. If true, I hope this is an indicator that he and brother Eric are not of the same mindset as Jared and Ivanka and can effectively box them out this go round. The late great William F. Buckley once said "I'd rather be governed by the first 3,000 random people from the Boston phonebook than an equal number of Ivy League graduates." Regardless of the fact that there are no more phonebooks or that most of Boston these days is solidly Democrat, the meaning of the quote still stands. In Trump's case, it goes back to staffing. Will he or even can he find a chief of staff, the guy/gal in charge of all the hiring and cabinet nominations, that is outside the Deep State? If he indeed hires outsiders, will they even have a chance at being confirmed? And even if confirmed, will they have the power to overcome mass insubordination and mutiny at the agencies they supposedly head at the behest of a President Trump 47? Meh. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself because there's still this Non-Endearing Ghandi who refuses to read the tea leaves.
Has Nikki Haley suddenly become the Republican frontrunner? In a certain sense, yes: she clearly represents the Mitch McConnell/Kevin McCarthy wing of the party, that is, the establishment Republicans who wish Trump had never come around and hope he’ll go away for good soon. Two of her mailings contain the same warning: “WE CAN’T RISK IT / With President Trump’s criminal trials and the Liberal media’s bias against him, our country can’t risk four more years of Joe Biden.” While this may appeal to those who love Trump but are worried about his, and America’s, prospects, Haley also reaches out to those who hate him: “Donald Trump can’t defend his fiscal record, so he is lying about Nikki Haley’s,” says one mailing, which features headlines about how Trump increased spending and added to the national debt. The rest of the Haley mailings don’t mention Trump and try to present Haley as a fresh new alternative, although they’re larded with generic rhetoric that can be, and has been, said about every candidate under the sun: “Nikki Haley has a plan to make Washington work for you, not the other way around.” “She will be the new leader Washington so desperately needs.” In contrast, all four Trump mailings spend as much or more time hitting Haley than they do actually touting Trump. “Nikki Haley & Joe Biden’s Open Borders Put America In Danger,” says one. Another asserts that “Nikki Haley’s Day One Checklist” will include “Cut Social Security & Medicare” and “Raise the Retirement Age to Receive Your Benefits.” Therefore, voters should “Reject Nikki Haley On Jan. 23rd.” Another says that Nikki Haley is “Too Weak and Too Liberal to Fix the Border!” In fact, “Tricky Nikki Is Too Close With COMMUNIST CHINA.” From these mailings, one might get the impression that it was Haley who had a big lead in the polls, and Trump was trying to close the gap. Trump has plenty that he could run on from his tenure as president, but instead it seems as if his team has opted to demonize Haley front and center, and only secondarily to talk about what he has done and what he plans to do . . . . . . For the establishment, Haley represents a return to the comfortable days of John McCain and Mitt Romney, when Republicans knew their place in the workings of official Washington, and were happy playing second fiddle and giving Americans the appearance of a multiparty free republic. They didn’t rock the boat. Then Trump came along and upset everything. The people who want to make sure that he doesn’t get another chance to do so from the Oval Office are not all Democrats.Tricky Nikki. I bet you that sticks. For one thing, it's shorter, punchier and more memorable than Ron DeSanctimonious. And unlike that, it's completely accurate. That segues quite nicely into our next item on the agenda which Robert Spencer touched upon in his essay. Last week we looked at the stupidity/co-conspiracy of the GOPe on the issue that will decide this election: the open borders. If that's not enough, look what the Galling Old Potemkins are planning now:
This new energy tax was voted out of committee 14-5, with four Republicans — Senator Kevin Cramer (from North Dakota, an energy producing state), Senator John Boozman (Arkansas), Senator Graham (South Carolina), and, most inexplicably, Senator Cynthia Lummis (from Wyoming, another state that produces energy) — joining ten Democrats to create this new tax. Five Republicans, led by Senator Capito from West Virginia, voted against the new energy tax. Like all energy taxes, this one will fall hardest on the poor, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, and local institutions that have limited budgets, like schools and hospitals. The legislation sponsors, which include Senator Cramer, have tried to disguise the actual intention of the legislation — which is to increase the price of energy and everything grown, made, or transported with energy in an attempt to address global warming — with propaganda about being tough on our trade competitors, including China. That charade is so embarrassingly thin that even Politico ignored it and declared in a headline: “Senate Committee OKs Carbon Tariff.” The legislation directs the Team Biden over at the Department of Energy to set up the infrastructure that would be needed to tax imported goods based on their carbon dioxide content. These taxes, which are called tariffs when imposed on imported goods, could be imposed by the executive branch, without any Congressional votes. The sponsors have tried to argue that those selling these goods into the United States will pay the tax. That’s nonsense. . . Those who ed and those who voted for this legislation know that it is a way to create a domestic tax on carbon dioxide without requiring Congress to vote and get on the record one way or the other. They know that this energy tax will hurt the poor, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, and local institutions the most. When we asked about this particular tax, voters opposed it by almost a 2-1 margin. This new carbon dioxide tax is intensely unpopular; that’s why its sponsors have shrouded it in a verbal smokescreen about communist China.These fucking Quislings are selling us down the river. A Pinochet/Patton administration for the next 100 years couldn't do jack shit against this. Not if they play by the rules.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- "Do Americans have the 'right' to buy raw foods?"
An Amish Farmer’s Food Rights Battle
- "About 1,700 people in Arizona voted in 2018 with a federal-only ballot. Two years later, the number grew to 11,600 individuals."
Ballots Cast Without Proof of Citizenship "Exploded" After Lawfare Crippled Arizona Election Laws
- "Can America’s institutions run as well in the 21st century if white Americans are quiet quitting them in despair? It looks like we’re about to find out."
White Americans are Quiet-Quitting Our Leading Institutions
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:50 AM | Comments (508) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 22 January 2024
Top Story
- What the heck is Broadcom doing with VMWare? (MSN)
After Broadcom - which makes small boring chips in huge volumes - acquired VMWare for $69 billion, it laid off hundreds of staff, cancelled perpetual license in favour of subscriptions, and removed almost all product offerings.
Why?
As the article explains, it's because Broadcom only wants 600 customers for any of their business units. If you're not in the top 600 for that market, you simply don't exist, and your needs are irrelevant.
The company made $14 billion in profit last year so this approach seems to be working for them.
But if you're the 601st company on their list and reliant on VMWare, you're paying a lot of attention to competitors' products right now.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (211) | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 21, 2024
Sunday Overnight Open Thread (1/21/24)
***
The Quotes of The Day
#NeverNikki
***
The Comments of The Week
Once again, thank you all for making The ONT part of your evening. Ace certainly has the best audience.
Quote I “[Trump] has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear -- a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism -- that Nikki Haley represents. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology, are over." FL Gov. Ron DeSantis
#NeverNikki
Quote II “As you approach a full charging location, your EV (of any make) connects to the charging location and enters itself into a virtual queue, with entry to the queue dependent upon close geographical proximity. Drivers then park in an available normal parking spot, and only when prompted, proceed to plug in and charge. If a driver attempted to charge before their turn, the chargers would simply not communicate with the vehicle..” GreenBiz transportation writer Vartan Badalian
Quote III
A video of Michael Moore addressing an Ohio crowd praising Donald Trump.
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:56 PM | Comments (488) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gun Thread: Third Sunday of 2024 Edition!
Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (287) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Food Thread: Duck, Duck Fat, And Other Glories Of Western Civilization
[No politics or I will get cranky]
Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (381) | Trackbacks (Suck)
First-World Problems...
Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (412) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Support For Hamas And Gaza Is A Mile Wide And An Inch Deep
Purple-haired layabouts, Arab immigrants, professional students, and pierced freaks wearing keffiyehs and chanting "Death To The Jews" may seem like mainstream America, but leave the blue cities and you will discover that most Americans are disgusted by those supporters of wholesale murder and rape, and would just as soon see the Arab world be sublimated into Judeo-Christian society, rather than the other way around. Americans are slow to anger, slow to condemnation, and would rather just be left alone. But Islam and its leftist supporters have given Americans no choice in the matter, and the differences between their demands and the American ethos are stark. Outside of the blue shitholes and college campuses there is no support for their demands, their anti-social behavior, and their support for genocidal savagery. Don't let the compliant media convince us of anything else. That is not to say that complacency is acceptable. We must fight against it...constantly...purposefully...and with the confidence that they represent a small minority whose ulterior motives are evil and destructive. But we are in the majority, even though the media want us to believe otherwise.
It's easy to see the world as a miasma of gleeful Jew-hate, unsubtly couched in terms of anti-Israel sentiment. The media gullibly repeat the hysterical reports of "genocide" emanating from the Gaza health authorities, yet examines every bit of information from the Israeli government with a microscope, parsing and doubting and fact-checking to massage it into an attack on the legitimacy of all information coming from Israel.
Night after night we see video of often violent pro-Gaza protests, complete with unchallenged statements condoning the wholesale slaughter of every Israeli Jew. Many governments around the world are de facto apologists for Hamas, suggesting that the root cause of their fanatical Jew-hate, murder, torture, and rape is Israel's defense of its people and borders. That is offensive to all civilized people, yet according to our leftist-compliant media it seems to be the tone of the country. But it isn't. I truly believe that America is foursquare in support of Israel's efforts to destroy Hamas. I believe that America is solidly behind the concept of a secure Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people. I believe that America is supportive of Israel's place among the world of nations as the tip of the spear in the fight against Islam and its depredations, its desire for world domination, and its glee in the murder of innocents all over the world. Support for Israel is stronger than we thinkThe extremists using Judaism as their shield blocking access to Grand Central Terminal in New York or chaining themselves to the White House do not represent American Jews nor the American people writ large. An overwhelming majority of Americans say Hamas bears the responsibility for this war, including the majority of Republicans and Democrats, and the vast majority of American Jews support Israel in its war aims of bringing the hostages home and removing Hamas from power.
Purple-haired layabouts, Arab immigrants, professional students, and pierced freaks wearing keffiyehs and chanting "Death To The Jews" may seem like mainstream America, but leave the blue cities and you will discover that most Americans are disgusted by those supporters of wholesale murder and rape, and would just as soon see the Arab world be sublimated into Judeo-Christian society, rather than the other way around. Americans are slow to anger, slow to condemnation, and would rather just be left alone. But Islam and its leftist supporters have given Americans no choice in the matter, and the differences between their demands and the American ethos are stark. Outside of the blue shitholes and college campuses there is no support for their demands, their anti-social behavior, and their support for genocidal savagery. Don't let the compliant media convince us of anything else. That is not to say that complacency is acceptable. We must fight against it...constantly...purposefully...and with the confidence that they represent a small minority whose ulterior motives are evil and destructive. But we are in the majority, even though the media want us to believe otherwise.
Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (246) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 01-21-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (342) | Trackbacks (Suck)
EMT 1-21-24
Happy Sunday.
Posted by: krakatoa at 05:51 AM | Comments (178) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 21 January 2024
Top Story
- The same pathetic losers who tried to organise a boycott against the Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy are at it again with Palworld. (GGRecon)
With similar results.
Hogwarts Legacy sold 22 million copies last year.
Palworld has sold 3 million copies in two days.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (69) | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 20, 2024
Saturday Overnight Open Thread (1/20/24)***
The Saturday Night Joke
An Englishman, a Scotsman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Latvian, a Turk, a German, an Indian, several Americans (including a Hawaiian and an Alaskan), an Argentinean, a Dane, an Australian, a Slovak, an Egyptian, a Japanese, a Moroccan, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Guatemalan, a Colombian, a Pakistani, a Malaysian, a Croatian, a Uzbek, a Cypriot, a Pole, a Lithuanian, a Chinese, a Sri Lankan, a Lebanese, a Cayman Islander, a Ugandan, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Uruguayan, a Czech, an Icelander, a Mexican, a Finn, a Honduran, a Panamanian, an Andorran, an Israeli, a Venezuelan, an Iranian, a Fijian, a Peruvian, an Estonian, a Syrian, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, a Liechtensteiner, a Mongolian, a Hungarian, a Canadian, a Moldovan, a Haitian, a Norfolk Islander, a Macedonian, a Bolivian, a Cook Islander, a Tajikistani, a Samoan, an Armenian, an Aruban, an Albanian, a Greenlander, a Micronesian, a Virgin Islander, a Georgian, a Bahaman, a Belarusian, a Cuban, a Tongan, a Cambodian, a Canadian, a Qatari, an Azerbaijani, a Romanian, a Chilean, a Jamaican, a Filipino, a Ukrainian, a Dutchman, a Ecuadorian, a Costa Rican, a Swede, a Bulgarian, a Serb, a Swiss, a Greek, a Belgian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a Norwegian and 2 Africans walk into a fine restaurant.
"I'm sorry" says the maître d', after scrutinizing the group. "But you can't come in here without a Thai". (H/T Ciampino)
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:49 PM | Comments (392) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Saturday Evening Movie Thread 01/20/2024 [TheJamesMadison]
Remember about a decade ago when everyone was all in on this new animated movie from Warner Brothers, a glorified toy commercial titled The LEGO Movie? Remember how it just came out of nowhere, how it was quickly followed up by two films, a spinoff and then a direct sequel, and then it simply...disappeared? Have you ever wondered why?
Well, I don't have a full answer other than the direct sequel, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part underperformed at the box office leading to Warner Brothers relinquishing control of its license to the LEGO brand in movies (which then was sold to Universal), but it is curious how a movie that just blew up so uncontrollably and out of the blue disappeared so quickly. Well, aside from any business concerns, I've come away with some thoughts about the pair of direct films and their thematic focus (if I felt like I had enough room in these things to tackle it as well, I'd also include The LEGO Batman Movie, but CBD has already chastised me for these posts being too long, so I'll leave it at just the two films, making this post merely too long rather than absurdly long).
You see, I'm a father of young boys, and for about three months, the younger of my two boys was obsessed with these films. I've seen them all, paying full attention, at least two times each, and then I've been in the room while they've been on at least a dozen times for each of them. I've been exposed to them quite a bit, and after the repeated viewings I think I have a clear idea about why, creatively, the first seemed to connect so easily with audiences and the second did not.
Everything is Awesome
Remember about a decade ago when everyone was all in on this new animated movie from Warner Brothers, a glorified toy commercial titled The LEGO Movie? Remember how it just came out of nowhere, how it was quickly followed up by two films, a spinoff and then a direct sequel, and then it simply...disappeared? Have you ever wondered why?
Well, I don't have a full answer other than the direct sequel, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part underperformed at the box office leading to Warner Brothers relinquishing control of its license to the LEGO brand in movies (which then was sold to Universal), but it is curious how a movie that just blew up so uncontrollably and out of the blue disappeared so quickly. Well, aside from any business concerns, I've come away with some thoughts about the pair of direct films and their thematic focus (if I felt like I had enough room in these things to tackle it as well, I'd also include The LEGO Batman Movie, but CBD has already chastised me for these posts being too long, so I'll leave it at just the two films, making this post merely too long rather than absurdly long).
You see, I'm a father of young boys, and for about three months, the younger of my two boys was obsessed with these films. I've seen them all, paying full attention, at least two times each, and then I've been in the room while they've been on at least a dozen times for each of them. I've been exposed to them quite a bit, and after the repeated viewings I think I have a clear idea about why, creatively, the first seemed to connect so easily with audiences and the second did not.
Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM | Comments (346) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Saturday Hobby, Crafting, DIY and Bodging Thread
Greetings gang. Hope your Saturday is going well. Time once again to head for the basement, garage, shop, studio, crafting room or wherever you can escape for a few hours to get creative, or just create a mess and have fun.
NOTE: This is NOT an open thread to please refrain from politics or anything unrelated to either the content or the subject matter. What's everyone working on, planning, or just dreaming about?Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 04:28 PM | Comments (176) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Processing 0.01, elapsed 0.193 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.1877 seconds, 25 records returned.
Page size 72 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.