Loose Ends (203)

There’s been a good deal of controversy over stock trading by members of Congress—perhaps sometimes based on inside information. Just today the news is out that Nancy Pelosi recently sold about $3 million worth of Google stock, and lo and behold, just this week the Justice Department announced it is bringing an antitrust suit against Google.

It turns out there is a handy website where you can track and look up stock transactions by individual members of the House and Senate: Barchart.com. Here’s a recent shot of the page (better to click on the link above to get a larger view you can read—and use yourself):

 If there was a “Lemon Law” for mainstream media like there is for new car purchases in many states, CNN would have to shut down, especially since one of their main reporter is in fact a Lemon (in every sense of the word):

CNN Primetime Viewers Crater to 444,000, Don Lemon Hits Record Low

Fox News attracted an average of 1.996 million primetime viewers during that same week, nearly five times as many as CNNLOL.

Speaking of feel good stories about the mainstream media, this story will warm the cockles on a cold late January night:

Washington Post eliminates nearly two dozen newsroom positions citing ‘economic climate’

The Washington Post eliminated the jobs of nearly two dozen newsroom staffers on Tuesday, the latest in a slew of cuts made by the nation’s biggest media and tech companies in recent weeks.

The Post, which is owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and has a staff of hundreds, said 20 current newsroom positions would be cut and an additional 30 open positions would not be filled.

Too bad “climate change” (the Post has added at least one dedicated “climate change” reporter, who is of course just a stenographer for the climate cult) hasn’t improved the climate for the Post.

But wait—there’s more in the “Feel Good Story of the Day” department. Did you know that under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency was “traumatized,” and is “stressed-out” and “stretched-thin”? The New York Times reports:

The nation’s top environmental agency is still reeling from the exodus of more than 1,200 scientists and policy experts during the Trump administration. The chemicals chief said her staff can’t keep up with a mounting workload. The enforcement unit is prosecuting fewer polluters than at any time in the past two decades. . .

Career employees are being “worked to death,” said Betsy Southerland, a former top E.P.A. scientist. . .

The nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project recently found that federal environmental enforcement was slipping under Mr. Biden. E.P.A.’s civil cases against polluters hit a two-decade low in 2022, with 72 such enforcement cases closed in court. That’s fewer than during the Trump administration. . .

Aw, ain’t it a shame that the agency that has been demoralizing American industry for 50 years is suddenly in a funk?

Good to know the Biden EPA has its priorities right, though:

Biden administration officials insist the agency has delivered more environmental protections than any previous presidency and listed dozens of new policies, including the creation of a high-level office focused for the first time on addressing racial disparities when it comes to environmental hazards.

Wait—isn’t this this premise of Terminator II?

Scientists Create Shapeshifting Humanoid Robot That Can Liquefy And Reform

Scientists have made a breakthrough in robotics: a shapeshifting robot that can switch between liquid and metal states to navigate tricky environments without compromising on strength. . .

Researchers made the robots navigate obstacle courses, remove or deliver objects to a model of the human stomach, and even liquefy to escape a cage before reforming back into its original humanoid shape.

“Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality,” says engineer Chengfeng Pan of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in China.

Figures it would be from China. And Skynet smiles. Again. To paraphrase Kent Brockman, I for one welcome our new Terminator robot overlords.

 This is the Biden Administration’s new nutrition adviser:

UPDATE: Turns out I have the wrong person. This Tweet is likely a satire, but it’s close to the real thing:

Dr Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician at Mass General Health in Boston, was appointed to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which will develop new recommended eating habits for Americans over the coming years.

The appointment has received backlash as it comes only weeks after she downplayed the value of diet and exercise in weight loss in an interview with 60 Minutes at the start of the year. . . ‘The number one cause of obesity is genetics,’ Dr Cody said.

This almost makes you miss Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden and Barack’s arugula.

Maybe the Biden Administration will propose an old Jay Leno joke, and call on Congress to pass the “No Child Left with a Big Behind Act.” Or we could go with the late columnist Lewis Grizzard’s quip about a “plus-sized” person: “I’m not saying he’s fat, but let’s just say when he steps on a cigarette, that sucker’s out!”

(Disclosure: The New York Times once referred to me with the phrase “Mr. Hayward — who is, well, big-boned. . .”)

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