Andrew's Running Open Thread...

Since I'm trying to evade working today, I keep running across things to post. So I'll make this a running open thread. :)

● WARNING: The Pussy Head marchers are back to remind us of that they still exist... since there are no other signs of it. While they claim they had five million participants worldwide last time, a total fabrication on the order of at least 5-1 that just kept growing as media chickies kept bidding up the number, this time they seem to scoring in the 40k range in New York and Philly and far less in other cities... so maybe 200,000 worldwide.

So the fake movement that died the moment these women littered their signs and stomped off to Starbucks last time has now proven that it's lost 90% of its strength in a year. This is more prove this was never "a thing." We should call this the "Handful of Chicks March."

Expect delays at area Starbucks in major cities.


● Twitter is going to tell everyone what fake Russian troll sites they were following during the election. Oh oh. That means a bunch of liberals are now going to find out that their favorite sites were all Russian fake news pushers... #Trumpisamonster... #conservativesareevil... #therealNancyPelosi. Of course, liberals never readjust their thinking for new facts, so I doubt this will mean much, but wouldn't it be funny if they could grasp that all the crap they believe came from Russian propaganda? Ha!


● I love the delusion at places like Yahoo. Here's a headline and blurb:

"Major Strategy Shift for Democrats... Rather than play it safe in this election year, the Democrats have decided to challenge an unpopular president."

What rational person can claim that the Democrats haven't been "challenging" Trump. There isn't a moment they haven't smeared him, goosestep opposed him, or tried to impeach him.


● California is in an absolute panic over the Trump tax cuts. I LOVE that! They are now trying to find a way to tax all of the tax savings businesses got while whining that businesses may start fleeing the state. I love the statement made by more than one of them that "the tax cuts are an assault on California." That is all you need to know about how much those tax deductions subsidized the state.


● Trump just did the most condescending thing. LOL! He tweeted that with the nice weather, it's a good day for women to get out there and march to celebrate his economic achievements. That really is like patting them on the head and then intentionally ignoring the point they are making. I guarantee you that will get some blood boiling.


● The leftist blame strategy for the shutdown (as pushed by the media as well) says, "How can the Democrats be to blame for the shutdown when the Republicans control everything?" This is interesting since these same people blamed the Republicans for the Democrats' failure to do anything when they not only held everything but also held a super-majority in Congress. They also blamed Republicans in every prior shutdown, no matter who was in charge. So yeah, not buying it.


● Ok. I don't know how I didn't think of this before, but according to Huffpo, "Make no mistake! Trump's shutdown is about..." wait for it... RACISM! LOLOLOLOLOL! Boo!


● You may not know these people, but perhaps you know the sentiment. Lavar Ball (father of LA Laker Lonzo Ball) is an ass. I have little good to say about him and a lot of bad. But what I don't understand is why "everyone" (read: the sports media) pour out so much hate on his kids. By all accounts, they are good kids whose teammates enjoy playing with them and speak highly of them. So why is everyone so venomous about them just because they hate his father? What's more, how is what Ball does any different than the media types who criticize him? Heck, he's even more accurate than they are about the rumors he tells. What's more, they cover him like mad because it makes them money. They are at least complicit. So why crap on his kids?


Not getting a lot of work done... :(


● I just saw an article listing the magazine's: "Our fearless Oscar picks." //rolls eyes Since when has making guesses about the Oscars equated to fear? You live in America where no one would even think to hurt you. Your picks are herd-approved "controversial" picks, ie. nice and safe. So how is this fearless? It's not. The word "fearless" is a marketing technique to make you think this idiot has taken some risk, but there is no risk to be had.


● Had to comment on this. I have seen several articles now written by black women who refuse to attend the Handful of Chicks March because those white women... honkettes... do not like or respect black women. One noted that while her sign said both "nasty women unite" and "African Americans," the honkettes only gave her a cheer for the nasty part. None of those honkettes apparently stood in solidarity with being black. (Uh... maybe they didn't want to culturally appropriate? Just sayin') Other then refused to do a Black Lives Matters cheer. Those racist honkettes!

I love it when the left goes full bitch on these things and whines and whines and whines that other leftists don't support their grievances fully enough. They truly are children in a room full of children in full-tantrum mode whining that they aren't getting all the attention.


● By the way, is there anyone who doesn't see "stone cold killer" in this guy's face: LINK. Seriously, how could you miss it?


More to come...

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It's The Economy, Stupid

The left (and Jeff Flake) must be furious. Have you seen the economic data?

● The stock market is at an all-time high.

● Jobless claims fell to a 45 year low this month... since February 1973.

● Home building is at the highest level since 2007.

● Since the GOP/Trump tax cuts have passed, company after company is announcing massive bonuses to employees, reinvestment in the US and repatriation. Apple is the latest, announcing $2,500 bonuses to all employees, the creation of 20,000 US jobs this year, the opening of new US campuses, the repatriation of $252 billion in overseas cash triggering $38 billion in tax payments, and investment of $350 billion in the US over the next five years.

That's impressive and it's only the latest company to make such promises. At least 80 other big companies have announced bonuses on the order of $1,000 per employee, pay raises, new investment, etc. Walmart is giving bonuses, hiking wages, offering new paid maternity leave, and is offering a form of payday loan without interest.

These are good times to work in corporate America.

Of course, the left is now desperately trying to give the credit to Obama, but I doubt anyone is buying that. Things really feel like the economic wheel had stopped under Obama and now the economy has started fresh. Don't forget either that at no point under Obama did the economy ever hit 4% GNP -- a first for Presidents -- and the leftist media machine was telling us that 4% wasn't possible anymore in the modern world. Current GNP is 5.3%.

● Lastly, do you remember how China had overtaken us to have the world's biggest economy? Do you remember how I told you this was BS and relied on faked data? Well, now we are being warned by the same people that China will overtake us in a decade. It wasn't true then and it's not true now. China's economy is about 75% of ours and is actually getting smaller by comparison. What's more, higher wages, corruption and awful demographics will keep China from getting much bigger before it begins to fall. Nothing to fear here, folks.

Thoughts?

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Hey Baby, More Harassment Thoughts

I have to say that it's been fascinating watching this #HarassMeToo "movement". They started out by seizing the moral high ground and destroying a handful of genuine predators. But then they blew it... badly. They decided to copy the Cultural Revolution. Now it's all falling apart as leftists are shocked to find themselves needing to defend their friends from the Trumped up charges (see what I did there?) of other leftists.

Some thoughts...

It's starting to look like a civil war to me. A group of French actresses have condemned the Metooers for overshooting and trying to create a sexless world. The chick who invented the Shitty Media Men list is under fire for irresponsibly ruining the careers of innocent men. Andrew Sullivan called the Metooers McCarthyites for their damnation by rumor and secret evidence... and he's right. Ashley Banfield blasted a woman for whining about a bad date on the #Harassmetoo list. She's worried that women like this are ruining whatever the Metooers have won (spoiler alert: they've won nothing). Others have noticed this too that women are complaining about things as minor as guys seeming "creepy." This is now a culture crime. Lots of people are complaining about the lack of due process. Alec Baldwin is blasting the attacks on Woody Allen for allegations that were investigated but never became criminal charges.

Basically, these Metooers have adopted the rules of the Cultural Revolution. Anyone can accuse anyone and they are instantly judged guilty by the mob. And those who speak against this star chamber justice are instantly labeled as standing in the way of the "culture" change. They become enemies of the new order. They must be made to grovel. Women who didn't wear black to the awards show found themselves attacked by Metooers. Seal attacked Oprah for being complicit in Weinstein's sexual assault and promptly found himself accused of sexual assault.

America Ferrara was upset that Oprah was concerned with the accused. She said that the ultimate punishment for these men should not be disclosed yet:

“Can’t we live in that space where it’s OK for perpetrators to be a little bit uncomfortable with what the consequences will be?”

How very Nazi-like. We'll tell you your fate after we have our fun making you sweat. Shameful.

Even more shameful is how these little fascists pretend that they bear no responsibility for their actions. Oprah asked an interesting question. She assembled a panel of idiots celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and America Ferrera. She pointed out that the Metooers had managed to bag a couple penisers, but then she asked,

“When somebody’s been accused of sexual harassment and loses their job, should they ever work again?”

Witherspoon rather pathetically responded, “I’m not here to make that decision.” Really? You appoint yourself judge and jury. You convict on secret evidence with no allowance for the accused to offer a defense. And then you pretend that you have no say in the lives being destroyed? Welcome to the Great Leap Forward.

You see the same thing from the Shitty Media Men list creator. We'll call her "Shitty Girl." Shitty Girl asks women to accuse men but then disclaims that she has any responsibility for what happens after the allegations are taken seriously. Basically, she's the secret policeman who pretends it's not her responsibility that the people she accuses are killed on the evidence she presents. Interestingly, her list also ranges from rapes to consensual affairs to "acting creepy."

I'm really struck how fascist this "movement" is behaving. These are not good or noble women. They are little Hitlers. They are the accusers of Salem, the secret police of every fascist regime, McCarthyites, Chinese mobs killing their betters, and... apparently... good liberals.

Anyways, consider this timeline:

1. Rose McGowan outs Weinstien... everyone tries to ignore it.
2. With it not going away, the enablers "bravely" attack the mortally wounded Weinstein and smear anyone who points out that they enabled him.
3. Groupthink sets in and anyone who doesn't blindly accept the group is smeared or accused of #youtoo.
4. The group declares victory and pats themselves on the back for changing the world... without having done anything.
5. All the parasites jump on board. They politicize this. They try to expand it to subjective annoyances. They are opportunists tying to find fame, angry ex-girlfriends trying to settle scores, and women who just like abusing authority.
6. The infighting starts between the McCarthyite/fascists who believe in guilty when accused and abuse of power as justice versus those who believe in due process, proof and redemption.

This is not a noble enterprise or moral cause.

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The Irony Edition

Lots of great irony coming from the left this week.

● The Democrats in California and New York are tying to find ways to reduce the effect of the tax hike Trump has imposed with the new tax law. They're trying to make paying your state taxes a charitable deduction so it can be deducted there. Ironically, the only people who would benefit from this are rich people. Said differently, Democrats seek to cut taxes on the rich and ultra-rich.

● Jim Carrey, who was once funny before he gave his girlfriend VD and drove her to suicide, was whiiiiining about the false alarm in Hawaii. He whined that he woke up (from a bender no doubt) to discover that he had only 10 minutes to live (after scratching his VD-encrusted penis, no doubt). First, I wish that were true. Good riddance. Secondly, somehow I doubt that Hawaii is in any real danger even if Korea fires. Third, mistakes happen... whining about other people's mistake is white-trashy. Fourth, it's funny how VD-carrier Carrey is blaming Trump when the real cause is a bureaucrat... government is at fault you dumbass socialist. No irony there.

● A lot of immigrants from shithole countries are upset at Trump calling the places they fled shitholes. None of these shitholers apparently see the irony in that.

● California, a liberal paradise that (1) benefits from a century of pre-liberal economic power they live off of like worthless rich heirs, (2) benefits from overwhelming geographic advantages that feed heir economy, (3) benefits from the high tax subsidy that Trump just eliminated, and (4) has spent almost a trillion dollars to fight poverty over the past 15 years... has the highest poverty rate in the US. Let me repeat: smug, rich, liberal California has the highest poverty rate in the US. Not West Cousin-Luvin Virginia, not Kensucky, not Washington Third-World D.C. Nope. California.

● Pope Francis, whom I believe is named after a talking mule, says that letting our fear that immigrants will turn our country into a shitholy is a sin if we let those fears turn into hostility. Got it. So what about fear of Trump turning into Hostility? Are all those liberals sinners? Yes, they are. So where is the condemnation of them Father Selective?

● Still laughing that now that police body cams are showing that cops aren't gunning down innocent black kids that the black community is upset. Think about that.

Liberals. snicker snicker

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He's... RACIST LOL!

The left is horrified that Trump allegedly called various shithole countries "shithole countries." Truth hurts.

See when your country is rife with crime, rebels and functions on the basis of corruption... when part of your population kills little girls because they go to school or mutilates their genitals because "God" told you so... when your leaders have brought the country to near-absolute bankruptcy, your population has no work ethic, the biggest employer is narco gangs, and average people need to use fake cell phones, walls covered in broken glass and hired guns to avoid becoming victims of criminals... your country might be a shithole.

But that's not the point. The point is the cry racism motif.

See, all these idiots from Anderson "Weepy Boy" Cooper to the UN are whining that Trump saying this is racism... and I don't care. In fact, I doubt anyone really cares. Why? Because this is what happens when you cry wolf. Not a day doesn't pass that some idiot doesn't scream racism. Everything is racist... everything. Heck, we even hear that the very fact of being white makes you racist, as do words that have nothing to do with race like picnic and blackhole, being conservative is racist, history is racist, arresting black criminals is racist, standardized testing is racist, the quality of education by black teachers is racist, black cops are racist, white cops are racist, not being paid $15 an hour at the job you don't have is racist, connecting Islamic terrorism to Islam is racist, pollution is racist, highways are racist, enforcing laws is racist, not believing in a phantom troop of cops killing young black men is racist, the language itself is racist, not enough black women being raped in Hollywood was racist, and so on. Everything is racist. So who cares?

Racism is a dead charge. Oh, it may excite the losers who use it to explain away their failures and it may excite the leftists who use it to keep those losers in line, but no one else cares. And I can't see the public caring about Trump calling these shithole countries shitholes... especially now that the UN has condemned this as "racist." Let's not forget that the UN is a collection of shithole countries who have waged a decades long war against Jews, who protect mass murderers and look the other way as they use illegal weapons like nerve gas against their minorities. Talk about racist. So yeah, no. Shove your racism allegations.

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True "Fake News"

Do you remember when the term "fake news" came about? The idea came from the left and it was meant as a way to dismiss places like Brietbart from public consideration. Basically, this was an attempted power grab in which they hoped to grant themselves the power to regulate the news media. Then they could dismiss every conservative leaning site as "fake news" and then the machinery of oppression would kick in. The rest of the media could ignore them. Social media could block them. And good liberals would know that nothing those fakers said was accurate... or loyal. It was the creation of an enemies list.

The funny thing was that it struck me right away that this was a mistake because anyone could use this weapon against anyone. That meant the left's weapon could be turned on them. Sure enough, that happened. Within days, anyone accused of anything was calling the charge "fake news" and attacking the MSM sites that reported the charge. The sports world used it. Hollywood used it. Conservative commentators used it. And Trump used it. In fact, he lobbed it at every media site every chance he got. CNN proved particularly vulnerable. The left was horrified... this wasn't supposed to happen.

Well, since then, the left has tried repeatedly to shrink the term back to their original intent with various stories asking what fake news really means, and then attack conservatives in their analysis. None of these have been successful, however.

So anyways, this got me thinking. Is there real fake news? Obviously, there is some. The propaganda put out by Russian hackers or Huffpo or Brietbart is fake news. It is an attempt to create a scandal using opinion (genuine or otherwise) as fact and connecting dots using conspiratorial type mis-logic and wrongful suggestion. But is there something deeper that we are all missing? The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was: most of the news we see today is "fake news."

When you take a tour of most news sites, you are assaulted with a variety of articles that truly deserve the title of "fake news." Let me give you an example. Most news sites are now awash in "Twitter responded" or "the internet responded" articles. Trump said this and Twitter reacted. Ivanka was photographed here and now faces an internet backlash. Etc. These things are not genuine news in any way. What they are is the reporter having gone out to find random people to back up the opinion the reporter wants you to believe. These could be the only three tweets in the world to make this point. And even if they aren't, they are nothing but hot air... opinion is not news until someone chooses to turn their opinion into action which affects the world in some manner. "Bill thought about robbing a bank is not news."

Yet, this is becoming the preferred form of "news" because it's easy. It requires no sources, not research, no vetting, and no knowledge to create an article. It offers nothing concrete in any way. It changes nothing. But it sure sounds good, doesn't it? It sounds as if the reporter has somehow tapped deeply into a majority strain of public opinion and public interest. You now know what the public is thinking and what matters to them, right? Wrong. You know what this report wants you to think... that's all. This is as flimsy as if I wrote, "My neighbor backs me up on this!" Who cares?

"Comedian/Politician/Media Member/Internet freak makes fun of Trump for saying ___" is the exact same thing. So what? The guy at K-Mart said the opposite. Now what? In fact, this is even worse because this is just reporting the insults being flung by the opposition. They aren't even out of character. "Extra! Extra! Dog barks at cat!" Fake news.

I think the key lesson here is that we are already awash in a sea of fake news as untrained hacks half-ass their way through articles by taking quotes from Twitter or identifying the opinions of blogs and presenting them as facts of some sort that result in news, when all they really are is the opinion of the writer spoken through cherry picked quotes.

Thoughts?

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Ain't No Mountain High Enough

by tryanmax

Over the Christmas/New Year holiday stretch, an amazing thing happened. A flurry of articles appeared across the conservasphere assessing President Trump’s first year in office and, to the apparent astonishment of many of the authors, it was actually pretty good! From Gorsuch to Tax Reform and a host of things in between, columnist after stubborn columnist had to agree, Trump moved the conservative agenda forward in a way that no one expected. Yes, there are a few campaign promises yet to be fulfilled, the border wall and an actual Obamacare repeal among them, but overall, the marks were high.

Still, there are a few holdouts that refuse to step down from the Never Trump bandwagon. And they were every bit as vocal as ever over the holiday season. The funny thing is, though, they’re running out of things to criticize aside from Trump’s personal bombast. At this point, most of the "conservative" complaints against Trump are just attacking the curtains. As I see them, they fall into three main (and very much overlapping) categories:

1) Trump did something I like, but I don't like the way he did it. This position holds that it isn’t enough for conservatism to win the day, but that the opponents of conservatism must like it, too. At best, these conservatives put winning hearts and minds above the actual work it takes to win hearts and minds. They want people to choose Coke as their favorite without ever tasting Coke first. At worst, they are being mirror-progressives. It’s this group that obsesses over Trump’s twitter account to the point of inflating his presence on the social media site. According to twittercounter.com, Trump tweets an average of 6 - 8 times per day. His critics are running digital rings around him.

2) Don't thank Trump, thank Congress. This position is disingenuous in a number of ways. The sudden return to a proper understanding of civics has nothing to do with giving credit where credit is due. We routinely credit the President for Congressional actions. The only reason to withhold credit this time is for the sake of it. Worse, it’s inconsistent. The same Never-Trumpers who want to credit Congress with conservative wins want to still saddle Trump with losses on things like Obamacare repeal and building the border wall, which require Congress to act. On these, they blame Trump for failing to rally Congress. And on some things, such as judicial appointments, the President and Congress work together. Congress can’t appoint anyone the President doesn’t nominate, but Never-Trump only credits the placement while ignoring the pick. Finally, this argument completely dismisses foreign policy and military achievements of which Congress isn’t even a part.

3) But Trump could still screw things up! This is a lame argument, but surprisingly popular. Of course Trump could still screw things up. An unseen asteroid could strike tomorrow, too! What’s your point? The question isn’t whether it could happen, but whether it’s likely and what makes you think so. Given that, after a year, all the things the critics assured us were indicative of Trump’s unfitness for office have shown, thus far, not to be so, what have you got? If anything, still holding onto the notion that a major screw up is just around the corner smacks of wishful thinking and perhaps an intention to blame anything on Trump regardless whether it’s his doing. If nothing else, it’s an amnesiac in its inattentiveness.

None of this is very surprising. A lot of people have staked their reputations on being Never Trump with more than a few rising out of obscurity on the movement. (I’m looking sideways at Tom Nichols, right now.) As long as there are people emotionally tied to the idea that Trump is the worst possible thing, they will find ways to discount, dismiss, and deny that he is anything other than the worst caricature imaginable.

Thoughts?

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Year End Clear Out Thoughts

Just cleaning out the attic to start the new year!

● The obsessives pushing the NCAA football playoffs swore that it would not make the other bowl games any less significant. No no no... it will make them even more important... somehow. Well, that was obvious BS and I've been predicting all along that it would destroy the current bowl system. It looks like I'm starting to be proved right.

Since the playoffs began, bowl attendance has been falling year after year. Bowls that regularly drew 40,000 to 60,000 in the past now find themselves drawing 20,000 to 40,000 -- the networks have needed to avoid showing the empty stands in many instances. Only six of 33 bowls distributed more than 50,000 tickets, with actual attendance being around 60% of tickets issued. The ninth best bowl this year had its worst attendance since 1957. A couple bowls had less than 10,000 attend. Ohio St. versus USC, a game premium featuring two storied teams with two potential top ten draft picks could sell only 67,510 tickets out of the 100,000 available.

What's more NFL-ready players are starting to drop out of bowl games so as not to get hurt, and the playoff pimps have taken to encouraging them because they see the bowls as "irrelevant exhibition games now that there's a playoff."

That these bowl games will keep fading until they collapse was an easily foreseeable result of creating a playoff system. With almost everyone in the media talking almost exclusively about the playoffs and the human trend to focus on what we are told is important to the detriment of everything else, it was clear that the herd would slowly stop caring about the other bowls.

● Michele Bachmann is back and ready to claim Roy Moore's mantle in Minnesota. Maybe she can finally oust the Muslim Brotherhood from their secret position running the US Government... but probably not. Most likely, she's just being paid to make sure the Democrats retain Al Franken's seat.

● Roy Moore aside, it's been a horrible year for the left. First, despite numerous tantrums, they managed to change nothing: the pussyhat movement died the same day they littered the parks with their placards as they raced to Starbucks to applaud themselves for raising awareness of their upsetness; Black Lives Matter brought out support for the cops which had been flagging; the #metooIwannabeharrassed movement achieved nothing and actually seems to have pushed the standard backward from their perspective... in fact, what the #metooIwannabeharrassed movement really did was (1) ravage the leftist media, (2) wipe out a lot of Democratic infrastructure in Hollywood, (3) expose Hollywood starlets as hypocrites who let other women get raped so they could be in films, (4) revive the right to challenge sex claims and revived due process, i.e. end the "every woman should be believed" crap, and (5) bring shame on a lot of leftists. Gays are nowhere to be seen as a political force, as predicted.

They haven't even been able to slow Trump either, who has had a vast number of conservative victories:

Kept the Supreme Court conservative... appointed vastly more federal appeals court judges (12) than Obama (3) or Bush (6)... let the military crush ISIS... got China to engage in North Korea... Iran appears to be in flames... backed Russia down... brought unemployment way down... growth-creating tax cuts... manufacturing at 20 year high... stock market spike... undid dozens of Obama's socialist/workers/environmentalist policies... reversed the government's position stripping away the rights of those accused of harassment... neutered Obamacare's individual mandate... opened ANWR to drilling... 23.7% drop in illegal immigration... reforms to the VA including adding whistleblower protection... and more. Trump even finished the year equal to Obama's first year in terms of popularity: 46% approve 56% disapprove.

And all the left can do is tear their hair out that Melania Trump wears heels, Trump Jr. took a photo with a confederate flag somewhere in the distance, Ivanka... well, she just pisses me off! And Donald eats at McDonalds and OMG I hate him so much!!!!! Ha ha.

Anyways, I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best this coming year. Remember the things that are important and let the rest roll off your back. Happiness comes only to those who choose to be happy. Seriously. Decide to be happy this year! Have a great year, everyone!

Thoughts?

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Murder Thoughts

With several murders making the news, I thought I would wade into this.

● A 58 year old attorney/father shot two partners at the firm that just fired him. I'm not surprised. Firing a 58 year old is a career death sentence -- the man would likely lose everything. Law firms are sweat shops too. Most likely, this guy worked 60 hour weeks for years at that firm before he was fired. Breaking bonds of loyalty is always dangerous. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't condone what he did, but I understand it and I'm surprised more don't do it.

● That said, I don't understand what drives "people" like the two shits in New York to kill two women and two children. They even tied the women up before they slit their throats. Why kill someone who is helpless? Why kill them at all? This I don't understand. Ditto on the sicko "father" who got custody of his daughter apparently despite evidence of him being a nut, and he killed his daughter this weekend the first chance he got. Or how about the four kids (this is the second set of four in a month) who dropped a heavy object off an overpass and killed a father who was just driving along. What in the world makes someone think this is something a human should do? Or how about the asshole who made a fake SWAT call because he was angry over a videogame and got a father killed? What is wrong with these people? They should all be buried alive.

● Speaking of the SWATing, how did the cops end up killing the victim? I've seen the video. The guy comes out onto his porch. There is no gun, no weapon, no evidence of wrongdoing. How is the next instinct of the cops: "kill him!" I do not understand. Seems like murder to me.

● Disney is changing their policy to require an employee to go into each room each day. This is apparently a policy meant to stop another Vegas-style sniper from collecting guns or bombs or whatnot. I think it's a smart, if sad, change.

● Now the good news. The papers are full of the stuff above and they sensationalize the crap out of it. They want this to seem common. But the statistics tell a different story. A recent study found there aren't more mass killings now than in the past. Department of Justice statistics say that violent crime is at a decades low, with some things like murder at a level not seen since the 1950's. Name the last black guy killed by a cop, and then do the math: how many black guys have been killed by cops this compared to the millions arrested last year? Is it really an epidemic? Hardly.

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Merry Christmas and (a belated) Happy Hanukkah!

Peace be with you and your family.

Luke 2:8-14 “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And even though Hanukkah (Chanukkah, Chanukah, or Hannukah), the Jewish Festival of Lights began December 12 and ended December 19. I hope everyone had a wonderful celebration The Story of Chanukah (Hanukkah)

Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

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More Observations

I hope you're all getting ready for Christmas? Better hurry, my friends. Anyways, here are more observations from recent events.

● There was an interesting twisting of reality which may soon change the way lawyers/big business work. On ESPN, some of the talking heads were discussing the allegations against the owner of the Panthers. For those who have not heard, Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, harassed three women and made some racist comment to a black employee. All three issues were settled. For some reason, the Panthers decided to dig this up again. The NFL learned about this and decided to take over the Panther's investigation. Richardson immediately announced that he was selling the team. The facts behind this remain hidden.

So anyways, quarterback Cam Newton was asked about this and he said he disagreed with Richardson selling because these are just allegations... "things people said happened." He even pointed out how allegations against him almost took him out of college football and they proved to be false. Very reasonable perspective.

Yet, the ESPN host said, "But these are beyond allegations because they've been settled." And the other three knuckleheads nodded their heads. Here's the thing, as any lawyer can tell you, there are dozens of reasons you settle something even when you are not guilty. Examples included: ending the publicity, the claim is smaller than the cost of fighting it, you know you're innocent but you worry that the jury won't believe you, the claim is a distraction and you have bigger things you are working on, etc. So what you do is settle the claim with no admission of guilt and it goes away.

But these ESPN types just made it clear that they won't let a settlement make a claim go away, and they see a settlement as an admission of guilt. Interesting. If this is how settlements of claims of harassment will be seen, then there is now far less benefit to settling. I will be curious to see how lawyers respond. Perhaps the future of settlements will require an admission by the accuser that they were wrong? Perhaps many more will fight.

● Hillary's approval is down to 36% versus 61% with a negative view. Trump's approval is at 41%. So he's actually more popular than Hillary. Interesting.

● So the tax bill will pass. I find this fascinating. This one could really disrupt a handful of liberal states. What do I mean?

I mentioned this a long time ago... but the federal income tax deduction has actually been a gift for liberal states. What it does is it allows those states to raise their own income/property taxes because the people paying them can deduct them from their federal taxes at a rate between 20% and 30%. In effect, this means that the federal government (you and I) was paying to subsidize the overtaxing practices in places like New York and California (13+%). Now these people will either pay the extra 10% or their states will need to back off. That's something a 2% tax revenue drop in California. It also means that California and New York and other high tax states will now be around 2% less competitive at attracting and keeping businesses.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Already there are some billionaires who are whining that New York better lower its rates or they will leave.

Thoughts?

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Some Observations

Have you noticed that every week they run headlines claiming that Trump's approval has dropped to the lowest level ever? Or how about how they've run this headline dozens of times: "Trump is now the most unpopular President ever!" Since that can only happen once by definition, I wonder how they can make the claim over and over? I'm calling bullship on the whole polling bit.

Have you noticed that the only sexual predator that all the little chickies agree is a genuine monster is Roy Moore? Ironically, the claims against Moore aren't even proven, as they are against many others, nor do they seem to involve much in the way of forced sexual conduct. This tells us that the #Iwontbesilentunlesstheresajobinitforme "movement" remains politicized.

Have you noticed the massive number of female teachers sleeping with students and how this epidemic goes unmentioned by feminists?

Have you noticed that any attempt by people like Matt Damon to bring some sanity to the #metoo witch hunt is being met with intense anger? Matt's crime was to suggest that not all harassment is the same and that we should not be punishing people who simply did something in a young victim-wannabe's dream the same as we should be punishing serial rapists. This suggestion of shades of misconduct angered the girls, who apparently think that anything any woman thinks was harassment deserves the same punishment. That should just about be the end of this silliness.

Have you noticed that the coverage of this year's LA fire has grown exponentially now that it's attacking celebrities' homes? Odd, isn't it, that a tragedy matters more when it happens to someone famous.

Have you noticed a commercial for a cologne called Sauvage (or is it Sausage?) starring Johhny Depp. Is it just me, or are you also pretty sure that Depp smells like week old rum, weeks of cigarettes and probably mule urine? Sausage is in stores now... if you dare.

Finally, I need to tell you all about our trip to Disney, which was both fantastic and interesting. I also need to tell you about this argument I had with a black former-friend of my wife. Fascinating stuff. I'll talk about both soon.

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Putting a Finger On What Is Wrong

Today I'm spontaneously starting a new series. In this series, I'm going to point out "thinking" that is simply wrong and which is ruining the world by twisting the way people see it. Let us begin with an attack on Taylor Swift.

To be clear, I am no Swift fan. Her work is obnoxious, amoral and full of messages that should themselves make this series. But tonight, I'm going to point out something that just happened to her which really highlights a problem with modern society. What happened was this...

Swift gave a concert to her fans in New York in which she celebrated her 28th birthday. For most people, birthdays are a happy occasion where we reflect briefly on the prior year and we consider the future. Add to this that concerts are generally meant to be uplifting for fans, who often feel part of the star's life. Hence, Swift thanked her fans and posted on Instagram that she "couldn’t have asked for a better year."

Internet trolls immediately descended:

"I mean, yeah there were Nazi's (sic) and white supremacy marches, and families are being town (sic) apart, and there were mass shootings and people are losing health care, but none of that affects me, so 2017 was great!"

Forget the fact that several of these items were BS; whether true or not, this troll has lapped this up and believes it. What matters here is not if any of this is true, but the idea that somehow because this idiot thinks these bad things happened, this idiot has the right to just Swift as immoral for telling people she had a good year. This is heinously wrong on several levels:

(1) The idea that someone has the right to judge whether someone else is insufficiently angry/outraged.
(2) The idea that the geopolitical must (or even should) outweigh the personal.
(3) The herd mindset that everyone must think and feel the same.

Seriously trolls, you have no right to judge another person's personal priorities, and that fact that you and your sickly fellow travelers do shows us what is wrong with you. Live your own damn lives. Stop trying to live through others. And stop trying to control others. Stop trying to spread your diseased mental states to other people. You suck. Go f* yourselves... the human race does not need you or want you.

Indeed, the very idea that geopolitical events should control your happiness and should trump personal events is mentally deranged. That makes you ISIS, Hitler and every other sick bastard who tried to evade their own failures by casting blame on geopolitical events that truly did not affect them. And the fact the things you point to as ruining you are BS makes it even worse. You are a rebel without a clue looking for an outrage to let you unleash your hate... you are nothing more.

Finally, your herd instinct is the very thing that drives the human race off the cliff time and again. People left to their own opinions and beliefs built this world, herd creatures like you periodically try to destroy it. Turd. I wish you a long, lonely life of intense unhappiness.

That's how I see it. You?

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Cognitive Dissonance

I am often amazed at liberals. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Liberals are awash in racist impulses. They see the world defined by race and they clearly view minorities as inferior. No? Then what else are we to make of (1) their films using the Magic Negro trope over and over or the White Man's Burden trope? Apparently, black and brown people can't learn unless some honkey teaches them, (2) Them making minorities into cute little castrated mascots who dance in the streets for their entertainment, (3) The "intellectual" idea behind desegregation, which is basically that black kids can't learn unless they are surrounded by whites, or (4) the way they are unwilling to speak truth to minorities for fear the little dears can't handle the truth. And yet, they call everyone else a racist.

They see women the same way. While they pay lip service to women being "strong," their policy statements tell us they see women as infinitely delicate little creatures that need to be protected from criticism, sexual situations, and the hardships of the real world. They even worry about the language itself oppressing these delicate flowers. And yet, the accuse everyone else of sexism.

How about the harsh way they suppress speech they don't like in the name of free speech? The way everything must be defined by and counted by race to create a color blind society? The way they bully bullies? How their principles apply according to whom they like and whom they don't. And so on.

But now we see a whoooooole 'nother level to this.

Now we have seen an army of liberal/progressive sexual predators who've spent the past decade whaling about protecting women from people they arbitrarily label as predators because they disagree with them ideologically. Think about this. As every one of these bastards screamed and pointed fingers at innocent conservatives, they were hiding rapes, druggings, threats, unwanted touching, unwanted kissing, and God knows what else.

What's more, all these strong liberal women and the good liberal friends of these bastards knew all about it and said nothing even as they too smeared conservatives with false allegations of the very things their own friends and allies were doing. This is beyond perverse. It is beyond despicable.

The more I think about it, the more shocked I become honestly. This isn't like someone holding other people to a slightly higher standard than they manage to achieve themselves. This isn't even standard hypocrisy. This is a gaggle of predators hiding their own crimes while falsely accusing the world of their own conduct. This is villainy. Even worse, it's a conspiracy of silence where the predators, the victims and the friends and partners of the predators all stayed silent so they could smear people they disagree with. This is evil.

Thoughts?

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Ha ha ha ha ha wrong.

So screamed the headline at Yahoo: Doug Jones's victory in Alabama is an ominous sign for Republicans. Uh, no.

Democrat Doug Jones shocked this state, and the country, by defeating Republican Roy Moore in Alabama’s Senate special election Tuesday, a victory that sounds a loud warning to the White House and the Republican Party.

Jones’s victory is a shot in the arm for Democrats, who are hoping that anger at Trump and congressional Republicans will fuel a “wave” election in 2018, flipping the U.S. House of Representatives, and perhaps even the Senate, blue.

Nope. So much nope. Not shocking. No warning. Says nothing about other races.

Moore’s defeat means that Trump has now suffered three consecutive losses. He first backed Moore’s opponent, Luther Strange, in the Republican primary only to see him lose to Moore. Then, last month, voters in Virginia turned out in historic numbers to deliver a massive rebuke to Trump in the elections for governor and state legislature.

So Trump's first loss was within a Republican primary? How does that help Democrats? As for Virginia, it's a reliably blue state. Trump should lose there. Yet, it came down to the wire and the legislature wasn't decided for weeks after the election because it was that close. That's hardly "a massive rebuke." To the contrary, it should be freaking Democrats out.

As for this Roy Moore thing having meaning, that's obviously wrong. Moore is an historically detestable candidate. Moore is a fringer even among the fringe. He is a rotten grandstander and self-promoter who abused the state supreme court, flowed with hate, apparently liked to diddle teenage girls, and whose wife was oddly uncomfortable with Jews. He is exactly the type of man the GOP needs to be driving out of their ranks. And unless the GOP starts running guys like this in other states, then this election has no lesson attached except that even Alabama will vote against a frothy fringer when they become too embarrassing. Trying to read this as some sort of ominous sign for the GOP is a joke. It is idiocy in action. It is to misunderstand what has happened so fundamentally as to make the proponent grossly negligent in their analysis. Said differently, it makes them a Yahoo employee.

The only real takeaway from Moore is that some chunk of the GOP remains blind to reality and prefers to see themselves as martyrs rather than Americans. That's it.

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Get Paid To Get Arrested in NYC!

I was reading the NY Post this morning as I always do, right before I got on the train to be met with an alert that a bomb had gone off in Times Square right near my next stop. Yeah, just another typical Monday morning in NYC.

but, as if we don't have enough trouble in NYC, this is the newest stupidity to come our way.




{{Warning: What you are about to read is not a parody from The Onion.}}

City Offers Gift Cards To Criminal Suspect Who Complete Survey!

Yeah, if you get arrested and have to appear in front of a judge, they want to know how your experience has been. If the perp fills out a questionaire, they'll get a $15 Dunkin' Donuts gift card! I mean, you cannot make this crap up!

Here's just a few of the questions to answer and all they have to do is check the box "Disagree", "Neutral", "Agree", and "N/A".
[There's a link in the article with a .pdf of the questionaire]

Please tell me if agree, disagree or are neutral on the following statements about the building.

27) Signs outside the building helped me know what to expect today.

28) The security procedures for entering the building were clear.

29) I was treated respectfully by the security officers as I entered the building.

30) Court staff seemed happy to answer any questions I had.

31) The bathrooms were clean.

32) I found my way around the courthouse easily.

33) I knew where to get water if I was thirsty.

34) The building was clean and well maintained.

35) Signs inside the building were confusing.

36) The temperature inside the building was comfortable.

37) I knew who to ask if I needed assistance finding my way around the building.

38) What would have made the process of navigating the courthouse easier for you today

Well, hey, it's only costing $800K and who wouldn't want the criminal court system to be more user-friendly. I especially like the idea that judges, clerks, etc are going to have to take courtesy training because being arrested and having to appear before a judge should be a positive, friendly experience.

Anyway, there is just one of many issues to discuss...like the Alabama special election today.

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Whoops...

Heap 'um bad weekend for our friends on the left.

So Friday, CNN ran with a story which said that Wikileaks had offered Team Trump access to certain information on September 4th, ten days before Wikileaks went public with it. If true, CNN would see this as proof that Wikileaks and Trump were working together and therefore Trump and Russia were working together. Here are the problems:

1. It wasn't offered to Trump and there is no evidence Trump people accepted it... it was an unsolicited email.
2. The email didn't come from a person CNN could actually identify as being connected to Wikileaks.
3. There is no proof that Wikileaks is actually connected to Russia. US intelligence only thinks this when they want to blame the Russians for something. Otherwise, they treat them as separate people.

So basically, some unknown dude sent an email to Trump Jr., with no evidence Trump Jr. responded... and CNN saw this as the smoking gun of some deal between Trump and Russia. Many other media outlets then ran with this because they want to believe that Trump is guilty of something or other.

Then the big problem came out. CNN misread the date. Instead of being September 4th, the email was sent September 14th, after Wikileaks released the information. Hence, CNN's take is impossible, and CNN should have known it. People are now shocked at how bad the media has been in reporting on this. Of course, this is the same media that repeatedly reported anti-Trump propaganda as truth when it wasn't. They are also confusing rumor and even wishful thinking with truth. Basically, our media has shown themselves to be paid liars for the left. What a disgrace.

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I Will Not Be Silent... As Often

This harassment thing is the gift that keeps on giving. This time, some Hollywood chickies have put together a video because nothing changes the world like a video. This group includes Jennifer Lawrence, Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone, Gal Gadot, Margot Robbie, Jessica Chastain, Mary J. Blige and beatch Jake Gyllenhaal. In this video these women bravely tell us "I will not be silent."

Uh... ok.

Of course, if we're being honest, what they are really saying is "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women."

But hey, that's still cool.

Um... wait. If we're being completely honest, then I think we also need to mention that they all seemed to claim that many men had harassed them and yet they only identified Harvey Weinstein. So really what they are saying is: "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women unless you're talking about men other than Harvey Weinstein, in which event I shall indeed remain silent."

Ya know, this might not be so brave after all.

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Snippets

From the news...

● Megahn Markle (rhymes with Sparkle) revealed that she struggled with insecurities because she was told that she was too husky and too bf ugly to be a model/actress. I am so, so sad. Yep, I'm sad because this is horse crap. This is the new inoculation for women who got famous for their looks. It's like the flu shot. Apparently, we are supposed to feel bad for all they suffered and now we don't judge them too harshly for their lives of privilege (for those playing along at home: too fat/ugly cures privileged Barbie... bullied cures asshole... sexual abuse cures major f*uck up).

Here is my response to Miss Marple and all the other models who make this claim:

(1) Bullshit.
(2) Everyone is told this growing up... often by people like you. This doesn't make you special.
(3) You picked a business that judges you on looks and weight, so you were asking for it. They don't say these things to garbage men or lawyers. This is self-inflicted.
(4) If you want people to stop judging women by looks, then stop trying to get jobs based on your looks and stop making your pretend lack of looks into something that defines you. I kid you not, airhead, in the 1970s, there were ugly actresses and they were amazing! I'd trade a thousand of you for one of them these days.

● Why do I keep seeing stories about Rodrigo Alves? He's a freak who is trying to make himself look like Ken/Barbie through massive amounts of surgery. Seriously, stop writing these articles. Let him die in obscurity.

● You know what is so telling about teaser headlines? They almost always link to an "article" in which the only bit of interesting information is the one word withheld from the headline. "Doing this can make your d**k fall right off!" If people writing these "articles" were any good, the article itself would be interest beyond the missing word, but they never are.

● Russia has been barred from the 2017 Olympics. Sounds like it's going to be 1984 all over again... let's go to McDonald's! Seriously though, this is an overdue punishment for Russia, but it doesn't go very far in terms of cleaning up sports. From the little I've seen, dozens of sports are awash in performance enhancing drugs and cheating (biking, swimming) and abuse (women's soccer). Add in the politicization of the NFL and NBA (and the crime wave that is the rosters of both sports), the nuclear bomb the feds dropped in college basketball (say hello to my little indictment), and the insanity that is the NCAA's football coaching hop ("I had to destroy the program to save it so I could get another job!"), and this isn't a great time for sports.

● John Conyers is going to resign. Not because he's a serial molester mind you -- Democrats don't resign for misconduct -- but because he's old (88 years young!) and he wants to pass his seat to his son just in case he gets forced out. What a way to go out... nepotism. They sure don't make "icons" like they used to.

Thoughts?

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News Nuggets

Here are my thoughts on a couple of news nuggets from the weekend:

● Trump has endorsed Roy Moore. I'm not a fan of that because Moore is the kind of cliche that kills conservatism. On the other hand, I do find it interesting that Trump is playing out of the Democratic playbook: support your side even if they are worse than Hitler. It's an interesting change for conservatives. Not sure if I like it. What do you think?

● Sheryl Sandberg, of Facebook fame, has raised an obvious point that the media has to date ignored. She's worried that the me-too list (also known as the sexual harassment scandal) will ultimately hurt women because men won't want to hire women as they will be seen as too much trouble. Well duh. Actions have consequences. And when millions of women whine about being "sexually assaulted" and think they should be able to bring this up YEARS later to destroy men's careers... often after following them from job to job... and when their "sexual assault" complaint is "He asked me out" or "I could just tell he was having impure thoughts about me" or "I consented at the time, but I changed my mind later," and there is a presumption of guilt, then what rational person would want to take on that kind of trouble?

I have personally witnessed the extreme vetting that law firms go to before hiring blacks for this very reason and I have zero doubt that this issue will do the same for women. The natural response of employers will be to avoid women who display slutty traits, who whine/complain, and who seem litigious. I can also see "The Pence Rule" kicking in with employers making sure never to meet with women without witnesses. The result won't be an end to female advancement, but it will be slowed and will come only with higher security.

● I'm kind of chuckling about college football. The obsession with figuring out which team is the best is an irony wrapped in idiocy. For one thing, you will never truly know who is best because it's just not possible. Given the ambiguity of picking who gets a chance to play, the interference of weather conditions or other uneven factors, and the ability of any team to win randomly on any given day, it is simply impossible to know who is the best. Nevertheless, the people needing to know have imposed a system that they claimed would solve this issue and make all the games even more important.

But of course, the opposite is true. The sad truth is that the media has done exactly what you would expect: they've redefined college football through the prism of the playoff system. In the process, they've changed the bowl games from prizes for great seasons into consolation prizes for those forgotten by the playoffs. And now it's been pointed out that many of the conference championships are meaningless as well, with winners like Ohio State this year and Penn State last year not making the playoffs either. Then there's Central Florida who went undefeated and weren't even considered for the playoffs, making all their games meaningless and showing that most teams will always be seen as ineligible for the playoffs no matter what they do.

To solve these problems, the idiots who caused it are now suggesting expanding the playoffs to eight games, which solves none of these problems. Oh well.

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