SHAREHOLDERS PRESSURE AMAZON TO DROP CORRUPT LEFTIST GROUP BEHIND ‘VIEWPOINT DISCRIMINATION.’
SQUARING THE CIRCLE ON THE HOUSE GOP’S DEFENSE OF THE FBI: Tucker Carlson’s pointed questioning of Trey Gowdy last night has a lot of people asking why he and others defended the FBI and intelligence agencies when it now appears they knew there was no “there” there with regard to collusion, Gen. Flynn, etc., suggesting that they were secretly happy to get rid of President Trump. I suggest that, in light of the unaccountable powers these agencies wield now, the historical abuses in which such secret agencies around the world have traditionally engaged, and Sen. Schumer’s famous remark that “you take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” we can’t rule out the possibility that some members of Congress didn’t feel like they had a choice.
THE BLOODY T-SQUARE: The Enduring Appeal of Personalized Justice in Death Wish.
And from 2013, my own take on the original 1974 movie: Death Wish: Mr. Bronson’s Planet.
YOU’RE GONNA NEED A SMALLER BLOG: The Bluffer’s Guide to COVID-19.
21ST CENTURY CAREERS: I’m A Wife And Mom. Oh, And I Run A Sugar-Daddy Dating Site.
DRAMATIC AGING REVERSAL IN OLD RATS, USING PLASMA FROM YOUNG RATS: Reversing age: dual species measurement of epigenetic age with a single clock.
Interesting Twitter thread from David Sinclair here.
Human treatments will ultimately involve isolating the active factors from young plasma and administering them as a drug, probably. Though possibly the young plasma’s benefit is that it lacks pro-aging factors that the old plasma contains. In that case, perhaps some sort of filtration or blocking agent. Stay tuned!
ANSWERING QUESTIONS I DON’T CARE ABOUT: Who Is Jussie Smollett’s Ex-Boyfriend And Why Is He Threatening To Release Jussie’s Sex Tape?
WELL, HE DENIED THE TARA READE THING TOO, BUT NOT AS FAST: Joe Biden Denies He Was Involved In Michael Flynn Probe.
BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH FLYNN QUESTIONS ON ABC, BARELY ASKED ABOUT READE:
After the first couple questions focused on the response to the coronavirus pandemic, Stephanopoulos turned to Flynn:
A loud exasperated sigh could be heard from Biden as Stephanopoulos asked the notably pointed question. The Democratic presidential candidate seemed agitated and annoyed at having to respond: “I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn, number one. Number two, this is all about diversion….The country is in crisis….He should stop trying to always divert attention from the real concerns of the American people.”
However, Stephanopoulos didn’t let the matter go. In fact, he caught Biden saying something untrue: “I do want to press that. You say you didn’t know anything about it, but you were reported to be at a January 5th, 2017 meeting where you and the President were briefed on the FBI’s plan to question Michael Flynn over those conversations he had with the Russian Ambassador Kislyak.”
Biden was flustered as he fumbled around for an answer:
No, I thought you asked me whether or not I had anything to do with him being prosecuted. I’m sorry. I was aware that there was – that they had asked for an investigation, but that’s all I know about it, and I don’t think anything else.
Earlier: New Docs Tie Obama in to Effort Against Flynn, Biden Also in Room.
VEEPSTAKES: It’s Kamala Harris, Isn’t It? “More than any presidential candidate in history, including both Bushes, Biden needs a veep who can articulate in ways that he simply can’t. But Harris has a speaking style that is pure laid-back California surfer girl. Rather than clearly articulate a vision or excite the crowds with a rousing speech, she slowly carves some bitchin’ bromides.”
Much more at the link.
ALSO, FOR OUR VIP SUPPORTERS: Remember Joe Biden? “What’s funny — well, what’s new and funny today — is that Biden can’t even talk about his veep pick process without grabbing it by the shoulders from behind and whispering sweet nothings in its ear.”
That one is just for our VIP members, and I hope you’ll use that VODKAPUNDIT discount code if you’ve been thinking of becoming a supporter.
OUT: SOCIAL DISTANCING. IN: POLITICAL DISTANCING. Gov. Newsom Says Elon Musk’s Fight is with Alameda County, Not State. You don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows — or who’s feeling the heat.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: The coronavirus might show up in your semen, but don’t panic.
SEEN ON FACEBOOK:
AT AMAZON, Suncloud Sentry Polarized Sunglasses.
VIDEO: No, Gov. Cuomo, It Isn’t A European Virus. “The Left Is Gearing Up For A Criticism-Of-China-Is-Racist Campaign.”
Useful idiot? Fellow traveler? On the take?
You make the call!
WELL, TO BE HONEST, LIFE WAS PRETTY BORING DURING THE NEOLITHIC: Why Our Ancestors Drilled Holes in Each Other’s Skulls.
HIS EMPLOYEES COULD SAVE A BUNDLE, TOO: Elon Musk could save billions in taxes if Tesla moves its headquarters to Nevada or Texas.
THAT’S PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE YOU GO: Democrats to Austin Businesses: Drop Dead!
Or as America’s Newspaper of Record noted at the beginning of the month: Governor Unveils Innovative 37-Step Plan To Reopen State Over The Next 10 Years.
I HATE YOUR HATING HATE, HATER: Canadian ‘Anti-Hate’ Activists Get Real Estate Agent Fired for Daring to Criticize ‘Allahu Akbar.’
CALIFORNIA PROTESTOR SAYS ‘ALL JOBS ARE ESSENTIAL:’ So much common sense, so little honest media coverage. But then there’s The Epoch Times, which gave the protestors their turn. Am I biased? You bet I am, in favor of real journalism.
SHOT: Elon Musk Dares California to Arrest Him for Re-Starting His Tesla Plant. Who’s With Him?
That answers that.
HOW COLLEGES GET RID OF CONSERVATIVE ADMINS: Honestly, you’d think they would make sure they could keep a few token right-leaning folks around, for appearance’s sake. That’s just good politics!
IT’S COME TO THIS: Bryan Adams Faces Backlash After Blaming His Canceled Shows on People Who Eat Bats.
UPDATE:He always was more muzak than rock: Bryan Adams apologizes for COVID-19 Instagram post that was condemned as racist, inflammatory.
NO, ABSENTEE BALLOTS AREN’T THE SAME THING AS VOTE-BY-MAIL: There are huge differences, as a group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois of the House Committee on Administration, explains.
ENDORSED: Require administration layoffs before colleges get any more higher ed bailouts: scholars. “Colleges and universities should be required to cut administrative bloat by 50 percent or more before they are entitled to receive any more bailout money from the feds, argues a right-leaning group of scholars. That’s one of several suggestions spelled out by the National Association of Scholars — a nonprofit working to reform higher education — in its newly released Critical Care report.”
ELON MUSK’S THREAT TO LEAVE IS A SYMPTOM OF CALIFORNIA’S DISEASE — AND, NO, IT ISN’T COVID-19.
Related: As a wise community organizer likes to say, get in their faces, and punch back twice as hard:
CAN ATHEISTS DO GOOD? Of course they can, but that question leads down a rabbit hole. At least according to this from philosopher William Lane Craig’s video shop. Better question: If atheists are right about God, what can be objectively good?
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): On that last question, read Arthur Allen Leff’s classic, Memorandum from the Devil. “I am something of a connoisseur of these attempts by scholarly humans to find and describe some meaning in their personal and species existence, and when nonironic divine address comes out of Langdell Hall these days, attention must be paid.”
MANY OF THEIR METRICS, LIKE BAR PASSAGE RATES, ARE GOING TO BE HOPELESSLY DISTORTED: Businessweek Suspends MBA Rankings Due To COVID-19; Will US News Follow Suit? What About Law School Rankings?
I BET IT BECOMES A NET GAIN AS TECH GLITCHES AND HURDLES GET IRONED OUT: Working from home: Average productivity loss of remote work is 1%. “A report from research firm Valoir found that the abrupt move to working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has had only had a 1 percent reduction on work productivity. And more than 40 percent of workers would prefer to work remotely full time in the future.”
YES, GOVERNMENT MADE THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS WORSE: Christopher Jacobs of The Federalist counts the many ways.
BYRON YORK: The big thing we still don’t know about the Michael Flynn Case. “If someone is going to be charged with lying to the FBI, it will be on the basis of what is in the 302. There’s no recording and no other witnesses in the room. If an interview subject claims not to have said something, the proof otherwise is the 302 and the agents’ word. So the 302 is obviously critical if the Justice Department chooses to charge someone for lying in an FBI interview. Here is the amazing thing: Michael Flynn’s defense has never seen the original 302. Never. Flynn, under enormous pressure from Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI without ever reading what Pientka originally wrote about the interview. Instead, the FBI almost immediately began editing the 302. Pientka’s partner in the interview, Peter Strzok — remembered as the agent dismissed from the Mueller team for his anti-Trump texts with extramarital lover (and senior FBI official) Lisa Page — took the lead. On February 10 — after the FBI’s five working days limit — Strzok did what was apparently a major editing job on it, and he also incorporated edits suggested by Page, who had not been present at the interview.”
UNDER PRESSURE: Harvard ‘anti-homeschooling’ event ‘cancelled’ amid conservative backlash. This is actually a significant moment, as it used to be that only leftist backlash could get Ivy League events canceled.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Baseball Makes a Pitch to Return. “Looking at an empty baseball stadium will be strange, of course (unless you’re a Miami Marlins fan) but just seeing the players on the field could be a much-needed emotional salve for an aching country.”
MATT MARGOLIS: Barack Obama is Worried About Something, That Is Obvious. “Listening to the call you can hear that Obama sounds shaky, even nervous discussing it. And there’s plenty of reason. In addition to setting up a perjury trap for Flynn, Obama officials also withheld exculpatory evidence and investigated Trump and his associates over alleged Russian collusion even though they had no empirical evidence of that collusion. Declassified documents also showed that Obama was aware of the bogus investigation and efforts to railroad Michael Flynn.”
ON FOX THIS MORNING, Karol Markowicz talks about reopening schools.
WELL, YES: Quarantine Fatigue Is Real And Shaming People Won’t Help.
#StayHome had its moment. The United States urgently needed to flatten the curve and buy time to scale up health-care capacity, testing, and contact tracing. But quarantine fatigue is real. I’m not talking about the people who are staging militaristic protests against the supposed coronavirus hoax. I’m talking about those who are experiencing the profound burden of extreme physical and social distancing. In addition to the economic hardship it causes, isolation can severely damage psychological well-being, especially for people who were already depressed or anxious before the crisis started. In a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly half of Americans said that the coronavirus pandemic has harmed their mental health. . . .
But the choice between staying home indefinitely and returning to business as usual now is a false one. Risk is not binary. And an all-or-nothing approach to disease prevention can have unintended consequences. Individuals may fixate on unlikely sources of contagion—the package in the mail, the runner or cyclist on the street—while undervaluing precautions, such as cloth masks, that are imperfect but helpful.
SOME VIP QUESTIONS FOR YOU, MR. OBAMA: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) addressed the Senate yesterday and, among much else, offered this observation about Barack Obama:
“I’ve heard no comment from Mr. Obama about independent Inspector General findings that Andrew McCabe lied under oath to federal investigators multiple times. Or about how DOJ prosecutors falsely told the court that they had produced all Brady material to Flynn. Or when the federal government surveilled an American citizen connected to the Trump campaign without probable cause and based on intelligence the FBI knew was questionable at best.”
One thing Obama need not worry about: Nobody in the MSM will dare to ask him for a response to Grassley. The speech link above includes one to video of Grassley’s presentation.
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER FROM KIRA DAVIS: You Didn’t Shoot Ahmaud Arbery.
MORE MALLS ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR ANCHORS: JC Penny “is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week with plans to permanently close about a quarter of its roughly 850 stores, becoming the latest major U.S. retailer to succumb to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the matter.”
AT AMAZON, Carhartt Men’s Workwear Pocket Henley Shirt.
IS IT TIME FOR A NEW PANDEMIC APPROACH? Karl Dierenbach, writing for the Independence Institute’s Complete Colorado, makes a compelling case. Here’s a sample:
“But ‘flatten the curve’ morphed into ‘hide until solution;’ the solution being a possible vaccine or effective treatment at some undeterminable point in the future. States that never saw a surge went into lockdown and remain there today.
“New York City, which is well past their peak medical usage, remains on lockdown. Many states that are ostensibly opening up are doing so at an extremely slow pace. Colorado, which is supposedly opening up (but not really), is attempting to keep the coronavirus cases at a level that is so low, herd immunity might not be reached for years.
Dierenbach is an attorney and a former engineer. He’s also quite a good writer, which is rarely found among engineers, especially when they also become lawyers (Just kidding, Glenn!).
IT’S ONLY A MODEL: Our weird behavior during the pandemic is screwing with AI models.
It took less than a week at the end of February for the top 10 Amazon search terms in multiple countries to fill up with products related to covid-19. You can track the spread of the pandemic by what we shopped for: the items peaked first in Italy, followed by Spain, France, Canada, and the US. The UK and Germany lag slightly behind. “It’s an incredible transition in the space of five days,” says Rael Cline, Nozzle’s CEO. The ripple effects have been seen across retail supply chains.
But they have also affected artificial intelligence, causing hiccups for the algorithms that run behind the scenes in inventory management, fraud detection, marketing, and more. Machine-learning models trained on normal human behavior are now finding that normal has changed, and some are breaking as a result.
How bad the situation is depends on whom you talk to. According to Pactera Edge, a global AI consultancy, “automation is in tailspin.” Others say they are keeping a cautious eye on automated systems that are just about holding up, stepping in with a manual correction when needed.
What’s clear is that the pandemic has revealed how intertwined our lives are with AI, exposing a delicate codependence in which changes to our behavior change how AI works, and changes to how AI works change our behavior. This is also a reminder that human involvement in automated systems remains key. “You can never sit and forget when you’re in such extraordinary circumstances,” says Cline.
We don’t know how to model human ingenuity, and humans become even more ingenious during a crisis. So if you were hoping to AI your way out of a crisis, I have some bad news for you.
OFT EVIL WILL SHALL EVIL MAR: Meet the Press Mangles a William Barr Quote to Make Him Look Awful, and It Backfires.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UDPATE: Higher Education: The Coming Disruption.
All is proceeding as I have foreseen, only faster all of a sudden. (Bumped).
NYC’S CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL SURPASSES 20,000: HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
More here: “The New York City Department on Health said over 20,000 have died from the coronavirus as of May 10 at 6pm. These include 14,928 confirmed deaths and 5,129 probable deaths, taking the total to 20,056. Those who were marked as probable deaths did not have a positive coronavirus laboratory test result, but the causes of death on their death certificates are listed as Covid-19 or an equivalent, the city said.”
LATE NIGHT HOSTS ARE JUST DEMOCRATIC PARTY OPERATIVES WITH A TIMESLOT: Radio silence: Late night hosts loved attacking Trump but haven’t said a word about Tara Reade.
DISPUTED BY WHOM AND FOR WHAT REASON? Twitter to label disputed COVID-19 tweets.
I dispute the misleading use of “COVID-19,” which is the infection and not the virus. The virus is properly called the Wuhan Virus, for the mainland China city ruled by Chinese Communists where the PRC-sourced Sino-virus came from.
YES, IT DOES: It looks like President Obama ordered up phony RussiaGate scandal.
RussiaGate is now a complete dead letter — but ObamaGate is taking its place. Just how far did the then-president go to cripple his successor?
It’s now clear the Obama-Comey FBI and Justice Department never had anything more substantial than the laughable fiction of the Steele dossier to justify the “counterintelligence” investigation of the Trump campaign. Yet incessant leaks from that supposedly confidential probe wound up consuming the Trump administration’s first months in office — followed by the Bob Mueller-led special-counsel investigation that proved nearly the “total witch hunt” that President Trump dubbed it.
Information released as the Justice Department dropped its charges against Gen. Mike Flynn shows that President Barack Obama, in his final days in office, played a key role in fanning the flames of phony scandal. Fully briefed on the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, he knew the FBI had come up with nothing despite months of work starting in July 2016.
Yet on Jan. 5, 2017, Obama told top officials who’d be staying on in the new administration to keep the crucial facts from Team Trump.
It happened at an Oval Office meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, intel chiefs John Brennan and Jim Clapper and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, as well as FBI Director Jim Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
Gangster government, to use Michael Barone’s phrase.
Related: Why Did Obama Tell The FBI To Hide Its Activities From The Trump Administration?
DAVID HARSANYI: Yes, the Flynn Dismissal Upholds the Rule of Law.
We now know that the Obama administration engaged in unprecedented abuses of power, not merely in its persistent attempts to circumvent the other branches of the United States government, but in its weaponizing of government institutions for partisan ends, including our intelligence agencies.
Flynn, notwithstanding Obama’s contention, was never charged with “perjury” — a crime which entails lying under oath. Flynn faced trumped-up charges related to a conversation in which he allegedly misled FBI agents. Flynn, who didn’t even know he was under investigation, was entrapped by agents conducting an inquiry devoid of any credible evidence.
The Obama administration already had recordings of Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and knew that the incoming national-security adviser, who spoke to numerous heads of state, did not undermine American interests — which often change, and are a matter of interpretation — nor had he agreed to drop Russian sanctions on Donald Trump’s behalf.
Not even the agents who conducted the interview believed that Flynn had willfully intended to deceive them. Flynn was only charged ten months after the conversation, and only to keep the bogus Russia collusion investigation going.
Even then, the FBI hid exculpatory evidence from Flynn and his lawyers, as Obama’s allies in the Trump administration and Mueller’s deputies continued to pretend that the former general was a lynchpin.
That we have so many DOJ “alumni” who think that rule of law prevents a remedy for a rigged prosecution falsely charging a man with a crime cooked up by the investigators explains why the DOJ is such a garbage institution now.
And this nation has never faced a bigger threat to the rule of law than Barack Obama. It remains unclear that we will survive it.
While the law requires that identifying information of U.S. persons picked up during foreign surveillance be “masked,” high-ranking intelligence officials can request the identities be revealed if they feel the information is necessary to further understand the intercepts.
Former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice has openly acknowledged unmasking the identities of some senior Trump officials during the presidential transition but has strenuously denied ever leaking any identities and said nothing she did was politically motivated.
In 2017, Rep. Devin Nunes — a longtime critic of the Russia investigation — accused the Obama administration of improper unmasking of Trump transition officials after he secretly met with two national security officials at the White House who he said provided him with documents supporting his assertions.
Note how ABC tries to spin this story.
RICHARD FERNANDEZ: How the 2020 Election Became a Referendum on China.
By turning 2020 into a referendum on Trump-to-blame-not-China, the CCP may put Biden in an awkward position because it’s a Democratic article of faith that the Donald is always to blame. A 2020 “China election” would vex allies because even those with no affection for Trump cannot afford to see China win.
The adage “take the high ground” applies to politics and it’s puzzling why the Democrats didn’t take “Reshore Hill” and become the champion of returning jobs to America before Trump did. Instead, reflex pushed them into instinctive opposition, tending to disculpate China and demand even longer lockdowns, even to their potential detriment. Seeing the danger, Rachel Esplin Odell and Stephen Wertheim ask in the New York Times: Can the Democrats Avoid Trump’s China Trap?
Read the whole thing.
HEADLINE: Trump administration cuts funding for coronavirus researcher, jeopardizing possible COVID-19 cure.
What the story is actually about: The U.S. funding cut to the Chinese Wuhan virus lab, which also affects this guy’s research. Read the story for an example of how journalism can be bent to a desired narrative.
YEAH. DEFINNITELY MY SHOCKED FACE: Public Health Agencies Care More About Controlling You Than Prepping For Pandemics.
I’M MAKING A NOTE TO BUY POPCORN STOCKS: CNN’s Brian Stelter Melts Down Over Conservative Media Exposing Russiagate Conspiracies.
BUT ONLY BECAUSE SCHADENFREUDE ISN’T LISTED ON THE NASDAQ.
AND…. IT’S MY SHOCKED FACE AGAIN! Convicted Child Sex Abusers Among 4.5K Inmates Freed from Illinois Prisons.
I’M NOT WAITING WITH SANDWICHES BY THE PHONE, BUT I’M HOPING: Is Obama’s Long History of Playing Dirty Finally Catching Up With Him?
LOOK, HOW SHOCKED MY FACE! China Ratchets Up C-19 Propaganda Machine.
HEY, HAVE YOU SEEN MY SHOCKED FACE? 60 Minutes Equivocates For China, Smears Pompeo.
NOTED. AND GETTING INCREASINGLY MORE P*SSY ABOUT IT: Distancing “Militsiya” Is Watching You, Comrades: Keep Moving.
BECAUSE YOU KNOW: ‘Social Distancing’ is Snake Oil, Not Science.
IF I KEEP USING THIS SHOCKED FACE, IT’S GOING TO GET ALL WORN OUT: Chuck Todd Flat Out Lied About A.G. Barr.
IDK? CHINA GOT A TASTE FOR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE, MAYBE? People In Hong Kong Are Becoming Ill With Rat Hepatitis For First Time Ever. No One Knows How It’s Happening.
SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED. ALSO FACEBOOK DELETES THIS LINK FROM PRIVATE CHATS, NOW: China Calls for Global Media Takeover by ‘Belt and Road News Network’.
GOOD. NOW LET’S SEE IT ENFORCED: Encouraging Illegal Aliens To Remain In The US Is A Crime, Supreme Court Rules .
INSUFFERABLY ARROGANT GOVERNOR, MEET PRINCIPLED SHERIFF: Gov. Megan Whitmer (D-MI), Shiawassee County Sheriff Brian BeGole has a message for you.
SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED: Facebook content oversight member reportedly linked to Muslim Brotherhood.
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