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God bless 'im. One last bloomin' season and then the ax will fall.
Morning, Larry.
Aren't we glad we aren't trees? < g >
Poor "Old Stumpy... " TWC had a story about the tidal basin overflowing and the damage that was doing to the cherry trees.
Old Stumpy put up a valiant fight and now he's firewood.
They're going to raise the wall around the basin.
Hope it works.
Good one. Thanks, Mr. G.
rotf... Kudos to Senator John Kennedy.
That cross country skier is an idiot.
A high school gra-du-ate who knows nothing about anything.
Very, very funny.
Thanks, Bull. I needed that.
‘I want a fighter’: Donald Trump Jr. lobbying dad to pick one of these possible running mates
By Jon Levine Published March 23, 2024, 8:49 a.m. ET
(Well, Gang. What say you? My gut says Vance. Can't stand slimy suck up Ramaswamy. Tucker... nah.
A senator might be best equipped to go up against the Swamp. Insiders are on to the dirty tricks. What the hell do I know?)
Donald Trump Jr. is lobbying his father to select a running mate who can take a punch — and hit back even harder, he told The Post.
“What I want in that role is I want a fighter,” Trump Jr. said. “I understand what they are going to throw at us.
“In 2016 you needed someone to balance out [the ticket] — that’s where Mike Pence made sense, sort of the yin and yang, but [given] the vicious nature of the swamp and the insanity we see on a daily basis, you need someone who can take those hits,” said Trump Jr., 46, the oldest of the former president’s five children.
The former first son — who speaks to his father daily, often several times a day — said he’s been pushing people like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio); Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate; and Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host who now hosts a program on X.
Trump daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner both served in senior White House roles during his last term, but Trump Jr. said he and fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, who also remains close to the campaign, had no plans on becoming a second “Javanka” in the West Wing — but that he’d “never rule anything out.”
Should his father retake the Oval Office, Trump Jr. said he plans to take a “very active” role in the the 2024 presidential transition team, while Guilfoyle would remain focused on fundraising.
“Mostly just to make sure we stop some of the D.C. swamp rats and the swamp creatures from getting in there and doing their thing,” he said.
Trump Jr. was coy about who else he wanted around him during the transition but after some prodding, mentioned John Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence; and Cliff Sims, a former special assistant to President Trump, who also wrote a bestselling memoir of his White House years in 2019. “Team of Vipers.”
Both men were veterans of Trump Sr.’s first term — something Trump Jr. appeared to prioritize.
“There are so many great people to choose from now with the first four years of the administration you have a good understanding of who would be great and loyal and implement the America First policies,” he said.
Trump Jr.’s father recently warned President Biden that indicting a former president would be a two-way street should he return to the White House.
“[Biden] opened up a Pandora’s box that will never let our country be the same. I can only say to Joe: Be very careful what you wish for, but what you have done is a terrible thing,” Trump thundered at the New York Young Republicans gala in December.
But his son dismissed the fire and brimstone rhetoric as “jokes.”
“He’s going to lead the country the way it’s supposed to be led,” Trump Jr. assured. “His retribution will be success for our country.”
https://nypost.com/2024/03/23/us-news/donald-trump-jr-is-lobbying-trump-for-these-vp-candidates/
@Bull_Dolphin @SkeBallLarry @pos_stock_hoarder
Morning back atcha, Mr. G.
No argument here.
Gotta run. Family business beckons.
Have a good one.
You got that right... Over 100 migrants break through razor wire, knock down guards as they illegally cross El Paso border in wild scene
By Jennie Taer and Megan Palin Published March 21, 2024 Updated March 21, 2024, 7:17 p.m. ET
https://nypost.com/2024/03/21/us-news/migrants-break-barriers-and-rush-border-guards-in-el-paso/
Even lefties now admit closing the Indian Point nuclear plant actually HARMED the planet
By Daniel Turner Published March 21, 2024, 8:21 p.m. ET
Those on the environmental left cheering the Biden administration’s electric-vehicle mandates or Gov. Hochul’s offshore wind farms would be wise to heed a painful and embarrassing lesson New York is learning from its not-so-distant past.
Not only do so-called “green” policies drive up consumer prices, decrease reliability and upend everyday life (say goodbye to wood-fired pizza ovens and gas-powered stoves), they often end up harming the environment they’re supposed to be saving.
Talk about a lose-lose.
Consider disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s forcing the Indian Point nuclear plant to close in 2021.
Heralded by a who’s who of leftist extremists — socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had labeled Indian Point a “catastrophe waiting to happen” while Hamas sympathizer Mark Ruffalo praised the move as a “BIG deal” — there were immediate and obvious problems.
For starters, Indian Point provided nearly one-quarter of New York City’s power.
Unilaterally and arbitrarily taking it off the grid meant other forms of energy would take on a new importance.
It wasn’t as if Big Apple residents were suddenly going to cut their power consumption 25% overnight.
Cuomo was already setting New York on an ill-advised path of becoming 70% reliant on “renewable” energy like wind and solar by 2030.
Still basking in the media’s COVID-era adoration, Cuomo was seen as a man with White House ambitions.
His wandering hands and all-around creepiness that led to 11 claims of sexual harassment and a swift resignation ahead of an expected impeachment were still to come.
To compete nationally in today’s Democratic Party, one must be a full-fledged disciple of the green cult.
It’s the reason candidate Joe Biden pledged to “end fossil fuel” in 2020.
Cuomo saw the writing on the wall, and Indian Point was a small price to pay for his political ambitions.
To fill the sudden void created, New York did not turn to wind or solar.
It was fossil fuels to the rescue, just as it is every time the weather turns severe and citizens’ safety depends on the lights and heat staying on.
In the month after the plant’s closure, New York’s natural-gas generation increased from 35% to 39%.
Nearly four years after the Indian Point fiasco, New York emits more carbon per megawatt-hour than Texas — the nation’s leading oil producer — and outpaces America as a whole.
Another twist in this saga: The power Indian Point produced was carbon free.
In fact, nuclear is such a clean form of energy that France derives 70% of its electricity from it.
Naturally, the 1,000 jobs Indian Point provided also went away and never came back.
When even the fairly left-of-center British outlet The Guardian admits Indian Point’s closure turned out to be a bad decision, the eco-left is running out of friends and advocates.
As an unabashed and unapologetic advocate of fossil fuels, I’m not terribly interested in the debate over “carbon emissions.”
They’re an ever-shifting goalpost metric eco-lefties created, and I do not play the game by their rules.
No emissions number satiates them, so the fossil-fuel industry and individual fossil-fuel companies should stop trying to appease them.
America became the envy of the world because of — not in spite of — our abundant, affordable domestic energy.
John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and the other titans who built our country didn’t do so with windmills or solar panels.
If fact, you can’t even build windmills and solar panels with windmills and solar panels.
They are all manufactured with fossil fuels in plants that run on fossil fuels.
Yes, the same eco-left playing the “net zero” shell game will tell you it’s bad to use fossil fuels to make electricity — but China polluting air, land and water to manufacture wind and solar that Biden buys with our tax dollars and are shipped across the ocean, burning millions of gallons of diesel, and installed on our beautiful landscapes, turning purple mountain majesty into wildlife killing fields while making the grid unstable and costing ratepayers more money is “green.”
What a racket.
The New York City I grew up in knows a con job when it sees one.
There’s a valuable lesson in Indian Point: Our energy situation is getting worse.
Like Cuomo before him, Biden has called for nationwide “net-zero emissions” by 2050.
Should that initiative come to pass, say goodbye to the reliable and affordable 60% of our electricity that came from fossil fuels in 2023.
The fate of the additional nearly 20% from nuclear is anyone’s guess.
So when you see Team Biden touting its “tailpipe emissions” rule to force us into electric cars or Gov. Hochul celebrating the completion of the South Fork Wind farm in Long Island Sound, remember they’re doubling down on proven failure.
If Indian Point’s past is prologue, not only will life become more expensive, but the planet will likely get dirtier.
Yet they’ll still call it “green.”
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/21/opinion/even-lefties-now-admit-closing-the-indian-point-nuclear-plant-actually-harmed-the-planet/
It's about time. Thanks, Gmenfan.
The board would die without you.
Bet ONEBGG is smiling down from heaven above.
@Gmenfan
Thanks, Bull. Those shout-'em-down jackazzes were a fungus on the Michigan campus.
And elsewhere.
They didn't believe in freedom of speech then and
they sure as hell don't believe in it now.
God help us.
And the good news is... Trump Is in Line for a $3.5 Billion Windfall From Stake in Truth Social
Supporters who have driven up share price are expected to vote Friday to take company public
By Amrith Ramkumar Updated March 20, 2024 6:45 pm ET
(Not a done deal yet, but close. This could ease Mr. Trump's financial woes by a large margin.)
Trump supporters have been expressing their political views by buying into a deal to take Truth Social public. PHOTO: MIKE STEWART/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Donald Trump’s supporters are pushing to hand him a nearly $3.5 billion windfall by driving up the value of his also-ran social-media platform, which is on the cusp of getting approval to list on the stock market.
Trump’s winning lottery ticket would come from Truth Social, the social-media platform he launched in 2021. After a twisted path that included tens of millions of dollars in losses and insider-trading convictions, the shell company taking Truth Social public became the market’s latest meme stock. Trump’s supporters banded together to push up the stock, valuing Truth Social to a staggering $6 billion.
Truth Social could go public as soon as next week, but the deal still needs to be approved by shareholders. Even if that happens, Trump must hold his shares for six months.
Truth Social was created by Trump when he was bounced from the major social-media platforms. Since the presidential candidate was reinstated by Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, Truth Social has instead become a potential huge paycheck...
The rest is here. If you want to read the whole thing, PM me.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/trump-is-in-line-for-a-3-5-billion-windfall-from-his-stake-in-truth-social-eae58c9d?mod=hp_lead_pos5
@Bull11/08/2020 @Gmenfan @SkeBallLarry @pos_stock_hoarder
Good Morning, Mr. G. Read through before I decided to post.
Thanks for keeping the board going.
It's getting harder and harder for me to follow the news...
from both sides.
It fascinates me how the same story can be told so many different ways
espousing diametrically opposed points of view.
How do you find the truth?
How do you win over the opposition?
Sigh.
In the meantime, bundle up.
Enjoy today's brilliant sunshine and blue skies...
from inside the house.
I don't know what I think except this should not be happening... PERIOD.
The whole situation makes me sick.
We'll see how it plays out, eh?
Good luck to Mr. Trump.
Donald Trump may not pay bond — and instead let Letitia James seize Trump Tower: insiders
By Jennifer Gould Published March 20, 2024, 9:12 a.m. ET
As Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a $454 million bond in the civil fraud case against him in New York, insiders said he may be weighing a little-discussed option: Doing nothing.
The ex-president reportedly has been struggling to raise the cash for the bond — either from banks or wealthy friends — with his lawyers claiming on Monday that it was a “practical impossibility.”
While some reports have raised speculation that Trump may “go nuclear” with a Chapter 11 filing to protect his prize real estate assets across Manhattan, experts said bankruptcy would create unwelcome complications as the 2024 election season comes to a head.
“He’s been there and done that,” one insider close to Trump said, dismissing the prospect of a Chapter 11 filing.
A third possibility, however, is to let the deadline pass, leaving it to New York Attorney General Letitia James to seize Trump’s bank accounts or buildings — including Trump Tower, from which he declared his 2016 presidential run, and which famously includes his personal penthouse.
It’s an option Trump appears to have considered – partly because he believes the chances are good that he could recover the assets on appeal, even if he is forced to take his case to the US Supreme Court, according to friends.
“Even if there is a taking, it doesn’t mean he can’t take it back later,” a source close to Trump told The Post.
A decision to do nothing poses risks of its own — among them that the New York AG’s Office has the right to sell off any properties it confiscates in order to recover the cash penalties it is owed.
“They are going after the money and that’s all he has a right to get back, not the buildings — unless the judgment is reversed before they are sold,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, a New York-based attorney who’s focused on the commercial real estate sector.
Sources friendly with Trump say the ex-president believes he has a strong case. Among other considerations, if the decision is not overturned, “it will have a chilling effect on people who do business in New York because it could happen to anyone,” according to one insider.
“There will be severe consequences — not an insurrection. People will stop doing business in New York. No one will take the risk, and lenders are now spooked. The real estate market is already a disaster, with office buildings worth a fraction of what they were once worth, and there are metastasizing effects when a large part of the city’s budget is from real estate.”
One source close to Trump insisted that he could raise funds from wealthy “friends and supporters,” but so far has not chosen this path.
“He’s not an ‘I’m passing the hat’ man — he doesn’t want pity or for anyone to feel sorry for him,” the source claimed. “He will do what he has to do. He has plenty of wealthy friends who would help him if asked, but he’s not asking, as far as I’m aware.”
https://nypost.com/2024/03/20/business/donald-trump-may-not-pay-bond-and-instead-let-letitia-james-seize-trump-tower-insiders/
Kate Middleton conspiracies are just a harbinger of a future we should all fear
By Kirsten Fleming Published March 19, 2024, 7:08 p.m. ET
(Editors have long cropped photos to get the image they wanted...)
Where’s Kate Middleton?
To borrow from the National Enquirer’s once ubiquitous ’80s catchphrase, inquiring minds want to know.
And they’re not just passively eating what is fed to them. Nope they’re all Miss Marples on Adderall — harnessing the full power of the World Wide Web, aggressively concocting and dispensing wild theories and digging deep rabbit holes.
There have been four photos of the Princess of Wales released since it was announced in January that she would be taking three months off from royal duties to recover from abdominal surgery. And each one has only fueled more speculation about what’s really going on with her. Or hell, if the photos are even of her, or a doppelganger.
The Kate-anon cult includes the likes of Kim Kardashian (“On my way to go find Kate,” she captioned an Instagram photo) and Andy Cohen (“That ain’t Kate,” he tweeted after the release of the latest picture of the princess in the wild).
On the one hand, what’s the harm in poking some fun at the royals’ expense?
On the other, all of this faux-photo-fueled palace intrigue and conspiracy is starting to feel like a harbinger of some wacky, darker stuff to come for society — where we all start to question what is even real.
PhotoShop, AI, deepfakes: As technology improves, so does our skepticism of who and what to believe.
Even Google has betrayed our trust as its Gemini chatbot image-generation tool served up wildly inaccurate images depicting black Vikings, female popes and Native Americans mixed in among the Founding Fathers.
We’ve officially stepped into the portal; it’s the bizarro world science fiction writers have been promising for generations. And it’s scary as hell.
After Middleton ’fessed up to doctoring a UK Mother’s Day portrait — shot by her husband, Prince William — of herself and her kids, news agencies have started scrutinizing other photos snapped by Middleton and officially released by Buckingham Palace.
On Tuesday, Getty Images warned that one picture of the late Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren, shot by Middleton in 2022 and released the next year, “has been digitally enhanced at source.”
Meanwhile, the 2024 presidential election cycle has already seen deepfake videos and images making their into campaign reels to both bolster and diminish candidates. And even when images are genuine, one can simply blame it on AI.
Donald Trump did.
In response to the Hur report, which called into question Joe Biden’s memory and cognitive abilities, Dem politicians fired back with a montage of gaffes by Trump.
The 77-year-old immediately said it was an AI fabrication.
Why not? Sometimes it is, like the photo of Trump’s head on the corpulent body of golfer John Daly that made the rounds last month.
Follow The Post’s live updates for the latest news on Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, as rumors swirl about her whereabouts after her botched family photo controversy and abdominal surgery.
“The Fake News used Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to create the picture … ,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These are despicable people, but everyone knows that.”
Even when images are ridiculous, smart people — including ones I know — have fallen for them.
Remember when the masses were fooled by a pic of the pope styling in Balenciaga last year?
It’s all creating a culture of mistrust and simmering doubt, and shaking the landscape of our shared reality.
And when we finally, eventually learn what really ailed Middleton, it’s sure to be so pedestrian that people won’t even believe that either.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/19/opinion/kate-middleton-conspiracies-are-a-sign-of-a-fearsome-future/
Danger. Danger... Trump Claims 2024 Will Be Rigged, Putting Republican Turnout at Risk
Stolen-election claims draw cheers at campaign rallies, but muddle party’s get-out-the-vote effort
By Mariah Timms March 20, 2024 5:00 am ET
(Sorry, all ye faithful. I think they're right. There is hope however.
If Kennedy is on the ballot he'll probably take more votes from Biden than Trump/)
After making years of... claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, Donald Trump is dialing up warnings that there could be an even bigger theft this time around, a tactic that threatens to complicate Republican turnout efforts.
“Too Big to Rig.” That is the phrase Trump began unveiling in recent weeks, including in an appearance in Greensboro, N.C. His campaign also has printed signs with the slogan to hand out to supporters. The idea behind the pitch is this: Trump needs a lead so large that no one can take it away.
“We want a landslide,” Trump said at the rally. “We have to win so that it’s too big to rig.”
The line has garnered energetic applause from the Trump faithful, but it presents messaging challenges for Republicans. Even as the former president says the voting process could be rigged, he is urging GOP supporters to participate in it anyway. Trump also needs to woo moderate and swing voters, yet they could be turned off by his drumbeat of election-fraud claims...
Full story here:
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-claims-2024-will-be-rigged-putting-republican-turnout-at-risk-830b213d?mod=hp_lead_pos1
Nolte: Survey Reveals ‘Only Half of New Yorkers Plan to Stay’ in Democrat-Run City
JOHN NOLTE 19 Mar 2024 3:49
“Only half of New Yorkers plan to stay in the city, according to the survey of more than 6,600 New York City households,” reports the far-left New York Times.
But-but-but His Fraudulency Joe Biden received 76 percent of the New York City vote in 2020???
But-but-but Democrat Eric Adams received 66 percent of the New York City mayoral vote in 2021???
Why’s everyone so unhappy in New York City when they are getting exactly what they voted for?
Oh, but unhappy these Democrats are, especially compared to seven years ago.
“Only 39 percent are content with the state of public education,” reports the Times. “Only 37 percent are happy with the level of public safety in their neighborhood, and only 34 percent are satisfied with their neighborhood’s cleanliness.”
“Less than a third rate the city’s quality of life as excellent or good. Less than a quarter are content with the overall quality of government services.”
When asked, “How would you rate the quality of life in New York City overall?” only 29.8 percent said “excellent” or “good.” That’s down from 51.2 percent in 2017 and 50.9 percent in 2008.
As you can imagine, safety is a major issue. When asked to “rate how safe or unsafe you feel … riding a subway during the day,” only 49 percent said they felt safe during the day. The day! That is a catastrophic drop from 82 percent in 2017 and 86 percent in 2008.
When asked to “rate how safe or unsafe you feel … riding a subway at night,” only 22 percent said they felt safe, compared to 46 percent in 2017 and 45 percent in 2008.
When asked to “rate how safe or unsafe you feel … walking alone on a street in your neighborhood at night,” only 51 percent felt safe, down from 70 percent in 2017 and 69 percent in 2008.
Guess what’s getting the blame…? Yep, the pandemic:
“The drop is stark,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, even as he stressed that context matters. In 2017, New York City was “seven years into a really robust recovery,” he said. In 2023, New York City was still emerging from a pandemic that brought economic and social upheaval.
Is the coronavirus like a zombie that turns people into criminals?
To its credit, the Times does at least mention that crime might sortakindamightprobablybe a bit of an issue:
Of particular note were New Yorkers’ feelings about crime. There were more murders, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries and grand larcenies last year than in 2019, before the pandemic began, and the survey questions reflected a marked unease in how people felt riding the subway or walking the streets at night.
The same Democrats complaining about this voted for this. (Or else they didn't vote. NYC is reputed to have low turnouts.) They voted to end stop-and-frisk. They voted for politicians who declared New York a sanctuary for illegal aliens. They voted to release violent criminals. And now they are all, Ohnoes, our city sucks. How could this have happened?
And now half of them want to leave.
Idiots.
Sure glad I live here.
(He's in North Caroline.)
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/19/nolte-survey-reveals-only-half-of-new-yorkers-plan-to-stay-in-democrat-run-city/
Supreme Court allows Texas law permitting state law enforcement to arrest border crossers to take effect
By Reuters Published March 19, 2024, 2:33 p.m. ET
Let's hear it for the great state of Texas and the Supreme Court! Too bad Texas doesn't have permission to shoot the illegals fouling our country.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block a Republican-backed Texas law allowing state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, rejecting a request by President Joe Biden’s administration.
The administration had asked the justices to freeze a judicial order allowing the Texas law to take effect while the U.S. government’s challenge to the statute proceeds in the lower courts.
The administration has argued that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by interfering with the U.S. government’s power to regulate immigration.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott last December signed the law, known as SB 4, authorizing state law enforcement to arrest people suspected of entering the United States illegally, giving local officers powers long delegated to the U.S. government.
Abbott said the law was needed due to Biden’s failure to enforce federal laws criminalizing illegal entry or re-entry, telling a Dec. 18 press conference that “Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself.”
The Democratic president’s handling of the record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border during his presidency has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans.
Abbott and other Republicans have said Biden should have kept the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, their party’s candidate challenging Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
The Texas law made illegal entry or re-entry into Texas a state crime, with penalties ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison. Under it, Texas magistrate judges will be required to order migrants to return to Mexico, with up to 20-year sentences for those who refuse to comply.
The Justice Department sued in January to block the measure, which was originally set to take effect on March 5. Biden administration lawyers argued that it violates federal law and constitutional provisions giving the U.S. government the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries and among states, and runs afoul of a 2012 Supreme Court precedent.
Texas-based U.S. District David Ezra on Feb. 29 sided with the administration and agreed to preliminarily block Texas officials from enforcing the law, saying that it “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.”
But the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused Ezra’s ruling in an order that would have let the Texas law take effect on March 10, prompting the administration to file an emergency request to the Supreme Court.
Justice Samuel Alito, who handles certain emergency matters involving cases from a group of states including Texas, on March 4 halted the 5th Circuit ruling – and thus the law – from taking effect, giving the Supreme Court more time to consider the matter.
Texas has pursued a range of measures to deter people who cross illegally under its Operation Lone Star, including deploying National Guard troops to the border, blocking migrants with concertina wire and installing a floating barrier over a stretch of the Rio Grande.
Republicans in February scuttled a bipartisan Senate deal that would have bolstered border security and tightened immigration laws after Trump pushed members of his party to reject it. Biden said blame for the bill’s failure lay with Republican lawmakers who bowed to political pressure from Trump who “thinks it’s bad for him politically.”
An analysis of exit polls conducted by Edison Research following primary election voting in early March showed alarm among many voters over the situation along the border. Many called it their top voting issue. Reuters/Ipsos polling showed Biden’s public approval level at 37% as of Feb. 28.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/19/us-news/supreme-court-wont-halt-texas-law-allowing-state-law-enforcement-officers-to-arrest-border-crossers/
Four years on, COVID damage remains while Fauci & Co. pay no price
By Glenn H. Reynolds Published March 18, 2024, 8:43 p.m. ET
We just passed the fourth anniversary of “15 Days To Slow the Spread,” the start of the COVID lockdowns that did damage from which we still haven’t recovered.
I’m embarrassed to admit I fell for it.
I was a COVID hawk in the early days. It seemed right at the time.
The Chinese called it a “grave” threat, and they almost always downplayed bad things in China.
There were reports of death rates ranging from 4% to 10%.
Sure, Anthony Fauci, Nancy Pelosi and Bill de Blasio were telling us not to worry, to take cruises and go visit Chinatown, but I lacked confidence in them. (Hey, I was right about that.)
They reversed course like a week later.
It turned out, of course, COVID’s mortality rate was significantly less than one-tenth of those early reports, and those deaths were mostly concentrated among the obese, the elderly and those with heart failure and diabetes.
(And the deaths often resulted from too-aggressive use of ventilators, which are themselves quite dangerous.)
Neither the lockdowns nor the masking requirements did any good, though they caused a lot of trauma, inconvenience and colossal economic destruction.
(Even “long COVID,” which we heard a lot about, turns out to be no different from the flu’s long-term consequences, scientists just confirmed.)
Then there were the deaths caused by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s program of moving still-contagious COVID patients into old-folks’ homes, exposing the most vulnerable people to infection.
In short, the government response to COVID was probably more destructive than the virus itself.
In retrospect, I should have been more skeptical.
It’s hard to believe I, of all people, trusted the government too much, but there you are.
Public-health officials admitted later they didn’t consider the collateral damage from lockdowns, quarantines and the like in making their plans: They focused solely on preventing COVID’s spread.
Not only were they ineffective at that — COVID spread widely and just about as fast as everywhere else — it’s the opposite of what public-health officials should focus on, since their job is, you know, public health, not the prevention of a single disease at all costs.
The economy still hasn’t recovered from the distortions COVID measures introduced; binge drinking and alcohol-related liver disease are up; children’s educations and development have been retarded — and the nation has suffered a deep and widespread loss of trust in institutions, which, to be fair, is entirely justified.
Even The New York Times now sees sense: “The more time students spent in remote instruction, the further they fell behind. And, experts say, extended closures did little to stop the spread of Covid,” a Monday piece declares.
The architects of these disastrous policies, figures like Fauci, Francis Collins, and Deborah Birx, escaped any reckoning.
Politicians like Cuomo, Pelosi and California Gov. Gavin Newsom cheerfully flouted the rules they imposed on the little people, going to dinner parties and otherwise cavorting in defiance of social-distancing and mask mandates.
As left-leaning blogger Nate Silver observed, “It’s kind of crazy (and tells you a lot about who was writing the restrictions) that churches in some jurisdictions were subject to more restrictions than museums!”
The final blow came when public-health “experts,” who had been condemning family Sunday dinners as inconsiderately dangerous, did a 180 and endorsed massive Black Lives Matter protests on the specious ground, “Racism is a public-health problem.”
So is obesity, but one doubts they would have endorsed a March Against Fatness.
(Chuckle. Chuckle. Great line.)
They made very clear politics came before science, even as they accused their opponents of being “anti-science.”
The Committee to Unleash Prosperity, which includes some of the experts who were skeptical of lockdowns, has released a “Lessons Learned” report with 10 main points, including:
“Leaders should calm public fears, not stoke them.”
“Lockdowns do not work to substantially reduce deaths or to reduce viral circulation.”
“Lockdowns and social isolation had negative consequences that far outweighed benefits.”
“Government should not suppress dissent or police the boundaries of science.”
As the Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of government-induced speech suppression, that last is a particularly timely point.
These experts are worth paying particular attention to because they didn’t fall for the hysteria.
In the beginning I did fall for it, and I’ve made my mea culpa elsewhere.
But since I followed the data instead of the governmental diktats, I changed my mind pretty quickly.
Because I became skeptical, Google demonetized my blog — which is a bigger punishment than any lockdown advocate or enforcer has faced, despite being wrong, arrogant and guilty of causing great harm.
Well, if there can’t be any punishment — and in today’s America, the very idea of consequences for the nomenklatura runs the risk of being called “white supremacist” or “insurrectionist” — there can at least be remembrance.
The “expert” class blew it, sold out or gloried in putting people under its thumb.
And it paid no price.
Next time — and there will be a next time — ignore those people.
And if they won’t let you ignore them, make them.
Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee and founder of the InstaPundit.com blog.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/18/opinion/four-years-on-covid-damage-remains-while-fauci-amp-co-pay-no-price/
Best headline of the day:
Confirms what I've thought all along. Men think with their...
Viagra Could Be Good for Your Brain
Artificial intelligence is allowing scientists to discover new uses for old medications.
By Allysia Finley March 17, 2024 4:09 pm ET
https://www.wsj.com/articles/viagra-could-be-good-for-your-brain-repurposing-medications-artificial-intelligence-5fd054cd?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
Trump can’t get bond to appeal $454M civil fraud judgment: lawyers
By Reuters Published March 18, 2024, 11:12 a.m. ET
@Bull_Dolphin @Gmenfan @pos_stock_hoarder @SkeBallLarry
The left has gone full tilt boogie commie playbook. This is reprehensible. I cannot print what I want to happen to Letitia James or what I feel like calling her.
Donald Trump has so far been unable to obtain a bond that would allow him to appeal a $454 million judgment against the former U.S. president in a New York civil fraud case without posting the full amount himself, his lawyers said on Monday.
Trump must either find the cash or post a bond to prevent the state’s authorities from seizing his properties while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 decision ordering him and co-defendants to pay $464 million in penalties and interest for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.
In a court filing on Monday, the Republican presidential candidate’s lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment, arguing the amount was excessive.
They said the defendants had so far approached 30 surety companies through four separate brokers to obtain a bond.
“Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
The lawyers asked that he instead be allowed to post a $100 million bond while he appeals the judgment. A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.
Trump’s lawyers included a statement by Gary Giulietti, an executive with insurance brokerage the Lockton Companies, which Trump has hired to help get a bond.
Giulietti wrote that a bond for the full $464 million “is not possible under the circumstances presented,” noting that many sureties would not issue bonds above $100 million and were willing to accept only cash or securities – not real estate – as collateral.
Trump denied wrongdoing in the case, which was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in New York state court in Manhattan.
Trump earlier this month posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million defamation verdict for the writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals, in a case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/18/us-news/trump-cant-get-bond-to-appeal-of-454m-civil-fraud-judgment-lawyers/
RFK Jr. to name wealthy attorney Nicole Shanahan as running mate in prez run: report
By Patrick Reilly Published March 16, 2024, 6:38 p.m. ET
(This chick is not a selling point for me. On the bright side she'll take more votes from Biden than she will from Trump.)
Nicole Shanahan is a lawyer and entrepreneur from California. (Love her professional attire.)
Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to tap California attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate, according to a report.
Shanahan, a Democratic donor who was once married to Google cofounder Sergey Brin, funded Kennedy’s pricey Super Bowl campaign commercial, Mediaite reported Saturday.
The pair “align on numerous issues,” including his condemnation of vaccines, and she can help funnel money into Kennedy’s long-shot bid and get him on ballots in all 50 states, sources close to the campaign told the outlet.
The pick notably keeps New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom Kennedy said was considering as his Vice President, off the November ballot.
Kennedy’s campaign declined to confirm that he’s made a decision.
“There has been a lot of speculation in the media about Mr. Kennedy’s pick of vice presidential running mate,” his campaign’s press office told The Post in a statement.
“The official announcement will be on March 26 in Oakland, CA. We hope to see you there.”
Shanahan, 38, told The New York Times last month she had given $4 million to the super PAC, American Values 2024, to fund the $7 million 30-second Super Bowl commercial.
While claimnig to not be an “anti-vaxxer,” she said she shared Kennedy’s constant attacks on vaccines. She also describes herself as a progressive who cares about children’s health.
She donated to President Biden’s campaign in 2020 and gave the maximum $6,600 to Kennedy’s campaign in May 2023 while he was still seeking the Democratic nomination, according to records obtained by The Times.
The Bay Area attorney was married to Google’s Brin in 2018 — but they officially divorced last summer after she was reportedly romantically involved with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Musk and Brin were previously longtime friends, and Musk frequently stayed over at Brin’s home, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2022.
However, the two reportedly had a falling out following Musk and Shanahan’s brief fling in December 2021, when Brin requested that his financial advisers sell his personal investments in Musk’s companies.
Musk and Shanahan have denied the allegations.
“This is total bs,” Musk posted on X in July 2022, in response to a user who shared the WSJ article.
“I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic,” he added.
Brin filed for a dissolution of marriage from Shanahan in January 2022. The couple shares a young daughter together, according to People.
Kennedy initially ran as a Democrat against President Biden before announcing an independent bid in October. He has been polling as the top third party candidate in the field, consistently cracking double-digits behind President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Others on Kennedy’s short list included former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who, along with Rodgers, was “at the top of his list,” he told the New York Times this week.
Kennedy has been working to secure funding to get on the ballot in every state as an independent, which his campaign says it will cost them $15 million. So far, he’s only qualified for the ballot in four states: Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire and Utah.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/16/us-news/rfk-jr-to-name-nicole-shanahan-as-running-mate-in-white-house-run-report/
lol... Whatever keeps you safe.
Is it warm enough to open a window???
Ahhh... corned beef and cabbage. Sounds heartily Irish.
That should ward off those devilish leprechauns.
Enjoy your leftovers.
Good grief. That pool does not look big enough for a 750 lb. alligator.
Disgusting.
JMO... The owner is a sick pup. Yuck.
Forgive the lapse, Mr. G. This old gray mare ain't what she used to be.
Happy St. P's Day.
Are ya wearing the green?
I am. Don't want to get pinched by those pesky leprechauns.
Stay safe.
Have fun.
One can only hope...
and vote.
Good luck to the Fractured States of America.
Proofreading is a dead art...
Sounds like you folks are having fun out there... especially your little peanut.
Bundt bread. I love it.
Good work, Flo-zee.
I wonder about this myself...
The biggest question of another Trump presidency is: Who will work for him?
By Douglas Murray Published March 7, 2024, 3:05 p.m. ET
(There are two opinions here. The second is about AI and its effect on the 2024 election.)
That looks incredible, Flo-zee. Kudos, Kiddo.
What exactly is it? Bundt bread? < g >
How's your little snow hound?
What was the total snowfall?
And are you due for snow melting temps soon?
Stay safe and good luck.
Longtime NYC broadcast news anchor Bill Jorgensen dead at 96
By Deirdre Bardolf Published March 16, 2024 Updated March 16, 2024, 2:43 p.m. ET
Longtime New York City broadcast news anchor Bill Jorgensen, known for coining the tagline, “It’s 10 p.m. — do you know where your children are?” died on Wednesday at age 96.
Jorgensen was recruited from Cleveland in 1967 to be the founding anchor of the Ten O’Clock News on WNEW, now Fox 5 New York, which he hosted for over 12 years, always signing off with his signature, ““Thanking you for your time this time, until next time.”
“His ‘never-give-up’ spirit lasted until his end of life, and I just hope to be able to follow his example as long as possible,” his daughter, Rebekah Jorgensen, wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.
She did not share his cause of death.
Bill Jorgensen was recruited from Cleveland in 1967 to anchor the Ten O’Clock News on Channel 5 in New York, and then went on to co-anchor at PIX11.
(Photo by New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)
“I grew up knowing him, behind the scenes, as a man deeply committed to finding the story that put people and their rights in danger, intent on finding innovative ways of telling it,” she said.
His daughter recalled his coverage of environmental stories including Cleveland pollution, as well as the story of Robert Manry, a copy editor from Ohio who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1965 in a 13-foot sailboat.
He also reported on the famous case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was accused and then acquitted of his pregnant wife’s 1954 murder.
The Sheppard case is said to have inspired the television series and later movie, “The Fugitive.”
Rebekah recalled her dad letting her stay up late to attend nighttime broadcasts at just 5 years old, and his role in what she called the “Golden Age of News Broadcasting.”
An old newspaper clipping from his time as a radio host in Ohio called him a “busy newscaster and a busy husband” in a photo alongside wife, Kit, and daughters Jill, Rebekah and Wendy.
Jorgensen was recruited to New York City from Cleveland’s KYW-TV.
“The Ten O’clock News was ‘must see’ each night,” one former radio anchor commented on Rebekeh’s post. “Reportage done well and right … His kind will not be seen again.”
The New York Times television critic Jack Gould in 1967 described the newscast as “a thoroughly professional news summary” thanks to “Mr. Jorgensen’s durably pleasing style and demeanor.”
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“He suggests authority without affectation,” Gould wrote.
“We loved his serious style of delivery, as well as the line he used to end his newscasts,” a PIX11 archive page wrote in a post in 2016.
Jorgensen’s show also coined the well-known public service announcement tagline, “It’s ten o’clock — do you know where your children are?”
Read by the late Tom Gregory, it aired from the late 1960s through the 1980s.
Jorgensen moved from WNEW to WPIX-TV in 1979, where he anchored national and local segments, and was one of the co-founders and first anchors of the Independent Network News, which was produced at WPIX.
The nightly broadcast was helmed by Jorgensen, Pat Harper Steve Bosh.
Jorgensen was succeeded at WNEW by John Roland, who died last year. “Bill Jorgensen played a major role in establishing Channel 5’s 10 o’clock news as the most successful prime-time news in America,” the station said when he left.
Jorgensen retired in 1987 and settled in North Carolina.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/16/us-news/longtime-new-york-city-news-anchor-bill-jorgensen-dead-at-96/
Like I said...
Hey @Gmenfan Head west, Young Man. Looks like you're in easy driving distance for the big show.
Eclipse express: $4K gets you a seat, gourmet meals on NYC-Niagara Falls train to view the full solar event
By Dean Balsamini Published March 16, 2024, 9:34 a.m. ET
All aboard the solar eclipse express.
Four thousand dollars will get you a set on one of two vintage trains heading from New York City — where the eclipse on April 8 will only be a partial 90% event — to Niagara Falls, where the full solar spectacular can be viewed.
The Pullman cars Blue Ridge Club and Berlin will depart Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station just after 10 a.m. Sunday, April 7 on the rear of an Amtrak.
They’re scheduled to pull into the Niagara Falls station around 7:45 p.m., in plenty of time for the next day’s rare celestial event.
The eclipse — when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, blocking the view of the sun — will start at 2:04 p.m. and last for about two and a half hours.
The full eclipse will occur between 3:20 and 3:23.
The total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas to Maine on April 8. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.
NASA
These sun-gawking straphangers will travel in style.
“The cool thing is you don’t have to worry about getting hotel rooms, ” explained Bill Gray, 66, president of the Pennsylvania Pullmans.
The trains accommodate 18 overnight guests in six master suites and three double bedrooms.
Travelers stay aboard Sunday and Monday nights and return to NYC on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
An onboard chef will serve gourmet lunch and dinner, and hors d’oeuvres at night — with a side order of stunning landscapes.
“The journey itself is fantastic, going up the Hudson River and following the Erie Canal essentially all the way to Buffalo. We’re praying for good weather, but even if it’s cloudy, we can assure it’s gonna get really dark.”
Included in the fare are a Gray Line bus tour and time to explore Niagara Falls.
The itinerary includes the 130-foot-high Cave of the Winds, Goat Island and Terrapin Point.
Lunch will be available at the Hard Rock Cafe and there will be a guided walking tour around Prospect Point.
Guests will check out the eclipse in Niagara State Park.
The Blue Ridge Club was built by the Pullman-Standard Company in Chicago in 1950 for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway’s Streamliners.
The Berlin was built in 1956 and served the Union Pacific Railroad.
The long-distance sleeper car spent most of its life traveling back and forth from Chicago to the West Coast.
The Pullman cars Blue Ridge Club and Berlin will depart Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station just after 10 a.m. Sunday, April 7 on the rear of an Amtrak. They’re scheduled to pull into the Niagara Falls station around 7:45 p.m., in plenty of time for the next day’s rare celestial event.
Courtesy of Bill Gray
The train’s claim to fame is transforming in 1977 to the “Peanut Special,” a charter train carrying President Jimmy Carter to his inauguration.
“This is a way for guests to immerse themselves in 1950s streamlined modern styled interior with period food and good company and beautiful scenery as we roll along the Hudson and the Mohawk Rivers,” Gray said.
There is one bedroom — double occupancy — still available on the Blue Ridge Club. For information, reach out to the NY Adventure Club.
Sun-gazing glasses are included.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/16/us-news/4k-gets-you-seat-on-train-to-view-the-full-solar-event/
I found it... Pence: ‘I Will Not Be Endorsing Donald Trump’
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/03/15/pence-i-will-not-be-endorsing-donald-trump/
No surprise here.