Woke Jesus
—Disinformation Expert Ace
I like this Jesus, he sounds like Loki.
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Disney's Value Plunges $20 Billon After Iger's Earnings (Losings) Report
—Disinformation Expert Ace
The Disney shills at CNN have to admit: Disney stock just had its worst day in eighteen months.
Even though Iger claims, through recherché numerical manipulations unknown outside of Bistromath*, that Disney Minus is now profitable, the rest of the news was so bad that Disney's share price dropped 10% and its overall market cap fell by $20 billion.
Walt Disney's (DIS.N) surprise profit in its streaming entertainment division was eclipsed by a drop in its traditional TV business and weaker box office, sending its stock tumbling 10%, on track for its deepest one-day drop in 17 months. Like other media companies, Disney has been trying to adapt to consumer migration from cable television to streaming entertainment, and had promised Wall Street that its streaming operation would become profitable by September.The division has been losing money since Disney+ debuted in 2019 in a major push by the company to compete with Netflix.
However, revenue from the traditional television business declined 8% to $2.77 billion and operating profit fell 22% from a year ago.
..."The initial market reaction is showing that there are more questions than answers for earnings over the next couple of quarters," said Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management.
The direct-to-consumer entertainment division, which includes the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services, reported operating income of $47 million for the January-March period, compared with a loss of $587 million a year earlier.
I imagine Hulu is responsible for almost all of the increase.
By the way, the Hulu deal is going to cost them more than they want to pay. I think their own banker -- who is paid to do their bidding -- offered a laughably low estimation of Hulu's value. Comcat's banker figured a 1/3 stake in Hulu is worth $40 billion plus. The matter will go to a third bank to figure out whose valuation, the ballpark accurate one or Disney's, is correct.
Valliant Renegade noted that Bob Iger, uncharacteristically, stayed a long time to answer (or "answer") questions. His surmise is that Disney's big investors called Iger and told them they wanted some answers.
However, his answers -- "answers" -- seem to not have appeased the investors. Probably because while he was technically "answering questions," what he was actually doing was filibustering to avoid actually answer difficult questions.
Midnight's Edge has an example of this -- a questioner wanted to know what Iger was doing to get Star Wars and Marvel producing money again, and Iger filibustered for five minutes blabbing about how pleased he was with ESPN's performance, before then listing a handful of upcoming movies he claims he has "confidence" in. Then he repeated his bullshit that all Star Wars and Marvel need to rehabilitate themselves is fewer projects with a focus on "quality." Listen starting at around 8:00 for that.
So the investors, having told Disney they wanted some reassurance, got none of it at the question and "answer" session, and Disney's shares dropped.
Disney will release no more than three Marvel films and up to two Disney+ shows each year going forward as it works to place more focus on quality output.The announcement by CEO Bob Iger comes as Disney shares plunged 8% in Tuesday trading following the release of the entertainment giant's quarterly earnings. ...
"I've been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality," Iger said on the company's earnings call Tuesday.
Disney produce 4 of the 5 biggest money-losing flops of 2023. The only non-Disney megaflop on the list was WB's doomed Flash movie. The others were The Marvels, Indiana Jones and the Annoying Mary-Sue, Wish, and The Haunted Mansion. Ant-Man: Quantumania also lost money, but, thanks to applying the Bistromath operation known as the Finageler's Constant, it supposedly only lost $38 million.
Sure, Jan.
Oh, and Bob Iger lied in his last disclosure to Con the Rubes into keeping him in the CEO's office.
Now that Disney management has won its proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz, let's take a look at the Big Lie the company told to help keep shareholders on management's side.Last month, the Mouse House released a detailed, 67-page report for investors "singing the praises of its chief executive Bob Iger in a bid to convince stockholders to side with him in a battle with activist investors," as Forbes' Caroline Reid put it. I included the link because Reid did in her write-up, but the PDF file is no longer there, perhaps flushed down the memory hole.
Reid's article is a bit technical but the upshot is that when calculating the studio's return on investment for franchises like The Avengers and Star Wars, Disney didn't factor in the multibillion-dollar acquisition costs of buying Marvel and Lucasfilm.
"Calculating ROI on revenue rather than profit ignores the costs so artificially inflates the result," Reid explained. Well, yes. It's really easy to show a profit when you include revenues but conveniently leave out major expenses.
Reid concluded that "Disney hasn't misled investors as the methodology is in the fine print." But the methodology itself is a scam, a way to calculate returns on investment that no reputable firm would ever use. The Avengers movies made boatloads of money (at least until recent years) but Star Wars is probably still in the red -- despite what Disney told investors.
The board won its proxy battle against Peltz, so I guess it was all worth it.
During his terrible earnings report, Bob Iger highlighted Disney's slate of films coming in 2024 and 2025. For some reason he omitted mentioning the Rachel Ziegler disaster-in-the-making Snow White.
Has it been Quiet Cancelled? Or are they planning to release it on Disney Minus, so they can charge the film's losses against Disney Minus, and not against the film division? It may seem like six of one half a dozen of the other but everyone expects Disney Plus to be a permanent loss anyway.
Alan Ng reviewed the Disney Minus show "Tales of the Empire." He said that last season's show featured ten episodes about women in the Star Wars universe solving women's problems with women's wisdom, and this new series offers six episodes of women fixing the galaxy with stronk and brave womanhood.
I don't know if he's counting the They/Thems as women. This is a real scene from the new season, in which bad guys -- I assume -- cut down a They/Them and debate "letting Them die."
Even though they're killing this pyrsyn, they sure don't want to misgender Them!
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UNC Faculty Makes Terrorist Demand: We'll Withhold All Students' Grades Unless the Administration Promises Amnesty for the Pro-Terror "Protesters"
—Disinformation Expert Ace
UNC-Chapel Hill police charged 36 members of a pro-Palestinian "Gaza solidarity encampment" Tuesday morning after warning the group to remove its tents from campus or face possible arrest, suspension or expulsion from the university. University officials confirmed Tuesday evening that 30 people -- including 10 students -- were cited for trespassing and released on site after they refused to leave the encampment at Polk Place, the university's main quad. Twenty of those cited are not affiliated with the university. Six more demonstrators were charged and taken to the Orange County jail for booking, after which they were released on a written promise to appear in court. At least one person was charged with assault on a government official and resist, delay and obstruct, according to UNC police reports.The arrests were part of a tension-filled day between demonstrators and law enforcement, with the protest escalating to physical struggles around a flagpole in the center of Polk Place when an American flag was taken down and a Palestinian flag was hung in its place. Protesters also threw water on Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and the officers as they worked to rehang the flag.
Some protesters attempted to push past the police but did not appear to be successful.
UNC canceled classes Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the day, on the university's last day of classes for the semester. The school said it would also suspend all non-mandatory operations.
...
Sofie, an SJP organizer who did not give her last name, said Monday morning that the group planned to stay in the encampment until the university complies with its demands. "We're going to be out here until the university discloses, divests and actually ends complicity in the genocide against the Palestinian people carried out by the U.S. and Israel, Sofie said. In a news release Tuesday, the university said campus police "calmly approached the group" at 6 a.m. and detained people who refused to leave. "During that time, the protesters attempted to block the UNC Police vehicles by standing in front of them and throwing items at officers," the UNC release stated.
...
Members of the encampment who were willing to risk arrest, indicated by wearing a red wristband, gathered near the group's tents, while those not willing to do so remained at a distance.
Dividing the protest cadres into color-coded groups segregated based on how many laws they're willing to break, and how much violence they are prepared to use, is an antifa/Black Bloc practice.
Those wearing orange wristbands were willing to serve as "jail support."...
At noon, the demonstrators began marching to South Building, on the other end of the quad. The group, hundreds strong, chanted "Free, free Palestine," and "long live the intifada," among other chants.
The protesters were allowed to do their stupid pro-terrorism exercises so long as they did not interfere with the actual business of the schools. Just like the scorpion that must always sting the frog whose back it rides on, they quickly showed their true natures as destroyers and began invading and "taking over" classrooms.
The SJP is urging professors to withhold grades for any students unless these terrorists are granted amnesty.
They really appreciate the Palestinian Way of taking hostages and issuing demands. Maybe they should all move to that most shitty of all shithole countries.
[A] group of 800 professors at the school are signing a letter demanding that the school reverse all of the suspensions.The student encampment located on Polk Place was an example of the kind of peaceful free expression that our university claims to uphold. Free speech is often challenging; it can make people uncomfortable, and it can grow heated. But until that speech crosses the line into violence or obstruction, it must be protected, even at the cost of discomfort or patches of grass yellowed by tents. The administration's decision to call in police from across the state to storm our students' encampment at 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday, April 30, created a militarized and unsafe climate on the UNC campus. It subjected the very students it is charged with protecting to violence and trauma...The university must immediately dismiss all suspensions and other charges against students involved in the protest, return the confiscated belongings of our students, remove the fence around the flagpole in the quad, and re-open Campus Y in recognition of its central importance to our university community.
In short, they want amnesty for everyone involved in the protests. There were no threat included in the letter signed by the professors but the UNC Chapter of SJP is trying to add one. If amnesty isn't granted, they want professors to withhold students' grades.
UNC SJP is seeking to use withheld grades to pressure administrators to reverse student discipline. The group said in a news release that instructors are "withholding grades and demanding the UNC-CH administration grant all protesters amnesty."At least one professor has indicated he is going to do this until the school meets his (or her) demands.
UNC claims they'll sanction any professor who actually attempts to damage students by withholding their grades.
Fire them.
North Carolina must rewrite the law ending tenure for any professor who refuses to do his job for any reason, if that university takes any state aid.
And then: Fire them.
We cannot live in a society in which the left is always threatening the rest of us into giving them special privileges and immunities, as if they were an imperial noble caste.
AstraZeneca Withdraws Its Vaccine Worldwide, Citing Unacceptable Level of Dangerous Side Effects
—Disinformation Expert Ace
The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has decided to globally withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine, citing a rare and dangerous side effect associated with the jab.
The news was first reported by The Telegraph, which confirmed that the company had voluntarily withdrawn its "marketing authorisation," meaning it will no longer be available for purchase.The paper reported:
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide, months after the pharmaceutical giant admitted for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect.The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union, after the company voluntarily withdrew its "marketing authorisation". The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on Tuesday. Similar applications will be made in the coming months in the UK and in other countries that had approved the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria.
The decision to withdraw it brings to an end the use of the jab, which was heralded by Boris Johnson as a "triumph for British science" and credited with saving more than six million lives. AstraZeneca said the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It said the vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied, having been superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new variants.
AstraZeneca has come under intense scrutiny over recent months over evidence that their version of the COVID-19 vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, has caused dozens of cases of Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), leading to at least 81 deaths. Around 50 victims and grieving relatives are also suing the company as a result.
Oh, thrombosis? You mean arterial thrombosis? Clots inside blood vessels that cause heart attacks and deaths?
Including in young people, who of course are rarely victims of heart attacks?
Are those the sort of thromboses you mean?
Thrombosis is a blood clot within blood vessels that limits the flow of blood. Acute venous and arterial thromboses are the most common cause of death in developed countries. The mortality rate varies with the location and acuity of thrombosis. Myocardial infarctions and cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) account for the highest proportion of thrombosis-associated deaths in the United States.
RFKJr. Told a Court During His Divorce Proceedings That a Worm Had Eaten Part of His Brain and Died Inside of His Skull, Giving Him "Cognitive Problems"
—Disinformation Expert Ace
That reads like a juiced headline but it's actually 100% accurate.
The Times is attempting to take Kennedy out of the race.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted in a 2012 deposition that a worm had eaten part of his brain and then died inside his head, according to a report by The New York Times.Key Details:
RFK Jr. made the unusual admission during a deposition for his 2012 divorce proceedings.
He began experiencing cognitive problems and memory loss in 2010, admitting in the deposition two years later, "I have cognitive problems, clearly."
Upon seeing a New York doctor regarding his cognitive problems, he was ultimately informed that the issues were likely "caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died," Kennedy said in his deposition.
Diving Deeper:
The New York Times report indicates that Kennedy made the startling revelation during his 2012 divorce deposition. He reportedly began experiencing cognitive issues and both short and long-term memory loss in 2010, shortly after the death of his uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, from brain cancer. Initially, Kennedy feared he had a brain tumor, but a second opinion from a New York doctor revealed a different cause. The doctor informed Kennedy that a dark spot on his brain scans was due to a dead parasite. Kennedy testified that the doctor told him the parasite had eaten a part of his brain before dying.
In addition to the brain parasite, Kennedy also admitted to suffering from mercury poisoning, which he believes was caused by his frequent consumption of tuna fish sandwiches.
Um. I don't know whether to take all of this seriously, or if Kennedy is just a hypochondriac and medical paranoiac.
However, Kennedy's health history is not without other complications. The anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist has openly discussed his past struggles with drug addiction.
Obviously the Times is attempting to destroy RFKJr. so that he doesn't take votes from Biden (who himself has a worm-riddled brain and "cognitive problems").
I'm not sure if I should root for their effort. RFKJr. seems to take more votes from Trump.
MXMNews criticizes Biden for his Basement Strategy.
Even the New York Times has criticized Biden for not doing any interviews, except with the likes of Steven Colbert and Howard Stern.
The one thing the leftwing press will criticize a Democrat for is not giving the press the access and deference they feel entitled to.
Basement Biden? Biden "systematically avoiding interviews," reportQuick Hit:
President Biden's systematic avoidance of media interviews has raised concerns among journalists and the public alike. With the fewest interviews given by any president in over 40 years, Biden's lack of media engagement has sparked speculation about his cognitive abilities and the transparency of his administration.
Key Details:
President Biden has given fewer interviews than any president in over 40 years, leading to criticism from media outlets including The New York Times.
Concerns have been raised about the precedent this sets for future presidents and the potential impact on democratic accountability.
Despite these concerns, Biden's communications team has shifted focus towards social media influencers to disseminate the president's message.
Diving Deeper:
The New York Times, which endorsed Biden's presidency in 2020, has publicly criticized the president for his lack of engagement with the press. In a statement, the newspaper expressed concern that Biden is "systematically avoiding interviews," "undermines an important norm" and sets a "dangerous precedent" for future presidents to evade scrutiny and accountability.
Former President Donald Trump has also taken a jab at Biden's reluctance to sit for interviews. In a recent Time Magazine interview, Trump questioned whether Biden would be capable of participating in such an interview, implying concerns about his cognitive abilities.
...Despite these criticisms, Biden's communications team has adopted a different strategy, focusing on social media influencers to communicate the president's message. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended this approach, arguing that the type of interviews Biden takes are more important than the quantity.
Talking with shriveled-dick hypochondriac and pornographer Howard Stern is a "quality interview"?
Even Stern admits that he went easy on Joe Biden.
Stern then addressed critics who claimed his questions to Biden were "too soft.""My whole goal was not to sit there and talk politics. I'm not into that. I don't want to debate policy," he claimed." My only agenda [was] I would like to get to know the president because I suspect he's a very meaningful, very thoughtful guy."
"You've gotta f*cking be kidding me," Stern finally exclaimed.
Quality interview.
Judge Delays Trump's Florida Documents Trial to Investigate the FBI's Mishandling of Evidence; Georgia Court Agrees to Hear Trump's Appeal to Disqualify Fani Willis
—Disinformation Expert Ace
This is about Jack Smith's own misrepresenations to the court about his sloppy evidence handling.
Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to indefinitely delay former President Trump's trial stems from significant pretrial litigation issues, including a crucial admission by Special Counsel Jack Smith that may reshape the prosecution's standing. In a recent filing, Smith disclosed that the documents from Mar-a-Lago might not have been maintained in their original order, contradicting earlier representations to the court.
I confess, I have no idea why the ordering of the documents is important, but apparently it is. Anyone know why this is important?
This revelation came as part of the Special Counsel's response to a co-defendant's request for a delay to prepare his defense, asserting that the state of discovery provided was inadequate. Smith's admission acknowledges that some boxes of documents had been accessed and their contents possibly rearranged, which he claims still does not affect the integrity of the evidence. However, this could provide a substantial basis for Trump's defense team to argue evidence tampering.Moreover, Smith admitted that the replacement of classified documents with placeholders was not initially disclosed accurately to the court, which could lead to significant legal repercussions for the prosecution. Judge Cannon now faces the task of deciding how to address these admissions, including the potential sanctioning of the Special Counsel and further delays in the trial proceedings.
Meanwhile, in the matter of MSD (Mobile Snizz Dispensary) Fani Willis:
The cowardly, biased chickenshit political operator posing as a judge did not disqualify her; he gave her a choice to recuse herself, or fire Sweetdick. She chose the latter.
Trump says she should have been disqualified outright. He's right.
The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to consider Trump's appeal. This is an "interlocutory" appeal, which is harder to get. Usually appeals are heard after a trial is completed. An interlocutory appeal is a request to hear an appeal while a trial is still underway.
The decision by the intermediate appeals court to take up the case is likely to cause a delay, further reducing the possibility of the case reaching trial before the November general election. This is particularly significant as Trump is expected to be the Republican nominee for president.Trump's lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, has expressed that the former president looks forward to presenting arguments to the appeals court as to why the case should be dismissed and why Willis "should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution." A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on the Court of Appeals decision to take up the matter.
Wednesday Morning Rant
—Joe Mannix
Last week's jobs report was underwhelming to say the least. In the wake of the headline "not as much as growth as expected" conclusion, the junta unsurprisingly trotted out the same old tired lines as always. Bidenomics is great. America is back. Don't let the wreckers gaslight you into thinking things are bad. Etc. You can set your watch by it, just like Obama's "green shoots" and "jobs created or saved."
One of the downsides to press coverage on the employment reports is that it ignores - probably because the "expert" journalists don't even know about it - everything outside the executive summary. The internals of BLS reporting are often interesting and if you want any context outside the headline number and the biggest movers by economic sector, you have to dig in and learn what to look for. Journalists can't usually be bothered, if they are even capable.
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The Morning Report — 5/8/24
—J.J. Sefton
Good morning, kids. On a positive note, Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the Trump documents case has indefinitely suspended the proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial is indefinitely postponed because of legal issues and deadlines involving the use of classified evidence at trial. The former president had been scheduled to go on trial in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal criminal case against him in two weeks on May 20. . .. . . “The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture—before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and [Classified Information Procedures Act] issues remaining and forthcoming—would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury,” Cannon wrote.
The move threatens to derail the case as it increases the likelihood that it does not go to trial until after the presidential election in November. If Trump were to win, it is widely expected that his Department of Justice will dismiss the case.
As we now know, to no one's surprise, is that the FBI 3AM raid on Mar-a-Lago featured photos released to the Junta propaganda house organs showing "Classified" documents strewn all about Trump's living room – except that the photos were completely staged by the FBI, including prop folders they created with the words "TOP SECRET" rubber stamped a la "Mission: Impossible" all over them. Ham-fisted and amateurish to be sure, yet in terms of satisfying a Trump-deranged audience, it was the moral equivalent of giving a stack of slightly used Beaver Hunt to a horny 13-year-old and telling him to go have a good time.
From the beginning, the whole thing was specious since as president, Trump had the authority to declassify whatever documents he chose and to have them in his possession. The grand total, to the best of my recollection were several boxes which were in his possession at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. In fact, many of the documents may very well have been shipped to him without his knowledge, either of their being in his possession or the nature of their contents. Total Deep State set up. Just like J-6.
This is unlike Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants who took an Ark of the Covenant sized warehouse full of them illegally with malice aforethought during his tenure as Obama's VP (likely even years before as a senator) and kept them in unlocked garages and university offices for the purpose of selling whatever they contained to the highest bidder. But Biden remains uncharged as the spin-meisters do their dervish routine to assure us it's a nothing burger and/or totally kosher. Thank you Robert Hur.
As for Aileen Cannon, the usual gang of deviants, gibbering hacks and fools are having shit-fits. The facts be damned. She's a Trump appointee and therefore this is a travesty of justice. It'd be laughable were it not for the hypocrisy of everyone from Jack Smith, to Bragg, to Willis, to Merchan to Engoron/Gorgon/Enron/Erdogon and virtually the entire criminal justice scam of a system being used to crush Donald Trump and everyone who supports him.
There is still another Jack Smith show trial regarding J-6 along with Fani Willis' peep show of "2020 election interference," the Alvin Bragg 34 counts of the same non-crime of not inflating the value of his properties all masquerading as equal justice under the law. Let me pause and apologize in advance for perhaps confusing some of the players and what each charge may or may not be that they are involved with. It's such a massive blizzard of utter kangaroo court, banana republic bullshit that it's all too easy to lose track of who's doing what to Trump and all of us with what at what time and in what court.
The Hyman Roth, or in this case the broken hymen of wroth cherry on top of it all is the truly pornographic display of this Stormy Daniels travesty (the E. Jean Carrol rape fantasist fake "libel" suit notwithstanding). Legal eagle Jonathan Turley describes it perfectly:
The value of the testimony was entirely sensational and gratuitous, yet Merchan was fine with humiliating Trump. Daniels’ testimony was a dumpster fire in the courtroom.The most maddening moment for the defense came at the lunch break when Merchan stated, “I agree that it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid.” He then denied a motion for a mistrial basis on the testimony and blamed the defense for not objecting more.
That, of course, ignores the standing objection of the defense to Daniels even appearing, and specific objections to the broad scope allowed by the court. This is precisely what the defense said would happen when the prosecutors only agreed to avoid “genitalia.”
. . . There was no reason for Daniels to appear at all in the trial. Even if he was adamant in allowing her, Merchan could have imposed a much more limited scope for her testimony. He could also have enforced the limits that he did place on the testimony when it was being ignored by both the prosecutors and the witness.
Merchan said that he is considering a limiting instruction for the jury to ignore aspects of the testimony. But that is little comfort for the defendant. The court was told that this would happen, it happened, and now the court wants to ask the jury to pretend that it did not happen. Merchan knows that there is no way for the jury to unhear the testimony. More importantly, the prosecution knew that from the outset. . .
. . . It is not the witness, but the case that seems increasingly obscene. You have a judge who should have recused himself given his daughter’s major role as a Democratic activist and fundraiser. You have a gag order that is allowing a New York Supreme Court justice to regulate what the leading candidate for the presidency may say in an election on the weaponization of the legal system. You have a lead prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, who not only left the Biden Justice Department to revive this case, but once worked for the Democratic National Committee.
You have a case based on two dead misdemeanors shocked back into life by a still mysterious theory of an undefined crime. In comparison, Daniels may be the only authentic part of the entire case in New York v. Trump.
Even more of a joke than the media whore propagandists hyperventilating over Aileen Cannon is the fact that they are fearful Sloppy Daniels' testimony might actually cause Bragg to lose the case. As if!
A rigged judge, prosecutor and a jury pool in a city and state that went something like well over 80% for Biden in 2020 (election shenanigans notwithstanding). Even with all that going for them, there is no way that that jury isn't fixed and the verdict already in. And should there somehow be at least one juror who might actually go rogue, they'll be doxxed and find their homes and their family members on fire by the time they are released.
Of course, with the nation, the economy, the border, out of control crime, exploding Jew-hate on and off campus and the world going up in flames already, every time the name Trump is even mentioned in the media now serves as a sort of in-kind donation to his campaign. And if Merchan actually locks him up? Wow.
It is a sad state of affairs that we are forced to see things as they are, and not as we wish them to be. But it is what it is. With everything so abjectly corrupt, and the will to power that has strangled even the tiniest sliver of an iota of morality and ethics that might have still existed of those in power to stifle their own political desires in favor of fairness, decency and the preservation of even the slimmest veneer of the civil society that yet exists, what chance do "the better angels of our nature" have in pulling us back from the brink?
Has the Supreme Court noticed that we’ve crossed a legal Rubicon? The Constitution — that thing the Court is supposed to defend — is becoming less relevant by the day because the left has decided that our mutual pact of self-governance doesn’t apply to leftists. They have weaponized our government against us — using it to surveil, silence, harass, and steal from us. Our own government is even arguing that the Constitution should not be a constraint on its operations — which is precisely what its purpose is.Are the Supreme Court Justices beginning to realize that we are in crisis? Two recent cases indicate that they are awakening to that reality.
In Fischer v. United States, the court is considering the validity of using a financial statute to charge January 6 trespassers with obstruction of an official proceeding. During questioning, Justice Gorsuch asked, “Would pulling a fire alarm before a vote qualify for 20 years in federal prison?” He was referring to Democrat Jamaal Bowman, who pulled a fire alarm to prevent a congressional vote yet was not charged with “obstructing an official proceeding.” That was Gorsuch’s way of asking if something other than party affiliation determines who will face the greater jeopardy of obstruction charges. It was a sarcastic illustration of the decidedly unequal system of justice the DoJ is currently practicing.
In Trump v. United States, the Court is considering whether Donald Trump has immunity for actions taken while he was president. The DoJ argued that the motive for presidential actions should determine whether immunity applies and that the discretion and good motivations of DoJ attorneys should be trusted to make that determination (try not to laugh). Justice Alito questioned the wisdom of that argument, asking if the DoJ should be trusted, “given its history of abusive partisan prosecution.” That is about as close as a Supreme Court justice will ever come to telling a government solicitor general that the latter has squandered his last ounce of credibility.
It appears that the Supreme Court justices are becoming aware that our justice system is now a tangle of broken constitutional promises and inconsistent legal decisions. But do they realize that they helped create this mess?. . . The Supreme Court needs to make radical course corrections now, because it failed to make minor adjustments when it would have mattered.
The Court’s desire to exercise restraint is an admirable judicial philosophy — in a well functioning republic. When a car is running well, minor maintenance is the only appropriate action. But when the car is on fire, it doesn’t need an oil change. It needs emergency action.
Do the Supremes realize that the leftists have set our republic on fire? The Court needs to stop looking for excuses for restraint and start looking for opportunities to stop the advance of tyranny. This is the time for bold action — or after November there may be nothing left to defend but ashes. They need to consider that as they deliberate on the cases before them.
It's a very well-written and thoughtful essay. Except I would ask the author, even if please God SCOTUS makes the right decisions in these cases, what will it matter in the end? They already slapped down Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants student loan multi billion dollar bribe as unconstitutional and what did he do? Ignore it and issue another one!
To paraphrase Democrat hero Joseph Stalin, "How many divisions does the Supreme Court have?"
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- "As the progressive Elite grows in power, it has come increasingly to rejoice in its own shared consciousness and increasingly abhors showing any sort of consideration for the civic American tradition."
Progressivism and Pure Reason
- "The CCP: coming to your neighborhood very soon."
How China Exports its Totalitarian Ideology to the Rest of the World
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Daily Tech News 8 May 2024
—Pixy Misa
Top Story- Apple has announced its M4 CPU, just months after the M3. (Ars Technica)
It's 50% faster.
50% faster than what, you ask.
Shut up, they explained.
- Along with the M4 CPU comes a new range of iPad Pros using it. (AnandTech)
These start at $1000 and go up to $3000.
That is, the cheapest model costs more than my new laptop and the extra memory and storage I bought for it.
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(5/7/24) Tuesday Overnight Open Thread
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
Quote IThe first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. Thomas Sowell
Quote II“We’re concerned about the increasing regulation of knives due to the violence in the world,” said Carl Elsener, the fourth-generation CEO of the family-run company Victorinox(Swiss Army Knives)When knives are outlawed only outlaws will have knives.
Quote 3“This is surprising,” Director of Infectious Disease at Dignity Health Dr. Suman RadhakrishnaWhy are the experts always surprised?
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It Takes a Village to Catch a Fish Cafe
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Barcelona's Park Guell
by @dazeydreamz
More pics here.
Bringing your fren with you on a walkie.
ICYMI: the moment a cat realizes the red part is the good part of a watermelon.
Cats fighting for room on a cat bed.
Cat: How do you like having this ratty thing jiggled in front of your face?
Puppysitting for the new parents.
Badass goose. It's not just humans that they menace.
The frolicking sheep is cute, but check out the dogs on the roof in background. Who's running this farm? Yahoo Serious?
Whoa, I zonked out and had a 1982 flashback. Apologies.
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Quick Hits 2
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Flaky corpservative Kristi Noem tells Fox News "journalist" Stuart Varney that he "needs to stop" asking her about her puppy murder. I think the media is fixated on the puppy murder to draw attention away from the goat murder she killed the same day (IIRC) but that's just me, I believe in the value of goats' lives.
Victor Davis Hanson doesn't look too comfortable about Megyn Kelly's cruelty in trashing Noem about her lies about meeting (and staring down) Kim Il-Jun. Noem weirdly says she worked to correct this lie "as soon as it was brought to my attention," but... her ghostwriter must have gotten it from somewhere, and Kristi Noem read this passage aloud for the audiobook. Didn't she hear this lie then? Was she just zoned out completely? Is it a lie she's told, Biden-like, so many times it's become part of her Personal Head Cannon?
Kelly is probably riding her hard because they both kind of inhabit the same social space -- pretty women near the top of the pile in the politico-media sphere -- and people who occupy the same sort of slot tend to be enemies.
Especially if they're women. Obviously.
But who cares about her bias. Kristi Noem showed her true colors when she vetoed the no-boys-in-girls-sports law, and then lied about just wanting to avoid litigation or having only exercised the veto for technical reasons. She's another small-state red governor, like Asa Hutchinson, entirely dependent on her state's corporate oligarchs, who are of course all-in on transgenderism. Fuck her and the dead dog (and goat) she rode in on.
Megyn Kelly nails her on her "Aw shucks" shitkicker schtick. Whenever you catch her in a lie, she says something like "Well that's just the way we get things done on the ranch, you urban pointyheads wouldn't understand."
I understand you shot a puppy and didn't meet Kim Il-Jun. Would spending time holding a pitchfork improve my understanding?
An ex-CNN "reporter" tells a frightening story of attending a dinner party with educated, nicely-dressed people of her social order.. only to discover they were all "closeted Trump supporters" and "MAGAts." And this knowledge, that "MAGAts" might be walking around pretending to be humans, "haunts" her.
Chilling!
Ex-CNN reporter Michelle Kosinski wrote in a Sunday social media post that she was surprised by how "normal" a group of "closeted" Trump supporters seemed at a dinner she attended, which she said continues to "haunt" her."All were well-educated and successful in careers. They seemed great! On the surface. For like an hour. But slowly, over a few drinks, they began to let slip their true MAGA natures," Kosinski wrote.
Kosinski, a former correspondent for both CNN and NBC News, wrote that one couple in the group wouldn't allow their kids to apply to Ivy League universities, but were "weird" about explaining their reasoning. Others used air-quotes while talking about climate change.
"The others-- when they realized that a few in their presence came armed with (gasp) actual facts (NO!)-- quickly changed the subject and nervously said they don't want to talk politics. They realized they would be eviscerated on all idiotic points, especially on the economy," Kosinski said.
Kosinski said it was funny how "extremist" or "wrong" beliefs can leak out from those who you least expect, but warned, "they are out there."
"This dinner continues to haunt me. They all seemed so... normal. When I asked the couple who were my old friends how THEY didn't know, they said that in their upscale FL neighborhood, people are extremely careful not to ever broach or debate the subject. This is not healthy," Kosinski continued in her thread.
Yes, dear, Those People are unhealthy. On the other hand, you in your bitter, twisted hysteria and obsessive hatred -- you're completely healthy.
Hey, Valley of the Dolls, how many fucking pills are you on? Do you even know?
"If people don't ever talk about these things as friends and neighbors, and only live in their own warped information silos, how will they ever learn what is true or false? How will the truth ever make them consider alternatives? The allure of bulls--- is co-opting decent minds," Kosinski wrote.
LOL. The MAGAts live "in their own warped information silos." Yes, of course.
Mark Hemingway @HeminatorIt is truly amazing how at a time when mortgage rates have close to tripled in three years, overall consumer prices are up 20 percent (25 for food), and Russia's at war in Eastern Europe and the entire Middle East is a powder keg -- the response is "MAGAts don't know facts!"
As you probably have heard by now, this excitable little idiot actually managed to get laughed out of the "news" industry when she rowed a kayak to pretend that flood waters were so deep they required boats to get around in. She was humiliated when two men walked into frame, showing that the flooding was about six inches deep.
Jen Psaki: Don't Give Up Hope for a Biden Win -- After All, Trump Could Die!
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Quick Hits
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Hamas makes a new wonderful ceasefire offer for Israel -- would you accept dead hostages (aka "murder victims") in our hostages-for-prisoners deal?
What a deal! Hamas has a new proposal for a cease-fire, disguised as the former US-negotiated hostage deal, but with a new twist. Now that the Israelis have made it clear that Joe Biden won't stop them from destroying the remaining Hamas brigades in Rafah, they want to go back to the deal they rejected ... as long as the Israelis aren't too picky about body temperature:[The Times of Israel:]In an announcement detailing the clauses to which it had agreed Monday in the latest proposal for a deal, the terror group said, "During the first phase, Hamas releases 33 Israeli detainees (alive or corpses)."
The New York Times reported Tuesday that the terror group had explicitly told mediators that some of the 33 hostages it would release under the first phase of the prospective deal would not be alive. The Times said it was not clear whether the terror group had informed interlocutors how many of the 33 would be alive.
A failure to release 33 living hostages would appear to conflict with Israeli demands.
I'm feeling a real Colonel Kurtz kind of way about these Gazans.
People are declaring this summer to be "Frat Boy Summer." What they mean is that this is the summer that traditionalist men declare, "We're here, we're straight, we want to wear loose shorts with lots of big pockets."
Behold the "frat boys" unapologetically saving Old Glory, singing the national anthem, chanting "USA, USA, USA," and rudely ridiculing the campus freaks who parade around in Hamas colors and barricade themselves in university buildings.God forbid! They look like Trump voters.
This display of irrepressible masculinity erupting in Gen Z is an affront to the grand societal feminization project of the left, which has only itself to blame.
Frat Boy Summer is this year's backlash against an epidemic of arrogant, entitled women who have been coddled all their lives and think they're smarter and more important than they really are.
It is a manifestation of the growing political divide between men and women that has been evident in opinion polls for some time. There is a 10-point gap on most issues between men and women.
Young unmarried women, in particular, skew very left, while young men are becoming markedly more conservative.
The latest ABC-Ipsos poll over the weekend showed Donald Trump winning the under-30s by five points over Joe Biden, 48% to 43%. That was entirely down to Trump's huge advantage with young men, 54% to 43%.
Young women favored Biden by three points, 44% to 41%, still a rather anemic vote of confidence considering all the "Handmaid's Tale"-style propaganda being thrown at them about abortion and Trump's beastly ways.
It's a nightmare scenario for Biden, who has been counting on the youth vote to win him the election like it did in 2020. Hence his desperate pandering to Gen Z.
The president is splashing around billions of taxpayer dollars on student debt relief, relaxing cannabis legislation, championing "trans kids" as the greatest heroes of their generation and inviting gender-fluid young TikTok influencers to VIP events at the White House. This is not your granddad's Joe Biden.
But none of it can close the growing ideological gulf between the sexes, which has its roots in the unjust treatment of boys and young men in recent decades.
The college gender gap was a crisis when men outnumbered women up until the 1980s, but now that there are three women for every two men in college, we must rejoice. You go, girl!
Now there are 1 million fewer men in college than in 2011, according to Pew Research, with one-quarter of male Ivy Leaguers identifying as LGBT. It's sexual reparations in which nobody had a say.
There is a cohort of women who are giving the fairer sex a bad name. These toxic femmes gobbled up the unjust privileges of affirmative action and the punitive fakery that the #MeToo movement became and then found they were more miserable than ever.
So they doubled down, offloading blame onto the patriarchy or toxic masculinity or whatever excuse they could find to avoid looking in the mirror.
Speaking of, neurotic hysterical White Women are now pushing the latest shrill propganda, claiming that it's safer to encounter a bear in the woods than a (spit) man.
They claim that men are more dangerous to women than bears.
Which is a strange claim, as they encounter hundreds of men daily, with few adverse incidents.
They have never encountered a single bear, of course.
So as usual, humiliating levels of childlike ignorance is both their shield and their sword.
Man Or Bear? Many Women Say They'd Rather Be Stuck In The Woods With A Bear In Latest Viral TikTok Debate
In the latest viral debate taking over TikTok, users are asking women whether they'd rather be trapped in the woods with a man or a bear, and many are choosing the bear, stating that a man may pose more potential danger than the wild animal--and the trend is sparking conversations about violence against women.Many women participating in a new viral debate on TikTok say they would rather be alone with a bear than a man in the woods, answering a hypothetical question that is leading many women to open up about negative experiences they have had with men, including domestic violence and sexual assault.
Some women say they'd choose the bear because they don't know the man in question--like one user, who said "it's not my boyfriend, it's not my father, it's not my cousin," adding being alone with an "unpredictable strange man is more frightening than being alone with a predictable wild animal."
In one video liked more than 2 million times, a user compiled some of the most gut-wrenching reasons women chose the bear--such as "the worst thing the bear can do is kill me," "the bear doesn't get enjoyment out of it" and "the bear sees me as a human being."
The bear. The bear "sees you as a human being," you say.
Remarkable.
Some users are flipping the question, asking men whether they'd rather their wife or daughter be alone with a bear or a man in the woods, and many of the men chose bear--including one, who said "I think you're more likely to anticipate what a bear would do than what a man would do."
I think that guy is grinding feminist points for snizz.
Now, if the question were "would you rather be alone with a "male feminist" or a bear" -- that I could see being a closer question.
Boy Scouts to change its name again, kind of like a child sex predator hoping that people will forget about it.
Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history in a bid to 'boost inclusion'.The Texas-based organization is set to become Scouting America as it hopes to improve participation amid flagging membership.
The historic change is the latest in a series designed to take the troop into the 21st century, including allowing gay youth and welcoming girls throughout its ranks.
It comes as the organization is emerging from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims.
'In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,' Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and chief executive officer, said in an interview before the announcement.
David Hogg, a hypermasculine Alpha Chad with testosterone levels that make The Incredible Hulk look like a pansy, obviously knows what Real Men are thinking. Here, He (capital "He" for this stud) tells us "men want one thing." Ladies, brace yourselves. Reading this may get you pregnant in your vaginas.
David Hogg @davidhogg111Men want one thing and it's literally regional high speed rail with affordable, frequent and reliable local public transit connections and mixed use development around transit hubs
A female darts competitor forfeited the championship match rather than play against a man in a Party City wig.
'I'm not playing against a man in a women's event.' That is what British darts champion Deta Hedman said Saturday. So, she forfeited her match against transgender competitor Noa-Lynn van Leuven at the Denmark Open.Yay for her. She is 64 years old and has been a vocal critic against rules that allow men to compete in women's sports. She is well-known among women's darts fans. She previously called on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the World Darts Federation (WDF) to exclude men from women's tournaments.
Instead of competing with van Leuven in the WDF tournament quarter-finals, she boycotted the game.
A round of applause for Deta Hedman.
She posted on her Facebook page about her decision two days before the match. "Women & girls deserve to be CHAMPIONS in their own sports."
A TIPP poll -- which puts Biden slightly ahead of Trump -- simultaneously finds that Biden has lost 28 points of support among blacks.
A new I&I/TIPP poll highlights a dramatic 28-point decline in support for President Joe Biden among Black Americans since the 2020 election, marking a significant shift in voter sentiment.Key Details:
In the 2020 presidential election, 87% of Black voters supported Biden, but recent figures show only 59% now do, reflecting a 28% drop.
Former President Donald Trump has increased his support among Black voters from 12% in 2020 to 15% today.
The poll also notes Biden's decreased support among Hispanic and independent voters, with Trump leading significantly among independents in scenarios including third-party candidates.
But he's ahead of Trump. Riiiiight.
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The New York Times -- "All the News That's Fit to Print" -- Finally Admits the Existence of Covid "Vaccine" Injuries, Three Years After Hundreds of Millions of Injections
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Sometimes late is not necessarily better than never.
The Times gave the delicate task of offering a Modified Limit Hang-Out to the public they've been immunizing with massive doses of disinformation to Apoorva Mandavilli, who herself has been noted as one of the worst covid reporters and a constant font of alarmist panic-porn disinformation.
The New York Times Spreads Misinformation About COVID-19Patiently waiting for senators and whistleblowers to freak out over this
Regime Lies are not disinformation, they are a Deeper Form of Truth.
The purported threat of social media has emerged once again as a top concern of senators, whistleblowers, and members of the press. They are very, very worried about Facebook fanning the flames of hate, compromising U.S. democracy, and spreading COVID misinformation.How many of them are worried about the COVID misinformation being spread by The New York Times?
The paper of record had to print a lengthy correction to a big error in a Thursday news article. The story was about other countries' approaches to vaccinating young people, and whether one shot would be better than two given the risks of heart inflammation in teenagers. The article wrongly claimed that nearly one million U.S. children--900,000 to be precise--had been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The actual number? About 63,000 since August 2020, when stats first became available.
And while that was the biggest error, it wasn't the only mistake in the story. According to the correction, the reporter "described incorrectly the actions taken by regulators in Sweden and Denmark" and misstated the timing of a crucial Food and Drug Administration meeting.
This wasn't a junior reporter new to the job. The author was the paper's lead coronavirus correspondent, Apoorva Mandavilli. (Her bio, which notes that she won the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting in 2019, appears under the correction.)
This isn't Mandavilli's first questionable article. In early August, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver accused her of framing the Provincetown study of the delta variant's spread in a "misleading and sensationalist way."
Mandavilli also tweeted, as recently as May of 2021, that the lab leak theory of COVID-19's origins is "racist" at its roots. She eventually deleted that tweet but doubled down on the sentiment.
In general, her pandemic reporting has manifested a paranoid slant. But the Thursday article wasn't just slanted; it was wrong, wrong, wrong.
And only now, after hundreds of millions of doses, does the Times even admit the possibility that people have been getting injured (or killed) by their miracle non-vaccine vaccine.
Note that from the start, the article speaks of "belief" that the non-vaccine vaccine causes injury.
Thousands Believe Covid Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?All vaccines have at least occasional side effects. But people who say they were injured by Covid vaccines believe their cases have been ignored.
Given that this is the Times' first foray into the entire subject, how is it merely a "belief" that they're being ignored?
They are being ignored. That's a fact, not a "belief."
Why did it take the Times so long to even address this important subject?
Ah, they've got that covered -- see, they've been researching this single story for more than a year, you see.
Apoorva Mandavilli spent more than a year talking to dozens of experts in vaccine science, policymakers and people who said they had experienced serious side effects after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
Some might say that the year of "talking" wasn't for purposes of gathering information, but for endlessly delaying any reporting about the information that's been in hand for a year.
It's almost as if The Regime has told us ten Foundational Lies in the past eight years upon which all of their authority depends, and are extremely unwilling to admit they lied.
Within minutes of getting the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, Michelle Zimmerman felt pain racing from her left arm up to her ear and down to her fingertips. Within days, she was unbearably sensitive to light and struggled to remember simple facts.She was 37, with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, and until then could ride her bicycle 20 miles, teach a dance class and give a lecture on artificial intelligence, all in the same day. Now, more than three years later, she lives with her parents. Eventually diagnosed with brain damage, she cannot work, drive or even stand for long periods of time.
"When I let myself think about the devastation of what this has done to my life, and how much I've lost, sometimes it feels even too hard to comprehend," said Dr. Zimmerman, who believes her injury is due to a contaminated vaccine batch.
The Covid vaccines, a triumph of science and public health, are estimated to have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths. Yet even the best vaccines produce rare but serious side effects. And the Covid vaccines have been given to more than 270 million people in the United States, in nearly 677 million doses.
Weird. You say it's routine and predictable that "even the best vaccines" cause injury.
But you've denied it until this moment with this vaccine. In fact, you're not even admitting it here. You're still claiming the covid non-vaccine vaccine might not be causing injury, and that all the people claiming injury merely "believe" they've been injured.
If injuries are commonplace and to be expected -- and thus, no big deal -- why have you denied their very existence until now?
Dr. Zimmerman's account is among the more harrowing, but thousands of Americans believe they suffered serious side effects following Covid vaccination. As of April, just over 13,000 vaccine-injury compensation claims have been filed with the federal government -- but to little avail. Only 19 percent have been reviewed. Only 47 of those were deemed eligible for compensation, and only 12 have been paid out, at an average of about $3,600.Some scientists fear that patients with real injuries are being denied help and believe that more needs to be done to clarify the possible risks.
"At least long Covid has been somewhat recognized," said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist and vaccine expert at Yale University. But people who say they have post-vaccination injuries are "just completely ignored and dismissed and gaslighted," she added.
In interviews and email exchanges conducted over several months, federal health officials insisted that serious side effects were extremely rare and that their surveillance efforts were more than sufficient to detect patterns of adverse events.
The events are "extremely rare," and so, as with women making false sexual abuse claims, they can be safely propagandized as entirely non-existent. Is that how The Science (TM) works?
"Hundreds of millions of people in the United States have safely received Covid vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history," Jeff Nesbit, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an emailed statement.
But in a recent interview, Dr. Janet Woodcock, a longtime leader of the Food and Drug Administration, who retired in February, said she believed that some recipients had experienced uncommon but "serious" and "life-changing" reactions beyond those described by federal agencies.
"I feel bad for those people," said Dr. Woodcock, who became the F.D.A.'s acting commissioner in January 2021 as the vaccines were rolling out. "I believe their suffering should be acknowledged, that they have real problems, and they should be taken seriously."
"I'm disappointed in myself," she added. "I did a lot of things I feel very good about, but this is one of the few things I feel I just didn't bring it home."
Even Basement Boy Chris Cuomo is now airing the testimony of people who "BELIEVE" they were injured by the vaccine.
In fact, the Basement Boy, who once warned that America's greatest enemies were "our fellow Americans" who were vaccine-hesitant, now says that he himself has a lingering health problem caused by the non-vaccine vaccine:
NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo admitted to suffering from side effects he believes were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine."We know that vaccines can have unintended consequences, aka side effects, but nobody's really talking about it because they're too afraid of blame, and they just want it to go away," Mr. Cuomo said on his eponymous show while interviewing nurse practitioner Shaun Barcavage.
"But the problem is people like Shaun -- and me -- and millions of others who still have weird stuff with their bloodwork and their lives and their feelings, you know, physically, are not going away," he said.
Mr. Cuomo brought Mr. Barcavage on the show after he was featured in a New York Times article about several people who feel they have been harmed by the vaccine. Mr. Barcavage recounted his story, saying that since his first shot, his heart starts racing every time he stands up. He said he has had pain in his eyes, mouth and genitals that has since gone away, but continues to have tinnitus.
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Julie Kelly: DOJ Finally Admits They Doctored Trump's "Classified" Documents by Putting Them Inside Classified Information Folders, and Then Propagandizing the Country With Photos of Them
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Why is this important?
Because the media seized on the idea -- no doubt intended by Merrick Garland's criminal gang at the DOJ -- that the fact that the "classified' documents were in folders plainly marked CLASSIFIED means that Trump could have no possible question that they were in fact classified, and no defense at any future trial.
The DOJ blitzed the public with these photos to poison the jury pool with this idea.
But it was all a lie.
The FBI brought their own CLASSIFIED folders and then put Trump's documents inside them, then took pictures they immediately flooded the media with, creating the false impression in the minds of 300 million potential jurors that Trump knew these documents were classified.
It is the picture that launched a thousand pearl-clutching articles.
A few weeks after the armed FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, the Department of Justice released a stunning photograph depicting alleged contraband seized from Donald Trump's Palm Beach estate that day; the image showed colored sheets representing scary classification levels attached to files purportedly discovered in Trump's private office.
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Included as a government exhibit to oppose Trump's lawsuit requesting a special master to vet the 13,000 items taken from his residence, the crime scene pic immediately went viral--just as Attorney General Merrick Garland, who authorized the unprecedented raid, intended.At the time, even regime-friendly mouthpieces questioned the need and optics of the raid; the photo helped juice the DOJ's justification for the storming of Trump's castle.
"[The] question of whether Trump had classified material with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort has captured the public's attention. The photo published by the government appears to answer that question quite affirmatively," Washington Post resident fact checker Philip Bump wrote on August 31, 2022.
Some of Bump's colleagues were more hyperbolic. An ex-CIA officer told ABC News the cover sheets indicated the highest level of secrecy, which in the wrong hands could have resulted in murder. "People's lives are truly at stake. Without being melodramatic, anything that helps an adversary identify a human source means life and death," intelligence expert Douglas London melodramatically warned in reaction to the photo.
The New York Times insisted the photo was consistent with how the FBI handles criminal investigations. "[It] is standard practice for the F.B.I. to take evidentiary pictures of materials recovered in a search to ensure that items are properly cataloged and accounted for. Files or documents are not tossed around randomly, even though they might appear that way; they are usually splayed out so they can be separately identified by their markings," reporters Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman wrote on August 31, 2022.
Except...that is not what happened.
New court filings in Special Counsel Jack Smith's espionage and obstruction case against Trump and two co-defendants conclusively demonstrate that the government used the cover sheets to deceive the public as well as the court. The photo was a stunt, and one that adds more fuel to this dumpster-fire case.
Jay Bratt, who was the lead DOJ prosecutor on the investigation at the time and now is assigned to Smith's team, described the photo this way in his August 30, 2022 response to Trump's special master lawsuit:
"[Thirteen] boxes or containers contained documents with classification markings, and in all, over one hundred unique documents with classification markings...were seized. Certain of the documents had colored cover sheets indicating their classification status. (Emphasis added.) See, e.g., Attachment F (redacted FBI photograph of certain documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container in the '45 office')."
The DOJ's clever wordsmithing, however, did not accurately describe the origin of the cover sheets. In what must be considered not only an act of doctoring evidence but willfully misleading the American people into believing the former president is a criminal and threat to national security, agents involved in the raid attached the cover sheets to at least seven files to stage the photo.
Classified cover sheets were not "recovered" in the container, contrary to Bratt's declaration to the court. In fact, after being busted recently by defense attorneys for mishandling evidence in the case, Bratt had to fess up about how the cover sheets actually ended up on the documents.
Here is Bratt's new version of the story, where he finally admits a critical detail that he failed to disclose in his August 2022 filing:
"[If] the investigative team found a document with classification markings, it removed the document, segregated it, and replaced it with a placeholder sheet. The investigative team used classified cover sheets for that purpose."
But before the official cover sheets were used as placeholder, agents apparently used them as props. FBI agents took it upon themselves to paperclip the sheets to documents--something evident given the uniform nature of how each cover sheet is clipped to each file in the photo--laid them on the floor, and snapped a picture for political posterity.
More at the link.
In the NY Soros DA prosecution, the judge whose daughter is helps Adam Schiff raise money off her dad's court case threatened to jail Trump again.
Before witness testimony started Monday, Merchan ruled that Trump violated his gag order for the tenth time, fining him for comments he made about the jury. Merchan said next time the court "will have to consider a jail sanction."
Do it. Do it. I dare you.
Meanwhile, Stormy Daniels testified, and implied that Trump had raped her. At least this paid whore described herself "shaking" after "the incident," suggesting that it was involuntary without actually saying so.
Even the corrupt judge told her to knock it off with her highly political, choreographed defamation, saying that details of "the incident" are "irrelevant."
The jury still heard them, of course. As planned.
Remember, the prosecution called in Hope Hicks just so that he could read excerpts from NBC's leaked "grab them by the pussy" incident.
This is all unduly prejudicial material, attempting to secure a conviction by bringing up irrelevant evidence (like the whore Stormy Daniels' claim she was Literally Shaking You Guys) or barely-relevant evidence that is brought in precisely to poison the jury against the defendant based on "prior (alleged) bad acts."
And the judge lets it all in.
It's critical that they get this shame conviction. Appellate courts will overturn it, but they need the conviction before the election.
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ABC "News" Fires Its Woke DEI Hire "News Chief"
—Disinformation Expert Ace
They're pretending she left of her own accord. But there were reports a week ago that ABC "News" was going to get rid of her, so you tell me.
She wasn't just a DEI hire. She is literally made of DEI atoms.
ABC News President Kim Godwin, who touted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), is reportedly on the chopping block, according to CNN.Debra OConnell, who was appointed in February to oversee the network, is currently conducting a leadership review as she has allegedly been appalled by Godwin's management and leadership style, sources told CNN. She has reportedly failed to replace key positions and has caused anxiety to circulate among staff.
And now she's "retiring." Retiring under a cloud of failure and scandal, that is.
ABC's 'Historic' Diversity Hire Out Of Top Spot Amid Rumors Her Incompetence Shocked Higher UpsABC News President Kim Godwin stepped down Sunday night following an investigation into her management of her network.
The overseer of the network, Debra O'Connell, opened a corporate investigation into Godwin and other senior executives over the growing frustration among staffers, vacant top positions and the drop in ratings at its prominent program, "Good Morning America." Several people alleged Godwin dedicated more time to her profile than creating success in the news division, and that her mismanagement "shocked" O'Connell, WSJ reported.
"I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism," Godwin said in an email to staff Sunday night, according to WSJ. "Anyone who's passionate about what we do knows there's no other business like it, so this was not an easy or quick decision. But after considerable reflection, I'm certain it's the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what's most important for me and my family."
...
Several executives were laid off in March 2023, reportedly causing "shock" throughout the newsroom. Godwin told her staff the downsizing was a "difficult time" for the entire network, but vowed they were on a "solid footing."
Black Conservative Perspective points out that ABC "News" had the same problem with her that the Biden Usurpation has with Karine Jean-Pierre -- they can't be seen to be firing a Strong and Empowered WOC, so they have to just pressure her to "quit on her own."
He also points to a claim from the Daily Beast, possibly just leftwing spin, that she was actually against DEI. Or, at least, the claim goes that she was against too much DEI -- she thought the network had "overcompensated" after the George Floyd riots Freedom Arsons and hired too many black people. Black people don't watch news, she reportedly said.
Supposedly that's "controversial." But why? The network pays millions of dollars to know exactly who is watching every minute of its shows. This claim is either true or false -- not "controversial." Just true or false.
The fact that they're creating a controversy about it suggests to me that it is substantially true. It's just another thing we're Not Allowed to Say after the George Floyd Freedom Arsons.
But this whole claim sounds like spin, as I said. It may be that the DEI Dead-Enders want to say, "This isn't a loss for DEI, it's a great victory! That strong empowered Woman of Color was a racist and we got rid of her!"
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The Biden Usurpation is Now Withholding Precision-Guided Bombs From Israel (Which Will Force Them to Use "Dumb Bombs," Resulting In More Civilian Deaths (both Real and Fake), Which They Will Then Blame Israel For
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Boy oh boy are leftwingers smart and intellectual and all the good things!
Especially Joe "The Professor" Biden himself. He's America's greatest living foreign policy mastermind, did you know that?
My word as a Biden, it's true, I'm not joking.
The Biden administration is holding up shipments of two types of Boeing-made precision bombs to send a political message to Israel, according to a U.S. official and six other people with knowledge of the deliberations.
The U.S. has yet to sign off on a pending sale of Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munitions -- both the munitions and kits that convert them to smart weapons -- and Small Diameter Bombs, according to six industry and congressional sources with knowledge of the discussions.
While the Biden administration has not formally denied the potential sale, it is essentially taking action through inaction -- holding off on approvals and other aspects of the weapons transfer process -- to send a message to Israel, a U.S. administration official familiar with the process told POLITICO. The official, along with others, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.
This appears to be the first time the U.S. administration has delayed a potential weapons sale for Israel since Hamas attacked the country on Oct. 7. President Joe Biden has been under pressure from some in his party to set conditions on aid to Israel after the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza began to exact a heavy toll on civilians, and after Israel hit humanitarian convoys delivering aid to the enclave.
Biden hid this Hamas-helping move from Congress. Of course The Professor did.
The Biden administration hid information about its decision to pause U.S. arms sales to Israel from Congress, sparking a probe led by two GOP senators, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. FreeBeacon Progressive Florida Dems Push To Cancel Fetterman Speech Over Support for Israel Read moreSenators Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) and Ted Budd (R., N.C.), in a letter sent Monday evening to the White House, are asking the administration to immediately inform Congress about what types of ammunition are being withheld from Israel and why. The pause in these ammo shipments was approved last week, but only became publicly known over the weekend when the decision was leaked to Axios. The Biden administration is holding up shipments of two types of Boeing-made precision bombs to send a political message to Israel, one U.S. official told Politico.
"We are shocked that your administration has reportedly decided to withhold critical ammunition to Israel," the senators wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Free Beacon. "You promised your commitment to Israel was ironclad. Pausing much-needed military support to our closest Middle Eastern ally signals otherwise."
The senators say the White House "failed to notify Congress about this decision," leaving lawmakers to learn of the decision from press reports. The letter signals mounting GOP concern with the Biden administration's increasingly hostile stance toward Israel as it launches an offensive campaign into the Gaza Strip's Rafah neighborhood, which the United States has lobbied against. The reported halt in ammunition sales is being viewed as a sign the Biden administration is caving to pressure from anti-Israel advocates in the Democratic Party who want to see the Jewish state isolated.
Meanwhile, Fire Marshall Jamaal (as a commenter called him) is rallying for Hamas with the CAIR leader who called himself "happy" to see Hamas murder and rape raids.
When they show you who they are, you should probably believe them. That tried-and-true bit of wisdom should be applied to "squad" member Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York. Over the weekend, Bowman attended a fundraiser that was put on for him at a private home in Fairfax, Virginia. There's nothing unusual about House members hitting fundraisers during an election year, but this one was hosted by Nihad Awad, the national director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In case you're not familiar with Awad, he is one of the people who came out shortly after the October 7 terror attacks and said that he was "happy" to see the people of Gaza "breaking their shackles" and storming into Israel. And here we have a member of the House from New York hanging out with him and leveraging him for fundraising purposes.
Can't wait for the Jake Tapper lecture about why this is really all my fault.
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Kamala Harris Wows Nation with Debut of Entirely New Way to be Off-Putting
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Vice President Kamala Harris only smirked and gave a sarcastic answer Monday to reporters' questions about Hamas saying it had accepted a cease-fire deal involving the bloody Mideast war."Madam Vice President, Hamas says it accepted--," a reporter began as Harris exited Joe Louis Southern Kitchen in Detroit, Mich.
"Shrimp and grits," Harris, 59, interjected with a grin as she pointed to her bag. "You wanted to know."
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The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition
—CBD
Spare me the deeply disingenuous rhetoric from the vast media apologia of the "Pro-Palestine" protesters. The thinly supported argument that anti-Zionism has nothing to do with the rabid Jew-hate that is being plainly, openly, proudly expressed, is factually nonsensical, and simply proof proof that Jew-hate exists and is now mainstream.
Protesters disrupt Auschwitz March of the Living on Yom HaShoah
Pro-Palestinian activists staged a protest at the annual March of the Living in Poland on Holocaust Remembrance Day.The activists went to Auschwitz to protest the march, which is held each year to pay respects to victims of the holocaust and chanted "stop genocide" and waved Palestinian flags at attendees.
The march was attended by survivors of the Holocaust as well as those who survived the October 7 attacks on Israel.
Images show some protesters wearing yellow badges resembling the stars that Nazis forced Jews to wear.
Aside from the ancient historical animus, we have two additional sources for anti-Semitism: the post-modern fixation on victim-hood, and the cultural and religious hatred of Jews by Arabs and Muslims. Of course post-modernism simply feeds into the traditional Jew-hate of the left, and gives it an additional point of purchase.
Sadly for Israel and worldwide Jewry, the left is expert at manipulation of the masses, and social media has given them an incredibly powerful tool. Now they can reach the mushy-brained, apolitical, ignorant college freshmen who used to be obsessed with confounding mommy and daddy with their disheveled dress and weird boyfriends/girlfriends. Now they can be part of a worldwide network of similarly ignorantly disaffected youth who are part of a concerted effort by the hard left to de-legitimize Israel, and deplatform Jews!
The fact that they have no understanding of the issues, and can't name the river or the sea means nothing to them. They are fighting the power! They are questioning authority! How exciting!
Israel and some Jews are fighting back, using social media to counter the baldly ahistoric claims. But it is a long road, and they are far behind. Absent a significant political change, the next generation of Jews, both in Israel and around the world will have to contend with the rise of what can only be described as 21st Century Nazism.
The traditional resistance to that sort of sentiment must change. It seems to be changing in Israel, where a mostly united populace has resisted the leftist calls for accommodation. In the West it is a slower process, but American Jews (Europe is almost certainly lost to the Muslim hordes) must fight back with different tools, and must reevaluate the traditional connection to the Democrat party. The liberals who once controlled it have been subsumed in a sea of hard-left sensibilities that are savagely opposed to Jews, Judaism, and Israel.
What are the new tools?
Physical Self defense. One-issue voting (unequivocally support Israel and Jews, or lose the Jewish vote). Deny all financial support to the new Nazis in academia.
Sounds simple, but it isn't.
[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter]
