LinkSwarm for January 26, 2018

January 26th, 2018

President Donald Trump is pitching America at Davos (and evidently doing well). Meanwhile, a lot of this week’s news has focused on the still-developing FBI scandal, which will probably wait until the next Clinton Corruption update.

  • Trump vs. the mainstream media:

    The country’s top news organizations have targeted Trump with an unprecedented barrage of negative stories, with some no longer making much attempt to hide their contempt. Some stories are legitimate, some are not, and others are generated by the president’s own falsehoods and exaggerations. But the mainstream media, subconsciously at first, has lurched into the opposition camp and is appealing to an anti-Trump base of viewers and readers, failing to grasp how deeply it is distrusted by a wide swath of the country.

    (Hat tip: Chuck Glasser at Instapundit.)

  • Liberals on shutdown fight: “Our leaders betrayed us!” Stephen Green: “Welcome to our world.”
  • Why Schumer’s shutdown gambit failed: “Seeing the media commit itself to plainly stating the facts and resisting its usual role as the Democrats’ built-in spin machine was genuinely refreshing.” More:

    Democrats love to pretend that the media doesn’t routinely shield them from inconvenient truths. But the freak-out that ensured the second that shield was removed exposed just how badly they rely on positive press coverage to accomplish their political goals.

  • West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (who recently filed for re-election): “We do need a wall.”
  • “NFL Ratings Plunge As 23 Million Fewer Viewers Watch Divisional Playoffs.” How’s that anthem protest working out for you? (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • 5 Great Floor Finds at SHOT Show 2018.” Including this mainly so Dwight sees the bit on the 1400 round full-auto BB gun, which I know scratches an itch of his… (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
  • Minnesota Public Radio releases statement that no, actually, Garrison Keillor is a complete perv. (Hat tip: The Other McCain.)
  • The lights are going out in Europe:

  • Andrew Sullivan commits heresy by noting the obvious: sex is not a social construct.

    For today’s progressives, humans are the sole species on this planet where gender differentiation has no clear basis in nature, science, evolution, or biology. This is where they are as hostile to Darwin as any creationist.

    And this is stupid. The alternative explanation — that these core natural differences between men and women have been supplemented by centuries of conscious oppression — is staring us in the face. The fascinating conundrum is where one ends and the other begins. How much of this difference is natural and how much is social? That is the question. And the answer is a tricky one. Is the fact that the vast majority of construction workers are male and the huge majority of nurses are female a function of sexism or nature? Is male sexual aggression and horniness a function of patriarchy or testosterone? Is the fact that women now outnumber men among college graduates a function of reverse sexism or nature?

  • You might want to scratch Vang Vieng, Laos off your tourist destination list. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • “I love you…you love me…very, very slow-ow-ly…”
  • Feminist of Hearing

    January 25th, 2018

    Conor Friedersdorf examines a terrible malady: those who suffer from Social justice Warrior of the ears, a more extreme example of “liberal of hearing.” This example features British journalist Cathy Newman interviewing Jordan B. Peterson, a University of Toronto clinical psychologist. “First, a person says something. Then, another person restates what they purportedly said so as to make it seem as if their view is as offensive, hostile, or absurd.”

    Peterson begins the interview by explaining why he tells young men to grow up and take responsibility for getting their lives together and becoming good partners. He notes he isn’t talking exclusively to men, and that he has lots of female fans.

    “What’s in it for the women, though?” Newman asks.

    “Well, what sort of partner do you want?” Peterson says. “Do you want an overgrown child? Or do you want someone to contend with who is going to help you?”

    “So you’re saying,” Newman retorts, “that women have some sort of duty to help fix the crisis of masculinity.” But that’s not what he said. He posited a vested interest, not a duty.

    “Women deeply want men who are competent and powerful,” Peterson goes on to assert. “And I don’t mean power in that they can exert tyrannical control over others. That’s not power. That’s just corruption. Power is competence. And why in the world would you not want a competent partner? Well, I know why, actually, you can’t dominate a competent partner. So if you want domination—”

    The interviewer interrupts, “So you’re saying women want to dominate, is that what you’re saying?”

    The next section of the interview concerns the pay gap between men and women, and whether it is rooted in gender itself or other nondiscriminatory factors:

    Newman: … that 9 percent pay gap, that’s a gap between median hourly earnings between men and women. That exists.

    Peterson: Yes. But there’s multiple reasons for that. One of them is gender, but that’s not the only reason. If you’re a social scientist worth your salt, you never do a univariate analysis. You say women in aggregate are paid less than men. Okay. Well then we break its down by age; we break it down by occupation; we break it down by interest; we break it down by personality.

    Newman: But you’re saying, basically, it doesn’t matter if women aren’t getting to the top, because that’s what is skewing that gender pay gap, isn’t it? You’re saying that’s just a fact of life, women aren’t necessarily going to get to the top.

    Peterson: No, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter, either. I’m saying there are multiple reasons for it.

    Newman: Yeah, but why should women put up with those reasons?

    Peterson: I’m not saying that they should put up with it! I’m saying that the claim that the wage gap between men and women is only due to sex is wrong. And it is wrong. There’s no doubt about that. The multivariate analysis have been done. So let me give you an example––

    The interviewer seemed eager to impute to Peterson a belief that a large, extant wage gap between men and women is a “fact of life” that women should just “put up with,” though all those assertions are contrary to his real positions on the matter.

    Throughout this next section, the interviewer repeatedly tries to oversimplify Peterson’s view, as if he believes one factor he discusses is all-important, and then she seems to assume that because Peterson believes that given factor helps to explain a pay gap between men and women, he doesn’t support any actions that would bring about a more equal outcome.

    This is what Social Justice Warriors in general, and radical feminists in particular, do. They start with the assumption that they’re good, and anyone who objects to their Social Justice Warrior positions is obviously evil, and thus must be made to repent of their heresy or else be destroyed. Any attempt at a more nuanced position that strays from Social Justice Warrior dogma is just a dodge by the evil person meant to obscure their fundamental sexist/racist/Islamophobic/etc. beliefs and avoid repenting of their unwillingness to “check their privilege.” Forget investigating their stated position; that’s just a smokescreen for their evil. They must confess their sins.

    Here’s the video of the interview.

    Some Twitter reactions:

    And now here’s the Newman/Peterson interview in meme form:

    FBI Amazing Coincidence Theater

    January 24th, 2018

    I could save this for the next Clinton Corruption update, since it’s all one big pro-Clinton/anti-Trump conspiracy, but let’s break down these two amazing FBI coincidences separately.

    First we learn that five months of FBI agent Peter Strzok’s text messages to and from his mistress Lisa Page have gone missing:

    The FBI “failed to preserve” five months worth of text messages exchanged between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the two FBI employees who made pro-Clinton and anti-Trump comments while working on the Clinton email and the Russia collusion investigations.

    The disclosure was made Friday in a letter sent by the Justice Department to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC).

    Snip.

    “That texts are missing for the period between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017.”

    Wow, what an amazing coincidence! Just after Strzok had referred to “a secret society” in the wake of Trump’s unexpected win, just when when the Russian Conspiracy Fantasy was in it’s first bloom! What are the odds? Especially since May 17 was the date when the special council was first convened. (By the way, Strzok and Page exchanged more than 50,000 text messages during and after the election. How did they find time to get any FBI work done?)

    But keep in mind, those messages may be “missing” but they’re probably not “gone”:

    Speaking of amazing coincidences, Daniel Richman, a law professor who helped former FBI director James Comey leak classified information to the media, is now claiming that he’s acting as Comey’s lawyer, and thus protected by client-attorney privilege, something neither Richman nor Comey claimed until this week!

    A friend of former FBI director James Comey who leaked sensitive FBI memos to The New York Times in the wake of Comey’s firing in 2017 now claims to be Comey’s personal attorney. Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University, told The Federalist via phone on Tuesday afternoon that he was now personally representing Comey.

    The revelation comes in the wake of news that Comey was interviewed by the special counsel’s office last year. According to The New York Times, the line of questioning from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller focused on memos that Comey wrote and later leaked after he was fired from his job by President Donald Trump. A review of FBI policies governing the handling of sensitive government documents suggests Comey violated FBI policy by leaking the memos, which were produced on government time, using government equipment, and directly related to his official government responsibilities, according to Comey’s own testimony before Congress.

    Context:

    More and more, FBI agents involved in anti-Trump activities are expecting us to buy explanations from them that an FBI field agent would never buy from a potential suspect.

    It stinks, and they know it stinks.

    Democrats Fold Like a Cheap Folding Table at a Buffalo Bills Playoff Game*

    January 23rd, 2018

    Well, that shutdown didn’t last long:

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer waved the white flag Monday, paving the way for an end to the three-day government shutdown many have named after the New York Democrat — and prompting liberal fury and conservatives’ mockery.

    Democratic lawmakers initially refused Friday to support a continuing resolution to fund the government — unless the measure included amnesty for an estimated 800,000 individuals who qualified under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to remain in the U.S. with the parents who brought them here illegally.

    But that changed on Monday as Schumer conceded, saying he would allow a vote without the DACA amnesty provision included. Republican leaders agreed, in return, to hold a Senate vote on an amnesty bill in February.

    What did they get for abandoning their “deeply held principles” that illegal alien amnesty was more important than keeping the federal government running?

    A few more reactions from Twitter:

    For Democrats to cave so fast the internal polling most be even worse than we think. Did no one on the Democratic Party’s leadership team think to themselves “Hey, maybe caring more about the fate of some illegal aliens over those of the American people may not be a winning electoral strategy”?

    Let’s let Willy explain just what Sen. Schumer earned from his little shutdown stunt:

    (*Seriously, I have no idea how that whole Bills Mafia Folding Table thing came about and would like some Bills fan to explain it to me. SooperMexican, perhaps?)

    Trump Ad Hits Democrats Over Illegal Aliens

    January 22nd, 2018

    Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign just put out an ad hitting Democrats over crimes committed by illegal aliens:

    A few thoughts:

  • Has any President ever launched a reelection ad three years before his term is up?
  • Or used it to hit members of the opposing party over a then-contentious issue?
  • Either polling or Trump’s gut tells him that this is a deeply unpopular issue for Democrats, and I think he’s right. In the current shutdown fight, Democrats have chosen illegal aliens over American citizens, and they need to pay the political price for it.
  • Rick Perry used this issue effectively in his 2010 gubernatorial reelection campaign against Democrat Bill White. In that ad, a Houston police officer talked about how her husband (another police officer) had been killed by a multi-arrested illegal alien while White, Houston’s mayor at the time, was touting Houston as a “sanctuary city.”
  • My suspicion is that Democrats will get clobbered in this fight. We’ll see…

    Shoe0nHead Makes a Drinking Game of Feminist Videos, Dies

    January 21st, 2018

    OK, she didn’t literally die, but she did say she was going to several times. And I can see than teenage feminist rap video killing the unwary…

    Don’t try this at home!

    Turkey Invades Syria To Crush Kurdish Forces

    January 20th, 2018

    Turkey just launched a major military operation in the Afrin region of northern Syria in order to crush U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in the region:

    Turkish war planes have launched air strikes on Kurdish militants in northern Syria, in a move likely to cause tensions with the US.

    It’s not just warplanes. There are reports of Turkish Leopard tanks crossing the border.

    Turkey wants to oust the Kurds, which it calls terrorists, from Afrin region which lies across its southern border.

    Some Kurdish groups are allies of the US against the Islamic State group.

    Russia has moved its troops away from Afrin, saying it is concerned but will not interfere. Syria denounced Turkey’s “aggression” and “brutal attack”.

    Turkey had been shelling the area for two days, ahead of its declaration of a military operation on Saturday.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey has notified all actors involved – including the Syrian government – about the offensive. Syria denied this was the case.

    According to Livemap, Afrin is a very active theater right now:

    The yellow area is Kurd-held territory in Syria, while the blue dots are Turkish military activity.

    How much, if any, of the area is held by the directly U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces is unclear. (“Unclear” being the watchword for much of the Syrian civil war.)

    I can’t imagine that this will improve already-bad relations between the United States and Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s scumbag Islamist government in Ankara. Maybe, as with our erstwhile “ally” Pakistan, it’s time to cut ties with Turkey (and start moving to get them expelled from NATO), as they’ve been more of a hindrance than help ever since Erdogan took power.

    CNN Interviews Ohio Democrats Who Voted Trump, Shocked To Find They Think He’s Doing A Great Job

    January 20th, 2018

    Here’s another case where CNN assembled a focus group, in this case Democrats from Youngstown, Ohio who voted for Donald Trump the Candidate in 2016, and are shocked to discover that they think Donald Trump the President is doing a great job.

    A few takeaways:

  • They think he’s doing a great job on the economy and see signs of economic improvement, even though Youngstown itself isn’t booming.
  • They agree with Trump on immigration.
  • They like that Trump keeps tweeting, given how the media lies about him.
  • Notice that two of the five focus group members are black. Democrats are terrified of Trump cracking the black vote.
  • (Hat tip: The Conservative Treehouse, who I need to add to the blogroll.)

    LinkSwarm for January 19, 2018

    January 19th, 2018

    This morning starts with Republican house members calling for the release of a deeply disturbing secret memo that evidently relates to the whole FISA/Clinton/Obama misuse of America’s national security assets to spy on Domestic political opponents, including Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign. House members who have read the memo say the scandal unveiled is “worse than Watergate.” Those reading this blog should already be broadly familiar with the outlines of the scandal.

    However, since that memo hasn’t been released as of this writing, on with a regular Friday LinkSwarm.

    Oh, and Democrats are still threatening a government shutdown over illegal alien amnesty for Obama’s “Dreamers.” So you’ve got that to look forward to as well.

  • Speaking of “Dreamers” (which, by the way, is also the name of a porn store in north Austin), illegal aliens of “Dreamer” age have a crime rate double that of American citizens.
  • Including the accused cop killer who says he “wish he killed more of the motherfuckers.”
  • “Analysis: Leftism is a status machine. A very, very successful status machine. Conservatives have lost status battle after status battle, often because they fought it as a policy battle. It rarely is.”

    The media offers people clues about what things are high status within the areas they cover. People notice, and act accordingly. Yet most conservatives still don’t understand Trump’s response:

    If I lower the media’s status, I will wreck their power.

    So The Donald says that the media has “some of the most dishonest people” he has ever seen. Not an arm’s length complaint. A direct and personal status attack, rooted in truth.

    Trump also acts in ways that cause journalists to fulfill his pre-suasion labeling. He makes “outrageous” statements, which many people outside the Beltway Bubble agree with. Those statements receive over-the-top media attacks, which make his enemies look ridiculous. Then events swiftly show that Trump had a point. Trump rubs it in, using the media’s own “Fake News” term against them and pouncing on every sloppy and dishonest mistake. As a final topper, Trump makes the dishonest media a focus during every massive rally. Which strengthens his out-grouping effect among participants and viewers.

    He uses ridicule and lèse majesté, not bended knee and appeals — note that subordinating word — to logical argument.

  • Jim Goad offers a brief essay on comparative shitholes:

    In terms of life expectancy, Norway leads the pack at 81.8 years. Then comes the USA (79.3), with a sudden drop to 63.5 years for Haitians and a mere 55.0 years for Somalians.

    Norway also wins the blue ribbon when it comes to per-capita income, which is a staggering 38 times that of Haitians and 173 times that of Somalians.

    The noble Norsemen also win when it comes to their nation’s mean IQ, which is 100 compared to the USA’s 98. Somalia (68) and Haiti (67) both suffer a mean IQ that is below the commonly accepted cutoff line for “retarded.”

    The only category where the USA comes out on top is the percentage of the population with access to improved sanitation facilities—one index claims that 100% of Americans can find a functional toilet if they try. Next comes Norway at 98.1%. Haiti (27.6%) and Somalia (23.5%) are far, far worse. According to Wikipedia, “Sewer systems and wastewater treatment are nonexistent” in Haiti, which would mean the country is a literal shithole.

  • Andrew McCarthy goes into great detail about what a nothingburger the entire Trump-Russia conspiracy fantasy is. Though larded up with the requisite National Review distaste for Trump, it does include a few valuable nuggets I hadn’t chanced across heretofore, including that the law firm of BakerHostetler was who was funneling payments from Natalia Veselnitskaya and Prevezon Holdings to Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson. (Hat tip: Ann Althouse.)
  • Is Sweden contemplating sending the army to regain control over no-go zones?
  • Democratic Senator Patty Murray’s office: “We don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office,” Murray’s senior adviser said. “We care about transgenders, we care about blacks, we care about Hispanics, we care about gays, we care about lesbians, we care about the disabled.”
  • Switzerland Rejects Citizenship Bids of Residents Who Have Been on Welfare.” (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • Speaking of which: “Swiss town denies passport to Dutch vegan because she is ‘too annoying.'”
  • Why hasn’t power been restored to Puerto Rico? Maybe because Puerto Rican authorities were hoarding bital electrical equipment?
  • Austin on finalist list for Amazon’s second headquarters.
  • Baltmore’s mayor fires the police commissioner.
  • Dear Millennials: It has been scientifically proven that your music sucks.
  • East Coast Comicon bans Kevin “Hercules” Sorbo because he’s friends with Sean Hannity.
  • Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer for The Cranberries, dead at the untimely age of 46.
  • Former Senator, Republican Majority leader, Presidential candidate and World War II veteran Bob Dole just received the Congressional Gold Medal. Best tweet from the event:

  • Gonna pass on the expedited shipping, thanks.
  • A little light today, but I want to hit publish on this before that memo drops…

    House: Awan Gang Rampaged Through Dem Servers

    January 18th, 2018

    Here’s some breaking news from the other, other, other Democratic scandal in Washington, D.C.:

    House investigators concluded that Democratic IT aides made unauthorized access to congressional servers in 2016, allegedly accessing the data of members for whom they did not work, logging in as members of Congress themselves, and covering their tracks, according to a presentation summarizing the findings of a four-month internal probe.

    Their behavior mirrored a “classic method for insiders to exfiltrate data from an organization,” and they continued even after orders to stop, the briefing materials allege. There are indications that numerous members’ data may have been secretly residing not on their designated servers, but instead aggregated onto one server, according to the briefing and other sources. Authorities said that the entire server was then physically stolen.

    When acting on the findings, Democratic leadership appear to have misrepresented the issue to their own members as solely a matter of theft, a comparison of the investigators’ findings with Democrats’ recollections and a committee’s public statement shows, leading 44 Democrats to not conduct protective measures typically taken after a breach — including informing constituents whose personal information may have been exposed. (A list of the involved members is below.)

    The presentation, written by the House’s Office of the Inspector General, reported under the bold heading “UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS” that “5 shared employee system administrators have collectively logged into 15 member offices and the Democratic Caucus although they were not employed by the offices they accessed.”

    It found indications that a House “server is being used for nefarious purposes and elevated the risk that individuals could be reading and/or removing information” and “could be used to store documents taken from other offices.” The server was that of the House Democratic Caucus, a sister group of the DNC that was run at the time by then-Rep. Xavier Becerra.

    The aides named are Imran Awan, his wife Hina Alvi, his brothers Abid and Jamal, and his friend Rao Abbas, Pakistani-born aides whose lives are filled with reason for concern. Abid’s Ukranian wife Natalia Sova and Haseeb Rana were also involved in the Awans’ activities but departed the House payroll prior to the investigation.

    One systems administrator “logged into a member’s office two months after he was terminated from that office,” the investigative summary says.

    While the rules could have been violated for some innocuous purpose, the presentation indicates that is unlikely: “This pattern of login activity suggests steps are being taken to conceal their activity.”

    The list of affected Democratic Representatives (many of whom have been forcibly retired by voters or otherwise left office), alphabetized for your convenience:

  • Pete Aguilar (D-CA)
  • Brad Ashford (D-NE)
  • Ron Barber (D-AZ)
  • Karen Bass (D-CA)
  • Melissa Bean (D-IL)
  • Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
  • Chris Bell (D-TX)
  • Joyce Birdson Beatty (D-OH)
  • Julia Brownley (D-CA)
  • Tony Cardenas (D-CA)
  • John Carney (D-DE)
  • Andre Carson (D-IN)
  • Joaquin Castro (D-TX)
  • Ben Chandler (D-KY)
  • Katherine Clark (D-MA)
  • Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
  • Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
  • Jim Costa (D-CA)
  • Charlie Crist (D-FL)
  • Joe Crowley (D-NY)
  • Diana DeGette (D-CO)
  • Ted Deutch (D-FL)
  • Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
  • Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
  • Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
  • Lois Frankel (D-FL)
  • Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
  • Joe Garcia (D-FL)
  • Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)
  • Gwen Graham (D-FL)
  • Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)
  • Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
  • Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
  • Baron Hill (D-IN)
  • Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
  • Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)
  • Robin Kelly (D-IL)
  • Dan Kildee (D-MI)
  • Ron Klein (D-FL)
  • Sandy Levin (D-MI)
  • Ted Lieu (D-CA)
  • Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
  • Donald McEachin (D-VA)
  • Kendrick Meek (D-FL)
  • Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
  • Seth Moulton (D-MA)
  • Patrick Murphy (D-FL)
  • Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)
  • Cedric Richmond (D-LA)
  • Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
  • Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
  • Tim Ryan (D-OH)
  • John Sarbanes (D-MD)
  • Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
  • Hilda Solis (D-CA)
  • Darren Michael Soto (D-FL)
  • Jackie Speier (D-CA)
  • Mark Takano (D-CA)
  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
  • Henry Waxman (D-CA)
  • Robert Wexler (D-FL)
  • Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
  • Plus the House Democratic Caucus server.

    Here’s a thought experiment: Imagine a Republican had broken into one Democratic congressional servers. That would be front page news for weeks. Now imagine a Republican had broken into the servers of 44 Democratic congressmen, plus the DNC. There would be congressional hearings televised by every major network and calls to disband the RNC. But let five Pakistani nationals do the same thing and the MSM just can’t be arsed to even investigate it.

    It’s a huge scandal.