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New York is about to give us a natural experiment on raising taxes and the limits of tolerance of incompetent government.
https://nypost.com/2021/04/05/concern-4b-in-tax-hikes-in-ny-budget-deal-will-cause-exodus/
Of course, journalists believe that millionaires are an endless supply of revenue (tack on a wealth tax, and … whee!).
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article250360616.html
Millionaire’s Tax Bill Would Create Additional Tax on CA Millionaires
To be clear, I’m nowhere near paying any of these taxes. But I believe that we should be encouraging everyone, no matter how poor, to save money and invest. The war on savings essentially eliminates the easiest path to upward mobility for most people. To be fair, some of the initial proposals were dead on arrival, but look at this list!
Scott Adams (yes, the Dilbert guy) says that the longer Trump is out of office, the better he will look. So far, so good.
My brother tried the “they’re (the international community) laughing at us” early in the Trump presidency. I pointed out that Trudeau can jab and laugh BEHIND TRUMP’S BACK all he wants, but NO ONE respect him. Trudeau has turned out to be a more ineffectual, openly ridiculed leader than Trump. No one respects Trudeau, especially the communities he tries to pander to (see his India trip). At least with Trump, you knew what the other leaders were doing (they knew they could score easy media points by making fun of Trump, while fearing his effectiveness). Quite frankly, the whole Anchorage / China thing proved to me that Obama was right, Biden is a foreign policy disaster. When Mexico is yearning for Trump, you know you are terrible. Wanting to get back into the Iran deal… um, why? There’s literally no reason to accommodate an untrustworthy and disruptive regime that doesn’t help us in the least. The Abraham accords showed us that the Middle East is realigning, and we can either be on the right side of it / facilitating it, or… do whatever Biden is doing (resuming payments to the Palestinians? Getting back into the Iran deal? Why not just directly fund terrorism in the Middle East?).
As for Kamala, she dropped out because she was running behind Andrew Yang in California. She’s a terrible politician who benefited from California’s social promotion for Democrats program until Biden committed himself to a female, African-American vice president. She’s a demonstrated liar, completely inauthentic, a prosecutor who jumps to conclusions without evaluating evidence, and someone who will say anything to win an election (and still puts her foot into her mouth on a routine basis). Also of note, the media runs cover for her / promotes her, and she knows she will not be held accountable by them. The media is already preparing the general public for the 25th Amendment proceedings.
I’m not sure the reference to “buses” was some weird racist dogwhistle. My read was it was an effort to say that the accident may have been a vehicle transporting farm workers to work (and thus a violation of labor laws) as opposed to human trafficking.
This article also refers to “buses” in this context. While I agree that the media uses trigger words, particularly in headlines, to shade the news, I don’t think this is a proper example of the practice, nor is it a Fox-specific issue.
Yikes. I hope we’ve gotten much better at treating COVID. What other symptoms is he experiencing? Did his wife’s symptoms completely clear? Here’s hoping for a quick recovery.
What is more surprising is that a bunch of lawyers didn’t line up to challenge each and every one of them.
Sigh. The Fed’s job is not to prop up the stock market, a complaint I’ve had since Bush II. We have asset bubbles in everything, but at least we don’t (currently) have a bubble in bad debt (that I’m aware of).
I bought some REITs during the pandemic crash in my Roth accounts. I bought some tech as well. But I have little confidence in the current stock market, I just feel like inflation, higher energy costs, and other factors will result in a rebalancing of the economy. At the same time, the international economies aren’t exactly in great shape, and there aren’t that many asset classes that look attractive. Maybe crypto?
I saw that article you wrote about me @Mediawill Then I saw the almost instant retraction from your employer and you being put on my knee and spanked like a little child. Would you like to personally apologize? I think it would go a long way pic.twitter.com/usU1xgUf0e
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) January 14, 2021
“Saratoga (NY) Living” decided to publish a hit piece saying that the Barstool Fund gave $200,000 to Saratoga’s oldest Irish pub, then stating about Dave Portnoy, “But he’s anything but a do-gooder.”
Still terrible. Glad he’s pushing back.
Ahead of the Ugandan election, we're hearing reports that Internet service providers are being ordered to block social media and messaging apps.
We strongly condemn internet shutdowns – they are hugely harmful, violate basic human rights and the principles of the #OpenInternet.
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) January 12, 2021
The background is, Twitter decided to unilaterally remove accounts supporting the current dictator ahead of an election, including official government accounts. Of course, the dictator then suspended internet access to Twitter, Facebook, etc., WHICH PROBABLY HURTS THE OPPOSITION MORE THAN SHUTTING DOWN THE PRO-GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS. In addition, it gives the current government an election interference talking point that will probably increase support for the current government. Then Twitter decides to tweet that open access to the internet is a human right, which will be thrown back at them during the access lawsuits that are coming. Really brilliant legal strategy, guys.
We analyzed, minute by minute, the crucial two-hour period during which a Trump rally to stop the certification of the election results gave way to a mob that nearly came face to face with Congress. Here’s what we found: https://t.co/HSsHQLiEpp pic.twitter.com/AC9HgwQqbO
— Haley Willis (@heytherehaIey) January 12, 2021
This is a thread from the NY Times which provides a timeline of January 6. These are the same people who put together the Kyle Rittenhouse timeline that shows it was self-defense, showing that someone is able to do actual investigative journalism at the NY Times and present the facts without judgment.
Inflaming emotions isn’t a crime. The president didn’t mention violence, much less provoke it, writes Jeffrey Scott Shapiro https://t.co/bMLW2hmNgA
— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) January 12, 2021
This comports with my view that the President’s speech does not constitute “fighting words,” let alone incitement.
Apple is demanding that Parler be held responsible for the content posted by its users OR it will take it off iOS
So basically Apple is demanding that Parler waive its section 230 protections while lobbying to maintain its own 230 privileges
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) January 9, 2021
Combined, Google and Apple control 99.9% of the American mobile OS market
If they kick you off their app stores you are done
But don’t worry the free market can totally solve for that 🙄
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) January 9, 2021
Do we have a free market in this space? In any space?
Our institutions have failed us, and I don’t see them getting better. The media is fomenting division, and has lost all credibility. Our politicians are choosing to energize their base / the extreme elements of their parties, rather than trying to find common ground. The Biden, but especially the Harris speech yesterday showed that they aren’t interested in unity.
I will wait and see regarding why Congress was stormed, and who brought lead pipes and hit a Capitol Officer with a fire extinguisher. I want evidence, not the knee jerk accusations of the media or the defenses proffered by the organizers. I believe that the main Stop the Steal organizers acted in good faith, but that they should have anticipated that agitators would take advantage of the situation and worked to stop it. The President should have anticipated this as well, and been very clear that no violence would be tolerated.
What is the path forward? I believe we need to de-politicize the media, and we need social media to figure out a more even-handed means of moderation. There’s a saying that politics ruin everything, and we’re seeing that play out right now. Everything is viewed through the lens of politics, and as a result, people pick and choose their tribe and engage in a severe form of tribalism we haven’t seen in a long time. Our media is an extreme for of this. Journalists no longer investigate, they form narratives and try to find evidence for their narrative. Here’s an example:
MUST WATCH: @RosaFlores
asks the Governor of Florida about the vaccine rollout but Ron DeSantis fires back pic.twitter.com/8PxJUA99Lh— LaRell CNN (@LaRellCNN) January 5, 2021
I chose a more neutral tweet about this incident. A few things: 1) the reporter could have easily asked the officials in the various counties why senior citizens were waiting in line… you know… doing journalism; 2) Desantis is correct that her main question was why are there problems and the answer is high demand; and 3) the part of the question she wanted was basically a no-win question that is completely improper for a journalist… trying to get Desantis to say that Florida doesn’t have a plan (which is false). But this played out in a polarizing way on Twitter, because the journalist then made this about herself “getting bullied” by Desantis. Desantis could have been better about answering, “Look, our state’s plan is to get this vaccine to as many people as possible, but if you look at each county’s plan, some of the counties haven’t made good distribution plans, and we’re doing what we can to maximize vaccinations without micromanaging them.”
But our media / journalists are no longer journalists. They’re propagandists pushing an agenda, with no in between. There are no more Jim Lehrers. For example, do you know who Roy Ball is? Twitter does.
The man in the photo is intervening to defend the black woman and get her to safety. The woman herself confirms this. @tariqnasheed and others on the Left are lying about him, and he has now lost his job because of their defamation. https://t.co/1H1LYhPUZT
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 8, 2021
Now there’s additional video of him yelling at another woman during the rally. As far as I’m aware, the rally in Los Angeles got heated, and there were several incidents (and the incident involving the woman he’s holding may have been a mistaken identity that lead to something a lot worse). Still, journalists and celebrities immediately called for his firing, were successful, and have not apologized or acknowledged that they jumped to a conclusion based on a photo and a bunch of tweets. We live in a mob-rule society where anyone can have the mob whipped into a frenzy against them at any moment for anything.
New study finds that being angry increases your vulnerability to misinformation. Angry participants "tended to be more confident in the accuracy of their memories. But among those participants, increased confidence was associated with decreased accuracy." https://t.co/2gbG5RMQ34
— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) January 8, 2021
Not only is this perpetual state of outrage making us unhappy, it’s also affecting our ability to take a breath, wait for evidence, and then evaluate the evidence. The media and Big Tech are to blame, but they have no sense of self-awareness, and no incentive to self-correct (because the financial incentives are to continue pushing up engagement numbers and short term dopamine hits for clicks). What’s the way out? I’m not sure, other than we need to de-politicize everything.
Well, a couple things. 1) Israel basically said, old people first, but if the vaccine is about to expire, anyone can get it, and 2) governors / locals didn’t want to take the same approach. In fact, NY and CA both stated by executive order that there would be fines and license revocations for people who didn’t administer the vaccines according to schedule, then enacted all sorts of byzantine standards for administration. Add onto that licensing requirements, and boom, barely any vaccines get distributed.
The tranching out of covid vaccine has been disastrous. Here's what should happen immediately:
1. Stop stockpiling second doses. It's insane. More doses are coming, and the first dose provides some level of protection.— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 4, 2021
He’s right here. This is ridiculous. The more people, based on risk profile, vaccinated, the better. No dose should be wasted, and more vaccinations is better than no vaccination.
San Diego used to be a conservative / Republican town because of the heavy naval presence. Now it’s a battleground, with the school system getting rid of grades because they are racist?
As for why Seattle and Portland allow CHAZ related anarchy, it’s because their voting bases have elected explicitly anti-police leaders. They’ve changed the rules of engagement (with Ted Wheeler taking over the police department), and as a result, de-escalation and appeasement are the priority. What happens when you appease any group that wants to seize power? They seize more power. At some point, the neighborhoods demand eviction, and then a painful balancing / negotiation occurs.
Here’s a fun analysis of why this is all happening.
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) December 30, 2020
I'm not even mad, this is amazing pic.twitter.com/z4EsbnpNzL
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 30, 2020
It’s because journalists and activists are in their own self-justifying echo chamber.
Oh my lord has this tweet taken off. Allow me to clarify.
Pence was not wrong to say 2.1M ppl = millions. I shouldn't have said "not true." That's my bad.
I should have said "overstatement." The millions he's talking about is barely over 2M. Hence the link to CDC data.
Fin.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) December 30, 2020
Come on everyone!
LET'S READ LINE 17 TOGETHER!
🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨 pic.twitter.com/MZPrLmv1HT— Elisha England🌟🌟🌟 (@elishaengland82) December 23, 2020
I’m assuming this is for staff salaries, not for Congress (they can’t raise their pay without an intervening election). But there’s a LOT of pork in this bill.
Back in the good ol’ days, the media would have been all over the pork, but today… they won’t report on it, leaving it for people to get outraged on Twitter (and some congressmen and congresswomen to tweet about it). They’re setting us up to accept “modern monetary theory” and make government such a large part of our economy, that politics will consume our lives.
Amazon inks lobbying deal with Ricchetti Inc., the firm co-founded by Biden's incoming White House counselor, Steve Ricchetti.
This is Ricchetti Inc's 10th new lobbying client this year. They had booked just 1 from '16-'19. https://t.co/Ttadt86Ddm
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) December 27, 2020
Huh. It’s as if big tech knows how a Biden administration will work. This lobbying firm is suddenly awash in clients.
How come so many huge corporations are hiring a previously obscure lobbying firm co-founded by the brother of a key Biden WH official? Does anyone have any speculation about why this might be happening? https://t.co/9hYkiRQdaG
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 28, 2020
Amazing.
