Some public figures are cowed by social justice warriors attacking them for transgressions against The Holy Narrative. Comedian Dave Chappelle is not among them, as his newly dropped special proves.
The segment they excerpt is a funny (and true) bit.
I don’t have Netflix (I’m one of those codgers that watches things off the arcane format known as “DVDs”), so it will be a while until I track the latest special down. But it’s good to see Chappelle standing tall against the woke mob.
It looks like there was a running gunbattle between the Mexican National Guard and the Sinaloa drug cartel in Sonoyta, Sonora, just south of Lukeville, Arizona on the U.S. border, on December 29. There’s a dearth of news stories on the event, so here are two video compilations (with a little overlap) of the fighting.
This was likely the battle that occurred in Sonoyta, Sonora between the Mexican Army/National Guard against gunmen (unknown exactly what group) as was reported yesterday. https://t.co/hAd0XQnhWgpic.twitter.com/zOwwUMUfws
I haven’t seen any news reports of this in American media, possibly because they think their primary goal is to avoid reporting anything on the border that the Biden Administration’s “pro illegal alien invasion” policies make them look bad with voters.
Indeed, there was a gun battle at a different crossing point earlier this month.
A federal law-enforcement source shared with FOX Business Network an internal officer safety alert dated December 13th that warns CBP agents to be vigilant after the Mexican military seized 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the border.
The IEDs were found by Mexican authorities after Tucson border patrol observed gunshots at the U.S.-Mexico border and a Tucson supervisory border patrol agent arrested an armed person on the U.S. side who had a loaded AK-47 rifle, two loaded AK magazines, loose rounds and a handgun.
Add “border danger” to “budget deficits” in the category of Things That Could Blow Up At Any Moment Our Chattering Classes Refuse To Talk About.
Gay lefty atheist British comedian and actor Stephen Fry gave the “alternate” Christmas message on UK’s Channel 4, the one created because mundane displays of religion give urban lefty types the heebie-jeebies. Of Jewish heritage, Fry decried the recent rise in antisemitism in the UK (with over 50 antisemitic acts a day in London alone) and called for peace and brotherhood among all the peoples of the earth.
Naturally the woke social justice mobs went apeshit.
Yet Stephen Fry and other well known Jews would tell you is is them and only them who don’t feel safe. What utter bollox these Zionist scum bags spout.
What is Stephen Fry doing? He’s confessed to us all that he’s not that nice fellow we always thought him to be. He’s a raging, bloodthirsty, hate-mongering, Zionist cnt. https://t.co/4K4sryvJ4x
“The kind of people who’ve posed as our moral superiors for the past few decades have been exposed as real low-lives, I think, who don’t actually care about racism, don’t care about equality, certainly don’t care about Jewish people, and are only interested in using so-called anti-racism as a way of fortifying their own cultural power over society.”
Never mind that Fry used to support Palestinian causes. “On 30 April 2008, Fry signed an open letter, published in The Guardian newspaper by a number of Jewish personalities, stating their opposition to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. Furthermore, he is a signatory member of the British Jews for Justice for Palestinians organisation, which campaigns for Palestinian rights.”
Despite being a lefty, Fry has occasionally has shown he’s willing to follow the logical of his declarations where the woke mob never seems to go, such as condemning Chinese genocide against the Uyghurs.
It doesn’t matter how closely you followed the social justice line in the past if you dare to say “Now, wait a minute” to the latest victimhood identity politics shibboleth, be it mutilating children in the name of trans ideology or supporting the child-raping murderers of Hamas.
You must support The Latest Things, or you’re the Other, and must be cast into the outer darkness.
Louis Rossmann has ample reason rant today, namely news of a failed software update that bricks your car.
Note: This happened on the Ford Mach-E Mustang, the ugly crossover SUV that shouldn’t be called a Mustang.
“Unfortunately a recent software update was not successful your vehicle cannot be driven. Please call customer support.”
“I’m confident that when you call that number, you’re going to be dealing with is somebody who helps talk you through how to restore your car’s operating system from backup memory. Because of course, if you’re dealing with mission critical firmware or something, surely you would have a copy of the original that came with it?”
“Or perhaps a copy of the last known good update that was actually working over there that you could go back to if the update was not successful?”
“Of course not! You paid $63,000 for a device that is literally more buggy than Windows 10.”
“This car is over $60,000 and they don’t have even the most basic, fundamental redundancy built in, so that if your update fails it will flash back to a known good [version] on the backup memory. Apparently that’s not a thing.”
Says that this problem isn’t because the Mach E is an EV vehicle.
“I do not believe there is a circumstance where the vehicle is so screwed up because the version of software that it had from February of 2023 was so behind that that vehicle is now fundamentally unfit to be on a road, even in limp mode. That’s ridiculous.”
“The ability to roll back a version of software to an older version if the update that you put on is an update that screwed it up this is something that has been more than perfected in the modern day.”
“To not implement it into a vehicle that costs over $60,000 to the point where the entire 4,000 lb hunk of metal needs to be towed, and you no longer have a method of transportation because of that? There’s no excuse for it.”
“One of the things that bothers me a lot is that every time you move to a new technology paradigm, we accept less freedom. We accept that things are going to suck more in ways that they don’t have to suck.”
“You see this subscription bullshit, this less reliability bullshit, this everything made to break bullshit, this everything made to be replaced in a year or two, this every…this is not something that is simply inherent to electric vehicles this is something that is pervasive. This is something that is happening everywhere.”
“This is something that we need to push back against every single time we see this happen.”
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of 2023! Iranian proxies get pounded, NGO’s help destroy the border, Democrats keep trying to remove Trump from the ballot, and thieves get a taste of their own medicine. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Not only is the Obama/Biden administration undermining American sovereignty and the rule of law by allowing a massive influx of illegal aliens, but a wide variety of NGOs, some “none political,” are also involved.
A network of NGOs, or non-governmental organizations, seems to be playing a powerful role in coordinating the large-scale invasion of illegals at the US southern border.
The new website Muckraker revealed a treasure trove of “mass migration blueprints,” handed out by NGOs across South and Central America to illegals with details about their route to the US.
“The collapse of the US southern border is the result of a carefully planned and deliberately executed industrial mass migration program,” Muckraker said.
MAP #1 – Distributed by Doctors Without Borders (Médicos Sin Fronteras in Spanish).
They seem to be taking that “Without Borders” part way too literally.
What’s becoming increasingly evident is that a network of NGOs funded partly by the US taxpayer but by other countries and corporations are covertly facilitating the invasion of illegals at the US southern border, as well as distributing them across the US into progressive metro areas.
According to an August report by progressive left-leaning media watchdog organization Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security allocated $363 million to NGOs to assist illegal aliens once in the US.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott released a press release one year ago detailing how “NGOs may be engaged in unlawfully orchestrating other border crossings through activities on both sides of the border, including in sectors other than El Paso.”
Once across the border, NGOs are also helping migrants with transportation across the US, such as providing seats on commercial airlines.
Also “Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona Inc.”
And speaking of Flu Manchu, here’s another fraud case. “A Georgia attorney and former City of Atlanta police officer has been convicted of fraudulently obtaining over $7 million in loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, 62-year-old Shelitha Robertson from Atlanta conspired to submit PPP loan applications on behalf of four businesses she owned.”
The Real Story: “Philadelphia trans activist charged with rape of not one, but two minors.” The Newsweek Story: “Trans Activist Kendall Stephens’ Arrest Sparks MAGA Uproar.” Evidently the left feels that only MAGA Republicans should be upset at the rape of minors…
According to the Department of Emergency Management, San Francisco’s 911 call dispatchers answered just 72 percent of calls within 15 seconds in October, the latest month available. That’s the lowest share of any month in the last six years, and well short of the department’s goal to answer 95 percent of calls in 15 seconds or fewer.
Staffing is not up to the levels required, which is causing people to burn out, due to mandatory overtime. The bureaucratic hiring practice moves at a glacial pace, and so they can’t hire people to cover retirement and people just quitting due to burn out. They did raise pay some, but there is no indication if that is enough. I guess only time will tell.
The second problem that San Francisco has, in relation to 911 calls, is getting officers to the scene of a “Priority A” incident.
The slowdown in responses has contributed to broader delays San Franciscans face when trying to get help during emergency situations. The city’s typical response time to “Priority A” incidents — defined as the most urgent and serious events, like assaults-in-progress — is slower than it’s been at any point in the last eight years, increasing from about 6.5 minutes in January 2016 to nearly nine minutes this November.
Now this is the media, so there is no mention of any “defund the police” initiatives in San Francisco over the past few years.
“Since President Trump’s win in 2016, black support for him has more than tripled, now exceeding 20 percent in some surveys.” Including Mark Fisher, co-founder of a Black Lives Matter group in Rhode Island
“Two large Pizza Hut operators in California are laying off all their delivery drivers ahead of a new state law that raises the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour, Business Insider reports.” Good work, Democrats!
Grocery store manager Gatzke told Bild that the thieves who steal huge bags full of items are usually migrants, with around a third of them being Tunisian.
During one incident at the Edeka supermarket in Regensburg, a man stole €140 euros worth of goods, while the manager has also tried to stop thieves stealing groceries worth €300 euros.
“In the bag were spirits: vodka and liqueurs again. They are Muslims — did they want to resell the alcohol?” asked Gatzke.
“What do you need 10 sea bream and so many shrimp for? Nobody steals that because they’re hungry,” he added.
Gatzke noted that the culprits even steal shopping bags worth up to €2.50 euros.
However, he was denounced as a “racist” for complaining about the mass looting and subsequently criticized by Ferat Koçak, a member of the Berlin House of Representatives for The Left party.
Siding with the criminals, Koçak suggested that the migrants were “entitled” to steal because the government wasn’t giving them enough free money in welfare payments.
Some interesting artillery usage data, via reader Kirk”
Russian tremendous artillery advantage at beginning of war (65k shells/day) down to about 1/10 of that, while Ukraine advantage in platforms & counter battery has grown significantly. Then,… pic.twitter.com/Ak6o0hJmpv
Nothing says “Republican” quite like having Democrats do fundraising for you. “Dade Phelan Fundraiser Hosted by Liberals. Former House Speaker Joe Straus and former Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor Leticia Van de Putte are among those raising cash for Phelan.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a $700 million settlement with Google over anticompetitive practices.
According to the settlement, Google must pay $630 million in restitution—minus costs and fees—to consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by Google’s anticompetitive practices.
Paxton secured the settlement alongside attorneys general from all 49 other states as well as the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
would like to share the happiest Christmas memory of my childhood with you, an experience that shaped the young adult and the man I would become as much as any book or teacher ever would. I was accidentally given an inestimable gift – one which unwittingly dared me to grow intellectually and culturally so that I could be properly worthy of it, and which has since comforted me through endless long subsequent years of disappointment, heartache, personal growth, and triumph. And there’s no better time to write about it than during a season of joy. So if you will graciously permit me, on this Christmas Eve 2023 I’d like to take you back to the “not-too-distant future.”
On Christmas Eve 1991, my father suggested we should watch a cassette of an obscure TV show his friend at work had taped off a then-obscure cable channel called Comedy Central a few days before. “A guy and some robots make fun of bad movies” was how he described the premise. Since my dad and I had been talking back to films from the safety of our family-room couch for years already while watching B-movie schlock like USA Up All Night, it was at least something to do. (11-year-olds do not otherwise have a long list of entertainment options.)
Although my dad couldn’t possibly have intended it, what happened next altered the course of my life, and profoundly for the better: I was exposed to Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K for short) for the first time. And “exposed” is the right word; the experience was as instantly catalyzing a moment for me as a rapid chemical reaction. It was the Christmas episode from a few days earlier, and the show was mocking something called Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
“I’ll never forget how comforted MST3K made me feel from that exact moment onward, comforted that there were people out there who had my sense of humor – only they were vastly more funny than me.”
God bless us, each and every one…
“North Carolina has a law that allows people to do practically whatever they want to the official state marsupial.” Which would be the possum. And it only applies five days a year. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has claimed “an ideological victory” as Emmanuel Macron’s government reached a compromise with hardline conservatives on a beleaguered immigration bill.
The French president’s centrist coalition moved towards introducing a much tougher immigration bill than initially planned on Tuesday, with the government agreeing to harden the access to state benefits for recently-arrived immigrants. The proposals echo some of the far right’s long-time obsessions, including the ideas of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Rally party, who campaigned in favor of a “national preference,” which meant excluding foreigners from state benefits and council housing.
Funny how “France for the French” is a “far right obsession.”
What welfare state benefits should illegal aliens receive upon moving to a country? How about nothing? Does nothing work for you? They should receive food and water only for the short period of time it takes to deport them back to their country of origin.
Even legal immigrants should be ineligible for welfare benefits upon first arriving. Let them work a specified number of years before providing access to the welfare state.
While the proposals put forward by Macron’s Renaissance party do not go that far, the National Rally has been jubilant over the government’s decision to take what they claim is a step in their direction.
“Under pressure from National Rally voters, this bill will harden the conditions surrounding immigration,” Le Pen told reporters at the National Assembly. “We can salute ideological progress, an ideological victory of the National Rally, because it will now be etched in legislation that there is a national priority,” she said, adding that her MPs would vote for the compromise legislation.
After a shock defeat of Macron’s flagship immigration bill last week, when it was dismissed by the National Assembly without a debate, the government has tasked a joint committee of senators and MPs with finding a compromise. But the government needs the support of the conservative Les Républicains party, which has become very hardline on immigration, to get their draft legislation through parliament.
“Very hardline” is a codeword for “actually agrees with French voters.”
On Tuesday, the joint committee reached a compromise on a draft that is much more hardline than the one initially tabled by the government. It includes a compulsory five year wait for non-European immigrants who don’t have a job before claiming housing and child benefits.
Good.
All across Europe, Euroskeptic parties fighting against allowing illegal unassimilated Muslim immigration are ascendant over traditional leftwing Euroestablishment parties. The EU elites insistence on pushing Muslim immigration on resisting populations have pushed Le Pen, long regarded as “unacceptable,” to the center of political consensus in France, at least on this issue, which is increasingly one of utmost importance to voters.
It elite decree that valid issues are off the table for reputable politicians to discuss, then voters will turn to “disreputable” politicians to make their voices heard.
Last week in New York City, a city resident was indicted for submitting over 100 absentee ballot applications during the 2022 Democrat primaries, The Federalist reports.
In a press release dated Dec. 19, 2023, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the suspect, Abdul Rahman, was arraigned on an indictment charging him with falsifying business records, criminal possession of a forged instrument, and other crimes for submitting falsified absentee ballot applications for the August 2022 Democratic primary election.
Snip.
The investigation into Rahman began after a Queens voter, Jordan Sandke, went to vote in person in the primary; however, he was refused, with a poll worker telling him “an absentee ballot had already been requested in his name.” That began an investigation whereby authorities discovered an absentee ballot had been filled out, signed, and dated in Sandke’s name on Aug. 1, 2022, with Rahman listed as the person authorized to pick up and deliver the ballot.
According to Katz’s office, Sandke “had not filled out, signed or submitted the application, and said he had never met [Rahman] or authorized him to pick up an absentee ballot on his behalf.” Under New York law, only the person designated on a voter’s ballot to pick up and deliver it may do so.”
During the investigation, it was determined that Sandke’s application was one of 118 Rahman dropped off at the Queens County Board of Elections office on Aug. 8, 2022, all of which named him as “the individual authorized to pick up the ballots.” The office approved thirty-two of the ballots, which Rahman retrieved the following day. Authorities interviewed a number of those named on the ballots, and several said they had not permitted Rahman “to pick up a ballot for them.”
Snip.
Rahman, 32, who lives in Floral Park, Queens, was arraigned on a 140-count indictment, charging him with 20 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree; 20 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree; 20 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree; 20 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree; 20 counts of falsifying business records in the second degree; 20 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree; and 20 counts of illegal voting.
Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino ordered Rahman to return to court on January 30, 2024. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
It appears the model Denmark, Norway and Netherlands all have is F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU, which means they’re pretty old F-16s (bad), but were all upgraded (good), but the upgrades arrived in 1996 (not exactly bad, but not great either).
I would expect them to beat the snot out of anything manufactured in the Soviet Union, hold their own against the Su-30 (and possibly the Su-34, of which the Russians have lost a considerable number), maybe get edged by the Su-35 (though maybe not; that platform has had a lot of teething problems), and should theoretically be outclassed by the Su-57, which on paper is a thoroughly modern fighter aircraft with stealth capability (assuming the Russians will even let it go up against a near peer aircraft; they’ve seemed to use it very sparingly after the early stages of the war). And given the NATO country origins, expect all to be better maintained than their Russian counterparts.
This quick and dirty comparison analysis, of course, assumes that said planes will be engaged in dogfighting, which we’ve seen precious little of since the opening days of the war. Indeed, the aerial environment has become so deadly in Ukraine that neither side ventures much in airspace controlled by the other, and the favored Russian ground support tactic seems to be to fly up just short of the front live, release dumb munitions in an arc calculated to have it come down someone in the general vicinity of the enemy forces, then hightail it home and call it a day.
Ukraine getting F-16s would make Russian air activity near the front line even less likely, with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and their 60 mile range offering a real threat to splash anything that gets near the contested territory.
While the lethality of the airspace over Russian-held territory will also discourage too much direct sorties against Russian forces (at least at first), the AGM-88 HARM missile would considerably speed up the destruction of Russian anti-aircraft systems.
Russia’s S-400 system (their answer to Patriot) is probably good enough to shoot down the pre-stealth F-16, but Ukraine has had some success in destroying those systems. A squadron of F-16s launched from Odessa is easily within strike range of Sevastopol, and either JDAMs or Harpoons would be enough to sink whatever is left of the Black Sea Fleet that Russia has foolishly left there. And Harpoon-armed F1-6s on regular patrol would probably be enough to deny use of the northwest Black Sea to all of Russia’s surface fleet.
With enough degradation of Russia’s air defense systems, Ukraine might be able to achieve local air superiority in regions like Kherson, which could prove very valuable in future offensives.
A final advantage: With over 4,000 F-16s built, spare parts should be readily available to keep them flying.
Some 50-100 F-16s in Ukraine’s arsenal probably wouldn’t be the game changer that, say, HIMARS and ATACMS have proven, but they might be enough to shift the balance of power top further erode Russia’s hold over illegally seized Ukrainian territory.
I usually note library additions in the other blog, but all of these but two are political or military books. Two are also signed copies replacing or supplementing unsigned copies.
Bush, Barbara. A Memoir. Scribner’s, 1994. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at heel and trace of wear at points, inscribed by Bush: “To Chris Hyatt/With best wishes/Barbara Bush/December 1998. Autobiography by First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of 41 and mother of 43, who died in 2018. Not my usual thing, but I stumbled across it checking for signatures in books by 41 and 43. Bought for $14.48 at Half Price Books.
Hemple, Stuart. Dread & Superficiality: Woody Allen as Comic Strip. Abrams Comic Arts, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight waviness, slight grubbiness to uncoated stock, and a thin scratch across bottom of spine. Received as a Christmas gift only because, many moons ago, I noted to Dwight my incredulity that this comic strip ever existed at all. Yes, Woody Allen’s neurotic nebbish character was so well known in the 1970s that a comic strip based on it (but written and drawn by someone else) appeared in numerous newspapers from 1976-1964. I am equally incredulous that someone found the strip worth of a prestige retrospective collection. Supplements my copy of Non-Being and Somethingness, which contains selections from the strip.
Hill, Doug and Jeff Weingrad. Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Beech Tree Books, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with with one 1/16″ chip at heel, crease to bottom of front flap, slight bumping at head and heel and a bit of pull to top jacket edge. History of Saturday Night Live. Part of a very small collection of books on early SNL. Most people today don’t realize how amazingly funny, daring and groundbreaking the original cast SNL was. Bought for $4.99.
King, Florence. Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye. St. Martin’s Press, 1989. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at head and heel and thrift store stamp to insider rear cover, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Collection of essays. Replaces an Ex-Library copy. Bought for $7.99.
McBride, H. W. A Rifleman Went to War. Small-Arms Tactical Publishing Company, 1935. First edition, second printing (according to Dwight’s bibliography of this press), a Near Fine copy with a slight bit of spine wear and previous owner’s bookplate, in a Very Good- dust jacket with 1 1/2″ wide x 1/2″ deep chip at head, small chip at heel, creasing along front flap fold, and general wear, but no loss of lettering anywhere, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Memoirs of the experiences of an American rifleman who joined the Canadian expeditionary forces during World War I (my second favorite World War). A Christmas gift from Dwight, who collects this press.
Murray, Charles. Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980. Basic Books, 1984. Third printing, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket, with slighting bumping at head and heel, a trace of wear at points, and a touch of surface wear, inscribed by Murray: “To Dr. Harry Schmitt,/with best wishes/Charles Murray/18 July 1986.” (I wonder if this was inscribed to former astronaut and Republican senator Harrison Schmitt.) This is probably the most important book ever written about the American welfare state, in which Murray showed in meticulously researched detail why the welfare state expansions instituted by Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society inflicted lasting economic and social harm to black families in America. Without Losing Ground, the welfare reform act of 1996 never would have happened. It came out back when some Democrats will still willing to look at research and data rather that automatically calling critics of the welfare state racist. Highly recommended. Supplements an unsigned first printing. (I had a second printing inscribed to me that I foolish lent out and never had returned.) Bought for $5.99.
Thorburn, Wayne. Red State: An Insiders Story of How the GOP Came to Dominate Texas Politics. University of Texas Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine-dust jacket with just a touch of wear, signed by Thorburn. This is an interesting book that describes (among other things) how leftists deliberately drove conservatives and moderates out of their own party so they could control the Democratic Party. Of course, they expected voters would simply keep voting for Democrats, but that didn’t happen. Recommended. Bought for $7. Replaces an unsigned copy.
