Loose Ends
September 28, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Missed the GOP debate since it went off in the middle of the night over here in central Europe, but I have caught a couple of highlights on Twitter that have me amused. First, this from Vivek Ramaswamy: Zero-based budgeting? Where have I heard this idea before? Oh that’s right—it was a centerpiece of Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign. And he got nowhere with it once in the White House.
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September 24, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Gavin Newsom is running. His surprise veto of the gender identity bill, coming on top of his previous tough talk on immigration, shows he is already tacking to the center. It’s only a matter of time now. One or two more polls like today’s Washington Post poll and Democratic panic will reach critical mass. What about Kamala, you say? Surprising that no one has figured out that Newsom also
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September 21, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• It’s almost as if Zelenskyy wants Republicans in Washington to block further aid to Ukraine: Zelenskyy: "Humanity is failing on its climate policy objectives" pic.twitter.com/h2w54lXL9Z — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 19, 2023 • Meanwhile, the invasion of the Italian isle of Lampedusa continues: In the past 24 hours 20 more boats have arrived. Total over over 18,000! More boats are underway towards Lampedusa, Italy. The local population of the island
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September 18, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• I’m so old I can remember that when the Obama Trump Administration did this it was considered the greatest human rights violation since Hitler and the Nazis: Border Patrol temporarily separated families this summer, court filing says A pediatrician tasked by a federal court in Los Angeles to monitor the conditions of migrant children in U.S. government custody revealed in a recent court filing that some children were temporarily
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September 14, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Mitt Romney is a monster (and good riddance, by the way): • Even Nancy Pelosi knows that Kamala Harris su- – – (no, I won’t go there) is bad at her job. Of course, Pelosi is conflicted big time by her familial tie to Gavin Newsom, and better for Newsom if someone else clears out Harris. Still, it is striking that Pelosi can’t even manage some kind of pro-forma
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September 12, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Exactly what does New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham think she is doing suspending the 2nd Amendment because of an “emergency”? The state’s attorney general (a fellow Democrat) has told the governor her act is unconstitutional and that he will not defend it in court. Even one-time teen gun-grabber heartthrob David Hogg has called her move unwise and unhelpful: But Governor Grisham is doubling down. Theory: this is an
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September 6, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Headline of the day: Biden books are still bombing The few books that have been written about the Bidens have not exactly been flying off the shelves. . . New York magazine writer Gabriel Debenedetti’s “The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama” has sold fewer than 1,500 copies, according to NPD BookScan. The Associated Press’ Julie Pace and Darlene Superville’s “Jill: A Biography of
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August 30, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Feel good headline of the day: CNN — The Environmental Protection Agency and US Army on Tuesday released a new rule that slashes federally protected water by more than half, following a Supreme Court decision in May that rolled back protections for US wetlands. The rule will invalidate an earlier definition of what constitutes the so-called waters of the United States, after the Supreme Court ruled Clean Water Act protections extend
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August 23, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• It was hard to tell whether the supposed “coup” or “insurrection” (since that is the preferred term these days) that the mercenary Wagner Group instigated in Russia recently was authentic, or some kind of false-flag operation designed to smoke out disloyal military officers and senior civil servants in Putin’s government, or as a distraction/cover for rearranging troop and weapons placements or some similar purpose. Among other things, the disposition
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August 13, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Paul Krugman in the New York Times, July 17: “We absolutely should politicize the weather.” Paul Krugman, August 13: “The fact that the climate war is now part of the culture war worries me, a lot.” His cat better be hiding somewhere. • I haven’t had a chance to dilate the news a couple weeks ago that Fitch has downgraded U.S. debt, in the absence of any acute political
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August 7, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• Given the condition of San Francisco today, isn’t it overdue for Hollywood to reboot Dirty Harry? Or at least run Dirty Harry for mayor? After all, Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel. Or is the place so far gone that John Wick might be necessary? (Or Robocop?) • Word out today is that Georgia is going to indict Trump for RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) violations. This is
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July 31, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• A follow up to our item here the other day about the Oakland chapter of the NAACP repudiating Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police: Check out this local TV report about a testy public meeting with the Alameda County DA: • “Boys are boys from the beginning. . . Only girls can be the mommies”??! Better cancel Mr. Rogers right away: Chaser—He even repeated this to Johnny Carson
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July 18, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• The “energy transition” is already hitting the wall in New York. Bloomberg reports: NYC Facing Power Shortages by 2025 as Demand Rises and Plants Shut New York City is at risk of power outages by 2025 as rising demand amid intense heat and the push toward electrification outpace the grid’s capacity. At peak times this summer, the city needs about 8,800 megawatts but by summer 2025 it would be
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July 3, 2023 — Steven Hayward
Lot of stories and quick news items to catch up on starting out the week. • The left is outraged about the Supreme Court’s student loan decision, but kudos to the Washington Post for an especially clueless take: That’s what the Supreme Court said—Congress, not the president, can authorize student debt relief. You’d think this would be easier. • The latest from Operation Dump Biden, from Walter Shapiro in The
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May 30, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• File this away for an update, though I suspect we won’t get an update if the story turns out as I expect: University of California President’s Berkeley Home Vandalized A hate crime investigation is underway after University of California officials say vandals painted racial slurs on the home of the UC president. The hate-filled graffiti has left a Berkeley neighborhood outraged and on edge. Bruce O’Neill showed NBC Bay
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May 25, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• No sooner do I note yesterday that Vanity Fair had lost its mind with its “DeSantis is Hitler” headline than The Atlantic says to VF, “Hold my Bud Light.” In fact they did a series to one-up VF: It can no longer be denied: The Atlantic has gone to pot. Not to be left behind, behold The Root: • Finally—the long-awaited J.J. Abrams reboot/re-imagining of Free Willy: Revenge of
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May 9, 2023 — Steven Hayward
• With the Branch COVIDians holding fast against the lab leak evidence and in favor of the “wet market” hypothesis for the origins of the Wuhan flu, here is some news that isn’t getting much coverage in the mainstream media: Wuhan market samples fail to shed further light on COVID origins Samples collected at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic
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